Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-01-08

Ill TIE cavalry d. Tie llOHl. VIC WIN
have seen British mounted soldier:
at parades and manoeuvres have ne
idea of the change that has already
come over the training Of the cavalry
in the space of four months.
Cavalry has been employed In the
early days of the war as we like tc
read of it being employed-as the
eyes Of the army, as the force which
carries all before 1t in magnificen
charge. But these days are appar'
emily over. The cavalry trooper has
now to be something Of everything
What the Royal Marines are to the
navy. he is to the army. 1t is true
he has not yet been called upon tt
handle artillery, but perhaps he ma,
even be expected to do this before
peace is signed. He has certainly t.
do everything else at present
For a whole day 1 watched the
training of the officers and men, and
the scope Of their duties left upor
me an impression Of amazement. Tt
begin with, the raw recruit has frs
to be taught to ride a horse. For this
purpose he Is mounted on a rocking.
horse-the ordinary rocking horse Of
our nursery days. 1t may not be 6
very dignified situation in which tc
find a grown-up man, but 1t Is saio
to be one of the best methods OF
teaching him to ride.
After he has mastered the rocking
horse, he is promoted to a more fiery
dummy, consisting Of a wooden mount
that swings backwards and forwards
on pivots. When he has acquired hi:
seat on this steed he is at last allow.
ed to mount a real horse. Then he
begins to imbibe the first elements OF
horsecraft.
His other training, Of course, goes
on simultaneously. Though he rise,
at five and Is sometimes out all night
on manoeuvres, twenty-four hours are
hardly sufficient for what he has tc
do. He has first to be taught to han.
die sword on foot before he can be
trusted with that weapon on horse.
back. When he is considered suff1-
ciently proficient, dressed in white
padded coat with his own and his
horses head covered with a mask, he
engages in mounted combat" with q
fellow trooper under the eyes Of the
sergeant instructor. He has to make
himself efficient in all the science OF
swordsmanship-how to carry his
point at the charge; how to wheel
quickly so as to take his enemy in the
rear; and how, above all things, to
avoid the natural instinct that every
man possesses, of wishing to strike
rather than to thrust.
On the Downs, where he exercises
row of dummy figures are set up,
He has to charge past those at the
gallop, carrying his sword so that the
momentum of his horse and himself,
together with the thrust, buries the
weapon up to its hilt. Though he may
not be called upon to use lance, he
has to learn the elements Of the lance
manuel-to understand what he can
and what he cannot do with that
weapon. He has to be taught how
to defend himself with the sword,
against the lance. In addition. he
must know how to take jump, and
he is made to do this over and over
again, either in the riding school or
on the plain until he can sit his ami
NAL like a rod with his sword drawn.
His purely cavalry training may be
said to end with the learning of
scouting work, for the cavalry is still
in spite Of the demands that are made
upon it, the eyes Of the army. To
make him efficient in this art, the
trooper Is kept out Of his bed night
after night to learn how to take a
line across country in the dark or to
make observations without being de-
tected. There Is joke at Tidworth
among the officers and men that the
rawest recruit can soon learn to pick
his way across the plain by the short
est and safest route. but that no one
on reaching the town has been able to
find his way back to barracks with
out inquiring.
The ubiquitous trooper has now to
learn his work as a foot soldier so
that he can play his part in the
trenches when 1t is impossible for him
to be led on horseback. He is train
ed, too, in the use Of the revolver and
the rife-the ordinary infantry rifle
and he is exercised in bayonet drill
for the cavalry are now to carry
bayonets, it is said. Also, most i'm
portant Of all, he must know how to
handle a spade and trench digging
in which he has exercised almost dai-
ly. This is. perhaps, the most ardu-
Gus and most unpopular task he is
called upon to tackle.
When at last these units from the
Reserve Regiment of Cavalry reach
the front they ought to be the Ad-
miral Crichtons of the British army.