Chevauchée

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A chevauchée (French for “promenade” or “horse charge”, depending on context) was a method in medieval warfare for weakening the enemy, focusing mainly on wreaking havoc, burning and pillaging enemy territory, in order to reduce the productivity of a region; as opposed to siege warfare or wars of conquest. The chevauchée could be used as a way of forcing an enemy to fight, or as a means of discrediting the enemy's government and detaching his subjects from their loyalty. This usually caused a massive flight of refugees to fortified towns and castles, which would be untouched by the chevauchée.

According to historian Kelly DeVries, chevauchée tactics developed into a regular strategy in the Hundred Years' War following the black death when English King Edward III no longer had the troops to engage in regular battles. Specific tactics were "a quick cavalry raid through the countryside with the intention of pillaging unfortified villages and towns, destroying crops and houses, stealing livestock, and generally disrupting and terrorizing rural society."^[1] These tactic had been successfully used against the English by the Scots in the Wars of Scottish Independence.

[edit] Popular culture

A table-top miniature wargame called Chevauchée, designed to simulate the action associated with this term, was published at one point by the game development company Skirmisher Publishing LLC [1]. It is currently out of print, but, according to the company, is due to be republished.