Armies and Soldiers
of the
Pike and Shot Period

English Civil War

by Don Featherstone

An infantry regiment of the English Civil War consisted of two musketeers to each pikeman; in the Scottish army of 1644 the proportion was 3 to 2. The pikeman wore iron corselets and head pieces and carried pike and sword; heavy troops, their main role was to repel a cavalry charge. The combination of musketeers and pikemen required an efficiency derived from stern discipline otherwise the movements of both armies were ill-combined and were unlikely to beat back a cavalry charge.

His heavy arms and equipment, particularly in the case of the armoured pikeman, caused the infantryman to march slowly and Cromwell's New Model Army seemed to have marched about 13 miles a day. Musketeers, unburdened with body armour, used the matchlock which took a long time to reload and had a maximum range of about 400 yards. This weapon demanded a lot of match and when the enemy were around it was necessary to keet the match lighted, so that bad weather could literally disarm the musketeer.

Infantry tactics were elaborate and made more complicated by the lack of distinctive uniforms so that badges, watchwords or "field signs" were necessary. The action usually began by sending out a "forlorn hope", a body of musketeers who fired and fell back. When the main bodies contacted each other, the musketeers delivered a couple of volleys and then the pikemen charged. In smaller engagements the troops sometimes took shelter in ditches and behind hedges. which prevented cavalry charges. Cromwell adopted the 3-rank Swedish method of musketry for his New Model Army; it is said that Montrose, being a reformer, also followed this practice. Each regiment dressed as its commander ordained; in England red was becoming most used, and in Scotland the usual wear was hodden-grey.

In the latter years of the Pike-and-Shot period, infantry were held in less esteem than cavalry; the mounted arm was at the height of its fame and most well equipped armies endeavored to have sufficient cavalry to be at least half the numbers of their infantry. In England the old heavy cavalry was becoming obsolete, being replaced by horsemen with swords, pistols and carbines -- lightly armed dragoons, really mounted infantry, who reconnoitred and covered retirements. Cavalrymen wore light steel casques and cuirasses or sometimes only a padded buff coat. In Scotland during the Covenantor campaigns, cavalry were still armed with four pistols, a carbine and a lance.

The meagre, poorly-armed Scots army who, under Montrose performed so valiantly at Auldearn, were illdressed and equipped. Some of them had ancient matchlocks, a few had claymores and there was a variety of pikes and cudgels while the bow-and-arrow was still most effectively used by the Highland contingent.

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