CHAPTER XVII. 

 Charles XII. and his Cavalry. — Battle of 



PULTOWA. 



Charles XII. of Sweden was a man of such extraor- 

 dinary vigour, and of such supernatural energy, that it 

 was impossible for him to have engaged in war without 

 serving to a great extent in the cavalry force, and 

 without his iron will and fiery impetuosity affecting very 

 materially the tactics and employment of that portion of 

 his armies in the field. 



He unfortunately did not possess that caution which 

 is so important a requisite in a commander. Had his 

 judgment been good, and his measures directed with 

 greater wisdom, he would have been the ablest soldier of 

 modern times. 



He paid the closest attention to his cavalry, used it 

 most skilfully in action, and in fact paved the way for 

 the improvements made by Frederick the Great, and set 

 the example to General Seidlitz, who, judiciously 

 developing the idea, rendered the cavalry of the 

 celebrated Prussian monarch as fine a force of Jiorsemen 

 as ever existed. 



Charles XII.'s energetic temperament led him to delight 

 in hand-to-hand combats at full speed. His wild energy 

 could not brook the tame and sluggish advance, and the 

 slow and methodical firing of pistols and carbines at a 

 distance. He liked better the charge with the bayonet 

 for the infantry, and sword in hand for the cavalry. He 

 absolutely prohibited defensive armour of any kind 



