INTRODUCTION xi 



of those who went into the Confederate army 

 could ride. Moreover, the North had a scant sup- 

 ply of horses fit for cavalry, while in many States 

 of the South such animals were abundant. Here 

 we had on one side the material for a quickly- 

 made cavalry, and on the other side practically 

 no material either in horses or men for such a 

 branch of the army. Critics of the war attribute 

 the early successes of the South to the superior- 

 ity of the cavalry. The Northern side was obliged 

 to wait for nearly two years before that arm of 

 the service was equal to that of the South. Thus, 

 this distressful war was probably continued for 

 more than a year longer than it would have been 

 had the two sides in the beginning been equally 

 supplied with riders and riding horses. And in 

 the Japanese-Russian War, now in progress, the 

 Japanese are hampered dreadfully by their lack 

 of cavalry. They have beaten the Russians time 

 and again only to let the Russians get away be- 

 cause of the Japanese inability, from lack of 

 horses and horsemen, to cut off the line of re- 

 treat. It is a most distressingly expensive thing to 

 be without horses in time of war; unless proper 



