Cavalry
Cavalry refers to soldiers who are trained to fight while mounted on horseback, utilizing their horses' speed and mobility to execute a range of military tactics, including pursuit, reconnaissance, and shock attacks against enemies. Historically, the use of cavalry dates back to around 2000 BCE, with early civilizations in China and the Near East employing horsemen for coordinated assaults, especially with the introduction of mounted archers and lancers. Over the centuries, various cultures, such as the Huns, Mongols, and Persians, developed cavalry tactics that emphasized mobility and the use of bows, lances, and javelins.
As military technology evolved, so did the function of cavalry. Innovations like the stirrup in the 7th century CE allowed riders to wield their weapons more effectively, transforming cavalry into heavy armored units that dominated the battlefield for centuries. However, with the rise of trained infantry and advanced projectile weapons, the role of cavalry shifted from direct combat to reconnaissance and support, eventually leading to specialized cavalry units like dragoons and hussars.
By the mid-20th century, traditional cavalry had largely transitioned to ceremonial roles in modern armies, although some military units still retain cavalry-inspired titles, adapting the concept of mobility to mechanized warfare with armored vehicles. Cavalry's historical significance lies in its adaptability and the profound impact it had on military strategy throughout the ages.
Subject Terms
Cavalry
Cavalry are soldiers mounted on horseback using the mobility and speed of their horses to pursue or outmaneuver adversaries, perform long-distance reconnaissance, and, when charging, deliver force and shock action against an enemy. The history and use of cavalry in war parallels the development and application of specific weapons and weapons-related tactics.
Early Developments
Around 2000 BCE, armies in China and the Near East possessed large numbers of horsemen, but Assyrians first employed mounted archers and lancers, in conjunction with war chariots, to coordinate attacks against enemy infantry. Mounted archers provided a more stable firing platform than did a chariot, yet still maintained mobility and speed of attack. Cavalry equipped with bows, lances, and javelins became the primary military force for many centuries in India, Persia, Arabia, and China and later were promoted with great success by Huns, Turks, Mongols, Visigoths, Scythians, and Parthians. The favored tactic was to send small groups of mounted archers to attack in waves, fire arrows from a distance, harass the enemy, and attempt to turn the enemy formation and envelop their flank or rear, then ride down those in retreat.
The Persians employed a large number of mounted archers in their army but fought without tactical formation. Classical Greek cavalry was initially used for reconnaissance and pursuit, but Alexander the Great devised coordinated battle plans involving both infantry and cavalry where the cavalry, armed with broad swords and lances, was used as a shock weapon. Greek infantry would maneuver the enemy into position, where a cavalry charge could be brought to bear with decisive striking force.
However valuable infantry is on the battlefield, it is useless if it cannot arrive on time; men on foot move slower than men on horses. Imperial Rome used infantry and cavalry in a combined arms capacity, responding to a need for greater mobility in protecting conquered territories. As the Roman Empire expanded, invasions from the north and east increased. Rome needed the ability to patrol and react quickly along its frontiers. The Roman cavalry became a quick-strike mobile tactical unit armed with javelins and twin-edged short swords. Once classical civilizations began to be invaded routinely by mounted nomadic peoples, they had to respond with equally mobile forces. As a result, the proportion of cavalry to infantry rose steadily in late classical armies.
Innovation
About 650 CE, stirrups were developed in Arabia and, by the eighth century, were widely used in Europe. Until the stirrup, horses were predominantly mobile platforms from which to launch projectile weapons such as arrows and javelins. Stirrups allowed a rider to use the horse as a true shock weapon. Braced in the stirrups, a rider could stand and deliver a devastating downward blow with a sword or plunge a lance at the gallop. In the ninth century, iron horseshoes were developed, enabling horses to travel over more difficult terrain. These two inventions revolutionized mounted warfare, making way for the development of heavy armored cavalry. Conquest by Eastern nomadic peoples, for whom the horse was a way of life, and the advent of European armored horsemen meant cavalry came to dominate military tactics for the next seven hundred years.
In Asia, cavalry tactics remained unchanged, relying on speed, mobility, projectile weapons, and lightly armored riders. In Europe, cavalry evolved into unique forms of horsemen wearing armor and riding large, slow horses bred to carry weight. Armed with elongated shields, crouched lances, maces, broad swords, and axes, heavy cavalry depended on sheer impact during its charge to defeat an enemy. Combat was between individuals, and group tactics were unsophisticated. If a lance broke, it was discarded and the horseman continued to fight at close quarters with a hand-held weapon.
Changing Role
Cavalry was most effectively used against undisciplined foot soldiers. With the advent of drilled and trained professional infantry and the implementation of devastating projectile weapons such as the longbow, the crossbow, hand-held firearms, and artillery, all of which could penetrate armor at distance, the role of cavalry changed. Because cavalry were the only truly mobile battlefield force, their role in raiding and reconnaissance grew, but they also melded into a more complete battlefield strategy, attacking in set maneuvers in conjunction with infantry. Heavy armor and shock weapons disappeared, replaced by lightweight helmets, breastplates, flexible slashing sabers, and lances. Cavalry also adopted firearms. Cavalry armed with pistols could charge enemy positions, discharge their weapon, and quickly retreat to reload while the next squadron of riders attacked. If the enemy broke, the cavalry rode them down with lance and saber.
As the lethality of firearms increased, the importance of the cavalry charge diminished, but the superior mobility of the horse remained. From the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, cavalry units became specialized in their battlefield roles. Dragoons were mounted infantry moving on horseback, but fighting on foot armed with sabers and carbines. Hussars were light cavalry adept at ambush and reconnaissance armed with a variety of weapons, while cuirassiers were breastplate-armored shock cavalry armed with heavy sabers. Chasseurs were light cavalry used for chasing and harrying retreating forces, and lancers were used for scouting, charging, and pursuit.
As the efficiency of firearms increased, the role of battlefield cavalry all but disappeared. Until the advent of mechanized warfare, the horse offered superior mobility on the battlefield. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, armies still employing cavalry converted their horsemen into mounted infantry units. By the mid-twentieth century, horse-mounted soldiers had assumed strictly ceremonial roles in modern armies. However, some modern mechanized military units retained titles pertaining to their cavalry roots, such as armored cavalry regiments employing tanks.
Bibliography
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History Alive: Warhorse. Documentary, 2 parts. The History Channel, 1998.
Keegan, John. A History of Warfare. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
Lawford, James, ed. The Cavalry. New York: Crescent Books, 1976.
Vuksic, Velimir, and Zvonimir Grbasic. Cavalry: The History of a Fighting Elite 650 b.c.-a.d. 1914. New York: Arms & Armour, 1999.