The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-06-02
CAVALRY IN MODERN WAR

CAVALRY ~ MODERN WAR
a good man un good horse 10 the
superior. aa au uta, klng force. OF ,hrc"
good men un lhr ground. This ia mat
trr OF common knowledge lu the LurO-
p,an capitals. wherein mo1a are dispersed
ny cavalry. using the HAT Oh ,he siDv
only, more quickly Than they are scat
tered BY tho bullets Uf mihAa .u America.
lhyro n something .u thy speed. weight
and nl4c uf charging mAu auu horse
that shIkra iht lcrsv of Tho most stout
hearted prdwirau. The lupouruuau.,
.utuugt uf ib, luutmAu la 10 SCI out OF
,hu way. ana Ac gcH out Ul tho way a
cavalry .,4tus Go ioy, hls horse wilh
love surprising that uf woman ne
learns Io depend upon him. lie abaorus
confidence from every swell oi ihr giant
mua.ya between nB kHyca. Inc mAu aud
brmt vlulp.u,I furnish 10 mutual support
lAat iH admirable. and lu Dat,.u uI lnlAl-
,u,sDic value. D.aulouut,u cavalry ate
,Hr mos, dimaut ut uuopn TO d.uuls,.
iur thr reason that the uurr deprived ul
ih'.r horses. uu not KNOW when nor how
900 run.
AauUy experts believe that tho lu-
Nae.uu oi ,uoa py the American array
Nlu Iutnfh yArgpuona oppJyuH.t.ys ior
90, usr ot ,aNup. 1, DO. fDr the mo-t
pAit suud huIs, county. vi woe nc,la
aud Iy,v. npay,a. d. 10 bel,ycd too. that
.tls p,lusga4uc arm ui the service WiH
utmuuH,Ia,, ,hIt Its usefulness h NOS
ended uy modern arms ana psoJ,ylIrs.
though many theorists incline go tue
upIu.uu thN tnc days uI cavalry Is
cavalry Ncty ended lu thc umcs ol crave
''ttc and sedan. The celebrated ana truig-
i,ab charge %. The French eu.ras-l,r,.
where m'u and s,ysus went down ia
heaps aud Ihv watching Nuh,,m SAID "It
ir mAsulu,,u,. bu; 90 ls uDl War. slcAs
100 ,hvr memories. 4hai charg, WAS
u1,ahlaNa oyer again. somcuouy uun.
dyJ,d he general ,inlt,uyy oi cavalry
under proper conJlauus Is not ulscrel,ttd
uy %, nor u thv centuries o,d l,eOtd OF "a
remarkably valuable atm TO be stained by
au individual failure, Myn Who rcmcm-
u,r what the cavalry Was ana Wnat the
cavalry uid an The war between the states
uvmiud something more than The crump-
Ing OF one ,o,umn before they surfvuucr
thu beliefs OF years,
Ihv Napo,vunic maxim that cavalry
cannot charge mistaken infantry was due
tu Napoleon experiences with rundown
forces. Ills mounted men were badly
drilled ANA his horsvuvsh Was poor Tho
gt,at Frederick understood the h,gh
Na,uv ul Tins branch ana his campaigns
KNu many Instances ut Tho value uI
mounted troops IA ulmos, AL kinds uI
warfare. Ihv records uI all great war,
brisuc with the achievements OF the
troopers Even Ia the Franco-Prussdu
suuggIu the actual damage wrought by
,hc hans Mas Iar out ut proportion with
their numbers, ana the value OF the fear
they produced was immcasurablv At
Salamanca lie Marohand's British "hcav-
ics were sent over bad ground against
the stvadiyst OF French infantry. Men
and horses tvil In swaths twenty yards
from the line. The rear ranks dld stcvplv
chase jumping over piled vorpsvs to set
TO the front lie Maryhand was instantly
killed and many OF ms officers but the
infantry Was broken ana their position
carried The Peninsula campaigns mr-
msh repeated proofs OF the fact that in
fantIy wall not stand against well handled
cavalry, Prince Frederick Charles, one
of the greatest OF modern warriors, was
a steady believer In the efficacy OF
cavalry, and 80, too, was Won WNngel.
The opponents OF the trooper arm ana
prophets OF It's utter efracemcnl are used
to instanclng the failure OF the brilliant
Austrian cavalry at Sadowa when sent
against brecchloaders. These were troop
crs seasoned by long service and 50
drilled that thirty sQuadrons OF them
were maneuNcred In mass with the ease
ana certainty of one. They were, how
ever, led over the ground that sloped up
three degrees, 1t was sodden with rain.
The horses were so wc0ried that many OF
them fell from exhaustion when the
charge began, The infantrymcn who re-
ccivcd them had been selected by Ave
hours of savage and continuous lighting.
All faint hearts had gone to the rear 1t
Is safe TO say that there was not a
Prusslan on the west ridge of Chlum that
day who did not wish to be there, Even
under these conditions the charge came
very close 10 success, though all Europe
was shouting that cavalry was useless
against breechloading fire
The French got their chassepots in 1865
ana lS69, No German officer believed that
his troop would be of any good against
them. Yet at Vlonville the first line Of
the German cavalry halted under heavy
fire ON the plateau, took intervals by
pnssaging, went oc the plateau at u walk
and wheeled up to front again as steadily
as II on dress parade, This, too, was
magnificent and It was war, 1t was done
to encourage the young troops, cost only
20 men and horses, though the chassepots
were barking in thousands, and It was
worth what II cost, Again at Vioviue
Bredow's six sQuadrons went over two
lines of unshaken" infantry US it they
were paper In another charge the troop
ers went over the French cannon, los
ing only fifty men. They came so fast
that the artillerymen found It impossible
to depress their pieces with sufficient
rapldity and accuracy In this battle S6
squadrons of German horse proved that
the French line of foot lacked the
strength of cobwebs, yet this same
French infantry was so good that two
days later 1t took an entire division of the
German footmen three hours to so
through them, at a cost of 1000 lives, or
30 per cent of the attacking force. There