b INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



its rider, and the rider to maintain his seat and preserve 

 the mastery over his bearer ; in other words, something 

 peculiar in saddles and seats, bits and bitting. 



It will perhaps seem to many persons impossible, or 

 at least improbable, that mere saddles and bridles, or 

 the manner in which they are adjusted to the horse's 

 body, can produce such very material results as those 

 suggested here. Well, it does seem strange ; but let 

 us listen, before passing judgment on the case, to some 

 documentary evidence bearing upon it. On the 20th 

 May, 1859, the French cavalry had in Piedmont 9,008 

 effective horses, increased subsequently by the arrival 

 of a whole brigade (Perouse), so that on the 24th June 

 (Solferino) the total number borne on the lists was 

 10,206.* But it subsequently transpired, from the 

 report of the Cavalry Commission ordered by Marshal 

 Eandon to inquire into the causes of the tear and wear 

 of horses during the campaign, that, on the day of that 

 decisive battle, not more than about 3,500 horses were 

 really fit for service, the remainder having been disabled 

 by less than one month's marching ; for, with the 

 exception of one or two squadrons that fought at 

 Magenta, the French cavalry was never under fire up 

 to the 24th June, and an immense proportion of these 

 had been rendered unserviceable by the saddle and 

 other portions of the equipment. 



Most of us, too, have heard of what happened to that 

 portion of our own cavalry that was employed in the 

 reconnoitring expedition into the Dobrudscha. A 

 proverb current amongst the Continental military men 

 says, that more men are put hors de combat by the 



* "Campagne de 1'Empereur Napoleon III. en Italie en 1859" 

 (official). 



