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-. . OHO ^ 2 L ^^ ^ a * *^ few TOady to ride over guns or dash upon % c ^^^^^^^ Hl ^* ' we ^ aTe s * ee ^ > and workers in steel , " , ^^ ^^^^^ sa ^^^^^ * quite good enough to make sabres . & W \\ k w « r ( Mij ^^ tlfompotiPded , these elements would resolve ' ' ¦ $ . wy ^^^^| p& > tMJ complete a chivalry as could be desired [ i : / M ^^ P ^ y ^ - force of 10 , 000 such might be made to < Z K ^^^ y ^^^ over or through anything . There is one ^^« tiii ^ - < ning only lacking , but without that , all the rest goes for little j and that one thing iswhat we don't seem likely to get—a General
of Cavalry . Our first venture in this campaign has been a sad failure . We had the men , the horses , the steel—but -in the place of the man we had a « aan ; potent , perhaps , as a Peer , impotent , n . ray worse , as a General of Cavalry . But how -can we hope to do better ? How , when influence and station carry a man to the head of -a division , either of infantry or cavalry , can we expect to find genius at the head of our armies ? You cannot ' make a general by printing his name and civil and military titles in the London Gazette . "We have tried that mode
of manufacturing a General of Cavalry , and we pbtained an—Earl of Lucan . Now what do we want ? Cavalry in action depends almost entirely for victory upon good leading . An officer who commands cavalry must always know where the enemy is , sometimes better than the enemy himself , as Seidlitz showed at Rosbach , when the enemy suddenly found the Prussian cavalry , not only on their flank , but in among them . The Prussians
knew where the French were ; Soubise , like Lord Lijcan , did not know , and-took no pains to know , the position of the Prussians . And the consequence was , that "Seidlitz , " without waiting for orders , but attacking at once and impetuously , swept the enemy from the face _ of the field . Victory depends upon resolution and the-glance" of-ar moment , not upon numbers . At Marengo , Kelj / erman , riding with 200 horse on the flank bf the French , saw the
Austrian infantry pursuing , in some confusion , an advantage they had gained . In an instant he was in the midst of them , and they laid down their arms . Nor did he stop here . The left flank of the astonished grenadiers was covered by 1200 horse . Kkllerman , perfectly master of his facultiesj stopped his troops and sent them against the horse . At Salamanca , by seizing the right moment for a charge , General Le Mahchant cut up the left wing of the French , and contributed in no slight degree to that brilliant victory . Take another illustration—the conduct of Seidlitz in
Frederick the Great ' s two grand battles with the Russians . In both instances the Prussians attacked the enemy in strong positions , but with very different results . At Zorndorf , Seidutz watched the battle from the extreme left at the head of the Prussian cavalry . The King thrice sent him orders to charge , the third time with a menace of death for disobedienceyet thrice this great general disobeyed , saying at the third request—" Tell the King my head shall be at his service after I have won the
battle . " The result justified the boast . The Prussian infantry were repulsed , were flying ; the Russians pursued in disorder . This was the moment ; and ordering his movements with great coolness , Sjeidlitz made a double attack with the swoop of an eagle , and defeated both the cavalry and infantry before him . This retrieved , but did not win the day . The King made another infantry attack ; but troops
which had never failed before failed him now ; and again , at the very crisis of the battle , with his squadrons reorganised and newly arrayed , Sei » i > itz , shouting , "My children follow me !" led his host of horse once more to the front , broke the cavalry , and burstimr on the infantry , drove the Russians from the field . Hero were displayed the greatest qualities of a cavalry leader in action—judgment and valour .
Skidlitz led , and always knew when to lead , his men to the charge . He only made one mistake , which can be compared to the Balaklava charge —and he made that at the express command of the King . At Runersdorff , Frederick , after two vain requests , Ordered Seidlitz , " in the devil ' s name , " to charge the Russian batteries . Feeling how rash was the order , Seidlitz reluctantly obeyed and repeatedly and vainly charged the batteries at the head of his cuirassiers . The Prussians were crushed by the fire of the fifuns : the battle was lost .
From these instances it will be seen that the general we want is a man whose vigilance never sleeps ; whose rapid judgment never fails ; whose coolness never forsakes him ; " whose actions never halt between resolve and doubt ; who is daring to rashness , yet discreet to disobedience ; who fears no amount of responsibility ; and whose personal valour carries him at the head of his men into the thick of
the fray , when once he has given the signal for a charge . He should know when to bound forward , when to withdraw his troops ; he should know when to be satisfied , and when to set , no limits to the sweep of his conquering sword . Such a man , at the head of 10 , 000 English horse , would be a pledge of victory in every field . The true secret of success is the personal leading , the personal influence of the commander , everywhere among his troops , as well in the barrack and the bivouac , as on
the field of battle . Is it possible that we can get such a leader as this by taking the pick of the Court , the friend of the Minister , or the dilettante Peer ? The thing is impossible . Cavalry generals are born , not made ; opportunity develops their powers : and we should look rather in the stable _ and the barrack , rather anywhere than where we do look—in the peerage—for the mart we want .
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RAILWAY ENTERPRISE IN HUNGARY . Not many years ago we were told of an Hungarian nobleman who was visiting Paris , and who intended to come onto London , but he was prevented by a doubt whether he could pay for his lodging . He wanted that which is common enough in this country , money "; although his household "would probably have enabled him , impromptu , to furnish a very respectable company of soldiers , or his stables to mount a troop of horse . For the country to which lie belonged is rich in all that constitutes the raw elements of
wealth . It is fertile in the highest degree , few countries so much so . It abounds in corn and wine . It has the natural riches of raw countries—those rough and ready treasures which give the settler the means of providing suddenly for the wants of life , while he develops the larger sources of
wealth . It has immense tracts of pasture land , forest land , and virgin soil . With about 7 , 350 , 000 acres of arable land , 960 , 000 of garden , 1 , 365 , 000 vineyards , it has 11 , 570 , 000 meadows , and 1 , 2 * 75 , 000 ponds , and 13 , 410 , 000 forests : 26 , 250 , 000 acres of forest , meadow , and morass , to about 9 , 750 , 000 cultivated land !
Hungary is rich m other things . One of the " dead" languages is there indigenous and living . " Boots" at the inn , asked what is the " schnaps" that ho recommends , replies to the traveller , " Sohnaps , domine , res est maocime necessaria omne mani . " Need we wonder that the nobleman finds a difficulty in paying his way , where his native land is scarcely advanced beyond Canada in cultivation , and the inn servant commends a dram " as " a most necessary thing every morning " —in Latin ? It seems to connect the condi * tioh of the far West with something in the midst of the Middle Ages or beyond them . No wonder that in 1825 the nobles only began
to surrenderthosefeudal rights which belonged to our old times ; no wonder that even in 1848 they had got no further in their history than we had two centuries earlier—or rather , the wonder is that they had got so far . Great way has been made in these five years . Austria has decreed railways , and , what is more , has made those enterprises not only State projects , but State pledges in the hands of European capitalists . The Government of Austria , in pursuit of material wealth , has embarked in the same boat with its
subjects , particularly in Hungary and Bohemia . The network of Austria presents on the map two great lines which cross each other diagonally at Vienna , forming a species of cross . One of these passes north-east and southwest from Russian Poland to the Adriatic ; the other from , north-west to south-east , through Bohemia to the extremities of Hungary . The northern railway , or the line of Ferdinand , rises from the Saxo n Railway between Dresden and Niedergrund , with which it connects Prague ; it has branches connecting Moravia and Olmutz , where it
joins lines that connect it with Prussia , Poland , and Russia . From Triebitz the principal line goes by Briinn to Vienna . The gross receipts of this part of the Austrian railways have risen within the last few years to 7 , 000 , 000 / . sterling ; the net proceeds returning an ample profit on the capital of 8 , 000 , 000 / . Bohemia and Bavaria have a population of 6 , 260 , 000 inhabitants ; they have an internal commerce with Austria amounting in the aggregate of exports and imports to 4 , 60 O , 000 r 4 Jbut a part of their traffic is only commencing with the development of tlie mineral resources of the district and of
Hungary . It is in Hungary that the grand prospects of the enterprise begin to develop themselves . There are railways which connect Vienna with Peeth , and will be continued even to Belgrade . The trade of Hungary with Austria amounts to about 12 , 000 , OOOZ . per annum ; and from the nature of the country , and the condition in which it is , we must understand that the existing trade is only an earnest of that which will soon travel by the railway ; At -present Austria is .
traversed by means of the natural streams , the Danube being the chief , with its debouchement in the Black Sea ; a few canals , principally improvements of winding rivers ; and a very few main roads . The means of transit are as slow , as expensive , and as costly as the travelling of the fifteenth century . The immense villages are separated by large spaces that are deserts to the sight of the traveller . During the period of labour , the men set out in caravans to establish themselves on the
lots confided to their culture . They are lodged in a species of barrack , leaving only the women , children , and aged in the village , and returning when they can on the Saturday night to pass the Sunday at home . It is a country which possesses the riches that we have already described ; which , notuithstanding its isolated position in the middle of Europe , has struggled to pi'ocluco a trade of the dimensions that we have particularised ; and that is now placed by means of the railway in direct communication throug h V ienna with Germany , Holland , Belgium , Trance , andwe may sayEngland . p
, , There is anotWbr trade existing only m its infancy—the trade between Austria and the Turkish possessions by land , which already rises to an amount of 3 , ? 00 , 000 Z ., besides a transit of 1 , 600 , 000 ? . The State has taken the' initiativo m establishing thoso railways , but in point ot fact the development of the commercial part of the schome may be said to be handed over to a commercial Company , called the " Austrian
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THE LEADER , [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 17, 1855, page 252, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2082/page/12/
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