Phase 4 - The Williamite Army and the Army of Queen Anne

William now had what he wanted - that is, another source of soldiers to allow him to carry on his fight on behalf of the United Provinces against the French

He had his own Dutch troops, but Parliament insisted on control of what he could or could not do with the British army - it cemented this by having William and his wife Mary (one of James II's daughter) agree to the Bill of Rights, one key element of which, was that the monarchs could not raise extra troops in peacetime, without the permission of Parliament

Notwithstanding this, the former king James II was still around - William had not opposed James leaving the country, and James began to be a nucleus of Catholic unrest in Ireland

Not only was James this nucleus, but a good number of Catholic senior officers who owed James their position in the British army left their regiments to go with him, so William had find and to appoint 'new' officers for his 'new' army

James had willing Catholic volunteers for his use, and officers to command them

At this point in time, William had a new 'army' which he did not entirely trust, and which had no real experience in 'European style' fighting - the old 'Ironsides' had gone - he had his own Dutch Guard, however, and had regiments of Danish troops in Dutch service to use

With French encouragement, dissent in Ireland began to spread, and the Protestant north of the island began to feel threatened

The political intrigues of this period in time are complicated - overall, it was not really a religious conflict, though for the Irish Catholics it certainly was

For James, it was regaining his English throne

For the French it was gaining control in the power sphere of Europe

For the Papacy, it was controlling the aspirations of the French

For a good overall summary of the conflict in Ireland, go to www.qub.ac.uk/sites/irishhistorylive/IrishHistoryResources/Articlesandlecturesbyourteachingstaff/TheWilliamiteWars/

For some highly recommended information about uniforms of all sides,and wargaming the Williamite and Jacobite armies in Ireland, go to https://www.leagueofaugsburg.com

In Europe, William was leading the struggle against the French and their allies - he was instrumental in forming the first Grand Alliance, and part of the army available to it was British, but they were not not familiar with continental tactics - nor was the British Navy of much support, having lost the Battle of Beachy Head to the French in 1690

This was the period called the Nine Years War, and overviews can be found here https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/nine-years-war and later the http://www.spanishsuccession.nl/

During this period, the British Army began to learn to fight - more importantly, the British Army command became stronger

William began to work with like-minded countries in Europe to plan to thwart the French again - he was one of the key instigators of the second Grand Alliance, but died before it bore fruit

William and Mary died without children, so Mary's sister Anne assumed the throne, and continued the strategic involvement on the Continent, led principally by John Churchill for the British military, and with an army and commander which had honed their 'trade' with William

The situation in Europe 'drifted' into the War of the Spanish Succession, with heavy British military involvement in Europe (and, by extension, in the Caribbean), but now with a British commander (jointly with Prince Eugene) leading an allied army

The French and their allies would prove to be no push-over, but the doggedness of the Grand Alliance in Central Europe won through

In Spain, it would be different and while the British Army was involved, it found itself on the 'losing side' in respect of securing their preferred candidate as monarch on the Spanish mainland

Britain took control of Gibraltar and Menorca, but otherwise for Britain this 'loss' of the Spanish king was less of an issue - with Gibraltar, they could now safeguard British maritime trade with the Mediterranean countries

At the end of this period of conflict, Britain had a well resourced, well trained and battle-seasoned Army, whereas France and Spain were much reduced in financial and politics