French Empire | Best cavalry in Europe 2

[@F_Bardamu]

Don't show this movie to Ridley Scott, he'd realize his Napoleon movie is garbage.

[@Riotdrone]

now that is an epic cavalry charge scene, i always appreciate when a film will go big on the amount of actors for battle scenes

[@fredrickpoggi5493]

Yes! It's far better than CGI and more dramatic too.

[@2566Conan]

In this movie the Russian Army actually provided the extras (troops for all of the battle scenes)

[@grahvis]

Film makers should learn that whilst it may look dramatic, a cavalry charge does not start at the gallop. The horses would hardly be at their best by the time the charge is actually made.

[@peterneijs387]

@@2566Conan We should be okay then for WW3

[@TexIdk]

@@2566Conan You confused this movie with the Soviet version of War and Peace

[@captainlocke9738]

I would say that the Napoleonic period was the time where the whole French army (not only cavalry) was one of the most fearsome military forces that ever existed in Europe. The French Republic which later transformed into the French Empire boasted a very well armed, organized and motivated army that could defeat entire coalitions of European powers and was fairly invincible. And finally, it was not defeated by men, but by the weather (famous russian winter).

[@Itachi951000]

The french royal army from 1652 to 1748 could make that list too though. Louis XIV's France was fucking scary.

[@Itachi951000]

The french royal army from 1652 to 1748 could make that list too though. Louis XIV's France was fucking scary.

[@leroiarouf1142]

@@Itachi951000 plague of europe

[@Christian-qq9ys]

actually more soldiers died during the summer offensive bc of the heat and so on

[@varelion]

The French army also was defeated by men!!! Or was there no Bassano, Acre, Aspern, Krasnoi, Leipzig, La Rothiere, Laon, Waterloo? And most of the casualties during the march on Moscow happened in summer. The Russians used the method of scorched earth. They destroyed the wells and burnt farms and left nothing for the French and their vassals. There were scenes when soldiers ran to a urinating horse to drink from the pee puddle. The extreme loss of draught horses was catastrophic for the supply of the giant army.

[@ManWithNoName1980]

In 1807, in East Prussia French and Poles captured town of Fridland. They found lots of wines and spirits. Party took 3 days of constant drinking. Than Russians reinforcements arrive. Whole army was too wasted to fight... except Poles who mount their horses and charged. They managed to cover the rest of army. Angry Napoleon said that he would like to see all his soldiers to be drunk like Polish Cavalry. From then French got saying: 'saoul comme un Polonais'

[@7macfly2]

French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub

[@thewheelchairhistorian3424]

@@7macfly2 Also foolish. Ney with a winky face

[@RoozyyK]

@@7macfly2 The fuck is your complex to putting this no sense in reply to each comment?

[@kartofff]

I'd heard this story, not about the eastern front, but about assaulting a mountain pass towards Spain. The spaniards had fortified it toughly, and all the French commanders refused to storm it, arguing it was suicide. The Polish cavalry went up, and was victorious against all odds. After that, Napoleon kept praising so much that the French tried to dismiss the victory, noting all the Poles were drunk that day. That's when Napoleon would have answered "Then, gentlemen, learn to be drunk like the Poles". Whichever version is historical, the Poles have long been unsung heroes ; remember Sobieski !

[@franckhokusai289]

​@@kartofff The famous Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard. The assault on a mountain pass is that of Somosierra. They are gorges deffendus by pieces of Spanish artillery, which blocks the advance of the French artillery. Napoleon grew impatient, and despite the remarks of Colonel Pire, who judged the assault "impossible," he turned to Kozietulski and said: "Take me off that. At a gallop." A little earlier, he would have said to the Colonel Pire: "My Polish horsemen do not understand this word (impossible)". 3rd squadron of Polish light horse, strong of two companies, aligns about 150 men. In two assaults, severe losses (big pair of balls), they will take all the Spanish cannons. Great honors: 13th bulletin of the Grande Armée mentions the determining role 3rd squadron of Polish light horse during Battle of Somosierra.

[@notgoddhoward5972]

The fact that people just used to go on picknicks and walk around near giant battles back in the day is why aliens never actually invade us.

[@itshighnoon7504]

That also happened in the first battle of the American civil war

[@groot710]

During the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, spectators including U.S. congressmen arrived to watch, expecting a quick Union victory. However, the Union was defeated and the spectators were sent scrambling for safety amidst the chaos of the retreat. The number of injured spectators is not documented, but the event was far from the safe spectacle many had anticipated.

[@oliverpearson1577]

WTF is a picknick?

[@groot710]

@@oliverpearson1577 that’s where we all huddle around & pick certain people named Nick

[@dv3q]

​@@oliverpearson1577I think he means picnic 😂

[@jeanpierreragequit1726]

Polish cavalry and his organization were the best from the winged ones. All european armies have duplicated the polish cavalry model til the XVIIIth century. I'll never forget Polish units give their blood to Napoleon for their liberty. Greetings from France.

[@7macfly2]

French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub

[@elvrro]

Whats happend on 1.9.1939, why france do not help poland ??? Against german, russian and slovakia poland had to fait alone, where was france ????

[@elvrro]

@@7macfly2 the biggest charge was done in Vienne by polish cavalery in 12.9.1683 I think against osmans turkish army, france never had good cavalery

[@7macfly2]

@@elvrro i said one of the biggest If you say that then you know nothing about History Check the battle in my comment, thats 10 time what pol achieve in their history

[@7macfly2]

@@elvrro french and napoleon fought and free poland France during ww1 fought and free poland France in ww2 declared war to germany for poland and paid the price for that. What did poland for France ? So go learn History before say bullshit

[@johnedreslin]

Cavalry would never go at a gallop over that long a distance, they would completely lose coherence. They only would gallop over the last quarter of a mile or so.

[@raymondstone9636]

And they would be to fatigued to fight. They also would not have charged with capes attached

[@nikolaipotapenkov8823]

Exactly...will be tired and unable to fight.

[@tazika2988]

Correct. Actually cavalry was sparing their horses before the storm&attack, being in loose walk for an hour or so. If circumstances allowed it, of course. I know, I was in a cavalry unit of Croatian national defense (before the war I was taking part in military exercises; in Liberation war in 1990s we used horses only for provision of defenders* in impassable mountains and woods). *I say "defenders" because Croatia had no army when Serbs and JNA attacked (JNA=Yugoslav National Army, during 1980s silently changed in Serbian Army, with Serbs on top positions). Also most of Croatian police were Serbs, well prepared for war. Before the attack JNA took all weaponry from Croatian National Defense. When they attacked - they attacked bare-handed civilians; Vukovar, Dubrovnik and other battles were defended by civilians, people who had no connections with military whatsoever.

[@tazika2988]

@@raymondstone9636 By "capes" you mean coats? Where were they leaving them? I read a book few centuries old, I forgat the title but it was written by a soldier who described his battles in Europe. He described the attack of Croatian band of horseman: everybody would freeze from fear when they will see horsemen WITH REDCOATS. Here are some portraits of ban Jellachich soldiers made in their camp near Vienna, in 1848 when they defended Vienna from revolutionars: www.croexpress.eu/mobile/zanimljivosti/677/nasa-povijest-hrvatska-vojska-bana-josipa-jelacica-iz-1848-1849-godine/ Text describes each peace of their weapons, sadly no translation available.

[@ThePinkus]

They wouldn't charge through their retreating comrades either... PS: and the movie didn't include the "No horse was harmed during the filming of this movie" phrase at the end...

[@chromadelay]

3:15 The moment when you realize you’ve been holding your breath way to long.

[@BagusHutomo]

ah good old time.. when you can casually walk observing a battle like that

[@TheConfederate1863]

But no iPhones to record all this 🙃, back home they would never believe you 😀

[@ayi3455]

Villagers in border of Iran watched Armenia versus Azerbaijan 2 years ago.

[@fludblud]

Old times? People still do, just last October you could just sit on the border in northern Iran and watch the armies of Azerbaijan and Armenia duke it out, hell when I was in Hong Kong in 2019 I could see protesters and police fighting just down the road and had to take a footbridge over the action to buy groceries. It only doesnt happen if your country isnt a battlefield.

[@nougatbitz]

I'm finding this more impressive to watch than those CGI exploits of modern films.

[@AudieHolland]

LOL when I watched the thumbnail video, I thought it must be the new Total War game

[@Goliath5100]

The CGI method does end up with a lot less injuries and dead horses, in fairness

[@adamcsillag6058]

@@Goliath5100 Back pain, eyesight deterioration, depression... so really?

[@Goliath5100]

@@adamcsillag6058 Better than a broken neck and hundreds of dead horses. I’m not totally sure what your point is?

[@adamcsillag6058]

@@Goliath5100Possible injuries vs slave labour in a box - and the CGI usally looks shit anyways. Usually no1 dies, anyways just check Waterloo 1970 the biggest one nobody died during shooting.

[@davidschreyer7247]

The french cuirassiers are just such a beautiful looking unit. What a masterpiece.

[@christophermichaelclarence6003]

Yep. That's our French Cuirassiers. Notre Cavalerie Française

[@hammer2722]

Actually, they are Dragoons (and Polish Lancers at the end). You can tell by the Leopard skin helmets and the green jackets without breastplates.....Cuirassiers wore Blue Jackets with colored facings the color of which denoted the Regiment.

[@PrinceChaloner]

You should watch War and Peace Russian version the battle scenes are 3 times bigger..

[@justinneill5003]

They were indeed, but this isn't them; these are not wearing cuirasses. And why would they be charging whilst wearing their cloaks? I've never heard of that. The whole point was to be able to slash and thrust in all directions around them; being impeded by a long cloak would have been self defeating, the enemy could even have dragged them out of the saddle with it. I understand it was done for cinematic effect, as was the ridiculously protracted gallop (it was customary to advance at the walk, progressing to trot and then canter, with only the final 50m being covered at the gallop.) In the scene depicted here, those horses would have been "blown" by the time they reached the enemy, which is what happened to the Scots Greys when they galloped on too far at the Battle of Waterloo.

[@laurentdevaux5617]

@@hammer2722 You're right ! Moreover, the cuirassiers never charged this way, they charged in line, first at a low pace, then at a higher speed, and then at full speed with their long sword held straight, aiming the throat or the chest of their opponent. Knowing that a cuirassier fully equiped with his horse weighed around 800 kg, the effect was devastating, no wonder everybody feared them. The other problem being dragoons weren't full scale horsemen, but foot soldiers using their horses to move quicker and normally fighting on foot. Here, this way of charging is more typical of light cavalry units like husars. And there are too much flags, and of an incorrect type

[@JacquesLapeyre]

Surprisingly accurate depiction of French infantry mixed order assault formation. Probably need more extras to truly fill-out the old "French Columns" but neat that they show this formation.

[@Celsiora]

But they placed grenadiers as skirmishers.....

[@wayneemery5709]

For those how don’t know this movie it’s called War and Pease over 3 hours long. 😀

[@shaunclubberlang2887]

I'm actually fairly sure that's Waterloo - 1970. Rod Steiger was Napoleon there.

[@i.j.f.2200]

Learn to spell basic English dude... PEACE not “pease”

[@TejasRBYT]

@@i.j.f.2200 Ehh sometimes in fast typing spelling mistakes happen

[@wayneemery5709]

@@i.j.f.2200 👍😂

[@bobwallace9814]

@@wayneemery5709 You are correct and it's a great movie!

[@lefty6774]

Can we appreciate the poor extra at 5:12 doing his best to dodge more than 5 horses galloping at him at high speed? Front left of the scene.

[@jglynnlc1]

In the same scene a little higher in the screen than that guy you can see a couple guys actually get run over / knocked down

[@PhoenixAscending]

Don't know how managed that

[@thesayxx]

There is quite a number of scenes where you see guys flying off horses and getting hit by stuff. I wonder how many people got broken bones and concussions from making this movie.

[@bobwallace9814]

The movie is War and Peace. That guy in the civilian clothes is a main character there in the Russian saga and gets caught up in the middle of the battle.

[@karljohanlea5564]

That actor is the late Henry Fonda.

[@doubleducks814]

Thank you

[@jamesbarbour327]

Henry Fonda, playing Pierre, one of the narrative characters of the novel.

[@user-ze5xg6hg8e]

The real translate is War and society. Old russian word MИР (МIP) has two meanings, peace and society.

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

Сергей Пегишев - That’s very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[@kikow7861]

Fun fact.“Bercheny Hussards” was the first regiment of hussars of the French Army. , Ladislaus Count Bercsenyi was a Hungarian magnate.

[@hungeri1662]

serbs had more goats than horses they were never known as a cavalry nation

[@besteyldz6601]

All "fun fact" comments are disgusting as the ones texted it

[@kikow7861]

@@besteyldz6601 thank you for sharing this extremely intimate fun fact about yourself.

[@xelzakut7515]

​@Ömer Yılmaz ouch

[@chriswanger284]

@@kikow7861 Serbs belong to the semi-asiatic orthododox civilization.

[@whynot-tomorrow_1945]

3:15 Poor guy passed out from heat stroke right before the shooting started : (

[@jellybellyboothang]

He was shot by the French skirmishers in the front. If you watch again you'll notice the light cracks of their muskets and the faint puffs of smoke

[@casparow123]

@Graf von Losinj I would do the same. Lay down purposely pretend i'm dead entill its all over and go go collect my medal

[@thekingshussar1808]

@@casparow123 problem is that you can get stomped on by heavy masses in melee engagements, and if you react, there'd gotta be a soldier noticing and bayonetting you

[@casparow123]

@@thekingshussar1808 don't you worry i will find the right spot 😁

[@lorelorevoltovolto9298]

Maybe fainted?

[@AP4CH3RaiD]

I wasn’t sure it was Borodino until the shot with Napoleon sitting in front of his marshals resting his feet on the drum came up. Just like that famous painting 😂

[@AK-kz6wc]

Judging by taking a Russian fortification by the French cavalry, it is a battle of Borodino.

[@schattensand]

At the beginning you see Pierre Besuchow walking the battlefield and landing at the artillery. Classical Borodino scene from Vojna I Mir.

[@marschallv.blucher2841]

Such cavalry attacks only exist in the cinema. When the horses run at full gallop over such a long distance and then uphill, they are exhausted before they make contact with the enemy. But it is beautiful to watch.

[@renardgrise]

I was also thinking that the artillery holding their fire against infantry didn't seem right either. Not for that long anyway. I can appreciate loading Canister shot and holding until the enemy is in range, but bloody hell, the Ruskies are using shells, haha!

[@vtwintora]

@@renardgrise my 1776 Charleville musket weight is 10 lbs

[@renardgrise]

@@vtwintora oh?

[@vtwintora]

@@renardgrise I miss understood your post, my bad.

[@renardgrise]

@@vtwintora Roger. I was wondering, haha. 10lbs does sound a bit light for a '77 Charleville though... have you weighed it? I thought the'77 was supposed to be closed to 10.5 lbs... where the original '17 model was closer to 10lbs. I know that the India Pattern Bess was supposedly closed to 9.5 lbs... which would make sense as it was shorter.

[@arturkarpinski164]

What movie is this please??? The beginning part was in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure!!!

[@dorudoro]

Respect to the brave stuntmen for their difficult performances!!

[@CatalinElton]

Napoleon also bears the distinction of being the only military leader to seize the whole of continental Europe, from Madrid to Moscow. If only for a month or so. But still the entire length of the continent.

[@hugobznr1]

:D AND WHAT ABOUT LISBON???

[@teheddy280]

@@hugobznr1oh man, we still have Norway, Finland,Sweden

[@FRANKTHRING1]

These scenes are all very well from the American "War and Peace" until one sees the stupendous Russian version which is about as close to a Napoleonic battle as we are ever going to get.

[@MrElmas02]

@Xadion bondarchuk

[@okapmeinkap7311]

@Xadion Boris Yeltzin

[@okapmeinkap7311]

@@MrElmas02 there were several PYCCKU versions.

[@badguy1481]

I think that Russian version had the guy laying on the ground...severely wounded....looking up at the sky and wondering if those were the last moments of his life? Amazing what the movie industry produced long before CGI.

[@controlleddemolition9112]

@@badguy1481 That scene was also portrayed in the BBC War and Peace mini-series, starring a pretty young Anthony Hopkins as Pierre Bezukhov. Alan Dobie played Andre Bolkonsky, the Russian officer who was badly wounded at Austerlitz. It was a pretty good series, though some of the casting could have been better.

[@renardgrise]

Lads, what film is this? Looks like part of "War and Peace"... but I haven't seen a copy of that look this good or had English dubs....

[@jansandman6983]

back when the French has the guts to take on the whole world alone.

[@Gabneo1]

the whole of world too much, some parts of Europe for sometime

[@LEGOpachinko]

If you look at the map of the French Empire at its greatest extent (which does not even show attacking Russia for example), i think the comment is valid. They were all over the world.

[@Gabneo1]

@@LEGOpachinko yes, but the video is just about Napoleon age and Napoleon took Switzerland, Netherland, Italy, Spain , part of Poland and maybe Polinesia .... he lost Egypt in less than 2 years .... not in that age the western Africa and Indocina. Type me here the link of that map

[@mungo7136]

@@LEGOpachinko "which does not even show attacking Russia for example" Do you seriously try to present as some sort of unfair omission of the french greatness campaign, that in just 6 months utterly broke his army and sent his Empire in downwards spiral which in short time made him just a note in history?

[@LEGOpachinko]

@@Gabneo1 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_French_Empire contains a map but does not show all the places they fought. But since they controlled for example the Netherlands and Spain they also controlled their colonies so it's quite impressive. As a figure of speech i think the comment is valid (imho :)

[@buddyzf]

5:10 awesome scene, looked like real actors without cgi. I really wanted to know how it feels like when horde of cavalries swarming pass you and your men.

[@duckyDz]

6:02 that dude hits his own horse o.O

[@momchilo4388]

How do you people spot this stuff lol

[@PhoenixAscending]

lol...yes he did

[@chesvvick]

Napoleon really puts a new perspective to an armchair general

[@lefty6774]

If the scene is from the movie "War and Peace, then the battle depicted would be the battle of Borodino. I had understood that it was a unit of Saxon Horse Guard that assaulted the Fleches (the arrows, as the artillery redoubts were dubbed due to their shape) and took them, yet here we see what I can only assume to be Polish Lancers and what appear to be French Dragoons (?). Anyone happen to know if they chose to change the units for the film on purpose, or if I simply remembered the assault on the artillery positions wrong? Cheers in advance.

[@GNBcorporal]

I believe the saxon horse captured the grand redoubt snd not les fleches. But i dont remember which cavalry unit fought there.

[@lefty6774]

@@GNBcorporal very true, I noticed my mistake a day ago. Thank you for the clarification. As I understood it the fleches were captured by a combined assault of innfantry and cavalry, so after all the depiction of the movie is accurate enough, though of course the movie can’t show the 5 failed assaults on the Fleshes prior to their eventual capture. Cheers for the comment :)

[@GNBcorporal]

@@lefty6774 indeed the flesh where captured by assaults from davout and ney corps supported by cavalry from murat the french attacked about 7 times before it was captured. one thing that comes to mind is the terrain is too hilly. Borodino is a lot flatter hence the need for the fleches. But i think the film makers used this to avoid the picture looking too empty. Al in al they don’t make em like this any more

[@hammer2722]

@@GNBcorporal The Saxons and French Cuirassiers captured the Great Redoubt by attacking it from the open side of the Redoubt. This was of course after the failure of the French infantry to capture it.

[@twoplustwo5]

Kinda funny like a random dude could just pop up in the middle of the battlefield and watch the battle like a movie.

[@nitzky8936]

It was actually common in that era. Ppl organized spectator parties during American Civil War.

[@westlock]

That is Pierre Bezukhov, a rich nobleman, and the central character of the novel.

[@DarkSideChess]

Count Bezukhov - read your literature.

[@Totallyfizzle]

@@nitzky8936 I can buy groups of people watching a battle from a safe distance, but I dunno, the idea of some civvie being allowed to meander through the ranks at will during a battle seems a bit silly. For all those officers know, he could be a spy.

[@arturasmilasius1200]

thats how it used to be , by thousands

[@azb3728]

What on earth happened to that guy at 5:16 in the foreground wearing the white? Looks like he slips and gets mashed by the cavalry but he appears to pop out the other side???

[@almarn]

It is from the movie War and Peace with Mel Ferrer, Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn based on Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel of the same name. Sanitized view for horrible butchery. No surgery almost only amputation with nothing. People were left to die for days.

[@the51project]

Apparently at some time in history, the message 'no horses were injured making this movie' was used, but that statement hid the fact that many were killed or put down. A dead horse is not an injured horse. Technically correct. Marketing is a lovely thing...

[@Cryshalo]

Gotta say, I'm most impressed they got the horses through the retreating infantry without accidentally running over a couple dozen extras!

[@Riotdrone]

seriously, if you look closely you can see they made lanes for them to go through but still one rogue spooked horse could easily kill someone

[@kevinmacariola6849]

Imaging this being in a real fight those days

[@AudieHolland]

Don't know where this was shot but the movie "Waterloo (1970)" was shot entirely in the Soviet Union, with regular Soviet Army soldiers dressed up as extras and ordered around by their officers. They must have thought it made for a nice diversion from their usual battle maneuvers.

[@varelion]

Do you know how many takes it took until there was a clean passing through the cavalry? Maybe it was the 10th take and it only worked because the functioning infantry actors had been reduced by previous trials so that their lines were thinner.

[@Piriatehat]

you know this is why I like the old Classics better than today's movies because you can get actors to act and not just look good on the screen. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and many others are good examples.

[@jacksonsteele3403]

The fact that any man can face this is crazy and the film shows this but imagine what it was like in real life during borodino

[@radoslawkujawski3064]

As a Pole i'm really proud of Polish cavalry, through several centuries they were just the best in Europe ;) !!!!!

[@owo5869]

Polish lancers best of the empire named by Napoleon himself during the spanish campaign.

[@ASDQWE-gq8hh]

But, in this video are French cuirassiers

[@bartolomeonew]

@@ASDQWE-gq8hh well, hard to say, there are horsemen with lances also there... the uniforms are generally not very historical though :)

[@bugzyhardrada3168]

@@bartolomeonew you do realise this from War & Peace the 66' Russian version I highly recommend you check it out I believe this is supposed to be the Battle of Borondino and indeed that would've had both the polish lancers and the saxon cuirassiers

[@christianjensen3626]

respect to the polish from denmark

[@MB-oc1nw]

I'm French/English. god bless both sides.

[@matthings4133]

the green uniforms are russian...

[@griffinp.2517]

3:26 with the sounds of the scattered gun fire I thought we were about to be Rick Rolled for a second lol

[@robertrock8778]

No CGI. Fabulous.

[@princedadan]

war was so fancy back then

[@karljohanlea5564]

Henry Fonda is the Russian Civilian in this scene. Just wanted to see a what a battle was like.

[@S1NG15]

Which version of war and peace is this from? I have not seen this one.

[@starhunterterra9849]

Being in the middle of a Napoleonic War battle, is one of my favorites fantasies. But you can only do that now in reenactments, films or gaming.

[@paddyk3748]

I don't cear about the historical accuracy it's dam cool and they don't make films as cool as this anymore

[@cenaalan5825]

they do make cool films but the thing is that it is not anymore actor tricks talent's what plays the role, but computer.Effect is reached not via actor play but special effects. In this sense I agree, that old school actor-play was better.

[@Rackhark]

@Crazy D wait wait. Are you really that much of a loser, that you HAVE to go after him, because he, properble by accident, spelled "dear" with a "c" instead of a "d" xD wow. Whats ironic, is that by doing these idiotic "spelling" & "grammar" comments, it only makes you yourself sound like the biggest loser ever. Congratz ;) PS: Get a life(:

[@panzerlieb]

nico olsen I think he meant to spell “care” not “dear”. I gather English isn’t your first language.

[@paddyk3748]

@Crazy D nope just rly badly dislexic but I made a shit tone of cash doing other things so 🖕 to comment and words 😂😂

[@paddyk3748]

@Crazy D not rly just listen to every pop song made in the last 5 years. But your opinion is valued 😂😂😂. 🖕

[@ramananrampragash6790]

Those are French Empress dragoons in the video. They were an Elite cavalry unit of Napoleon's army.

[@7macfly2]

French cavalery was one of the best, from the 100 years war (destroyed english longbow at patay), the crusade (mostl frank cav), the 30 years war, napoleonic war (at eylau, 10000 french cav will charge russia, one of the biggest ever cav charge. At waterloo, french hussard and cuirassier destroyed scottish cav) to ww1 where french cav alone beat Bulgaria ar Uskub

[@ramananrampragash6790]

@@7macfly2 at Waterloo it was the Polish lancers that destroyed the Scots grey cavalry

[@7macfly2]

@@ramananrampragash6790 no, it was french 4th and 7th lancier and the 12th cuirassiers Insider lancier there were polish unit but of most of them were french Stop being nationalist giving all credit to poland.....

[@ramananrampragash6790]

@@7macfly2 first of all I am big supporter of Napoleon and I have no nationalistic support towards Poland. I merely pointed out a fact that the majority of the French cavalry who faced the Scottsgrey at Waterloo were of the Polish lancers. And yes the Cuirassiers provided support as well.

[@7macfly2]

@@ramananrampragash6790 ok i apologies for that But as i said it was french cav with some polish unit "Napoleon promptly responded by ordering a counter-attack by the cuirassier brigades of Farine and Travers and Jaquinot's two Chevau-léger (lancer) regiments in the I Corps light cavalry division. Disorganized and milling about the bottom of the valley between Hougoumont and La Belle Alliance, the Scots Greys and the rest of the British heavy cavalry were taken by surprise by the countercharge of Milhaud's cuirassiers, joined by lancers from Baron Jaquinot's 1st Cavalry Division. As Ponsonby tried to rally his men against the French cuirassers, he was attacked by Jaquinot's lancers and captured. A nearby party of Scots Greys saw the capture and attempted to rescue their brigade commander. However, the French lancer who had captured Ponsonby killed him and then used his lance to kill three of the Scots Greys who had attempted the rescue.[86] By the time Ponsonby died, the momentum had entirely returned in favour of the French. Milhaud's and Jaquinot's cavalrymen drove the Union Brigade from the valley. The result was very heavy losses for the British cavalry." en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo

[@Rackhark]

3:15 damn....That is really awkward xD poor guy. Kinda wanted the french to stop warching & give him an oppotunity to regain his dignity xD

[@gregorymartin6488]

The first duty of the cavalry was to spike any guns they captured so they could not be used again, a metal spike was hammered into the touch-hole so it could not be fired.

[@vinm300]

........bashed in, then the top would be hammered left and right to snap it off.....leaving a plug inserted. (I'm just assuming)

[@gregorymartin6488]

@@vinm300 yes, thats correct. At the battle of Waterloo, the French Cavalry charged at the British squares and the gunners abandoned their guns and sort safety in the squares, Napoleon was furious when he learnt the guns were not spiked or carried away and after the futile charge, the gunners resumed firing at the French.

[@illinoismotionpicturestudi5065]

It's currently 1 Am, why am I here?

[@vinsblouille3705]

Vive l'Empereur ! Vive l'Empire ! Vive la Nation !

[@patricebarge1638]

Vive la France et les autres pays, que les horreurs des guerres passées nous servent d'exemple pour que nous vivons tous en paix et en harmonie. Le monde ne sera pas indestructible et la nature nous le rappelle sans cesse

[@BlackEgypt]

The sight of the Calvery charge is 😍💕💖

[@ashleywetherall]

The British had some of the best horsemen in Europe but because their officers purchased their commissions the great cavalry regiments were badly led by incompetent people.

[@jonsmitt9769]

Best horses and finest dressed since they rarely spent time on campaign. Their riders however were aristocratic boys with no combat experience and their leaders were the epitome of British arrogance whose fantasies of glory frequently led them into disaster.

[@dean42bean]

​@@jonsmitt9769 Yeah I'm British but this is absolutely true. Wellington said it himself - "Our officers of cavalry have acquired a trick of galloping at everything. They never consider the situation, never think of manoeuvring before an enemy, and never keep back or provide a reserve." Brave bastards but they didn't have a clue what they were doing.

[@panzerlieb]

ZebsFrend Frendless different war mate. The light brigade was ordered to charge down that valley, they didn’t choose to. Yes, the French heavy brigade belated charged to support the light brigade’s withdrawal. If they had charged a little sooner there wouldn’t have been a need to withdraw. Not blaming them here, the French weren’t exactly ordered to support the initial charge. At least they prevented the Russians from punching through the hole that was left by the now shattered light brigade. Kudos to the French commander for taking the initiative to stave off a disaster, but that’s all it did. At the of the day both sides occupied the same positions they held at the beginning of the day. Only the British were minus one light brigade of cavalry. The French Heavy brigade commander said it best. “It’s magnificent, but it’s not war”.

[@maestro-zq8gu]

Wow this new Total War game looks amazing.

[@yankeemike-so6jm]

Cavalry wouldn't charge for such a distance or horses would be exhausted. They trotted until 200 yards then charged full blast.

[@ronaldbentley7180]

@Zannekin in 1812 most nations artillery had something called "shell" which did explode, though not as dramatically as in this film

[@velvlgershevich450]

@Zannekin You may try to listen to Ponasenkov who asserts that no single battle was won by the russians during the 1812 compaghn. I do not know whether this is true or not. But Tolstoi's "War and Peace" seems to have a differente veiw at the history. War and Peace is a great book, but likely not because of the descriptions of battles.

[@velvlgershevich450]

@Zannekin Thanks for your detailed response. It was interesting for me to read your opinion. Mine is a bit different. As a matter of fact I had to read Tolstoj and Dostoevsky at school (at the age of 15-16 years old). Moreover, our truely marvelous teacher of Russian Literature and Russian Languadge obliged us to read the originals (that we had to do during our long summer holidyas as a preperating for the coming study year). That age is not appropriate for reading those giants of the russian literature. Since then, I actually hate Tolstoj and Dostoevsky but I admit that later in my life I shall have to come back to them. One more thing: from the standpoint of your analysis of War and Peace, the "Gone with the Wind" by M. Mitchel is very similar to "War and Peace". I enjoyed reading it a lot.

[@keithw4920]

I think the movie Warhorse did the best re-enactment of the charge stages.

[@rolandkleinhenz3825]

The Saxonian heavy cavalry brigade under Thielemann was very good at Borodino storming the Rajewski redoubt on 7 September 1812, Garde du Corps et Zastre cuirassiers.

[@GameoyTr]

song music at the end ? outro ?

[@Ralphieboy]

This was one of the scenes that got me interested in modeling Napoleonic figures...

[@moismail5226]

I share your sentiments. After seeing Sergei Bondarchuk's "Waterloo", I became interested in Napoleonic miniature models as well. 👍

[@2011Matz]

The Cavalry charge in movie-land always turns into a horse race. You'd think after spending all that money, they'd try to get it right with ranks dressing right and left for maximum impact on the enemy formations.

[@alanbarr2735]

2011Matz curious, what does dressing left and right mean to a layman ?.

[@HappyFlapps]

@@alanbarr2735 I'mma layman - I love gettin' layed.

[@logosao88]

@@alanbarr2735 I believe that he means that the horsemen maintain very close "tight" ranks. In other words, riding knee-to-knee with a horseman on both sides of you. Most horses today shy away from objects and will rarely run over anything if they can see it. However, it is well documented that horses can be trained to charge at ranks of opposing soldiers. It is made easier when horses are running together in groups. I've read animal psychologists refer to it as a "herd habit". They actually get excited when they charge together with a group of other horses. Supposedly stallions made the best chargers due to their aggression. The purpose of keeping as close together as possible is to use the mass of tightly packed bodies as a literal battering ram instead of merely a vehicle for carrying weapon-wielding soldiers. Of course, any obstacles that slow or break up the formation greatly reduce the effectiveness of using cavalry this way.

[@veratrindye7292]

Unless your extras are all literally trained 19th century cavalrymen, it's impossible to do safely in live-action.

[@N-JKoordt]

As a former husar who has practised attacks like these, I have to say that it is very difficult to maintain formation - especially in a long charge like this and under fire.

[@philyip4432]

People used to take picnics to watch battles for entertainment. As recently as the U.S. Civil War. And kids were enlisted as young as 5 or 6 years old. They were used as drummer boys.

[@ThisOLmaan]

these kinds of war's even people could go on the sidelines and watch it like a football game.

[@gengis737]

It happened during American Civil war : civilians came from Washington to watch the battle. Unfortunately some were shot during the defeat.

[@ThisOLmaan]

@@gengis737 :: i bet unfortunate casualties

[@elvrro]

30.11.1808 Samosierra, Spain, Napoleon war against Spain, 216 polish men, cavalery, beat spanish army in one charge.

[@kesis4265]

The Spanish army that fought in Somosierra were almost all recruits who barely had instruction in combat. They also did not have passive weapons such as stakes.

[@elvrro]

@@kesis4265 any excuse

[@kesis4265]

Not excuses, that happened during the battle.

[@elvrro]

@@kesis4265 just about 20 polish men finish the charge, how ?? if spanish had not weapon and training ???

[@kesis4265]

@@elvrro The Spaniards did have weapons to defend themselves but not training and see a charge of cavalry produces terror, especially if you have never fought, with this I do not take away merit as the Poles fought in the French army, because thanks to them they won the battle.

[@jenniferkeates]

3:17 most painless and relaxing death ever

[@mayes33]

Dude did it on purpose to get out of the fight :-)

[@baturgunl504]

@@mayes33 he must have rolled uphill then

[@star_lord-wc3hz]

What is the last music?

[@hearsemonkey]

Nice to see clips from these old movies with NO shitty CGI

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

Didn't the French march in columns? Why are they in line formations?

[@ronaldminch9420]

Marching in columns is bad when Artillery is present - more will die . Line formation reduces the numbers hit , while bringing more rifles to fire en masse . Another formation is known as a square - when enemy Cavalry is present to defend against it . Napoleon would employ combinations with great skill , until his enemies learned how to fight them .

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

@@ronaldminch9420 I thought the column formation was the norm in most of Napoleons battles? I know that he prioritised it for flexible maneuverability, compared to say the British who deployed always in 2 lines.

[@ronaldminch9420]

@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- War and Peace and Waterloo - 2 movies that together give you Napoleon warfare and strategy ....and very little CGI or SFX - thousands of extra's !

[@LtBrown1956]

@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- I thought so too though Ron's statement is true also ...french republic armies were too large and lacked the discipline to stand in line and trade volleys but they made a virtue of necessity and turned the attack in column into a battle winning tactic ....whether they used linear tactics from time to time is a good question

[@frankstippel5988]

Weren't the Polish Lancers the best cavalry within the Empire?

[@VersusARCH]

@Ichvergessdenehh They did but as a part of the French cavalry. Other Poles certainly fought in Russian and Austrian armies, but only the ones in the French army kept some semblance of national identity, under the auspices of semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Poland.

[@thekingshussar1808]

Guard regiments weren't usually used as they acted as reserves and inspiration for the Grand Armée

[@VersusARCH]

@Ichvergessdenehh You are welcome. It is nice to hear thanks. Few people on youtube are as considerate.

[@harishsundararaman8495]

@Ichvergessdenehh You may be interested in General Poniatovsky. The only non French commander to attain the rank of Marshall of the Empire under napoleon and the emperor himself declares his regiment of light horse “his bravest cavalry”

[@frankstippel5988]

@Ichvergessdenehh They existed, they were raised in 1807 and fought in Russia.

[@MrDodolidodolipet]

I like how these soldiers marching and charging towards their enemy despite being shot with bullets and cannonball were guaranteed, and no armor

[@g0679]

nico raka I’m a weekend warrior wannabe. I can imagine it. Got bandages and morphine? A few stretcher bearers, even? (Bone saw?)

[@franckvermont1926]

How can they not hurt horses and actors in this kind of movies

[@bernabelebrave8429]

Proud of my French / polish nationality.

[@whdstudios2441]

@M And am glad the American Revolution turned out to be The most biggest revolutionary battles in all of North America. God Bless The USA!

[@rfatcanyuksel8825]

@@whdstudios2441 Thank God I am Turkish, who else could have had such a perfect nationality.

[@whdstudios2441]

@@rfatcanyuksel8825 American. People always judge Us Yankees about our country's name having to be a continent.

[@danis5046]

@@rfatcanyuksel8825 que

[@jollyswashbuckler]

@@whdstudios2441 loyalist joins the chat*

[@YAYA.30]

Good to know napoleon was speaking English with his generals

[@SDOne-or6vm]

either the Russians speak English

[@Farsightful]

Fun fact actors and others are always so unfamiliar with things like rythm and drums that they make every single military movie look like a clown fiesta.

[@brettsteele6551]

How did that Russian cannon battery managed to fire off all those exploding howitzer shells? Were they supposed to be licornes? I don’t think the Russians used Shrapnel’s spherical case shot in 1812. Or are explosions just easier to film than the horrifying impacts of round shot and canister shot?

[@Totallyfizzle]

>Or are explosions just easier to film than the horrifying impacts of round shot and canister shot? Pretty much. Without CGI or other modern special effects, filmmakers back then didn't really have the ability to simulate a bunch of roundshot bouncing through the ranks, whacking off limbs and punching holes in people.

[@whiteknightcat]

Spears shall be shaken! Shields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ERE THE SUN RISES! Oh ... sorry. Wrong movie.

[@HappyFlapps]

Great scene though! : D

[@jean-luchochart6960]

La cavalerie française a toujours été la meilleure du Monde! De nombreux pays s'en sont inspirés car sa qualité est indéniable. D'ailleurs,ce n'est pas pour rien que le mot français"cavalerie"a été repris par quelques pays!

[@miracleyang3048]

jean-luc hochart True Since the days of the Franks then Normans and crusaders (who were mostly French) to the 100 year war and Napoleonic wars France always had the best heavy cavalry even compared to other west Europeans

[@jacqueschevaux7654]

c'est vrai mais une pensée pour nos freres d'armes polonais c'etaient nos seuls allies et ENSEMBLE ON A ETE VRAIMENT INVICIBLES!

[@jean-luchochart6960]

@@jacqueschevaux7654 Entièrement d'accord avec vous,d'autant plus que du sang polonais coule dans mes veines!

[@angloirishcad]

@@miracleyang3048 They weren't so great at Agincourt and Crecy

[@miracleyang3048]

angloirishcad Overconfidence from the fact that they had a superior cavalry

[@ventosa09]

what is the title of this film?

[@savagex466-qt1io]

Hold your fire ! Meanwhile there is ample opportunity to use the cannon on the marching army lol

[@jean-luchochart6960]

On charge"sabre au clair"!

[@56cagou]

Pas à Hollywood, voyons!

[@jean-luchochart6960]

@@56cagou J'avais carrément oublié!!

[@heckatomb]

messieurs l'empereur vous regarde! vous allez pouvoir lui montrer ce que vous savez faire!

[@robertomoccia8305]

Hey Boys! Let's to out for a stroll and take some led in the chest!!

[@intestellaroverdrive7066]

Led? What's does mean?

[@steviem8466]

Anybody have any idea the name of this film?

[@arturkaminski9570]

the link below-film based on real fact -1808 battle of Samossiera ravine in Spain where Polish Ulans (Ułani) as the Napoleon aliants attacked the Spaniards on the hill after Spaniards defeted the French infantry.

[@julian6655]

GREETINGS, FRANCE, I'M POLISH. WE HAD THE BEST CAVARLY IN HISTORY

[@Doncoa]

You two hold my beer... I'm Mongolian

[@seanangelobenavente9399]

And the winged hussars arrived!

[@michalfaraday8135]

3:20 "Sir, do we worry about that well defended position right in front of us that we are walking towards? Shouldn´t we, I don´t know, charge or retreat?" "Hold your baguette and keep walking!"

[@Bramme1991]

is this the semi old version of War and Peace? or is it another movie completely?

[@27thRegtofFoot]

1950 version made in america not the one made in russia later in the 60s

[@Bramme1991]

@@27thRegtofFoot thanks

[@yoranger7735]

the drum noise is hella messy. and where the canister shots at?

[@FordFalcon1962nBlue]

6:02 oh no!! you've hit my sword!!! ( falls over and ides dramatically )

[@thomasmain5986]

Those look like Guard French Infantry, the Guard were not used at Borodino they were in reserve. And Napoleon refused to use them.

[@JesusChrist-wh2gd]

Smart man who knows history

[@NexusSabreYT]

French Grenadiers also wear Bearhats like the Old Guards wear, if im right those are the Grenadier Regiment 4:07 in this scene you can still see the Old Guards within the Reserves.

[@thomasmain5986]

@@NexusSabreYT By 1812 the Grenadier companies in line battalions had replaced the bearskin with a leather shako trimmed in red. To expensive to use bearskin that was supplied from North America.

[@abhiravsharma5974]

every body gangsta untill polish/french cavalry arrives

[@davidbrownlee8903]

Correct me if wrong - but wouldn't those cannons be firing cannon balls rather than a shell that explodes???

[@mouthpiece200]

How they get those horses to fall over and die like that. Seems like it hurt.

[@dolamrothknight]

im sure a few died making this movie. one them looks like it broke its neck 5:48 =/. before laws were put out to keep it from happening.

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

Training, lots of training. Nobles could train horses to be fearless in battle and modern equestrians can use a bit of the same knowlege to train horses to perform movie stunts. Btw the comment below/above is nonsense, there were always laws against killing animals in movies, especially the large and respectable ones like horses, elephants, tigers etc. Chickens, boars and pigs etc were not so lucky. But if there was one thing Europeans respected were these beautiful breed horses, wich are worth a lot. No sense whatsover in killing one for a movie. The only truly animal abusing movie out there is Cannibal Horror, where the fucked up director killed a bunch of rare animals for basically shock value. Like ripped a huge sea turtle's shell and cuts a wild boar in half and then worse, ,much worse. It's fuckig disgusting and there are rumors that it's actually and Snuff movie, which was considered legend before this one. People disappeared on set and the filmakers raped and forced the natives to work on the movie. So it's safe to say that was the most fucked up movie ever made.

[@frankverdino477]

Wired hooves. When the wire runs out the horse goes down. Until the laws were changed. You don't see horses go down so violently anymore.

[@AgentMorbid]

@@dolamrothknight Its nothing like that. They spent thousands to breed and grew those horses, these are very expensive creatures that also took years to train, they were and are still not going to sacrifice horses like that. Its like destroying a million dollar luxury car for a movie scene, its just not going to happen. I mean the horses owner definitely wont allow his horses to die like that.

[@12staunton1]

@@ArtilleryAffictionado1648 While laws may have been in place to protect animals, there was no branch of the police force setup to investigate offences of these laws. While the RSPCA fulfilled this role (The history between the RSPCA and the UK's police force is a worthwhile read), it was a charity with little funding and limited legal power, as a result it was not capable to contest every possible offence of these laws. Had films broken these laws, to the suspected extend discussed here, there was a good chance no one was going to do anything about it.

[@khankrum1]

Only one thing wrong. Cannon shit did not explode on contact with the ground, they where solid iron balls. They bounced and bowled men over like a bowling ball. Save that they tore flesh and bone to pieces. Lovely!

[@fasthracing]

Not if was grape shot

[@Alopex1]

Explosive shells did exist. They were rare and were intended to explode in mid-air for maximum shrapnel effect. The fuses however were unreliable, and often an unexploded shell would land on the ground before exploding (or failing to explode). So the explosions aren't ENTIRELY inaccurate, just a bit. :-)

[@tommiatkins3443]

I assume they were trying to simulate cannister shot. But did so very badly. Also a frontal attack by cavalry vs artillery was less likely to work than with infantry.

[@fasthracing]

@@tommiatkins3443 True . You should of told the Light Brigade that!

[@tommiatkins3443]

@@fasthracing Yeah. They were successful as well! Am exception to the rule...

[@TezKingboom]

what film is this from?

[@mtango9985]

Anyone know what movie this is from?????

[@riekopo7638]

what movie is this?

[@MegaScotsman1]

Riek Opo love and war is the movie, Henry Fonda was the civilian running if front of the Russians

[@simonfarrell6585]

It is 'war & peace' 1954, starring Henry Fonda

[@nicolasartheau822]

The french army infanterie did not charge anymore in front Line in that Time but développé their attacks on à diagonal « en tirailleur » hérited from the lack of discipline of the révolution army . This disposition made them less vulnérable and more efficient than the tradionnal square bataillon shape much easier to target.

[@SDOne-or6vm]

actually only riflemen use the "en tirailleur" formation to harass the enemy line, regular infantery units were still using formation in lines or rows and square were used only in defence against cavalry charges

[@erwinsell184]

You are so darm wrong .French line infantry charge in column often all the way to waterloo ,light infantry is the one the fought in other formations ,read some books about it please 😅

[@nicolasartheau822]

@@erwinsell184 Je crois qu’une réponse en français s’impose. Citez vos sources Cher monsieur avant d’insulter le monde. Merci.. Et rappelez vous qu’il vaut mieux parfois se taire en prenant le risque de passer pour un con que de l’ouvrir en ne laissant aucun doute. Bonjour je t’ai vu.

[@loyalpiper]

​@nicolasartheau822 remie port the former chief historian of the French army, would disagree. The after action reports of soult specifically mention their use at albuera. You can also look to the charge of the British heavy cavalry at the moment where the french colums of d'erlons corps were caught at the moment of deploying into line from the colum formation at Waterloo into line. Marshal Mcdonald also used one at wagram storming austrian positions. He's not wrong, it's matter of fact that even that quick research can uncover.

[@j3wos]

I don't see why you'd charge in column face to artillery, one lucky shout would shred all of the collumn, column was used against infantry though@@erwinsell184

[@sorcierenoire8651]

wtf is happening. now im impressed as to how generals and those in command can read the flow of battle whenever they engage in combat

[@user-zb9nt9kr9d]

who sings on 6:22?

[@PlanetaJuegosPC]

6:03 that fall wasn`t a special effect *ouch*

[@baizen1]

Almost none of them were... Back then killing horses for movies was acceptable...

[@smooth_sundaes5172]

Pffft.... depends on the situation. In a snow covered winter guerilla war I tend to favour cossacks

[@1978Lucent]

What on earth is this gentleman running back and forth as if he was on a shooting party??

[@burkanarburky4447]

a nobel author, you can say a today reporter

[@jmc2903]

Read the book - War and Peace.

[@Wolfen443]

Which warfare was worse, this one before modern weapons or currently using air power, drones, and missiles?.