08-27-2014, 05:46 AM
As far as sagging sarissa go, a couple thousand years in 1594 Sir John Smythe wrote the following: "I would that the staves of the piques should bee of a tite and stiffe ashe, and not of ashe that dooth sagge, and bend when the piquers doo carrie their piques breast high before hand couched, because that such sagging and bending ashe, although it be verie tough yet it is more heavie then the other ashe; besides that the piquers cannot carry the piques of such sagging, and bending piques so even and straight in their Enemies faces, as they may carrie the other piques that doo not bend nor sagge, but are tite and straight." So at least one experienced sixteenth-century commander considered sagging and bending pikes unsuitable for the field. Whether that says anything sarissa depends on one's approach.
Sixteenth-century pikes and pike formations also potentially shed light on the question of marching and mobility with such long weapons. Smythe in the very same work quoted above mentioned the possibility of pikers switching their pikes from right to left shoulder while marching, which suggests that pikers did march holding their pikes for considerable distances. He additionally wanted pikers' armor and doublets made so they could more easily breathe during a hasty march, suggesting that pikers marched rapidly at times. In his description of Ceresole 1544, Blaise de Monluc recounted instructing pikers under his command to hold their pikes in the middle as the Swiss do and "run headlong to force and penetrate into the midst of" the opposing pike formation. He then described this opposing formation as advancing at such speed that gaps open up, with some ensigns lagging behind. Monluc and his pikers then "all of a sudden rushed in among them." By Monluc's account, pikers could and did move rapidly on the battlefield. Similarly, Swiss formations of pikers and halberdiers were famous for their speed and mobility. A source from the later sixteenth century has Swiss soldiers hurling themselves on their foes "at full speed like mad dogs, with pikes lowered and without ever breaking ranks."
Again, none of this necessarily applies to antiquity, but indicts the possibility of units that move quickly despite very long spears.
Sixteenth-century pikes and pike formations also potentially shed light on the question of marching and mobility with such long weapons. Smythe in the very same work quoted above mentioned the possibility of pikers switching their pikes from right to left shoulder while marching, which suggests that pikers did march holding their pikes for considerable distances. He additionally wanted pikers' armor and doublets made so they could more easily breathe during a hasty march, suggesting that pikers marched rapidly at times. In his description of Ceresole 1544, Blaise de Monluc recounted instructing pikers under his command to hold their pikes in the middle as the Swiss do and "run headlong to force and penetrate into the midst of" the opposing pike formation. He then described this opposing formation as advancing at such speed that gaps open up, with some ensigns lagging behind. Monluc and his pikers then "all of a sudden rushed in among them." By Monluc's account, pikers could and did move rapidly on the battlefield. Similarly, Swiss formations of pikers and halberdiers were famous for their speed and mobility. A source from the later sixteenth century has Swiss soldiers hurling themselves on their foes "at full speed like mad dogs, with pikes lowered and without ever breaking ranks."
Again, none of this necessarily applies to antiquity, but indicts the possibility of units that move quickly despite very long spears.
