62
votes
What was the point of horse armour?
I would contend that we tend to overestimate the effectiveness of bows vs armour, and that the armour would likely prevent at least some percentage of the damage to the mount.
If we look at the wiki ...
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45
votes
Accepted
What tactical situations made the use of traditional horse cavalry effective in World War II?
Whenever 20th century cavalry comes up, it often gets confused with mounted infantry. So let's clear that up.
Cavalry is trained to fight from horseback using pistol, sabre, carbine, lance, and the ...
- 52.6k
31
votes
Why didn't horse-mounted archers dominate the world until Genghis Khan?
So, if Genghis Khan's military was so superior to European knights and China's military, why weren't earlier powers, like Rome, crushed by similar weapons and tactics?
Genghis Khan was far from the ...
- 12.1k
26
votes
Why were troops with bayonets often effective against enemy cavalry even though the bayonet was a "secondary" weapon?
An important aspect that seems to be neglected in many of the answers here is that while technical aspects cannot be completely dismissed, they are secondary to other concerns.
To be specific, the ...
- 1,558
19
votes
What was the point of horse armour?
Knights didn't just face longbows. There were also swords, pikes, maces etc. on the battlefield and good plate armor also protected against firearms. Two knights fighting on the battlefield - they're ...
- 376
17
votes
Accepted
Why are modern tanks regiments called cavalry?
Several reasons. First and foremost, they perform the same role on the battlefield, providing a fast moving spearhead.
Second, and related, many of the units were cavalry units before getting tanks, ...
- 10.9k
17
votes
Accepted
Why didn't horse-mounted archers dominate the world until Genghis Khan?
First the supply issue : The biggest reason for Horse archer scarcity is the training curve in becoming a mounted archer. It's not a simple task, you need to be able to ride and control your horse ...
- 2,689
16
votes
Physics of a heavy cavalry charge?
Your question is underpinned by a key misunderstanding of the course of an ancient or medieval battle: the slaughter occurs in the pursuit (or endgame if you will), not what might be termed the battle ...
- 67.4k
15
votes
Did the Vikings use horses in battle?
Short Answer
Generally, there is no evidence in medieval sources for the widespread use of cavalry or horsemen in battle by the Vikings. The Vikings in Western Europe (from the late 8th century to the ...
- 106k
13
votes
Accepted
Why did cavalry keep becoming a thing if spears were always around?
That's an overly simplistic way of thinking about cavalry.
Battles usually didn't focus on cavalry charges (though they often were used as shock operations during battles) but massed infantry holding ...
- 10.9k
12
votes
Accepted
How were heavily armored Cataphracts killed?
Lighter, Faster Cavalry.
The heavier the cavalry, the harder it is to maintain speed and perform sharp maneuvers. At the battle of Turin, Constantine used light cavalry with iron-tipped clubs to ...
- 187
12
votes
Did Cossack cavalry defeat German tanks during WW2?
There are no reports from the 13th cavalry division, luckily however all is described quite well in reports of the 15th cavalry division. Further I translated most important parts of that report:
At ...
- 425
12
votes
What was the point of horse armour?
The long bow was a particularly effective weapon against armored cavalry, and the French were surprised by this fact.
The (relatively thin) armor that you mentioned had earlier provided the horse ...
- 103k
11
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of the black/devil riders?
You are referring to the Schwarze Reiters (i.e. black riders), named after the dark armour they wore. This was a type of cavalry that appeared in Germany after the decline of the medieval lancers, but ...
- 95.8k
10
votes
Accepted
When did cavalry soldiers unsheathe swords?
The cavalry tactics could differ from century to century, yet when they got firearms, for sure, they had to learn quick swapping from firearm to a saber during the attack.
The Russian cavalry officer ...
- 4,242
10
votes
Accepted
Have human runners delivered messages faster than horses?
I looked into this some more, and I'll share my findings here.
100 Miles Record
In the FEI Endurance Riding Competition senior level, horses travel about 100 miles in one day. The world record for a ...
- 575
10
votes
Accepted
Were warhorses unable to graze in grass fields and thus needed to be manually fed an exclusive type of hay?
No. War horses are simply horses. Perhaps a little bit finicky with eating but not overly so.
The reason why they were fed hay is different. You need a LOT of fields with edible grass to daily feed ...
- 17.2k
10
votes
Was it possible to "aim for the epaulette boys" during the Middle Ages?
Yes and no. Uniforms and rank insignia as we understand them didn't exist back then. It was very easy to see who was high(er) in rank, though. Members of the knightly class wore their coat of arms on ...
- 17.2k
9
votes
Accepted
How and why did the Cavalry lance temporarily fall out of favour during the 16-18th centuries?
Because lances were unwieldy but required significant training to be proficient in. Their usefulness was progressively declining against the increasingly attractive (and cost-effective) firearms.
...
- 95.8k
9
votes
Accepted
Using a lance while on a charging horse against ground based enemy
Using the Wikipedia article as source, lances were indeed once-use items for shock attacks. If they hadn't splintered then they were sure to have gotten stuck, so they were intended to be dropped.
...
- 2,415
9
votes
What tactical situations made the use of traditional horse cavalry effective in World War II?
Sometimes Soviet Army (especially during the first two years of the war agains Germany, 1941-43) successfully used its cavalry units. Success depended on many factors including tactical skills of its ...
- 6,010
8
votes
What were the capabilities of a warhorse?
Talked with my favorite professional historian (who is also a professional equestrienne).
She pointed to the Tevis Cup as one source that might be instructive. Most of the Tevis competitors are ...
MCW♦
- 30.9k
8
votes
Was the Napoleonic era cavalry armour effective against firearms?
Without getting too involved in a discussion of terminal ballistics, the Napoleonic period armour certainly offered some protection against firearms, but it was only effective up to a point. This ...
- 76.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Did armored cavalry have an advantage over unarmored cavalry in 18th/19th century?
The advantage of wearing cuirass was obviously protection. As you noted, it could deflect pistol shots, and in theory even muskets at distance. Perhaps the main benefit however, was in fact against ...
- 95.8k
8
votes
Why didn't horse-mounted archers dominate the world until Genghis Khan?
Cost. It takes years of training to become a proficient foot archer, and much longer to become a mounted archer. A cavalryman is always far more expensive because of his mounts (plural; they usually ...
- 17.2k
7
votes
Were cavalry used in the First World War?
British Cavalry was surprising successful on the occasions it was employed by local commanders in small scale attacks exploiting gaps in the German defensive lines after the Germans had withdrawn to ...
- 71
7
votes
Accepted
Did Song troops spread black beans on the ground as a means to defeat the superior Jin cavalry? If so, in which battle?
Not sure if anyone will read this, but...
From Baidu (https://baike.baidu.com/item/连环计/5842#ref_[2]_5340118):
1.毕再遇连环计
“Bi Zaiyu Uses Chain Stratagems”
宋代将领毕再遇就曾经运用连环计，打过漂亮的仗。他分析金人强悍，骑兵尤其勇猛，...
- 94
6
votes
Accepted
How was Takeda defeated at the Battle of Nagashino?
The Takeda attack destroyed the first palisades, but was unable to break through much further. Their army ended up smashing themselves against the second line. I can see how that could be described as ...
- 95.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible