Cavalry charges

**helenos aiakides** · 08-10-2009, 22:47

I was thinking about this when i was playing, if cavalry charge in close formation, wouldn't the cavalry at the front get crushede into paste between a block of infantry and the rest of the cavalry?

**IrishHitman** · 08-10-2009, 22:58

No, just the infantry get crushed...
The cav pushes them back.

**helenos aiakides** · 08-10-2009, 23:05

Im talking about real life, because if cavalry charged in close formation wouldn't the front ranks get crushed

**abou** · 08-10-2009, 23:14

The thing is, horses don't really stop moving when stampeding. Even a moderate sized horse of the day weighs several hundred kilos. Essentially, the horse doesn't stop: you move.

**A Very Super Market** · 08-10-2009, 23:18

A matter of a horse and man (Presumably with a deal of armour as well) weighing more than just a man. If a horse could charge into a solid formation of lightly equipped soldiers, it would still wreak havoc because of all the force involved. The reason they don't is because they don't want to charge into something that looks dangerous.

**Aemilius Paulus** · 08-10-2009, 23:19

Originally Posted by abou

The thing is, horses don't really stop moving when stampeding. Even a moderate sized horse of the day weighs several hundred kilos.

Really? Because I read horses will not walk on humans, hence the Ghandi's "everyone lie down" to stop the charging British cavalry sent to disperse him. How true is this? What of the highly trained horses - are they an exception?

And can a horse really charge in a wall of pikes, with heavy barding on it? I thought they had another instinct against that, although I have read accounts that disprove it as well.

**Watchman** · 08-10-2009, 23:52

Horses hate the idea of bad footing and colliding with obstacles at speed. Comes from the critters' basic survival mechanism being Running Away Really Fast - they don't want to compromise that, obviously.

To cut a few corners, there's roughly two possible alternative results for a cavalry charge against close-order foot. Either the infantry wavers, and the horses ram the resulting gaps in the line and the footsloggers in all likelihood get ripped apart. Or they hold steady, and the horses hit the brakes rather than slam into such an obstacle and the cavalry are probably in for some trouble.

Which is why most cavalry has preferred hit-and-run "nibbling" to gradually weaken the line, flank attacks, and in the case of at least some cataphracts, walking into contact. Horses may not want to *run* into solid obstacles, but can be convinced to push against them at safer speeds.