User:Gwinva/Sandbox4


 * Horses in warfare

Early notes, under headings chosen for my convenience. Winnowing and reorganisation for article comes later! Some information might be better suited to sub-articles, such as cavalry, Nap wars, etc.

Early modern general stuff

 * NOT USED:

The ratio of footmen to horsemen increased over the period as the infantry weaponry improved, and footmen became more mobile and versatile, particularly once the musket bayonet had been adopted, replacing the more cumbersome pike.

Horses were a vital component of most armies in early modern Europe, and many instituted state studs for the breeding of horses for the military, but in wartime supply rarely matched the demand, resulting in some cavalry troops fighting on foot.

Post medieval: 16th 17th 18th C
During the Elizabethan period, British cavalry generally comprised three types: cuirassiers, heavily armoured and equipped with lances, light cavalry, who wore mail and bore light lances and pistols, and "petronels", who carried a early carbine.

By the English Civil War, the heavy cavalry had reduced (although the Scots retained their light cavalry), and armour was increasingly abandoned, so that dragoons became more common: mounted infantrymen whose main duties involved reconnaissance, escort and security. Dragoons' horses were smaller, and were rarely used in combat. Cavalry tactics also altered, with fewer mounted charges at pace, and more reliance on drilled manoeuvres undertaken at the trot, with the discharge of firearms once within range.

However, the heavy mounted charge was not made obsolete, with many generals making use of the tactic over the centuries, from the Duke of Marlborough, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, who made great use of sword-wielding wedge-formation shock troops to penetrate enemy lines, to Napoleon in the early 19th century, who employed armoured heavy cuirassiers, and rated the cavalry as his most essential arm.[now, where did I just read that?] <!--

Americas
The advantages of speed and increased impact provided by the European cavalry contributed to a number of their early victories in the Americas, but since cavalry was suited to open plains, their success was limited in the more mountainous regions in Central and South America. However, the Andes provided well-maintained roads, which enabled quick mounted raids, such as those undertaken by the Spanish while resisting the Inca siege of Cuzco in 1536–7.

Nap wars
On the battlefield, the cavalry's main offensive role was as shock troops, providing a mounted charge. Charges were carefully managed for speed (a charge's maximum speed was 20kph; faster progress resulted in a break in formation, and blown horses) and formation, and undertaken across clear rising ground, the cavalry deploying in line or column, and often accompanied by horse artillery. Frequently, infantry followed behind, in order to secure any ground won. In defence, cavalry could be used to attack and harass the enemy's infantry flanks as they advanced. In addition, cavalry were used to break up enemy lines following successful infantry action.

Cavalry remained extremely effective against infantry on the march, or when formed in line or column. A battalion formed in line was particularly vulnerable to cavalry, and could be broken or destroyed by a well-formed cavalry charge, such as when Lt-Col Colborne's brigade was destroyed during the Battle of Albuera in 1811, with the loss of 1,250 out of his 1,650 men. For protection, infantry sought their own cavalry screens and support. Otherwise, the infantry's only defence was to form square: a tight four-sided formation, presenting walls of muskets and bayonets, each side protecting the others' flanks. These were generally impenetrable to cavalry, but vulnerable to artillery or other infantry. Cavalry were frequently used prior to an infantry assault, so that their charges might force an infantry line to break and reform, into formations vulnerable to infantry or artillery. During these manoeuvres, they remained especially vulnerable to cavalry.

Most armies at the time preferred cavalry horses to be 15.2 hh and 450–500kg, although cuirassiers frequently had heavier horses. Lighter horses were restricted to scouting and raiding. Cavalry horses were generally obtained at 5 years, from 10 or 12 years service (barring loss) could be expected. Mares and geldings were used in preference to the less-easily managed stallions. Losses of 30–40% were common during a campaign, due to conditions of the march as well as enemy action.


 * Artillery.

In addition to foot artillery, where the horse-drawn guns were attended by gunners on foot, the armies generally had horse batteries, where each of the gunners were provided with mounts. Horse artillery generally used lighter pieces, although the British had some 9-pounder (medium-weight) horse batteries; for added speed, these had a team of 8 horses to pull them, rather than 6. In addition, horse artillery ammunition wagons were harnessed with an extra pair (6 horse instead of 4). Heavy artillery pieces needed a team of 12 horses, while Congreve rockets required about 25 horses. With the horses required for officers, surgeons and other support staff, as well as those pulling guns and wagons, each British artillery battery (6 guns) required 160–200 horses.

Horse artillery was generally used to support the cavalry units, and so came under the command of cavalry divisions, but in some battles, such as at Waterloo, the horse artillery were used by the British as a rapid response force, successfully repulsing attacks from the French, and assisting the infantry recapture of  La Haye Sainte from the French. -->

Horse artillery was also used with great success in India, although declined in use once ordnance became heavier.
 * NOT DONE:


 * Use of horses by infantry officers


 * Interesting statistics: Waterloo Campaign Armee du Nord had 47,000 horses: 25,000 cavalry, 12,000 for artillery, 10,000 for infantry and supply columns.

Turn of the century (1890s - WWI ish)

 * NOT DONE:
 * The cavalry charge became less frequent, but not ineffectual. At the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, the 21st lancers, a 400-strong regiment charged at and dispersed an infantry force of 2,500.  REFERence: WP article for numbers; ref to "famous charge" at Omdurman (in which Winston Churchill rode) in Haythornthwaite Colonial p. 55.

WWI
Although cavalry was used with good effect in Palestine, at the Third Battle of Gaza and Battle of Megiddo in World War I, generally the mode of warfare changed, and the use of trench warfare, barbed wire and machine guns rendered traditional cavalry almost obsolete. Tanks were beginning to take over the role of shock combat. Following the war, armies became mechanised, with many cavalry regiments being converted to armoured divisions, with light tanks being developed to perform many of the cavalry's original roles.

One of the greatest cavalry charges in modern times occurred in 1917, during the Battle of Beersheba in Palestine, when two regiments of Light Horse from the Anzac Mounted Division successfully charged Turkish trenches. The regiments formed up over a wide area, to avoid offering a target for enemy artillery, and galloped 3 km into machine gun fire, equipped only with rifles and bayonets. While some of the front ranks fell to bullets, most of the horsemen broke through, jumping the trenches into the enemy camp. Some soldiers dismounted to fight in the trenches, while others raced on to Beersheba, to capture the town and the vital water supplies. The charge was "instrumental in securing Allenby's victory [in Palestine]".

Britain's cavalry were trained to fight both on foot and while mounted, but most other European cavalry still relied on shock action. There were isolated instances of successful shock combat on the Western Front, where cavalry divisions also provided important mobile fire power, but "cavalry was literally indispensable" on the Eastern front and Mesopotamia.

In 1917, Britain had over a million horses and mules in service, but harsh conditions, especially over winter, resulted in heavy losses, particularly amongst the Clydesdales, which drew the guns. Over the war, Britain lost almost half a million horses (one horse for every two men). [if you want figures, that's 484,000]

WWII
Both the Germans and the Russian maintained cavalry units throughout the war, which proved useful on the eastern front, where some shock action occurred.

Horses were used widely for transport. A German infantry division in Normandy in 1944 had 5,000 horses for such purposes. The only American cavalry unit during World War II was the 26th Cavalry – which included some Philippine Scouts – who offered resistance to the Japanese invaders of Luzon, Philippines, holding off two armoured and two infantry regiments during the invasion, and repelled a unit of tanks in Binalonan. They successfully held ground for the Allied armies' retreat to Bataan.

Post WW

 * British Household Cavalry: ceremony, but also Royal guard and security duties

Various
Image:Gerreet secourant le vieux chevalier.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:15th_century_illuminated_manuscripts

Other topics, bits that don't fit, or useful for other articles

 * Medieval men and women were only marginally shorter than their modern counterpart. The average height of an urban Englishman was 5'8" (1.72m). A woman was on average 5'2" (1.58m). The well-nourished knightly classes would exceed this average. Edward I of England was over 6'.
 * In 732, Pope Gregory III banned the eating of horsemeat. This proscription was ignored, or forgotten, in most of Europe, but was observed in England throughout the Middle Ages, causing old horses to be almost worthless.
 * French word haquenée (an ambling horse or hack)

arrows etc

 * http://www.royalarmouries.org/extsite/view.jsp?sectionId=3006
 * http://www.netsword.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000797.html

Mounted shock combat
It has been commonly understood that the introduction of the stirrup to Western Europe from the east led to the development of mounted shock warfare; particularly, the stirrup allowed the man-at-arms to couch his lance. This theory is assumed in many histories of medieval warfare. However, this theory has been questioned by recent research. (discuss mechanics of charge). One of the commonly-used pictorial evidence for a later development of mounted shock is the Bayeux tapestry, where the mounted combatants are seen wielding un-couched spears, suggesting to some historians that the spears were not couched at that stage of warfare. However, the tapestry depicts the melee (close-combat stage of a battle), when it would be impossible to wield a couched spear. A couched spear is only appropriate for attacking an enemy who is directly in front, not one who comes from the side, as the torque would be enough to knock the horseman out of his saddle. The style of fighting shown on the Bayeux tapestry is not primitive; the fifteenth-century fight master Hans Talhoffer pictures an almost identical stance in his treatise on fighting on horseback. Moreover, the ground at Hastings was not suitable for cavalry charges, suiting the deployment of small units of mounted men.

Interestingly, the word lance was not used until the fifteenth century, coinciding with the heavy spear (lance) developed for the tournament. By that time, the knight rarely fought as heavy cavalry on the battlefield, but dismounted to fight. During the (heyday) of mounted warfare, the lighter war-lance (or spear) was used, couched only for the initial charge.

The stirrup was developed in the east, where the mode of warfare relied on long, hard riding, and the use of missiles (eg arrows)... (complete)

development of saddle.

2
Destriers, in fact, were not very common, most knights and soldiers using cousers or rounceys. The Destrier, or great horse, was a middle-weight horse, similar to modern-day heavy hunters or show-jumping horses. . Horse armour, usually restricted to tournaments, comprised padded leather pieces, covered by a trapper (a decorated cloth), which is not particularly heavy.

There are literary references to horse armour (an "iron blanket") from the late twelfth century.

Medieval swords were in fact finely-made, well-balanced specimens, easily wielded by the experienced swordsman. They are similar in weight and size to the swords from the Renaissance, a fact confirmed by a study of the swords now currently held in the Wallace Collection, the Stibbert Museum, Florence, and the Royal Armouries.

Note that the results were evenly distributed for length and weight throughout time period.

Cuir bouilli is hardened leather used for armour, horse-harnesses, boots and other household items. It is not boiled (which would destroy it) or oiled (which would soften it). It was in fact soaked in cold water, then dried (or heated) in a mould.

Consent -willingness to marry- was central to the concept of marriage, and if given under duress, the marriage was deemed invalid, as long as certain requirements were met, regarding the nature of the threats and the consummation (if any) of the marriage. Cruelty was grounds for dissolution, although reconciliation (and pledges from the guilty party) were encouraged.