A Note on Cavalry Organization

During the First World War era, cavalry was employed in two ways. First, cavalry regiments were grouped together in divisions and intended for use as a striking army. Second, each infantry division has cavalry assigned to it for use as a reconnaissance element, usually a regiment. As the war progressed, the cavalry divisions were either disbanded completely or they were dismounted for use as infantry.

For the Germans, the horses were assigned to the field artillery since the loss rate of horses was horrendous and horses were, for the most part, the only way to move guns. Also, the dismounted cavalry regiments were reorganized, having machine guns units assigned to them to increase their firepower. Also, by 1916, the divisional cavalry regiments were reduced to a single squadron with the other squadrons being assigned to newly-forming infantry divisions.

In future posts, I will be expanding on this some but that should give a basic idea of cavalry's position in the army.