10-17-2021, 09:44 PM
Hanny wrote:
You are confused.....
Well possibly but......why on earth would an established fact suddenly be turned on its head as part of confusion and a march that has always been admired for its speed suddenly be denied?
My understanding has always been that the Harold had his Earls who held their lands on his behalf, these lands were then broken down into smaller areas ruled over by Thegns who in turn had their own warrior bands or Housecarls. The average man, farmers, blacksmiths etc made up the Fyrd which could be called up to serve for a small period. The Fyrd was basically made up of a civilian militia and would be summoned to defend the area nearest the danger, regardless of whether they were mounted or not....but you obviously are a greater expert than I.
I think if you actually look at what Julius Caesar acheived you would see that he did indeed cover huge distances on a daily rate....but I would agree not over a 14 day period ....but then you must in turn be confused as I never said that in the first place.
In both Gelzer and Goldsworthy's work on Caesar, they say one of his key military advantages was how quickly he could move his troops. Both give the number of 90 miles a day.
Caesar did not move his troops at 90 miles a day regularly, only on a few occasions to steal a march on his enemies.
Still, Caesar did move very quickly through Gaul at all times, but his extremely rapid advances were only done once or twice to maneuver around enemy formations--Caesar was quite well known for appearing in the rear of an enemy army literally overnight.
Caesar would often march with no baggage and often resorted to forced marches, including use of night marches, which was a key feature of his strategy of movement. While marching to Gergovia, for example, Caesar split his army in two, leaving behind some troops as decoys, and marched through the night without stopping to come around behind Vercingetorix. Against the Helvetii Caesar marched throughout the night to beat them to the Saone. There are claims that Caesar marched nearly 100 miles, not his army. That's simply untrue.
Caesar made the march to Lake Geneva in 8 days! A quick look at geography will show this to be a rate of march between 80-100 miles a day, a speed only possibly because of Caesar's insistence on marching through the night. Caesar was able to delay the Helvetii for two weeks with diplomatic talk, giving his men the opportunity to rest--, because they were tired (which is what I propose happened with Seutonius Paulinis army at St Albans) the whole point was to get to the Rhone before the enemy, allowing him to destroy the bridges and force the Helvetii to stop and talk (with Seutonius Paulinus it was to protect St Albans and its Roman citizens).
Nor is such a speed of march impossible for others--Napoleon marched a comparable speed through Italy, slowed down only during the beginning of his campaign by the Alps.
You are confused.....
Well possibly but......why on earth would an established fact suddenly be turned on its head as part of confusion and a march that has always been admired for its speed suddenly be denied?
My understanding has always been that the Harold had his Earls who held their lands on his behalf, these lands were then broken down into smaller areas ruled over by Thegns who in turn had their own warrior bands or Housecarls. The average man, farmers, blacksmiths etc made up the Fyrd which could be called up to serve for a small period. The Fyrd was basically made up of a civilian militia and would be summoned to defend the area nearest the danger, regardless of whether they were mounted or not....but you obviously are a greater expert than I.
I think if you actually look at what Julius Caesar acheived you would see that he did indeed cover huge distances on a daily rate....but I would agree not over a 14 day period ....but then you must in turn be confused as I never said that in the first place.
In both Gelzer and Goldsworthy's work on Caesar, they say one of his key military advantages was how quickly he could move his troops. Both give the number of 90 miles a day.
Caesar did not move his troops at 90 miles a day regularly, only on a few occasions to steal a march on his enemies.
Still, Caesar did move very quickly through Gaul at all times, but his extremely rapid advances were only done once or twice to maneuver around enemy formations--Caesar was quite well known for appearing in the rear of an enemy army literally overnight.
Caesar would often march with no baggage and often resorted to forced marches, including use of night marches, which was a key feature of his strategy of movement. While marching to Gergovia, for example, Caesar split his army in two, leaving behind some troops as decoys, and marched through the night without stopping to come around behind Vercingetorix. Against the Helvetii Caesar marched throughout the night to beat them to the Saone. There are claims that Caesar marched nearly 100 miles, not his army. That's simply untrue.
Caesar made the march to Lake Geneva in 8 days! A quick look at geography will show this to be a rate of march between 80-100 miles a day, a speed only possibly because of Caesar's insistence on marching through the night. Caesar was able to delay the Helvetii for two weeks with diplomatic talk, giving his men the opportunity to rest--, because they were tired (which is what I propose happened with Seutonius Paulinis army at St Albans) the whole point was to get to the Rhone before the enemy, allowing him to destroy the bridges and force the Helvetii to stop and talk (with Seutonius Paulinus it was to protect St Albans and its Roman citizens).
Nor is such a speed of march impossible for others--Napoleon marched a comparable speed through Italy, slowed down only during the beginning of his campaign by the Alps.
Deryk
