Charge (warfare)

Charge

Romanticized painting of O'Higgins' charge at the Battle of Rancagua during the Chilean War of Independence
Era Prehistoric – Modern
Battlespace Land
Weapons Cavalry, Infantry
Type Maneuver warfare
Strategy Operational

A charge is a maneuver in battle in which soldiers advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisive moment of most battles in history. Modern charges usually involve small groups against individual positions (such as a bunker) instead of large groups of combatants charging another group or a fortified line.

Contents

Infantry charges

Ancient charges

It may be assumed that the charge was practised in prehistoric warfare, but clear evidence only comes with later literate societies. The tactics of the classical Greek phalanx included an ordered approach march, with a final charge to contact [1]

Highland charge

In response to the introduction of firearms, Irish and Scottish troops at the end of the 16th century developed a tactic that combined a volley of musketry with a rapid close to close combat using swords. Initially successful, it was countered by effective discipline and the development of defensive bayonet tactics.[2]

Bayonet charge

The development of the bayonet in the late 17th century led to the bayonet charge becoming the main infantry charge tactic through the 19th century and into the 20th. As early as the 19th century, tactical scholars were already noting that most bayonet charges did not result in close combat. Instead, one side usually fled before actual bayonet fighting ensued. The act of fixing bayonets has been held to be primarily connected to morale, the making of a clear signal to friend and foe of a willingness to kill at close quarters.[3]

Cavalry charges

The shock value of a charge attack has been especially exploited in cavalry tactics, both of armored knights and lighter mounted troops of both earlier and later eras. Historians such as John Keegan have shown that when correctly prepared against (such as by improvising fortifications) and, especially, by standing firm in face of the onslaught, cavalry charges often failed against infantry, with horses refusing to gallop into the dense mass of enemies,[4] or the charging unit itself breaking up. However, when cavalry charges succeeded, it was usually due to the defending formation breaking up (often in fear) and scattering, to be hunted down by the enemy.[5]

The European Middle Ages

The cavalry charge was a significant tactic in the Middle Ages. Although cavalry had charged before, a combination of the adoption of a frame saddle secured in place by a breastband, stirrups and the technique of couching the lance under the arm delivered a hitherto unachievable ability to utilise the momentum of the horse and rider. These developments began in the 7th. century but were not combined to full effect until the 11th. century.[6] The Battle of Dyrrhachium in 1081 was an early instance of the familiar medieval cavalry charge; recorded to have a devastating affect by both Norman and Byzantine chroniclers. By the time of the First Crusade in the 1090s, the cavalry charge was being employed widely by European armies.[7]

The twentieth century

In the twentieth century, the cavalry charge was seldom used, though it enjoyed sporadic and occasional success. By the end of the century the cavalry charge was redundant and no longer employed in military tactics. Several attempted charges were made in World War II, such as the charge at Krojanty of the Polish Uhlans against German mechanised infantry, successfully scattering the dismounted Germans, before being annihilated by armoured vehicles, or the charge of the Savoia Cavalry at Izbushensky near the Don, 24th August 1942. Although these were successful charges, they were defensive in nature. British and American cavalry units also made similar cavalry charges during World War II.

In what was called the "last true cavalry charge", elements of the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment attacked Villista forces in the Battle of Guerrero on March 29, 1916. The battle was a victory for the Americans, occurring in desert terrain, at the Mexican town of Guerrero, in the state of Chihuahua.[8][9][10][11][12]

The last successful offensive cavalry charge in history was not conducted by cavalry at all, but rather by mounted infantry, when on 31 October 1917, the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade charged across two miles of open terrain in the face of Ottoman artillery and machine gun fire to successfully capture Beersheba in what would come to be known as the Battle of Beersheba.

Impact of firearms

In the firearms age, the basic parameters are speed of advance against rate (or effectiveness) of fire. If the attackers advance at a more rapid rate than the defenders can kill or disable them then the attackers will reach the defenders (though not necessarily without being greatly weakened in numbers). There are many modifiers to this simple comparison – timing, covering fire, organization, formation and terrain, among others. A failed charge may leave the would-be attackers vulnerable to a counter-charge.

There has been a constant rise in an army's rate of fire for the last 700 years or so, but while massed charges have been successfully broken they have also been victorious. It is only since the late 19th century that straight charges have become less successful, especially since the introduction of the machine gun and breech-loading artillery. They are often still useful on a far smaller scale in confined areas where the enemy's firepower cannot be brought to bear.

Notable charges

See also

References

  1. ^ Connolly, Peter (1981). Greece and Rome at War. London: Macdonald Phoebus. p. 47. ISBN 035606798X. 
  2. ^ Hill, J. Michael (1999). "Chapter 6 : Gaelic Warfare 1453–1815". In Black, Jeremy. European Warfare 1453–1815. London: Macmillan Press. pp. 201–224. ISBN 033369241. 
  3. ^ Holmes, Richard (1987). Firing Line. Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 377–9. ISBN 0140085742. 
  4. ^ N. Machiavelli, Art of War, II
  5. ^ A History of WarfareKeegan, John, Vintage, Thursday 01 November 1994
  6. ^ Nicolle, David (2011). European Medieval tactics (I). Botley,Oxford: Osprey. pp. 24–8. ISBN 9781849085038. 
  7. ^ Rupert Willoughby, 'The Shock of the New' in History Today, 49 (1999)
  8. ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/2-7cav.htm
  9. ^ Boot, pg. 199
  10. ^ Beede, pg. 218-219
  11. ^ Boot, pg. 199
  12. ^ http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/mexico_pershing.htm
  13. ^ Battle of Klushino
  14. ^ "The Royal Dragoon Guards: History and Tradition". http://www.army.mod.uk/rdg/history/#5. 
  15. ^ Newton, Cecil. "Short History of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards". http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/36/a2271836.shtml. 
  16. ^ The Marquess of Anglesey, History of the British Cavalry, 1816–1919, volume 8, Leo Cooper, London, 1997, pp. 349–52
  17. ^ Cavalry Lasts – The Last Cavalry Charge
  18. ^ http://www.polandinexile.com/ppa.html
  19. ^ The Telegraph, 2004-06-13.