03-30-2004, 09:44 AM
An episode in Caesar's 'Gallic War' mentions the wedge formation, and the context is perhaps quite informative.<br>
<br>
It occurs in 53bc - Caesar is in the Ardennes, conducting his punitive campaign against the Eburones; he leaves Q Cicero (brother of the orator) in command of the supply base and baggage camp at Aduatuca, with a newly raised legion (probably the XIV) and about a cohort of veteran walking wounded. The camp is short of supplies, and Caesar is late in returning, so Cicero sends out five cohorts of his legion, plus 300 of the more able veterans, on a foraging expedition. While the expedition is away, German horsemen attack the camp. The forage column returns to find the camp surrounded:<br>
<br>
"But here there is no fortification to receive them, in their alarm: those last enlisted, and unskilled in military discipline turn their faces to the military tribune and the centurions; they wait to find what orders may be given by them (...)<br>
<br>
...Some propose that, forming a wedge, they suddenly break through, since the camp was so near; and if any part should be surrounded and slain, they fully trust that at least the rest may be saved; others, that they take their stand on an eminence, and all undergo the same destiny. The veteran soldiers... do not approve of this. Therefore encouraging each other, under the conduct of Caius Trebonius, a Roman knight, who had been appointed over them, they break through the midst of the enemy, and arrive in the camp safe to a man." (Caesar - Bellum Gallicum 6.39-40)<br>
<br>
It is not stated whether these veterans actually formed a wedge or not, but the context implies they did - meaning that 300 men could form an effective wedge formation <em>against cavalry</em>. It also implies that the original five cohorts+300 <em>could</em> have formed the wedge as well - what's most interesting, though, is that it was the veteran troops who managed the breakthrough, while the fresh recruits 'unskilled in military discipline' just milled about on the hilltop - several more of them then follow the veterans' lead, but the implication remains that the wedge formation was something that newly raised troops might find difficult, whereas skilled veteran troops would be good at it - a 'battlefield' tactic, therefore, rather than the sort of thing practiced on the drill field.<br>
<p></p><i></i>
<br>
It occurs in 53bc - Caesar is in the Ardennes, conducting his punitive campaign against the Eburones; he leaves Q Cicero (brother of the orator) in command of the supply base and baggage camp at Aduatuca, with a newly raised legion (probably the XIV) and about a cohort of veteran walking wounded. The camp is short of supplies, and Caesar is late in returning, so Cicero sends out five cohorts of his legion, plus 300 of the more able veterans, on a foraging expedition. While the expedition is away, German horsemen attack the camp. The forage column returns to find the camp surrounded:<br>
<br>
"But here there is no fortification to receive them, in their alarm: those last enlisted, and unskilled in military discipline turn their faces to the military tribune and the centurions; they wait to find what orders may be given by them (...)<br>
<br>
...Some propose that, forming a wedge, they suddenly break through, since the camp was so near; and if any part should be surrounded and slain, they fully trust that at least the rest may be saved; others, that they take their stand on an eminence, and all undergo the same destiny. The veteran soldiers... do not approve of this. Therefore encouraging each other, under the conduct of Caius Trebonius, a Roman knight, who had been appointed over them, they break through the midst of the enemy, and arrive in the camp safe to a man." (Caesar - Bellum Gallicum 6.39-40)<br>
<br>
It is not stated whether these veterans actually formed a wedge or not, but the context implies they did - meaning that 300 men could form an effective wedge formation <em>against cavalry</em>. It also implies that the original five cohorts+300 <em>could</em> have formed the wedge as well - what's most interesting, though, is that it was the veteran troops who managed the breakthrough, while the fresh recruits 'unskilled in military discipline' just milled about on the hilltop - several more of them then follow the veterans' lead, but the implication remains that the wedge formation was something that newly raised troops might find difficult, whereas skilled veteran troops would be good at it - a 'battlefield' tactic, therefore, rather than the sort of thing practiced on the drill field.<br>
<p></p><i></i>
Nathan Ross
