The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-11-06
By Bx-ATTACHE.

itAfy men than that or Saun4ur situated
in what is probably the fairest part OF
France, namely in the Touraine. midway
between Tours and Anglers. The arrival.
therefore, yesterday on board the Com
pagnie Generate TRANSFORMATIONS liner
| Savoie of a party Of officers. with their
horses. from saumur. delegated BY the
French minister of war TO represent Sau-
muir, and the highest form Of military
equestrianism as taught there to the
French cavalry, at the great National
Horse Show, which opens in New York
at Madison Square Garden on Saturday
next. is calculated to attract the atten-
| ton or every man and woman who en-
tertains the slightest interest in horses
and horsemanship.
Last year some English cavalry officers
took part In the show az Madison Square
Garden-on their own account, however,
and not IN any way As the recognized
/ representatives OF the mounted service
OF the British army. and this year some
Dutch cavalry officers will be seen at
the show. But the French officers who
| reached New York yesterday have been
specially picked by their government to
show for the first time in this country
the perfection TO which riding and every
thing pertaining thereto has been brought
AT Saumur.
Their appearance In the ring is likely
TO prove q revelation 20 those who have
labored until now under the widespread
and popular impression In America. that
Frenchmen understand little about
horses. and are inferior in equestrianism
TO the English-speaking races or the
world. In fact there is a very general
belief that Frenchmen are not so much
at home in the saddle as people OF other
nationalities. This is undoubtedly due
TO the fact that in Olden times the cav
airy was restricted In France to the
aTist0craey, and that the bourgeois and
the masses were relegated 10 the in
fantry.
Cavalry "A Big Factor.
Nearly all the great victories OF France
in the Middle Ages. and even down to the
latter part Of the eighteenth century were
won BY cavalry rather than by cavaliers,
the common foot soldiers who accom-
panied them being regarded as Of no
particular military value. and described
by contemporary and modern writer's as
"Canaille. The great French revolution.
which was the uprising OF this Ca
naille." sent so many blue-biooded cav
alters TO the guillotine. or into exile. that
the republic found itself confronted by
scarcity Of cavalry. In cutting on the
heads OF the aristocracy, France had de-
prived herself of those gallant cavaliers
who had built up her military fame.
The armies OF the first republic were
from the outset lamentably lacking I'm
IN I79S. nearly annihilated the relatively
few and sadly demoralized squadrons that
the nation had still managed 10 retain.
Not only were efficient leaders want
ing. but the men won A reputation for
themselves as the worst riders OF any
army in Europe. During the early years
OF the republic. the French levies We're
almost invariably beaten when confronted
by Prussias mounted regiments, which
had fbeen brought 20 a wonderful state
OF perfection by Frederick the Great.
and by his celebrated cavalry general.
Won SeiGlitz during the Seven Years
War,
When Napoleon assumed the direction
OF military affairs IN France, his first
step was 10 endeavor to improve his cav
airy. and 10 create such a mounted force
as would enable him TO reap the fruits
Of his victories. Working on German
models-indeed. on the lines set by Fred
erick the Great-he made great advances,
and after the camp OF Bologne. which
was established not so much for the in
vasion OF England as for the putting in
shape Of his cavalry. the latter mounted
for the most part on German and Italian
horses. had developed into very useful
force. To il he was mainly Indebted for
some of his most signal triumphs. nota-
bly, Marengo and AusterIitZ and to the
manner in which he employed his mount
ed scouts he owed the facility with which
ne so often outmaneuveTed and antici-
pated his enemies.
AbSOrbs Mounted Armies.
The army campaigns of 1895, 1906. and
1907 enabled his cavalry to absorb almost
all the horses of the Austrian and Prus-
sian armies, and he moreover REINFORCED
his mounted armies by the excellent cav
airy of the Duchy of Warsaw, and Of the
Confederation Of the Rhine. IL was in
deed. by means of these enormous re-
sources OF cavalry that Napoleon was
able to win so many victories, until 1872.
But the disastrous Russian campaign and
the terrible retreat from Moscow, the
horrors of which surpassed anything that
has ever been written on the subject vir-
tualIy annihilated the French cavalry;
and, as Napoleon had no time to reor-
ganize il before he was compelled again
10 take the field. some Of his most de-
cfded successes in 1878 proved fruitless.
He himself remarked that had he pos
sessed cavalry at the battles Of Lutzen
and Bautzen. the war would then have
been brought TO an end. Indeed. his final
III l..
thereof.
One of the most famous of his mar
shals. namely Soult. Duke of DaImatia,
who had been the Duke Of Wellingtons
chief adversary in Spain during the
peninsular war had become so convinced
of Frances need of cavalry, that imme-
diateiy after the Bourbon restoration, he
obtained the consent of Louis XVIII to
re-estaDlish at Saumur the famous Ecole
de Cavalerie, which had been founded
there in 176S. by the Due de Choiseul, for
the training Of young mobiles and lads of
gentle birth, In the art of war. but which
had been suppressed by the great revolu-
ton. Soult's school was moved In 1921
to Versailles, but the change was not
satisfactory, and four years later IL
was transferred back TO S8umur where
IL has remained ever since.
Saumur is not so much school of
cavalry, as a cavalry high school. Ele-
mentary riding is not taught there. and
every officer ana noncommissioned officer
IS supposed to be a good horseman on
joining The province OF Saumur is 10
the education Of its students in
riding. and at the same time to furnish
them with a practical knowledge of the
duties of a cavalry officer
Many branches Taught.
Thus. the college. comprises not only
riding schools, but also a school OF
a veterinary school, and a
school, and every Saumur grad
uate is expected to have a fair knowl-
edge of the subjects taught there. In