La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction and Early Modern Studies Newsletter

Welcome

A warm welcome to the La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction newsletter – this is your fortnightly update on the novel series and early modern studies.

New Releases from La Garde Ecossaise

Audio Guide Chapter 19 Physical Combat

Audio Guide Chapter 20 Sharpshooting

Quote

‘We do dangerous work under immense pressures and it is easy to lose control and our sense of self. You must focus on your objectives at all times and not let the provocations of the enemy overtake you. If you do, you risk making a mistake which your enemy will gladly use against you. Keep your mind steady at all times’.

La Garde Ecossaise Book 1 p. 93.

Early Modern Digest

Stolen documents relating to the early days of the Dutch VOC rediscovered. https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/stolen-17th-century-dutch-archives-recovered-by-art-detective/news

3D reconstruction of 17^th century Swedish fortress https://archaeologymag.com/2025/07/gullbergs-fortress-3d-reconstruction/

Recreation of 17^th century ‘pop music’ including pub brawls https://www.ft.com/content/5caa4d5c-7e07-4225-8c59-2f47501ce080

Dutch Golden Age Art and its roots in Flanders https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/05/19/the-secret-of-the-great-dutch-art-of-the-17th-century-it-began-in-belgium

Crowds in Spain flock to pay homage to saint that died 400 years ago. (Pilgrimage very important in early modern Spain – it continues today). https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/saint-teresa-avila-spain-body-b2757882.html

Do You Know?

Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer who claimed land in North America establishing ‘La Florida’ in 1513. He was driven by the promise of gold and a quest for the fountain of youth but did not find it, but Florida remained Spanish for the next 300 years. Read more about Juan Ponce here: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/juan-ponce-de-leon  

Feature Article: The Perfect Major: the importance of military discipline and the exercise of arms in early modern warfare 

In La Garde Ecossaise we are introduced to military discipline in the mental and physical sense. Discipline is not just a physical action but also a form of mental strength. 

In the chapter entitled ‘physical combat’ Hamilton teaches Meldrum the importance of controlling emotions and focusing on one’s objectives. In the chapter ‘sharpshooting’ Alasdair MacDonald, instructing Robert Meldrum in musket drills emphasises proper procedure when loading and firing muskets.[1] 

Discipline was an essential component of early modern warfare as it ensured an effective chain of command and the functioning of all sections of the army at a collective and individual level. Discipline was instilled into every early modern soldier when discharging their weapons, although behaviour on and off the battlefield was another matter entirely.[2] 

This feature article will illustrate the importance of discipline in early modern warfare by exploring several printed treatises that were published in Britain on the subject in the seventeenth century. 

Military Discipline: A Universal Concept

Military discipline was a concept which all early modern soldiers were familiar with. Over 100 pamphlets on this subject alone were published in Britain and Ireland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and it was also a subject of interest across Europe.

Yet, we also must bear in mind, that printed works were just one facet of instilling military discipline into soldiers, indeed, military instruction would have also been communicated through manuscript (letters, books and hand drawn illustrations) but primarily audibly, through drum commands on the battlefield.[3]

Military discipline was viewed, not just in practical terms, but also as an art to be perfected.[4]

However, what is noticeable about these pamphlets when viewed collectively is that they catered for a cross section of commanders, officers and soldiers within an army. For example, The Rudiments of Militarie Discipline published in Edinburgh in 1638 as the Covenanters were gathering their military forces to challenge King Charles I, is a basic list of instructions for the handling of muskets and pike. Straight to the point, no embellishment, concise and numbering only ten pages. This was aimed at recruits from all backgrounds of the newly forming covenanting forces. It was also written as a list of instructions which could easily be conveyed orally between fellow soldiers or commanding officers and soldiers. It was also a practical guide which was easily portable and could be consulted while soldiers and equipment were on the move.[5]

This is to be contrasted with The Military Garden published in Edinburgh in 1629 which although stated it was for ‘all young souldiers’ it was clearly written for young gentlemen from aristocratic backgrounds that wished to recruit men and form companies to fight in the Thirty Years War. It offers advice to young officers to enable them to raise their own private companies of men. It is written by a gentleman burgess who wished to pass on his military knowledge to a younger generation after having successfully trained and recruited men in Edinburgh himself. To begin with, the fifty-page volume considers the ranks that the sons of the aristocracy were placed, namely, Captain, Lieutenant, the Ensign, the Sergeant, the Corporall. It also has printed diagrams of formations of men on the battlefield and has instructions about the postures of pike and musket. However, these instructions are for commanding officers, rather than rank and file as the instructions are detailed and offer advice on moving large groups of men on the battlefield.[6] 

There were also official publications issued by the authority of the government that were aimed at the more illiterate soldier training in drills and pike. The Military Discipline published in 1623 on the authority of the King James Is Privy Council, consisted of a series of clear images with a limited amount of text illustrating the stages in handling and firing a musket. It explains the meaning behind the wide variety of commands on the battlefield and how soldiers were expected to handle and prepare their weapons upon hearing these commands. There is far more to handling a musket than you may assume. There are at least 44 illustrations – which equates to 44 individual instructions, far more instructions than Meldrum recalls in La Garde Ecossaise. The pamphlet also has a series of illustrated instructions and commands for pikemen. This would not only facilitate practice but assist in creating a clearly understood chain of command in drills. How this clarity of command was transferred to the battlefield is another issue entirely.[7]

The Early Modern Parameters of Military Discipline

Today when we hear the words ‘military discipline’ images of ceremony and display come to mind or how an army behaves around the civilian population. It may surprise modern readers to learn that this was not what early modern contemporaries understood by the term ‘military discipline’. Indeed, it was commonplace for armies in the early modern period to leave a trail of destruction in their wake as they marauded their way across the countryside living off the civilian population. Even though there were displays of military ceremony throughout the early modern period it was largely a performance for the monarch.[8] 

Military discipline was focused on the chain of command, the offices within an army and the knowledge of how each office or individual in these offices contributed to an effective deployment of military forces. It also included the composition and deployment of forces on the battlefield. For example, it was common in the Thirty Years War and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms to form a company of infantry in a square formation, indeed this became the favoured and expected formation during these wars. Military discipline also included methods about how to respond to attacks from your enemies on the battlefield which today we would classify as tactics. It also included ways in which to mould a regiment into a cooperative and cohesive entity through the removal of internal disputes over various matters. For example, The Second Part of the Soldiers Grammar published in 1627, offers advice on how to reconcile differences between older and younger commanding officers. There was also a focus on how different regiments should work together on a battlefield as well as the formation of whole armies across the battlefield.[9]

At an individual level, for a musketeer, military discipline involved marching with equipment in the right hand and have the necessary equipment to fulfil the drill. It was not just about the basic elements of the drill such as inserting wadding and the ball and pushing them down to the bottom of the barrel. It was concerned with where the musketeer should place his hands and fingers to keep his weapon steady to prevent it from falling out of his hands as he prepared the match. Also, where to place the angle of his body when he was ready to ‘give fire’. There were clear safety instructions to adhere to such as ‘blow ye coale without bowing himselfe too much towards it’ or ‘How with the two forefingers he shall couer the Panne for fear of sparkles falling in’.[10]

As I.T. Gent the author of A, B, C, of Armes succinctly states:   

‘All of which may be full well and easily be learned, by frequenting such places where mustering shall bee and remembering such termes of discipline, as they are at this time chiefly in use. For taste cannot be tryed by sounds: no more can direction in trayining be understood by any, to whom the words of comand are unknowne. It is therefore greatly to bee desired that all men would learne, how to receive direction, by acquainting themselves with the termes. And that musters might often be used, that every one might practice publikely, what they have privately learned’.[11] 

Indeed, the perfection in the art of military discipline lies in practice, both privately and publicly.

The Perfect Major: the Franco-British Military Treatise

The Perfect Major is a guide to military discipline written by former French military officer F. d’Morains and was published in London in 1686. What makes this particular treatise remarkable is that it is a dual language treatise with the left-hand pages published in French and the right-hand pages published in English. The book was licensed for publication by Roger L’Estrange, Charles IIs press licenser and a leading member of the emerging Tory Party. The book was printed for the author by printer B Griffin, signifying that the book was a personal project by the author rather than an official publication.[12] 

However, what cannot be disputed is the atmosphere within which the book was published as King James II had begun to make moves towards allowing Catholics to serve in the armed forces. In addition, at this time, Louis XIVs military power was on the rise within Europe. Both these factors caused alarm amongst the majority of British Protestants. Therefore, despite the author’s genuine well-intentioned wish to pass on knowledge from one of the foremost armies in Europe it was unlikely to be well received by the majority English readers, including Tory allies.[13] 

The book itself is dedicated to King James II of Britain and Ireland and gives us a glimpse into the King’s Francophile and pro-Catholic leanings. The author praises James as someone ‘who receives the humble offerings of Strangers, as well as those of your natural born subjects’.[14] The book is similar to The Military Garden as it is aimed at the aristocracy for the art of military discipline is:

‘The skill of Noble Men, the practice of Men of Valour and the Exercise of Princes and Kings. An Art by which to get Honour, we must be both Masters and Scholars at once: For we must conquer in Learning and learn in conquering’.[15]  

Morains declares to the reader ‘seeing my design is only to teach with an ease of way the Handling of Arms, the military motions, with the manner how to enter into the Field, Form a Battalion, to fire retreating and in the keeping of a pass or a Hollow way and in Defiles’.[16]

This, written by an active solider was in line with contemporary practices and methods of warfare. 

He offers his advice to the British nobility who fight for the King and for the glory of their country. 

After which, the treatise like those above, discuss the function and importance of military offices, the position of the various components of regiments in battle, the meanings behind various terminology such as ‘counter march’ and ‘conversion’, exercises for infantry, exercises for musketeers and the proper handling of arms, the exercises for the proper handling of pikes, drills in the handling of arms and marching for pikes, musketeers and whole battalions and also how to fire your musket properly.[17] 

It is a book which gives a comprehensive overview of the meaning and nature of military discipline in the early modern period.

I hope you have enjoyed the latest edition of the newsletter. If you are reading this newsletter on the web and have any questions please leave a comment below or you can email me at [email protected]  

[1] Kirsteen M MacKenzie, La Garde Ecossaise : the life of John Hamilton c.1620-1689 Part 1 (Aberdeen, 2022) 89-100.

[2] For an introduction to this topic within the context of Louis XIVs armies please see, Guy Rowlands, The Dynastic State and Army under Louis XIV (Cambridge, 2002). Chapter 6 ‘In the name of sustainability: reforming the structure of the standing army and the officer corps’ for Louis XIVs efforts to build a system to sustain military discipline in the army. For the behaviour of French officers and soldiers on and off the battlefield see Chapter 8 ‘The Temptations and Pressures of Service.’ Another source that highlights the raucous behaviour off the battlefield is Hans Jacob von Grimmelshausen, The Adventures of Simplicissimus (Camden, South Carolina, 1993). This is an alleged account of a soldiers service in the Thirty Years War. We will discuss this account in a future newsletter.  

[3] Harold Love, The Culture and Commerce of Texts (Boston, 1998) 177-230. Written copies of military treatises would have been part of commonplace book collections in private libraries in country houses and circulated amongst a selected number of correspondents.  An example the audible function of military commands during early modern warfare can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S5qpw-_fpos

[4] I.T. Gent, The A, B, C, of Armes (London, 1616) Unpaginated. [10] – [11].

[5] The Rudiments of Militaire Discipline: Conteining short instructions for the most necessary postures with Pike and Musquet, and motions for exercising a companie (Edinburgh, 1638) 1-10; David Stevenson, The Scottish Revolution 1637-44 (Edinburgh, 2003) 127.

[6] The Military Garden (Edinburgh, 1629) 1-36.

[7] The Military Discipline (London, 1623) Unpaginated.

[8] The Exercise of Musquet and Pike (London, 1684) 1-2; Geoff Mortimer, Eyewitness Accounts of the Thirty Years War (London, 2018) has a wide selection of primary documents which reflect the trauma and destruction during the Thirty Years War. You can view the book here on archive.org. https://archive.org/details/EyewitnessAccountsOfTheThirtyYearsWar161848/page/n7/mode/2up

[9] G.M.  The Second Part of the Soldiers Grammar (London, 1627) 1-67.

[10] The Military Discipline unpaginated [4], [6], [8].

[11] The A, B, C, of Armes unpaginated [11]-[12].

[12] F d’ Morains, The Perfect Major: Shewing the easiest way of handing arms (London, 1686). Title page; Tim Harris, Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720 (London, 2006) 42.

[13] John Miller, James II (New Haven, 2000) 148-152.

[14] d’Morains, The Perfect Major unpaginated. ‘To the King’.

[15] d’Morains, The Perfect Major unpaginated. ‘To the King’.

[16] d’Morains, The Perfect Major unpaginated. ‘To the Reader’.

[17] d’Morains, The Perfect Major 1-183.