Magyar Battle

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Another impact of Cavalry was that, more often than not, it served as the deciding factor of battles. An example of this is the case of the Magyars. The Magyars were light horse archers who skillfully employed sudden attacks and simulated flights to break their enemies’ organization. They existed before the notion of a need for a Cavalry unit in every army emerged. This gave them a huge military advantage over the many nations they defeated at the time. They defeated a combined German army at the Battle of Augsburg, in 910 by drawing out the German center with a feigned flight, only to turn and surprise the disorganized troops. King Henry the first, of Germany, was able to defeat the Magyars in 933 by building up a heavy cavalry force. He dedicated most of his resources into building a heavy cavalry force. His heavy cavalry gave his soldiers …show more content…
Henry’s son, Otto “The Great” mustered the largest heavy cavalry force of his time, which numbered around a thousand. Otto won a major battle against the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld of 955. Otto’s force was heavily outnumbered, but he possessed a tactical advantage in that the majority of his army was heavy cavalry. The Germans approached the Magyar forces in column, and the mobility of their cavalry prevented the magyars from enforcing their usual tactic of encircling the enemy and attacking the rear. Another instance in which this new heavy cavalry proved useful in battle was the reign of Duke William of Normandy. His main striking force in all his battles was heavy cavalry. In October 1053, he ended Henry I’s first invasion of normandy by employing a tactic similar to that of the Magyars. His cavalry pretended to flee, only to turn around and strike the disorganized enemy forces. The success of heavy cavalry lead to the development of a new kind of heavy cavalry, the