THE EVOLUTION OF CAVALRY
Modern Cavalry has perhaps but slight claim to be descended from feudal
Chivalry. The Man-at-Arms, the fully armoured Knight, with his mounted
retinue of a squire, a page, and a few retainers, acted indeed by
“shock,” but _individually_, with jealous independence of his fellow
knights; whereas the efficiency of Cavalry action has from the first
rested on a combined disciplined attack. But the traditions of Chivalry
may be traced in the “Cavalry Spirit,” which preaches, like Danton,
“de l’audace, encore de l’audace, et toujours de l’audace,” and in
the prestige which still clings to the Mounted Arm. Cavalry has never
forgotten its aristocratic and romantic ancestry, and is inclined to
look down somewhat on the Infantry without whom battles cannot be
fought, and still less won. Cavalry is to this day the premier Arm in
the British and in many other Armies. In Germany the logical insight of
the Hohenzollerns has long since made Infantry the senior Arm of the
Service.
The word _Cavalry_--French _Cavallerie_, Italian _Cavaleria_--is,
like _Chivalry_, derived from the Late Latin word _caballus_, in
common use for horse when _equus_ had become highflown. But _caballus_
became _cheval_ in Early French, whence _Chivalry_; while the Italian
_Cavaleria_ was directly derived from _caballus_. The Knight’s arms,
the sword and lance, are still those of Cavalry, and his armour
survives in the metal helmet and cuirass.
The introduction of pikes and firearms for Infantry was the cause of
the extinction of the man-at-arms, although he met them by himself
adopting a firearm for use on horseback. This was at first the
_petronel_, or _poitrinal_, fired from the breast (_poitrine_) on a
rest rising from the saddle bow; then the _harquebus_, or match lock
fired from the shoulder; later the _pistol_, a shorter and lighter
weapon, used with one hand, which was introduced in Spain in 1520, and
in Germany in 1540. But by 1500 fire action had attained superiority
over shock action, and the mounted men in armour became definitely
inferior to the Infantry, whose bullets pierced their armour, and whose
pikes they could seldom break through. Armour was reduced to helmet and
cuirass, and the lance given up, not to be revived till two centuries
later.
ORIGIN OF TRUE CAVALRY IN THE “REITERS”
We first find true Cavalry of the modern type in the German “Reiters”
of the early sixteenth century, who were disciplined troopers, acting
in rank and file in organized bodies, as distinguished from the
individual man-at-arms of feudal days. The organization of the Reiters
is practically the same as that of the infantry Landsknechts already
described. They were similarly raised by their Captains, in bodies
termed _Troops_, a name which was soon replaced by a tactical unit
composed of several Troops, which arose from the tactical requirements
of the battlefield. This was the _Squadron_, a word derived from
_squadra_, Italian for _square_, because the earliest bodies of
horsemen had equal front and depth. The numbers in a Troop depended on
the popularity of the Captain; but Squadrons were of a strength based
on the fact that one man could command by voice a body of Cavalry with
a front of 50 men. Thus the “Reiter” Squadrons with six ranks were 300
strong, but those of Gustavus, with three ranks, had 150 men. This is
still the strength of a Squadron to-day.
The Officers of the Troops of Reiters were the _Captain_, still
called _Rittmeister_ (or “_Reiter_”-_master_) in Germany to-day; the
_Lieutenant_; the _Fähnrich_ (or _Colour-bearer_); the _Wachmeister_
(or _Watch-master_), as the Sergeant-Major is still called; the
_Fourier_ (or _Quarter-Master_), charged with allotting quarters and
subsistence, and also with reconnaissance, as explained on page 174. He
had an assistant, answering to our Q.M.S. Each Troop had a _Trumpeter_.
He accompanied the Colour-bearer, whose hornshaped pennon (_Cornette_
in French) gave its name to the officer carrying it, known as “Cornet”
down to our day.
The Reiters carried sword and pistol, and wore helmet and cuirass. They
were the ancestors of all Heavy Cavalry, generally called _Cuirassiers_
abroad, but simply “Regiments of Horse” in England during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There were always less regular
Cavalry, or _Light Horse_, for scouting, pursuit, and independent
action to front and flanks. This division of duties and names has long
survived.
To obtain better fire effect, Henry IV. of France armed his Horse with
a short arquebus called a _carabine_, whence the _Carbineers_. In
Italy a larger firearm, called a _dragon_, was given to horsemen, so
as to enable them to use fire with more effect when dismounted. Hence
originated _Dragoons_, originally merely Mounted Infantry. We have
thus got the three Arms of the Service, as commemorated in the old
expression _Horse_, _Foot_, and _Dragoons_, to denote the whole Army;
for Artillery did not become an Arm before 1700.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, under Maurice of Nassau, the
organization of the Dutch Cavalry was further developed during the War
of Independence against Spain. His Squadrons were fixed at 120 strong,
with the three Officers and the Trumpeter of the Reiters, but were now
divided into three Sections, each under an Officer, with a Corporal.
These represent the existing _Troops_. A Farrier was added to the troop
for shoeing and veterinary work. Improved drill and discipline enabled
Maurice to reduce the ten ranks of his day to six.
Gustavus organized the Swedish Army on the same lines as Maurice, but
improved on his model in Cavalry, as in other Arms. His Troops were
smaller, only 70 strong, and were grouped in Regiments of 8 troops. He
was the first to inculcate _shock_ tactics, which he facilitated by
reducing the ranks to four, and discouraging firing from horseback.
After Gustavus’ brilliant success in the Thirty Years’ War, the use of
shock tactics was carried on in England, but was not imitated in other
countries. Cromwell, seizing on the idea with his unfailing military
insight, taught his Ironsides to charge home, and especially to rally
after the charge. He established an undying reputation as the first
great Cavalry leader in the modern sense, and his horsemen were never
equalled till Seidlitz appeared and led Frederick’s Cavalry in the
Seven Years’ War a century later. Neither of these two great soldiers
has ever been surpassed, or indeed approached, as a leader of Cavalry.
During those hundred years Cavalry continued to fire from their horses,
and charge at the trot. Even long afterwards, Napoleon’s Heavy Cavalry
did not gallop. But Cavalry began to find their true mode of action
when Marlborough and Charles XII. of Sweden expected their Horse to
charge without firing.
Frederick the Great, however, was the first to initiate true Cavalry
Tactics. He forbade any firing from horseback, formed his Cavalry in
two ranks, and trained them to charge boot to boot in long lines of
scores of Squadrons. He insisted on high speed over long distances, and
adopted the plan of charging in three lines--the first of Cuirassiers,
the second of Dragoons as a support, and the third in columns to
protect the flank. The training and tactics of Frederick’s Cavalry have
never been improved on, and are still the model for shock action.
Frederick’s Cavalry was organized, like that of Gustavus, in Troops of
70 men, of which two, or, later, four smaller ones as in Europe to-day,
formed a Squadron. The Regiment had 5 Squadrons, as it still has in
Germany, although the fifth now becomes the depôt of the Regiment on
mobilization.
LIGHT HORSE
During the Seven Years’ War, Austria made good use of a screen of
_light troops_, both Horse and Foot, in front of her armies. Her
Light Horsemen had been very serviceable in the Thirty Years’ War in
the previous century, and had been constantly used since in fighting
the Turks. These horsemen were irregular troops from Hungary, where
they had been raised since the sixteenth century under the name of
_Hussars_. They wore the national dress of Hungary, which Hussars have
retained ever since they were imitated by Frederick during the Seven
Years’ War, and in other armies later. _Lancers_ were similarly copied
everywhere from the Polish Light Cavalry, clothed in their national
costume, who joined Napoleon’s service in 1807. The lance, which had
not been used since the early sixteenth century, was then reintroduced,
and has since held its own, and even won ground in Germany. The British
adopted Lancers after their experience against Napoleon’s Polish
Lancers at Waterloo. The Prussians called them _Ulans_, from the
Polish, while other nations adopted the French word _Lancier_, from
the Late Latin _lancearius_ (_lancea_, a _lance_).
British Light Cavalry began in the eighteenth century, in the Light
Troops of the Dragoon Regiments, soon detached to be grouped into Light
Dragoon Regiments, which, early in the nineteenth century, were changed
to Hussars.
After firing on horseback had been stopped by Frederick, Cavalry
discarded the firearm until the close of the century, when the French
Light Horse of the Revolutionary armies received a short musket, called
by its old name of _carbine_, which became the universal Cavalry
firearm for use on foot. But Heavy Cavalry had no firearms for years;
even in the Prussian Army of 1870 only Light Cavalry were armed with
the carbine.
Cavalry Regiments were first brigaded during the eighteenth century,
but had no higher organization. The Brigade formed one of the lines of
Cavalry on each wing of the Army. Cavalry Divisions were first formed
by Hoche in 1793, and were adopted by Napoleon, who extended the idea
later to creating Cavalry Corps of two or more Divisions.