Editing Battle of Turnhout (1597) (section)

===Analysis===
At the time the battle was of great importance for the evolution of mounted warfare for two reasons:

The first impact was that Maurice's army had demonstrated the superiority of the new type of cavalry, the [[cuirassiers]] or [[reiters]], as used by [[Henry IV of France]] at the [[battle of Ivry]]. The cuirassiers wore half-armour and a light helmet and were armed with several pistols but also carried [[carbine]]s as well as a sword.<ref name="Manning">Manning p.56</ref> No [[lance]]s were carried, so instead of being arrayed in a thin line (''en haye'') to maximize the number of lances being deployed they charged in dense formations (eight ranks deep) and fired their pistols only at the moment of contact. This tactic, which had already defeated French [[Gendarme (historical)|gendarmes]] (lancers in full armour) at Ivry, proved to be effective as well against the lighter Spanish demi-lancers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Graf von Bismarck|first1=Friedrich Wilhelm|last2=Beamish|first2=North Ludlow|title=On the Uses and Application of Cavalry in War: From the Text of Bismark, with Practical Examples Selected from Antient and Modern History|date=1855|publisher=T. & W. Boone|pages=328–29|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s28DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA328}}</ref>

The second impact was that the Dutch and English cuirassiers, with the support of a few hundred musketeers, had destroyed a Spanish tercio without the help of their own heavy infantry. These lessons on the value of the cuirassiers were quickly learned and most European armies abandoned the use of [[lancers]] soon after, with only the Poles retaining them within their famed [[husaria]]. The Spaniards finally drew their own conclusions after their [[Battle of Nieuwpoort|defeat at Nieuwpoort]] three years later.<ref name="Leon">Leon p. 93</ref>
[[File:Overwinning 1597.png|thumb|280px|A commemorative Dutch medallion made after the battle in 1597 - ''The Battle of Turnhout and Spanish defeats, by Prince Maurice of Nassau'' (front), 1597, by Gerhard van Bijlaer. ''The troops of Prince Maurice chase after the Spanish'' (reverse).]]