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Cavalry Units
Cuirassiers
| This unit represents the next stage up of heavy cavalry development in Europe. The armour worn by these riders was much lighter, resulting in higher speed and manoeuvrability. Much attention was paid to riding techniques.
Cuirassiers could deliver powerful and deadly blows both to enemy cavalry and infantry in square formations. A cuirassier's equipment included a steel cuirass about 47 cm (181/2") high with a breast width of 44 cm (17") and weight of 8-9 kg (17-20 lbs).
The cuirass protected a rider's breast and back from cold steel weapons and musket bullets (at a range of at least 50 steps).
A pistol bullet could pierce the cuirass only if fired point-blank (from 2-3 steps away). Sometimes cuirassiers wore steel helms.
A cuirassier was equipped with a suede collar, a uniform, leather trousers and jackboots. He was armed with a broadsword, a pair of pistols and a short cavalry flintlock musket or cavalry carbine. Cuirassiers attacked in tight array at a gallop from a distance of 1,800-700 steps. They used broadswords to break through enemy lines while their pistols remained a secondary weapon.
General von Marvitz once wrote: "This force will break through whatever happens. Half of them may be shot down or become stuck in a ditch and hundreds will wring their necks. But they won't stop (not to mention turn back), for in all the swirl and turmoil of hundreds of horses spanking ahead in tight formation, even the best rider can control his horse no longer - they are all doomed to break through. Even if one of them can cope with his horse and manages to gain control - he'd better forget about stopping, or he'll be smitten by the rear and trampled down. So there's not a shadow of a doubt that, once such a charge is initiated, it will be either a breakthrough or a detachment will cease to exist."
Cuirassiers were a privileged force and were exempt from many service burdens. |
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