"Frontage Ratio of a Cavalry Squadron to Infantry in Line" Topic

As a follow up to my question on artillery frontages, I thought I would ask a similar simple question re a cavalry squadron.

So what is the ratio of a cavalry squadron in line (100 horses) to a 600 man infantry battalion in line.

Thanks again,

John

Really an 18th century site, but easy to do the Maths

link

No expert, but I beleive in line:

600 man infantry battalion= 125-150 yards
500 horse cavalry reg= 225 yards
100 horse squadron= 50 yards

Assuming 3 deep infantry, and 2 deep(standard?) cav.

Or…use the much better link above :)

A horse and rider takes up about a yard of front. Cavalry Squadrons normally deployed in two ranks. So a 100 man Squadron would occupy about 50 yards, or about one third of an Infantry Battalion.

Battallion.. 200 men x 0.50m = 100m
Squadron.. 45 men x 0.90m = 40m

Cavalry regiment (4 squadrons) in two line – 100m

Nice link. Author should really check his math on Ramillies though

Pretty small cavalry squadrons Sho Boki!

According to your calculations, if a squadron had a 100 men, a 4 squadron cavalry regiment would have roughly twice the frontage of an 600 man infantry unit.

Correct?

john

a 4 squadron cavalry regiment would have roughly twice the frontage of an 600 man infantry unit.

Yes, that's about right.

My "rule of thumb" (based on the 1828 Kreigsspiel) is 1 battalion = 1 artillery battery = 1/2 cavalry regiment (in terms of frontage that is).

If cavalry in one line, then yes.
But usually in two..

If cavalry in one line, then yes.
But usually in two..

Do you mean two lines or two ranks?

Two lines..
One line = two ranks.

Thanks, again nice consistent answers which I appreciate. I understand the issue about the two line cavalry, I believe in the Lasalle rules this would be equivalent to what they call waves.

Really for me though it is an issue of basing and an attempt to use ratios to decide the width of a unit. So from this and the post on artillery, I will take the following advice.

For a 600 man battalion in line (not British):
the ratio of an unlimbered 8 gun battery would be around 3/4 to 1 for one infantry battalion.
the ratio of a 4 squadron cavalry unit (400 men) in single line would be 2 for one infantry battalion.

I hope I have it right. There is nothing like simplicity. No inches, no number of bases etc!

Thanks again,

John

Great question John.

My average cavalry unit with 3 squadrons have a frontage of 18cm compared to my average infantry battalion (24 figures) which has a frontage 24cm. Therefore the larger infantry units (36 figures) have a much wider frontage than the cavalry.

Raglan

I use 36 figures for French infantry – 12 wide, 3 deep – mounted on stands with a frontage of 17mm per figure. 12 figures in the first rank cover about 8 inches (51 mm is very close to 2 inches).

I mount my cavalry on 1 inch wide stands. My French Peninsular War Squadrons are 6 figures, two deep. Four squadrons would be 12" wide, but there should be space between squadrons, so not much more than 1 squadron could face a formed battalion.

If you bunch them, then 8 cavalry would face the 12 infantry, and the rest of the cavalry would overlap them by 4 figures. "Regiment" of 24 figures would be 12 inches wide, two ranks deep, against infantry 12 figures wide (8 inches) but 3 deep.

As an aside, if a French battalion could form an equal-sided square, it would be about 2 inches on a side, assuming the square would be three ranks deep! Tough to represent with models!

But when I gamed 10 years and more ago, we rarely had cavalry around long enough to attack infantry! Our cavalry commanders always seemed to charge on the first move to hit the enemy cavalry! It then became an infantry/cavalry battle.

Some of my French batteries are 3 gun figures, 1 howitzer, with 8 crewmen, mounted on 2" wide slats. The battery would be the same width as the infantry battalion. They can be deployed in sections of 2 guns (1 gun figure w/2 gunners) between two battalions, or on flanks as 2, 4, 6 or 8 guns. French battalions were usually deployed in line to allow cavalry or artillery to operate between them. If they formed column, there was even more room for cavalry (especially) to pass through the gap.

GdeP

Yes I like the simplicity of the approach. My regular sized infantry units are 160mm in line. Four squadrons of cavalry would be 320 mm in line (I think the largest I have is 3 squadrons). So I am ok with the cavalry in reference to the infantry.

For my artillery, a 8 gun battery is 200 mm, so overlarge. I have to work on that, but I have to say the whole discussion has clarified things for me.

I never look at depth, aside from artillery, it would be impossible to get correct.

John

You are right! Depth is a nightmare. Picture a 36 figure French battalion in column of single companies. With this organization, it would be 2 figures wide, 18 figures deep! representing about 40 men wide, 18 men deep.

Always fought only in line!

GdeP

All my figures are 1:72 (23mm) plastics on a 1:30 figure ratio. I base everything in single ranks and use a modified "Quarrie" system so that infantry really in 3 ranks are at 10 mm per infantry figure and those really in 2 ranks are 15 mm per infantry figure. I have assumed this represents files at 24 inch spacing, a little looser than regulation but probably true when moving.

This means that my 20 figure British infantry battalions occupy a frontage of 300 mm and my 18 figure French battalions occupy a frontage of 180 mm.

My cavalry are all assumed to represent real units in 2 ranks at a file spacing of 40 inches, again perhaps slightly larger than British regulations, but entirely correct for French regulations. Each figure therefore has a frontage of 25 mm. Most of my squadrons ( of any nationality) are four figures, representing squadrons of 120 real men), so have a frontage of 100 mm.

Having researched these proportions exhaustively I am convinced that they are correct.

Rod

1828 Kreigspiel says 900 muskets occupy 250 paces in line (3 ranks), a squadron of 150 is 100 paces and a battery of 8 guns 200 paces. Since these were compiled and used by people who had actually fought in the wars, they have some authority.

So 600 infantry is 167 paces, 400 cavalry is 267 paces and the artillery 200 paces. So the cavalry is 50% more than the infantry and the artillery about the same as the infantry, give or take.

a squadron of 150 is 100 paces

so a squadron of 100 is 67 paces (assumed in 2 ranks)
2 squadrons are 133 paces

However 3 and a bit feet per horse seems a bit on the tight side so allow a bit more room and those 2 squadrons will easily spread out to 160 paces or so – in other words, 2 squadrons (half a regiment) is roughly equal to the frontage of a battalion.

Remember not every nations works the same:
kriegspiel is done for German, the Prussian way after nappy;
actually they have two ranks and a weak third rank.
Moreover, what you need to show on a table is manoeuvre space which for cavalry is wider, as on the move they tend to spread a bit, and need intervals, and more space to wheel etc.
Pure 2 ranks cavalry would be overall more like 1.2 meters per file.
150 man sqn, allow 100meters.