A generally ignored facet of wargaming cavalry units is those casualties suffered by the horses themselves. These are normally in excess of the hurts caused to the riders. This in spite of the fact that horses can take more wounds than their riders and still remain in action. However, particularly in campaigns, action to care for wounded horses, for fodder, and for remounts should be built taken into account.

The first snippet is from Armies of 1812 Volume 1 by Otto von Pivka. PSL 1977. P 76: Segur quoted Marshal Mortier, the Duke of Treviso, as telling Napoleon even before the Battle of Borodino, "Ten thousand horses have been killed by the cold rains of the great storm, and by the unripe rye which has become their new and only food."

From the strengths given in Section 3 (pages 99 to 154), it is obvious that between the campaign's opening at the end of June to about mid August French cavalry strength dropped from about 70,000 to the region of 54,000. These figures do not include losses to the artillery and military trains. Of course by the end of 1812 even these losses paled into insignificance, and most of the remaining horses were lost.

This information is reinforced by figures from The Saddle in Theory and Practice by Elwyn Hartley Edwards, publisher J.A.Allen & Co. 1990. He quotes losses of 30,000 horses in Napoleon's abortive attempt to take Moscow. He also writes that in spite of this the French had not learnt to take care of their horses by 1859.

Cavalry Strengths

At Solferino, out of a cavalry strength of 10,206, only 3,500 horses were fit to take the field. Another snippet on the same subject, although not from our period, is from A History of British Cavalry 1815 1919 - Vol. 4 by the Marquess of Anglesey, from Leo Cooper. A review says that the main topic of the volume is the Boer War which saw the destruction of 350,000 of the half million horses employed by the British. This is confirmed by Edwards who says the horse losses were 326,000 out of 494,000 in the period 1899 to 1902.

He quotes General Brabazon who conducted an enquiry into the casualties as pronouncing such losses as "a shameful abuse of horseflesh."

Edwards also comments that the British learnt from their experience and up to 1941, when the last cavalry units were mechanised, had learnt to care for their animals.

In Cavalry in the Waterloo Campaign by General Sir Evelyn Wood VC, Worley Publications 1992. P98, we learn that "The British cavalry arrived shortly before nightfall and bivouacked in fields of standing wheat and barley, the leading brigade on the battlefield and the remainder at Nivelles, and many horses died from having eaten the indigestible green crops".

From the above you will see that French cavalry marches in the later months of 1812 should be shorter and the number of charges restricted. In addition some recognition of the use of captured horses should be taken in the whole of this period, and others. In the immediate aftermath of 1812, French cavalry was made up of a large number of untrained recruits and new mounts. Ability to maneuvre was poor.

They could not be used for reconnaissance and could only charge at the trot. I cannot find the source but remember reading that French cavalry could be smelt from a distance by the stench from their horses' saddlesores. Saxon and Hanoverian Horses were usually above average mounts and units of them should be given more endurance in the melee. A longer charge move and more miles per day in a campaign could perhaps be applicable. Note that Spanish line cavalry was very badly mounted and of poor morale, but their dragoons performed well.

Forage and Water

From the above I will move on to the needs of horses in Forage and Water. My first example is taken from The Soldiers Pocket Book, 3rd Edition, 1874 by Major General Sir Garnet Wolseley. Publisher MacMillan & Co. Page 42. "The daily ration of forage should be divided into three equal feeds, given one in the morning, one at midday, the other in the evening. They should also be watered early in the morning." (Comment: Not too different from his human counterpart!)

On page 55 he states "The daily ration for all chargers and horses is 12 lbs. of oats and 12 lbs. of hay: for pack animals 8 lbs. of oats and 10 lbs. of hay. Horses employed on heavy draft work are allowed 2 lbs. of oats and 2 lbs. of hay extra". Page 44. "The mule's common load, including the pack saddle, is from 200 to 250 lbs." Page 41 "The weight of the new pack saddle is 27 lbs."

On page 42 he writes "For cavalry and artillery purposes his (the horses) minimum height should be 15 hands 2 inches" (a hand is 4 inches). "A 'horses length' is 8 feet, and its space in ranks is 3 feet by 10 feet. A horse's stride when walking is 0.916 yards making 120 strides (110 yards) per minute; the average trot is a mile in 8 minutes, making a 180 steps (220 yards) each minute, the stride being 1.22 yards."

"The gallop is about 100 strides (352 yards) each minute, that is, at the rate of 12 miles an hour, the stride being about 10 feet". On the same subject of forage and horse care consider Oman in Wellington's Army, Francis Edwards Ltd 1968, Page 112. "In countless places, in diaries no less than despatches, we find the complaint that the trooper of 1810 was, when not well looked after by his officers, a bad horsemaster careless as to feeding his mount, and still more so as to saddle galls and suchlike.

It is often remarked that the one German light cavalry regiment in the original, the 1st Hussars of the King's German Legion, set an example which some other regiments might have copied with advantage, being far more conscientious and considerate to their beasts. It is interesting to find that the French cavalry reports have exactly the same complaints, and the number of dismounted men shown in French regimental state as a consequence of sick horses was as great as our own.

Of Conditions

Several times I have found the report that when a considerable number of French cavalry had been captured, quite a small proportion of their horses could be turned over to serve as remounts for their captors. This was because of the abominable condition in which they were found. The fact was that the climate and the food seem to have been equally deleterious to the English and French horses. A diet of chopped straw and green maize - often all that could be had - was deadly to horses accustomed to stable diet in England or France. Wellington sometimes actually imported hay and oats from England; but they could not be got far up country, and only served for regiments that chanced to be put into winter quarters near the sea.

Practically all the remounts came from England. Portuguese and Spanish horses had been tried and found wanting many times. In 1808 the 20th Light Dragoons were embarked without horses, being ordered to mount themselves in Portugal; but the experiment "failed wholly".

Still on the subject of horse care 1812 by Antony Brett James, Macmillan 1966. p.238. "Horses in particular died very quickly from eating snow. To keep them alive one used to melt snow or ice over a camp fire if one had a suitable receptacle, and make them drink a small quantity of this water."

The then Marquess of Wellington, after his experience in India, was well aware of the problems of providing adequate forage. He wrote the followinq memorandum in August 1811 to Commissary General Kennedy in speaking of the pack transport for a cavalry regiment.

"A mule will carry corn for a horse for twenty days, and it is calculated that it will go upon average four leagues a day. A regiment of cavalry therefore ought to be supplied with mules to carry corn to the horses in such numbers as will bear the same proportion to the number of horses in the regiment as the number of days the mules will be travelling to and from the magazine will bear to twenty.

Thus, if the regiment is eight leagues from the magazine the mules will be four days going to and from. The number of mules, therefore, which the regiment ought to have to keep up the supply should be one fifth of the number of horses in the regiment". (Author's note. A Spanish league is 2.64 English miles).

Space in Ranks

General Wolseley mentions space in ranks. Major General E.B.Hamley in his book The Operations of War, W. Blackwood and Sons, 1876 writes on page 372 "Cavalry occupy each man and horse one yard laterally; a squadron of 48 file, 48 yards: a regiment of six squadrons (with five intervals of 12 yards each), in round numbers, 350 yards".

(Author's note; the files mentioned do not include officers and supernumeraries not actually in ranks.) Lieutenant Colonel Clery in his Minor Tactics, Kegan Paul & Co.1880. Page 65 expands on this. "Each horse is allowed 8 feet, from nose to croup, and a front of one yard. Thus Cavalry in line occupies as many yards of front as there are horses in the front rank. The rear rank is a horse's length from the front rank. Including all ranks, the depth of a squadron in line from the front of the nose of the squadron leader to the croups of the horses of the serrefiles is 56 feet. Including the 2 feet in front and rear always allowed to each horse, this became 20 yards (that is, 60 feet).

In 'Fours' (i.e. a front of 8) the depth of the column is the same as the front in line. In Sections it is double the front in line. In Half sections it is four times. In all the above columns the distance between horse and horse is half a horse's length. Between Squadron and Squadron in line 12 yards is allowed."..."Thus a Squadron of 48 files occupies 48 yards. In sections the column would be 96 yards". (Author's note: Although these distances are from manuals after the Napoleonic period I see no reason why they should have differed from that period.)

To Waterloo

A change of subject now, to French cavalry in the Waterloo campaign from The Hundred Days by Edith Saunders, Longmans 1964. The lady also comments on the space occupied by cavalry. On p.219 at Waterloo. "The French cavalry advanced up the slope in echelon, moving diagonally to their left, and approaching Wellington's line at a slow trot. The battery at La Belle Alliance ceased firing, whilst the fire of the English guns was intensified. The batteries of Lloyd and Cleeves, in front of Halkett's brigade which the oncoming cavalry faced, discharged their last salvoes when the horsemen were only forty paces off, bringing down half the leading squadrons.

For a moment the cuirassiers paused, then the cry went up 'vive l'Empereur' and they pressed forward among fallen men and horses, while the English gunners ran back to the squares." (N.B. the above relates to the first cavalry attack.) She also draws on Notes on the Battle of Waterloo by Shaw Kennedy, London 1869. p.117-8.

"This third attack of cavalry consisted of seventy seven squadrons, and was one of the most powerful efforts ever made by cavalry against infantry in the history of war. When it is considered that about 12,000 men were employed in this attack, and that only a thousand horsemen could stand in line in the thousand yards which separated the enclosures of La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont - that therefore twelve different ranks, two deep, could assail in succession the allied forces opposed to it and when, further, the composition of this force is considered, and the reputation of its leaders, its imposing character becomes evident, It will be recollected that these horsemen could only advance on a front of 500 yards, as they were obliged to keep at some distance from the enclosures both of Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte."

A Hawk At War, edited by Brian Perrett, Picton Publishing (Picton) Ltd., 1986 "The Peninsular War reminiscences of General Sir Thomas Brotherton, CB. Captain in the 14th Lt Dgns from,June 1807 to 1811 ". p.26. "24 Sep 1810. After covering the withdrawal for four miles, the three squadrons suddenly charged the French advance guard, which consisted of four Hussar squadrons, driving it back and inflicting serious loss. Brotherton's squadron alone killed 30 of the enemy." p.41.

"At Fuentes D'Onor we had a very fine fellow, Captain Knipe, killed through his gallant obstinacy, if I may so. We had the night before been discussing the best mode for cavalry to attack batteries in the open field. He maintained, contrary to us all, that they ought to be charged in front, instead of the usual way in gaining their flanks, and thereby avoiding their fire...

He had the opportunity of charging one of the enemy's batteries, which he did by attacking it immediately in front, and got through the discharge of roundshot with little loss; but the enemy having most rapidly reloaded with grape, let fly at his party, at a close and murderous distance, almost entirely destroying it; he himself receiving a grapeshot, passing through his body. He died the next day."

Life in Wellington's Army by Antony Brett James, 1972, published by George Allen & Unwin, Ruskin House Museum St. London, p24. "During the closing weeks of 1813 the army experienced particular trouble with the roads of France; heavy in extreme, with horses sinking to their knees in stiff mud and clay, carriages overturning, and men falling down at every step."

P. 183."Notably in central Spain the horses suffered greatly from the heat; the glossy black coats of the Royal Dragoon's mounts, to mention one regiment, degenerated into a dingy brown or bay, and furrows appeared down the hindquarters.

The Art Of Warfare On The Age Of Napoleon by Gunther E. Rothenberg. Batsford 1977, p.171. "Charles used concentrated cavalry as a striking force, his regulations establishing the line two deep for the charge, and the massed Austrian cavalry reserve distinguished itself in a countercharge against the French Cuirassiers at Austerlitz and again at Leipzig."

A History Of Cavalry by Z. Grbasic & V. Vuksic, published. Facts on File Ltd. Collins St., Oxford OX4 1XJ, 1989, p.133. "The Cost of Horses: At the beginning of the 19th century, a cuirassier's horse in France cost 300 francs, a dragoon's horse 200 francs, and a light cavalryman's horse only 100 francs.

Cost

Horses of very high quality, for officers or guard units, could cost in excess of 500 francs (today about 800 U.S. dollars). At the end of the 18th century, the cost of equipping and training a horseman in Austria was 2,200 crowns for a Jaeger zu Pferd, 2,800 crowns for a hussar, and 3,300 crowns for a cuirassier. In comparison a musket cost 10 crowns, a 12 pound gun 460 and a dragoon horse 80 crowns. The cost of equipping and training a foot soldier was 200 crowns, which also gives us an idea how expensive cavalry was."

Reminiscences 1808 1815 Under Wellington by Capt.W. Hay, C.B. by Simpkin, Marshall 1901, p.165: 16 Jun 1815. "Colonel Ponsonby called me to my senses by telling me to look at a cuirass he had taken from one of the dead bodies. It was perforated by three balls. He said: "I wanted to find our if these cuirasses were ball proof or not, this plainly shows they are not". On looking closely I pointed out several others with one or two balls through them."

In The Peninsula With A French Hussar by Albert Jean Michel de Rocca, Greenhill Books, 1990, p.147: 17 March 1810. Campillos. "A detachment of 50 hussars sent to reconnoitre found the Serranos (about 4000) encamped on the other side of the wooden bridge blow the village of Teba...Our intention was to draw them on to the plain near Campillos and cut them to pieces...

The Colonel appeared at that moment and ordered me to go and support the repulsed guards. We made a charge in various directions in the plain which succeeded; forty of our hussars cut a hundred of the mountaineers to pieces and those who were on the neighbouring heights fled in the greatest consternation. "

The above snippets give one a guide to mounting figures and to running campaigns.