The reign of Louis XIV of France had a great impact on the course of European and world military history. The years 1643 to 1715 were a defining epoch for western military, diplomatic, and economic matters. Most of those years were marked by conflict between major European powers and the Sun King's forces. This four-volume series is the first that present an extensive account of the many facets of the French army and the wars it fought. It was an era during which the Sun King's and eventually all armies saw extraordinarily significant changes such as: the advent of very large professional armies, increasingly centralized command systems, professional training for officers and men, introduction of obligatory military service, improvements in discipline and control, technical advances regarding armament thus affecting battlefield tactics, marked progress regarding fortifications, introduction of uniforms, logistics capable of supplying large armies, financial practices that permitted the upkeep and pay large military forces. The above and even more factors produced many influences that weighted heavily in European geo-political and geo-strategic maters. In these, the Sun King largely dominated Europe's agenda from the time he took effective autocratic power in 1661 to his last moments in 1715. Since his army was, initially, the largest, most modern and effective in Europe, he had success to the point that neighbouring countries formed coalitions to stop him. However, the Sun King was a master at geo-strategy, notably regarding the balance that he managed to maintain with the Ottoman Empire whose forces always threatened the eastern frontiers of France's opponents. Thus, France's forces were always sufficient to keep enemies mostly on the defensive; it was unthinkable that they would ever reach Paris. These and many more topics are presented in this four volume work. Each volume is basically in two parts. The first part is the era of the wars and their context, the second part consist of a detailed look at a part of the French army. The appendices present certain aspects such as uniform lists of the period and evaluations of opponent and allied armies of the Sun King's forces.

Though the French and British colonies in North America began on a 'level playing field', French political conservatism and limited investment allowed the British colonies to forge ahead, pushing into territories that the French had explored deeply but failed to exploit. The subsequent survival of 'New France' can largely be attributed to an intelligent doctrine of raiding warfare developed by imaginative French officers through close contact with Indian tribes and Canadian settlers. The ground-breaking new research explored in this study indicates that, far from the ad hoc opportunism these raids seemed to represent, they were in fact the result of a deliberate plan to overcome numerical weakness by exploiting the potential of mixed parties of French soldiers, Canadian backwoodsmen and allied Indian warriors. Supported by contemporary accounts from period documents and newly explored historical records, this study explores the 'hit-and-run' raids which kept New Englanders tied to a defensive position and ensured the continued existence of the French colonies until their eventual cession in 1763.

France's colonial wars in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia were very largely fought by an organization completely separate from both the home-defence Metropolitan Army and the Armée d'Afrique in Algeria. The Naval Troops (Troupes de la Marine) were volunteers, and earned a reputation for greater toughness and hardiness than the conscripted Metropolitan Army.

Spread throughout the French Empire, Naval Troops in this period were characterized by very large infantry and artillery regiments based in France, mixed race regiments (Régiments Mixtes), and entire native regiments raised in West Africa, Madagascar and Indochina. The latter, the so-called 'Tirailleurs' were organized and led by officers and cadres from the Naval Troops, and wore very varied and colourful uniforms based on formalized versions of traditional local costumes.

French Naval & Colonial Troops 1872-1914 uses rich and detailed full colour plates as well as thorough analysis to detail the story of these tough colonial units which bore the brunt of French colonial campaigns in Africa and Vietnam.

In 1758, at the height of the French and Indian War, British Brigadier General John Forbes led his army on a methodical advance against Fort Duquesene, French headquarters in the Ohio valley. As his army closed in upon the fort, he sent Major Grant of the 77th Highlanders and 850 men on a reconnaissance in force against the fort. The French, alerted to this move, launched their own counter-raid. 500 French and Canadians, backed by 500 Indian allies, ambushed the highlanders and sent them fleeing back to the main army. With the success of that operation, the French planned their own raid against the English encampment at Fort Ligonier less than fifty miles away. With only 600 men, against an enemy strength of 4,000, the French & Amerindians launched a daring night attack on the heart of the enemy encampment. This book tells the complete story of these ambitious raids and counter-raids, giving in-depth detail on the forces, terrain, and tactics.

A classic Men-at-Arms title detailing a major chapter in American military history. North American colonial history can broadly be divided into 'New France', 'New England' and 'New Spain. The latter covered a vast expanse of land from California to the whole of the south-west and south including modern-day Florida, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Illinois. Spanish America played a significant role in British and American campaigns in particular the American Revolution. Spanish units fought against the British throughout the Revolution providing a major distraction to the British forces and helping in some way to ensure the eventual success of the colonials.
Rene Chartrand is an international authority on the subject, he has amassed an array of original archival documents and illustrations to provide a fresh perspective on the key units and actions throughout the continent. In particular, he has provided a detailed listing of exactly where Spanish units were raised and based including major forts and places of interest to visit. Interest in Spanish American history is on the increase and this is a timely discussion of an aspect of American military history which is too often overlooked.

Louis XIV's army was in many ways the first modern army. After assuming power in 1661, Louis abolished the post of Colonel General of Infantry so he could exercise direct control over the armed forces in his realm. The king demanded order, discipline and absolute loyalty from his army, and he introduced a military draft in 1688 - the first step towards what we know as conscription in modern armies. This book chronicles the development of Louis XIV's army during his 54-year reign, including the units, uniforms and weapons of the elite Maison du Roi. Numerous illustrations portray the uniforms, colours and standards of his troops in vivid detail.

This fourth and final part of our study concentrates on the early 18th century War of Spanish Succession. It was the largest and most difficult conflict in Europe since the Thirty Years War and unsurpassed until the Napoleonic Wars. It started because of Bourbon France and Habsburg Austria's conflicting candidates to the Spanish that soon involved other nations such as Great Britain and the Netherlands. It was mostly fought on three fronts: Flanders, northern Italy and Spain. Due to various factors, it proved to be a very difficult period for the Sun King. During the first decade, there were repeated and massive defeats in Flanders and Germany where French princes and marshals proved to be unequal to the genial Duke of Marlborough and the competent Prince Eugene. The hard-pressed French forces in the northern Italian front eventually collapsed in 1706. The Spanish front, although it started badly for Felipe V, the French pretender, things improved and the allied troops supporting the Austrian Carlos III were decisively defeated in 1707, again in 1710 and finally at Barcelona in 1714. Meanwhile, following the hard fought battle at Malplaquet, the main French armies, that were amazingly resilient reflecting the nation's tenacity from the Sun King to the humblest folks, now had some success under Marshal Villars culminating in the strategic 1712 victory at Denain. This led to many previous allied gains now being lost. This was happening when Great Britain basically withdrew its support for the war. The treaties signed from 1713 basically gave the Sun King and France what it most wanted: Felipe V as King of Spain and its empire. It was a hard fought conflict but, in the end, France won. The study then discusses the economic and the serious climactic effects notably brought about by the awful winter of 1708-1709 in France that was also severe in other countries. The economic pressure was enormous on the Sun King's government, but it finally managed to go through it thanks to the amazing resilience of the French economy. French histories often state it was catastrophic, yet Britain's economy had a national debt rising up to four times faster than France's and this was obviously a factor in Britain's withdrawal from the alliance. The French army's technical and support services, many of which were the first to be organised as corps befitting a modern army, are next presented. The artillery that was totally militarised and its materiel modernised to standards copied by all other nations. Engineering under the guidance of Marshal Vauban became peerless and imitated in all nations. Up to the Sun King's time, old and crippled veteran soldiers were left to a pauper's miserable survival; he first introduced a pension system and, in the 1670s, had the splendid Invalides hospital built in Paris to care for these soldiers. We will also glance at what religious personnel was attached to army units and hospitals to care for soldiers broken bodies and souls. Since Medieval times in France, troops that were considered part of the army were specifically concerned with controlling bandits and applying the law under the command of a Marshal. Their original name of archers remained long after they adopted firearms and they could be found in all parts of France. They still are today, but under the name of gendarme in most countries. They were often veteran soldiers and this section will also feature what punishments a soldier could expect when condemned of some wrongdoing. Many towns and cities had their own regular local troops on duty as garrisons and security corps and we describe a number of these well appointed and effective soldiers, some of whom saw action. A fairly large section is devoted to the reserve forces. France had three types of militias. The best-known is the 1688 Royal Militia, which was the first integrated system leading to what became national conscription for military service in the regular armies. Next to unknown are the Coast Guard Militia organisation that might might muster 150,000 men and, most of all, the Bourgeois Militia in all the cities and towns of the realm that probably amounted to some half a million men, many of them well armed and uniformed. This section includes a number of notices describing the Bourgeois Militias and their Privileged companies showing an almost totally unknown sedentary "territorial" army that performed well in the few times when some were called upon. The last section will be a look at the social life of soldiers, their "families", camp followers and and sutlers. There were many women and children in the wake of regiments, as prints show and some documents elude, but they were not officially recognised in the army yet should not be forgotten.

The reign of Louis XIV of France had a great impact on the course of European and world military history. The years 1643 to 1715 were a defining epoch for western military, diplomatic and economic matters. Most of those years were marked by conflict between major European powers and the Sun King's forces. This four volume series is the first that present an extensive account of the many facets of the French army and the wars it fought. It was an era during which the Sun King's and eventually all armies saw extraordinarily significant changes such as: the advent of very large professional armies; increasingly centralized command systems; professional training for officers and men; introduction of obligatory military service, improvements in discipline and control; technical advances regarding armament thus affecting battlefield tactics; marked progress regarding fortifications; introduction of uniforms; logistics capable of supplying large armies; financial practices that permitted the upkeep and pay large military forces. The above and even more factors produced many influences that weighted heavily in European geo-political and geo-strategic maters. In these, the Sun King largely dominated Europe's agenda from the time he took effective autocratic power in 1661 to his last moments in 1715. Since his army was, initially, the largest, most modern and effective in Europe, he had success to the point that neighbouring countries formed coalitions to stop him. However, the Sun King was a master at geo-strategy, notably regarding the balance that he managed to maintain with the Ottoman Empire whose forces always threatened the eastern frontiers of France's opponents. Thus, France's forces were always sufficient to keep enemies mostly on the defensive; it was unthinkable that they would ever reach Paris. These and many more topics are presented in this four volume work. Each volume is basically in two parts. The first part is the era of the wars and their context, the second part consist of a detailed look at a part of the French army. The appendices present certain aspects such as uniform lists of the period and evaluations of opponent and allied armies of the Sun King's forces. Volume 1 deals with the Sun King's early years, from his birth in 1638, the resounding victory of Rocroi when he was five and a child king, the unstable years of the Fronde civil wars, his seizure of absolute power in 1661, the initial foreign military adventures culminating with the French army's blitzkriegs of 1667-1668. This is followed by a look at the command systems, short biographies of the senior officers, their own guards, their lifestyles and orders of chivalry. Closing with several chapters on the Royal Guard including their more mundane or obscure duties with their battle record, uniforms and material culture. Of the appendices, the largest is devoted to the opponent Spanish army of the 17th century. This volume, like the three others, has about 200 illustrations, most in colour, taken from contemporary sources joined by many works by now nearly forgotten 19th century eminent military illustrators such as Marbot, Titeu, Philippoteaux and JOB. As a bonus, each volume has five especially commissioned colour plates of three figures each showing usually never before seen uniforms reconstructed from descriptions and three especially commissioned colour plates showing colours and standards.

During the war for Spanish independance from Napoleonic France, Portuguese and British troops launched a daring raid into southern Spain, siezing the ancient city of Alcantara.
Napoleon had left his brother Joseph as King of Spain with some 300,000 French troops to put down the Spaniards, nearly all of whom had revolted against French rule. At the beginning of 1809, British forces held most of Portugal, while Marshal Soult attacked the north. Porto and most of the upper Douro River basin were taken by the French, but they met with stiff resistance from semi-regular and guerrilla-like Portugese troops led by General Silveira in the northeast. Taking the fight to the French, part of the British-led Loyal Lusitanian Legion, along with various Portuguese troops, raided deep into Spain.
Both British and Portuguese leaders (including the warrior-like Bishop of Porto ) initiated raids into Spain. Even as Soult occupied Porto in January 1809, Sir Robert Wilson was further east with part of his green-uniformed Loyal Lusitanian Legion at the fortress of Almeida, having led just a few hundred men into Spain, to be joined by thousands of patriots, and eventually reaching the outskirts of Salamanca. Meanwhile, in Lisbon, command of the British army passed to Wellington. In May 1809, he marched north to liberate Porto while Silveira's levies pressed the French in the northeast.
While Wellington and Silveira attacked Porto and northern Portugal, it was important to keep the French occupied elsewhere in Spain, to prevent their huge armies in Spain converging on northern Portugal and assisting Soult. To this end, Marshal Beresford, commanding the reorganized Portuguese Army, detached a large part of his most reliable troops - the British-led Loyal Lusitanian Legion - to raid the Spanish province of Estramadura, far to the south.
1,800 men of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion, along with other Portuguese troops, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mayne crossed the mountains into Estarmadura and raided the French border posts. The French soon fled, and the raiders quickly occupied Alcantara (the seat of the Medieval knightly order that bears its name). From here, some raiding parties went further east into Spain to cause as much trouble as possible to attract the attention of the French. This new Raid title will detail all aspects of this compelling clash of forces.

In 1811, the French again took the offensive in the peninsula. Soult moved to Badajoz and Massena advanced to relieve Almeida which Wellington had invested. At Fuentes de Onoro Massena and Wellington's armies clashed in a hard-fought contest. The attacks of the French cavalry were thwarted by the stalwart resistance of the British infantry in square. Wellington lost 1800 men, Massna 2700 but the French failed to break Wellington's siege of Almeida and were forced to withdraw. Massena was relieved of his command in disgrace to be relieved by Marshal Marmont. This book features the full story of the construction of the lines of Torres Vedras, the most massive undertakings of military engineering in the whole of the Napoleonic wars.

By 1810 Viscount Wellington had been forced onto the defensive. Napoleon was not about to give up and ordered a third massive invasion of Portugal. Wellington was now faced by 80,000 men of the Army of Portugal under Marshal Massena. At Bussaco on 27 September the British/Portuguese force offered battle. They had taken up a strong defensive position on high ground. Massena was perhaps too confident; the determined attacks of the French were all repulsed with the loss of 4500 French casualties against less than 1300 for the Anglo-Portuguese. This title shows how Bussaco was both a stinging defeat for the French army, and a demonstration of the courage and quality of the newly reorganized Portuguese army. It includes coverage of the construction of the defence lines around Lisbon - a masterpiece of military engineering.

Osprey are confident in boasting that this remarkable three-part study will transform the research material available to the English-speaking student of the Peninsular War (1808-1814). Most know that Wellington's Portuguese troops were praised as the 'fighting cocks' of his army; fewer appreciate that they represented between half and one-third of his entire forces. Similarly, most uniform historians have been limited to a few half-understood paintings by Dighton, and brief notes from secondary sources. Rene Chartrand's recent primary research in Portuguese and British archives now offers a wealth of important new material. An excellent book - groundbreaking in its originality.

The emergence of light troops at the time of Louis XV's reign (1715-1774) is a sign of the search for better intelligence of the enemy and rapid tactical moves on battlefields. This fourth instalment of Rene Chartrand's review of Louis XV's army reveals an extraordinary variety of units, most now long forgotten, who had a dazzling assortment of uniforms, equipment and weapons, as is revealed by this interesting text and its numerous accompanying illustrations, which include eight full page colour plates by Eugene Leliepvre.

France had a population of between 22 and 25 million at this time, and maintained the largest standing army in Europe. In peacetime it might have amounted to about 200,000 men; in times of war, it could be anything up to half a million. A substantial part of Louis XV's army consisted of numerous regiments of guard cavalry, heavy cavalry and dragoon regiments, which were considered the best and noblest part. These many units form the subject matter in this first of five fascinating volumes [Men-at-Arms 296, 302, 304, 308 & 313] by Rene Chartrand covering the army of Louis XV's.