"A cavalry charge can only succeed...

[jonnymacbrown]

...when the last enemy machine gun is taken." I forget who said that but it was some British general c. 1916. Where there any successful cavalry charges in 1914? Prussian cavalry went in with lance, sword, pistol and carbine. Did they ever use those lances or swords? Union cavalry had discarded the sword by 1865. Did the Brits still have them in 1914? Did they charge anybody in Flanders? :smoke: jonny

[Mr Grumpy]

On the 22nd August the 16th Lancers charged and destoyed a party of Jagers.

The 9th Lancers participation in the final "lance on lance" action of the First World War on 7 September 1914 at Moncel in which Lieutenant Colonel David Campbell led a charge of two troops of B Squadron and overthrew a squadron of the 1st Guard Dragoons.

On 29 August 1914, C Squadron of the 12th Lancers made a successful charge against a dismounted squadron of Prussian Dragoons. The 9th/12th Royal Lancers celebrate Mons/Moy Day annually, which commemorates the last occasions on which each predecessor regiment charged with lances.

[Ivan]

I'm not sure there were many if any large scale cavalry charges in WW1. I was always under impression the charge of the 21st Lancers was the last great cavalry charge. That was a massacre and they were facing native troops. Winston Churchill was involved. Having a quick look on the net there seems there were some in WW1 but mostly of a small scale, horses mostly being used for transport.

According to this site the charge in Mons was one and another in 1918 that left only four horse alive.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hor...ar_one.htm

[Bidermann]

They did go into action with sword and pistol, and carried out the odd charge.But they were mainly kept in the reserve for the break through which did not come,or fought as infantry in threnches. Near the end of the war they did have some small success .
One action, the Germans were dismounting from a train and were caught unformed . Another action which would of gone in tha pages of history was the British charge on Germnan field guns which were deployed.The attack started well but as the charge came close to the guns a small wire fence ,not seen when the charge started ,now stoped the charge full stop and men and horses were cut down

The main action they never took part in but should of done was the three day battle at Amiens,after the tanks and infantry had cut through the german lines and had open fields in front of them. The cavalry were to far back to of any use,so for 4 years the generals had waited to use the cavalry but when the chance came they were not there.

---

on the easten front and in the middle east cavalry were of more use and had the last full charges .

Going on from that I would love to of seen a full cavalry charge with all its power and force.

[Dog Soldier]

The last Western Front Cavalry charge was in August of 1918, IIRC. Australian cavalry broke through thin German lines during the second battle of the Marne and captured a railway gun that was later put on display in Paris.

This was a large action including four divisions of cavalry, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Australian.

Dog Soldier

[P.Ako]

The last great cavalry charge wasn't the one at Meggido?

[Dog Soldier]

The ride by the Gloucestershire Hussars into Nazareth to capture the German General Liman von Sanders was in September of 1918. This was not a charge but a walk into town at 5:30 AM about dawn to wake up the Turkish garrison!

Dog Soldier

[Volcano Man]

Well, I guess it is all open to interpretation on what constitutes a "great cavalry charge". I don't believe there is an instance of four of five thousand cavalry all lined up en masse for a charge since the Napoleonic Wars, but if you want to waste your cavalry like this in F14 then you have the right to do so! Who knows, maybe you can find a situation where that might actually accomplish something if the enemy helps you out of course.

All that aside, sure - as a generic answer in general terms, there were plenty of cavalry charges in 1914 and World War One in general, but they would be considered individual actions -- except on the East Front where there were countless swirling cavalry battles since the cavalry was free to roam and maneuver to its fullest potential (because of the open space to pursue / outflank and even raid rear areas). In the west, there is the famous German cavalry charge at Haelen against dismounted Belgian cavalry which was very bloodily repulsed, and the British cavalry charged at Elouges with two full regiments (~1000 men) only a day after Mons to by some time for the rest of the BEF to withdraw. In the case of the latter the British got (in game terms) disrupted in the attempt and shot down in large numbers before they broke off). That website that says that the last cavalry charge on the Western Front occurred at Mons (I assume they are talking about Elouges), is quite a generic and incorrect statement. There were so many actions by all forces involved from August to the Marne, and from the Aisne to the English Channel (Race to the Sea) and a lot of those actions are undocumented and were of course chaotic to say the least. There was a cavalry action around Villers-Cotterets just prior to the 1st Battle of the Marne where the German 4.Kavalerie-Division was almost wiped out completely, and those are just naming a few documented events off the top of my head.

Once the front line settled down after the Race to the Sea, cavalry pretty much became infantry with fancy uniforms and traditions to occupy trenches like everyone else, or they were held back in reserve as a breakthrough force (think of Cambrai 1917). But after 1914 in the West Front, it would be true (for the most part) to say that cavalry played a big role only on the East Front and in the Near East Front after this point, and it would also be true to say that World War One was the twilight period of *traditional* cavalry.

[Mr Grumpy]

So if we get any east front titles, understanding the mechanics of the cavalry charge will be more important than in F14.

[P.Ako]

So if we get any east front titles, understanding the mechanics of the cavalry charge will be more important than in F14.

which in game terms it means simply that their assault value will be higher than their British and French counterparts, doesn't it?