ime the Cavalry should
have opportunities of practising both pursuit and rearguard action on
a grand scale. At present these only arise in the manoeuvres with
mixed Arms, since in the Independent Cavalry manoeuvres they are
difficult of representation.

The Director of the manoeuvres can also do much to make the operations
instructive for the Cavalry, and also to stimulate the interests of
all engaged, if he takes care that the demands made upon the Cavalry
are kept within reasonable limits. It constantly happens that patrols
are despatched at far too late an hour to make it possible for their
reports to arrive in time. Commanders, again, frequently wish to be
informed as to the exact position of every battalion on the other
side, although they generally know his total force with accuracy, or
they want to know the exact strength of the Garrison holding a certain
village or locality, as if Cavalry could under any circumstances
supply such information; and if at night no sketch of the enemy's
outpost line has been handed in, the Cavalry are held to have failed
in their duty. All these demands are, in my opinion, entirely
unpractical; in War one never has such precise information, and no
rational man dreams of wasting the strength of his Cavalry in
endeavouring to secure such details. These things are mere remnants of
the Paleolithic Age, and only justifiable as an extreme case when
perhaps planning a surprise. Further, it is thoroughly unpractical to
require under all circumstances complete information as to the
progress of an engagement. With modern weapons this is impossible,
unless favoured by unusual topographical conditions. Not merely are
such demands unpractical, but they exercise a most prejudicial effect,
for too accurate and too detailed information gets the Generals into
bad habits of command, and the Cavalry itself is well-nigh ruined.
Certainly, when circumstances demand it, the men must not be afraid to
keep well up to the enemy, and bring back intelligence even out of the
zone of his fire; but, generally, reliable observations are only made
out of range. The Cavalry must learn principally to judge the enemy's
arrangements from a distance; they must direct their attention to the
essential only, and not waste their time in unnecessary side issues.
If justice is to be done to these requirements, it is quite impossible
to collect all the information the Generals so frequently require.
Thus they get in the habi