Warfare (Atlantic History)

Introduction

Military history has a large, varied constituency, and it may well be the most popular subfield within the historical profession. This, however, can be a mixed blessing for scholars seeking the attention of other academic historians, who too frequently assume that those who study warfare are either fascinated by the minutia of specific engagements (as many popular military historians are), or, like some within the military academies, are seeking to acquire applicable lessons from the events of the past. These stereotypes are unfair. Over the past several decades, military historians have produced work of enormous sweep and consequence, and they have demonstrated the centrality of warfare in the making of the Atlantic world. Of course, military historians are not the only scholars interested in wars. Warfare affected literature, art, politics, and economics—indeed, nearly every facet of life around the Atlantic. This article concentrates on works that focus specifically on armed forces. For works examining terror and the use of force against noncombatants, see the article “Violence.”

General Overviews

Virtually all surveys of the military history of the world of the Early Modern era are centered on explaining the rise of European power. Within this body of work, Parker 1996 has had by far the greatest influence. Parker’s explanation for “the rise of the West” centers on changes within Europe. In an effort to take a fuller view, Black 2007 reviews the academic literature on non-European peoples as well. Diamond 1997 attributes the military success of Eurasian peoples to the orientation, geography, and natural resources of their continent. Raudzens 2001 offers a collection of essays pleading for us to take a step back from global generalizations.

Black, Jeremy. European Warfare in a Global Context, 1660–1815. New York: Routledge, 2007.
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In a sweeping survey of literature, Black takes issue with any contention that European forces consistently enjoyed tactical advantages over their non-European adversaries. Black attributes European success to economic, bureaucratic, and logistical advantages.
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Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton, 1997.
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Diamond argues that the east-west orientation of Eurasia and the suitability of certain animals there for domestication facilitated travel, the exchange of technology, and the development of disease immunities, all of which strengthened the Eurasians’ chances in competition with others.
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Parker, Geoffrey. The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500–1800. 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
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Parker argues that Europe’s armies changed their tactics in response to 16th-century innovations in fortification, and that the resulting technological, tactical, and institutional changes won the Europeans military supremacy over all the other peoples of the world.
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Raudzens, George, ed. Technology, Disease, and Colonial Conquests, Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries: Essays Reappraising the Guns and Germs Theories. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2001.
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With essays examining European expansion in a variety of contexts, the contributors question whether better immunity from diseases and superior technology consistently gave the Europeans a decisive edge.
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Journals

The Journal of Military History remains the leading journal within the field. War in History has taken on the charge of demonstrating that “military history should be integrated into a broader definition of history, and benefits from the insights provided by other approaches to history.”

Journal of Military History. 1937–.
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The Journal of Military History is the leading journal for specialists in the field. It publishes articles on all eras and all parts of the world; published by the Society for Military History, whose website is also valuable.
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War in History. 1994–.
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In addition to more traditional military history, War in History publishes pieces more broadly examining the economic and social dimensions of warfare.
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European Warfare

Of all the regions that make up the Atlantic world, Europe and North America have received by far the most attention from specialists in military history. The Europeanists have produced a rich literature in naval history that is particularly important for scholars of the Atlantic. Most of the debates surrounding the “military revolution” synthesis have focused on Europe’s land forces, however. The various armies of Europe have their own historians, and most of those who have examined them as institutions have asked questions related to professionalization.

The Military Revolution and Technological Change

In 1955 Michael Roberts introduced the idea that Europe experienced a “military revolution” between 1560 and 1660. The transformation entailed a more widespread adoption of firearms, a growth in the size of armies, greater care devoted to strategy, and the development of new fiscal institutions to pay for the increase in military expenditures. Rogers 1995 provides a good introduction to the scholarly debate that ensued. Geoffrey Parker (Parker 1996, cited under, General Overviews), drew inspiration from Roberts but added an emphasis on the role of innovations in the design of fortifications as a trigger for the other changes associated with the “military revolution.” Other works addressing the concept of the military revolution in general terms include Eltis 1995, Black 1994, and Childs 2001, all of which raise questions related to timing. Black and Childs cast doubt on any suggestion that after the 16th century Europe’s armies steadily became more effective. Technology lies at the center of the military revolution debate. Cook 1993 and Hall 1997 take contrasting views on the transformative influence of gunpowder. Tracy 2000 surveys changes in the technology of siege warfare in a global context.

Black, Jeremy. European Warfare, 1660–1815. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.
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Black asserts that many of the most important innovations in military practice adopted in Europe occurred after 1660, not before.
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Childs, John. Warfare in the Seventeenth Century. London: Cassell, 2001.
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Childs argues that most of the 17th century was a period of stasis in the way that Europeans conducted their wars.
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Cook, Weston F., Jr. “The Cannon Conquest of Nasrid Spain and the End of the Reconquista.” Journal of Military History 57.1 (1993): 43–70.
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Cook identifies Castille’s use of cannons as the determining factor in the conquest of Granada.
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Eltis, David. The Military Revolution in Sixteenth-Century Europe. New York: I. B. Tauris, 1995.
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Eltis argues that the military revolution, involving an increase in firepower, a new emphasis on fortification, and new methods to train, discipline, and deploy infantry, began earlier than most scholars have appreciated.
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Hall, Bert S. Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
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Hall emphasizes that many European armies were slow to adopt handheld firearms, and more generally that gunpowder only gradually changed the way Europeans fought wars.
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Rogers, Clifford J., ed. The Military Revolution Debate: Readings on the Military Transformation of Early Modern Europe. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995.
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This collection provides a valuable introduction to the concept of the military revolution. It begins with Michael Roberts’s essay, written in 1955 (“The Military Revolution, 1560–1660”), that first articulated the idea, contains a contribution by Geoffrey Parker (perhaps the most influential critic of Roberts), and many essays taking issue with Parker in turn.
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Tracy, James D., ed. City Walls: The Urban Enceinte in Global Perspective. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
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This collection of essays spans millennia and touches on several continents, including Renaissance Europe, pre-Columbian North America, and sub-Saharan Africa.
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European Navies

Historians interested in the early period of European exploration and colonization have understandably paid considerable attention to the changes in naval technology and organization that made the projection of power across the Atlantic possible. Glete 2000 provides a good introduction to the overall shift toward ocean-going sailing vessels. Rodger 1997 surveys developments in Britain in the critical period of transition. Rodger is the leading historian of the early modern British navy, and his other works (Rodger 1986, Rodger 2004) examine its social structure and operations. Brewer 1989 highlights the navy’s importance for the restructuring of British government and finance. Goodman 1997 reminds us that after its defeat in 1588, Spain rebuilt its fleet quickly. The Dutch developed into a naval power during their struggle for independence and then used their navy to establish and defend their colonial empire. Bruijn 1993 surveys the shifting functions of the Dutch navy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Pritchard 1987, like most historical accounts of the early modern French navy, emphasizes its failings.

Brewer, John. The Sinews of Power: War, Money, and the English State, 1688–1783. New York: Knopf, 1989.
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Brewer argues that the challenge of financing the navy strongly contributed to a reorganization of Britain’s financial institutions and government.
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Bruijn, Jaap R. The Dutch Navy of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1993.
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Bruijn recounts the changing character of the Dutch navy from the time of the Dutch war for independence into the 18th century.
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Glete, Jan. Warfare at Sea, 1500–1650: Maritime Conflicts and the Transformation of Europe. New York: Routledge, 2000.
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Studying navies on a continental scale, Glete examines the shift in power away from Mediterranean states toward those of northern Europe with their orientation toward the Atlantic.
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Goodman, David. Spanish Naval Power, 1589–1665: Reconstruction and Defeat. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
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Goodman argues for the continuing vitality of the Spanish navy after the defeat of the Armada.
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Pritchard, James. Louis XV’s Navy, 1748–1762: A Study of Organization and Administration. Kingston, ON: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1987.
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Pritchard examines the administration of a poorly run, underfunded fleet.
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Rodger, N. A. M. The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. London: Collins, 1986.
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Rodger examines life in the 18th-century British navy from the perspective of seamen as well as officers.
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Rodger, N. A. M. Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain. Vol. 1, 660–1649. London: HarperCollins, 1997.
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Rodger takes the history of the British navy back in time as far as it is possible to go, but he emphasizes technological changes in the 15th and 16th centuries.
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Rodger, N. A. M. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 2, 1649–1815. London: Allen Lane, 2004.
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Surveys the history of the British navy, with attention to ship technology, administration, social history, and operations. Rodger emphasizes that most of the time, most of the Royal Navy was deployed in European waters.
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European Armies

Much of the scholarly literature on Europe’s armies in the Early Modern period has concentrated on the process of professionalization. Gonzales de Leon 1996 suggests that the standard narrative of the military revolution tends to slight the progress that the Spanish made in developing a competent officer corps in the 16th century. Manning 2006 and Houlding 1981 examine the training and experience of the British officer corps, and Dziennik 2015 provides a detailed, important evaluation of military service from the perspective of soldiers; the work of all these historians suggests that Britain’s army became steadily more competent, more disciplined, and less corrupt between the 16th and the 19th centuries. Though they concentrate on different periods, Wood 1996, Lynn 1997, Parrott 2001, and Blaufarb 2002 are similar in that they all emphasize the political and social pressures that served to hinder the effectiveness of the French army before the arrival of Napoleon.

Blaufarb, Rafe. The French Army, 1750–1820: Careers, Talent, and Merit. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2002.
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Blaufarb argues that the army’s resistance to reform impeded its effectiveness until the arrival of Napoleon.
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Dziennik, Matthew P. The Fatal Land: War, Empire, and the Highland Soldier in British America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015.
DOI: 10.12987/yale/9780300196726.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Dziennik examines the economic, cultural, and political significance of military service for Scottish Highlanders in the British army.
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Gonzales de Leon, Fernando. “‘Doctors of the Military Discipline’: Technical Expertise and the Paradigm of the Spanish Soldier in the Early Modern Period.” Sixteenth Century Journal 27.1 (1996): 61–85.
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Taking issue with scholars who previously suggested that the Spanish army was backward in the 16th century, De Leon examines Spanish military treatises and finds evidence of nascent professionalization among the officers, a precursor to the coming military revolution.
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Houlding, J. A. Fit for Service: The Training of the British Army, 1715–95. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.
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In the context of examining drill and training, Houlding surveys the operations of the army in peacetime across the 18th century.
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Lynn, John A. Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army, 1610–1715. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
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In this survey of the development of the French army over more than a century, Lynn emphasizes its importance to French state-building and politics.
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Manning, Roger B. An Apprenticeship in Arms: The Origins of the British Army, 1585–1702. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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Manning examines the extensive military service of English, Scottish, and Irish officers in various wars during the 17th century and argues that Britain had the makings of a professional army by 1702.
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Parrott, David. Richelieu’s Army: War, Government, and Society in France, 1624–1642. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
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Parrott studies the French army meticulously and discovers a mass of political compromises, ad hoc decisions, and delegations of authority.
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Wood, James B. The King’s Army: Warfare, Soldiers, and Society during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562–1576. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
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Wood closely examines the failings of a frequently ineffective military force and attributes many of the army’s problems to the soldiers’ sense of contract and the government’s inability to provide adequate, regular pay.
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American Warfare

The “way of war” that prevailed in military conflicts between Native American warriors and colonists in North America has generated a rich and ongoing debate. The organization of new conventional armies and navies in the republics of North and South America after independence, the topic of the second subsection, has not in general received the scholarly attention it deserves.

Native American Warriors and Colonists

In recent years, much of the best work on warfare among the indigenous peoples of the Americas has been conducted by archaeologists. Arkush and Stanish 2005 and Dye 2009 both take issue with the popular idea that Native Americans, in comparison to Europeans, had an intrinsically less destructive way of fighting. Lee 2004 carries a similar analysis forward into the 18th century. Especially among scholars of North America, there is an active debate over the extent to which European military technology could be used effectively in contests against indigenous adversaries. Townsend 2003 makes a strong argument for the value of European methods for fielding and supplying large numbers of troops. A study of the Spanish conquest of Peru, Guilmartin 1991 similarly emphasizes the value of European technology and tactics. In the context of North America, Chet 2003 is unnecessarily dismissive of counterarguments but nonetheless makes a strong case that the British were most effective fighting like Europeans. Grenier 2005, on the other hand, emphasizes how an American “way of war” evolved in the 17th century. With its lucid historiographical discussions, Grenier’s work is an excellent introduction to colonial American military history. Starkey 1998 analyzes the adoption of firearms by Native Americans.

Arkush, Elizabeth, and Charles Stanish. “Interpreting Conflict in the Ancient Andes: Implications for the Archeology of Warfare.” Current Anthropology 46.1 (2005): 3–28.
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Arkush and Stanish examine precolonial fortifications and argue that wars fought in a highly stylized or “ritual” format could be deadly and consequential.
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Chet, Guy. Conquering the American Wilderness: The Triumph of European Warfare in the Colonial Northeast. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2003.
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Chet argues that the English colonists and the British were most successful militarily when they employed European technology and tactics against their Native American and French adversaries.
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Dye, David H. War Paths, Peace Paths: An Archaeology of Cooperation and Conflict in Native Eastern North America. Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2009.
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Dye surveys archaeological evidence on settlement patterns, skeletal trauma, weaponry, and iconography to examine prehistoric cooperation and conflict in eastern North America.
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Grenier, John. The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607–1814. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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Grenier argues that a new “way of war” emerged among the English colonists in America, with distinctive features such as the destruction of enemy noncombatants and their agricultural resources, ranging, and scalp hunting.
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Guilmartin, John F., Jr. “The Cutting Edge: An Analysis of the Spanish Invasion and Overthrow of the Inca Empire, 1532–1539.” In Transatlantic Encounters: Europeans and Andeans in the Sixteenth Century. Edited by Kenneth J. Andrien and Relena Adorno, 40–69. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
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In his analysis of the Spanish conquest of the Incas, Guilmartin emphasizes the efficacy of Spanish technology and tactics.
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Lee, Wayne E. “Fortify, Fight, or Flee: Tuscarora and Cherokee Defensive Warfare and Military Culture Adaptation.” Journal of Military History 68.3 (2004): 713–770.
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Lee traces how two tribal societies adjusted to the introduction of European technology, first by experimenting with new forms of defensive operations and fortification. In the middle years of the 18th century, the Cherokee changed their way of fighting again: they dispersed their forces more and relied on ambush.
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Starkey, Armstrong. European and Native American Warfare, 1675–1815. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
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Starkey argues that after Native American warriors adopted the firelock, they developed a way of fighting that remained effective for more than a century, in large part because the colonial, imperial, and US forces they faced did not effectively adapt to irregular warfare.
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Townsend, Camilla. “Burying the White Gods: New Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico.” American Historical Review 108.3 (2003): 659–687.
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Rejecting earlier suggestions that the indigenous peoples of Mexico were overawed by the conquering Spanish because of a belief that they were gods, Townsend suggests that Spain’s native allies quickly recognized the power and utility of ships and horses.
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The Armies and Navies of Newly Independent American States

New armies modeled on those of Europe were formed in North and South America after the US and Spanish American wars of independence. Higginbotham 1971 remains the essential first reference for the study of George Washington’s Continental Army. Cox 2004 concentrates on the treatment of Continental Army soldiers. Lynch 1992 surveys the politics of several newly independent states and emphasizes the growing power of Latin America’s armies. By the early 19th century the British navy was by far the most powerful force on the Atlantic Ocean, and this fact profoundly influenced the design and deployment of navies in the newly independent American states. Tucker 1993 recounts how the Jefferson administration tried to develop a starkly different kind of navy with small vessels. Vale 2000, by contrast, emphasizes British influence in the early Brazilian and Argentine fleets.

Cox, Caroline. A Proper Sense of Honor: Service and Sacrifice in George Washington’s Army. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
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Cox examines the experience of soldiers in the Continental Army by focusing on the ways their bodies were treated, particularly when they were punished or taken prisoner, and when they fell sick or died.
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Higginbotham, Don. The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice, 1763–1789. New York: Macmillan, 1971.
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Higginbotham’s work remains indispensable for those who want to study the Continental Army.
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Lynch, John. Caudillos in Spanish America, 1800–1850. Oxford: Clarendon, 1992.
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Lynch examines the violent politics of early 19th-century Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Argentina, highlighting the influence of the newly formed armies.
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Tucker, Spencer C. The Jeffersonian Gunboat Navy. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1993.
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Tucker examines the fleet of small vessels deployed by the United States in the early 19th century.
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Vale, Brian. A War betwixt Englishmen: Brazil against Argentina on the River Plate, 1825–1830. London: I. B. Tauris, 2000.
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Vale examines a confrontation between the early navies of Brazil and Argentina.
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African Warfare

Many of the most vigorous debates on African military history have centered on technological innovation and diffusion. In the 1970s, White 1971 and Fisher 1972 argued against any claim that West Africa experienced its own military revolution following the introduction of firearms or the stirrup. Kaba 1981 and Cook 1994 argue that Moroccan power increased enormously, though perhaps only temporarily, after the adoption of firearms in the 16th century. Richards 1980 suggests that the introduction of flintlocks in the late 17th century may have triggered a more significant change than the earlier introduction of muskets. Law 1976 and Webb 1993 argue that West Africa was transformed by cavalries, beginning in the 14th century. Though the Africans had domestic supplies of horses and could make their own gunpowder, Europeans brought large horses, horse equipment, and firearms to Africa in exchange for slaves. Therefore, the scholarly debate over African military practices has a direct impact on our understanding of the operations of the slave trade. Thornton 1999 provides the best survey of early modern African military history and its relationship to Atlantic slavery.

Cook, Weston F., Jr. The Hundred Years’ War for Morocco: Gunpowder and the Military Revolution in the Early Modern Muslim World. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1994.
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Cook recounts the transformation of Moroccan politics and power following the arrival of firearms.
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Fisher, Humphrey J. “‘He Swalloweth the Ground with Fierceness and Rage’: The Horse in the Central Sudan.” Journal of African History 13.4 (1972): 369–388.
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In this two-part article (continued in Journal of African History 14 [1973]: 355–379) Fisher argues for a very long presence of horses in the Sudan and suggests that their use did not have a transformative impact on military practice in the Early Modern period.
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Kaba, Lansiné. “Archers, Musketeers, and Mosquitoes: The Moroccan Invasion of the Sudan and the Songhay Resistance, 1591–1612.” Journal of African History 22.4 (1981): 457–475.
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Kaba argues that the adoption of firearms allowed the Moroccans to destroy the Songhay state, but disease and a lack of discipline within the ranks of the Moroccan army prevented Morocco from consolidating its gains.
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Law, Robin. “Horses, Firearms, and Political Power in Precolonial West Africa.” Past and Present 72 (1976): 112–132.
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Law argues for the transformative impact of the introduction of larger horses and better saddles and stirrups in the 14th century. Firearms, in contrast, did not become crucially important until the 19th century.
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Richards, W. A. “The Import of Firearms into West Africa in the Eighteenth Century.” Journal of African History 21.1 (1980): 43–59.
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Richards argues that the introduction of the flintlock in the 1690s inaugurated a major change in West African warfare, economics, and politics.
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Thornton, John K. Warfare in Atlantic Africa. New York: Routledge, 1999.
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Adopting a regional approach, Thornton surveys military action across three centuries, from the Senegal River to Angola, and also provides a discussion of African contributions to warfare in the Americas.
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Webb, James L. A., Jr. “The Horse and the Slave Trade between the Western Sahara and Senegambia.” Journal of African History 34.2 (1993): 221–246.
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Webb argues for the continuous importance of cavalry from the 16th through the 19th centuries.
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White, Gavin. “Firearms in Africa: An Introduction.” Journal of African History 12.2 (1971): 173–184.
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Surveying the state of the scholarship at the start of the 1970s, White argues that firearms had only a small impact on Africa in the Early Modern period.
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