The greatest danger to which archers who fought on foot were exposed, proceeded from the attacks of the. cavalry. The English archers carried long stakes, sharpened at both ends, one of which was driven into the earth before each man, in an oblique direction, si milar to the position in which the front rank of a batta lion of foot defends itself with fixed bayonets, when attacked by dragoons. If the ground which the archers occupied was not very strong, their flanks must often have been exposed, unless they were at the same time well supported by other troops, particularly by cavalry. An army consisting entirely of archers, notwithstanding the rapidity of their movements, could not long have kept the field ; but, when duly proportioned, the destruc tion which they occasioned was incalculable.
It was necessary that the archers, such at least as used the long bow, should be at the same time possess ed of strength and agility, and that they should have submitted to a long course of training. Their service was laborious, but neither so dangerous nor so honour able as that of those who fought hand to hand. Their principal advantage was the facility of retreating when hard pressed by the forces opposed to them ; but there were many situations in which they could not act, either with advantage or safety.
Notwithstanding all the encomiums which ancient and modern writers have lavished on the importance of arch ery, it must be admitted, that, in many respects, it was not worthy of being compared with the use of fire-arms. In some states of the atmosphere, it. could not be applied with any effect ; moisture not only impairs the elasti city of the bow, but relaxes the strings, and soon ren ders them unfit for use. The direction and intensity of the winds must often have been still more disconcert ing ; except in a calm, or in a very moderate wind, the best marksman cannot shoot straight, and when the wind is very boisterous, especially if it either be opposite, or a side wind, it is impracticable to shoot far. Another disadvantage under which the archers must have labour ed, was being attacked in the night, or in a fog, in either of which cases they might have been cut off before they found time to bend their bows.
Even in the most favourable state of the air, it must be difficult to calculate the projectile force of arrows ; they must lose much more of their velocity in passing through the air than musket bullets do, because they have much less density, and present a much greater surface. For the same reason, their deflection from the parabolic curve must also be greater, independently of the force and direction of the wind ; the range of a musket bullet is four times greater than that of an ar row, and the impetus is also much more uniform.
How then does it happen, that, at very moderate dis tances, scarcely one shot in an hundred takes effect, whereas the archers at such distances very rarely missed their aim, although the exertion requisite in drawing the bow must have greatly increased the difficulty of hitting the object ? We must ascribe something to the exaggerated statements of the perfection to which arch ery was carried ; and we must also take into account the careless mode of levelling practised in almost all mo Bern armies, in consequence of which the musket gene rally produces a very trifling effect.
One of the circumstances which contributed to render archery so destructive, does not seem to have been very generally taken notice of. The wounds produced by arrows were often instantaneously fatal, and in almost every ease extremely malignant ; even when a vital part was not penetrated, the effects, in warm countries at least, never failed to be dangerous. The patient was generally seized with locked jaw, or some other species of tetanus, and rapidly carried off. It is well known that, in tropical climates, a very slight puncture in some parts of the body, especially if produced by a piece of rusty metal, or by any hard substance having an irre gular surface, will speedily induce the most fatal symp toms of this terrible malady. Hippocrates has recorded various cases in which the wounds given by an arrow terminated in this manner ; he relates also a solitary in stance of a man who recovered beyond all expectation, after having had the head of an arrow lodged in his groin without producing any hxmorrhage worth mentioning, and without being succeeded by inflammation or lame ness. After six years it was extracted by Hippocrates, who speaks of the recovery of this man as altogether marvellous ; VraecteNoraTa. The practice of shooting poisoned arrows has never been used, except among the most barbarous nations. That such a practice has been often attempted there can be no doubt, but there is great reason to hesitate in ad mitting what has been said of the extreme virulence of the poison with which some savage tribes imbue the heads of their arrows, and the amazing rapidity with which it congeals the blood, even when only a superficial scratch is made in the skin. The laceration of a nerve or of a tendon will often, without the aid of poison, produce violent convulsions and instant death ; but to taint the whole mass of circulating fluids, without inju ring the soundness of the muscular fibre, is rather too marvellous to be credible.