Evolution of warfare in the post-Napoleonic era? (Other than Battle of Königsberg)

by BoxOfMapGrids

Edit: I need more coffee, I meant Königgrätz. You knew what I meant, dang it.

I'm aware of this discussion here, detailing much on the effect of infantry firepower on the dissolution of cavalry. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2kcv1d/we_often_hear_about_how_war_changed_in_the_20th/clk900x/

I've also read through a few papers on the arme blanche controversy that persisted in British military circles from the late 1800s to 1914. As well as a book or two on the move away from closed order. I'm not interested in these things at the moment.

I'm interested in literally anything else.

The vast majority of the sources and material I have found on this era seems to be laser-focused on specific spots like the needle rifle and The Charge Of The Light Brigade, with nearly nothing at all on the changes in doctrines and organization, and most of the material on the other wars of this century focuses on the political and socio-economics, with the details of the wars themselves completely omitted.

Tell me about the doctrines, tell me about the early experimental weapons, tell me about the colonial shootouts, the Anglo-Zulu wars and the Sepoy Rebellion, tell me about the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion, or anything from that whole hundred years' worth that isn't another rehash of 'The Austrians went into the woods and was annihilated by the breech-loading needle rifle, leading to the skirmish line'.

I've scraped the local provincial library system clean, and have sank as low as consulting 1800's era patent papers to get information. Help me out here.

Books, papers, any source recommendations are also appreciated.

mort-aux-rois

Your question is extremely broad, but for reading I'd recommend "The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham. Its a wonderful read, and discusses in detail the failures of 19th century strategy when faced with advanced rifles. Mike Snook's two volumes on Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift speak at length regarding tactics in the Anglo-Zulu wars and make for fun reading as well.

EnclavedMicrostate

I think you're looking at 'Königgrätz' rather than 'Königsberg'.

Anyway, for particular wars consider Geoffrey Wawro or Michael Howard on the Franco-Prussian War, Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear by Richard Connaughton on the Russo-Japanese War, The Destruction of Lord Raglan by Christopher Hibbert on the Crimean War, or just about anything reasonable on the US Civil War. Königgrätz may be easily dismissed at first, but either Wawro's The Austro-Prussian War or The Road to Königgrätz by Quintin Barry are very much worth considering for far more detailed narratives and analyses. Indeed, Wawro clearly discounts the idea that the needle gun alone was responsible for Prussian victory, with the relatively Pyrrhic victory at Skalitz demonstrating that victory was not solely a consequence of superior small arms firepower, for example.

For the Taiping Rebellion you won't be in too much luck with regards to nitty-gritty tactical detail, but there is some. Sections of Stephen R. Platt's Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, particularly the Siege of Anqing, will be notable, whilst Jian Youwen's The Taiping Revolutionary Movement contains much on campaigning. Probably the main work with a major tactical element may be Richard J. Smith's Mercenaries and Mandarins, which I have yet to finish but which focusses almost exclusively on the activities of Ward and Gordon's westernised Ever-Victorious Army in 1860-64.