70 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



breaking the ranks of an enemy depended mainly on the 

 charge. With a large body of vigorous horsemen it was 

 generally possible to overwhelm an enemy's line of battle, 

 either by direct assault or by an attack on its flank or rear. 

 If the reader is curious to see the value of horsemen in 

 ancient warfare, he should read the story of the campaigns of 

 Hannibal against the Romans in Italy. The first successes 

 of that great commander victories which came near changing 

 the history of the western world were almost altogether due 

 to the strength lying in his admirable Numidian cavalry. 

 The Romans were already good soldiers, their footmen more 

 trustworthy than those which the Carthagenian general could 

 set against them ; but with his horsemen, as at Cannae, he 

 could wrap in the Roman line and reduce the most valiant 

 legions to the confused herd which awaited the butcher. 



Although the invention of firearms has somewhat changed 

 the conditions under which cavalry may be used, making 

 indeed the direct charge more costly to the assailant than the 

 assailed, it has in no wise diminished, but rather increased, 

 the value of horses in military campaigns. In the line of 

 battle horses have become necessary for the conveyance of 

 field officers and messengers, and the right arm of battle, the 

 artillery, could not possibly be managed except by horse- 

 power. The swift marches of modern armies, by hastening 

 the issue of contests, have spared the world half the woes 

 of its great campaigns, and are made possible by the ready 

 movement of supply trains, which could not be effected 

 except by the help of these creatures. The result is that a 

 large part of the military strength of any state rests not only 

 in the valor and training of its fighting men, but in the 

 supply of horses that its fields may afford. In this connection 



