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Charge (warfare)
Encyclopedia
A charge is a maneuver in battle
in which soldier
s advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in close combat
. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisive moment of most battles in history. Modern charges usually involve small groups against individual positions (such as a bunker) instead of large groups of combatants charging another group or a fortified line.
included an ordered approach march, with a final charge to contact
, both of armored knights and lighter mounted troops of both earlier and later eras. Historians such as John Keegan have shown that when correctly prepared against (such as by improvising fortifications) and, especially, by standing firm in face of the onslaught, cavalry charges often failed against infantry, with horses refusing to gallop into the dense mass of enemies, or the charging unit itself breaking up. However, when cavalry charges succeeded, it was usually due to the defending formation breaking up (often in fear) and scattering, to be hunted down by the enemy.
in the 1090s, the cavalry charge was being employed widely by European armies.
, such as the charge at Krojanty of the Polish Uhlans against German mechanised infantry, successfully scattering the dismounted Germans, before being annihilated by armoured vehicles, or the charge of the Savoia Cavalry
at Izbushensky near the Don, 24th August 1942. Although these were successful charges, they were defensive in nature. British and American cavalry units also made similar cavalry charges during World War II.
In what was called the "last true cavalry charge", elements of the United States
7th Cavalry Regiment attacked Villista forces in the Battle of Guerrero
on March 29, 1916. The battle was a victory for the Americans, occurring in desert terrain, at the Mexican
town of Guerrero
, in the state of Chihuahua.
The last successful offensive cavalry charge in history was not conducted by cavalry at all, but rather by mounted infantry
, when on 31 October 1917, the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade
charged across two miles of open terrain in the face of Ottoman
artillery
and machine gun
fire to successfully capture Beersheba
in what would come to be known as the Battle of Beersheba.
There has been a constant rise in an army's rate of fire for the last 700 years or so, but while massed charges have been successfully broken they have also been victorious. It is only since the late 19th century that straight charges have become less successful, especially since the introduction of the machine gun
and breech-loading artillery
. They are often still useful on a far smaller scale in confined areas where the enemy's firepower cannot be brought to bear.
Battle
Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...
in which soldier
Soldier
A 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 advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in close combat
Close combat
*Close combat is a generic term for both Close Quarters Battle and Hand to hand combat.*Mêlée generally refers to disorganized close combat.*CQB is an acronym for Close Quarters Battle, such as that which occurs in urban warfare....
. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisive moment of most battles in history. Modern charges usually involve small groups against individual positions (such as a bunker) instead of large groups of combatants charging another group or a fortified line.
Ancient charges
It may be assumed that the charge was practised in prehistoric warfare, but clear evidence only comes with later literate societies. The tactics of the classical Greek phalanxPhalanx formation
The phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...
included an ordered approach march, with a final charge to contact
Highland charge
In response to the introduction of firearms, Irish and Scottish troops at the end of the 16th century developed a tactic that combined a volley of musketry with a rapid close to close combat using swords. Initially successful, it was countered by effective discipline and the development of defensive bayonet tactics.Bayonet charge
The development of the bayonet in the late 17th century led to the bayonet charge becoming the main infantry charge tactic through the 19th century and into the 20th. As early as the 19th century, tactical scholars were already noting that most bayonet charges did not result in close combat. Instead, one side usually fled before actual bayonet fighting ensued. The act of fixing bayonets has been held to be primarily connected to morale, the making of a clear signal to friend and foe of a willingness to kill at close quarters.Cavalry charges
The shock value of a charge attack has been especially exploited in cavalry tacticsCavalry tactics
For much of history , humans have used some form of cavalry for war. Cavalry tactics have evolved over time...
, both of armored knights and lighter mounted troops of both earlier and later eras. Historians such as John Keegan have shown that when correctly prepared against (such as by improvising fortifications) and, especially, by standing firm in face of the onslaught, cavalry charges often failed against infantry, with horses refusing to gallop into the dense mass of enemies, or the charging unit itself breaking up. However, when cavalry charges succeeded, it was usually due to the defending formation breaking up (often in fear) and scattering, to be hunted down by the enemy.
The European Middle Ages
The cavalry charge was a significant tactic in the Middle Ages. Although cavalry had charged before, a combination of the adoption of a frame saddle secured in place by a breastband, stirrups and the technique of couching the lance under the arm delivered a hitherto unachievable ability to utilise the momentum of the horse and rider. These developments began in the 7th. century but were not combined to full effect until the 11th. century. The Battle of Dyrrachium in 1081 was an early instance of the familiar medieval cavalry charge; recorded to have a devastating affect by both Norman and Byzantine chroniclers. By the time of the First CrusadeFirst Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
in the 1090s, the cavalry charge was being employed widely by European armies.
The twentieth century
In the twentieth century, the cavalry charge was seldom used, though it enjoyed sporadic and occasional success. By the end of the century the cavalry charge was redundant and no longer employed in military tactics. Several attempted charges were made in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, such as the charge at Krojanty of the Polish Uhlans against German mechanised infantry, successfully scattering the dismounted Germans, before being annihilated by armoured vehicles, or the charge of the Savoia Cavalry
1 Cavalry Division Eugenio di Savoia
The 1 Cavalry Division Eugenio di Savoia was an Cavalry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Eugenio di Savoia was mobilized in 1940, as a cavalry division and took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia. The Division remained in Yugoslavia in the Italian XI Corps as an occupying...
at Izbushensky near the Don, 24th August 1942. Although these were successful charges, they were defensive in nature. British and American cavalry units also made similar cavalry charges during World War II.
In what was called the "last true cavalry charge", elements of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
7th Cavalry Regiment attacked Villista forces in the Battle of Guerrero
Battle of Guerrero
The Battle of Guerrero, or the Battle of San Geronimo, in March 1916, was the first military engagement between the rebels of Pancho Villa and the United States during the Mexican Expedition. After a long ride, elements of the American 7th Cavalry Regiment encountered a large force of Villistas at...
on March 29, 1916. The battle was a victory for the Americans, occurring in desert terrain, at the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
town of Guerrero
Vicente Guerrero, Chihuahua
Vicente Guerrero is a city and seat of the municipality of Guerrero, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As of 2005, the town had a total population of 6,536....
, in the state of Chihuahua.
The last successful offensive cavalry charge in history was not conducted by cavalry at all, but rather by mounted infantry
Mounted infantry
Mounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot . The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry...
, when on 31 October 1917, the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade
4th Light Horse Brigade
The 4th Light Horse Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade of the First Australian Imperial Force serving in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The brigade was formed in March 1915 and shipped to Egypt without their horses and was broken up in Egypt in August 1915...
charged across two miles of open terrain in the face of Ottoman
artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
fire to successfully capture Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
in what would come to be known as the Battle of Beersheba.
Impact of firearms
In the firearms age, the basic parameters are speed of advance against rate (or effectiveness) of fire. If the attackers advance at a more rapid rate than the defenders can kill or disable them then the attackers will reach the defenders (though not necessarily without being greatly weakened in numbers). There are many modifiers to this simple comparison – timing, covering fire, organization, formation and terrain, among others. A failed charge may leave the would-be attackers vulnerable to a counter-charge.There has been a constant rise in an army's rate of fire for the last 700 years or so, but while massed charges have been successfully broken they have also been victorious. It is only since the late 19th century that straight charges have become less successful, especially since the introduction of the machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
and breech-loading artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
. They are often still useful on a far smaller scale in confined areas where the enemy's firepower cannot be brought to bear.
Notable charges
- Battle of HastingsBattle of HastingsThe Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
(October 14, 1066): 2,200 Norman Knights repeatedly charged the Anglo-Saxon shield wall. All charges were repulsed with heavy casualties until the Saxon infantry broke its shieldwall formation and followed the routing Norman cavalry. - Battle of Dyrrachium (October 18, 1081): Normans under the Duke of Apulia Robert GuiscardRobert GuiscardRobert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
charged and routed the Varangian GuardVarangian GuardThe Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
, Byzantine levies and caused a widespread rout of the Byzantine army, ending in a devastating defeat for Byzantium. The Varangian GuardVarangian GuardThe Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
fled to the sanctuary of a nearby church which the Norman forces burnt down. First recorded instance of a successful and decisive 'shock' cavalry charge. - Battle of FalkirkBattle of FalkirkThe Battle of Falkirk, which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence...
(July 22, 1298) English cavalry, though able to break Scottish archers and cavalry, charges and is repulsed by a tight formation of Scottish Pikemen. With the Battle of Golden Spurs (below), the battle contributed to the end of the perception of cavalry supremacy in warfare. - Battle of Golden Spurs (July 11, 1302): French cavalry, consisting of many nobles is defeated in battle against heavily-armed Flemish militias. The cavalry charge was cited to be rash and premature with the battlefield's many ditches and marshes blamed for the loss. However it also demonstrated that well-disciplined and heavily-armed infantry could defeat cavalry charges, ending the perception that heavy calvalry was practically invincible against infantry.
- Battle of CrecyBattle of 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...
(August 26, 1346): 29,000 French and allied knights charged 16,000 English soldiers on a gentle slope. Under heavy longbow fire, the charge was a total disaster, with the French army losing over 1500 knights, many of them from important noble families. - Battle of AgincourtBattle of AgincourtThe Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
(October 25, 1415): French knights become bogged down in a charge against the outnumbered English forces. The charge is slowed and stalled by the thick mud of Agincourt field, allowing the light English infantry to kill and capture many French knights and prominent French nobles. - Battle of PatayBattle of PatayThe Battle of Patay was the culminating engagement of the Loire Campaign of the Hundred Years' War between the French and English in north-central France. It was a decisive victory for the French and turned the tide of the war. This victory was to the French what Agincourt was to the English...
(June 18, 1429): French heavy cavalry charges an English army, for the first time defeating the English longbowEnglish longbowThe English longbow, also called the Welsh longbow, is a powerful type of medieval longbow about 6 ft long used by the English and Welsh for hunting and as a weapon in medieval warfare...
men in a direct confrontation, marking a turning point in the Hundred Years' WarHundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. - Fall of ConstantinopleFall of ConstantinopleThe Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
(May 29, 1453) 1,000 of the remaining Greek soldiers charged the 120,000 Turkish soldiers that had just surged over the walls in a heroic last charge to allow the other 4,000 defenders to escape. They were led by the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI. They were all slaughtered. - Battle of NagashinoBattle of NagashinoThe ' took place in 1575 near Nagashino Castle on the plain of Shitaragahara in the Mikawa province of Japan. Forces under Takeda Katsuyori had besieged the castle since the 17th of June; Okudaira Sadamasa , a Tokugawa vassal, commanded the defending force...
(1575) - Charge of Takeda clan cavalry against massed arquebusiers behind stockades and supported by other infantry fails with heavy losses. - Battle of KlushinoBattle of KlushinoThe Battle of Klushino was fought on 4 July 1610, between forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Grand Duchy of Moscow during the Polish-Muscovite War, part of Russia's Time of Troubles. The battle occurred near the village of Klushino near Smolensk...
(4 July 1610) – Polish forces numbering about 4,000 men (of which about 80 percent were the famous 'winged' hussarsPolish HussarsThe Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of the first Polish Army, later also introduced into the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, between the 16th and 18th centuries...
under HetmanHetmanHetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Stanisław Żółkiewski defeated a numerically superior force of about 35,000–40,000 Russians under Dmitry ShuiskyDmitry ShuiskyPrince Dmitry Ivanovich Shuisky was a Russian boyar from the Shuisky family, a younger brother to Vasily IV of Russia.As a playmate of young Tsarevich Feodor Ivanovich, Dmitry was said to accompany him day and night in his devout wanderings from monastery to monastery. In 1584, his slandering of...
, Andrew Golitsyn and Danilo Mezetski. In battle hussar units charged 8 – 10 times. - Battle of ViennaBattle of ViennaThe Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...
(September 11–12, 1683): 20,000 Polish, Austrian and German cavalry led by the Polish king Jan III Sobieski and spearheaded by 3000 heavily armed Polish armoured lancers – hussarsPolish HussarsThe Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of the first Polish Army, later also introduced into the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, between the 16th and 18th centuries...
charged Ottoman lines. The largest cavalry charge in history. - Battle of EylauBattle of EylauThe Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7 and 8 February 1807, was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a Russian Empire army under Levin August, Count von Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia. Late in the battle, the Russians...
(February 8, 1807): 11,000 French cavalry under Joachim MuratJoachim MuratJoachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
charge centre of Russian Army to save French Army of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Battle of SomosierraBattle of SomosierraThe Battle of Somosierra occurred November 30, 1808 in the Peninsular War, when a French army under Napoleon I forced a passage through the Sierra de Guadarrama shielding Madrid....
(November 30, 1808): During the Peninsular WarPeninsular WarThe Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
Napoleon overwhelmed the Spanish positions in a combined armsCombined armsCombined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different branches of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects...
attack, charging the PolishUhlanUhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was later used by lancer regiments in the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian armies....
Chevau-légersChevau-légersThe Chevau-légers was a generic French name for several units of light cavalry, roughly similar to lancers in the armies of other states during the Napoleonic Wars. Perhaps the most famous of all such units were the Polish 1st Light Cavalry Regiment of the Guards and the French 2nd Light Cavalry...
of the Imperial Guard at the Spanish guns while French infantry advanced up the slopes. The victory removed the last obstacle barring the road to Madrid, which fell several days later. - Battle of WaterlooBattle of WaterlooThe Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
(June 18, 1815): 2,000 British cavalry charge French infantry, and 9,000 French cavalry charge British infantry. - Charge of the Light BrigadeCharge of the Light BrigadeThe Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. The charge was the result of a miscommunication in such a way that the brigade attempted a much more difficult objective...
(October 25, 1854) at the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean WarCrimean WarThe Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. - Pickett's ChargePickett's ChargePickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander,...
(July 3, 1863) at the Battle of GettysburgBattle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
in the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. - Battle of OpequonBattle of OpequonThe Battle of Opequon, more commonly known as the Third Battle of Winchester, was fought in Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864, during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War....
(September 19, 1864): the largest cavalry charge of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. - Second Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864): the largest infantry charge of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. - Battle of Mars-la-TourBattle of Mars-La-TourThe Battle of Mars-La-Tour was fought on 16 August 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War near the town of Mars-La-Tour in northeast France. Two Prussian corps encountered the entire French Army of the Rhine in a meeting engagement, and with the surprise entailed, successfully forced the Army of the...
(August 16, 1870): "Von Bredow's Death Ride". Prussian heavy cavalry brigade overrun French infantry and artillery to save left flank of Prussian Army, at cost of half the brigade. - Charge of the 21st Lancers21st LancersThe 21st Lancers were a cavalry regiment of the British Army, created in 1858 and amalgamated to form the 17th/21st Lancers in 1922...
in the Battle of OmdurmanBattle of OmdurmanAt the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
, September 2, 1898: 400 British cavalry charge 2,500 Mahdist infantry. - Relief of Kimberley (13 February 1900): Major-General John FrenchJohn French, 1st Earl of YpresField Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...
led a charge of 7,500 cavalry through Boer lines to lift the Siege of Kimberley, during the Second Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
.
- Charge of the 4th Light Horse in the Battle of Beersheba (October 31, 1917): two regiments of Australian Light Horse charge an unknown number of entrenched Turkish infantry and Austrian artillery.
- Charge of the 7th Dragoons, November 11, 1918: British cavalry make an opportunistic charge on German infantry to capture LessinesLessinesLessines is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Lessines had a total population of 17,848. The total area is 72.29 km² which gives a population density of 247 inhabitants per km²...
and the DenderDenderThe Dendre or Dender is a 65 km long river in Belgium, right tributary of the river Scheldt. The confluence of both rivers is in the Belgian town Dendermonde....
crossings in BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The last cavalry charge of World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, with the action completed as the clocks were striking 11 o'clock to mark the end of hostilities.
- Battle of KomarówBattle 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...
(August 31, 1920): a vital and decisive battle of the Polish-Bolshevik War. It was the largest and last great cavalry battle of significance in which cavalry was used as such and not as mounted infantry. - The last British army's cavalry charge by a complete regiment was executed in Turkey during the 1920 Chanak crisisChanak CrisisThe Chanak Crisis, also called Chanak Affair in September 1922 was the threatened attack by Turkish troops on British and French troops stationed near Çanakkale to guard the Dardanelles neutral zone. The Turkish troops had recently defeated Greek forces and recaptured İzmir...
, when the 20th Hussars successfully charged a body of Turkish infantry. - Battle of KrojantyBattle of KrojantyThe Charge, battle or skirmish of Krojanty was a cavalry charge that occurred during the Invasion of Poland in the Second World War. It took place on the evening of September 1, 1939, near the Pomeranian village of Krojanty...
(September 1, 1939): a cavalry charge that gave birth to the myth of Polish cavalryPolish 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...
charging German tanks. It's an invention of the Germans. In fact, Polish cavalry charged a regiment of German soldiers and were surprised by the arriving of a group of armored cars and retreated. - Bataan PeninsulaBataan PeninsulaThe Bataan Peninsula is a rocky extension of the Zambales Mountains, on Luzon in the Philippines. It separates the Manila Bay from the South China Sea...
(January 16, 1942): US 26th Cavalry Regiment makes a mounted pistol charge against Japanese positions, the last mounted charge in battle by conventional United States troops. - Eastern Front, World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, (August 24, 1942): The last cavalry charge against a regular enemy army of Italian history happened in Izbušenskij. It was mounted against a SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
artilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
position along the River DonDon River (Russia)The Don River is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 kilometres to the Sea of Azov....
by 700 men of the Italian 3rd 'Savoia' Cavalry Regiment. This is often reported as "the last successful cavalry charge in history". - Battle of Poloj (October 17, 1942): The last charge of an Italian horse regiment during WWII. It was executed in YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
by the 14th Light Cavalry Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Alessandria" versus Communist partisans. - Battle of BorujskoBattle of SchoenfeldThe Battle of Schoenfeld took place on March 1, 1945 during World War II and was the scene of the last mounted charge in the history of the Polish cavalry.The website notes the assertion by Polish author Cezar Leżeński that further cavalry charges were made on April 21, 1945, at Heckelberg and...
(Schönfeld in German) was the last charge of the Polish 1st Cavalry Brigade just before the end of WWII. On March 1, 1945, it attacked the German lines in support of Soviet Forces. The charge was successful. - Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
(February 7, 1951): A company of soldiers from the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Regiment did an infantry charge which successfully defeated an enemy machine gun position. - Battle of Mount TumbledownBattle of Mount TumbledownThe Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement in the Falklands War, one of a series of battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley.-Overview:...
(June 13–14, 1982): British infantry charge Argentine positions in the Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. The last successful bayonetBayonetA bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
charge until 2004.