William Louis played a significant part in the
Military Revolution of the 16th–17th centuries. In a letter to his cousin
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange which he composed on 8 December 1594, he set out (from reading
Aelianus Tacticus) an argument based on the use of ranks by soldiers of Imperial Rome as discussed in Aelian's Tactica. Aelian was discussing the use of the counter march in the context of the Roman sword
gladius and spear
pilium. William Louis in a 'crucial leap' realized that the same technique could work for men with firearms.[1]
" I have discovered evolutionibus [a term that would eventually be translated as "drill"] a method of getting the musketeers and others with guns not only to practice firing but to keep on doing so in a very effective battle order (that is to say, they do not fire at will or from behind a barrier ... .). Just as soon as the first rank has fired, then by the drill [they have learned] they will march to the back. The second rank either marching forward or standing still, will then fire just like the first. After that the third and following ranks will do the same. When the last rank has fired, the first will have reloaded, as the following diagram shows ... .[2][full citation needed]
On 25 November 1587, he married his cousin,
Anna of Nassau, daughter of
William the Silent and
Anna of Saxony, and older sister of Maurice of Nassau. Anna died less than six months later on 13 June 1588, and William Louis never remarried.
He was nicknamed "Us Heit" (
West Frisian for "our father"). He died in his home, the
Stadhouderlijk hof in Leeuwarden, the city which honored him with a statue on the government square. His body was laid to rest in the
Grote of Jacobijnerkerk.
Ancestors
Ancestors of William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
^Parker, Geoffrey (2008). "Military revolutions, past and present". In Yerxa, Donald A. (ed.). Recent Themes in Military History. University of South Carolina Press. p. 13.