440 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period v. 



East, that is to say in Virginia, where they were opposed 

 by troops raised m the manufacturing districts and large 

 cities of the New England States, their marked superiority 

 soon showed itself, and in all the battles of the war in 

 that part of the continent the ascendant of the army of 

 Northern Virginia was plainly manifest. 



In the western theatre of the war the Federal armies 

 were more successful. The hardy western settlers greatly 

 outnumbering the Southerners in the valley of the 

 Mississippi, and equally good material for soldiers, won 

 the first success of importance in the capture of Fort 

 Donelson, and from that time the Federal troops slowly 

 but surely moved on to the conquest of all that portion 

 of the confederacy, being vigorously opposed by tnc 

 Southern troops, who hotly contested every foot of their 

 progress. 



The war opened very slowly, as both sides were totally 

 unprepared for hostilities, and armies had to be raised, 

 organised, armed, and drilled before operations in the 

 field could be commenced. At the outset the cavalry 

 was organised in very small numbers indeed. In the 

 first great battle, that of Bull's I^un, on the 21st July, 

 1861, the Federal army, consisting of some 40,000 men, 

 had only seven companies of cavalry, hardly one small 

 regiment, while on the Southern side the proportion was 

 not much greater. These shrewd people, who at the 

 opening of the war acted upon the ideas, at that time 

 very prevalent, of the uselessn, ss of cavalry as against 

 the new infantry firearms, soon discovered their mistake, 

 and the mounted service increased rapidly, so much so 

 that in the latter part of the war the Northern States 



.lintained no less than 80,000 cavalry, almost all 

 mounted riflemen. 



In Virginia the war was from the outset conducted 

 with more science and skill than in the valley of the 

 Mississippi ; Generals Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, " Stone- 

 wall " Jackson, and their lieutenants, being all officers of 

 the very highest ability and training. In the west, on 

 the contrary, the war partook more of the character of 

 partisan operations for the first two years, and during 



