3 
Having stated the condition of military cycling* in Germany at the time of the 
last manoeuvres in Pomerania, we will now consider the manner in which cyclists 
were employed in the army of the north. This army was under the command of 
General Waldersee, a determined advocate of the employment of the bicycle 
in the field. In the IX. Corps he formed the greater part of the cyclists into a 
single detachment under the orders of special officers, and armed them with rifles 
slung over the shoulder. His object was to make use of their great speed, of 
their power of travelling long distances in a short time, and of the silence of their 
march, to assist the cavalry in reconnoitring, to support them in rapidly occupying 
important posts, in covering columns of infantry, etc., etc. This object was fully 
attained, especially on the 9th September, as will be shown by the following 
facts, which we copy from the “ Allgemeine Militar Zeitung:”— 
The IX. Corps on that day made a forced march to the support of the II. 
Corps, which was menaced by superior forces and bivouacked at Brietenstein, 
Rossow and Fahrenwalde, intending to cross the Randow on the morrow to effect 
a junction with the II. Corps. As the Randow was not fordable, it was of great 
importance to the Commandant of the IX. Corps to occupy the bridge at Lichnitz 
on the same day, so as to insure the passage over the river. 
As the greater part of the divisional cavalry was attached to the 
flanking detachment which covered the march of the Army Corps on the right, 
General Waldersee, in the course of the day, sent forward the cyclist detachment 
with orders to seize the passage over the Randow at Lichnitz, to join hands with 
the II. Army Corps and to obtain information with regard to the enemy. This 
detachment had, therefore, to perform a service generally entrusted to cavalry : 
namely, to seize an important point with rapidity, to hold it until the arrival of 
the infantry and to search for the enemy. 
The detachment, reaching Lichnitz in the course of the day, occupied it and put 
the bridge into a state of defence. 
A patrol, consisting of an officer with a few cyclists, left Lichnitz in a south¬ 
east direction in order to find the enemy. After a run of half-an-hour they dis¬ 
covered them. The patrol rapidly dismounted, the machines were leaned against 
a tree and several salvoes were fired at the enemy. 
The cyclists then remounted and started at a rapid pace across stubbles and 
cultivated land towards another point of observation. The patrol discharged its 
mission in a satisfactory manner, and after a two-hours’ run, the commanding- 
officer was able to report himself in person at head-quarters. 
Certainly, as the German newspaper remarks, there is a limit to the employment 
of machines when off the roads, but it was not reached in the course of these 
manoeuvres. The cyclists surmounted every difficulty presented by the nature 
of the country : wood, sands, cultivated ground and even the muddy bottoms of 
the Randow. In conclusion it may be said that the enemy were never safe with 
this iron cavalry. 
This experiment, together with the attention given during the manoeuvres to 
all questions connected with military cycling, seems to indicate that in Germany 
there is a tendency to develop this service and to make it participate in an effective 
manner in operations which have hitherto devolved entirely upon the cavalry. 
Without sharing the enthusiasm of those who already dream of transforming 
the cavalry into a cyclist corps, it cannot be denied that the experiments made 
during these last manoeuvres have, in a remarkable manner, enlarged the sphere 
to which the use of the bicycle in the field had previously been relegated. 
Ground will always continue to be an often insurmountable obstacle to 
machines, which, moreover, would soon become unserviceable if frequently used 
off the roads. 
But the service of reconnoitring and the rapid transmission of orders have 
