The Lance in Battle
T.H. McGuffe describes how the mounted lancer and the pike-bearing infantryman have appeared on European battlefields from classical times until within living memory.
Both lance and pike are variations of the spear; and, since our Anglo-Saxon forbears were essentially a spear-bearing nation, it is strange that British troops have not achieved more fame with this formidable weapon. The only really hostile action possible by a long, pointed pole, however, is that of a thrust, and in general, Britons have a cautious distrust of confiding to any single means of attack.
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