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So when did it happens?




At fist I believed that the Maxim guns in WW1 ended the usefulness of the classic cavalry with horses. but no! in this movie it shown that the classic horsemen still remains its usefulness in 1920s... only a few years after the Great War is over.
Basically this battle is a replay of WW1 scene. look!

And did the Blitzkrieg over poland in September 1939 see the finale of the cavalry charge?

And tell me the name of the movie please. I don't really know what it is except it's cool.

The Ruskies had entire armies (aka divisions to us) of cavalry in WWII. They were used for a variety of purposes, including taking advantage of a breakthough to hit enemy rear echelons.

We have cavalry in the form of flying birds playing Wagner. . .

It's a small myth that Polish cavalry charged at German troops in the early weeks of WWII. The Polish did have cavalry, but they used horses for mobility, not charging and would dismount to fight.

A few attempts were made in WWII to make a cavalry charge in Russia; all the Russians got gunned down because it was a stupid idea. The last 'successful cavalry charge I'm aware of is the so called "last cavalry charge" made by 7th US Cavalry in 1916 at the Battle of Guerrero which isn't really saying much as it was more of a "lets ride our horses and chase Poncho Via guyz lul" kind of thing.

EDIT: Horses were still widely used in WWII for many things, but good old fashion get out your swords and run at those guys over there was not typically one of them.

The French actually had a large cavalry force at the begginning of WWII. In the months leading up to the main German advance through the Ardennes some French commanders wanted to block the main roads and thoroughfares with tons and tons of felled trees to blunt the expected German armoured advance. It was overruled by the high command to, you guessed it, to make sure the French CAVALRY could get through.

Though US-centric, you might enjoy this obituary, much as it's possible to "enjoy" reading an obit..

There was also the Italian cavalry charge against a Russian unit. That was 1942

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Savoia_Cavalleria_at_Isbuscenskij

And had this as a highlight (according to wiki)

Trumpeter Carenzi, having to handle both trumpet and pistol, shot by mistake his own horse in the head

 LordofHats wrote:
It's a small myth that Polish cavalry charged at German troops in the early weeks of WWII. The Polish did have cavalry, but they used horses for mobility, not charging and would dismount to fight.

A few attempts were made in WWII to make a cavalry charge in Russia; all the Russians got gunned down because it was a stupid idea. The last 'successful cavalry charge I'm aware of is the so called "last cavalry charge" made by 7th US Cavalry in 1916 at the Battle of Guerrero which isn't really saying much as it was more of a "lets ride our horses and chase Poncho Via guyz lul" kind of thing.

EDIT: Horses were still widely used in WWII for many things, but good old fashion get out your swords and run at those guys over there was not typically one of them.

that makes these polish cavalry dragoon. even that they use carbine rather than full size rifle. and firing not from horseback! or is it possible to shoot a carbine from there?
Chinese cavalry shown earlier were also armed with carbines but not used on horseback either! a cavalry officer doesn't use his own carbine but simply grabbed a rifle formerly equipped by an infantryman.
so when did the classic lancers obsolete? (and replaced with either carbine or saber or even both!) and why didn't the US. Army cavalry of the 19th century use lance too?

 motyak wrote:

Trumpeter Carenzi, having to handle both trumpet and pistol, shot by mistake his own horse in the head

If only we had a video of that, so we could convert him (presumably) then tumbling from his horse in slow motion, as a "wasted" animated .gif.

In the Russian Civil War and Soviet-Polish War there were entire cavalry armies that still fought with lances and sabres. Also Tachankas:


Cavalry also played a large role in WW2, but by then they mostly fought as mounted infantry. The Soviet Union used them to keep up with the tanks.
This was the last true cavalry charge in WW2 (and probably history) was at the battle of Schönfeld just before the end of the war where a Polish cavalry brigade succesfully charged German infantry with sabres. They could approach unseen (and prevent being gunned down with machine guns) by using the smoke from burning tanks.

Pop smoke and cavalry charge. Interesting thought.

Cavalry were used quite well during the middle eastern campaign of WW1.


I once tried to run over someone with my horse whilst shouting Viva La France! Does that count as a cavalry charge?

 Frazzled wrote:
Pop smoke and cavalry charge. Interesting thought.

The modern equivalent is to pop WP "smoke" and charge...your smart phone while you're waiting for it to fry everybody in the target area.

 welshhoppo wrote:
Cavalry were used quite well during the middle eastern campaign of WW1.


I once tried to run over someone with my horse whilst shouting Viva La France! Does that count as a cavalry charge?

Only if you looked like this:

Iron_Captain wrote:
Only if you looked like this:

Spoiler:

Iron Captain found some of my old high school pics I see. Vive Le Emperor!

Some odd reason I've US Special Forces pulling something off in Northern Afghanistan in my mind

Weren't the US Special Forces part of a cavalry charge in Afghanistan (I mean the latest war there, or was it Iraq)? I know at least that the Afghans were riding horses armed with AKs a couple of decades ago. There are probably a few mounted groups toting about in Libya, Syria and Iraq, as do the Cossack come to mind (I doubt the urban units use them, but I can imagine they're still trained for this type of warfare out in the steppes). Motor bikes are common in the Middle East now, but I'd suspect those that have horses may ride about with toting AKs and Lee Enfields every now and then in the rural areas.

 Jihadin wrote:
Some odd reason I've US Special Forces pulling something off in Northern Afghanistan in my mind

Nah, I'm pretty sure the last group to be subjected to a US cavalry charge wasThe Bonus Army.

I highly doubt there was a cavalry charge in the middle east recently. Chances are they simply used them for mobility. Im pretty sure Call of Duty tried to play that off as if they had a huge cavalry charge.

Cavalry were used in the first World War to screen the battle fields early on in the conflict. I have seen footage of a cavalry patrol early in the war and the new accuracy of the shells used from artillery fired a round and devastated them. With hot air balloons and recon aircraft the cavalrys role in recon diminished. Especially as some of the fronts turned to trenches.

As the years went on I read stories about Cavalry on the western front. Their legs would snap in mud and the officers had to shoot them. Many units had to give up their horses for logistics and ended up fighting on foot with the rest of the infantry (depending on the front).

I believe on the Russian front a war of mobility was being waged, so they had more use there. I also think in the middle east cavalry retained some use as well. I know in Gallipoli ANZAC forces used cavalry. One of my friends great granddad served as a cavalrymen during the war.

Its a bit more complicated than the machine gun why Cavalry started to die out. The style of war being fought started from the way Japan defeated Russia a decade earlier. Massed infantry assaults backed by concentrated artillery breaking the enemy lines was a huge success. (ignoring the vital role of Navies that kept the naval race going between the powers during the conflict). No more did units fight in well drilled formations but the goal was to make yourself a smaller target and co ordinate artillery to cover a bayonet charge. Especially in a war where holding ground was of supreme importance (something infantry do). Cavalry simply was not worth the time.

Airplanes became the new Cavalry.

Roll over to WW2 and many nations converted their cavalry to armoured units (where they could) and cavalry for the most part served as a cheap and fast mode of moving troops around. Cossack Cavalry was famous for their recon. I think the last true cavalry charge was made by an Italian unit in Africa.

Now in the modern era, horses have lost a lot of their use. Being replaced by vehicles. BUT horses can still be useful today. Going through terrain that vehicles would struggle in, they can "fuel" their transport on the move. They are also very quiet. Great if you need to move infantry around in tight areas quickly.

I think in the next large scale conflict like the word wars Horses will make a come back. As the vehicles start to break down and need fixing or replacing horses will start to see more use I reckon. I severely doubt there will be enough horses by then though.

My father-in-law takes great delight in telling us of his national service in Germany shortly after WWII, where he was sent to a cavalry regiment... A week after the horses were replaced with tanks.

Wikipedia has a few lines.

Special Forces in Mazir Shariff in Afghanistan

Ah hell, how could I forget. The Chinese police have cavalary units. Youknow the same country where they issue crossbows as service weapons in some areas...



They're probably more likely to be used by police forces than soldiers these days I'd imagine.

Ah, and yeah, an article on American Special forces riding taking part in cavalary charges against tanks in Afghanistan. ...Supported by airstrikes that is.

It seems I am mistaken. Thats pretty cool.

Although, id be very mad if I had been ordered to assault infantry on horseback.

They were assaulting a compound or small town as I recall.

Some points:
#1 The clip featured is from "Beginning of the Great Revival" a Chinese propaganda film that even the Chinese don't buy.

#2 Re: Polish Cav charges during the blitzkriege
The 18th Pomeranian Uhlans, 1st Squadron, executed a cavalry charge against a German infantry unit, 1 September, 1939, aka the Battle of Krojanty. The Uhlan's 1st Squadron were later forced to retreat by Wehrmacht mechanized units. This became the legend of Polish cavalrymen charging German Panzers, but this in fact pure propaganda, but should not lessen from the successful charge itself. The attack successfully delayed the advance of the German 20th Motorised Infantry Division and caused some panic in the Division's rear.

Finally. No Cavalry thread is complete without Corb Lund's "Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!"

Yeah, I'm glad someone already posted it. When I saw the thread title, my first thought was US Special Forces, Afghanistan, 2001.

How about the horse and camel charge at Tahir Square, Egypt during the riots of 2011?
Some violence.....

I'd have been a Horse Marine if it was still an option, but sadly the last Horse Marines put up their sabers quite some time ago.

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
How about the horse and camel charge at Tahir Square, Egypt during the riots of 2011?
Some violence.....

From the looks of it, that charge failed miserably!

Yeah, and not a firearm in sight although they don't seem like a trained elite force!
No one said anything about Last Successful Charge.

I don't think some protesters riding a few horses in the middle of town really counts as a cavalry charge.

And a camel!