Pikes and Knives

When it came to hand to hand combat, the soldiers were well armed.

To keep the enemy at more than arm's length they used very long spears called pikes. You can see these at the bottom of the picture.

They also used a vicious weapon called a bill, a spear with an axe blade on the side. You can see these at the top of the picture.

 

Cowdray engraving of troops at Southsea

English troops armed with pikes, bills, muskets and bows on Southsea Common