Essay on Warfare during the Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance was one of the most colorful, vital, and exciting times in history. Renaissance eventually comes from the French word "Renaistre," meaning "to be born again." The Renaissance was a revival or a rebirth of cultural awareness and learning among art, law, language, literature, philosophy, science, and mathematics. This period took place between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Renaissance in Italy flourished in the 15th century and spread throughout most of Europe in the 16th century.

Technology greatly affected the way in which wars were fought, especially in World War I. The inventions of the repeating machine gun, the development of poison gas, and the introduction of the first tanks caused armies to fight using the bunkering method. This allowed men to huddle in trenches along what are called skirmish lines and throw, lob, and fire by other means weapons to cause damage while men were protected by about 4 to 5 feet deep earth. This caused men to fight in rear or echelon columns behind tanks can basically caused defensive fighting tactics resulting in drawn out protracted battles.

Field Artillery “The King of Battle” dates back as far as the birth of the United States Army itself. The Battle at Bunker

Gunpowder single handedly changed the world. What once started as fireworks, would eventually become the greatest aspect of warfare known to man. It was first used by the Chinese, as colorful displays of fire in the sky, but under the rule of the Ming and Ching it became a feared machine of war. Although the effects of gunpowder were mainly positive, there are still some major disadvantages.

The types of challenges that the Generals have faced during The Battle of Gettysburg are, location, following orders, and the weaponry. In a life or death situation, the position of where your men are stationed is crucial due to the fact if the opposite army crawls up behind or has the higher ground then there is a greater chance of getting murdered. General’s must accept the system that a more experienced General has stated and to not promote their individual procedures. Finally, the rifles, pistols, muskets, cannons and other artillery the Generals had to work with may have been difficult to shield or perform with. In conclusion, the Generals faced many complications when battling in the Battle of

The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil war. General Robert E. Lee was the commanding officer of the Confederate army. During the battle of Gettysburg Lee’s military strategy was to fight offensive. Lee’s goal during the battle was to seize the high ground and out last the union army. The Union army had outnumbered the Confederate soldiers. General Lee’s first hand man was General James Longstreet. Longstreet believes the new technology in warfare would make attacking the Union army bloody for the Confederate soldiers. Longstreet suggests to Lee that defensive warfare tactics such as using trenches and rocks for cover and concealment would be the Confederacy’s best fighting chance. Lee denies Longstreet’s ideas and continued with the plan to fight out in the open and attack the enemies head on. After three days of fighting the Confederate army lost the battle at Gettysburg. Lee’s tactical approaches that led to this lost included the lack of communication and the absence of and with General J.E.B Stuart, Lee’s continuation to pursue offensive attacks and Pickett’s charge.

The deployment of Field Artillery has been the deciding factor in almost every major conflict since the inception of Field Artillery. The Battle of Pea Ridge is no different. This conflict serves as a perfect example of how the proper use of terrain and well-placed artillery can alter the course of battle. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Union Army was not only able to stop the advancement of enemy troops but forced their retreat.

Vincent says, “Well, all right. I place you here. Put your colors here, and set your regiment to the left of this line. The rest of the brigade will form on your right. Understood?” (Gettysburg). While explosions from canons of the Confederate army go off and are nearly missing the 20th Maine Vincent says, “This is the left of the Union line. You are to hold this ground at all costs!” (Brann). Chamberlain then rushes to get his men set up and ready for a fight they’ll never forget. In the scene, he speaks of setting the line down Cemetery Ridge, with further research Brann explains that this set up formed an inverted fish hook to prevent the Confederates from infiltrating their left side (Brann). Chamberlain also keeps referring to his regiment as the extreme left flank which Brann confirms in his article. Brann refers to Chamberlain’s war log, “…his regiment was the first in line, but it actually took up its position last, curving its line back around to the east and forming the Union Army’s extreme left flank” (Brann). During the scene of Chamberlain’s set up of his regiment, he is accompanied by Major Homer R. Stoughton’s 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters. Brann elaborates that the sharpshooters were , “…armed with .52-caliber breechloading rifles . These sharpshooters’ skirmishing abilities were unequaled in the

The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves Regiment (42nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment) were said to be superior marksmen, and during the first year of the Civil War, they distinguished themselves as fighters and sharpshooters. They were organized into the 149th and 150th Regiments of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Their most important contribution to the Battle of Gettysburg occurred on McPherson's Ridge on July 1, 1863, where they fought one of the most desperate actions of the battle. During the battle, the regiment drew heavy artillery fire from Confederate guns. The shellfire was unremitting. The regiment held their ground and put up the fight of their life until the Union line collapsed and the Confederates forced them to fall back. The "Bucktails" defense at McPherson's Ridge bought valuable time for more Union units to arrive in the area and deploy for the ultimate Union victory at Gettysburg.

The civil war, one of the most bloodiest and climacteric battles in the history of the United States. Many battles took place during this pivotal, yet traumatic time in the United States of America. Like any battle, there have moving parts. Within Battles they contain, Scouts, Calvary, Infantry, and Field Artillery. Of all the moving parts on the battle field, the Field Artillery plays an important and triumphant role, within the battlefield infrastructure. The civil war, like other wars, ubiquitous use of artillery was important; artillery was the key to winning battles. One battle in particular, relied densely on the field artillery. Malvern Hill was that important battle. The history of Malvern Hill is one of many puzzle pieces,

Inventions and innovations in weaponry and warfare helped both the Christians and the Muslims. In the end, both sides learned from their experiences in war, thus many new inventions emerged, including the lance, the longbow, the crossbow, the flail, full-body armor, and chainmail. There were many other inventions changed the way that battles were fought, and continue to be used in the modern world of war today. Gunpowder, for example, is an obvious discovery that contributed to the later invention of cannons, which changed the way battles were fought both on the land and at sea. Siege weapons were also invented and improved upon following the Crusades. The blueprints for these incredibly powerful weapons were brought back to Europe and modified in order to meet the challenges faced throughout the Crusades.

Spearmen - The spearmen of the Imperial army use polearms like the naginata. They fight in formations and are used to defend against cavalry assualts and other charges.

The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy around the 1500’s to about the 1700’s. Florence, Italy was the mecca of this rebirth because at the time Florence was extremely wealthy and the people of the city had political freedom and those new ideals of the Renaissance were not being condemned in Florence as they were other cities. This was a time where the arts and the logic of one’s own mind was valued rather than criticized, the antiquated medieval ideals no longer matched the needs of those who were living during the early Renaissance. Eventually, a term for this way of thinking arose and was called Humanism, and what humanism is, is an ideology where humans can lead themselves to create a prosperous life and instead of leaning on supernatural forces for answers. Humanists believe that humans have enough logic to create conclusions themselves. This brand-new way of thinking caused a lot of controversy because it did question God’s ability and the church’s power, but the ideas behind it are still heavily used today, even in the 21st century. Humanism in the early Renaissance is important because it called for thinking with reason, it allowed an appreciation for human body and mind, inspired authors and caused a shift in power.

During the 17th century the European powers developed a whole new array of firepower. The old gunpowder weapons that fired by

During the Mid-15th century gunpowder stared to get better. Austrians and the Spanish had begun to use pikes and guns together. This flexibility allowed them to experiment with muskets on the battlefield; one of the uses of them was muskets on the sides, and the pikes in the middle. It was believed that the pike was a superior killing weapon, and the muskets were only useful to scare the enemy. To counter the pike and musket formation, a form of carbine was invented. This was used by people on horseback. The use of horseback carbines was so useful; the use of the lance went extinct within 100 years (Pike, J. 2014).