160 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



noticed in this connexion that the horses used in that instance were of Missis 

 sippi blood stock. 



All truly great armies have been abundantly provided with cavalry. Napo- 

 leon, deprived of his mounted soldiers, would have achieved but little worth 

 recording in history, Since the night when Diomedes and Ulysses went upon 

 a classic raid to capture the horses of Rhesus, the cavalry has been esteemed 

 the most honorable brtmch of military efficiency. A contemporary writer has 

 well remarked : 



"For ages after the siege of Troy the back of the horse was the tnie throne from which 

 warrior-kings ruled the world. He carried Alexander to India, and Tamerlane to China. He 

 enabled the Persian king to use the bent back of a Roman emperor as a step from which to 

 vault into the saddle; but ere that, he leapt with Marcus Curtius into the gulf in the forum, 

 and saved Rome from a fate worse than that which overtook Pompeii and Hercuianeum." 



The immense army of Hannibal, with which he fought the battle of Cannte, 

 where forty thousand Roman heroes bit the dust, was not less than one-fifth 

 cavalry. Without this important aid, that great warrior had hardly been able 

 to cross the Alps, By the superiority of his Numidian horses he defeated the 

 ill-mounted Romans at every turn, destroyed their towns and cities, dashing 

 through the land like a Avhirlwind of fatal power and rapidity, and leaving his 

 enemy to gape and wonder over the ruins these gallant horsemen left to mark 

 their passage. 



The railroad is of vast assistance in the can-rying of heavy stores, and large 

 bodies of unmounted troops which must be moved with great speed, to meet a 

 sudden emergency ; and then it requires large forces of efficient cavalry to pro- 

 tect it. Attacks upon roads are generally made by horsemen, and neither 

 infantry nor artillery can move rapidly enough to be capable of successfully 

 resisting them. Every important line of railroad or telegraph that lies exposed 

 to the action of the enemy should have a numerous force of mounted guards to 

 patrol and protect it. Against cavalry raids nothing but cavalry will suffice 

 ■while in battle it is equally valuable with the other anus of the service ; and in 

 this particular we have failed to meet the south upon terms of equality. Hei 

 cavalry has been her strength ; ours has proved our weakness. After Avinning 

 a glorious victory, we have been compelled, more than once, to sit quietly 

 doAvn in camp, to see the enemy retreat safely, even when in disorder, to his 

 stroiigholds, simply for the Avant of some thousands of good troopers with fleet, 

 thoroughbred steeds, and trusty sabres, to follow and harass the rear, capture 

 detached bodies, seize lingering trains, artillery, &c., and, converting a retreat 

 into a rout, make a second Waterloo. 



There was at one time no hour when the mounted hordes of the rebels might 

 not have penetrated our borders, and even into the heart of our country. 

 Every raid that they have ventured upon took us by surprise, and Ave have 

 not had, nor have Ave now, enough troops of the same kind to intercept the 

 marauders. The way was cleared by Stuart's caA'alry for Lee to enter Penn- 

 sylvania last summer ; and for all that Ave could haA^e done, Stuart might have 

 ravaged all that State, and the greater part of New Jersey besides, before Ave 

 could haA'e prevented it. 



Having taken a vieAv of the necessity of a large and efficient force of cavalry 

 in the armies of the north, it may be in place here to analyze a little the causes 

 of southern superiority in that direction. 



In the happier days of the country, Avhen peace sat upon her throne in the 

 heart of the nation, and abundance smiled CA'cryAvhere OA'er an undivided land, 

 the south Avas the home of a noble institution — " the turf." EA^ery planter of 

 means plumed himself upon his stables, and no southern tOAvn of any magnitude 

 Avas without its race-course. In this Avay the breeding and raising of blood 

 horses was made the pleasant occupation or pastime of nearly all gentlemen of 

 Avealth, and the equine stock of the south was improved generation after gene- 



