Mounted infantry

With the weight of ancient bronze armor, the opposing champions would travel to battle on chariots before dismounting to fight.

The early pre-Marian Roman military had units consisting of infantrymen clinging to the saddles of the cavalry to take them to battle and then dismounting to fight.

Gallic and Germanic warbands were reported to use double-riders, with a second warrior joining a horseman only for a short distance before dismounting to fight on foot.

However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel.

With the invention of accurate and quick firing repeating pistols and rifles in the mid-19th century, cavalry started to become increasingly vulnerable.

As part of the lessons learned from that war, British regular cavalry regiments were armed with the same rifle as the infantry and became well-trained in dismounted tactics.

A version of the standard infantry rifle, the shorter-barreled LEC or "Lee-Enfield Cavalry Carbine Mark I" had been introduced in 1896.

Germany deployed a few horse-mounted infantry units on the Russian Front during the Second World War,[citation needed] and cyclist units on both fronts as well, and both Germany and Britain (which had used cyclist battalions in the First World War) experimented with motorcycle battalions.

Japan deployed cyclists to great effect in its 1941 to 1942 campaign in Malaya and drive on Singapore during World War II.

Countries with entrenched military traditions, such as Switzerland, retained horse-mounted troops well into the Cold War, while Sweden kept much of its infantry on bicycles during the snow-free months.