"Of Sabres and Horse Charges" Topic

"To students of the War Between The States, and cavalry in particular, we often envision horse combats by reading first hand accounts, period After Action Reports and studying maps both period and modern. While these are our best sources of information, these traditional avenues can lead to misconceptions. In my opinion a lot of the confusion arrives from battle maps. Don't get me wrong, I love maps, they are essential in studying history, but maps are far better representations of siege lines than horse charges. While maps are great visual aids in quickly placing combat groups on known terrain, they tend to give a static, 1st phase, 2nd phase, 3rd phase, series of clear, controlled steps to mounted combat. As an experiment drop some raisins on the ground in range of two ant mounds. Then sit back and watch the rush of insects and the wave of attacks on the raisins. Like the swarming ants, horse combats were fluid affairs that could quickly change course whenever a new raisin arrived.

The power of a horse charge derived from its speed and collective momentum. As prey animals, horses are instinctually hard wired to stay together, and it is this herding instinct that makes a horse charge even plausible. To harness this potential power, horses and riders had to be capable of moving in cohesive blocks of multiple fronts at different speeds over varying terrain. Such discipline only came with long hours of repetitive practice of a written, consistent drill that standardized the movements. The most common, or familiar, drill in the WBTS was J. R. Poinsett's, Cavalry Tactics, issued by the U.S. War Department before the Mexican War. Poinsett's utilized a two rank formation with a front rank and rear rank, and each file, or front rank trooper, had a file mate directly behind him in the rear rank. Troopers were grouped into platoons and two platoons formed a 100-man company also known as a troop – in the field a troop usually numbered between 50 and 60 men. Two troops, commanded by a senior captain, formed a squadron and the squadron served as the basic tactical element of the cavalry. Two squadrons formed a battalion commanded by a major, and three battalions formed a regiment, commanded by a colonel with an assisting lieutenant colonel and regimental staff. A brigade, commanded by a brigadier general, was formed of three or four regiments, and a division created by linking two or three brigades. Rank rarely kept up with responsibility, battalions were at times commanded by captains while colonels sometimes led brigades…."
Main page
link

Amicalement
Armand

Anyone interested in mounted cavalry should definitely read this article in full.

Having participated in mounted Civil War cavalry re-enactment, I can say how difficult it was to maneuver even sixteen horseman around a battlefield. They cover ground so fast at a gallop. Even a trot of six to eight miles an hour covers ground in a hurry.

David Johnson once wrote that Marshal Macdonald said that of all of the cavalry commanders in Europe, only Kellerman, Lasalle, and Montbrun truly knew how to maneuver large bodies of cavalry on the battlefield.

Tom

Did they write about it so we could read about it?

This is a truly great site, Tango! Read about the 6th PA Cavalry – Rush's lancers.

Well done!

GdeP

Though a Napoleonic era guy horses travel the same
Good article.

Glad you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Interesting certainly, though it's difficult (for me) to visualise the kind of crashing impact the author, and others, describes. How to represent this for a wargame?

Some years ago I was told by a retired soldier, Scots Guards, that years before he had participated in a sort-of re-enactment of Waterloo at Windsor (where the old queen has one of her castles, near to the playing fields of Eton); in essence, the action consisted of the Guards battalions in squares being charged by the Household Cavalry playing the roles of French cuirassiers(well, they wear shiny steel breastplates nowadays). By his account, the mere sight of about one hundred cavalrymen trotting towards them was among the most unpleasant and indeed frightening experiences of his service. That had included the War for the Falkland Islands/Malvinas in the early 1980s.

Thanks!

Amicalement
Armand

I was on a civilian mounted drill team as well as being part of a cavalry reenactment group and both the horse and the rider require hours and hours of training and practice to be able to conduct even the simplest of maneuvers. The cavalry group practiced our evolutions on foot for weeks before even trying them on horseback, and even then we did not have enough time to practice to become proficient. Try to imagine that with bullets flying and artillery falling around with panicked horses and riders!