These are all good points, and I totally agree that when the infantry unit has 3-5 blocks, and especially if it has a leader, then just forcing it into square, and ideally keeping it there, is already a result. But, unlike Ney at Waterloo, cavalry should normally be held for the coup de grace ... not always possible I know. But when they can be, and you're looking for those last one or two banners for victory, the infantry are by then often reduced to, say, 2 blocks. Fodder for the cavalry, especially if you can find one without a leader.
Now I would say that even a 2-300 strong reduced battalion of infantry would be able to hold out against cavalry squadrons provided the square was formed in the first place. But in a recent game I deliberately targetted those weaker infantry units - the final victory banners came from reducing a two-block infantry to zero in two turns, and then using breakthrough to eliminate a one-block infantry unit in the rear of it. Neither had a leader, and my opponent had rather fortunately run out of cards for that section!
