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AJP Taylor on ‘How Wars Begin’

I recently came across AJP Taylor’s famous talk in this series about how WW1was unstoppable, due to German railway timetables. That could be debated endlessly, but it does demonstrate that events can take on a momentum of their own, which the parties involved cannot control.

Anyway, I had forgotten (yes, I am old enough to remember these talks and the first manned flight around the Moon) that Taylor began his series with the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Perhaps, his talk might seem rather quaint with his ideas about Napoleon being forced into war and a rather Anglocentric approach, but here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzvse8bZ-Fc

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gibsonm1

6 hours ago

There's nothing wrong with watching the original Apollo 8, as opposed to the current pale imitation.

Robert Burnham

March 1, 2026

Where to Study Napoleonic History?

What are the best universities to study Napoleonic History at either the undergraduate or graduate level?

Florida State University used to be the best in the U.S. but its program now focuses on getting a doctorate and its Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution has only two professors now.

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Keith Alexander

February 22, 2026

Karl Friedrich Emil zu Dohna-Schlobitten

Does anyone know when this officer was promoted to Premier-Lieutenant and then Rittmeister in the Prussian army? I assume he was not made Major until he joined the Russian army in 1812? Also it is mentioned he attended the Kriegsschule Berlin in 1804. Does he remain an officer of the 6th Dragoons throughout these events?

Also he is mentioned as a POW after being wounded at Eylau. Was he held for long or did the end of hostilities effect his release within weeks?

362 Views

Thomas Hemmann

Mar 05

P.S. I forgot to answer the question on Dohna's POW time: Priesdorff says, he was wounded in the action at Halle (17th October 1806) and later taken POW, when the fortress Magdeburg capitulated (8th November 1806). I guess Dohna was there in a hospital or under private care. His exchange took place on 1st March 1807.

Keith Alexander

February 4, 2026

1st KGL Hussars in Spain

I have been confused by the various representations of their headwear but it seems to me that the busbee they wore in the Peninsula was a variation of the British Army light dragoons of that period i.e. a tall version of the busbee with a small semicircular leather flap at the front to cover the eyes from the sun. Knotel et.al appear to show a shorter round brown fur hat in use by 2nd and 3rd but I believe if so these were possibly a later introduction in common with the heavy dragoons becoming the light dragoons in 1815. However at this end of a long war I doubt there was much enthusiasm for uniform changes among auxiliary forces of the British Army. Thoughts, forumites?

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John Cook

Feb 05

I’m not sure if ‘busby’ is a Napoleonic term but I don’t think so. It is usually referred to as a fur cap. British Light Dragoons wore the Tarleton crested helmet, not the fur cap. Quite how KGL Light Dragoons were dressed prior to 1808 seems to be one of those ‘nobody knows’ questions. By c1808 the KGL light dragoon had become hussars and dressed accordingly, with a fur cap. The illustrations in Beamish’s 'History of the King's German Legion', executed by a member of 3rd Regiment, are perhaps the best known primary images and are largely the basis for many secondary renditions of the uniforms. British hussars wore two versions of the fur cap, the earlier one being some 5 inches taller than the later one. KGL hussars regiments seem to have received the earlier cap, at least initially. Those in the Beamish illustrations include a small peak, perhaps a local addition because the usual British hussar fur caps do not seem to have had one. See the article here which is as good a summary as any of what is known of KGL uniforms. https://thisreilluminatedschoolofmars.wordpress.com/the-dress-of-the-kings-german-legion-1-some-primary-sources/

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