Editing New Model Army (section)

==Dress, equipment and tactics==

===Horse===

The New Model Army's elite troops were its Regiments of [[cavalry|Horse]]. They were armed and equipped in the style known at the time as [[harquebusier]]s, rather than as heavily armoured [[cuirassier]]s. They wore a back-and-front breastplate over a [[Buff coat|buff leather coat]], which itself gave some protection against sword cuts, and normally a [[lobster-tailed pot helmet]] with a movable three-barred visor.{{sfn|LaFontaine|1998|p=33}}

Regiments were organised into six troops, of one hundred troopers plus officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists ([[Drummer (military)|drummers]], [[farriers]] etc.). Each troop had its own standard, {{convert|2|ft|cm}} square. On the battlefield, a regiment was normally formed as two "divisions" of three troops, one commanded by the regiment's colonel (or the major, if the colonel was not present), the other by the lieutenant colonel.{{sfn|Young|Holmes|2000|pp=44–46}}

Their discipline was markedly superior to that of their Royalist counterparts. Cromwell specifically forbade his men to gallop after a fleeing enemy, but demanded they hold the battlefield. This meant that the New Model cavalry could charge, break an enemy force, regroup and charge again at another objective. On the other hand, when required to pursue, they did so relentlessly, not breaking ranks to loot abandoned enemy baggage as Royalist horse often did.{{sfn|Rogers|1968|p=239}}

===Dragoons===
The New Model Army contained one regiment of [[dragoon]]s of twelve companies, each of one hundred men, under Colonel [[John Okey]]. Dragoons were mounted infantry, and wore much the same uniform as musketeers although they probably wore stout cloth gaiters to protect the legs while they rode. They were armed with [[flintlock]] "[[snaphaunce]]s".{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=92}}

On the battlefield, their major function was to clear enemy musketeers from in front of their main position. At the [[Battle of Naseby]], they were used to outflank enemy cavalry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/listing/battlefields/naseby/|title=English Heritage Battlefield Report: Naseby 1645|publisher=Historic England|access-date=17 May 2023}}</ref>

In 1650, Okey's dragoons were converted into a regiment of horse. It appears that after that date, unregimented companies of dragoons raised from the Militia and other sources were attached to the regiments of horse and foot as required. This was the case at the [[Battle of Dunbar (1650)|Battle of Dunbar]] on 3 September 1650.{{sfn|Young|Holmes|2000|p=300}}

===Foot===
[[Image:Manual of the Musketeer, 17th Century.jpg|thumb|right|Drill manual for musketeers]]
The Regiments of Foot consisted of ten companies, in which [[musketeer]]s and [[pikeman|pikemen]] were mixed, at least on the march. Seven companies consisted of one hundred soldiers, plus officers, specialists and so on, and were commanded by captains. The other three companies were nominally commanded by the regiment's colonel, lieutenant colonel and major, and were stronger (200, 160 and 140 ordinary soldiers respectively).{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=128}}

The regiments of foot were provided with [[Red coat (British army)|red coats]]. Red was chosen because uniforms were purchased competitively from the lowest bidder, and [[Venetian red]] was the least expensive dye. Those used by the various regiments were distinguished by differently coloured linings, which showed at the collar and ends of the sleeves, and generally matched the colours of the regimental and company standards. In time, they became the official "[[Facing colour]]".{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=50}} On some occasions, regiments were referred to, for example, as the "blue" regiment or the "white" regiment from these colours, though in formal correspondence they were referred to by the name of their colonel. Each company had its own standard, {{convert|6|ft|cm}} square. The colonel's company's standard was plain, the lieutenant colonel's had a cross of Saint George in the upper corner nearest the staff, the major's had a "flame" issuing from the cross, and the captains' standards had increasing numbers of heraldic decorations, such as roundels or crosses to indicate their seniority.{{sfn|Money|1884|p=80}}

The New Model Army always had two musketeers for each pikeman,{{sfn|Firth|1972|p=70}} though depictions of battles show them present in equal numbers.{{efn|Two musketeers for each pikeman was not the agreed mix used throughout Europe, and when in 1658 Cromwell, by then the [[Lord Protector (Cromwell)|Lord Protector]], sent a contingent of the New Model Army to Flanders to support his French allies under the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris (1657)]] he supplied regiments with equal numbers of musketeers and pikemen {{harv|Firth|1898|pp=76–77}}.}}

Pikemen, when fully equipped, wore a [[morion (helmet)|pot helmet]], back- and breastplates over a buff coat, and often also armoured [[tasset]]s to protect the upper legs. They carried a sixteen-foot pike, and a sword. The heavily burdened pikeman usually dictated the speed of the Army's movement. They were frequently ordered to discard the tassets, and individual soldiers were disciplined for sawing a foot or two from the butts of their pikes,{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=69}} although senior officers were recommended to make the men accustomed to marching with heavy loads by regular route marches. In irregular fighting in Ireland, the New Model temporarily gave up the pike.{{sfn|Firth|1972|p=78}} In battle, the pikemen were supposed to project a solid front of spearheads, to protect the musketeers from cavalry while they reloaded. They also led the infantry advance against enemy foot units, when things came to [[push of pike]].{{sfn|Young|Holmes|2000|p=47}}

The musketeers wore no armour, at least by the end of the Civil War,{{sfn|Firth|1972|p=91}} although it is not certain that none had iron helmets at the beginning. They wore a bandolier from which were suspended twelve wooden containers, each with a ball and measured charge of powder for their [[matchlock]] muskets. These containers are sometimes referred to as the "Twelve Apostles".{{sfn|Falls|1969|p=294}} According to one source, they carried 1&nbsp;lb of fine powder, for priming, to 2&nbsp;lbs of lead and 2&nbsp;lbs of ordinary powder, the actual charging powder, for 3&nbsp;lbs of lead.{{sfn|Firth|1972|p=81}} They were normally deployed six ranks deep, and were supposed to keep up a constant fire by means of the ''countermarch''—either by introduction whereby the rear rank filed to the front to fire a volley, or by ''retroduction'' where the front rank fired a volley then filed to the rear. By the time that they reached the front rank again, they should have reloaded and been prepared to fire. At close quarters, there was often no time for musketeers to reload, and they used their musket butts as clubs. They carried [[tuck (sword)|swords]], but these were often of inferior quality, and ruined by use for cutting firewood.{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=70}}

===Artillery===
[[Image:Demi-culverin-circa-1587.jpg|right|thumb|A typical cannon used during the English Civil War]]
The establishment of the New Model Army's [[artillery]] varied over time, and the artillery was administered separately from the Horse and Foot. At the Army's formation, Thomas Hammond (brother of Colonel Robert Hammond who commanded a Regiment of Foot) was appointed Lieutenant General of the Ordnance.{{sfn|Young|Holmes|2000|p=231}}

The establishment of the New Model also included at least two companies of "firelocks" or [[fusilier]]s, who wore "[[tawny (color)|tawny]] coats" instead of red,{{sfn|Firth|1972|p=88}} commanded initially by Major [[John Desborough]].{{sfn|Young|Holmes|2000|p=231}}

The artillery was used to most effect in [[sieges]], where its role was to blast breaches in fortifications for the infantry to assault. Cromwell and the other commanders of the Army were not trained in siege warfare and generally tried to take fortified towns by storm rather than go through the complex and time-consuming process of building earthworks and trenches around it so that batteries of cannon could be brought close to the walls to pound it into surrender. The Army generally performed well when storming fortifications, for example at the [[siege of Drogheda]], but paid a heavy price at [[siege of Clonmel|Clonmel]] when Cromwell ordered them to attack a well-defended breach.{{sfn|Wheeler|1999|pp=151-158}}

===Logistics===
The New Model did not use tents, instead being quartered in whatever buildings (houses, barns etc.) were available, until they began to serve in the less populated areas of the countries of Ireland and Scotland. In 1650, their tents were each for six men, a file, who carried the tents in parts.{{sfn|Firth|1972|p=248}} In campaigns in Scotland, the troops carried with them seven days' rations, consisting exclusively of biscuit and cheese.{{sfn|Firth|1972|pp=222–223}}