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attached to it; the strength of the escort must depend on circumstances.

SECTION VII.-CONCLUDING REMARKS.

The regulations for the leading and the movements of cavalry are framed on simplicity of mechanism, in order not to interfere with the main attributes of the arm, viz. rapidity in the attack and vigour in the charge. In an exceptionally offensive sense, cavalry has only three estates-the preparation for the attack, the advance to the attack, the decision of the attack.

In the first, the fitting moment for its employment must be waited for in the most secure position possible; the commander must, however, keep his personal attention none the less fixed on the general course of the fight, reconnoitring the enemy and the ground with patrols, so as to be prepared to meet all contingencies.

The second demands in the commander a capacity for leading his men by the shortest and most favourable. line, where their movements may be best concealed from the enemy, utilising conditions of ground and economising time, to the point from which the attack may be commenced, so that the matériel may be brought up in such condition as may enable it in all respects to answer the strain made upon its powers of endurance, and which only now commences.

The third demands vigour of execution and a correct utilisation of the results attained; the commander

must at once grasp the situation and provide, in case of success, the dispositions for a judicious pursuit, in case of failure, the dispositions for the safety of his force; these can only be based on an obstinate resistance and require to be framed often in so brief a time. that his own initiative must follow momentarily on a recognition of the enemy's situation, the initiative itself be followed in rapid succession by further dispositions. A combined utilisation of offensive power will alone guarantee success; the enemy must be occupied, checked, and deceived by small parties, but the force of the actual attack, the concentric charge of all available numbers, must be brought to bear on one point only. If the weakest point, viz. the enemy's flank, can be chosen, so much the better; if not, the enemy's position must be broken through by the most vigorous effort possible.

The cavalry commander should possess the sense of self-responsibility in a higher degree even than any other, so that he may be able to recognise and profit by the opportune moment, which frequently occurs but once in the course of an action or battle, and if not utilised is irretrievably lost. Once ordered to the true point, he cannot well expect to receive additional orders for his further guidance, but must act according to his best judgment of the general situation, without fear of responsibility, for the glory of his men and the advantage of the entire army. In this manner alone can cavalry exert, as it should, a decisive and destroying rôle.

These principles, the spirit of these regulations, can

alone be answered, if, in peace manœuvres of large bodies of cavalry, all artistic display is avoided, while the movements performed are based on a possible and practical idea, in which the marking of the enemy, and the leading of the skeleton by intelligent officers, form a material aid.

SECTION VIII.-CAVALRY ACTING AS INFANTRY.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

It is only in exceptional cases that cavalry is employed to fight on foot; on principle it should only occur when there is no infantry at hand, and the object in view cannot be attained without the fire of a dismounted body. The necessity may present itself, for example, should it be required to occupy some distant and important point before it can be reached by the enemy, to maintain it until the infantry can come up, or, when passing from a covered and intersected, to a perfectly open, country, to cover the retreat of the infantry.

Cavalry may undertake and carry out with its fire, without the co-operation of infantry, sweeping dashes against the enemy's flanks and rear, with a view to destroying communications, cutting off reserve establishments, &c., or be employed to cover the action of artillery by occupying points from which the guns might be threatened in flank and rear, or may undertake difficult reconnaissances, foraging expeditions, &c.

The fire of cavalry on foot will therefore, generally speaking, be employed in a defensive point of view; when the object is attained, or the infantry has come up, the cavalry will at once remount.

FORMATION FOR FIRING ON FOOT.

In order to reap the advantage peculiar to cavalry, i.e. mobility, it must always seek to gain the points to be occupied as rapidly as possible; its task will then be frequently in a great measure solved. When gained, the advanced files must examine the terrain in front, while the commander himself reconnoitres the general situation and determines the strength of the parties to be dismounted for firing. As a basis, it may be laid down that, according as the ground admits to a greater or less degree of the employment of a mounted body, a larger or smaller fraction must be detached as reserve and remain mounted, to guard the flanks during the fight, and to cover, so far as the ground permits, the remounting of the dismounted parties, should it be necessary to break off the fighting. If the entire force. consists of several squadrons, squadrons entire should, when practicable, be employed for the dismounted duty, and the same for the reserve. The dismounting must take place where the men are as much as possible concealed, and covered from the enemy's fire. A few men in each section remain behind, I at least on the look-out and to carry pressing messages,

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and I man in each patrol to hold the horses; in each half-squadron I non-commissioned officer is left in charge of the horses; in other respects the commander must make his dispositions to meet the actual circumstances of the case. The horses are usually held in the following manner in each patrol: after dismounting, the heads are turned inwards; the bradoonreins are passed over their heads without unbuckling ; the man told off to hold them passes his own bradoonrein through the others, and holds the end. Each horse is also hobbled, and tied by the head-rope to the neck of his neighbour. Horses may be held in the same manner by ranks. If trees, rails, &c., are at hand, the horses should be tied to them, standing as close as practicable together. The dismounted men assemble on their commander; he tells off to the several parties the points and localities they are to occupy, and gives the necessary orders with regard to the general objective, the maintenance of communication, the covering of the flanks and a possible retreat, in as concise and brief a manner as possible; this may often be done during the advance. The nature of the duty and the general situation must determine whether all the dismounted parties should be employed together in the first line, or whether a certain portion should be kept back, under cover, in the commander's hand, as a reserve to increase the fire at decisive points. Since, however, the occasions on which cavalry would be employed to fight on foot would not, as a rule, premise a protracted or obstinate

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