Editing Shock troops (section)

== Before 1914 ==

The [[Companion cavalry]] of [[Alexander the Great]] (356-326 BC) are described as being the first example of shock cavalry being used in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Victor Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Paraguayan War]] (1864–1870), in which [[Paraguay]] fought against [[Brazil]], [[Argentina]], and [[Uruguay]], the Paraguayans deployed shock troops (composed of a mixture of dismounted cavalry and fit men who could row and swim) armed with sabres, cutlasses, knives, bayonets, pistols, and hand grenades. They attacked small fortified positions and boarded Brazilian river steamers.<ref>''Armies of the 19th Century: The Americas/The Paraguayan War'', Terry Hooker (P. 82)</ref>