18th Century

The 18th century was the age of limited war and linear battle—where discipline, drill, and firepower reigned supreme. This section includes studies of the War of the Spanish Succession, Seven Years’ War, American Revolution, and Napoleonic campaigns. Using period cartography, officer memoirs, and terrain overlays, we reconstruct set-piece battles in Europe, North America, and Asia. These analyses examine not only the battlefield but the cultural and doctrinal differences that shaped command decisions—providing new perspectives on familiar events.

Highlanders at Culloden, Painting by David Morier

💡The Culloden Bayonet Drill: How Cumberland’s army broke the Highland charge

How a minor change to the government army’s bayonet drill defeated the Highlander’s battle tactics— and why the critics who dismissed it were asking the wrong question. The weight of evidence establishes beyond reasonable doubt that Cumberland’s army trained in and used a new bayonet drill at Culloden, and that the drill was directed personally by Cumberland in the Aberdeen training period. None of the documentary evidence describes the precise mechanics of the drill explicitly.

📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Ramillies, Belgium, 23 May 1706

by Michael Prictor

November 2025, Ramillies, Belgium. I am exploring the battlefield of Ramillies. Here on 23 May 1706, an Allied Army under John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, defeated a French army under Marshall Villeroi. The ground here is open, gently rolling country, cut by small streams and defined by long field boundaries—terrain that enables movement and the ability to shift forces across the battlefield.

Prussian grenadiers fighting in the burning village of Chotusitz, by Gunther Dorn

⚔️🔒Battle of Chotusitz, Bohemia,
17 May 1742

by Michael Prictor

The Battle of Chotusitz (17 May 1742) was Frederick the Great’s hardest-won early victory — a chaotic, bloody battle that secured Silesia but exposed deep weaknesses in Prussian command and coordination. Frederick’s maintenance of a fresh reserve to be committed at the decisive moment was a lesson that stayed with him as a commander.

⚔️ Battle of Fontenoy, Belgium,
11 May 1745

by Michael Prictor

The Battle of Fontenoy, fought on 11 May 1745, was a major battle during the War of the Austrian Succession. A French army of ~50,000 under Marshal Maurice de Saxe against a coalition force of ~50,000 British, Dutch, Hanoverian, and Austrian troops led by the Duke of Cumberland. The result was a decisive French victory!.

Don Troiani's painting 'The Battle of Bushy Run'

⚔️ Battle of Bushy Run, Pennsylvania,
05-06 August 1763

The Battle of Bushy Run, fought on August 5-6, 1763, was a major engagement during Pontiac’s War, a widespread Native American uprising against British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War. The war was named after Pontiac, an Ottawa chief who led a coalition of tribes dissatisfied with British policies and expansion into their territories.

⚔️ Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina,
17 January 1781

by Michael Prictor

The Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, was a relatively small engagement in the American Revolutionary War, but had outsized impact on the trajectory of the war. The American commander, Brigadier-General Dan Morgan, also employed tactical innovations that were adopted for future campaigns.

An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745, an oil on canvas, painting by David Morier

⚔️ Battle of Culloden, Scotland,
16 April 1746

by Michael Prictor

The Battle of Culloden, fought on 16 April 1746, was the final and decisive confrontation of the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The rebellion was the last serious attempt by the Jacobites to restore the Stuart monarchy to the British throne. Led by Charles Edward Stuart ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, the Jacobite forces aimed to overthrow the Hanoverian King George II and reinstate the Stuart line.

Still from the 1992 movie 'Last of the Mohicans' showing the surrender of Fort William Henry. British Lieutenant Colonel George Monro and the 35th Regiment of Foot on the right, and the Marquis de Montcalm with his French Regiments on the left.

⚔️ Siege of Fort William Henry, New York,
3-9 August 1757

by Michael Prictor

Fort William Henry would probably be an obscure footnote in the history of the Seven Years War, except for two events. The first was the massacre of British prisoners at the hands of French-allied indian forces. The second event was the publishing in 1826 of a novel by American author James Fennimore Cooper – ‘The Last of the Mohicans – a Narrative of 1757’ it has been adapted into at least 12 films, the most famous of which are the 1936 version starring Randolph Scott, and the 1992 version starring Daniel Day Lewis

⚔️ Battle of Prestonpans, Scotland,
21 September 1745

by Michael Prictor

Bonnie Prince Charlie landed at Glenfinnan, Scotland in July 1745, aiming to reclaim the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. Gathering support from the Highland clans, he advanced towards Edinburgh, capturing the city on 17 September. British General Sir John Cope, who had been gathering government forces in response to the Jacobite threat, marched his army from Aberdeen to intercept the rebels, culminating in the confrontation at Prestonpans, a small town east of Edinburgh. Prestonpans was the first major battle of the ‘45 Jacobite rebellion.

⚔️ Battle of Leuthen, Silesia (Poland),
5 December 1757

by Michael Prictor

The Battle of Leuthen, 5 December 1757, is one of the great battles of history, students of military history would consider it somewhat of a pilgrimage to visit this site. After defeating a Fench/Imperial Army of almost twice its size at the Battle of Rossbach a month earlier, Frederick’s Army had marched 275km in 12 days to confront the Austrian Army in Silesia. Frederick’s 33,000 troops faced Prince Charles of Lorraine and his 65,000 Austrian troops near the village of Leuthen.