"Hanoverian WSS" Topic
6 Posts
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DGT123 | 20 Jun 2014 4:11 a.m. PST |
Hello all, Does anyone know if the Hanoverians fought in 3 ranks or used the 4/5 rank system in WSS? Thank you V/R David |
timurilank | 20 Jun 2014 6:27 a.m. PST |
That would depend on the size of the battalion and the frontage needed to be covered. The link may prove useful. link |
FreddBloggs | 20 Jun 2014 7:44 a.m. PST |
It depends on a lot more things than just the frontage, the key is, did they have platoon fire yet? My suspicion is no, not at the start of their involvement at least, and they may have moved over to it later in the war as many of the units and countries did. But the WSS started with Britain and the Netherlands using Platoon fire, and some (it gets tricky here) French units, but no more than a quarter of them at the start of the war and half at the end, as the training etc in it was done by the Colonels. Platoon fire did not become standard in the French Drill manuals until 1748 after the WAS. The mercenary German states started with Volley fire and some made the change and some didn't, remember they many were continuously involved in fighting both in the WSS and in the GNW. Austria as far as I have been able to ascertain did not change over until after the WSS. |
HANS GRUBER | 20 Jun 2014 8:57 a.m. PST |
Platoon fire is often over rated. Battles such as Blenheim, Oudenarde, and Ramillies don't require platoon fire to explain the allied successes. Superior deployement, resourcefulness, and execution usually won the day. I suspect by the last half of the WSS most armies deployed in similiar formations, depending on the tactical situation. (Even the Duke of Wellington 100 years later would deploy many of some of his infantry in four ranks). I am not saying platoon fire didn't have it's uses, but even the great Frederick often found his infantry reverting to fire by rank. |
DGT123 | 20 Jun 2014 9:12 a.m. PST |
Thanks Fredd thats what I was looking for. I originally thought of asking if they used platoon or rank firing but didnt want the thread to turn into another "..did platoon firing really matter..". Good to know about Austria. Fredd do you know if Prussia used platoon or rank fire during the WSS? Thank you V/R David |
FreddBloggs | 20 Jun 2014 2:05 p.m. PST |
Hans Gruber, Platoon fire drill is what determined the standard rankings, it allowed units that operated in 4 to 6 ranks to thin out to three, something that previously would not have been tactically possible. Fire by rank is used when wishing to fire and close fast, troops move better with unloaded muskets, as long as you can stop them from stopping and reloading. Wellingtons use of 4 ranks at Waterloo had nothing to do with improved drill, but was a tactical decision given the tight battlefield and lack of room for the units to deploy in a more extended order. DGT123, The Prussians with Eugene at Blenheim and in his Italian campaigns used the same drill as the Austrians, so 4 or 5 ranks. However I am not sure when they changed over. |
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