Lances at San Pascual

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Philip

...THAT IS WHY MILITARY UNIFORMS WERE BRIGHTLY COLORED, AND UNITS CARRIED LARGE FLAGS SO AS TO BE RECOGNIZABLE .

Somehow a two ends stick; you could better visualize your mates but also make your self better spotted by the enemy, if he was at close quarters; yet the shining safety vest was not yet invented . Michael Glover compared hand to hand shooting ambiance with the dense fog of London. Lieu Tenant Colonel Wilson, during the atack of Erlon (before Waterloo) reported that he could not see the enemy, having then been instructed to direct his fire towards and over the bodies of some death horses laying ahead.

Originally Posted by Philip

... AND THE SLOW RATE OF FIRE OF MUZZLE-LOADING FIREARMS IS YET ANOTHER ISSUE TO BE TOUCHED UPON.

It is said that a well trained soldier could reload twice in a minute; such an eternity. Still having to often pause for cleaning the barrel and changing the flint every thirty rounds.