Cavalry corps (Red Army)

The cavalry corps (Russian: кавалерийский корпус) of the Workers and Peasant Red Army was a type of military formation that existed from the early days of the Russian Civil War until 1947 when the Red Army was renamed as the Soviet Army and all cavalry corps were disbanded.

The cavalry corps represented the foundation of large mobile formations in the Red Army, and most were converted to mechanised and motorised corps during the 1930s. However, due to severe loses in vehicles by the Red Army following the German invasion of USSR many more cavalry corps were raised. These corps initially included two cavalry divisions, two self-propelled artillery regiments and a signals battalion. During 1943 another cavalry division was added, and all divisions received a tank regiment.

Despite the name, for the most part the troops of the cavalry corps operated primarily as dismounted infantry, using their horses only to negotiate terrain that would prove difficult to motor vehicles, and conducting rapid raids into the rear of the enemy positions.

During the Battle for Moscow the first Guards cavalry corps was created from the former 2nd Cavalry Corps, originally of the Odessa Military District, following the Battle of Kashira to prevent German envelopment of Moscow from the south.

In the Battle for Stalingrad, three cavalry corps, the 8th (including the 21st, 55th and 112th cavalry divisions), the 3rd Guards (including the 5th and 6th Guards and 32nd cavalry divisions) and the 4th Cavalry Corps (61st and 81st cavalry divisions) participated in the counter-offensive. These varied in strength between 22,500 and 10,200 personnel, and had from 18,000 to 9,000 horses.

Between April 1942 and July 1942, the Red Army, suffering a shortage of horses, disbanded 41 cavalry divisions. The lack of horses was the deciding factor in the reduction in the cavalry units.

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