Editing Cavalry (section)

===Europe 1914===
In August 1914, all combatant armies still retained substantial numbers of cavalry and the mobile nature of the opening battles on both [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern]] and [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]s provided a number of instances of traditional cavalry actions, though on a smaller and more scattered scale than those of previous wars. The 110 regiments of Imperial German cavalry, while as colourful and traditional as any in peacetime appearance,<ref>{{cite book |first=Ulrich |last=Herr|pages=15–16|title=The German Cavalry from 1871 to 1914|year=2006|publisher=Verlag Militaria |isbn=3-902526-07-6}}</ref> had adopted a practice of falling back on infantry support when any substantial opposition was encountered.<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Terraine |page=50 |title=Mons: Retreat to Victory |date=October 2002 |publisher=Wordsworth Editions |isbn=1-84022-243-3}}</ref> These cautious tactics aroused derision amongst their more conservative French and Russian opponents<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Terraine |page=14 |title=The First World War 1914–18 |year=1984 |publisher=Papermac |isbn=0-333-37913-6}}</ref> but proved appropriate to the new nature of warfare. A single attempt by the German army, on 12 August 1914, to use six regiments of massed cavalry to cut off the Belgian field army from [[Antwerp]] floundered when they were driven back in disorder by rifle fire.<ref>{{cite book| first=R. |last=Pawly |pages=[https://archive.org/details/belgianarmyworld00pawl/page/n11 10]–11 |title=The Belgian Army in World War I | year=2009 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA | url=https://archive.org/details/belgianarmyworld00pawl | url-access=limited |isbn=978-1-84603-448-0}}</ref> The two German cavalry brigades involved lost 492 men and 843 horses in repeated charges against dismounted Belgian lancers and infantry.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Joe |last1=Robinson |first2=Francis |last2=Hendriks |first3=Janet |last3=Robinson |title=The Last Great Cavalry Charge – The Battle of the Silver Helmets Halen 12 August 1914 |date=14 March 2015 |publisher=Fonthill Media |isbn=978-1-78155-183-7}}</ref> One of the last recorded charges by French cavalry took place on the night of 9/10 September 1914 when a squadron of the 16th Dragoons overran a German airfield at [[Soissons]], while suffering heavy losses.<ref>{{cite book|first=Laurent|last=Mirouze|page=253|title=The French Army in the First World War – to battle 1914|year=2007 |publisher=Militaria |isbn=978-3-902526-09-0}}</ref> Once the front lines stabilised on the Western Front with the start of [[Trench Warfare]], a combination of barbed wire, uneven muddy terrain, machine guns and rapid fire rifles proved deadly to horse mounted troops and by early 1915 most cavalry units were no longer seeing front line action.

On the Eastern Front, a more fluid form of warfare arose from flat open terrain favorable to mounted warfare. On the outbreak of war in 1914 the bulk of the Russian cavalry was deployed at full strength in frontier garrisons and, during the period that the main armies were mobilizing, scouting and raiding into [[East Prussia]] and [[Austrian Galicia]] was undertaken by mounted troops trained to fight with sabre and lance in the traditional style.<ref>Vladimir A. Emmanuel, p. 10, ''The Russian Imperial Cavalry in 1914'', {{ISBN|978-0-9889532-1-5}}</ref> On 21 August 1914 the 4th Austro-Hungarian {{ill|4th Cavalry Division (Austria-Hungary)|lt=4th Cavalry Division|pl|4 Dywizja Kawalerii (austro-węgierska)}} under {{ill|Edmund Ritter von Zaremba|pl|Edmund Zaremba}} clashed with the Russian [[10th Cavalry Division (Russian Empire)|10th Cavalry Division]] under general [[Fyodor Arturovich Keller]] in the [[Battle of Jaroslawice]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Prit|last=Buttar|page=209|title=Collusion of Empires|date=17 June 2014|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-78200-648-0}}</ref> in what was arguably the final historic battle to involve thousands of horsemen on both sides.<ref>Peter Jung, pages 10–11, ''The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War I (1) '', {{ISBN|1-84176-594-5}}</ref> While this was the last massed cavalry encounter on the Eastern Front, the absence of good roads limited the use of mechanized transport and even the technologically advanced Imperial German Army continued to deploy up to twenty-four horse-mounted divisions in the East, as late as 1917.<ref>Vladimir Littauer, p. 6, ''Russian Hussar'', {{ISBN|1-59048-256-5}}</ref>