Morale in Napoleon

I've not played much of the series since Medieval, but in the little I played in Empire, troop morale didn't seem as common an occurrence eg. line of foot troop breaking and running at the sight of an impeding cavalry charge. Is this to reflect the troops were more disciplined in these ages?

I liked using cavalry in medieval this way – risking exposing your army to slam them into a weak looking enemy unit, hoping it's flees. It added more uncertainty and excitement to battles, missing in Empire.

Is this something that might make a return? Or am I thinking about cavalry in the wrong way for this era?

It's a fault in the battle AI. All infantry in this period routs when hit by cavalry from the flank/rear. They will almost always rout when hit from the front, if caught in line. I've been talking to a few people who previewed the game, they tell me it's better now, but can't quantify. First thing to test when I can play the game. This is also the very first element that needs changing in a realism mod.

Yes infantry should normally form square in Nap. times if threatened by cavalry. I wonder if the AI will do this in NTW however as in ETW I rarely see it now. I don't know if that's the mod I play or what the vanilla ETW is like.