Light Cavalry Outposts

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LIGHT CAVALRY OUT-POSTS.

RECOLLECTIONS,

BY

F. DE BRACK,

General of Cavalry, Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honour, Grand Dignitary of the Imperial Order of the Rose, Commander of the Imperial Order of Crusero, Commander of the Royal Order of Christ, Chevalier of St. Louis, etc.

Student of the Military School of Fontainebleau, Officer of Out-posts under Generals Lasalle, Montbrun, Pajol, Colbert, Maison, and Officer of the late Imperial Guard.

Translated from the fifth edition,

FOR

F. M. N. MARQUIS OF TWEEDDALE, S.T., G.C.B.,

BY

MAJOR LONSDALE A. HALE, Royal Engineers,

AND

CAPTAIN F. T. HOBSON, 3rd (The Buffs) Regiment.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

PREFACE. 9

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 10

INTRODUCTION. TO THE OFFICERS AND NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS OF THE 8TH CHASSEURS. 12

LIGHT CAVALRY OUT-POSTS.—RECOLLECTIONS. 19

OF THE OBJECT OF LIGHT CAVALRY. 19

OF THE LEADER ON ACTIVE SERVICE; OF THE OFFICER. 19

Place of the Commander in Action 20

Conduct of the Leader in Command 20

In Bivouac 21

Towards other Troops. 22

Officers not to leave their place in Action. 23

Evils engendered during Peace 23

And Promotion by Seniority 23

Corrected by Exigencies of War 23

Officer should study their profession in Time of Peace. 24

Principle of Responsibility 24

Distribution of Duties 25

Conduct of Commander towards Subordinates 25

DRESS AND EQUIPMENT. 26

Dandyism out of place on Service 26

Value of Housewife. 26

Kit requirement 26

Trowsers 27

Head dress 27

General 27

Carriage of Cloaks 29

SADDLING AND DISPOSAL OF KIT. 29

How to Fit the Saddle 30

And the Bits. 31

Care to be taken regards Wounds and Chafes 33

Carriage of Kit 34

OF SHOEING. 35

OF ARMS IN WAR. 36

Firearms 37

Precautions with regard to Firearms 38

The Sword 40

The Lance 42

The Cloak 45

Loss of Arms 45

Arms Captured 45

How to Destroy Arms 45

And Powder 46

DISCIPLINE. 46

Punishments and Rewards on Service. 47

General Remarks 48

OF THE STUDY OF GROUND (TERRAIN), OF DRAWING AND TOPOGRAPHY. 51

Ground 51

Advantages to Cavalry Officers of a knowledge of Drawing 52

Cautions with regard to Maps. 55

Hints on Drawing 56

OF SIGNS (INDICES). 59

General Signs 59

Particular Signs 61

OF GUIDES. 64

Precautions to be taken with Guides 65

OF SPIES AND SECRET SERVICE. 66

Spies 66

Choice of Spies. 68

Use of Ciphers 69

Questions To Be Asked. 69

Mode of Examining 70

Examination of Deserters 72

Of Prisoners 73

Of Travellers 74

OF BIVOUACS. 75

Selection of a Bivouac 75

Details in Bivouac 76

FORAGE AND PROVISIONS. 80

Precautions as to Forage 81

Hints on Cooking 82

Foraging Expedition 83

Approximate Calculations 84

THE PIPE. 84

GRAND GUARDS, PIQUETS, SMALL POSTS (PETITS POSTES), VEDETTES AND PATROLS. 85

Grand Guard 85

Small Posts 88

Vedettes 88

Piquets 91

Patrol 92

DETACHMENTS. 94

Details of March 95

DETACHMENTS, PROPERLY SO-CALLED. 99

ADVANCED GUARDS. 99

Reports of Advanced Guards 103

RECONNAISSANCES. 104

Waste of Power to be Avoided 105

TOPOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION TO BE OBTAINED BY A RECONNAISANCE 106

Woods. 106

Hills. 106

Rivers And Streams. 106

Plains. 106

Roads. 107

Towns. 107

Market Towns And Villages. 107

Danger of Routine 107

Precautions to be observed in Reconnoitring 108

Examples of Reconnaisances 110

REPORTS 116

How Sent 117

Example of a Report. 118

COMMANDS ON SERVICE, POSITIONS TO BE TAKEN UP ON A BATTLE-FIELD, MOVEMENTS TO BE EXECUTED IN BATTLE. 122

Commands on Service 122

Use of Gestures 124

Conduct of Commander in presence of Enemy 124

Choice of Movement 125

The Regulations do not provide for all cases 127

Choice of Positions 127

Conduct on Battlefield when not engaged 129

Inverted Order 131

Formation of Square by Cavalry 132

Judging Ground 134

General Remarks 135

CHARGES. 135

Charge against Infantry 137

Receiving a Cavalry Charge 138

Charges against Cavalry 139

Charges against Artillery 140

Charges on a Road 141

Hints on Charging 142

COURAGE AND COWARDICE. 143

Cowardice. 144

MORAL EFFECT AND MORAL INFLUENCE. 144

Influence of Bestowal of Rewards 149

SKIRMISHERS AND FLANKERS. 150

Skirmishers Firing 150

Conduct of Skirmishers 151

Skirmishers Retreating 154

Communication of Orders 156

PRISONERS AND DESERTERS. 158

SURPRISES AND AMBUSCADES. 160

Ambuscades 161

Selection of Site for an Ambuscade 162

Time for Ambuscade 163

Night Suprises 164

FLAGS OF TRUCE (PARLEMENTAIRES). 166

Reception of Flags of Truce 169

ESCORTS AND CONVOYS. 170

Convoys. 172

Halt of a Convoy 173

Defence of a Convoy 173

Convoy of Ammunition 174

Convoy of Wounded 175

Convoy of Prisoners 176

Attack on a convoy 176

SUPPORTS TO GUNS. 177

PARTISANS. 179

LED HORSES AND SUTLERS. 182

Their Place 182

How commanded 182

Sutlers 184

REAR GUARDS. 185

Distance from Main Body 186

Duty in a Retreat 186

General Duties of Rear Guards 188

CANTONMENTS 189

Attack of Cantonments 190

Defence of Cantonments 191

OUR LIGHT CAVALRY, IN CONNECTION WITH INFANTRY. 191

FORTIFICATION. 193

ACCESSORY OBSTACLES. 195

BLOWING DOWN STOCKADES, BARRIERS, &C. 196

REMOUNT HORSES. 197

The Diseases Of Horses During A Campaign, And Their Treatment In The Absence Of A Veterinary Surgeon. 197

The Horse In Health. 198

The Horse In Disease. 199

Measures To Be Adopted. 199

External Disease.—Wounds And Various Accidents. 206

Diseases Of The Feet. 208

Diseases Caused By Shoeing. 210

Equilibrium. 211

Green Forage. 212

SANITARY MEMORANDA. 213

Water. 213

Food. 215

Clothing. 216

Camps. 217

Marches. 219

Bathing. 220

HINTS FOR SURGICAL EMERGENCIES. 220

First Assistance To Wounded. 220

Drowning. 223

INSENSIBILITY 224

Burns And Scalds And Frost Bite. 224

Poisonous Wounds. 225

Poisoning. 225

POSTSCRIPT. 227

PREFACE.

HAVING very frequently met officers in the service who have not had opportunities of gaining, by personal experience, a knowledge of the outpost and other duties that may devolve upon troops employed in covering the movements of an European army serving in the field, and having often been asked to recommend a useful work which enters practically into the details connected with those services, I have selected General de Brack’s Souvenirs for that purpose.

By reading this book, officers of the British Army may become acquainted with the experience of an officer who had served under the most distinguished commanders in the armies of the first Emperor Napoleon during his campaigns in Italy, Germany, and Russia, as well as in that employed against ourselves during the Peninsular War.

The details written in these pages relative to the different branches of the service are given in language clear and forcible, and officers serving at home who read them can thus familiarise themselves with most of the difficulties that may have to be encountered in time of war.

In the early part of this century, when the troops were encamped at Shorncliffe under Sir John Moore, the Infantry officers and soldiers, who afterwards formed the renowned Light Division of the British Army during the Peninsular War, were trained and instructed in outpost and other duties in accordance with the system practised by the most distinguished officers who served under Frederick the Great in his Seven Years’ war, and by Generals who were serving in the French Army in the early part of the French Revolutionary War.

The advantages gained by this knowledge thus learnt became apparent when the regiments went abroad on active service, by the facility with which they were enabled to acquire the practical experience necessary for the performance of the service they had to undertake. For my own part, I have appreciated so much the advantages I derived from having been trained in the school referred to, that I have long wished for an opportunity of adding the testimony of my experience in an important branch of the military profession whose duties, &c., have been so carefully detailed by General de Brack in his work.

Surgeon-Major G. W. McNalty, M.D., has contributed Medical Notes in lieu of the original chapter on this subject; the chapter on remounts has been entirely re-written by G. Fleming, Esq., Veterinary Surgeon, Royal Engineers; and I am indebted to Captain Hobson, the Buffs, and Major Lonsdale Hale, Royal Engineers, for the translation and the supervision of the work in its passage through the press.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

THE author of this book had been one of the most brilliant Cavalry Officers of the Empire. Trained in the school of Lasalle, Montbrun, Colbert, and Pajol, he seemed marked out for the highest military honours, when the disaster of Waterloo befell the Grand Army.

Notwithstanding his youth, his tastes, his natural inclination, his experience, and the brilliant prospect of a soldier’s fortune, De Brack sheathed his sword.

Although retired from the army, he was never a stranger to its deeds and its improvement.

After an absence of fifteen years, Lieutenant-Colonel De Brack resumed his place at the head of our squadrons.

From 1815 to 1830 military organization had been modified as much as had been regimental manners and customs. The adoption of the new regulations had brought the study of their theories in to great favour. De Brack, returning with the ideas he entertained on war, was struck with the importance which, in the ranks of the Cavalry, theoretical knowledge had assumed, to the detriment of practical work. War was then expected to break out again shortly. The Colonel wished to prepare his officers and men for the approaching campaign; he was at the head of a corps of light Cavalry, whose position. seemed assigned to the outposts.

The work was conceived and hastily written, as if the regiment had already received orders to cross the frontier, for, it ought to be stated, this book was intended only for the squadrons commanded by De Brack.

This haste was a felicitous stroke. The author, not being able to examine treatises and to consult books, simply drew upon his recollections of the cavalry heroes, Seidlitz, Lasalle, Murat, Bessières; he found still fresh in his memory the practical lessons of the colonels and captains who had raised the reputation of cavalry to so high a pitch.

Written with comprehensive and ready intelligence, in a spirit of enthusiasm, of keen observation and of love for the soldier, this book, almost improvised, was a little chef d’oeuvre. The author, ingenious, but at the same time profound, scorning prejudices, shows himself so original, that some parts of the book, without ceasing to be true, have an odour of poetry which charms the military reader.

De Brack never loses sight of the moral of the soldier; he speaks of honour, courage, and devotion, and his words stir us deeply. The style has a dash befitting the subject.

A modern philosopher, M. Cousin, has said, War is above all, a work of art, and requires vast intelligence combined with unshaken courage. De Brack had anticipated this sentiment, which might serve as an inscription to his book.

More than thirty years have passed since the publication of this work, and during these thirty years the French army has carried on war in Africa, Belgium, the Crimea, China, and Italy: the flag still floats in Cochin China. De Brack’s book is as true, as good, and as useful as it was on its first appearance.

Recent wars have been enriched by scientific discoveries and material improvements. Bullet and shot are effective at greater distances and are more accurate; some new usages have sprung out of the special character of such and such a war, but the general principles of tactics and strategy have remained the same; they will always be what Frederic, Turenne and Napoleon have made them. War carried on methodically, for which De Brack’s book prepares us, will always be the only war for generals who have made war a study, and for disciplined armies.

It had been contemplated, however, to modify the form of Colonel De Brack’s work, by blending question and answer, devoting a new chapter to Artillery{1}, and completing it, so to speak, with modern discoveries. Would these alterations have improved the work I we think not; it would have lost its original appearance, its mark of improvisation, its dash, all delightful features in such a theme.

The best thing was, then, to reprint the original work, thus preserving the ideas and reverencing the memory of General De Brack.

In putting forward this new edition we wish to repeat on the first page imperishable truths—first, that the great principles of war are eternal, as Napoleon the First declared, and that wars well conducted are, methodically carried on—secondly, that Cavalry has lost nothing of its importance, notwithstanding the progress made by the other arms of the service. The lessons taught thirty years ago by General De Brack are those of Friedland, Wagram, Eylau; these lessons came down from Frederic the Great, Gustavus Adolphus, and Charles XII. Napoleon I. completed them, perfected them, and made a glorious application of them.

Apart from this, all would be illusion and conceit.

A CAVALRY GENERAL.

***

General Steingel, an Alsatian, was an excellent Hussar Officer; he had served under Dumouriez in the campaigns of the North, and was skilful, intelligent, and vigilant; he combined the qualities of youth with those of mature age; he was a true general of out-posts.

Two or three days before his death he was the first to enter Lézégno; the French General arrived there a few hours later, and whatever he wanted he found ready.

The defiles and fords had been reconnoitred, guides secured, the curé and post-master had been questioned; good understanding had already been established with the inhabitants; spies had been sent out in several directions; the letters in the post had been seized, and those affording military information translated and analyzed; all the necessary measures had been taken to form magazines of provisions for the refreshment of the troops.

NAPOLEON, Campaigns in Italy,

INTRODUCTION. TO THE OFFICERS AND NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS OF THE 8TH CHASSEURS.

DOLE, 5th May, 1831. Fellow Soldiers,

On returning to the service, after fifteen years’ absence, it has been for me a curious and interesting employment to compare the present state of things with what I recollect of the past. On the whole I have observed important improvements, but, I confess, I have not found the Cavalry ready for war, and I have noticed, with sadness indeed, that traditions, especially those concerning details, useful and indispensable, have been blotted out to a dangerous extent.

For fifteen years much has been written, but it has been book making. The history of wars has been unfolded for the benefit of Generals, and the humble instruction of a Cavalry soldier in the field has gained little by their perusal.

I except a small number of writings, and, among others, those of General Laroche-Aymon, who, a thorough Light Cavalry soldier, has made valuable additions to the instructions of Frederic. It is to be regretted that this General Officer, whose works are only the résumé of his judicious observations in the field, has not produced a complete elementary theory of the duty of the Cavalry soldier on service, a theory which would have become a guide and a classical work as well, and which would thus have filled up the want which each chef de corps strives, now that the necessity for it has arisen, to supply as best he can.

Until the appearance of such a work, which I most ardently wish for, urged on by the war which seems to be approaching with gigantic strides, taking as a base what you have learned in time of peace, then, ransacking my own recollections, which the Manual of Laroche-Aymon often assists me to arrange, I put together in haste, and in the most simple form, and the easiest to remember (that of a conversation, not of a theory), the result of the principles which I have expressed to you in our classical reunions.

The few among you who have been on active service, will judge me according to their own recollections; the others will learn what they do not know, and will make use of this instruction as an aide memoire, which, when occasion offers, will remind them of what they might otherwise forget, and smooth down for them, I imagine, some difficulties.

The theoretical system under which you have lived for fifteen years has done you the good which it was capable of doing you; it has prepared the ground, sowing must now follow. The stiffness, and the multiplicity of duties which it has imposed on you has led you to act, rather than to reflect; on service, ceaseless thought must march side by side with practice. Mere machines, however useful they may be, may become useless, as soon as their order of action is disturbed; if an unexpected case presents itself, their working ceases. In war nearly everything is unforeseen; in Light Cavalry, where a man is often left to himself, every act ought to be accompanied by reflection.

The fault of theories lies in their dryness; the why would not seem to belong to them; this why is, however, the soul of action. It is of this why that we shall talk together to-day, in order that the examples which practice affords us may not be lost, neither for the present nor for the future.

During peace you have seen how things are done, now you are about to see why they are done.

War alone teaches war. The classical exercises to which we have just devoted ourselves, are but a theory more or less perfect, the application of which will be wanting so long as we are not on service.

War multiplies situations, and almost always instantaneously and unexpectedly, especially for the Light Cavalry soldier; it presents the same facts under a thousand different aspects; the question is not so much to determine beforehand the particular view to be taken of such and such a point as to habituate oneself generally to observe and judge correctly, not to be taken by surprise, and to adopt promptly the best measures under all circumstances.

A man must be born a Light Cavalry soldier. No situation requires so many natural dispositions, an irate genius for war, as that of an officer of light troops. The qualities which render a man superior, intelligence, will, power, ought to be found united in him. Left constantly to himself, exposed to constant fighting, responsible, not only for the troops under his command, but also for those which he is protecting and scouting for, every minute finds employment for his mental and bodily faculties. His profession is a rough one, but every day affords him opportunities for distinguishing himself; a glorious compensation which repays his toils so much the more, as it shows so much the sooner what he is worth.

I have often cited to you General Curély; sub-lieutenant with me in 1807, he was a general in 1813.

But in 1806, being 20 leagues in advance of our army at the head of 20 Hussars of the 7th, he carried terror into Leipsic, where were 3,000 Prussians.

In 1809, when 15 leagues in front of the division to which he belonged, and at the head of 100 Chasseurs and Hussars of the 7th and 9th, he passed unperceived through the Austrian-Italian army, which he was engaged in reconnoitring, and penetrated to the centre of the staff of the Archduke, the Commander-in-Chief.

In 1812, at Polotsk, at the head of 100 Chasseurs of the 20th, he carried off 24 guns from the enemy, and took prisoner the Commander in-Chief of the Russian army.

Well! this man, so brave, intrepid, strong-willed, skilful, prompt, of such sound judgment in his daring enterprises, was, when in command of a detachment, at once its doctor, veterinary surgeon, saddler, shoemaker, cook, baker, farrier, up to the moment when, meeting the enemy, he showed himself to be the most brilliant soldier in the Grand Army.

When he took part in an engagement, the men under his command were always more fresh, more ready to fight than others, and their conduct showed this.

Was a man of this sort to be measured by the common standard, and to be kept at the level which ordinary men of the same or of superior rank keep fixed so firmly for great ability? Curély served for fifteen years, and always during time of war, before he got his epaulette. Why had he to wait for it so long? Because those who could have asked for it for him had not themselves ability enough to recognise his value. He vegetated until a colonel, a man of like character to his own, understood him, and threw down the barrier which kept him down. His rapid promotion was then only an act of strict justice, for, if at first his was so slow, the fault rested with others.

If I dwell on this fact, it is only as an example and a warning. Nowhere more than in the army, ought a man to study more conscientiously the man under his orders, and to turn to account his special qualifications. Nowhere ought the justice which he administers to be more complete, more devoid of the littlenesses of amour propre which are unworthy of a noble heart, and which become a grave and often irreparable wrong, when they basely fetter talent, and deprive the country of the services it might have rendered it. Seniority doubtless has its claim, and a very respectable one also, but it is not the first. Armies in which too much importance is attached to it are always defeated, whilst those in which merit has not always had to submit to its withering demands have always been victorious. In the case of equal merit it ought to carry the day.

In 1815, Curély retired; his soul was not one of those which knew how to bend; it was wounded, ill, it preyed on his vital powers, and fled a few years ago to rejoin those of his noble brothers in arms, dead on the battle fields of the Empire, or the scaffold of the Restoration. A wooden cross marks the place which his body occupies in the churchyard of the little village which he had quitted thirty years before as a simple volunteer. Why did not death delay? He would have shaken the dust off the flag concealed under his humble straw bed. A battle-field on the day of victory, a standard taken from the enemy were the only tomb, the only shroud worthy of him.

Curély was, to my mind, the type of the Light Cavalry soldier. For three years I served under him, and his example and advice will remain for ever graven on my memory and heart. It was by studying him that I learnt the many qualifications required to make a good Light Cavalry officer, and, if later on, left to myself, I have had my little successes, I have often owed them to the study of the vivid recollections which I had retained of him.

To be a good officer of advanced guard, it is not enough to be brave and to command well under fire; it is necessary to bring there the greatest possible number of men, and in the best state to strike a telling blow. This second part of our indispensable instruction is not the most showy, but it is, perhaps, the most important; it is not acquired in garrisons and it demands a host of requirements.

Readiness in judging of the state of the health of the men and horses, a knowledge of prompt remedies applicable in certain cases, a daily and careful inspection of the saddlery, the detection of the repairs to be made to it in time, inspection of the equipment and of the repairs required, provision of everything which may be useful for man and horse, without overweighting the latter, intelligent package of kit, regularity of pace on the march, good choice of ground for bivouacs, continuous supervision of everything which may affect the health of the horses there, the teaching of the means by which the services of a farrier may temporarily be dispensed with, the theory of the use of surgical instruments, a knowledge of the right time for eating and sleeping, the study of the moral of the men under his orders, a sustained discipline which ensures the ready obedience of the soldiers when there is neither guardroom nor prison to be feared, watchfulness to prevent useless expenditure of the strength of his horses, to give in all circumstances a personal example, and to give it all the more steadfastly as the situations are more trying or difficult; the inspiring his men with entire confidence, devotion, dash; these are the things the theories learnt during peace do not teach; it is all this that, joined to courage, to a military coup d’œil and to rapidity of judgment on the battle field, constitutes the really distinguished officer.

Peace has taught you many things; the numerous exercises it imposed on you will not be altogether useless, because you will not and opportunity for applying them all. You will retain above all from this laborious training which has moulded your wills and seasoned your bodies, a spirit of discipline and individual proficiency in the use of your weapons and your horses, which are the foundation of all tactics. We will pick out in the rest that which is indispensable from that which is less useful, and we will concentrate to-day all our attention, divided among many details, on the chief points which ought to occupy it entirely. War, said General Lasalle to me one day, is to the soldier who has never been out of his garrison, what the world is to a young man leaving school:—what practice is to precept.

Peace has imbued the Light Cavalry soldier with bad habits, which must be got rid of on active service: the facility, in fact the obligation to send articles of dress, equipment and armament to the workshops for the slightest repair; the cooking done in common in the squadron; the ridiculous habit of allowing even barbers in it, &c., prevent the men from learning to shift for themselves.

The great quantity of useless articles the soldier has, the regulation trousers he wears when dismounted, in cold weather, the linen trousers for summer, this superfluity of clothing, the only good of which is to accustom him not to take care of his leather pantaloons, and to lead to the use of an enormous valise which knocks up his horse will doubtless be left behind at the depot when the first shot is fired.

At the present time the equipment of a Chasseur or Hussar seems contrived only with a view to a complete removal from one garrison to another. I cannot, 1 own, help protesting against the un-military idea which, some years ago, wrought this innovation{2}.

The Cavalry officer who has seen service knows, only too well, that a large valise is soon emptied on a campaign, not owing to the wearing out of the articles it contains, but to the rapid loss of them. If the valise remained empty after wards, the evil would be only half as bad, for it would be a mere question of money, and commanding officers would have to put up with had stowage of kit; but it is not so, the soldier always replaces the useless articles which he has got rid of by all the thrown away worthless things he finds, and which he would not have thought of picking up, if he had not room to put them in. A valise for Light Cavalry, which can hold more than a couple of shirts, a hold all, and under its flap a pair of boots, is not only useless but actually a danger. The fewer articles a soldier has, the greater the care he takes of them, the cleaner he is, the more ready too. The Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard went through the whole of the Russian Campaign, before my eyes, with a pelisse and a single pair of cloth Hungarian Pantaloons.

One of the evils consequent on a state of peace, is that neither the horse nor the arms of a Cavalry soldier are his own. The dismounted men of the regiment, whose number is considerable, always borrowing them for their drill, dirty the accoutrements and arms, spoil the horses’ action, and thus destroy the interest, the powerful instinct of ownership, which every man feels for what he alone handles.

I have often seen, in the old army, Cavalry soldiers decline to go on leave, for fear someone in their absence should mount their horses or use their arms.

The most valuable and praiseworthy consequences result from this feeling of proprietorship; in the field it is kept entire, nothing wounds it or interferes with it; the man is the sole master of all that was entrusted to him on leaving the garrison; his horse and his arms are part of himself; only death, or some offence that brings with it ignominy, can dispossess him of them. If I had been so fortunate to command you in war, as I have had the honour of doing in peace, I should scrupulously have respected the right of each in regard to this, and the last recruit who had taken care of his horse, should not have been dismounted for anyone, not even for the most useful officer in the regiment who had lost his.

It is in order to prepare you for the practical knowledge of Outposts, that I have drawn up these Recollections, this sort of manual which I offer you, and to which I have prefixed these reflections, as a kind of preface. For the nine months that I have had the honour of commanding you, or rather, of being the head of our family, our mutual efforts have been crowned with success, since the regiment, broken up by the transfer of its old soldiers to another corps, numbers to-day 900 horsemen, ready to take the field. These results are due to your zeal; whoever does his duty thus well in time of peace, must be a credit to the army in time of war.

I cannot copy out this manuscript a hundred times in order to give each of you a copy of it; I, therefore, am having it printed to save me this trouble. As to the manner in which it is drawn up, I leave that to critics. I have not aimed at writing a book, but to be clear and instructive. I thought, moreover, that rapidity in drawing it up would add to the usefulness of its teaching, and I have hurriedly jotted down on paper my recollections, which stand there, as they occur to my memory. Thus, I repeat, these pages do not contain a theory, an exposition of what I have heard said, but merely an account of what I have seen, a conversation to be referred to rather than learnt, and which, above all, is not intended to be repeated word for word. In my opinion, word for word instruction is good, is indispensable, in schools only; elsewhere it is the knowledge des médiocrités, who find it easier to use their memory than their judgment.

Several points will, perhaps, seem to you, to be treated too much in detail, or to be repeated; this is quite possible; if I have fallen into this error, I shall console myself for it, because in giving instruction it is better to say too much than too little; wait, however, for the application of the lesson, before filially forming an opinion; perhaps then, you will accuse me of the opposite fault.

Study is the arsenal from which you will obtain your weapons on the day of action. Careful study, assists in thinking and acting quickly, and to think and act quickly is the forte of the model officer. Nowhere, so well as in the Light Cavalry, is to be found the full illustration of that saying of a great man: Promptitude is genius.

Theoretical instruction carries with it restrictions which war removes. The cold methodism which it necessitates, cramps and fetters the brilliant dreams of a youthful imagination, which has been attracted into our profession, and which has seen only from afar an action on the battle-field. Often also, this young man, who later on, will be an honour to our outposts, placed under the leaden rod of a martinet-system permeating all ranks, which never examines the reason why, is disgusted, because he finds no echo to his ardent thought, and perceives only a formula, where, an entirely different system would have taught him the fact that underlies it. Let him always patiently learn what" ever is shown him; by-and-by he will have to apply it. At the first cannon shot he has free play. He will shake off the dust of the manége and the chambrée; he will breathe freely, his views will be indefinitely enlarged! But the theories learned will regulate his movements, rendered