How did sword cavalry charges work?
Upvote:2
Lances were the cavalry weapon of choice when spears were the main anti-cavalry weapon. Swords were preferred after about 1700 when the main anti-cavalry weapon was the bayonet, attached to muskets.
Spears and lances were better against well-ordered infantry formations that existed before firearms. But "guns" tended to break up, or at least weaken enemy formations. Against "scattered" troops, swords or bayonets are more effective. The Romans knew that over 2000 years ago when they used throwing spears ("guns"), followed by a sword attack.
The idea of sword=based cavalry in the 18th and 19th centuries was to oppose sword to bayonet.The defending infantry had the advantage of firing their muskets to break up the cavalry beforehand. The cavalry had this advantage only some of the time, from their own carbines or muskets, or (seldom) from supporting infantry.
Upvote:5
I'm talking about cavalry from the Napoleonic era until the end of mounted cavalry.
There are two methods:
To hold the sword stretched out towards the enemy and try to skewer him. These swords were usually straight with a sharp point. This was the preferred method of most heavy cavalry units.
To cut or slash into the (most often) fleeing enemy. These swords were usually curved. This was the preferred method of most light calvary units.
Heavy cavalry units, for example cuirasseers, gendarmerie, heavy dragoons, etc, carried straight sabers, or sabers with a very slight curve. There charged into the enemy, hoping to cut them down before anything untoward happened to themselves.
Lighter cavalry units, for example hussars, light dragoons, etc, were not used as shock troops, but were employed for scouting, harassing and (hopefully) to pursue fleeing enemies. Their sabers were more curved. Makes sense, as their enemies were either fleeing away or they met on chance encounters. Their sabers didn't have to have a sharp point; no need for it as they usually slashed.
Later on the cavalry saber became straight and pointed, the more curved sabers disappeared. To finish off, there is little or no difference between charging with a sword stretched out or a lance. The point does the work. It's probably easier to work with a sword than a lance after the initial clash.
That is where cavalry experts differed in opinion: during the initial charge there is little difference between a lance or a sword point. A lance has the edge, as it is much longer. The difference came in what to do after initial contact. That's where the sword comes in very handy.
More post
- 📝 What right/legitimacy did Normans have to a kingdom in Southern Italy?
- 📝 Has ramming ever been considered a viable tanking tactic?
- 📝 When did inadequate or inaccurate maps produce important historical consequences?
- 📝 Did "droit du seigneur" actually exist in medieval Europe?
- 📝 Did Post-Marian Republic or Imperial Legion cohorts have specific skill levels?
- 📝 What is "discovery" in the historical sense? How do historians today view and describe "discoveries"?
- 📝 Were Russians in the cold war era USA discriminated against for their ethnicity?
- 📝 Why didn't the Hungarians help the battle of Kosovo?
- 📝 Does anyone know a quote, from an opponent of MLK (e.g. a sheriff) which presents him as radical?
- 📝 Before the advent of agriculture, was the whole world covered with forest?
- 📝 What’s this odd hat/crown and is it related to Baal?
- 📝 Help identifying image of winged robed figure and young man
- 📝 What was Japan's grand strategy in WW2?
- 📝 How a kingdom or an empire formed?
- 📝 Was Brezhnev's rule an "era of stagnation"
- 📝 Were Soviets invited to the Marshall Islands to observe the first hydrogen bomb detonations?
- 📝 How is the year "753 BC" given in ancient legends about the founding of Rome?
- 📝 What are the oldest primary sources of recorded history in China?
- 📝 Where do Bulgarians originate from?
- 📝 Evidence of Aztecs using Quetzal feathers as commodity money?
- 📝 After the First Opium war, Why didn't Britain demand large amounts of territory from China?
- 📝 Why was Washington State an attractive site for aluminum production during World War II?
- 📝 Did Napoleon III reserve a special set of aluminum cutlery for special guests?
- 📝 Are the dimensions of bricks used in Sumerian monuments like the great Ziggurat of Ur the same as in the Indus Valley Civilization?
- 📝 How was Enguerrand VII de Coucy able to keep his allegiance to both king of England and France during the Hundred Years War?
- 📝 Is still Spain legally the Spanish State (apart from the Kingdom of Spain)?
- 📝 Did Google simply beat Microsoft to market?
- 📝 Did Tirol annex land (right flank of Val d'Avigna) from Switzerland between 1859 and 1869?
- 📝 Is it possible to find out on what Roman day of the week Jesus resurrected?
- 📝 Did the 1st Marine Division use the M3 carbine on Okinawa?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How did sword cavalry charges work?
- 📝 How did bank transactions (or "data" transactions) work when it took people weeks to travel vast distances?
- 📝 How much did a sword cost in AD 1000 Constantinople?
- 📝 How did conditional POW exchanges work in WW2?
- 📝 How did pumps work during the Age of Sail?
- 📝 How did the Chinese Self-Criticism work in practice?
- 📝 How and why did the Cavalry lance temporarily fall out of favour during the 16-18th centuries?
- 📝 How did Hussars change from heavy cavalry into light cavalry?
- 📝 How did currency exchange work in the Middle Ages, especially if the coins are not recognized?
- 📝 How did the Mesopotamian clay tokens known as bulla actually work to maintain authenticity?
- 📝 How did shells, bones, and other trinkets work as currency?
- 📝 How much did a good sword cost in Medieval Western Europe?
- 📝 How did a student grant work in 18th/19th century Western Europe
- 📝 How did criminal law work in the Roman Empire?
- 📝 How did a criminal trial in the Soviet Union work after World War 2?
- 📝 How many hours did Andrew Carnegie's steel workers work per week?
- 📝 How did public debt financing through annuities work in the States General of the Netherlands?
- 📝 How did wills work in times of Oscar Wilde?
- 📝 How exactly did the government work with very large empires?
- 📝 How did the accounting and capital organization system work in communist countries like the USSR? Did ideology justify or undermine the system?
- 📝 How did people distinguish slaves from free people in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 How and when did the word "nuclear" replace the word "atomic"?
- 📝 How did Israel win the Six-Day War?
- 📝 How did Nazi Germany finance itself during WW2?
- 📝 How did the general population of England convert so smoothly to Protestantism?
- 📝 How did the USSR manage to innovate in an environment characterized by government censorship and high bureaucracy?
- 📝 How did the Romans do division?
- 📝 How did 300,000 people survive the 3 1/2 year siege of Sarajevo?
- 📝 When and how did the USA and the UK become allies?
- 📝 How did they cook on ancient ships?