The evening times., 1898-08-24
CAVALRY.
In Modern Armies IL Gives Way to
Artillery.

In Modern Armies IL Gives Way to
Artillery.
! 1t Is noted that there is a disposition
to increase the artillery at the expense
| of the cavalry in the modern armies
| This is said TO be the result Of lessons
in the American Civil War and the Ger
nah-french war. and. indeed, of all the
latest wars In only three armies at this
ume does the cavalry predominant over
| the artillery-those of SPAIN Austria and
turkey. In our own regular army. on a
peace footing, the cavalry numbered 6. CO.,
TO $500 artillery. but at the last session
OF Congress two additional regiments of
the latter were authorized, which about
equalized the numerical strength of the
Two branches. In an article on this sub
just the Boston Globe SAYS:
1T is scarcely Just to compare our
cavalry with that of European armies,
because. their spheres of action being
dinerent. there Is a difference in their or
ganization. Foreign mounted troops are
divided into light and heavy cavalry:
OURS are ight cavalry. serving as drag
oois-that Is, they are armed with car
pihes as well as sabers. Whether light
or heavy, the action of cavalry is differ
ent on the two continents because of ,b.
general difference in the character Of the
pattieheids, those OF Europe being gen.
orally on open ground 1t is hardly nos
sioie TO conceive of our cavalry be,np
employed as the British were in the Pen.
Msuia campaigns. as Blucher's were at
waterloo. as the Austrian were at Sa-
ao"a' or as the French and German
were at Vionville In the last named ha,
tie' II Will be remembered, the mounted
troops. In great masses. alternately
niaoe furious charges on infantry. and
out ior the modern repeating firearms
would nave swept it of the field.
IN the war OF the rebellion the Amert-
eah cavalry on both sides served eff
e"iy IN scouting parties. in guarding
the 'front.' and fianks of armies on ,be
march. and in making raids-sometinas
OF the proportions of invasions-into tho
ehemys country They will uudoubtedI,.
render equally good service in the presen,
war. and may do still heavier work IL the
nature OF the battlefields permits. In for
mer times troops were safe when held in
reserve $40 yards to the rear of the fight
ing ihe- In these days Of long-range re-
peating small arms the area under fire ex-
TENDS back at least $500 yards, and re-
serves must be held 5000 yards to the
rear. To bring up reserve therefore IL |
must pass through a dangerous zone of |
great breadth. The distance can hardly
be traversed by infantry in less than |
twenty-five minutes, and getting into line |
Will consume the remainder of a half |
honr. cavalry. however, can cover the |
distance in n quarter of this time: the |
rapidity of their movement alters the |
range at every moment, making them a |
difficult target, and the loss in such an |
according to the best authori-
ties, is not likely to be more than one
third Of the loss to infantry If troops |
like the Rough Riders and the regular
cavalry can accomplish what they did be-
fore Santiago on foot. what may they not |
achieve mounted?
AN amusing and possibly instructive
anecdote. in which Lincoln and Grant
figure, and showing the latter's estimate
of cavalry, is related by Mr.. William o.
for some time one of the for
mer's private secretaries. The general
had not long been in command of the
army of the Potomac, when one day Mr..
asked Lincoln's opinion of him.
Grant. replied the President, is the first
general I've had. He's a generalv Re-
the high esteem in which Nc
Clellan, Burnside. Hooker and Meade had
been held, Mr.. Stoddard asked Lincoln to
and this is what he said:
You see, when any of the rest set out
on campaign they'd look over matters
and pick out some one thing they were
short of, and they knew / couldn't give
em, and tell me they couldn't hope to
win unless they had 1t; and it was most
cavalry. Now. when Grant
look hold. 1 was waiting to see what his
pet impossibility would be- and 1 reckoned
t would be cavalry, as matter of
course. for we hadn't horses enough to
mount even what men we had. There
we're 15,000 or thereabouts up near Har-
,er's Ferry, and no horses to put them
IN. Well, the other day, just as l expect
ID, Grant sent to me about those men,
,ut what he wanted to know was whether
lie should disband 'em or turn 'em into
Infantry! He doesn't ask me to do i'm
for him. and he's the first
general I've had that didn't"
|