Looks like the infantry are the ones waving their hats at the
end? I really cannot tell if it is a re-enactment or not.
(Example everyone here already knows, a whole lot of the famous
Civil War carnage shots were posed right there on the battlefield
with the corpses of the real soldiers. )
It *looks* like the cavalry could've pressed home and rolled over
the infantry, but it really does dim at the wrong moment.
Possibly also argues toward re-enactment: in the real battle (the
day before or whenever) the cav lost, so the soldiers had to
reenact it that way? (Joaquin Phoenix, in Gladiator: "Correct me
if I'm wrong General, but didn't the Romans beat the Carthaginians
in this battle?")
Even in small numbers though, and against pretty modern weapons,
the sheer mass and momentum of the horsemen was pretty impressive
though. Sitting ducks during that long slow charge.
My verdict is: Hmm! Very very interesting! -- Craig
On 8/2/2018 10:54 AM, Craig Barber
wrote:
Good stuff! Thanks T.! I'm going to go look at it right
now.
I enjoyed the rhino charge yesterday too: somebody had to pay
the damage deposit on their rental car!
-- Craig
On 8/2/2018 4:35 AM, Thomas Fulmer
wrote:
I found a few early video examples of cavalry caught
on film.
From 1898 shows training of horses and was in Thomas
Edison's collection
This video from:
From same time frame shows the famous Teddy Roosevelt rough
riders doing a simulated charge for the camera.
From 1900, also from Thomas Edison's collection, speed an
actual cavalry charge during the boer war, but it was against
artillery and guns and not against lances
--Thomas
So I wonder if anyone in the 1920s or 1930s caught
on movie film the moment of impact between a
genuine cav charge and pole weapons? (Maybe during
The River War, or the breakup of the Austo-Hungarian
Empire or a Russian invasion of Turkey?) What really
happens? I wouldn't trust written accounts from the
cavalry era(s) --- due to viewpoint problems.
(Herald: "Then our stalwart yeomanry did withstand the
enemy charge!" [real world: 60% casualties among the
pikemen, go get more yeoman before your next
battle]).
My most vivid "memories" of it are... TLOTR: Peter
Jackson has the Rohirrim pretty much pancake the poor
orcs twice: Helm's Deep and Minis Tirith. OTOH, the
USMC claimed into the 1910's at least (had an elderly
relative) that they were stoic enough to stop a cav
charge just with mounted bayonets and discipline.
Seems like good fiction or poor memories are all we
have to go on. Someone here know of some original
source material?