Cavalry
German Cavalry I
German heavy cavalry. 10th century For more than three thousand years, whether in enforcing the law or, more importantly, waging war, the horse was the means by which the warrior gained true mobility, range, and striking power. Either by riding the horse or by having it pull his chariots, supply wagons, or, later, machine guns and artillery, he harnessed the…
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German Cavalry II
Major General von Seydlitz pipe Prussian cavalry Battle of Rossbach – Richard Knötel Firearms of all kinds had indeed made the battlefield more lethal. That was true enough. Cavalrymen, such as the Prussians at Rossbach, recognized “that a well-timed musket volley could destroy an entire regiment.” They also knew, however,…
Balaklava: 25 October 1854 Part I
Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava on 25th October 1854 in the Crimean War Battle of Balaclava. Ryzhov‘s cavalry attacks over the Causeway Heights at approximately 09:15. Both branches of the attack happened almost simultaneously. Lord Raglan is utterly incompetent to lead an army through any…
Balaklava: 25 October 1854 Part II
The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava by William Simpson (1855), illustrating the Light Brigade’s charge into the “Valley of Death” from the Russian perspective. The Timeline of the Charge taken from Forgotten Heroes: The Charge of the Light Brigade (2007). To those coolly sitting on their horses with…
Reiters in French Service
In the mounted Caracole formation, each rank of a troop of horse goes forwards in turn to fire its pistols at the enemy then retires to the rear of the formation to reload, preferably stationary. This was a complicated action that demanded steadiness of both horse and rider under fire.…
Napoleonic Cavalry I
The major armies of the era each had formidable mounted forces, and during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) there was a rough parity between the horsemen of the Great Powers. Yet, when Napoleon (1769-1821) launched his Grande Armee on its campaigns of conquest in 1805, the cavalry of France emerged…
Napoleonic Cavalry II
In December 1805, brigadier general Jean Rapp led a memorable attack at Austerlitz, when he charged at the head of two squadrons each of the Chasseurs a cheval and the Horse Grenadiers of the Guard and the Guard Mameluks and decimated the Chevalier Guards of the Russian Imperial Guard. Order…