English Civil War Society appearance on Blue Peter 1989

 

Littlecote London march

book from Littlecote: The English Civil War Armoury – Royal Armouries Museum Shop

I think it was 1985 when this joint effort a march by the Sealed Knot and the ECWS took place. The subject was the saving of the Littlecote armoury. Article on it here 

photo Ann Mundy

Two anniversaries from the Civil War

 

image S. Grbasic

Battle of Dunbar (1650) - Wikipedia and Battle of Worcester - Wikipedia happened today so a day for celebrating for Roundhead supporters.

Puy de Fou UK

 Historical theme park in Oxfordshire. Webpage

Beneath the Lily Banners

 new artwork.

Tippermuir 1644

 The Battle of Tippermuir (also known as the Battle of Tibbermuir) (1 September 1644) was the first battle James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose, fought for King Charles I in the Scottish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. During the battle, Montrose's Royalist forces routed an army of the Covenanter-dominated Scottish government under John Wemyss, Lord Elcho. The government side took heavy losses.

pics of 17th century Scots here

from Fox Historical Publications: Archery in the English Civil War.

It is said to be the last battle using longbows - read an article on archery in the Civil Wars here

from the book "Der vollkommene teutsche Soldat", from 1726.

 

In 1725

George Wade reinstated the Independent Companies of Highlanders which became part of the army in 1739. Here are some pics of the Black Watch.
 

Highland soldiers on the march, 1743 - High Life Highland

Portrait of a Highlander by Richard Waitt (1684–1733)

 Portrait of a Highlander | Art UK

John Laguerre A London Fair, c. 1730

 

Saxon recruiting scene

  from the book "Der vollkommene teutsche Soldat", from 1726.

The Recruiting Officer by George FARQUHAR (1677 - 1707)

 The Recruiting Officer - Wikipedia Opened in 1706 based on the author's own experiences of being a recruiter so it is spot on. 

00:00:00 - 01 - Act 1 00:26:39 - 02 - Act 2 00:51:05 - 03 - Act 3 01:20:31 - 04 - Act 4 01:46:43 - 05 - Act 5

John Collett The Recruiting sergeant 1767

 

King George, and Old England Forever! (Barry Lyndon - 1975, by Stanley Kubrick)

 Recruiting Kubrick style. 

French recruiting poster

 French author David Wilson has an original of this and it is coloured. 

I like recruiting posters. 
 

Cavalry - the history of a fighting elite

 Was pleased to pick up a 2nd hand copy of this book.

Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf

 This was the first battle in which Russia engaged during the Seven Years' War.

Cossacks and Kalmyks attack Lehwaldt's army.

Today's anniversary. Wiki

Charles Parrocel camp of the regiment du roi

 

The English Duty: the Assembly or Troop - Fife & Drum

 ''This is an arrangement I made of the fife and drum call "the Assembly or Troop", as found in the "Compleat Tutor for the Fife", published by Thompson & Son in about 1759/1760. The drum call is based on the historical one from the middle 18th century, while the fife parts are of my own imagination, as only the melody appears in Thompson's tunebook. This music would have been played to summon the soldiers of a camp to assemble before posting guards or marching off.''

The Grenadier's March · The Guild of Ancient Fifes and Drums

 

The compleat tutor for the fife : containing the best & easiest instructions to learn that instrument, with a collection of celebrated march's & airs perform'd in the Guards & other regiments & c

The English March The Guild of Ancient Fifes and Drums

 I have this LP. It's good. Nice to see it on Youtube. Whole album here. Also on Spotify

Read about the English March here

Régiment des Gardes Françoises Reenactors Group

 Photo Fabio Pia. 

Fife & Drum: "Marche des Gardes Françaises"

 Fifres et Tambours du 1er Régiment de Provence : "Marche des Gardes Françaises", musique de l'ancien régime, au répertoire 2021 des Fifres et Tambours du 1er Régiment de Provence.

Arrgt. pour 2 voix de Fifres, tambour et tambour basse: Jérôme Orlandini.

Peter The Great (TV Series - Part 1)

I remember watching this in 86. Hardly had any knowledge of the period then. Great cast. Apologies for the Russian subtitles.

Peter the Great is a 1986 American biographical historical drama television miniseries directed by Marvin J. Chomsky and Lawrence Schiller, based on Robert K. Massie's 1980 non-fiction book Peter the Great: His Life and World. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Maximilian Schell, Vanessa Redgrave, Omar Sharif, Trevor Howard, Laurence Olivier, Helmut Griem, Jan Niklas, Elke Sommer, Renée Soutendijk, Ursula Andress, and Mel Ferrer.

Part 2

'What rules do you use for the Scanian War?' I asked

 Nick Dorrell said 'We use Twilight of Divine Right. A scenario book for this era is slowly on the way.'

Dannie Fogleman said 'In the past we used BLB. We recently did Lund with modified Valour and Fortitude. Both worked well. Here is a report:

https://www.wargamingftb.net/?p=22162

I think that Twilight of Divine Right would work well.'

Drew Birkmyre said 'Koenig Krieg Danish and Swedish lists cover this War.'

Two others said Beneath the Lily Banners.

So some food for thought there.

The Army of Hessen-Kassel 1650-1700 Part One - 1650-1688 by Martin Andrew Spindler

 Here

Charles of Hesse-Kassel (German: Karl von Hessen-Kassel; 3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), member of the House of Hesse, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1670 to 1730.

Centre d'Histoire Vivante d'Autun

 

Les Journées Historiques d'Autun reviennent pour leur cinquième édition les 13 et 14 septembres 2025 au Théâtre Romain !

Cette année encore, Le Régiment de Champagne ainsi que De Taille et d'Estoc seront à vos côtés pour vous partager leur amour de l'histoire et vous partager leur savoir !

Capture of Landskrona - Claus Møinichen

 The Battle of Landskrona was a battle in the Scanian War, fought between Denmark and Sweden. It occurred on Ylleshed moor, outside the town of Landskrona, in the province of Scania in what is now southern Sweden on 14 July 1677.^[2]

Battle of Helsingborg, 1676.

 

 Romeyn de Hooghes værksted Hooghe, Romeyn de (1645-10.6.1708) nederlandsk maler, billedhugger, karikaturtegner, kobberstikker - http://www5.kb.dk/images/billed/2010/okt/billeder/object395314/da/

WRG army lists suitable for the Scanian War

 Other armies covered here

Karl XII-film från 1925

 

Charles XII (film) - Wikipedia The film was the most expensive production in Swedish history when it was made, and inspired a string of large budget Swedish historical films.^[1]

Battle of Halmstad by Johann Philip Lemke

 Battle of Halmstad - Wikipedia

Battle of Zorndorf

The Battle of Zorndorf,^[a] during the Seven Years' War, was fought on 25 August 1758 between Russian troops commanded by Count William Fermor and a Prussian army commanded by King Frederick the Great. The battle was tactically inconclusive, with both armies holding their ground and claiming victory. The site of the battle was the Prussian village of Zorndorf (now Sarbinowo, Poland). During the battle, Frederick famously took a regimental standard and led an attack himself, rallying his troops.

Scanian War reenactors

  This is a Swedish reenactment association called Skanes Caroliner

Scanian War anniversary

 Scanian War - Wikipedia

This print by Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708) shows the siege of the city of Wismar in the duchy of Mecklenburg.

I am not sure when hostilities commenced (possibly September) but it is the 350th this year. Lasts until 1679. So a good time to start wargaming it. Get in touch if you already do. First time I heard of it was Preben Kannik.

By Bruno Mugnai

 From Volume 8, Denmark-Norway, Courland and Danzig

Ensemble Mare Balticum • Regalskeppet Kronan

 Kronan (ship) - Wikipedia

Rebel patrol by the 1685 Society

Photo by me.
 

Hat worn by Charles XI at Lund

 I have a page of Scanian war images here Pinterest

Event in France this weekend

 

French camp scenes. Thanks to Serge Shamen for these. They are from Tbilisi Museum of Georgia.

 

Great Northern War coastal attack