Re: War horses (was RE: How Mil Specs Live Forever)

[Neil Maclay <nmaclay@btg.com>]

Poster: Neil Maclay <nmaclay@btg.com>

At 04:51 PM 10/4/96 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Poster: Lance Harrop <lharrop@mrj.com>
>
>
>On Fri, 4 Oct 1996, Aelfgar GreySeas wrote:
>
><snip> 
>> 
>> One of my favorite 'historical myths' is the alleged effectiveness of the
>> war chariot as a weapon system. Hollywood not withstanding, no hero who
>> ever wore armour could effectively wield a sword or a bow from an unsprung
>> vehicle moving at any speed over unpaved ground. As a way to make a big
>> entrance onto the battlefield, you can't beat a chariot. But if you want to
>> actually fight somebody, dismount and go for it.
>> 
>Lord Aelfgar, there were a few thousand chariots, used on both sides, at 
>the battle of Khadesh c. 1500 BC.  I wouldn't be surprised if the users 
>didn't choose the ground for their battles rather carefully, but that 
>doesn't mean they weren't fighting from the things.
>
>Now I know that a reading of the Illiad suggests that the Trojans and 
>Greeks would ride their chariots to the battlefield, where they would 
>dismount and fight as infantry.  That doesn't make the chariot a 
>non-combat vehicle.  After all, Harald Hardarian (sp) dismounted and 
>fought on foot at Stanford Bridge.  Does that mean that the Norman 
>knights did not fight from horse that same year at Hastings?
>
>In service
>Leifr Johansson
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Chariots pose an interesting problem in the history of warfare. For over a
thousand years (1800BC to 700BC aprox) they dominated the battle fields of
Eurasia. They seem to have been developed by indoeuropean speakers on the
Pontic stepps who then used them to expand in all directions from Scandinavia
to India. 

I do not have my sources at hand but my reading of books on Mesopotanian
archiology indicates that war chariots appeared in that area with invations
of the Hurrians from the northern mountains and the Kassites from the eastern
mountains. Neither of these peoples spoke an indoeuropean language but indo-
european names are common amoung the name lists of aristocrats and the techni-
cal words for chariot equipage seem to be derived from indoeuropean roots.

My guess is that chariot warriors were so usefull in battle that they were
recruited by the leaders of adjacent peoples into their aristocracy.

Two questions force themselves forward. First, why were chariots so useful
early in the second millenium BC; second, why were they so useless a thousand
years later. What fallows is pure speculation on my part.

There is a belief amoung miliatary historians such as Keegan that early
warfare consisted mostly of exchanging missles such as arrows and javelans.
Indevidual fighters would favor loose open formations that would allow them
to dodge and provide more difficult targets to their enemies. Confronting
such formations a chariot warrior has several advantages. He can move more
quickly to an advantages position. He can carry to the fight more ammunition
in the form of throwing spears or arrows than can a foot soldier. And something
that every SCA fighter can appreciate, he can be heavily armored and still be
mobile without overtiring. Armor would make a fighter reasonably safe from the 
stone or copper pointed missles launched at him.

Though horseback riding predates chariots by several thousand years, calvelry 
at the time was not as effective. The horses were smaller in acient times.
Thirteen hands was the norm as determined by the skeletal evidence. Thus a
rider would be unable to be heavily armored. A team of these horses could 
however, pull a chariot carrying one or two armored fighters.

Therfor my belief is that in the early second millenium, chariots were able 
to dominate the battle fields by having more offensive fire power, and a
greater ability to resist an enemy's fire power.

As to why chariots became useless in battle a thousand years later, I have
some guesses that I will post later.

Master Malcolm MacMalcolm, Marshal
( just say MMMMM )

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