Misplaced Pages

#581418

84-468: A gathering of some two or three hundred men (stockingers, quarrymen and iron workers), led by Jeremiah Brandreth (The Nottingham Captain, an unemployed stockinger), set out from South Wingfield to march to Nottingham . They were lightly armed with pikes, scythes and a few guns, which had been hidden in a quarry in Wingfield Park, and had a set of rather unfocused revolutionary demands, including

168-507: A bankrupted farmer who owned a small quarry where he had built up a small cache of pikes , and William Turner an ex-soldier. The plan was to assemble at ten o'clock on 9 June, where Ludlam's pikes would be distributed and further weapons would be acquired by requisitioning a man and a gun from each house that they passed. At 10 pm on 9 June, around fifty men assembled at Hunt's Barn in South Wingfield and for four hours ranged around

252-410: A confused melee in which pikemen had the vulnerabilities mentioned above. According to Sir John Smythe, there were two ways for two opposing pike formations to confront one another: cautious or aggressive. The cautious approach involved fencing at the length of the pike, while the aggressive approach involved quickly closing distance, with each of the first five ranks giving a single powerful thrust. In

336-498: A final meeting at a pub in Pentridge, or Pentrich , The White Horse, where he and his fellow conspirators were to lead a march on Nottingham where "they would receive 100 guineas, bread, meat and ale." They would then lead an attack on the local barracks, overthrow the government and end "poverty for ever". They were lightly armed with pikes, scythes and a few guns and only had a set of rather unfocused revolutionary demands, including

420-405: A greater distance, but also made pikes unwieldy in close combat. This meant that pikemen had to be equipped with an additional, shorter weapon such as a dagger or sword in order to defend themselves should the fighting degenerate into a melee . In general, however, pikemen attempted to avoid such disorganized combat, in which they were at a disadvantage. To compound their difficulties in a melee,

504-400: A higher ratio of shot to pikes on the battlefield. It continued with development of the plug bayonet , followed by the socket bayonet in the 1680s and 1690s. The plug bayonet did not replace the pike as it required a soldier surrender his ability to shoot or reload to fix it, but the socket bayonet solved that issue. The bayonet added a long blade of up to 60 cm (24 in) to the end of

588-457: A large, hollow-made and leaf-shaped head of about 50 cm (1.6 ft) or more, which was attached to a long and slender shaft. Apart from being used by soldiers in battle, a tassel fixed to the socket of the head together with optional further embellishment made the Schefflin an appropriate main weapon for princely bodyguards and courtly officials. There seems to be a close relation between

672-572: A larger frontage for volley fire. Thick hedges of bayonets proved to be an effective anti-cavalry solution, and improved musket firepower was now so deadly that combat was often decided by shooting alone. A common end date for the use of the pike in most infantry formations is 1700, such as the Prussian and Austrian armies. Others, including the Swedish and Russian armies, continued to use the pike as an effective weapon for several more decades, until

756-511: A manner identical to European pikemen, despite the usual conception of his people's general disposition for individualistic dueling as their method of close combat. It is not known whether Kamehameha himself introduced this tactic or if it was taken from the use of traditional Hawaiian weapons. The pike was issued as a British Home Guard weapon in 1942 after the War Office acted on a letter from Winston Churchill saying "every man must have

840-484: A paid informer under the Home Office 's instruction. The aim was to join them to march on London in support of a bill by Sir Francis Burdett for parliamentary reform. Bacon was suspected of machinery breaking and, with a warrant out for his arrest, had gone into hiding. He therefore appointed Jeremiah Brandreth , an unemployed stocking knitter with a wife and two children, to be his deputy. Opinion of Brandreth at

924-581: A pike block to somewhat alleviate the threat presented by flanking attacks. Perhaps copying the nearby Swiss model, the pike had a certain diffusion also in the duchy of Milan in the last two years of the 14th century. In 1391, a decree by Gian Galeazzo Visconti ordered the pikes to be at least 10 feet long in Milan, equivalent to 4.35 m (14.3 ft) and their tips to be reinforced with iron strips to prevent enemies, given their length, from cutting or breaking them. A second decree of 1397 provided that half

SECTION 10

#1732772813582

1008-779: A pivotal role in securing a near impossible victory against a far larger and better equipped Russian army at the Battle of Racławice , which took place on 4 April 1794. Civilian pikeman played a similar role, though outnumbered and outgunned, in the 1798 rising in Ireland four years later. Here, especially in the Wexford Rebellion and in Dublin , the pike was useful mainly as a weapon by men and women fighting on foot against cavalry armed with guns. Improvised pikes, made from bayonets on poles, were used by escaped convicts during

1092-529: A prisoner in the Australian penal colony. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1816, a number of factors combined to drive the country into a severe depression . The increased industrialisation of the country, combined with the demobilisation of the forces, led to mass unemployment. The Corn Laws led to massive increases in the price of bread, while the repeal of income tax meant that

1176-675: A series of developments as a result. These formations had great successes on the battlefield, starting with the astonishing victories of the Swiss cantons against Charles the Bold of Burgundy in the Burgundian Wars , in which the Swiss participated in 1476 and 1477. In the Battles of Grandson , Morat , and Nancy , the Swiss not only successfully resisted the attacks of enemy knights, as

1260-583: A slashing action and forced the introduction of shin guards as cavalry battles became more important. Yari were spears of varying lengths; their straight blades usually had sharpened edges or protrusions from the central blade, and were fitted to a hollowed shaft with an extremely long tang. During the later half of the 16th century in Medieval Japan , pikes used were generally 4.5 to 6.5 m (15 to 21 ft) long, but sometimes up to 10 m (33 ft) in length. By this point, pikemen were becoming

1344-462: A weapon of some kind, be it only a mace or pike" . However, these hand-held weapons never left the stores after the pikes had "generated an almost universal feeling of anger and disgust from the ranks of the Home Guard, demoralised the men and led to questions being asked in both Houses of Parliament". The pikes, made from obsolete Lee–Enfield rifle bayonet blades welded to a steel tube, took

1428-593: A wider political picture. Since the previous century, there had been calls for parliamentary reform, particularly an end to the rotten boroughs . Subsequently there had been the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror and it appeared that any reform would be accompanied by violence, which Pitt 's government set out to pre-empt by increasingly punitive measures. Since 1811, there had been minor local uprisings, with stocking frames being smashed in protest at

1512-689: Is a descendant of Jeremiah Brandreth. Brandreth met William J. Oliver (later known as "Oliver the Spy") in May 1817 and agreed to cooperate in a plan in which he would join 50,000 men in London to storm the Tower . It is widely believed that Brandreth was a victim of the Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth , who took severe measures against Luddite rioters. The "revolution" began on 9 June 1817. Brandreth had held

1596-409: Is believed to be the demise of cavalry when in fact it revived it. From the late 16th century and into the 17th century, smaller pike formations were used, invariably defending attached musketeers, often as a central block with two sub-units of shooters, called "sleeves of shot", on either side of the pikes. Although the cheaper and versatile infantry increasingly adopted firearms, cavalry's proportion in

1680-648: The Leeds Mercury who found sufficient evidence to justify publishing the story. During the trial and subsequent execution, Brandreth's family were removed to his birthplace, Wilford , where they were cared for by John Hazard, Overseer of the Township of Wilford. Pike (weapon) A pike is a long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of

1764-413: The Battle of Flodden . The huge block of men carrying such unwieldy spears could be difficult to maneuver in any way other than straightforward movement. As a result, such mobile pike formations sought to have supporting troops protect their flanks or would maneuver to smash the enemy before they could be outflanked themselves. There was also the risk that the formation would become disordered, leading to

SECTION 20

#1732772813582

1848-577: The Castle Hill rebellion of 1804. As late as the Napoleonic Wars , at the beginning of the 19th century, even the Russian militia (mostly landless peasants, like the Polish partisans before them) could be found carrying shortened pikes into battle. As the 19th century progressed, the obsolete pike would still find a use in such countries as Ireland , Russia , China , and Australia , generally in

1932-625: The Italian Wars , which would become in many ways the military proving ground of the Renaissance. The so-called Schefflin was a polearm, closely related to the pike, which from the late 1400s and throughout the 16th century saw widespread use in the German-speaking world. It served as a multipurpose weapon for both infantry (in the manner of pikes) and light cavalry (in the manner of demi-lances). Characteristically, it featured

2016-487: The Napoleonic era, the spontoon , a type of shortened pike that typically had a pair of blades or lugs mounted to the head, was retained as a symbol by some NCOs; in practice it was probably more useful for gesturing and signaling than as a weapon for combat. As late as Poland's Kościuszko Uprising in 1794, the pike reappeared as a child of necessity which became, for a short period, a surprisingly effective weapon on

2100-570: The Pentrich rising . Brandreth and two others, William Turner and Isaac Ludlam, were convicted of high treason and sentenced to execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered . The drawing and quartering (i.e. the disembowelling of the living condemned person and subsequent dismemberment) was commuted by George, the Prince Regent . Brandreth's execution took place with the others outside Derby Gaol on 7 November 1817. Once they were dead

2184-629: The Spiess (the German term for "skewer") on maneuvers and in combat; they also introduced marching to drums for this purpose. This meant that the pike blocks could rise to the attack, making them less passive and more aggressive formations, but sufficiently well trained that they could go on the defensive when attacked by cavalry. German soldiers known as Landsknechts later adopted Swiss methods of pike handling. The Scots predominantly used shorter spears in their schiltron formation; their attempt to adopt

2268-515: The Warring States period since the 5th century BC. Infantrymen used a variety of long polearm weapons, but the most popular was the dagger-axe , pike-like long spear, and the ji . The dagger-axe and ji came in various lengths, from 2.75 to 5.5 m (9.0 to 18.0 ft); the weapon consisted of a thrusting spear with a slashing blade appended to it. Dagger-axes and ji were an extremely popular weapon in various kingdoms, especially for

2352-497: The early modern period , and wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayonet -equipped muskets . The pike was particularly well known as the primary weapon of Spanish tercios , Swiss mercenary , German Landsknecht units and French sans-culottes . A similar weapon, the sarissa , had been used in antiquity by Alexander the Great 's Macedonian phalanx infantry. The pike

2436-705: The shieldwall so popular in later times. In the Middle Ages , the principal users of the pike were urban militia troops such as the Flemings or the peasant array of the lowland Scots . For example, the Scots used a spear formation known as the schiltron in several battles during the Wars of Scottish Independence including the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and the Flemings used their geldon long spear to absorb

2520-570: The 1720s and 1730s (the Swedes of King Charles XII in particular using it to great effect until 1721). At the start of the Great Northern War in 1700, Russian line infantry companies had 5 NCOs, 84 musketeers, and 18 pikemen, the musketeers initially being equipped with sword-like plug bayonets; they did not fully switch to socket bayonets until 1709. A Swedish company consisted of 82 musketeers, 48 pikemen, and 16 grenadiers. The Army of

2604-509: The 2nd century AD as using "over-long spears". He consistently refers to the spears used by the Germans as being "massive" and "very long" suggesting that he is describing in essence a pike. Julius Caesar , in his De Bello Gallico , describes the Helvetii as fighting in a tight, phalanx-like formation with spears jutting out over their shields. Caesar was probably describing an early form of

Pentrich rising - Misplaced Pages Continue

2688-684: The County Hall in Derby, charged in the main of "maliciously and traitorously [endeavouring]...by force of arms, to subvert and destroy the Government and the Constitution". Twenty-three were sentenced, three to transportation for fourteen years and eleven for life. As for the ringleaders, the government was determined to make an example of them, hoping that "they could silence the demand for reform by executions for high treason". Brandreth

2772-547: The Englishmen were crossing a narrow bridge. At the Battle of Laupen (1339), Bernese pikemen overwhelmed the infantry forces of the opposing Habsburg/Burgundian army with a massive charge before wheeling over to strike and rout the Austro-Burgundian horsemen as well. At the same time however such aggressive action required considerable tactical cohesiveness or suitable terrain to protect the vulnerable flanks of

2856-804: The Holy Roman Empire maintained a ratio of 2 muskets to 1 pike in the middle to late 17th century, officially abandoning the pike in 1699. The French, meanwhile, had a ratio of 3-4 muskets to 1 pike by 1689. Both sides of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the 1640s and 1650s preferred a ratio of 2 muskets to 1 pike, but this was not always possible. During the American Revolution (1775–1783), pikes called "trench spears" made by local blacksmiths saw limited use until enough bayonets could be procured for general use by both Continental Army and attached militia units. Throughout

2940-703: The National Library in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia Although the customary quartering was remitted by the Prince Regent , the three were publicly hanged and beheaded at Nuns Green in front of Friar Gate Gaol in Derby. The episode brought no credit to the government and many liberal thinkers of the time were disgusted by the verdicts and the executions. Lord Sidmouth was especially much criticised for his use of Oliver as agent provocateur . Nevertheless, Lockett

3024-905: The Qin state and Qin dynasty , and possibly the succeeding Han dynasty, who produced 5.5 m (18 ft) halberd and pike-like weapons, as well as 6.7 m (22 ft) long pikes during the war against Xiongnu . During the continuous European development of the pike, Japan experienced a parallel evolution of pole weapons. In Classical Japan , the Japanese style of warfare was generally fast-moving and aggressive, with far shallower formations than their European equivalents. The naginata and yari were more commonly used than swords for Japanese ashigaru foot soldiers and dismounted samurai due to their greater reach. Naginata, first used around 750 AD, had curved sword-like blades on wooden shafts with often spiked metal counterweights. They were typically used with

3108-484: The Swiss at the Battle of Arbedo (1422). Equally, well-armored Scottish nobles (accompanied even by King James IV ) were recorded as forming the leading ranks of Scottish pike blocks at the Battle of Flodden (1513), incidentally rendering the whole formation resistant to English archery. The Swiss solved the pike's earlier problems and brought a renaissance to pike warfare in the 15th century, establishing strong training regimens to ensure they were masters of handling

3192-558: The Swiss, but more pikes in the more difficult German thrust ( German : deutscher Stoß : holding a pike that had its weight in the lower 1/3 at the end with two hands), which was utilized in a more flexible attacking column. The high military reputation of the Swiss and the Landsknechts again led to the employment of mercenary units across Europe in order to train other armies in their tactics. These two, and others who had adopted their tactics, faced off in several wars, leading to

3276-429: The aggressive approach, the first rank would then immediately resort to swords and daggers if the thrusts from the first five ranks failed to break the opposing pike formation. Smythe considered the cautious approach laughable. Although primarily a military weapon, the pike could be surprisingly effective in single combat and a number of 16th-century sources explain how it was to be used in a dueling situation; fencers of

3360-835: The army remained high. During the English Civil War (1642–1651) the New Model Army (1646–1660) initially had two musketeers for each pikeman. Two musketeers for each pikeman was not the agreed mix used throughout Europe, and when in 1658, Oliver Cromwell , by then the Lord Protector , sent a contingent of the New Model Army to Flanders to support his French allies under the terms of their treaty of friendship (the Treaty of Paris, 1657 ) he supplied regiments with equal numbers of musketeers and pikemen. } On

3444-574: The attack of French knights at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, before other troops in the Flemish formation counterattacked the stalled knights with goedendags . Both battles were seen by contemporaries as stunning victories of commoners over superbly equipped, mounted, military professionals, where victory was owed to the use of the pike and the brave resistance of the commoners who wielded them. These formations were essentially immune to

Pentrich rising - Misplaced Pages Continue

3528-475: The attacks of mounted men-at-arms as long as the knights obligingly threw themselves on the spear wall and the foot soldiers remained steady under the morale challenge of facing a cavalry charge, but the closely packed nature of pike formations rendered them vulnerable to enemy archers and crossbowmen who could shoot them down with impunity, especially when the pikemen did not have adequate armor. Many defeats, such as at Roosebeke and Halidon Hill , were suffered by

3612-525: The battlefield, the musketeers lacked protection against enemy cavalry, and the two types of foot soldier supported each other. The post Restoration English Army used pikemen and by 1697 (the last year of the Nine Years' War ) English infantry battalions fighting in the Low Countries still had two musketeers to every pikemen and fought in the now traditional style of pikemen five ranks deep in

3696-484: The battlefield. In this case, General Thaddeus Kosciuszko , facing a shortage of firearms and bayonets to arm landless serf partisans recruited straight from the wheat fields, had their sickles and scythes heated and straightened out into something resembling crude " war scythes ". These weaponized agricultural accouterments were then used in battle as both cutting weapons, as well as makeshift pikes. The peasant "pikemen" armed with these crude instruments played

3780-421: The centre, with six ranks of musketeers on each side. According to John Kersey in 1706, the pike was typically 4.3 to 4.9 m (14 to 16 ft) in length. The mid-17th century to the early 18th century saw the decline of the pike in most European armies. This started with the proliferation of the flintlock musket , which gave the musketeer a faster rate of fire than he before possessed, incentivizing

3864-610: The contemporary German term Schefflin and the West European terms javeline (French) and javelin (English), both referring to some type of cavalry spear. Although rarely noticed, many of these weapons have survived to this day. Some pieces, of which many are said to have been used by the personal entourage of Henry VIII, are kept at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Pikes and long halberds were in use in ancient China from

3948-626: The earliest recorded use of a pike-like weapon in the tactical method described above involved the Macedonian sarissa, used by the troops of Alexander the Great 's father, Philip II of Macedon , and successive dynasties, which dominated warfare for several centuries in many countries. After the fall of the last successor of Macedon, the pike largely fell out of use for the next 1,000 or so years. The one exception to this appears to have been in Germany, where Tacitus recorded Germanic tribesmen in

4032-415: The employment of unskilled workers to produce low-quality stockings. Further afield, there had been food riots in many of the big cities. Around the country there were a number of secret revolutionary committees. The one at Nottingham was headed by a needle maker, William Stevens, and its representative from Pentrich was a framework knitter called Thomas Bacon. Bacon was known to have revolutionary views, and

4116-639: The factory agent, who, with a few constables, faced them down. One or two of the party defected and, increasingly demoralised, the remainder headed for Ripley . There was no police force at that time. Order was maintained by the various semi-private armies such as the yeomanry , while intelligence was gathered by the Home Secretary , Lord Sidmouth , from a network formed of local magistrates and paid informers. Through Ripley they pressed more followers into service and at Codnor and Langley Mill they awoke various publicans for beer, bread and cheese. It

4200-400: The front of the formation. As long as it kept good order, such a formation could roll right over enemy infantry, but it did have weaknesses. The men were all moving forward facing in a single direction and could not turn quickly or efficiently to protect the vulnerable flanks or rear of the formation. Nor could they maintain cohesion over uneven ground, as the Scots discovered to their cost at

4284-635: The group set out for the works of the Butterley Company outside Ripley, Derbyshire . When they arrived they were confronted by George Goodwin, the factory agent, who was with a few constables. After a stand off, several of the rebel party left. Increasingly demoralised Brandreth and the remainder headed into the town where they forced some of the townsfolk to join them. The rebels continued their march through Codnor and Langley Mill where they awoke publicans for beer, bread and cheese. When it started to rain heavily, more men slipped away. Outside

SECTION 50

#1732772813582

4368-540: The hands of desperate peasant rebels who did not have access to firearms. John Brown purchased a large number of pikes and brought them to his raid on Harpers Ferry . One attempt to resurrect the pike as a primary infantry weapon occurred during the American Civil War (1861–1865) when the Confederate States of America planned to recruit twenty regiments of pikemen in 1862. In April 1862 it

4452-414: The head was often reinforced with metal strips called "cheeks" or langets . When the troops of opposing armies both carried the pike, it often grew in a sort of arms race , getting longer in both shaft and head length to give one side's pikemen an edge in combat. The extreme length of such weapons required a strong wood such as well-seasoned ash for the pole, which was tapered towards the point to prevent

4536-728: The huge Swiss and Landsknecht columns, and their formation ultimately proved to be much more flexible on the battlefield. Mixed formations of men quickly became the norm for European infantrymen, with many, but not all, seeking to imitate the Tercio; in England, a combination of billmen , longbowmen , and men-at-arms remained the norm, though this changed when the supply of yew on the island dwindled. The percentage of men who were armed with firearms in Tercio-like formations steadily increased as firearms advanced in technology. This advance

4620-411: The infantry of the duchy were armed with pikes. It was not uncommon for aggressive pike formations to be composed of dismounted men-at-arms , as at the Battle of Sempach (1386), where the dismounted Austrian vanguard, using their lances as pikes, had some initial success against their predominantly halberd -equipped Swiss adversaries. Dismounted Italian men-at-arms also used the same method to defeat

4704-658: The jury, and, with Bacon, was sentenced to transportation for life. Weightman was transported to the colonies, in his case Australia, and died in 1865, aged 68, in Kiama, New South Wales . He never returned to England to his wife and children. He was noted as a worthy and upstanding citizen. Josiah Godber another of the convicted men sent to Australia, also died in Sydney having established a good reputation. His letters to his wife in Ripley are considered of historical importance and kept in

4788-477: The longer Continental pike was dropped for general use after its ineffective use led to humiliating defeat at the Battle of Flodden . Such Swiss and Landsknecht phalanxes also contained men armed with two-handed swords, or Zweihänder , and halberdiers for close combat against both infantry and attacking cavalry. The Swiss were confronted with the German Landsknecht who used similar tactics as

4872-522: The main forces in armies. They formed lines, combined with arquebusiers and spearmen . Formations were generally only two or three rows deep. In the aftermath of the Italian Wars, from the late 15th century to the late 16th century, most European armies adopted the use of the pike, often in conjunction with primitive firearms such as the arquebus and caliver , to form large pike and shot formations. The quintessential example of this development

4956-431: The militia pike armies when faced by cunning foes who employed their archers and crossbowmen to thin the ranks of the pike blocks before charging in with their (often dismounted) men-at-arms. Medieval pike formations tended to have better success when they operated in an aggressive fashion. The Scots at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297), for example, utilized the momentum of their charge to overrun an English army while

5040-782: The modern spelling.) Jeremiah Brandreth Jeremiah Brandreth (1785 – 7 November 1817) was an out-of-work stocking maker, living in Sutton-in-Ashfield , Nottinghamshire , who was executed for treason after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the Government of the United Kingdom . He and two others, who were known as the Pentrich martyrs , were the last people to be beheaded by an axe (posthumously, after being hanged) in an execution in Britain. Brandreth, who became known as "The Nottingham Captain",

5124-599: The musket, allowing the musket to act as a spear-like weapon when held out with both hands. Although they did not have the full reach of pikes, bayonets were effective against cavalry charges, which used to be the main weakness of musketeer formations, and allowed armies to massively expand their potential firepower by giving every infantryman a firearm; pikemen were no longer needed to protect musketeers from cavalry. Furthermore, improvements in artillery caused most European armies to abandon large formations in favor of multiple staggered lines, both to minimize casualties and to present

SECTION 60

#1732772813582

5208-434: The name of "Croft's Pikes" after Henry Page Croft , the Under-Secretary of State for War who attempted to defend the fiasco by stating that they were a "silent and effective weapon". In Spain, beginning in 1715 and ending in 1977, there were night patrol guards in cities called serenos who carried a short pike of 1.5 m (4.9 ft) called chuzo . Pikes live on today only in ceremonial roles, being used to carry

5292-462: The neighbourhood for weapons and extra men. At one house a widow, Mary Hepworth, lived with her two sons. When she refused to open up, the rioters broke a window and Brandreth fired a shot through it, killing a servant. Some of the party were appalled at this wanton act, but Brandreth threatened to shoot them also if they did not remain. Eventually the group set out for the Butterley Company works. When they arrived they were confronted by George Goodwin,

5376-401: The part that William Oliver had played, which, had he revealed it, would have embarrassed the government and might have prejudiced the jury in favour of the defendants. Brandreth was therefore tried as the leader, with Turner, Ludlam and Weightman as accomplices. All four were convicted of high treason and sentenced to death. However, Weightman was reprieved due to a recommendation for leniency by

5460-434: The pike formations especially from the attack of mounted man-at-arms . When these features were not available, militia often suffered costly failures, such as at the battles of Mons-en-Pevele (1304), Cassel (1328), Roosebeke (1382) and Othee (1408). The constant success of the Swiss mercenaries in the later period was attributed to their extreme discipline and tactical unity due to semi-professional nature, allowing

5544-414: The pike from sagging on the ends, although drooping or slight flection of the shaft was always a problem in pike handling. It is a common mistake to refer to a bladed polearm as a pike; such weapons are more generally known as halberds , glaives , ranseurs , bills , or voulges . The great length of the pikes allowed a great concentration of spearheads to be presented to the enemy, with their wielders at

5628-496: The pikeman often did not have a shield, or had only a small shield which would be of limited use in close-quarters fighting. The pike, being unwieldy, was typically used in a deliberate, defensive manner, often alongside other missile and melee weapons. However, better-trained troops were capable of using the pike in an aggressive attack with each rank of pikemen being trained to hold their pikes so that they presented enemy infantry with four or five layers of spearheads bristling from

5712-636: The relatively passive Scottish and Flemish infantry squares had done in the earlier Middle Ages, but also marched to the attack with great speed and in good formation, their attack columns steamrolling the Burgundian forces, sometimes with great massacre. The deep pike attack column remained the primary form of effective infantry combat for the next forty years, and the Swabian War saw the first conflict in which both sides had large formations of well-trained pikemen. After that war, its combatants—the Swiss (thereafter generally serving as mercenaries ) and their Landsknecht imitators—would often face each other again in

5796-437: The three men's heads were cut off with an axe. When Brandreth's head was shown to the crowd and they did not cheer the death of a traitor, the cavalry prepared to charge at the first sign of trouble. The board used to hold the bodies during beheading is kept in Derby Museum . On the scaffold one of the men claimed that they had been set up by Lord Sidmouth and "Oliver the spy". The claim was investigated by Edward Baines of

5880-495: The time often practiced with and competed against each other with long staves in place of pikes. George Silver considered the 5.5 metres (18 ft) pike one of the more advantageous weapons for single combat in the open, giving it odds over all weapons shorter than 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) or the sword and dagger/shield combination. Although very long spears had been used since the dawn of organized warfare (notably illustrated in art showing Sumerian and Minoan warriors and hunters),

5964-518: The time seems to have been somewhat mixed, but he promised the men that they would go to Nottingham, invading Butterley ironworks on the way, where they would kill the three senior managers and ransack it for weapons. At Nottingham they would receive bread, beef and ale, and a sum of money, and they would take over the barracks . They would then proceed by boat down the River Trent and attack Newark . He told them that there were sixteen thousand ready to join them. Among those present were Isaac Ludlam,

6048-472: The village of Giltbrook they were met by 20 mounted troops from the 15th Regiment of Light Dragoons . The appearance of regulars prompted the revolutionaries to scatter. While forty men were captured at the scene, Brandreth and some of the other leaders managed to escape only to be arrested in the next few months. A total of 35 people were brought to trial at the Old Bailey in London for their role in

6132-454: The war debt had to be recovered by taxing commodities forcing their prices even higher. In addition, 1817 was unusually wet and cold, producing a very poor harvest. The loss of production of war materials had affected engineering companies like the Butterley Company , the price of iron ore had slumped, and the production of coal had fallen by a third. The hosiery trade had also been falling away for about five years. There was, in addition,

6216-496: The wiping out of the National Debt . One among them, William J. Oliver , was a government spy, and the uprising was quashed soon after it began. Three men were hanged and beheaded at Derby Gaol for their participation in the uprising: Brandreth, Isaac Ludlam and William Turner. Co-accused conspirator and leader George Weightman was sentenced to the same fate, but later had his sentence reduced to transportation for life, as

6300-556: The wiping out of the National Debt . At 10 pm on 9 June, around 50 men assembled at Hunt's Barn in South Wingfield and for four hours ranged around the neighbourhood for weapons and extra men. At one house a widow, Mary Hepworth, lived with her two sons. When she refused to open up, the rioters broke a window and Brandreth fired a shot through it, killing a servant. Some of the party were appalled at this act but Brandreth threatened to shoot anyone who tried to leave. Eventually

6384-441: Was a long weapon, varying considerably in size, from 3 to 7 m (9.8 to 23.0 ft) long. Generally, a spear becomes a pike when it is too long to be wielded with one hand in combat. It was approximately 2 to 6 kg (4.4 to 13.2 lb) in weight, with the 16th-century military writer Sir John Smythe recommending lighter rather than heavier pikes. It had a wooden shaft with an iron or steel spearhead affixed. The shaft near

6468-582: Was able to say that the verdicts of the trial "were to have a salutary effect on the behaviour of the 'lower orders' in Pentrich and elsewhere". There is little to be seen nowadays of the event, though the martyrs, together with Weightman are commemorated in Giltbrook street names. The hexagonal office, where Goodwin stood his ground, existed in the yard of the Butterley Company's works until it

6552-711: Was apprehended at Bulwell on 22 July, while Isaac Ludlam was captured in Uttoxeter . Thomas Bacon and his brother John were caught in St.Ives , then in Huntingdonshire , as a result of a £100 reward. The trial was organised by William Lockett, the deputy Clerk of the Peace, who assembled "a group of 'respectable' jurors from the farming community on whom he could depend". Initially, Bacon, Brandreth and George Weightman (Bacon's nephew) were to stand trial. However, Bacon knew of

6636-525: Was authorised that every Confederate infantry regiment would include two companies of pikemen, a plan supported by Robert E. Lee . Many pikes were produced but were never used in battle and the plan to include pikemen in the army was abandoned. Shorter versions of pikes called boarding pikes were also used on warships—typically to repel boarding parties, up to the late 19th century. The great Hawaiian warrior king Kamehameha I had an elite force of men armed with very long spears who seem to have fought in

6720-544: Was born in Wilford , Nottingham . Brandreth became a stockinger by trade. He married Ann Bridget at Sutton on 29 September 1811. He later moved to Sutton-in-Ashfield where he lived with his wife and three children. It is believed that Brandreth was involved in Luddite activities in 1811. He was involved in a Luddite raid in 1811 when a fellow Luddite was shot dead. Writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth has stated he

6804-593: Was demolished in 2009/10 along with the rest of the site, and the execution block can be seen by request in Derby Museum. E. P. Thompson in The Making of the English Working Class sees this rising as a transitional event between the earlier Luddite actions and the later populist Radicalism of 1818–20 and 1830–32 . (Note that Thompson refers to the village throughout as 'Pentridge', not

6888-475: Was now raining heavily and yet more men defected. At Giltbrook they were met by a small force of soldiers: twenty men of the 15th Regiment of Light Dragoons . The revolutionaries scattered and, while about forty were captured, the leaders managed to escape, to be arrested over the following months. Altogether, eighty-five of the marchers were placed in Nottingham and Derby gaols, to be brought to trial at

6972-607: Was the Spanish tercio , which consisted of a large square of pikemen with small, mobile squadrons of arquebusiers moving along its perimeter, as well as traditional men-at-arms. These three elements formed a mutually supportive combination of tactical roles: the arquebusiers harried the enemy line, the pikemen protected the arquebusiers from enemy cavalry charges, and the men-at-arms, typically armed with swords and javelins , fought off enemy pikemen when two opposing squares made contact. The Tercio deployed smaller numbers of pikemen than

7056-471: Was the originator of the Pentrich Hampden Club . Several meetings were held at Pentrich during which Bacon asserted that preparations for an uprising were well advanced, and he had made enquiries at the ironworks and elsewhere about procuring weaponry. The decision to take action was made when news arrived of a revolutionary force heading from the north—a hoax fabricated by William Oliver ,

#581418