The Complete Soldier: Military Books and Military Culture in Early Stuart England, 1603-1645 (History of Warfare, 53)

The period 1603-1645 witnessed the publication of more than ninety books, manuals, and broadsheets dedicated to educating Englishmen in the military arts. Written with the intention of creating the “complete soldier”, this didactic literature provided gentlemen with the requisite knowledge to engage in infantry, cavalry, and siege warfare. Drawing on military history and book history, this is the first detailed study of the impact of military books on military practice in Jacobean and Caroline England. Putting military books firmly in the hands of soldiers, this work examines the circles that purchased and debated new titles, the veterans who authored them, and their influence on military thought and training in the years leading up to the English Civil War. Contents 8 Abbreviations 10 Note on Dates 12 Illustrations 14 Acknowledgements 18 Introduction 22 Chapter One "Caesar to this Present day of King James": Military Books and Military Culture, 1572–1603 40 Matriculating in the Schoole of Warre: English Entry into the Low Countries War 44 Warfare Abroad and Reform at Home 52 Books, Learning, and Military Culture 57 Procuring Foreign Military Books 67 England's Worthies: Military Circles and Military Books in Late Elizabethan England 72 Chapter Two "Companions of Martiall Noblenesse": Military Circles and Books in Early Stuart England 94 The English Military Experience: 1603–1629 96 Early Stuart Military Circles: The Veres 114 The Military Court of Henry, Prince of Wales 126 Caroline Military Circles 147 Chapter Three "Practice put in Press": The Evolution of the English Drill Manual 156 The Evolution of the Early Stuart Drill Manual: The Dutch Influence 158 The Honourable Artillery Company: The Incubator of English Military Practice 177 The Impact of the Instructions For Musters and Armes of 1623 188 The Drill Manual in the Personal Rule Period 198 Drill Manuals in the First Years of the English Civil War 206 Chapter Four "A few men rightly instructed to manage Armes": The Analytical Treatise and Infantry Warfare 216 Soldier-Authors and their Patrons: The Veterans 217 Soldier-Authors and their Patrons: The Amateurs 237 English Translations of Foreign Analytical Treatises 251 Preparation and Action: Infantry Tactics 264 The Five Vowels 270 Habiliments & Necessaries of War 275 Chapter Five "There is Great Need for Reformation": Military Books and Mounted Warfare 282 Late Elizabethan Theories on Mounted Warfare 284 Warfare and Horsemanship Treatises 291 Jacobean Military Books on Cavalry 301 John Cruso's Militarie Instructions for the Cavallrie and Caroline Books on Cavalry 312 Cavalry Manuals in the English Civil War 324 Chapter Six "Necessary Bulwarks": Siegecraft Treatises in Early Stuart England 334 Soldiers, Military Architects and Mathematicians 337 Siegecraft and the Mathematical Renaissance 343 An English School of Military Architecture, 1560–1600? 347 Siege Literature: Ostend to Breda 350 Analytical Treatises and Specialized Literature on Siegecraft, 1630–1642 357 The Elements of a Siege 366 Necessary Bulwarks: The Theory and Practice of Siegecraft in the Civil War 382 Conclusion 392 Appendix Military Books Printed in English, 1603–1645 396 Selected Bibliography 414 Index 438 The period 1603-1645 witnessed the publication of more than ninety books, manuals, and broadsheets dedicated to educating Englishmen in the military arts. Written with the intention of creating the 'complete soldier', this didactic literature provided gentlemen with the requisite knowledge to engage in infantry, cavalry, and siege warfare. Drawing on military history and book history, this is the first detailed study of the impact of military books on military practice in Jacobean and Caroline England. Putting military books firmly in the hands of soldiers, this work examines the circles that purchased and debated new titles, the veterans who authored them, and their influence on military thought as well as training in the years leading up to the English Civil War