THE FRENCH ARMY BY "EX-TROOPER" NEW YORK Copyright, 1914 CONTENTS
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FRENCH ARMY Before proceeding to the consideration of life as lived in the French Army, it would be well to have a clear understanding of the constitution of the Army of France, the parts of which it is composed, and the conditions under which it is organised and controlled. The British Army is a growth of years, and even of centuries, but with the changes of government that France has undergone since 1815 the constitution of the Army has undergone radical changes, and the French Army of to-day dates back only to 1871—that is, as far as form and composition are in question. One of the principles under which the present Republic of France is constituted is that "every citizen is a soldier." This principle has been more and more enforced with the growth and consolidation of the Republic since 1870, and successive laws passed with reference to the Army have been framed with ever-increasing recognition of the need for military efficiency. By the first law with regard to the constitution of the Army, that of July 27th, 1872, every young man, at the age of twenty, so long as he was physically fit, owed to his country five years of active service, five years in the Territorial Army of France, and six years in what was known as the Territorial reserve. On this law the constitution and organisation of the Army were first based. The law of July 15th, 1889, reduced the period of service to three years in the active Army, but the principle remained the same. A further modification in the length of service was brought about by the law of 1905, which reduced the period of service with the active Army to two years, and abolished certain classes of citizens who were excused from military service for various reasons. Up to the passing of this law, bread-winners of a family had been exempt, but by it they were called on to serve, while the state pensioned their dependents during their period of service; the "voluntariat," consisting of men who paid a certain amount to the state in order to serve for a period of one year only, was abolished—"every citizen a soldier" was made more of a reality than ever, for the nation realised that it must keep pace with the neighbour on the east, who was steadily increasing its military resources. From the age of twenty to that of forty-five, every Frenchman physically capable of military service is a soldier. Each commune complies yearly a list of its young men who have attained the age of twenty during the preceding twelve months. All these young men are examined by the conseil de rÉvision cantonale, a revising body of military and civilian officials, by whom the men not physically fit are at once rejected, and men who may possibly attain to the standard of fitness required are put back for examination after a sufficient interval has elapsed to admit of their development in height, weight, or other requirement in which they are deficient. Five feet and half an inch is the minimum standard of height, though men of exceptional physical quality are passed into the infantry below this height. The loi des cadres of 1907 supplemented the law of 1905 without materially changing it. At the present time about 200,000 men are enrolled every year, this number including the men who have been put back from previous examination by the revising council. The active Army of France thus consists of about 535,000 men, together with an approximate total of 55,000 men serving in Algeria and 20,000 men serving in Tunis. The gendarmerie and Republican guard add on another 25,000, and the colonial troops serving in the French colonies amount to a total of about 60,000. This last number is steadily increasing by means of the enrolment of natives of the French colonies in Africa. These numbers concern the Army on a peace footing. In case of a national emergency the total war strength of the French Army is calculated at 4,800,000. Of these 1,350,000 comprise the first line troops made up of the active Army and younger classes of the reserve, who would constitute the first field armies to engage the enemy on an outbreak of war. The remainder of the total of nearly 5 millions would be called up as required for garrison purposes and to strengthen the ranks of the field army. The citizen is still expected to give twenty-five years of service to his country; of these, two—or rather three, under the law passed by the action of the war ministry of M. Viviani just before the outbreak of the present continental war—years are expected to be spent in the active Army, and another eleven in the reserve of the active Army. During this second period of eleven years men are recalled to the colours—that is, to service with the active Army—for periods of a month at a time. At the conclusion of this first thirteen years of service, men pass automatically to the Territorial Army, which is supposed to serve for the purposes of home defence only. Service in the Territorial Army lasts six years, after which the soldier passes to six years in the reserve of the Territorial Army. After this the French citizen is exempt from any further military obligation. Registered at the age of twenty, the French citizen is called to the colours on the first of October following his registration, and passes from the active Army two years later on September 30th. In old days, when the period of service in the active Army was for five years, the French Army was an unpopular institution, but the shortening of service together with the knowledge, possessed by the nation as a whole, that the need for every citizen soldier would eventually rise through the action of Germany, have combined to render the Army not only an important item in national life, but a popular one. There used to be grousers and bad characters by the score, but now they are rarely found. In time of peace the active Army of France is so organised as to form the skeleton on which to build the war forces of the Republic. The system is one of twenty permanent Army Corps based as follows: the first at Lille, the second at Amiens, the third at Rouen, the fourth at Le Mans, the fifth at Orleans, the sixth at ChÂlons-sur-Marne, the seventh at BesanÇon, the eighth at Bourges, the ninth at Tours, the tenth at Rennes, the eleventh at Nantes, the twelfth at Limoges, the thirteenth at Clermont-Ferrand, the fourteenth at Lyons, the fifteenth at Marseilles, the sixteenth at Montpellier, the seventeenth at Toulouse, the eighteenth at Bordeaux, the nineteenth at Algiers, and the twentieth at Nancy. The strength of an Army Corps is made up of two divisions of infantry, a brigade of cavalry, a brigade of horse and field artillery, and one "squadron of train," the last named including the non-combatants of the Army Corps. Exceptions are the Sixth Army Corps with head-quarters at ChÂlons, the seventh at BesanÇon, and the nineteenth at Algiers; of these the first mentioned two contain three divisions of infantry instead of two, while the Algerian Corps has four divisions, one of which is detached for duty in Tunis. In addition to the twenty stations of the Army Corps, eight independent cavalry divisions have head-quarters respectively at Paris, Luneville, Meaux, Sedan, Melun, Lyons, Rheims, and DÔle. There is also the military government of Paris, which, acting independently of the rest, contains detachments from four Army Corps and two cavalry divisions. A cavalry division is made up of two brigades, each consisting of two regiments which in turn contain four squadrons and a reserve squadron of peace. The infantry of the French Army consists of 163 regiments of infantry of the line, 31 battalions of Chasseurs À Pied, mainly stationed in mountain districts, 4 regiments of Zouaves, 4 regiments of Turcos or native Algerian tirailleurs, 2 regiments of the Foreign Legion, 5 disciplinary battalions known as African Light Infantry. The cavalry organisation is 12 regiments of Cuirassiers, 32 regiments of Dragoons, 21 regiments of Chasseurs—corresponding to the British Lancers—14 regiments of Hussars, 6 regiments of Chasseurs d'Afrique, and 4 regiments of native Algerian Cavalry known as Spahis. The French Army is rather weak in artillery, its total strength consisting of 445 field batteries organised into 40 regiments of field artillery; 52 batteries of horse artillery, the greater part of which, however, have been transformed or are in process of transformation to field batteries; 14 mountain batteries; 18 battalions of garrison artillery, together with artificers to a total of 13 companies. Six regiments of engineers are divided into 22 battalions, and there is also a department of engineers known as the railway regiment. The non-combatant branches of the Army are formed into 20 squadrons of train, which contain the equivalents to the British Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, and the personnel of units connected with the upkeep and maintenance of the Army in the field. In addition, there is an Army Corps of colonial infantry, service in which is a voluntary matter. Its strength is about 30,000 troops in France and over 60,000 distributed throughout the various colonies. The officers of the French Army receive their training at military schools established in various parts of the Republic, or else are recruited from among non-commissioned officers. Not less than one-third of the total number of French officers rise to commissions by the latter method—Napoleon's remark about the marshal's bÂton in the private soldier's knapsack still holds good in the French Army. The principal training schools are those of St. Cyr for infantry and cavalry officers, the École Polytechnique for artillery and engineer officers, and the musketry school at ChÂlons. The schools of St. Maixent, Saumur, Versailles, and the gymnastic school at Joinville-le-Pont are intended for the training of non-commissioned officers selected for commissions. The rate of pay for men in the first period of service is very low, ranging from the equivalent of a halfpenny a day upwards; but the law under which the Army is constituted provides for the re-enlistment of such men as wish to make a career of the Army, and on re-enlistment the rate of pay is materially increased, while a bounty is given on re-engagement, and at the conclusion of a certain amount of service re-engaged men are granted pensions. It is only reasonable that, with the adoption of the principle of universal service, the rate of pay should be low; voluntary re-enlistment, however, is a different matter, so the Republic rewards the men who re-engage at the conclusion of their first term. From among them are selected practically all the non-commissioned officers, while, considering that all necessaries of life are provided for them in addition to their pay, even the rank and file are not badly off. The armament of the French infantry is the Lebel rifle with bayonet, this pattern of rifle having been adopted in 1886. It is understood that an automatic rifle is under consideration, but a serious drawback to the use of such a weapon is the fact that, with a rate of fire three or four times as great as that of the ordinary magazine rifle with bolt action, the automatic rifle would require more ammunition than its user could carry. The weapon of the Field Artillery is a shielded quick-firing gun of Creusot pattern, with a bore of 75 millimetres. On this gun the field-guns of all nations have been modelled, but, although it was the first of its kind to be put into use, it still gives the artillery of the French Army a decided advantage over that of other Continental nations, when reckoned gun for gun. The French cavalry is armed with a straight sword, in place of the old-fashioned curved blade which the French discarded some time ago, but which remained in use in the British Army up to the end of 1907. A carbine and bamboo lance are also carried. In all matters of military equipment and armament the French Republic has led the world since its reconstitution after 1870. The Lebel rifle and its adoption inaugurated a new era in the armament of infantry; the 75-millimetre gun, as already noted, was the first of its kind to come into use. The Lebel carbine which the cavalry carry is still unsurpassed as a cavalry weapon. Further, France led the world in the development of air craft; the lighter-than-air machine, certainly, has developed into a German specialty, but the heavier-than-air machine, or aeroplane, owes its development to French enterprise, and very largely to French military enterprise. In all branches of the service, and in all matters affecting the service, the French Army is the home of experiment, and to this fact is due the greater part of French military efficiency to-day. The bravery of French troops is unquestioned, and, in addition to this, the French Army has nothing to learn from the armies of other nations as regards matÉriel and equipment. THE FRENCH SOLDIER AT HOME British soldiers, serving under a voluntary system, have little to say for the conscript system, but a glance round Paris in time of peace might persuade them that there are various compensations and advantages in a conscript army which they, serving voluntarily, do not enjoy. It is a surprise to one who has served in the British Army to see the French Republican Guards stationed on the grand staircase of the OpÉra, and also at all entrances and exits of this famous building. In practically every theatrical establishment in Paris the Guards may be seen on this class of duty, for which they get specially paid. There are military attendants at the Folies BergÈres, at the Nouveau Cirque, at the Moulin Rouge, and even at such an irresponsible home of laughter as the Bal Tabarin. As the darkey said of Daniel in the lions' den, these men get a free show. But it is not only when on duty that the French soldier is to be seen in such places of amusement as these, for the non-commissioned officer is to be found in company with his wife or fiancÉe in every class of seat. It is no uncommon thing to find among the most attentive listeners at the OpÉra a number of piou-pioux, in full uniform, among the fashionable people in the stalls. The Republican rule, which makes of every man a citizen and an equal of all the rest, leads to what, in such a country as England, would be considered curious anomalies. Beside the newspaper critic in full evening-dress may be seen the private soldier, in uniform, taking notes with probably greater intelligence than the newspaper man; for the soldier may be anything in civilian life: the son of the rich banker occupies the next bed in the barrack-room to the son of the Breton peasant, and the Cabinet Minister's lad, when in uniform, is on a level with the gamin of Paris. It must be confessed that the average French soldier, when off parade, looks rather slovenly. The baggy trousers go a long way toward the creation of this impression. Then, again, the way in which the French soldier is trained to march is far different from British principles. The "pas-deflexion" does not look so smart as the stately march of the British Guards, but it is more effective. This bent-knee, slouching method carries men along with a swing; the step is shorter than that of British troops, but the rate is more to the minute than that of the British Army, and the men swing along, to all appearances tireless, at such a pace that they cover about thirty miles a day on manoeuvres. This, too, with a pack at which a British infantryman would look aghast, for the French pack is proverbial for its size and weight. It confers a great advantage, however, with regard to marching, in that it lessens the amount of transport which must follow on the track of infantry, and is necessary to the well-being of the men. A British infantry regiment on the march, and marching at ease, still looks imposing; a French infantry battalion, on the other hand, is the reverse of spectacular when marching at ease. The band comes first, with its instruments carried anyhow so long as they are comfortable; the rank and file, following, carry their rifles as the band carries its instruments, in any fantastic position that makes for ease; step is not maintained; the set "fours" which British troops maintain at ease as well as at attention are not to be seen, for a man drops back to the rank in his rear to talk to a comrade, or goes forward to the rank in front to light his cigarette. They smoke and sing and joke; they eat bread and drink wine by way of refreshment, since the evening meal is yet a long way off; alongside the troops as they march may be seen pedlars and hawkers offering their wares, and it is all quite the usual thing, quite legitimate. The fetish of smartness is non-existent here; comfort and use are the main points. But, at the given occasion, comes the word from the colonel; correct formations appear out of the threes and fives of men as if by magic. The band is a corporate body, marching to attention, and playing the regiment on with every bit as fine a military appearance as any British band. The men resume step, and, with their peculiar swinging march, follow on, a regiment at attention, and as fine a regiment, in appearance as well as in fact, as one would wish to see. Work is work, and play is play, and the French soldier does both thoroughly. This attitude of the French soldier toward his work, and the fact that he is permitted to maintain that attitude, are due to so large a proportion of the officers having themselves served in the ranks. There is a sufficient leavening of "ranker" officers to enable all commissioned men to understand, when on a route march, what it feels like to the rank and file. Unlike the British Army, that of France is a Republican business. The very circumstance that discipline is more severe arises from the fact that all men are equal, and both soldier and officer know it. And, if ever the French soldier becomes conscious that he is really suffering from the severity of discipline, he knows that he is suffering in good company: under conscription there is no escape. The training of the French piou-piou in marching is a scientific business. At first he is required to execute 160 steps to the minute—very short steps taken very quickly. In this way the recruit is made to cover 3000 yards at first, and then the distance is increased to 12,000 yards, the increases being made a thousand yards at a time. As the distance increases, the length of the step is increased, and the number of steps to the minute decreased. The full course of training is reckoned at three practices a week for three months, and the infantry recruit, before being dismissed from training, is required to cover twelve miles at the rate of seven miles an hour. There is no doubt that this scientific training in marching, and the teaching of the half-shuffling trot, characteristic of French infantry, add enormously to the marching value of the men. One battalion of Chasseurs-À-Pied set up a record in marching while on manoeuvres by covering no less than 68 kilometres (equivalent to nearly 40 English miles) in the course of a day. This constitutes a definite record in marching, for any considerable body of men. In the matter of smartness, it is hardly fair to compare a British infantry battalion with a French one, for the point arises yet once more with regard to the difference between a voluntary and a conscript system. The English battalion is made up of picked men, while in the French service all citizens are included; the fact of choice in the case of the British battalion makes for uniformity. The recruits of the French battalion include every man who has been passed by the revising board, and there is not the same chance of maintaining that uniformity which alone is responsible for smartness. And smartness itself is but a survival from the days when a soldier was trained to no more than unquestioning obedience, the old days before warfare became so scientific as it is at present, when initiative was not required of the rank and file. The only purpose served by smartness at the present day is that of recruiting, and, obviously, a conscript army has no need of this. Hence use rather than appearance comes first. An island people may well wonder that a conscript army could be so popular as is the French, but then an island people could never realise, although they might vaguely understand, what it must be like to know that some day the army of a hostile nation may march across the frontier. The absence of sea bulwarks makes a difference in the temper of a people; an ever-present threat colours and modifies their life, and, no matter how set for peace the conditions may appear, the threat is present just the same. Since 1872 France as a whole has known that the day of reckoning with Germany would come, and the knowledge has grown more complete and more insistent with the passing of each year and the increase in German military preparations, which could be destined to fulfil but one end. France realised its duty to combat the fulfilment of that end, and the nation as a whole set itself to prepare against "The Day." By reason of this the French Army is popular; the discipline is severe, far too much so for any English soldier to endure as a Frenchman endures it; punishments are frequent, it is true, but they are undergone in the right spirit by the great majority, who know that the Army must be trained and kept in ultimate efficiency. The conscript knows that his training is a part of the price that the nation must pay for having a land frontier and a grasping neighbour, and he pays his part of the price cheerfully and well. It may be said that no conscript army in Europe is so popular as that of France; in none is there a better spirit than that displayed by Frenchmen. The mercurial temperament of the nation is yet another cause for severe disciplinary measures, for in order to shape a Frenchman to military requirements his extreme elasticity must be controlled, and this would be impossible under such conditions as are sufficient for the maintenance of, say, the British Army. Moreover, Republican rule and French military methods have forged bonds between officers and men which never have existed and never will exist in the army of their great opponent, for instance. I have devoted a considerable section of a chapter to punishment, and possibly at first sight this list may appear severe. It is, however, only necessary to recall the fact that while Germany takes only a percentage of its men for military training, and France takes the whole for the same purpose, German methods are twice as severe. Yet again, it is not the quality of the punishment inflicted, but the spirit in which it is inflicted that counts most. The French soldier admires, respects, and will gladly obey the colonel or captain who writes him down so many days salle de police when he deserves it. But the German soldier is hardly likely to respect the officer who not only inflicts punishments according to scale, but will lash him across the face with a whip until the blood flows. Between French officers and their men is the spirit of comradeship, and in this is evidence of the value of the French method of training. Between the German officer and the man whom he commands are hate and despite in the great majority of cases, and this also attests the value of a system. THE HIGHER RANKS So far as the rank and file of the French Army are concerned, no officer above the rank of colonel is of consequence, for the man in the ranks is not likely to come in contact with a general officer once in a twelvemonth. The colonel is the head of the regiment, whether of artillery, cavalry, or infantry, and his authority extends in every direction over the men he commands. With the help of the Conseil d'Administration he directs the administration of his regiment, and he is responsible for discipline and instruction, all forms of military education, sanitation, and police control, while, needless to say, he is held responsible for the efficiency of the regiment and the appearance of its men. He has absolute power as regards the appointment of all non-commissioned officers and corporals, who, in the French Army, do not rank as non-commissioned officers. Corresponding very nearly with the "second-in-command" common to British units, the lieutenant-colonel of a French regiment acts on behalf of the colonel, and is the intermediary of the latter in every branch of the service. In the absence of the colonel the lieutenant-colonel is empowered to issue orders in his name, and he is also especially charged with the discipline and conduct of the officers of the regiment. He keeps the report books concerning the officers, and is responsible for the entering up of reports as regards their military and private conduct and their efficiency. The colonel, however, countersigns the reports, adding whatever notes he may think desirable. The French equivalent of the major of English cavalry is the Chef d'Escadron, of whom there are two to each regiment, each in command of two service squadrons. One is specially appointed to presidency over the Commission des Ordinaires or arrangements for the food supply of the regiment, while the other presides over the Commission d'Abattage, which, in addition to the actual killing of horses, when such a step is necessary, is concerned with arrangements for forage and all matters connected with equine supplies. Each of the Chefs d'Escadron is responsible for the culinary arrangements of his two squadrons, and the management of canteens is also under his supervision. The two chefs are in charge of the barrack police and transmit their orders with regard to this duty through a captain and an adjutant. The officer known in the British service as quartermaster is termed major in the French Army, but the French major has more definite authority than the British quartermaster. Under his charge are placed the regulation of pay and accounts, the making of purchases, the supervision of equipment and barrack furniture, etc. The French major, in addition to these head-quarters duties which concern the well-being of the whole regiment, has definite command of the fifth squadron, which forms the depot for the regiment in case of war. From the major the Capitaine TrÉsorier receives the pay and monies which have to be distributed to the regiment. He is a member of the Conseil d'Administration, from which he receives his authorisation to make payment. The pay of the men is handed to them every fifth day, when the Capitaine TrÉsorier or paymaster hands over to the sergeant-major of each squadron, or to the captain commanding, the pay of the squadron for distribution among the men. He also makes all payments and issues demands for supplies for the horses of the regiment, and a lieutenant or sub-lieutenant is appointed to assist the paymaster in his duties. The Capitaine d'Habillement is the head of the regimental workshops of every description; he is held responsible for the well-being of the armoury, clothing stores, and barrack furniture, of which establishments he keeps the accounts. He has in addition to superintend all the regimental workshops, including those of the tailor, boot-maker, saddler, etc. His assistant is a lieutenant known as the Porte Étendard, who carries the colours of the regiment on parade—for in French armies the colours are still carried on parade and into action, unlike the rule of the British Army, which has abandoned the carrying of colours into action for many years. The Capitaine-Instructeur is deputed to attend to the instruction of the non-commissioned officers of the regiment, and is held responsible for their efficiency in matters of drill and discipline. He also lectures junior officers on their duties with regard to drill, shooting, veterinary matters, topography, etc., and he is specially responsible that the adjutants of the regiment perform their duties properly. Of officers of the rank of captain, two are appointed to each squadron, the senior being the Capitaine Commandant and the junior the Capitaine en second, or junior captain. The senior captain is in charge of the squadron, which in peace time has a strength of about 120 officers and men, but for active service has its strength raised considerably. He is responsible for the military education of his squadron, for the discipline of the rank and file, and the condition of the horses and stables, and he is also responsible for the pay and supplies of the squadron handed over to him by the paymaster and others. He has control of the promotion of non-commissioned officers and the leave granted to non-commissioned officers and men. He is responsible to the Chef d'Escadron for the efficient performance of his duties. The second captain of each squadron is, as regards squadron duties, under the orders of the captain commanding, and is especially concerned with all matters affecting food supplies. In addition to his squadron duties, he has to take his turn every fifth week as "captain of the week," when he has to supervise roll calls and assemblies, and the mounting and dismounting of guards. As captain of the week he supervises the cleanliness and security of the barracks and the work of the police. Of lieutenants and sub-lieutenants, four are appointed to each squadron, each being responsible for a peloton or troop of men. Responsible to the senior captain of the squadron for the performance of his duties, the lieutenant is expected to instruct his men at drill, supervise their work in stables, and see that their barrack rooms are properly kept. The lieutenant is empowered to hold such inspections of kit and clothes as he may think necessary. To every regiment two doctors are appointed, holding the ranks of captain and lieutenant respectively. Each regiment of cavalry and artillery is also provided with two veterinary surgeons. As the duties of these officers are of a non-combatant nature, they are not materially concerned with the discipline or military efficiency of the regiment to which they are attached. Corresponding to the warrant-officer of the British Army and standing as intermediary between officers and non-commissioned officers of the French Army, the adjudants are appointed in the number of three to a regiment. Two of these known simply as adjudants have different duties from the third, to whom is given the title of Adjudant Vaguemestre. The two adjudants assist the work of the captain-instructor in immediately superintending the efficiency of non-commissioned officers. All sergeants and corporals are subject to their authority, and, in alternate weeks, each takes turn as "adjudant of the week" under the captain of the week. In this orderly duty the adjudant of the week keeps the rolls of sergeants and corporals, and arranges their turns of duty. He keeps the register of punishments of non-commissioned officers and the rank and file, and is responsible for the sounding of all regimental calls; he transmits the orders of the colonel to the sergeant-majors of the squadrons, and inspects the morning roll-call of each squadron. He attends to the closing of canteens and sees that "lights out" is obeyed in the barrack rooms. The position of adjudant in the French Army is one of considerable authority, which, to the credit of the service be it said, is seldom abused. The Adjudant Vaguemestre is but a minor official by comparison with the other two. He is generally a non-commissioned officer who has nearly finished his period of service, and he acts as regimental postman and postmaster, being, on the whole, a sort of handy man for all matters of business in which responsibility is incurred. The sergeant-major of each squadron has almost as much authority as the adjudant. He is, among the non-commissioned officers, what the senior captain is among commissioned officers; he stands as right-hand man to the senior captain, and, in constant contact with the non-commissioned officers and men of the squadron, is able very largely to influence the judgment of the captain with regard to the rank and file. He gives all the captain's orders to the squadron with regard to instruction, discipline, dress, etc. He is responsible for the keeping of books and registers, and for this work has appointed to him as assistants a sergeant fourrier and corporal fourrier. He is in charge of the squadron stores and of all the matÉriel of the squadron. The sergeants are appointed in the number of one to a troop, and are held responsible for the efficiency of the corporals and troopers. They take turns as "sergeant of the week" for their squadrons, a duty corresponding to that of the orderly-sergeant in the British Army. Nominally, the sergeant of each troop is responsible to the lieutenant or sub-lieutenant of the troop, but in reality the sergeant is more under control of the squadron sergeant-major, and, through him, of the captain. The sergeant drills the men of his troop; he is responsible that the troop barrack room is properly kept; that kits and clothing are kept clean and complete; that arms and saddlery, also, are kept in order. As sergeant of the week, the sergeant inspects and reports to the sergeant-major the correctness of morning and evening roll-call; he keeps the roll of fatigue men, and also of men in the squadron for guard; he parades the sick for inspection by the doctor and also parades all men for fatigues and guards. The sergeant fourrier holding the rank of sergeant is more of the nature of squadron clerk, as his duties, with the exception of escorting men sent to hospital, consist mainly in keeping books and accounts, in which he has the corporal fourrier to help him. The corporal of the French Army is placed in charge of a squad of about ten men; he sleeps in the same room with them, is responsible for their personal cleanliness and the arrangement of their kits, and sees that any men of his squad for guard or special duty turn out correctly. He superintends the general cleaning of kit which the captain orders weekly, and a rather curious duty which falls to his lot is to see that the troopers of his squad change their linen once a week. This, however, is not so curious as may appear at first sight, for it must be borne in mind that the French Army sweeps up every class of citizen into its net, and with some of the men personal cleanliness is so little a habit that insistence on the point by one in authority is a necessity. In addition to these intimate matters the French corporal has to superintend the drill of recruits, teach them to arrange their kit and packs, and show them methods of cleaning arms and kit, and grooming horses. He is empowered to inflict minor punishments which he must report to the sergeant in charge of the troop. The corporal is responsible for the maintenance of order in the barrack room, for the proper serving of meals, and the compliance with the order for "lights out"; he takes turn as corporal of the week with his fellows, and in that capacity is deputy for and assistant to the sergeant of the week. Altogether, the corporal of the French Army has a very busy time, and in addition to this his position is not so secure as that of the British corporal; the latter's rank counts as a definite promotion, while the rank of the French corporal is only an appointment, and he may find himself "reduced" much more quickly than the British man in an equivalent position. The conscript system, leading to a number of unwilling soldiers, is much more provocative of punishments than the voluntary system. In the latter, all men who enlist get the habit of making the best of their service; they have joined the army of their own free will, and have only themselves to blame if they do not like it. In a conscript army, however, there are many who hate the limitations imposed on them by service in time of peace, and enter only with a view to getting the business over and getting back to their former positions in life; it is a disagreeable necessity, the period of military service, and they are there to do as little as possible, without any regard to the welfare of the country, though a national emergency like the present finds every man willing to do his part. Not that such an attitude is the rule in time of peace, but, especially among the very lowest classes, it is not unusual. Since it is impossible to make sheep and goats of the men, but all must be treated alike, discipline is much more rigid and severe than in the British Army—which is the only voluntary European army from which comparisons can be drawn. The view is taken—necessarily taken—that men must be compelled to do their work and learn their lessons of drill and shooting; for those who give trouble in any way, there is the salle de police, or guard-room, the prison for worse offences, and, for hardened offenders, there is service in the dreaded disciplinary battalions of Algeria. This last form of punishment is resorted to only in the case of men who have "committed one or several faults, the gravity of which makes any other mode of repression inadequate." Contrary to the rule of the British Army, in which only commanding and company or squadron officers are empowered to inflict punishment, in the French Army any man can be punished by any other man holding a rank superior to his own, under all circumstances that may arise. As an instance: if a private of a British regiment insulted a corporal of another regiment, the case would be reported to the man's own commanding officer, who in due time would investigate the case and inflict the requisite punishment for the offence; in the French Army, if a private were guilty of a similar offence, the injured corporal would be at liberty to inflict the punishment on his own account; his action would have to be confirmed by a superior officer, but, under the rules governing the administration of punishment, there would be no difficulty about that. The officer in command of a regiment has power to increase, diminish, or even cancel punishments inflicted by inferior officers, and the captain in charge of a squadron has a like power over the subordinate officers directly under his command and over the punishments they may inflict. This system of giving so much power to all has more against it than in its favour. Certainly, given a just junior officer or non-commissioned officer, he is more likely to inflict a punishment that fits the crime than the commanding officer to whom he may report the case—he knows all the circumstances better than the man to whom he may tell them, and, in direct contact with the offender at the time the offence was committed, is not so likely to err on the side of undue severity or that of undue leniency—and that is about all that can be said in favour of the system. Against it must be said that it places in the hands of very many men, of all ranks and grades, a tremendous power which may easily be abused; under such a system a sergeant or corporal who has a grudge against a particular man can make that man's life a perfect misery to him, and, since in a conscript army authority must be upheld at all costs, even more than in a volunteer army, the right of complaint which belongs to the man is not often of much use to them—discipline would be impaired if officers upheld their men against their non-commissioned officers. Further, officers are more liable to punishment in the French Army than in the British. In the latter force, a court-martial on an officer is a very rare thing, but in the French service the equivalent to a court-martial is not an infrequent occurrence, and a certain percentage of officers get "confined to room," "confined to fortress," suspended from duty for varying periods, and cashiered (dismissed from the service),—these things happening with considerably greater frequency than in the British Army. It must be said, on the other hand, that the French officer has more required of him in time of peace than the British officer; he is required to be in closer contact with his men, and to undertake more arduous duties, and, on the whole, French officers are keen soldiers, intent on the performance of their duties, taking themselves and their work very seriously. The lesson of Metz in 1870 has not been wasted on the modern French Army, and the knowledge that some day the nation would again take up arms against its eastern neighbour has led to a strict maintenance of efficiency on the part of the officers of the Army, and to a keenness quite equal to that shown in a voluntary force. Non-commissioned officers are subject to punishments of a more severe nature than those inflicted on their fellows in the British Army—the constant comparison between the two, in matters of discipline, is necessary in order to give a clear idea of conditions of service for all ranks of the French Army. The British non-commissioned officer is either reprimanded or reduced to the ranks; the French non-commissioned officer may be confined to barracks after evening roll-call, confined to his room for slight breaches of discipline, or sent to prison and still retain his rank on his release, a thing impossible in the British service. Only for repeated misdemeanours are non-commissioned officers reduced to the ranks, while one offence is sufficient to ensure this punishment in the British service. Privates are punished in various ways according to the nature of the offence committed. The lightest punishment of all consists of extra fatigue duty; next in order comes inspection on guard parade, the man in question being compelled to parade with the guard in full marching order for a definite number of times; confinement to barracks for a stated period is inflicted for still more serious but still light offences; being sent to the salle de police is a considerably severer form of punishment, and consists in the offenders being kept at night in the guard-room, doing ordinary duty during the day, and, in addition, doing all sorts of fatigues and making themselves scavengers for the regiment. Prison and solitary confinement in cells are two forms of punishment allotted to really bad characters, on whom the previously named forms of punishment have not sufficient effect. Finally, there are the Algerian disciplinary battalions, and the man who is sent to one of these may be reckoned as a criminal, as a rule. It is a curious fact that reading a newspaper constitutes an offence against discipline in the French Army, and no newspapers are permitted to be brought into barracks. The list of officers given in this chapter has been taken from the staff of a French cavalry regiment, but it applies almost identically to artillery units, while, in the case of infantry units, it is necessary only to delete all that refers to the care of horses, and the staff of officers and non-commissioned officers is practically the same as in the cavalry. The French "regiment" of artillery is a similar unit of strength to that of most great continental armies, though it has no equivalent in the British service, where the artillery is grouped in units known as brigades, of not much more than half the strength of the continental regiment. The French cavalry regiment also is considerably stronger than the British cavalry unit, containing five squadrons to the latter's four. This brings the cavalry regiment of the French Army nearly up to the strength of the infantry unit. The matter of punishments has been dwelt on at some length, owing to the prominence given to punishment in the French Army. Made up as it is of every class, the members of which are compelled to serve whether they like it or no, punishment is a necessity, and a frequent one at that, in the case of all ranks. It does not, however, alter the fact that the great majority of French conscripts are keen and willing soldiers, who make the best of their service and give a good account of themselves. INFANTRY Since the training of the French soldier lasts but two years, it is of little use making a distinction between recruits and others, for two years is a very brief period into which to compress all that a soldier must learn in order to become efficient. It may be noted that, in the British service, three years is considered the shortest period in which an infantry soldier can be turned out as fully efficient. Again, it must always be borne in mind, in considering the French Army, that all must be taught their work. There is as great a percentage of stupid people in France as in any other country; a voluntary army is at liberty to reject fools as undesirable, but the nation with a conscript system must train the fools as well as the wise ones, for, admitting the principle that strength consists in numbers of trained men, then every rifle counts so long as its holder is capable of firing. The conscript, coming to the colours on the first of October, is usually given the choice of the arm of service in which he will do his two years' training. The subject of this chapter has elected to serve in the infantry of the line. He may have just completed an expensive education, or he may have come from Montmartre, the slums of a provincial town, the landes of Brittany, or a village of French Lorraine; in civilian life he may have been a peasant, a street arab, a student of philosophy, a future president of the Republic—it is all the same on that first of October, for now he is simply a conscript with two years' military training before him, and a halfpenny a day for his pay, together with a periodical allowance of tobacco, which is one of the luxuries that the French Army allows to its soldiers. Arrived at his station the conscript finds his room, and is allotted a bed therein. He finds himself placed under a corporal who will teach him all about his rifle, manifest an interest in the cleanliness of his linen, see that he gets his hair cut, instruct him in drill, turn him out of bed in the morning, and see that he is in, or accounted for, when the roll is called at night. The first business of the conscript is to get fitted out from the store in which the battalion keeps clothes for its men. Here he gets his boots, his parade uniform, and his fatigue outfit. His captain, with the assistance of the master tailor, passes the outfit as complete and correct, and the conscript says good-bye to civilian attire for a period of two years. There was one youngster, a Breton youth, who mourned for a week or two after coming to the colours, because the cow at home would not take its food from other people as it would from him; there are many who remember how they used to milk the goats, and these make humorous little tragedies for a time, for their fellow conscripts. Like the British infantryman, the conscript is concerned principally in learning to march and shoot, and use his bayonet. In the matter of marching, to which reference has already been made, the training of the conscript is a complicated business. No walking that he has ever done as a civilian bears any relation to this curious half-shuffling trot, unless by chance he is a native of the Vosges country, and in that case he may recall a rapid climb up some steep hill, to which this business of the march is more nearly akin than to anything else. Perhaps he does not take kindly to his work at first, but, in addition to the corporal under whose charge he is placed, there are the men who sleep on either side of him to inculcate in him the first principles of discipline, for there is nothing on earth half so comforting to the man placed under a system as to be able to give advice to a new-comer to the system and its disabilities. Thus, with the assistance of the corporal and of his comrades, the new conscript settles to his work. Within a couple of months he has begun to understand the principle of this marching business, and, in common with all youngsters, he takes a pride in his new accomplishment. It is a tiring business, certainement, but then, what would you? A man must be taught, and, after all, it is only for two years, at the end of which one may go back to the cow or the goats, or the kerbstone, or the life of one who sits above these things—and Pierre, who occupies the corner bed, is an amusing rascal; it is not so bad, this military life, after all, but one would there were a little more money and a little more time. However.... The conscript must be taught to shoot. First of all, and not infrequently as a matter of necessity, he is taught the difference between the butt and the muzzle of a rifle. He is taught how to hold the thing, how to clean it, how to press its trigger, how to load it, and how to adjust its sights. He is made familiar with the weapon in the fullest sense of the word "familiar," for shooting is not altogether a matter of blazing away ammunition; the good shot is the man who has a thorough knowledge of the various parts of his weapon, and who has been taught to nurse it and care for it just as the Breton lad nursed and cared for his cow. The equivalent of the British Morris tube is requisitioned to instruct the conscript in the first elements of firing a rifle. Across a large white target a thin black line is drawn horizontally, and the conscript is set to firing at this target until he can make reasonably consistent practice on the black line. His corporal is at hand to correct defects, and his sergeant is there too, to instruct and ever to instruct. By and by the conscript begins to feel with regard to his shooting as he feels about the marching. One must learn, and rifle shooting is not an unpleasant business, though the cleaning of the rifle is another matter, and they are wonderfully particular about the way in which it is done. That corporal and that sergeant must have eyes behind them. Instruction in the use of the bayonet is very largely a similar sort of business, a matter of perpetual care on the part of the instructors and of gradually increasing efficiency on the part of the conscript. Then there is the gymnastic class, by means of which limbs are made supple, and muscles strengthened—it is only by continuous training that the marvellous efficiency to which the French conscript attains in the short space of two years is compassed. There is no "furlough season" as British troops know it; the conscript goes up to work all the time, and in that period of work he is transformed from hobbledehoy to man. Marching, the use of rifle and bayonet, and gymnastic classes, do not by any means exhaust the schedule of conscript training. There is all the business of barrack room life, the cleaning of equipment in which the corporal is ever at hand to instruct, and men in their second year are also at hand to advise and give hints; there are fatigues, white-washing, trench-digging, and all sorts of things of which in pre-military days, probably, the conscript never dreamed. There are route marches with the battalion, the commanding officer and band at the head. There is always something to do, always something waiting to be done, and in looking forward there is an endless succession of very busy days to contemplate. One goes to bed tired—very healthily tired—and one wakens to work. The work is not always pleasant, but it has the charm—if such it can be called—of never-ending variety. A monotonous variety it may be, but then, one has little time to think, and then there is always the canteen, and Jean, who sleeps in the corner opposite Pierre, has just received his allowance from home. There is yet ten minutes before parade—we will go with Jean to the canteen.... OFF DUTY There is a strict but unwritten law of the French Army as regards the canteen: no man may take a drink by himself. Faire suisse is the term applied, if one goes to the canteen alone, and the rest of the men in the conscript's room look on him as something of a mean fellow if he does such a thing as this. Of course, it works out at the same thing in the end, and share and share alike is not a bad principle, while it is eminently good Republicanism. Jean must share his remittance from home with somebody; he can pick the men whom he desires to treat, but he must not lay himself open to the accusation of faire suisse, no matter what arm of the service he represents. It is bad comradeship, for his fellows, when they have a slice of luck, would not think of doing it. Why should he? Thus, and with justice, they reason, and out of such reasoning comes the sharing of the last drops of water with a comrade on the field, the acts of self-denial and courageous self-sacrifice for which men of the French Army have always been famed. It is a little thing in itself, this compulsory sharing of one's luck, but it leads to great things, at times. Should Jean go to the canteen alone, punishment awaits him from his comrades. If he is well liked, he will get off with having his bed tipped up after he has got to sleep at night. If he is a surly fellow, he may reckon on what British troops know as a "blanket court-martial," which means that his comrades of the room will catch him and place him in a blanket, the edges of which are held all round by his fellow soldiers. At a given signal the blanket will be given a mighty heave upward by all who are holding it, and Jean will fly ceiling-ward, to alight again in the blanket and again be heaved up. This process, repeated a dozen times or so, leaves Jean with not a sufficiency of breath to beg for mercy, while at the same time he is quite undamaged, and, if he is wise, he will not incur the accusation of faire suisse again. He may be fool enough to report the matter to his sergeant, as, by the rules of the service, he is entitled to do. In that case the sergeant will threaten Jean's comrades with punishment for causing annoyance to a man, but the threat, as the men well know, is all that will happen to them—but not all that will transpire as regards Jean. The French soldier abhors a sneak, and treats him as he deserves. Jean will get a rough time for many days to come, and will not dare to complain to the sergeant again. It is rough justice, but effective; so long as a man plays the game properly with his fellows, he is all right, and the sergeant knows it. Hence Jean may make complaints till he is black in the face about the conduct of his fellows, but by so doing he will only make himself unpopular, and before he has got far into his first year of service he learns to take his own part, and not to go running to the sergeant with his little troubles. It does not pay—and, if it did, the French Army would not be what it is in the matter of comradeship and good feeling. One good thing about the canteen is its cheapness. One can get coffee and a roll—which amounts to a French conscript's breakfast—for the equivalent of three halfpence, and this charge is a fair sample of the prices of all things. Whatever one may ask for, too, it is served in good quality, for the canteen is under strict supervision of the officers, who are quick to note and remedy any cause for complaint on the part of the men. Early morning breakfast, as it is served in the British Army, is unknown in French units. On turning out in the morning, coffee is brought round to the barrack rooms, but the first real meal of the day is "soup" at ten o'clock. The food is properly served in dishes, and a corporal or a man told off for the duty is at the head of each table to help each man to his allowance, for which an enamelled plate is provided. Crockery is unsafe in a barrack room, and the fact is wisely recognised. The canteen of the British Army, so far as drinks are concerned, provides beer only for its men, but beer is scarcely ever seen in a French canteen. Various brands of wine are at the disposal of the conscript, and it is possible to get a bottle of drinkable stuff for fivepence, though in order to obtain a really good brand one must pay at least a franc, for which the wine obtained is equal to that for which many a London restaurant will charge half a crown. Wine is the staple drink of the Army, though brandy finds favour among the hardened drinkers. The man who goes to the canteen for a bottle of wine to share with a comrade must not be regarded as a tippler, for the clarets which the canteen provides are not very alcoholic beverages, containing as they do but little more alcohol to the pint than supposedly "teetotal" ginger beer of some brands. To each company of infantry, as to each squadron of cavalry and battery of artillery, is allotted a barber, whose business is to shave every conscript of his company at least twice a week free of cost, the barber being remunerated by the authorities. Since most men need to shave every day in order to fulfil the requirements of parade appearance, it is obvious that the efforts of the barber in this direction must be supplemented by the men themselves, and on the whole the barber gets an easy time as a rule, for the man who shaves himself three times a week will usually get the business done without troubling the barber at any time. Complaints used to be made, especially in infantry stations, about the sanitation and lack of washing accommodation in French barracks, but modern custom has remedied all this. Chief cause of reformation was the Russo-Japanese War, which showed that an army is twice as effective if matters of sanitation are properly attended to—it does not pay to have men falling sick from the presence of nursery beds for infectious diseases. The French Army, ever first in experiment for the efficiency of its men and in search of ways to increase the fighting value of the forces available, has taken the lessons of modern sanitation to heart. In practically all barracks, now, the soldier can enjoy a hot bath or a cold one when he wishes; all that is still to be desired is a greater regard for necessary sanitary measures, and a greater regard for personal cleanliness among the men themselves. The peasant lad, who has lived a comparatively lonely life in absolutely healthy surroundings, does not understand at first that barrack life exposes him to fresh dangers, and he has to be taught what, to a town dweller, are elementary facts as regards infection. For this reason, tubercular and allied complaints still rank rather high in the medical statistics of the French Army, though every year sees an improvement in this respect. But a dissertation of this kind has taken us far from the canteen, and the methods employed by the conscript in spending his spare time. Not that the canteen is the only place of amusement, but in stated hours, as in the British Army, the canteen is the rallying point of men off duty. It is closed to men undergoing salle de police at all times, and this forms a not inconsiderable part of their punishment; for to a soldier the canteen is not merely a place where he may obtain refreshments, alcoholic and otherwise, but also a place to meet his friends, hear a good song, discuss the doings of various companies, and of various friends, whom he meets here and with whom he can compare notes. The barrack room may not contain more than one close friend—if that—and the other men in the squad to which the conscript belongs may be of different provinces, of totally different ideals and ways of thought—as if a Highland Scot were planted down in a squad of Londoners. In the canteen, however, a man can be certain of meeting and sitting down for a confab with his own chums, men not only of his year—that is, joining on the same first of October as himself—but also hailing, perhaps, from the same town or village as himself, glad to share a bottle of claret at a franc the bottle and to talk over the things left behind with civilian clothing. As for canteen songs, one may guess that in the French Army there is always plenty of real talent, for the nation as a whole, like all Latin nationalities, is a very musical one, and since all come to the Army, the singers come with the rest. The songs, perhaps, are not of the highest drawing-room order, even for French drawing-rooms, but the musical and vocal abilities of the singers are beyond question; for in a gathering of men where the best can be obtained, little short of the best ventures to bring itself to notice. This mention of canteen songs recalls the fact that the French infantryman beguiles the tedium of route-marching by songs, interminably long songs which go on and on for miles; in recalling what the next verse will be, a man forgets the number of miles between him and the end of the march, or he thinks he may be able to, which amounts to very nearly the same thing. They still sing songs that were in vogue at the time of Fontenoy, as they march at ease along the endless straight roads of the country, with their rifles slung anyhow and their formations broken up that friend may march with friend. This is when marching "at ease" only, for let a column of marching infantrymen come to the streets of a town, and they immediately stiffen up to show themselves at their best before the girls at the windows. The Army of the Republic is a part of the nation, but the women of the nation manifest no less interest in it for the fact that their fathers and brothers have served. There is something in the sound of a military band and the sight of a column of uniformed men that will always bring faces to the windows of a French house. "So our Jacques is perhaps marching somewhere," they say, or—"Thus we marched to relieve Bazaine," will remark a veteran of the '70 campaign, feeling the while that these men may yet make of "'70" a thing no longer to remember in connection with lost provinces. And, once the town or village street is left behind, and the road stretches unbroken before the column, the men begin to sing again, and their officers smile at the song—they are too wise, in the French Army, to suppress the singing and the cigarette smoking, and thus the men march well. As well, certainly, as any infantry in the world, and probably better than most. Although it is a conscript army, there are regimental traditions, as in the British or in any other service. Your conscript in his second year of service will tell how his regiment captured the colours here, or saved the position there, in the way-back days, and is nearly as proud of it as if he, instead of the fellow soldiers of his great-grandfather, were concerned in the business. Esprit de corps, though now a common phrase in connection with the British Army, was first of all a French idiom—and is yet, and an untranslatable one too—designed to express the French soldier's pride in his own unit of the service, or in his own branch of the service. At the present time, it has as much application to the French Army as in the day when the phrase was coined; pride in his own powers of endurance, and pride in the unit in which he serves, still characterise the French conscript, and in the last ten years or so this feeling has grown to such an extent as to place the French Army, although a conscript organisation, on a level with a voluntary force. CAVALRY As in all armies, the French cavalryman considers himself as good as two infantrymen; the origin of this may probably be traced back through time to feudal days, when only the better classes of vassals were able to provide horses with which to come to the standard of the feudal chief. Certain it is that even in these present days of scientific warfare, when the guns and rifles count equally with the swords of an Army Corps, the cavalryman still looks on himself as a superior person, more efficient and more to be admired than a mere gunner or a mere man in a line regiment of infantry. Certainly, he rides, and this fact he is always ready to impress on the infantryman; what he keeps quiet about is that he has to groom the horse he rides, and to attend to its needs when the infantryman, having finished his march at practically the same time the cavalryman finished his, has his meal cooked and eaten before his fellow of the mounted unit has got away from stables. Considering that the time of the infantry conscript is fully occupied in the compression of all his tuition into his two years of service, it may be imagined that the way of the cavalryman is not an easy one, for he has far more to learn than the infantryman. He has not only to learn to use the carbine which corresponds in his case to the infantry rifle, and to execute movements on foot, but he has to groom his horse, clean his saddle, keep the stables in order, and do all the things that are absolute necessities where horses are concerned, as well as having nearly twice as much personal kit to look after as the infantryman—and then he has to be trained in the use of the sword, that of the lance in some regiments, and to add to his other drills the business of riding school. The horses of French cavalry, as a whole, are not so well cared for as those of the English cavalry regiment; methods used in connection with the care of horses are not so complete and perfect, and the stock itself is not such well-bred stuff, as a whole, as the horseflesh that goes to the British Army from Irish and other breeding establishments. At the same time, the cavalry trooper is taught how to care for his mount in his own way, and, trained in a harder school, French horses of the cavalry are tougher than those of English regiments. If a unit from each army were placed side by side in a position in which there was no chance of feeding horses on full rations of forage, but all had to live on the country and make the best of it for a time, the French animals would probably come out better of the two from the ordeal, since they are more used to hardships in time of peace. The British trooper is taught to treat his horse as he would a baby, while the French soldier, inured to rigorous discipline himself, has a horse that shares his own circumstances. The cavalry conscript elects to serve in a mounted unit, for, on the 1st of October on which a man comes up for his training, he is given choice between cavalry, artillery and infantry service, as far as the exigencies of the service will permit. Like the infantry recruit, he begins his service by drawing kit and clothing and fitting the latter to the satisfaction of his superior officers; in addition to the equivalent of the kit drawn from store by the infantryman, however, the cavalry conscript must draw stable kit and cleaning materials, spurs and all that goes to make the difference between the mounted and the dismounted soldier. Unlike modern practice in the British cavalry, the way with the French conscript is to get on teaching him at once as much as possible; riding school, foot drill, gymnastic exercises, and stable work are all crowded into his day, for there are but two years available before he will go back to civilian attire and ways. And there is much to teach him; more, really, than two years can be made to serve for. It may be said that, except in the case of men who were skilled riders before they came up for training, the French cavalry conscript is not a complete soldier by the time he has finished his two years, for it is impossible that he should be. All that can be done to make him efficient is done, though, and the difference between the finished article, going back to civilian avocations, and the conscript from which he is formed, is little short of marvellous. Detractors from the merits of a conscript system overlook the effect on the conscript as regards physique and moral stamina; out of the rough schooling men emerge far more fitted for the battle of life than they entered, and the net effect of military training in a cavalry regiment—two years of it, taken as the French soldier is made to take his training—is in nineteen cases out of twenty all to the good. Riding-school is a serious business; when a man first leads his horse through the riding-school entrance and mounts, he learns what a perfect brute—from his point of view—an instructor can be, and it is not until he is nearing the end of his period of riding-school instruction that he learns to look on the instructor as not a bad fellow, a bit strict at his work, but responsible for the turning out of some of the finest riders in the world. For in horsemanship the French soldier is no whit behind his English confrÈre, and it is only in recent years that the British Army has taken up the circus tricks which for many years have been practised in the French Army in order to make men thoroughly familiar with their mounts. A conscript is taught not only to ride a saddled horse, but also to vault on to the back of a cantering horse, to make his horse lie down, and various other tricks—they are nothing more in themselves—which give him thorough confidence in himself and thorough knowledge of the capabilities, intelligence, and nature of his horse. Recognising the wisdom of this form of teaching, the British Army has of late adopted it, to the betterment of cavalry riding as a whole. The new loi de trois ans, introduced in the war ministry of M. Viviani, will be to the advantage of the French cavalry, when it has had chance of a fair trial—it had hardly become a definite law before the outbreak of war put a stop to peace training and peace organisation. But, when things become normal again, it is certain that the cavalry will benefit by the extension of the period of service, and although they were perfectly capable of taking the field when need arose, French cavalry will be improved in quality by the additional training. This applies not so much to the main points of drill and discipline as to little things; veterinary tricks and ways, capacity for individual service, and self-dependence in the fullest sense, especially to the extent demanded of the man who goes out on patrol work and scouting duty, are not to be learned as thoroughly as could be wished in two years, but must be ingrained by experience as well as by tuition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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