Everything about Cavalry totally explained
Cavalry (from
French cavalerie) were
soldiers or
warriors who fought mounted on
horseback in
combat. The designation wasn't usually extended to any military force that used other animals, such as camels or mules.
Infantry who moved on horseback but dismounted to fight on foot were in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries known as
dragoons, a class of mounted troops which later evolved into cavalry proper while retaining their historic title. From earliest times cavalry had the advantage of improved mobility, an "instrument which multiplied the fighting value of even the smallest forces, allowing them to outflank and avoid, to surprise and overpower, to retreat and escape according to the requirements of the moment." A man fighting from horseback also had the advantages of greater height, speed, and inertial mass over an opponent on foot.
In many modern armies, the term cavalry is often used for units that fill the traditional horse-borne
light cavalry roles of
scouting,
screening,
skirmishing and
raiding. The
shock role, traditionally filled by
heavy cavalry, is generally filled by units with the "
armored" designation.
History
Origins
Before the
Iron Age, the role of cavalry on the battlefield was largely performed by light
chariots. The chariot originated with the
Sintashta-Petrovka culture in
Central Asia and spread by nomadic or semi-nomadic
Indo-Iranians . The chariot was quickly adopted by settled peoples both as a military technology and an object of ceremonial status, especially by the
Pharaohs of the
New Kingdom of Egypt as well as
Assyrian and
Babylonian royalty.
The power of mobility given by mounted units was recognized early on, but was offset by the difficulty of raising large forces and by the inability of horses (then mostly small) to carry heavy armor. Cavalry techniques were an innovation of
equestrian nomads of the Central Asian and
Iranian steppe and
pastoralist tribes such as the
Persian Parthians and
Sarmatians.
The photograph above right shows Assyrian cavalry from reliefs of 865-860 BC. At this time, the men had no
spurs, saddles, saddlecloths, or stirrups. Fighting from the back of a horse was much more difficult than mere riding. The cavalry acted in pairs; the reins of the mounted archer were controlled by his neighbour’s hand. Even at this early time, cavalry used swords, shields, and bows. The sculpture implies two types of cavalry, but this might be a simplification by the artist. Later images of Assyrian cavalry show saddlecloths as primitive saddles, allowing each archer to control his own horse.
As early as 490 BC a breed of large horses was bred in the Nisaean plain in Media to carry men with increasing amounts of armour (Herodotus 7,40 & 9,20). But large horses were still very exceptional at this time. Excepting a few ineffective trials of
scythed chariots, the use of chariots in battle was obsolete in civilized nations by the time of the Persian defeat at the hands of
Alexander the Great, but chariots remained in use for ceremonial purposes such as carrying the victorious general in a
Roman triumph, for chariot racing. The southern British met
Julius Caesar with chariots in
55 and 54 BCE, but a century later, in the
Roman conquest of Britain chariots were obsolete even in Britannia.
Ancient Greece and Macedon
Ancient Greece, with conflicts decided by massed armored infantry. However,
Thessaly was widely known for producing competent cavalrymen, and later experiences in wars both with and against the
Persians taught the
Greeks the value of cavalry in skirmishing and pursuit. The
Athenian author and soldier
Xenophon in particular advocated the creation of a small but well-trained cavalry force; to that end, he wrote several manuals on horsemanship and cavalry operations.
The
Macedonian kingdom in the north, on the other hand, developed a strong cavalry force that culminated in the
hetairoi (
Companion cavalry) of
Philip II and Alexander the Great. In addition to these heavy cavalry, the Macedonian combined arms army also employed lighter horsemen called
prodromoi for scouting and screening, as well as the
Macedonian pike phalanx and various kinds of
light infantry. There were also the
Ippiko (or "Horserider"), Greek "heavy" cavalry, armed with kontos (or cavalry lance), and sword. They wore leather armour or chainmail and hat. They were medium cavalry, rather as heavy cavalry. They were good scouts, skirmishers, and chasers.
The effectiveness of this combined-arms system was most dramatically demonstrated in Alexander's conquest of
Persia,
Bactria, and northwestern
India.
Roman Republic and Early Empire
The cavalry in the early Roman Republic remained the preserve of the wealthy
landed class known as the
Equites --men who could afford the expense of maintaining a horse in addition to arms and armor heavier than those of the common
legions. As the class grew to be more of a social elite instead of a functional property-based military grouping, the Romans began to employ Italian
socii for filling the ranks of their cavalry. At about the same time the Romans began to recruit foreign auxiliary cavalry from among
Gauls,
Iberians, and
Numidians, the last being highly valued as mounted skirmishers and scouts.
Julius Caesar himself was known for his admiration in his escort of Germanic mixed cavalry, giving rise to
Cohorte Equitates. Early Emperors maintained an
ala of
Bataviand cavalry as their bodyguards until the unit was dismissed by
Galba.
For the most part, Roman cavalry during the Republic functioned as an adjunct to the legionary infantry and formed only one-fifth of the showing force. This doesn't mean that its utility could be underestimated, though, as its strategic role in scouting, skirmishing, and outpost duties was crucial to the Romans' capability to conduct operations over long distances in hostile or unfamiliar territory. In some occasions it also proved its ability to strike a decisive tactical blow against a weakened or unprepared
enemy. Although it wasn't until the
Late Imperial Period that Roman cavalry would play a major role in armed conflict.
After the
Battle of Carrhae, the Romans learnt the importance of large cavalry formations from the
Parthians and began to substantially increase both the numbers and the training standards of the cavalry in their employ, just as nearly a thousand years earlier the first Iranians to reach the
Iranian Plateau introduced the
Assyrians to a similar reform.
Late Roman Empire and the Migration Period
In the army of the late
Roman Empire, cavalry played an increasingly important role. The
Spatha, the classical sword throughout most of the 1st millennium which had originated among the
Germanic peoples, was adopted as the standard model for the Empire's cavalry forces.
The most widespread employment of heavy cavalry at this time was found in the forces of the
Parthians and their
Iranian
Sassanid successors. Both, but especially the latter, were famed for the
cataphract (fully-armored cavalry armed with lances) even though the majority of their forces consisted of lighter
horse archers. The West first encountered this eastern heavy cavalry during the
Hellenistic period with further intensive contacts during the eight centuries of the
Roman-
Persian wars. At first the Parthians' mobility greatly confounded the Romans, whose armoured close-order infantry proved unable to match the speed of the Parthians. However, later the Romans would successfully adapt such heavy armor and cavalry tactics by creating their own units of cataphracts and
clibanarii (External Link
).
The decline of the Roman infrastructure made it more difficult to field large infantry forces, and during the
fourth and
fifth centuries cavalry began to take a more dominant role on the European battlefield, also in part made possible by the appearance of new, larger breeds of horses. The replacement of the Roman
saddle by variants on the Scythian model, with pommel and cantle, was also a significant factor as was the adoption of
stirrups and the concomitant increase in stability of the rider's seat. Armored Cataphracts began to be deployed in eastern
Europe and the
near East, following the precedents established by
Persian forces, as the main striking force of the armies in contrast to the earlier roles of cavalry as scouts, raiders, and outflankers.
The late Roman cavalry tradition and the mounted nobility of the Germanic invaders both contributed to the development of mediaeval knightly cavalry.
Arabs
Early organized Arab cavalry under the
Rashidun caliphate was a
light cavalry armed with
lance and
sword, its main role was to attack the enemy flanks and rear. Armor was relatively light.The Muslims' light cavalry during the later years of Islamic conquest of Levant became the most powerful section of army. The best use of this lightly armed fast moving cavalry was revealed at the
Battle of Yarmouk (636 A.D) in which
Khalid ibn Walid, knowing the importance and ability of his cavalry, used them to turn the tables at every critical instance of the battle with their ability to engage and disengage and turn back and attack again from the flank or rear. A strong cavalry regiment was formed by Khalid ibn Walid which included the veterans of the campaign of Iraq and Syria. Early Muslim historians have given it the name
Mutaharrik tulai'a(متحرك طليعة ), or the
Mobile guard. This was used as an advance guard and a strong striking force to route the opposing armies with its greater mobility that give it an upper hand when maneuvering against any
Byzantine army. With this mobile striking force, the conquest of Syria was made easy.
The
Battle of Talas in 751 CE was a conflict between the Arab
Abbasid Caliphate and the
Chinese Tang Dynasty over the control of
Central Asia. Chinese infantry were routed by
Arab cavalry near the bank of the River Talas.
Later
Mamluks were trained as cavalry soldiers. Mamluks were to follow the dictates of furusiyya, a code of conduct that included values like courage and generosity but also doctrine of cavalry tactics, horsemanship, archery and treatment of wounds.
Asia
Central Asia
The
Indian literature contains numerous references to the cavalry forces of the
Central Asian horse nomads like the
Sakas,
Kambojas,
Yavanas,
Pahlavas and
Paradas. Numerous
Puranic texts refer to an ancient invasion of India (16th c. BC) by the joint cavalry forces of these five nations, called five hordes (
pañca.ganan) or
Kśatriya hordes (
Kśatriya ganah), which had captured the throne of Ayudhya by dethroning its
Vedic king Bahu
The
Mahabharata,
Ramayana, numerous Puranas and some foreign sources numerously attest that
"Kamboja cavalry-troopers were frequently requisitioned in ancient wars". All these sources also agree that the horses of the Sindhu and Kamboja regions were the finest breed. JAOS attests:
"Most famous horses are said to come either from Sindhu or Kamboja; of the latter (i.e the Kamboja), the Indian epic Mahabharata speaks among the finest horsemen" .
Mahabharata (950 c BC) speaks of the esteemed cavalry of the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas and
Tusharas, all of whom had participated in the
Kurukshetra war under the supreme commandership of
Kamboja ruler
Sudakshin Kamboj .
Mahabharata and Vishnudharmotari Purana especially styles the Kambojas, Yavansa, Gandharas etc as "Ashva.yuddha.kushalah" (expert cavalrymen) . In the Mahabharata war, the Kamboja cavalry along with that of the Sakas, Yavanas is reported to have been enlisted by the
Kuru king
Duryodhana of
Hastinapura .
Herodotus (484 c BC- 425 c BC) ) attests that the
Gandarian mercenaries (for example
Gandharans/Kambojans of Gandari Strapy of
Achaemenids) from the twentieth strapy of the
Achaemenids were recruited in the army of emperor
Xerxes I (486-465 BC), which he led against the
Hellas.. Similarly, the
men of the Mountain Land from north of
Kabol-River equivalent to medieval
Kohistan (Pakistan), figure in the army of
Darius III against
Alexander at
Arbela with a cavalry and fifteen elephants.. This obviously refers to Kamboja cavalry south of Hindukush.
The Kambojas were famous for their horses, as well as cavalry-men (
asva-yuddha-Kushalah) . On account of their supreme position in horse (Ashva) culture, they were also popularly known as
Ashvakas, for example the "horsemen" and their land was known as "Home of Horses" . They are the
Assakenoi and
Aspasioi of the
Classical writings, and the
Ashvakayanas and
Ashvayanas in
Panini's
Ashtadhyayi. The Assakenoi had faced
Alexander with 30000 infantry, 20000 cavalry and 30 war elephants. Scholars have identified the Assakenoi and Aspasioi clans of
Kunar and
Swat valleys as a section of the
Kambojas . These hardy tribes had offered stubborn resistance to Alexander (326 c BC) during latter’s campaign of the Kabul, Kunar and Swat valleys and had even extracted the praise of the Alexander’s historians. These highlanders, designated as
"parvatiya Ayudhajivinah" in Panini's Astadhyayi, were rebellious, fiercely independent and freedom-loving cavalrymen who never easily yielded to any overlord .
The
Sanskrit drama
Mudra-rakashas by
Visakha Dutta and the
Jaina work
Parisishtaparvan refer to
Chandragupta's (320 C BC- 298 c BC) alliance with
Himalayan king
Parvataka. The
Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a formidable composite army made up of the cavalry forces of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Kiratas, Parasikas and Bahlikas as attested by Mudra-Rakashas (Mudra-Rakshasa 2) . These hordes had helped
Chandragupta Maurya defeat the ruler of
Magadha and placed Vhandragupta on the throne, thus laying the foundations of
Mauryan Dynasty in Northern India.
The cavalry of
Hunas and the Kambojas is also attested in the
Raghu Vamsa play of Sanskrit Poet
Kalidasa . Raghu of Kalidasa is believed to be
Chandragupta II (
Vikaramaditya) (375-413/15 AD), of the well-known
Gupta Dynasty.
As late as mediaeval era, the Kamboja cavalry had also formed part of the Gurjara-Pratihara armed forces in 8th/10th centuries AD. They had come to
Bengal with the
Pratiharas when the latter conquered part of the province.
Ancient Kambojas were constituted into military
Sanghas and Srenis (Corporations) to manage their political and military affairs, as
Arthashastra of
Kautiliya as well as the
Mahabharata amply attest for us. They are attested to be living as
Ayuddha-jivi or
Shastr-opajivis (Nation-in-arms), which also means that the Kamboja cavalry offered its
military services to other nations as well. There are numerous references to Kambojas having been requisitioned as cavalry
troopers in ancient wars by outside
nations.
Xiongnu or
Hun,
Tujue,
Avars,
Kipchaks,
Mongols,
Cossacks and the various
Turkic peoples are also examples of the horse-mounted peoples that managed to gain substantial successes in military conflicts with settled agrarian and urban societies, due to their strategic and tactical mobility. As European states began to assume the character of bureaucratic
nation-states supporting professional standing armies, recruitment of these mounted warriors was undertaken in order to fill the strategic roles of scouts and raiders. The best known instance of the continued employment of mounted tribal auxiliaries were the Cossack cavalry regiments of
Tsarist Russia. In eastern Europe, Russia, and out onto the
steppes, cavalry remained important much longer and dominated the scene of warfare until the early 1600s and even beyond, as the strategic mobility of cavalry was crucial for the semi-nomadic
pastoralist lives that many steppe cultures led.
Tibetans also had a tradition of cavalry warfare, in several military engagements early on with the Chinese
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), including
Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tufan in 638.
East Asia
Further east, the
military history of China, specifically
northern China, held a long tradition of intense military exchange between Chinese infantry forces of the settled dynastic empires and the mounted "barbarians" of the north. The
naval history of China was centered more to the south, where mountains, rivers, and large lakes necessitated the employment of a large and well-kept
navy.
In 307 BC,
King Wuling of Zhao, the ancient Chinese ruler of the former
State of Jin territory, ordered his military commanders and troops to adopt the
trousers of the
nomads as well as practice the nomads' form of mounted archery to hone their new cavalry skills. Soon afterwards the cavalry tactics employed by the
State of Zhao forced their enemies in the other
Warring States to adopt the same techniques in order to mount any effective attack against their swift movements on the battlefield.
The adoption of massed cavalry in China also broke the tradition of the
chariot-riding
Chinese aristocracy in battle, which had been in use since the ancient
Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-1050 BC). By this time large Chinese infantry-based armies of 100,000 to 200,000 troops were now buttressed with several hundred mounted cavalry in support or as an effective striking force. it was written by the
Song Dynasty scholars Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du, and Yang Weide in their book
Wujing Zongyao (1044 AD) that massed missile fire of crossbowmen was the most effective defense against enemy cavalry charges.
On many occasions the Chinese studied nomadic cavalry tactics and applied the lessons in creating their own potent cavalry forces, while in others they simply recruited the tribal horsemen wholesale into their armies; and in yet other cases nomadic empires have proved eager to enlist Chinese infantry and engineering, as in the case of the
Mongol Empire and its sinicized part, the
Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). The Chinese recognized early on during the
Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) that they were at a disadvantage if lacking the amount of horses the northern nomadic peoples mustered in their armies.
Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141 BC-87 BC) went to war with the
Yuezhi for this exact reason, since the Yuezhi were hording a massive amount of tall, strong, Central Asian bred horses in the
Hellenized-
Greek region of
Fergana (established a bit earlier by
Alexander the Great). Although experiencing some defeats early on in the campaign, Emperor Wu's war from 104 BC to 102 BC succeeded in gathering the prized tribute of horses from Fergana.
Cavalry tactics in China were enhanced by the invention of the saddle-attached
stirrup by at least the 4th century, as the oldest reliable depiction of a rider with paired stirrups was found in a
Jin Dynasty tomb of the year 322 AD. The Chinese invention of the
horse collar by the 5th century was also a great improvement from the breast harness, allowing the horse to haul greater weight without heavy burden on its skeletal structure.
The cavalry of
Korea was first introduced during the ancient Korean kingdom
Gojoseon. Since at least the
3rd century BC, there was influence of northern
nomadic peoples and
Yemaek peoples on Korean warfare. By roughly the
1st century BC, the ancient kingdom of
Buyeo also had mounted warriors. With contacts, military intercession, and sailed ventures to Korea, cavalry of
Goguryeo were called
Gaemamusa (개마무사, 鎧馬武士) and were similar to tanks in the age of the
Three Kingdoms of Korea.
King Gwanggaeto the Great often led expeditions into
Baekje,
Gaya confederacy,
Buyeo and against Japanese invaders with his calvalry.
The
ancient Japanese of the
Kofun period also adopted
cavalry and equine culture by the 5th century AD.
South Asia
In the Indian subcontinent, cavalry played a major role from the
Gupta Dynasty (320-600) period onwards. Native Indian cavalry forces proved decisive in the defeat of nomadic invaders such as the
White Huns, and the
Mughal occupation met serious opposition from the excellent
Maratha cavalry. India has also the oldest evidence for the introduction of toe-
stirrups.
European Middle Ages
Although Roman cavalry had no stirrups, their horned saddle allowed the combination of a firm seat with substantial flexibility. But the introduction of the wraparound
saddle during the Middle Ages provided greater efficiency in mounted shock combat and the invention of
stirrup enabled a broader array of attacks to be delivered from the back of a horse. As a greater weight of man and armor could be supported in the saddle, the probability of being dismounted in combat was significantly reduced. In particular, a charge with the lance couched under the armpit would no longer turn into
pole vaulting; this eventually led to an enormous increase in the impact of the charge. Last but not least, the introduction of
spurs allowed better control of the mount during the "knightly charge" in full gallop. In western Europe there emerged what is considered the "ultimate" heavy cavalry, the
knight. The knights and other similarly equipped mounted men-at-arms charged in close formation, exchanging flexibility for a massive, irresistible first charge.
The mounted men-at-arms quickly became an important force in Western European tactics, although it's worth noting that Medieval military doctrine actually employed them as part of a combined-arms force along with various kinds of foot troops. Still, Medieval chroniclers tended to pay undue attention to the knights at the expense of the rank and file, and this has led early students of military history to suppose that this heavy cavalry was the only force that mattered on Medieval European battlefields--a view with hardly any grounding in reality. Massed English longbowmen triumphed over French cavalry at
Crécy,
Poitiers and
Agincourt, while at
Gisors (1188),
Bannockburn (1314), and
Laupen (1339), foot-soldiers proved their invulnerability to cavalry charges as long as they held their formation. However, the rise of infantry as the principal arm had to wait for the
Swiss to develop their
pike squares into an offensive arm instead of a defensive one; this new aggressive doctrine brought the Swiss to victory over a range of adversaries, and their enemies found that the only reliable way to defeat them was by the use of an even more comprehensive
combined arms doctrine as evidenced in the
Battle of Marignano. The introduction of missile weapons that were simpler to use, such as the
crossbow and the
hand cannons, also helped remove the focus somewhat from cavalry elites to masses of cheap infantry equipped with easy-to-learn weapons.
This gradual rise in the dominance of infantry led to the adoption of dismounted tactics. From the earliest times knights and mounted men-at-arms had frequently dismounted to handle enemies they couldn't overcome on horseback, such as in the
Battle of the Dyle (891) and the
Battle of Bremule (1119), but after 1350s this trend became more marked with the dismounted men-at-arms fighting as super-heavy infantry with two-handed
swords and
poleaxes. In any case, warfare in the Middle Ages tended to be dominated by raids and sieges rather than pitched battles, and mounted men-at-arms rarely had any choice other than dismounting when faced with the prospect of assaulting a fortified position.
Renaissance Europe
Ironically, the rise of infantry in the early 16th century coincided with the "golden age" of heavy cavalry; a French or Spanish army at the beginning of the century could have up to 50 percent of its numbers filled with various kinds of light and heavy cavalry, whereas in medieval and 17th century armies the proportion of cavalry seldom rose beyond twenty-five percent. Knighthood largely lost its military functions and became more closely tied to social and economic prestige in an increasingly capitalistic Western society. With the rise of drilled and trained infantry, the mounted men-at-arms, now sometimes called
gendarmes and often part of the standing army themselves, adopted the same role as in the Hellenistic age - that of delivering a decisive blow once the battle was already engaged by either charging the enemy in the flank or attacking their commander-in-chief.
From the 1550s onwards, the use of
gunpowder weapons solidified infantry's dominance of the battlefield and began to allow true mass armies to develop. This is closely related to the increase in the size of armies throughout the early modern period; heavily armored cavalrymen were expensive to raise and maintain and it took years to replace a skilled horseman or a trained horse, while
arquebusiers and later
musketeers could be trained and kept in the field at a much lower expense in addition to being much easier to replace. The Spanish
tercio and later formations relegated cavalry to a supporting role. The
pistol was specifically developed to try and bring cavalry back into the conflict, together with manoeuvres such as the
caracole. The caracole wasn't particularly successful, however, and the charge (whether with sword, pistol, or lance) was remained as the primary mode of employment for many types of European cavalry, although by this time it was delivered in much deeper formations and with greater discipline than before. The
demi-lancers and the heavily armored sword-and-pistol
reiters were among the types of cavalry that experienced their heyday in the 16th and 17th centuries. These centuries also witnessed the high-water mark of the
Polish winged hussars, a force of heavy cavalry that achieved great success against
Swedes,
Russians, and
Turks alike.
Eighteenth Century Europe and Napoleonic Warfare
Cavalry retained an important role in this age of regularization and standardization across European armies. First and foremost they remained the primary choice for confronting enemy cavalry. Attacking an unbroken infantry force head-on usually resulted in failure, but the extended linear formations were vulnerable to flank or rear attacks. Cavalry was important at
Blenheim (1704),
Rossbach (1757), and
Friedland (1807), remaining a significant factor throughout the
Napoleonic Wars. Massed infantry was deadly to cavalry but also offered an excellent target for
artillery. Once the bombardment had disordered the infantry formation, cavalry were able to
rout and pursue the scattered footmen. It wasn't until individual firearms gained accuracy and improved rates of fire that cavalry was diminished in this role as well. Even then light cavalry remained an indispensable tool for scouting, screening the army's movements, and harassing the enemy's supply lines until military aircraft supplanted them in this role in the early stages of World War I.
19th century
By the 19th century, European cavalry fell into four main categories:
There were cavalry variations for individual nations as well:
France had the
chasseurs à cheval;
Germany had the
Jäger zu Pferd;
Bavaria had the
Chevaulegers; and
Russia had Cossacks. Britain had no
cuirassiers (other than the
Household Cavalry), but had Dragoon Guards regiments which were classed as heavy cavalry. In the
United States Army, the cavalry were almost always dragoons. The
Imperial Japanese Army had its cavalry dressed as
hussars, but fought as dragoons.
In the early
American Civil War the regular United States Army mounted rifle and dragoon regiments were reorganized and renamed cavalry regiments, of which there were six. Over a hundred other federal and state cavalry regiments were organized, but the infantry played a much larger role in many battles due to its larger numbers and much easier recruitment. However cavalry saw a role as part of screening forces and in foraging and scouting. The later phases of the war saw the
Federal army developing a truly effective cavalry force fighting as
scouts, raiders, and, with repeating rifles, as
mounted infantry.
Post Civil War, as the volunteer armies disbanded, the regular army cavalry regiments increased in number from six to ten, among them the
U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment of
Little Big Horn fame, and the
African-American U.S. 9th Cavalry Regiment and
U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment. These regiments, which rarely took the field as complete organizations, served throughout the
Indian Wars through the close of the frontier in the 1890s.
19th-century Imperial Expansion
Cavalry found new success in Imperial operations (
irregular warfare), where modern weapons were lacking and the slow moving infantry-artillery train or fixed fortifications were often ineffective against native insurgents (unless the natives offered a fight on an equal footing, as at
Tel-el-Kebir,
Omdurman, etc). Cavalry "
flying columns" proved effective, or at least cost-effective, in many campaigns—although an astute native commander (like
Samori in western Africa,
Shamil in the
Caucasus, or any of the better
Boer commanders) could turn the tables and use the greater mobility of their cavalry to offset their relative lack of firepower compared to European forces.
The
British Indian Army maintained about forty regiments of cavalry, officered by British and manned by Indian
sowars (cavalrymen). The legendary exploits of this branch lives on in literature and early films. Among the more famous regiments in the lineages of modern Indian and Pakistani Armies are:
Governor General's Bodyguard (now President's Bodyguard)
Skinner's Horse (now India's 1st Horse (Skinner's))
Gardner's Lancers (now India's 2nd Lancers (Gardner's))
Hodson's Horse (now India's 3rd Horse (Hodson's)) of the Bengal Lancers fame
6th Bengal Cavalry (later amalgamated with 7th Hariana Lancers to form 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry) now 18th Cavalry of the Indian Army
Probyn's Horse (now Pakistani)
Royal Deccan Horse (now India's The Deccan Horse)
Poona Horse (now India's The Poona Horse)
Queen's Own Guides Cavalry (now partitioned between Pakistan and India).
Several of these formations are still active, though they now are armoured formations, for example Guides Cavalry in Pakistan. (External Link)
The French Army maintained substantial cavalry forces in Algeria and Morocco from 1830 until the Second World War. Much of the Mediterranean coastal terrain was suitable for mounted action and there was a long established culture of horsemanship amongst the Arab and Berber inhabitants. The French forces included Spahis, Chasseurs d' Afrique, Foreign Legion cavalry and mounted Goumiers.
Cavalry's demise
At the beginning of the 20th century all armies still maintained substantial cavalry forces although there was contention over whether their role should revert to that of mounted infantry (the historic dragoon function). Following their experience of the South African War of 1899 - 1902 (where mounted Boer citizen commandos fighting on foot from cover proved superior to regular cavalry) the British Army withdrew lances for all but ceremonial purposes and placed a new emphasis on training for dismounted action. In 1908 the lancer regiments resumed this impressive but obsolete weapon. Between 1881 and 1910 the Imperial Russian Army converted all its line hussar, lancer and cuirassier regiments to dragoons with an emphasis on mounted infantry training. In 1910 they reverted to their historic roles, designations and uniforms.
In August 1914 all combatant armies still retained substantial numbers of cavalry and the mobile nature of the opening battles on both Eastern and Western Fronts provided a number of instances of traditional cavalry actions, though on a smaller and more scattered scale than those of previous wars. The Imperial German Cavalry, while as colourful and traditional as any in peacetime appearance, had adopted a practice of falling back on infantry support when any substantial opposition was encountered. These cautious tactics aroused derision amongst their more conservative French and Russian opponents but proved appropriate to the new nature of warfare. Once the front lines stabilised, a combination of barbed wire, machine guns and rapid fire rifles proved deadly to horse mounted troops. For the remainder of the War on the Western Front cavalry had virtually no role to play. The British and French armies dismounted many of their cavalry regiments and used them in infantry and other roles: the Life Guards for example as a machine gun corps; and the Australian Light Horse as light infantry during the Gallipoli campaign. The German Army dismounted nearly all their cavalry in the West.
Some cavalry were retained as mounted troops behind the lines in anticipation of a breakthrough of the trenches that it seemed would never come. Unfortunately these cavalry forces looked upon the new tanks that began to appear late in the war with derision, thus they didn't support tank attacks aggressively. This had unfortunate consequences as the tanks were able to achieve breakthroughs but didn't have the reliable range to exploit them. Since the cavalry wasn't on hand to exploit the breakthroughs, history recorded no significant role for cavalry in mechanized warfare, and post war planning in the allied nations replaced horse cavalry with mechanized cavalry.
In the wider spaces of the Eastern Front a more fluid form of warfare continued and there was some use for mounted troops, and some wide-ranging actions were fought, again mostly in the early months and years of the war. However, even here the value of cavalry was over-rated and the maintenance of large mounted formations at the front by the Russian Army put a major strain on the railway system, to little strategic advantage..
In the Middle East mounted forces (British, Indian, Turkish, Australian, Arab and New Zealand) retained an important role, though of the mounted infantry variety.
Post World War I
In retrospect it was clear that by 1918 the advent of modern vehicles with effective mobility and armor such as tanks and armored cars had spelled the end of horse troops as the key mobile element of an army. This change was made even more necessary by the development of the machine gun and other weapons which could easily destroy cavalry formations. Military aircraft had taken over the light cavalry roles of scouting, screening, and harassment at roughly the same time. As a result horses became relegated to logistical roles, with few exceptions (see tachanka), and cavalry traditions and insignia were often inherited by the emerging armored formations and air forces.
A combination of military conservatism in almost all armies and post-war financial constraints prevented the lessons of 1914-18 being acted on immediately. There was a general reduction in the number of cavalry regiments in the British, French, Italian and other Western armies but it was still argued with conviction (for example in the 1922 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannia) that mounted troops had a major role to play in future warfare. The 1920s saw an interim period during which cavalry remained as a proud and conspicuous element of all major armies, though much less so than prior to 1914.
The last major cavalry battle was the Battle of Komarów in 1920. Colonial warfare in Morocco, Syria, the Middle East and the North West Frontier of India provided some opportunities for mounted action against enemies lacking advanced weaponry.
Interestingly the post-war German Army (Reichsheer) was permitted a large proportion of cavalry (18 regiments or 16.4% of total manpower) under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. The US Cavalry abandoned its sabres in 1934 and commenced the conversion of its horsed regiments to mechanised cavalry, starting with the First Regiment of Cavalry in January 1933.
In the British Army, all cavalry regiments were mechanised between 1929 and 1941, redefining their role from horse to armoured vehicles to form the Royal Armoured Corps together with the Royal Tank Regiment.
The thirty-nine regiments of the Indian Army were reduced to twenty-one as the result of a series of amalgamations immediately following World War I. The new establishment remained unchanged until 1936 when three regiments were redesignated as permanent training units, each with six, still mounted, regiments linked to them. In 1938 the process of mechanism began with the conversion of a full cavalry brigade (two Indian regiments and one British) to armoured car and tank units. By the end of 1940 all of the Indian cavalry had been mechanised, receiving light tanks, armoured cars or 15cwt trucks. The last horsed regiment of the Indian Army (other than the Viceregal Bodyguard and some Indian States Forces regiments) was the 19th King George's Own Lancers which had its last mounted parade at Rawalpindi on 28 October 1939. This unit still exists (though in the Pakistan Army) with an armour TOE.
During the 1930s the French Army experimented with integrating mounted and mechanised cavalry units into larger formations. Dragoon regiments were converted to motorised infantry (trucks and motor cycles), and cuirassiers to armoured units; while light cavalry (Chasseurs a' Cheval, Hussars and Spahis)remained as mounted sabre squadrons. The theory was that mixed forces comprising these diverse units could utilise the strengths of each according to circumstances. In practice mounted troops proved unable to keep up with fast moving mechanised units over any distance.
World War II
While most armies still maintained cavalry units at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, significant mounted action was largely restricted to the Polish and Soviet campaigns.
A popular myth is that Polish cavalry armed with lances charged German tanks during the September 1939 campaign. This arose from misreporting of a single clash on 1 September near Krojanty, when two squadrons of the Polish 18th Lancers armed with sabres scattered German infantry before being caught in the open by German armoured cars. See also Polish cavalry. A more correct term should be "mounted infantry" instead of "cavalry", as horses were primarily used as a means of transportation, for which they were very suitable in view of the very poor road conditions in pre-war Poland. Another myth describes Polish cavalry as being armed with both sabres and lances; lances were used for peacetime ceremonial purposes only and the primary weapon of the Polish cavalryman in 1939 was a rifle. Individual equipment did include a sabre, probably because of well-established tradition, but in the case of a melee combat this secondary weapon would probably be more effective than a rifle and bayonet. Moreover, the Polish cavalry brigade order of battle of 1939 included, apart from the mounted soldiers themselves, light and heavy machine guns (wheeled), anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon, artillery, light and scout tanks, etc.
By the final stages of the war only the Soviet Union was still fielding mounted units in substantial numbers, some in combined mechanised and horse units. The advantage of this approach was that in exploitation mounted infantry could easily keep pace with advancing tanks. This approach was also taken because of the high quality of Russian Cossacks as horse cavalry.
Romanian, Hungarian and Italian cavalry had been dispersed or disbanded following the retreat of the Axis forces from Russia. Germany still maintained some mounted (mixed with bicycles) SS and Cossack units until the last days of the War. 18th Indian Cavalry Regiment (later 18 Cavalry of Indian Army), fought in a dismounted role, in Tobruk as part of 9th Australian Division. The US 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS); a small mounted regiment of Philippine Scouts, fought the Japanese during the retreat down the Bataan peninsula, until it was effectively destroyed by January 1942. All British cavalry had been mechanised since 1942 and the last horsed US Cavalry (the Second Cavalry Division) were dismounted in March 1944.
The final cavalry charge by British Empire forces occurred on 21 March 1942 when a 60 strong patrol of the Burma Frontier Force encountered Japanese infantry near Toungoo airfield in central Burma. The Sikh sowars of the Frontier Force cavalry, led by Captain Arthur Sandeman, charged in the old style with sabres and most were killed.
The last substantive and successful classical cavalry charge of the war was probably that made by a cavalry unit of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) on the Eastern Front. A charge by the 3rd Dragoons Savoia Cavalry Regiment of the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Fast (Celere) Division wasn't only made, but it was successfully made.
Post World War II to present day
The Soviet Army retained horsed cavalry divisions until 1955, and even at the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there was a separate horsed cavalry squadron in Kyrgyzstan.
Several armored divisions of the modern United States Army retain the designation of "cavalry". The United States also had "air cavalry" units equipped with helicopters, though that designation has fell out of use, with the term Air Assault coined for that mission and modern "cavalry" being retained for ground-based mobility.
While most modern "cavalry" units have some historic connection with formerly mounted troops this isn't always the case. The modern Irish Defence Force (IDF) includes a "Cavalry Corps" equipped with Panhard armoured cars and Scorpion tracked combat reconnaissance vehicles. The Irish Defense Force has never included horse cavalry since its establishment in 1922 (other than a small mounted escort drawn from the Artillery Corps when required for ceremonial occasions). However, the mystique of the cavalry is such that the name has been introduced for what was always a mechanised force.
Some engagements in late twentieth and early twenty first century guerrilla wars involved mounted troops, particularly against partisan or guerrilla fighters in areas with poor transport infrastructure. Such units were not used as cavalry but rather as mounted infantry. Examples occurred in Afghanistan, Portuguese Africa and Rhodesia. The French Army used existing mounted squadrons of Spahis to a limited extent for patrol work during the Algerian War (1954-62) and the Swiss Army maintained a mounted dragoon regiment for combat purposes until 1973. There were reports of Chinese mounted troops in action during frontier clashes with Vietnam in the mid 1970s. The Portuguese Army used horse mounted cavalry with some success in the wars of independence in Angola and Mozambique in the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1964 - 79 Rhodesian Bush War the Rhodesian Army created an elite mounted infantry unit called Grey's Scouts to fight unconventional actions against the rebel forces of Robert Mugabe and Joseph Nkomo. The horse mounted infantry of the Scouts were very effective and feared by their their opponents in the rebel African forces. In the 1978 to present Afghan Civil War there have been several instances of horse mounted combat.
South and Central American armies maintained mounted cavalry later than those of Europe, Asia or North America. The Mexican Army included a number of horse mounted cavalry regiments as late as the mid 1990s and the Chilean Army had five such regiments in 1983 as mounted mountain troops (see Jane's "Armed Forces of Latin America" by Adrian J. English).
A number of armored regiments in the British Army retain the historic designations of Hussars, Dragoons, Dragoon Guards or Lancers. Only the Household Cavalry squadrons maintained for ceremonial duties in London are mounted.
Cavalry or mounted gendarmerie units continue to be maintained for purely or primarily ceremonial purposes by the United States, British, French, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Chilean, Portuguese, Moroccan, Nigerian, Venezuelan, Brazilian, Peruvian, Paraguayan, Polish, Argentine, Senegalese, Jordanian, Pakistani, Indian, Nepalese, Spanish and Bulgarian armed forces. The Army of the Russian Federation has recently reintroduced a ceremonial mounted squadron wearing historic uniforms.
In the United States, the Horse Cavalry Detachment of the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division is made up of active duty soldiers, still functions as an active unit, trained to approximate the weapons, tools, equipment and techniques used by the United States Cavalry in the 1880s. In addition, the Parsons' Mounted Cavalry is a Reserve Officer Training Corps unit which forms part of the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University.
The French Army still has regiments with the historic designations of Cuirassiers, Hussars, Chasseurs, Dragoons and Spahis. Only the cavalry of the Republican Guard and a ceremonial fanfare (trumpeters) for the cavalry/armoured branch as a whole are now mounted.
In the Canadian Army, a number of regular and reserve units have cavalry roots, including The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), the Governor General's Horse Guards, Lord Strathcona's Horse, the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and the South Alberta Light Horse. Of these, only the Governor General's Horse Guards maintains an official ceremonial horse mounted cavalry squadron.
Both the Australian and New Zealand Armies follow the British practice of maintaining traditional titles (Light Horse or Mounted Rifles) for modern mechanised units. However, neither country retains a horse mounted unit.
Today, the Indian Army's 61st Cavalry is reported to be the only remaining non-ceremonial horse-mounted cavalry in the world.. It was raised in 1951 from the amalgamated state cavalry squadrons of Gwailior, Jodhpur, and Mysore. The 61st Cavalry together with the President's Body Guard parade in full dress uniform in New Delhi each year in what is probably the largest assembly of traditional cavalry still to be seen in the world.
Both the Indian and Pakistan Armies maintain a number of armoured regiments with the titles of Lancers or Horse, dating back to the nineteenth century.
As of 2007 the Chinese People's Liberation Army employs two battalions of horse cavalry in Xinjing Military District for border patrol work (see China-Defense.com website).
Light and heavy cavalry
Historically, cavalry was divided into light, heavy cavalry and Horse archer. The difference was mainly how much armor was worn by the mount and rider, and the active role they played in war.
Early light cavalry (like the auxiliaries of the Roman army) were typically used to scout and skirmish and to cut down retreating infantry and for defeating enemy missile troops. Heavy cavalry like the Byzantine Cataphract were used as shock troops — they'd charge the main body of the enemy and in many cases, their actions decided the outcome of the battle.
During the Gunpowder Age, armored cavalry began to approach obsolescence. However, many units retained cuirasses and helmets for their protective value against sword and bayonet strikes and the morale boost these provide to the wearers. By this time the main difference between light and heavy cavalry was their training; the former was regarded as a tool for harassment and reconnaissance, while the latter was considered best for close-order charges.
Since the development of armored warfare the distinction between light and heavy armor has persisted basically along the same lines. Armored cars and light tanks have adopted the reconnaissance role while medium and heavy tanks are regarded as the decisive shock troops.
Social status
From the beginning of civilization to the 20th century, ownership of heavy cavalry horses has been a mark of wealth amongst settled peoples. A cavalry horse involves considerable expense in breeding, training, feeding, and equipment, and has very little productive use except as a mode of transport.
For this reason, and because of their often decisive military role, the cavalry has typically been associated with high social status. This was most clearly seen in the feudal system, where a lord was expected to enter combat armored and on horseback and bring with him an entourage of peasants on foot. If landlords and peasants came into conflict, the peasants would be ill-equipped to defeat armored knights.
In later national armies, service as an officer in the cavalry was generally a badge of high social status. For instance prior to 1914 most officers of British cavalry regiments came from a socially privileged background and the considerable expenses associated with their role generally required private means, even after it became possible for officers of the line infantry regiments to live on their pay. Options open to poorer cavalry officers in the various European armies included service with less fashionable (though often highly professional) frontier or colonial units. These included the British Indian cavalry, the Russian Cossacks or the French Chasseurs d' Afrique.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries most monarchies maintained a mounted cavalry element in their royal or imperial guards. These ranged from small units providing ceremonial escorts and palace guards through to large formations intended for active service. The mounted escort of the Spanish Royal Household provided an example of the former and the twelve cavalry regiments of the Prussian Imperial Guard an example of the latter. In either case the officers of such units were likely to be drawn from the aristocracies of their respective societies.
On film
Some small sense of the noise and power of a cavalry charge can be gained from the 1970 film Waterloo, which featured some 2000 cavalrymen, some of them cossacks, in action. It includes beautiful displays of the horsemanship required to manage animal and weapon in a large company at the gallop (unlike the real battle of Waterloo, where deep mud significantly slowed the horses). A smaller filmic cavalry charge can be seen in (2003); although the finished scene has substantial computer-generated imagery, raw footage and reactions of the riders are shown in the Extended Version DVD Appendices.
Some cavalry forces
Bayreuth Dragoons
Blues and Royals
Cataphract
Chasseurs d'Afrique
Companions
Cossacks
Cuirassier
Dragoons
Hakkapeliitta (Finnish cavalry of Thirty Years' War fame)
Garde Républicaine
Governor General's Horse Guards (Canada)
Hussars
Polish winged hussars
Kalmyks
Lancers
Life Guards
Light Horse (Australia)
Mamluks
Polish cavalry
Savari (Italian North African)
Savoia Cavalry
Sipahi (Ottoman)
South Alberta Light Horse (Canada)
Spahi (French North African)
Uhlans
United States Cavalry
Some contemporary horse cavalry officers
Brazil: Ataìde Barcelos Pereira, Regimento Osorio
Canada: Akaash Maharaj, Governor General's Horse Guards
France: Didier Courrèges, Cadre Noir
Italy: Giulio Serafini, COMFOD 1
UK: Harry Wales, Blues and Royals
USA: Edwin Ramsey, 26th Cavalry regimentFurther Information
Get more info on 'Cavalry'.
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