Questions tagged [infantry]
Branch of the land army, fighting on foot. One of the oldest fighting formation in history.
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Why did the San Marco Marine Brigade adopt the winged lion of Venice?
The San Marco Marine Brigade of the Italian Navy adopted the winged lion of Venice — the Leone di San Marco — as its symbol, and the patron saint of Venice — San Marco himself — as its patron saint. ...
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Why do Italian and Portuguese Marines use naval ranks?
Arguably, most marine infantries use "land ranks", i.e., the ranks used by the ground forces, e.g., 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, etc. For example,
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How many battles could a Napoleonic war or ACW infantryman expect to survive?
In battles such as those of the Napoleonic wars or the American Civil War that involved infantry marching across open ground whilst being pummeled by artillery and facing volleys of musket or rifle ...
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How effectively did Romans rotate/relieve lines with the cohort system? [duplicate]
There is a similar question on Reddit and the original poster of the question uses a YouTube video to demonstrate the point. That video showcases a rotation of Roman infantry in a cohort.
According to ...
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What time period is this uniform?
I know this person was a family member. I have family on this side who served in the Civil War as well as WWI and WWII. I identified the hat pin as Infantry, 8th Regiment, Company B. Also, I think ...
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Did line infantry units have designated marksmen?
I've found the picture below on the TotalWar game series forum, but doing the reverse image search, shows that it is actually quite popular (however, I couldn't find the author or the title):
It ...
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What factors led to the differing attitude to (civil) engineering projects between Roman and Russian armies?
While this might sound like a bit of a leap (i.e., why should Roman armies and Russian armies have any similarities), the Romans were considered as one of the first civilizations to use as models (if ...
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What determined who would be on the front lines of a large infantry engagement? [duplicate]
In Ancient and Middle Aged European Armies, what decided whether a soldier was at the front lines or just in the normal center-back? Was it a status symbol or honor to be in the front lines?
Please ...
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What British WW1 uniform is depicted on this photo from Taunton?
I am trying to research my grandfather’s WW1 service record. All I have to go on is this photo, which has a Taunton photography studio on the back. I think it might be the Somerset Light Infantry, but ...
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Why was the Soviet Marine Infantry disbanded in 1947?
According to Peter Antill,
The naval Infantry performed a number of important landings in both World Wars including raids against the Turks around the Black Sea and the capture of Sakhalin Island and ...
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Which military uniforms are shown in these photos?
It's a large tintype. He was in the 5th Infantry and the 16th Infantry. He joined the Army in 1858 and in 1869 then joined the Navy and was aboard the U.S.S. Lancaster until 1871. (Ignore the 1858 ...
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When did the US start using sniper + spotter teams, rather than solo snipers?
The US sniper teams are a definite trope of TV and movies, but historically many armies have used solo snipers, without the spotter.
When I look for info, I either find gun info, sniper statistics or ...
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Were smoke signal used to trigger a company-scale infantry advance by the US during WWII?
In the context of WW2, US land forces, any non-Pacific theater (Africa, Italy, Normandy--Germany campaign): Was there a doctrine in place utilizing smoke grenade signals for triggering an infantry ...
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Why do musketeers shoot in volley?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Red_Line_(Battle_of_Balaclava)
The musketeers shot in 3 volleys. Why not let individual soldiers to shoot any time they wish?
Would the rate of death be bigger ...
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Were there ever wars/battles where infantry were given multiple rifles to speed up rate of fire?
Watching videos of colonial era conflict has given me a question. A lot of portrayed conflicts are basically the "line up en masse and charge" approach.
It makes me wonder, given the relatively slow ...
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Time frame of Rita Indiana's video "Da Pa' lo' Do'" (Dominican Republic)
This question is about the history of the Dominican Republic. Look at the uniform shown in the beginning of Rita Indiana's video "Da Pa' lo' Do'," which means "There's enough for both," where "both" ...
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Were slings used for throwing hand grenades? If not, why?
It seems using a sling is far more effective than throwing things with your bare hands. As far as I know, slingers were widespread in the Ancient era, as well as in the Middle ages:
However, in XIX-...
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What was the combat effectiveness of German infantry in the western front of the Second World War?
I am specifically looking for statistics that estimate man for man what Wehrmacht infantry units were worth compared to allied infantry (principally British and American) after the opening of the ...
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What are the origins of sizing a squad in modern foot drill?
I recently came across this question "What decides who goes in the front rank in a line infantry formation?" and while trying to form an answer to it I realised I was making the assumption that the ...
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Did it make sense to bring along infantry to reinforce attacking cavalry before the introduction of firearms?
At the Civil War battle of Brandy Station, the attacking Union cavalry general Alfred Pleasanton brought along some 3,000 infantry to even the odds, because his cavalry was outnumbered 9,500 to 8,000 ...
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Was any significant percentage of Mongol army infantry?
Mongols of Khan's time are generally considered to be a cavalry army, which makes sense logistically, given the width and speed of their military maneuvers.
But is there historical evidence of Khan's ...
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What decides who goes in the front rank in a line infantry formation?
In an infantry formation, the front ranks seems to have much higher chance of being killed because they are exposed to the enemy front.
This thread explains how soldiers are arranged in Roman ...
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What is the motivation of having heavy infantry to the right and light infantry to the left flank?
In Napoleonic wars era, a line contains mostly regular troops except for two kind of elite units, the heavy one, e.g. grenadiers, they normally are the bravest, strongest troops with the best stamina, ...
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Army formation: veterans at the first line
I am trying to understand the early roman legion deployment. I can see some advantages to putting the inexperienced warriors at the first line and the veterans at the last.
But have there been ...
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How does the amount of equipment carried by various historical infantries compare?
I've heard many statements amount the weight of supplies and munition carried by soldiers of various historical forces. In particular, I've heard many comments about the amount that the British ...
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