Swedish Cavalry at
Breitenfeld: Squadrons 

Period images and many orders of battle show squadrons as a single mass of men and horses, images which seem to fit the written description by Montecuccoli. who in fact described the formations used in the 1640's rather than in 1631. The available evidence for 1631 suggests that the cavalry still used Dutch-style formations in which each squadron was made up of two to five mutually supporting companies, mostly deployed in line with each other and separated by 12-18.5 meter gaps (40-60 foot gaps).

The lines of multiple yellow, green or red squares are the cavalry squadrons with each square marking a company.  In the middle are three infantry brigades, each with four squadrons. The musketeers of the rear squadron have been detached and deployed with the cavalry. The formations marked with both names and number are detachments of musketeers. This is a late 17th century copy of a 1630 order of battle (and the copyist miswrote the date to be 1628).  To remove the labels to clarify, roll your mouse icon over this.