Description
Book SynopsisThe regular Mounted Infantry was one of the most important innovations of the late Victorian and Edwardian British Army. Rather than fight on horseback in the traditional manner of cavalry, they used horses primarily to move swiftly about the battlefield, where they would then dismount and fight on foot, thus anticipating the development of mechanised infantry tactics during the twentieth century. Yet despite this apparent foresight, the mounted infantry concept was abandoned by the British Army in 1913, just at the point when it may have made the transition from a colonial to a continental force as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Exploring the historical background to the Mounted Infantry, this book untangles the debates that raged in the army, Parliament and the press between its advocates and the supporters of the established cavalry.
With its origins in the extemporised mounted detachments raised during times of crisis from infantry battalions on overseas imperia
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Quest for Mobile Firepower
Chapter 2 Foundations
Chapter 3 Doctrine
Chapter 4 Forging an Identity
Chapter 5 Training the Mounted Infantry
Chapter 6 Colonial Warfare and the Mounted Infantry Paradigm
Chapter 7 Imperial Perspectives
Chapter 8 A Wild Goose Chase: South Africa 1899-1902
Chapter 9 Remonstrance, Renaissance and Re-designation
Chapter 10 Demise
Chapter 11 Conclusions
Appendices Biographies of Senior Mounted Infantry Officers
Mounted Infantry Camel Regiment 1884–85 Composition
The Square at Abu Klea 1885
Development of the regular Mounted Infantry in South Africa 1899–1902
Evolution of tactics in South Africa 1899 – 1902: the ‘galloping charge’
Bibliography
Index
