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Text the show! Get the Full, Uncut Version of this Episode  On October 18, 1776, General William Howe launched a major amphibious maneuver, landing 4,000 British light infantry, grenadiers, and Hessians at Pell's Point (Pelham Manor) to bypass American positions. Spotting the landing, Colonel John Glover moved his 750-man brigade to contest the advance along Split Rock Road. Utilizing the per...

Text the show! Recommended Reading The War of the Austrian Succession , By Reed Browning Guibert: Father of Napoleon's Grande Armée , By Jonathan Abel Ep 7: The Battle of Fontenoy On October 11, 1746, over 200,000 soldiers clashed along the banks of the River Meuse in one of the largest land engagements of the 18th century. Following his conquests of Brussels, Antwerp, and Namur, French Marsh...

Text the show! Recommended Reading Frederick the Great: A Military Life By: Christopher Duffy   Research on Saxon Army Loyalty & Desertion  By: Markus von Salisch Episode Summary In October 1756, the Seven Years' War in Europe opened at Lobositz along the Elbe River. Fearing an anti-Prussian coalition, Frederick the Great launched a pre-emptive invasion of neutral Saxony, blockading 20,00...

Text the show! Following the 1745 capture of Louisbourg, British ministers redirected General James St. Clair's Quebec-bound army to launch a surprise amphibious assault on Lorient, the primary Atlantic depot and shipyard of the French East India Company ( Compagnie des Indes ). Co-commanded by St. Clair and the contentious 70-year-old Admiral Richard Lestock, the 1746 Lorient Expedition quic...

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: The War of the Spanish Succession  by James Falkner Prince Eugene of Savoy  by James Falkner Episode Summary For continental European powers in 1706, fighting against France was like being in a cage match with an 800-pound gorilla. Unlike the British, who had the English Channel to keep the French at arm's length, smaller state...

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Episode Summary Today in 1776 General Sir William Howe launched his attack on Washington's army on Long Island. In this episode, hosts Dr. Alex Burns , Dr. Andrew Bamford, and Lee Gugino are joined once again by National Park Service historian Jason Wickersty .  In this episode, we'll talk about how the British lost the initial race to  occupy...

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution  by Ira Gruber Episode Summary Was Sir William Howe a sluggish, indolent commander more interested in  Mrs. Loring than winning a war, or was he the most sophisticated logistician of the 18th century? On this 250th anniversary of the 1776 New York Campaign, hosts Dr. Alex Burns , Dr. And...

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: Glories to Useless Heroism: The Seven Years War in North America from the French Journals of Comte Maurès De Malartic, 1755-1760  Translated by: William Raffle Montcalm's Crushing Blow, French and Indian Raids along New York's Oswego River 1756  by René Chartrand Episode Summary In 1756, the shores of the Oswego River beca...

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: Iron and Blood  by Peter Wilson  The Army of Frederick the Great  by Christopher Duffy Episode Summary How did a "pancake flat" swamp in Northern Germany transform into the most formidable military machine in Europe? For much of the early 18th century, the Austrian Habsburgs mocked the Prussian military as an eccentric &qu...

Text the show! Episode Resources & Links Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: The Hessians  by Dr. Friederike Baer  The Hessian Mercenary State  by Charles Ingrao A Generous and Merciful Enemy  by Daniel Krebs Episode Summary "He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny." With those words in...

Text the show! Episode Resources & Quick Links Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Here! Recommended Reading: The Wooden World  by N.A.M. Rodger Episode Summary Can a single lost island lead to the execution of a British Admiral by his own government? In 1756, a spark in the North American wilderness ignited a global conflict that would become the Seven Years' War. The French set their sights o...

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Final Join Our Newsletter Recommended Reading: The '45  by Christopher Duffy  In Fight for a Throne  by Christopher Duffy  Episode Summary The smoke has cleared over Culloden Moor, but for the Jacobite cause, the disaster is only beginning. While popular memory often ends with the final charge, the reality of the "'45" was a protracted, harr...

Text the show! Join the Prime and Load War Room on Patreon Old Fort Niagara's 300th Birthday! Recommended Reading: Memoir Upon the Late War in North America  by Pierre Pouchot  The Siege of Fort Niagara 1759  by Brian Leigh Dunnigan Episode Summary For three centuries, a lone fortress has stood guard at the mouth of the Niagara River, witnessing the rise and fall of empires. In this special 3...

Text the show! Join the Prime & Load War Room Recommended Reading:   Great and Glorious Days  by James Faulkner   Marlborough as Military Commander  by David Chandler The Art of Warfare in the age of Marlborough  by David Chandler Episode Summary Could a single afternoon shatter the hegemony of the "Sun King" and reshape the map of Europe? In May 1706, the War of Spanish Succession h...

Text the show! Episode Resources & Quick Links Recommended Reading: The Holy Roman Empire in the 18th Century  and  Wurttemberg in the 18th Century  by  Peter Wilson Episode Summary Was the Holy Roman Empire really "not holy, not Roman, and not an empire"? Hosts Dr. Alexander Burns deconstruct Voltaire’s famous quip to reveal a sophisticated, decentralized political system that gover...

Text the show! It has been an incredible twelve months of deep dives, research, and podcasting. Today, Lee, Alex, and Andrew are taking a step back from the 18th century to take a personal look at everything that has happened with Prime & Load over the past year. We want to take this opportunity to reflect on how much the show has grown, share our favorite moments from behind the mic, and talk...

Text the show! Episode Resources & Member Links Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Join the Newsletter Recommended Reading: Culloden  by Murray Pittock  The 45  by Christopher Duffy Episode Summary Is the "Highland Charge" a romantic myth? In this edited episode of Prime and Load , we welcome back Dr. Aaron Johnston to deconstruct the final, bloody hours of the 1745 Jacobite Rising . Whil...

Text the show! In the spring of 1741, the Austrian high command looked at the Prussian Army and saw a joke. To the battle-hardened veterans of the Habsburg Empire, Frederick II’s men were nothing more than a parade-ground army obsessed with perfect drill, but completely untested in the mud and blood of real combat. At the Battle of Mollwitz, the Austrians intended to brush them aside. And for a mo...

Text the show! Decades before the American Revolution or the Seven Years' War, the British Empire assembled an armada of over 180 ships and 30,000 men. Their target: the Spanish stronghold of Cartagena de Indias. It was the largest expeditionary force the British had ever assembled, and it was supposed to be a crushing blow in the War of Jenkins' Ear . Instead, it became a masterclass in...

Text the show! When we think of 18th-century warfare, our minds usually jump to the fields of Flanders, the forests of North America, or the rolling hills of Central Europe. But while the Western powers were fighting over border forts and overseas colonies, a completely different scale of war was raging in the East. Across the vast, unforgiving expanse of the Pontic Steppe, the Russian and Ottoman...

Text the show! January 1746. The Jacobites have just won another stunning victory at Falkirk Muir . But instead of marching south, Bonnie Prince Charlie finds himself overruled by his war council and forced into a controversial retreat back into the Highlands. History often jumps straight from the victory at Falkirk to the tragedy at Culloden , ignoring the critical months in between. But the war...

Text the show! In the English-speaking world, we often view the French Army through the single lens of the Seven Years' War . We see the disaster: the loss of Canada, the retreat from India, and a reputation left in tatters. But this is a dangerously limited view of the 18th-century French War Machine. To judge them only by their defeats is to miss how they defined the very art of war for the...

Text the show! How do you turn the chaos of an 18th-century battlefield into a set of rules? How do you simulate the "fog of war" that plagued commanders like the Duke of Cumberland or Marshal Saxe? In this special episode of Prime & Load , we explore the art and science of Historical Wargaming . We are joined by Rich Hamilton and Gary McClellan from Wargame Design Studio (WDS). We d...

Text the show! Join the Prime and Load War Room on Patreon Recommended Reading: The '45  by Christopher Duffy  Rebellious Scots to Crush  by Andrew Bamford Can a victory be as damaging as a defeat? In January 1746, the Jacobite army had just completed a harrowing retreat from Derby, yet they were about to field the largest and most dangerous force of the entire war. Join hosts Dr. Alex Burns...

Text the show! On New Year’s Eve 1775, in the midst of a blinding blizzard, the Continental Army launched an assault on the fortress city of Quebec. It was the climax of the first major offensive of the American Revolution, a bold attempt by Congress to seize the "14th Colony" and drive the British Empire off the continent. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Paul Knight to break down...