What then of recommended drills written during and after the war based, one assumes, on wartime experience?

The two war time drill's I would suggest that offer most as to detail are Richard Elton's 'The Compleat Body of the Art Military' published in 1650 and George Monck's 'Observations upon Military and Political Affairs' (although largely written in 1644, it was not published until 1671). Now Elton's work deals with musket blocks giving fire from page 95 onwards. While many formations are described the respective blocks of musketeers are drawn-up six deep, Elton stating that '..the depth of our Files being always six deep in the Armies of England, Scotland and Ireland' and in all the front rank having given fire they wheel to the rear. Essentialy Elton follows the prewar drills of Hexham, Ward and Barriffe, although the basic Dutch formation is reduced in depth to the Swedish six ranks. This similarity being unsurprising given the London based background Ward, Barriffe and Elton shared wrought in the Artillery Garden and on the ECW battlefield.

Monck is somewhat different in that while he draws up his infantry in a formation basically identical to the above, he goes on to deploy and discharge his musketeers in a compleatly different manner. Now Monck was essentialy a royalist with his experience based in Ireland without the influence of the Artillery Ground Parliamentarians. Monck covers the various situations and respective formations for deploying musketers between page 42 (chapter XIII and page 77 (chapter XVI) and demonstrates his interest in the new Swedish salvee system. Having initialy dealt with combinations of foot and horse between pages 51 and 53 which display the foot in Swedish squadron formation, Monck comes to the deployment and firing of infantry on its own between pages 66-73. Now, as with Hexham, Barriffe and Ward, Monck places a wing of musketeers each side of the pike block, each wing being twelve men across and six deep. But when this classic formation comes to engage the enemy, he places the musket in a three deep line across the front of the pike block, He does this by moving the two wings forward of the central pike block and then deploying the rear three rank divisions to the centre to create a single three deep line. To give fire the first rank kneels, the second stands and both fire together. Then the second rank kneels so that the third rank can give fire. If the enemy is about to close then Monck stresses that all three- ranks can fire in a single salvee and then fall on with clubbed muskets and swords. Monck then, on page 71, goes on to say:

'Or if you approve not of the way of Musketeers firing, as is here set down, you may subdivide them after the old manner, and so command them to give fire.'

Now back on pages 51-53, the musket when deployed with horse also adopted a three deep line to deliver fire, the three ranks to either advance having given fire or re-load as the situation demanded. There is no reference what-so-ever to ranks wheeling to the rear, introduction or extroduction other than his contemptous reference to 'the old manner', essentialy Monck's recommended method is a three deep line which loads and gives fire in situe, all one would need is the addition of platoon fire to produce the classic eighteenth century method of giving fire!!!

More Give Fire: ECW Formations and Tactics

Introduction
Skirmishing
Pre-War
Wartime
Post-War
Contemporary Battlefield Accounts
Conclusion
Biographical Notes
Troops Disposition Diagrams (slow: 143K)

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