infantry, body of soldiers who fight in an army on foot and are equipped with hand-carried weapons, in contradistinction originally to cavalry and other branches of an army. Infantry has often been divided into heavy infantry, which used to wear armor and now fights with tanks, and light infantry, which used to include skirmishers, slingers, and bowmen and now includes commandos commando, small, elite military raiding and assault unit or soldier. Although the word was coined in the Boer War (1899–1902), the role is as old as battles themselves. In 1940, when the British organized a number of such units, the term came into wide use.
..... Click the link for more information. and troops with only light tanks. In ancient wars, infantry was armed with swords, spears, slings, and bows. Around 2500 B.C. the armies of the city-states of Ur and Lagash in Mesopotamia fought in formation with shield walls and protruding longspears. The Greek phalanx phalanx, ancient Greek formation of infantry. The soldiers were arrayed in rows (8 or 16), with arms at the ready, making a solid block that could sweep bristling through the more dispersed ranks of the enemy.
..... Click the link for more information. was the dominant infantry formation in the West from c.500 B.C. until the ascendancy of the more flexible Roman legion legion, large unit of the Roman army. It came into prominence c.400 B.C. It originally consisted of 3,000 to 4,000 men drawn into eight ranks: the first six ranks, called hoplites, were heavily armed, while the last two, called velites, were only lightly armed.
..... Click the link for more information. . In China, where the crossbow (see bow and arrow bow and arrow, weapon consisting of two parts; the bow is made of a strip of flexible material, such as wood, with a cord linking the two ends of the strip to form a tension from which is propelled the arrow; the arrow is a straight shaft with a sharp point on one
..... Click the link for more information. ) was widely used, more flexible formations and deception were emphasized (see Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (s

n dz
..... Click the link for more information. ) along with fortifications fortification, system of defense structures for protection from enemy attacks. Fortification developed along two general lines: permanent sites built in peacetime, and emplacements and obstacles hastily constructed in the field in time of war.
..... Click the link for more information. such as the Great Wall Great Wall of China, fortifications, c.1,500 mi (2,400 km) long, winding across N China from Gansu prov. to Hebei prov. on the Yellow Sea. The wall, running mostly along the southern edge of the Mongolian plain, was erected to protect China from northern nomads.
..... Click the link for more information. . Infantry declined as the major fighting force in Eurasia after the 4th cent. when cavalry became dominant, but in the Americas the infantry dominated until the horse was introduced by the Spanish conquistadors conquistador (kŏnkwĭs`tədôr, Span.
..... Click the link for more information. . After the middle of the 14th cent., when firearms were first used, the infantry, armed with muskets and rifles, became dominant. Before the advent of automatic weapons at the end of the 19th cent., infantry fought in massed formations; in the Boer War and in World War I the mass formation gave way to trench warfare. See army army, large armed land force, under regular military control, organization, and discipline.

Ancient Armies

Although armies existed in ancient Egypt, China, India, and Assyria, Greece was the first country known for a disciplined military land force.
..... Click the link for more information. ; strategy and tactics strategy and tactics, in warfare, related terms referring, respectively, to large-scale and small-scale planning to achieve military success. Strategy may be defined as the general scheme of the conduct of a war, tactics as the planning of means to achieve strategic
..... Click the link for more information. ; warfare warfare, violent conflict between armed enemies. In modern times warfare has usually been conducted by the armed forces (e.g., army, navy, and air force) of a nation or other politically organized group.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See J. Keegan and R. Holmes, Soldiers (1980).

infantry

Troops who fight on foot. The term applies both to soldiers armed with hand weapons such as the spear and sword in ancient times and to troops armed with automatic rifles and rocket launchers in modern times. Their objective has always been to seize and hold ground and, when necessary, to occupy enemy territory. Apart from the temporary dominance of cavalry in the feudal period, it has been the largest single element in Western armies since ancient times.

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Ancient Armies

Bibliography

infantry

infantry