Almanac – Continental Style
December 5th, 2014This week’s Almanac entry is Continental Style. With the approach of the Morantine infantry, it seemed a good time to discuss the standard form of combat in Japethe. A lot of Americans look down on the continental style because of our instruction covering the American Revolution and how it is depicted by Hollywood. I remember my father joking that the colonial revolutionaries won the coin toss because they got to wear blue and hide in the woods while Britain had to wear red and stand in the field.
Put that aside because those are not accurate depictions. The continental style was horrifically effective. A synchronized volley from a line of British regulars was like facing an enormous shotgun that rips apart everything in its path. Until recently, Hollywood couldn’t depict the mayhem and the mutilation of an 18th century battlefield. Soldiers didn’t just blithely slump to the ground. They were spun, dropped, and shattered. And those red coats with their fancy brass buttons that were polished to they gleamed to match the bayonet, were a terror to beyond. Imagine watching a line of red death approaching you in unison. You shoot and you shoot, but they just keep coming. When they get to you, you’re going to die. A bayonet charge by the Redcoats broke armies.
On a less grim note, script and thumbnails for Chapter 10 are done. Julie will be hosting a livestream of a page next Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST. I’ll be doing color commentary. :-)
That style of combat lasted even after repeating rifles and solid cartridges had been developed. It’s part of the reason The Great War at the beginning of the 20th century was so horrific.
Yeah, continental style does not fare well against a machine gun. It was already starting to lose its value in the American Civil War with the advent of cleaner gunpowder and rifles that were effective for multiple shots.