[quote=@GreivousKhan]
<Snipped quote by MelonHead>

Common misconception. 

If battle turned into shoving matches, the people in the first and second row would suffocate to death and cause all kinds of cohesive failure for the unit as a whole. Imagine 12 or more people pushing you from the back while being waged up against a dozen bodies in front of you. Total chaos. 

Melees are actually something generals absolutely try to avoid. You'd have an insane amount of casualties and little tactical gain.    
[/quote]

Which is why medieval battles were incredibly rare and avoided at all costs, but they still happened. Sucks to be the guy at the front I guess. Clifford Rogers believed a great deal of the French who died at Agincourt were actually pushed over by their own men and drowned in the mud, or even suffocated in their own armour (which is known to have happened in other battles, apparently.)

Poor French bastards.