The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-30 00:00:00

2EE FRENCH ARMY.

(From the Special Correspondent, of the Times.)
• CAMP OF CHALONS.
Cavcary has been at a discount in military affairs
for some considerable time, but never more than
since tb,e infantry was armed with arms of precision
and rifled guns were invented. Nor was this un-
favourable opinion groundless, for how could the
best organised line of horsemen ever expect to do
anything against those formidable far-carrying
weapons, against which no armour could protect ?
And the. judgment not unnaturally was that, al-
though perhaps not quite useless in completing
defeats or changing by pursuit a defeat into a rout,
and although not without its advantages for out-
post duty and patrolling, cavalry was almost useless
in acturd battle, and that therefore it was time to
reduce this expensive arm to its minimum. This
opinion, which was current enough already ten
Yeats ago, has not only not been shaken, but more
than ever confirmed by the two last great wars in
gallant charges of
the East and in Italy.
The heroic but useless efforts of the British
cavalry at Balaklava, and the
the Piedmontese squadrons at Montebello, seemed
only to confirm by the test of experience the fore-
gone the _conclusions that the time of taking
guns and breaking infantry by cavalry bad gone By,
while the battle of Solferino seemed to go a step
further and furnish a proof of the utter uselessness I
of cavalry in a general action, even when assisted by
guns and a numerous infantry.
There was the open flat of the Campo di Medole
about two square miles in extent, only interrupted
by insignificant ditches which an English sports-
man would scarcely have remarked, not a tree,
scarcely a shrub anywhere, only here and there
a scanty crop of Indian corn, too soft to offer
any resistance. From 5 a.m. till 10 a.m. there was
M'Mahon trying by extending his corps d'armee to
cover the large interval between the French centre
attacking the position of Solferino and the left,
working its way from Medole into the plain. Later
in the day there were four French divisions of
cavalry (16 regiments), assisted by a reserve ar-
tillery of 40 guns at the entrance of the same plain.
Solferino had been taken, Niel was trying to de-
bouche into the plain in the right front ; certainly no
two better occasions could have been found for
cavalry, and yet some desultory charges at different
points, jest sufficient to fatigue the horses but not
to produce a result, were all the part which the
cavalry took on either side. The Austrians have at
least the excuse that a large portion of their cavalry
had gone for a promenade in the marshes of the
Mincio. The French cannot plead even this, and I
assure you the opinion about the efficiency and
utility of French, and in general of all cavalry,
brought back by the French army was not flattering.
The Emperor seems to have shared only one half
of this opinion—namely, that which relates to
French cavalry, but by no means the second half,
which refers to cavalry in general; on the contrary,
if one is to judge from the changes introduced, he
thinks cavalry an important element, not only in
outpost duties and pursuits, but in general actions.
The conclusion seems just enough, for if the
cavalry has been so inefficient in the late wars, it was
less because the improvements in the other arms of
the service left us no room for its activity, but
because, while the other arms have so wonderfully
improved, the cavalry has remaiied more or less
stationary.
This matter has now teen seriously taken in
hand. The direction of the improvements tends
towards assimilating the cavalry evolutions to the
character taken by those of infantry and artillery.
Individual excellence, rapidity, and consequently
simplicity of movements and action with large
masses in extended lines—these are the three points
which have been assumed as bases.

The success gained by the efforts thus made is
very creditable, but owing to the difficulties offered
by the peculiarities of country and people to the for-
mation of a really superior cavalry, it will take
some time before a satisfactory solution of the pro
blem can be come to.

Individual excellence is an even more indis-
pensable condition for cavalry than for modern in-
fantry, and this is difficult to obtain in a country
almost without good saddle horses, and with a
people having little taste for riding.
The first thing was to get the horses, and certainly
in this respect a great deal has been done. Who-
ever recollects the French cavalry horses ten years
ago, nay even during the Crimean war, must be
astonished by the changes which have taken place.
Long before the war in Italy began, England, Ger-
many, and Switzerland were ransacked for horses
for the cavalerie de ligne and the grosse cavalerie,
while Algeria and the neighbourhood of Tarbes,
which boasts of the same blood, were almost ex-
hausted. There is no light cavalry here, only Lan-
cers, which are cavalerie de ligne, and Cuirassiers,
which are grosse cavalerie, but from what I saw in
Italy, where, with the exception of the cavalry of
the guard, nothing but light cavalry was employed,
I should say that the latter have only one advan-
tage over the others as regards the quality of their
horses, and this is better blood on an average.
Apart from the real Arab horses of the Chasseurs
d'Afrique, the mixture of the same blood in the
Tarbes horse imparts to it a good deal of the spirit
and endurance which are so essential in a cam-
paign. In spite of the great odds in weight, if a
light cavalry division had had to pass through the
same fatiguing work in camp, I have no doubt that
they would not present that skeleton-like appearance
which most of the horses of the Lancers have. This
will be always the insurmountable difficulty of heavy

cavalry.
As for saddle and bridle, they have greatly im-
proved both of them very much on the English
model ; one might object to some heaviness still,
but in campaigning, where the same care cannot be
taken as in the stable, a pound or two of more
weight saves many a sore back.
Having done a great deal to improve horses and
saddles, the next step, even more difficult, was to
improve the horseman. Who has net looked at
the skies through a troop of Cuirassiers riding at a
trot ? I remember in this respect a curious scene.
The Villa Pieroslawsky,close to tke Woronzow-road,
leading to Baidar, was occupied by a heavy cavalry
detachment, which had a picket on the roadside.
A General officer is espied from afar, and the picket
has to get on horseback. A pull at the bridle
which makes the horse jib, a kick or two in the
belly which makes him sidle, a few hearty charognes,
disembroiling the bridles, trying to find the stirrup,
throwing back all impediments such as carbine,
sabre, hopping with one leg in the stirrup, at
last falling into the saddle with only the danger of
rolling over on the other side, a desperate pull at
the bridle, accompanied by groans from the horse,
and an attempt to pull out the sword, which, how-
ever, was given up, as the General officer had long
reached Baidar. I, could. not but think it fortunate
it was a friendly General officer, instead of a patrol
of nimble Cossacks.
Having such scenes in my memory, I was sur-
prised at the progress which has been made in
riding. This is owing to great labour directed
chiefly towards obtaining individual excellence be-
fore any combined movement is attempted. For-
merly as soon as a man who had never before sat on
horseback could somehow or other manage to keep
in the saddle while trotting he was immediately
practised in evolutions. The result was that all he
could do never went beyond keeping by means of
hand and feet in the saddle, and that was all. Now
this individual practice in single files in all paces
forms the most prominent part of the exercise. The
stirrup has been somewhat shortened, so as to let

;ruck by lance or sword. Barriers, too, are to ac-
custom the horses and men to leaping.
All these are, if you like, old things, but prac-
tised as they are they give now a very different
result. Both men and horses of the Lancers, who
have gone regularly through this practice for
the last two months, have acquired an agility
which they never before possessed, and which has
had no small effect en the evolutions themselves.
All these latter are in fast trot or gallop, and
certainly the confidence which the men have in
their riding enables them to go through their evolu-
tions with a precision which is quite new in the
French cavalry. These individual exercises whieli
have been introduced in the whole cavalry were
above all applied in the camp to form rapidly an
extended line of battle by brigades or even divi-
sions of cavalry—that is, 1,000 to 2,000 horsemen
charging in a line—an element which, if judiciously
applied, might turn many a contested battle.
Hitherto successive lines of smaller extent, placed
behind each other en echelon, was the more favourite
mode of attacking. Besides this the Lancers are
practised in charges en fourageurs, which is even
more calculated to perfect individual excellence.
Marshal Randon is spoken of as the initiator of
these changes ; but, without taking away anything
from the merits of the Marshal, one cannot help
remembering that the Emperor himself is one of
the best horsemen in France. •
You can see from this short sketch that not less
attention has been paid to this than to the other
arms of the service, the object in view being always
to harmonise all the means of warfare and to trans-
form each of them according to the changes taking
place in the others.. The_direction thus tar has
been quite right, and wonders have been done in
comparison with former times, but, as in the
changes made with the infantry, there are still
many of those old notions remaining which render
the whole work difficult, even if they cannot stop
its progress.
What better proof can you have of this than that
Cuirassiers, which have been abolished even in
Austria, still form part of the camp of Chalons ?
The terrific hobby of weight still haunts the French
cavalry. If cavalry is to take its proportionate
share in modern warfare, with long-range arms of
precision, it can surely be only by using its special
advantage in speed, which can never be equalled by
men on foot; and superior speed vrapensates for
any weight against infantry. But even in moral
effect, which is a far greater agent in all these en-
counters, great rapidity is far surer to shake even
steady soldiers than any superior size of men and
horses. In cavalry encounters likewise the im-
portance of weight, if not altogether illusory, is
certainly greatly exaggerated. An active light
cavalry, rapid in its movements, can almost play
with its heavy, unwieldy antagonists. It has bean
more than once the case in India with Sikhs, and it
was always the case between Hungarian Hussars
and Austrian Dragoons and Cuirassiers.
But, admitting even that there is a use in heavy
cavalry, it is the weight of the horse, and not of the
man and his accoutrements, which tells. As regards
this question, there has been very little or nothing
done to remedy the evil. Light and heavy cavalry
both are in the old humdrum way. The tallest and
handsomest men are chosen for the purpose, instead
of studying to have the lightest, wireiest, and those
who have at least an idea of a horse, however slight
that may be. After the Balaklava charge, and
after the experience in Algeria, one might surely
have abandoned the illusion that it is the tall,
powerful men, who deliver the formidable blows. It
is the impetus of the horse and the good rider who
knows how to combine his blows with the impetus
of the horse which are formidable. The good Eng-
lish swords, handled by the fine men on the tall,
spirited horses, could rarely cut through a Russian
greatcoat, and the Chasseurs d'Afrique had to be
armed with an almost straight sword for thrusting,
because they could not cut through an Arab bur•
nous, while a young Turkish cavalry soldier, on a
bad pony, severs a head, and a slightly-made Sikh
Irregular will do the same.
As for small wiry men there is no want here, but
I suppose a French cavalry colonel, like those of
many other countries, would scout the idea of
stunting his regiment. As. for finding riders to
make cavalry soldiers of, it is more difficult, but more
might have been done in this respect too. But
the first thing is to get rid of the overweight, which
oppresses heavy and light cavalry equally. It is
very rare that any one learns riding after he has
attained his full growth; the legs will no longer
adapt themselves, besides which the real care and
affection which the cavalry soldier ought to have
for his horse are the result of early habit.
As too much cannot be done at once, the present
practice with sword and lance at objects fixed on
the drill ground is already a step; but if it stops
there it will produce very little practical result.
The great point is to judge the distances and deliver
blow or thrust accordingly. In the present manner
with fixed objects, both horses and men get accus-
tomed, like the circus rider with his hoop. Besides,
I need not tell you that practising at a bar will
teach little leaping. There is space enough about
the camp for changing the position of the puppets,
as well as getting up ditches, hedges, &c. But
there is yet time for this, and, in spite of shortcom-
ings, " progress" is everywhere, in infantry, artil-
lery, and cavalry, and if fate should bring on an-
other war there would probably be another occa-
sion for astonishment.

The American Government has appointed Mr.
Bigelow, late of the New York Evening Post, to the Paris
Consulate. Mr. Bigelow was one of the most accomplished
and versatile members of the profession in America—a
journalist who, although identified with politics as a de-
cided partisan, enjoyed the respect of all for his integrity,
his talents, and his varied knowledge and accomplishments.
yesDteßrdEsAyDmFoUrnLinFglßES.--
Shortly before
alarmed by the outbreakt
he inhabitants aobfi t an
fire.t s
two o'clock
ofTSoheupthrewmalisceswienrewaghaicinh
the disaster occurred were in the occupation of Messrs.
Green and Co., wholesale brush manufacturers, carrying on
business at No. 8, Kent-street, opposite Captain Williams's
pipe stores. The discovery was made by one of the inmates
by finding his room filled with smoke. This pes son upon
jumping out of bed found the flooring so hot that he could
scarcely stand. Ile, however, managed to run to the top of
the building, screaming "Fire 1" This had the effect of
arousing the various inmates, who made for the t op part of
the building, and cried loudly from the window for help.
In the course of a few minutes several police cons tables ar-
rived, also the Royal Society's escapes from St. George's
Church and Tooley-street, under Superintendent Topsall
and Conductor Dunk. By the time the first-nau led escape
hid arrived—less than three minutes—the fire could be seen
rushing from the first and second floor windows. Mrs.
Green was standing at the window with a child in her arms,
surrounded with flame. Topsail having pitched his machine
to the second floor, happily succeeded in saving them, as
well as a person named Henry Waggoner ; the hatter, how-
ever, was fearfully, and, it is believed, fatally burnt. The
poor creatures were in the first instance removed to the
house of Mr. Murphy, the Cooper's Arms, and Oho last
after being wrapped in blankets, was conveyed te st'
Thomas's Hospital. A man named William
then seen upon the roof of the house,
and
downe°ll'll2:l2e escape.
Mattthherwps vas
was obliged to pull him off and pass him
It was with great difficulty
that the escapemen could get
down, for the fire, in rushing so furiously out of the
were compOled to elide
win-
dow, had ignited the canvass trough of the escape, and, in
order to reach the ground, the men
through an immense sheet of fire. The excitement was
great when it became known that one of the children slept
in the back room second floor, and that the fath e r had gone
in search of it, and neither of the two had been seen to
leave the building. It was hoped for some time that they
had been fortunate enough to get out of one of t:t we windows
leading into the back yard, but such was not flu! case. As
soon as the fire was got under Mr. Foreman Swi nton found
the child, three years old, under the window, .quite dead ;
and the father was found in the back room, ssiffocated.—
' While this fire was raging another occurred 'in the pre-
noises of Mr. Fry, pastrycook, carrybib, -
on business at No.
15, Crisp-street, Poplar. When Henry Hortc in, the con-
ductor of the firo escape, attended with his rciachine, he
found three persons—Mr. and Mrs. Jones, with an infant
—about to throw themselves into the street. Horton, how-
ever, unshipped the first story ladder, and carried the three
down. He was then informed that there were other per-
through a court, but a difficulty then
sons sleeping at the back. He therefore look his ladders
getting the machinery over some Paliesdin .g• Having cut
3sented itself in
the obstruction away with his axe, Jae placed one of the
ladders on a water-butt, and by tha4 expedient succeeded
in rescuing the other six inmates. The fire was soon ex
tingUi3hed, but the damage was COI aiderable.

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