FROM HORSES TO TANKS


“FATHER OF THE ARMORED FORCE”


Gen. Adna R. Chaffee Jr., a dedicated horseman and gifted cavalry officer, was willing to risk his career advocating for the tank because he recognized that a mechanized cavalry would be the key to winning a future mobile war. (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress)


Tis stance ensured that Patton would be able to participate in either form of the future cavalry, depending on who won the debate. It also allowed him to encourage other cavalry officers on both sides of the issue to prepare themselves for change—what- ever that might look like. For example, in a 1930 Cavalry Journal article co-authored with Maj. Clarence C. Benson, Patton wrote, “To bury our heads, ostrich-like, and ignore [mechanized vehi- cles] would be foolish,” while simultaneously suggesting that the horse cavalry could acclimate to a more modern battlefield: “If the 14th century knight could adapt himself to gunpowder, we should have no fear of oil, grease and motors.”


ACQUISITION AND POLICY MOVES By 1939, as German Panzer tanks rolled into Poland and imme- diately decimated the Polish horse guard, the Army had no choice but to accelerate its decision on the cavalry question. Newly appointed Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall had already begun taking steps to ramp up tank development and manufacturing, along with every other aspect of Army readiness.


68 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2025


Herr, who had been appointed to chief of cavalry the year prior, finally began to advocate for a mix of mounted cavalry and tanks, telling the Military Affairs Subcommittee he was convinced that “we can apply automotive machines to the execution of cavalry missions to a very considerable extent.” But he also warned that mechanization wasn’t a panacea and wanted tanks to be subordi- nate to the mounted cavalry. “No vehicle can go over the difficult country that a horse can,” he insisted. And thus, for a time, the U.S. Army had a Horse-Mechanized Corps Reconnaissance Regiment designed to leverage the strengths of both. A separate armored force, headed by Chaffee, was created shortly there- after. In 1940, he began his command with a fleet of less than 1,000 light tanks, all of them still technologically inferior to the German tanks dominating in Europe.


SHOW, DON’T TELL At some point, those advocating for their position needed to “put up or shut up,” as the old saying goes. Marshall gave both the horse and mechanized cavalry the opportunity to do just that


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