Picture of a 17th Lancer in 1829 wearing a 1796 LCS

[sirupate]

Lovely pics Norman
Here is Sgt. Ewart's Sword and the Eagle he captured;

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you so much for the other images guys! and Sirupate for this thread!
The study of the British cavalry has always been a fascinating favorite for me as it was this subject which began my wonderful adventures in the collection and study of arms well over 40 years ago.

Ibrahiim thank you so much for posting Tennyson's magnificent poem in full! Those words have been resoundingly implanted in the literature and language of western culture since, and particularly the words, 'theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die' often occur in everyday expressions and analogy.

Norman, great and most astute observation in the illustration of Sgt. Ewart and that the points of the M1796 disc hilts were varied. I recall that accounts of the Scots Greys leaving England for Belgium state that they were ordered to grind the backs of their sword blades toward the later favored 'spear point. For some time there had been considerable debate over cut vs. thrust in the use of swords, and at this point it was decided, rather in ersatz fashion, that going into combat the spear point would be more effective with these heavy swords than the original hatchet point .

It is indeed curious why the artist would place both forms of point in the illustration and whether a consciously placed rendering or coincidental variation.

[fernando]

Let me take the advantage of having a few members here who are within the Cavalry issue and ask you guys the following:
How late are Cavalry charges recorded to have taken place; you know, horsemen, lances, sabres and all ... with or without images ?
... Taking that the one at Balaclava wasn't surely the last one.
Thank you.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by fernando

Let me take the advantage of having a few members here who are within the Cavalry issue and ask you guys the following:
How late are Cavalry charges recorded to have taken place; you know, horsemen, lances, sabres and all ... with or without images ?
... Taking that the one at Balaclava wasn't surely the last one.
Thank you.

Excellent question Nando!! and you're right, Balaklava was far from the last one! For anyone so inclined a great reference on this topic is "Charge to Glory" (James D. Lunt, 1960). According to Lunt, one of the last recorded British cavalry charges was with Sikh sowars of the Burma Frontier Force against Japanese machine gun emplacement near Toungoo, Burma in 1942.

I once, as I have told here before, had the honor of visiting Brig. Francis Ingall author of "Last of the Bengal Lancers" (1988). As a young subaltern he led a mounted cavalry charge of the 6th/13th Bengal Lancers on the Kajuri Plain in Khyber Agency in 1930. As he recounted that action to me as we stood in his living room, he occasionally looked wistfully over to the portrait of his charger, Eagerheart, placed in honor over the fireplace.
He described colorfully ordering his men to 'draw swords' as they charged the numbers of Afridi tribesmen, and he handed me the very M1912 British cavalry sword he had carried at high tierce in the charge.

There are so many stories of these cavalrymen, and it would be hard to cover them all here as there were cavalry in virtually all wars and campaigns up to and including WWII. I will never forget the scene in one movie where General George Patton, the stalwart horse soldier, had ordered his men to stack their swords as they reorganized the cavalry units into armored, and stood with tears in his eyes as the men filed by complying with his order.

It is almost impossible to study the history of these units without as much passion. When I visited Brigadier Ingall I had been studying Bengal Lancers already for years, and there was an excitement and rapport indescribable as we talked, which was reflected deeply as he inscribed my copy of his book.
It remains , much in the way of the portrait of his charger, in a place of honor among my books. He passed away in 1998.

[fernando]

I am amazed; never imagined these episodes went so far in time. For me, guys who played sword battling in the XX century, could only hurt themselves .
I have a record ... not so late but, registered with picture ... therefore the real thing, instead of the usual paintings and drawings with authors romantic touch.
I know the scope of the forum limits topics to an earlier period and am also aware this is Sirupate's thread, so hope that both him and the forum don't mind the impertinence.
I will not introduce the image; the text in the (bilingual) book says it all.
(From the " PORTUGUESE ARMY an illustrated memoir " in 2005 )
.

[Queequeg]

Originally Posted by fernando

Let me take the advantage of having a few members here who are within the Cavalry issue and ask you guys the following:
How late are Cavalry charges recorded to have taken place; you know, horsemen, lances, sabres and all ... with or without images ?
... Taking that the one at Balaclava wasn't surely the last one.
Thank you.

There have been a few articles about the U.S. Special Forces on horseback in Afghanistan; swords included:

U.S. Special Forces Joined Charge On Horseback Against Taliban

Washington -- U.S. special forces working with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan have ridden in cavalry charges against Taliban militia positions, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said. ``In Afghanistan, a country we think of in somewhat medieval terms, our special forces have taken a page from the past, from the history of the horse cavalry with our soldiers armed with swords and rifles, maneuvering on horseback,'' Wolfowitz said in a speech last night...

Monument honors U.S. 'horse soldiers' who invaded Afghanistan

Demossville, Kentucky (CNN) -- The U.S. special operations teams that led the American invasion in Afghanistan a decade ago did something that no American military had done since the last century: ride horses into combat...

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Queequeg

... swords included: ...

If you don't mind, i'll take that as a figure of speech .

[sirupate]

I never knew that about the US special forces acting as a kind of modern light dragoon, fabulous!

[fernando]

It is not difficult to assimilate that horses are a functional alternative for accessing areas where motorized vehicles can not reach but, swords why not horse riding with assault rifles?