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CHAP. XIII.] 



RUSSIAN CAVALRY. 



275 



In the reign of Alexse Michseloviteh, 1655, it was ordered 

 that each man taken for the cavalry should appear on a 

 good horse, with one carabine and two pistols. Although 

 they were principally cavalry, there were also foot regi- 

 ments of Cossacks. 



These irregular horsemen were most valuable auxili- 

 aries, and from this period they always formed a very 

 important portion of the Russian army. They were 

 most useful for outposts and the minor operations of 

 war, and in the campaigns of Russia during the eight- 

 eenth and the beginning of the present century they 

 exercised a most important influence. 



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