Movement of the troops is usually heavily dependent on many factors, including but not limited to the type of troops, terrain, weather, morale, fatigue, cohesion, enemy presence and tactics used.

In case of the armies it is also important to factor in supply trains, as medieval cavalry, composed largely of relatively heavily armoured lancers and their retainers was usually not moving fully armed and ready to battle to alleviate the fatigue and damage to the equipment. Large part of the equipment was carried on the wagons and the knights themselves were not riding their best warhorses but other animals they used for everyday movement. Additionally, if the army consisted of mixed troops a substantial part of which were not mounted, what was quite common in Western Europe and slightly less in the East, where cavalry dominated the military, the army as such could have moved only as fast as the slowest of its elements. It should be noted however, that in European armies the movement speed of cavalry and infantry was not that different.

During the First Crusade (1099), the crusaders moving from Tripoli to Jerusalem after the aborted siege of Arqa were able to cover the distance of roughly 40 km (25 miles) per day via forced march, but this apparently could have not been sustained and the movement rate fell to 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) per day, quite possibly to avoid fatigue and excessive stretching of the troops. Sources state that crusaders did not meet any opposition on their way to Jerusalem, so this drop in movement rate was most likely not caused by the enemy presence. Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology mentions that army of Henry V moving from Harfleur to Calais over 316 years later was able to march a bit faster, covering 130 km in 5 days, yielding the movement rate of 26 km/day (16 m/day). This is roughly consistent with the projections of Keegan who estimates average travel speed of armies at 2.5-3 km/h (1.5-2 mph) or 27 kilometres (18 miles) per day, noting that this likely did not change for any army using supply train since Antiquity to at least 19th century.

On the other hand, the fastest-moving armies of the Middle Ages were quite likely the Mongol troops composed entirely of cavalry that used little to no supply trains, a logistic solution also mimicked by Polish-Lithuanian light cavalry until late 17th century. Although the average speed of the Mongol army was not that different from the one shown by other armies of the time (averaging to 24 km or 15 miles per day) it should be noted that Mongols were able to maintain such movement rate for prolonged time despite the immense size of the troops used. Small units used for short foraging plunder or slaving raids were able to move very fast, easily covering twice that distance or even more, with coverage of 100-150 km per day being nothing unusual, although after several days of such movement riders and horses were usually resting for at least one day. It should be noted however, that such speed was largely possible to maintain only by small detachments, numbering low hundreds and generally hard to achieve in the case of large armies moving over long distances.

One of the important factors that cannot be omitted is also the type of horses used. Mongol ability to move over vast distances without pauses save for everyday rest and forage could have been likely caused by the prevalent usage of the Mongolian breeds derived from the Przewalski's horse that, although rather small and not fast per se, are characterized by immense resilience allowing it to move and carry rider for prolonged time at the rates impossible to match by other breeds. Additional, each Mongol soldier usually had at least several horses (with 5-6 being the most common although richer warriors being able to bring a herd of 20 or more animals) they were changing in regular intervals, allowing the previous mount to rest by moving unencumbered.

The differences were generally caused by the tactics resulting from the environment although all three were to some extent interconnected. Europe is relatively small and medieval armies usually belonging to the rulers of neighbouring regions were covering small distances, not exceeding low hundreds of kilometers, while at the same time, prevalence of heavy armour that contributed to the usage of cavalry as the shock troops required the usage of the heavy, strong animals. In contrast, Asiatic steppe warriors, relatively lightly armoured and armed and operating on vast flat terrain required animals not necessarily strong or fast, but capable of reliably covering distances counted in thousands rather than hundreds of miles. They also seem to be less reliant on the nutritious fodder (e.g. grain) and capable of operating efficiently as long as they have adequate volumetric fodder (e.g. grass) allowing riders to significantly cut the total mass of necessary supplies.

As an interesting insight into the short-term proficiency of modern cavalry, let me bring up one practical test. In 1928, 70th Leningrad Cavalry Regiment organized a trial raid covering the distance of Mohylev-Biala-Zvierovichi-Smolensk and back (384 km in total). The entire distance has been covered by 79 horses in 80 hours out of which 50 h 40 min were actually spent on the move, including 176 km covered in the night, with 62 in complete darkness. Strong winds and rain what may count as adverse weather conditions given that the even was conducted on 1-4 October, when the air temperatures in western Russia are usually quite low. Average movement rate was calculated to be 115 km per 24 hours. After return, horses underwent a gallop test to check their fatigue with good results. Although the animals were specially prepared and cared for while the equipment used by cavalrymen was most likely far lighter than the usual combat load, this shows that the 20th century cavalry (at least small units, not slowed down by supply train) was capable of covering vast distances in a short time. The entire event was organized to check whether the Siberian horses are a good material for the cavalry horse. The general opinion was that the cross-breed of Siberian with Don horse may result in an optimal horse for the Red Army.

And while we're at it, it is hard to not mention the achievement of the Cossack sotnik (captain) Dimytriy Nikolayevich Pyeshkov who managed to travel from Blagovyeshchensk (eastern Siberia, near the Chinese city of Heihe) through Omsk (western Siberia) to Petersburg, covering almost 9000 vyorsts or 9600 km (5970 miles) in 194 days, including 14 days spent in Irkutsk due to health problems and additional 10 days of rest due to extreme weather conditions and other random events. Pyeshkov weighed 59 kg (130 lbs) and his equipment carried by horse (saddle, clothing, food, spare horseshoes, tools etc.) amounted to additional 23 kg (50 lbs). Thus, his horse carrying roughly 82 kg was able to cover 9600 km in the course of 170 days, what would mean daily speed of 56 km (34 miles) per day, although it had to be higher at times, as according to Pyeshkov's statements, severe Siberian weather, especially deep snow in some regions was lowering the overall speed.

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Burne, A.H., The Hundred Years War. Penguin Books, London 2002.

Davis, R.H.C., The medieval Warhorse. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London 1989.

Dowgiałło, S. Organizacja i wyniki rajdu szwadronu 70 pułku leningradzkiego pułku kawalerji w Z.S.R.R. na trasie Mohylów-Smoleńsk-Mohylów [Oragnization and results of the Mohylev-Smolensk-Mohylev raid by a squadron from 70th Leningrad Cavalry Regiment in USSR]. in: Przegląd kawaleryjski [Cavalry Review] 1928/4 (30).

Keegan, J., The Face of Battle. Penguin Books, London 1978.

Wotowski, S., Podróże konne, część 1. [Horseback travelling, part 1], in: Przegląd kawaleryjski [Cavalry Review] 1925/6 (10).

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EDIT: Added one position to bibliography and corrected few typos.