318 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period IV. 



detail, and how anxious he was to secure- a good cavalry 

 force. He was well repaid for his exertions in this 

 connection, for to his cavalry he owed nearly all his 

 great successes. 



Among other improvements in the tactical movements 

 of his cavalry, Frederick is said to have introduced the 

 system of forming line to the front from column by the 

 oblique march of troops or squadrons, across by the 

 straightest line to the position each was to assume in 

 the new alignment. The system, before his day, was to 

 wheel the head of the column to the right or left, and 

 as soon as the whole column was upon the new line to 

 wheel into line. These frequent wheelings and exposures 

 of the flanks to the enemy did not please the king. He 

 wished to avoid showing his flank to the enemy, and to 

 march the shortest way obliquely towards them. When 

 Frederick proposed it to some of his old officers they 

 said it was a thing that had never been either done or 

 thought of. " It has been thought of," said the king, 

 " and shall be done." It was then said that the horse- 

 men would have to be taken to the riding school and 

 drilled for the purpose. "They shall," said the king, "and 

 the horses too." It was then observed that many would 

 get broken limbs before they would be able to perform 

 this manoeuvre. " What signifies that," said the king, 

 " if it should be the means of gaining a victory '? " The 

 experiment was tried, first with a few and afterwards 

 with a larger number, and succeeded admirably. The 

 above, which is detailed in Count Algarotti's " Letters 

 Military and Political," shows very clearly how ener- 

 getically Frederick pushed on his reforms, in spite of the 

 traditions and prejudices existing in the army in his 

 time. 



The cuirassiers, or heavy cavalry, were generally 

 placed in the first line, the hussars being used on the 

 flanks and in reserve, their principal employment 

 however being in the minor operations of war. The 

 dragoons occupied an intermediate position between the 

 hussarJ.^ and the cuirassiers, and were employed with both 

 of them. Frederick, more than any other general, used 



