The role of the cavalry in warfare has always been considered in the most romantic terms. The Romans, King Arthur, Jeb Stuart and George Custer all bring images of gallant warriors and cavaliers on horseback. The cavalry served as shock troops, charging infantry and foot soldiers with lances, they broke the enemy’s lines and permitted the foot soldiers behind to advance to victory and take the field of battle. The Civil War made the “Ride around McClellan” and ” Sherman’s March to the Sea” historic events that made the mobility of the cavalry a critical element in warfare. But the same war spelled the beginning of the end for the cavalry. The first repeater firearms, improved artillery and trench warfare had their large scale origins in 1864-1865. By the time of 1914 and the opening shots of the First World War the machine gun, barbed wire in tangling and entangling volumes, and networks of trenches made the maneuvers used successfully by the cavalry deathtraps. Even the scouting duties were overtaken by the use of balloons and airplanes. The cavalry remained as a force with a fading mission until the 1940′s when mechanized units finally moved the horse cavalry into history.