Tercio

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Tercio (Also known as "Spanish Tercios") was a term used by the Spanish army to describe a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen and musketeers, sometimes referred to by other nations as a Spanish Square. It was a formalisation of the organisation and fighting techniques that had been developed principally by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, during the Italian Wars. It marked the transformation of medieval military institutions into the early modern combined-arms army with a focus on infantry. Tercios, consisting largely of professional soldiers with superior discipline and fighting spirit, were well known on the European battlefield for their well-nigh-invincibility in combat during the 16th and 17th centuries.[citation needed] The formation was often feared by enemy troops because of the legendary determination of its soldiers in combat – its reputation was fully established at the Battle of Pavia (1525), in which the French king was captured; the prospect of being thrown into battle against the Spanish tercios was even known to lead to desertions in opposing forces.[citation needed]

Although other major powers adopted the formation, their armies fell short of the fearsome reputation of the Spanish. That army, however, was not made up entirely of Spaniards, but was "an army of different nations", many of the troops being mercenaries (landsknecht) from Germany, Italy and the Walloon territories of the Spanish Netherlands.[citation needed] But the Spanish formed the core, noted by others for their superiority in discipline and professionalism. Their professionalism was displayed in the Battle of Rocroi (1643), when the German and Walloon tercios fled from the battlefield, while the Spanish stayed on the field with their commander, absorbing three cavalry charges by the French, before the fourth finally broke their formation with the assistance of artillery.[citation needed]

Within the tercio, ranks of pikemen arrayed themselves together into one large block (carré). The musketeers were usually split up in several mobile groups (mangas) and deployed relative to the carré, typically with one manga at each corner.[citation needed] By virtue of this combined-arms approach, the formation simultaneously enjoyed both the rigidity of its heavy infantry and the long-range firepower of its musketeers, making it an ideal defensive and offensive formation.

The end of the dominance of the tercio came with the Spanish defeat by the French at the previously-mentioned Rocroi in 1643.[citation needed] In the late 17th century, the Spanish army abandoned the then-obsolete tercio in favour of the more flexible system of battalions and regiments, based on the French model.[citation needed] This new system of fighting in linear formation was promoted by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, and would dominate the 18th century battlefield. The linear formation relied on shock force more than any other element: soldiers would fire their muskets simultaneously, demoralizing the enemy force.[citation needed] The tercios proved inadequate to withstand this new formation, which was more organised and sustained fewer casualties by cannon fire.[citation needed]

Today, the Spanish Legion and the Spanish Marine Corps still uses the tercio as its largest unit designation.[citation needed]

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