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- This article is about cavalry, mounted soldiers. Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the biblical hill Calvary.
Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome.An army unit consisting of mounted soldiers is commonly known as cavalry. Cavalry fight from the backs of their mounts, which most often are horses or camels. Infantry travelling by horse and fighting on foot are instead known as mounted infantry or dragoons.
Modern cavalry units are generally not mounted on horseback (save for ceremonies), but are generally armored forces, that fight from armored vehicles, or embark in aircraft.
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Origins
Before the Iron Age, the role of cavalry on the battlefield was largely performed by light chariots. 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.
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 by the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom of Egypt as well as Assyrian and Babylonian royalty.
Cavalry techniques were, again, an innovation of equestrian nomads of the Eurasian steppe. Use of chariots in battle was obsolete by the Persian defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, but chariots remained in use for ceremonial purposes, for instance carrying the victorious general in a Roman triumph. The first cavalry consisted of pairs of men, one using a bow while the other guided both of their horses.
In the armies of the Ancient Greeks and the Roman Republic, cavalry played a relatively minor role—in both civilizations conflicts were decided by massed armored infantry. The cavalry in the Roman Republic remained the preserve of the wealthy landed class—the class eventually dominated by the Roman emperors, who came to power and often succeeded to the throne by virtue of being successful generals of the Roman legions of citizens fighting on foot. In the army of the late Roman Empire, cavalry played an increasingly important role. Sarmatians were hired as cavalrymen. The Spatha, the classical sword throughout most of the 1st millennium, originated as a Roman cavalry sword.
As a result of selective breeding, the size and weight of war horses approximately doubled throughout the Middle Ages; while during the Migration period, a horse might bear an unarmoured horse archer, by the 11th century, it could bear the weight of a warrior in full chainmail armour, and by the 1400s, the Friesian could bear a weight of a knight in full plate armour, as well as additional armour protecting the horse itself. Due to this development, cavarly tactics also changed from the ancient "Parthian shot" and skirmishing techniques to the medieval massed cavalry charges relying on the horsemen's mere impact force. Among the first to use such cavalry charges were the Companion Cavalry of Macedon, although its power in this role was not fully used after Alexander the Great's death.
Light and heavy cavalry
Historically, cavalry was divided into light and heavy cavalry. The difference was mainly how much armor was worn by the soldiers, and thus how powerful their mounts had to be in order to sustain the burden.
Early light cavalry (like the auxiliaries of the Roman army) were typically used to scout and skirmish and to cut down retreating infantry. Heavy cavalry like the Byzantine Cataphract were used as shock troops - they would 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 became obsolete and the main difference between light and heavy cavalry was their training—either for harassment and reconnaissance or 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.
Dominance and decline
The decline of the Roman infrastructure made it more difficult to field large infantry forces, and during the second and third centuries cavalry began to take a more dominant role on the battlefield, also in part made possible by the appearance of new, larger breeds of horses. The replacement of the insubstantial Roman saddle by variants on the Scythian model, with pommel and cantle, was significant too.
New armored Cataphracts were deployed in eastern Europe and the near Middle East, notably in Persian forces, as the main striking force of the armies, whereas earlier cavalry had to be consigned to the flanks.
The introduction of the stirrup allowed for even heavier cavalry. As a greater weight of man and armor could be supported in the saddle, the almost-certainty of being dismounted in combat was reduced. In the initial charge a lance could be 'set' rather than held over-head—leading to an enormous increase in the impact of a charge. In western Europe there emerged the very heaviest cavalry, the knight—exchanging much of the mobility advantage for a massive, irresistible first charge.
Knights remained a dominant military force in western Europe until the rising population and improved political sophistication revived infantry. Technological changes made infantry more effective, initially highly disciplined pikemen and skilled longbowmen could counter a cavalry charge—if they held their formation and the enemy obliged with a head-long charge. Massed English longbowmen triumphed over French cavalry at Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt. While at Gisors (1188), Bannockburn (1314), and Laupen (1339), foot-soldiers proved they could stand up to cavalry charges. The Swiss-developed pike square became a key advance in resisting cavalry—although eventually numbers would tell (Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs). The introduction of less effective but simpler missile weapons, like the crossbow, was additionally decisive. A top-quality 15th century army could be 50 percent cavalry, but by the 1520s this proportion had fallen below 25 percent. Knighthood quickly became associated with land ownership and senior positions in the feudal social structure.
From the 1550s, the use of gunpowder weapons solidified infantry's dominance of the battlefield, and began to allow true mass unskilled armies to develop. Arquebusiers and later musketeers, the Spanish tercio and later formations, relegated cavalry to a supporting role—although the pistol was specifically developed to try and bring cavalry back into the conflict, together with manoeuvres such as the caracole.
However, cavalry still had a role to play, even if it was to only counter enemy cavalry. Attacking an unbroken infantry force head-on was usually unsuccessful, 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. And while massed infantry was deadly to cavalry, it was an excellent target for artillery—and once formations were broken, cavalry was essential and deadly in the harry and rout of the scattered infantry. It was not until individual firearms gained accuracy and improved rates of fire that cavalry was diminished in this role as well.
By the Nineteenth Century, European cavalry fell into four main categories:
- Cuirassiers, heavy cavalry
- Dragoons, originally mounted infantry but later regarded as medium cavalry
- Hussars, light cavalry
- Lancers or Uhlans, light cavalry armed with lances
There were cavalry variations for individual nations as well: France had the chasseurs à cheval; Germany had the Jäger zu Pferd; 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.
These forces 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 use the added mobility (but reduced firepower) against European forces.
In the American Civil War regular cavalry was significantly absent, but it continued to play a role as part of screening forces and in foraging and scouting.
Asia
In eastern Europe, Russia, and out onto the Steppes cavalry remained important much longer and dominated the battlefield until the early 1600s, because of long distances and better tactics. Huns, Mongols and Cossacks are examples of succeeding horse-mounted peripheral peoples successful in military conflicts with Western civilizations, due to their strategic and tactical mobility.
After defeats, Westerners quickly adopted Eastern cavalry tactics; one of the most famous examples is Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. As European nation-states became established, they were keen to recruit border peoples to serve in formal roles in national armies. For instance, Cossack cavalry regiments were an important part of the Imperial Russian Army until the Revolution, and some even served in the Red Army.
Cavalry's demise
In the 20th century the advent of modern vehicles with effective mobility and armor, such as tanks, provided the opportunity for vehicles to replace horses 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. Horses became relegated to logistical roles, with few exceptions (see tachanka).
The demise of cavalry as a decisive force on the battlefield came in the First World War when cavalry forces were slaughtered while failing to achieve a strategic breakthrough on the Western Front. They nevertheless played an important role on several fronts, particularly in the Middle East.
After World War I and the Polish-Bolshevik War, horse cavalry was gradually abandoned as a major combat weapon by the industrialized powers. The last major cavalry battle was the Battle of Komarów in 1920. In the 1920s and '30s most industrialized countries either transformed their cavalry units into mounted infantry or motorized infantry. The last cavalry charges in modern warfare were seen in the Second World War. Although there have been some engagements in twentieth and twenty-first century guerrilla wars involving cavalry, particularly by partisan or guerrilla fighters in areas with poor transport infrastructure, these units were not used as cavalry but rather as mounted infantry.
Cavalry actually experienced a minor revival in the more mobile warfare of World War II. Russia, Italy, Germany, and even the United States fielded mounted units. Russia also fielded combined mechanized and horse units.
Cavalry traditions and insignia were often inherited by the emerging armored formations and air forces. In the British Army, the armored regiments (apart from the Royal Tank Regiment) have one of four titles:
In the Canadian Army a number of both regular and reserve units have cavalry roots. These include The Governor General's Horse Guards, Lord Strathcona's Horse, The Royal Canadian Dragoons, and The South Alberta Light Horse. Several current divisions of the United States Army and other modern armies retain the name "cavalry" due to their origins in the era of horse cavalry; they generally consist in armored forces. The United States also has air cavalry units equipped with helicopters.
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 the cavalry often remained a badge of social status, with the typical exception of "frontier" units like Cossacks. For instance, an officer of the (British) Household Cavalry was (and still is) relatively likely to have attended elite schools and to come from a socially privileged background.
Famous cavalry forces
- Dragoons
- Uhlans
- Winged Lancers
- Cossacks
- Cataphract
- Savoia Cavalry
- Mamelukes
- Kalmyks
- Hakkapeliitta during the Thirty Years War.
- Hussars
- United States Cavalry
- US 7th Cavalry Regiment
- Katana (Samurai armed with the katana were primarily cavalry)
- Governor General's Horse Guards
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- South Alberta Light Horse
- Polish cavalry
See also
- Military tactics
- Ski warfare
- See List of British Army regiments by year, for cavalry units: 1881, 1962, 1994
- Cavalry in the American Civil War
External links
- Cavalry tactics from Francis J. Lippitt's, A Treatise on the Tactical Use of the Three Arms - Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry (1865)
- Cavalry in Mass (U.S. report on Russian cavalry organization and operations in World War II)
- Italian Savoia Cavalry during World War 2