Napoleon Series Archive 2017

An interesting account of cavalry volley

Recently, I read an interesting account of cavalry volley.

This combat happened on the evening of 16th June, 1815, just after the Battle of Ligny. The following account is from Leutnant Hoeken's diary:

We had been riding forwards at a trot for some time when suddenly we saw a line of enemy cuirassiers about 100 paces to our front. They greeted us with a salvo of carbine fire, and at that moment, our cavalry about turned and rushed away. Although officers and men were screaming for everybody to halt, attempts to stop the flight were in vain, until we all, myself included, got stuck in a swamp...

1815 The Waterloo Campaign Wellington and His German Allies and The Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras, p. 327.

And the original German texts:

Als wir eine Zeitlang vorgetrabt waren, zeigte sich uns plötzlich auf 100 Schritte eine lange Linie feindlicher Kürassiere, die uns gleich darauf mit einer Karabinersalve begrüßte, und in demselben Augenblick machte unsere Kavallerie auch Kehrt und sprengte im Karriere davon. Zwar schrien Offiziere und Leute fortwährend Halt! Halt!, aber den Strom aufzuhalten, war vergebens, bis wir und ich selbst im Sumpfe stecken blieben...

Lettow-Vorbeck's Napoleons untergang 1815, Berlin, 1904, vol. 1, p. 340:

Well, I must say it's an interesting account and a rare account of a successful cavalry volley. Then two questions arise:
Firstly, could anyone confirm the units of both side?
Secondly, does there exist any more similar incident?

Best Regards,
Wu Tian

Messages In This Thread

An interesting account of cavalry volley
Hoeken
they shattered their lances at the cuirasses *LINK*
a French version *LINK*
Another French version
Re: An interesting account of cavalry volley
Re: An interesting account of cavalry volley