Prime and Load!

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As the leaves change and a autumn chill sets in, Prime & Load! returns to the paranormal corners of the 18th century for our second annual Halloween special. While modern history often views the 18th century strictly through the lens of Enlightenment rationalism and military science, primary sources from the period are overflowing with accounts of poltergeists, spectral troops, and unnatural phenomena.
From the famous 1716 Epworth rectory disturbances experienced by Methodism founder John Wesley's family, to French cavalrymen getting their beds flipped upside down by spirits in their billets, supernatural tales crossed every layer of 18th-century society. But as state authorities, clergymen, and officers investigated these occurrences, they frequently uncovered a fascinating mix of genuine folk belief, social utility, military pranks, and illicit smuggling operations .
In this episode we talk about
The Epworth Rectory Poltergeist (1716–1720): John Wesley's detailed family account of knocking spirits .
The Bed-Flipping French Cuirassier: How Count Despilier tested a traumatized cavalryman's claims of a haunted billet.
The Phantom Army of Souter Fell: Eyewitness accounts from 1735–1745 of a spectral, regular army marching across a steep Lake District.
State Investigations & Unmasking Ghosts:
The Prussian Chimney Poltergeist (1760), The Graveyard "Ghost" of Halle (1790s), and The Smuggler "White Woman" of Sunderland (1786).
⏱️ Chapter Timestamps
00:00 – Cold Open & Intro: Returning to 18th-century spookiness
03:30 – The Epworth Rectory Poltergeist: John Wesley's primary source investigation [1–3]
09:15 – The Haunted Cuirassier: Count Despilier & the bed-flipping spirit
14:40 – The Phantom Army of Souter Fell: Midsummer Eve spectral marchers [5–6]
21:10 – Prussian Bureaucracy vs. Poltergeists: Press-ganging chimney ghosts into the army [7–8]
26:50 – The Hussar in the Graveyard: Catching 18th-century village lovers
31:15 – The Gin Smuggler of Sunderland: Bayonet charges & contraband spirits
37:00 – The Brocken Spectre & Mountain Physics [5–6]
42:30 – Major André & the Unquiet Dead of Pervitz
48:15 – War Trauma & the Moral Economy of Ghosts
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Get the Full, Uncut Version of this Episode 
On October 18, 1776, General William Howe launched a major amphibious maneuver, landing 4,000 British light infantry, grenadiers, and Hessians at Pell's Point (Pelham Manor) to bypass American positions. Spotting the landing, Colonel John Glover moved his 750-man brigade to contest the advance along Split Rock Road.
Utilizing the perpendicular stone fences as successive defensive strongpoints, Glover's regiments held their fire until the crown forces advanced to within 30 yards before delivering lethal volleys and falling back in disciplined sequence. This "break-and-rally" defense held off a force more than four times their size, buying Washington the time he needed to evacuate Manhattan and retreat safely to White Plains.

In this episode we talk about...
General Howe’s Amphibious Flank Maneuver: Bypassing Manhattan's northern fortifications by moving troops via Long Island Sound.
Glover’s 14th Marblehead & Unit Cohesion: The unique makeup of Glover's brigade, highlighting the 14th Continentals as an integrated regiment where roughly a third of the men were African American, Native American, or Hispanic.
Wall-to-Wall Tactical Defense: How 750 Continentals used the terrain to delay 4,000 British and Hessian troops. .
Myth vs. Reality of Casualties: Comparing inflated American claims with official casualty returns and primary accounts of the battle.
🔒 War Room Exclusive: Talking Points (Uncut Version)
The Tactical Blueprint for Cowpens & Guilford: How Glover’s linear "break-and-rally" technique established the core tactical playbook for the Continental Army.
Fog of War: The reasons why casualty number routinely get overstated during this period and it's effects. 
European Parallels & Bounding Tactics: Comparing Glover's defense to Seven Years' War Freikorps fighting in Europe and modern military concepts.
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Recommended Reading
The War of the Austrian Succession, By Reed Browning
Guibert: Father of Napoleon's Grande Armée, By Jonathan Abel
Ep 7: The Battle of Fontenoy
On October 11, 1746, over 200,000 soldiers clashed along the banks of the River Meuse in one of the largest land engagements of the 18th century. Following his conquests of Brussels, Antwerp, and Namur, French Marshal Maurice de Saxe sought to crush the remaining Allied forces defending the Austrian Netherlands and gain a decisive bargaining chip for ongoing European peace negotiations.
Arrayed against Saxe was a fragile 80,000-man Allied coalition composed of British, Dutch, Hanoverian, Hessian, and Austrian troops under Prince Charles of Lorraine. Hampered by political bickering over command precedence and the "posts of honor," the Allies found themselves backed against the Meuse River with their left flank exposed after the townspeople of Liège opened their gates to the French..
As heavy morning fog lifted over rain-soaked fields, Saxe launched massed infantry columns supported by mobile 8- and 12-pounder artillery batteries against the stone-walled "breakwater" villages of Lier, Varoux, and Rocoux. What resulted was hours of brutal, close-quarters combat. Though the villages eventually fell under overwhelming weight of numbers, a masterclass delaying action by Sir John Ligonier and Prince Waldeck allowed the Allied army to extricate itself across the Meuse in good order, preserving their force to defend the fortress of Maastricht .
What you're missing...
Patreon subscribers in The War Room unlock a full uncut episode (an additional 20 minutes) exploring the broader operational and historiographical significance of Rocoux:
The Peak of 18th-Century Army Sizes: Why Flanders was one of the few European theaters capable of logistically sustaining 200,000 men, and why field armies would not reach this scale again until the Napoleonic Wars.
Proto-Corps & Task-Specific Formations: How Saxe and his Chief of Staff, Crémille, managed an unmanageable army by pioneering semi-independent task forces—the evolutionary ancestor of the modern corps system [104–106, 116–121].
The Art of Contesting Villages: A deep-dive analysis comparing village strongpoints at Rocoux to later engagements like Ligny, Waterloo, and Leuthen.
Chapter Timestamps
00:00 – Cold Open & Introduction: High stakes on the River Meuse
03:45 – Post-Fontenoy Landscape: Saxe’s conquests & French peace-table bargaining
08:15 – Command Friction: Prince Charles of Lorraine & the dispute over the "posts of honor"
14:30 – The Princeling Problem: How Saxe managed insubordinate Royal Princes Conti & Clermont
19:50 – Fog, Rain, & The Fall of Liège: Damp terrain and open town gates
25:10 – The Breakwater Villages: Defensive preparation in Lier, Varoux, & Rocoux.
31:40 – Saxe’s Offensive: Massed infantry columns and mobile heavy guns
38:00 – Ligonier’s Masterclass: Saving the Allied army across the Meuse
44:15 – [WAR ROOM EXCLUSIVE] Why 18th-Century Armies Peak at Rocoux
50:30 – [WAR ROOM EXCLUSIVE] Proto-Corps & Divisional Task-Groups
56:45 – [WAR ROOM EXCLUSIVE] Methodists in Redcoats: Samson Staniforth’s Journal
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Recommended Reading
Frederick the Great: A Military Life By: Christopher Duffy
 Research on Saxon Army Loyalty & Desertion By: Markus von Salisch
Episode Summary
In October 1756, the Seven Years' War in Europe opened at Lobositz along the Elbe River. Fearing an anti-Prussian coalition, Frederick the Great launched a pre-emptive invasion of neutral Saxony, blockading 20,000 Saxons at Pirna. When Austrian Field Marshal Ulysses Maximilian von Browne marched north with 35,000 men to relieve them, the two armies collided in heavy morning fog
Blinded by mist, Frederick mistook the main Austrian army for a weak rearguard and launched ill-fated cavalry charges into marshy ground. Meanwhile, a brutal infantry brawl raged through the stone-walled vineyards of the Lobosch mountain. Believing the battle lost, Frederick departed, leaving command to Field Marshal James Keith. Subordinate commander August Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Bevern rallied ammunition-depleted Prussian battalions to charge with fixed bayonets, pushing back the Austrians and securing a costly tactical victory. The win delayed Austrian relief long enough to force the total surrender of the Saxon army at Pirna, turning occupied Saxony into Prussia’s vital war chest.
Chapter Timestamps
00:00 – Intro & Geography: Setting the stage in the Elbe River Valley
03:15 – The Pirna Blockade: Frederick’s invasion of Saxony & the race against time
07:30 – Meet the Commanders: Frederick, Keith, & Bevern vs. Von Browne & Hadek
12:45 – Fog of War: 5:30 AM reconnaissance & the Homocaburg heavy battery
17:20 – The Cavalry Blunder: General Kyau’s 59 squadrons charge into marshy ground
22:10 – The Vineyard Scrum: Close-quarters brawling on the Lobosch mountain
27:45 – "Skewer the Dogs": Bevern’s bayonet charge & ammunition redistribution
32:30 – House-to-House Fight: Clearing Lobositz & Von Browne’s orderly retreat
37:15 – Desertion & Aftermath: The story of Swiss mercenary Ulrich Bracher 
41:50 – The Surrender at Pirna: Capturing Saxony as Prussia's financial war chest
 Exclusive Patron Content: What’s Missing in the Free Version?
The full, uncut version contains over 30 minutes of strategic context and command analysis cut from the public release:
[46:30] The Diplomatic Revolution: Kaunitz's anti-Prussian alliance & Maria Theresa's military reforms.
[51:15] Frederick’s Forced-Draft Mistake: Drafting 20,000 captured Saxons into the Prussian army, triggering mass desertions.
[55:40] Modern Command Lessons: Small-unit initiative, ammo management, and bayonet charges, drawing direct parallels to Joshua Chamberlain at Gettysburg.

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Following the 1745 capture of Louisbourg, British ministers redirected General James St. Clair's Quebec-bound army to launch a surprise amphibious assault on Lorient, the primary Atlantic depot and shipyard of the French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes). Co-commanded by St. Clair and the contentious 70-year-old Admiral Richard Lestock, the 1746 Lorient Expedition quickly devolved into a logistical fiasco. Discover how this "feeble and fruitless" raid, naval duels in Quiberon Bay, and flawed strategic lessons directly shaped British military policy throughout the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.
Key Discussion Points
Redirecting the Canadian Invasion: How shipping bottlenecks aborted the 1746 Quebec campaign and forced ministers to pick Lorient off a map.
Amphibious Friction at Anse Pouldu: The mechanics of a smooth beach landing ruined by a lack of artillery transport and militia ambushes on Brigadier O'Farrell's column.
Naval Duels & The Loss of the Ardent: The engagement between HMS Exeter and the crippled French 64-gun warship Ardent, culminating in its accidental burning by civilian transport crews.
Flawed Strategic Lessons: How French troop transfers from Flanders convinced British planners that coastal raids were a silver-bullet strategy for the next decade.
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