Charge of the Savoia Cavalleria at Isbuscenskij The charge of the Savoia Cavalleria at Isbuscenskij was a clash between the Italian cavalry regiment " Savoia Cavalleria " and the Soviet 812th siberian infantry regiment , part of the Soviet 304th infantry division , that took place on August 24 , 1942 , near the hamlet of " Isbuscenskij " ( ru . Избушенский ) , close to the junction between the Don and Khopyor rivers . Though a minor skirmish in the theatre of operation of the Eastern Front , the Isbuscenskij charge had a great propaganda resonance in Italy and it is still remembered as one of the last cavalry charges in history . Introduction . The 20th of august the Soviets launched an offensive on the Don river . The " Sforzesca " Italian division couldn ' t withstand the enemy attack and in two days it was routed . The " Savoia Cavalleria " regiment , under command of colonel Alessandro Bettoni Cazzago , was sent as a relief force in the area , with orders to occupy " spot height 213 , 5 " . In the evening of the 23rd it set camp 1000 meters short of its objective , ready to occupy it the next morning . During the night , two battalions of the 812th siberian infantry regiment deployed on that very spot elevation 213 , 5 , entrenching themselves on an arch about 1000 mt . wide , facing the Italian camp and waiting sunrise to attack . The charge . On august 24th at 3 : 30AM an Italian mounted exploring patrol , sent to recon s . h . 213 , 5 , made contact with the enemy . The Soviets , having lost the element of surprise , opened fire on the entire line . With the camp under fire , col . Bettoni Cazzago had no choice but to order , as a last resort , a cavalry charge with drawn sabers and hand grenades against entrenched infantry . While the horse drawn artillery ( so called " flying batteries " or " voloire " in Piedmontese language ) quickly deployed its four pieces and opened fire , the machine guns deployed at the front of the Italian camp and started firing back . Col . Bettoni Cazzago ordered then the 2nd squadron ( over 100 horsemen ) to attack the enemy on the left flank . Under command of cpt . De Leone , the squadron began a winding maneuver through a gorge , succeeding in engaging the enemy at the left end of the front , outflanking it and storming it longitudinally with drawn sabers and hand grenades . Corporal Lolli , unable to draw , as his saber was frozen in its sheath , charged holding high a hand grenade ; Trumpeter Carenzi , having to handle both trumpet and pistol , shot by mistake his own horse in the head . Some horses , even though riddled by bullets , would keep galloping for hundreds of meters , squirting blood at every beat , suddenly collapsing only a while " after " their actual death After having crossed just about half of the enemy line the strength of the squadron was already reduced by half , and the commander himself was grounded . Realizing that the 2nd squadron was taking heavy casualties , and perceiving through his binoculars that the enemy riflemen , after the horsemen had jumped over their holes , would get up and shoot at their back , col . Bettoni ordered the 4th squadron to unmount and launch a frontal attack . This would allow the 2nd squadron to regroup behind enemy lines and perform the return - charge . The 4th squadron was led by cpt . Silvano Abba , an olympic bronze medalist with a passion for photography , who was killed while leading his men and was awarded the gold medal . Once the 2nd squadron was back , its commander urged a new attack . This was performed by 3rd squadron , led by the impatient cpt . Marchio , who rushed frontally to the enemy without taking the detour through the gorge at the side of the battlefield . Major Litta Modigliani decided on his own accord to join the 3rd squadron charge , together with the remaining horsemen of the command personnel , a dozen of them . All action had ceased by 9 : 30am . Aftermath . 32 cavalrymen had died , including the commanders of the 3rd and 4th squadrons , 52 were wounded . Well over 100 horses were also lost . The enemy had left behind 150 dead , 300 wounded , 500 prisoners ( among which some Mongolian platoons equipped with Italian uniforms taken from the Sforzesca division ) , 4 cannons , 10 mortars and 50 machine guns . Shortly afterwards some German liaison cavalry officers arrived . They were deployed at the left of the Savoia and they had witnessed everything from the neighbouring heights . They expressed their wonder and admiration for the anachronistic episode to Bettoni Cazzago saying : " Colonel , this kind of things , we cannot do them anymore " . After removing the wounded and the dead , the battlefield remained covered of dead horses . Given that the relatively high casualties would prevent the launching of any more charges , should the need arise , cmd . Bettoni decided not to pursue the enemy , which thus retained a solid foothold on the west bank of the Don river . However the " Isbuscenskij Charge " , as it was then named , temporarily relieved the whole area of enemy pressure , delayed by 24 hs . the full soviet attack on Tschebotarewskij , and likelly bought time for the routed " Sforzesca " division to seek safety . The bold action was repaid with a gold medal to the regiment standard and to captain Abba and major Litta Modigliani who died in action . Another 54 silver medals and 49 war crosses were also awarded . A much loved and much honoured survivor Italian horse of the Isbuscenskij charge was Albino , who lived , though blinded in the battle , until 1960 . Media representations . In September 1942 the " Istituto Luce " dispatched a film crew in order to take staged footage of the Savoia in action . The only original pictures were shot by cpt . Abba right before starting the attack with the 4th squadron . His camera was found on his body and was returned to his mother by 2nd ltn . Compagnoni . They show , from far away , the dust of the 2nd squadron about to end the first swipe . In 1952 the movie " Carica Eroica " was made , directed by Francesco De Robertis and based on the Isbuscenskij Charge . Bibliography . So far , it hasn ' t been possible to gather any data on the Isbuscenskij Charge from confirmed German or Soviet sources .