The Minden Cannonball and Its Impact on History

John Rubinstein traces the interconnected histories of a French revolutionary and a disgraced British general through the firing of a cannonball at the Battle of Minden.

The butterfly effect describes how a single event can change the course of history. A prime example of this is the firing of a cannonball at the Battle of Minden in 1759, which killed the Marquis de La Fayette, a colonel of the French Grenadiers.

This incident set La Fayette’s son on a revolutionary path, culminating in his drafting of ‘The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen’ - a statement of the core values of the French Revolution.

The firing of the Minden cannonball also impacted the British general Lord George Sackville, who went on to become a key figure in the British defeat in the American War of Independence.

In this fascinating talk, John Rubinstein reveals how the Minden cannonball connects La Fayette and Lord Sackville to the British defeat in America, while also highlighting how this one seemingly small event had consequences that relate to both the French Revolution and the formation of contemporary views on equality and human rights.

About the speaker

John Rubinstein

John Rubinstein is a former Trustee at The Fusilier Museum London.