A Brief History
On August 12, 1914, World War I was merely two weeks old and apparently the German and Belgian armies did not yet realize the futility of using mounted cavalry in an age of rapid firing repeating rifles and automatic machine guns.
Digging Deeper
The Battle of Halen was fought in Belgium between the invading Germans, numbering 4,000 cavalry and 200 infantry against 2400 Belgian cavalrymen backed up by 450 bicycle mounted infantry. The Germans intended to speed their way to the Belgian capital of Brussels, led by their silver helmeted cavalry, but the Belgians were smart enough to dismount their horsemen and cut down the German mounted attack.
The German attack was a failure, costing 150 Germans killed, 600 wounded, and another 300 captured, while the Belgians lost 160 dead and 320 wounded. So many bright, shiny German helmets were left on the battlefield that the battle became known as “The Battle of the Silver Helmets.”
Warring armies were slow to learn lessons during World War I, resulting in tremendous casualties, and cavalry continued to be used on a limited basis almost to the end of the war.
Question for students (and subscribers): Did you know millions of horses were used during World War I and also in World War II? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Kenyon, David. Horsemen in No Man’s Land: British Cavalry and Trench Warfare, 1914-1918. Pen and Sword Military, 2011.
Robinson, Joe, Janet Robinson and Francis Hendriks. The Last Great Cavalry Charge-The Battle of the Silver Helmets-Halen-12 August 1914. Fonthill Media, 2015.
The featured image in this article, a contemporary postcard depicting the failure of the German cavalry at Halen, is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
