The Crusaders' "Fighting March" Revisited

• Autores: Matthew R. Bennett
• Localización: War in history, ISSN-e 1477-0385, ISSN 0968-3445, Vol. 8, Nº. 1, 2001, págs. 1-18
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The `fighting march' was first defined and explored by the great Crusades historian R.C. Smail. The history of the tactic is a long one, dating back to classical times, and the Byzantine armies possessed tactical pamphlets instructing their gnerals how to manage them. These texts envisaged a hollow-square formation with `ideal' numbers of infantry and cavalry required to man it, so they can be construed as over-theoretical. The crucial factors for the crusaders were the co-ordination of mounted knights (and other horsemen) with close-ordered foot-soldiers using spears and missile weapons to keep the enemy at bay. They formed a shield to protect the horses, and with their bows, and crossbows especially, were able inflict significant casualties on opposing horse-archers. Arab commentators compared the formation to a `moving city', strikingly paralleling Anna Komnena's description of her father's `unprecedented' march in 1116.