CAVALRY CHARGES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12160, 26 March 1900, Page 2

CAVALRY CHARGES.

Modern generals have most •of them a prejudice against the employment of cavalry which seems strange when taken into account with the amount of reliance placed upon this arm of the service by the commanders of fifty years ago. In an age of quick-firing mach'ine guns and rapidly-served artillery, throwing highly-explosive shells, cavalry cannot perhaps take- the place in pitched battle it once had, but its advance against columns of infantry upon anything like open ground is still not only possible, but can be accomplished with greater rapidity, and hence with smaller. loss, than an infantry attack, and, once a cavalry charge is delivered, its effects are far more terrible than THE FIERCEST OP BAYONET CHARGES. History speaks highly of the usefulness of cavalry. * Hannibal's successes against the Romans were largely due to the superiority of his horse. At Cannal his mounted troops won him the battle, while at Zaana be owed his defeat to the fact that for once Scipio had the finer cavalry. Frederick the Great swore 'by his cavalry, which gained him battle after battle. On the victorious field of Zorndorf, August 25, 1758, for example, his mounted troops were his salvation. The Russians were sweeping Frederick's infantry before them when tho cavalry, led by Seidlitz, furiously assailed the apparent conquerors, broke them, routed them, and sabred thousands of them.

Napoleon was an artillery officer, and believed that battles were won by the general who had the best gunners and most guns. Yet he owed the fact that he became Napoleon the Great to the arm of the servico which like some modern generals he affected to despise. It was at Marengo that what must stand as the most decisive cavalry charge on record saved the battle, and incidentally Napoleon. When Melas, the Austrian general, forced a battle upon Napoleon at Marengo on June 14, 1800, the future Emperor was totally unprepared for him. His various divisions lay far apart, and Desaix with the reserve division was miles to the rear. The right and left of the Austrians had scarcely an enemy to contend with, and sweeping towards Napoleon's centre at Marengo drove the French from the village. By mid-day

THE FRENCH WERE IN RETREAT across the Plain of Marengo, and their ranks were becoming confused. Melas already thought he had won the day, and retired to write his dispatches, leaving Zach in command, who came on to complete tho annihilation of Napoleon, who, now joined by Desaix, was preparing to make a stand at San Giuliano. Kellerman commanded Napoleon's cavalry, and was watching for an opportunity. It soon came. The Austrians pressed forward too rapidly, and a breach showed itself between two of their divisions. Riding at the head of his men, Kellerman hurled his cavalry on the left of the Austrian line, Chasseurs, Dragoons, and Cuirassiers, striking with the shock of a thunderbolt. In a moment the aspect of the battle was changed. The column of the enemy was cut through, then re-charged and traversed again and again. The head of the column was surrounded, and, with Zach himself, laid down its arms, while the remainder of the Imperialist army broke and fled, carrying in its panic the reserve supports in the rayEven then Napoleon could not ungrudgingly give the cavalry the credit for his victory. After the battle he observed to Kellerman : "That charge of.yours was opportune," in a tone of lukewarm praise. "Opportune,- indeed!" replied Kellerman, "it has put a crown on your head." When Napoleon returned to Paris it was to receive the acclamations of a populace mad with delight, and Marengo was the step which led him to the throne of France.

Wellington, Napoleon's great conqueror, not only knew the value of cavalry, but used it so as to get the full value of it. At Waterloo the Life Guards, and later, the Scots Greys, struck terror to the enemy by their charges, while with his lighter cavalry he repeatedly harried the French infantry brigades. Once, at least, in modern times the British cavalry have turned the tide of battle, for Ulundi was Avon by the charge of the 17th Lancers, and the 2lst Lancers had a big share in the great victory of Orndurman.

But even where the circumstances do not permit the cavalry to get in with the lance or the sabre, as in South Africa, where the enemy fight from a hilltop, the horseman is more useful mounted and ready for emergencies than he is crawling on his stomach between boulders and playing- ;it sharp-shooting, a game for which, in the lirst place, he is not trained.

From the rapidity with Which cavalry can b( * m oved, they can foe put to a dozen uses.. \\ hen an infantry division is retiring, perhaps under compulsion, a general can throw out his cavalry and often turn a retreat into a pursuit. When an infantry division moves out to -attack an enemy in position, the cavalry, skilfully handled, can bo thrown round to Dhe enemy's rear and convert an orderly retreat into a panic-stricken rout. But better still in warfare, such as that in South Africa, a strong and well-led force of cavalry can draw the enemy out of the best position by u, manoeuvre &s simple as that the 18th Hussars accomplished at Talvuna Hill. J

The Boer and his pony are one, for he does not take the field without something to ride. But because he loves to fire pub an enemy from behind cover, he must of necessity leave Ihis horse tethered .somewhere when lie unslings his rifle and goes to the top of u, hill (to pot the rooineks. And here is the cavalry's chance. If, as at Talyuna Hill, they WORK ROUND TO THE REAR, and get among the Boers' cattle, the Boers a't once get tired of shooting -and make tracks for their cattle, exposing themselves to a cavalry charge, and leaving their position to be taken by the attacking infantry. The writer happens to know Sir Redvers Buller's opinion of the use of cavalry against the Boers, and it- is that to employ them dismounted or as mounted infantry is the worst of folly—the gallant general called it something more forcible, "lveep your cavalry mounted," he said, "and when you have the enemy engaged with your attack, let your cavalry go for their horses, or their encampment, or anything else which is visible, and which they can't afford to lose. Y r ou always have them ready to cut in with the sword, if you want them for it, and, as you ,oan move them as rapidly as the best mounted Boers can move, you can protect your infantry brigades from any move intended 'to cut them off. Keep your cavalry on horseback; his horse was given him to ride." «