Alexander S. Burns

Infantry in Battle 1733-1783

Infantry in Battle rewrites the story of combat in the eighteenth century by placing enlisted infantrymen and their experiences at centre stage. While popular memory and film portray these men as robotic automata they fought in flexible and adaptable ways, and they left their mark on eighteenth-century warfare. In Infantry in Battle, Dr Alexander S. Burns provides a new understanding of combat during the mid-eighteenth century: the pivotal period between 1733 and 1783. Professor Burns argues that eighteenth-century soldiers informally negotiated authority with their officers on the battlefield by firing without orders, firing at longer ranges than their officers preferred, and by taking cover on the battlefield. In this process, these enlisted men played an important role by asserting tactical reforms from below. Infantry in Battle is grounded in archival research on the American, British, and Prussian armies. However, it also covers the armies of military Europe more broadly, and includes writings from Austrian, French, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish soldiers. It is also the first English-language book to utilize archival material on battles from the War of Polish Succession in Northern Italy. Infantry in Battle is a scholarly monograph, but one written with a popular audience in mind. Like his mentor, the late Christopher Duffy, Professor Burns has longstanding connections to professional military education as well as wargamers and reenactors. Cutting through myth, we see motivated enlisted men who were capable of adapting their tactics to the needs of the battlefield, rather than terrorized automata firmly controlled by their officers.