So, at the battle of Courtrai, in 1302, from the French cavalry's omitting to scout the ground they charged over, the Flemings won a great victory. All the _elite_ of the French nobility and chivalry was destroyed, and gold spurs were collected by bushels on the field. It was the French Cannae. The Flemings were drawn up behind a canal, flowing between high banks, and hidden from view. The French rushing on at full gallop, all the leading ranks were plunged into the canal. The entire cavalry was thereby checked and thrown into irretrievable disorder, which extended to the infantry, in their rear. The Flemings, profiting by their confusion, crossed the canal at two points simultaneously, attacked them in flank, and completed their rout. So, at the battle of Leipsic, in 1813, Murat, in his great cavalry charge on the Allied centre, had captured twenty-six guns, and was carrying all before him, when he pushed on to the village of Gulden Gossa, where the ground had not been reconnoitred, and could not be distinctly seen from a distance. Here the French found their career suddenly checked by a great hollow, full of buildings, pools of water, and clusters of trees; while the Allied infantry, from behind the various covers afforded by the ground, opened upon them a destructive fire. Being then suddenly charged in flank by the Russian cavalry, they were driven back with heavy loss; the Allies recapturing twenty of the twenty-six guns they had lost. The troopers employed to scout the ground before a charge would not be in much danger from the enemy, who would hardly fire on a horseman or two, especially when expecting a charge. 11. Cavalry must never pursue, unless its supports are _close at hand_. In pursuing, it must be circumspect, and not go too far. Union and order are indispensable; for, without them, a slight resistance may suffice to cause a repulse. VIII.--Its Attack on Infantry. First, as to its ATTACK GENERALLY. Secondly, its attack ON SQUARES. A. GENERALLY. 1. Cavalry must avoid _distant engagements_ with infantry; in which the latter must always have the advantage. 2. The slightest cavalry charge on the _flank_ of infantry will rout it. 3. As to a cavalry attack _in front_: If the infantry stand firm, the chances are against its success. If the infantry cannot be attacked in flank, the cavalry should therefore wait till it has been shattered by artillery, or has become exhausted, or demoralized, or till it begins to manoeuvre. 4. If the infantry be _in line_, or _in column_, cavalry should attack it in flank; if _in square_, at one of its angles; if _in several squares_, at one of its flank ones, so as to avoid a cross-fire from the other squares. If a flank square be broken, the next one to it, being no longer protected by the fire of any other square, may be attacked with the same prospect of success; and so on successively.