Which tactics did the Caroleans use? How good were they?
Answer:
The Carolean army was seen as one of the most well-trained, highly disciplined, and effective fighting forces in 17th and 18th century Europe. The Carolean, or Swedish, army was much smaller than other forces due to the small population of the Swedish kingdom of the time, but made up for this through using highly trained troops and aggressive tactics. The commanders of the army used a combination of strict discipline and religious fervor to maintain high morale within the army and to ensure the soldiers remained loyal to their leaders. In battle it was common for these troops to use shock tactics in order to surprise and rout a much larger army in order to negate their numerical disadvantage. Swedish infantry troops would march towards the enemy in tight formation and wait until they were around 50 meters away from the enemy before firing. The rear ranks would then take out swords, pikes, or grenades and begin to charge the enemy while the front ranks fired one more volley from a closer range of around 20 meters. The combination of the volleys at close range and the sheer discipline of the soldiers would often cause the enemy to rout before they had even reached their ranks and was one of the most effective tactics of European warfare at the time.