Steeds of Steel: A History of American Mechanized Cavalry in World War II [Hardcover]

Harry Yeide (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2008

In World War II the U.S. Armys mechanized cavalry force served in an astounding variety of ways. Mechanized cavalrymen scouted and fought in tanks, armored cars, and jeeps; battled on and from the sea in tracked amphibians; stormed beaches from landing craft; slipped ashore in rubber rafts from submarines; climbed mountains; battled hand-to-hand; and even occasionally rode horses.

This work follows the mechanized cavalry from its earliest days--landing in North Africa during Operation Torch and fighting on the jungle-clad slopes of Guadalcanal--through the campaigns in the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Pacific. Drawing on official after-action reports, contemporary combat records, personal recollections, and interviews conducted by the Army with soldiers shortly after battle, Steeds of Steel provides a vivid picture of what the war was like for the men of the mechanized cavalry.

When World War II broke out in 1939, the U.S. Cavalry was still mainly the proud, horse-mounted force it had been since the nations founding; within a year, the cavalry branch had lost its horses and very nearly its mission. Steeds of Steel tells how the cavalrymen carved out a new and critical role on the modern battlefield. Harry Yeides narrative shows us troopers learning to outwit the enemy in the African desert, on Italian peaks, along European hedgerows, and through Pacific jungles.

We see cavalrymen working alone, miles ahead of the nearest friendly units. And we witness the heroic efforts of the mechanized cavalry troop, joining the battle wherever an American infantry division serves. The mechanized cavalrys brilliant legacy has lived on in the armored cavalry for more than half a century. As the U.S. Army debates its role on the battlefield, this volume (illustrated with over two dozen photos and diagrams) reminds us of our enduring debt to this incomparable fighting force.

Editorial Reviews

Review

WWII History, November 2008
"Historian Harry Yeide captures the elan of the mechanized cavalry and its varied missions--landing in North Africa during Operation Torch, fighting in the jungles of Guadalcanal, climbing Italian peaks, and charging through French hedgerows. Through the author's use of official documents and first-person accounts, the reader is placed onto the battlefields to witness the heroics of the mechanized cavalry to sniff out the enemy and often become the first recipients of hostile fire. A definite 'must-read' about an often overlooked force."

Book Description

This history, illustrated with over two dozen photos and diagrams, follows the mechanized cavalry as it carved out a new role for itself on the battlefields of World War II. Drawing on extensive research, Steeds of Steel depicts the mechanized cavalry from its earliest days—landing in North Africa during Operation Torch and fighting on the jungle-clad slopes of Guadalcanal—through the campaigns in the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Pacific.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Zenith Press (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760333602
• ISBN-13: 978-0760333600
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a foreign affairs analyst with the federal government in Washington, DC, and I write military history because the subject has fascinated me since I was a kid. I live with my lovely wife, Nancy, in Hyattsville, Maryland.

My aim and motto is "good books about good stories." My first book, Steel Victory, was published in December 2003 and tells the story of the separate tank battalions in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). The Tank Killers, the remarkable tale of the Tank Destroyer Force, followed in early 2005. This book covers the action in North Africa, Italy, and the ETO. The Longest Battle also hit the shelves about the same time; it is the first history devoted solely to the grinding, bloody battle from Aachen to and across the Roer River between September 1944 and February 1945. Weapons of the Tankers covers not only the divisional and separate tank battalions in all theaters, but also the amphibian tank and tractor battalions in the Pacific. First to the Rhine, a history of the 6th Army Group I wrote with my Francophone friend, Mr. Mark Stout, was published in August 2007. Steeds of Steel, the story of the mechanized cavalry in World War II in all theaters of operations, came out in early 2008, and The Infantry's Armor, the history of the separate armored battalions in all theaters, was published in March 2010. Now available: Fighting Patton: George S. Patton Jr. and His Battles Through the Eyes of His Enemies!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a long-awaited subject, April 27, 2008

By 

Gary E. Binder "Gary from Nebraska" (Waverly, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Steeds of Steel: A History of American Mechanized Cavalry in World War II (Hardcover)

"Steeds of Steel" is an excellent follow up to Mr. Yeide's other books about the US Army in World War 2. Here he looks at the US Cavalry and how it adapted (sometimes unwillingly) to modern mechanized combat. The Cavalry troopers served as the eyes and ears of the army. They explored terrain, found the enemy, patrolled, attacked, and defended. Yeide's book looks not only at the history of the mechanized cavalry but tells many stories of the troopers in action, their training, their successes and failures in the field. Well written, well researched amd easy to read this book belongs on the shelf for anybody interested in WW2 or mechanized combat.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How these troops operated and why their actions were revolutionary., May 9, 2008

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steeds of Steel: A History of American Mechanized Cavalry in World War II (Hardcover)

STEEDS OF STEEL: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN MECHANIZED CAVALRY IN WORLD WAR II provides an in-depth review of the 1941 new 'mechanized cavalrymen' whose role would change the modern battlefield's approach. Such cavalrymen fought in tanks, armored cars and jeeps: after-action reports, combat records, personal recollections and more are compiled to reveal how these troops operated and why their actions were revolutionary.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steeds of Steel, A Review, August 12, 2010

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cav637 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Steeds of Steel: A History of American Mechanized Cavalry in World War II (Hardcover)

Having been an Armored Cavalry officer in the 1980s, I am very interested in the history of Cavalry. This book explains how many of the conventions and proceedures of modern era Cavalry originated. Yeide states that representative narratives are given for the various levels and organizations of U.S. Army reconniasances forces in World War Two. This means that the book is short(276 pages) and enjoyable. History is made by people. Yeide gives the technical information from Tables of Organization and Equipment, but he concentrates on the story's of the Cavalrymen of World War Two.