CHAPTER XIX. 



Makshal Saxe — His Ideas on Cavalry. 



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Marshal Saxe was an able general, and being a care- 

 ful observer as w 11 as a profound thinker, he was very 

 quick to discover faults and abuses, and to see the 

 reforms required. His writings show a keen apprecia- 

 tion of the principles of the military art, and are the 

 best works on the science of wfir that were published iu 

 his time. 



Among other reforms. Marshal Saxe introduced the 

 cadencetl step into the French army,' and it soon became 

 the common practice in most countries. He also re- 

 established the lance as a cavalry weapon, it having dis- 

 appeared long before his time. He called the cavalry so 

 armed, Uhlans; they are still in use in some of the 

 armies of Europe, under the same name. 



His ideas as to the organisation and armament of 

 cavalry, as well as it? method of fighting, were very good, 

 • nd prove that he well understood the characteristics of 

 that arm. He considered that cavalry should be lightly 

 armed and equipped, in order to endure fatigue and to 

 make rapid marches, and be kept continually exercised 

 and hardened so as to be always in good training.* 



He divided cavalry into two kinds, heavy cavalry and 

 dragoons. The heavy, being costly to maintain, was not 

 required in large numbers. It was to be mounted on 

 strong powerful horses, trained to simple and solid move- 

 ments, to keep close together, and never to lose its order, 

 ' Eocquancourt, i. 177. ^ Saxe's Reveries, i. 130, 131. 



