fHAi'. XX.] FREDERICK THE GREAT'S CAVALRY. 



313 



laced 

 Igood 

 Istem 

 by 

 lorms 

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5C of 

 full 



speed, sword in hand. He taught his horsemen to dis- 

 regard the fire of the enemy's squadrons, and to rush in 

 with the utmost vigour, and in order that this charge at 

 speed should be as effective as possible, he lightened the 

 equipment and armament of his soldiers, and took every 

 possible measure to enable them to move rapidly and in 

 good order over every kind of ground. 



His great care was to train his squadrons of cavalry 

 to preserve a close order, and a correct alignment in an 

 advance of considerable distance. By constant attention 

 and continual drilling, the Prussian cavalry were able 

 when the Seven Years' War commenced, to go through all 

 their manoeuvres in perfect order at full speed. 



Guibert, in his Eulogy of the King of Prussia, de- 

 scribes the extraordinary perfection in manoeuvring the 

 cavalry had attained under his careful instruction. He 

 says : " It is only in Prussia that the horsemen and their 

 officers have that confidence, that boldness in managing 

 their horses, that they seem to be confounded with them, 

 and to recall the idea of the centaurs." "It is only 

 there that sixty or eighty squadrons of 130 or 140 

 effective men each can be seen going through the 

 manoeuvres that a whole wing of cavalry well commanded 

 can execute in the field. It is only there that 8,000 or 

 10,000 horsemen can be seen making general charges for 

 many hundreds of yards, and halt after making them 

 in perfect order, and immediately commence a second 

 movement against a new line of the enemy which is 

 supposed to present itself. In all his camps, at all his 

 reviews, wherever Frederick sees his cavalry, it is to 

 these important charges in large numbers that he gives 

 the most attention, these that he values the most 

 highly." 



Marshal Saxe had already laid down the principle 

 that cavalry, to be of service, should l)e capable of 

 cliarging at speed for 2,000 yards in good order. Frede- 

 rick saw the importance of this idea, and used every 

 effort to reach this standard. His older generals opposed 

 his innovations, but he was ably supported and assisted 

 by Seidlitz and Zicthen, and when such a monarch and 



