624 A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. [period vi. 



order might be better preserved and the sabre used to 

 a greater advantage. In the Confederate army they 

 seemed to allow each individual soldier to use whichever 

 weapon he felt most confidence iu, and the result wa3 

 that charges were often made where the men used swords 

 and pistols side by side at the same time. 



Any army that organizes a force on this principle, if 

 the men are only thoroughly drilled to appreciate that 

 the firing should not slacken the rush of the charging 

 oquadrons, will have a great chance of winning brilliant 

 cavalry successes. The fear of the revolver bullets will 

 shake the aim and render the losses lighter, while the 

 horseman, having an effective weapon at close range, will 

 instinctively hurry on to close quarters, knowing the 

 advantage he will thus obtain. A few cavalry successes 

 of this kind would improve the morale of one arm and 

 depress that of the other, and then victory would follow 

 victory. 



A large revolver is also not altogether useless as a 

 defence against the sabre. In the American war it was 

 constantly used to ward a sabre cut or parry a thrust, as 

 well as to pour in sharp and deadly discharges. 



The more this subject is considered the more clearly 

 apparent is it that great eftbrts should be made to secure 

 the advantages of this splendid weapon to the cavalry 

 service. This doctrine is of course rank heresy in the 

 eyes of all the old-fashioned cavalry officers, who, reason- 

 ing solely from the past, uphold the sword because it 

 has been the most successful weapon in the cavalry 

 heretofore. But it is a blind following of precedent that 

 alone supports this view. An intelligent consideration 

 of the past history of cavalry shows that from time to 

 time changes have always been made to suit the state 

 of warfare of the age, and we hold that a change should 

 be made now, and that cavalry intended for the battle- 

 field should rely greatly upon the revolver. 



So much for cavalry proper. 



