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1. Line versus columnThe frontispiece to the edition of Polybius by the Chevalier de Folard, a classic of military literature that appeared in German translation in 1755 [1], shows Athena and Ares as Olympian military experts engaged in lively discussion concerning two different battlefield formations. The pair here symbolize a fundamental military controversy of the 18th century: whether linear or columnar tactics offered the better chance of victory (cf. fig. 1). The discussion concerned the infantry attack formation,…

1. Concept and purpose Cadet schools (from the French cadet, “younger son”) trained successive generations of officer corps in early modern military systems, after the latter had taken on the form of standing armies. The objective was to create a continuously maintained potential leadership for the regiments with better schooling including military training. The schooling part of this goal was rooted in the knight academy, the general/nobility canon of education for this (foreign languages, riding, fenci…

Shortly before his death in 1740, King Frederick William I of Prussia arranged to have his personal military insignia laid on his coffin at his obsequies: baton, gorget, and sash. A high-ranking officer was to stand behind them with the general Prussian standard, the imperial banner. For the special standards of his guard regiment, a  Leibfahne and 14 company flags, the king bade his successor see to their future continuance – thus entrusting the fate of the regiment to his son.The standards and insignia cited here for Prussia were in common use in all early modern Eu…

Honors and decorations are insignia worn visibly as tokens of a distinctive value based on social consensus. They generally rank a bit below orders, which are closely related. Despite the common colloquial treatment of orders and decorations (German Orden and  Ehrenzeichen), the two are most safely distinguished by a quantitative aspect laid down at the time they were instituted. As a rule, the number of  people bearing a specific decoration is usually much larger than the number who are members of an order. Decorations are usually …

1. Definition and etymology Of the three land-based branches of the military, the cavalry was characterized by its speed and the momentum of its charge, the artillery by its large-caliber projectiles and long-distance efficacy, and the infantry was comparatively easy to muster, could be armed economically, and employed tactics that were largely independent of the terrain. Since if necessary infantry could operate without cavalry and artillery, but the latter could never operate without in…

1. General considerations While the early modern infantry developed as a weapon against late-medievalknight contingents, the cavalry stood in the latter’s tradition. As a weapon type of the land combat forces it gave force to the (Clausewitzian) “principle of movement” of the army campaigns, by carrying out its marches and combats on horseback (Horse) (Ital. cavallo, hence cavalleria; Ger. first "Haufen zu Ross" [troops on steed], Reiterei, from the 17th century Kavallerie). The acquisition and maintenance of horses  (Horse, Riding) and riding materials influence…