Why do British Cavalry suck : The Waterloo Association > History > Regiments > British Cavalry

The Waterloo Association > History > Regiments > British Cavalry

This goes into a LOT of detail on why the British Cavalry is IMPETUOUS. 

Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, was an unyielding taskmaster who demanded absolute obedience from those men under his military command. He trusted or relied on few officers, instead preferring to do much of the staff work himself....

....Yet, one branch of the army consistently disregarded Wellington’s enforced discipline: the cavalry. During the time of England’s conflict with Napoleon, 1803-1815, the British cavalry exhibited a fatal propensity for abandoning all purpose and formation during a charge and running themselves into unnecessary defeats. Six charges, at Vimeiro, Talavera, Badajoz, Fuentes de Onoro, Maguilla and Waterloo became as many misfortunate episodes. These maddening rushes have been called ‘the curse of of the British cavalry during the war.’

  What the French said:

It is ironic that the most penetrating appraisal of the British cavalry was offered by a Frenchman, Marshal Exelmans, who was Murat’s chief-of-staff in Spain and his Master- of-the-Horse. He wrote:

“Your horses are the finest in the world, and your men ride better than any continental soldiers; with such materials, the English cavalry ought to have done more than has evert been accomplished by them on the field of battle. The great deficiency is in your officers, who have nothing to recommend them but their dash and sitting well in their saddles; indeed, as far as my experience goes, your English generals have never understood the use of cavalry. The British officer seems to be impressed with the conviction that he can dash and ride over everything, as if the art of war were precisely the same as fox hunting”

 

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