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Highland Charge
The Highland charge was a battlefield shock tactic used by the clans of the Scottish Highlands which incorporated the use of firearms. Historical development Prior to the 17th century, Highlanders fought in tight formations, led by a heavily armed warrior elite who carried heavy battle axes or claymores (two-handed swords whose name comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''claidheamh mòr'' "great sword"). However, with the introduction of muskets and cannon, such formations became vulnerable. As a result, in the 17th century, Highlander warriors developed a lighter, one-handed basket-hilted broadsword that protected the hand. This was generally used with a shield or targe strapped to the weak arm and a dirk or ''biotag'' "long knife" held in the other hand. The Scottish and Irish warrior Alasdair Mac Colla is sometimes credited with inventing the Highland charge during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms to meet a particular set of battlefield challenges. It was initially known as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Battle Of Culloden
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the Most common words in English, most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Mackay (general)
Hugh Mackay (c. 1640 – 24 July 1692) was a Scottish military officer who settled in the Netherlands, and spent most of his career in the service of William of Orange (later William III of England). In 1660, Mackay was commissioned into Dumbarton's Regiment, spending the next few years in England and France, then volunteered to fight for the Republic of Venice in the Fifth Ottoman-Venetian War. He rejoined Dumbarton's in 1672 on the outbreak of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, before transferring to the Scots Brigade in 1673. A long established mercenary unit of the Dutch army, Mackay served with the Brigade for the rest of his career. Mackay led the Brigade during the Glorious Revolution and was military commander in Scotland from 1689 to 1690. Despite defeat at Killiecrankie in July 1689, the Highlands had largely been brought under control by the end of 1690 and Mackay was reassigned to Ireland for the 1691 campaign. He returned to the Netherlands in October 1691 after the Tre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coehorn
A Coehorn (also spelled ''cohorn'') is a lightweight mortar originally designed by Dutch military engineer Menno van Coehoorn. Concept and design Van Coehoorn came to prominence during the 1688–97 Nine Years War, whose tactics have been summarised by historian John Childs as follows: "The majority of infantrymen never fired their muskets in anger;....armies were consciously geared towards the dominant forms of warfare; manoeuvre and the siege." This emphasis on siege warfare saw many developments in the use and design of artillery. Fortifications were vulnerable to vertical trajectory or plunging fire, and the concept of mortars was well understood, but large scale mortars were commonly used initially to provide close support for infantry assaults on fortified positions. Van Coehoorn demonstrated them in May 1701 to William III of England, and they were first used in action at the siege of Kaiserswerth in 1702. The original was light enough to be moved by as few as two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canister Shot
Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th century. Canister is still used today in modern artillery. Description Canister shot consists of a closed metal cylinder typically loosely filled with round lead or iron balls packed with sawdust to add more solidity and cohesion to the mass and to prevent the balls from crowding each other when the round was fired. The canister itself was usually made of tin, often dipped in a lacquer of beeswax diluted with turpentine to prevent corrosion of the metal. Iron was substituted for tin for larger-caliber guns. The ends of the canister were closed with wooden or metal disks. A cloth cartridge bag containing the round's gunpowder used to fire the canister from the gun barrel could be attached to the back of the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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