THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
353 
Cavalry Outpost Duty . 
Nothing struck me more than the splendid manner in which the 
duties of the cavalry outposts were carried out in a real, intelligent, 
skilful, and soldier-like style, which I have never seen even ap¬ 
proached. I may say the same of the manner in which the cavalry 
was handled in these mimic wars by the Prussian officers throughout. 
And the skill displayed gave me a new idea of the power of cavalry 
in war, and which I certainly had not realised before. When I 
found, in the present war, particularly at the beginning, the French 
troops out-manoeuvred, surprised, and deceived by the Prussian 
cavalry, I was not in the least surprised; it was to be expected from 
their very high training in the most important part of a dragoon’s 
duties—outpost duty. 
I would strongly advise every English cavalry officer to carefully 
study the Prussian rules for outpost duty, contained in Sir Charles 
Staveley’s translation, and to thoroughly recognise and understand 
the most important duty of this branch of the service; for as our 
cavalry are few in number, so they should be perfect in this know¬ 
ledge of how to be the cc eyes and ears ” of our army. 
A Prussian colonel of cuirassiers, when we were going through the 
bivouacs, after a heavy and long day’s work, when told that we had 
observed that their horses were badly groomed and the saddlery only 
half-cleaned, according to our notions, even for bivouacs, replied thus: 
“We Prussians try in three years to make a thorough dragoon, a 
perfect outpost soldier, a reliable and intelligent vidette. Our 
horses are sufficiently groomed for war purposes, and as much as 
they ever can be in the field. Our saddlery is clean enough for war. 
You English pass your time in turning your officers and troopers into 
grooms, polishing bits and stirrup-irons, and covering yourselves 
with pipe-clay. We don’t—and we don’t want to; for we know that 
such things are useless in war.” 
Whether this Prussian cavalry colonel was right or not, I leave 
those to judge who read a few days ago a description of the Prussian 
cavalry, evidently from the pen of an English dragoon, in the advance 
from Orleans on Tours and Le Mans. This English officer said that 
their horses were in perfect condition after five months’ hard cam¬ 
paigning, and that the troopers looked as if they had only just left 
their barracks in Berlin. Yet it must be remarked, notwithstanding 
the Prussian cuirassier colonel’s opinion, that we have twelve years 
to make a dragoon instead of three years, and consequently we are 
able to turn out our cavalry in a style that must excite the envy of 
a Prussian dragoon; for our cavalry are certainly in beautiful order, 
and the attention which is paid to dress, appearance, equipment, 
riding, and horses, has great advantages too, and is most useful to 
discipline. I question whether any army in the world could turn 
out such a splendid division of cavalry as that at Aldershot last 
summer—viz., 1st Life Guards, 3rd Dragoon Guards, 6th Inniskilling 
Dragoons, 9th and 12th Lancers, and 10th Hussars. 
Now, it is as well to see ourselves as others see us. I have the 
highest opinion of the English cavalry, and I am a great admirer of it. 
