...And Ride It To War

Douglas sends.

9 comments:

Eric Blair said...

The 1968 movie "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (there are clips from it in the video) is probably the best recreation of what an actual cavalry charge of 'horse and musket' era looked like. The horsemen are actually Turkish cavalrymen (as in modern Turkey) which still had horsed cavalry regiments in the late 1960's.

The closest thing I think you'd have seen in Europe would have been the French Republican Guard (yes, that the name, believe it or not).

Ah, I knew I had this bookmarked. This is the the Guard (or Garde de Republique) in 1969, where it seems some TV show got the regiment to do a charge to be filmed.

Everyone will recognize the bugle call for "charge". All mid-late 19th century American drill was pretty much lifted straight from the 2nd Empire French. Heh.

Eric Blair said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOl4piWh2eA

Here's the video.

Grim said...

It's a brilliant idea to have the buglers all mounted on greys, amid a field of darker coats. Once the battle is joined, it will make your signalling units much easier to locate when you need to pass orders in the melee.

douglas said...

Nice video, Eric. The moment in there that struck me was the shot from in front of the line, with them bearing down on the camera. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be waiting for a charge like that coming at you- all those tons of animal and men, slashing hoofs and sabers... wow.

Texan99 said...

Does anyone else remember Yul Brynner in Taras Bulba? I'm thinking of scene that impressed me in early childhood, of a lot of guys riding full tilt boogie toward the edge of a cliff.

Grim said...

Yes, I know that piece.

Eric Blair said...

Buglers were almost always mounted on greys, from what I can tell. And they end up being posted where they are so the rest of the regiment can guide off them if they have to rally.

Tom said...

Impressive. Anyone see the movie "Warhorse"?

Grim said...

I haven't, but I still mean to do so.