alse--_i.e._, too narrow--standards. Further, because in the
manoeuvres, as in the principal Cavalry exercises generally,
situations requiring dismounted action for their due solution hardly
ever arise; and lastly, because of the manner in which the whole
subject is discussed in the Regulations themselves.

The latter approach the question from a far narrower standpoint than I
propose. They lay down quite openly that only under especially
favourable circumstances can Cavalry hope to obtain easy and minor
results from their carbine, fire, and that they are not in a position
to enter on and carry through obstinate encounters.

They lay principal stress on the defensive, and practically exclude
the combat of larger 'Masses' altogether from their horizon.[28] In
fact, they consider only the minimum conditions which the Cavalry must
fulfil if it is not to fall into the background altogether.

[Footnote 28: Section 355, and note 357, 363, 365, 366.]

The final consequences of modern development, hardly even those
resulting from the experiences of 1870-1871, they have emphatically
not yet even approached.

Those who have studied the action of our Cavalry in that campaign
thoroughly--as I myself had full opportunity of doing--will agree that
we seldom had to have recourse to the carbine except on the offensive,
as I have pointed out above, and only in the rarest cases did we need
them for defensive purposes; and though in future against overwhelming
forces this necessity may arise more frequently, still, as in 1870,
this tendency towards a resolute offensive must always stand in the
foreground. Nevertheless, the Regulations, in spite of all practical
experience and theoretical considerations, lay down that in most cases
fire action will be confined to the defensive (Cavalry Regulations,
Section 357).

It is quite natural that the troops themselves should not place their
ideal higher than the Regulations require; all the more necessary,
therefore, do I hold it to express with all emphasis that _our
training must go far beyond the limits prescribed for it officially_
if we are in any degree to satisfy the demands that War will make upon
us. But for these, I hold our Cavalry thoroughly capable (when
trained, understood), and even if they were not, one should never
breathe such a suspicion to the men themselves. For should such an
impression get abroad, one would dig at once the grave of initiative,
daring, and reso