Tag Archives: horse cavalry

Dismounted

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A facet often ignored in books, movies, and shows portraying horse cavalry of any era was the downfall that, whenever fighting dismounted, you could not simply allow your precious horses to mill about or else you may never see them again.

This meant that typically as much as 25 percent of the force would have to take the other horses to the rear with the gear, leaving the dragoons now seriously understrength.

A portrait of such an evolution is Fredric Remington’s circa 1890 painting, “Dismounted: The Fourth Trooper Moving the Led Horses.”

From the Clark Museum 

Dismounted: The Fourth Trooper Moving the Led Horses, Remington

Flowerdew’s Charge

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On 30 March 1918, during the Battle of Moreuil Wood which helped blunt Ludendorff’s massive Operation Michael spring offensive, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade– which had long been held in strategic reserve in case the Allies were able to break through– galloped into the field.

One of these units, C Sqn of Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), commanded by Lt. Gordon Flowerdew, wheeled into line, and “with a wild shout, a hundred yards in front of his men, charged down on the long thin column of Germans.”

Alfred Munnings: Charge of Flowerdew's Squadron, Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, Canadian War Memorial

Alfred Munnings: Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron, Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, Canadian War Memorial

The horsemen charged through the German lines twice and set them to retreat– but lost 70 percent of their effectives in the process. Nonetheless, they held their captured ground until Canadian infantry arrived to reinforce them. Flowerdew later died of his wounds and his family was presented with the VC in his honor.

The Royal Canadians’ Strathcona Mounted Troop recently recreated the charge in France, sans Germans.

Hell for Leather

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The U.S. Army after its horse-cavalry peak in 1865 under Phil Sheridan. The Union eventually fielded some 258 mounted regiments and a further 170 unattached companies in the conflict, overall an amazing 175,000 blue-coat horse soldiers.

cavalry soldier

When the smoke cleared the Army established 10 peacetime cavalry regiments. These units remained in operation well into the 1930s, even being increased in number. It wasn’t until the first part of WWII that these men put their horses out to pasture for the last time.

Okrajoe posted a couple of great videos from the 1930s. U.S. Army cavalry training films. A good way to spend your lunch break if you are curious on old school horse mounted combat.

U.S. Army training film: “The Cavalry Platoon: From Mounted to Dismounted Action”, 1933.

Tactical Deployment of the .50 Caliber Machine Gun by Cavalry, Official Training Film No. 18, U.S. War Department, 1933