4. That a doctrine permeating all ranks is essential to success in war.
5. The doctrine is “The Unison of Arms and the Resolute Offensive.”
CHAPTER XVIII
THE TRAINING OF A SQUADRON
“Soignez les détails, ils ne sont pas sans gloire; c’est le premier pas qui mène à la victoire.”—Frederick the Great.
Pages 104 to 142, Cavalry Training, are devoted to the training of the troop and squadron, and leave little to be desired as far as they take us. But those who wish to study the matter more fully, and to learn some of the “whys and wherefores,” should read Instructions for Cavalry, by the Prussian General Von Schmidt, of whom it was said, “No man exercised so great an influence for good on our arm since the Great King.” His theory was that “everything that is dull, cannot be easily understood or is uninteresting must disappear; the cavalry soldier has less need of this than any one. With such instruction he is quite useless, for to him more than to any one else are freshness, life, activity, mental quickness and vivacity necessary.”[83] But most valuable are the glimpses which the book affords us of the Great King (Frederick) in his rôle as a trainer of cavalry. How thoroughly he “meant business,” and how sternly any weakening, wavering, or indiscipline was dealt with under that resolute autocrat, when not only an army but a nation was “in the making,” may be seen from the following:—
It was an old and strict order of Frederick the Great that no cavalry officer should allow himself to be attacked at the halt; whoever does it should be cashiered.[84]
In the cavalry of Frederick the Great the squadron leader was authorized to sabre any éclaireur met riding at random across the front.[85]
Elliot mentions a further inspiriting regulation:—
If it is found that any soldier is not doing his duty, or is wishing to fly, the first officer or sub-officer will pass his sword through his body.