Cavalry since 1500
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 April 2021
- LAST MODIFIED: 27 June 2022
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791279-0028
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 April 2021
- LAST MODIFIED: 27 June 2022
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791279-0028
Introduction
Cavalry, one of the three principal combat branches, has long been known as “the combat arm of decision.” This view, of a horse-mounted cavalry soldier delivering a charge at a gallop and turning a battlefield victory into a rout, is the idealized view of supporters. The role of cavalry, and whether it could continue to play a role on a battlefield dominated by firearms, has been the central debate since the sixteenth century. After cavalry forces lost their unquestioned battlefield dominance during the medieval period, the next four centuries witnessed a reevaluation and readjustment of their role. Others refused to admit to these changes, arguing for an unaltered role. The heyday of the mounted arm’s effectiveness came during the Napoleonic era (1799–1815), when a general equality among the various branches allowed cavalry its last true measure of shock effect as its principal mission. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the successive improvements in firearms technology threatened cavalry’s continued relevance on the battlefield. This professional debate climaxed in the period prior to World War I, as the most powerful nations discussed the experiences of the Boer War and Russo-Japanese War. World War I witnessed limited use of cavalry in the major theater, but large-scale use of horse cavalry in secondary theaters provided evidence for the supporters of animal-powered cavalry. World War II was the final large-scale use of horse cavalry, but this was due more to necessity than to continued relevance on the battlefield. As a field, the study of cavalry has been looked at by two camps of writers—one looking at the flashing swords and tales of glory, and the other looking at the arm as an adjunct to the major armies. Few scholarly works discuss cavalry across the breath of the period or how cavalry dealt with the issues of modernization or societal change. Recently, the historical community has reawakened to the debates concerning the proper role and missions of cavalry. Beginning in the early 1990s, the examination of the phenomenon of military revolutions and reemergence of disciplined infantry as the dominant arm on the battlefield has led to a number of works looking into the changes this caused in the cavalry, not only in its role on the battlefield but also as the purview of society’s elites.
General Overviews
The history of the cavalry arm has rarely been comprehensively studied as a subject in the modern period. The changing importance of the cavalry, battlefield roles, and prominence is normally examined as an adjunct to histories of the period, or intones with nationalistic and narrower focus on their battlefield exploits. Many works offer general introductions but do not address the larger issues of changing technologies and societal norms. DiMarco 2008 is the best scholarly work in a broad context, with valuable analysis of cavalry’s changing roles. Grbašić and Vukšić 1989 and Ellis 1978 are similar, well-illustrated introductions to the topic, but not as comprehensive or exhaustively researched. Lawford 1976 focuses on the British cavalry in the modern era, but its discussion of the various types of cavalry helps frame discussions on their roles and missions. What Jarymowycz 2008 lacks in depth is made up for by breath, and it describes the changes to cavalry over a 2,500-year period. Roemer 1863 is a 19th-century work that covers cavalry through the modern era with discussions on the roles of heavy and light cavalry. Clutton-Brock 1992 is valuable for the interaction between horsepower and society. Sawicki 1985 is a good, though dated, reference work for American cavalry.
Clutton-Brock, Juliet. Horse Power: A History of the Horse and Donkey in Human Societies. London: Natural History Museum, 1992.
A social and natural history of the equine family, with sections dealing with the use of horses as cavalry mounts, this work gives a comprehensive look at the subject of horses with only an oblique discussion of their military employment.
diMarco, Louis A. War Horse: A History of the Military Horse and Rider. Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2008.
A scholarly work on the relationship between humans and horses in battle since antiquity; this is the best overall source on the topic, with in-depth research and analysis.
Ellis, John. Cavalry: The History of Mounted Warfare. New York: G. P. Putnam, 1978.
A colorful and illustrated work, useful for the numerous illustrations of cavalry forces and formations.
Grbašić, Z., and V. Vukšić. The History of Cavalry. New York: Facts on File, 1989.
Traces the development and employment of the cavalry with a detailed look at organization, equipping, and doctrine. Illustrated, showing the uniforms of various periods.
Jarymowycz, Roman Johann. Cavalry from Hoof to Track. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008.
An overly ambitious attempt to distill the entire period from ancient to 21st-century cavalry, leading to few details in many critical periods of cavalry development. This work is useful as a succinct starting point for someone new to the topic.
Lawford, James, ed. The Cavalry. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1976.
Concise overview of cavalry in the modern era, with a particular focus on the British mounted arm. The discussion of types of cavalry is of particular use.
Roemer, Jean. Cavalry: Its History, Management, and Uses in War. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1863.
While dated, Roemer’s book is a detailed and useful look at cavalry operations, tactics, and the balance between light and heavy cavalry, with a comprehensive look at European cavalry of the nineteenth century. Chapters deal with ancient cavalry as well, but the mid-19th-century view of the effects of muskets and later rifled firearms on cavalry operations marks a particular appeal of this volume.
Sawicki, James A. Cavalry Regiments of the U.S. Army. Dumfries, VA: Wyvern, 1985.
While significantly out of date, Sawicki provides a concise overview of American cavalry from its earliest foundations to the mid-1980s. He also provides a listing of every American cavalry regiment to be raised under the national numbering system (so no state or volunteer regiments). This listing is accompanied by a short history, description of unit insignia, and battle honors complete to 1985.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- 1916 Easter Rising, The
- 1812, War of
- Aerial Bombardment, Ethics of
- Afghanistan, Wars in
- Africa, Gunpowder and Colonial Campaigns in
- African Wars of Independence
- Air Transport
- Allenby, Edmund
- All-Volunteer Army, Post-Vietnam Through 2016
- American Colonial Wars
- American Indian Wars
- American War of Independence
- Animals and the Military
- Antietam, Battle of
- Arab-Israeli Wars, 1948-Present
- Arctic Warfare
- Armed Forces of the Ottoman Empire, 1683–1918
- Armored War
- Arms Control and Disarmament
- Army, Roman
- Artillery
- Artists and War Art
- Assyrian Warfare
- Australia from the Colonial Era to the Present
- Austrian Succession, War of the
- Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces
- Balkan Liberation, 1878–1913, Wars of
- Battle of Plassey, 1757
- Battle of Route Coloniale 4, 1950: France’s first devastat...
- Battle of Salamis: 480 BC
- Boer Wars
- Bonaparte, Napoleon
- Brazilian Armed Forces
- Britain and the Blitz
- British Armed Forces, from the Glorious Revolution to Pres...
- British Army in World War II
- British Army of the Rhine, The
- British-India Armies from 1740 to 1849
- Canada from World War I to the Present
- Canada through World War I
- Cavalry since 1500
- Chaco War
- Charlemagne
- China's Modern Wars, 1911-1979
- Chinese Civil War, 1945-1949
- Chivalry
- Christianity and Warfare in the Medieval West
- Churchill, John, 1st Duke of Marlborough
- Churchill, Winston
- Civilians
- Clausewitz, Carl von
- Coalition and Alliance War
- Cold War, 1945-1990
- Commemoration
- Communications, French Revolution to Present
- Conflict and Migration
- Conquest of Mexico and Peru
- Conscription
- Cornwallis, Charles
- Counterinsurgency in the Modern World
- Crimean War, 1853–1856
- Cromwell, Oliver
- Crusades, The
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Defense Industries
- Dien Bien Phu, Battle of
- Dominion Armies in World War II
- Douhet, Giulio, airpower theorist
- Eisenhower, Dwight
- Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide
- European Wars, Mid-Nineteenth-Century
- Finland in World War II
- Frederick the Great
- French Armies, Early Modern
- French Military, 1919-1940
- French Revolutionary Wars, The
- Gender Issues
- German Air Forces
- German Army, 1871–1945
- German Sea Power, 1848-1918
- German Unification, Wars of
- Germany's Eastern Front in 1941
- Grant, Ulysses S.
- Greek and Roman Navies
- Guerrilla Warfare, Pre-20th-Century
- Haig, Douglas
- Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert, Jacques Antoine
- Hiroshima/Nagasaki
- History of Intelligence in China
- Hundred Days Campaign of 1918
- Hundred Years War
- Hungary, Warfare in Medieval and Early Modern
- Imperial China, War in
- India 'Mutiny' and 'Revolution,' 1857-1858
- Indian Army in World War I
- Indian Warfare, Ancient
- India-Pakistan Wars
- Indochina Wars, 1946-1975
- Information Warfare
- Intelligence, Military
- International Efforts to Control War
- Iraq Wars, 1980s-Present
- Irish Civil War, 1922–1923
- Irish Revolution, 1911-1923, The
- Italian Armed Forces in the Modern Age
- Italian Campaign, World War I
- Japanese Army in the World War II Era, The Imperial
- Japanese Navy
- Jomini, Antoine-Henri
- Justice, Military, the Anglo-American Tradition
- Justice of War and Justice in War
- Khan, Genghis
- Kursk, Battle of
- Learning and Adapting: The British Army from Somme to the ...
- Lee, Robert E.
- Lepizig, Battle of
- Literature and Drama, War in
- Loos, Battle of
- Louis XIV, Wars of
- Low-Intensity Operations
- Manzikert, Battle of
- Maratha Navy Maratha Navy
- Media
- Medicine, Military
- Medieval Japan, 900-1600
- Mercenaries
- Meuse-Argonne Offensive
- Mexico and the United States, 1836–1848, Wars of
- Midway, Battle of
- Militarism
- Military Officers, United States
- Military Revolutions
- Militia
- Modern Piracy
- Mongol Wars
- Montgomery, Bernard Law
- Music and War
- Napoleonic Wars, The
- Napoleonic Wars, War and Memory in the
- NATO
- Navy, British
- Nelson, Horatio
- New Zealand
- Nimitz, Chester
- Nuclear Culture
- Nuclear Weapons
- Occupations and Military Government
- Operational Art
- Ottoman Navy
- Pacifism
- Passchaendale, Battle of
- Patton, George
- Peacekeeping
- Peninsular War
- Polish Armed Forces, 1918-present
- Political Purges in the 20th Century
- Poltava, Battle of
- Popular Culture and Modern War
- Prehistoric Warfare
- Prince Eugene of Savoy
- Prisoners
- Propaganda
- Psychiatric Casualties
- Race in the US Military
- Red Cross
- Religio-Military Orders
- Revolt in the Spanish Netherlands: 1561–1609 (Dutch Revolt...
- Roman Empire
- Roman Republic
- Roses, Wars of the
- Russian and Soviet Armed Forces
- Russian Campaign of 1812
- Russian Civil War, 1918-1921
- Russian Military History
- Russian Military History, 1762-1825
- Russo-Japanese War
- Safavid Army
- Sailing Warships
- Science and Technology in War
- Science Fiction, Military
- Semi-Military and Paramilitary Organizations
- Seven Years' War
- Seven Years' War in North America, The
- Sino-Japanese Wars, 1895-1945
- South Africa's Apartheid Wars
- South West Pacific, 1941–1945, Campaigns in
- Southeast Asian Military History, Colonial
- Southeast Asian Military History, Precolonial
- Space and War
- Spain since the Reconquista
- Spanish Civil War
- Special Operations Forces
- Special Operations Forces
- Stalingrad, Battle of
- Steppe Nomadic Warfare
- Strategy
- Submarine Warfare
- Swedish Armed Forces
- Tactics
- Terrorism
- Tet Offensive
- The Allied Bombardment of Occupied Europe During World War...
- The United States and the Middle East, 1945-2001
- Thirty Years War, 1618–1648
- Trench Warfare
- United States Marine Corps, The
- Urban Warfare
- US Air Force
- US Air Power
- US Army
- Verdun, Battle of
- Victorian Warfare, 1837–1902
- Vietnam War
- Vietnam War in Hollywood Feature Films
- War, Chemical and Biological
- War Correspondents
- War, Culture of
- War in Mughal India
- War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–1714
- Warfare, Precolonial, in Africa
- Warships, Steam
- Women in the Military
- World War I in Film
- World War I Origins
- World War I: The Eastern Front
- World War I: The Western Front
- World War II and the Far East
- World War II in Film
- World War II in the Mediterranean and Middle East
- World War II, Indian Army in
- World War II Origins
- World War II, Russo-German War
- Yugoslavian Civil War, 1991-1999
- Zhukov, Georgii
- Zulu Wars