382 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period IV. 



The illustrutiona wo have given, however, will servo, 

 to convey to the rc^ader a clenr idea of the manner in 

 which Napoleon used his cavalry, and the effects it pro- 

 duced in his campaigns. He valued very highly the 

 services of light horsemen in obtaining intelligence of 

 the enemy's movements. We have already referred to 

 his great ability in gathering an idea of the designs of 

 his opponents. His writings teem with passages showing 

 the extraordinary care he bestowed upon this point. 



He valued most highly the same quality in his cavalry 

 officers. His remarks on General Steingel, who was 

 killed in the early campaigns in Italy, show the high 

 appreciation he had of that officer, and his idea of what 

 a light cavalry general should be. He says : " General 

 Steingel, an iilsatian, was an excellent hussar officer ; he 

 had served under Dumouriez in the campaigns of the 

 North, he was adroit, intelligent, vigilant. He united 

 the qualities of youth to those of advanced age ; he was 

 a true general of advanced posts. 



" Two or three days before his death he was the first 

 to enter Lezegno. The French general arrived there 

 some hours after, and everything he required was ready. 



" The defiles and fords had been reconnoitred, guides 

 had been secured ; the priest, the post-master, had been 

 examined ; communications had been opened up with 

 the inhabitants ; spies had been sent out in many direc- 

 tions ; the letters in the post had been seized, and those 

 whicli could give military information translated and 

 analysed, and measures were taken to form magazines of 

 subsistence to refresh the troops."^ 



Napoleon's views on the various methods of obtaining 

 intelligence are so comprehensive and so forcible, that 

 every cavalry officer should be well acquainted with 

 them. They are fully detailed in a letter to his brother, 

 King Joseph of Spain. He says : " We have no accounts 

 of what the enemy is about— it is said no news can be 

 obtained, as if this case was extraordinary in an army, 

 as if spies were common. They must do in Spain as 

 they do in other places. Send parties out. Let them 

 ' Brack's " Avant Postea de Cavalerie L^gfere." 



