378 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY,. [period hi. 



and pistols. Afterwards they were also supplied with 

 twenty carbines, which were given to the twenty men who 

 formed the rear. They were used only on rare occasions, 

 before they came to close quarters. They were also clad 

 in scarlet, without defensive armour. 



Two companies of mousquetaires completed the cavalry 

 of the guard ; they consisted each of 250 men, with the 

 usual supply of officers. They served both on foot and 

 mounted, and were veritable dragoons. At Cassel, as 

 the army was forming up for the battle, the Marshal 

 d'Humi^res perceived behind some hedges three battalions 

 of the enemy. He immediately ordered the mousque- 

 taires to dismount and attack these battalions, which 

 they did, seconded by an infantry regiment, and soon 

 defeated the enemy and drove them off. They then 

 remounted and formed up in the order of battle as cavalry. 

 They were armed with muskets, swords, and pistols.' 



Besides the household troops there were large bodies 

 of heavy cavalry in the army, called gendarmerie, as well 

 as carabineers, light cavalry, and dragoons. 



The carabineers were first formed into a regiment in 

 1693 by Louis XIV. It consisted of one hundred com- 

 panies of thirty men each, or 3,000 men and 411 officers. 

 This corps was organised into twenty squadrons of five 

 companies each.* They were armed with large swords 

 and rifled carbines, and were supplied with bullets of 

 two sizes, the larger to be driven in with a mallet to 

 secure the adjustment of the ball to the grooves, and 

 the smaller size to enable rapid loading of the piece in 

 case of need. They were also supplied with pistols. 



The dragoons, who fought both on foot and on horse- 

 back, were armed with long straight swords, and with 

 muskets and bayonets, instead of the mousqueton or 

 carabine. They also carried an axe, or entrenching tool, 

 at the saddlebow. The regiments of the line were 

 formed in five squadrons of 150 men each, and were 

 ranged in three ranks. The squadrons were subdivided 

 into three companies, so that the whole regiment con- 

 tained about 750 men.' It was during this period, that 



» Dani«l, ii. 152. « ibid. H. 343. « Carrion Nisas, ii. 110. 



