Napoleonic Tactics - Infantry Squares

 

Of the different formations employed during the Napoleonic Wars, aside from the standard line formation, there is probably none more iconic than soldiers standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a desperate square.

This formation was designed to provide protection from charging cavalry, which was a significant threat on the battlefield to any infantry unit, and those stood in line could be easily flanked and cut down.

The infantry square typically consisted of a hollow square with four sides, with each side formed by a company of infantry. The soldiers would stand shoulder-to-shoulder, facing outward, with their bayonets fixed on their muskets. This formation allowed the infantry to present a wall of bayonets in all directions, making it difficult for cavalry to break through.

Horses would usually refuse to charge this wall of bayonets and so a square being broken by cavalry alone was a rare occurance, unless the troops were inexperienced or ill-diciplined enough to lose unit cohesion through running or poorly positioning themselves. At the battle of Garcia Hernandez in 1812, Heavy Dragoons of the King's German Legion achieved the unlikely feat of breaking three infantry squares. The French infantry waited too long to fire their volley - a mortally wounded horse and it's equally mortally wounded rider ploughed into the side of the square, and the kicking horse kocked down at least six of the defenders, opening up a gap for the dragoons to ride into. The breaking of the first square triggered the second square to panic, and the domino-effect made what would have been a minor skirmish into a significant encounter. 

Sergeant William Lawrence recalls the Battle of Waterloo in his autobiography "We were attacked by a tremendous body of cavalry and infantry, and it was only then, owing to the close proximity of the two armies, that the fire from the enemies cannon - which had been kept up for hours -abated. It was heavy work for us, first we had to form square to recieve the attacks by the enemies cavalry, then form line to meet the infantry. Charge after charge was made on us, with little success"  

Cuirassiers attack an infantry square at the Battle of Waterloo, in this MOC by Gary^The^Procrastinator

As seen at Waterloo, and of course immortalised by incredible birds eye camera-shots in the 1970, squares could be arranged in a chequred formation to reduce the chances of friendly-fire. 

"We threw ourselves into three squares with our artillery in the centre, We were told not to fire at the men, who wore armour, but at their horses. We obeyed and as soon as they got close enough, we opened a deadly fire on them. Very few escaped. They had managed to capture our guns, but fire from our three squares recovered them again. It was almost funny to see these guards in their chimney armour trying to run away after their horses had been shot from under them. They made little progress, and many were taken prisoner by those of our light companies who were out skirmishing"

The square was vulnerable however to artillery, as cannonballs could easily tare through the closely packed formation, and thus a high-stakes game of rock, paper, scissors was played by the generals of the era. William Lawrence tells of how after being instructed to hold the colours (after 14 others had been killed or wounded in the duty), the officer stood next to him had his head blown off by a cannon-ball.

For Sergeant William Lawrence, the repeated charges took their toll and the infantry squares dwindled to the point of hardly having enough men to form square. However, the promise of the Prussians was shouted loudly by the officers, and just before sun-set they made their appearance, and the whole Allied line was able to advance. 

I was inspired to make a video about an infantry square, after hearing the amazing opening to the song Redcoat by Forlorn Hope.

The lyrics to Redcoats opening tell such a story:

Shoulder to shoulder in a desperate square

Shot and smoke fills the Flanders air

Sabres flash, horses thunder past

But they stand their ground and the square holds fast

There are other excellent examples however of infantry squares represented as MOCs, such as "Steady Lads" above, by Gary^The^Procrastinator, and this amazing collaborative diorama depicted below!

Collaborative Diorama on the Battle of Waterloo, shown on JBIronworks FlickR

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