514 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period VI. 



advance and materially covered the retreat of the French 

 army. 



At Vionville the charge of Bredow's cuirassiers was 

 almost fatal to tliem, but it must be counted as a success, 

 as it checked an attack that otherwise would in all proba- 

 bility have defeated the Prussian army, and thereby mainly 

 contributed to the victory. A great sacrifice was un- 

 doubtedly made, but the result well repaid the losses. 

 These were the only successful charges of cavalry of any 

 importance, while the totally unsuccessful charges were 

 very numerous. For example, about noon on the 16th 

 August, at Flavigny, nenr Vionville, General Frossard 

 ordered General du Prenil to charge the Prussian lines 

 at once, or that all would be lost. The charge was made 

 gallantly in two lines. They rode boldly on, but were 

 mown down in such numbers that they were thrown into 

 disorder and repulsed. The losses of the French cuiras- 

 siers were 22 officers, 208 men, and 243 horses killed or 

 wounded in a few minutes. The losses of the infantry 

 in the same affair absolutely nothing. 



The charges at Sedan teach the same story — tre- 

 mendous losses for the cavalry, and no result. The 

 lesson the war of 1870-71 teaches, therefore, is, that at 

 the cost of immense loss of life, and probable destruction 

 of the cavalry force, time may be gained, an attack 

 checked at the critical moment, and the fortune of the 

 day turned while trembling in the balance ; and of 

 course, if a victory is won by the sacrifice, it is worth the 

 cost. But the conditions of modern warfare are such 

 that the occasions when these sacrifices may be demanded 

 are likely to be rare, and the opportunity of using them 

 to advantage seldom met with. The action of cavalry 

 on the battlefield, especially on the old system, has 

 consequently been very much narrowed. 



Still, however, the occasions will arise in which cavalry 

 may be thrown into the field to charge infantry or artil- 

 lery, and therefore all armies should have a certain 

 proportion of cavalry proper, trained, equipped, and 

 organized, with that object in view. 



Taking that as admitted, we may conclude that one-- 



