"The use of the sword in the Great War: Faded glory or ..." Topic

…deadly efficiency?.

"Now's your change, Charles – after them with the sword!' With a thunder of hooves, Hornby led 1st Troop in hot pursuit of the Germans, followed a short while later by 4th Troop. The Dragoon Guards caught up with the Germans – from the 4th Cuirassier Regiment – in the village of Casteau, but as well as the patrol they were also confronted by a large group of enemy cavalry. Undaunted, Horby drew his sword and charged."

With these words, Adrian Gilbert (2014, p. 16) describes the very first moment of the first major battle the British fought in the Great War: under the command of captain Charles Hornby, the British cavalry charges, saber drawn, against the German forces to achieve a brilliant victory in the Battle of Mons (21-09-1914). In this battle captain Hornby shows his exceptional courage and even obtains the questionable honor of being the first who killed a German soldier with his saber.

Hornby's action evokes the image of medieval knights in shining armor, who bravely charged against their enemies, though… since the American Civil War (1861-1865) the role of the cavalry and it's main weapon, the saber, gradually diminished and finally lost it's strategical role on the battlefield. Horsemen swinging their sabers in the air became a romantic anachronism and didn't stand any chance against heavy artillery or machine guns. A terrible example of this is the Battle of Mussino (Russia) on the 17th of November 1941 where the fourth Mongolian cavalry division, counting about 2000 horsemen, was slaughtered by the German artillery. Only a dozen Mongolian soldiers escaped while not one German was hurt… They should have known better because in the Napoleonic wars, officers had already understood that a cavalry charge was unable to break a line of well trained riflemen…"
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Armand

Er, slightly over-egged (to put it politely). Not least of all, the British did not win Mons. The British cavalry made a significant contribution to not losing the battle completely but Hornby's part was tiny. Much more significant was the intelligence officer, Home. He telephoned as many towns as possible in Belgium when the cavalry division reached Mons. Based on the responses (or not) he was able to help Macdonogh (who headed up the intelligence unit in GHQ) work out where the Germans were in the build-up.

Robert