Pike & Shot
Pike and Shot tactics were based upon a combined infantry formation consisting of musketeers and pike men. The function of the pike men was to protect the musketeers , primarily from heavy cavalry.
The advent of hand held gunpowder weapons started to bring an end to the dominance of heavy armoured cavalry on the battlefield. The cavalry could now be engaged at distance before they closed on the lightly protected infantry. Whilst a musket could reach a range of, the effective range was 90 metres (100 yards). The most effective fire was groups of musketeers firing volleys, providing effective fire to 180 metres (200 yards). The time taken to reload could take up to a minute so the pike men would protect the musketeers as the cavalry closed in on the infantry.
The pike men were armed with either pikes or 5.5-metre (18-foot) long poles topped with a long spike.
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| Pike and Shot Formation |
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| Pike Drill ‘The Military Discipline’, by Thomas Jenner, 1642 |
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| Musket Drill ‘The Military Discipline’, by Thomas Jenner, 1642 |