# Cavalry > Military history and tactics is one of those things that get used for inspiration in all sorts of science fiction and fantasy contexts. Naomi Novik pretty obviously used horses and planes as inspiration for dragons in the _Temeraire_ series, and Age of Sail battles are the blueprint for a great many Space Operas. But I wanted to learn more about cavalry tactics to see if I could come up with a new fantasy twist. Here's what I learned: ## Quick Facts - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 ## paragraph one https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/qjv0j1/historians_rightly_point_out_that_cort%C3%A9s_invasion [[cavalry charges are designed to break enemy morale]] ## paragraph two [[Illyrian cavalry generals were powerful in Rome]] https://judithweingarten.blogspot.com/2017/05/zenobia-visionary-queen-of-ancient.html ## paragraph three - [[Sabres from the American Civil War got used|During the Civil War, the psychological effect of a charge frequently was more significant than actual casualties inflicted. It's very rare for a standup fight of any length to occur after a charge, it's much more likely that one side or the other loses their nerve.]] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/tm0i07/did_the_sabres_from_the_american_civil_war/ ## paragraph four