52 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
But the discipline of our line regiments, and their grand, savage earnest¬ 
ness, when face to face, were splendid, and showed that the same material 
was there w T hich called forth the remark —“ The British infantry is the best 
in the world; happily there is not much of it.”. The slowness of their 
marches and heaviness of manoeuvre will doubtless be corrected in future 
years, nor will they fail to give a good account of any enemy they may meet 
on the continent or on our own soil. 
The powers and uses of cavalry form a fertile subject of dispute among 
soldiers, and we may safely say that they cannot be settled by peace 
manoeuvres. The amount of men killed or wounded by this branch of the 
service is extremely small—so small that, were killing and wounding the 
main object of war, cavalry might be put out of the field altogether in these 
days of accurate and long-ranging small arms. But it has long been laid 
down as a maxim that it is not the number of men killed and wounded 
which beats an enemy, but the moral effect produced on the survivors. It 
is just this moral effect which cavalry are so well capable of producing; 
and it cannot be produced when infantry know that the cavaliers will not 
actually fall upon them. The teaching of the war of 1866 did not lead the 
Prussians to despise cavalry; on the contrary, from that time forward, greater 
attention than ever was bestowed on the equipment, horsing, and instruction 
of the mounted regiments. They are kept longer with the colours, as a 
rule, than the infantry, and every inducement is held out to them to re-enlist 
at the end of their term. In the late war, cavalry were frequently employed 
in large masses, especially to hold the enemy fast to a position while other 
troops were coming up. To this end they were sacrificed freely and ruthlessly, 
but the end was attained. This mode of using cavalry requires less practice 
than another, which hardly receives the attention it deserves. I mean the 
action of cavalry as the eyes and ears of an army; an almost better simile 
would be, the tentacles or feelers of an army. There are creatures whose 
whole sense seems to be concentrated in a number of Aliments, fine as 
threads, with which they unceasingly sweep the water around them, not only 
guarding against the approach of their enemies, but causing a constant stream 
of prey-filled water to pass over the 'mouth of the animal. Such should be 
the action of cavalry. Now, at the late manoeuvres there was nothing of 
this. A few men were occasionally thrown out on outpost duty, and more 
than once such men, being questioned, did not know in what direction to 
look for the enemy. I even saw one vidette with his back to the foe, and 
his face turned directly towards his own camp. How was this ? Simply 
because of an omission which will render our manoeuvres of only a tenth of 
their proper value, unless it be supplied. The men are not practised enough 
in these matters throughout the year. Knowledge is growing, and there 
are many first-rate cavalry officers, but it must grow more yet before all is 
satisfactory. We are accustomed to be proud of our cavalry, and with 
reason—in men, horses, and appearance they are splendid; but are they fit 
to be trusted at once, suddenly, with the duty of obtaining information for 
an English army and guarding against the enemy’s obtaining information P 
When Erance declared war against Prussia in 1870, ten thousand German 
cavalry were sent instantly to the frontier, without waiting for any army 
behind them. They swarmed over the whole country, patrolling every road, 
searching every wood and field, sometimes making dashes over the frontier, 
