Skirmisher
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Skirmishers are
A battle with only light, relatively indecisive combat is often called a skirmish even if heavier troops are sometimes involved.
Skirmishers can be either regular army units that are temporarily detached to perform skirmishing or specialty units that are specifically armed and trained for such low-level irregular warfare tactics. Light infantry, light cavalry, and irregular units often specialize in skirmishing. Skirmishers' open formations and smaller numbers can give them superior mobility over the regular forces, allowing them to engage only on favorable terms, taking advantage of better position or terrain, and quickly withdrawing from any threat of superior enemy forces.
Though often critical in protecting the main army from sudden enemy advances, skirmishers are poor at taking or defending ground from heavy infantry or heavy cavalry. In modern times, following the obsolescence of such heavy troops, all infantry has become indistinguishable from skirmishers, and the term has effectively lost its original military meaning as a distinct class of soldier, although skirmishing as a combat role is commonplace.
Ancient history
In
Once preliminary skirmishing was over, skirmishers participated in the main battle by shooting into the enemy formation, or they joined in
In
Nevertheless, skirmishers then chalked up significant victories, such as the Athenian defeat at the hands of the Aetolian javelin men in 426 BC and, during the same war, the Athenian victory at the Battle of Sphacteria.[4]
Skirmisher infantry gained more respect in subsequent years, as their usefulness was more widely recognised and as the ancient bias against them waned.
The
In the
The Roman army of the late republican and early imperial periods frequently recruited foreign auxiliary troops to act as skirmishers to supplement the citizen legions.
Middle Ages
Medieval skirmishers were generally commoners armed with crossbows or longbows. In the 14th century, although long held in disdain by the aristocratic Castilian heavy cavalry, the crossbowmen contributed greatly to the Portuguese victory at the Battle of Aljubarrota. Similarly, English archers played a key role in the English victory over French heavy cavalry at the Battle of Crécy. In the next century, they largely repeated that feat at the Battle of Agincourt. Such disasters have been seen as marking the beginning of the end of the dominance of medieval cavalry in general and of the heavy cavalry in particular.
Early modern period
Americas
The
Napoleonic Wars
During the
A skirmish force screening the main body of infantry became so important to any army in the field that eventually, all major European powers developed specialised skirmishing infantry. Examples included the German
Muskets were the predominant infantry weapon of the late 18th century, but the British Army learned firsthand of the importance of rifles during the American Revolutionary War and began experimenting with them shortly thereafter, resulting in the Baker rifle. Although slower to reload and more costly to produce than a musket, it was much more accurate and proved its worth during the Peninsular War. Throughout the conflict, British riflemen could selectively target and eliminate the officers and NCOs of French forces from outside musket range.[11]
During the War of 1812, American riflemen again contributed to British casualties but also had to contend with the revised British light infantry tactics.
A consequence of those wars' experiences was a trend to training line troops to adopt tactics that had been used only by skirmishers.[12]
American Civil War
The treatise New American Tactics, by General
Late modern period
By the late 19th century, the concept of fighting in formation was on the wane. Heavy infantry had disappeared, and all infantry effectively became skirmishers. The term has become obsolete, but as late as World War I, it continued to be associated with battlefield reconnaissance screens, which are essentially modern skirmish lines. As in the American Civil War, the primary role of the infantry skirmish line was to screen the advance of a parent force and to disrupt the enemy's own reconnaissance efforts.[15] With the mechanization of modern warfare, the role of infantry skirmishers was more or less combined with those of light cavalry, as mounted scouts in specialized reconnaissance vehicles took over the responsibility of screening large formations during maneuvers, in addition to conducting their own probing actions.[16]
Cold War and beyond
Some modern military units still use light and heavily armed units in conjunction. For example, the
See also
- Battle
- Demoralization (warfare)
- Francs-tireurs
- Grenz infantry
- List of military tactics
- Picket (military)
- Raider
- Rifleman
- Scouting
References
- ^ a b Greek Warfare, Myths and Realities, Hans van Wees p61
- ISBN 9789022107041
- ^ Greek Warfare, Myths and Realities, Hans van Wees p64p
- ^ a b Greek Warfare, Myths and Realities, Hans van Wees p65
- ^ Greek Warfare, Myths and Realities, Hans van Wees p65. Laws 706c
- ^ The Ancient Celts, Barry Cunliffe pp 94–95
- ^ Caesar, De Bello Gallico , Book 7, XLI
- ^ Peter Green, Alexander to Actium, p 133
- ^ "Thracian Skirmishers - Odrysian Kingdom - Total War: Rome II". Royal Military Academy. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ Hannibal's Last Battle: Zama and the Fall of Carthage, Brian Todd Carey p. 12 (Carthage) and p. 18 (Rome)
- ISBN 978-0571216819
- ^ History of the Art of War, Vol IV Hans Delbrück p449-51
- ^ Randolph, pp.82–88
- ISBN 978-0786443444.
- ISBN 978-1782005902.
- ISBN 978-0714633749.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-624-05410-8.
- ^ "Mobile firepower for contingency operations: Emerging concepts for US light armour forces" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. 1993-01-04. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
Sources
- Randolph, Lewis Hamersly, Biographical Sketches of Distinguished Officers of the Army and Navy, Henry E. Huntington Library: New York, 1905.
Further reading
- "Light Infantry", special issue of Ancient Warfare, 2/1 (2008)