Cavalry

Abstract The broadest definition of cavalry is warriors or soldiers who ride horses and are able to fight from horseback, although some cavalry have also fought dismounted by choice as well. Foot soldiers using horses as a means of transport are not normally considered to be cavalry, although units of mounted infantry have often evolved into cavalry, sometimes in the course of a single campaign. Soldiers riding other animals such as camels, elephants, or asses are not considered to be cavalry; the essential relationship has been between the soldier and his horse. The names given to cavalry formations and individual soldiers, particularly in the modern era, have often reflected their functional or national origins rather than their actual role: depending on date and context, a hussar or dragoon might be anything from a light mounted infantryman to a charging heavy cavalryman. Since the early twentieth century, cavalry titles have also been given to units of tanks and helicopters, and even to some units of infantry.