8. Cavalry captured an enemy fleet when it became frozen in ice
During the French Revolutionary Wars, the winters were usually harsh. It was during the last years of the period known as the Little Ice Age. In 1795 a Dutch fleet was in the waters known as the Zuider Zee, anchored near the small town of Den Helder. Though it was typical of ships to depart anchorages prone to icy conditions before the arrival of cold weather, the sudden onset of terrible cold caught the fleet unawares. Ice floes made the wisdom of departure questionable. By January the ice floes had become a solid block of ice, and the fleet was literally frozen into the anchorage. Over 100 ships, including the bulk of the Dutch fleet, were in the harbor, though not all of them close enough inshore to be frozen in.
French cavalry heard of the situation and upon arrival at Den Helder took stock of the opportunity. The ice was more than thick enough to support horses and men. In a surprise assault on January 23, 1795, a cavalry charge was launched across the ice to attack the Dutch ships. Fourteen ships of the line – the battleships of their day – were captured by the French cavalry. The event was so improbable that some historians question whether it truly happened, but several accounts written later by some who participated in the action are in agreement. The weather allowed cavalry to capture ships in 1795. Or so they say.