d36 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period VI. 



enemy's advanced posts are struck. Once this is done 

 the touch should never be lost. A firm pressure should 

 force back the weak points, a stern resistance should 

 hold in check the strong points, and without much risk, 

 the position and strength of the enemy should be pretty 

 well ascertained. 



There is nothing to prevent a force of this kind 

 pressing on two or three days' march in front of the 

 main army, which, moving in perfect security behind it, 

 would march comfortably, with greater ease, and without 

 fear of surprise. Cavalry also, marching faster than 

 infantry, should naturally be in front, and if at a good 

 distance, could be kept more scattered, and consequently 

 healthier and better fed. In fact, it seems waste of 

 words to argue in favour of this principle. Experience 

 has shown it always to work well. The Austrian horse 

 against Frederick the Great took up the touch of his 

 posts, and pressing them closely, never lost the hold of 

 them as, for instance, notably at Sohr and Hochkirch. 

 The Cossacks against Napoleon worked the same way. 

 The Germans in 1870 moved covered by horsemen 

 far in advance ; but as soon as the franc-tireurs 

 were organized the equipment and system of fighting 

 of the Prussian cavalry rendered them almost useless 

 against foes who must have been contemptible in 

 themselves. 



Small scouting patrols should be used very freely ; 

 in fact, the whole front and flanks of an army should be 

 swarming w^ith them. They form the antennae, the 

 feelers, of an army. They are the eyes, the ears, and 

 often the feeders of the force. A general without good 

 cavalry gropes his way in utter darkness, is as a blind 

 man, moving slowly and with indecision, not knowing 

 where to strike, or where to expect a blow. 



The genius of Frederick the Great, the marvellous 

 skill and steadiness of his wonderful army, and the 

 extraordinary ability of his leading generals, barely 

 enabled him to issue successfully from a struggle where 

 the most important element against him, was the force 

 of irregular light horsemen that swarmed around him. 



I. 



