CHAPTER XXXVI. 

 The General-in-Chief of Cavalry. 



La, Cavalerie paratt, de toutes les armes, la plus difficile ^ manier. 



— Jacquenot de Presle. 



Although good officers of infantry, as well as efficient 

 commanders of artillery, are found at all times in all 

 armies, there is nothing rarer than a perfect general of 

 cavalry. The several arms are so distinct in composition, 

 armament, and method of fighting, that the leaders of 

 each require different talents and dispositions. 



The cavalry commander requires the rarest combina- 

 tion of talent. He must have the great prudence which 

 is always required in an officer holding a responsible 

 post ; and at the same time he must possess extraordinary 

 rashness and bravery, and combine the greatest calm- 

 ness with the greatest impetuosity. 



For with cavalry the greatest prudence must be used 

 in the conception of a plan, the greatest boldness and 

 impetuosity in the execution of it, the greatest calmness 

 in retreating under disaster, and the greatest caution in 

 pursuing in the event of success. 



It is necessary that a commander of cavalry should 

 strike with the impetus of a thunderbolt, that hesitation 

 should be a word unknown to him. But in the wild 

 rush of the cavalry charge, in the excitement of the 

 headlong pursuit, in the fury of the swaying m^Ue, with 

 sabres flashing, bullets hissing, and revolvers plying 

 death and destruction around, then the cavalry com- 

 mander has need of all his calmness. He must think 



