Stephen M. Carter, Science of Arms Vol.1. Preparation for War and the Infantry (Helion 2023)
The late 17th Century hardly springs to mind when discussing pivotal eras in military history, but Stephen Carter asks you to look again. He argues that in this period, the art of war became the science of war, and the foundations were laid for much of what followed in the next two centuries.
This book is the first part of a new Helion series, The Art of War in the Century of the Soldier 1672 – 1699, and it focuses on three aspects of military preparation: policy, modelling the army, and preparing the infantry. It reads like a manual for war addressed to the reader. You must fight a ‘just’ war, admonishes Carter, and decide what kind of war you want to fight: offensive, defensive, or civil. Consider using allies, and when you win, consider the terms for peace. How big your army will be, and who will command and control it, are necessary preparations for war. Then you need to furnish your army with weapons, body armour, uniforms, banners and drums, transport and the other accoutrements of waging war. See that your generals and officers are up to the task. Knowing how much your army will cost to equip and maintain is essential along with the formations you will deploy on the march and in battle, including your baggage.
Having set up the framework, Carter delves deeper into the infantry. That begins with command and control for the whole infantry and individual companies. Carter works through the soldiers you need to recruit and their roles. Then he moves into training the army in its formations, but also the skills needed by each soldier whether they are pikemen or musketeers or other specialised troops. The processes involved were often complicated, but Carter walks us through them in straightforward steps. He also outlines company and battalion exercises, and marching by divisions, all of that before arriving at the battlefield and what must be done there to attack and defend in formations. In short, Carter covers everything you need to know to achieve victory.
A book on preparing for war sounds about as dry and dusty as anything military history has to offer, but Carter’s innovative approach makes it anything but. His method is to directly address the reader as if they should have a vested interest in getting all this down. Thus, we’re not just reading about soldiers; we’re reading about your soldiers. Carter handles this very well, and he breaks everything down into bite-size chunks, introducing new aspects in a timely fashion. Helion has performed admirably too in illustrating Carter’s text with contemporary artwork, much of it drawn from manuals. Indeed, you could buy the book for the artwork and be quite content in your purchase. All in all, this book is a must for military history students of the period, but anyone with a vague interest will enjoy reading Carter’s offering and look forward to more volumes in the series.
