StJrt 



CASTLEBAR-CAVALRY. 



collected dining so many years of iinremitted ap- 

 plication ; and the treasures of his portfolio attract- 

 ed the curiosity, and obtained for him the admira- 

 tion, of every lover of the fine arts und antiquity. 

 His Voyage d' Jstrie ct de Dalmatie, by dispersing 

 copies of his labours, rendered his name familiar to 

 the artists of other countries. The extensive sale 

 of his other work, Voyage en Syrie et en Phtnicie, 

 by occupying his pencil, prevented its completion, 

 for although thirty parts appeared, it was left un- 

 finished. In addition to these valuable labours, 

 M. Cassas employed many years and considerable 

 sums of money in forming a collection of architec- 

 tural models in almost every style, which, with 

 singular disinterestedness, he gave up to the im- 

 perial government for a trifling lite-annuity. This 

 highly interesting and valuable collection is now 

 deposited in the Palais de 1'Institut, until such 

 time as a place shall be provided for it at the new 

 Ecole des Beaux- Arts. M. Cassas died suddenly 

 at Versailles, of a stroke of apoplexy, on the 1st 

 of November, 1827, in the seventy-second year of 

 his age. 



CASTLEBAR; a town of Ireland, in the 

 rounty of Mayo, forty-four miles from Sligo, and 

 1*25 from Dublin. It boasts of a handsome new 

 church, a county jail, and extensive barracks. The 

 linen manufacture is carried on here, but not so ex- 

 tensively as formerly. Its market-days, (Satur- 

 days) are distinguished by a considerable trade in 

 corn and other agricultural produce. Population, 

 6373. 



CASTLETON; a village in Derbyshire, 164 

 miles from London and twenty-seven S. E. from 

 Manchester; situated at the bottom of a steep 

 eminence, whose summit is crowned by an ancient 

 castle that gives name to the place. The castle 

 was erected by William Peveiil, natural son of the 

 Conqueror, and from its situation was called " the 

 Castle of the Peak," or " Peak Castle :" the extent 

 of the ruins evinces the former magnitude of the 

 building ; they are to be approached only from the 

 north, and that with difficulty. The entrance of 

 the Peak Cavern, or Devil's Cave, at the base 

 of the steep, is 120 feet in width, 42 in height, and 

 above 90 in receding depth ; from hence a gentle 

 descent conducts the visitor to the interior of this 

 tremendous hollow, which must be explored by 

 torch-light ; the entire length of the excavation is 

 750 yards, and its depth from the surface of the 

 mountain 207. The houses of the village are 

 chiefly of stone ; the support of the inhabitants is 

 derived from the mining business, and from stran- 

 gers visiting the remarkable places in this district ; 

 together with the manufacture and sale of various 

 ornamental articles formed from spar, which is 

 hereabout obtained in great variety and beauty : 

 the mine of fluor spar, or " Blue John," is the only 

 one of the kind in England, and its produce is 

 worked into chimney and other ornaments, slabs, 

 table tops, &c. Population of the parish of Castle- 

 ton, 1329. 



CAVALRY, (a.) Asia appears to have fur- 

 nished Europe with the model for cavalry, which, 

 according to Herodotus, received its first formation 

 in the east, from Cyaxares, king of Media. Be- 

 fore his time, footmen and horsemen were promis- 

 cuously embodied; but preparatory to the siege of 

 Nineveh, he sorted this motley band and divided 

 each . particular force into separate companies. 

 Cyrus the elder is the next conspicuous organizer 

 of cavalry ; he appears, however, to have been more 



struck by the power of plundering, which an nrmy 

 acquired from such a iorcc, than by its utility in 

 the field: for, if Xenophon is to be believed, his 

 proposition for the Persians to raise a body of horse 

 was immediately caused by seeing the Median and 

 Ilyrcanian cavalry returning to the camp laden with 

 booty. The Scythians, who possessed Asia for 

 twenty-eight years, fought almost entirely on horse- 

 back: like the modern Cossacks, they were parti- 

 cularly successful in irregular warfare, and when 

 Darius invaded their country, never failed to drive 

 back the Persian cavalry. It is remarkable, that 

 even at this early period of tactics, the superiority 

 of infantry over cavalry was strongly evinced. 

 "The Scythians," says Herodotus, " notwithstand. 

 ing their advantage over the Persian horse, always 

 retreated from the foot." Under Darius, the Per- 

 sian cavalry progressively increased, and we find 

 them at the battle of Marathon ten thousand strong 

 a force nearly equal to the whole Athenian army, 

 which consisted exclusively of infantry. Miltiades, 

 however, was well acquainted with the composi- 

 tion of the Persian troops; and knowing that their 

 chief dependence was on this body of cavalry, 

 he prudently attacked them in the narrow plain 

 of Marathon, where they were so impeded by 

 want of space, and so encumbered by their own 

 numerous infantry, that they became unable to act, 

 and were completely defeated by the gallant Greeks. 

 The Persian cavalry were then armed with darts 

 or arrows. Like the eastern cavalry of the present 

 day, they generally attacked and harassed by suc- 

 cessive small bodies, rapid in the advance and 

 vehement in the onset, but when firmly resisted, 

 equally rapid in retreat. The Athenian infantry 

 again showed their excellence at Mount Cithijeron, 

 where a small number under Olympiodorus not 

 only sustained but repelled the attacks of the whole 

 cavalry of Mardonius. This cavalry, however, 

 greatly and constantly harassed the Greeks pre- 

 vious to the battle of Plataea ; and although in that 

 battle the Persian horse totally failed in their at- 

 tempts to break the Spartan phalanx, yet the 

 Greeks perceived the advantage of so valuable an 

 accessory, and after that period directed more at- 

 tention to the improvement of their cavalry. Yet 

 cavalry never formed any considerable portion of 

 the Grecian armies. The Athenians and Spartans, 

 the two most warlike states, were both badly pro- 

 vided with it ; indeed, the latter absolutely de- 

 spised such an assistant. The Thessalians, who 

 inhabited a large plain, appear to have furnished 

 the best horse amongst the Greeks: these, as well 

 as the Eolians and Thracians, are stated to have 

 been always employed by the kings of Macedon ; 

 but this force was small in proportion to the infan- 

 try, which always constituted the principal strength 

 of the Grecian armies. No Asiatic cavalry would 

 dare to charge the phalanx, and no Asiatic infantry 

 could withstand its attacks. The retreat of the 

 ten thousand was protected by not more than fifty 

 horse; and with the assistance of this small num- 

 ber of indifferent cavalry, principally mounted upon 

 baggage horses, Xenophon brought his army across 

 the mountains and valleys of Asia, harassed by the 

 Persian and barbarian cavalry. During their in- 

 testine wars, the Greeks appear to have paid more 

 attention to the equipment and tactics of cavalry, 

 the principal improvements in which were made by 

 Epaminondas. At the battle of Leuctra, we find 

 that the Theban horse were " carefully appoint- 

 ed, highly trained, and of considerable practice;" 



