dvance of the
march of the thirteenth corps, threw itself into Thiel at the moment
when the advance guard of the division was attacked by superior forces.
Taking advantage of the shelter of the woods, of the hedges, of the
houses, it held the enemy at bay long enough to permit the division to
come up, and the company bivouacked with the division." Another writes:
"I rejoined the column by a cross-road at the end of which the dragoons
were defiling past at a hard trot, followed by the _compagnie cycliste_,
whose support at this moment was most valuable. It protected the retreat
by delivering at certain distances volleys which momentarily arrested
the pursuit. It was wonderful to see with what rapidity the men of
Captain Gerard's command threw themselves into their saddles, covered a
distance of five or six hundred metres, faced about and opened fire. If
they had been more numerous, what service would they not have rendered!
The cavalry officers who see them every day at work are the first to
recognize their usefulness." The employment of these instruments has
even been extended to the _gendarmerie_ by an order of the Minister of
War, at the close of the manoeuvres,--two legions of this force having
been furnished with them. In 1897, some machines constructed by the
artillery were distributed to a legion near Paris, as an experiment,
with very satisfactory results,--the transmission of orders, maintenance
of communication, etc., being thus assured in a satisfactory manner.
There is, of course, some opposition manifested to this innovation, and
the employment of mounted gendarmes is not yet discontinued. As may be
seen from the illustrations on page 139, the French military bicycle,
the invention of Captain Gerard, is constructed in such a manner as to
fold up and be transported on the soldier's back.

[Illustration: THE PRESIDENT CASIMIR-PERIER, KISSING ON THE CHEEK A
RECIPIENT OF THE RIBBON OF THE ORDER OF THE LEGION OF HONOR.]

As in all old armies, very many of the regiments have records which date
back to the last century, and of which they are very proud;--one of the
cavalry regiments, the Fourth Chasseurs, celebrated in 1890 the
anniversary of its creation in 1744 with an historical restoration and a
military carrousel of the most picturesque character. In the immense
court of their caserne in the Quartier Gramont of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
there might be seen to defile a cavalcade of all the uniforms worn by
the reg