Foot And The Train Of Artillery
The equipment for infantry, cavalry and artillery is described in more detail in Elite 25 Soldiers of the English Civil War (1) Infantry and Elite 27 Soldiers of the English Civil War (2) Cavalry.
The Horse
By 1642 there were only two types of cavalry in English service, cuirassiers and harquebusiers. There were very few cuirassiers, troopers armoured from head to knee and armed with a sword and two pistols. Individual troopers on both sides were armed to this standard but the only complete formations were three troops in the Parliament Army.
The main battle cavalry on both sides were harquebusiers, troopers whose full equipment consisted of a helmet, back and breast plates, buff coat, sword, two pistols and a carbine. Many would have fallen far short of this ideal, some using obsolete armour, others lacking armour, carbines and pistols. A Royalist cavalryman would pass muster if armed only with a sword.
Most of the Earl of Essex's cavalry were probably equipped to the model standard, although there was a shortage of carbines. The King's army had more difficulty in obtaining arms for their cavalrymen, and its troopers were not as well equipped as their Parliamentary opponents.
The Foot
Infantry were armed as either pikemen or Matchlock Musketeer Powick Bridge" href="/powick-bridge/i-1.html">musketeers. Since the late sixteenth century the key to victory on the battlefield had been seen as firepower, particularly infantry firepower, but close combat between opposing bodies of pike could still be decisive in a close-fought battle. It was particularly the case with inexperienced regiments where the musketeers lacked the training to make best use of their firepower. In this situation the best option was to employ courage and determination in close combat. Even when the musketeers were well trained, pikemen were essential for any body of infantry as musketeers could not survive in open country without pikemen to provide protection against attack by cavalry.
At the turn of the century the ratio had been one to one but the number of musketeers increased during the early seventeenth century. By 1642 contemporary opinion on the best combination was changing from three musketeers to two pikemen to two musketeers to one pikeman. However, this remained the intention, an aim to be achieved if sufficient equipment was available. Where it was not possible the ratio of pikemen, whose equipment could be manufactured or improvised more quickly, could be higher. Infantry deployment placed wings of musketeers on either side of a centre of pikemen.
Model infantry equipment was musket, musket-rest, bandoleer, helmet and sword for a musketeer and pike, helmet, back and breast armour with tassets (thigh defences) and sword for a pikeman.
The Earl of Clarendon commented that Essex's foot were 'completely armed' at Edgehill. However, few musketeers would have worn helmets and although warrants were issued authorising the supply of pikemen's armour to some of Essex's regiments it is probable that the majority of his pikemen had only a helmet.
The Parliamentarians had to overcome some initial confusion in the Ordnance Office as a number of its officials left London to join the King, but were able to exploit effective sources of supply. In addition to Government arsenals and private donations, deliveries of equipment purchased in Europe had arrived in time to provide Essex's army with 2,231 sets of infantry armour, 5,580 pikes, 2,690 muskets and 3,956 musket-rests by early October 1642.
The equipment of the King's infantry was famously described by the Earl of Clarendon thus: 'the foot, (all but three or four hundred who marched without any weapon but a cudgel) were armed with muskets, and bags for their powder, and pikes but in the whole body there was not one pikeman had a corslet, and very few musketeers who had swords'. However this painted too black a picture as the King's army had obtained arms from %'oluntary donation and the seizure of Trained Band arsenals, and this would have included pikeman's armour. The King's army would have had fewer armoured pikemen than Essex's regiments and a shortage of bandoleers would have meant some of their musketeers having to carry their gunpowder either loose in bags or with individual charges in paper cartridges.
The average ratio of musketeers to pikemen for Essex's infantry regiments at Edgehill was probably three musketeers to two pikemen, although some regiments were equipped two to one and others one to one. The King had greater problems supplying his men with arms than did Essex and a reasonable estimate would be a ratio of one musketeer to one pikeman.
The Dragoons
One other type of soldier was the Dragoon, a musketeer mounted on a cheap horse. Where possible Dragoons were issued with muskets using a flintlock rather than matchlock mechanism, the disadvantages of carrying lighted matchcord on horseback being obvious. On occasion,
Dragoons. Illustration from Johann Jacobi von Walhausen Kriegkunst zu Pferde. Dragoons
Walhausen set out a thorough description of the role of the dragoon but added his personal theory on the potential use of mounted pikemen.
Dragoons. Illustration from Johann Jacobi von Walhausen Kriegkunst zu Pferde. Dragoons
Walhausen set out a thorough description of the role of the dragoon but added his personal theory on the potential use of mounted pikemen.
cavalry carbines were issued but the preferred weapon was always the musket as this gave the range and killing power required from Dragoons.
Records of the issue of military supplies to Royalist Dragoons show that most, perhaps all, were equipped with matchlock muskets. The Parliamentarian Dragoons were probably equipped with flintlock muskets; certainly they were able to provide flintlock muskets for their artillery guards.
The Train of Artillery
The main responsibility of the Train of Artillery was the cannon used in die field by each army, and the heavier cannon used for siege warfare. Most seventeenth-century cannon were heavy pieces and would be sited during an army's initial deployment but not moved during a battle.
A satirical pamphlet showing clerics as artillerymen. A useful contemporary English illustration of a field artillery piece.
Some commanders made use of lighter artillery, particularly those like the Scots who were strongly influenced by service in the Swedish Army. The Train was also responsible for supplying ammunition for cavalry, infantry and artillery, spare and repaired weapons, artillery tools and the wide variety of equipment an army required in the field.
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