> A couple of oft repeated stories from the local
> wargaming/medieval re-enactment community are
> a) The only recorded horse charge that broke a formed up pike
> block happened when a leading horse was shot and killed dead
> just short of the pike heads, and with its momentum rolled
> through the pikes, causing a gap that the following horses
> could exploit - horses could not otherwise be made to charge
> home against long sharp pointy things.
> and
> b) at a waterloo re-enactment in France, a unit of foot ran
> away from a unit of horse that they _knew_ (from the script)
> would not charge home, because a hundred charging horses is
> really terrifying at a visceral rather than intellectual level.
> According to the script the foot were supposed to stand fast.
Dead horses no longer have the survival instinct to pull up before they run into a wall. A couple of British squares were destroyed this way during the Napoleanic wars. Normally the British infantry copuld be counted on not to break formation (unlike other nationalities). It is damned un-nerving to see hundreds of horse galloping at you, but discipline can make men overcome their fears.
> Note that I have no idea where these stories came from, so they
> could be complete rubbish, but I think they suggest that a
> horse charge on prepared infantry with spears/pikes is a battle
> of morale (bravery?) If the infantry break, they are in really
> deep trouble. If they don't then the cavalry is not necessarily
> going to do very well.
Steady foot can drive off cavalry under most circumstances. But it takes a lot of training to supress the "flight" instinct in a man (just as is takes a lot to make a horse do something as silly as charging into a wall of men). It doesn't even require spears or pikes to drive off horsemen, though having a wepaon with a longer reach than your opponent is handy! Even Lancers were unable to damage Napoleanic squares, and they *did* have the reach over Bayonets (but they didn't have reach over bullets, so died in droves...)
> IIRC Williams cavalry at Hastings were repelled repeatedly by
> Huscarl footmen, and only penetrated the wall when it broke the
> line to charge the retreating cavalry (too much bravery? too
> much recklessness?) so those are the sorts of contests I'd
> probably run for a cavalry vs infantry contest.
The destruction of the flanks of Harold's army allowed the horsemen of William to get a toehold on the top of Senlac hill, instead of having to charge uphill all the time. Even then, it was a close-fought battle, and could have gone either way.
RR
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has
done what he has done.
- Richelieu
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