Escalade - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Escalade is the act of scaling defensive wall

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

s or ramparts with the aid of ladder

Ladder

A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps. There are two types: rigid ladders that can be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rope ladders that are hung from the top. The vertical members of a rigid ladder are called stringers or stiles . Rigid ladders are usually...

s, and was a prominent feature of siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

warfare in medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

times. It was one of the most direct options available for attacking a fortification, but was also one of the most dangerous.

Escalade consisted simply of soldiers advancing to the base of a wall, setting ladders, and climbing to engage the defending forces. This would generally be conducted in the face of arrow

Arrow

An arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...

fire from the battlements, and the defenders would naturally attempt to push ladders away from the wall. Heated or incendiary substances such as boiling water, sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

and pitch

Pitch (resin)

Pitch is the name for any of a number of viscoelastic, solid polymers. Pitch can be made from petroleum products or plants. Petroleum-derived pitch is also called bitumen. Pitch produced from plants is also known as resin. Products made from plant resin are also known as rosin.Pitch was...

coated missiles were sometimes poured on attacking soldiers. As the result of all this, it was often difficult for attackers to reach the top of the wall. Even when they did so, however, they would be heavily outnumbered by the defenders. Often, the objective of escalade was not to take the fortification itself, as it was thought impossible to get sufficient numbers of troops up the ladders. Rather, infiltration in this manner had the intention of opening the fortification's gates, to allow a more direct attack.

Fortifications were often constructed in such a way as to impede escalade, or at least to make it a less attractive option. Some of the measures taken to counter escalade included the digging of moat

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

s (which prevented ladder-bearing soldiers from reaching the base of a wall), the construction of machicolation

Machicolation

A machicolation is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones, or other objects, could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall. The design was developed in the Middle Ages when the Norman crusaders returned. A machicolated battlement...

s (which facilitated attacks on enemy soldiers while they climbed), and walls incorporating a talus

Talus (fortification)

The talus is an architectural feature of some late medieval castles, especially prevalent in crusader constructions. It consists of a sloping face at the base of a fortified wall. The slope acts as an effective defensive measure in two ways. First, conventional siege equipment is less effective...

feature.

Because of the difficulties involved, escalade was usually very costly for the attackers. Two critical factors in determining the success or failure of escalade were the number of ladders and the speed with which they could be arranged. A slow attack gave the defenders too much time to pick off the attackers with arrows, while having too few ladders meant that the number of troops would be insufficient to capture the battlements.

Escalade was, in essence, an attempt to overwhelm defenders in a direct assault rather than sit through a protracted siege. Attackers would generally attempt escalade if they had reason for wanting a swift conclusion, or if they had an overwhelming superiority in numbers. Otherwise, less costly siege tactics were often preferred.

Modern assaulters sometimes use off-the-shelf ladders or firefighting ladder trucks to attack a building through upper windows and balconies. Purpose-modified vans and trucks with a variety of ramps, ladders, and stairs on the roof are also available. SWAT

SWAT

A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...

teams and other special forces units often put these to use to raid a house through an upper window and the front door simultaneously.

See also