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Infantry | Military History and Science | Research Starters | EBSCO Research Back Browse Subject Areas Copy URL Copy URL Infantry Infantry refers to the branch of military service comprised of foot soldiers who engage in ground combat. Historically regarded as the backbone of armies, infantry has been pivotal in taking and holding territory throughout various conflicts. The evolution of infantry tactics and weaponry can be traced back to ancient formations like the Greek phalanx and Roman legions, which emphasized unity and maneuverability. Over the centuries, infantry has adapted to changing warfare conditions, such as the rise of gunpowder and mechanized weaponry, significantly altering combat dynamics. During the Middle Ages, the role of infantry diminished due to a focus on cavalry, but it regained prominence in later conflicts like the Hundred Years' War. The 19th and 20th centuries saw further transformations with the introduction of rifled firearms and machine guns, which heightened the lethality of infantry engagements. In World Wars I and II, infantry tactics evolved to include coordinated assaults with other military branches, marking a shift toward more flexible and mobile combat operations. In the 21st century, while advanced technology has changed the nature of warfare, the fundamental responsibilities of infantry—to capture and secure ground—remain unchanged despite the challenges presented by modern threats and complexities. Authored By : Eckley, Wilton 1 of 3 Authored By : Eckley, Wilton Published In : 2023 2 of 3 Published In : 2023 Related Topics : Phalanx Military Formation ; Philip II of Macedonia ; Legion ; Battle of Hastings ; Gustavus II Adolphus ; World War I ; World War II ; Nuclear weapons production Phalanx Military Formation ; Philip II of Macedonia ; Legion ; Battle of Hastings ; Gustavus II Adolphus ; World War I ; World War II ; Nuclear weapons production 3 of 3 On This Page Full Article Full Article Infantry Foot soldier, dogface, grunt: These appellations, along with many others in many languages, have been used to label the infantryman , that ubiquitous soldier who has provided the backbone of armies through the ages and who has shed more than his share of blood on the battlefield, much of it in hand-to-hand combat. Not so dashing nor romantic perhaps as some of the other military arms, infantry from the beginning has performed the task of taking and holding ground. Though weapons and tactics may have evolved dramatically, that task is still primary to infantry today, should the war in question be total or low intensity. Phalanxes and Legions The Greeks and the Romans were among the first to bring unity, coherence, and maneuverability to their armies. About 650 b.c.e., the Greeks developed the phalanx , a formation of infantry massed shoulder to shoulder that moved into battle with a formidable shield in the left hand, a spear in the right, and a sword at the side. When phalanxes of respective Greek city-states clashed, as they often did, the result was a tremendous struggle of pushing and shoving that lasted until one side gave way and retreated. While these were bloody enough affairs, the primary goal was not so much to destroy the enemy as to drive him from the field. The phalanx reached its peak with Philip II , the leader of the Macedonians. Introducing larger intervals between soldiers, he reduced the pushing and shoving and allowed for greater maneuverability, particularly in running charges. Philip II also made use of cavalry in coordination with the phalanx. Rome, with the legion as its basic organization and training and discipline as its guidelines, developed one of the great armies of the world. Numbering approximately 5,000, a legion was made up primarily of infantry. Much like those of the Greek phalanx, the infantry of the legion were armed with a large shield, a javelin-like weapon seven feet long, and a short sword. The javelin was designed so that when it was thrown, it would break off in an enemy’s shield, making the shield virtually useless. Using a checkerboard formation that allowed troops to move both up and back through twenty-yard intervals, the legion could withdraw or advance forces between lines as necessary. Such legions enabled Rome to conquer nearly all the known Western world and to maintain an empire yet to be matched. The Middle Ages During the Middle Ages, the centers of power were no longer great cities such as Athens, Rome, or Constantinople. Power was dispersed among kings and nobles who owned most of the land and who defended themselves in their castles, leaving little room for the freeman in society and for the infantry in the military. The Battle of Hastings in 1066 spelled the doom of infantry when Duke William’s Norman army led by cavalry defeated King Harold’s Saxon army of infantry. Castle and cavalry dominated the kind of war carried out in the feudal period, with feudalistic knights in shining armor echoing the warfare of Homer’s Iliad (c. 800 b.c.e.; English translation, 1616). However, history soon took another turn with the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). Although the Battle of Crécy (1346) marked a comeback of infantry, as dismounted English soldiers formed solid phalanxes that the French cavalry could not penetrate, the Swiss were the most instrumental in the revival of infantry. Relying on the same kind of patriotism, discipline, and training that made the Roman legions so formidable a foe, the Swiss, armed with their incomparable twenty-one foot pikes , ignored line formations and went directly from columns into battle to become the most feared and respected infantry in Europe by the middle of the fifteenth century. The advent of gunpowder provided infantry with a powerful new weapon, but it also demanded new kinds of training and formations to protect soldiers in the open as they stopped to reload their weapons. The Spanish developed a solid formation of several ranks in which the front rank would fire and then step back to reload while the second rank moved up to fire. This formation dominated throughout Western Europe during the sixteenth century until Gustavus II Adolphus developed linear formations that increased both firepower and rate of fire. He also used cavalry and artillery scattered through these infantry lines, thus setting the stage for tactics to be used in World War I (1914–1918). The Prussian System The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) necessitated larger, more expensive armies. Because of improvements in firearms and artillery, it also provided a significant incentive to change how warfare was carried out. The Prussians were the first to react by instituting standard cadence drills for their infantry in 1714. Locking ranks and marching in step at a prescribed number of paces per minute made maneuvering easier, while a manual of arms that reduced motions necessary for loading, pointing, and firing greatly increased the rate of fire. The basic infantry formation of the period, attacking or defending, was an advance guard , whose function was to hold the enemy as necessary, followed by the main body and a reserve . The numerical distribution of troops and the intervals between the three groups depended upon terrain and specific battle plans. Because of fatigue and supply problems, war on land was still of relatively short duration and distance. Infantrymen had to walk to battle and, like all soldiers, had to eat at least once a day. Given the other things they were burdened with, they could not carry much more than a week’s supply of food. Thus, twenty miles per day was about the maximum distance an army could cover—the same distance as in Roman times. Napoleonic Wars The armies of Napoleon I’s time (1769–1821) were made up primarily of infantry. Napoleon himself stressed the importance of infantry, cavalry, and artillery working together in battle. His basic strategy was simple enough: Keep the corps close so that they can be concentrated quickly, do not divide forces in the presence of the enemy, and maneuver to achieve greater numbers on the battlefield than the enemy. A typical battle plan began with an artillery bombardment, after which the infantry would deploy quickly from columns to battle lines and set up rapid volley firing from smooth-bore muskets . Napoleon’s infantry battalions went into battle with eight companies in a closed column, two companies wide and four deep, with a ninth company in reserve. After the first volley and the following rapid fire, the battlefield became permeated with smoke that exacerbated the already poor accuracy of the smooth-bore muskets. As the battle progressed and the smoke increased, both troops and their leaders had little, if any, idea of where they or the enemy were. Still, the infantry usually decided the battle—also usually suffering the most casualties. Although the muskets of the period were fitted with bayonets, and although the infantrymen were trained in the use of the bayonet, in actuality bayonet battles were few. Not so much the gleam of steel but the gleam in the enemy’s eye was usually enough to make one side retreat, not only in this period, but in all subsequent periods. The Latter Nineteenth Century A number of technical advances in firearms in the last half of the nineteenth century had a great impact on all military arms, but on infantry most of all. In earlier times, the fire of muskets went over the heads of many infantrymen because of the necessity of having to aim upward in order to achieve a greater range. The advent of the conoidal bullet and rifled barrels increased the range of small arms to more than 1,200 yards. Even more important, the conoidal bullet could strike anything in its path for 600 yards, thus greatly increasing the danger zone for all but the shortest infantrymen. This kind of effectiveness also helped fire from infantry to reach artillery positions that in the past were relatively safe from small-arms fire. Smokeless powder