Without cavalry, Napoleon remarked, battles were without result--and it was, in fact, a most important part of the army at that time. Today's leading Napoleonic expert shows how the great cavalry commanders used, and misused, their resources. Hundreds of illustrations offer close-ups of weapons and forces. Paintings of major battles detail the cavalry deployment in all its complexity and feature valuable, unique descriptions of saber, lance, armor, and carbines. Through the author's explanations of how cavalry functioned in the skirmish line and the charge, technical debates that have raged among experts over the years are finally resolved.