Film makers should learn that whilst it may look dramatic, a cavalry charge does not start at the gallop. The horses would hardly be at their best by the time the charge is actually made.
During the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, spectators including U.S. congressmen arrived to watch, expecting a quick Union victory. However, the Union was defeated and the spectators were sent scrambling for safety amidst the chaos of the retreat. The number of injured spectators is not documented, but the event was far from the safe spectacle many had anticipated.
In 1807, in East Prussia French and Poles captured town of Fridland. They found lots of wines and spirits. Party took 3 days of constant drinking. Than Russians reinforcements arrive. Whole army was too wasted to fight... except Poles who mount their horses and charged. They managed to cover the rest of army. Angry Napoleon said that he would like to see all his soldiers to be drunk like Polish Cavalry. From then French got saying: 'saoul comme un Polonais'
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
I'd heard this story, not about the eastern front, but about assaulting a mountain pass towards Spain. The spaniards had fortified it toughly, and all the French commanders refused to storm it, arguing it was suicide. The Polish cavalry went up, and was victorious against all odds. After that, Napoleon kept praising so much that the French tried to dismiss the victory, noting all the Poles were drunk that day. That's when Napoleon would have answered "Then, gentlemen, learn to be drunk like the Poles". Whichever version is historical, the Poles have long been unsung heroes ; remember Sobieski !
@@kartofff The famous Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard. The assault on a mountain pass is that of Somosierra. They are gorges deffendus by pieces of Spanish artillery, which blocks the advance of the French artillery. Napoleon grew impatient, and despite the remarks of Colonel Pire, who judged the assault "impossible," he turned to Kozietulski and said: "Take me off that. At a gallop." A little earlier, he would have said to the Colonel Pire: "My Polish horsemen do not understand this word (impossible)". 3rd squadron of Polish light horse, strong of two companies, aligns about 150 men. In two assaults, severe losses (big pair of balls), they will take all the Spanish cannons. Great honors: 13th bulletin of the Grande Armée mentions the determining role 3rd squadron of Polish light horse during Battle of Somosierra.
Polish cavalry and his organization were the best from the winged ones. All european armies have duplicated the polish cavalry model til the XVIIIth century. I'll never forget Polish units give their blood to Napoleon for their liberty. Greetings from France.
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
@@elvrro i said one of the biggest If you say that then you know nothing about History Check the battle in my comment, thats 10 time what pol achieve in their history
@@elvrro french and napoleon fought and free poland France during ww1 fought and free poland France in ww2 declared war to germany for poland and paid the price for that. What did poland for France ? So go learn History before say bullshit
Actually, they are Dragoons (and Polish Lancers at the end). You can tell by the Leopard skin helmets and the green jackets without breastplates.....Cuirassiers wore Blue Jackets with colored facings the color of which denoted the Regiment.
They were indeed, but this isn't them; these are not wearing cuirasses. And why would they be charging whilst wearing their cloaks? I've never heard of that. The whole point was to be able to slash and thrust in all directions around them; being impeded by a long cloak would have been self defeating, the enemy could even have dragged them out of the saddle with it. I understand it was done for cinematic effect, as was the ridiculously protracted gallop (it was customary to advance at the walk, progressing to trot and then canter, with only the final 50m being covered at the gallop.) In the scene depicted here, those horses would have been "blown" by the time they reached the enemy, which is what happened to the Scots Greys when they galloped on too far at the Battle of Waterloo.
@@hammer2722 You're right ! Moreover, the cuirassiers never charged this way, they charged in line, first at a low pace, then at a higher speed, and then at full speed with their long sword held straight, aiming the throat or the chest of their opponent. Knowing that a cuirassier fully equiped with his horse weighed around 800 kg, the effect was devastating, no wonder everybody feared them. The other problem being dragoons weren't full scale horsemen, but foot soldiers using their horses to move quicker and normally fighting on foot. Here, this way of charging is more typical of light cavalry units like husars. And there are too much flags, and of an incorrect type
Cavalry would never go at a gallop over that long a distance, they would completely lose coherence. They only would gallop over the last quarter of a mile or so.
Correct. Actually cavalry was sparing their horses before the storm&attack, being in loose walk for an hour or so. If circumstances allowed it, of course. I know, I was in a cavalry unit of Croatian national defense (before the war I was taking part in military exercises; in Liberation war in 1990s we used horses only for provision of defenders* in impassable mountains and woods). *I say "defenders" because Croatia had no army when Serbs and JNA attacked (JNA=Yugoslav National Army, during 1980s silently changed in Serbian Army, with Serbs on top positions). Also most of Croatian police were Serbs, well prepared for war. Before the attack JNA took all weaponry from Croatian National Defense. When they attacked - they attacked bare-handed civilians; Vukovar, Dubrovnik and other battles were defended by civilians, people who had no connections with military whatsoever.
@@raymondstone9636 By "capes" you mean coats? Where were they leaving them? I read a book few centuries old, I forgat the title but it was written by a soldier who described his battles in Europe. He described the attack of Croatian band of horseman: everybody would freeze from fear when they will see horsemen WITH REDCOATS. Here are some portraits of ban Jellachich soldiers made in their camp near Vienna, in 1848 when they defended Vienna from revolutionars: www.croexpress.eu/mobile/zanimljivosti/677/nasa-povijest-hrvatska-vojska-bana-josipa-jelacica-iz-1848-1849-godine/ Text describes each peace of their weapons, sadly no translation available.
They wouldn't charge through their retreating comrades either... PS: and the movie didn't include the "No horse was harmed during the filming of this movie" phrase at the end...
Old times? People still do, just last October you could just sit on the border in northern Iran and watch the armies of Azerbaijan and Armenia duke it out, hell when I was in Hong Kong in 2019 I could see protesters and police fighting just down the road and had to take a footbridge over the action to buy groceries. It only doesnt happen if your country isnt a battlefield.
Surprisingly accurate depiction of French infantry mixed order assault formation. Probably need more extras to truly fill-out the old "French Columns" but neat that they show this formation.
@@Goliath5100Possible injuries vs slave labour in a box - and the CGI usally looks shit anyways. Usually no1 dies, anyways just check Waterloo 1970 the biggest one nobody died during shooting.
I would say that the Napoleonic period was the time where the whole French army (not only cavalry) was one of the most fearsome military forces that ever existed in Europe. The French Republic which later transformed into the French Empire boasted a very well armed, organized and motivated army that could defeat entire coalitions of European powers and was fairly invincible. And finally, it was not defeated by men, but by the weather (famous russian winter).
The French army also was defeated by men!!! Or was there no Bassano, Acre, Aspern, Krasnoi, Leipzig, La Rothiere, Laon, Waterloo? And most of the casualties during the march on Moscow happened in summer. The Russians used the method of scorched earth. They destroyed the wells and burnt farms and left nothing for the French and their vassals. There were scenes when soldiers ran to a urinating horse to drink from the pee puddle. The extreme loss of draught horses was catastrophic for the supply of the giant army.
@casparow123 problem is that you can get stomped on by heavy masses in melee engagements, and if you react, there'd gotta be a soldier noticing and bayonetting you
Napoleon also bears the distinction of being the only military leader to seize the whole of continental Europe, from Madrid to Moscow. If only for a month or so. But still the entire length of the continent.
I wasn’t sure it was Borodino until the shot with Napoleon sitting in front of his marshals resting his feet on the drum came up. Just like that famous painting 😂
There is quite a number of scenes where you see guys flying off horses and getting hit by stuff. I wonder how many people got broken bones and concussions from making this movie.
Such cavalry attacks only exist in the cinema. When the horses run at full gallop over such a long distance and then uphill, they are exhausted before they make contact with the enemy. But it is beautiful to watch.
I was also thinking that the artillery holding their fire against infantry didn't seem right either. Not for that long anyway. I can appreciate loading Canister shot and holding until the enemy is in range, but bloody hell, the Ruskies are using shells, haha!
@@vtwintora Roger. I was wondering, haha. 10lbs does sound a bit light for a '77 Charleville though... have you weighed it? I thought the'77 was supposed to be closed to 10.5 lbs... where the original '17 model was closer to 10lbs. I know that the India Pattern Bess was supposedly closed to 9.5 lbs... which would make sense as it was shorter.
The movie is War and Peace. That guy in the civilian clothes is a main character there in the Russian saga and gets caught up in the middle of the battle.
they do make cool films but the thing is that it is not anymore actor tricks talent's what plays the role, but computer.Effect is reached not via actor play but special effects. In this sense I agree, that old school actor-play was better.
@Crazy D wait wait. Are you really that much of a loser, that you HAVE to go after him, because he, properble by accident, spelled "dear" with a "c" instead of a "d" xD wow. Whats ironic, is that by doing these idiotic "spelling" & "grammar" comments, it only makes you yourself sound like the biggest loser ever. Congratz ;) PS: Get a life(:
Apparently at some time in history, the message 'no horses were injured making this movie' was used, but that statement hid the fact that many were killed or put down. A dead horse is not an injured horse. Technically correct. Marketing is a lovely thing...
@@bartolomeonew you do realise this from War & Peace the 66' Russian version I highly recommend you check it out I believe this is supposed to be the Battle of Borondino and indeed that would've had both the polish lancers and the saxon cuirassiers
These scenes are all very well from the American "War and Peace" until one sees the stupendous Russian version which is about as close to a Napoleonic battle as we are ever going to get.
I think that Russian version had the guy laying on the ground...severely wounded....looking up at the sky and wondering if those were the last moments of his life? Amazing what the movie industry produced long before CGI.
@@badguy1481 That scene was also portrayed in the BBC War and Peace mini-series, starring a pretty young Anthony Hopkins as Pierre Bezukhov. Alan Dobie played Andre Bolkonsky, the Russian officer who was badly wounded at Austerlitz. It was a pretty good series, though some of the casting could have been better.
If you look at the map of the French Empire at its greatest extent (which does not even show attacking Russia for example), i think the comment is valid. They were all over the world.
@@LEGOpachinko yes, but the video is just about Napoleon age and Napoleon took Switzerland, Netherland, Italy, Spain , part of Poland and maybe Polinesia .... he lost Egypt in less than 2 years .... not in that age the western Africa and Indocina. Type me here the link of that map
@@LEGOpachinko "which does not even show attacking Russia for example" Do you seriously try to present as some sort of unfair omission of the french greatness campaign, that in just 6 months utterly broke his army and sent his Empire in downwards spiral which in short time made him just a note in history?
@@Gabneo1 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_French_Empire contains a map but does not show all the places they fought. But since they controlled for example the Netherlands and Spain they also controlled their colonies so it's quite impressive. As a figure of speech i think the comment is valid (imho :)
even tho all this old napoleonic movie doesnt really got that realistic like effect of cannonball bouncing, death by musket shot, but the scenery of hundreds thousand man actually marching with full uniform mak it very beautiful. the inperfection of the line formation make it very felt real
Don't know where this was shot but the movie "Waterloo (1970)" was shot entirely in the Soviet Union, with regular Soviet Army soldiers dressed up as extras and ordered around by their officers. They must have thought it made for a nice diversion from their usual battle maneuvers.
Do you know how many takes it took until there was a clean passing through the cavalry? Maybe it was the 10th take and it only worked because the functioning infantry actors had been reduced by previous trials so that their lines were thinner.
@@nitzky8936 I can buy groups of people watching a battle from a safe distance, but I dunno, the idea of some civvie being allowed to meander through the ranks at will during a battle seems a bit silly. For all those officers know, he could be a spy.
@Zannekin You may try to listen to Ponasenkov who asserts that no single battle was won by the russians during the 1812 compaghn. I do not know whether this is true or not. But Tolstoi's "War and Peace" seems to have a differente veiw at the history. War and Peace is a great book, but likely not because of the descriptions of battles.
@Zannekin Thanks for your detailed response. It was interesting for me to read your opinion. Mine is a bit different. As a matter of fact I had to read Tolstoj and Dostoevsky at school (at the age of 15-16 years old). Moreover, our truely marvelous teacher of Russian Literature and Russian Languadge obliged us to read the originals (that we had to do during our long summer holidyas as a preperating for the coming study year). That age is not appropriate for reading those giants of the russian literature. Since then, I actually hate Tolstoj and Dostoevsky but I admit that later in my life I shall have to come back to them. One more thing: from the standpoint of your analysis of War and Peace, the "Gone with the Wind" by M. Mitchel is very similar to "War and Peace". I enjoyed reading it a lot.
5:10 awesome scene, looked like real actors without cgi. I really wanted to know how it feels like when horde of cavalries swarming pass you and your men.
The Spanish army that fought in Somosierra were almost all recruits who barely had instruction in combat. They also did not have passive weapons such as stakes.
@@elvrro The Spaniards did have weapons to defend themselves but not training and see a charge of cavalry produces terror, especially if you have never fought, with this I do not take away merit as the Poles fought in the French army, because thanks to them they won the battle.
It is from the movie War and Peace with Mel Ferrer, Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn based on Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel of the same name. Sanitized view for horrible butchery. No surgery almost only amputation with nothing. People were left to die for days.
3:20 "Sir, do we worry about that well defended position right in front of us that we are walking towards? Shouldn´t we, I don´t know, charge or retreat?" "Hold your baguette and keep walking!"
The Cavalry charge in movie-land always turns into a horse race. You'd think after spending all that money, they'd try to get it right with ranks dressing right and left for maximum impact on the enemy formations.
@@alanbarr2735 I believe that he means that the horsemen maintain very close "tight" ranks. In other words, riding knee-to-knee with a horseman on both sides of you. Most horses today shy away from objects and will rarely run over anything if they can see it. However, it is well documented that horses can be trained to charge at ranks of opposing soldiers. It is made easier when horses are running together in groups. I've read animal psychologists refer to it as a "herd habit". They actually get excited when they charge together with a group of other horses. Supposedly stallions made the best chargers due to their aggression. The purpose of keeping as close together as possible is to use the mass of tightly packed bodies as a literal battering ram instead of merely a vehicle for carrying weapon-wielding soldiers. Of course, any obstacles that slow or break up the formation greatly reduce the effectiveness of using cavalry this way.
As a former husar who has practised attacks like these, I have to say that it is very difficult to maintain formation - especially in a long charge like this and under fire.
There is a mistake there. Grenadiers did not go out on skirmish lines, that was the job for Tirailleurs, Fusiliers, and Light companies from the line regiments.
Tirailleurs, Fusiliers, and Light companies? Ah, you mean Jäger (hunter) Battalions The first units were set up in Westphalia in the mid-16th century and then copied by the other nations.
The first duty of the cavalry was to spike any guns they captured so they could not be used again, a metal spike was hammered into the touch-hole so it could not be fired.
@@vinm300 yes, thats correct. At the battle of Waterloo, the French Cavalry charged at the British squares and the gunners abandoned their guns and sort safety in the squares, Napoleon was furious when he learnt the guns were not spiked or carried away and after the futile charge, the gunners resumed firing at the French.
you know this is why I like the old Classics better than today's movies because you can get actors to act and not just look good on the screen. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and many others are good examples.
If the scene is from the movie "War and Peace, then the battle depicted would be the battle of Borodino. I had understood that it was a unit of Saxon Horse Guard that assaulted the Fleches (the arrows, as the artillery redoubts were dubbed due to their shape) and took them, yet here we see what I can only assume to be Polish Lancers and what appear to be French Dragoons (?). Anyone happen to know if they chose to change the units for the film on purpose, or if I simply remembered the assault on the artillery positions wrong? Cheers in advance.
@@GNBcorporal very true, I noticed my mistake a day ago. Thank you for the clarification. As I understood it the fleches were captured by a combined assault of innfantry and cavalry, so after all the depiction of the movie is accurate enough, though of course the movie can’t show the 5 failed assaults on the Fleshes prior to their eventual capture. Cheers for the comment :)
@@lefty6774 indeed the flesh where captured by assaults from davout and ney corps supported by cavalry from murat the french attacked about 7 times before it was captured. one thing that comes to mind is the terrain is too hilly. Borodino is a lot flatter hence the need for the fleches. But i think the film makers used this to avoid the picture looking too empty. Al in al they don’t make em like this any more
@@GNBcorporal The Saxons and French Cuirassiers captured the Great Redoubt by attacking it from the open side of the Redoubt. This was of course after the failure of the French infantry to capture it.
The best cavalry units of those period were Polish ulans and Mamluks, but if we gonna say about most strong and multipurpose cavalry it would be simply polish ulans. They were strong both against cavalry and against the infantry and altillery of the enemy. Вut especially they were strong against the suppression of enemy cavalry
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
French medieval heavy cavalry (french mounted knights and men at arms) and early modern heavy cavalry (the Gendarmes) were considered the best in Europe. The French Napoleonic Cuirassiers (shown in the video) had that reputation as well. Polish Lancers were pretty impressive in the Napoleonic Wars too though. Their charge at Somosierra is legendary. Ok now......... The Winged Hussars have a respectable record as well obviously. Historians consider them "special" for being an effective heavy cavalry force in an era where nobody in Europe used them anymore because of the developments in military technology (gunpowder and all that jazz).... but not necessarily for being the "bessssssst cavalry evvvvveeeer" hahaha. This circle-jerk about the Winged Hussars wasn't even a thing before that Sabaton song about the Siege of Vienna lol.
French medieval heavy cavalry (french mounted knights and men at arms) and early modern heavy cavalry (the Gendarmes) were considered the best in Europe. The French Napoleonic Cuirassiers (shown in the video) had that reputation as well. Polish Lancers were pretty impressive in the Napoleonic Wars too though. Their charge at Somosierra is legendary. Ok now......... The Winged Hussars have a respectable record as well obviously. Historians consider them "special" for being an effective heavy cavalry force in an era where nobody in Europe used them anymore because of the developments in military technology (gunpowder and all that jazz).... but not necessarily for being the "bessssssst cavalry evvvvveeeer" hahaha. This circle-jerk about the Winged Hussars wasn't even a thing before that Sabaton song about the Siege of Vienna lol.
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
@@ramananrampragash6790 no, it was french 4th and 7th lancier and the 12th cuirassiers Insider lancier there were polish unit but of most of them were french Stop being nationalist giving all credit to poland.....
@@7macfly2 first of all I am big supporter of Napoleon and I have no nationalistic support towards Poland. I merely pointed out a fact that the majority of the French cavalry who faced the Scottsgrey at Waterloo were of the Polish lancers. And yes the Cuirassiers provided support as well.
@@ramananrampragash6790 ok i apologies for that But as i said it was french cav with some polish unit "Napoleon promptly responded by ordering a counter-attack by the cuirassier brigades of Farine and Travers and Jaquinot's two Chevau-léger (lancer) regiments in the I Corps light cavalry division. Disorganized and milling about the bottom of the valley between Hougoumont and La Belle Alliance, the Scots Greys and the rest of the British heavy cavalry were taken by surprise by the countercharge of Milhaud's cuirassiers, joined by lancers from Baron Jaquinot's 1st Cavalry Division. As Ponsonby tried to rally his men against the French cuirassers, he was attacked by Jaquinot's lancers and captured. A nearby party of Scots Greys saw the capture and attempted to rescue their brigade commander. However, the French lancer who had captured Ponsonby killed him and then used his lance to kill three of the Scots Greys who had attempted the rescue.[86] By the time Ponsonby died, the momentum had entirely returned in favour of the French. Milhaud's and Jaquinot's cavalrymen drove the Union Brigade from the valley. The result was very heavy losses for the British cavalry." en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo
Only one thing wrong. Cannon shit did not explode on contact with the ground, they where solid iron balls. They bounced and bowled men over like a bowling ball. Save that they tore flesh and bone to pieces. Lovely!
Explosive shells did exist. They were rare and were intended to explode in mid-air for maximum shrapnel effect. The fuses however were unreliable, and often an unexploded shell would land on the ground before exploding (or failing to explode). So the explosions aren't ENTIRELY inaccurate, just a bit. :-)
I assume they were trying to simulate cannister shot. But did so very badly. Also a frontal attack by cavalry vs artillery was less likely to work than with infantry.
People used to take picnics to watch battles for entertainment. As recently as the U.S. Civil War. And kids were enlisted as young as 5 or 6 years old. They were used as drummer boys.
@@renardgrise I stand corrected: "The cavalrymen pressed on with sabers drawn. Wathier's 2nd Cuirassier Division arrived at the redoubt first, and as they were about to enter its rear they were greeted by a heavy volley from the infantry inside. General Caulaincourt was killed. Wathier's cuirassiers were repulsed and Lorge's Saxon, Westphalian and Polish heavies and Rozniecki's 4th Light Cavalry Division moved to fill the gap. The cavalrymen were met by Russian musketry at 60 paces. The fire brought them to a short halt before they resumed their advance. The Saxons drew out to the left and poured up and over the redoubt's walls, while the French and Polish cuirassiers forced their way (ext.link) through the rear and embrasures of the breastwork." *ttp://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Borodino_battle.htm
The french army infanterie did not charge anymore in front Line in that Time but développé their attacks on à diagonal « en tirailleur » hérited from the lack of discipline of the révolution army . This disposition made them less vulnérable and more efficient than the tradionnal square bataillon shape much easier to target.
actually only riflemen use the "en tirailleur" formation to harass the enemy line, regular infantery units were still using formation in lines or rows and square were used only in defence against cavalry charges
You are so darm wrong .French line infantry charge in column often all the way to waterloo ,light infantry is the one the fought in other formations ,read some books about it please 😅
@@erwinsell184 Je crois qu’une réponse en français s’impose. Citez vos sources Cher monsieur avant d’insulter le monde. Merci.. Et rappelez vous qu’il vaut mieux parfois se taire en prenant le risque de passer pour un con que de l’ouvrir en ne laissant aucun doute. Bonjour je t’ai vu.
@nicolasartheau822 remie port the former chief historian of the French army, would disagree. The after action reports of soult specifically mention their use at albuera. You can also look to the charge of the British heavy cavalry at the moment where the french colums of d'erlons corps were caught at the moment of deploying into line from the colum formation at Waterloo into line. Marshal Mcdonald also used one at wagram storming austrian positions. He's not wrong, it's matter of fact that even that quick research can uncover.
I don't see why you'd charge in column face to artillery, one lucky shout would shred all of the collumn, column was used against infantry though@@erwinsell184
The British had some of the best horsemen in Europe but because their officers purchased their commissions the great cavalry regiments were badly led by incompetent people.
Best horses and finest dressed since they rarely spent time on campaign. Their riders however were aristocratic boys with no combat experience and their leaders were the epitome of British arrogance whose fantasies of glory frequently led them into disaster.
@@jonsmitt9769 Yeah I'm British but this is absolutely true. Wellington said it himself - "Our officers of cavalry have acquired a trick of galloping at everything. They never consider the situation, never think of manoeuvring before an enemy, and never keep back or provide a reserve." Brave bastards but they didn't have a clue what they were doing.
ZebsFrend Frendless different war mate. The light brigade was ordered to charge down that valley, they didn’t choose to. Yes, the French heavy brigade belated charged to support the light brigade’s withdrawal. If they had charged a little sooner there wouldn’t have been a need to withdraw. Not blaming them here, the French weren’t exactly ordered to support the initial charge. At least they prevented the Russians from punching through the hole that was left by the now shattered light brigade. Kudos to the French commander for taking the initiative to stave off a disaster, but that’s all it did. At the of the day both sides occupied the same positions they held at the beginning of the day. Only the British were minus one light brigade of cavalry. The French Heavy brigade commander said it best. “It’s magnificent, but it’s not war”.
@Ichvergessdenehh They did but as a part of the French cavalry. Other Poles certainly fought in Russian and Austrian armies, but only the ones in the French army kept some semblance of national identity, under the auspices of semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Poland.
@Ichvergessdenehh You may be interested in General Poniatovsky. The only non French commander to attain the rank of Marshall of the Empire under napoleon and the emperor himself declares his regiment of light horse “his bravest cavalry”
French Grenadiers also wear Bearhats like the Old Guards wear, if im right those are the Grenadier Regiment 4:07 in this scene you can still see the Old Guards within the Reserves.
@@NexusSabreYT By 1812 the Grenadier companies in line battalions had replaced the bearskin with a leather shako trimmed in red. To expensive to use bearskin that was supplied from North America.
I like how there are Poles in the comments being proud that they had the 'best' cavalry, but it's completely off-topic regarding the video about French cuirassiers.
It is not "off-topic", can't you see that Poles are in the title; "BEST CAVALRY IN EUROPE". Poles came here to see how French Empire admires Polish cavalry. I'm joking, of course. Everybody knows that best European cavalry of that era was Croatian:-)
Napoleon: You see here monsieur Wellington we have the best cavalry in europe and also by supports from the Polish. Wellington: Well then we would like introduce you.. a square formation.
Please note: Napoleon himself actually invented the square formation to ward off cavalry, Wellington and virtually every other European army copied him.
The square formation was very prone to cannon fire, it also lacked maneuverability, its not particularly good at anything other than cavalry in Napoleonic warfare. It also required a lot of drilling and training to form up in a confused battlefield. The British and French, who were quite well trained, were ok, but Austrian infantry often used battalion mass, which is a packed and not hollow square. Not very sure about Russian and Prussian infantry, assumed that they were well drilled?
they dont won any battle against ottomans ,ım saying "battle " not battle because 2. vienna is not battle ,its easy win thanks to the crimean khan. but Poland lose many battle in Polish-Ottoman wars,search it.
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
@@ariannguyen3776 very good light riding, the use of ambushes and maneuvers during combat, but the Cossack army is above all infantry, the best for capturing castles or forts
Training, lots of training. Nobles could train horses to be fearless in battle and modern equestrians can use a bit of the same knowlege to train horses to perform movie stunts. Btw the comment below/above is nonsense, there were always laws against killing animals in movies, especially the large and respectable ones like horses, elephants, tigers etc. Chickens, boars and pigs etc were not so lucky. But if there was one thing Europeans respected were these beautiful breed horses, wich are worth a lot. No sense whatsover in killing one for a movie. The only truly animal abusing movie out there is Cannibal Horror, where the fucked up director killed a bunch of rare animals for basically shock value. Like ripped a huge sea turtle's shell and cuts a wild boar in half and then worse, ,much worse. It's fuckig disgusting and there are rumors that it's actually and Snuff movie, which was considered legend before this one. People disappeared on set and the filmakers raped and forced the natives to work on the movie. So it's safe to say that was the most fucked up movie ever made.
@@dolamrothknight Its nothing like that. They spent thousands to breed and grew those horses, these are very expensive creatures that also took years to train, they were and are still not going to sacrifice horses like that. Its like destroying a million dollar luxury car for a movie scene, its just not going to happen. I mean the horses owner definitely wont allow his horses to die like that.
@@ArtilleryAffictionado1648 While laws may have been in place to protect animals, there was no branch of the police force setup to investigate offences of these laws. While the RSPCA fulfilled this role (The history between the RSPCA and the UK's police force is a worthwhile read), it was a charity with little funding and limited legal power, as a result it was not capable to contest every possible offence of these laws. Had films broken these laws, to the suspected extend discussed here, there was a good chance no one was going to do anything about it.
Wiem że to 2-3 wieki wcześniej, ale najlepsza kawaleria świata, to ciężka jazda polska - Husaria. To był mix czołgu abrams, komandosa Navy Seals i pocisku hellfire. Wiele razy wróg liczebnością przerastał Husarie dziesięciokrotnie, a po szarży nie było po nim co zbierać (np. w bitwach Kircholm, Chocim, Kłuszyn, Trzciana)
Good luck asking the pyrotechnics team to show "grape shot" on screen instead of easy puffs of flame and smoke. You forget this was before the age of CGI, and the filmmakers are limited by technology, time, and money.
Vive la France et les autres pays, que les horreurs des guerres passées nous servent d'exemple pour que nous vivons tous en paix et en harmonie. Le monde ne sera pas indestructible et la nature nous le rappelle sans cesse
Sure- the article is "French Empire/Best Cavalry in Europe", but many students of Napoleonic warfare would suggest that the Saxon Garde du Corps and Zastrow Cuirassier regiments may have been the finest cavalry of the time.
i never understand the cocept of walking in a battlefield of EU back then ...and the drum boys, oh bois, they are like: imma join the army with my music talent so they will put me in front with my drums
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
Polisch cavalry the Best in the worlds. 1605 yers Kircholm (Estonia) 3000 Polisch husars vs 13000 Sweden. Victory Poland. 1610 yers Kluszyno (Rusian) 2700 Polisch husars vs 35000 Rusian and Sweden. Victory Poland...
back then it would require really corny dummy models or small-scale models. now, when there is no interest in these films from filmmakers, we have the capability to do that with CGI
@HBB I believe the drums were used during marching and deployment to help the formations keep in step and not become a disorganised flustercuck as they moved into position. The boys were sent to the rear once the actual shooting began. At least that was the way of things in the British army as many of the boy soldiers went on to become career soldiers when older.
Fun fact actors and others are always so unfamiliar with things like rythm and drums that they make every single military movie look like a clown fiesta.
Don't show this movie to Ridley Scott, he'd realize his Napoleon movie is garbage.
To me Vanessa Kirby made it worth watching.
When I heard that the Ridley Scott movie about Napoleon was coming out I nearly wet my pants. And it turned out to be a bummer. What a disappointment!
Русские смотрят. Не беспокойтесь
Ridley Scott is sure better with gladiators and aliens... He should not be let loose making movies about Napoleon! He's plainly no match.
now that is an epic cavalry charge scene, i always appreciate when a film will go big on the amount of actors for battle scenes
Yes! It's far better than CGI and more dramatic too.
In this movie the Russian Army actually provided the extras (troops for all of the battle scenes)
Film makers should learn that whilst it may look dramatic, a cavalry charge does not start at the gallop.
The horses would hardly be at their best by the time the charge is actually made.
@@2566Conan We should be okay then for WW3
@@2566Conan You confused this movie with the Soviet version of War and Peace
The fact that people just used to go on picknicks and walk around near giant battles back in the day is why aliens never actually invade us.
That also happened in the first battle of the American civil war
During the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, spectators including U.S. congressmen arrived to watch, expecting a quick Union victory. However, the Union was defeated and the spectators were sent scrambling for safety amidst the chaos of the retreat. The number of injured spectators is not documented, but the event was far from the safe spectacle many had anticipated.
WTF is a picknick?
@@oliverpearson1577 that’s where we all huddle around & pick certain people named Nick
@dv3q Yeah, thanks for pointing that out Sherlock.
In 1807, in East Prussia French and Poles captured town of Fridland. They found lots of wines and spirits. Party took 3 days of constant drinking. Than Russians reinforcements arrive. Whole army was too wasted to fight... except Poles who mount their horses and charged. They managed to cover the rest of army. Angry Napoleon said that he would like to see all his soldiers to be drunk like Polish Cavalry.
From then French got saying: 'saoul comme un Polonais'
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
@@7macfly2 Also foolish. Ney with a winky face
@@7macfly2 The fuck is your complex to putting this no sense in reply to each comment?
I'd heard this story, not about the eastern front, but about assaulting a mountain pass towards Spain. The spaniards had fortified it toughly, and all the French commanders refused to storm it, arguing it was suicide. The Polish cavalry went up, and was victorious against all odds. After that, Napoleon kept praising so much that the French tried to dismiss the victory, noting all the Poles were drunk that day. That's when Napoleon would have answered "Then, gentlemen, learn to be drunk like the Poles".
Whichever version is historical, the Poles have long been unsung heroes ; remember Sobieski !
@@kartofff The famous Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard. The assault on a mountain pass is that of Somosierra. They are gorges deffendus by pieces of Spanish artillery, which blocks the advance of the French artillery.
Napoleon grew impatient, and despite the remarks of Colonel Pire, who judged the assault "impossible," he turned to Kozietulski and said: "Take me off that. At a gallop." A little earlier, he would have said to the Colonel Pire: "My Polish horsemen do not understand this word (impossible)".
3rd squadron of Polish light horse, strong of two companies, aligns about 150 men. In two assaults, severe losses (big pair of balls), they will take all the Spanish cannons.
Great honors: 13th bulletin of the Grande Armée mentions the determining role 3rd squadron of Polish light horse during Battle of Somosierra.
Polish cavalry and his organization were the best from the winged ones. All european armies have duplicated the polish cavalry model til the XVIIIth century. I'll never forget Polish units give their blood to Napoleon for their liberty.
Greetings from France.
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
Whats happend on 1.9.1939, why france do not help poland ??? Against german, russian and slovakia poland had to fait alone, where was france ????
@@7macfly2 the biggest charge was done in Vienne by polish cavalery in 12.9.1683 I think against osmans turkish army, france never had good cavalery
@@elvrro i said one of the biggest
If you say that then you know nothing about History
Check the battle in my comment, thats 10 time what pol achieve in their history
@@elvrro french and napoleon fought and free poland
France during ww1 fought and free poland
France in ww2 declared war to germany for poland and paid the price for that.
What did poland for France ?
So go learn History before say bullshit
The french cuirassiers are just such a beautiful looking unit. What a masterpiece.
Yep. That's our French Cuirassiers. Notre Cavalerie Française
Actually, they are Dragoons (and Polish Lancers at the end). You can tell by the Leopard skin helmets and the green jackets without breastplates.....Cuirassiers wore Blue Jackets with colored facings the color of which denoted the Regiment.
You should watch War and Peace Russian version the battle scenes are 3 times bigger..
They were indeed, but this isn't them; these are not wearing cuirasses. And why would they be charging whilst wearing their cloaks? I've never heard of that. The whole point was to be able to slash and thrust in all directions around them; being impeded by a long cloak would have been self defeating, the enemy could even have dragged them out of the saddle with it. I understand it was done for cinematic effect, as was the ridiculously protracted gallop (it was customary to advance at the walk, progressing to trot and then canter, with only the final 50m being covered at the gallop.) In the scene depicted here, those horses would have been "blown" by the time they reached the enemy, which is what happened to the Scots Greys when they galloped on too far at the Battle of Waterloo.
@@hammer2722 You're right ! Moreover, the cuirassiers never charged this way, they charged in line, first at a low pace, then at a higher speed, and then at full speed with their long sword held straight, aiming the throat or the chest of their opponent. Knowing that a cuirassier fully equiped with his horse weighed around 800 kg, the effect was devastating, no wonder everybody feared them.
The other problem being dragoons weren't full scale horsemen, but foot soldiers using their horses to move quicker and normally fighting on foot. Here, this way of charging is more typical of light cavalry units like husars. And there are too much flags, and of an incorrect type
Cavalry would never go at a gallop over that long a distance, they would completely lose coherence. They only would gallop over the last quarter of a mile or so.
And they would be to fatigued to fight. They also would not have charged with capes attached
Exactly...will be tired and unable to fight.
Correct. Actually cavalry was sparing their horses before the storm&attack, being in loose walk for an hour or so. If circumstances allowed it, of course.
I know, I was in a cavalry unit of Croatian national defense (before the war I was taking part in military exercises; in Liberation war in 1990s we used horses only for provision of defenders* in impassable mountains and woods).
*I say "defenders" because Croatia had no army when Serbs and JNA attacked (JNA=Yugoslav National Army, during 1980s silently changed in Serbian Army, with Serbs on top positions). Also most of Croatian police were Serbs, well prepared for war. Before the attack JNA took all weaponry from Croatian National Defense. When they attacked - they attacked bare-handed civilians; Vukovar, Dubrovnik and other battles were defended by civilians, people who had no connections with military whatsoever.
@@raymondstone9636 By "capes" you mean coats?
Where were they leaving them?
I read a book few centuries old, I forgat the title but it was written by a soldier who described his battles in Europe. He described the attack of Croatian band of horseman: everybody would freeze from fear when they will see horsemen WITH REDCOATS. Here are some portraits of ban Jellachich soldiers made in their camp near Vienna, in 1848 when they defended Vienna from revolutionars: www.croexpress.eu/mobile/zanimljivosti/677/nasa-povijest-hrvatska-vojska-bana-josipa-jelacica-iz-1848-1849-godine/
Text describes each peace of their weapons, sadly no translation available.
They wouldn't charge through their retreating comrades either...
PS: and the movie didn't include the "No horse was harmed during the filming of this movie" phrase at the end...
ah good old time.. when you can casually walk observing a battle like that
But no iPhones to record all this 🙃, back home they would never believe you 😀
Villagers in border of Iran watched Armenia versus Azerbaijan 2 years ago.
Old times? People still do, just last October you could just sit on the border in northern Iran and watch the armies of Azerbaijan and Armenia duke it out, hell when I was in Hong Kong in 2019 I could see protesters and police fighting just down the road and had to take a footbridge over the action to buy groceries. It only doesnt happen if your country isnt a battlefield.
Surprisingly accurate depiction of French infantry mixed order assault formation. Probably need more extras to truly fill-out the old "French Columns" but neat that they show this formation.
But they placed grenadiers as skirmishers.....
I'm finding this more impressive to watch than those CGI exploits of modern films.
LOL when I watched the thumbnail video, I thought it must be the new Total War game
The CGI method does end up with a lot less injuries and dead horses, in fairness
@@Goliath5100 Back pain, eyesight deterioration, depression... so really?
@@adamcsillag6058 Better than a broken neck and hundreds of dead horses. I’m not totally sure what your point is?
@@Goliath5100Possible injuries vs slave labour in a box - and the CGI usally looks shit anyways. Usually no1 dies, anyways just check Waterloo 1970 the biggest one nobody died during shooting.
I would say that the Napoleonic period was the time where the whole French army (not only cavalry) was one of the most fearsome military forces that ever existed in Europe. The French Republic which later transformed into the French Empire boasted a very well armed, organized and motivated army that could defeat entire coalitions of European powers and was fairly invincible. And finally, it was not defeated by men, but by the weather (famous russian winter).
The french royal army from 1652 to 1748 could make that list too though. Louis XIV's France was fucking scary.
The french royal army from 1652 to 1748 could make that list too though. Louis XIV's France was fucking scary.
@@Itachi951000 plague of europe
actually more soldiers died during the summer offensive bc of the heat and so on
The French army also was defeated by men!!! Or was there no Bassano, Acre, Aspern, Krasnoi, Leipzig, La Rothiere, Laon, Waterloo?
And most of the casualties during the march on Moscow happened in summer. The Russians used the method of scorched earth. They destroyed the wells and burnt farms and left nothing for the French and their vassals. There were scenes when soldiers ran to a urinating horse to drink from the pee puddle. The extreme loss of draught horses was catastrophic for the supply of the giant army.
3:15
Poor guy passed out from heat stroke right before the shooting started : (
He was shot by the French skirmishers in the front. If you watch again you'll notice the light cracks of their muskets and the faint puffs of smoke
@casparow123 problem is that you can get stomped on by heavy masses in melee engagements, and if you react, there'd gotta be a soldier noticing and bayonetting you
Maybe fainted?
he is your grandpa fall asleep
@casparow123 nahh broo That’s some fantasy shit
For those how don’t know this movie it’s called War and Pease over 3 hours long. 😀
I'm actually fairly sure that's Waterloo - 1970. Rod Steiger was Napoleon there.
Learn to spell basic English dude... PEACE not “pease”
@@i.j.f.2200 Ehh sometimes in fast typing spelling mistakes happen
@@i.j.f.2200 👍😂
@@wayneemery5709 You are correct and it's a great movie!
Fun fact.“Bercheny Hussards” was the first regiment of hussars of the French Army. , Ladislaus Count Bercsenyi was a Hungarian magnate.
serbs had more goats than horses they were never known as a cavalry nation
All "fun fact" comments are disgusting as the ones texted it
@@besteyldz6601 thank you for sharing this extremely intimate fun fact about yourself.
@Ömer Yılmaz ouch
@@kikow7861 Serbs belong to the semi-asiatic orthododox civilization.
Napoleon also bears the distinction of being the only military leader to seize the whole of continental Europe, from Madrid to Moscow. If only for a month or so. But still the entire length of the continent.
:D AND WHAT ABOUT LISBON???
@@hugobznr1oh man, we still have Norway, Finland,Sweden
3:15 The moment when you realize you’ve been holding your breath way to long.
I wasn’t sure it was Borodino until the shot with Napoleon sitting in front of his marshals resting his feet on the drum came up. Just like that famous painting 😂
Judging by taking a Russian fortification by the French cavalry, it is a battle of Borodino.
At the beginning you see Pierre Besuchow walking the battlefield and landing at the artillery. Classical Borodino scene from Vojna I Mir.
Can we appreciate the poor extra at 5:12 doing his best to dodge more than 5 horses galloping at him at high speed? Front left of the scene.
In the same scene a little higher in the screen than that guy you can see a couple guys actually get run over / knocked down
Don't know how managed that
There is quite a number of scenes where you see guys flying off horses and getting hit by stuff. I wonder how many people got broken bones and concussions from making this movie.
Such cavalry attacks only exist in the cinema.
When the horses run at full gallop over such a long distance and then uphill, they are exhausted before they make contact with the enemy.
But it is beautiful to watch.
I was also thinking that the artillery holding their fire against infantry didn't seem right either. Not for that long anyway. I can appreciate loading Canister shot and holding until the enemy is in range, but bloody hell, the Ruskies are using shells, haha!
@@renardgrise my 1776 Charleville musket weight is 10 lbs
@@vtwintora oh?
@@renardgrise I miss understood your post, my bad.
@@vtwintora Roger. I was wondering, haha. 10lbs does sound a bit light for a '77 Charleville though... have you weighed it? I thought the'77 was supposed to be closed to 10.5 lbs... where the original '17 model was closer to 10lbs. I know that the India Pattern Bess was supposedly closed to 9.5 lbs... which would make sense as it was shorter.
The movie is War and Peace. That guy in the civilian clothes is a main character there in the Russian saga and gets caught up in the middle of the battle.
That actor is the late Henry Fonda.
Thank you
Henry Fonda, playing Pierre, one of the narrative characters of the novel.
The real translate is War and society. Old russian word MИР (МIP) has two meanings, peace and society.
Сергей Пегишев - That’s very interesting. Thanks for posting.
Spears shall be shaken! Shields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ERE THE SUN RISES!
Oh ... sorry. Wrong movie.
Great scene though! : D
I don't cear about the historical accuracy it's dam cool and they don't make films as cool as this anymore
they do make cool films but the thing is that it is not anymore actor tricks talent's what plays the role, but computer.Effect is reached not via actor play but special effects. In this sense I agree, that old school actor-play was better.
@Crazy D wait wait. Are you really that much of a loser, that you HAVE to go after him, because he, properble by accident, spelled "dear" with a "c" instead of a "d" xD wow.
Whats ironic, is that by doing these idiotic "spelling" & "grammar" comments, it only makes you yourself sound like the biggest loser ever. Congratz ;)
PS: Get a life(:
nico olsen I think he meant to spell “care” not “dear”. I gather English isn’t your first language.
@Crazy D nope just rly badly dislexic but I made a shit tone of cash doing other things so 🖕 to comment and words 😂😂
@Crazy D not rly just listen to every pop song made in the last 5 years.
But your opinion is valued 😂😂😂. 🖕
Apparently at some time in history, the message 'no horses were injured making this movie' was used, but that statement hid the fact that many were killed or put down. A dead horse is not an injured horse. Technically correct. Marketing is a lovely thing...
Wow this new Total War game looks amazing.
As a Pole i'm really proud of Polish cavalry, through several centuries they were just the best in Europe ;) !!!!!
Polish lancers best of the empire named by Napoleon himself during the spanish campaign.
But, in this video are French cuirassiers
@@ASDQWE-gq8hh well, hard to say, there are horsemen with lances also there... the uniforms are generally not very historical though :)
@@bartolomeonew you do realise this from War & Peace the 66' Russian version
I highly recommend you check it out
I believe this is supposed to be the Battle of Borondino and indeed that would've had both the polish lancers and the saxon cuirassiers
respect to the polish from denmark
These scenes are all very well from the American "War and Peace" until one sees the stupendous Russian version which is about as close to a Napoleonic battle as we are ever going to get.
@Xadion bondarchuk
@Xadion Boris Yeltzin
@@MrElmas02 there were several PYCCKU versions.
I think that Russian version had the guy laying on the ground...severely wounded....looking up at the sky and wondering if those were the last moments of his life? Amazing what the movie industry produced long before CGI.
@@badguy1481 That scene was also portrayed in the BBC War and Peace mini-series, starring a pretty young Anthony Hopkins as Pierre Bezukhov. Alan Dobie played Andre Bolkonsky, the Russian officer who was badly wounded at Austerlitz. It was a pretty good series, though some of the casting could have been better.
I'm French/English. god bless both sides.
the green uniforms are russian...
back when the French has the guts to take on the whole world alone.
the whole of world too much, some parts of Europe for sometime
If you look at the map of the French Empire at its greatest extent (which does not even show attacking Russia for example), i think the comment is valid. They were all over the world.
@@LEGOpachinko yes, but the video is just about Napoleon age and Napoleon took Switzerland, Netherland, Italy, Spain , part of Poland and maybe Polinesia .... he lost Egypt in less than 2 years .... not in that age the western Africa and Indocina.
Type me here the link of that map
@@LEGOpachinko "which does not even show attacking Russia for example"
Do you seriously try to present as some sort of unfair omission of the french greatness campaign, that in just 6 months utterly broke his army and sent his Empire in downwards spiral which in short time made him just a note in history?
@@Gabneo1 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_French_Empire contains a map but does not show all the places they fought. But since they controlled for example the Netherlands and Spain they also controlled their colonies so it's quite impressive. As a figure of speech i think the comment is valid (imho :)
Proud of my French / polish nationality.
@M And am glad the American Revolution turned out to be The most biggest revolutionary battles in all of North America. God Bless The USA!
@@whdstudios2441 Thank God I am Turkish, who else could have had such a perfect nationality.
@@rfatcanyuksel8825 American. People always judge Us Yankees about our country's name having to be a continent.
@@rfatcanyuksel8825 que
@@whdstudios2441 loyalist joins the chat*
even tho all this old napoleonic movie doesnt really got that realistic like effect of cannonball bouncing, death by musket shot, but the scenery of hundreds thousand man actually marching with full uniform mak it very beautiful. the inperfection of the line formation make it very felt real
Gotta say, I'm most impressed they got the horses through the retreating infantry without accidentally running over a couple dozen extras!
seriously, if you look closely you can see they made lanes for them to go through but still one rogue spooked horse could easily kill someone
Imaging this being in a real fight those days
Don't know where this was shot but the movie "Waterloo (1970)" was shot entirely in the Soviet Union, with regular Soviet Army soldiers dressed up as extras and ordered around by their officers. They must have thought it made for a nice diversion from their usual battle maneuvers.
Do you know how many takes it took until there was a clean passing through the cavalry? Maybe it was the 10th take and it only worked because the functioning infantry actors had been reduced by previous trials so that their lines were thinner.
Good to know napoleon was speaking English with his generals
either the Russians speak English
Respect to the brave stuntmen for their difficult performances!!
Kinda funny like a random dude could just pop up in the middle of the battlefield and watch the battle like a movie.
It was actually common in that era. Ppl organized spectator parties during American Civil War.
That is Pierre Bezukhov, a rich nobleman, and the central character of the novel.
Count Bezukhov - read your literature.
@@nitzky8936 I can buy groups of people watching a battle from a safe distance, but I dunno, the idea of some civvie being allowed to meander through the ranks at will during a battle seems a bit silly. For all those officers know, he could be a spy.
thats how it used to be , by thousands
Napoleon really puts a new perspective to an armchair general
Cavalry wouldn't charge for such a distance or horses would be exhausted. They trotted until 200 yards then charged full blast.
@Zannekin in 1812 most nations artillery had something called "shell" which did explode, though not as dramatically as in this film
@Zannekin You may try to listen to Ponasenkov who asserts that no single battle was won by the russians during the 1812 compaghn. I do not know whether this is true or not. But Tolstoi's "War and Peace" seems to have a differente veiw at the history. War and Peace is a great book, but likely not because of the descriptions of battles.
@Zannekin Thanks for your detailed response. It was interesting for me to read your opinion. Mine is a bit different. As a matter of fact I had to read Tolstoj and Dostoevsky at school (at the age of 15-16 years old). Moreover, our truely marvelous teacher of Russian Literature and Russian Languadge obliged us to read the originals (that we had to do during our long summer holidyas as a preperating for the coming study year). That age is not appropriate for reading those giants of the russian literature. Since then, I actually hate Tolstoj and Dostoevsky but I admit that later in my life I shall have to come back to them. One more thing: from the standpoint of your analysis of War and Peace, the "Gone with the Wind" by M. Mitchel is very similar to "War and Peace". I enjoyed reading it a lot.
I think the movie Warhorse did the best re-enactment of the charge stages.
5:10 awesome scene, looked like real actors without cgi. I really wanted to know how it feels like when horde of cavalries swarming pass you and your men.
30.11.1808 Samosierra, Spain, Napoleon war against Spain, 216 polish men, cavalery, beat spanish army in one charge.
The Spanish army that fought in Somosierra were almost all recruits who barely had instruction in combat. They also did not have passive weapons such as stakes.
@@kesis4265 any excuse
Not excuses, that happened during the battle.
@@kesis4265 just about 20 polish men finish the charge, how ?? if spanish had not weapon and training ???
@@elvrro The Spaniards did have weapons to defend themselves but not training and see a charge of cavalry produces terror, especially if you have never fought, with this I do not take away merit as the Poles fought in the French army, because thanks to them they won the battle.
This was one of the scenes that got me interested in modeling Napoleonic figures...
I share your sentiments. After seeing Sergei Bondarchuk's "Waterloo", I became interested in Napoleonic miniature models as well. 👍
It is from the movie War and Peace with Mel Ferrer, Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn based on Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel of the same name. Sanitized view for horrible butchery. No surgery almost only amputation with nothing. People were left to die for days.
6:02 that dude hits his own horse o.O
How do you people spot this stuff lol
lol...yes he did
Henry Fonda is the Russian Civilian in this scene. Just wanted to see a what a battle was like.
3:20 "Sir, do we worry about that well defended position right in front of us that we are walking towards? Shouldn´t we, I don´t know, charge or retreat?"
"Hold your baguette and keep walking!"
The fact that any man can face this is crazy and the film shows this but imagine what it was like in real life during borodino
The Cavalry charge in movie-land always turns into a horse race. You'd think after spending all that money, they'd try to get it right with ranks dressing right and left for maximum impact on the enemy formations.
2011Matz curious, what does dressing left and right mean to a layman ?.
@@alanbarr2735 I'mma layman - I love gettin' layed.
@@alanbarr2735 I believe that he means that the horsemen maintain very close "tight" ranks. In other words, riding knee-to-knee with a horseman on both sides of you. Most horses today shy away from objects and will rarely run over anything if they can see it. However, it is well documented that horses can be trained to charge at ranks of opposing soldiers. It is made easier when horses are running together in groups. I've read animal psychologists refer to it as a "herd habit". They actually get excited when they charge together with a group of other horses. Supposedly stallions made the best chargers due to their aggression. The purpose of keeping as close together as possible is to use the mass of tightly packed bodies as a literal battering ram instead of merely a vehicle for carrying weapon-wielding soldiers. Of course, any obstacles that slow or break up the formation greatly reduce the effectiveness of using cavalry this way.
Unless your extras are all literally trained 19th century cavalrymen, it's impossible to do safely in live-action.
As a former husar who has practised attacks like these, I have to say that it is very difficult to maintain formation - especially in a long charge like this and under fire.
There is a mistake there. Grenadiers did not go out on skirmish lines, that was the job for Tirailleurs, Fusiliers, and Light companies from the line regiments.
Tirailleurs, Fusiliers, and Light companies?
Ah, you mean Jäger (hunter) Battalions
The first units were set up in Westphalia in the mid-16th century and then copied by the other nations.
The first duty of the cavalry was to spike any guns they captured so they could not be used again, a metal spike was hammered into the touch-hole so it could not be fired.
........bashed in, then the top would be hammered left and right to snap
it off.....leaving a plug inserted.
(I'm just assuming)
@@vinm300 yes, thats correct. At the battle of Waterloo, the French Cavalry charged at the British squares and the gunners abandoned their guns and sort safety in the squares, Napoleon was furious when he learnt the guns were not spiked or carried away and after the futile charge, the gunners resumed firing at the French.
you know this is why I like the old Classics better than today's movies because you can get actors to act and not just look good on the screen. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and many others are good examples.
war was so fancy back then
If the scene is from the movie "War and Peace, then the battle depicted would be the battle of Borodino. I had understood that it was a unit of Saxon Horse Guard that assaulted the Fleches (the arrows, as the artillery redoubts were dubbed due to their shape) and took them, yet here we see what I can only assume to be Polish Lancers and what appear to be French Dragoons (?). Anyone happen to know if they chose to change the units for the film on purpose, or if I simply remembered the assault on the artillery positions wrong? Cheers in advance.
I believe the saxon horse captured the grand redoubt snd not les fleches. But i dont remember which cavalry unit fought there.
@@GNBcorporal very true, I noticed my mistake a day ago. Thank you for the clarification. As I understood it the fleches were captured by a combined assault of innfantry and cavalry, so after all the depiction of the movie is accurate enough, though of course the movie can’t show the 5 failed assaults on the Fleshes prior to their eventual capture. Cheers for the comment :)
@@lefty6774 indeed the flesh where captured by assaults from davout and ney corps supported by cavalry from murat the french attacked about 7 times before it was captured. one thing that comes to mind is the terrain is too hilly. Borodino is a lot flatter hence the need for the fleches. But i think the film makers used this to avoid the picture looking too empty. Al in al they don’t make em like this any more
@@GNBcorporal The Saxons and French Cuirassiers captured the Great Redoubt by attacking it from the open side of the Redoubt. This was of course after the failure of the French infantry to capture it.
Hey Boys! Let's to out for a stroll and take some led in the chest!!
Led? What's does mean?
The best cavalry units of those period were Polish ulans and Mamluks, but if we gonna say about most strong and multipurpose cavalry it would be simply polish ulans. They were strong both against cavalry and against the infantry and altillery of the enemy. Вut especially they were strong against the suppression of enemy cavalry
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
"authentic" mamluks from the battle of the pyramids or mamluks of the french imperial guard??
French medieval heavy cavalry (french mounted knights and men at arms) and early modern heavy cavalry (the Gendarmes) were considered the best in Europe. The French Napoleonic Cuirassiers (shown in the video) had that reputation as well. Polish Lancers were pretty impressive in the Napoleonic Wars too though. Their charge at Somosierra is legendary.
Ok now......... The Winged Hussars have a respectable record as well obviously. Historians consider them "special" for being an effective heavy cavalry force in an era where nobody in Europe used them anymore because of the developments in military technology (gunpowder and all that jazz).... but not necessarily for being the "bessssssst cavalry evvvvveeeer" hahaha. This circle-jerk about the Winged Hussars wasn't even a thing before that Sabaton song about the Siege of Vienna lol.
French medieval heavy cavalry (french mounted knights and men at arms) and early modern heavy cavalry (the Gendarmes) were considered the best in Europe. The French Napoleonic Cuirassiers (shown in the video) had that reputation as well. Polish Lancers were pretty impressive in the Napoleonic Wars too though. Their charge at Somosierra is legendary.
Ok now......... The Winged Hussars have a respectable record as well obviously. Historians consider them "special" for being an effective heavy cavalry force in an era where nobody in Europe used them anymore because of the developments in military technology (gunpowder and all that jazz).... but not necessarily for being the "bessssssst cavalry evvvvveeeer" hahaha. This circle-jerk about the Winged Hussars wasn't even a thing before that Sabaton song about the Siege of Vienna lol.
@@7macfly2 destroying scottish cav isnt a greate virtue..., charging at archers..... well veeeery impressive....
frech cav was good in 13-14 century
It's currently 1 Am, why am I here?
3:15 damn....That is really awkward xD poor guy. Kinda wanted the french to stop warching & give him an oppotunity to regain his dignity xD
Those are French Empress dragoons in the video. They were an Elite cavalry unit of Napoleon's army.
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
@@7macfly2 at Waterloo it was the Polish lancers that destroyed the Scots grey cavalry
@@ramananrampragash6790 no, it was french 4th and 7th lancier and the 12th cuirassiers
Insider lancier there were polish unit but of most of them were french
Stop being nationalist giving all credit to poland.....
@@7macfly2 first of all I am big supporter of Napoleon and I have no nationalistic support towards Poland. I merely pointed out a fact that the majority of the French cavalry who faced the Scottsgrey at Waterloo were of the Polish lancers. And yes the Cuirassiers provided support as well.
@@ramananrampragash6790 ok i apologies for that
But as i said it was french cav with some polish unit
"Napoleon promptly responded by ordering a counter-attack by the cuirassier brigades of Farine and Travers and Jaquinot's two Chevau-léger (lancer) regiments in the I Corps light cavalry division. Disorganized and milling about the bottom of the valley between Hougoumont and La Belle Alliance, the Scots Greys and the rest of the British heavy cavalry were taken by surprise by the countercharge of Milhaud's cuirassiers, joined by lancers from Baron Jaquinot's 1st Cavalry Division. As Ponsonby tried to rally his men against the French cuirassers, he was attacked by Jaquinot's lancers and captured. A nearby party of Scots Greys saw the capture and attempted to rescue their brigade commander. However, the French lancer who had captured Ponsonby killed him and then used his lance to kill three of the Scots Greys who had attempted the rescue.[86] By the time Ponsonby died, the momentum had entirely returned in favour of the French. Milhaud's and Jaquinot's cavalrymen drove the Union Brigade from the valley. The result was very heavy losses for the British cavalry."
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo
How can they not hurt horses and actors in this kind of movies
Only one thing wrong. Cannon shit did not explode on contact with the ground, they where solid iron balls. They bounced and bowled men over like a bowling ball. Save that they tore flesh and bone to pieces. Lovely!
Not if was grape shot
Explosive shells did exist. They were rare and were intended to explode in mid-air for maximum shrapnel effect. The fuses however were unreliable, and often an unexploded shell would land on the ground before exploding (or failing to explode). So the explosions aren't ENTIRELY inaccurate, just a bit. :-)
I assume they were trying to simulate cannister shot. But did so very badly. Also a frontal attack by cavalry vs artillery was less likely to work than with infantry.
@@tommiatkins3443 True . You should of told the Light Brigade that!
@@fasthracing Yeah. They were successful as well! Am exception to the rule...
Even today, the French military is like the only real military in Europe. WW2 was an anomaly.
3:17 most painless and relaxing death ever
Dude did it on purpose to get out of the fight :-)
@@mayes33 he must have rolled uphill then
People used to take picnics to watch battles for entertainment. As recently as the U.S. Civil War. And kids were enlisted as young as 5 or 6 years old. They were used as drummer boys.
Pretty sure Napoleon would never have ordered cavalry to charge a redoubt.
*Battle of Borodino intensifies*
@@Alexarpail I was gonna say, he did exactly that at Borodino
Typically, it was not his signature move, no. Borodino was an exception to be sure.
@@renardgrise I stand corrected: "The cavalrymen pressed on with sabers drawn. Wathier's 2nd Cuirassier Division arrived at the redoubt first, and as they were about to enter its rear they were greeted by a heavy volley from the infantry inside. General Caulaincourt was killed. Wathier's cuirassiers were repulsed and Lorge's Saxon, Westphalian and Polish heavies and Rozniecki's 4th Light Cavalry Division moved to fill the gap. The cavalrymen were met by Russian musketry at 60 paces. The fire brought them to a short halt before they resumed their advance. The Saxons drew out to the left and poured up and over the redoubt's walls, while the French and Polish cuirassiers forced their way (ext.link) through the rear and embrasures of the breastwork."
*ttp://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Borodino_battle.htm
No CGI. Fabulous.
The french army infanterie did not charge anymore in front Line in that Time but développé their attacks on à diagonal « en tirailleur » hérited from the lack of discipline of the révolution army . This disposition made them less vulnérable and more efficient than the tradionnal square bataillon shape much easier to target.
actually only riflemen use the "en tirailleur" formation to harass the enemy line, regular infantery units were still using formation in lines or rows and square were used only in defence against cavalry charges
You are so darm wrong .French line infantry charge in column often all the way to waterloo ,light infantry is the one the fought in other formations ,read some books about it please 😅
@@erwinsell184 Je crois qu’une réponse en français s’impose. Citez vos sources Cher monsieur avant d’insulter le monde. Merci.. Et rappelez vous qu’il vaut mieux parfois se taire en prenant le risque de passer pour un con que de l’ouvrir en ne laissant aucun doute. Bonjour je t’ai vu.
@nicolasartheau822 remie port the former chief historian of the French army, would disagree.
The after action reports of soult specifically mention their use at albuera. You can also look to the charge of the British heavy cavalry at the moment where the french colums of d'erlons corps were caught at the moment of deploying into line from the colum formation at Waterloo into line.
Marshal Mcdonald also used one at wagram storming austrian positions.
He's not wrong, it's matter of fact that even that quick research can uncover.
I don't see why you'd charge in column face to artillery, one lucky shout would shred all of the collumn, column was used against infantry though@@erwinsell184
Watch the Russian version of War and Peace. The recreation of the Battle of Borodino was as if you were actually there witnessing it.
The British had some of the best horsemen in Europe but because their officers purchased their commissions the great cavalry regiments were badly led by incompetent people.
Best horses and finest dressed since they rarely spent time on campaign. Their riders however were aristocratic boys with no combat experience and their leaders were the epitome of British arrogance whose fantasies of glory frequently led them into disaster.
@@jonsmitt9769 Yeah I'm British but this is absolutely true. Wellington said it himself - "Our officers of cavalry have acquired a trick of galloping at everything. They never consider the situation, never think of manoeuvring before an enemy, and never keep back or provide a reserve."
Brave bastards but they didn't have a clue what they were doing.
ZebsFrend Frendless different war mate. The light brigade was ordered to charge down that valley, they didn’t choose to. Yes, the French heavy brigade belated charged to support the light brigade’s withdrawal. If they had charged a little sooner there wouldn’t have been a need to withdraw. Not blaming them here, the French weren’t exactly ordered to support the initial charge. At least they prevented the Russians from punching through the hole that was left by the now shattered light brigade. Kudos to the French commander for taking the initiative to stave off a disaster, but that’s all it did. At the of the day both sides occupied the same positions they held at the beginning of the day. Only the British were minus one light brigade of cavalry.
The French Heavy brigade commander said it best. “It’s magnificent, but it’s not war”.
these kinds of war's even people could go on the sidelines and watch it like a football game.
It happened during American Civil war : civilians came from Washington to watch the battle. Unfortunately some were shot during the defeat.
@@gengis737 :: i bet unfortunate casualties
Weren't the Polish Lancers the best cavalry within the Empire?
@Ichvergessdenehh They did but as a part of the French cavalry. Other Poles certainly fought in Russian and Austrian armies, but only the ones in the French army kept some semblance of national identity, under the auspices of semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Poland.
Guard regiments weren't usually used as they acted as reserves and inspiration for the Grand Armée
@Ichvergessdenehh You are welcome. It is nice to hear thanks. Few people on youtube are as considerate.
@Ichvergessdenehh You may be interested in General Poniatovsky. The only non French commander to attain the rank of Marshall of the Empire under napoleon and the emperor himself declares his regiment of light horse “his bravest cavalry”
@Ichvergessdenehh They existed, they were raised in 1807 and fought in Russia.
What movie is this please??? The beginning part was in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure!!!
Those look like Guard French Infantry, the Guard were not used at Borodino they were in reserve. And Napoleon refused to use them.
Smart man who knows history
French Grenadiers also wear Bearhats like the Old Guards wear, if im right those are the Grenadier Regiment 4:07 in this scene you can still see the Old Guards within the Reserves.
@@NexusSabreYT By 1812 the Grenadier companies in line battalions had replaced the bearskin with a leather shako trimmed in red. To expensive to use bearskin that was supplied from North America.
Nice to see clips from these old movies with NO shitty CGI
I like how there are Poles in the comments being proud that they had the 'best' cavalry, but it's completely off-topic regarding the video about French cuirassiers.
It is not "off-topic", can't you see that Poles are in the title; "BEST CAVALRY IN EUROPE". Poles came here to see how French Empire admires Polish cavalry.
I'm joking, of course. Everybody knows that best European cavalry of that era was Croatian:-)
Waoh the scene where horses pass thru the infantry reforming ranks is crazy.
Napoleon: You see here monsieur Wellington we have the best cavalry in europe and also by supports from the Polish.
Wellington: Well then we would like introduce you.. a square formation.
Please note: Napoleon himself actually invented the square formation to ward off cavalry, Wellington and virtually every other European army copied him.
William Liyuan you mean reintroduced it don’t you? The Spanish actually invented it in the 16th century. They called it the Tercio.
ZebsFrend Frendless I thought that was the Cleve-Berg lancers? They were German.
@ Arby cook I may have slightly over looked that detail, thanks for reminding me, I’m sorry if I tripped anyone up.
The square formation was very prone to cannon fire, it also lacked maneuverability, its not particularly good at anything other than cavalry in Napoleonic warfare. It also required a lot of drilling and training to form up in a confused battlefield. The British and French, who were quite well trained, were ok, but Austrian infantry often used battalion mass, which is a packed and not hollow square. Not very sure about Russian and Prussian infantry, assumed that they were well drilled?
this is one of the best scene of the napoleonic wars movies IMO
The best cavalry in Europe was Polish winged hussars 1525-1763.On the past 125 years they don’t loose any battle !
they dont won any battle against ottomans ,ım saying "battle " not battle because 2. vienna is not battle ,its easy win thanks to the crimean khan. but Poland lose many battle in Polish-Ottoman wars,search it.
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
So how do U think about Cossack Cavalry?
@@burakhan9694 Check Chocim 1673. Died only 30k ottomans solidiers ;)
@@ariannguyen3776 very good light riding, the use of ambushes and maneuvers during combat, but the Cossack army is above all infantry, the best for capturing castles or forts
Where was this filmed and where could you possibly find so many extras?
How they get those horses to fall over and die like that. Seems like it hurt.
im sure a few died making this movie. one them looks like it broke its neck 5:48 =/. before laws were put out to keep it from happening.
Training, lots of training. Nobles could train horses to be fearless in battle and modern equestrians can use a bit of the same knowlege to train horses to perform movie stunts. Btw the comment below/above is nonsense, there were always laws against killing animals in movies, especially the large and respectable ones like horses, elephants, tigers etc. Chickens, boars and pigs etc were not so lucky. But if there was one thing Europeans respected were these beautiful breed horses, wich are worth a lot. No sense whatsover in killing one for a movie.
The only truly animal abusing movie out there is Cannibal Horror, where the fucked up director killed a bunch of rare animals for basically shock value. Like ripped a huge sea turtle's shell and cuts a wild boar in half and then worse, ,much worse. It's fuckig disgusting and there are rumors that it's actually and Snuff movie, which was considered legend before this one. People disappeared on set and the filmakers raped and forced the natives to work on the movie. So it's safe to say that was the most fucked up movie ever made.
Wired hooves. When the wire runs out the horse goes down. Until the laws were changed. You don't see horses go down so violently anymore.
@@dolamrothknight Its nothing like that. They spent thousands to breed and grew those horses, these are very expensive creatures that also took years to train, they were and are still not going to sacrifice horses like that. Its like destroying a million dollar luxury car for a movie scene, its just not going to happen. I mean the horses owner definitely wont allow his horses to die like that.
@@ArtilleryAffictionado1648 While laws may have been in place to protect animals, there was no branch of the police force setup to investigate offences of these laws. While the RSPCA fulfilled this role (The history between the RSPCA and the UK's police force is a worthwhile read), it was a charity with little funding and limited legal power, as a result it was not capable to contest every possible offence of these laws.
Had films broken these laws, to the suspected extend discussed here, there was a good chance no one was going to do anything about it.
Wiem że to 2-3 wieki wcześniej, ale najlepsza kawaleria świata, to ciężka jazda polska - Husaria. To był mix czołgu abrams, komandosa Navy Seals i pocisku hellfire. Wiele razy wróg liczebnością przerastał Husarie dziesięciokrotnie, a po szarży nie było po nim co zbierać (np. w bitwach Kircholm, Chocim, Kłuszyn, Trzciana)
At such range, they would have used grape shot.
Good luck asking the pyrotechnics team to show "grape shot" on screen instead of easy puffs of flame and smoke. You forget this was before the age of CGI, and the filmmakers are limited by technology, time, and money.
This is what they meant when they say a cast of thousands. No cgi
Vive l'Empereur !
Vive l'Empire !
Vive la Nation !
Vive la France et les autres pays, que les horreurs des guerres passées nous servent d'exemple pour que nous vivons tous en paix et en harmonie. Le monde ne sera pas indestructible et la nature nous le rappelle sans cesse
The French infantry would not have broken and run like that after only one volley from the Russians.
Polish winged hussars are best cavalry in the history
yes
They were note winged, obły 5-10% od them got one wing onthe sadle, their biggest weapon was incredible morale and very good discipline and skill.
Undoubtedly
You misspelled Templars.
Prussian hussars*
But if you wanna talk about in history, the Mongols conquered most of the world doing a cavalry only challenge
Lads, what film is this? Looks like part of "War and Peace"... but I haven't seen a copy of that look this good or had English dubs....
6:03 that fall wasn`t a special effect *ouch*
Almost none of them were... Back then killing horses for movies was acceptable...
Only bad thing about this not being CGI is I'm pretty sure those horses got seriously hurt
Ye😢
Pffft.... depends on the situation. In a snow covered winter guerilla war I tend to favour cossacks
I wish i was that man at 0:20 i would be glad to watch the fight
On charge"sabre au clair"!
Pas à Hollywood, voyons!
@@56cagou J'avais carrément oublié!!
messieurs l'empereur vous regarde! vous allez pouvoir lui montrer ce que vous savez faire!
every body gangsta untill polish/french cavalry arrives
I think that the Saxon heavy cavalry needs to be mentioned in this thread.
mike
I hope I dont regret this but could you be more specific?
Sure- the article is "French Empire/Best Cavalry in Europe", but many students of Napoleonic warfare would suggest that the
Saxon Garde du Corps and Zastrow Cuirassier regiments may have been the finest cavalry of the time.
@@mikebutler5409
thanks for the response
you sound like someone I could learn from ...more info would be great or good web sight
thanks
The sight of the Calvery charge is 😍💕💖
6:02 oh no!! you've hit my sword!!! ( falls over and ides dramatically )
i never understand the cocept of walking in a battlefield of EU back then ...and the drum boys, oh bois, they are like: imma join the army with my music talent so they will put me in front with my drums
Poland Hussars the best cavalry fo the world invicible in battle for 120 years !!!
125:)
125:)
Not true. They suffered many defeats within that 125 years - e.g Warsaw 1656, and plenty more.
@@sirrathersplendid4825 125 years (1500-1625)
French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub
When you want to make war movie but you have zero understanding of war.
Polisch cavalry the Best in the worlds. 1605 yers Kircholm (Estonia) 3000 Polisch husars vs 13000 Sweden. Victory Poland. 1610 yers Kluszyno (Rusian) 2700 Polisch husars vs 35000 Rusian and Sweden. Victory Poland...
The French Napoleonic army used Polish Lancers
@@smestarz2164 March! March! Dabrowski!
Have you seen Bulgarian cavalry tho?
Gengis Khan laught
@HBB Yep horse guard best cavalry in the "world"
What they never really show in movies are the cannon balls skipping over the ground, taking of entire limbs from multiple rows of soldiers.
back then it would require really corny dummy models or small-scale models. now, when there is no interest in these films from filmmakers, we have the capability to do that with CGI
For old movies yes, but in newer movies you can see such scene in "The Patriot" and maybe some other movies as well.
I don't think they used the drummer boys as a meat shield.
@HBB I believe the drums were used during marching and deployment to help the formations keep in step and not become a disorganised flustercuck as they moved into position. The boys were sent to the rear once the actual shooting began. At least that was the way of things in the British army as many of the boy soldiers went on to become career soldiers when older.
Fun fact actors and others are always so unfamiliar with things like rythm and drums that they make every single military movie look like a clown fiesta.