Old millitary tactics
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Trebuchets
I have always been interested in history and especially Roman life but recently I have moved to mediaeval times and their weapons. I have put my concentration onto Trebuchets. These are massive catapult type weapons that throw large boulders. They are like 2 giant A-frames (about 4 meters high, some can be about four stories high) put parallel together with a long throwing arm in the middle. At the longer end of this throwing arm is a long piece of rope. One end of the rope is attached to the arm the other is just looped round a small hook on the arm, so it can come off. The rope has a net attached to it, which holds the bolder. When it is fired the arm flies up, the rope comes off the hook and the bolder is thrown at about the time when the arm is vertical. At the other end of the arm is a counter weight, this is what makes the arm fly up (like a seesaw). Some counter weights are fixed firmly to the arm but many are attached so it can swing, in a sort of bucket. This makes the trebuchet fire further due to the harsh realities of physics – the same affect can be made if wheels are put on the bottom of the A-frames. Trebuchets are exceptionally accurate and powerful. They can reduce castles to ruins. They had an extremely long range so the defenders couldn't hit them with arrows and spears. I myself have made a mini trebuchet about 30cm high it can fire a marble 4 meters. I am going to build a bigger one about 50 to 100 cm tall, it is going to be an exciting attempt and hopefully it will work to it's maximum potential.
The Roman Army
The Roman army was one of the best in history, they created a massive empire all over Europe and they did creep into other continents. They were brilliant tactically. If they were getting charged at, they would break into two lines the front line would throw their spears, which were built to snap in half on impact to stop enemies throwing them back, then the second line would throw there spears while being protected by the front line. They also all carried a short sword. Unlike most armies they wore their sword on the right instead of the left-hand side. This meant instead of drawing their sword across the body they were pulled out ready to jab at the enemy. One of their most famous formations was the Tortoise or Turtle, this was where they marched in a rectangular formation. The people at the front would hold their shield, which were rectangular, in front of them where as the people at the side would hold their shields to the side which was open to attack. The soldieries in the middle of the rectangle would hold their shields over their heads, creating a box with all the men inside. This was a very strong formation and the soldiers could, if they had been invented by then, hold a bulldozer up on top of them. They could march up to a fort in that formation and not one of them would get hurt. The defenders, rather then using ranged weapons, would have to charge them. The Romans, even though it was not the best form of attack, could jab their swords out of the box while being protected by their shields. The roman army was the most disciplined in fighting and in preparing for war. The higher the rank, the more work they did. For example, if they were setting up camp they would first dig a trench around the perimeter then put stakes on the inner circle. The best and most established soldiers would do the digging and putting stakes up while the less experienced soldiers would put up the canvas for tents and make fires etc.
Roman Artillery
The Romans also had artillery, but rather than counter-weighted trebuchets the machines were torsion powered, using pairs of rope springs. Each machine therefore had 2 horizontal arms, rather like a crossbow. The smallest type, called catapulta or Scorpio, shot a bolt or arrow and was used as anti-personnel weapons, deadly out to 300 yards or so. There was one per century in a legion. Larger stone-throwers called ballistae were posted one per cohort, and were used in sieges. You can see photos of reconstruction on several of the European groups' websites, and there are 2 other sites to see: Catapult Museum Online, and Knight's Armoury.
In the first world war most of the fighting was done in fields. Trenches were dug, for protection and the oposing armys stayed in them and prvented the enimy from getting out of their own trench. Dug outs were dug in the side of the trenches for protection from shells that were being fired at them from a powerfull gun some 1/2 mile away. The trenches were only about 20 meter apart at most and the land imbetween, "no-mans land", was covered with pot holes from the shells. Machine gun posts were set up along the trenches to mow down any troops that tried to go "over the top". sniper positions were also set to shoot any head or limb that appeared over the trench. The trenches were poorly drained and filled with water. many soldiers got trench foot, a rotting of the flesh, and all were infested with lice. on the whole it was a disgesting life and there seamed no way out of the dead lock as it was near to imposible to get over the top with out dying and without any good planes it was imposible to bomb them. Then the tank was invented. unlike a modern tank these looked very odd. They were a sort of rhombus shape with tracks all around each side. With men to drive them the tanks could drive over trenches and hardly get affected by the enemy fire. This rendered trenches usless and when the bomber plane was invented this stoped all hope of the trench, Thank Glendor!!, but did open up the possibility of the bombing of civilains which was to be horrific.
The Charge of the Light Brigade was one of the most tragic tactical mistakes in the world. It happened in the Crimean War 1854-6, Britain and France feared Russia's ambition to spread power southwards as the Turkish Empire collapsed. War broke out in 1854. In September, the allies landed in the Crimea, in southern Russia, and besieged Sebastopol. In October the Russian's attacked the British base at Balaclava. During this battle, the disastrous charge of the light brigade took place. The British cavalry commander mistook his orders to retake some guns held by the Russians. Instead he told his men to charge the main Russian position, which was at the head of a valley bristling with artillery. The 600 horsemen gallantly obeyed but two thirds of the force were killed or wounded. The charge is the best known example of heroism and stupidity of war. Alfred Tennyson read a report in “The Times” (British newspaper) and wrote a poem called (funnily enough) “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. I think the charge of the light brigade is a fascinating battle – but we must remember the men who fought there and for what! “Divine Comedy” – music band- wrote a song using words of his poem as lyrics. It is featured in their album “Casanova” and the song is labelled “charge”.
If there are any other topics you wish to be featured in this article then just use the link below and leave a message.
