Horses of Battle
The following writing is a summary of the article of Béres Sándor from the Rubicon Magazine (1/2020), with a few explanations coming from me. All the thanks should go to him.
The Hungarian cavalry
The success and the survival of the Hungarians are due to the fact that they could blend the western and the eastern military tactics and use them effectively. Let us not forget that the Hungarians’ ancestors were nomadic people, all renowned horsemen.
Often, the same cavalry units were used as light cavalry units in the western area, lurking the German heavy cavalry into a trap; while the same units acted as heavy cavalry and were smashing the light cavalry of the Turks in the south and in the east. They were kind of in-between in size and other features compared to the western and eastern horses.
It was not because of different armor; it was because of the horses. Hungarian horses were smaller, tougher and faster than German horses while they were bigger and heavier than Turk horses. We can read in Italian chronicles from the 14th century that Hungarian horses were given forage when they were taken to the east while they could graze on grass when they were brought to the west.
Impact and stamina
When it comes to a duel or a mass-cavalry charge, the heavier horse is always an advantage. The impact can decide the fight. On the other hand, it was important to make the enemy tired. When their horses were not able to move but our horses were not that much exhausted, the victory was ours. Hungarian Hussar units usually were wearing the heavy German cavalry out while the same Hussars were saving the Hungarian heavy cavalry units from getting too tired when they fought against the Turks.
Hussars were taking over the task of the heavy cavalry beginning from the first clashes that preluded the battle until the chase after the eventual victory. As we can see, the strength of the horses defined military tactics, depending always on the enemy horses’ strength.
As for the initial clashes, both the Hungarians and the Turks used different units. In the Ottoman army, these riders were called “csarkadzsi”. They were given better horses and their weapons were equally good for close combat and long-range fighting. They had bows and arrows and short-shafted spears called “kelevéz” in the Hungarian language (“dzsirit” in Turk): a short, 90 cm long throwing spear that could penetrate armor if it was thrown from the saddle because the speed of the horse got added to its impact. Both Hungarians and Turks used them, the horsemen carried several of them:
These cavalry units that started the battle consisted of small groups of riders. Thus, they were able to move rapidly and could seize or explore the strategic places of the battlefield. They were excellent in covering the moves of the main army and in distracting attention as the Turks did it in the Battle of Mohács in 1526.
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/videos/the-battle-of-mohacs-1526/
Hit and run
Bows and arrows were used primarily against each other’s horses. A horse could not be killed by a single arrow, though. It was not easy to kill a man with an arrow, either. However, the “kelevéz” or “dzsirit” could pierce a plate armor or kill a horse at the first throw. The use of the throwing spear required lots of practice because these lighter cavalrymen could easily be defeated if they missed their target. Note, Hungarians had brought this weapon from the steppes and were masters of it, just like the Turks.
Two more parts are told about these tactics, check them out here:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/cavalry-charge/ and here: https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/horses-in-the-battle-of-mohacs/
If you wish to support my work, click on the ads and my page will get 1% after each purchase you made, even if you buy totally different products. Thank you.
You can sign up for my page to receive updates here: