CHAPTER XXX. 



The Franco-German War, 1870-71. 



The war between France and Germany in 1870 was 

 the first occasion upon which the improved projectile 

 weapons were used by trained armies on both sides ; 

 and consequently it is the only source from which we 

 can obtain the information upon which to form a 

 practical opinion as to the eiFects of their use upon the 

 relative values of the various arms of the service. 



Both the contending armies had large bodies of 

 cavalry, carefully equipped and well drilled, although 

 the proportion of horsemen to the other arms was less 

 than in former wars, more through the great increase in 

 the size of armies than from any diminution in the 

 strength of the mounted force. 



The French cavalry on its war footing consisted of 

 eleven regiments of cuirassiers and one of carbineers, 

 making twelve regiments of heavy or reserve cavalry. 

 Thirteen regiments of dragoons and nine of lancers 

 formed the cavalry of the line, while the light cavalrj- 

 was composed of seventeen regiments of chasseurs, nine 

 of hussars, and three of Spahis (a native African cavalry). 

 The Guards regiments and the light cavalry had six 

 squadrons each, one being the depot squadron. The 

 other regiments had four field and one depot squadron 

 each.* The entire strength on the war establishment was 

 40,000. This force was organised in brigades composed 



^ Borbstaedt and Dwyer, 126, 127. 



