| CHAPTER I |
| Introductory |
| Cavalry in past ages—Drawn from horse-lovers, success followed on fixed principles, these are as applicable to-day—Ballistics from horseback—Always a sign and cause of weakening—The charge of good moral—Gunpowder and other improvements notwithstanding—Good scouts always available—Best lessons are learnt in war—Expense of cavalry—Duty of cavalry leader Page1 |
| CHAPTER II |
| Armament |
| Constant changes—Cut v. thrust—Gerard’s experience—Point more deadly—The case for the lance—The revolver—Confidence in the arm selected is of highest importance—The rifle—The insistence of continental writers inapplicable to British cavalry Page10 |
| CHAPTER III |
| The Horse |
| Colossal bill for horse-flesh in South Africa largely due to national ignorance of horses—The suitable horse, two classes—Chest measurement test for stamina—Small blood horse stands work best—Arabs bred for war—English and Australian horses for size—Care of horse in war—An exception to this Page18 |
| CHAPTER IV |
| Tactics of Cavalry v. Cavalry |
| The squadron attack—Cohesion—And its result in moral—Tactics—Cunning—The rally—Cromwell—Supports—Conclusions Page29 |
| CHAPTER V |
| Cavalry v. Cavalry |
| Forming to the Flank |
| I. The squadron—Forming to the front or flank—Defensive or offensive flank. |
| II. The regiment, advantage of Echelon attack. |
| III. The Brigade—Training of leaders—Co-operation of R.H.A.—Two forms of attack, when both forces get away from the guns—Formations for moving to a flank—Relative effect of artillery fire on the two formations—Column of masses preferred—Formation for the attack—Time for horse artillery to unlimber—Form of attack must be simple—Conclusions Page37 |
| CHAPTER VI |
| Fire Action in Tactics of Cavalry v. Cavalry |
| Not a question to be shirked—Danger of recourse to fire action weakening our leaders’ desire for shock action—An instance of fire versus shock action—Rifle fire against charging horsemen is ineffectual—Contradictory memoranda on the subject—Henderson’s dictum—Dismounted action of cavalry—German regulations—Prince Kraft Page50 |
| CHAPTER VII |
| Cavalry Brigade in Action |
| First objects in the attack—Concentric shock of fire and horse—Plan to get a good field of fire by alternate advance of two squadrons—Desiderata in artillery position—Broad principles—Utilization of ground—Deception—Get away from our artillery—An example of attack—The action of the artillery—Moral necessary to leader—Unreasoning hasty advance deprecated—If anticipated by enemy, how we may have to act—Passage of defiles—Dribbling squadrons into a fight—Cure for dissemination Page59 |
| CHAPTER VIII |
| Action of Cavalry in the General Engagement |
| Independent cavalry, danger of their detachment at inopportune times—Cavalry and horse artillery at Loigny-Poupry—Unsatisfactory direction of cavalry in 1870–71 followed by peace belief in rifle—Fallacy of tendency to dismounted action shown by South African and Manchurian Wars—The line our training should take—Cavalry instructional rides—Value of initiative—Conclusions—Frederick the Great’s cavalry compared with our South African cavalry—Pursuit—Neglect of, a British failing—The parallel pursuit—Its value—BlÜcher at Katzbach on cavalry pursuit Page69 |
| CHAPTER IX |
| The Disposition of Cavalry in a Campaign |
| FIRST PART |
| Dependence on forage—Principles on which cavalry is placed in the front—Want of direction in 1870—Galliffet’s influence—Service of information separated from that of security—The Napoleonic traditions revived—And generally adopted—French view—The cavalry of exploration—The cavalry of army corps—The divisional cavalry—Generalissimo’s use of his independent cavalry—Movement en bondes—The effect of modern rifle—Difficulties in the attack of protective cavalry and mixed detachments. Page86 |
| SECOND PART |
| The modern disposition is theoretical—Tendency to increase independent cavalry at the expense of protective, for sake of initial advantages—Difficulty of weaker cavalry rÔle—Von Bernhardi on German cavalry strength—Improvisation of cavalry—Dilemma—Cyclists—Difficulty of training for non-professional cavalry—Danger of amateur cavalry officers—The Ulm Campaign—Effect of first success—Boer tactics unsuitable to European war Page93 |
| CHAPTER X |
| Horse Artillery and Cavalry in the General Engagement |
| Deficiency in peace training—The energy of the attack—An instance—Plan of the attack—In the defence—Value of artillery in the retreat Page101 |
| CHAPTER XI |
| Co-operation of Horse Artillery and Cavalr
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