A History of the British Army, Vol. 1 / First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' War

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
This volume covers the period up to 1713 when the Julian calendar was still in use in England. The change to the Gregorian calendar took place in Europe beginning in 1582, though much later in Protestant regions, and not in Britain until 1752. This produced a difference of eleven days in contemporary documents and books using the Julian Old Style (OS) and those using the modern Gregorian New Style (NS) dates.
The author follows the convention of using the dates as recorded at the time of the event, so that events in England, Scotland and Ireland are noted in the text and Sidenotes in Julian OS, and events in (Catholic) Europe after 1582 are noted in NS. When a specific day is noted for an event in Europe the corresponding Sidenote will with few exceptions give both dates in the format OS / NS .
A History of The British Army BY The Hon. J. W. FORTESCUE FIRST PART—TO THE CLOSE OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR VOL. I Quæ caret ora cruore nostro London MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1899 All rights reserved

The civilian who attempts to write a military history is of necessity guilty of an act of presumption; and I am not blind to my own temerity in venturing to grapple with such a task as the History of the British Army. But England has waited long for a soldier to do the work; and so far no sign has been given of the willingness of any officer to undertake it beyond the publication, a few years since, of Colonel Walton's History of the British Standing Army from 1660 to 1700 . Nor is this altogether surprising, for the leisure of officers is limited, the subject is a large one, and the number of those who have already toiled in the field and left the fruit of their labour to others is sadly small. A civilian may therefore, I hope, be pardoned for trying at any rate to make some beginning, however conscious of his own shortcomings and of the inevitable disadvantage from which he suffers through inexperience of military life in peace and, still more fatally, in war. His efforts may at least stimulate some one better qualified than himself to treat the subject in a manner better befitting its dignity and its worth.