"Cavalry speeds at Austerlitz and Eylau?" Topic
5 Posts
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| Captain DEwell | 30 May 2012 2:37 p.m. PST |
I have been admiring the artwork of Keith Rocco, particularly his The Sons of Mars – Austerlitz and Charge of the Cuirassiers at Eylau – 1807. link Without trying to daze and confuse me with such talk as walk, trot, canter, gallop, what speed miles/kilometers per hour would such Napoleonic units clash with their adversary on the battlefield. Surely, if a horse would buck against a line of bayonets in a square then he wouldn't wish to run at speed into his equine brother either. Thanks in advance. |
| Major Bumsore | 30 May 2012 2:47 p.m. PST |
Surely, if a horse would buck against a line of bayonets in a square then he wouldn't wish to run at speed into his equine brother either. A horse will naturally shy away from a row of pointed metal spikes. An oncoming horde of his own race will not present such a threat and anyway horses charging towards each other will naturally take avoiding action – which is why so often the histories talk about two opposing lines of cavalry passing right through each other and turning to charge again. |
| Captain DEwell | 30 May 2012 3:19 p.m. PST |
which is why so often the histories talk about two opposing lines of cavalry passing right through each other and turning to charge again Oh, righto. Thanks, Margard, I hadn't picked up on that before. What speed MPH/KPH would a Cuirassier make contact with his opponent? |
| The Centurian | 30 May 2012 3:52 p.m. PST |
Something to keep in mind RE Eylau: The snow during this battle was reported to be a meter deep, which would have made any formed lines of Cuirassiers charging at speed pretty difficult to execute. |
Ligniere   | 30 May 2012 5:10 p.m. PST |
Parquin, an eyewitness to Eylau, stated that, 'Towards two o'clock in the afternoon an enormous mass of cavalry was set in motion and advanced towards us at a walk; the snow and marshy ground not permitting any faster pace'.
Parquin is referring to the Russian cavalry in this quote, but the same was probably true for the French, as the terrain was the same for both.
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According to one oneline source, a cavalry walk is between three and four miles per hour, a trot is between six and eight miles per hour, and the gallop probably twelve to sixteen miles per hour.
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