Maneuver in the War of Spanish Succession

[Last Hussar]

Could infantry oblique, or were they stuck straight forward?

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Would depend on the Army, think the French were still on 30yrs war drill.

IanS

[Chad]

i would have said no. My understanding is formations were not quite as close order as later when advancing and therefore oblique would probably cause problems. Lack of cadence step may also be a factor.

Chad

[Grenadier]

Nope, in this period, not even the Prussians were able to manuever like their grandsons could 40 years later. Battalions were generally marched in seniority order to the designated battleline, turned right and deployed into line. 100 or so yards behind them, the second line and then, possibly, a reserve line. There have been some suggestions that battalions spaced out with nearly a battalion's width between with the second line lining up on the gaps, similar to Roman manipular formations. Once in place, manuever was VERY slow, akward, and tended to be forward or backward but rarely laterally, and never obliquely. If a major mistake was made in the placement of the line in relation to the enemy, disaster could be the result. This is linear tactics in it's purist, simplist form. Heavy cavalry on the wings to protect the fragile line, infantry and arty in the center. If your cavalry was successful in driving off their enemy counterparts they would fall upon the flanks and the battle would be over. Just like ancients but with guns!
As Chad mentioned, cadence step was just an idea in 1700 and "practiced" possibly by the Prussians and Dutch. The battalion would march in a fairly loose order each man at his own natural pace. The only real disipline was used during fire control, but I'll not open that can of worms.

Grenadier

[Bernie]

Hi

Oblique would be beyond all armies in the period. As noted above the cadenced step of marching to the beat of the drum did not come in till the Old Dessauer in Prussian army of 1730's(?) Even then it was more a training manouvre that if you could oblique then you could certainly advance with a timed pace and get to the enemy in a line rather than the "dog leg" which would allow the defender to deliver a formed and linear fire

The processional movement of lines of troops onto the battlefield from their overnight camps meant you had to be correctly positioned before the battle could begin and accounts for the long lull from commitment to battle to the beginning of the fight many hours later.
The defence was then deemed to be the stronger form of warfare in that you infantry were properly deployed in line, your artillery could fire while an attacked would not have enfildaing artillery fire and his infantry would be advancing in unformed blobs unable to deliver effective fire. It was a testament to Dutch drill (copied by the British) that their armies could advance, halt and redress and advance again in relative good order.

[Last Hussar]

My reading found the French were still officially using the 'battalion gap', but rarely in practice, as there wasn't enough room for a line that long.