CAVALRY (ante). The earliest records of C. as a distinct military organization date far back in the history of Egypt. Diodorus of Sicily states that Osymandias, who lived long before the Trojan war, led 20,000 mounted men against the rebels in Bactriana. Josephus states that the host of Israelites which escaped from Egypt included 50,000 horsemen and 600 chariots of war. lIcrodotus often alludes to C.; and Xenophon relates that in the first Messenian war, 743 B.C., Lycurgus formed his C. in divisions. In the year 371 B.C., Eparninoudas had a C. force of 5,000 men. and we know that C. contributed greatly to the victories of Philip and Alexander of Macedon. It had an important part in the battle of the Graniens, 334 lac.; and at the battle of Arbela, 331 Alexander, who led the Macedonian C. of 7,000 men, dashed into a gap of the Persian army, and by this brilliant feat utterly routed the enemy. After the death of Alexander, the C. of Greece and Macedon greatly degenerated. The Roman cavalry was very inferior to that of Hamilcar and Hannibal, and most of the victories of these two generals were won by cavalry over the splendid infantry of the Romans. Publius Scipio's defeat at the Ticinus, 218 ii.c., was due to the superiority of the Carthaginian horse; and the bitter experience at the Trebia and the battle of Cannx, 216 B.C., taught the Romans the value of cavalry, by which Scipio finally defeated Hannibal at Zama, 202 n.c. Vegetius states that the Roman C. was organized into ten troops or squadrons, forming a regiment of 726 horses, generally attached to some special legion. It is a singular fact that saddles were not in use until the time of Constantine, and stirrups were introduced by the Franks in the 5th century. During the middle ages C. may be said to have constituted almost the only efficient arm of battle. This was owing to the unwillingness of the nobility in all countries of western Europe to intrust any military power to the serfs; the upper classes went into battle mounted, and both riders and horses had heavy defensive armor. The feudal cavalry consisted of mail-clad knights with their men-at-arms. Their weapons were lances, battle-axes, and swords. The infantry was looked down upon during the middle ages, being composed principally of serfs and such as had not the means to keep a horse; but with the invention of gunpowder, the introduction of mus kets, and the use of field artillery, a complete chauge took place; the infantry gradually rose in reputation, and the number of this class of troops was augmented. It seems that light C. did not exist as a distinct body, with general officers and a staff, before the time of Louis XII. Montluc, however, mentions a general of 12,000 light horse in the time of that monarch; and we hear of Henry II., in 1552, taking a troop of 3,000 cavalry in his expedition to Germany. In 1554, marshal De Brissac formed a corps of mounted infantry, called dragoons, trained to fight either on horseback or on foot. Maurice of Nassau, who saw the importance of giving more mobility to this arm, was the first to organize cavalry regiments, each regiment of four squadrons, G formed in five ranks, and numbering about 1000 horses. Gustavus Adolphus was a great C. general, and used his cuirassiers and dragoons to good advantage. His tactics were much admired, and were adopted by many European nations. The French, especially, distinguished themselves after his death in the employment of C. Turenne, Conde, Moutecuculi, and Marlborough were considered excellent C. leaders in the wars of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. Cromwell was indebted to his abilities as a C. officer for the victories of Marston Moor and Naseby. Defensive armor for C. had been abolished in his time, and the C. troops were taught to use the carbine. Charges of cavalry were seldom made in battle except by the French; though Charles XII. always made use of cavalry charges at full speed with great effect. Marshal Saxe made many improvements in this arm, and used guns in connection with cavalry at the battle of Fontenoy, although regular horse artillery was not introduced till 1702. It was not until the wars of Frederick the great, however, that the full importance of cavalry was developed; lie saw the necessity of training these troops to use swords instead of fire arms, and endeavored to make them perfect riders. No firing whatever was allowed in the battle during the first charge; he claimed that the only two things required to beat the enemy were to charge him with the greatest possible speed and force, and then to outflank him. The brilliant victories he obtained from the adoption of these tactics
under the able leadership of Seydlitz have probably never been excelled. At the battle of Hohenfriedberg the Prussian cavalry of 10 squadrons broke 21 battalions, routed the entire left wing of the Austrian infantry, and captured 66 standards, 5 guns, and 4,000 prisoners. At the battle of Zorudorf, after the Russians had compelled the Prussian infantry to retreat, Seydlitz with 36 squadrons rode down the Russian cavalry, and then completely routed their infantry. Frederick had learned to appreciate the true princi ples of mounted warfare through long experience and the occasional disasters which he had met in the first and second Silesian wars; and it was due to the efficient reforms which he instituted in the Prussian cavalry that he was able to win the battles of Ross bach, Striegan, Kesselsdorf, Leutheu, and others. One of the first improvements made in the French army by Napoleon was the reorganization of the cavalry. lie increased the cuirassiers from one regiment to twelve, and reintroduced the use of the lance and defensive armor. Seine of his splendid victories were due to this force, especially at Marengo and Austerlitz; and it was owing to the loss of the French cavalry in the Russian campaign of 1812 that some of his finest achievements in 1813 proved useless: he was well aware of this, and made the statement that had he possessed cavalry at the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen the war would then have been brought to an end. In modern warfare it may be mentioned that cavalry was conspicuous at the battle of Sol ferino; hut in 1860, the first great European war since Waterloo, neither the Austrian nor the Prussian cavalry won great distinction, although the manner in which the Aus trian cavalry covered the retreat of their army at the battle of KOniggrittz was a noble example of courage and devotion. In the Pimlico-German war of 1870, however, the excellency of the Prussian cavalry was the chief means of Von MoRke's ability to carry out his strategic plans. The French cavalry were more remarkable for bravery than effi ciency, Great progress was made in the C. of the United States during the war of the rebellion; -a large number of men of both armies were good riders, and understood the management of horses. They were at first, however, quite ignorant of military tac tics, and were used as scouts, as orderlies, and for outpost service. Gen. Sheridan, act ing under instructions from gen. Grant, made the first successful organization of C., which was called the cavalry corps of the army of the Potomac. comprising three divisions of 5,000 mounted men each. Their weapons were repeating carbines and sabers. It was with this force that gen. Sheridan defeated the confederate C. at Yellow Tavern, near Richmond; and it contributed largely to the defeat of Early at the battle of the Opequan, near Winchester; and later, at the battles near Petersburg and at Five Forks, the C. took an important part. Gen. Wilson, whom gen. Sherman put in com mand of a force called the C. corps of the military division of the Mississippi, (lid good work in the way of • organization towards the close of the war; ho bad 12,000 amounted C. and 3,000 who fought on foot at the battle of Nashville, not including a detachment of 3,000 men in Kentucky.
Our C. system is similar to that of European countries; a regiment consists of 10 companies of 64 men each; 2 companies form a squadron; they are armed with sabers, pistols, and carbines. According to the army regulations, the C. in battle should be dis tributed in echelon on the wings and at the center, on favorable grounds; it should be instructed not to take the gallop until within charging distance; never to receive a charge at a halt, but to meet it; or, if not strong enough, to retire maneuvering; and in order to be ready for the pursuit, and prepared against a reverse, or the attacks of the reserve, not to engage all its squadrons at once, but to reserve one third, in column or in echelon, abreast of or in the rear of one of the wings; this arrangement is better than a second line with intervals. When the regular army, pursuant to the net of con gress of Aug. 15, 1876, was reduced to a maximum of 25,000 men, the United States C., consisting of 10 regiments, with 439 officers and 7,911 enlisted men, was left intact.