able, for squadrons which consisted, for
instance, of one-half augmentation horses would be simply useless for
War purposes. A proceeding, therefore, which brought such results in
its train would imply no increase of the Arm, but rather the
destruction of the existing standard of Peace-time efficiency.

Even as Divisional Cavalry such squadrons would be useless, for these
require good individual horsemanship even more than those of the
Independent Division for the performance of their special duties, and
the necessary standard can never be attained with untrained horses.

All who put forward proposals of this nature are labouring under the
dominion of a fundamental fallacy. They overlook the fact I have
explained in the foregoing section, that Cavalry by its very nature
can never be other than a highly-specialized Arm, and hence that the
system adopted by the Infantry of raising the cadres to War strength
by the absorption of reserve men is for the Cavalry fundamentally
impossible. For in the Infantry the ranks are filled by the addition
of trained men; in the Cavalry they must be completed with untrained
horses, and the untrained horses break down under service conditions
much more rapidly than the men.

Our experience in 1870-1871 was conclusive on this point. Already
towards the end of August--_i.e._, in less than six weeks from the
outbreak of the War--the greater part of the augmentation horses were
quite useless for field purposes. If one looks up the reports in the
War Archives, everywhere this complaint about the untrained animals is
recurrent.

From all the above-mentioned circumstances it must be clear that a
numerical increase in the Cavalry is most urgently called for, and in
my opinion it would be best if this indispensable increase, the need
for which is becoming apparent even to public opinion, were grafted
upon the existing five-squadron system, which at least guarantees a
certain amount of preparation of the augmentation horses, without
entailing the reduction of the squadrons below the minimum standard
necessary for efficiency. I would, however, be willing to support any
other method which would give a sensible increase in the Cavalry
strength of our Peace establishment, and only protest against any
scheme which would seek to swell out the ranks or create new units on
mobilization; for all these are mere self-delusion, increasing, no
doubt, the numbers on paper, but in reality striking at the effic