Continuing my look at some recent books added to my library, I thought I would turn my attention to 'Battle Tactics of the American Revolution' by Robbie MacNiven (RM) and published by Osprey as part of their Elite series of books.
The first thing that struck me as curious when I first got this book is that despite the author being British and Osprey itself being a British publisher, and the book published in the UK, the title of the book refers to the American Revolution rather than the more usual descriptor for the war on this side of the pond, namely the American War of Independence (AWI), and indeed the whole book is printed in American-English, with an overuse of Zees or Zeds, depending on your preference, which is simply a misspelling here in dear-old-blighty.
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A contemporary image used in the book to illustrate the various troop types (line infantry, riflemen and artillery) under the command of Continental Army generals, and highlighting a diversity of tactics used by the forces contesting the AWI. (Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library) |
That said, with my reading occupied with AWI uniform, vexillology (flags) and battle tactics research front and centre at present, this book looked like a useful resource to help answer some questions I had, and to some extent still have, about the best way to represent what the historical armies of this period were up to on the battlefield versus what the various hobby writers and wargaming sources have to say on the matter.
As a Peninsular War student, the similarities between the tactics being deployed in North America between 1775-83 and those employed by the British Army that entered Portugal and Spain from 1809 to 1814 is unmistakeable and there are many aspects of the way Sir William Howe deployed his army that would have been instantly recognisable to Sir Arthur Wellesley, a generation later
The American, German States, French and American Indian forces present a different case study for each, which despite the adherence to linear tactics developed in Continental European warfare that influenced three of those forces also saw the application of distinct tactics that differentiated all four, which as a wargamer I am keen to see represented in any tabletop encounter.
As RM highlights in his introduction to the book;
'The American Revolutionary War (1775–83) pitted a huge array of opposed factions against one another in the largest conflict to take place in North America up to that point. Over the course of the war, combatants fought through the full gamut of 18th-century Western warfare. Armies traded body blows in pitched battles, skirmishers engaged one another in dense woodland, covert night time attacks resulted in massacres committed at bayonet point, amphibious operations were conducted under the thunder of naval broadsides, guerrilla ambushers struck from forests and swamps, and towns and fortresses were surrounded by the sprawling works of conventional sieges. The only factor that came close to matching the diversity of combat experiences during the war was the diversity of its combatants.'
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| Illustration of the Paoli Tavern attack by Stephen Walsh - British Light Infantry in the American Revolution, another Osprey title by Robbie MacNiven. |
If, as I suspect, the reference to 'covert night time attacks resulted in massacres committed at bayonet point' is referring to the so called 'Paoli Massacre', more accurately known as either the Battle of Paoli or Paoli Tavern.
With the Oxford English Dictionary defining Massacre as "The indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people or (less commonly) animals; carnage, butchery, slaughter in numbers . . ", then this is an interesting description of an affair, that saw 70 prisoners taken, 150 wounded and 52 killed, obviously indicating many of the attackers failed to get the memo about what a massacre implies, but not detracting from a better point that this was, as most civil wars are, a fiercely fought conflict, often sadly the very nature of war.
With those caveats mentioned what does Battle Tactics of the American Revolution cover?
So RM also highlights the principle forces in his introduction and the challenges posed to them by the nature of warfare in North America imposed by the terrain in the 18th century.
The varied tactical doctrines and past experiences of these groups were put to test in the North American crucible. Military commanders had long understood that strictly European-style conflict was impossible in Britain’s Thirteen Colonies. Too often objectives were too far flung, roads too poorly developed, forests too dense, and waterways too wide and rapid for the easy manoeuvre of large armies. Logistics were difficult to maintain and the frontier wilderness could prove inimical to even modest bodies of men.'
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| Gálvez at the siege of Pensacola "Por España y por el Rey, Gálvez en América" (2015), by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau. The Spanish played a minor but important role in tying down and causing the British quite a few problems during the AWI and it would have been nice to have seen them included in Battle Tactics of the American Revolution. |
Nothing controversial in those two paragraphs for anyone with a good understanding of the period and RM appears to be laying out his stall by providing the framework for this book, but again curiously, he mentions a comprehensive list of the combatants but on flicking through my copy of the book for the first time I immediately noticed the absence of the Spanish.
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| JJ's Wargames: JJ's on Tour - Tenerife and the Battles of Santa Cruz (Part Two) |
The Spanish are justly proud of the role their forces played in the AWI, as evidenced by recent trip to Tenerife and Santa Cruz earlier this year, and my trip to Corunna back in 2019, and I have plans to build a Spanish force alongside my French to explore their activities with some later scenarios, so it is a shame that they are not assessed in this book.
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| Check out this fantastic model of the Spanish attack on British held Pensacola in 1781 during the American War of Independence seen at the Corunna Military Museum in 2019 JJ's Wargames: Corunna & The Retreat - Peninsular War Tour 2019 |
The book then goes on to look specifically at the British Army covering;
- Linear Tactics.
- Reality and modifications in America.
- Musketry.
- The bayonet.
- Grenadiers and light infantry.
- Cavalry.
- Artillery.
- Loyalists
- Irregular warfare and Native American Allies.
With just over 19 pages covering these areas of British military thinking and practice in the theatre the reader is presented with a good summary, which for a deeper understanding together with first hand accounts of the tactics described one can turn to Mathew Spring's, 'With Zeal and With Bayonets Only' listed in RM's references and reviewed here on JJ's in 2018 and a highly recommended read.
RM includes some very nice copies of pages from the 1764 Manual Exercise published in Boston in 1774 which illustrates the movements of a regiment in line and in column together with the positions to be taken by officers during the manoeuvres, and similarly forming a regiment from line to column and vice versa as well as crossing a river.
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| The Manual Exercise as Ordered by His Majesty in 1764 and referenced in the chapter looking at British battle tactics. |
In addition to period references such as that illustrated above, the book is blessed with some seriously good portrayals of actual battlefield situations or usual tactical practice by the artist Adam Hook.
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| The 33rd Foot deployed in line at the Battle of Camden - Adam Hook (Osprey, British Tactics of the American Revolution). An example of Adam Hook's work illustrating the book, with this illustration depicting a typical British infantry battalion deployed in the open order two deep line, showing the eight 'hatmen' companies, less the grenadier and light companies detached to the amalgamated grenadier and light battalions, with their Colour party in the centre, and with the officer commanding, mounted, and to the rear. |
For me, the most interesting references in this chapter were the sections looking at the Irregular Forces and particular the tactics employed by Lt. Colonel John Butler leading Butler's Rangers and his Seneca allies under chiefs Sayenqueraghta and Cornplanter at the Battle of Wyoming, July 3rd 1778; another 'so-called massacre' that RM does point out, although a definitely brutal encounter, typical of frontier warfare with native Indian forces involved, but also illustrating a carefully arranged ambush that resulted in the overwhelming defeat for the Patriot militia, likewise enhanced with another illustration by Adam Hook showing the tactics used in the battle.
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Massacre of Wyoming (Pennsylvania) - Alonzo Chappel Loyalist and Iroquois forces (110 Butler's Rangers and 464 Seneca warriors) launched a surprise attack on the American militia near Forty Fort. The American forces (360 regulars, militia and irregulars) were quickly overwhelmed, and within thirty minutes, the battle turned into a rout. Many American militiamen fled in panic, and those who remained faced brutal combat. Estimates suggest that around 340 to 360 Americans were killed, while Loyalist and Iroquois casualties were minimal, with only a few reported deaths. Widespread looting and burning of buildings occurred throughout the Wyoming Valley subsequent to the battle, but non-combatants were not harmed. A highly inaccurate newspaper report claimed that hundreds of women and children had been massacred that has since been thoroughly discredited. |
The next chapter, 21 pages, focusses on the Continental Army, Militia and State Troops, with sections covering;
- Organisation and reform.
- Standardised drill and Steuben's manual.
- Linear warfare.
- Defensive tactics.
- Musketry and the rifle.
- The bayonet.
- Militia.
- State Troops.
- Cavalry.
- Artillery.
This reluctance in the American revolutionary governing body, Congress, led to the early limitations on enlistment periods and the size of the army recruited to resist the Crown, with eventual reform inevitable as the war dragged on and the recognition that militia could not be relied upon, and that there was a need for a large standing force of trained and veteran soldiers that became a necessity.
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| Fredrich Wilhelm von Steuben |
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| An example page of Steuben's, 'Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States'. |
RM outlines Steuben's methods of forming a model company trained personally in his own drill that provided the 'chosen men' to then spread the new drill throughout the army, the drill being Steuben's simplification of the British 1764 drill manual incorporating elements of his own formal military education, that would become 'Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States'.
The new drill ostensibly mimicked that of the British, with the adoption of a two rank, open order line as the preferred battle order, with several lines of troops deployed by American armies.
However an interesting point made by RM was that given the Americans usually enjoyed a numerical advantage when facing British opponents, there seems to have been a ready use of a more close order arrangement to their lines, they not needing to extend their frontage greatly to avoid envelopment.
This ironically could, and indeed did, lead to problems in the pace and ableness to manoeuvre in the difficult terrain, that the British were so aware might impede their own previous drill techniques, with Lt. Colonel John Mercer complaining that at the Battle of Green Spring on July 6th, 1781, General Wayne's Brigade were drawn up in such close order - the line was necessarily broke by trees as they passed the wood, he going on to describe how the British regulars opposing them engaged in their customary looser formation;
'The British advanc'd in open order at arms length and aiming very low kept up a deadly fire'.
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| The Battle of Green Spring took place near Green Spring Plantation in Virginia on July 6th, 1781. Brigadier General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, leading the advance forces of the Marquis de Lafayette, was ambushed near the plantation by the British army of Earl Charles Cornwallis in the last major land battle of the Virginia campaign prior to the Siege of Yorktown. British reports of casualties in the battle listed 5 officers and 70 enlisted men killed or wounded. American casualties were reported to number about 140, including 28 killed. |
He then states that - In this situation Gen'l Wayne gave repeated orders to the line to charge, but this operation was really impossible from the manner in which they were form'd and they could not push forward. Mercer then going on to blame the Steuben drill for the debacle, claiming that;
'we had just begun to assume the stiff German tactics, as the British acquir'd the good sense, from experience in our woody country, to lay it aside'.
Another interesting section dispelled a few myths about American musketry and the use of the rifle, with a common claim that rebel forces relied on accurate firepower to win battles, since offset by recent scholarship that has shown the emphasis British commanders placed on both weight and rapidity of fire as well as accuracy, with British soldiers benefitting from live firing at targets and shown how to aim their muskets for effect at different ranges.
Interestingly Continental Army regiments did benefit from a larger number of officers and NCOs versus their British counterparts that likely enabled better regulation of firing during combat, with a similar ability to issue fire by battalion, platoon or division.
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| An American rifleman - Don Troiani |
With regard to the use of rifles by American troops, RM points out the often overlooked downsides that came with these weapons, principally the inability to attach a bayonet, often requiring riflemen to operate closely with line or light infantry to provide security against such close in attacks. The fragility of rifles subjected to the rigours of campaign, being more prone to fouling and damage, too which I would add the added complexity of maintaining the American long rifles, they being individual hand built weapons unique from one to another with the user needing to prepare their own shot to get the best from the weapon.
Likewise any early advantage American troops gained from the use of rifles was offset by the increased use by British and German troops with similar weapons, and certainly with the advent of the British pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle issued primarily to the light companies of British regiments and to Loyalist units such as the Queen’s Rangers and Emmerick’s Chasseurs, seeing extensive service in North America, participating in most battles where British light infantry were engaged, with the rifles valued for their accuracy being used in skirmishing and sharpshooting roles.
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| The British Pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle featured a 30.5-inch barrel with a hook breech and was chambered in .62 calibre for a carbine ball. It incorporated eight-groove rifling and was the first British pattern rifle to include the captive ramrod design. The rifle had a full European walnut stock, brass mounts, and a flat bevelled flintlock mechanism with a goose-neck cock. Its overall length was approximately 44 inches, and it included a sliding wooden patch-box and sling swivels for field use |
Perhaps the most interesting fact about the use of rifles was their undoubted ability for longer range accurate fire and the possibilities they offered for killing British officers and NCO's to disrupt the command of their troops, this sniping ability causing great concern at the time, such that British officers were instructed to remove as much lace and other identifiers of rank as possible to reduce the risk of being singled out; however it seems that after the experience of Bunker Hill, the ratio of deaths and wounding in battle for officers did not exceed those of other conflicts during the period.
As with the all the chapters covering the different nations, the text benefits from some very helpful illustrations from Adam Hook, with perhaps the most informative being the one concerning Continental Artillery, showing the placement of the heavier 6-pounder batteries, to compliment the fire effect of the smaller 3-pdr battalion guns attached at battalion or brigade level.
The chapter looking at the German State Armies consists of eight pages covering;
- Hessian Organisation.
- Tactical limitations in America.
- Other German states.
- Cavalry.
- Artillery
- Jäger
RM provides an overview of the German states that helped Britain deal with its mobilisation crisis in 1775, highlighting the inaccuracy of describing these troops as mercenaries, in that these professional soldiers were serving their own ruler, country or principality just as the armies of Britain, France or Spain served theirs.
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| Lieutenant General Leopold von Heister |
A succinct description of the various German troops organisation and the soldiers that composed them capturing the fact that the Hessians for example were well aware of their need to adapt their tactics to work alongside their British counterparts as well as the terrain obstacles presented by the American battlefields, and reference is made to them adopting a two rank formation for their line infantry, whilst retaining the close-order of their traditional three rank formation.
The situation was no doubt encouraged by the views of the commander of the First Hessian Division, Lieutenant General Leopold von Heister, writing to his sovereign, the Landgraf on the 21st March 1777, reporting that he was unimpressed with the 'newfangled' ideas of the British, this following continued disagreements with General Howe, that likely played a role in his removal from command in 1777 following the Battle of Trenton and the appointment of his second in command, Wilhelm von Knyphausen as his replacement.
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| General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, c1795 - Johann Heinrich Schröder |
Other German states commanders get a worthy mention to illustrate the efforts German commanders made to prepare their soldiers, with Major General Friedrich Riedesel working hard to enable his troops to work in concert with their British allies on the Burgoyne expedition in 1777 with his instructions quoted below;
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| Brunswick von Barner Light Battalion - Don Troiani |
He also went on to describe drilling his troops in the use of firepower during irregular fighting, here describing the efforts made by Brunswick soldiers to adapt to North American warfare;
Perhaps the most unique combat troops that the German states contributed to the Crown were of course the rifle-armed Jäger, typically recruited from huntsmen, foresters and gamekeepers and considered an elite skirmishing force.
RM devotes a couple of pages outlining the role these key troops played, with examples of actions they participated in together with several descriptions of how they operated and coupled with another excellent portrayal by Adam Hook of the Hessians advance at Flatbush Pass during the Battle of Long Island.
The final chapter covers the French Army and consists of eight pages covering;
- Assault columns.
- Cavalry.
- Artillery.
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| An illustration of the look of French troops in North America. The French Army in the American War of Independence, René Chartrand and Francis Back, (Osprey Men at Arms) |
This chapter looking at the reforms carried out by the French in the wake of the disastrous losses suffered in the Seven Years War compliments another previous title from Osprey as part of their Men at Arms series, number 244, 'The French Army in the American War of Independence', by the late René Chartrand and artwork by Francis Back with an example of an illustration of French troops above, and perhaps also noteworthy for its use of British-English terminology in its title and text.
Again with a Peninsular War perspective brought to this chapter, it is easy to see the development of French tactics and organisation being the progenitor of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic armies that would follow; and the action fought on the Vigie Peninsula on Saint Lucia between French columns up against British heavy artillery and veteran British infantry benefitting from their experience of fighting in North America and demonstrating their skirmishing skills as well as the use of the two deep line to repel the French assault on their positions was very much a precursor to what was to come.
Battle Tactics of the American Revolution is a useful look at the tactics employed by the various nationalities involved in the American War of Independence, by no means comprehensive, but with its list of bibliography at the back providing a good pointer to another twenty-eight sources to support further research and with several illustrations by Adam Hook adding to the text, and pointing to the age-old maxim 'a good picture is worth a thousand words'.
I am still on the lookout for a similar tome to Mathew Spring's 'With Zeal and with Bayonets Only' but instead covering the tactics of Continental and American troops in the AWI based on eyewitness accounts, and sources from the time, perhaps entitled 'Not all Skirmishing and Rifles'.
As always, more anon.
JJ
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