A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



assisted by the love of excitement, the fanaticism, and 

 the patriotism of peoples. 



It Keems probable that offensive weapons were dis- 

 covered, and in use, long before being required in warfare, 

 for in the very infancy of the world man must have had 

 means of defending himself against wild beasts, as well 

 as of killing those animals which were necessary for his 

 sustenance. The club has probably been the first weapon 

 invented, soon after the pointed stick used as a pike or 

 javelin, and then came the successive improvements of 

 the point hardened by fire, the pointed bone, the sharp- 

 ened stone or flint-head, and lastly, of the brass, iron, or 

 steel points as used in the lance of modern times.^ 



The knife, as one of the earliest needs of man, must 

 have been soon invented. When lengthened and sharp- 

 ened it became a poignard, and the step is short from 

 the poignard to the sword. ^ 



As to projectile weapons, stones thrown by the hand 

 were without doubt the first weapons of this character, 

 and they were still in continual use as late as the Trojan 

 "War. Then perhaps came the simple club, thrown by 

 hand also, and after that the stick sharpened at the 

 point, and thrown as a javelin. In increasing the range 

 of these missiles, and aiding the natural force of the 

 human arm by extraneous means, the sling was probably 

 the first invention, followed by the bow, the ballista, and 

 the catnpult. 



The use of projectile weapons was necessarily closely 

 followed by the invention of defensive armour, to protect 

 the warrior from missiles that could not be warded off 

 by hand-to-hand weapons. The shield or buckler made 

 of wood, or the skins of beasts, was probably the first 

 piece of defensive armour ; cuirasses and helmets of 

 leather came into use next, and soon afterwards copper 

 and iron must have been used in their construction. 



When numbers of combatants became gathered 



together for the purpose of attacking their enemies, or 



of defending themselves against aggression, they would 



ut once perceive the importance of some order being 



' De Galland, 3, 4, 5. ^ Ibid. 2, 3. 



i 



