8 - Arms and the Art of War: The Ghentenaar and Brugeois Militia in 1477–79

Summary

During his reign as Duke of Burgundy, from 1467 to 1477, Charles the Bold raised a standing army that consisted of Companies of Ordinance in which the nobles as heavy cavalry formed the primary arm and were supported by infantry and artillery. Charles the Bold and his standing army were defeated twice by the Swiss in 1476, in Grandson and Murten. On 5 January 1477 at Nancy a powerful force of Swiss played a significant role in the third defeat of the duke. Charles the Bold was killed there. As at Grandson and Murten the army of the duke was not deployed for a battle, and the Swiss were able to attack them by surprise. The Burgundian heavy cavalry and their powerful artillery did not react quickly enough and the infantry was too weak. The Swiss citizen army was better than the standing army of Charles the Bold, which was also much less numerous. They attacked the small vanguard with deep columns. Pikemen marched on the flanks of these columns, with pikes five meters long, followed by halbardiers and men with swords and other short weapons for hand-to-hand fighting. The long pikes served to withstand the charge of the cavalry or to kill them. Afterwards the halbardiers came forward to take the nobles out of the fight.

The attack of the deep formations was preceded by missile troops, who had bows and gunpowder weapons, and who sought protection within the columns during the melee. The attack was made at a run with three columns, which protected each others’ flanks, and with one serving as a reserve. The deep column meant that it was likely to withstand an attack on its flank by a part of the heavy cavalry. In each of the three battles the Swiss attacked with superior forces on a small front. Charles the Bold's heavy cavalry were too slow to attack and were received by the large pikes. The famous artillery of the duke shot too slowly. They could only take out about one-tenth of the Swiss, but the rest of the thousands of Swiss made a powerful and quick charge and drove the Burgundian units apart or caused panic.