Editing Cavalry (section)

====Imperial expansion====
Cavalry found a new role in colonial campaigns ([[irregular military|irregular warfare]]), where modern weapons were lacking and the slow moving infantry-artillery train or fixed fortifications were often ineffective against indigenous insurgents (unless the latter offered a fight on an equal footing, as at [[Battle of Tel el-Kebir|Tel-el-Kebir]], [[Battle of Omdurman|Omdurman]], etc.). Cavalry "[[flying column]]s" proved effective, or at least cost-effective, in many campaigns—although an astute native commander (like [[Samori]] in western Africa, [[Imam Shamil|Shamil]] in the [[Caucasus]], or any of the better [[Boer]] commanders) could turn the tables and use the greater mobility of their cavalry to offset their relative lack of firepower compared with European forces.

In 1903 the [[British Indian Army]] maintained forty regiments of cavalry, numbering about 25,000 Indian [[sowars]] (cavalrymen), with British and Indian officers.<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Chandler|page=379 |title=The Oxford History of the British Army |year=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-285333-3}}</ref>

Among the more famous regiments in the lineages of the modern Indian and Pakistani armies are:
[[File:21lancers.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|right|The charge of the 21st Lancers at [[Battle of Omdurman|Omdurman]]]]
[[File:18th Lancers, Mametz 1916.jpg|thumb|right|[[19th Lancers]] near Mametz during the Battle of the Somme, 15 July 1916]]
* [[Governor General's Bodyguard]] (now [[President's Bodyguard (India)|President's Bodyguard]])
* Skinner's Horse (now India's [[1st Horse (Skinner's Horse)]])
* Gardner's Lancers (now India's [[2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)]])
* Hodson's Horse (now India's [[Hodson's Horse|3rd Horse (Hodson's)]]) of the Bengal Lancers fame
* [[6th Bengal Cavalry]] (later amalgamated with [[7th Hariana Lancers]] to form [[18th King Edward's Own Cavalry]]) now [[18th Cavalry]] of the [[Indian Army]]
* [[5th Horse|Probyn's Horse]] (now [[5th Horse]], Pakistan)
* Royal Deccan Horse (now India's [[Deccan Horse|The Deccan Horse]])
* Poona Horse (now India's [[The Poona Horse]])
* Scinde Horse (now India's [[Scinde Horse|The Scinde Horse]])
* [[Guides Cavalry|Queen's Own Guides Cavalry]] (now Pakistan).
* [[11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force)]] (now [[11th Cavalry (Frontier Force)]], Pakistan)

Several of these formations are still active, though they now are armoured formations, for example the [[Guides Cavalry]] of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://defencejournal.com/jun99/guides-cavalry.htm| title = The Guides Cavalry (10th Queen Victoria's Own Frontier Force)| access-date = 2006-11-12| archive-date = 2006-10-24| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061024192206/http://www.defencejournal.com/jun99/guides-cavalry.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref>
[[File:Spahis, fantasia, 1886.jpg|thumb|upright|Algerian spahis of the French Army 1886]]

The French Army maintained substantial cavalry forces in Algeria and Morocco from 1830 until the end of [[World War II]]. Much of the Mediterranean coastal terrain was suitable for mounted action and there was a long established culture of horsemanship amongst the Arab and Berber inhabitants. The French forces included [[Spahi]]s, [[Chasseurs d' Afrique]], [[French Foreign Legion|Foreign Legion]] cavalry and mounted [[Goumier]]s.<ref>L'Armee d'Afrique 1830–1962, General R. Hure, Paris-Limogues 1977</ref> Both Spain and Italy raised cavalry regiments from amongst the indigenous horsemen of their North African territories (see [[regulares]], [[Italian Spahis]]<ref>Plates I & IV, "Under Italian Libya's Burning Sun", The National Geographic Magazine August 1925</ref> and [[savari]] respectively).

Imperial Germany employed mounted formations in South West Africa as part of the [[Schutztruppen]] (colonial army) garrisoning the territory.<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Woolley|page=94|title=Uniforms of the German Colonial Troops|year=2009|publisher=Schiffer Publishing, Limited |isbn=978-0-7643-3357-6}}</ref>