Celtic Warfare - Celtic Troop Types and Organization - Infantry and Cavalry

Infantry and Cavalry

Tacitus wrote that the strength of the Celts lies in their infantry but some had a strong cavalry arm and others continued to use chariots.

In earlier times, the Celts would employ the chariot. Despite the fact that from the end of the 3rd century BC chariots had fallen out of use in continental Europe, Caesar found that they still were a major component in the patterns warfare among the Britons. If his descriptions are to be believed, he encountered in Britain an army in transition, possessing cavalry but still with an elite fighting from chariots. He describes how these warriors would throw javelins from their vehicles before abandoning them to fight on foot and returning to them in order to retreat or redeploy. Cavalry proper is described as used for skirmishing. Gauls are said to have commented that they themselves had formerly used chariots but had abandoned them by this time.

"Their mode of fighting with their chariots is this: firstly, they drive about in all directions and throw their weapons and generally break the ranks of the enemy with the very dread of their horses and the noise of their wheels; and when they have worked themselves in between the troops of horse, leap from their chariots and engage on foot. The charioteers in the mean time withdraw some little distance from the battle, and so place themselves with the chariots that, if their masters are overpowered by the number of the enemy, they may have a ready retreat to their own troops. Thus they display in battle the speed of horse, the firmness of infantry."

The carnyx was a wind instrument of the Iron Age Celts, attested for ca. 300 BC to 200 AD. It is a kind of bronze trumpet, held vertically, the mouth styled in the shape of a boar's head. It was used in warfare, probably to incite troops to battle and intimidate opponents. The instrument's upright carriage allowed its notes to carry over the heads of the participants in battles and ceremonies.