Wright State University CORE Scholar Browse all Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2014 Acrid Smoke and Horses' Breath: The Adaptability of the British Cavalry Fred R. Coventry Wright State University Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all Part of the History Commons Repository Citation Coventry, Fred R., "Acrid Smoke and Horses' Breath: The Adaptability of the British Cavalry" (2014). Browse all Theses and Dissertations. 1265. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all/1265 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Browse all Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACRID SMOKE AND HORSES’ BREATH: THE ADAPTABILITY OF THE BRITISH CAVALRY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By Fred Coventry B.A., Ohio State University, 2004 2014 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL DATE: 07/23/2014 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Fred R. Coventry ENTITLED Acrid Smoke and Horses’ Breath: The Adaptability of the British Cavalry, BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts. __________________________________________ Paul D. Lockhart, Ph.D. Thesis Director __________________________________________ Carol E. Herringer, Ph.D. Department Chair Committee on Final Examination _______________________________________ Paul D. Lockhart, Ph.D. ______________________________________ Carol E. Herringer, Ph.D. _______________________________________ Jonathan R. Winkler, Ph.D. _______________________________________ Robert E.W. Fyffe, Ph.D. Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School ABSTRACT Coventry, Fred R. M.A., Department of History, Wright State University, 2014. Acrid Smoke and Horses’ Breath: The Adaptability of the British Cavalry. The purpose of this thesis is to re-examine the nineteenth century British cavalry as an organization, one which has generally been characterized as deeply conservative and resistant to change in organization, operations and tactics. While the charge of conservatism is true in terms of the command structure of the British cavalry, this research demonstrates that the British cavalry of the nineteenth century typically adapted itself to the conditions in which it found itself, adopting whatever methods, tactics and weapons best suited the campaigns in which it fought. Beginning with the Crimean War’s cavalry actions as a baseline for what was generally expected of nineteenth century cavalry in the British Army, the thesis then moves on to demonstrate that in other circumstances the cavalry would neither follow such strict and stringent rules of engagement nor rely on the massed charge as the best or only method of engaging the enemy. Moving chronologically through several campaigns in which cavalry figured prominently, including the Indian Mutiny, Anglo-Zulu War, the war in the Sudan and the Anglo-Boer War, this thesis points out the many and varied ways in which the British cavalry adapted itself to different climates, opponents and tactics around the globe, and makes clear that the British cavalry was capable of a great deal of flexibility and resourcefulness. Thus, institutional intransigence was offset by operational flexibility in the actual theaters of battle, with official doctrine often being changed in the wake of a successful campaign or battle. iii Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………...1 Chapter 1: The Crimean War…………………….................11 Map 1: Regional Map for the Crimean War……………………………13 Map 2: The Battle of Balaclava ……………………………19 Map 3: The Charge of the Light Brigade……….…………..28 Chapter 2: The Indian Mutiny………………………..……..44 Map 4: India 1835-1858…………………………………….45 Map 5: Indian States during the Revolt of 1857…………….48 Chapter 3: The Anglo-Zulu War…………………………….68 Map 6: Battle of Isandlwana………………………………...73 Diagram: Buller’s Forces at Ulundi……………………………77 Chapter 4: The Gordon Relief Mission in the Sudan 1884-85 ………………………………………………………86 Map 7: March of Dessert Column……………………………96 Map 8: Battle of Abu Klea……………………………98 Chapter 5: The Anglo-Boer War…………………………….103 Map 9: South Africa 1899- 1910……………………………116 Conclusion..............................................................................136 Bibliography……………………………………………149-158 iv List of Figures Figure One: Map 1: Regional Map for the Crimean War……………………………13 Figure Two: Map 2: The Battle of Balaclava ……………………………19 Figure Three: Map 3: The Charge of the Light Brigade……….…………..28 Figure Four: Map 4: India 1835-1858…………………………………….45 Figure Five: Map 5: Indian States during the Revolt of 1857…………….48 Figure Six: Map 6: Battle of Isandlwana………………………………...73 Figure Seven: Diagram of Buller’s Forces at Ulundi……………………………77 Figure Eight: Map 7: March of Dessert Column……………………………96 Figure Nine: Map 8: Battle of Abu Klea……………………………98 Figure Nine: Map 9: South Africa 1899- 1910……………………………116 v Introduction The British cavalry of the nineteenth century has, as an organization, been painted as a deeply conservative branch of the army which was unwilling to change or adapt its ways in the face of new weapons and methods of war. Such broad generalizations fail, however, to capture the truth of the British cavalry’s accomplishments and achievements, and certainly they overlook the adaptability the cavalry frequently showed in the many and varied theaters of operations in which it was asked to perform its duties. The British cavalry demonstrated time and again that it could, when called upon, adapt itself to a variety of environments and conditions, from the excessive heat, humidity and monsoons of India to the arid plains and mountainous reaches of South Africa. In the deserts of the Sudan, it left its horses and lances behind and adopted camels and the carbine as its primary mounts and weapons, and the British cavalry made far greater use of mounted infantry and irregular cavalry, two very similar creatures in practice though raised differently, than any other nation during the Victorian Age. The assertion that it was unchanging and hopelessly conservative also ignores the ongoing attempts to refine the weapons and equipment of the cavalry soldier, as well as the search for the correct and most effective training techniques to build strong and useful cavalry troopers. These efforts can be found in the writings of the officers and men, as well as in the various training manuals and books authored by cavalry officers seeking the best ways and means of improving the cavalry and making it the best it could be. Frequently hampered in its efforts by Parliament’s attempts to keep military expenditures low and the dual needs of preparing for a ground war on continental Europe and policing a rather vast and ever growing empire, the cavalry still managed to improve in small ways its equipment and to experiment with its training. 1 It is perhaps in these dueling needs, those of empire and home defense, that the problem arises. Those most focused on defense of Britain herself, and preoccupied with the idea of a war on the mainland against another Napoleonic-style warlord, tended to be the conservative voices. The army, in all its branches, had to be capable of fighting a well-organized and professional army built along Napoleonic lines. It resisted major changes, because the armies of the Continent had not adopted such changes, the conventional thinking apparently being that experimentation might well lead to a disaster, since using untried methods against well-organized and well- trained professional armies could only lead to disaster. Better to face an enemy on their own terms and with an army similarly organized, so that superior leadership and discipline would win the day. Continental methods, however, proved to be less than satisfactory in maintaining an empire where native fighters could not or would not, for the most part, employ Continental methods of fighting. Despite assertions that, in the maintenance of the Empire, “The cavalry had a small share of the work, since so much of it was done in dense jungles and waterless deserts or on bare mountain sides,”1 the cavalry was constantly at work subduing uprisings and battling against the erosion of Britain’s vast holdings. In these far-flung corners of the empire, junior officers frequently had to adapt methods to fit the situation and employ irregular methods of fighting unconventional enemies. Here, use of irregular cavalry, fire-action as opposed to the charge home with lance and saber, and open order instead of the knee-to-knee charge often proved effective. Many of the junior officers whose improvisations and adaptations proved effective managed to rise higher in the cavalry or overall military establishment, bringing their ideas with them. This 1 Leonard Cooper, British Regular Cavalry 1644-1914 (London: Chapman & Hall, 1965), 189. 2 second school of thought was more progressive and willing to embrace new methods and tools of war. More well-versed in the ways of modern warfare than those who served in the highest positions of command at home, they began to make systemic and lasting changes in the cavalry, belying the suggestion that, “the British cavalry…took no account of the changes which the passing years and the experience of far distant campaigns were imposing