Middle Ages At the Battle of Hastings (1066) English infantry fighting from behind a shield wall were defeated by a Norman army consisting of archers, foot soldiers (infantry), and mounted knights (cavalry). One of the tactics used by the Normans was to tempt the English to leave the shield wall to attack retreating Norman infantry only to destroy them in the open with cavalry. Likewise Scottish sheltrons – which had been developed to counter the charges by English heavy cavalry, and had been used successfully against English cavalry at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297) – were destroyed at the Battle of Falkirk (1298) by English archers acting in concert with mounted knights. Both Hastings and Falkirk showed how combined arms could be used to defeat enemies relying on only one arm.
middle ages at the battle of hastings (1066) english infantry fighting from behind a shield wall were defeated by a norman army consisting of archers foot soldiers (infantry) and mounted knights (cavalry) one of the tactics used by the normans was to tempt the english to leave the shield wall to attack retreating norman infantry only to destroy them in the open with cavalry likewise scottish sheltrons – which had been developed to counter the charges by english heavy cavalry and had been used successfully against english cavalry at the battle of stirling bridge (1297) – were destroyed at the battle of falkirk (1298) by english archers acting in concert with mounted knights both hastings and falkirk showed how combined arms could be used to defeat enemies relying on only one arm