, 1861-06-22

Fir. E5 Regiment Of :; s;
EIS I'll Regiment Of :}@ e about g q
Fiat iand on1y> Reg R!aamen: Too :. 50
Total. ..::..,.,........7,o00 6,9a
:: Volunteer foot-so1dle1s arc very soon made
Efficient; volunteer horse-soldiera only beglu
to know how things are done after years
practice. Every man has horse, but Ne are
Informed by an experienced officer ct the seat
Of war that not more than half come up to
military rquiremenss, Or Is likely to be trained
for the war. OF the regulars, even, oue-hau
nre mounted on unframed steels, which are
unmanageable and dangerous ia Lac Of battle,
AID will be perfectly worthless for the chiefeat
business Of mounted troops In bJgone times,
viz, breaking the enemy's ranks. This L. Is.
pecially true Of cur best regiment, the gallant
which, in consequence OF Gen. Twigg's sur.
Eender, was robbed Of al Its best horses.
Lieutenant Tompkins, whose dash at the Viz,
g1nians he's already been SO highly spoken OF,
experienced the greatest Inconvenience In )
straight ga!lop from the "toughness" of some
Of h;s mems horses, many Of 1h:ch gave theis
1iders more than enough to do to quiet thei,
These facts go to show how trivial clrcura-
stances may make "ho1se-soldlers" and to
prove the wisdom Of q remark left on record
By Napoleon. Speaking with Marshal Soult
on the setyiceablenesa Of drayoona; tho ;:s,
corporal" gave these reasons for not thinking
highly OF them. They are quoted By Sir Vii.
liam Napier:
list. Your enemy can meet you with dra-
d. It is impossible to equip dragons for all
contingencies.
"5d, oae thousand footmen can do twice %
Ecch military service In auy campaign as ono
18th. The dlsmounted dragoon Is as helpless
as dfsarned musketeer.
18th. One regiment OF dragons costa more ths1
tout regiments Of Infantry.
When mounted soltfers Eeet each other IN
tie fray, Us they do in nearly all modern eu-
gagentnts, their power Is gone. The 1ish.ug
Is confined to the few com panies In front,
Tounde1stAnd that fact, It Is only necessary
to imagine five hundred Of tie second cavalry
charging III equal number Of VlrgIniaus.
Nhe1 the shock HoulI be over, II the litter
did not retreat, confusion would ensue which
no inexperienced person can conceive. Horses
will not put their shoulders to each other aud
push; and men ure not all W,nsAip., and can.
not shove horse out OF the way. Retreatin4.
and charging pe rpetuslly,, then, is their work
IN line As an outside contingent thev are
good; ard we have q sufficient supply Tor this
All modern battles establish the ahsurdity OF
tAhlAu6 NAsaAt aEauek C1fdllf A10 as all
modern Generals put few rslnks of cavalry
in front, 1t is no wonder that q mutual disgust
With that arm for > force for close fig ltingpre.
walls. Therefore, Napoleon ia about to les
etn Lis mounted mea by thirteen thousaul,
ard the Duke Of Tetuan Marshal O'Doanellj
has made artiltezHts OF his best three cavalry
corra.
"It is impossible to equip dragoons for all
contingeuc{es.n To do 80 properly would re-
qui1e three horses for each man; as many r.
diug-nasters IS pr!yates; aud more fodder
than IN ambulance suitable for ten times an
equal force Of Infantry and artiIler;sts; for
horses cabnot always feed Gu the *shead-landa''
and drink On the roadside. "Olc thousand
tootlnen can do twice as much military ba3i-
ness Is one thou and horsemen." A foot SOL
dir can help to throw up catrenchments-h
musket beelte him can overhaul and put to
rights the ambulance wagons; can pack the
baggage and take q scouts turn occasionally
IN Al J. auise; but If the drayoon does any
thing but bis stable duty, ana Keeping ols very
fssd or water, and 6 carblre, pistol o. sabre
get rusty.
Horse soldiers do not easily become foot
soldiers" When trooper loses his sts ed "ae
Is Is helpless rs diRa7med mu6kcteer." This
Is true even Of the British dragon. Accus-
toned to the sadd1e, bis feet seem to be given
10 him only Tor running, Di5monnEed lie Is
half defeated; and, moreover, horse is 3
bigger target thau . man.
At Magenta sixty-fy d-serte1s were Brought
back III the hour Of victory. They were all
dismourted horse soldiers. "Why did ron
run awayy' said McMahon. "Our horses
we've killed, and ue co,Rdn't fight, General" re-
was uttered without re1 ection: but 1t gives q
clue to the feelings Of q dragoon when his
eteed drops.
"Ore regiment Of dragoons costs as much
as four Other regiments" One thousand
horses cost one hundred thousand dpllar7 st
least Allowing vide margin for all tbs
grazirg horses can obtain, their support,
which is small item In the additional expend-
itnre they incur, costs two hundred thousand
dollars year. These ere merely the obtec-
tions that practical men see on the surface OF
tile matter in discussion There are a hundred
the srms Of mounted troops, for infantry
work-the extrn camp provisions, tie tons Of
implements that must ba carried ofter a
mounted force, aid the ambulauces this would
require partial character Of their useful
ness-the fact that every military nation has
discovered their comparative worthlessness -
ard that men c:1 be employed much norc al
santsgeously a. artillerists, inE.ntry, sil-m IN
and Zcuaves. All these considerations hayo
iA2Vcsd General Scott to make mounted
troops Email consideration In the coming
campaign.
I: is new conceded ty au military au.hori.
ties that artillery breaks ranks, and CAUSES
disaster, when well serTed, more efficiently
than horse soldiers, who can seldom get fur
ther into the enemy's nues than tas space
covered tF regiment. Mr. Wood, in his
famous Iukerman LITTER to the Iinn*, records
the successful 1ceistance Of 8 van Of cavalry by
"fcur rank charge Of bayone:a.' Imagine
ranks Of " cha-ged bayonets" keepicg in line
while ten yolle1 Of pound grape were being
tfanfeJf In the front rankA
There are three kl1a3 Of mounted troops,
viz, dragons, cavalry, lauccrs and iii ameo.
In Europe, zach Of these IS distinguished b7
special dlties, cavalry being title common
to them all. With us the only difference,
practically, between our dragons and rifle.
srmtd ni:h r.aes AID the others are not The
o1etically, however, their mode Ct doing
things Is very different. One does duty on
foot, snd the otler does not.
The apparent inlispoaition Of the War De
psrtncnt aud General Scott to increase the
contemporaries a few facts, however, from
the report Of an able officer Of tho Second
Dragons, may Partially explain the action Of
the authorities:
F7ya-Every one thousand nen kill two
ttousa1d ho1ses before they know their
drill.
&eond-Two hundred Of every Thousand are
1A;rd-A Zonave, whose drill Is the h..dest
for foot soldiers to lea1n, is nearer to pe-:ec-
ticn In his discipline In two mouths .h.a a
dtuBcon Is in ayear, Four yeass arc required
to dr7ll horse eoldier properly.
lie last paragraph Is not surprising, when
We look at what the dragoon has to learn.
He must walk, t1ot, gal1op, train his horse to
"stsnd fire." to jump fences aud deap na1row
etreams. When all these IRE learned-aud
they require long time and much prac:ice-
he must be taught not to shout MS horse,
(whcse head ls the first thing he aims a5,) bis
comrade, or his comrades horse his oiic.r,
or anybody but lis enemy. He must earn
the "MouliEot,'' rapid revolution Of the
wrist, that his sabre may DO properly welded,
and the charge kept In his pistol and c1rbiue
until the proper moment II hs caanot 10
al these things well. he had better not be in
the fi.ld:
The -1toniteur de Ia FoGe, in the beginning
OF the Italian war, published letter from
General Caurobert about cavalry, from which
VT make this extract: " In 1880 cavalry will
be the only sentinels on the hattie fell They
will reTer participate in the grand charge
seldom In the melee, except to expedite iney-
liable dfscrEanization. Their place Is outsida
the lines. We have three time6 too many
holsenen now. Every horse eats Its rider
weight In week, and IN short time all an-
other horse can carry for him The Zuu2ve
is compromise between the cavalry and in.
fantty. He Is a horseman on foot. Let Us
have Zouaves. They can campaign month
on what q little KNAPP sack holds"
One point in this connection has been COM
rvA bad hy,n nt-h, har