Cavalry in World War 1: From Halen to Frontkrieg

Cavalry did not vanish in World War 1 — it changed jobs. On the Western Front, machine guns, barbed wire and trenches made the classic mounted charge nearly suicidal by the autumn of 1914, yet on the Eastern Front and in the Middle East horsemen decided entire campaigns right up to 1918. Frontkrieg — a free, no-pay-to-win browser strategy game set in World War 1 — recreates cavalry exactly that way: it is the fastest mass land unit in the game (speed 1.0, double the infantry's 0.5), the eyes of your army and the nightmare of enemy artillery. This article covers a short history of cavalry in 1914–1918 and a practical guide on when and why to recruit horsemen in Frontkrieg. It is written both for newcomers who just discovered the game and for veterans who want to squeeze every drop of value out of mobile formations.

Cavalry in 1914: Armies That Believed in the Horse

In the summer of 1914 every great European army fielded a huge mounted force. The Russian Empire deployed the largest cavalry in the world — dozens of divisions of regular horsemen and Cossacks. Germany mobilised 11 cavalry divisions, France 10, and the British Expeditionary Force shipped its own Cavalry Corps across the Channel. Generals planned a war of manoeuvre in which cavalry would turn flanks, cut communications and hunt down a beaten enemy.

Reality struck fast. As early as 12 August 1914, at the Battle of Halen in Belgium — remembered as the "Battle of the Silver Helmets" — German cuirassiers launched a textbook charge against Belgian positions and were shot to pieces by rifle and machine-gun fire. The same script repeated wherever horsemen met entrenched infantry. Within months the Western Front froze into a continuous trench line from the Channel to Switzerland, leaving cavalry no room to operate.

Why the Western Front Killed the Mounted Charge

Three things made a mounted charge in the West suicidal: the machine gun, barbed wire and a continuous front line. The machine gun gave defenders a density of fire no living target in the open could survive. Wire stopped horses before they ever reached the trenches, and the absence of open flanks robbed cavalry of its greatest asset — the turning manoeuvre. We covered the causes of that deadlock in detail in our article on trench warfare and the frozen Western Front.

Yet even there cavalry was far from useless. British and French mounted divisions fought dismounted as mobile infantry, alternated horseback marches with foot combat, and rushed reserves toward breakthroughs. The generals' great hope of "exploiting the breakthrough" gradually passed to new arms of service — read more in our pieces on World War 1 tanks and the air war of 1914–1918.

Where Horsemen Still Won: The East and Palestine

A completely different picture emerged wherever the front never froze. On the Eastern Front — from the Baltic to the Carpathians — troop density was lower, flanks existed, and Russian, Austro-Hungarian and German cavalry spent the whole war scouting, raiding and pursuing. There, cavalry remained a first-class combat arm rather than an auxiliary one.

The most famous triumph of the horse came in the Middle East. On 31 October 1917 at Beersheba, roughly 800 riders of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade galloped across several kilometres of open desert, leapt the Ottoman trenches and seized the town with its critically important wells — one of the last successful massed cavalry charges in history. And in September 1918 at Megiddo, General Allenby's Desert Mounted Corps drove dozens of kilometres deep into the Ottoman rear within days, turning a breakthrough into the collapse of an entire front.

The Price in Horses: The War's Living Logistics

Behind the dry statistics hides a separate tragedy. The British Empire alone mobilised about 1 million horses and mules during the war, and all sides together used, by various estimates, up to 16 million animals. Around 8 million horses died — from fire, exhaustion and disease. The horse was not only a fighting "platform" but the main tractor for artillery and supply wagons — we covered that side of war in our guide on troop movement and front-line logistics. For the full chronology of the conflict, see the Wikipedia article on World War I.

Cavalry in Frontkrieg: Unit Stats

In Frontkrieg, cavalry is a unit of speed and information, not frontal assault. Here are its exact numbers:

• Cost: 6,500 money and 40 grain — versus 5,500 for an infantryman.
• Training time: 3 real-time hours (infantry takes 1 hour).
• Requirements: a level 1 workshop and a level 1 barracks in the province.
• Toughness: 30 HP — half again as durable as infantry's 20 HP.
• Speed: 1.0 — exactly twice as fast as infantry (0.5) and the highest among mass land units; only the armoured car (1.2) is quicker.
• Sight: 130 units versus 90 for infantry — horsemen see farther and lift the fog of war sooner.
• Upkeep: 2 money and ~1 grain per day per rider.

Note that cavalry is a "living", non-mechanical unit. Like infantry, it gradually adopts the morale of the province it stands in, so long raids through low-morale territory slowly erode its fighting power.

Cavalry Tactics: Scouting, Raiding, Gun-Hunting

Frontkrieg's counter system reproduces the historical rock-paper-scissors logic. Cavalry deals ×1.5 damage to artillery — a swift descent leaves gun crews no chance. Against dug-in infantry and armour, however, horsemen suffer a ×0.7 penalty, while infantry and tanks strike them with a ×1.5 bonus — exactly like at Halen in 1914. See the full strength-and-weakness matrix in our unit types and counters guide.

Three main roles for horsemen follow from this:

• Scouting: a pair of riders with 130 sight is the cheapest way to reveal enemy movements ahead of your front; combine it with the methods from our article on reconnaissance and the fog of war.
• Rear raids: speed 1.0 lets you slip around the front and cut down unescorted artillery and freshly captured provinces while the enemy's main army is far away.
• Rapid response: a mounted reserve in the centre of your empire reaches any border twice as fast as a foot reserve — insurance against surprise landings and breakthroughs.

The classic beginner mistake is throwing cavalry head-on at infantry stacks. Do that and you re-enact the cuirassiers' fate at Halen: you lose expensive units (6,500 money each!) for nothing. Horsemen win where the enemy is NOT — or where lone guns are parked.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was cavalry useful in WW1?

Yes, but not in its classic role. On the Western Front, cavalry fought mostly dismounted from 1915 onward and ferried reserves, while on the Eastern Front and in Palestine it remained a decisive striking arm: the charge at Beersheba on 31 October 1917 and the Megiddo breakthrough of September 1918 are the clearest examples.

How many horses died in WW1?

By common estimates, about 8 million horses across all belligerents. Animals died not only under fire: exhaustion, cold and disease were the biggest killers. Britain alone mobilised roughly 1 million horses and mules.

Why build cavalry in Frontkrieg if tanks exist?

Horsemen are twice as fast as infantry (1.0 vs 0.5), see 130 units against 90, and cost only 6,500 money and 40 grain with zero oil. Tanks hit harder head-on but consume oil to build and maintain — cavalry runs on grain alone and is available from hour 3 of a match even to resource-poor nations.

What is cavalry strongest against?

Artillery: the ×1.5 bonus makes a mounted raid the fastest way to destroy enemy batteries. Avoid charging infantry and armour — cavalry takes a ×0.7 penalty there and suffers ×1.5 damage in return.

Conclusion: Cavalry Is Speed, and Speed Is Information

World War 1 did not bury cavalry — it forced a career change: from shock weapon to the eyes and legs of the army. That is exactly how horsemen live in Frontkrieg: the unit that sees first, arrives first and punishes carelessly placed guns without retribution. Attach 3–5 riders to every field army, keep a mounted reserve in the rear, and the enemy will never catch you blind again.

Put the cavalry to the test today: join a new Frontkrieg match — the game is free, runs in your browser with no download, and a fresh match starts every day. Find more guides on our blog.