WHAT PIKEMEN DO
A personal introduction to
Civil War Re-enactment pike-block activity - My personal view from experience.
Historically, the word pike derives
from the French term, Pique, and means literally to prick, as it involves the
movements of large (twelve to fifteen foot) pricking spears, or pikes.
The role of the pike man is
primarily to protect musketeers from the cavalry, but the variety of uses of
pikes means that you never expect what you might have to do next.
PIKE VERSUS HORSE
As Cavalry charge, the cry will
go up to ‘pike for horse’. Pikemen now point their pikes towards the horses
charging towards them, whilst pressing the butt into the ground and bracing it
with their foot. Depending on the
number of pikemen, and how many people need to be protected, the pikemen may
face the horse in a line, or the pikemen may form as tight a circle unit as
they can around the non-pikemen who will be at their center. This formation is
often known as ‘The Hedgehog’.
The pikemen now present the horses with a forest of sharp sticks. Few
Cavalry riders dare to continue moving forward against such an obstacle. The
horses, if they were to keep on trying to approach, would throw the riders. In
re-enactment, the riders will ride along the line, or often round the hedgehog
circle of pikes raking their swords along the tips of the pikes, hoping to find
enough of a gap through which to break through. The pikemen have to make the
formation solid enough, or the line/circle will indeed be breached. Pikemen may do this protect just themselves,
or they may have a group of civilians in their midst who the armed men must
look after. Sometimes the pikemen will have musket support. Sometimes they will
not. When moving a group of civilians
to safety under horse attack, the pikemen will hold in pike against horse until
the cavalry has ridden clear, and then move as far and fast as they can with
the people under their protection before the riders have turned to charge
again. Then the ‘pike for horse’ call
will go up again, and the process is
repeated. This can be done from one
end of a battlefield to the other, before the group rescued by the pikemen is
to reach safety.
PIKE
v MUSKET
A
close-set pike block is always subjected to enemy musket fire. Muskets are not particularly accurate weapon
at range, but a close set cluster of men means that inevitably even the poorest
marksman will hit something. In re-enactment, pikemen will often be asked to
volunteer to fall down as casualties once in a while. Limited numbers of
players mean that the dead quickly get up to rejoin their divisions again,
which is perhaps a re-enactor’s one departure from a realistic battle
situation.
Often
the battle will take place on a muddy field.
This inevitably means that few battle kits stay clean and tidy for
long. Some soldiers like to keep their kit smart. Others are happy to stain
their gear with lasting evidence of the battles and campaigns they have taken
part in.
Musketeers
have a distinct disadvantage of course in the time it can take them to reload
between shots, so a pikeman's best chance to take on musketeers is right after
a volley has been fired. The Scots-Irish brigade, of which the regimente I
serve in, Manus O’Cahans, (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manus_O%27Cahan%27s_Regiment_%28English_Civil_War%29)
historically helped to perfect
a variation on this called the Highland charge. This involves dropping the
pikes to charge at musketeers in cold-blooded close combat with dirks or in
unarmed combat. (Though re-enactors are not permitted to carry sharp knives for
self-explanatory health and safety reasons).
Musketeers
will take such a charge with the butts of their muskets and in the cases of
those re-enactors trained accordingly, with rapier swords. Others may simply
resort to unarmed combat tactics.
PIKE
VERSUS ARTILLARY
Cannons at re-enactments usually have fixed
locations, and there are relatively few of them due to the skills and expense
involved in their operation and transportation, but no show would be complete
without them. It is rare in re-enactment for pikemen to attempt to take the gun
crews before the close of battle. The slow loading of a cannon gives pikemen
similar advantages to those seen in taking on the unloaded musketeers. .
At
some battles pikemen will be put on guard to protect a gateway, trench line or
bridge, or some similar position which can mean a lot of standing around
without getting close to the action, but the fight can come to the pikemen very
suddenly. This is where pikemen tending to work in smaller groups or more
spread out and you can find you alone against a large group of the enemy. A small group of pikemen can suddenly make
the difference when the enemy attempts to get through a narrow access point to
a battle arena or not. The pikemen will either hold the enemy off, or the enemy
will force their way through.
PIKE
VERSUS PIKE
The best or worst is saved for last
here. The strongest opposition and the
best defense against a pike block are another pike-block. Pike against pike
battles involve two basic tactics, POINT and PUSH.
POINT
Here
the formation of a block is loose, with men inches or feet apart, moving
towards a line of attackers who will have their pikes pointing towards them, as
the defenders will also do. Here the pikes will point to the enemy and it is
important for re-enactors to aim to the chest area, (not at heads, faces,
groins, or arms and legs. Some pikemen wear breastplate armour for these
battles and may be able to take a hit that unprotected soldiers could not.
There is an assumption that historically all pikemen wore armour, but in
reality, it was only worn by those who could afford it. Most fought
unprotected.
Ideally
you should allow the pike to press to or just past the opponents rather than
trying to ram through them. Here pikes
can end up crisscrossing around you at every height. It's easy to end up pressed backwards over pikes at ankle or knee
height. It begins to feel like a game of human Ker-Plunk. In some cases, pikes may again be discarded
and unarmed assault may take place. It
is often an awkward scramble to recover fallen pikes in time to reform after
such a press. I have on occasion returned with someone else's pike instead of
my own, which is not too pleasing to my commanding officers.
PUSH
The
most demanding and strenuous of all pike maneuvers. Here the blocks press into
one another in very close and tight formations. The pike block literally compresses into a square or rectangular
block, with the men almost sitting on each other's knees. Here the pikes are
not pointed forward, (as they might be in an actual engagement), but for safety
reasons, raised upright, and cross-ported across the body, with the points in
the air. In reality, historically,
pikemen would have tried to knock the enemy pike skywards to avoid being
skewered, so the ‘wigwam pattern’ seen in re-enactment has been seen in
battlefield drawings and paintings of actual events too.
In ‘Push’
the pikeman’s left hand firmly grips the butt of the pike throughout. The
blocks now press into one another hard and fast to push one another back,
rather like a group of sumo wrestlers, or a giant rugby scrum until a block
loses ground or some men fall over. The block advancing or standing wins.
Newcomers to pike-blocks often try to avoid the pike-rows to the front,
thinking that if the block is losing, this will be the point where the pressure
is felt. That can be a mistake, as if a block topples, it is often the men at
the back who go over first. I would
recommend newcomers take positions in the middle of a block rather than its
front or back rows. (In some blocks, including Skippons, where you end up next
often depends how quickly you get back and positions can go on a first come,
first served basis. Some Sealed Knot regimentes keep everyone in their block(s)
in set positions. The same people always in front or middle or back, always to
centre or left of the rows, etc.
OTHER
THREATS TO PIKE
There
are weapons and tactics that will
present other challenges to pikemen. Pole-arms of various kinds can catch a
pike from the sides, and ground it. Some men may attack unarmed, or with
swords, often without warning in an ambush. You soon learn how to use the spare
eyes in the back of your head to watch for every possibility.
A
pike is pretty well useless in one on one combat. Once the enemy has passed its
point, the pike is difficult to pull back ready to wield as a sword or spear
any more. Most pikemen will just drop the pike and fight without it at this
stage.
GENERAL
OBSERVATIONS
If
someone is uncertain or apprehensive about fighting pike but wishes to try it,
they should talk to the regimente pike officers and more experienced pikemen in
their regimente of choice. It is possible in many regimentes to get some pike
drill and experience and training outside of the battles. In other cases, you
may find yourself learning in the height of battle itself. The two rules to
remember are 1/. ‘Man down’ means disengage from combat immediately. The cry of
'man down' that breaks block -engagements up as one side topples prevents more
serious injuries. If you fall or see someone else fall, you should shout ‘Man
down’ immediately, and the pikemen should reform on their colours. 2/. Always
keep hold of the butt of your pike.
In action,
pikes clash in a way that shows that re-enactment is rarely choreographed. It looks and often feels like contact sport.
Pike combat is surprisingly fast moving. Blocks collide, someone falls over and
the blocks don't just disperse. They reform on their regimente colours and
charge again, and again, and again. If a pikeman is short of breath or in need
of water, there are water-bearers able to provide refreshment and to give
people a breather when required. The pace of pike battle can be
exhilarating. There may be an
assumption that you need to be a mountain of muscle to fight pike, but speed
and stamina count for more. The pace of reforming is often the most tiring and
demanding aspect of the activity.
The
water-bearers actually do more than provide water. They will also help pikemen fix
loose Morion lids, open bootlaces, etc (awkward if you are in gauntlets and
holding a pike). Water bearers are
also often able to see if you look too exhausted and need a break from charging
into the thick of battle. If a water
bearer advises you to come out of a pike block, you should do so. They have the
right to order it.
Another
vital part of the team is the standard bearer, who will carry the colours that represent your reform point. After a push,
a pike block can end up falling apart, and men can end up separated in the
midst of a fast moving action scenario. The standards, with your unique
regimente colours will be waved, a shout of reform will be called, the drums
will sound a signal too, and that is where and when you go to reunite with your
unit, ready for your next job.
Try pike,
if you find it isn't you, then take up another role without shame, for you have
dared to give it a go and like many who have been there before you, you may
surprise yourself. If anyone is unsure whether to choose to be a pikeman,
musketeer, or which other role to take to, they should be encouraged to at
least come and see a Sealed Knot show for themselves. If you have questions, feel free to ask them. Any member of the society should be only too
happy to answer such queries.
The pike-man is the most physically challenging role the Sealed Knot has to offer to a potential recruit. Pike activity often resembles a rugby scrum with big sticks. The aim is for a closely huddled group of pikemen (and women fighting while disguised as men) to push another such group backwards or (more likely) completely over. The Pikeman presents one of the most unique and dramatic images of the seventeenth century soldier at war. The public looks in sheer disbelief at the daunting height of a raised pike passing by. An entire sea of pikes on parade is truly awe inspiring and breath-taking.
Arthur Chappell - Pikeman – Ashfields Company - Skippons Regiment Of Foot.
The Sealed Knot Society http://www.thesealedknot.org.uk/ The people to approach if you wish to be a pikeman, musketeer, etc, or to take part in civilian non-combat ‘Living History’ activity, followed by lots of beer drinking and dancing around in 17th century evening wear, with attractive serving wenches and handsome off duty soldiers among many others.
Arthur Chappell
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