"Raison d'Etre de Cuirassier" Topic

In the SYW, the first task of (prussian) cuirassiers was to overthrow the enemy cavalry. Only after that was achieved, the hostile infantry became the focus of the heavy cavalry. When Napoleon kind of reintroduced the armour into the heavy cavalry (beside the 8th regiment), what was the main purpose of that? Has there been a change of doctrin? Is there any contemporary author that discussed that in the years between the SYW and 1802 (beside Frederick the Great)?

The main reason was to get a +2. It helps.

I have 2 Austrian Cuirassier units and 1 REALLY HEAVY CUIRASSIER unit. I'm looking forward. 😄🍺

Thank you for your feedback. I would give Cuirassiers a better save in hand to hand combat. Have a good day, Sir.

I always understood Napoleonic cuirassiers were breakthrough troop to be used when a weakness was exposed in the enemy line.
The key to Napoleonic warfare in general was to coordinate the use of the 3 types of troops (Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery) to make it difficult to know what type of defense posture to take. If you defend for one troop type, you are hit with another type.
John, do you give your Austrian cuirassiers back plates?

While I not sure I suspect the creation of the new French cuirassier regiments – they did have one in the Seven Years War, the Cuirassier de Roi – was in response to the dismal performance of French cavalry during the Seven Years War, when most French cavalry were Chevauxlégers (Light Horse' or ‘Cavalerie Légère, which is a weird carry-over from the Renaissance to differentiate them from gendarmes or fully armoured cavalry – the Chevauxlégers were essentially heavy cavalry and were issued with a cuirass and iron skull cap to wear under their coats/tricornes, although from what I have read they often didn't use them

During the Seven Years War there were 32 Gentleman's Chevauxléger regiments – small and most certainly under-performed – whereas the cuirassier regiments in Prussian and Austrian service were quite useful on the battlefield

Napoleon as I recall thought of cavalry as a key arm to battlefield success – Without cavalry, battles are without result" – when he reformed the French cavalry at the Camp of Bolougne in 1803 to be a battle-winning force to break a buckling enemy and pursue a victory

From a bunch of podcasts lately, seems Infantry finally learned it couldn't just be trodded down at will. The Napoleonic era probably was the prime of cavalry but Infantry was equal of cavalry until something upset that.

Wellington famously remarked that dismounted cuirassiers "struggled like a turtle", which gives you some idea of how tiring they were to wear. The British abandoned them in the 1700s.

The example of Waterloo showed the Union Brigade (Scots Greys, Royal Dragoons, Inniskilling Dragoons) and the Household Brigade easily sweeping away the French Cuirassiers, indicating that longer swords and stronger horses give advantages beyond that of breastplates, so to

dogtail's point, beyond the advantages of the initial charge and follow through, most heavies get out of breath. So I wonder whether the cuirasses quickly become an encumbrance. Having said that, it is nice to get my enamel paints out.

Wellington famously remarked that dismounted cuirassiers "struggled like a turtle", which gives you some idea of how tiring they were to wear. The British abandoned them in the 1700s.

The example of Waterloo showed the Union Brigade (Scots Greys, Royal Dragoons, Inniskilling Dragoons) and the Household Brigade easily sweeping away the French Cuirassiers, so to

dogtail's point, beyond the advantages of the initial charge and follow through, most heavies get out of breath. Plus, I wonder whether the cuirass becomes a distinct encumbrance. Having said that, it is nice to get my enamel paints out.

It is not my point which cavalry is better than the other, I wanted to know the thought process which led to the expansion of the cuirassier force and its designated role in combat

I think the answer was that Napoleon wanted a break-thru force to break a flagging enemy