As far back as antiquity, generals recognized the importance of holding back a portion of their troops from battle. The arrival of fresh reinforcements at a critical moment—to shore up a crumbling position or exploit a gap in enemy lines—was so often decisive that the deployment of supporting troops became
Unit formations on the battlefield also reflect as a key factor what weapons the men carry. The long pikes carried by Greek hoplites defined both how close they had to get to the enemy to wield their pikes in a lethal manner. The Roman legions needed to get up close and personal with their short swords to be lethal, and they used a tight formation and the close protection of their shields to protect themselves as they wielded those swords in brutal fashion against the enemy. Later, in the gunpowder age, the matchlock musket saw its bearers in a rather lose formation giving each man about 3 feet around him in which to maneuver his musket, its rest (until that was abandoned as the muskets got lighter), and a lit match of several feet in length which provided the critical spark needed to ignite the musket's powder and propel its lead bullet towards the enemy. Flintlocks enabled the soldiers to move into a shoulder to shoulder line of men who could fire and huge volley at the enemy.
Lovely stuff. Thanks for sharing. Had a chapter on phalanx psychology in Brains & Bullets but not sure we got it right. I reckon the marshy bit was on the English left, not rear as suggested. When my ship comes in (still waiting...) I'll upgrade to paid.👍
Very interesting read!
Thank you!
Unit formations on the battlefield also reflect as a key factor what weapons the men carry. The long pikes carried by Greek hoplites defined both how close they had to get to the enemy to wield their pikes in a lethal manner. The Roman legions needed to get up close and personal with their short swords to be lethal, and they used a tight formation and the close protection of their shields to protect themselves as they wielded those swords in brutal fashion against the enemy. Later, in the gunpowder age, the matchlock musket saw its bearers in a rather lose formation giving each man about 3 feet around him in which to maneuver his musket, its rest (until that was abandoned as the muskets got lighter), and a lit match of several feet in length which provided the critical spark needed to ignite the musket's powder and propel its lead bullet towards the enemy. Flintlocks enabled the soldiers to move into a shoulder to shoulder line of men who could fire and huge volley at the enemy.
It's pretty remarkable that the Romans seem to have had the shallowest infantry formations up until the age of musketry.
Yes, but it was a layered formation in its classic form ( shown beautifully in that first appearance in the film Spartacus)
Lovely stuff. Thanks for sharing. Had a chapter on phalanx psychology in Brains & Bullets but not sure we got it right. I reckon the marshy bit was on the English left, not rear as suggested. When my ship comes in (still waiting...) I'll upgrade to paid.👍
Cheers, just looked that up - looks fascinating, will read!