Lance
A lance is a long thrusting
Etymology
The name is derived from the word lancea — the Roman auxiliaries' javelin or throwing spear; although according to the OED, the word may be of Iberian origin. Also compare λόγχη (lónkhē), a Greek term for "spear" or "lance".
A lance in the original sense is a light throwing spear or javelin. The English verb to launch "fling, hurl, throw" is derived from the term (via Old French lancier), as well as the rarer or poetic to lance. The term from the 17th century came to refer specifically to spears not thrown, used for thrusting by heavy cavalry, and especially in jousting. The longer types of thrusting spear used by infantry are usually referred to as pikes.
History of use
Late Roman
During the late 3rd century the weapons of the cavalry attached to each Roman legion evolved from javelins and swords to sometimes include long reaching lances (contus). These required the use of both hands to thrust.[2]
Middle Ages
The
Formations of knights were known to use underarm-couched military lances in full-gallop closed-ranks charges against lines of opposing infantry or cavalry. Two variants on the couched lance charge developed, the French method, en haie, with lancers in a double line, and the German method, with lancers drawn up in a deeper formation which was often wedge-shaped. It is commonly believed that this became the dominant European cavalry tactic in the 11th century after the development of the cantled saddle and stirrups (the Great Stirrup Controversy), and of rowel spurs (which enabled better control of the mount). Cavalry thus outfitted and deployed had a tremendous collective force in their charge, and could shatter most contemporary infantry lines.
Because of the extreme stopping power of a thrusting spear, it quickly became a popular weapon of infantry in the Late Middle Ages. These eventually led to the rise of the longest type of spears, the pike. This adaptation of the cavalry lance to infantry use was largely tasked with stopping lance-armed cavalry charges. During the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, these weapons, both mounted and unmounted, were so effective that lancers and pikemen not only became a staple of every Western army, but also became highly sought-after mercenaries. (However, the pike had already been used by Philip II of Macedon in antiquity to great effect, in the form of the sarissa.)
In Europe, a
Lance (unit organization)
As a small unit that surrounded a knight when he went into battle during the 14th and 15th centuries, a lance might have consisted of one or two
17th and 18th century decline in Western Europe
The advent of
Only the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with its far greater emphasis on cavalry warfare, large population of Szlachta nobility and general lower military technology level among its foes retained the lance to a considerable degree, with the famously winged Polish hussars having their glory period during the 17th and 18th centuries against a wide variety of enemy forces.[4]
Indigenous use in North America
After the Western introduction of the horse to Native Americans, the Plains Indians used the bow and lance, probably independently, as American cavalry of the time were armed with the pistol and sabre, firing forward at full gallop.
19th century revival in Western Europe
The mounted lancer experienced a renaissance in the 19th century. This followed on the demise of the pike and of body armor during the early 18th century, with the reintroduction of lances coming from Hungary and Poland, having retained large formations of lance-armed cavalry when they had become more or less obsolescent elsewhere in Europe. Lancers became especially prevalent during and after the Napoleonic Wars: a period when almost all the major European powers reintroduced the lance into their respective cavalry arsenals. Formations of uhlans and other types of cavalry used lances between 2 and 3 meters (6.6 and 9.8 ft) in length as their primary weapons. The lance was usually employed in initial charges in close formation, with sabers being used in the melee that followed.
The
During the
The 1860s and 1870s saw the increasing common usage of ash, bamboo, beech, or pine wood for lance shafts of varying lengths, each with steel points and butts, adopted by the uhlan regiments of the Saxon, Württemberg, Bavarian, and Prussian armies.
Twilight of use
In the American Civil War, the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment was equipped with lances modeled after Napoleon Bonaparte's forces in France.[6] American troops had never previously used the lance in combat.[7] The lances proved ineffective in battle and were replaced with carbine rifles in 1863.[8]
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 saw the extensive deployment of cavalry armed with lances on both sides. While the opportunities for decisive use of this weapon proved infrequent during the actual conflict, the entire cavalry corps (hussars, dragoons, cuirassiers, and uhlans) of the post-war Imperial German Army subsequently adopted the lance as a primary weapon. After 1893 the standard German cavalry lance was made of drawn tubular steel, covered with clear lacquer and with a hemp hand-grip.[9] At 3.58 meters (11.7 ft) it was the longest version then in use.[10]
The Austrian cavalry had included regiments armed with lances since 1784. In 1884, the lance ceased to be carried either as an active service or parade weapon. However the eleven Uhlan regiments continued in existence until 1918, armed with the standard cavalry sabre.[11]
During the
The Russian cavalry (except for the
The relative value of the lance and the sword as a principal weapon for mounted troops was an issue of dispute in the years immediately preceding World War I. Opponents of the lance argued that the weapon was clumsy, conspicuous, easily deflected, and inefficient in a melee. Arguments favoring the retention of the lance focused on the impact on morale of having charging cavalry preceded by "a hedge of steel" and on the effectiveness of the weapon against fleeing opponents.[10]
World War I and after
Lances were still in use by the British, Turkish, Italian, Spanish, French, Belgian, Indian, German, and Russian armies at the outbreak of World War I. In initial cavalry skirmishes in France this antique weapon proved ineffective,[15] German uhlans being "hampered by their long lances and a good many threw them away".[16] A major action involving repeated charges by four regiments of German cavalry, all armed with lances, at Halen on 12 August 1914 was unsuccessful.[17] Amongst the Belgian defenders was one regiment of lancers who fought dismounted.
With the advent of trench warfare, lances and the cavalry that carried them ceased to play a significant role.[18] A Russian cavalry officer whose regiment carried lances throughout the war recorded only one instance where an opponent was killed by this weapon.[citation needed]
The
The cavalry branches of most armies which still retained lances as a service weapon at the end of World War I generally discarded them for all but ceremonial occasions during the 1920s and 1930s. There were exceptions during this era, such as the Polish cavalry, which retained the lance for combat use until either 1934[20] or 1937,[21] but contrary to popular legend did not make use of it in World War II. The German cavalry retained the lance (Stahlrohrlanze) as a service weapon until 1927,[22] as did the British cavalry until 1928.[23] The Argentine cavalry were documented as carrying lances until the 1940s,[24] but this appears to have been used as part of recruit riding school training, rather than serious preparation for use in active service.
Use as flagstaff
The United States Cavalry used a lance-like shaft as a flagstaff.
Mounted police use
When the Canadian North-West Mounted Police was established, it was modeled after certain British cavalry units that used lances. It made limited use of this weapon in small detachments during the 1870s, intended to impress indigenous peoples.[25]
The modern
The New South Wales Mounted Police, based at Redfern Barracks, Sydney, Australia, carry a lance with a navy blue and white pennant on ceremonial occasions.
Other weapons
"Lance" is also the name given by some anthropologists to the light flexible
A "tilting-spear" is a heraldric term for a lance.[26]
See also
References
- ^ Ian Heath, page 33 "Armies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300", Wargames Research Group 1978"
- ISBN 978-1-4728-0666-6.
- ISBN 978-1-84603-404-6.
- ^ a b Frye, Gordon. "From Lance to Pistol: The Evolution of Mounted Soldiers from 1550 to 1600". myArmoury.com. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-0725-0.
- ^ "Rush's Lancers by Mort Kunstler". vladimirarts.com. Vladimir Arts USA Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Frank H. (1913). Philadelphia in the Civil War 1861-1865. Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia. pp. 162–164. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ISBN 978-1-43966-007-2. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ISBN 3-902526-07-6.
- ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Addition, Volume XVI, p. 150
- ISBN 0-946771-04-9.
- ISBN 0-7474-0976-5
- ISBN 978-0-436-27321-6.
- ISBN 1-59048-256-5
- ISBN 978-1-4728-4882-6.
- ^ Barbara W. Tuchman, page 280, The Guns of August, Four Square Edition 1964
- ISBN 978-1-78155-183-7
- ^ A British officer writing in 1917 referred to lancers as "our marvellous medieval regiments"
- ISBN 978-1-4728-0684-0
- ISBN 0-85045-417-4
- ISBN 978-1-4728-1618-4
- ISBN 978-0-88740-816-8
- ISBN 978-1-4728-1618-4
- ^ Cavalry and carriages. Militariarg.com. (n.d.). http://www.militariarg.com/cavalry-and-carriages.html
- ISBN 0-85045-834-X.
- ^ Scott-Giles, C. Wilfrid (Charles Wilfrid) (1950). Shakespeare's heraldry. London, Dent. p. 41.
Further reading
- Delbrück, Hans. History of the Art of War, originally published in 1920; University of Nebraska Press (reprint), 1990 (trans. J. Renfroe Walter). Volume III: Medieval Warfare.
External links
- From Lance to Pistol: The Evolution of Mounted Soldiers from 1550 to 1600 (myarmoury.com article)