Military History
In Our Words
The below is from The History of Meridies, 2nd edition.[1]
Compiled by THL Padruig Aoghann na Uladh
This work is the first attempt by the Meridien Military Historian's Office to chronicle the development and practice of military science within our fair kingdom. This introduction deals with four specific examples of SCA war combat: melees involving natural terrain, man-made fortifications, well-drilled tactics on an open field, and inter-kingdom war with both sides using unfamiliar allies.
Since this work is based on eye-witness accounts of the various battles, it is subject to all the frailties and prejudices of human memory and opinion. In this, the chronicle is much like any medieval chronicle, save for the exclusion of any reference to Divine intervention.
The chronicler wishes to acknowledge the efforts and contributions of Duke John the Bearkiller, Earl Roderick Level Lance of Rampart, Countess Miriam of Calontir, Baron Heinrich von Altmann, Sir Andras Salamandra, Lord Jorg Kratz, Laird Colin MacLachlinn, and Baroness Falada of Englewood.
This work is dedicated to all those gentle persons who have contributed to and upheld the ideals of chivalry and honor that are the cornerstones of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
Border Raids, Glaedenfeld (AS XIV)
The main war battle of this Border Raids was fought within the wooded area of the site in the new Shire of Glaedenfeld. The commanders of the Middle Kingdom's forces were Sir Polidor Haraldsson and the Baron Three Rivers, Lord Stephen Ironhand. The Meridiens were led by HRM John the Bearkiller with the aid of Sir Seigfried, Sir John Mad Celt, Sir William Colquitt, Sir Orlando, Sir Francois, and Baron Heinrich von Altmann. The Middle Kingdom was outnumbered by about 3:1 by Meridies, so King John and Sir Polidor decided to let the Middle Kingdom go on the defensive and the newly formed mercenary House Eagle was lent out to the Midrealm. While the Meridien army formed up on the field, Sir Polidor and Baron Stephen took their troops off to the woods.
The vanguard of the Meridiens was led by Sir Francois and consisted of the lighter-armed troops and most of the remaining archers (about 3). Twenty or so yards behind, the main body formed with Sir Seigfried commanding the right, Sir John Mad Celt and Sir William Colquitt the left, and a center/reserve led by King John, his remaining knights, the Royal Guard, and any uncommitted forces.
On a signal from King John, the main body began its advance towards the woods while the vanguard proceeded in to locate the Midrealm's position. The main body halted at the edge of the woods until Sir Francois' scouts returned. The scouts reported that the vanguard had been ambushed by archers and sustained some losses, but Sir Francois had driven the ambushers back and followed them to their home base. The scouts were then placed in the lead while the army formed a column and entered: right wing, left wing and then, reserves.
Sir Polidor had chosen the best defensive position possible in the entire area: not only did it give his troops the best possible defense, but it was also relatively safe from the standpoint of SCA war rules. At the junction of 2 wide, shallow streams was a triangular jut of land about 3 feet high and thirty feet on the side, with higher ground rising at the back of the peninsula. He had formed a shield wall around himself at the apex, polearms and spears in the second rank, and House Eagle archers and light infantry on the rising ground to the rear, giving them a full range of view in which to loose over the heads of the shield wall.
The Meridien right and left wings formed a counter-wedge on the far side of the stream, while King John held the center back. While the left and right shielded the center from the view of most of the Midrealmers, he sent a small force under Baron Heinrich around the enemy formation to look for a back door. On command, the right and left charged across the stream and engaged the shield wall, but this had very little effect as the stream broke the force of the charge and the foe's height advantage soon sent casualties streaming from the Meridien ranks. This action would probably have continued indefinitely, but for two events.
First, House Eagle was so engaged in observing the battle to their front, that they had forgotten to protect their rear until Baron Heinrich hit them from behind and began to drive into the back of the Midrealm wedge. At close quarters, the archers and polearmsmen had no room to retaliate. While this action was going on in the rear, a break occurred in the shield wall when a Meridien fighter, Lord James Dexter, charged right up the side of the peninsula and hit Sir Polidor at full speed. Even though Sir Polidor killed Lord James, the momentum of his suicide charge drove Sir Polidor back and created a hole through which the rest of the Meridiens rushed. Beset from two sides and with little room to swing, the majority of the Midrealmers fell until only Sir Polidor and a bastardswordsman were left. Sir Polidor managed to kill Sir Seigfried and Sir John Mad Celt in single combat before he was defeated by King John the Bearkiller.
The lessons learned by this battle were hard on both sides in terms of fighters 'killed and wounded'. King John had to expend a good number of fighters to keep the Midrealmers engaged in the hopes that Baron Heinrich would find a way to strike at the enemy's rear. If Baron Heinrich had not been successful, it is possible that the Meridiens might have won from sheer weight of numbers, but then again, maybe not. The Midrealmers learned the lesson that no matter how strong a natural position is, a commander cannot afford to allow any possibility of attack to be discounted, including the heroic, if mostly futile, suicide charge. For historical note, Lord James Dexter is roughly the size of King John, is almost six feet tall, and was wearing a full hauberk of mail at the time that he charged into Sir Polidor. A lesser fighter might have easily bounced off of Sir Polidor rather than vice versa.
It is rare that an SCA combat can make use of actual fortifications rather than the usual run of picnic pavilions, playground equipment, and polearm bridges, so the examples of this style of melee are rare. The Sire Osprey has regularly made use of historic Fort Gaines in Mobile, AL, a 19th century brick artillery fort overlooking the entrance to Mobile Bay. As there is only one entrance and the SCA bans siege ladders and towers, the only option is direct attack on the front gate in an effort to break through (open) the barred gate (tied), deal with arrows, boulders and dead livestock being cast down from the walls and murderholes, charge down a narrow corridor, through another gate, and across a courtyard to reach the goal, all the while having to engage the enemy hand-to-hand. Sounds easy, no? No!!
The turnout at Gatalop IV was the largest so far for this event site and included Duke John the Bearkiller and King Balldarr of Trimaris. As the fort was defended and attacked in turn by both sides, the battles produced good examples of various types of tactics.
The attacking force must start at the far end of a 75 foot long by 10 foot wide stone causeway that ends at a gate made of welded iron bars that opens outward. The walls of the fort at the entrance are about 12 feet high, and there is a 15 foot square murderhole just within the gate, with small alcoves to either side. The defenders of the first melee were drawn up within about 10 feet of the gate, so as to be able to utilize their archers at point blank range. Past the murderhole is a 12 x 40 foot long covered tunnel that ends with another outward-opening double gate and the goal, a cannon, is about 75 feet beyond that.
The attackers moved across the causeway in a dense pack almost to the gate while some of their archers tried to pin the enemy archers (Iron Mountain) down. Within about 10 feet of the gate, the front rank knelt and continued to advance at a crawl so as to present no targets for the archers within the gate or atop the wall. When the gate was reached, Duke John and several other polearmsmen moved up under the protection of a couple of sword and shield \men. They were joined by Lord Brandon Smythe (the bowman) who tried to keep the Iron Mountain front rank archer, Lord Wilhelm von Plausen, pinned down. The defenders had to move up to keep the gate from being untied, but this brought them into range of the attacking polearms. However, they could not really close, since hand weapons were no good at all when used through the gate, and the tactic would have eliminated the effectiveness of the defenders' wall archers. The battle at this point became a duel of polearms and spears.
Once the gate was opened, King Balldarr and Duke John went to close quarter fighting with the Iron Mountaineers, since most of their archers had emptied their quivers by now. The battle could have gone either way at this point, except that the defenders had been taking quite a few casualties while the attackers were still on the other side of the gate. The attackers' main body had remained organized and had taken few casualties from enemy missiles. Eventually, a few fighters broke through the crumbling Iron Mountain line and made it to the goal.
On the reverse of this battle, the Iron Mountain forces attacked. The defenders attempted to decimate them outside the wall with missile fire. When the attackers arrived at the gate, the defenders allowed them to open the gates, but kept them pinned there where they were vulnerable to arrows and javelins. The defenders stayed in the tunnel and did not emerge into the area under the murderhole until the attackers were sufficiently decimated, at which point they counter-attacked and tried to drive them back onto the causeway. In an effort to stop any of the attackers form getting to the goal if they should break through the first line, Duke John and King Balldarr had left a reserve line of sword and shieldmen stretched across the corridor at the beginning of the battle. However, as shieldmen started to go down in the front line, the commanders began to move a few of the reserves up to fill in the gaps, thus widening the area the reserves had tomaintain. This was the undoing of the defenders, since even though they did drive most of the attackers back out onto the causeway, two attackers got through the front line and past the weak reserves and made it to the goal.
Ultimately, it can be seen that the attackers learned much about defense of the gate during the first melee, but they broke their own plan by committing the reserves piecemeal and being over-confident in their apparent victory. Had this not been a goal battle, it would not have mattered, but as it was, it snatched defeat from the very jaws of victory.
Sleep Wars II, Iron Mountain (AS XVI)
At the time of this particular war, there was a Royal Army of Meridies in existence, the brainchild of Baron Heinrich, Duke Orlando, Duke John, and other notables. The basic organization was of companies formed around the Kingdom's Baronies with a numeral designation by order of precedence (i.e., Draconia was Co. I, Grey Niche was Co. V, the archer-scout unit was Co. IX). The main field battle of this war exemplified that a well-drilled and versatile unit can easily defeat a unit composed of better or more numerous foes. The Barony of Iron Mountain had 'hired' the Grey Niche Fighter's Guild for this contest, and also some Trimarian volunteers. The opponents were the forces of South Downs, Bryn Madoc, and their allies, who had been trounced in the first Sleep Wars.
The Fifth Company (Grey Niche) had developed a new variation of the old Roman formation called the pig's snout, with the new tactic called the parrot's beak, named for the animal on the Fifth Company's banner. This formation had drilled for several months prior to the event and had allowed for the incorporation of mercenaries and allies without disrupting the formation.
The foe was drawn up on the far side of a double soccer field with most of the knights and squires of South Downs and Bryn Madoc in the center; the Fifth Company and its auxiliaries were drawn up opposite them with the Iron Mountain forces off to the left and slightly separated. Lord Richard of Wales had a bolt throwing engine set up to one side of the Iron Mountain line and slightly advanced. The first line of the Grey Niche formation consisted of the newest fighters, the new auxiliaries, and the steadiest sword and shieldmen under the command of Lords Aylwyn de Tregarth and Padruig Aoghann in the center. (Note: Lord Aylwyn led the left wing and is left handed and Padruig was just the opposite, so their shields touched at the center of the front line.) The second rank was broken into three groups: two groups of light-armed, agile troops under Sir Andras Salamandra and Lord Alvan Rauchen flanking a tight group of large, hard-hitting troops under Duke John the Bearkiller.
The opposing sides began to walk towards each other at the marshal's command, but at approximately 20 feet apart the front ranks under Lords Aylwyn and Padruig split and advanced obliquely, opening up a ten foot wide gap. Through this gap charged a tight column of troops under Duke John that went clear through the foe's ranks, effectively cutting their line in half. The second rank wings under Sir Andras and Lord Alvan circled quickly around the wings of the foe and joined with Duke John to engage the enemy's second line and reserves. The Grey Niche front line anchored the enemy center facing front and did not allow them to turn and engage with those behind. To the South Downs right, The Iron Mountain troops were massacring the enemy in toe to toe combat. Eventually, the enemy center was completely destroyed along with their left, but the Grey Niche front had been almost completely annihilated in the process, because even good tactics will suffer when subjected to the combative skills of the largest group of knights in the Kingdom.
Sleep Wars II was the largest internal war in Meridies' history up to that time, as there were between 95 and 100 fighters and archers present.
Ironhand's March to Grey Niche, Three Rivers (ASXXI)
This is the first purely Calontir-Meridien War in our Kingdom's History, the result of an alleged promise by a former Meridien king to cede the Barony of Grey Niche to the Baron Three Rivers in exchange for his aid at Border Raids, AS XII.
The Calontireans and Meridiens fought only one war melee to decide this the issue and it gives great insight into the tactics and practices of Calontir. Under the direction of the Three Rivers Warlord, Master Juan Macies, Calontir's fighters were assembled in leg harness and put to a foot race to determine the fastest and most agile fighters. These neo-Mercuries were divided into cavalry and assassins, with the larger, slower fighters and the most skilled being designated scutum-bearers or heavy foot.
A Calontir scutum is a rectangular, semi-cylindrical shield some four feet tall and three feet wide, when measured along the outer curve. They are constructed of light metal and are controlled by the use of a metal bar that spans the back of the shield about two thirds of the way up, with an armstrap beneath. The shields are blazoned with the falcon of Calontir, Or on Purpure, with the arms of the group or individual in canton. In a shield wall these shields are very impressive and protective, but in individual combat they are as easy to maneuver as a door strapped to your arm. The scutum-bearers represent the sturdiest unit in Calontir and are usually used in a defensive manner, such as at Pennsic Wars bridge battles where they are rightly feared by the opposition.
Calontir cavalry are regular fighters in arms and armor, but they are expected to be versatile in both defense and attack. They can be used as a single bloc of troops, small melee teams, or on the wings. The assassins are the most fleet and lightly-armed of all Calontir troops. They can act as scouts or a skirmishing unit, but their principle use is as a killer-commando unit to destroy select nobles and their retinues. According to Sir Valens (aka Mike the Knight), Earl Marshall of Calontir, the assassins usually act independently of any formation.
For this battle, the Calontir Army was formed with the scutum-bearers and heavy polearms on their right wing, probably commanded by Baron Three Rivers. The center was formed of cavalry under King Gabriel ap Morgan, Earl Aesgirr Gunarrsson, and Master Juan. The assassins on the left were under Sir Eric, Squire Conn MacNeal, and Squire Colin MacLachlinn.
The Meridien army and their 'mercenary' allies were drawn up opposite in an apparent static line of sword and shieldmen in the first rank, with spears and polearms in the second. In actuality, the Meridiens were also divided into a center and two wings. The left was commanded by Duke John the Bearkiller and Sir Valens leading Grey Nichers and mercenary troops. Earl Phelan Cathaoir-Mor led the center where the majority of the Meridiens were posted. The vulnerable right wing was led by TRH Kane and Ilissa and was composed of House Eagle. 'renegade' Calontireans, and Ansteorran-Atlantian allies (including King Olav of Atlantia). There were archers and javelin-armed troops sprinkled through out both armies.
Overall, the battlelines were like a mirror image of heavy, medium and light troops facing their opposite numbers across the battlefield. The field itself was an almost featureless area about 50 yards wide by 100 long bounded (from the Meridien side) by the populace on the left, hedges behind, and deep sloping hills to the right and front. Its only unusual feature was a large persimmon tree towards the Meridien right; its overripe fruit lying on the ground described a slippery hazardous circuit about the tree.
By recollection with my sources, Master Juan's overall plan was either to attempt a double envelopment or to have the Calontirean army close with our line with the scutum-bearers anchoring their right wing and tying up the Meridien left; while their left and center would hold Earl Phelan and try to roll-up the Meridien right, since the right wing of an army has a tendency to move to the right so as to keep their shields toward the foe.
Both armies (50 to 60 strong) moved across the field about half-way to the foe when the Meridien center halted as the left moved obliquely across the center to the Calontir left and the right circled behind the center to take up a position opposite the scutum-bearers. TRH Kane and Ilissa's wing engaged the foe and began to draw them off with rushes of small melee teams. The Calontireans did not break formation, but they did drift away form their own center.
Meanwhile, Duke John and Sir Valens had smashed at full charge into the assassins, who attempted to counter-charge. The assassins had no time to build up speed, however, and the Meridiens threw them back in disorder. Naturally another gap developed and the Calontir center was isolated. Before they could go to the aid of the assassins, the Meridien center hit them from the front and left, holding them in place until Duke John and Sir Valens could roll up the survivors of the assassins. Beset from three sides, the Calontir center was annihilated in moments.
On the Calontir right, the strongly cohesive scutum-bearers were still engaging the Meridien left wing; indeed, from the chronicler's vantage point, it seemed that the Calontireans had suffered virtually no losses in pursuit of their foe. However, even their resolute defense could not stand against the arrival of the rest of the Meridien army, but it was a gallant last stand.
In examination of the battle, the principal weakness of the Calontir formation lay in their organization and, to a lesser extent, in their command. By dividing troops into classes of heavy, medium and light according to speed and armament in the SCA is to invite disaster, since no commander can ever be sure that his troop types will engage with opponents intended for them. While there are heavy and light designations for certain groups within Meridies, such as the Order of St. George or House Eagle, most fighters are expected to be able to move quickly and be able to go toe to toe with any opponent. In regards to command, the Calontir troops may have had a sound battle plan that would have gone over well had they not allowed their enemy to gain the initiative, but in this case they did not seem to react well to a sudden and complete change in the formation of the Meridiens. By breaking ranks on both wings and losing the cohesiveness of their lines, they allowed themselves to be dealt with piecemeal.
Although the Meridien battle plan showed much merit by the integration of the various allies into their own troops and seizing the initiative at the very beginning of the melee, there was a major weakness in the tactics. At the moment that the left wing advanced in front of the center and the right swung around the back, the Meridiens were in a rough column and were very vulnerable to a double envelopment by the Calontir lines. Such a maneuver would have crushed most, if not all, of our forces together and left very little room for the Meridiens to use either weapons or mobility.