deserting must be better than this shit?
just be on the winning side we all die someday anyways
You can say this about almost any war, if it was 4000 years earlier you'd be cowering in formation while rich assholes circles around in chariots lobbing arrows at you. War sucks and anyone who claims it was ever fun, fair, or "honorable" is an ignorant retard who doesn't know shit about it.
>>18017976They were doing it for money.
>>18017976While desertion rates could be quite high, the deserter would be classified as one of the worst criminals - with little chance of finding refuge safe for the service in another army. Dragoons, while being primarily mounted infantry, were used for military policing duties as well; frisking the backlines to safeguard the lines of communication & supply and to search for deserter and stragglers.And if a deserter is captured the punishment would be harsh: from running the gauntlet to deliberate mutilation everything was possible.
>>18017976Soldiers in that period were generally not there from choice. If you signed up it was for one of two reasons: you were either so utterly fucked and useless that the only job you could get was 'bullet-catcher', or you were a literal criminal who was sentenced to 'x years of military service'. Soldiers at the time joked that they were 'invited to serve, by the judge'. Wellington wasn't joking when he said "I don't know what they do to the enemy, but by God they terrify me" about his soldiers.
>>18018333This. Line warfare wasn’t even that deadly either. Death by disease was far and away much more common than being one of the unlucky ones hit by a musket ball. If you look at the size of armies vs actual battlefield casualties, it really wasn’t that high.
>>18018575>Shitloads of people died from disease due to horrifically primitive medical practice, theory, and technology>This means that getting shot at was safeAbsolutely reddited opinion.
>>18018069Shows what you know i would have died during childbirth
>>18018575Yep, any kind of soldiering before the Crimean war fucking sucked because 90% of casualties were disease, starvation, exhaustion and exposure.Soldiers also lived off the land, there was no "logistics", so wars sucked for virtually everyone living in the areas too since they would die from the exact same reasons after armies had scorched and plundered the land.Most people also forget (because it's never portrayed in movies etc) that an army was roughly 50% soldiers while the other 50% were 'camp followers'. They could be literal wives abd children tagging along to cook and clean etc for their husband's, or other civilians who simply made a living.
>>18018592Where did I say it was completely safe, retard? It was comparably not as bad as idiots relying on memes would have you think, because they see a mene and go>lmao they’re standing in a line, how stupid!Fucking moron.
>>18018634>Fucking moron.I'm glad that you're willing to accept that about yourself.
>>18017976no it looks like a fun time with the ladsnumales will never understand
>>18017976Why? Most of them survived unscathed and many armies had lifelong benefits for retired soldiers.
>>18017976Yeah but if they get you they'll make Mexican liveleak videos look like child's play with you
>>18017976Lots of people had the same idea, many even switched sides rather than surrender, higher ranks were prone to taking bribes to leave the battle or attack their own, some would switch sides based on religious or ideological reasons and mercenaries would turn depending on profit, sometimes whole units would revolt and fight for themselvesFor most there was just no way out but trough, hoping for advancement, loot, or at least a pension plan
>>18018592It really wasn’t all that dangerous statistically compared to other types of warfare. I’d take it over WW1/WW2 any day.
>>18018592Just because you're a coward doesn't mean everyone else is.
>>18019319THIS. People back then still believed in things like glory and adventure, war was seen as fucking AWESOME, they all wanted to fight in at least a couple of battles before they retired back to a life of fucking farming.They weren't going, "Damn, conscripted by the King, I sure will miss staying home and playing video games all day!" Getting conscripted meant you were a MAN, finally. Recruiting sergeants had to beat young farmboys off with a fucking stick! Boys were walking across the county barefoot to join the first regiment they could find.
>>18018604>Most people also forget (because it's never portrayed in movies etc) that an army was roughly 50% soldiers while the other 50% were 'camp followers'.The only piece of media that depicts camp followers I know of is the series Turn: Washington’s Spies. Granted it is only a brief side plot but it was still nice to show this aspect of soldierly life. >>18018857>higher ranks were prone to taking bribes to leave the battle or attack their own, some would switch sides based on religious or ideological reasonsI can't think of a single instance where a comissioned officer left the battlefield or even turned on his former army. And the only example I know that a comissioned officer switched sides during a war would be Joseph Theodor von Ruesch, who at first fought for Austria in the First Silesian War. But as he felt disadvantaged due to not recieving a promotion, he switched to the prussian side.Do you know of instances where a comissioned officer actively betrayed his former army or even switched sides?
>>18019661I have to immediately correct myself.Von Ruesch didn't left the austrian service during the war. He did so in 1743 - a year after the war had been finished.And Benedict Arnold would be an example of a commissioned officer switching sides. I remembered him due to me mentioning the series Turn.But my question still stands: what were other instances of a commissioned officer becomig a turncoat?
>>18017976Line infantry was brainwashed through constant beatings and threats of death by their officers; they even walked around with halberds behind the line
>>18019674>and threats of death by their officers; they even walked around with halberds behind the lineAre you implying that the officers would use their polearms to kill retreating soldiers?In reality the polearms were used to denote the status of a given (non)commissioned officer and more practically, to indicate where the men had to form their lines of battle.
>>18018597Based femanon
Until the Napoleonic War soldiers were viewed as bipedal beasts who deserved every bit of misfortune inflicted upon them. It was a refuge of scoundrels even worse than the navy. Napoopan wars starts to change it into more of a patriotic affair (Excluding cases like the Revolutionary war that were different). What >>18018534 said. It's hard for us to really wrap our heads around just how much of a primitive animal these soldiers will have been. It's not "Oh they're just like us but poor". It's more the gap between a human and a ranjeet or a human and an inner city 68 IQ Glock-wielding ape.
>>18019351That is a highly romanticized, modernist, reinterpretation, not something that anybody older than about 13 takes seriously.
>>18018069Sacking cities was fun.
Whether it’s better depends on whether survival and personal ethics outweigh potential guilt.
>>18019661Oh shit that's crisp.
>>18018604>an army was roughly 50% soldiers while the other 50% were 'camp followersThose ratios fluctuated wildly based on the time period / specific army.
>>18019661>Do you know of instances where a comissioned officer actively betrayed his former army or even switched sides?Happened all the time in the Thirty Year’s War.
>>18021605Can you state any concrete examples?The only case that might come close is that of Wallenstein, who at best started negotiations (which were without any consequences regardless) with his foes without the consent of the Emperor, Ferdinand II., and at worst was simply eliminated by Ferdinand II. as Wallenstein had amassed too much military and economic power and influence within the HRE.
>>18022264Pic related from C.V Wedgwood’s book on the war. Idk if it’s a technicality in your head that they often resigned their commissions first, but here you have it. The book notes that it happened more often with junior officers but of course their names are more obscure, or not even known at all, and it’s probably impossible to find every case of it. As an aside, there’s also the famous example of the Saxon desertion during the Battle of Leipzig 1813, but I cannot say with certainty if there were any commissioned officers involved with that or if it was just troops. I know their general certainly wasn’t involved and was mortified when it happened.
>>18022526Thx for the source mate. I'll look further into it.
>>18019674>they even walked around with halberds behind the lineopposite actually. They’d run forward infront of the formation and extend the pole at where their officers ordered them, which would guide the troops. They were also useful for laying out infront of troops to make sure no one advanced to far forward on uneven terrain.
