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The tercios were the administrative and tactical unit of the Spanish infantry from 1534 to 1704. Bringing together around three thousand professional, highly trained and disciplined infantrymen, the tercios were deemed invincible until the Battle of Rocroi. In other countries, they were often called Spanish Squares.
The Cross of the House of Burgundy, emblem of the Tercios and flag of the Spanish Empire until it was replaced by the current flag of Spain in 1843.
History
At the end of the Reconquista, after the wars of Granada ended at the end of 1491, the Spanish army was organized when it saw itself engaged in Italy and Roussillon. In 1495, a royal ordinance created the first permanent units, the capitanías with a workforce of 100 to 600 men. Equivalent to the French companies of the time, these included pikemen, crossbowmen, rodeleros, infantrymen armed with swords, protected by a small round shield, the rodela and by light armor sometimes in leather, but also arquebusiers (espingarderos), armed with the first arquebuses.
Alferez, standard-bearer, 1650
During the first wars of Italy, Gonçalve of Cordoba († 1515), increases the number of arquebusiers and the mobility of the Spanish army by granting a greater part to individual initiative. Groups of twelve to sixteen capitanías are created under the name of coronelía. Subsequently, they had four or six capitanias of 300 men. In 1525, the Spanish infantry in Italy had 7050 men grouped into 33 capitanías. This is where the term Tercio was born, between 1534 and 1536, to designate the three groups of capitanías, Lombardy, Naples and Sicily, which defended the Spanish possessions in Italy.
During the first times, the tercios were not numerous, they did not constitute the bulk of the infantry in the service of the Kingdom of Spain, they must be considered as its elite units. In times of peace, the maintenance of the tercios cost about a third of the budget of the Kingdom of Castile. In times of war, the kings of Spain had to resort to loans. A large part of the tercios is also made up of allied contingents from Spain, with Italian, German and Irish tercios.
The number of units of Spanish origin will not really increase until 1635, with the start of the war against France and the lifting of temporary tercios in the Iberian Peninsula. In 1637, the provincial tercios appeared. In 1663 they were reformed into fixed provincial tercios, and were the first to wear a uniform, the color of which was distinctive. A new royal ordinance in May 1685 again reformed the tercios, which moved even further away from the massive model of the previous century with twelve to fifteen companies of 66 or 72 soldiers. The pikemen, arquebusiers and musketeers are in proportion of one third each. Companies can, it seems, be divided into two battalions. Around 1690, the Spanish army formed twelve companies of grenadiers, armed with rifles and bayonets. The widespread adoption of this weapon in 1702 and the abolition of pikemen sounded the death knell for the traditional system of tercios. Finally, in 1704, a royal ordinance from Philip V abolished the tercios and replaced them with two-battalion regiments on the French model.
Composition and numbers
Although other powers adopted the tercio formation, their armies fell short of the reputation of the Spanish army, which had a core of professional soldiers, giving them an advantage over other countries. This army was, furthermore, supplemented by "an army of different nations", referring to the fact that most of the soldiers were mercenaries from Germany (Landsknecht), Italian territories and Walloon territories of the Spanish Netherlands. , which is characteristic of European wars, before the levies of the Napoleonic wars. In the 16th and 17th centuries, however, the nucleus of the Spanish armies was formed mainly of Spanish subjects, who were often praised for their cohesion, superior discipline and professionalism.
A tercio was formed by the grouping of several banderas or combat companies, around a permanent staff of about thirty men, a novelty for the time. However, the number and composition varied considerably during the long existence of the tercios.
From 1534 to 1567, the first tercios based mainly in Italy included ten banderas of 300 men, including two arquebusiers. The eight pike units mix three types of soldiers:
the corseletes, piqueros (pikemen) equipped with half full armour, who formed the outer ranks of the formation.
the piqueros secos, also pikemen but who were provided only a few pieces of armor and sometimes small round shields, the rodelas, which stand in the middle of the square.
the espingarderos (arquebusiers)
The two banderas of arquebusiers only have piqueros secos and espingarderos, the former often being replaced by halberdiers, which are more mobile. In 1567, before his departure for Flanders, the Duke of Alba introduced a few musketeers, within the banderas, to be able to pierce the thickest of armours.
All banderas, also have a staff of eleven men, it includes, the captain and his page, an alferez, a sergeant, an abanderado or ensign, three musicians, a quartermaster, a chaplain and a barber. The body of the troop is divided into squadrons of 25 soldiers, led by a veteran, the cabo. The squadron was itself divided into camaradas of 6 to 12 men, also led by a veteran. In theory, a tercio of this time therefore includes:147 officers, 1080 pikemen with corselets, 400 light pikemen, 1220 arquebusiers and 190 musketeers. In practice, the numbers are smaller due to desertions and losses, and there is a tendency to increase the number of shooters, and therefore the firepower. Banderas often have a strength of 150 or even 100 men.
In 1568, a first reform, intervenes on the units present in Flanders, with the passage to twelve banderas but only of 250 men. The proportion of pikemen within these units is much higher, with 1110 corselets and 1080 light pikemen, against 448 arquebusiers and 230 musketeers. The reason for this increase in the number of pikemen is probably related to the cost of weapons, the arquebuse costing 26 reals against 7 for a pike.
In 1632, a royal ordinance fixed the organization of the Spanish tercios at 12 companies of 250 men and those of Flanders and Italy at 15 of 200 men. These new banderas, called ordinance, are uniform within the same tercio; that of 250 men includes eleven officers and aides, 90 corseletes, 60 musketeers and 89 arquebusiers, and that of 200, eleven officers and aides, 70 corseletes, 40 musketeers and 79 arquebusiers.
However in 1636, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands, organized the Spanish and Italian tercios of the army of Flanders on another model with thirteen companies of pikemen and two of arquebusiers but, because of the large proportion of musketeers in the banderas de pikemen, those only represent a third of the theoretical strength. These tercios are supposed to have 759 pikemen, 318 arquebusiers and 1380 musketeers. The provisional tercios raised in the Iberian Peninsula are much less powerful, with ten banderas of only one hundred men, they are also made up of troops of mediocre value. The provincial tercios that follow them are more successful with their twelve companies of one hundred men and much more motivated troops.
In 1663, a reform created the fixed provincial tercios, with 16 companies of 62 men, then 20 of 50. On the ground, the numbers, again, were smaller, often with an average of around 500 men.
In 1701 Philip V fixed the strength of the tercio at one or two battalions of 650 men, twelve companies and a company of grenadiers, the company being composed of 3 officers, 2 sergeants, 10 pikemen, 35 arquebusiers.
Equipment and armament
Characteristic soldiers of the Tercio - 1650
The pikemen's main weapon is a pike, 25 to 27 palma de mano (handspan) long, or about 5.20 meters. But they also have a sword, 4.5 palma long, or 95 centimeters and a dagger 30 to 40 centimeters, for melee. The corseletes therefore have a half armor or corselet that covers the entire top of the body, leaving only the legs without any real protection. The piqueros secos, less exposed to them, content themselves with simpler and less expensive pieces of armor. When the shock takes place between the two phalanxes of pikemen, which does not usually take place because the losses are then important, the pikemen push their pike with the left hand by the end, while directing with the right hand towards the face or their opponent's torso. Against the cavalry, the pike is blocked against the right foot and held by the left hand at about 45° of inclination, the soldier keeps his right hand free which allows him to draw his sword if he needs to defend himself. Mounted troops use a shorter pike, about 3.2 meters.
Musketeer firing, 1650
The arquebusiers are protected only by their helmet, often a leather morion and a broigne, or a fabric or buffalo skin gown, in the 17th century the helmet is often replaced by a simple felt hat. They carry an arquebus with twelve doses of prepared powder, nicknamed the twelve apostles, suspended on a shoulder belt and an additional supply of powder and bullets in a bag. To serve their weapon, they also have a wooden rod to stuff the charge and a pear containing the fine black powder intended for priming. They can defend themselves in melee too with the sword and the dagger. The musketeer's equipment also included the fourquine which was used to support his heavy firearm when firing. First fitted with a match lock, the two weapons gradually adopted the wheel lock at the beginning of the 17th century, then were later replaced by the musket with a flintlock, or rifle, which fitted with a bayonet, revolutionized the art of war and causes the disappearance of the tercios.
Tactical
The great innovation of the tercio is to combine within the same unit pikemen, whose effectiveness against cavalry was proven by the Swiss at the battles of Grandson and Morat, and marksmen to harass the enemy before the shock. /P>
In combat, the tercio forms, according to its size, one or more battle squadrons, also called Cuadro de Terreno (square of land). This formation combines weapons to make them effective against various enemy units. The pikemen form a square, which is the point of resistance of the unit. They are deployed tightly, each occupying a rectangle 0.64 meters wide and 1.92 deep. The corseletes hold the outsides of the square, while the piqueros secos gather in the center.
Pikemen in compact formation, 1650
Around this square, the bearers of firearms are arranged:
four manga of 150 to 300 arquebusiers at each corner of the square
the others are distributed on the flanks, forming garrisons, attached to the square.
the musketeers when they were introduced, seem to have been deployed on the front of the square.
In the event of an attack, the arquebusiers and the musketeers took refuge behind the rampart of the pikemen.
There were at least three variants of the square, which held an increasingly extended forehead:
Cuadro de Terreno Gente, 25 rows.
Cuadro de Terreno prolongado
Cuadro de Terreno prolongado de gran frente, 16 rows.
The mangas of arquebusiers, thanks to their greater mobility, were very commonly detached, in the vanguard or on the flanks to harass the enemy, a little like the skirmishers of the later armies. The presence of pikemen or halberdiers within them, allowing them not to be swept away by a cavalry charge, when they were too far from the square of the tercio. Their use of shooting takes into account the limitations of the weapons of the time, the detached manga approached the enemy, but at a good distance. a section was then taken out of the unit to fire. Deployed in three ranks, which opened fire successively, it maneuvered until each soldier had fired four shots, which corresponded to the limit before the weapon heated up, then returned to the manga, and another section was sent towards the enemy.
Towards the end of the 16th century, there was a tendency to form smaller squadrons with 800 to 1500 men, instead of the 3000 of the first formations.
The tercio when marching is deployed in column. The two companies of arquebusiers are used, one in the vanguard, the other in the rear. The pike companies do not march together, the detached musketeers follow the vanguard, followed in turn by half the arquebusiers, then the pikemen. In the center then came the banners and the staff, which preceded the rest of the pikemen, then the arquebusiers. Behind them and before the rear guard, the baggage, in non-hostile terrain, they were placed at the head of the main column to prevent them from falling behind. Scouts were deployed in front and on the flanks to illuminate the march.
One of the strengths of the tercios was to create temporary detachments bringing together several banderas in a tropas, of varying size. These temporary units served mainly when moving reserves, but were sometimes used as a combat detachment, further enhancing the flexibility of the tercio, depending on the circumstances.
List of Tercios
number of thirds:
1689:70 about 50% Spanish
1700, death of Charles II:28 Spanish tercios and 30 allies.
The Spanish tercios are divided into seven viejos (old people), 7 or 9 auxiliary viejos, 14 or 15 fixed provincial tercios, including 5 Viejos and 9 or 10 Nuevos.