In the German army the cavalry is merely an adjunct of the infantry. It is the infantry which decides battles—not the cavalry, not even the artillery. However, the infantry of to-day is something very different from the infantry of the eighteenth and even from that of a great part of the nineteenth century. German military writers acknowledge that the world learned new tactics from the sharpshooters and riflemen of the American war of the rebellion. The whole modern battle formation rests on the idea of giving more play to the individual. In spite of the technical progress that has made of armies great machines, more weight than ever before is laid on quick judgment, on good shooting, on physical bravery and endurance. I know that an idea quite contrary to this prevails, that many consider war reduced to the art of setting off the greatest quantities of explosives within a given time. But this is very far from the truth. The battles of the past were of much shorter duration than are those of the present. Wagram was won in two hours, Mukden took three days. One learns to adapt one’s self even to quick-firing guns and incredible rifle-ranges. It has been mathematically demonstrated that, with the rifles now in the hands of the German infantry, a bullet fired from a distance of three hundred yards will pass right through five men standing closely one behind the other and lodge in the body of the sixth. But men in battle line no longer stand closely one behind the other, nor even closely side by side. Even in what is considered a thick firing line they stand about three feet apart. [Illustration: Mountain Earthworks] [Illustration: Pursuit] [Illustration: Infantry Embarking] I have said that the modern idea is to give more play to the individual. Within certain limits the men choose their own position, find the proper rests for their rifles, get each the range for himself, determine the speed of their own fire and use their own judgment in the economizing of ammunition. They are expected to advance according as they see their opportunity. A glance at the methods of training the infantry will give some idea of the care and thoroughness with which the Germans have made their preparations for war. The old drill has not been entirely abandoned—indeed, some military critics think that there is still too much of the goose-step marching and of the parade tricks. But these have lost their old importance and the tendency of late years is toward the most realistic representation of the circumstances and problems of actual combat. The parade-ground has given place to the maneuvering field, acres and miles in extent. For the first time in Germany, this autumn, whole army corps were to have engaged in mock combat with one another.