ambrai
before our men could capture it, which thwarted the plans of
the cavalry. Our cavalry generals were in consultation at their
headquarters, too far back to take immediate advantage of the situation.
They waited for the capture of the Rumilly switch, and held up masses
of cavalry whom I saw riding through the village of Ribecourt, with
excitement and exaltation, because they thought that at last their
chance had come. Finally orders were given to cancel all previous plans
to advance. Only one squadron, belonging to the Canadian Fort Garry
Horse in General Seely's division, failed to receive the order (their
colonel rode after them, but his horse slipped and fell before he caught
them up), and it was their day of heroic folly. They rode fast and made
their way through a gap in the wire cut by the troopers, and came under
rifle and machine-gun fire, which wounded the captain and several men.

The command was carried on by a young lieutenant, who rode with his
men until they reached the camouflaged road southeast of the village of
Rumilly, where they went through in sections under the fire of the enemy
hidden in the banks. Here they came up against a battery of field-guns,
one of which fired point-blank at them. They charged the battery,
putting the guns out of action and killing some of the gunners. Those
who were not destroyed surrendered, and the prisoners were left to
be sent back by the supports. The squadron then dealt with the German
infantry in the neighborhood. Some of them fled, while some were killed
or surrendered. All these operations were done at a gallop under fire
from flanking blockhouses. The squadron then slowed down to a walk
and took up a position in a sunken road one kilometer east of Rumilly.
Darkness crept down upon them, and gradually they were surrounded by
German infantry with machine-guns, so that they were in great danger of
capture or destruction. Only five of their horses remained unhit, and
the lieutenant in command decided that they must endeavor to cut their
way through and get back. The horses were stampeded in the direction
of the enemy in order to draw the machine-gun fire, and while these
riderless horses galloped wildly out of one end of the sunken road, the
officer and his surviving troopers escaped from the other end. On the
way back they encountered four bodies of the enemy, whom they attacked
and routed. On one occasion their escape was due to the cunning of
another young lie