The Osceola times., 1877-07-21

I
gimcrackery of many buckles or bra~es.
The dragon, who wears kepr, blue
tunic, and pantalooDs, with boots coming
mp TO the knee, carries breech loading
krink short rifle, not carbine, in a
leather case slung on his back, with the
butt on the right side aud the muzsle
| above the left shoulder. The non-conl.
missioned officers carry no rifles, but are
armed with revolvers The private dra-
/ goon has no pistols lie carries sabre
without Il basket hilt. Indeed in the
Russian army there are few basket-hilted
swords, in leather scabbard lined with
! wood and tipped with brass, and bound
by brass rings. On the sword scabbafl Il
alec the leathern sheath of bayonet, for
Use with the rifle when the dragoon is
fighting on foot. For the Russian dra-
goon is Il dragoon proper, according 10
the original acceptation of the term. lie
is armed and trained 10 fight indiherently
on foot or on horseback; you may call
him a mounted infantryman when he is
on horseback, but should prefer to call
him 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-capitaine Of the squadron taking
charge of the horse detachment, and
while striving TO 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 conld
show his whereabouts afar off. lie is a
plainly.dressed, workmanlike, practical
looking soldier, with n genuine love for
his horse, and it appears, real pride in
his profession,
There are no studs as in Russia for the
supply Of horses to the cavalry. Each
regiment has remount officer, who has
the duty of buying young horses and OF
taking charge of the remOunt 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 Nolga,
since in these governments horses suited
for cavalry purposes are more plentiful
than in other parts of Russia. The limit
of price permitted 10 the remount officers
il 1873 roubles for horses destined for the
cavalry of the line; for the liberal impe-
rial guards the limit rose to 800 rou-
bles. At the age of four the young
horses, which have previously been
handled but not broken<(n, are drafted
into the reserve squadron, where they
remain for year, during which time
they are broken in; and at the age of
five Join the regiment and service. A
horse is supposed TO last seven years from
the date of his joining the regiment, 50
that the remount officer has to furnish
young horses nearly TO the amount of
IN. IN eyenth of the total service. strength
Inc ress.-e, squadron in peace time is
about one hundree stroro mi In Nor
time it is increased to s;; .,;oo or thr;aa
this strength TO meet drafts H.. /. mnon
it to supply vacancies of men and hup.saa hpon
in the field squadron. Cavalry recruits
who come from all parts of Russia, but
are chiefly drawn from little Russia, the
people OF which are extremely good
horse-masters and fond of riding, are sent
direct to their respective regiments, and
are considered fit to be dismissed from
recruit drill in three months. Formerly
the period of training was nine months,
but now they work harder, it seems and
are sent to duty sooner. think a man
is likelier to be good duty. f,ra;pinc
the end OF nine T6free months forcing
hn, tnsi ..t q. 'if appears tuition is sedulously
Kept up after the dragoon is sent into the
ranks, and the accelerated training is of
course desderatum in war, or when it
is desired quickly TO increase the strength
of the army. The cavalry soldiers term
of active service is nominally ten years,
with five years in the reserve; but in
practice he is sent home after having
served four or five years, with liability to
be called from this long furlough at u
days notice. Non-commissioned officers
may go down or remain with the regi-
ment at their option; if they engage for
second term of service they receive
additional pay. Private soldiers are not
allowed to re-engage.