6th Cavalry Brigade | |
---|---|
Active | 1815 1914–1919 1920–1941 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Allegiance | British Crown |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Cavalry |
Size | Brigade |
Part of |
3rd Cavalry Division (World War I) 1st Cavalry Division (World War II) |
Engagements | World War II |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian Sir David Campbell |
The 6th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army. It served in the Napoleonic Wars (notably at the Battle of Waterloo), in the First World War on the Western Front where it was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Division, and with the 1st Cavalry Division during World War II.
From June 1809, Wellington organized his cavalry into one, later two, cavalry divisions (1st and 2nd) for the Peninsular War. These performed a purely administrative, rather than tactical, role; the normal tactical headquarters were provided by brigades commanding two, later usually three, regiments. The cavalry brigades were named for the commanding officer, rather than numbered. For the Hundred Days Campaign, he numbered his British cavalry brigades in a single sequence, 1st to 7th. The 6th Cavalry Brigade consisted of:
It was commanded by Major General Sir Hussey Vivian.
The brigade took part in the Battle of Waterloo. During the battle, the 1st Hussars, KGL suffered just 7 casualties (1 killed, 6 wounded), the 10th Hussars 94 (22 killed, 46 wounded, 26 missing) and the 18th Hussars 102 (12 killed, 73 wounded, 17 missing). This represented a loss rate of about 13%.