Lance

A lance is a long thrusting spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike similar weapons of the javelin and pike family typically used by infantry. Quotes The late Colonel Cureton of the 16th Lancers, who was unfortunately killed at Ramnuggur, had been known to say that Lancers should never be employed in charges with the enemy in less than a squadron, and from the results of this battle many cavalry officers have questioned whether the lance is the best weapon for cavalry in India. In the charges at Aliwal the Sikhs have been known to receive the point into their bodies and then to kill their adversary by cutting him down. The Sikh could not extract the lance, nor had the Lancer time to draw his sword. There is no doubt that Lancers should never charge in small parties. Nothing less than a wing should attempt to break squares of infantry. W. W. W. Humbley, Journal of a Cavalry Officer (1854), ch. 5, p. 146 Again we breatheFresh air and sun through lanes your lances made. John Nichol, Hannibal (1873), act III, sc. xi In truth the lance is a fearful weapon, especially in a charge, but experience has since taught me that an expert swordsman, when engaged in a hand-to-hand combat, has the advantage over the Lancer, in that, by a quick, dexterous parry and guard, he can slip under the lance, and then his adversary is at once at his mercy. Alexander Tolmer, Reminiscences, vol. 1 (1882), ch. 7, p. 69 It is doubtful whether the lance is as effective a weapon for cavalry as the sword. Its value in pursuit is incontestable, but at close quarters the sabre is a superior and more handy weapon. During the Sutlej campaign, some of the 16th Lancers, in charging the Seikh infantry, are stated to have suffered from wounds on the arm, inflicted at the moment of thrusting the lance, by sword cuts from wounded Seikhs. This would appear to show the necessity of the lance arm being protected by some sort of defensive armour. G. E. Voyle and G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson, A Military Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1876), p. 217 External links Category:Weapons