Pike and Shot Warfare,In the late 15th century and 16th century matchlock muskets became a staple of

Pike and Shot Warfare,In the late 15th century and 16th century matchlock muskets became a staple of warfare, used in conjunction with older weapons such as swords, crossbows, and pikes.  Over the centuries the firearm began to displace other weapons, however by the 17th century the pike was still the dominant battlefield weapon in Europe.  At the time, the musket went hand in hand with the pike in a style of fighting called “pike and shot warfare”.  Pike and shot warfare began in the late 15th century, a time when France was the strongest military power in the world.  The newly created Kingdom of Spain challenged France on a number of occasions, and was thoroughly trounced every time.  Then in the early 16th century, a Spanish general named Gonzalo Ferdnandez de Cordoba invented a new way of making war that would counter France’s heavily armed and armored infantry and Swiss mercenaries.  He reorganized the standard infantry regiment into two equally sized groups, pikemen and musketeers (musket infantry).  The musketeers were positioned at the front of the formation, while the pikemen would form a phalanx at the rear.  As the enemy approached, the musketeers would fire volley after volley until the enemy was within striking range.  At that point the arqubusiers take cover behind the pikemen, as they engaged the enemy in hand to hand combat.  From there, the winner was that whose pikemen held their ground.  The musketeers might take some potshots here and there from the flanks, or duel the enemy’s musketeers.  Cavalry and artillery would also support the pike and shot formation.  Using these new tactics, Cordoba’s Spanish pike and shot regiments often defeated French armies despite being severely outnumbered.Pike and shot warfare spread across Europe, becoming the dominant form of warfare up to the mid 17th century.  The first pike and musket conflict was the Italian Wars, a series of wars where Italian city states, the Papal State, and major European powers fought for control over Italy.  Over time, each kingdom and nation created its own variation of pike and shot warfare, with different sized regiments and different formations.  One common difference between nations pike and shot units was the ratio of musketeers to pikemen.  For example, in France musketeers were an elite soldiers, often serving as guards for the King and other high officials. The French were also late in adopting the musket, and pike and shot warfare developed slowly as a consequence.  As a result a typical French unit was composed only of 30% musketeers, 60% pikemen, and 10% halbardiers.  The Landsknechts of Switzerland only composed their forces with 10-20% musketeers.  By contrast, the English wholly embraced the musket, with a pike and shot ratio of 2 musketeers to every pikeman during the English Civil War.  By the mid 17th century pike and shot warfare began to wane as new technologies and innovations were made.  First was the invention of the flintlock musket, which allowed for faster loading, faster firing rates, and the ability of musketeers to pour out more firepower at an oncoming enemy.  Second was the invention of the bayonet.  With the bayonet there was no longer a need for musketeers and pikemen.  The bayonet turned every musketeer into a pikeman, and every pikeman into a musketeer.  By 1700 most nations had abandoned the pike, and after the War of Spanish Succession, pike and shot warfare was over. -- source link

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