Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/428

* CAVAXLY. 366 CAVALRY, sport with a rifle. A second, more slender species {Varanx pisquetus) is called liorse- cavally (a tautological name, as cavally is a corruption of the Spanish-American name ca- balUi, 'horse'), and is known in the New York market a>! yellow mackerel, or hard-tail. See Plate of lIoK.SE Mackerel. CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, _ It. cavaUeria, from Lat. caballus, horse). A name given to soldiers trained to fight mounted, or also on foot. ANCIENT CAVALBY. The earliest mention of military horsemen is found in the Bilile. In Genesis and Isaiah the horses and horsemanship of Palestine and among the Arabs are highly extolled. Diodorus, the historian, mentions an expedition of 20,000 horsemen to put down a rebellion in Bactria. It is probable that the war chariot antedated cav- alry as a fighting arm; with scythe-blades at- tiiched to the end of the axles the chariot became not only a terrible engine, but was also useful to transport foot-soldiers quickly to the battlefield. The creation of regular cavalry is a.seribed to the Egyptian King Rameses II., about B.C. 1330. The earliest cavalry arms were the lance, the javelin, and the bow. Of these the first named has alone sun'ived the changes of centuries and is used today, side bj' side with the latest arms of precision and the newest weapons of war. "In a barbarous country" (says Marshal Mar- mont), "where industry has not yet found its way, where there exist neither manufactories nor armories, nor money wherewithal to buy arms abroad, a man mounts his horse and wants a weapon. He cuts a long branch of light wood. GREEK CAVAMIY A11M8 AND AHMOK. 1, sword; 2. helmet; fl. quiver; 4, cuirass of metal; 5, E:)int<Ml sword or dagger; fl, cuirass of metal scales and ather; 7, bow. sharjiens the point, hardens it in the fire, and there is his lance. Later he procures a nail and fastens it to the end; his weapon has already become more dangerous. Finally, this staff is furnished with an iron tip regularly shaped, and behold the lance which is now generally adopted." A javelin or dart is a small lance to be thrown, and wa.s often made so as to break or bend upon piercing an enemy's body. ^Vn early writer on horsemanship is Xeno- phon; he states that the Greeks used cavalry in war as early as n.c. 743. Kpamincmdits "did much to develop this arm as a military force, raising and training a body (if 5000 mounted men. The Grecian cavalry under Philip of Mace- don and Alexander the Great won great S renowii. It was di- lit vided at first into •■■It two classes — heavv «■«■•■■ and light— to which •HHtf Alexander added a ••••••••• third, trained to fight •■••••••••I either on foot or on tIKttlilKII horseback. The heay ^l||ta|l|l(IIS$ cavalry consisted of llltlllllllll men carefully selected |||ll|||ll| and who supplied |ag|||t|t their own horses ; the ■■«■■■■ remainder were mount- « ■ • ■ • ed by the State. The • I • I • heavy horsemen wore Hi cuirasses of mail, and S carried a long lance ^^^^^^^ ,^^ and a short sword ; the light horse were without armor, and carried javelins, daggers, and bows; all rode bareback. The tactical unit of this force was the 'ile' (fXij) of 64 men; the formation of the ile was 16 front and 4 deep, or 8 front and deep. They some- times charged in line, but generally in oblong, wedge-shaped columns, the head of which was driven against the enemy like the point of a spear to penetrate their line; two of these tri- angles w-ere sometimes joined in the shape of a lozenge, as above. This formation was abandoned by Alexander for a more open order and extended front, that which he applied at Arbela, where he defeated Darius, King of Persia. The Greek cavalry num- bered 7000, divided into two wings. Tlie Per- sians, clad in armor, outnumbered their oppo- nents, who were dressed and armed as light cavalry, .le.xander, leading his right wing, rap- idly extended his lines .so as to overlap the enemy's front, who, in trying to meet this un- expected movement, left a gap which Alexander prom])tly occupied, separating the Persian forces and driving them back in confusion. Having thus disposed of part of the enemy, Alexander concentrated his force upon the remainder of Darius's arm}', which he routed and pursued a distance of 75 miles in 24 hours. The tactical principles illustrated in this engagement form the basis of the best modern cavalry methods. After the death of Alexander, the Greek cavalry gradually sank into insignificance. The Romans gave more attention to their in- fantry than to their cavalry, which, indeed, suf- fered from want of horses and comp<Jtcnt leaders. Their system resembled that of the Greeks in that it comprised the heavy, the light, and a kind called relites, trained to fight on foot as well as on horseback. In fact, by reason of their close union with the infantry on the battle-field they were inclined to dismount upon the slightest pre-