CHAPTER XV. 



MoNTEcucuLi — The German Cavalry — The Battle 

 OF St. Gothard, 1664. 



In the latter half of the seventeenth centurv, the 

 most prominent general of the German service was 

 Montecuculi, the great opponent of Turenne, and one of 

 the ablest soldiers of the age. His memoirs on the Art 

 of War, on the military system of the Turks, and his 

 account of the campaign of 1664, are most important 

 contributions to military literature, and contain evidence 

 of very marked ability on his part. 



From the pages of these memoirs we obtain much 

 valuable information in reference to the cavalry service 

 in Germany, and the wars in which Montecuculi was 

 engaged. The infantry were composed of pikemen and 

 musketeers ;^ the pikemen being employed to defend the 

 force from the charge of cavalry. The cavalry were 

 organised in squadrons of 150 strong, or three ranks of 

 fifty men each.^ Sometimes where heavy masses were 

 required, two squadrons were united. The distance from 

 one squadron to another was usually eighteen pacos, and 

 Montecuculi approved of placing in these ictorvals small 

 pelotons of musketeers, eight in front by fi'/e in <leprh ^ 

 He fully appreciated the value of reserves, and advocated 

 drawing up the army for action in two lines, the cavalry 

 in each line having cavalry reserves in rear, so that 

 according to his ideas the horsemen were to be drawn up 



Montecuculi, 27. 



- II)iil. 'X.\. 



^ Ibid. 37, 



