Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-05-20
CAvALRYINTHE COMING wan

| CAVALRY IN THE COMING WAR
The improvements effected in field artiller,
| and in small arms within the last few wears vii
| tell more against Austria in the present wa
| than against her antagonists, from the fact tha
| they IN great measure neutraIize her incon
testable superiority in cavalry. For actiy,
service in the field there is no power i'm th
| world which can complete with her in this arm
1 OF the service. The Russian cavalry is NOR,
| numerous, but both men and horses are yasth
| inferior TO those of several western armies
| The horses are low bred and the men wan
both the great essentials, one or other Of which
| all good cavalry must have-weight and viva
| city.
They figured we'll on more than one occasion
In the wars of the French empire, but it wa!
| rarely they ventured to make head against
either kellerman or Murat In all the war,
with the Turks, previous to the last one, the,
generally sought shelter from the sharp sabre.
and blood horses of the spshis behind the in
fantry and artillery. On the only two occasion,
IN "nlch they were brought into action in the
Crimea, in 1885, they behaved contemptibly
They were ridden down ingloriouSly by the
scots Grays, and were repulsed by a not mar.
tlcularly well-directed yolley from Sir Colin
Cdmpbells Highlanders drawn up in line.
We, Of course. except the COssacks from the
charge OF inefficiency; but fighting is not their
role. As combatants they are worthless: as
scouts they are unequallcd. In fact, the ordi-
nary Russian peasant has not either the bodily
activity or personal dash which must always
enter into the composition of Al good horseman
A cavalry older must be more than well-dril-
led to be good at his trade A great deal has
always to be left to his individual qualities.
The French soldier has all the dash. pluck k
and yivacity which cavalry so much need: and
If he could be taught to ride, and France had
any horses worth riding. the French cavalry
would be the finest in the world But the homes
truth must be confessed. that between the
plgskin and the Gallic seat there seems to be
an lrreconcilable hostility. Riding rarely
comes natural To a Frenchman and there !.
probably at this moment not a worse seat
known in any nieH0ge in Europe than that o.
the French dragOOn. The best French regiment,
to any body who Is at all familiar with the re-
latiOns which ought to exist between man and
horse, is one of the most painful sights in ma
ture. Six or seven Squadrons shot out Of their
saddles In full panOply, foOt-and- u half into
the air, and let down again, apparently in
helpless agony, amidst a crash of steel and
brass, without apparent defence against con-
tract with mother earth, is not by any means
pleasing spectacle. The soldier is. however.
at all times worthy of a noble steed The rem
nants of the French cavalry are generally ft
for nothing but the plough or the dung cart
heavy, numbering, big headed. sIuare-quar-
tered, slow and lOw-bred, the wonder is that il
Is even possible ever to expect a charge out of
them Their leading points aro toIerably
Brought out in Rosa BOnheurs :sIIOrse Fair. 3
but she has gifted her animals with an appar-
ent fire, which no Norman carbh0rsc was ever
known to display. We once heard a foreign
officer account for all the great charges of the
French cavalry by the supposition that after
the animals roused into a gallop, the riders
lost control over them, and literally 'rolled
upon the foe But the sneer ia iI!-f0unded
The French cavalry, in spite of all its defects
has performed rs brilliant feats as any in the
world, owing, however, moro to the great pIuck k
and dash OF the men than either to its horses or
hOrseman5hip. When a Frcnchman finds him
self galloping full speed, in a crowd, his mere
excitement makes him formidable antagonist
with the English cavalry our readers are
generally SO familiar that little need be said
about it. For one charge, or one march, or for
appearance On parade, no cavalry in the world
can be compared to it. Continental officers are
rarely az we'll mounted as the English private
The horses are half or three-quarters bred and
the men probably present the finest yhysiqHr
of any similar body in the world The conse.
quence is that in n charge they are irresistible
No other cavalry in equal force can offer any
thing like decent resistance to their onset
But the men are too heavy, and the horses tOo
tender, and the result is that two months active
service renders them worthless Their history
IN the Crimea, short, admirable illustrates their
good and bad points.
No power, however, can boast such body of
cavalry rs Austria. 1t is enormous in NUN
Der. Tho horses are eXcellent-wCli-bred
handy, active and courageous. The men arc
bold riders, good swOrdsmen aud better still.
are the right weight, and arc recruited in great
part from two of the greatest equestrian nations
in the world the Poles and fIungarians. In
her service the mOnstrUsity So often witnessed
IN France, Ut 3 iant OF 300 pounds weight ladc n
with arms and accOutrements astride of n boast
not much bigger than himself is never wit
messed. In short the Austrian uhlan or hussar is
is the model hght-cavalry man CO the world,
small, light, wiry, active. indefatigabIe n rider
from his cradle his bride in his heels and his
hand, eye and heart on his sabre, indCfatigabIe
III the march, swift in the charge. eycryWhe re
by turns and nowhere long, it may be almost
said that the Hungarian hussar now that the
Turkish spahi is thing of the past is the only
light cavalry, in fact the only cavalry i'll ex-
lStence. Ills cuts are rs fatal and sure as other
men : thrusts. His horse is part of himself:
riding or fighting are his pas.iiHe In former
days ne was the glory and boast of the Austrian
army Those gay swarms of hardy little men
which shot from its sides on the march were il
surcSt aids in victory, its best safeguards de-
feat
All this, however, goes down before the En-
HELD rifle and the Armstrong gun. Let the
horse be ever so swift, the sabre ever So sharp,
or the rider ever So bold the cOnical ball is too
much for him. A charge of cavalry upon a
body of properly armed infantry bids fair to
be henceforward impossible. Two hundred
yards has been fixed by the best authority as
the proper charging distance, and in by gone
days it was only ut two hundred yards that the
fire of square began to tell, and saddles TO be
emptied But now -a-days the iron rain patters
on the horsemen before they get within half a.
mile OF the foe. If they quicken their pace to
close, the maddest charge will not bring a
Dragon horse on the bayOnet in less than
three minutes. and when he arrives he is
blown and disabled. when he arriyes''-it
he arrives. We should say; for even in trayers-
ing eight Lu idred yards at the top Of his speed,
he receives half dozen voIleys from ra:tised
sharpshooters. To send cavalry on such SER
vice VIII, we may safely predict, hcnceforward
be considered madness. The foot-soIdier has
n swifter messenger in his cartouche-box than
the feetest hussar, and Austria loses her most
efficient weapon.-N. Y. Post.