18th Century Field Fortifications: Turning a Church into a Fort
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- Опубліковано 6 лип 2024
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~~Video Description~~
The stereotypical 18th Century battle is a slow, plodding, open field engagement far off from any civilian centres. But the reality couldn't be further from the truth, as early modern armies fought in mobile engagements which demanded a high level of adaptability to a wide variety of situations on the ground. Often times, this included the use of local terrain and features to one's advantage, including the conversion of existing civilian infrastructure into military assets.
~~Sources & Further Reading On This Topic~~
This video pulls entirely from "An Essay on Field Fortification," published 1768. You may find it in full as a free PDF download at www.nativeoak.org/library
Additionally, I have posted multiple other sources on the same subject of field fortifications. As I am working on a rework of my website's library section, you will find all of these sources listed outside of the different category folders. If you have any specific inquiries, or difficulties accessing/locating content, please feel free to reach out.
~~Other Links & Contact Info~~
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~~Timestamps~~
Sponsored Section 00:00
Introduction 01:02
The Approach 03:52
The Church Yard 06:46
Within the Walls 11:38
The Church Itself 13:36
A Real Life Example 16:19
Conclusion 19:34
"The doors of the lord's house are open to all."
- The man who didn't read the field fortification manual.
"...except the French army. For them we blockade the roads."
This came out just in time. The enemy is fast approaching and I will now begin to construct my fortifications
In July of 1898, a garrison of 55 Spanish soldiers were forced to withdraw to the church of Baler during the Philippine insurrection (which coincided with the Spanish-American War). The church was the only stone structure in the village. They stored as much food and ammunition possible and managed to hold out for an impressive 11 months before finally surrendering. The Filipinos had similar weapons and artillery but couldn’t break the defenders. The Spanish sent frequent sorties to take out the artillery and steal food. By the end of the siege in June of 1899, the Spanish lost only 2 men to gunfire, 2 deserted and 12 died of disease. They’re known as the Últimos de Filipinas and the church still survives to this day
They made a film about this, I think, called our last men in the phillipines.
@@Nat3skiI think that movie was the one with Jericho Rosales.
Brandon is now a tutorial youtuber. I love it.
And if this video does well, there are tons of other really cool examples in these books, like how to fortify old castles and manor houses!
@@BrandonFCan’t wait for “How to set up defensive fortifications in your suburban backyard”
@@BrandonF please make more of these!!! This was great.
This video adds to my theory that plains frontier towns built the church first partly as a fort in case of attack by the Natives.
@@GeorgianPapist514 honestly, learning how to fortify a suburban backyard in the style of the 18th century would be a trip.
Great to see Warhammer 40k covered on your channel
Warhammer churches don’t have to defend from an army. Warhammer churches *are* an army.
@@allenhoe1776 Sometimes the churches are spaceships, too.
Fortifying churches, you say? (Laughs in Tavington)
Thank your Brandon. This really helped me improve my fortifications and defensive capabilities, I'd like twice if I could.
Up here in Cumbria, there are countless examples of churches and other structures that are clearly designed for defence. It’s not uncommon to see bits of farm houses that are clearly earlier defensible positions. Arrow/ musket slits and murder holes built into what are now cow sheds or barns.
They mid still be used
I suppose the next time I’m up against four thousand Zulu’s I’ll have to find the nearest church!
Instructions unclear.
Now I'm being sieged by the police and the council revoked my planning permission.
Instructions very useful
the police as of yet been unable to enter the church
During the sieges of Zaragoza in 1808-1809 churches and convents were used in great effect to defend against the frech assaults.
Some of them still standing today with the remains of musketshot and even cannon in their walls.
Thus proving that this sturdy houses of the lord can witstand a healthy dose of iron and make some great fortification.
Although a little earlier than this channels period in time covers, at the Battle of the Boyne the Jacobite troops retreated to a church using it as a defensive structure before being routed by the overwhelming forces of William of Orange. Also during the English Civil War St Mary's Church in Scarborough was used during The Great Siege of Scarborough as a defensive work for the parlimentarians as they bombarded the castle. The front part of the chruch was destroyed by counter fire from the castle and the ruins are still there today after a 5 month seige the castle finally fell and was mostly destroyed.
Screw King Billy
@@thehighlander6770You support the bloody papists betraying the glorious England to the French?
Utterly fascinating Brandon! And you've gotten two home runs in one week! Well done!
"Burn the church!"
Well, it could have been worse. He could have asked you "Tell me about O-HI-O..."
(Best line in the film! Man I love Jason Isaacs! He'd make a great Sherlock Holmes! Suave, commanding, and just a hint of menace.)
While walking in northern Spain I came across an old church that had been a minor battle site in the peninsula wars. The owner had found muskets shot in the grounds and pistol shot inside suggesting a final shoot out inside.
thank you this will be very useful for later
Good luck!
“He won’t be having much of a congregation” - Napoleon Bonaparte probably.
Waterloo 1970 reference that popped into my head when I got a notification of this video.
I needed this! Now I can build my own fortress from an abandoned church near my house!!! Now I can defend my village and the church treasury from those bonapartists!
Every American Civil War Battle: "Here's the 6 churches on the field"
Napoleon's battles: "There was a Monastery in Italy that one time, and Someone climbed a steeple at Austerlitz but, you know, fog..."
I know it happened, but they definitely didn't seem to feature nearly as much as they did in the ACW
Thank you for this video, I’ve been having so much trouble with Prussians entering my Church.
Perfect. I’m currently besieged inside a old church with a lot of material, Very useful, will keep you updated
Spanish did the same in 1898 in the Philippines when facing an overwhelming force. They were under siege for almost a year.
This information will come very handy.
This reminds me of the attle of Cameron in Mexico in the 1860s. Would be really interesting if you could do a video on that event when about 60 French forieng legion soldiers faced off against about 3000 Mexican soldiers
Can you make more field fortifications videos, because this are not only very interesting, they are also a lot of material that you could potentially cover from different eras such as Roman Empire up to great northern war
Truth be told, the rather abysmal performance of this video makes me think that such may not be a good idea. I will cover other topics about fortification more broadly in the future of course, but another video like this would not happen for at least a good while.
i think you are underestimating your ability, this video is equal if not better than military history visualised, also your narration is so good that it almost makes you sound like someone living at that time explaining how you experienced the whole thing, for example in this video you sound like some officer in 1800s or in your video ww1 how western front was different, like i would like to quote you”there was no surrounding the enemy there was no cutting off their supply lines” like that sentence for some reason brought a tear to my eye mean, so in conclusion don’t sell yourself short you are one of the best historians in youtube, ohh and i don’t want to sound rude but could you someday make a video about my nation’s hero, his name is Gjergj Kastrioti or as more famously known as Skanderbeg, i would like to know how he continuously defeated the much superior ottoman army and your opinion on him, with this i bid you goodbye and have a nice day/night
@@Red-238 I appreciate the kind words! And I am glad that you've enjoyed my videos! Although I am afraid that Skanderbeg is a bit too far out of my time period for me to say anything all too authoritative on him.
@@BrandonF that’s okay, after all this is your channel, and you have every right to decide what you want to do, and sense you are more focused on 16th century warfare could you do a review of tercio formation similar to the Gå På video
I remember when I passed sergeant in the french foreign legion i was handed a copy of the TTA 150, text toute armée modele150, covers everything from hygiene in the field to military correspondance , preparation of a fixed defensive position hasn't changed much in 300 years, more care today on camouflage though,
Hello Brandon. I could not help but think of the films "The Alamo" and "Zulu" although the period you describe pre-dates their times somewhat.
There is an episode of Sharpe that would fit the bill, though not the one set in my family home town of Keighley.
Growing up in Texas and hearing of the Alamo I thought the fact the mission was used as a fort was a no brainer given the adobe walls and buildings. And the Spanish and Mexicans used it as a fort first. However the fortifications were better suited for natives than cannons. While the Texans tried to improved the fortifications they fell short. For example a catwalk was constructed to enable shooting over the walls but ended up exposing the defenders' upper bodies.
@@SEAZNDragon There is a video on Catherine Warr channel about the people in my home city of Bradford retreating the church to defend themselves after fighting the Royalist soldiers, but they were not likely to have fortified it like this.
In UK, many do not get how big Texas is. It was hard to explain n that two weeks stay in Midland was not near the Alamo to just go and see it.We did go to Juarez to see Mexico. The ancestors of the family I stayed with were there before the English speakers. We did get asked by someone, when getting off the Greyhound, if we came all the way from England on the bus.
🏜🌎🏝🚌🏖🌍🏞
Thank you so much! I was never sure how to do it, I'll have to give it a try to my local church tomorrow! Wish me luck!
Brandon made the tutorial just in case you need to defend from those frogs marching in column, just keep in mind, they might have an equally effective pioneer
"A mighty fortress is our God" intensifies.
15:36 there’s no escaping it. Mel is eternal.
To defend a church is so typical for the period! Leuthen and Ramillies are coming directly to my mind. Thank you for the great topic!
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You look like you're about to tell the teacher she forget today's homework, or snitch on someone for passing notes
@@RyanNewman-kc8ob Okay
@@BrandonF You look like you're about to say "erm.... guys.... we got company" in a movie. You look like the guy who said "1. 2. 3. Save some for me" in elementary school. You look like the Know-It-All kid from Polar Express. You look like when you were trying to make friends as a kid you explained the most boring shit about history. you look like you show your "Discord Kitten" your videos expecting her to be impressed with your subscriber amount, and how smart you think you are. You look the type to go on dates and then get angry that the person doesn't know about the Vodkadrinksky 46' Tank and how great it was and how amazing the soviet union was and doesn't know who the minister of ballet was in the Soviet Union. you look like you were in band class and were the type to T-Pose and play the soviet anthem. you look the type to actually say "ERM... ACSHULLALY" unironically. you probably act like Jimmy Neutron just without the intelligence. You probably think Axe is a shower-in-a-can.
I think that's enough for the day.
Very interesting and entertaining video!
I live a block below a tall Mormon temple that looks like a castle, and is situated on top of an open hill with tall ornate metal walls around it. I can totally imagine it being a brilliant defensive position, especially for the weapons of this era or before.
Given the Mormons early history I'm sure defense was on their minds.
Logan, UT Temple if anyone is curious
@@SEAZNDragon For sure. They built a lot of forts as well. Still a couple of stone ones around.
Very provocative title. No but this is honestly a pretty interesting topic.
But also literal!
@@BrandonF Indeed.
@@BrandonFthis might also be of some use for wargamers who operate 18th century wargames at the skirmish level.
Fun fact: the concept of a fortified church stems from the middle ages. There are many chuches at the coast in Europe which double as the protective castle of the village against raiders from the sea. Southern France has a lot still standing examples of those.
Yes, more of this please!
I think a video like this is really important because some people need to really understand how war can tear apart the communities of regular people, it's not just a clean and orderly match of Total War.
Never again shall I be caught without a defaced church to defend myself…
Never thought i needed to know this! But now that i do i think everyone else should also!
Here is the church, here is the steeple.
Here are the troops, firing at all the people.
At can’t wait to use this at my next service! :)
When me and the boys turn the church into a fort in Holdfast
I can now prepare my defenses…
This video just puts into perspective how similar warfare of the late 1700s was to early WW1.
Some people forget that the Alamo was a Spanish mission before it became a mishift fort. Yes it like all Spanish missions on the North American frontier were designed to withstand Native American raids, but it was never intended for defense against a European styled force. The famous Alamo building was an unfinished chapel.
Thank you very much Brandon. Now I am safe from the Finanzamt.
Just joking. Nobody is safe from the Finanzamt
The Finanzamt is unbeatable.
@@guardman6806
Unironicly one of the Most Dangerous Institutions for criminals.
Ah, this was actually quite interesting!
Hold fast matches are about to get crazier!
Basically Kevin home alone in the 18th century
Hey brandon, a little off topic but where do you get your reenactment pieces i.e regimental coat, cocked hat, etc?
This gives a new definition to a " Holie Place".
I'll put this to good use
In the show called SPY the British used the headstones from the local town cemetery to shield their artillery position near the town they were garrisoning. The townspeople got very upset obviously.
Do you think maybe you could do a review of that show?
Here in the states, the show was called TURN: Washington's Spies. It followed the Culper Spy Ring during the revolution who's intelligence was vital to Washington getting some momentum back.
interesting, i never heard of this tactic being used before
I am happy to see that this guide has anticipated the possibility of Lucius Malfoy ordering his men to burn the church.
When digging defensive positions, did they ever dig grenade sumps where thrown grenades would roll down and explode without any real damage?
Battle of Camarón:
Very likely the Foreign Legion officers read Bandon's book - "On 30 April, at 01:00, the 3rd company of 62 Legionnaires and three Legion officers were en route from Chiquihuite for Palo Verde, 6 hours and 22 miles away.[1]: 26 At 05:45, they reached Camerone and the La Trinidad Hacienda, its 50 meter long walls forming a square, enclosing a two-story ranch house on the north and an open stable on the south, long ago abandoned."
Will you be at Sturbridge this year? I think I saw you there a few years ago
Unfortunately not this year!
Makes me think about the Alamo
The old Saxon villages in Transylvania have lots of fortified churches from the medieval era ranging from churches with a simple taller wall around them to places where the church is surrounded by a set of walls with a room for every family in the village to retreat to. These are a bit different of course because they were built this way, not hastily turned into a fortress, but the idea is similar. The church was the sturdiest structure in town and the region was a borderland between the Austrians and the Ottomans and might often have been raided.
This is the sort of thing we invented war crime laws for.
Because if ancient, culturally significant churches are some of the best redoubts for your enemy. A lot of commanders are gonna start blowing them up and burning them down ahead of time just to be safe. And that is something the people who actually live here have to live with when the "glory" has been won and the soldiers have marched on home.
Highly interesting ,thank you from Anglet that needs to be pronounced with the T , like musket😉
Interesting… now where can I buy a small brick church?
Come to Cumbria, we’ve got loads.
If you can’t buy it built it!
My snowball fort will be invincible.
Im here in case i need to use this for my house which has some similar advantage’s geographically
Could you perhaps make a video about the Operations of the H.E.I.C?
One of these days I plan to revisit the HEIC
@@BrandonF ok :D
I recall this happening during the Siege of Puebla in 1863: the Convents of San Agustin and Santa Inés were held by Republicanos and fortified heavily against the French, who battered the town with the new 12 lber "Napoleon" guns.
make sure mel gibson doesnt see this
I didn't know how often churches were used as defensive structures, and how vulnerable surrounding homes were to being used for military purposes.
Question: can you cover 18th Century military justice?
Can anyone please tell me the title of the music heard towards the end of the video? Thanks in advance!
It's actually just an unnamed channel theme that I commissioned! I haven't posted it anywhere on its own just yet.
@@BrandonF I see. I really like it! Thanks for replying.
As a Christian, thank you for telling me how to turn my church into a fort, I will make sure to tell the pastor to do this.
Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition.
Thank you very well. I will suggest this Tutorial to our local minister for a brief planing how we could fortify our town church into a fortress if the Russians are coming. Basically many of this instructions are common sense in our time and most certainly are used by Ukrainian Soldiers in Defense of Cities and Villages just with support of modern technology.
Fortress of the Lord, that is unfair advantages. Except against heathens 🤔
this sounds a lot like ww1 trench systems
Y’all I know moblie game ads are usually bs but call of war is actually insanely good (especially if you have a buddy to play with)
Interestingly enough it was only 1949 when it became a war-crime to use "a Church, Mosque, Temple or other place of Religious or Secular Worship" as "a military garrison, fortification, barracks or other such structure of war except as hospital or shelter for civilians/refugees/wounded/aid workers or as a place of worship" or "to bombard, assault or other wise attack a place of Religious or Secular Worship".
One thing I'm also wondering on this topic is whether part of a Church's defense would be a reluctance to attack it in the first place.
Since at this time most of the armies of Europe were Christian and given how hard it is to get a person to intentionally kill another human being (Lindybeige did a video on this ua-cam.com/video/zViyZGmBhvs/v-deo.html and I believe you also did one about how aiming at a specific soldier was considered murder in the 18th century) and so to a society of social animals with a decent amount of religiosity it might seem quite likely that soldiers would be reluctant to attack a church.
The Alamo: am I a joke to you
I leave for gettysburg tomorrow
Have fun!
Thanks
Brandon would make a fine Gentleman Officer
Sponsor deadline?
ayyy
Another example of using a civilian edifice as a fort? It is spelled "Rorke's Drift". The defenders there must have read the book!
18th century Normandy
Then while your opponent is hung up on your tiger traps and murderous farm equipment, rain hell on them with canister shot! CUz who doesnt like a filling breakfast of lead balls and fellow soldier's brain bits.
"Burn the church" 🙈 oh god nooooo! 😂
hi!
hi!
@@BrandonF another great video, good job.
Viennas Saint Stephens burned down during the sequge in WW2
🗿👍🏿
P R O M O S M 😂
:)
We must defeat the French
most modern churches are kind of useless as a improvised fortification. Historical churches are better.
I think that was part of their initial design. For what I understand in rural European towns everyone lived in the town and their fields surrounded the town. This was in case of an attack the townspeople can run back in town and take refuge in the church with the hope the passing army wouldn't touch the church.
Twice in a week? You're spoiling us.
I'm doing my best!
Umm, sorry, but the pio-benedictine canonical code actually forbids the fortification of churches. 😅