Page 16 - All About History - Issue 53-17

REFORMATION

Modified war machine
The typical Hussite wooden war wagon was
modified to provide protection for its complement
of soldiers. Wide boards were placed along the
sides for additional strength against enemy fire.
A roof-like covering was also attached and could
be raised into position for soldiers to shoot arrows
or fire handguns, primitive firearms developed
after the introduction of gunpowder, through
triangular ports or firing slits cut into the planks.

HUSSITE WAR WAGON

HUSSITE WARS, 15TH CENTURY

When religious differences brought rebellion in
central Europe against the Holy Roman Empire A mobile battlement
and the Papacy, Hussite armies under Jan Zizka, a Around 16 to 22 Hussite troops usually manned a war wagon,
superb tactician and battlefield commander, were including up to eight crossbowmen, two handgunners, eight
soldiers armed with pikes or flails, and four shield carriers and
immediately at a disadvantage. The Hussite armies
drivers. Some quickly dispersed outside the confines of the wagon
were comprised of farmers and villagers from the as the enemy approached, while others fought from inside. After
lands of Bohemia and the surrounding country. the enemy had spent its momentum against the strong defensive
Although motivated by religious zeal, they were positions, the soldiers advanced and put their adversaries to flight.
lightly armed and often unschooled in military
manoeuvres. Preparing to confront the legions of
heavily armed and armoured knights, principally
under Sigismund of Hungary, Zizka sought a Raised ramparts
battlefield equaliser. The height of the war wagon was at least one metre above the
From 1420 to 1431, the Hussites repelled five floor. Including the clearance for the wheels, the entire wagon
was elevated well over 1.5 metres above the ground. When time
‘crusades’ intended to crush their resistance permitted, slight trenches were dug to protect the wheels —
and extinguish their beliefs, which the Pope vital to the wagon’s mobility — from sustaining battle damage.
had labelled heretical. Due largely to Zizka’s A plank could also be lowered from the wagon floor, allowing
innovation, the Hussites developed war wagons, soldiers to fire through ports from underneath the wagon itself.
heavy weapons that essentially served as early
tanks or personnel carriers. These were typically
horse-drawn wagons previously used for hauling
goods that were adapted as weapons with both Rear exit for rapid deployment
offensive and defensive capabilities. As the war wagon developed, a rear door was often added.
Turned away from the enemy, the door facilitated rapid
The heavy wooden wagons often transported
ingress and egress from the wagon. As soldiers became
more than 20 warriors armed with pikes, bow accustomed to the movement, they exited more quickly to
and arrow, flails, primitive firearms and other assume positions and await the enemy attack or to execute
weapons. The wagons were sometimes chained an envelopment as the wagons anchored the Hussite flanks.
together to form a strongpoint that was effective
against enemy infantry and horsemen, particularly
knights who were vulnerable when their horses
were disabled, causing them to tumble to the
ground. Once in place, the war wagon’s rear door
was opened, allowing the deployment of some of Cannon inside or out
Small cannon called culverins
its occupants, while others fired through ports in
were carried aboard some war
the wooden sides. Wagons were usually positioned wagons and either fired from inside
on open terrain where natural features protected the wagon itself or manhandled
their flanks or served as anchors for offensive into the defensive perimeter and
envelopments. The tabors, as they came to be advantageous firing positions.
As they became larger and more
known, could be disassembled and relocated
powerful, culverins also proved the
swiftly, providing the advantage of mobility. undoing of the war wagon after
The concept of the war wagon became common a century of widespread usage in
in numerous armies during the 15th century. central Europe. Wooden walls could
not stand up to the concentrated
However, the advent of accurate, heavy-calibre,
fire of heavier weapons.
field artillery saw its demise as a primary weapon.
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