On Jul 8, 9:24 am, "William Black" <william.bl...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> "Rich Rostrom" <rrostrom.21stcent...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:rrostrom.21stcentury-30FC57.18515807072008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > 1) Roman troops are not going to wet
> > their pants and flee en masse just
> > because some barbarian fires off a
> > boomstick.
>
> > A handful of clumsy smoothbore
> > matchlocks will not be decisive against
> > well-trained infantry with steel
> > weapons, bows and arrows, and horses.
>
> Oh yes they are.
>
> A single smoothbore musket fired isn't the problem, the five or six
hund=
red
> of them in a regiment being fired together will.
>
> The things will penetrate a late medieval plate harness at two hundred
> yards, it'll make interesting iron origami from Roman armour.
>
> Of course a single musketeer can't hit anything much at 200 yards, but
f=
ive
> hundred men letting fly with a volley will do serious damage.
>
> The Romans had serious problems with pike armed troops anyway. Pike
arme=
d
> troops with musket and cannon are almost certainly beyond their
abilities=
to
> engage, never mind defeat them.
>
> Cavalry of the period with a carbine, two pistols and a sword, wearing
> leather and steel and trained to trot into contact are a problem as
well.
> The Romans have nothing except their pillums to keep them away, and
they=
're
> not long enough and not designed for hand-to-hand fighting.
>
> Roman discipline may hold, but their technology is just outclassed.
>
> --
> William Black
>
> I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
> Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
> I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
> All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
> Time for tea.
http://www.online-literature.com/ga-henty/by-englands-aid-or-the-freeing/22=
/
"Chapter XXI. The Battle of Nieu****t
"Fortunately the same storm scattered and destroyed the great Spanish
fleet at Ferrol, and the weather thus for the second time saved
England from invasion. Late in the autumn, after his return from the
expedition, Sir Francis Vere went over to Holland, and by his advice
Prince Maurice prepared in December to attack a force of 4000 Spanish
infantry and 600 cavalry, which, under the command of the Count of
Varras, had gathered at the village of Turnhout, twenty miles from
Breda.
A force of 5000 foot and 800 horse were secretly assembled at
Gertruydenberg. Sir Francis Vere brought an English regiment, and
personally commanded one of the two troops into which the English
cavalry was divided. Sir Robert Sidney came with 300 of the English
garrison at Flu****ng, and Sir Alexander Murray with a Scotch regiment.
The expedition started on the 23d of January, 1598, and after marching
twenty-four miles reached the village of Rivels, three miles from
Turnhout, two hours after dark.
<snip>
=2E Vere with two hundred Dutch musketeers advanced against the bridge;
his musketry fire drove off the guard, and with a few mounted officers
and the two hundred musketeers he set out in pursuit. He saw that the
enemy's infantry were marching but slowly, and guessed that they were
delayed by the baggage wagons in front.
The country was wooded, and he threw the musketeers among the trees
with orders to keep up a dropping fire, while he himself with sixteen
horsemen followed closely upon the enemy along the road. Their rear
guard kept up a skirmi****ng fire, slightly wounding Vere in the leg;
but all this caused delay, and it was three hours before they emerged
on an open heath, three miles from the bridge. Vere placed his
musketeers among some woods and enclosed fields on the left of the
heath, and ordered them to keep up a brisk fire and to show themselves
as if advancing to the attack. He himself, reinforced by some more
horsemen who had come up, continued to follow in the open.
The heath was three miles across, and Vere, constantly skirmi****ng
with the Spanish infantry, who were formed in four solid squares, kept
watching for the appearance of Maurice and the cavalry. At length
these came in sight. Vere galloped up to the prince, and urged that a
charge should be made at once. The prince assented. Vere, with the
English cavalry, charged down upon the rear of the squares, while
Hohenlohe swept down with the Dutch cavalry upon their flanks. The
Spanish musketeers fired and at once fled, and the cavalry dashed in
among the squares of pikemen and broke them.
<snip>
The success was gained entirely by the eight hundred allied horse, the
infantry never arriving upon the field. The brilliant little victory,
which was one of the first gained by the allies in the open field, was
the cause of great rejoicings. Not only were the Spaniards no longer
invincible, but they had been routed by a force but one- sixth of
their own number, and the battle showed how greatly the individual
prowess of the two peoples had changed during the progress of the war.
<snip>
In the course of 1599 there was severe fighting on the swampy island
between the rivers Waal and Maas, known as the Bommel Waat, and a
fresh attempt at invasion by the Spaniards was repulsed with heavy
loss, Sir Francis Vere and the English troops taking a leading part in
the operations.
<snip>
=2E However, their opinions were overruled, and the expedition prepared.
It consisted of 12,000 infantry, 1600 cavalry, and 10 guns. It was
formed into three divisions. The van, 4500 strong, including 1600
English veterans, was commanded by Sir Francis Vere; the second
division by Count Everard Solms; the rear division by Count Ernest of
Nassau; while Count Louis Gunther of Nassau was in command of the
cavalry. The army embarked at Flu****ng, and landed at Philippine, a
town at the head of the Braakeman inlet."
Literature Network =BB G. A. Henty =BB By England's Aid or The Freeing of
the Netherlands (1585-1604) =BB Chapter XXI. The Battle of Nieu****t
This is very choppy but is in illustration as to the number and
quality of English troops in the Netherlands in the era of 1600. I
wonder if the Romans had ever been subjected to flanking fire of any
kind, let alone musketry.
|
