e battle-field may
have somewhat suffered, Bernhardi sees in the strategical handling of
the Arm its chief possibilities, and here he includes reconnaissance
and operations against the enemy's rearward communications and pursuit
of a defeated Army.

He considers cohesion and mobility to be essential to insure superior
striking power by shock and fire action at the decisive point, and
emphasizes this principle again and again as the means of attaining a
high fighting efficiency.

In the chapters on Tactical Leading in Mounted Combats and Tactical
Conduct of Dismounted Action, General von Bernhardi deals with the
merits of shock and fire action, and the enhanced importance of the
latter as an accessory to, though never as a substitute for, shock,
and he defines the respective dispositions for dismounted action when
serving an offensive or defensive purpose.

At the same time, he avers that success must depend upon the ability
of the leader to realize the situation, on his qualities of decision,
and on his capacity to maintain a correct balance between the
application respectively of shock and fire action.

The qualifications which General von Bernhardi expects in the Cavalry
leader and those under him go to prove the scientific character of the
profession, which demands a standard of extreme efficiency.

Successful Cavalry leading will only be possible when the machinery of
the instrument employed is technically perfected down to the minutest
detail, and this can only be attained by a very elaborate and thorough
training.

The book should commend itself particularly to those critics who,
drawing conclusions from the South African War, contend that the
united offensive action of man and horse, culminating in the charge,
can no longer avail, and that the future lies with the mounted
riflemen, trained only to dismounted action. General von Bernhardi
makes it clear that the theatre of War in South Africa does not assist
us with any complete object-lessons from which to evolve a change of
tactical principles, inasmuch as the conditions were entirely
abnormal, and in European Warfare are unlikely to recur.

It must be remembered that after the first few weeks of 1900 the
Cavalry in South Africa as an effective force had practically ceased
to exist, and that its offensive action was greatly hampered by the
strategical plan of campaign which we adopted subsequently to the
occupation of Bloemfontein.

All that might be