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A schiltron (also schiltrom or shiltron) is a group of soldiers wielding outward-pointing pikes or other polearms, to ward off cavalry attacks. The term does not denote any particular shape or alignment of the formation, and is most often associated with Scottish pike formations during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
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Etymology
The term dates from at least 1000 AD and derives from Old English roots expressing the idea of a "shield-troop". Some researchers have also posited this etymological relation may show the schiltron is directly descended from the Anglo-Saxon shield wall, and still others give evidence "schiltron" is a name derived from a Viking circular formation (generally no less than a thousand fighters) in extremely close formation, intended to present an enemy's cavalry charge with an "infinite" obstacle (that is, a perimeter horses refuse to breach). The Picts used to employ spears in a block schiltron formation as the backbone of their armies.
Examples
There are two recorded Scottish instances of circular schiltrons: William Wallace's army at Falkirk (1298), and Thomas Randolph's forces on the first day of Bannockburn (1314).1 However, there are numerous accounts of rectilinear schiltrons - Glen Trool, the main battle at Bannockburn, Myton (1319), Dupplin Muir (1332), Culblean (1335), Halidon Hill (1333), Neville's Cross (1346) and Otterburn (1388).
At Falkirk, the formation was fortified by driving stakes into the ground before the men, with ropes between, and by employing archery. The tactic was adopted by the Flemish against French cavalry at Courtrai (Kortrijk) (1302).
Schiltrons where also used by the Welsh troops at the Battle of Orewin Bridge in 1282 and the Battle of Maes Moydog in 1295, although this tactic was generally unsuccessful for the Welsh.
Defensive and offensive use
Although the schiltron is often seen as a principally defensive formation, it was the offensive use of several of these formations that proved decisive at the Battle of Bannockburn. Robert the Bruce had drilled his troops in the offensive use of the pike (requiring great discipline), and he forced the English forces to fight on unfavourable ground. This was similar to the pike charges that brought victory at Stirling Bridge (1297). Bruce's new tactic was a response to a crushing defeat for the Scots at Falkirk (1298), when the traditional use of the schiltron failed in the face of English archers. 2
Later evolution
Tactically, schiltrons are related to the 15th century pike square, the tercio of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the Napoleonic infantry squares, which used either pikemen or bayonet-armed infantrymen to defend against cavalry.
Notes
- ^ Linklater, Eric (1968). The Survival of Scotland. Garden City, New York, USA: Double Day.
- ^ Spencer-Churchill, Winston L. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume 1, The Birth of Britain (New York: Bantam Books, 1974, 12h printing), p.225.
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- This page was last modified on 13 December 2008, at 07:46.
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