The Origins of "Volley Fire": An Object-­Focused Approach

Journal title SOCIETÀ E STORIA
Author/s Giampiero Brunelli
Publishing Year 2023 Issue 2023/179 Language English
Pages 22 P. 91-112 File size 167 KB
DOI 10.3280/SS2023-179005
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The paper starts with a definition of the system of shooting known as ‘volley fire’. It was a remarkable tactical innovation of early modern warfare, which until now has generally been considered a late-sixteenth-century Dutch "invention" or "discovery". This notwithstanding, a plurality of scholars found occurrences of similar fighting techniques both in Europe and Asia. Such an outcome seems problematic and even contradictory. For this reason, the paper adopts a different approach, resorting to the anthropology of technology and adhering to the concept of «technical tendency» conceived by André Leroi-Gourhan (1911-1936). A new perspective emerges, shedding light on the sources, some of which are mentioned here for the first time. Muzzle-loading firearms already had a deterministically oriented trend, based on their intrinsic nature as objects, and volley fire was merely its materialization.

Keywords: infantry tactics; Early Modern Age; military innovations; volley fire; muzzle-loading firearms; technical tendency; warfare writings.

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Giampiero Brunelli, The Origins of "Volley Fire": An Object-­Focused Approach in "SOCIETÀ E STORIA " 179/2023, pp 91-112, DOI: 10.3280/SS2023-179005