Chariots vs Elephants

Anything else related to historical accounts and opinion regarding armies and their battles
Post Reply
RogerCooper
Squire
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 10:21 pm

Chariots vs Elephants

Post by RogerCooper » Sun Dec 19, 2021 8:07 pm

My son asked me the following question, which is faster a War Chariot or a War Elephant?
User avatar
David Kuijt
Grand Master WGC
Posts: 1449
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:44 pm
Location: MD suburbs of Washington DC

Re: Chariots vs Elephants

Post by David Kuijt » Sun Dec 19, 2021 10:16 pm

RogerCooper wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 8:07 pm
My son asked me the following question, which is faster a War Chariot or a War Elephant?
You mean historically, or physically?

Horses are way faster than Elephants. Elephant: 25mph; Horse: 55mph.

Reenactors have shown that light (i.e., four-spoke Egyptian) war chariots on flat even ground are as fast as horses -- maybe faster, because the horse isn't bearing the weight of the man.

With that said, elephants in the jungle might be effectively faster than horses -- an elephant can ignore a stand of bamboo that would be impassable to a horse.
DK
Post Reply