Abstract
Computational models have been extensively used in military operations research, but they are rarely seen in military history studies. The introduction of this technique has potential benefits for the study of past conflicts. This paper presents an agent-based model (ABM) designed to help understand European military tactics during the eighteenth century, in particular during the War of the Spanish Succession. We use a computer simulation to evaluate the main variables that affect infantry performance in the battlefield, according to primary sources. The results show that the choice of a particular firing system was not as important as most historians state. In particular, it cannot be the only explanation for the superiority of Allied armies. The final discussion shows how ABM can be used to interpret historical data, and explores under which conditions the hypotheses generated from the study of primary accounts could be valid.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bishop P (2004). Fighter Boys: The Battle of Britain 1940. Penguin Books: USA.
Champagne LE and Hill RR (2009). A simulation validation method based on bootstrapping applied to an agent-based simulation of the Bay of Biscay historical scenario. Journal of Defence Modeling and Simulation 6 (4): 201–212.
Chandler D (1990). The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. Sarpedon Publishers: USA.
Chandler D (ed). (1998). Military Memoirs of Marlborough's Campaigns 1702–1712. Greenhill Books: London.
Craenen B et al (2010). Medieval military logistics: A case for distributed agent-based simulation. Proceedings of the 3rd International ICST Conference on Simulation Tools and Techniques. Málaga, Spain, March 16–18.
Doran J (2005). Iruba: An agent-based model of the guerrilla war process. In: Klaus G Troitzsch (ed). Representing Social Reality, pre-proceedings of the Third Conference of the European Social Simulation Association, Koblenz, September 5–9, pp 198–205.
Duffy C (1998). The Military Experience in the Age of Reason. Wordsworkth Editions: UK.
Duffy C (2008). By Force of Arms. The Austrian Army of the Seven Years War, Vol. 2. The Emperor's Press: USA.
Falkner J (2002). Great and Glorious Days. Marlborough's Battles 1704–1709. Spellmount Limited: UK.
Falkner J (2005). Marlborough's Wars. Eyewitness Accounts 1702–1713. Pen & Sword Books: UK.
Ferrer JF (1714). Exercicio practico y especulativo de el fusilero, y Granadero. Real Convento de S. Domingo Mallorca: Mallorca.
Grimm V et al (2006). A standard protocol for describing individual-based and agent-based models. Ecological Modelling 198 (1–2): 115–126.
Grimm V et al (2010). The ODD protocol: A review and first update. Ecological Modelling 221 (23): 2760–2768.
Hill RR, Champagne LE and Price JC (2004). Using agent-based simulation and game theory to examine the WWII Bay of Biscay U-boat campaign. Journal of Defence Modeling and Simulation 1 (2): 99–109.
Hill RR, Carl RG and Champagne LE (2006). Using agent-based simulation to empirically examine search theory using a historical case study. Journal of Simulation 1 (1): 29–38.
Hochedlinger M (1999). Bella gerant allii ...? On the state of early modern military history in Austria. Austrian History Yearbook 30 : 237–277.
Ilachinski A (2004). Artificial War. Multiagent-based Simulation of Combat. Center for Naval Analyses—World Scientific: USA.
Kagan K (2009). The Eye of Command. University of Michigan: USA.
Keegan J (1983). The Face of Battle. Penguin Books: USA.
Nosworthy B (1992). The Anatomy of Victory. Battle Tactics 1689–1763. Hippocrene Books: New York.
Price JC (2003). Game Theory and U-boats in the Bay of Biscay. Tesi de Màster, Air Force Institute of Technology: Ohio.
Riart F, Hernàndez FX and Rubio-Campillo X (2010). La Coronela de Barcelona (1705–1714). Dalmau Editors: Barcelona.
Roberts NA, Brown JW, Hammett B and Kingston PDF (2008). A detailed study of the effectiveness and capabilities of 18th century musketry on the battlefield. Journal of Conflict Archaeology 4 (1–2): 1–21.
Rubio-Campillo X (2008). Almenar, 1710. Una victòria anglesa a Catalunya. Llibres de Matrícula: Calafell.
Rubio-Campillo X, Cela JM and Hernàndez FX (2012). Simulating archaeologists? Using agent-based modelling to improve battlefield excavations. Journal of Archaeological Science 39 (2): 347–356.
Sabin P (2000). The face of Roman battle. The Journal of Roman Studies 90 : 1–17.
Shennan S (2002). Genes, Memes and Human History. Thames & Hudson: London.
Acknowledgements
This research is part of the SimulPast Project (CSD2010-00034) funded by the CONSOLIDER-INGENIO2010 program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Special thanks to Francesc Riart for his contributions regarding eighteenth-century warfare and two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and comments about preliminary versions of the text.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rubio-Campillo, X., Cela, J. & Cardona, F. The development of new infantry tactics during the early eighteenth century: a computer simulation approach to modern military history. J Simulation 7, 170–182 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/jos.2012.25
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jos.2012.25