Light cavalry

For the operetta, see Leichte Kavallerie.

French 4th Hussar at the Battle of Friedland, 14 June 1807. "Vive l'Empereur!" by Édouard Detaille, 1891.

Painting of a Sowar of the 6th Madras Light Cavalry, circa 1845.

File:Roman cavalry lg.jpg

Reenactor dressed as a Roman equestrian.

Light cavalry refers to lightly armed and lightly armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders (and sometimes the horses) are heavily armored. The missions of the light cavalry were primarily reconnaissance, screening, skirmishing, raiding, and most importantly, communications, and were usually armed with spears, swords, bows and later carbines.

Light cavalry was used infrequently by the Greeks and Romans (though Roman auxiliaries were often mounted), but were popular among the armies and hordes of Central Asia and Southwest Asia. The Arabs, Hungarians, Huns, Mongols, Turks, Parthians, and Persians were all adept light cavalrymen and horse archers.

With the decline of feudalism and knighthood in Europe, light cavalry became more prominent in the armies of the continent. Many were equipped with firearms, as their predecessors had been with bows. European examples of light cavalry included stradiots, hobelars, hussars, chasseurs à cheval, cossacks, chevau-légers and some dragoons.

Historical use

Armies of the ancient Roman-Germanic wars made use of Light Cavalry as patrolling squads, or armed scouts, and often had them in the front lines during regional battles.

During the Punic Wars, one of Carthage's main advantages over Roman armies were its extensive use of Numidian Light Cavalry. Partly because of this, the Roman General Scipio Africanus recruited his own cavalry from Sicily before his invasion of Tunisia during the Second Punic War.

The Middle Ages

A variety of types of light cavalry were developed in medieval armies.

• Hobelar : Originally Irish, later popular in English and Scottish armies of the 14th. and 15th. centuries
• Jinete: Spanish light horsemen, particularly popular during the Reconquista
• Stradiot : Of Albanian origin, used as mercenary light cavalry in Italy in the later 15th. century
• Turcopole : A light mounted archer used extensively during the Crusades in the Middle East but also found among the Teutonic Knights in their Baltic campaigns
• Horse Archers armed with composite bows allowed the Mongols to conquer large parts of Asia and Europe in the 13th century. Horse archers were also used extensively in Steppe warfare throughout Central Asia and the American prairies.

The Napoleonic Era

Light cavalry played a key-role in battles in the Napoleonic Era.

• Hussar : One of the most common light cavalry, they originated in Hungary.
• Uhlan : Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabers and pistols, they were later also used by Russian, Prussian and Austrian armies.
• Dragoon : A type of mounted infantry, they were armed with a carbine.
• Sowar : An Indian horseman armed with a sword. Their rank was equivalent to the Sepoy in the infantry.

See also

• Cavalry
• Heavy cavalry
• Horse archer
• Horses in warfare
• Waler horse