434 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period v. 



the professional prejudices, the esprit du corps of the 

 knights, long upheld the cavalry service ; so the same 

 feelings again came to rescue the force from being 

 rbolished. The pride, the esprit du corps, and the 

 influence of the cavalry sei'vice, were all aroused in its 

 favour, and the point vehemently maintained that, 

 although cavalry might not be used in exactly the 

 same method as formerly, nevertheless its day was not 

 past, and there was still a vast field of usefulness 

 before it. 



It could not be denied that the limits to the action of 

 cavalry upon the battle-field had been much narrowed, 

 and that the opportunities of making successful charges 

 would be much less frequent, while the losses to horsemen 

 if checked in an attack would be greatly increased. 

 This led to many changes being made in European 

 armies. 



In Eussia, important modifications were made in the 

 army in 1856. The cuirassiers of the line were 

 abolished, as weU as some regiments of dragoons, and 

 fourteen other regiments, of cavalry, more lightly 

 equipped, substituted in their place. The abolition of 

 the cuirass was evidently the result of the increased 

 power of penetration of the Minie rifle, which rendered 

 such defences almost useless against infantry fire. 



In Austria also, after the war of 1859, the cavalry 

 w^ere much reduced. At that time, the cavalry consisted 

 of eight regiments of cuirassiers, eight of dragoons, 

 twelve regiments of Uhlans, and twelve of hussars. The 

 heavy cavalry had six squadrons in each regiment, the 

 light cavalry eight, with the exception of the sixth and 

 eleventh regiments of Uhlans, which had only four 

 squadrons each. In addition to these, were two regi- 

 ments of volunteer hussars, of four squadrons each, 

 making an aggregate of 96 squadrons of heavy, and 192 

 of light cavalry.^ 



In Miirch 1860 the cavalry were diminished, the 

 heavy by two regiments, the dragoons were suppressed 

 with the exception of the fifth and seventh regiments, 



» Renard, 33. 



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