t. The necessity and possibility
of strategical reconnaissance by independent bodies of Cavalry have
been fully recognised.

The conviction also has been arrived at that only when supplied with a
useful firearm and an adequate allowance of Horse Artillery will such
'masses' prove adequate for the accomplishment of this special task.
With the same object in view, the means have been granted to them with
which to destroy telegraphs and railways, to bridge rivers, and so
forth. The conviction also has been gained that the Cavalry require to
be so familiarized with tactical formations for their employment in
'mass' that they shall have become a second nature to them if they are
to fight with a reasonable prospect of success. But all that has been
done in these directions still remains insufficient. On the one hand,
the improvements introduced have not taken into account the decisive
changes in the general conditions which only the last few years have
brought about. On the other, we must not forget that neither the
Prussian Cavalry in 1870 in France nor the Russians against the Turks
in 1877-1878 had even approximately equal Cavalry to oppose them. Even
the great results achieved alternately by the Cavalry on both sides
during the American Civil War were obtained in general under
conditions which can no longer be anticipated, for at the moment of
collision neither encountered, as a rule, either equal quality or
numbers sufficient to develop their full power of attack.

The very important data obtained during the campaign of 1899-1900 in
South Africa as to the employment of dismounted action by Cavalry were
also not then before us. One could only, therefore, reason from
one-sided experiences, which can no longer be recognised as generally
sufficient for our purpose. In future the mere possibility of results
such as in 1870-1871 we so often gained owing to the absence of any
serious opposition on the part of the opposing Cavalry, will nowadays
have to be obstinately fought for, not without considerable loss; and
it needs no special proof to show what an enormous increase in the
difficulty of our task this involves, and how, as a consequence, all
the conditions of our future action must be modified.

Thus, the Cavalry stands face to face with new conditions, and sees
itself everywhere confronted--on the battle-field and in the wider
field of strategical operations--with new problems, towards the
solution of which the history