FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   2300   2301   2302   2303   2304   2305   2306   2307   2308   2309   2310   2311   2312   2313   2314   2315   2316   2317   2318   2319   2320   2321   2322   2323   2324  
2325   2326   2327   2328   2329   2330   2331   2332   2333   2334   2335   2336   2337   2338   2339   2340   2341   2342   2343   2344   2345   2346   2347   2348   2349   >>   >|  
r, was discharged from the hand; and carried bullets of twenty-four to the pound. Both weapons had matchlocks. The pike was eighteen feet long at least, and pikemen as well as halberdsmen carried rapiers. There were three buckler-men to each company, introduced by Maurice for the personal protection of the leader of the company. The prince was often attended by one himself, and, on at least one memorable occasion, was indebted to this shield for the preservation of his life. The cavalry was divided into lancers and carabineers. The unit was the squadron, varying in number from sixty to one hundred and fifty, until the year 1591, when the regular complement of the squadron was fixed at one hundred and twenty. As the use of cavalry on the battle-field at that day, or at least in the Netherlands, was not in rapidity of motion, nor in severity of shock--the attack usually taking place on a trot--Maurice gradually displaced the lance in favour of the carbine. His troopers thus became rather mounted infantry than regular cavalry. The carbine was at least three feet long, with wheel-locks, and carried bullets of thirty to the pound. The artillery was a peculiar Organisation. It was a guild of citizens, rather than a strictly military force like the cavalry and infantry. The arm had but just begun to develop itself, and it was cultivated as a special trade by the guild of the holy Barbara existing in all the principal cities. Thus a municipal artillery gradually organised itself, under the direction of the gun-masters (bus-meesters), who in secret laboured at the perfection of their art, and who taught it to their apprentices and journeymen; as the principles of other crafts were conveyed by master to pupil. This system furnished a powerful element of defence at a period when every city had in great measure to provide for its own safety. In the earlier campaigns of Maurice three kinds of artillery were used; the whole cannon (kartow) of forty-eight pounds; the half-cannon, or twenty-four pounder, and the field-piece carrying a ball of twelve pounds. The two first were called battering pieces or siege-guns. All the guns were of bronze. The length of the whole cannon was about twelve feet; its weight one hundred and fifty times that of the ball, or about seven thousand pounds. It was reckoned that the whole kartow could fire from eighty to one hundred shots in an hour. Wet hair cloths were used to cool the piece
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   2300   2301   2302   2303   2304   2305   2306   2307   2308   2309   2310   2311   2312   2313   2314   2315   2316   2317   2318   2319   2320   2321   2322   2323   2324  
2325   2326   2327   2328   2329   2330   2331   2332   2333   2334   2335   2336   2337   2338   2339   2340   2341   2342   2343   2344   2345   2346   2347   2348   2349   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

cavalry

 

hundred

 

artillery

 

Maurice

 

twenty

 
carried
 

pounds

 

cannon

 

gradually

 

squadron


regular

 

kartow

 
twelve
 

infantry

 
carbine
 

bullets

 

company

 
powerful
 
furnished
 

system


master

 

element

 

defence

 

provide

 

eighteen

 

measure

 
period
 
conveyed
 

direction

 

masters


organised

 

cities

 

municipal

 

meesters

 
pikemen
 

apprentices

 

journeymen

 
principles
 

safety

 

taught


secret

 

laboured

 
perfection
 

crafts

 

earlier

 

thousand

 

reckoned

 

weight

 

bronze

 

length