Cavalry (from
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
cavalerie) were
soldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s or
warriorAccording to the Random House Dictionary, the term warrior has two meanings. The first literal use refers to "a person engaged or experienced in warfare." The second figurative use refers to "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics."...
s who fought mounted on horseback in
combatCombat, or fighting, is purposeful violent conflict intended to establish dominance over the opposition.The term "combat" typically refers to armed conflict between military forces in warfare, whereas the more general term "fighting" can refer to any violent conflict...
. Cavalry were historically the second oldest (after infantry) and most mobile of the combat arms. A soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as
cavalryman or
trooper.
The designation of
cavalry was not usually extended to any military force that used other animals, such as
camelsCamel cavalry, or camelry, is a generic designation for armed forces using camels as a means of transportation. Sometimes warriors or soldiers of this type also fought from camel-back with spears, bows or rifles....
or mules.
InfantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of the Combat Arms they are the backbone of armies...
who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot were in the 17th and early 18th centuries known as
dragoonDragoons were originally infantrymen deployed by horse, but later became cavalry. They were therefore trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
s, 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, making it 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. Another element of horse mounted warfare is the psychological impact a mounted soldier can inflict on an opponent.
The mobility and shock value of the cavalry was greatly appreciated and exploited in the Ancient and Middle Ages armed forces, and some consisted mostly of the cavalry troops, particularly in nomadic societies of Asia, notably the Mongol armies. In Europe cavalry became increasingly
armoured cavalryHeavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
and eventually became known for the mounted
knightA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
s. During the
17th centuryThe 17th Century was that century which lasted from 1601 to 1700 in the Gregorian calendar.The 17th Century falls into the Early Modern period of Europe and was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement, the French Grand Siècle dominated by Louis XIV, and the beginning of modern science and...
cavalry in Europe lost most of its armour, and by the mid-
19th centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
only some regiments retained the
cuirassCuirass , the plate armour, is formed of a single piece of metal or other rigid material or composed of two or more pieces, which covers the front of the wearer's person...
.
In the period between the World Wars, many cavalry units were converted into
motorised infantryIn NATO and most other western countries, motorised infantry is infantry which is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured half-tracks or armoured personnel carriers...
and mechanised infantry units, or reformed as tank troops. However some cavalry still served during the Second World War, notably in the
Red ArmyThe Red Army The Red Army The Red Army was the Soviet government’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the USSR. Since 1946, after the Second World War, it was called the Soviet Army.The 'Red...
. Most cavalry units that are horse-mounted in modern armies serve in purely ceremonial roles, or as mounted infantry in difficult terrain such as mountains or heavily forested areas.
Role of cavalry
In many modern armies, the term
cavalry is still often used to refer to units that are a
combat armCombat Arms is a multiplayer, free-to-play modern first-person shooter developed by the South Korea-based developer, Doobic Studios, and published by Nexon. The game uses the Lithtech game engine to produce graphics far more advanced than most freeware games...
of the
armed forcesThe armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors. In some countries...
which in the past filled the traditional horse-borne land combat
light cavalryLight cavalry refers to lightly-armed and armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
roles. These include
scoutingReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
, skirmishing with enemy reconnaissance elements to deny them knowledge of own disposition of troops, forward security, offensive reconnaissance by combat, defensive
screeningOne meaning of screening is the investigation of a great number of something looking for those with a particular problem or feature. For example at an airport many bags are screened by x-ray to try to detect any which may contain weapons or explosives, and people are screened by passing through a...
of friendly forces during retrograde movement,
retreatThe term retreat has several related meanings, all of which have in common the notion of safety or temporarily removing oneself from one's usual environment in order to become immersed in a particular subject matter. A retreat can be taken for reasons related to spirituality, stress, health,...
, restoration of command and control, deception, battle handover and passage of lines, relief in place, linkup,
breakoutA breakout is a military operation to end a situation of encirclement or siege. It is used in contexts such as: "The British breakout attempt from Normandy"....
operations, and
raidingA raid is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which requires the execution of a plan where surprise is the principal desired outcome of the attack....
. The shock role, traditionally filled by
heavy cavalryHeavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
, is generally filled by
unitUnit may refer to:In mathematics:* Unit vector, a vector with length equal to 1* Unit circle, the circle with radius equal to 1, centered at the origin* Unit interval, the interval of all real numbers between 0 and 1...
s with the "armored" designation.
Origins
Before the
Iron AgeIn archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...
, the role of cavalry on the battlefield was largely performed by light
chariotThe chariot is the earliest and simplest type of carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Chariots were built in Mesopotamia by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 BC and in China during the 2nd millennium BC. The original chariot was a fast, light, open,...
s. The chariot originated with the Sintashta-Petrovka culture in
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
and spread by nomadic or semi-nomadic
Indo-IraniansIndo-Iranian peoples are a linguistic group consisting of the Indo-Aryan, Dardic, Iranian, and Nuristani peoples; that is, speakers of Indo-Iranian languages.-Origin:...
. The chariot was quickly adopted by settled peoples both as a military technology and an object of ceremonial status, especially by the
PharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of...
s of the New Kingdom of Egypt as well as
AssyrianThe Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people are an ethnic group whose origins lie in the Fertile Crescent, their homeland today being divided between Northern Iraq, Syria, Western...
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
IranianThe Iranian peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly on the Iranian plateau and beyond in central, southern, and southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. As a group of people, they are predominantly defined along linguistic lines as speaking the Iranian...
steppe and pastoralist
tribeA tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists hold that...
s such as the
PersianThe Persian people are the majority ethnic group in Iran. However, there are sub-groups who speak the Persian language as their mother tongue throughout the Iranian plateau. The term Persian has also a supra-ethnic significance and has been historically referred to a part of Iranian peoples...
Parthians and
SarmatiansThe Sarmatians, Sarmatæ or Sauromatæ were a people of Ancient Iranian origin. Mentioned by classical authors, they migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C...
.
The photograph above right shows Assyrian cavalry from reliefs of 865–860 BC. At this time, the men had no
spurA spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids and to back up the natural aids . The spur is used in every equestrian discipline...
s, saddles, saddle cloths, 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 saddle cloths 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 chariotThe scythed chariot was a modified war chariot. A scythed chariot was a war chariot with a blade mounted on both ends of the axle.-History:The scythed chariot was a modified war chariot. The blades extended horizontally for a meter on the sides...
s, the use of chariots in battle was obsolete in civilized nations by the time of the Persian defeat at the hands of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
, but chariots remained in use for ceremonial purposes such as carrying the victorious general in a
Roman triumphThe Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome. Its origins and development remain obscure: ancient Roman historians placed the first triumph in the mythical past...
, for chariot racing. The southern British met
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
with chariots in
55 and 54 BCDuring his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54 BC. The first invasion, made late in summer, was either intended as a full invasion or a reconnaissance-in-force expedition...
, but a century later, in the
Roman conquest of BritainBy AD 43, the time of the main Roman invasion of Britain, Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire...
chariots were obsolete even in Britannia.
Ancient Greece and Macedonia
Cavalry played a relatively minor role in
Ancient GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
, with conflicts decided by massed armored infantry. However,
ThessalyThessaly is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. The capital of the periphery and traditional geographical region is Larissa. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Thrace, it is often referred to unofficially as Northern Greece...
was widely known for producing competent cavalrymen, and later experiences in wars both with and against the Persians taught the
GreeksThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
the value of cavalry in skirmishing and pursuit. The
AthenianAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
author and soldier
XenophonXenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens and Xenophon of Thebes, was a soldier, mercenary, and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
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
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
ian kingdom in the north, on the other hand, developed a strong cavalry force that culminated in the
hetairoi (
Companion cavalryThe Companions were the elite cavalry of the Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world and the first shock cavalry unit...
) of
Philip IIPhilip II of Macedon, Philip II of Macedon, Philip II of Macedon, ( — φίλος = friend + ίππος = horse — transliterated 382 – 336 BC, was an ancient Greek king (basileus) of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip...
and Alexander the Great. In addition to these heavy cavalry, the Macedonian combined arms army also employed lighter horsemen called
prodromoiIn ancient Greece, the Prodromoi were the skirmisher light cavalry. Their name means "moving before the rest of the army". They were equipped with javelins, argive shields, and cavalry sword...
for scouting and screening, as well as the Macedonian pike phalanx and various kinds of
light infantryTraditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
. 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 than 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,
BactriaBactria was the ancient name of a historical region in Central Asia, located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya...
, and northwestern
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
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
GaulsThe Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France and Belgium, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
,
IberiansThe Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
, and
NumidiansThe Numidians were semi-nomadic Berber tribes who lived in Numidia, in Algeria east of Constantine and in part of Tunisia and Morocco. The Numidians were one of the earliest natives to trade with the settlers of Carthage. As Carthage grew the relationship with the Numidians blossomed. Carthage's...
, the last being highly valued as mounted skirmishers and scouts.
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
himself was known for his admiration in his escort of Germanic mixed cavalry, giving rise to Cohorte Equitates. Early Emperors maintained an
alaAuxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen legions...
of
BataviBatavi - Latin for Batavians - is an open source webshop under the GNU General Public License. The development of Batavi started in 2007 inspired by a preliminary osCommerce 3.0 version, a version that seemed to be never finished by the osCommerce team...
and cavalry as their bodyguards until the unit was dismissed by
GalbaServius Sulpicius Galba , also called Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperor for seven months, from 8 June 68 until his murder...
.
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 does not 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, such as the final charge at the
Battle of AquiloniaThe Battle of Aquilonia was fought in 293 BC between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, near the current city of Aquilonia in Campania...
.
After defeats such as the
Battle of CarrhaeThe Battle of Carrhae, fought in 53 BC near the town of Carrhae, was a major battle between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic. A Roman invasion force led by Marcus Licinius Crassus was decisively crushed by the Parthian Spahbod Surena...
, the Romans learned the importance of large cavalry formations from the
ParthiansThe Parthian Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in the ancient Near East, and a counterweight to the Roman Empire in the region....
. They would begin 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 PlateauThe Iranian plateau, also known as the Persian plateau is a geological formation in Southwest Asia and Southern Asia. It is the part of the Eurasian Plate wedged between the Arabian and Indian plates, situated between the Zagros mountains to the west, the Caspian Sea and the Kopet Dag to the north,...
introduced the
AssyriansThe Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people are an ethnic group whose origins lie in the Fertile Crescent, their homeland today being divided between Northern Iraq, Syria, Western...
to a similar reform. Nonetheless, they would continue rely on mainly their heavy infantry supported by auxiliary cavalry.
Late Roman Empire and the Migration Period
In the army of the late
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
, cavalry played an increasingly important role. The
SpathaThe spatha was a type of straight sword with a long point, measuring between 0.75 and 1 m, in use throughout 1st millennium Europe and the territory of the Roman Empire until about AD 600. Later swords through about AD 1000 are recognizable derivatives, though not spathae.The predecessor of the...
, the classical sword throughout most of the 1st millennium 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
ParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
ns and their
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
ian
SassanidThe Sassanid Empire or Sasanian Empire, known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr, was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty who reigned from 224 to 651 CE...
successors. Both, but especially the latter, were famed for the
cataphractA cataphract was a form of heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.The word in English is derived from the Kataphraktos , literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed"...
(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
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
-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.
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
saddleTack is a term used to describe any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack...
by variants on the Scythian model, with
pommelPommel may refer to:* Pommel , the slightly raised area at the front of a saddle* Hilt#Pommel, the counterweight at the end of the hilt of a European sword* Pommel horse, an artistic gymnastics apparatus...
and cantle, was also a significant factor as was the adoption of
stirrupThe stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to a saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal...
s and the concomitant increase in stability of the rider's seat. Armored Cataphracts began to be deployed in eastern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and the
near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, 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
RashidunThe Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty...
caliphateThe term caliphate refers to the first form of government inspired by Islam. It was initially led by Muhammad's disciples as a continuation of the political authority the prophet established, known as the 'rashidun caliphates'. It represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah, and was the...
was a
light cavalryLight cavalry refers to lightly-armed and armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
armed with
lanceThe term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. The name is derived from lancea, Roman auxiliaries' javelin, although according to the OED, the word may be of Iberian origin....
and
swordA sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
, 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 YarmoukThe Battle of Yarmouk comprised a series of engagements between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire over six days in August 636, near the Yarmouk River, along what is today the border between Syria and Jordan, south-east of the Sea of Galilee. It is regarded as one of the most decisive...
(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 guardThe Mobile guard , was an elite light cavalry regiment of Rashidun army during the Muslim conquest of Syria, that remained under the command of Khalid ibn Walid...
. 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
ByzantineThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
army. With this mobile striking force, the conquest of Syria was made easy.
The
Battle of TalasThe Battle of Talas in 751 AD was a conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty for control of the Syr Darya. On July 751, The Abbasides started a massive attack against the Chinese on the banks of the Talas river; 200,000 Muslim troops met the combined army of 10,000...
in 751 CE was a conflict between the Arab
AbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus....
Caliphate and the
ChineseChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
over the control of
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
. Chinese infantry were routed by
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
cavalry near the bank of the River Talas.
Later
MamlukA mamluk was a soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim Arab caliphs from the 9th to the 16th centuries. They were of mixed ancestry but mainly Kipchak Turks...
s were trained as cavalry soldiers. Mamluks were to follow the dictates of al-furusiyya, a code of conduct that included values like courage and generosity but also doctrine of cavalry tactics, horsemanship, archery and treatment of wounds.
Central Asia
The
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n literature contains numerous references to the cavalry forces of the
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
n horse nomads like the
SakaThe Saka were a Scythian tribe, rendered in Greek as , in Chinese as , and in Sanskrit as , referring to those Scythians who founded the Indo-Scythian kingdom in the 2nd century BC.-Classical accounts:Modern historical accounts of the Indo-Scythian wars often assume that the Scythian...
s,
KambojasThe Kambojas were a Kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. The earliest mention of the name Kamboja is in the Vamsa Brahmana...
,
Yavanas"Yona" is a Pali word used in ancient India to designate Greek speakers. Its equivalent in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil is the word "Yavana". "Yona" and Yavana are both transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" , who were probably the first Greeks to be known in the East...
,
PahlavasThe Pahlavas are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts like the Manu Smriti, various Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Brhatsamhita. In some texts the Pahlavas are synonymous with the Pallavas, a dynasty of Southern India: While the Vayu Purana distinguishes between Pahlava and...
and
ParadasThe Paradas are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts such as the Manu Smriti, various Puranas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In Puranic literature, they are also referred to as Varadas and Paritas...
. Numerous
PuranicThe Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography...
texts refer to an ancient invasion of India (16th c. BC) by the cavalry forces of five nations, called five hordes (
pañca.ganan) or
KśatriyaKshatriya is one of the four varnas in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu...
hordes (
Kśatriya ganah), which had captured the throne of Ayudhya by dethroning its
VedicThe religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites that often involved sacrifices...
king Bahu
The
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
,
RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon . The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being Mahabharata...
, numerous Puranas and some foreign sources numerously attest that Kamboja cavalry was frequently requisitioned in ancient wars. V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar writes:
"Both the Puranas and the epics agree that the horses of the Sindhu and Kamboja regions were of the finest breed, and that the services of the Kambojas as cavalry troopers were requisitioned in ancient wars " . J.A.O.S. writes:
"Most famous horses are said to come either from Sindhu or Kamboja; of the latter (i.e the Kamboja), the Indian epicIndian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. Originally composed in Sanskrit and translated thereafter into Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, it includes some of the oldest epic poetry ever created and some works form the basis of Hindu scripture.- Sanskrit Epics :The...
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
speaks among the finest horsemenHorsemen may refer to:*Cavalry*Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse*Four Horsemen *Royal Canadian Mounted Police*Horsemen , starring Dennis Quaid*The Horsemen , starring Omar Sharif...
" .
Mahabharata (950 c BC) speaks of the esteemed cavalry of the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas and
TusharasThe Tocharians were the Tocharian-speaking inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, making them the easternmost speakers of Indo-European languages in antiquity.-Name:...
, all of whom had participated in the
Kurukshetra warAmong the Kshatriya tribes who had participated in the Kurukshetra war as recounted in the Mahabharata epic, the Kambojas occupy a prominent place....
under the supreme command of
KambojaKamboja or Kamvoja is one of the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. Western kingdoms were cold countries and people used blankets. They also reared sheep and drank sheep milk. Kamboja Horses were of excellent quality. Their horses and even horsemen were used in the wars between kings of...
ruler
Sudakshin KambojSudakshina Kamboja is the third king of the Kambojas referred to in the Mahābhārata. He is also the most referenced of all the Kamboja kings in the whole Mahābhārata and most illustrious warrior of the Kambojas of the Epic Age....
.
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
KuruKuru was the name of an Indo-Aryan tribe and their kingdom in the Vedic civilization of India, and later a republican Mahajanapada state. Their kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana...
king
DuryodhanaIn the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, and the chief antagonist of the Pandavas. He was an avatar of the demon Kali who had possessed the soul of Nala, forcing him to gamble...
of Hastinapura.
HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
(484 c BC – 425 c BC) ) attests that the
GandarianSee also Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
mercenaries (i.e.
Gandharans/Kambojans of Gandari Strapy of Achaemenids) from the twentieth strapy of the
AchaemenidThe Achaemenid Empire or Persian Empire was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
s were recruited in the army of emperor
Xerxes IXerxes the Great, also known as Xerxes I of Persia, was a Zoroastrian Persian Shahanshah of the Achaemenid Empire.Xerxes was the son of Darius the Great and his wife Atossa...
(486-465 BC), which he led against the
HellasThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
. Similarly, the
men of the Mountain Land from north of
KabolKabul , is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of over 2.5 million, and is located in the province of Greater Kabul...
-River equivalent to medieval
KohistanKohistan is a Persian word meaning mountainous region or highland .Kohistan may refer to:in Afghanistan...
(Pakistan), figure in the army of Darius III against
AlexanderAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
at
ArbelaArbela may refer to:*An important city in ancient Israel, located on the site of modern Irbid, Jordan*The ancient name of the city of Arbil in northern Iraq*The "Battle of Arbela" fought in 331 BC, called by modern historians the Battle of Gaugamela...
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
AshvakasThe Aśvakas or Aśvakayanas, classically called the Assacenii/Assacani, is the Sanskrit name of a people who supposedly lived in northeastern Afghanistan and the Peshawar Valley. They are/were believed to be a sub-group of the Greater Kamboja tribe profusely referenced in ancient Sanskrit/Pali...
, i.e. the "horsemen" and their land was known as "Home of Horses". They are the Assakenoi and Aspasioi of the
ClassicalClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
writings, and the Ashvakayanas and Ashvayanas in Panini's Ashtadhyayi. The Assakenoi had faced
AlexanderAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
with 30,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry and 30 war elephants. Scholars have identified the Assakenoi and Aspasioi clans of
KunarKunar may refer to:*Kunar Valley, Afghanistan*Kunar Province, Afghanistan*Kunar River, Afghanistan...
and
SwatSWAT is the special-weapons-and-tactics unit of a law-enforcement agency. Swat or SWAT may also refer to:* Swat, a blow, for instance in spanking, esp. as a birthday custom* Swat, a.k.a...
valleys as a section of the
KambojasThe Kambojas were a Kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. The earliest mention of the name Kamboja is in the Vamsa Brahmana...
. 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
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
drama
Mudra-rakashas by
Visakha Dutta and the Jaina work
Parisishtaparvan refer to
ChandraguptaChandragupta may refer to:* Chandragupta Maurya, Indian king, Mauryan Empire, 322–293 BCE* Chandragupta I, Indian king, Gupta Empire, 320-335 CE* Chandragupta II, Also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Indian king, Gupta Empire, 375-414 CE...
'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 MauryaChandragupta Maurya , sometimes known simply as Chandragupta , was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in bringing together most of the Indian subcontinent. As a result, Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor...
defeat the ruler of
MagadhaMagadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or regions in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges; its first capital was Rajagaha then Pataliputra...
and placed Vhandragupta on the throne, thus laying the foundations of Mauryan Dynasty in Northern India.
The cavalry of
HunasThe Huna , as they were known in South Asia, seem to have been part of the Hephthalite group, who established themselves in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at Bamiyan...
and the Kambojas is also attested in the
Raghu VamsaRaghuvamsa is believed to be a lineage of warrior kings tracing its ancestry to Surya. Kalidasa's famous work, Raghuvamsha describes the greatness of this race. This was a race which produced great kings like Harishchandra, Dileepa, Raghu, Aja, Dasaratha and Rama. Lord Rama's father was Dasaratha,...
play of Sanskrit Poet
KalidasaKālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the Gupta period, probably in the 4th or 5th century or 6th century.His place in Sanskrit...
. Raghu of Kalidasa is believed to be
Chandragupta IIChandragupta II was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta empire. His rule spanned 375-413/15 CE, during which the Gupta Empire achieved its zenith. The period of prominence of the Gupta dynasty is very often referred to as the Golden Age of India...
(
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
BengalBengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent...
with the
PratiharaThe Pratihara Empire , also known as Parihars, formed an Indian dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries. They are called Gurjara-Pratiharas in one late inscription. At its peak of prosperity and power The Pratihara Empire (Hindi...
s 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
ArthashastraThe Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and...
of Kautiliya as well as the
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
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
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
services to other nations as well. There are numerous references to Kambojas having been requisitioned as cavalry
trooperTrooper may refer to:* Trooper , a Canadian rock band* Trooper , a Romanian heavy metal band* Trooper , a military private rank* Trooper , a rank used by some state police agencies in the United States...
s in ancient wars by outside
nationA nation is a body of people who share a real or imagined common history, culture, language or ethnic origin. The development and conceptualization of the nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries,...
s.
XiongnuThe Xiongnu were a confederation of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with a ruling class of unknown origin and other subjugated tribes. The bulk of information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources. What little is known of their titles and names comes from Chinese transliterations from their...
or Hun, Tujue,
AvarsThe Eurasian Avars, sometimes referred to as the European Avars, or Ancient Avars, were a highly organized and powerful confederation of a mixed ethnic background, thought to be closely related to the Mongols, Bulgars, Khazars and other Oghur Turkic peoples of the time...
,
KipchaksKipchaks were an ancient Turkic people who originally formed part of the group of Kimäks in Siberia along the middle reaches of Irtysh or along the Ob. Around the middle of the eleventh century they split off from the bulk of the Kimaks and departed in the direction of Europe...
, Mongols,
CossackCossacks were originally members of military communities in the uninhabited borderland areas in the steppe that lies North of Black Sea...
s and the various
Turkic peoplesThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
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.
TibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average...
ans also had a tradition of cavalry warfare, in several military engagements early on with the Chinese
Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
(618–907 AD), including
Emperor Taizong's campaign against TufanEmperor Taizong of Tang , the second emperor of Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, subjugated the Xianbei state Tuyuhun in 635. Thereafter, Tuyuhun's southwestern neighbor, the Tibetan state Tufan, rose in power and soon displaced Tuyuhun as the major threat to Tang's west...
in 638.
East Asia
Further east, the
military history of ChinaEver since Chinese civilization was founded by the Xia Dynasty , organized military forces have existed throughout China. The recorded military history of China extends from about 2200 BC to the present day...
, specifically
northern Chinathumb|250px|Northern [[People's Republic of China]] region.Northern China or North China is a geographical region of 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 ChinaThe naval history of China dates back thousands of years, with archives existing since the late Spring and Autumn Period about the ancient navy of China and the various ship types used in war...
was centered more to the south, where mountains, rivers, and large lakes necessitated the employment of a large and well-kept
navyNaval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
.
In 307 BC,
King Wuling of ZhaoKing Wuling of Zhao reigned in the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period of Chinese history...
, the ancient Chinese ruler of the former
State of JinJin was one of the most powerful states in the Spring and Autumn Period, based in Shanxi, China. Jin was founded by Tang Shuyu, a descendant of the Zhou royal family. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin was split into three states: Han, Zhao and Wei...
territory, ordered his military commanders and troops to adopt the
trousersFor the TrouSerS implementation of the TCG Software Stack, see Trusted Computing Group.Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
of the
nomadNomadic people are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in...
s 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 ZhaoZhao was a Chinese state during the Warring States Period. Zhao was a significant state in the period, along with six others. At the beginning of the Warring States Period, the state of Zhao was one of the weakest states but gained strength during the reign of King Wuling 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
chariotThe chariot is the earliest and simplest type of carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Chariots were built in Mesopotamia by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 BC and in China during the 2nd millennium BC. The original chariot was a fast, light, open,...
-riding
Chinese aristocracyThe four occupations or "four categories of the people" was a hierarchic social class structure developed in ancient China by either Confucian or Legalist scholars as far back as the late Zhou Dynasty and is considered a central part of the Fengjian social structure...
in battle, which had been in use since the ancient
Shang DynastyThe Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia Dynasty. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper", in the Yellow River valley...
(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 thousand mounted cavalry in support or as an effective striking force. The handheld pistol-and-trigger
crossbowA crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a siege engine resembling a crossbow in mechanism and appearance.Crossbows historically played a...
was invented in China in the 4th century BC; it was written by the
Song DynastyThe Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
scholars Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du, and Yang Weide in their book
Wujing ZongyaoThe Wujing Zongyao was a Chinese military compendium written in 1044 AD, during the Northern Song Dynasty. Its authors were the prominent scholars Zeng Gongliang , Ding Du , and Yang Weide , whose writing influenced many later Chinese military writers. The book covered a wide range of subjects,...
(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 EmpireThe Mongol Empire was an empire from the 13th and 14th century spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia. It is the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world...
and its sinicized part, the
Yuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was both the continuation of the Mongol Empire and the Mongol founded historical state in Mongolia and China, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he had his grandfather Genghis Khan placed on the...
(1279-1368). The Chinese recognized early on during the
Han DynastyThe Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
(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 HanEmperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty in modern day mainland China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state...
(r. 141 BC-87 BC) went to war with the
DayuanThe Dayuan or Ta-Yuan were a people of Ferghana in Central Asia, described in the Chinese historical works of Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han. It is mentioned in the accounts of the famous Chinese explorer Zhang Qian in 130 BCE and the numerous embassies that followed him into...
for this exact reason, since the Dayuan were hording a massive amount of tall, strong, Central Asian bred horses in the Hellenized-
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
region of
FerganaFergana or Farghana is a city , the capital of Fergana Province in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southern edge of the Fergana Valley in southern Central Asia, cutting across the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...
(established a bit earlier by
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
). 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
stirrupThe stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to a saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal...
by at least the 4th century, as the oldest reliable depiction of a rider with paired stirrups was found in a
Jin DynastyThe Jìn Dynasty , one of the Six Dynasties, following the Three Kingdoms period and followed by the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China. The dynasty was founded by the Sima family...
tomb of the year 322 AD. The Chinese invention of the
horse collarA horse collar is a part of a horse harness device used to distribute load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plow. The collar often supports a pair of curved metal or wood pieces, called hames, to which the traces of the harness are attached...
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
KoreaThe history of Korea stretches from Lower Paleolithic times to the present. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began before 6000 BC, followed by the Bronze Age around 2500 BC...
was first introduced during the ancient Korean kingdom
GojoseonGojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom, considered the first proper nation of the Korean people. According to the Samguk Yusa and other Korean medieval-era records, Gojoseon is said to have been founded in 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun, who is said to be the Posterity of Heaven...
. 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
GoguryeoGoguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....
were called
Gaemamusa (개마무사, 鎧馬武士) and were similar to tanks in the age of the
Three Kingdoms of KoreaThe Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium CE...
.
King Gwanggaeto the GreatGwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo was the nineteenth monarch of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. His full posthumous name roughly means "Very Greatest King, Broad Expander of Territory, buried in Gukgangsang.", sometimes abbreviated to Hotaewang or Taewang...
often led expeditions into
BaekjeBaekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....
,
Gaya confederacyGaya was a confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period. The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is 42 - 532 CE...
, Buyeo and against Japanese invaders with his cavalry.
The
ancient JapaneseThe written history of Japan begins with brief information of Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts, in the 1st century AD. However, there is evidence that suggests people were living on the islands of Japan since the upper paleolithic period...
of the
Kofun periodThe is an era in the history of Japan from around 250 to 538. The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era. The Kofun period follows the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato 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. India has also the oldest evidence for the introduction of toe-
stirrupThe stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to a saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal...
s.
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
saddleA saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...
during the Middle Ages provided greater efficiency in mounted shock combat and the invention of
stirrupThe stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to a saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal...
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
spursSpurs are tools worn on the heel of a boot, used when riding horses.Spurs can also refer to:* Tottenham Hotspur F.C., an association football team from North London, England...
allowed better control of the mount during the "knightly charge" in full gallop. In western Europe there emerged what is considered the "ultimate"
heavy cavalryHeavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
, the
knightA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
. 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 is 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
CrécyThe Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
,
PoitiersThe Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, resulting in the second of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt.- Background :...
and
AgincourtThe Battle of Agincourt was an English victory against a much larger French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday 25 October 1415 , in northern France...
, while at
GisorsThe Battle of Gisors was a skirmish fought in Courcelles-lès-Gisors, Oise, Picardie, part of the on-going fighting between Richard I of England and Philip Augustus of France that lasted from 1194 to Richard's death in April 1199...
(1188),
BannockburnThe Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence. It was the decisive battle in the First War of Scottish Independence.-Prelude:...
(1314), and
LaupenThe Battle of Laupen of 1339 was fought between the Berne and its allies on one side, and Habsburg together with Burgundian allies on the other, with Berne victorious....
(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
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
to develop their
pike squareThe pike square was a military tactic developed by the Swiss Confederacy during the 15th century for use by its infantry.- History :...
s 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 armsCombined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects. Combined arms doctrine contrasts with segregated arms where each military unit is composed of only one type of soldier or weapon system...
doctrine as evidenced in the
Battle of MarignanoThe Battle of Marignano was a battle fought during the phase of the Italian Wars called the War of the League of Cambrai, that took place on 13 and 14 September, 1515, near the town today called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan...
. The introduction of missile weapons that were simpler to use, such as the
crossbowA crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a siege engine resembling a crossbow in mechanism and appearance.Crossbows historically played a...
and the hand cannons, also helped remove the focus somewhat from cavalry elites to masses of cheap infantry equipped with easy-to-learn weapons. These missile weapons were very successfully used in the
Hussite WarsThe Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1420 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were arguably the first European war in which hand-held gunpowder weapons such as hand cannons made a decisive...
, in combination with Wagenburg tactics.
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 could not overcome on horseback, such as in the Battle of the Dyle (891) and the
Battle of BremuleThe Battle of Brémule was fought in 1119 between Henry I of England and Louis VI of France. Henry I had to defend his holdings in Normandy several times and defeated a French invasion at the Battle of Brémule in 1119.-External links:...
(1119), but after 1350s this trend became more marked with the dismounted men-at-arms fighting as super-heavy infantry with two-handed
swordA sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
s 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
gendarmesA gendarme was a heavy cavalryman of noble birth, primarily serving in the French army from the Late Medieval to the Early Modern periods of European History...
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 weaponsEarly Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive. Gunpowder was first invented in China and then later spread to the Middle East...
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
musketeerA musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe.-Musketeers in China:Muskets were used in China at least from the 14th Century....
s could be trained and kept in the field at a much lower expense in addition to being much easier to replace. The Spanish
tercioThe Tercio , also known as Tercio Español, was a Renaissance era military formation similar to and derivative of the Swiss pike square and was a term used to describe a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers in a mutually supportive formation; it was also...
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
caracoleThe caracole or caracol consists of a manoeuvre on horseback in dressage and, previously, in military tactics.- Dressage caracole :...
. The caracole was not particularly successful, however, and the charge (whether with sword, pistol, or lance)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-lancerThe "Demi-lancer" or demilancer was a type of heavy cavalryman found in Western Europe in the 16th and early 17th centuries.-Characteristics:...
s and the heavily armored sword-and-pistol
reiterReiters were a type of cavalry, which appeared in the armies of Western Europe in the 16th century in place of the outmoded lance-armed knights, at the same time that cuirassiers and dragoons began to attain typological distinction from other kinds of cavalry...
s 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 hussarsThe Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of Polish Army between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had adopted the hussars from Hungary. When the unit type was first adopted, it was a light cavalry formation, and later it transformed into heavy cavalry...
, a force of heavy cavalry that achieved great success against
SwedesSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns, and
TurksThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
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
BlenheimThe Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement...
(1704),
RossbachThe Battle of Rossbach took place during the Seven Years' War near the village of Roßbach, in the Electorate of Saxony. Frederick the Great defeated the allied armies of France and the Holy Roman/Austrian Empire...
(1757),
EylauThe Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a mostly Russian army under General Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia....
and
FriedlandThe Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon Bonaparte's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
(1807), remaining a significant factor throughout the
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
. Massed infantry was deadly to cavalry but also offered an excellent target for
artilleryArtillery is a military combat Arm that employs weapons capable of discharging large projectiles in combat. They are generally capable of adding considerable fire power to the military capability of an armed force...
. Once the bombardment had disordered the infantry formation, cavalry were able to
routA rout is commonly defined as a chaotic and disorderly retreat or withdrawal of troops from a battlefield, resulting in the victory of the opposing party, or following defeat, a collapse of discipline, or poor morale....
and pursue the scattered footmen. It was not 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.
EylauThe Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a mostly Russian army under General Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia....
knew the greatest cavalry charge of the modern history, when the entire French cavalry reserve, lead by Maréchal
MuratMurat is a Turkish variant of the Arabic version Murad with the Turks having adopted the softer, front-of-mouth 'T' sound rather than the more guttural, back-of-mouth, 'D'. Its meaning can be translated roughly into 'Reached Desire', 'Happy Ending' or 'Accomplished Goal'...
, launched a huge charge on and through the russian infantry lines. The French horsemen also proved that cavalry could be a decisive element during the Peninsula War in Spain.
19th century
By the 19th century, European cavalry fell into four main categories:
- Cuirassier
Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...
s, heavy cavalry
- Dragoon
Dragoons were originally infantrymen deployed by horse, but later became cavalry. They were therefore trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
s, originally mounted infantry but later regarded as medium cavalry
- Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry created in Hungary in the 15th century and used throughout Europe and in Latin America since the 18th century...
s, light cavalry
- Lancer
A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as 700BC and subsequently by Greek, Macedonian, Persian, Gallic and Roman horsemen" The weapon was widely used in Asia and Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by...
s or UhlanUhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was later used by lancer regiments in the Prussian and Austrian armies....
s, light cavalry armed with lanceThe term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. The name is derived from lancea, Roman auxiliaries' javelin, although according to the OED, the word may be of Iberian origin....
s
There were cavalry variations for individual nations as well:
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
had the
chasseurs à cheval;
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
had the
Jäger zu Pferd;
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
had the
Chevaulegers; and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
had Cossacks. Britain had no
cuirassierCuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...
s (other than the
Household CavalryThe term Household Cavalry is used across the Commonwealth to describe the cavalry of the Household Divisions, a country’s most elite or historically senior military groupings or those military groupings that provide functions associated directly with the Head of state.Canada's Governor General's...
), but had Dragoon Guards regiments which were classed as heavy cavalry. In the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
, the cavalry were almost always dragoons. The
Imperial Japanese ArmyThe Imperial Japanese Army , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945...
had its cavalry dressed as
hussarHussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry created in Hungary in the 15th century and used throughout Europe and in Latin America since the 18th century...
s, but fought as dragoons.
In the early
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
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, lower cost per rifle fielded, 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 armyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
developing a truly effective cavalry force fighting as
scoutsReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
, raiders, and, with repeating rifles, as
mounted infantryMounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot in the modern era with muskets or rifles, but before that with spears and bows. The original dragoons were essentially 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 RegimentThe 7th Cavalry Regiment is a U.S. Cavalry regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", in honor of the Irish drinking song Garryowen that was adopted as its march tune.-Indian Wars:...
of
Little BighornThe Battle of the Little Bighorn —also known as Custer's Last Stand and in the parlance of the Native Americans involved, the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek—was an armed engagement between a Lakota–Northern Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
fame, and the African-American
U.S. 9th Cavalry RegimentThe 9th Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the United States Army.- Formation :The regiment was constituted 28 July 1866 in the Regular Army as Company F, 9th Cavalry. On 3 August 1866, Major General Philip H...
and
U.S. 10th Cavalry RegimentThe 10th Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. Formed as a segregated African-American unit, the 10th Cavalry was one of the original "Buffalo Soldier" regiments and served in combat during the Indian Wars of the western United States and the Spanish-American War...
. These regiments, which rarely took the field as complete organizations, served throughout the
Indian WarsIndian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government and the native people of North America....
through the close of the frontier in the 1890s.
19th-century Imperial Expansion
Cavalry found new success in Imperial operations (
irregular warfareIrregular military refers to any non-standard military. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used....
), 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,
OmdurmanAt the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British General Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
, etc). Cavalry "
flying columnA flying column, in military organization, is a small, independent land forces unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations....
s" proved effective, or at least cost-effective, in many campaigns—although an astute native commander (like
SamoriSamori Ture was the founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic state that resisted French rule in West Africa from 1882 to his capture in 1898. -Early life and career:Born c...
in western Africa, Shamil in the
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
, or any of the better
BoerBoer is the Dutch word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking pastoralists of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
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 ArmyThe Indian Army , now sometimes called the British Indian Army to distinguish it from the modern army of the Republic of India, was the principal army of the British Raj in India during the last half-century before the partition of India in 1947.The Indian Army served both in India and,...
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
The President's Bodyguard is an elite household cavalry regiment of the Indian Army. Its primary role is to escort and protect the President of India and is based in the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, India. It is a mounted unit, with horses for ceremonies at the presidential palace and BTR-60...
)
- 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
- Origin :The regiment began as Bengal irregular cavalry raised in Meerut and Cawnpore by Captain Liptrott.Like all regiments of the Indian Army, the 7th Cavalry underwent many name changes in the various reorganisations...
to form 18th King Edward's Own CavalryThe 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry was a regular cavalry regiment in the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922 by the amalagamation of the 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry and the 7th Hariana Lancers...
) now 18th Cavalry of the Indian ArmyThe Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to ensure the national security and defense of the Republic of India from external aggression and threats, and maintaining peace and security within its borders...
- Probyn's Horse (now Pakistani)
- Royal Deccan Horse (now India's The Deccan Horse)
- Poona Horse (now India's The Poona Horse
The Poona Horse was a regular British Indian Army Cavalry regiment. It was formed from the 3rd Regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry, raised in 1820, and the Poona Auxiliary Horse, raised about 1817-18...
)
- 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.
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 LegionForeign legion or Foreign Legion is a title which has been used by a small number of units of military units composed of foreign volunteers.It usually refers to the French Foreign Legion part of the French Army established in 1831.It can also refer to:...
cavalry and mounted
GoumierGoumier is a term used for Moroccan soldiers, who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army, between 1908 and 1956. The term was also occasionally used to designate native soldiers in the French army of the French Sudan and Upper Volta during the colonial era.-Description:The word...
s.
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 penetration of the opposing trenches that it seemed would never come. Tanks, introduced on the
Western FrontWestern Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the "contested armed frontier" between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West...
in September 1916, had the capacity to achieve such breakthroughs but did not have the reliable range to exploit them. Since mounted troops were too vulnerable and slow moving to act in effective support of the new weapon, 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 FrontThe Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
a more fluid form of warfare continued and there was still a use for mounted troops. Some wide-ranging actions were fought, again mostly in the early months 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
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.
Cavalry was extensively used in the
Russian Civil WarThe Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed and the Soviets under the domination of the Bolshevik party assumed power, first in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a multi-party war that...
and the Soviet-Polish War. The last major cavalry battle was the
Battle of KomarówThe Battle of Komarów was one of the most important battles of the Polish-Bolshevik War. It took place on August 31, 1920, near the village of Komarowo near Zamość...
in 1920, between Poland and the Russian Bolsheviks. 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 VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. 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 ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
, all cavalry regiments were mechanised between 1929 and 1941, redefining their role from horse to armoured vehicles to form the
Royal Armoured CorpsThe Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
together with the
Royal Tank RegimentThe Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
.
The thirty-nine regiments of the
Indian ArmyThe Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to ensure the national security and defense of the Republic of India from external aggression and threats, and maintaining peace and security within its borders...
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.
Two examples illustrate how the myth developed. First, because motorised vehicles were in short supply, the Poles used horses to pull anti-tank weapons into position. Second, there were a few incidents when Polish cavalry was trapped by German tanks, and attempted to fight free. However, this did not mean that the Polish army chose to attack tanks with horse cavalry. Later, on the Eastern Front, the
Red ArmyThe Red Army The Red Army The Red Army was the Soviet government’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the USSR. Since 1946, after the Second World War, it was called the Soviet Army.The 'Red...
did deploy cavalry units effectively against the Germans.
(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 rifle, model 35, anti-aircraft weapon, artillery like
Bofors 37 mmThe Bofors 37 mm gun was an anti-tank gun designed by Swedish manufacturer Bofors in the early 1930s. Licensed copies were produced in a number of countries. The gun was used by some European armies during World War II, mainly at the early stage of the war....
anti tank gun or 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 keep pace with advancing tanks. Other factors favouring the retention of mounted forces included the high quality of Russian Cossacks and other horse cavalry; and the relative lack of roads suitable for wheeled vehicles in many parts of the Eastern Front. Another consideration was that the logistic capacity required to support very large motorised forces exceeded that necessary for mounted troops.
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 ArmyThe Indian Army , now sometimes called the British Indian Army to distinguish it from the modern army of the Republic of India, was the principal army of the British Raj in India during the last half-century before the partition of India in 1947.The Indian Army served both in India and,...
), fought in a dismounted role, in Tobruk as part of 9th Australian Division. The US Army's last horse cavalry action was fought by the
26th Cavalry Regiment (PS)The 26th Cavalry Regiment was part of USAFFE's Philippine Department, during World War II. By January of 1942, the 26th was effectively destroyed...
in WWII; a small mounted regiment of
Philippine ScoutsThe Philippine Scouts was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 to World War II. Made up of native Filipinos assigned to the US Army's Philippine Department, these troops were generally enlisted and under the command of American officers, however, a handful of Filipinos...
, 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-Heraldry:SHOULDER SLEEVE INSIGNIA*Description: On a yellow Norman shield with a green border,*a blue chevron below two eight-pointed blue stars.*Blazon: Or, a chevron azure, in chief 2 mullets of eight points of the second, a bordure vert....
) 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
SikhSikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
sowarSowar , meaning 'The one who rides' in Persian, was originally a rank during the Mughal period. Later during the British Raj it was the name in Anglo-Indian usage for a horse-soldier belonging to the cavalry troops of the native armies of British India and the feudal states...
s 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 - and the final such confirmed charge in history - was probably that made in August 1942 by a cavalry unit of the
Italian Expeditionary Corps in RussiaThe Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia was a corps-sized unit of the Italian Royal Army which fought on the Eastern Front during World War II...
(
Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) on the
Eastern FrontThe Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of war between the European Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia and Finland , and the Soviet Union which encompassed central and eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9...
. A charge by the 3rd Dragoons
Savoia Cavalry Regiment of the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta Fast (
Celere) Division was not only made, but it was successfully made.
Post World War II to present day
The Soviet Army retained horse cavalry divisions until 1955, and even at the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was an independent horse mounted cavalry squadron in
KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east....
.
Several
armoredArmour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat...
divisions of the modern United States Army retain the designation of "cavalry". The
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
also had "
air cavalryAir assault is the movement of ground-based military forces, most commonly infantry, by VTOL aircraft such as the helicopter to seize and hold key terrain which has not been fully secured and rarely, to directly engage and destroy enemy forces...
" units equipped with
helicopterA helicopter is an aircraft that is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. Helicopters are classified as rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from fixed-wing aircraft because the helicopter achieves lift with the...
s, though that designation has fallen 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 is not always the case. The modern Irish Defence Force (IDF) includes a "Cavalry Corps" equipped with
PanhardPanhard is now a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years. The combined company now uses the Panhard name...
armoured cars and
Scorpion tracked combat reconnaissance vehiclesThe FV101 Scorpion is a British light tank, part of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance or, CVR family. The full design name is Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance Fire Support . Manufactured by Alvis Vickers it was introduced into service with the British Army in 1973 and served until 1994.More than...
. 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
guerrillaGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
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/late 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 WarThe Rhodesian Bush War—also known as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation or the Second Chimurenga—was a civil war in the former country of Rhodesia fought from July 1964 to 1979...
the
Rhodesian ArmyThe Rhodesian Army was part of the Security Forces of Rhodesia.-Bush War:During the Bush War, the army included:*Army Headquarters Army HQ*Four Brigade HQs , two District HQs , and HQ Special Forces...
created an elite mounted infantry unit called
Grey's ScoutsGrey's Scouts were a Rhodesian mounted infantry unit raised in July 1975 and named for George Grey, a prominent soldier in the Second Matabele War. Based in Salisbury , they were known for their participation in the Rhodesian Bush War...
to fight unconventional actions against the rebel forces of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. The horse mounted infantry of the Scouts were very effective and feared by 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 longer 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[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
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, 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 CadetsCorps of Cadets may refer to:* Cadet Corps * Corps of Cadets , Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth* The United States Military Academy Corps of Cadets* The Military College of Georgia Corps of Cadets...
at
Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University, often referred to as A&M or TAMU, is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas. It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The seventh-largest university in the United States, A&M enrolls over 48,000 students in ten...
.
The
French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
still has regiments with the historic designations of Cuirassiers, Hussars, Chasseurs, Dragoons and
SpahiSpahis were light cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.-Etymology:...
s. Only the cavalry of the
Republican GuardThe Republican Guard is part of the French Gendarmerie. It is responsible for providing security in the Paris area and for providing guards of honor.Its missions include:...
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 Royal Canadian Hussars is a Primary Reserve armoured regiment of the Canadian Forces. The unit is based in Montreal.-Lineage:...
,
the Governor General's Horse GuardsThe Governor General's Horse Guards is an armoured reconnaissance regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army, part of Land Force Central Area's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. Based in Toronto, it is the most senior reserve regiment in Canada, and the only Household Cavalry regiment of...
, 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 ArmyThe Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to ensure the national security and defense of the Republic of India from external aggression and threats, and maintaining peace and security within its borders...
'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
LancerA lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as 700BC and subsequently by Greek, Macedonian, Persian, Gallic and Roman horsemen" The weapon was widely used in Asia and Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by...
s or
HorseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, dating back to the nineteenth century.
As of 2007 the Chinese
People's Liberation ArmyThe People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on 1 August 1927—celebrated annually as "PLA Day"—as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
employs two battalions of horse cavalry in Xinjing Military District for border patrol work (see China-Defense.com website). In the wake of the
2008 Sichuan earthquakeThe 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 M
sand 7.9 M
w
there have been calls to rebuild the army horse inventory for disaster relief in difficult terrain.
Light and armoured cavalry
Historically, cavalry was divided into light and armoured cavalryHeavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
and Horse archers. The differences were mainly the size of the mount, and how much armor was worn by the mount-Displays and equipment:* Lens mount, an interface used to fix a lens to a camera* Telescope mount, a device used to support a telescope* A fixed point for attaching equipment, such as a hardpoint on an airframe...
and riderRider may refer to:A person who rides something:*Bike rider, a cyclist*Horse rider, an equestrian*Motorbike rider, a motorcyclistIn law:*Rider , an additional provision attached to a bill...
, and the active role they played in war.
Early light cavalry (like the auxiliaries of the Roman army) were typically used to scoutReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
and skirmish and to cut down retreating infantry and for defeating enemy missile troops. Armoured cavalry like the ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
CataphractA cataphract was a form of heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.The word in English is derived from the Kataphraktos , literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed"...
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, hence the later term "battle cavalry".
During the Gunpowder AgeEarly Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive. Gunpowder was first invented in China and then later spread to the Middle East...
, armored cavalry began to approach obsolescence. However, many units retained cuirassCuirass , the plate armour, is formed of a single piece of metal or other rigid material or composed of two or more pieces, which covers the front of the wearer's person...
es and helmets for their protective value against swordA sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
and bayonetA bayonet is a knife-, dagger-, sword-, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle barrel or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear. It is a close quarter battle combat or last-resort weapon.-History: The origins of the bayonet are...
strikes and the morale boost these provide to the wearers. By this time the main difference between light and battle 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 reconnaissanceReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
role while medium and heavy tanks are regarded as the decisive shock troopsShock troops or assault troops are infantry formations and their supporting units, intended to lead an attack. Shock troop is a loose translation of the German word Stoßtrupp...
.
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 statusIn sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society .A society's stratification system, which is the system of distributing rewards to the members of society, determines social status. Social status, the position or rank of a person or group...
. This was most clearly seen in the feudal systemFeudalism is a decentralized sociopolitical structure in which a weak monarchy attempts to control the lands of the realm through reciprocal agreements with regional leaders...
, 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 WaterlooWaterloo is a 1970 Soviet-Italian film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It was the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo, and was famous for its lavish battle scenes....
, which featured some 2000 cavalrymen, some of them cossacks. It included detailed displays of the horsemanship required to manage animal and weapons in large numbers at the gallop (unlike the real battle of WaterlooIn the Battle of Waterloo forces of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher...
, where deep mud significantly slowed the horses). The Gary CooperFrank James “Gary” Cooper was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, individualistic, emotionally restrained, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
movie They Came to CorduraThey Came To Cordura is a 1959 Western film co-written and directed by Robert Rossen, starring Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth, and featuring Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Richard Conte, Michael Callan, and Dick York.-Plot:...
contains an excellent scene of a cavalry regiment deploying from march to battleline formation. A smaller-scale cavalry charge can be seen in The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R...
(2003); although the finished scene has substantial computer-generated imageryComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
, raw footage and reactions of the riders are shown in the Extended Version DVD Appendices.
Some cavalry forces
- Cataphract
A cataphract was a form of heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.The word in English is derived from the Kataphraktos , literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed"...
- Kalmyks
- Mamluk
A mamluk was a soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim Arab caliphs from the 9th to the 16th centuries. They were of mixed ancestry but mainly Kipchak Turks...
s
- Sipahi
Sipahi was the name of several Ottoman cavalry corps...
(Ottoman)
- Cossack
Cossacks were originally members of military communities in the uninhabited borderland areas in the steppe that lies North of Black Sea...
s
- Hussars
- Lancer
A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as 700BC and subsequently by Greek, Macedonian, Persian, Gallic and Roman horsemen" The weapon was widely used in Asia and Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by...
s or UhlanUhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was later used by lancer regiments in the Prussian and Austrian armies....
s
- Cuirassier
Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...
- Dragoon
Dragoons were originally infantrymen deployed by horse, but later became cavalry. They were therefore trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
s
- Companions
The Companions were the elite cavalry of the Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world and the first shock cavalry unit...
- Polish winged hussars
The Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of Polish Army between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had adopted the hussars from Hungary. When the unit type was first adopted, it was a light cavalry formation, and later it transformed into heavy cavalry...
and Polish cavalryThe Polish cavalry can trace its origins back to the days of Medieval mounted knights. Poland had always been a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment...
- Bayreuth Dragoons
- Blues and Royals
The Blues and Royals is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.The Colonel-in-Chief is Her Majesty The Queen and the Colonel is HRH The Princess Royal...
(British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
now part of the Household Cavalry RegimentThe Household Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and is one of two regiments that are formed from the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1992, under the Options for Change reforms, by the amalgamation of the The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Both regiments were...
)
- Life Guards
The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army. With the Blues and Royals they make up the Household Cavalry.They originated in the four troops of horse guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, plus two troops of horse grenadier guards which were raised some...
(British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
now part of the Household Cavalry RegimentThe Household Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and is one of two regiments that are formed from the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1992, under the Options for Change reforms, by the amalgamation of the The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Both regiments were...
)
- Hakkapeliitta
Hakkapeliitta is a historiographical term used for a Finnish light cavalryman in the service of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the Thirty Years' War...
(Finnish cavalry of Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
)
- Garde Républicaine (French Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie Nationale may refer to:*Gendarmerie Nationale *Gendarmerie Nationale - Merged with Belgian police in 2001.and also:*Gendarmerie Nationale *Gendarmerie Nationale *Gendarmerie Nationale...
)
- Savoia Cavalry
- Governor General's Horse Guards
The Governor General's Horse Guards is an armoured reconnaissance regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army, part of Land Force Central Area's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. Based in Toronto, it is the most senior reserve regiment in Canada, and the only Household Cavalry regiment of...
(Canada)
- Chasseurs d'Afrique
The Chasseurs d'Afrique were a light cavalry corps in the French Armée d'Afrique . First raised in the 1830s from regular French cavalry posted to Algeria, they numbered 5 regiments by World War II...
(French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
)
- Light Horse (Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
)
- Savari
Savari was the designation given to the regular Libyan cavalry regiments of the Italian colonial army in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The word "savari" was derived from an Arab-Turkish term for "horsemen".-Organisation:...
(Italian North African)
- South Alberta Light Horse (Canadian Army)
- Spahi
Spahis were light cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.-Etymology:...
(French North African)
- United States Cavalry
The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, is the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army. The role of the U.S. Cavalry is reconnaissance, security and mounted assault. Cavalry has served as a part of the Army force in every war the United States has participated in...
- Grey's Scouts
Grey's Scouts were a Rhodesian mounted infantry unit raised in July 1975 and named for George Grey, a prominent soldier in the Second Matabele War. Based in Salisbury , they were known for their participation in the Rhodesian Bush War...
(Rhodesian ArmyThe Rhodesian Army was part of the Security Forces of Rhodesia.-Bush War:During the Bush War, the army included:*Army Headquarters Army HQ*Four Brigade HQs , two District HQs , and HQ Special Forces...
1975 - 80)
- 1st Cavalry Division (United States)
Some contemporary horse cavalry officers
- Brazil
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , Platine War , Uruguayan War and the War of the...
: Ataìde Barcelos Pereira, Regimento Osorio
- Canada
Land Force Command , often also called the Canadian Army, is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Forces.The current size of Land Force Command is 19,500 regular soldiers and 16,000 reserve soldiers, for a total of around 35,500 soldiers.LFC maintains regular forces units at bases...
: Akaash Maharaj, Governor General's Horse Guards
- France
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
: Didier Courrèges, Cadre NoirDidier Courrèges is a high-level horse rider. He is professor of equitation at the National School of Equitation in Saumur, France, and a member of its equestrian display team, the Cadre Noir....
- Italy
The Italian Army is the ground defence force of the Italian Republic. It has recently become a professional all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel, numbering 109,703 in 2008...
: Giulio Serafini, COMFOD 1
- UK
The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
: Harry Wales, Blues and Royals
- USA
The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, is the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army. The role of the U.S. Cavalry is reconnaissance, security and mounted assault. Cavalry has served as a part of the Army force in every war the United States has participated in...
: Edwin Ramsey, 26th Cavalry regiment
See also
- Cavalry tactics
For much of history humans have used some form of cavalry for war. Cavalry tactics have evolved over time. Tactically, the main advantages of cavalry over infantry troops were greater mobility, bigger impact and a higher position.-Predecessors:...
- Heavy Cavalry
Heavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
- Light Cavalry
Light cavalry refers to lightly-armed and armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
- Horses in warfare
The first use of horses in warfare occurred over 5000 years ago. The earliest evidence of horses ridden in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons...
- Waler horse
The Waler is an Australian breed of riding horses that developed from the horses that were brought to the Australian colonies in the 1800s. The name comes from their early breeding origins in New South Wales, they were originally known as New South Walers.-Origins and characteristics:The Waler...
External links