Page 17 - Last Chargers example

Introduction
Unless you are reading a specialist publication on cavalry or the Retreat from Mons in World War I you are unlikely to come across the action of the 5th Cavalry Brigade and the 12th Lancers at Moÿ15 de l’Aisne. It was brief, the casualties were not dramatic and in the chaos of the Retreat it was easily overlooked. For the 12th Lancers and its successor Regiments, however, it was to become iconic, being its last large-scale charge on horseback. Of greater practical use, it is a marvellous case study that brings to life the warlike concepts of initia- tive, shock action, all-arms co-operation and mutual support.
This was the rst major action of the war for the 5th Cavalry Brigade and it came at a time when the Brigade needed a boost to its morale. It produced a spirit which stayed with the Brigade until the end of the war and, notwith- standing its tactical success, the long-term effect on the soldiers of the Brigade far outweighed the material damage caused to the Germans16.
The action took place on the 28th August 1914, less than two weeks after the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had landed in France and Flanders and was approximately mid-way through the Retreat from Mons. The Retreat is often seen as the prelude to trench warfare, and invariably provides an opportu- nity for critics to discuss the impending redun- dancy of the cavalry with the arrival of barbed wire, trenches, gas and tanks. This was still to come and the Retreat, despite the hardships endured was, for the cavalry, part of the role (as a Rear Guard) that they were trained for. It was to involve large distances and the ability to be mobile – which is where cavalry, as well as providing shock action, came into their own.
The soldiers of the cavalry were not the con- scripts of 1916 but professional soldiers who had been colonial policemen for the last fteen
15 Moÿ is pronounced with the oÿ like the French ‘oui’
16 Howard-Vyse p117