Page 161 - Chronicle Vol 17

ARTICLES
THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHT INFANTRY TACTICS IN THE BRITISH ARMY AND THE INFLUENCE OF SIR JOHN MOORE
By Lt J Andrews 5 RIFLES
The Rifles Regiment has a history that encompasses twenty separate regiments dating back almost three and a half centuries. No figure is as prominent in this history as Lieutenant General Sir John Moore, a man who is often seen as the founding father of British light infantry, and thereby the Rifles’ own traditions and lineage. Whilst Moore’s contributions to the British Army were significant, he did not invent the concept of light infantry. What he did was imbue it with a unique style of leadership which has endured to the modern day. This essay will explore the development of light infantry in the British Army, the impact Sir John Moore had during his lifetime, and how this shaped the traditions and brand of leadership that the Rifles Regiment is known for.
Long before Sir John Moore reorganised British light infantry at the start of the nineteenth century, this type of soldiering had been gaining relevance throughout the eighteenth century. Infantry tactics at this time were based upon the line being the primary formation from which to deliver firepower, whilst columns provided greater manoeuvrability and shock charges. The realm of ambushes, raids and skirmishing, known as petty war, was often seen as subsidiary and largely con- fined to colonial conflicts. The great debate among European tacticians during this period was between firepower versus shock action delivered at the end of a bayonet, and great effort was put into developing the most efficient way to manoeuvre thousands of men in line and column. As a result, the craft of the light infantryman or skirmisher had atrophied significantly in European armies by the turn of the eighteenth century, in favour of a universal infantryman armed with both a firearm and melee weapon. However, by the mid-century the shortcom- ings of this general infantryman and close order tactics were becoming apparent, and nowhere was this clearer than in North America. During the Seven Years War, experiences of fighting the French and their Native American allies led the British Army to experiment with lighter-equipped infantry who were taught to fight from the cover of trees and the prone instead of strict lines. Whilst the use of local forces and militias was commonplace during this period, as they offered a greater degree of flexibility and local knowledge, these forces were not standard in the British Army. This changed in 1756 when the 62nd Royal American Regiment (re- numbered to the 60th Regiment in 1757) was established with four battalions of American provincials, bringing together the qualities and knowledge of ranger duties with the professionalism of an established regiment. Following this, in 1770 one company in every battalion of British foot was designated as light infan- try. This was the birth of standardised light infantry in the British Army and can
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