CHAPTER XXV. 



Cavalry under Napoleon (continued). 



SECTION I. — RUSSIAN CAVALRY UNDER ALEXANDER I. 



The Napoleonic wars, in addition to developing in the 

 French armies a very effective cavalry force, one equally 

 useful both upon the field and in the minor operations of 

 war, also brought forward prominently the vast hordes 

 of irregular cavalry which served under the Russian 

 standard. 



The vaulting ambition, the restless energy, and the 

 warlike ciiaracter of Napoleon led him into wars in every 

 clime, from the burning sands of Egypt to the snow- 

 clad steppes of Russia. No general ever lived who had 

 so vast and so varied an experience. He fought against 

 highly trained professional soldiers in Prussia and Austria, 

 and against tumultuous risings of the population in the 

 national war waged against him in Spain. And to com- 

 plete his experiences, he fought a campaign in Russia in 

 1812, against a foe whose principal strength consisted of 

 swarms of irregular horsemen from the plains of Scythia, 

 a foe somewhat similar to that which proved so disastrous 

 to Crassus — a force such as rendered Parthia the only 

 rival to Rome. 



The operations of the Russian cavalry, and particularly 

 the Cossacks, in 1812 and 1813, merit careful considera- 

 tion in a cavalry history ; for to the services rendered by 

 that force may be attributed the fall of the most powerful 

 military empire since that of Rome. 



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