[Mobhack]

Yes - enough shots near enough to a soft target can raise suppression to rout status with near misses causing it to fail a morale test.

Near misses are not noted, but a firer can see his effect if he hovers the mouse over the target after shooting, since SP tells you the status of enemy units (Pinned, retreating, routed etc).

So the cavalry may have been made to retreat or rout, moved back a hex, then the same on a subsequent retreat in the end turn retreat sequence when out of enemy LOS and gone "puff" since the dispersal test on depleted elements happens for each hex moved in retreat/rout. Since it was unspotted when it dispersed, no message was given - such would be free information the the opposite player. SP messages are global, not for each player. So to avoid free information, if it is not currently spotted by the enemy then no message is printed.