“Féroces et barbares?” Cossacks, Kalmyks and Russian Irregular Warfare during the Seven Years’ War

This chapter summarizes the facts of the war and examine an example: the battle of Minden on 1-August 1759. The author take military reconnaissance to be a cultural practice of acquiring, processing and implementing information referring to the enemy, the structures of reconnaissance services within the social system of the military are the focus of the examination. Particular attention is paid to the groups of persons, the routes (topography) and means (technology) by which information was transferred to the deployment and operational phases. The chapter focuses on the social environment of military reconnaissance; investigation will be made of the background, which in each case influenced the modes of recognition and perception of those active in them. Engineers and engineer-geographers from both armies acted under the protection of special detachments in cooperation with light troops. In the English-French conflict, waged in German theatre of war by regional regiments colorfully arrayed together.