Soldiers and Civilians, Transport and Provisions: Early modern military logistics and supply systems during the British Civil Wars, 1638–1653

Until now historical works have neglected to fully consider the events of the British Civil Wars with respect to the logistics and supply systems. As such, this book evaluates and challenges these narratives of the wars by tackling historical debates through the lens of these logistics and supply systems at an operational level. How the military logistics and supply systems of the period functioned is revealed, including what methods of supply were used, what decisions and events these systems impacted, and how these related to strategic and tactical outcomes of the wars.

The book investigates the facets of land, coastal, and riverine transportation, the supply of manpower to the armies, and the supply of food, clothing, and shelter to multiple forces across various conflicts throughout the British Civil Wars. With an application of a broad range of both civilian and military sources, this research employs archival and manuscript materials from national and local archives across the British Isles, contemporary tracts, letters, books, and pamphlets, as well as secondary literature from a variety of historical fields—from military history, economic and social studies, as well as reconstructive archaeology. As a result, the study outlines regional disparity in military logistics systems due to reliance on pre-existing civilian structures and methods—which had not been developed with a military purpose in mind and resulted in substantial logistical and supply differences that consequently, and heavily, favoured one faction over another.

Many questions that have bedevilled previous historiography—and some that remain contentious even today—are likewise explored through this new perspective. This includes, but is not limited to, countering the simple narrative that Royalist armies were terribly supplied in comparison to Parliament, placing the Royalists’ Gloucester campaign in its correct strategic context, highlighting Catholic recruitment to Cromwell’s forces in Ireland, and providing a reasonable and informed explanation for Prince Rupert’s decision to fight at Marston Moor—all through the lens of logistics and supply. It emphasises the absolute necessity of interactions between civil and military authority across multiple levels to supply early modern forces, providing a more nuanced history of civilian and military interactions than the popular view of soldiers imposing their will on a suffering population.

The book’s analysis of logistics and supply during the British Civil Wars, a focus not undertaken in such detail so far for the period, will provide a compelling read for those with interests in the operational realities of warfare during the seventeenth century more broadly, and the British Civil Wars in particular.