formidable Spanish battery in the Pass of Somosierra, was finally
carried by a dash of Napoleon's Polish Lancers upon it, suddenly
profiting of a temporary fog or mist. But, in ordinary cases, when
cavalry has to charge a battery in front, its fire should be drawn by
our own guns or infantry, immediately before the charge begins.

11. In an attack on an _intrenchment_, the office of cavalry can rarely
be any thing else than to repulse sorties from the work, and to cut off
the enemy's retreat from it.

VII.--Its Charge.

1. As cavalry acts effectively on the field of battle only by its
charge, good cavalry of the line can be formed in no other way than by
being _exercised in this_, its special and peculiar function.

On taking command of the Army of Italy in 1796, Bonaparte found the
French cavalry to be entirely worthless. They had never been accustomed
to charge, and he had the greatest difficulty in making them engage.
Seeing the great importance of this arm, he determined to make good
cavalry of them by compelling them to fight. So, in his attack on
Borghetto, he sent his cavalry forward, with his grenadiers on their
flanks, and his artillery close behind them. Thus enclosed, and led on
by Murat to the charge, they attacked and routed that famous Austrian
cavalry whose superiority they had so much dreaded. This was the first
step in the formation of the splendid French cavalry to which Napoleon
afterwards owed so many of his victories. And, at the battle of
Hochstedt, on the Danube, in 1801, its superiority over the Austrian
cavalry was, at last, completely established.

2. Cavalry _charges_--

(1.) In line; but this only on even ground, and at short distances;

(2.) In column; and

(3.) As foragers, or in dispersed order. But this kind of charge is
exceptional. It can rarely be used with safety against any but an
uncivilized or an undisciplined foe.

3. A charge in _one long continuous line_ should never be attempted.
Such a charge will be usually indecisive, as it cannot be made with the
necessary _ensemble_ or unity. The success of a charge in line depends
on the preservation of a well-regulated speed and of a perfect
alignment; by means of which the whole line reaches the enemy at once.
At the charging gait, this is rarely attainable; so that the charge in
line, except at short distances, and over very even ground, usually
degenerates into a charge by groups, or individual troopers, arriving
succes