"The Battle Column" Topic

In my gaming system infantry lines don't wheel. IMHO battlelines of infantry or cavalry never wheeled in history. Ever. Those troops that were sufficiently drilled could change orientation by forming columns. I replicate this using a battle column mechanism. More on my blog here.

I don't dispute your theory, but mine is:
If a movie extra can do it, then it may have been done in history.
Take the cavalry rushing thru the pike formations in Alexander the Great.
Chamberlain famously wheeled his regiment to attack the Rebs in Gettysburg.
Cheers!

Finally, someone showing they had read the primary sources. The 45 degree wargaming wheel for large units is just that, more fantasy than history. And don't get me started on "activation" rules found in most wargames. Wargaming and history are now at opposite ends of the spectrum.

@d88mm1940: can you tell me exactly what Chamberlain's regiment did? I read they charged the Confederates with bayonets fixed. Where does the wheel come into that?

Re movie extras, could 20,000 extras in a line 1km long execute a tidy wheel? I doubt it.

@The Trojan: I've long since given up thinking of Ancients rulesets as serious historical simulations. But they are fun. :-)

Most battles before the 18th Century involved deploying on the same frontage as the enemy, then one side advancing. Does this give an interesting game?

Chamberlain's regiment was under pressure so first they refused the flank by have the left half of the regiment turn and face the flank creating a 90 degree angle in the line (done during a lull). When they charged the left half wheeled until they were even with the right half and then the right half joined the charge. The regiment as a whole wheeled to the right (the left half already moving faster from starting to charge sooner) in effect sweeping the confederates out of the way while not losing total contact with the 83rd PA who was the next regiment in line. A

Bolingar, do not weaken your argument by extending it to the modern era. Every army from the 18th century forward had drills for wheeling by company and battalion, and sometimes by larger frontages, and they practiced these incessantly. The 20th Maine's evolutions during their counter-attack from the crest of Little Round Top are well known but hardly extraordinary – all veteran regiments could have done the same.

Most battles before the 18th Century involved deploying on the same frontage as the enemy, then one side advancing. Does this give an interesting game?

Would you believe yes? There are several things a player can do to improve the chances of his line: put the better quality troops where they can do the most good, use terrain to maximum advantage, put commanders where they can best boost their troops' morale, and so on.

But most armies used cavalry at least to some extent, and cavalry were all about using columns to move around the battlefield, so they're ideal for tactical ballet dancing whilst the infantry slogged it out.

It actually makes for a clearer game – two infantry lines going at it hammer and tongs, whilst more manoeuvrable units try to get an advantage on the flanks and even rear. At least it works that way in my system.

The local high school marching band did a parade through our neighborhood and the various sections all wheeled to make a turn at an intersection. It ain't that hard to do.

@Eumeles:

Bolingar, do not weaken your argument by extending it to the modern era. Every army from the 18th century forward had drills for wheeling by company and battalion, and sometimes by larger frontages, and they practiced these incessantly. The 20th Maine's evolutions during their counter-attack from the crest of Little Round Top are well known but hardly extraordinary – all veteran regiments could have done the same.

True. My focus is on Antiquity where the manuals make clear that square-shaped units did the wheeling and they wheeled only in 90 degree increments – which suggests they did it to form column and not for any other reason.

@Parzival: There you go. A marching band is the equivalent of a subunit. But just get a hundred bands to line up side-by-side and attempt a tidy wheel then. Oooo.

Good videos!

You should make more!!!

Thanks Deucey. It's the work. And I'm lazy.

@ Pazzival I used to be in a re-enactment society, we once successfully wheeled a 6 deep formation across the width of the parade ground at RMA Sandhurst; which I'd been told only a few hours earlier by 2 guards brigade drill sergeants you couldn't do [well what they meant was the guards couldn't do it]. Based on the size of the square I'd say we had a frontage of 40-45 'men'.

Mark Wilson: 6 deep with a frontage of 40 to 45 men, so 240 to 270 men involved in the drill. Is that correct? And why a frontage of 40 to 45 men?

@Mark J Wilson: That is very interesting. I'm going with my original hunch that a Napoleonic company wheeled by subunits before reforming ranks and advancing to a new position. If drill sergeants thought a wheel impossible with a frontage of 40 – 45 men in ideal conditions, then what about battlefield conditions: rough terrain, men under pressure, etc.?

@smithsco

Chamberlain's regiment was under pressure so first they refused the flank by have the left half of the regiment turn and face the flank creating a 90 degree angle in the line (done during a lull). When they charged the left half wheeled until they were even with the right half and then the right half joined the charge. The regiment as a whole wheeled to the right (the left half already moving faster from starting to charge sooner) in effect sweeping the confederates out of the way while not losing total contact with the 83rd PA who was the next regiment in line.

I'll bet good money the regiment did it the Napoleonic way: individual companies wheeling (possibly by subunits) then advancing individually to a new position and orientation before reforming the line.

There again, a company might just have pulled it off.

In many matters, Justin is close to my heart. I have troops change from line to column without the 45 degree wheel, and to better portray this, I have all troops mounted on square bases, so the unit occupies the same space when in column or line.

@ Torjan, Yes and 2 reasons, 1) that's what turned up on the night, 2) a rehearsal had shown that any more and we'd run out of parade ground.

@ Bolingar Sandhurst's parade ground is far from flat and most large scale battle were not fought on rough terrain

@ The Trojan: thank you. Over at The Wargames Website I'm learning (with egg on my face) that a Napoleonic or ACW line did things quite differently: companies or double companies (divisions) can form a column staggered one behind the other in line, up to (theoretically) 100 men wide, in order to be able to shoot at any time, even in mid-manoeuvre. Interesting discussion going on over there.

Square bases are perfect.

@ Mark J Wilson

Sandhurst's parade ground is far from flat and most large scale battle were not fought on rough terrain.

100 men wide seems to be the theoretical limit for wheels in ACW manuals: two full-strength companies side by side, each with 100 men in 2 ranks. I wonder how that would work in real life.

@ Bolingar, most Napoleonic battalion columns would be about 80-120 men wide and I'd expect to see them wheel without any trouble. It isn't the king's birthday parade no one's got a protractor out, you get round and move on.

Bolingar, would you say that wheeling _into_ combat contact occurred in ancient battles? What I mean is that if the opposing battle lines are (as they almost are certain to be) even one or two degrees off of being parallel, then when they make contact only a man or two in either battle line is actually going to be in spear-thrust range. But what must have occurred in that case is that those files that weren't yet in contact would have continued to advance until they were. The "big picture" effect would be an unordered "wheel" into contact, gradually along the line from the point of initial contact.

@Eumelus

would you say that wheeling _into_ combat contact occurred in ancient battles? What I mean is that if the opposing battle lines are (as they almost are certain to be) even one or two degrees off of being parallel, then when they make contact only a man or two in either battle line is actually going to be in spear-thrust range. But what must have occurred in that case is that those files that weren't yet in contact would have continued to advance until they were. The "big picture" effect would be an unordered "wheel" into contact, gradually along the line from the point of initial contact.

I've actually thought quite a bit about this. My own impression is that if one battleline met another at a slight angle it wouldn't really matter: the files behind the front fighters would just shuffle into place without any wheel as such. Something like this. The two lines are at 7 degrees to each other.

My understanding is that battalion wheeling involved the line splitting into sub units. They dash forward or shuffle round depending on which end. They then dress lines.
Similar process for obstacles.
I've seen copies of manuals describe this.

Bad idea in sight of the enemy because the unit is disordered for a while. I should think if the unit came under fire mid maneuver then complications were likely.

I suppose the manual could be fantasy but there must have been some way they handled the odd tree, cart or whatnot parked up in a battalion's way.