This is the re-edit of a live broadcast with Historian Mark Thompson. We discussed British cavalry of the Peninsular War.
How were they trained? What were their strengths and their weaknesses? In which battles did they perform well?
Mark has written many books on the era. This is his excellent book on the lines of Torres Vedras – https://amzn.to/3thM6k7 and this one on Wellington’s favourite engineer – https://amzn.to/3rAUVVO
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Very interesting conversation. Never knew there were such problems with the cavalry.
Wellingtons comments are enough , John Le Marchant would seem to be the best and was able to keep his Dragoons in order and Cotton was also highly thought of , nevertheless whilst the Cavalry had the elan to charge home it was a matter of getting them to stop
Nice work, gents!
Yet another great subject indeed, that was curious because I have 3 letters , (copies of course) of Brigadier General George Madden to go through, concerning a work I'm doing. Another great piece of information about the harsh realities of war, thanks for sharing.
Waterloo, the Union Brigade, was another example of an initially successful charge getting ahead of itself, charging too far, their horses getting winded, and then being counter-attacked and decimated.
Note that the best light cavalry regiment, especially screening and skirmishing alongside the British rifles and light infantry, in the British Army in the Peninsula is reputed to have been the 2 Hussars, King's German Legion. It was the dragoons of the KGL that broke the French squares at Garcia Hernandez. British cavalry entered the Peninsula campaigns with little training in the cavalry's most important missions, screening and scouting. But I think the first hand references show that the British cavalry that stayed in the Peninsula learned their jobs when competently led. It seems real problem was the officers, going right up to brigade and division commanders.
The British had to ship in their horses because there was an insufficient number of horses large enough for medium and heavy cavalry to mount a regiment.
Always brilliant.
remember , the HORSE is the brains of the operation