The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-19 00:00:00

OUR CA TALRY ()moms

(Peon the Daily Nees. of thiB da3,4)

For nearly forty years the English cavalry has
been officered exclusively by wealthy men. How-
ever well qualified for that branch of the service,
an individual who had not a tolerably large private
fortune would have been considered insane if he
had asked for a commission in the Dragoons. The
cornetcy, or first commission, in all mounted corps,
save the Life Guards and Blues, costs 840/. ; the
lieutenancy can never be obtained for less than
1,7001. or 1,800/. ; the usual sum paid for a troop
(or captaincy)
is from 5,5001. to 7,000/. ; for a ma-
jority, 8,0001. to 9,0001. ; and from 10,000/. to
12,0001. for the command of a corps. In all ex-
changes from infantry to cavalry larger sums in
proportion are given;
and it is commonly reported
in military circles that two noble lords, lately re-
turned from the Crimea, did, several years ago, in
I order to obtain their rank of lieutenant-colonels of
cavalry quickly, sink sums of 15,000/. and 20,000/.
I respectively. When we add to this the fact that
the pay of each officer in the commissioned ranks
of cavalry does not give him five per cent. for the
money he has spent on promotion—that the style
of living in every regiment is most expensive, not
to say extravagant— that the uniforms, horse
accoutrements, &c., cost very large sums—that it
is an acknowledged fact that no officer can live in
any of our cavalry regiments with less than from
' 400/. to 6001. a year—when all these circumstances
are taken into consideration, it will be allowed that
a cavalry commission is not to be thought of by a pcor
man. No; according to the English militarycresd,
and according to the custom which has reigned
supreme since the termination of the last war, the
regiments of Dragoons, Dragoon Guards, Light
Dragoons, Lancers, and Hussars, are intended
solely as colleges where rich young men can pass
away pleasantly the six or seven years which inter-
vene between their leaving public schools and set-
tling down to marry, or lock after the paternal
acres. Every cavalry corps has an adjutant and
a riding-master, men who, in most cases, have risen
from the ranks. Are not these two officers enough
to help the colonel to look after the regiment ? Of
course they are. What need therefore of captains
and subalterns—who have paid large sums for their
commissions—worrying themselves about discipline
or drill ? Should the commanding officer not give
too much trouble, matters go on pleasantly enough.
The adjutant looks after the field-days and the con-
duct of the men, the riding-master after his own
department, the veterinary surgeon takes care of
the health of the horses, the doctor of that of the
men. The captains andi subalterns hunt, dress,
shoot, go on leave, and from first to last duty is
made as easy as possible to all parties. But should
the colonel be such a misguided individual as to
expect all the officers under him to know their
work, and require them to perform the same, mat-
ters assume a very different aspect. The regiment
gets a bad name in the military market ; commis-
sions don't sell so high as they do in more favoured
corps ; officers exchange and sell out continually,
giving money to go into pleasanter regiments, and
other gentlemen are brought in, 'only again to ex-
change or retire from the service.
Let us see how this system works in the army—•
let us test the results of having our cavalry for
forty years in the hands of excusively rich and
aristocratic officers.

Against the personal bravery of no portion of the
English army can a word be said. But is courage
the only requisite in a soldier ? Certainly not—
least of all in a cavalry officer. It is said, that
two years' training are requisite to make a perfect
dragoon of a private recruit ; how much more
must the careful study of his profession be requi-
site to qualify properly him who has to lead
the troop or squadron ? The care of horses,
and. how to look after them in the field ; the
weight the dragoons ride, and the best way
of taking off part of that weight ; the feeding,
grooming, and shoeing of horses, under all pos-
sible circumstances ; the most effectual manner of
protecting them against the weather when deprived
of shelter—all these are but a few items of what
ought to form the study of young men for at least
a couple of years before they enter the service as
cavalry officers. Add to the foregoing the know-
ledge required by every dragoon officer when once
mounted and before the enemy—the how and the
when to attack, the best manlier of forming reserve
or supporting lines, the most effectual way of fol-
lowing up a retreating enemy, or withdrawing
without loss from one too strong to be Attacked
with any hope of success—and some slight idea
may be formed by civilians that many qualifica-
tions beyond mere animal contsege:are.required by
men who aspire to be good cavalry officers.
Let any impartial man read over -the evidence
given by Lard Lucan, the other day, before Mr.
Roebuck's committee, and then say whether the
last forty years of our cavalry training has
produced what the public had every right to ex-
pect. It is all very well to blame the Commis-
sariat officers, and we would be the last to cast
a veil over their gross mismanagement in so
many cases during the present Ns ar ; but it would
.he in every way unjust to attribute solely to Mr.
Filder and his subordinates the state in which Lard
Lucan describes our cavalry to have been when
he left the Crimea. If Lord Raglan was competent
to command an army going
.on service, 'he must
have known that when horses have been accustomed
to stables for many years, they would require in th•
field some covering warmer than the hair furnished
by nature. The brigades of cavalry should never
have been allowed to leave England without a pro-
per supply of horse clothing, nose- bags,.pegs, ropes,
and other requisites. Had the commanding and
other officers of cavalry been aware of the duties
they would be called upon to perform in the East
—had they been possessed of any practical know-
ledge of their profession—representations respect-
ing the want of these articles would have been sent
to the proper authorities, and.would, no doubt, have
met with every attention. But both Lord Raglan
and the leaders of the cavalry division, brigades and
regiments, seem to have proceeded to the Crimea
trusting a great deal to chance,
R and the rest to Pro-
vidence. The horses of both the ussiansand Franck
dragoons—we don't include the Arab horses of the
Chasseurs d'Afriq tie, which were no doubt more ac-
customed to roughing it—seem to have been in very
much better condition than those of the
,English
cavalry, simply because they were better looked
after, and were under the eyes of officers who knew
what they were about. At the present day, the
French dragoons iu the Crimea take the whole duty
of patrolling for the Allied army, and their horses
are, comparatively speaking, in excellent condition.
The magnificent English cavalry regiments which
left this country about a year ago now exist but in
name. One corps can muster but three horses ;
another has only twenty fit for duty. Two heavy
regiments—the 4th and sth Dragoon Guards—are
so weak in numbers that for some months they
have been amalgamated as one corps, 'and that
united corps cannot muster sixty effective cavalry
soldiers. In short, we have at this moment no
cavalry whatever in the Crimea, and not less than
120,0001. has been lost to the country from the
number of horses that have perished from mis-
management since the war began.
For a state of affairs like this who is to blame ?
We reply that, individually, every officer who had
the power to represent the wants of the cavalry to
Gerernment, and failed to do so, ought to be held
responsible for what has happened. Furthermore,
Lord Raglan is himself greatly to blame lei not re-
medying matters sooner than he did. But the
fault throughout lies chiefly in the entire system
hitherto pursued in the cavalry branch of the ser-
vice. That service has been for twice twenty years
a mere fashionable plaything, with which moneyed
men have amused themselves, between the ages of
eighteen and twenty-six. So much for the cause—
the effect we see in the present state of our dragoon
to
wi
regiments before Sebastopol. As a man Sews, so
must he reap ; and nations are not exempt from this
universal law. Since the last war, we have allowed
the
which
cavalry
menof t
keephis u
countryota
ll
such as become
would
a
make the army their profession ; and the servicesl ti no
result is
now patent to all. No one
can gather grapes from
thorns, nor figs from thistles, al), mor than sol-
diers fit for active ser • vice can be had at a moment's
notice, without the slightest previous training.
How long such a state of affairs is to be allowed to
exist depends upon the nation itself; but we don't
think that the period is very distant when
the broom
of reform will be applied to sweep away all the
abuses which have so long been the curse of our
army.

etsitieer.(plareymnisteosnolicnegu,piaeta ant
Fiar Az
Berm )o d:ey. Tile storehousep, aah:es, and sheds, about
e:sriy hour, a fire DMi. IVilfiani lk, seligioaTytrt sal swan, 65, II Li s se t
90 feet by 40, were burned down, and six horses burned
to death. The adj.ining premises, occupied by Mr.
Traffey, manure thaler, Mr. Hook Cooptr, and Mr.
Horne, currier, were considerably damagLd. The cause
of the tire is unlin van. Mr. Murrell was insured :n the
:Monarch offize, and Mr. Hook in the Phoenix. The
others were not insured..

A Be'g':an mti t, named Van Lerins, lito brought to
this country a picture of Adam and Eve, lei
duction, which is being exhibited at 57, Par-mall; The
own pro-
cnnposition represerts them reclining—Adam buried in
profound slee'L)
are life size, are disposed with elegance, and the general
L P and Eve just awakei.ino• • while Satan,
with the serpent, is seen behind. The 'figures, which
effect of light and shade is pleasing. Some slight devia-
tions from correct drawing are,lowerer, visible in the
left arm of Adam and the right hand of Eve. The
artist's c3nception of Satan is not very happy. He has
made him too mean and commonplace a Send. Of the
colouring of this picture it,is impossible to judgi, as it
is exhibited by artificial light.