General Organisation of the Order -- 8. Example of Cavalry Chapter
by Bruce HeardExample of Cavalry Chapter
As described earlier, an entire Cavalry Chapter would involve far
more than just a hundred mounted knights. Here is an example of
what forces may be involved in reality:
Battle Command (Vaward and Reaward not included)
Grand Knight: 1
Sergeant-at-Arms: 6
Squires: 7
Chaplain: 1
Cavalry Chapter (1)
Knight Banneret: 1
Knights Bachelor: 10
Brother Knights: 100
Squires: 111
Chaplains: 10
Infantry Chapters (3)
Knights Banneret: 3
Knights Bachelor: 30
Sergeants: 130
Men-at-Arms: 300
Pikemen: 500
Archers/Crossbowmen: 250 each
Squires: 33
Chaplains: 130
Artillery Trains (4)
Ballistae: 12
Blight Belchers: 4
Knights Bachelor: 4
Chaplains: 4
Brother Knights: 8
Serving Brethren: 8
Squires: 12
Sergeants Artillerist: 12
Pikemen: 24
So, all knights involved amount to 163. Lay brethren number 1,639.
The total number of troops reaches 1,955 including clerical
personnel. Mounts of all types, not including spare horses, add up
to 629 horses and 48 mules. The force may also include the odd
Simbasta war party of twenty rakasta and their chieftain. Let us
not forget the baggage train for supplies and tents, and
non-fighting personnel. A baggage train could include as many as
one large, four-wheel wagon pulled by two to four oxen for every
fifty soldiers on the field. This would amount to forty wagons,
probably another eighty Serving Brothers driving the oxen and
acting as camp assistants. Add to this a mounted escort of ten
brother knights, a Knight Bachelor, eleven squires, a score of
healers (Priors from the Heart), and another thousand
camp-followers (the usual civilian retinue following any army on
the move). The total well exceeds three thousand people including
the original hundred brother knights.