CHAP. XIX.] MARSHAL SAXK ON CAVALRY. 



311 



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When the cavalry charged, Saxe could not impress too 

 forcibly upon them the importance of keeping together, 

 and of never pursuing in disorder. The standard, he 

 waid, should be their principal thought, and they should 

 always rally to it. In charging they started at a slow 

 trot and grjidually increased the pace to the gallop. At 

 twenty or thirty paces from the enemy they closed 

 together at full speed. The, Marshal held that cavalry 

 sliould l)e taught to galop for long distances in good order, 

 and said that any squadron that could not charge 2,000 

 paces at full speed without breaking was not fit for 

 active service.' He considered this an absolute necessity 

 in the heavy cavalry iv, well as in the dragoons, who 

 were expected to be able to skirmish with facility ; their 

 third rank being specially drilled to work in open order, 

 and to retire rapidly and form up in rear. 



He advised that the horses should be continually 

 exercised in winter to keep them in training, and that 

 they should be thoroughly accustomed to the firing of 

 musketry and cannon, so that the noise, fire, and smoke 

 should have no effect upon them. 



The impetuous energy of Charles XH., and the writings 

 of Marshal Saxe, gave to the cavalry service much greater 

 mobility, and without doubt must have had a very 

 marked influence upon Frederick the Great, to whom 

 was reserved the credit of restoring to cavalry its value and 

 reputation, after 2,000 years of vicissitudes and fluctua- 

 tions. He did away with many false ideas, and revived, 

 in equal if not greater splendour, the glories of that 

 service which, in the time of Hannibal and Alexander, 

 cflected such important results and won so imperishable 

 a renown. 



The improvements in armament, in organisation, and 

 in tactics culminated under Frederick the Great. In the 

 next period we will trace the operations of the cavalry 

 under the influence of what may be termed the Prussian 

 or Frederick's system, which for so many years has been 

 the guiding principle of the cavalry service in most 

 armies. 



^ Saxe, i. 16G. 



