"Austrian Cuirassiers Review" Topic

"During the later 17th century, Imperial Habsburg (i.e. ‘Austrian') armies were always composed of at least one third cavalry, since this was a particularly effective arm when dealing with the light and mobile Ottomans, and when operating in the difficult Hungarian countryside. The numbers of dragoons and later hussars would steadily grow, but it was the cuirassiers that remained the core of the mounted arm, offering shock troops that were particularly effective at pursuing a routed enemy. However, the normal Imperial battle tactic was similar to that of the French, which was to approach close to the enemy, discharge pistols and muskets, and then advance on the now hopefully disordered troops with cold steel in hand. This theoretically low-risk but undramatic tactic was developed to oppose more numerous and more mobile Ottoman opponents, but was also used against western enemies, although there the full-on charge seems to have been practised on at least some occasions…."

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Armand

Bavarian Cuirassiers

"The Electorate of Bavaria spent much of the 17th and 18th centuries trying to expand itself and its influence on European politics, and a milestone in that process came in 1682, when the first standing army was created, including a number of regiments of cuirassiers. In the following years the young Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian II Emanuel, who was married to the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, fought alongside the troops of his father-in-law against the Ottomans and during the Nine Years War, but when the War of the Spanish Succession broke out in 1701, he chose to ally with the French, and participated in several battles against his Habsburg relation and the rest of the Grand Alliance, though at great cost to his lands…"

Full Review here

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Armand