Cavalry evokes a romanticized, chivalric image of warfare that poets have both celebrated and mourned as it grew obsolete against modern firepower. Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" immortalizes cavalry's doomed valor against artillery, while earlier poetry often used mounted warriors to symbolize nobility and honor. The cavalry charge, in particular, became a poignant emblem of courage confronting the brutal realities of industrialized warfare.

Cavalry refers to soldiers who fight on horseback, historically prized for speed, mobility, and shock tactics in battle. Cavalry units could scout, skirmish, charge enemy flanks, and pursue fleeing foes. The horse was the tank of its day, delivering soldiers rapidly across the battlefield. In poetry, cavalry evokes romance, nobility, and the tragedy of man and horse in combat. The charge of the Light Brigade, immortalized by Tennyson, exemplifies the heroic yet doomed nature of cavalry. Cavalry also symbolized aristocratic military culture, contrasting with the common infantry. The term lives on in modern armoured cavalry units, though horses have been replaced by vehicles. Related terms include hussar, dragoon, and lancer. The decline of horse cavalry in the face of machine guns and artillery is a poignant theme in war literature.