The times., 1898-06-27
CnXnItS in Modern War.
(From the Detroit Free 70

(FTom the Detroit Free PTtSs-)
good man on good horse is the su-
perior as the attacking force of three
good men on the ground. This is a mat
ter of common knowledge in the European
armies, and mobs have been dispersed by
cavalry using the fiat of the saber only
more quickly than they are scattered
by the bullets OF militia in America.
There is something in the speed, weight.
and size of the charging man and horse
that shakes the nerve OF the most stout
hearted pedestrian. The uncomfortable
instinct of the footman is to get out of
the way and he gets out of the way.
cavalryman learns to love his horse with
love surprising that or woman. He
learns to depend upon him. He absoTbs
confidence from every swell of the giant
muscles between the knees. The man and
beast conjoined furnish mutual support
that is admirable and in battle of meal
culable value. Dismounted cavalry are
the most difficult troops to dislodge for
the reason that the riders, deprived of
their horses do not know when or how
to run.
Military experts believe that the inva-
sion of Cuba by the American Army will
furnish exceptional opportunities for the
use of cavalry II is. for the most part
a good horse country, of wide fields and
level spaces. 1t is believed. too. that this
picturesque arm of the service will dem
onStrate that it's usefulness is not ended
by modern arms and projectiles, though
many theorists incline to the opinion that
the days of cavalry were ended in the
times of Gravelette and Sedan.
The celebrated and fruitless charge of
the French cuirassierS where men and
steeds went down in heaps and the
watching Wilhelm said, 'It is agnifi-
cent but 1t is not war sticks in their
memories. That charge was Balaklava
over again. Somebody blundered. The
general efficiency of cavalry under proper
conditions is not discredited by it. nor
is the centuries-old record of a remark
ably valuable arm to be stained by an in
dividual failure. Men who remember
what the cavalry was ana what the cav
airy did in the war between the States
demand something more than the crump-
ling of one column before they surrender
the belief of years.
The Napoleonic maxim that cavalry
cannot charge unshaken infantry was
due to Napoleons experience with run
ming down forces. His mounted men
were badly drilled and his horsefiesh was
poor The great Frederick understood
the high value of this branch and his
campaigns gave many instances of the
value of mounted troops in almost all
kinds of warfare. The records of all
great wars bristle with the achievements
t
Prussian struggle the actual damage
wrought by the Uhians was far out of
proportion with their numbers, and the
value of the fear they produced was
immeasurable. At Salamanca LIE Mar
chands British ''heavies'' were sent over
bad ground against the steadiest of
French infantry. Men and horses fell in
swaths twenty yards from the line. The
rear ranks did steeplechase jumping over
piled corpses to get to the front. LIE
Marchand was instantly killed and many
| of his officers, but the infantry was
broken and the position carried. The
peninsula campaigns furnish repeated
proofs of the fact that infantry will not
stand against well-drilled cavalry. Prince
| Frederick Charles, one of the greatest of
modern warriors. was steady believer
| in the efficacy of cavalry and 50, too, was
| Won Wrangel.
| The opponents of the trooper arm and