Britain's Regular Cavalry at War 1660 - 1920 (Hardback)

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Patrick Mileham’s history of ‘Britain’s Regular Cavalry at War’, is an engrossing read, covering the 250 years between the Restoration and the dawn of mechanisation post World War 1. The cavalry’s story is set out against British and European history; the centuries of European alliances, great power rivalries, warfare and changing societal values and economic circumstances of the age. To condense so much regimental history, so clearly and concisely, into 400 pages is a true feat of military scholarship. The text is beautifully illustrated with prints and pictures drawn from regimental property or those that hang in our major museums. The many maps of the major engagements are clear and detailed and add to understanding.

Mileham captures the cavalry’s journey (at times unglamorous slog, at times glorious and heroic, at time disastrous), from Cromwell’s Army to the mounted cavalry’s last operations in Mesopotamia in World War 1. Drawing widely on contemporary and modern sources, he explains the Cavalry’s development from a locally raised 17 th Century militia, to arguably being the decisive combat arm in the wars of the 18 th and 19 th Century. The text brings to life today’s Cavalry’s wonderfully diverse military and social genealogy, despite being a much diminished corps of only 8 regular regiments. The Regimental Pedigree charts graphically illustrate this shrinkage over time. Despite this, the many threads running through the history will feel familiar to today’s serving officer or soldier. The ethos, tradition and the mental approach of today’s cavalry can clearly be seen to have been founded in the actions of their forbears centuries ago.

None of this of course could have been achieved without the horse. The book explores the art of military horsemanship, the development of riding skills and horse furniture, the relationship between the soldier and his charger and the different breeds and types of horse used by the different cavalry roles worldwide when campaigning. Beast of burden, charger and friend; none of the numerous actions portrayed so clearly would have been possible without the most gallant of horses, whose sacrifice at times was immense. Indeed, one wonders how much influence the cavalryman, be he a general or trooper, had when charges were pressed home by 200 horse galloping abreast across good country? The difference between charging and bolting in the chaos of battle was probably a very thin line! The millions of horses who underpin the feats in this book are the unsung heroes of this history to my mind.

Today the remaining Cavalry reflect the professionalism, inclusivity and the operational versatility of the modern Army. Today’s officers are drawn from the top quartile of the Sandhurst intake and the soldiers from amongst the best recruits to the Army. Modern regiments demand rigorous training, teamwork, flexibility and the integration of advanced technology in their mechanised steeds. But these modern demands can only flourish within a rock solid Regimental framework which has evolved over the years, evident in today’s elite small regiments, who still value their heritage and links to local communities and who still maintain the professionalism, strong cavalry ethos and tradition of their forebears. Visibly highlighted in their spirit, uniforms, messes and history. Many of these characteristics would still feel very comfortingly familiar to their peers in history.

This book should be essential reading for any Officer or Soldier or lay reader who wants to better understand the art and role of the Cavalryman. Not only will he better understand his own regiment’s part in the making of that history, but he will better understand what has helped shape his peers be they Elliot’s Tabs, Churchill’s Own, Cherrypickers or Lillywhites.

Colonel (retd) Tim Checketts OBE (Late LD)

Patrick Mileham has done the Army, the Armoured Corps, and the cavalry regiments of the modern British Army a huge service by compiling this record of war and combat by the ‘mounted arm’ across two hundred and sixty years of service to the Crown. The British Army has always had three major roles: Home Defence; Sustaining the Balance of Power in Europe; Projecting Power Globally. This is therefore a complex tale that requires Mileham to set out a potted political, diplomatic and military history of every conflict in which the British cavalry served in this long period. And there were many. Within this grand narrative, he then has to position, not just the various types of cavalry ‘capability’ (light, heavy, cuirassiers etc),but the various regiments themselves (light dragoons, dragoons, dragoon guards, hussars, lancers etc), and their multiple incarnations as the Army expanded and contracted, and doctrine, tactics and equipment developed.

That Mileham achieves this within a manageably-sized book is a tribute to his grasp of the subject, and his recognition of the tolerance of the modern reader for too many dates and too many regimental numbers. However, despite the appeal of stories of chivalric gallantry, he never loses sight of the fact that the powerful and compelling image of a cavalryman at full charge, captured in a thousand pictures, is also the story of man, horse and equipment, brought together in large numbers, at the moment critique, by political direction, resources, allies, leadership, training, ethos, discipline, and a demanding logistic supply system.

The scope of the book is ambitious, from the Restoration of Charles II to the end of the First World War, and the onset of mechanisation, and from the woods and villages of the American colonies, through the battlefields of Flanders, Germany and Spain, to the plains and nullahs of Sudan and India. All the cavalry actions that Mileham describes in this book were frightening or exhilarating for the participants, many of them were militarily significant, and a few were genuinely decisive, where the ‘shock action’ of a British cavalry charge changed the course of a battle, of a campaign, or of history. Lavishly illustrated, full of contemporary quotes and recollections, and with some very helpful annexes, this book is a very welcome addition to the story of the British Army.

Lieutenant General (retd) Sir Simon Mayall KBE CB (late QDG) - Chairman, National Army Museum

Patrick Mileham’s Britain's Regular Cavalry at War 1660–1920: Ancestral Voices offers a compelling and informative exploration of the development of Britain’s cavalry regiments across more than two and a half centuries. The book clearly explains how individual cavalry regiments gradually came together to form a unified and effective force within the British Army. Mileham provides valuable insight into the distinctive identities of each regiment, highlighting their traditions, organisation, and the unique roles they played in warfare.

One of the strengths of the book is its ability to combine historical narrative with an appreciation of the cavalry’s character and heritage. The author carefully examines how the regiments differed from one another while also demonstrating how they worked collectively on the battlefield. As the only branch of the British Army to rely on horses, the cavalry possessed a particular operational flexibility and prestige, which Mileham captures well throughout the text.

Enhanced by a mixture of colour and black-and-white illustrations, the volume is both visually engaging and historically rich. Overall, this impressive work provides an accessible and fascinating account of Britain’s regular cavalry and will appeal to anyone interested in military history or the evolution of the British Army.

Colonel (retd) Guy Deacon CBE (late QDG) - Formerly, Colonel Royal Armoured Corps