Thread Rating:
  • 4 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Renatus wrote:

Thus, a normal peacetime marching day of 14 miles at the slower rate would be approximately 3.5 hours. Put that way, it does not seem very much but in times of peace it is not necessary to stretch the men and in wartime both the pace and the hours of marching could be extended.

Just as an aside, I assume that the force marching to London would have been mixed with men, horses, and a baggage train with mules / native ponies.

Although I don't have a problem with the distances covered it would appear that for all concerned to be able to march for any length  of time and be fit at for battle at times all the average time for a marching army (which would be laden) would be about 3 mph (or so)

Typically this would be the same for the average unladen human but as the Roman soldier was trained for marching as a pre-requisite they would have had the stamina to march for hours on end laden at 3 mph - which was a big difference.

Although horses in a group could travel much faster the laden mules would be limited to 25 miles per day and in theory so would the Roman legionary if they were to retain their strength.

Consistently fast moving cavalry would have more than one horse or be able to pick up a fresh mount at relay stations regularly to maintain high speeds.

Similarly the Brythons would also have had cavalry of horses (and chariots) but their infantry would have walked at about the same speed of 3 mph unladen. 

The defining difference is that the Brythonic infantry would not have had the stamina of the Roman soldier (nor would the London civilians who were unfit) but if the baggage train was made up of oxen to carry supplies and weapons of the Brythons there would have been a loss of pace of 0.5 mph because of the oxen who would have required far less corn than horses or mules as their advantage.

So if both sides travelled for 8 hours a day, SP and his force would have increased their lead over the Brythonic infantry by some 4 miles per day but not necessarily distancing themselves from the Brythonic cavalry or chariot warriors.
   
This was summer and the daylight hours in July would be 15 hours, August 14 hours and September 13 to 12  hours plenty of time to do the mileage and build a camp. 

It would seem to me that there must have been a very good reason for SP to stop to fight when he was weighed down with civilians - either his baggage train was being chivied by the Brythonic cavalry (who wouldn't need to protect their columns) or his retreat was leading him into another force about to cut him off in an ambush that his scouts had found.

He had to find a place where he could defend the civilians, sustain a siege whilst awaiting reinforcements  and also to use as a spring board to unexpectedly attack from.
Deryk
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM
RE: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand. - by Theoderic - 12-27-2017, 06:35 PM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Armchair Wall walking mcbishop 3 3,479 01-11-2012, 03:22 AM
Last Post: Vindex

Forum Jump: