304 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
author is well known in military circles as having served 
with considerable distinction in various quarters of the globe. 
The book is scarcely a work upon tactics, for, in the case of 
cavalry, in Captain Nolan’s opinion, these are not capable of 
being reduced to set rules. What is wanted is to have man 
and horse in the most efficient condition for action at any 
moment their services may be required. Let this be done, 
and let a body of cavalry be placed under the charge of a 
competent cavalry officer, and the result to be obtained would 
be something very different from anything yet seen in 
warfare, according to the conviction of the writer of the 
present book. 
The common opinion has been, that cavalry acting against 
infantry in squares must incur certain defeat. Such has 
never been our own idea. We have seen a runaway horse 
dash through a closed turnpike gate — we have seen what 
horses have accomplished in the hunting-fields against banks 
of earth topped with paling, quickset, and other fences. 
The animal in such cases was beyond controul. It was not 
sensible of any nervous pulsation or tremor in its rider’s 
fingers. It went straight on, without fear, without nerves, 
like a cannon-ball. From the evidence of our own senses, 
we are inclined to believe that a horse at full speed is one of 
the most awful “ missiles” known in warfare. A horse w ill 
go on for some distance, maintaining its speed, even if it 
has received its death-wound, in all cases save where legs 
have been broken, or the skull has been completely shattered 
— in the second case even the onward progress of the body 
is not instantly checked. “ It is impossible,” writes Captain 
Nolan, C( for the infantry soldier physically to resist the power 
of a horse when at speed ; that the horse will face both fire 
and bayonet is proved by the many examples given. The 
horse often feels the man’s unw illingness to go on and turns, 
but then it is in obedience to the bridle hand.” The Great 
Frederick w on his principal battles — 15 out of 22 — by cavalry 
charges. It w r as a maxim of his day, and of his army, that 
infantry and artillery w 7 ere powerless against the mad surging 
w 7 ave of the Prussian horse. His two chief officers were 
Ziethen and Seidlitz. These tw r o generals devoted all their 
thoughts to making the men good horsemen. The great 
point to obtain was that they should charge at full speed for 
1,000 yards without breaking their array. This point was 
gained, and w ith it the fate of battles. In many of the con- 
tests during the Seven Years War, the Prussian cavalry 
literally swept w hole armies out of the field like chaff before 
the wind. The arm of these horsemen was the sword — the 
secret of their victories, good horsemanship.” 
