A wagon fort, wagon fortress, wagenburg or corral, [1] often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvised military camp. It is also known as a laager (from Afrikaans), especially in historical African contexts, [2] [3] and a tabor (from Polish/Ukrainian/Russian) among the Cossacks. [4]
Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman army officer and historian of the 4th century, describes a Roman army advancing "ad carraginem" as they approach a Gothic camp. [5] Historians interpret this as a wagon-fort. [6] Notable historical examples include the Hungarians using it during the Hungarian invasions of Europe [7] , the Hussites, who called it vozová hradba ("wagon wall"), known under the German translation Wagenburg ("wagon fort/fortress"), tabors in the armies of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Cossacks, and the laager of settlers in South Africa.
Similar, ad hoc, defensive formations used in the United States were called corrals. [8] [9] [10] [11] These were traditionally used by 19th century American settlers travelling to the West in convoys of Conestoga wagons. [12] [13]
One of the earliest written claims of using conjoined mobile shields as fortification is described in the Chinese historical record Book of Han . During the 119 BC Battle of Mobei of the Han–Xiongnu War, the famous Han general Wei Qing led his army through a fatiguing expeditionary march across the Gobi Desert only to find Yizhixie chanyu's main force waiting to encircle them on the other side. Using armored heavy wagons known as "Wu Gang Wagon" (Chinese :武剛車) in ring formations, which provided Chinese archers, crossbowmen and infantry protection from the Xiongnu's powerful cavalry charges, and allowed Han troops to utilize their ranged weapons' advantages of precision. Wei Qing neutralised the Xiongnu's initial cavalry charges, forcing a stalemate and buying time for his troops to recover strength, before using the cover of a sandstorm to launch a counteroffensive which overran the nomads. [14]
In the 15th century, during the Hussite Wars, the Hussites developed tactics of using the tabors, called vozová hradba in Czech or Wagenburg by the Germans, as mobile fortifications. It was first used in the Battle of Nekmíř. When the Hussite army faced a numerically superior opponent, the Bohemians usually formed a square of the armed wagons, joined them with iron chains, and defended the resulting fortification against charges of the enemy. Such a camp was easy to establish and practically invulnerable to enemy cavalry. The etymology of the word tabor may come from the Hussite fortress and modern day Czech town of Tábor, which itself is a name derived from biblical Jezreel mountain Tabor (in Hebrew תבור).
The crew of each wagon consisted of 18 to 21 soldiers: 4 to 8 crossbowmen, 2 handgunners, 6 to 8 soldiers equipped with pikes or flails, 2 shield carriers and 2 drivers. The wagons would normally form a square, and inside the square would usually be the cavalry. There were two principal stages of the battle using the wagon fort: defensive and counterattack. The defensive part would be a pounding of the enemy with artillery. The Hussite artillery was a primitive form of a howitzer, called in Czech a houfnice, from which the English word howitzer comes. Furthermore, they called their guns the Czech word píšťala (hand cannon), in that they were shaped like a pipe or a fife, from which the word pistol is possibly derived. When the enemy approached near enough, crossbowmen and hand-gunners emerge from the wagons and inflict more casualties at close range. There would even be stones stored in a pouch inside the wagons for throwing should the soldiers run out of ammunition. After this huge barrage, the enemy would be demoralized. The armies of the anti-Hussite crusaders were usually heavily armored knights. Hussite tactics were to disable the knights' horses so that the dismounted (and ponderous) knights would be easier targets. Once the commander saw fit, the second stage of battle would begin. Men with swords, flails, and polearms would spring out and attack the weary enemy. Alongside this infantry, cavalry would leave the square and strike. The enemy would be eliminated, or very nearly so.
The wagon fort was later used by the crusading anti-Hussite armies at the Battle of Tachov (1427). Anti-Hussite German forces, unfamiliar with this type of strategy, were defeated. The Hussite wagon fort strategy failed at the Battle of Lipany (1434), where the Utraquist faction of Hussites defeated the Taborite faction. On a hill within a wagon fort, they were drawn into charging out prematurely, when their enemy pretended to retreat. The Utraquists would be reconciled with the Catholic Church afterwards. Thus ended the wagon fort's impact on Czech history. The first victory against the wagon fort at the Battle of Tachov showed that the best ways to defeat it were to prevent it from being erected in the first place or to get the men inside to charge out prematurely after a feint. Such solutions meant the fortification lost its prime advantage. The importance of the wagon fort in Czech history diminished, but the Czechs would continue to use the wagon forts in later conflicts. After the Hussite Wars, foreign powers such as the Hungarians and Poles who had confronted the destructive forces of Hussites, hired thousands of Czech mercenaries (such as into the Black Army of Hungary). At the Battle of Varna in 1444, it is said that 600 Bohemian handgunners (men armed with early shoulder arms) defended a wagon fortification. The Germans would also use wagons for fortification. They used much cheaper materials than the Hussites, and different wagons for infantry and artillery. The Russians also used a type of movable fortress, called a guliai-gorod in the 16th century. [15]
A danish peasant rebellion in 1441, culminating in the battle of St. Jørgensbjerg also used the war fortresses. The leader of the danish peasants were led by Henrik Reventlow who had participated in the Hussite Wars and had learned of the war fortress by participating in Albert II’s war against the Hussite. There he saw what a formidable defence the war fortress was, and then used it in the peasant rebellion. While it’s not certain how the fortress was built, it still played a crucial role in defending Husby against a more well equipped army under Christopher of Bavaria. While the fortress did defend Husby initially, Henrik’s army was defeated after much of his army had left. The casualties of the peasant army is speculated to be 6,000-25,000. Henrik was executed shortly after by Christoffer. [16]
Another use of this tactic was the very similar infantry squares deployed by Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. Likewise the South African laager. The wagon forts would form into squares, supporting each other. Were an assault made between two forts, marksmen from both would easily exploit the advantage and kill many of the enemy.
The English word laager comes from the obsolete Afrikaans word lager (now laer), which comes from the German word Lager ("camp" or "lair") [3] [2] and the Dutch leger which also gives English 'leaguer' ("military camp"). [17] The word refers to the ancient defensive formation used by travelers throughout the world in dangerous situations in which they would draw wagons into a circle and place cattle and horses on the inside to protect them from raiders or nocturnal animals. Laagers were extensively used by the Voortrekkers of the Great Trek during the 1830s. The laager was put to the ultimate test on 16 December 1838, when an army of 10,000–15,000 Zulu Impis besieged and were defeated by approximately 460 Voortrekkers in the aptly named Battle of Blood River. In 19th century America, the same approach was used by pioneers who would "circle the wagons" in case of attack. [18] [19]
Leaguer was used in the British Army for temporary overnight camps made by armoured formations. [20]
A tabor is a convoy or a camp formed by horse-drawn wagons. For example, nomadic Romani used to wander and camp in tabor formations. [21] Tabors supported the armies in Europe between the 13th and 20th centuries. Tabors usually followed the armies and carried all the necessary supplies and rear units, such as field kitchens, armourers or shoemakers. [22]
The tactics were later copied by various armies of Central Europe, including the army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the 16th and 17th centuries, these tactics were also mastered by the Cossacks, who used their tabors for the protection of marching troops as well.
The Battle of Berestechko was fought between the Cossack Hetmanate and Crimean Khanate against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Near the site of the present-day city of Berestechko in Ukraine, a forces of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars under the command of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Otaman Tymofiy Khmelnytsky, Colonels Ivan Bohun and Fylon Dzhalaliy with Khan İslâm III Giray and Tugay Bey, who was killed in the battle, was defeated by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's forces under the command of the Polish King John II Casimir, Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, Hetmans Marcin Kalinowski and Stanisław Lanckoroński. The battle took place in the Volhynian Voivodeship on the hilly plain south of the Styr River. The Polish–Lithuanian camp was on the Styr River opposite Berestechko and faced south, towards the Zaporozhian Cossacks about two kilometers away, whose right flank was against the Pliashivka (Pliashova) River and the Crimean Tatars on their left flank. It is considered to have been among the largest European land battles of the 17th century.
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is common, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy.
A Roman siege tower or breaching tower is a specialized siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification. The tower was often rectangular with four wheels with its height roughly equal to that of the wall or sometimes higher to allow archers or crossbowmen to stand on top of the tower and shoot arrows or quarrels into the fortification. Because the towers were wooden and thus flammable, they had to have some non-flammable covering of iron or fresh animal skins.
The Battle of Lipany, also called the Battle of Český Brod, was fought at Lipany 40 km east of Prague on 30 May 1434 and virtually ended the Hussite Wars. An army of moderate Hussite nobility and Catholics, called the Bohemian League, defeated the radical Taborites and Orphans led by Prokop the Great, the overall commander, and by Jan Čapek of Sány, the cavalry commander.
The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in what is today eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman army under Sultan Murad II defeated the Crusaders commanded by King Władysław III of Poland and Hungary, John Hunyadi and Mircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the unsuccessful Crusade of Varna, a last-ditch effort to prevent further Ottoman expansion into the Balkans.
A fortification is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere.
Tábor is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, which makes it the second most populated town in the region. The town was founded by the Hussites in 1420. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.
Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha was a Czech military leader, a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus, and a prominent Radical Hussite who led the Taborite faction during the Hussite Wars. Renowned for his exceptional military skill, Žižka is celebrated as a Czech national hero. Nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka" after losing one eye, he later became completely blind. Despite his blindness, Žižka led the Hussite forces in battles against three crusades and remained undefeated throughout his military career.
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, and European monarchs loyal to the Catholic Church, as well as various Hussite factions. At a late stage of the conflict, the Utraquists changed sides in 1432 to fight alongside Roman Catholics and opposed the Taborites and other Hussite factions. These wars lasted from 1419 to approximately 1434.
The Battle of Vyšehrad was a series of engagements at the start of the Hussite War between Hussite forces and Catholic crusaders sent by Emperor Sigismund. The battle took place at the castle of Vyšehrad from 16 August 1419 to c. 1 November 1420.
The Battle of the Herrings, also called the Battle of Rouvray, was a military action near the town of Rouvray in France, just north of Orléans, which took place on 12 February 1429, during the siege of Orléans in the Hundred Years' War. The immediate cause of the battle was an attempt by French and Scottish forces, led by Charles of Bourbon and Sir John Stewart of Darnley, to intercept a supply convoy headed for the English army at Orléans. The English had been laying siege to the city since the previous October. This supply convoy was escorted by an English force under Sir John Fastolf and had been outfitted in Paris, from whence it had departed some time earlier. The battle was decisively won by the English.
A war wagon is any of several historical types of early fighting vehicle involving an armed or armored animal-drawn cart or wagon.
The Battle of Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg) was an early battle and subsequent campaign in the Hussite Wars, fought on 21 December 1421 between German and Hungarian troops of the Holy Roman Empire and the Hussites, an early ecclesiastical reformist group that was founded in what is now the Czech Republic.
The Battle of Aussig was fought on 16 June 1426, between Roman Catholic crusaders and the Hussites during the Fourth Crusade of the Hussite Wars. It was fought near Aussig in northern Bohemia.
The Battle of Hořice was fought on 27 April 1423, between the Orebites faction of the Hussites and Bohemian Catholics. The Hussites were led by Jan Žižka, while the Catholics were led by the repeatedly-converting Čeněk of Wartenberg. The battle took place on the Gothard plateau, near Hořice. Thanks to a strategic position, which allowed perfect use of Hussite war wagons and Žižka's tactical skills, the Hussites eventually won the battle.
"Ye Who Are Warriors of God", the English translation of "Ktož jsú Boží bojovníci" from Old Czech, is a 15th-century Hussite war song. Alternate modern Czech spellings of the title are: "Kdož jsou Boží bojovníci" and "Kdo jsou Boží bojovníci". It was first recorded in the Jistebnice hymn book.
Gulyay-gorod, also guliai-gorod, was a mobile fortification used by the Russian army between the 16th and the 17th centuries.
Zhao Kuo was a general of the state of Zhao during the Warring States period in ancient China. He lost the epic Battle of Changping between the states of Zhao and Qin.
The Battle of Khotyn or Battle of Chocim or Khotyn War was a combined siege and series of battles which took place from 2 September to 9 October 1621 between a Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, commanded by the Grand Hetman of Lithuania Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, against an invading Ottoman Imperial army, led by Sultan Osman II, which was stopped until the first autumn snows. On 9 October, due to the lateness of the season and heavy losses - due to failed assaults on Commonwealth fortifications - the Ottomans abandoned their siege and the battle concluded with a stalemate, which is reflected in the treaty where some sections favour the Ottomans while others favoured the Commonwealth. Chodkiewicz died on 24 September 1621 shortly before concluding a treaty with the Turks.
A Zwinger is an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. Zwingers were built in the medieval and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is usually left untranslated, but is sometimes rendered as "outer courtyard", presumably referring to the subsequent role of a Zwinger as a castle's defences became redundant and it was converted into a palace or schloss; however, this belies its original purpose as a form of killing ground for the defence. The word is linked with zwingen, "to force", perhaps because the Zwinger forced an enemy to negotiate it before assaulting the main defensive line. Essenwein states that the "main purpose of this feature was so that the besieging force could not reach the actual castle wall very easily with battering rams or belfries, but had to stop at the lower, outer wall; also that two ranks of archers, behind and above one another, could fire upon the approaching enemy".
Hamilton translates "ad carraginem quam ita ipsi appellant" as "to what they call their wagon-fort".
a circular enclosure formed by wagons during an encampment, as by covered wagons crossing the North American plains in the 19th century, for defense against attack
The corral was composed of fourteen of these wagon boxes, placed end-to-end so as to form an oval-shaped enclosure. ... The corral was positioned so that both "pineries" were under visual control and was "well selected for defense ...
Scattered trains, as before stated, were to be brought together and arrangements made for defense. ... Within an hour all the trains were merged in one immense corral, the wagons as they were driven into place being fastened together with four chains apiece.
The Wagon Box fight has gained legendary status over the years as a tumultuous and successful defensive stand by woodcutters and their 27th Infantry escort. ... [T]he garrison at Phil Kearny had constructed a protective corral of wagon beds to protect livestock and serve as a defensive position in case of Indian attack.
There were about a score of the large tilted wagons (Troy and Conestoga), with several smaller vehicles (Dearborns and Jerseys). ... With the larger wagons, a 'corral' had been formed, as is the usual custom of the prairie caravan.
Grain fields cover the land where oxen once pulled the huge Conestoga wagons. Once the wagons were well away from the water, the waiting Indians swooped down. Quickly the wagons were swung about to form a corral. Inside were three hundred men, women, and children, and all their animals.
Sounds right for a Gypsy name. Tabor in Polish is a wagon train and a "tabor cygański" is a Gypsy wagon train.
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