ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the 17th century's technical improvements created major changes in tactics. By the middle of the 17th century a classic style of pike and musket tactics was developed. Military leaders are loath to give up the arms which have won them glory on fields of battle. Flintlocks were generally known as snap-hances; some of the first models probably used the pyrites of the wheel lock, snapping it against a steel plate, or battery, for spark. Throughout the 17th century the matchlock musket was slowly developing in efficiency, and thus providing enough firepower that the commanders wished to have more muskets and fewer pikes. Some military men wanted to use the bayonet in field battle as well as on guard duty and in raiding parties. Certain military men were experimenting to find some replacement for the pike so that all of the soldiers could be armed with firearms.
