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PODCAST

Prime and Load!

Historic Studios

Welcome to the Prime & Load Podcast!This podcast is dedicated to exploring the pivotal wars, battles, strategies, and figures that shaped the 18th century. From the rise of powerful empires to the dramatic shifts in military tactics, we delve into the stories behind the soldiers, commanders, and innovations that altered the course of history. Whether you’re a military history buff or just curious about this transformative period, we’ll guide you through the battles, conflicts, and the evolution

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All Episodes

61:45

Blood on the Lobosch: The Battle of Lobositz

Prime and Load! ·

2026/10/01

Text the show! Recommended Reading Frederick the Great: A Military Life By: Christopher Duffy Research on Saxon Army Loyalty & Desertion By: Markus von Salisch Episode Summary In October 1756, the Seven Years' War in Europe opened at Lobositz along the Elbe River. Fearing an anti-Prussian coalition, Frederick the Great launched a pre-emptive invasion of neutral Saxony, blockading 20,000 Saxons at Pirna. When Austrian Field Marshal Ulysses Maximilian von Browne marched north wi...

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62:51

The Anatomy of a Coastal Disaster: The Lorient...

Prime and Load! ·

2026/09/20

Text the show! Following the 1745 capture of Louisbourg, British ministers redirected General James St. Clair's Quebec-bound army to launch a surprise amphibious assault on Lorient, the primary Atlantic depot and shipyard of the French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes). Co-commanded by St. Clair and the contentious 70-year-old Admiral Richard Lestock, the 1746 Lorient Expedition quickly devolved into a logistical fiasco. Discover how this "feeble and fruitless" raid, naval duels in Qu...

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64:09

Eclipsing the Sun King: The Relief of Turin

Prime and Load! ·

2026/09/07

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: The War of the Spanish Succession by James Falkner Prince Eugene of Savoy by James Falkner Episode Summary For continental European powers in 1706, fighting against France was like being in a cage match with an 800-pound gorilla. Unlike the British, who had the English Channel to keep the French at arm's length, smaller states like Piedmont-Sardinia faced a life-and-death struggle against the towering ambition of Lo...

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64:30

Outflanked: The Defense and Capture of Long Island

Prime and Load! ·

2026/08/27

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Episode Summary Today in 1776 General Sir William Howe launched his attack on Washington's army on Long Island. In this episode, hosts Dr. Alex Burns, Dr. Andrew Bamford, and Lee Gugino are joined once again by National Park Service historian Jason Wickersty. In this episode, we'll talk about how the British lost the initial race to occupy New York and how Charles Lee turned the city into a fortress. We'll also talk about the Howe brot...

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76:48

The Empire's Armada: The 1776 Invasion of New York

Prime and Load! ·

2026/08/17

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution by Ira Gruber Episode Summary Was Sir William Howe a sluggish, indolent commander more interested in Mrs. Loring than winning a war, or was he the most sophisticated logistician of the 18th century? On this 250th anniversary of the 1776 New York Campaign, hosts Dr. Alex Burns, Dr. Andrew Bamford, and Lee Gugino are joined by National Park Service historian Jason Wickers...

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76:18

Montcalm’s First Victory: The Fall of Fort Oswego

Prime and Load! ·

2026/08/10

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: Glories to Useless Heroism: The Seven Years War in North America from the French Journals of Comte Maurès De Malartic, 1755-1760 Translated by: William Raffle Montcalm's Crushing Blow, French and Indian Raids along New York's Oswego River 1756 by René Chartrand Episode Summary In 1756, the shores of the Oswego River became a critical flashpoint that would determine the mastery of Lake Ontario. While the world’s atten...

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62:31

A Guide to the Holy Roman Empire: The Kingdom of...

Prime and Load! ·

2026/07/16

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: Iron and Blood by Peter Wilson The Army of Frederick the Great by Christopher Duffy Episode Summary How did a "pancake flat" swamp in Northern Germany transform into the most formidable military machine in Europe? For much of the early 18th century, the Austrian Habsburgs mocked the Prussian military as an eccentric "pet project" of "toy soldiers". Yet, under a lineage of increasingly focused monarchs, this "p...

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72:24

The Misunderstood Enemy: Hessians in North America

Prime and Load! ·

2026/07/04

Text the show! Episode Resources & Links Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Recommended Reading: The Hessians by Dr. Friederike Baer The Hessian Mercenary State by Charles Ingrao A Generous and Merciful Enemy by Daniel Krebs Episode Summary "He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny." With those words in the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson fixed the image of the "Hessian" in t...

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70:50

Disaster in the Mediterranean: The Fall of Minorca

Prime and Load! ·

2026/06/27

Text the show! Episode Resources & Quick Links Unlock the Full Uncut Episode Here!Recommended Reading: The Wooden World by N.A.M. RodgerEpisode Summary Can a single lost island lead to the execution of a British Admiral by his own government? In 1756, a spark in the North American wilderness ignited a global conflict that would become the Seven Years' War. The French set their sights on the strategic "key to the Mediterranean": the British-held island of Minorca. Join hosts Dr. Alex...

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67:33

The Jacobite Rising, Part VII: The Fall of the '45

Prime and Load! ·

2026/06/10

Text the show! Unlock the Full Uncut Final Join Our Newsletter Recommended Reading: The '45 by Christopher Duffy In Fight for a Throne by Christopher Duffy Episode Summary The smoke has cleared over Culloden Moor, but for the Jacobite cause, the disaster is only beginning. While popular memory often ends with the final charge, the reality of the "'45" was a protracted, harrowing aftermath of dispersed regiments and a Prince on the run. Join hosts Dr. Alexander Burns, Dr...

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72:59

The Key to a Continent: Fort Niagara Over 300 Years

Prime and Load! ·

2026/05/29

Text the show! Join the Prime and Load War Room on Patreon Old Fort Niagara's 300th Birthday! Recommended Reading: Memoir Upon the Late War in North America by Pierre Pouchot The Siege of Fort Niagara 1759 by Brian Leigh Dunnigan Episode Summary For three centuries, a lone fortress has stood guard at the mouth of the Niagara River, witnessing the rise and fall of empires. In this special 300th-anniversary episode, the tables are turned as producer Lee Gugino steps into the e...

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68:06

Marlborough's Masterpiece: The Battle of Ramillies

Prime and Load! ·

2026/05/23

Text the show! Join the Prime & Load War Room Recommended Reading: Great and Glorious Days by James Faulkner Marlborough as Military Commander by David Chandler The Art of Warfare in the age of Marlborough by David Chandler Episode Summary Could a single afternoon shatter the hegemony of the "Sun King" and reshape the map of Europe? In May 1706, the War of Spanish Succession hung on a knife’s edge as the French army left its defensive lines to seek a decisive e...

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62:50

A Guide to the Holy Roman Empire: Habsburgs,...

Prime and Load! ·

2026/05/06

Text the show! Episode Resources & Quick Links Recommended Reading: The Holy Roman Empire in the 18th Century and Wurttemberg in the 18th Century by Peter Wilson Episode Summary Was the Holy Roman Empire really "not holy, not Roman, and not an empire"? Hosts Dr. Alexander Burns deconstruct Voltaire’s famous quip to reveal a sophisticated, decentralized political system that governed German Central Europe for centuries. This episode moves past the "Byzantine complexity...

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49:14

A Year in Review: Our Favorite Moments and the Road...

Prime and Load! ·

2026/04/29

Text the show! It has been an incredible twelve months of deep dives, research, and podcasting. Today, Lee, Alex, and Andrew are taking a step back from the 18th century to take a personal look at everything that has happened with Prime & Load over the past year. We want to take this opportunity to reflect on how much the show has grown, share our favorite moments from behind the mic, and talk candidly about what it takes to put these episodes together. Most importantly, this episode is ...

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81:39

The Jacobite Rising VI: The Battle of Culloden

Prime and Load! ·

2026/04/16

Text the show! When we think of the Battle of Culloden, pop culture usually hands us a romantic tragedy: wild, screaming Highlanders charging heroically into the fire and bayonets of the British war machine. But to understand what actually happened on that freezing moor in 1746, we have to look past the Hollywood myths and ‘pop history.’ This week on Prime & Load, we reach the climax of our Jacobite Rising series. We are joined once again by historian Dr. Arran Johnston to strip away cen...

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73:13

Snow and Iron: The Battle of Mollwitz

Prime and Load! ·

2026/04/10

Text the show! In the spring of 1741, the Austrian high command looked at the Prussian Army and saw a joke. To the battle-hardened veterans of the Habsburg Empire, Frederick II’s men were nothing more than a parade-ground army obsessed with perfect drill, but completely untested in the mud and blood of real combat. At the Battle of Mollwitz, the Austrians intended to brush them aside. And for a moment, it looked like they had. This week on Prime & Load, Dr. Alex Burns takes the lead to d...

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75:39

A Failure of Command: The British Disaster at Cartagena

Prime and Load! ·

2026/03/21

Decades before the American Revolution or the Seven Years' War, the British Empire assembled an armada of over 180 ships and 30,000 men. Their target: the Spanish stronghold of Cartagena de Indias. It was the largest expeditionary force the British had ever assembled, and it was supposed to be a crushing blow in the War of Jenkins' Ear. Instead, it became a masterclass in the friction of war. Today on Prime & Load, we are joined by historian Tom Golding-Lee to dissect the catastrophic 174...

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73:11

Fight for the Steppe: The Russo-Ottoman Wars

Prime and Load! ·

2026/03/05

When we think of 18th-century warfare, our minds usually jump to the fields of Flanders, the forests of North America, or the rolling hills of Central Europe. But while the Western powers were fighting over border forts and overseas colonies, a completely different scale of war was raging in the East. Across the vast, unforgiving expanse of the Pontic Steppe, the Russian and Ottoman Empires were hurling hundreds of thousands of men at each other in a fight for control over the region that is ...

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70:58

The Jacobite Rising Part V: The Small Wars of 1746

Prime and Load! ·

2026/02/16

January 1746. The Jacobites have just won another stunning victory at Falkirk Muir. But instead of marching south, Bonnie Prince Charlie finds himself overruled by his war council and forced into a controversial retreat back into the Highlands. History often jumps straight from the victory at Falkirk to the tragedy at Culloden, ignoring the critical months in between. But the war did not stop. In this episode of Prime & Load, Lee Gugino, Dr. Alex Burns, and Andrew Bamford are joined once ...

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73:46

The Gold Standard: The Royal French Army of the 18th...

Prime and Load! ·

2026/02/01

In the English-speaking world, we often view the French Army through the single lens of the Seven Years' War. We see the disaster: the loss of Canada, the retreat from India, and a reputation left in tatters. But this is a dangerously limited view of the 18th-century French War Machine. To judge them only by their defeats is to miss how they defined the very art of war for the rest of Europe. In this episode, Lee Gugino, Dr. Alex Burns, and Andrew Bamford are joined by Dr. Jonathan Abel, Asso...

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