“The years between about 1200 and 1650 saw a decline in importance of armoured horsemen on the battlefields of Europe, a decline which was initiated by the appearance of missiles delivered by the longbow or crossbow and ended with the development of the firearm. During these years an old weapon, the polearm, reappeared which gave increased importance to the role of the infantryman and was an additional factor in the end of the dominance of the armoured cavalryman.”
There is not a lot written about the pike or polearm because the sword has often grabbed all the attention. Why?
“…there is an aura about the sword that made it the representative of knightly virtue which was not extended to the polearm used by peasants; many polearms were crudely made and do not have artistic, aesthetic or monetary value; the wooden shafts of these weapons do not stand the ravages of time as well as metal, and because of their lesser value they were not as carefully preserved as the sword. And finally it must be realized that their period of significance was brief”
~ excerpts from George Snook, M.D., The Halberd and other European Polearms 1300-1650, page 3.
With the advent of the bayonet, the use of pikes and polearms gradually diminished over the course of the 18th century. “The long polearms did not die out immediately, however. Having been established over centuries, they remained in limited use by both forces during the American Revolution.”
~ George Neumann, Battle Weapons of the American Revolution, page 366.
The halberd and spontoon carried on mostly as symbols of rank or signalling device for directing troop movements. Gradually the halberd was relegated to garrison duty and the carrying of the spontoon by officers would officially be replaced in 1786 by the sword.
“Like the axe, and perhaps before it, the spear went to sea in primordial times, and there it remained into the 20th century…In English and American documents it is most commonly seen referenced as boarding pike or half pike, or even more simply – as the pike, spear or lance…Unlike the axe, the pike had no role as a tool; it was a weapon pure and simple.”
~ William Gilkerson, Boarders Away, page 48.
