The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-07-19
THE CZAR,S CAVALRY.
A Noble Body OF Men-DraEOOna Who
Fight IndiGerenfIy Mounted or
Foot - Their Horses
and Equipments.

of the Russian troops near Turnu Magu
r, relli, writes as follows of the cavalry:
c The artillery moved of and the de
!. tachment of dragons came up. Thl
e Russians do not claim to have any tech
t nically "heavy" cavalry of the line
t There used to be a whole division O
( cuirassiers which were very heavy cav
airy, but there remain of cuirassers nov
5 but three regiments, and these belong tC
: the imperial guard. But the dragons ]
saw were virtually heavy cavalry-cav-
airy indeed as heavy as any in Europe
: Horses seventeen hands high, neither
clumsy nor wcedy, strengthened, close
coupled, pOwerfully-quartered, noble
crested, with small, well-bred heads, and
the stamp of immense power and leOni1e
courage perYading the whole frame.
Men tall, square~shouldeTed, clean
fanked, rather heavy-limbed, perhaps,
but without clumsiness-men, in fine,
of the stamp of our dalesmen, who fur
nish the best troops to our household
cavalry, only for the most part of greater
| breadth of shoulder and massiveness of
limb. I will frankly aver that it has
never yet befallen me to see troop horses
so grand. Then saw handful of Uhlans
the men, take them as a whole, run
ming a little smaller and lighter than the
dragons, but only a trife so-the horses
| of equal substance and another handful
of hussars, the men Perceptibly slighter
| and shorter than the dragons, yet still
! big men, the horses hardly so tall, but
with almost as much power. The Rus
slams, as they have technically ne heavy
cavalry of the line, so they have techni-
cally no light cavalry of the line; the
| COssacks constitute their light cavalry.
| It is a fair question for discussion whether
| it is wise or otherwise to have all the
regular cavalry thus massive, for really
no other expression conveys so truthful
an idea of their character.
The Russian cavalry saddle is very
rudimentary, yet serviceable article for
practical works. It consists simply of a
wooden frame raised on two wooden pam
nels,, which fit the horses back, lying
lengthwise on either side of the back
bone. The only leather about the saddle
are the flaps, which come only a little
way down, but extend the whole length
of the pannels. Both pOmmel and cantle
are high and cut out, so as to allow a
current of air to circulate along the
backbone between the paDnels. In front
are pair of immense wallets which are
stuffed with belongings of man and horse.
Above the wallets is carried a sheepsl1iD
neatly folded not rolled, and the whole
is covered by the horse-rug, which en-
velops the wallets and their sUperstruct-
ure, and being carried back to the cantle,
furnishes also the seat of the saddle,
there being no leather seat, as in our
military saddles, above the wooden frame.
Behind the wallets, or rather, perhaps,
behind the top of the pommel, the dra-
COON carries ratiOns for two days, bread,
rice, salt, &c, in canvas bags made for
the purpose. Behind him, across the
cantle, hangs also in canvas bags on
either side his bOrse's ration of grain for
two days, with two days allowance sf
hay, packed very close in hay nets, hang
ing down on either flank. On the pannel
ends behind the cantle is carried a small
round valise, much of the same shape as
that used by our cavalry, but without a
flap. In this and in the wallets the
dragoon carries the following kit: One
uniform tUnic, one white tunic, three
shirts, two pairs draws, one sleeping COM
fOrter covering head and neck, one pair
of boots, aud one pair feathers for making
new legs to boots. Each third man
carries a copper cOOking-pOt which fits
exactly over one end of his Valise
Above the valise is half a tent d'abri,
with one of the stakes. l should have
said that above everything in front are
strapped the picket pegs and ropes, which,
however, seem to be very little used.
Underneath the saddle frame is a felt
blanket folded four-fOld, which does duty
for our numna. 1t is refolded daily, so that
fresh surface is always next the horses
back, an admirable preventive of chafng.
One inch-brOad leather girth maintains
the saddle In its place with the aid of
Il L III
some distance further back. A sUrcingle
keeps the rug in position, and straps it
down on to the frame. There is no
breast-plate or crUpper 10 the Russian
saddle, but a leather band crosses the |
horses chest to keep the saddle in posi-
tiOn. The headstall is simple, strong,
and eminently practicable; there is no
gimcrackery of many buckles or brasses.
The dragoon, who wears a kepr, blue
tunic, and pantalOOns, with boots coming
up to the knee, carries a breech-loading
Krink short rife, not a carbine, in
leather case slung on his back, with the
butt on the right side and the muzzle
above the left shoulder. The nOn-cem-
missioned officers carry no rifles, but are
armed with TevOlveTs. The private dra-
! coon has no pistols. He carries a sabre
without a basket bilt. Indeed in the
| Russian army there are few basket-hilted
swords, in a leather scabbard lined with
wood and tipped with brass, and bound
| by brass rings On the sword scabbard Is
| also the leathern sheath of a bayOnet, for
use with the rife when the dragon is
| fighting on foot For the Russian dra-
COON is a dragon proper, according to
| the original acceptatien of the term. He
| is armed and trained to fight indiferently
| on foot or on horseback; you may call
| him a mounted infantryman when he is
on horseback, but ! should prefer to call
| him a dismounted cavalryman when he
| is on foot. The Russian dragons march
/ in sections of threes, and at the order to
| light On foot, the centre of threes takes
! charge of the horses of his two comrades,
| the SOUS ca pitaine of the squadron taking
! charge of the horse detachment, and
while striving 10 avail himself of as much
cover as possible, keeping also as near as
! possible to the force fighting dismounted.
| To sum up, the Russian dragOOn has
nothing about him that iingles as he
| rides-nothing that by sparkling could
show his whereabouts afar of. He is a
! plainly dressed, wOrkmanlike, practical
looking soldier, with a genuine love for
his horse, and it appears, a real pride IN
his profession.
4ACAC diC BO oIdAS % IL LeAoola ICA llC
| supply of horses to the cavalry. Each
| regiment has a remount officer, who has
the duty of buying young horses and OF
taking charge of the TemOunt depot,
where thirty-six men Of the regiment are
stationed TO look after the youngsters.
/ The remount officer buys horses between
the ages of one and three years. He
has all Russia to select from; but The
horses for the most part are brought by
owners and dealers to the dePOts, which
are located chiefly in the governments of
Tambof and Varousin on the VOlga,
since in these governments horses suited