Cavalry

     On the 17th Century battlefield the cavalry could be compared to the modern day fighter pilot and other than the artillery was probably the most expensive unit to field to equip on the battlefield at the time.

     A typical regiment experienced shortages of men, horse flesh and equipment which meant that many regiments where very much under strength. Most of the tactics for cavalry had been refined during the 30 years war on the continent and some of the officers and troopers who served during the early campaigns in 1643 onwards where veterans of those distant battles

     Types of cavalry also varied on both sides but the most prolific was the Harquebusier, so named after the carbine the trooper carried. By the end of the early stages of the war, tactics and shortages of these weapons meant that many regiments did away with the cumbersome carbine, passing them down to Dragoon regiments and turning to the pistol rather that the cumbersome sling mounted musket. A typical trooper’s armour consisted of a lobster tail helmet or burgonet. In some cases a floppy felt hat was worn depending on what was available. If fortunate enough a trooper would wear a buff coat, a thick oil dressed leather coat made from thick ox hide that was thick enough to turn a sword cut. Over this the trooper would wear a back and breast plate that was proofed against pistol shot, a thick pair of leather gauntlets or perhaps an armoured bridle arm, designed to protect the arm holding the reigns. With this a thick pair of heavy bucket top tiding boots would protect the legs from the elements and the violence of the enemy.

     The idea that the Royalists and Parliamentarians wore differing types of dress was a popular Victorian myth which indicated that while the Roundheads wore the famous lobster pot helmet, the Royalists wore flamboyant hats. This in itself was a romantic image of an age long past as both sides wore the same armour, in fact it was difficult to tell both sides apart and this was proved by Sir Thomas Fairfax at Marston Moor when cut off behind enemy lines, he did pluck out his field sign from his hat, marking him as part of the Parliamentarian army and rode through the Royalist lines unlmolested. Offensive armament consisted of a good long sword, designed for cleaving through armour and a brace of pistols carried in holsters about the horse’s neck. So difficult where these to reload on horse back in the thick of the fray that many troopers would carry other loaded pistols in their boots to provide yet more offensive fire.


     The tactics favoured by both sides during the conflict which involved riding up close to the enemy in ranks and discharging the pistols into the enemy before wheeling off. Prince Rupert however, preferred yet still to charge into the enemy and fire pistols into their ranks while relying in this and the shock of impact from the massed ranks of horse to break up enemy formations. Later Cromwell adopted the same tactics for his famous ‘Ironsides’, though he took this still further by training his troopers to rally after the charge to reform and charge again. A tactic that would play an important role against Royalist forces at Marston Moor in 1644 and certainly something that Rupert had been unable to bring into the Royalist cavalry.
 

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