in manoeuvring. It should be composed of a good light cavalry, supported by a good reserve of cavalry of the line, by excellent battalions of foot, and strong batteries of artillery: the troops must be well trained; and the generals, officers, and soldiers, should all be equally well acquainted with their tactics, each according to his station. An undisciplined troop would only embarrass the advancedguard.

It is admitted that, for facility in manœuvring, the squadron should consist of one hundred men, and that every three or four squadrons should have a superior officer.

It is not advisable for all the cavalry of the line to wear cuirasses: dragoons, mounted upon horses of four feet nine inches in height, armed with straight sabres, and without cuirasses, should form a part of the heavy cavalry; they should be furnished with infantry-musquets, with bayonets: should have the schako of the infantry, pantaloons covering the halfboot-buskin, cloaks with sleeves, and portmanteaus small enough to be carried slung across the back when the men are on foot. Cavalry of all descriptions should be furnished with fire-arms, and should know how to manœuvre on foot. 3000 light cavalry, or 3000 cuirassiers, Miscellanies.--VOL. I.

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should not suffer themselves to be stopped by 1000 infantry posted in a wood, or on ground impracticable to cavalry: and 3000 dragoons ought not to hesitate to attack 2000 infantry, should the latter, favoured by their position, attempt to stop them.

Turenne, Prince Eugene of Savoy, and Vendome, attached great importance to dragoons, and used them successfully. The dragoons gained great glory in Italy, in 1796 and 1797. In Egypt and in Spain, during the campaigns of 1806 and 1807, a degree of prejudice sprang up against them. The divisions of dragoons had been mustered at Compiegne and Amiens, to be embarked without horses for the expedition of England, in order to serve on foot until they should be mounted in that country. General Baraguay d'Hilliers, their first inspector, commanded them; he had them equipped with gaiters, and incorporated with them a considerable number of recruits, whom he exercised in infantry manœuvres alone. These were no longer cavalry regiments: they served in the campaign of 1806 on foot, until after the battle of Jena, when they were mounted on horses taken from the Prussian cavalry, three-fourths of which were unserviceable. These combined circumstances injured the dra

goons; but in 1813 and 1814 their divisions acquired honour in rivalling the cuirassiers. Dragoons are necessary for the support of light cavalry in the van-guard, the rear-guard, and the wings of an army; cuirassiers are little adapted for van and rear guards: they should never be employed in this service but when it is requisite to keep them in practice and accustom them to war. A division of 2000 dragoons, advancing rapidly upon a point with 1500 light-cavalry horses, can dismount in order to defend a bridge, the head of a defile, or an eminence, and to await the coming up of the infantry. Then how great is the utility of the dragoons in a retreat! The cavalry of an army ought to equal one-fourth of the infantry, and should be divided into four sorts: two of light cavalry, and two of heavy cavalry; that is to say, troopers, composed of men of five feet high, mounted on horses of four feet six inches; light cavalry on horses of four feet seven or eight inches; dragoons on horses of four feet nine; and cuirassiers on horses of four feet ten or eleven: which arrangement will employ horses of all kinds for mounting the troops.

The troopers should be attached to the infantry, because the smallness of their horses

renders them unfit for charges of cavalry. By attaching a squadron of 360 men to each division of 9000, they would form the twenty-fifth part of the infantry; they would furnish orderly men to the general officers, and escorts to convoys, parties for garrison duty, and brigades of non-commissioned officers; they would assist the gens-d'armerie in the escort of prisoners, and in matters of police. There would still remain enough of them to form several divisions to serve as scouts to the legion, and to occupy any important position in which it should be deemed advantageous to anticipate the enemy. In actual combat, drawn up behind the infantry, and constantly under the controul of the infantry generals, they would seize the favourable moment when the enemy should be broken, to fall upon the fugitives with their lances, and to make prisoners. The smallness of their horses would not tempt the cavalry generals.

At the commencement of every campaign, each regiment of infantry would furnish a company of 120 troopers, ready organized, to be incorporated into the regiments of heavy cavalry, at the rate of a tenth to the cuirassiers and a fifth to the dragoons. Thus, for example, 360 cuirassiers would have 36 troopers; and a like number of dragoons would have 72: they

would be employed in acting as orderlies to the general officers, and in escorting baggage and prisoners; they would do the skirmishing duty; would scour the country, and would hold the horses of the dragoons, when the latter were fighting on foot.

An army of 36,000 foot, should have 9000 horse; that is to say, 2070 troopers, 1440 of whom would be with the four divisions of infantry, 420 with the dragoons, and 210 with the cuirassiers; 2700 chasseurs or hussars, 2100 dragoons, and 2100 cuirassiers; which make 4800 light cavalry, and 4200 heavy cavalry.

NOTE IV. ARTILLERY.

PAGE 117.

"But it is necessary to furnish every legion with artillery; and why not reject all the pieces at the tail of an army, in order to prevent the march of the troops from being interrupted and impeded? I think this could be done but partially the legions should retain some guns, in order to fight separately, or to begin and maintain the action, while the reserves of artillery are coming up to the field. All the rest of the artillery may march in reserve at the rear of the army, so as not to embarrass and retard the movement of the troops."

PAGE 118.

"Five pieces of cannon to each legion, appear to me sufficient for the duty they have to perform, until the arrival of the batteries of reserve."