, 1880-11-19
The French Army.

Notwithstanding defects both in ap-
pearance and performance and perform
ance, the spectacle was a striking one.
The sight of nearly 10000 soldiers, with
SO cannon, passing by, could not but
impress spectator with the belief that
they meant fighting. Of that | am
thoroughly convinced, and so would the
enemy soon be- There is q resolute air
about the French troops which is very
impressive, They have become very
much steadier without losing any of
their elan. The steadiness is especially |
remarkable in firing. AS have said in
many previous letters, they are well in
hand, snd the intelligence with which
each man co.operates in the general
plan is scarcely, l fancy, to be seen out
side the French army, and goes so far
to compensate for a lack Of precision.
Taking the good with the bad, I should
set down the French infantry as for all
practical purposes, the best The ar
tillery are, | fancy, inferior to the in.
fantry The cavalry are, to my mind,
the worst of all. The French are not
naturally good riders or fond of the sad.
die. The time Of service is not long
enough to give the cavalry solid train
ing in equitation before placing them in
the ranks. Consequently, though they
get along very well at rough ground.
Some three or four years years ago ex-
pressed the opinion that in a charge
ofcavalry againstcavalry the French cav
airy would not be found very efficient
am of the same opinion still. There
is no doubt about their gallantry, but "a
man, however brave on foot, is not,
when mounted. very formidable unless
thoroughly at home in the saddle. This
the French, though they have improved
of late years, certainly are not as a rule.
Their Hussars and Chasseurs are only
fit for purely light cavalry work, and
though better ia this respect than dur
ing the war, they have yet very much
to learn. At the engagements l have
witnessed at the maneuvres ust finished
/ have seen none of that close watching
and daring reconnaissance of small bod
les Of an officer and two or three men to
ascertain the enemy's movements and to
send back continual information of move.
ments- work which is so well done by
the German cavalry. Isuspect also that
in a campaign the horses Of the French
cavalry would soon knock up from want
of care. l have noticed great deal of
bucketing about on hard roads or ordel-
les, practice which must tell in the
long run. One good custom of the
French cavalry, and indeed of all mount
ed officers and men who are armed with
revolvers, is that they carry the latter
not in holster pipes, but on the person
Thus, il dismounted, they would not be
separated from that which, in such
case, would be their most formidable
weapon.
The conviction at which 1 have ar.
rived is that, though the French army
continues to make progress, that prog.
ress has been during the last II months
less marked than it has been during
previous years. At the same time, it is
only Just to say that an excellent spirit
prevails in all ranks There is an evi.
dent anxiety to improve and most
praiseworthy cheerfulness under unpeas-
ant circumstances. There is an utter
absence of grumbling, and have only
seen one drunken soldier during these
maneuvres. The morale of the army is,
indeed, excellent, but owing to the alb
sence of esprit de corps, due to the con
stant changes among the officers and
men Of regiments, the changing Of num-
bers, etc., and to the absence Of strict,
ness in detail, 1 can we'll understand that
decentralization, if once it sets in, would
be very rapid.