The Development of Warfare 1845-1945 What era? What war? What battle? What weapons did they have? What tactics did they use?

The Charge of the Light Brigade, 25th October 1854 The Crimean War 1853-1856 The Charge of the Light Brigade, 25th October 1854 "Forward, the Light Brigade! Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd: Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.” Tennyson, 1854

What weapons did they use?

Napoleonic Weapons Flintlock mechanism. Unreliable in wet conditions. Weapons of War: Infantry The Musket Muzzle-loading, smoothbore muskets were the main weapon of foot soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars and up until the 1850s/1860s. They were slow to load and trained infantry were lucky to fire off three volleys in a minute, and they were woefully inaccurate - a marksman may hope to hit a man at 80 paces, but at 100 the odds were exceedingly small.

This technology dictated these kind of tactics! Line formation: Due to the inaccuracy of the musket the weapon was only effective when fired in a close volley. This meant lines of tightly formed men all firing in unison. To achieve this incredible levels of training and discipline were needed.

Rifling Rifles A major improvement on muskets, when it came to accuracy and range, were rifled barrels which spun the ball so that it kept its accuracy over far greater distances. At 200 paces a rifle shot, fired by a trained man, could kill the target - almost three times the range of a musket. However, the rifles took longer to load (as they were still muzzle loading and the bullet had to be rammed down the barrel to engage the rifling) - a fact that put Napoleon Bonaparte off using them. Grooves cut into the barrel to spin the bullet

The Minie System By the time of the Crimean War The French had improved the technology of the rifle which speeded up loading time and therefore vastly improved the firepower available to an individual soldier. This meant that the advantage now lay with the defender rather than the attacker. Full frontal assaults if faced with enough Minie rifles were now likely to fail. Percussion Cap. Far more reliable firing system

The British Equivalent of the Minie Rifle Used in the Crimean War Rifle Muzzle Loading .577 inch Enfield 2nd Pattern (1853) First produced by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in 1853, it is the first of a long line of famous Enfield rifles. This model has the percussion lock and the rifled barrel has three grooves, with a pitch of one turn in 78 inches. It was an excellent weapon in its day, capable of grouping into 4 inches at 100 yards and 27 inches at 500 yards. A good marksman could expect to hit a man at 600 yards and fire at a rate of three shots a minute. The British Equivalent of the Minie Rifle Used in the Crimean War Barrel Length : 39 inches, Calibre : .577 inches

How did the Minie System work?

One of the first examples of the minie rifle’s power: ‘The Thin Red Line’ at the Battle of Balaklava in 1854. British troops (93rd highland regiment) armed with Minie rifles and in line formation see off Russian cavalry. Military tactics dictated that the British should have formed squares to defend themselves but they chose to bring all their firepower to bear on the enemy. It was a great success. Crimea, 1854

In order to defend themselves from the French cavalry attack the Allies have got themselves in square formation. This gives them firepower on all sides which is needed because of the slow loading time and relatively poor accuracy of the Brown Bess muzzle loading musket. Waterloo, 1815

Artillery 1) The most effective killer of men on the Napoleonic battlefield was artillery and it came in a variety of forms. Most were effective at long range and murderous close in. 2) As one would expect, with Napoleon Bonaparte being a former artillery officer, France's cannons made up the backbone of the ground forces. The French guns were generally used in massed batteries to soften up enemy formations before being subjected to the closer attention of the infantry or cavalry. 3) Improvements had been made by the time of the Crimean War but they were essentially the same. At this time it was too difficult to engineer an artillery piece that was rifled like small arms were.

Artillery was the decisive weapon on the Napoleonic battlefield if it was used en mass. This was still the case during the Crimean war where the technology had not really progressed but the numbers of guns used in various engagements was far greater. At long range cannonballs were used which were designed to skim along the ground and take out multiple targets if conditions allowed (i.e hard dry surface). At closer range Grape shot was used which consisted of snooker ball sized projectiles and at even closer range case shot was used which was a canister filled usually with musket balls. In a twenty minute engagement, with each gun firing 20 to 30 rounds, a battery of 10 guns might discharge 40,000 balls. This could have devastating effects.

Cavalry The main weapon for cavalrymen was the sword - of which there were many types and patterns. In addition to sabres, Napoleonic horsemen and later cavalrymen could arm themselves with firepower from carbines and pistols, while some units had older, but just as deadly, lances.

A weapon as old as cavalry A weapon as old as cavalry! Norman knights shown using the lance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. This weapon was still used by cavalry in the 19th century.

The Lance being used in the 19th century.