Two complete descriptions of an infantry wedge are given by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum. This would break up the shield wall exposing the defenders to flank attacks. Armored, heavily armed infantry could use their momentum in wedge formation to drive open small sections in the shield wall. In the Middle Ages, the tactic was especially effective against defensive shield wall formations when defenders would link their shields together to form an all-but impenetrable barrier. According to Germanic legend and Tacitus, Hercules once visited German soil and they sang of him first of all heroes.
When the Germanic Keil was advancing against the enemy, they sang the baritus or barditus, the battle song ( battle cry) it begins with a muffled grumbling and swells with the heat of the battle up to the roar of the waves beating against the rocks. The tactic was a formidable assault strategy against defenders in line or column, however, attackers faced annihilation in the event of retreat because the wedge became an ill-defined mob if its forward momentum collapsed.
Family groups and tribes were placed side-by-side in units to maintain its cohesion in battle. The triangular formation was used to overwhelm an enemy with a frontal assault. Īccording to Richard Burton, the central body consisted of heavily armed, warriors protecting less-armored archers to the sides. The goal was to hit hard at the same time and to drive a 40 yard wide hole into the enemy line, according to the German historian Hans Delbrück. The outer ranks of the rear on the other hand swelled slightly. It was therefore well possible that the wing marched with some caution and held back a bit, so that the center stormed further and looked like a wedge. In this formation, the wingmen are at most risk. The formation was not like a wedge but more like a rectangle with forty warriors in the first line and 1,600 men strong. Warriors who had fled were hanged or slain.Īccording to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Keil was a tightly packed crowd, strong on all sides, not only in front and back, but also on the flanks. But an army leader who survived a lost battle often forfeited his life (usually suicide). However, this was also the most dangerous point, whence the need to be heavily armoured. The most distinguished princes and their acolytes stood at the head of the Keil. Here the individual warrior tried to gain fame and glory in the battle. It was used to force the Roman forces to split and was later applied specifically to the weakest units.ĭue to the high discipline this formation required and the relatively high probability of failure, it is assumed that the front lines were filled with the best and most heavily armoured warriors of the Germanic sibbs who had to break the Roman front line. It is generally believed that the Germanic tribes were more successful with this tactic than the Celts. Keilerkopf or Keil (wild boar's head, wedge, Latin: cuneus, meaning throng ) is a German phrase to describe the attack formation ("Tactical body") of the prehistoric infantry of the Celts and Germanic tribes. It was also used to great effect by the Roman legions, with the wedge proving effective in campaigns in Britain, such as during Boudicca's Revolt, where a greatly outnumbered Roman army used it to defeat the Iceni. Īs an infantry formation it is attested by Frontinus to have been used by the Romans in Pydna against the Macedonian line of Perseus. It was easier to turn than a square formation because everyone followed the leader at the apex, "like a flight of cranes". The advantage of the wedge was that it offered a narrow point for piercing enemy formations and concentrated the leaders at the front. Philip II of Macedon adopted it from them as the main formation of his Companion cavalry and Alexander the Great faced Persian cavalry arrayed thus, as Arrian attests. According to Arrian and Asclepiodotus, the wedge was first used by the Scythians, and then the Thracians. The men deployed in a triangular or trapezoid formation with the tip leading the way. The wedge (έμβολον, embolon in Greek cuneus in Latin, colloquially also caput porcinum, " boar's head"), was used by both infantry and cavalry.
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