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Alexander Jardine (British Army Officer)
Alexander Jardine (died 1799) was a Scottish artillery officer, spy, and writer on travel and politics. Life He was an illegitimate son of Sir Alexander Jardine, 4th Baronet. He entered the Royal Artillery as a private matross in March 1755, by Forbes Macbean. He was transferred to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, as a cadet in June 1757. He passed out of the academy as a lieutenant-fireworker on 8 February 1758. Jardine saw service in several theatres of the Seven Years' War, including the Raid on Rochefort, the Invasion of Martinique (1759) and the Invasion of Guadeloupe (1759), and in 1762 was in Gibraltar for its defence. His subsequent career was as second lieutenant on 11 September 1762, first lieutenant on 28 May 1766, and captain-lieutenant on 28 April 1773. For four years from 1776, Jardine acted as a British intelligence agent in Spain. He was transferred to one of the Royal Artillery's invalid companies, on 1 November 1776. He became captain in 1777, brevet-major ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises thirteen Regular Army regiments, the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and five Army Reserve regiments. History Formation to 1799 Artillery was used by the English army as early as the Battle of Crécy in 1346, while Henry VIII established it as a semi-permanent function in the 16th century. Until the early 18th century, the majority of British regiments were raised for specific campaigns and disbanded on completion. An exception were gunners based at the Tower of London, Portsmouth and other forts around Britain, who were controlled by the Ordnance Office and stored and maintained equipment and provided personnel for field artillery 'traynes' that were organised as needed. These personnel, responsible in peacetime for maintaining the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hume
David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, librarian, and essayist, who is best known today for his highly influential system of philosophical empiricism, scepticism, and naturalism. Beginning with '' A Treatise of Human Nature'' (1739–40), Hume strove to create a naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature. Hume argued against the existence of innate ideas, positing that all human knowledge derives solely from experience. This places him with Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and George Berkeley as an Empiricist. Hume argued that inductive reasoning and belief in causality cannot be justified rationally; instead, they result from custom and mental habit. We never actually perceive that one event caus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed constitution or the separation of powers in government, his in-depth discussion of checks and balances to limit power, and his introduction of "the people", which influenced Montesquieu's ''The Spirit of the Laws'', John Locke's ''Two Treatises of Government'', and the framers of the United States Constitution. The leading expert on Polybius for nearly a century was F. W. Walbank (1909–2008), who published studies related to him for 50 years, including a long commentary of his ''Histories'' and a biography. Early life Polybius was born around 200 BC in Megalopolis, Greece, Megalopolis, Arcadia (region), Arcadia, when it was an active member of the Achaean League. The town was revived, along with other Achaean states, a century before he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his antireligious views and opposition to theology.See e.g., Henry St. John Viscount Bolingbroke, "Letters or Essays Addressed to Alexander Pope: Introduction"''The Works of Lord Bolingbroke: With a Life, Prepared Expressly for This Edition, Containing Additional Information Relative to His Personal and Public Character,'' (Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1841) Vol 3, pp. 40–64. Also available on Project Gutenberg as "Letter to Alexander Pope" i ''Letters to Sir William Windham and Mr. Pope''D'Holbach, Baronparagraph 206 He supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the new king George I. Escaping to France he became foreign minister for the Pretender. He was attainted for treason, but reversed course and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Theophilus Desaguliers
John Theophilus Desaguliers FRS (12 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had studied at Oxford and later popularized Newtonian theories and their practical applications in public lectures. Desaguliers's most important patron was James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. As a Freemason, Desaguliers was instrumental in the success of the first Grand Lodge in London in the early 1720s and served as its third Grand Master. Biography Early life and education Desaguliers was born in La Rochelle, several months after his father Jean Desaguliers, a Protestant minister, had been exiled as a Huguenot by the French government. Jean Desaguliers was ordained as an Anglican by Bishop Henry Compton of London, and sent to Guernsey. Meanwhile, the baby was baptised Jean Théophile Desaguliers in the Protestant Temple in La Rochelle, and he and hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus
Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also referred to as '' De re militari''), and the lesser-known ''Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae'', a guide to veterinary medicine. He identifies himself in the opening of his work ''Epitoma rei militaris'' as a Christian. Dating of work The latest event alluded to in his ''Epitoma rei militaris'' is the death of the Emperor Gratian (383); the earliest attestation of the work is a ''subscriptio'' by Flavius Eutropius, writing in Constantinople in 450, which appears in one of two families of manuscripts, suggesting that a division of the manuscript tradition had already occurred. Despite Eutropius' location in Constantinople, the scholarly consensus is that Vegetius wrote in the Western Roman Empire.Walter Goffart. The date and purposes of Vegetius' D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri De La Tour D'Auvergne, Viscount Of Turenne
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshal of France, Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family, his military exploits over his five-decade career earned him a reputation as one of the greatest military commanders in history. Born to a Huguenot family, the son of a Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, Marshal of France, he was introduced to the art of war at a young age. He first served as a volunteer in the Dutch States Army under the orders of his maternal uncles Maurice of Nassau and Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, Frederick Henry but later chose to continue his career in the service of France, where his noble origins and proven qualities soon saw him rise to the top of the military hierarchy. He rose to prominence during the Thirty Years' War by Battle of Breisach, capturi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willem 's Gravesande
Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (26 September 1688 – 28 February 1742) was a Dutch mathematician and natural philosopher, chiefly remembered for developing experimental demonstrations of the laws of classical mechanics and the first experimental measurement of kinetic energy. As professor of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy at Leiden University, he helped to propagate Isaac Newton's ideas in Continental Europe. Life Born in 's-Hertogenbosch, 's Gravesande studied law at Leiden University, where he defended a thesis on suicide and earned a doctorate in 1707. He then practised law in The Hague while also participating in intellectual discussions and cultivating his interest in the mathematical sciences. His ''Essai de perspective'' ("Essay on Perspective"), published in 1711, was praised by the influential Swiss mathematician Johann Bernoulli. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1738. After switching to and completing a Bachelor of Civil Law degree, he was made a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, on 2 November 1743, admitted to Middle Temple, and called to the Bar there in 1746. Following a slow start to his career as a barrister, Blackstone became heavily involved in university administration, becoming accountant, treasurer and bursar on 28 November 1746 and Senior Bursar in 1750. Blackstone is considered responsible for completing the Codrington Library and Warton Building, and simplifying the complex accounting system used by the college. On 3 July 1753 he formally gave up his practice as a barris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raimondo Montecuccoli
Raimondo Montecuccoli (; 21 February 1609 – 16 October 1680) was an Italian-born professional soldier, military theorist, and diplomat, who served the Habsburg monarchy. Experiencing the Thirty Years' War from scratch as a simple footsoldier, he rose through the ranks into a regiment holder and became an important cavalry commander in the late stages. Serving the Habsburgs as war counsellor and envoy, he commanded their troops in the Second Northern War and the Austro-Turkish War of 1663–64 where he scored an impressive victory in the Battle of Saint Gotthard. Afterwards, he became president of the Hofkriegsrat and briefly returned as supreme commander of the Imperial forces during the Franco-Dutch War. Montecuccoli was considered the only commander able to compete with the French general Turenne, (1611–1675), and like him, was closely associated with the post-1648 development of linear infantry tactics. Early life Montecuccoli was born on 21 February 1609 in the Cast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Robins
Benjamin Robins (170729 July 1751) was a pioneering British scientist, Newtonian mathematician, and military engineer. He wrote an influential treatise on gunnery, for the first time introducing Newtonian science to military men, was an early enthusiast for rifled gun barrels, and his work had substantive influence on the development of artillery during the latter half of the eighteenth century – and directly stimulated the teaching of calculus in military academies. Early life Benjamin Robins was born in Bath. His parents were Quakers in poor circumstances, and as a result, he received very little formal education. Having come to London on the advice of Dr. Henry Pemberton (1694–1771), who had recognised Robins's talents, for a time he maintained himself by teaching mathematics, but soon devoted himself to engineering and the study of fortification. Scientific gunnery In particular he carried out an extensive series of experiments in gunnery, embodying his results in his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenary armies of the Achaemenid Empire, the Ten Thousand, that marched on and came close to capturing Babylon in 401 BC. As the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "the centuries since have devised nothing to surpass the genius of this warrior". Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations, and was among the first to describe strategic flanking maneuvers and feints in combat. Xenophon's ''Anabasis (Xenophon), Anabasis'' recounts his adventures with the Ten Thousand while in the service of Cyrus the Younger, Cyrus's failed campaign to claim the Persian throne from Artaxerxes II of Persia, and the return of Greek mercenaries after Cyrus's death in the Battle of Cunaxa. ''Anabasis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
