"J 



\'U 



i ' 



428 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period v. 



books, were marching on one road, strung out in an 

 advance guard formjition, leaving the other roads, and 

 the whole country around the line of march, unwatched 

 and unexplored.' So defective was the outpost service, 

 that two large armies, with their baggage, crossed each 

 other's path, and actually at one point came into contact 

 without discovering each other's designs, and without the 

 cavalry coming together. This one fact speaks volumes 

 as to the inexperience of the cavalry officers on both 

 sides, in a most important sphere of their duty. 



There were no further cavalry operations after this 

 flank march, until the 25th of October, 1854, when the 

 battle of Balaklava took place, in which the main 

 portion of the fighting was done by the cavalry. In 

 the early morning the Russian army, under General 

 Liprandi, moved upon the allied position near Balaklava, 

 in the hope of driving the allied troops out of that 

 important point, which served as the base of operations 

 for the English army in the Crimea. 



Outpost duty was still but little understood in the 

 allied army, and a monotonous repetition of the formula, 

 " Halt ! who goes there ? " " Rounds." " What 

 Rounds ? " " Visiting Rounds." " Visiting Rounds, 

 advance ! all's well," had not yet taught them the 

 practical duty of advanced posts. As Kinglake well 

 says, " When these words have been reiterated by the 

 same men a few thousand times, they are as lulling as 

 the monotone waves that beat and still beat on the 

 shore." "A man's wits may easily be deadened, they 

 can hardly be sharpened by formula." * 



The result was that the field officer of the day notified 

 the pickets of the advance of the enemy and saved 

 them from capture, a warning that should have first 

 come from themselves. This incident shows the great 

 difficulty of having this duty efficiently performed, and 

 the importance of thorough training in this branch of 

 the profession of arms. 



The Russians came suddenly upon the line of advanced 

 redoubts, storming them in succession, and either 



• Kinglake's Invasion of the Crimea, ii. 77, 79, 80. 2 Ibid. ii. 407. 



