other hand, if a square wait coolly
till the cavalry is at twenty paces, its volley will be murderous. At
Waterloo, the Allied squares that reserved their fire till the French
cavalry had arrived at from twenty to forty paces, invariably repulsed
it. At that battle, Ney led eleven cavalry charges against the British
squares, every one of which failed.

At the opening of the campaign of 1813, Napoleon had, comparatively, but
a handful of cavalry; so few, that they had to keep close to their
infantry for protection. In crossing the plains of Lutzen, a large and
splendid cavalry force of the Allies, supported by infantry and by
horse-artillery, made an attack on Ney's corps, which consisted chiefly
of young and raw recruits, who saw an enemy for the first time. The
situation was extremely dangerous, and Ney and his principal generals
threw themselves into the squares to encourage them. By volleys
delivered at a signal, the enemy's charges were all repulsed, and the
conscripts acquired great confidence from the ease with which this was
done. Ney then broke up his squares, and, pursuing the enemy in columns,
completed their repulse.

At Auerstadt, in 1806, Davoust's French squares had to sustain a long
succession of charges from ten thousand Prussian horse. By reserving
their fire, each time, to within thirty or forty paces, its effect was
so deadly, that a rampart of dead and disabled men and horses was soon
formed around the squares, and the charges were all repulsed.

So, at Jena, on the same day, Ney, posted in a square, allowed the
Prussian cuirassiers to charge up to within fifteen or twenty paces,
when the front attacked, at his word of command, poured in a fire which
completely repulsed the charge, strewing the whole ground with dead and
wounded. The Prussian cavalry, in that battle, are said to have been
"terrified at the sight of a motionless infantry reserving its fire."

Again, at Mount Tabor, in 1798, General Kleber, marching with an
infantry division of only three thousand men, over an immense sandy
plain, was attacked by twelve thousand Turkish horse. The French squares
resisted their successive charges for six hours, by means of volleys
reserved till the enemy were at the very muzzles of their guns; which
soon built up a rampart around them of men and horses. Bonaparte then
arrived with another division. Dividing it into two squares, he rapidly
advanced them in such a manner as to enclose the Turks in a k