Footnotes
[1]. No reference was made to the lance in the 1904 Regulations, because that weapon had been discarded as practically useless, owing to the introduction of breech-loading rifles. Now, unfortunately, the lance has been reintroduced—a retrograde movement. The lance is a positive impediment to dismounted action, as it adds greatly to the difficulty of led horses being moved forward when the men advance. In other words, it ties the men to the horses.
[2]. When the 9th Lancers were ordered to join my column on Field Service in Kuram in 1879, carbines had to be served out to them, and the men had to be put through a hurried course of musketry.
[3]. Of Königgrätz it would probably be more accurate to say that the Austrian Cavalry neutralized the Prussian Cavalry. It was the formidable row of Austrian guns that saved the Austrian army.
[4]. Eight years have elapsed since Henderson wrote these words. When they were penned the records of the South African War were not at his disposal, and the Manchurian War had still to be fought. The histories of these two campaigns only confirm his views, for during four years of war it is impossible to find more than a few instances, and these all trivial, of the successful use of the arme blanche.
[5]. I do not mean to reflect in any way on those in authority before the South African War for not having anticipated the power conferred by the magazine rifle and smokeless powder. But I submit that in “Cavalry Training” (1904) the lesson had been learnt, and the Manchurian War has surely confirmed the decision reached in 1904.
[6]. Bernhardi, p. 60. Mr. Goldman’s translation, second edition, of General von Bernhardi’s “Cavalry in Future Wars.”
[7]. I may point out here that General von Bernhardi agrees with this. On page 176 (Mr. Goldman’s translation) he says: “The sword should therefore be attached to the saddle, the carbine to the man, as is, in fact, the practice of all races of born horsemen.”