Thirty Years’ War Cavalry, 1618–1648

Bavarian Kürassiers and Arquebusiers in front of an Imperial redoubt

Bavarian Kürassiers and Arquebusiers galloping past an Imperial redoubt. In the early 17th century there were three regular mounted troop types, lancers, cuirassiers, and arquebusiers. The lance quickly disappeared during the Thirty Years War and former lancer regiments converted to cuirassiers. The cuirassiers wore heavy armour, protecting them from pistol shots and sword cuts. A mounted attack would begin with a protracted pistol duel at close range, in order to disorganize the target unit, followed by a charge if the situation looked favourable. Arquebusiers were more lightly armoured, but they carried a long firearm which enabled them to engage enemy formations and support a cuirassier attack at longer ranges.

Available Miniatures

Swedish Horse, 1:72 Revell 02567

Historical Employment

Imperial Horse, 1618–1648
Protestant Horse, 1618–1648
Swedish Horse, 1630–1648
French Horse, 1618–1648
English Horse, 1642–1648

Possible Conversions

Arquebusiers may be converted to dragoons, mounted infantry.

Related Films

The Three Musketiers starring Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, Michael York, and Raquel Welch.
Cyrano de Bergerac starring Gérard Depardieu, and Anne Brochet

Bibliography

Knötel-Sieg: Handbuch der Uniformkunde, p. 3
le costume et les armes des soldats de tous les temps, L. & F. Funcken, Vol. 1, pp. 123-131
The Army of Gustavus Adolphus: Cavalry. R. Brzezinski, M. Windrow, R. Hook
New Model Army 1645-60. Stuart Asquith
Battles of the Thirty Years War, 1618-1635. William P. Guthrie
The Later Thirty Years War, 1636-1648. William P. Guthrie
The Thirty Years War. Ronald G. Asch
The English Civil War. Peter Young, Michael Roffe (Illustrator)
Allevi, Piersergio: Miniatures, p. 112-113, 115

Mounted units played an important role in most battles of the Thirty Years War, because personal firearms and artillery were not accurate enough to dominate the battlefield. Foot troops relied on pikes and hedgehog formations to protect themselves from mounted attacks.

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