The French forces included Spahis, Chasseurs d ' Afrique, Foreign Legion cavalry and mounted Goumiers.

Dragoon regiments were converted to motorised infantry ( trucks and motor cycles ), and cuirassiers to armoured units ; while light cavalry ( Chasseurs a ' Cheval, Hussars and Spahis ) remained as mounted sabre squadrons.

Amongst the French North African forces the Spahis ( Algerian cavalry with French officers ) and the Turcos ( Algerian infantry ) were both dressed in the same style as the Zouaves but with different colours.

Subsequently the 5th Yeomanry Mounted Brigade was disbanded and Chauvel replaced it with the 5th Light Horse Brigade, formed from the Australian and New Zealand components of the now disbanded Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, and a composite French cavalry regiment of Spahis and Chasseurs d ' Afrique.

The other major cavalry element in the Armee d ' Afrique were the Spahis — recruited from the indigenous peoples of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco with mostly French officers.

The Spahis retain the long white cloak or " burnous " of the regiment's origin as North African cavalry.

Spahis () were light cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

During their period as mounted cavalry the Spahis comprised for the most part Arab and Berber troopers commanded by French officers.

Although mechanisation began in the 1930s of the Chasseurs d ' Afrique and Foreign Legion cavalry, the Spahis remained an entirely mounted force until after 1942.

Spahi uniform today: 2006 pattern parade uniform for a maréchal des logis of the 1er Régiment de Spahis Marocains | 1st Spahi Regiment, again with distinctive burnous.

In the modern French Army the bonnet de police is still worn by the 1st Regiment of Spahis in the historic bright red of this branch.

1st Spahis flag guard on the Bastille Day Military Parade

As an interesting example of the combining of old and new features of uniform the French Spahis and the Spanish Regulares still wear the flowing cloaks, fezzes, turbans and sashes of the North African colonial regiments from which they are descended with modern khaki or camouflage clothing, on appropriate occasions.

Spahis withdrawing from the Sidi Bou Zid area, February 1943.

At the end of the Algerian War the 2nd, 3rd 4th, 8th and 9th Spahis were also disbanded leaving only one, formerly Moroccan, regiment in existence as the 1st Spahis.

The 1er Spahis are currently based in Valence, Drôme, France, south of Lyon in the Rhone Valley or what is commonly referred to in France as The Doors of Provence.

Spahis were sent to France at the outbreak of war in August 1914.

The French Army still has regiments with the historic designations of Cuirassiers, Hussars, Chasseurs, Dragoons and Spahis.

The French North African regiments ( Zouaves, Tirailleurs, and Spahis ) wore wide, red fezzes with detachable tassels of various colours.

The adage, " where the Spahis ' hoofs tread, the grass will not grow ," may be applied with more reason to the Cossacks.

The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now recruited in mainland France.

One Spahi regiment ( 1er Régiment de Marche de Spahis Marocains ) distinguished itself in service with the Free French during World War II.

A white burnous was worn together with a red cloak ( blue for the Moroccan Spahis ).

French Spahis were distinguished by wearing fezs instead of the white Arab turban with its brown camel-hair cord.

The French Army used existing mounted squadrons of Spahis to a limited extent for patrol work during the Algerian War ( 1954 – 62 ) and the Swiss Army maintained a mounted dragoon regiment for combat purposes until 1973.

They are worn around the waist in either dark blue or red by corps such as the Foreign Legion, the Spahis, the Chasseurs d ' Afrique and the Tirailleurs which were originally raised in North Africa during the period of French colonial rule.

Some current French regiments, related to the French colonial history, still retain cummerbunds as part of their full dress uniform ( notably the French Foreign Legion and the Spahis ).

Prior to 1914 there were four regiments of Spahis in the French Army, three based in Algeria and one in Tunisia.

A serious rising against French rule in Algeria during 1871 – 72 was sparked off by the mutiny of a squadron of Spahis who had been ordered to France to take part in the Franco-Prussian War.

Today the French Army retains one Spahi regiment, the 1er Régiment de Spahis Marocains ; an armoured unit which saw service in the Gulf War.

The " Ordonnance du Roi portant organisation de la cavalerie indigène en Algerie " of 7 December 1841 establishing the Spahis as a regular corps of the French Army specifies this distinction for sous-officers, brigadiers and officers both French and indigenous ( see full text in Pierre Rosiere's " Spahis " as cited below ).

The Senegalese Spahis saw extensive active service in the French West African territories of Tchad, the Sudan and the Congo between 1853 and 1898, as well as serving in Morocco between 1908 and 1919.

* The Spahis are mentioned in the book The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

First raised in 1831, the Spahis saw extensive service in the conquest of Algeria, in the Franco-Prussian War, in Tonkin towards the end of the Sino-French War ( 1885 ), in the occupation of Morocco and Syria, and in both World Wars.

A detachment of Spahis served as the personal escort of Marshal Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud in the Crimean War and were photographed there by Roger Fenton.

In 1939 the Spahis comprised three independent brigades, each of two regiments and still horse mounted.

In 1883 the military was reorganized in four infantry brigades ( in Sofia, Pleven, Ruse and Shumen ) and one cavalry brigade.

A Dutch cavalry brigade under Averock was also called forward but soon came under pressure from Marsin's more numerous squadrons.

Marlborough now requested Eugene to release Count Hendrick Fugger and his Imperial Cuirassier brigade to help repel the French cavalry thrust.

However, he inadvertently marched his command into a narrow valley where the Oromo cavalry under Ras Mikael slaughtered his brigade, while shouting Ebalgume!

During the Franco-Prussian War, at the Battle of Mars-la-Tour in 1870, a Prussian cavalry brigade decisively smashed the centre of the French battle line, after skilfully concealing their approach.

This event became known as Von Bredow's Death Ride after the brigade commander Adalbert von Bredow ; it would be used in the following decades to argue that massed cavalry charges still had a place on the modern battlefield.

In 1938 the process of mechanism began with the conversion of a full cavalry brigade ( two Indian regiments and one British ) to armoured car and tank units.

Moreover, the Polish cavalry brigade order of battle of 1939 included, apart from the mounted soldiers themselves, light and heavy machine guns ( wheeled ), Anti-tank rifle, model 35, anti-aircraft weapon, artillery like Bofors 37 mm anti tank gun or light and scout tanks, etc.

The Army, twice as large as the other services combined with about 24, 000 active duty personnel, consists of six infantry brigades, a combat support brigade, an air cavalry squadron and a combat service support brigade ; the Air Force operates two main bases, one in southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 40 aircraft including helicopters ; and the Navy maintains three aging vessels which were donated from the United States, around 25 patrol crafts and interceptor boats and two helicopters.

Further success followed in 1687 where, commanding a cavalry brigade, Eugene made an important contribution to the victory at the Battle of Mohács on 12 August.

He then commanded the Army's outposts along the upper Potomac River until given command of the cavalry brigade for the army then known as the Army of the Potomac ( later named the Army of Northern Virginia ).

In 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac began its Peninsula Campaign against Richmond, Virginia, and Stuart's cavalry brigade assisted Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army as it withdrew up the Virginia Peninsula in the face of superior numbers.

The army's organisation consists of two armoured brigades, four infantry brigades, one engineer brigade, one armoured reconnaissance battalion ( 76th ), three artillery battalions, three engineer battalions, one independent air cavalry battalion with 35 armed helicopters ( Embakasi ), five infantry battalions, one parachute battalion and one ranger battalion for low-intensity warfare.

Meanwhile, Ponsonby's cavalry brigade, including the renowned Scots Greys, have chased the French all the way back to their lines but have become disorganized and their horses blown.

Mosfilm contributed more than £ 4 million of the costs, nearly 16, 000 soldiers of the Soviet Army, a full brigade of Soviet cavalry, and a host of engineers and labourers to prepare the battlefield in the rolling farmland outside Uzhhorod, Ukraine ( then part of the Soviet Union ).

By early summer, Forrest commanded a new brigade of " green " cavalry regiments.

Promoted in July 1862 to brigadier general, Forrest was given command of a Confederate cavalry brigade.

At 9: 45 a. m. on June 10, a brigade of Benjamin H. Grierson's Union cavalry division reached Brice's Crossroads and the battle started at 10: 30 a. m. when the Confederates performed a stalling operation with a brigade of their own.

Biron wrote to War Minister de Grave, praising the young colonel, who was then promoted to brigadier, commanding a brigade of cavalry in Lückner's Army of the North.

The new structure of the army will see a total of three armoured regiments, each assigned to a new " armoured infantry brigade ", alongside a formation reconnaissance regiment ( renamed as " armoured cavalry ").

This was repealed quickly after Colonel James Garfield's Union brigade marched through Paintsville on its way to defeat the Confederate cavalry at the Battle of Middle Creek in Floyd County.

Custer established a reputation as an aggressive cavalry brigade commander willing to take personal risks by leading his Michigan Brigade into battle, such as the mounted charges at Hunterstown and East Cavalry Field at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Custer's brigade lost 257 men at Gettysburg, the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade.