314 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY, 



[period IV. 







1! i 



such gfmerals of cavalry appeared in the same army, it 

 is not surprising that the world was soon ringing with 

 the fame of the horsemen, who were organised, trained, 

 and commanded by such brilliant and impetuous leaders. 

 Out of twenty-two grent battles fought by Frederick, 

 his cavalry won at least fifteen of them.^ 



Cavalry at this time reached its zenith. Everything 

 had paved the way for it, and it only required the genius 



to see the opening, and take advantage of it, to 



give 



cavalry the greatest successes. For nearly fifty years 

 both the horse and foot in all armies had been relying 

 mainly on firearms. The infantry had abandoned the 

 pike, and adopted the bayonet, which, although a good 

 enough defence against cavalry charging at a slow trot, 

 was not very available against a charge at full speed. 

 The slow and unwieldy horsemen, against whom Seidlitz 

 and Ziethen led the active cavalry of the great Frederick, 

 could not with their useless and clumsy pistols and 

 carbines check the advance of charging squadrons, which, 

 inspirited by their rapid movement, would be carried 

 violently through tiie hostile ranks, Warnery says, and 

 we can well believe him, " Experience has convinced me 

 in more than a hundred occasions, for I have never seen 

 a squadron depelid upon its fire, that it has not been 

 overthrown by that which came upon it at speed without 

 firing." 



The infantry also, unaccustomed to the new style of 

 fighting, would at first be taken by surprise and defeated ; 

 and once broken, the ^arnage would be so great as to 

 have a very serious moral effect upon the remainder of 

 the army. One or two successes would so improve the 

 morale of the cavalry, and so dispirit the infantry, that 

 in every succeeding action the horsemen would more 

 easily break the ranks of the foot soldiers, and in the 

 confidence of success, the charge would be so boldly and 

 violently given as to crush everything before it. This 

 has evidently been one reason of the wonderful and 

 continual successes ^/ the cavalry under the 



great 



Nolan. 



