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then repeat the manoeuvre. The whole caracole formation might move slowly forward as each rank fired to help press the attack, or move slowly backward to avoid an enemy's advance. Despite this complex manoeuvring, the formation was kept dense rather than open, as the cavalrymen were generally also armed and armoured for melee, and hoped to follow the caracole with a
289:, Henry IV's pistol-armed cavalrymen were instructed to deliver a volley at close quarters and then "charge home" (charge into the enemy). Ranks were reduced from twelve to six, still enough to punch a hole into the classic thin line in which heavy lancers were deployed. That was the tactic usually employed by cavalry since then, and the name
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in formation as deep as twelve ranks. As each rank came into range, the soldiers would turn their mount slightly to one side, discharge one pistol, then turn slightly to the other side to discharge another pistol at their target. The horsemen then retired to the back of the formation to reload, and
355:, for example, explained the "caracoll" as a maneuver whereby a formation of cuirassiers received an enemy's charge by wheeling apart to either side, letting the enemy rush in between the pincers of their trap, and then charging inwards against the flanks of the overextended enemy.
321:(in Dutch employ) while the second line was reloading their pistols, easily routing the whole force and later the whole Dutch army as well. It is significant that 20 years later, the Dutch cuirassiers easily routed the same Spanish lancers at the
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The caracole was rarely tried against enemy cavalry, as it could be easily broken when performing the maneuver by a countercharge. The last recorded example of the use of the caracole against enemy cavalry ended in disaster at the
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270:(1594–1632). Certainly he regarded the technique as fairly useless, and ordered cavalry under Swedish command not to use the caracole; instead, he required them to charge aggressively like their
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rank by rank, but instead of withdrawing to reload, it immediately proceeded to charge the enemy with sabres. Later the same unit also tried the caracole using gaps in the line of charging
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In dressage, riders execute a caracole as a single half turn, either to the left or to the right, representative of the massed cavalry tactic of caracole previously used in the military.
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mercenary German reiters in the
Huguenot employ inflicted huge casualties on the Royal Swiss pike squares, although they failed to break them. At the
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Variations of the military caracole has a long history of usage by various cavalry forces that used missile weapons throughout history. The
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It is worth noting that 16th- and 17th-century sources do not seem to have used the term "caracole" in its modern sense.
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opponents. However, there is plenty of evidence that the caracole was falling out of use by the 1580s at the latest.
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cuirassiers were good examples of cavalry units that abandoned the caracole early on — if they ever used it at all.
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The effectiveness of the caracole is debated. This tactic was often successfully implemented, for instance, at the
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smashed a unit of
Russian reiters, which served as the catalyst for the rout of much of the Russian army. The
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were thought to use it, while ancient
Iberian cavalry famously developed their own variation known as the '
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of 1626, the Polish light cavalry used it with success twice. The first time light cavalry units under
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or similar firearms, cavalrymen would advance on their target at less than a
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in 1632, the
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