The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1918-08-08
CAVALRY PLAYS
{ BIG part NOW
loneral Foch Used French Horse.
} men to Advantage in
4 Big Drive.
GOOD FIGHTERS AFooT
hides % Miles In Day and Relieves
d, hard.Pressed British In Flanders
K Makes New Place for
i : Self In Warfare.

Il.
Misunderstanding use Of French
cavalry has marked General Foch's
tactics ever since he took over control
o6 the allied armies as supreme com
nander, according to information
reaching military circles here. The
horsemen have played an important
role in the whole battle Of 1918, at
the struggle which began March q
with the first German drive has come
to be known.
The employment Of swift-moving
columns in the present counter-stroke
from the Aisne-Marne line has been
noted in the dispatches. Again Gen.
= eral Foch took advantage Of the great
mobility of the mounted arm to throw
It in wherever his advancing infantry
units threatened to lose touch with
each other in the heat and confusion
of the contest. No gaps have been left
where the enemy might strike back,
for always the hOrsemen came up to
all the hole until the infantry line
could be rectified and connected in a
solid front.
The same tactics marked the first
use of French cavalry in the battle Of
Picardy, when the French took over
IS miles of front from the British
to permit the latter to mass reserves
at seriously threatened points of the
line farther north.
Cavalry Fights Afoot.
A French cavalry corps complete
with light artillery. armored cars and
cyclists arrived first on the scene In
Picardy and relieved the British. They
fought 1t out afoot until the heavy
French infantry arrived and took over
the task.
Three days later the horsemen were
on the move again, this time hurrying
to the front, where the enemy was
hitting hard at the Lys line. The cav
airy rode hard as the advance guard
Of the French infantry columns march,
ed toward st. Omar. In the first
"A hours, despite the long strain
Of fighting in Picardy. they covered
90 miles without losing man or a
horse on the way. In 68 hours they
had transferred their whole corps over
rs miles and arrived east Of Mont
Cassel.
ut was a wonderful sight," writes
the chief Of staff of division. 1.-THE
horses were in fine condition; the men
were cheerful and went singing. in spite
II the sufferings and privations they
had to endure.
'In truth. our boys looked little
tired, but they were all very proud
that such an effort had been asked
of them and all were bearing 1t cheer
fully"
The cavalry corps stood in support
OF the British for ten days in April
after the enemy had forced the line
held by the Portuguese division. It
maintained communication between
two British armies and organized the
ground from Mont Cassel to Mont
KENNEL, while the French army
moved up behind it. AS the French
Infantry came into line the cavalry was
drawn off to the left in the
Mont KENNEL region, and for five days
the hOrsemen. fighting afoot with two
Infantry divisions. withstood the ter.
rife assaults Of the Germans who
sought to hammer a way through be.
hind Ypres at any cost.
They stood steady bombardment for
days, and when the infantry was hem.
med in on top Of Mont KENNEL,
the cavalry drove forward in counter
attack and held of the shock divisions
Of the enemy while the French gun
ners got their pieces away.
Later, at the battle Of Locre, the
cavalry also shared fully with the In
fantry, blocking gaps in the line. and
the final definite occupation Of the
town for the allies was accomplished
by q cavalry battalion. A sergeant
and q handful of dragons drove 20
Germans out Of the town. and at an
other point cavalry officer and 20
men backed up the infantry at a
critical moment, the officer waving a
pistol in one hand and a shovel in
the other as he led the dash which re-
stored the situation.
Defend compeisne.
A few days later the same cavalry.
after another long ride, met the en-.
envy advance against Villers- Cotterets
woods in the Aisne sector. where the
fighting today is waging tierccly. and
where the hOrsemen again are en-.
gagged. When the Germans drove for
ward in their effort to get around the
forest to COmpeigne, the horsemcn
blocked the road between the wooded
region and the River Ourcq.
In view of this record for swift anC
dashing attack afoot. the cavalry ap
pears to have established Il new place
for itself in modern warfare. They
are the light reserves; the men who
are always hurled first into the poin
of danger to hold until the slow-mov
ing infantry arrives. They hav,
learned trench warfare completely
and General Foch is making use o.
them In any move that insures then
q glorious chance when the day comes
for the allies to drive back all alonl
the line.
-s<ss~--ars~