of boots, and a rifle instead of a carbine, would give us a formidable force of 20,000 men who could do all that our cavalry does, and a great deal more besides....  The lesson both of the South African and of the American Civil War is that the light horseman who is trained to fight on foot is the type of the future."[17] This is the opinion of a very competent civilian who deeply studied the South African campaign.  But it is the opinion of a civilian.

On the other hand many experts, most of them military men, insist that the day of shock tactics is far from done.  They instance the charge before Kimberley as a case in point.  Obviously all the elements of disaster were there.  Only a brilliant use of the traditional cavalry attack saved the situation—­and Kimberley.  Situations of that sort are bound to arise again.  How is the mounted infantryman, lacking the elan and spirit of the cavalryman, to meet the situation?

[Page Heading:  TOO MUCH CAUTION]

French takes an attitude somewhat midway between these two extremes.  He, of all men, has developed cavalry most successfully on what might be called mounted infantry lines.  That is to say, he has taught his men to fight on foot, to take cover at every opportunity, and to master the whole art of reconnaissance.  But at the same time, he objects to extremist[18] views as to the abolition of the cavalry spirit.  “One or two distinguished foreign soldiers who have publicly commented upon that campaign have said that what is termed the ‘Cavalry Spirit’ is opposed to the idea of dismounted action.  They hold that the cavalry disdain to dismount, and they see in riding the end instead of the means.  They consider that events in the Far East teach us that we must render our cavalry less devoted to ‘manoeuvres’ and to ‘tournaments,’ in order to enable them to fit themselves to take part in modern fighting; that the times have come when the methods of warfare should be changed; and that the cavalry must determine to defeat the enemy by dismounted action entirely.

“I cannot speak with any certainty as to what has happened in European Armies, but as regards the British Cavalry, I am absolutely convinced that the Cavalry Spirit is, and may be encouraged to the utmost, without in the least degree prejudicing either training in dismounted duties or the acquirement of such tactical knowledge on the part of leaders as will enable them to discern when and where to resort to dismounted methods.

“How, I ask, can the Cavalry perform its role in war until the enemy’s Cavalry is defeated and paralysed?  I challenge any Cavalry officer, British or foreign, to deny the principle that Cavalry, acting as such against its own Arm, can never attain complete success unless it is proficient in shock tactics.