British cavalry

“ With equal truth the major-general can assert, that upon every occasion which has presented itself of acting against the enemy, whether regimentally or in brigade, they have nobly sustained the superiority of the British cavalry, and fully justified the high opinion so repeatedly expressed with regard to them by his Grace the Duke of Wellington. ”

“ It is the old delusion that Cavalry is a more offensive Arm than Infantry, and it leads him inexorably to the fatal conclusion that Cavalry cannot be trusted to undertake a "completely passive defence." ”

“ In fact, the Armistice deprived the British Cavalry of the certainty of striking, in the last and greatest of all wars hitherto fought, and in that theatre of the war where they were at special disadvantage, the most stupendous blow ever struck by a body of armed horsemen since the history of the world began. ”

“ The greatest care should be taken that the mounted Boers should not be exposed in the open plain to the attacks of the enemy's cavalry, unless they are protected by quick-firing Maxim-Vickers guns and shells, seeing that the British Cavalry have a great advantage at short distances in the use of lances, swords and pistols. ”

“ Then, when the decisive moment of the day, about 5 p.m., came, the cavalry, some 8000 strong, were led by the duke himself against the French position. There was still personal leadership of men rather than the direction of them that the general showed. “The infantry were in support, with intervals between the battalions, so that the squadrons, if repulsed, might pass through.” The admixture of the dissimilar arms of infantry and cavalry in the same fighting line is still curious. ”

“ It is not a whimsical Uniform, or a monstrous pair of Mustachios, that make the Cavalry Officer: but there seems so much attention now-a-days paid to the external embellishment, that the interior is left to bare Walls—empty Chambers.
Even the French Cavalry boasted, ‘that give them English Horses, and they would drive the British Cavalry from the Field’; and there are folks who are inclined to believe them: then as for Cavalry Generals—I wish there was a School for Generals. ”

“ Thus ended a day which will redound with immortal honour to the bravery of the British cavalry, who, assisted by a small body of Austrians, the whole not amounting to 1500, gained so complete a victory over 22,000 men in sight of their corps de reserve, consisting of 6000 men and twenty pieces of cannon. Had the cavalry been more numerous, or the infantry able to come up, it is probable few of the French would have escaped. History does not furnish such an example of courage. ”

“ Cavalry has never forgotten its aristocratic and romantic ancestry, and is inclined to look down somewhat on the Infantry without whom battles cannot be fought, and still less won. Cavalry is to this day the premier Arm in the British and in many other Armies. In Germany the logical insight of the Hohenzollerns has long since made Infantry the senior Arm of the Service.
The word Cavalry—French Cavallerie, Italian Cavaleria—is, like Chivalry, derived from the Late193 Latin word caballus, in common use for horse when equus had become highflown. ”

“ It was the rifle in both cases which made Cavalry mobile and formidable. It is melancholy to think that our true principles and sound traditions of mounted warfare are embodied in so small a force, organized on such an illogical system, provided with a training of altogether inadequate length, and hampered by nominal subservience to a steel-armed Cavalry whose theories of action have been proved in two long and bloody wars to be obsolete. ”

“ The American horsemen discovered that the rifle must be the principal weapon of Cavalry, and through that discovery made themselves incomparably more formidable and efficient in every phase and function of war than the European Cavalries, who ignored and despised the American example in the succeeding European struggles. ”

“ In 1858 he had published a pamphlet on the British cavalry, with remarks on its practical organisation, and in 1860 he wrote on the national defences. His writings and the excellent condition of his regiment gained for him a reputation as an authority on cavalry tactics. ”

“ Last night I slept next my skipper on the road with my head between two spokes of a cart-wheel, and Eve’s between the next. Cobbles are not very springy or soft!”
Captain W. H. Eve—May 27.—“You say you are watching for news of the Cavalry. Well, you have it now in the Casualties List. That is the British Cavalry. It is, I think, wicked, for they are men we can’t replace, but the fact is they can’t trust any but the very best up there at Ypres, and that’s why they sent for the Cavalry. They get their chance and are used, but we, poor devils! ”

“ The cavalry attacks on the British line were particularly severe, and were supported by large bodies of troops of all arms; the infantry pressing forward, while dragoons, lancers, carabineers, and cuirassiers advanced in overwhelming numbers, threatening to bear down all opposition; masking at times the advance of infantry; charging the British squares, and when repulsed, quickly re-forming; while individuals, spurred on by an ardent but unavailing intrepidity, were observed searching for an opening in the British battalions by which to penetrate, and usually perishing in the vain attempt. ”

“ But such was the impetuosity of the French onset, that the light troops, drawn up in front of these squares, were driven in, and the cavalry, which should have supported them, fled on every side. The Brunswick infantry now opened their fire upon the French cavalry, with a coolness and intrepidity that made dreadful gaps in their squadrons, and strewed the ground with men and horses that were advancing to the charge. But the courage of the French did not desert them. Their artillery played, at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards, on the British squares, with dreadful execution. ”

“ For illumination and confirmation on these matters, we are constantly referred, in defence of the lance and sword, by our own Cavalry authorities to foreign countries whose armies have had no experience at all of modern civilized war as revolutionized by the modern magazine rifle. ”

“ These arose from the explosions of ammunition waggons, which were continually taking place, although the noise which filled the whole atmosphere was too overpowering to allow them to be heard."
By this time the great French cavalry charges were in full course. Some 10,000 of the finest cavalry in the world were being flung on the stubborn British squares, which, as the French horsemen swept round them, seemed swallowed up in a tossing sea of helmets and gleaming swords and heads of galloping horses. ”

“ Without rifle power Cavalry lose all effective mobility. They can ride about in vacuo, so to speak; but directly they enter the zone of rifle-fire they are paralyzed, unless they can use their horses and their rifles in effective combination. Then they can do what they please. Then, if necessary, they can even charge mounted, though that function is no more inseparably associated with their action than the charge at the double is inseparably associated with the action of Infantry. ”

“ The main “arm” in battle was the mailed cavalry, and infantry was long thought little of; but in England speedily grew up the steady and trustworthy bowmen, the foundation of that infantry which has carried the national flag to victory in every part of the world, and which had no counterpart in those days in foreign armies, such as France, where the footmen were, till much later, merely armed serfs or dependants, armed indifferently, and treated with contumely. In England it was otherwise. There were both greater freedom, and better, because more independent men. ”

“ Nobody supposes that the days of Cavalry are over. Far from being weakened, Cavalry, if properly equipped and trained, have potentialities im [Pg 212] mensely greater than the Cavalry of 1870, because they now possess—in our country at any rate—the weapon which, united with the horse, qualifies them to tackle any other Arm on their own terms. ”

“ Highland hearts are true as steel.”
[373]
And now the Cavalry appears on the scene—the so-called “Heavies” more lightly, however, mounted than the French, Prussian, or Austrian Cuirassiers; counterbalanced, perhaps, by the extreme heaviness of the Light Dragoons when compared to continental Hussars. The Heavy Cavalry is composed of three regiments of Guards, nine Heavy Dragoon regiments, one Carabineer regiment; altogether thirteen regiments, comprising a strength of about 6,000 men, with the same number of horses. ”

“ Serving one day as charging cavaliers, another as mounted infantry in covering a retreat, again as sappers in making or holding a trench, or when occasion called for it as gun-teams to pull on the trace of a derelict gun, the cavalry have been the general utility men of the Army. The days of pure cavalry may have passed, but there will never be a time when a brave and handy fighting man who is mobile will not be invaluable to his comrades.
Difficult retirement of the Fourth Division. ”

“ How in the world is the entire Cavalry mass, posted outside one flank, to provide for the continuous reconnaissance, close and distant, of such a front, the occupation of advanced points, and for the maintenance of a reserve behind the front, while remaining a practically undivided force for united action? What is the enemy's Cavalry supposed to be doing? In theory, we are told, they will do the right thing, that is, post themselves by instinct outside one flank exactly opposite our own mass. ”

“ Many pretend that good infantry in square can resist the onset of cavalry, however skilful, bold and determined: my opinion is the reverse; much depends on circumstances.
The menacing approach of the French cavalry, who rode amongst and round our squares, was not quietly witnessed by our own horsemen: we made many spirited charges between the allied squares, as well as on every side of them. All the British, German, and Tripp’s Dutch-Belgian cavalry, that were between the two high-roads, were more or less engaged during these attacks. ”

“ Invariably in all these encounters the German cavalry were driven behind the protection of their infantry and, thus hampering the latter's advance, assisted our troops to make good their retreat. The quality of the horses and equipment of the British, their unrivalled efficiency in dismounted fighting and in knowledge of ground, coupled with their intrepidity and dash whenever the smallest opportunity for mounted attack presented itself, enabled them effectually to prevent that which is most dreaded by a retreating army--the enterprises of hostile horsemen. ”

“ Those weapons give Cavalry their "proper rôle." If under stress of fire they "abandon" this rôle, they become Infantry; but they are worse off than Infantry, because they are embarrassed by their led horses, which present difficulties from which Infantry are free. The horse becomes a danger and an encumbrance, just as Sir John French tacitly assumes it to become, when he says that mounted riflemen always flee defenceless before good Cavalry, while Infantry show "tenacity and stiffness." No wonder, then, that Cavalrymen grow indignant at the criticism of their steel weapons. ”

“ Is not the reader conscious of an extraordinary artificiality and unreality in the terms employed? Why speak of Cavalry driving the hostile Cavalry off the field, with more emphasis than of Infantry doing the same to Infantry? Presumably, because Cavalry, as we have already learnt, cannot break off the fight either in their pure or debased capacity. But on page 198 the beaten Cavalry is to "seek shelter behind occupied points of support," where it is to be attacked by the greatest possible fire-power, words which seem to imply that hitherto the attack has been by shock. ”

“ Since they lay predominant stress on fire, we can only hope that their obvious blindness to the true reasons for fire does little harm. Pursuits, whether by Infantry or Cavalry, be they frontal, parallel, or intercepting, will always be governed by fire. The thing that really distinguishes Cavalry from Infantry is that they have horses, which give them a vast scope for a class of intercepting tactics which Infantry cannot undertake so easily. But even Infantry will be better at any form of pursuit than a purely shock- [Pg 162] trained Cavalry. ”

“ And what of the action of Cavalry against other Arms? We know Sir John French's opinion about mounted riflemen. They will gallop for their lives "defenceless" at the approach of "good" Cavalry. But Infantry, riflemen without horses, who cannot gallop, but can only run? Their case, it would seem, must be still more desperate. They are not only defenceless, but destitute even of the means of flight. And yet even Sir John French credits them, if not with an offensive spirit, at least with "tenacity and stiffness," derived, of course, from their rifles. ”

“ The reiters however, should not be forgotten, for though not comparable to the landsknechts for quality as troops, they furnished [106] the model for the first famous regiment of English cavalry. [88]
Lastly, let me close this necessarily brief and imperfect account of the renascence of the art of war by a remark which should perhaps have come first rather than last. Amid all the innovations which went forward during the sixteenth century in the province of armament, classical models reigned supreme in organisation and manœuvre. ”

“ The determined bravery of all was as conspicuous as noble. I am unwont to praise when praise is not merited; and I here most avowedly express my firm opinion and conviction, that no troops in any battle on record ever behaved more nobly. British and native (no distinction) cavalry all vying with her Majesty's 16th Lancers, and striving to head in the repeated charges. Our guns and gunners, officers and men, may be equalled, but cannot be excelled, by any artillery in the world. Throughout the day no hesitation, a bold and intrepid advance ”