The battles and campaigns of the 18th century I have listed on this site: Malplaquet, Oudenarde, Lauffelt, Fontenoy, Kolin and Poltarva, came about as a result of my school days, when our old history teacher always had a knack of describing the battles as well as the historical background surrounding their cause and effect. This instilled in me a lifelong ambition to visit and try and record what still remains of these old fields of valour.
Being a member of the British Battlefield Trust I have always had a great interest in the European campaigns conducted by the British Army, together with their alliances and, on not a few occasions, their blundering and defeats. With the years now catching me up I hope to be able to visit a few more “Foreign Fields” before they sound lights out.
Great Northern War
|
||
| 8 Jul 1709 |
Battle of Poltava | March 2006: The Battle of Poltava, 28th June 1709 |
War of Spanish Sucession |
||
| 13 Aug 1704 | Observations on Classic accounts of Battle of Blenheim 1704 |
March 2020: I met “Chuck” Parsons and his wife whilst conducting a group at Arthur Barbera’s 300th Anniversary of the battle of Malplaquet weekend in 2009. Chuck has approached the battle of Blenheim from a different perspective and I think you will agree that, although only speculation on his part, it is well worth further investigation. |
| 11 Jul 1708 | Battle of Oudenarde | Jan 2009: The third of Marlborough’s victories, which highlighted the French disunity within their command structure. |
| 11 Sep 1709 | Battle of Malplaquet | July 2002: Marlborough’s last and bloodiest victory – 1709. |
| 11 Sep 1709 | The role of the Swiss at Malplaquet | June 2021. The Battle of Malplaquet was a major and bloody battle in the War of Spanish Sucession. The battle is notable that Swiss mercenaries were fighting on both sides. As some visitors to this site may know, Arthur Barbera maintained a small museum in Bavay devoted to the battle. Following his death in 2012, his estate have given permission for us to reproduce his article “L’Affaire des Suisse à Maplaquet” which is now hard to obtain. The original article, in swiss french, may be downloaded for study. The work is also presented in english. Translation from french to english was done by Google translate and so may contain some curious idioms and not reflect Arthur’s style. |
War of Austrian Sucession
|
||
| 11 May 1745 | Battle of Fontenoy | Feb 2001: Marshal de Saxe’s victory – 1745. |
| 2 Jul 1747 | Battle of Lauffeldt |
October 2004: The Duke of Cumberland’s failure as military commander. |
Seven Years War |
||
| 18 Jun 1757 |
Battle Of Kolin |
June 2014: This article gives a brief overview of the Battle of Kolin. It sets the scene for the reader to have a general understanding of the events that occurred on the now peaceful meadows and pastures of this quite part of the Czech landscape. The source material given in the text offers a fuller description of the battle, and should be consulted by those who wish to study it in more depth. The main object herewith is to convey the outline of events so that they may be used in conjunction with Dr Bob’s splendid panorama photographs and allow the armchair general to visit the site from the comfort of his own home. |
War of the First Coalition
|
||
| 18 March 1793 |
Battle of Neerwinden |
May 2006: Graymo and DrBob visited the site of the Battle Of Neerwinden near Brussels. Together they have recreated a virtual tour of the battle site, including interactive panoramas and aerial imagery courtesy of Google Maps. |