Danish troops in the Williamite army in Ireland, 1689–91

Kjeld Hald Galster

This unique account of the Williamite War in Ireland focuses on the Danish troops who fought on the Williamite side. Comprising fifteen per cent of William III’s army at the Battle of the Boyne, this Danish force was to play a crucial role in some of the key engagements of the Williamite War. The author, Kjeld Hald Galster, who has served with the Danish Royal Life Guards (whose predecessors played a key role at the Battle of Aughrim), follows the Danish troops through the course of their Irish campaign, and, using a wide variety of Danish and British sources, illuminates the leading personalities and key events of the war. Galster also examines the various military strategies pursued by the leaders on both sides, and shows to what extent the Principles of War, as they are understood today, relate to that military campaign.

‘This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the [Williamite] War by concentrating on the Danish contingent that formed part of what we would now call William’s multi-national force … This book has many virtues, not least its author’s ability to command English, Danish and French, and his preparedness to place the Danish force in this war in the broader context of coalition warfare in general’, Brigadier Richard Holmes in the foreword.

Kjeld Hald Galster, educated at the Royal Military College of Canada and the University of Copenhagen, was commissioned into the Royal Life Guards in 1973. He has recently retired from his position as a senior researcher at the Royal Danish Defence College.