Similarly the raid in 1863, by the same general, had disastrous results for the Confederates. Lee was then preparing for his campaign north of the Potomac. Stuart proposed moving with the cavalry in between the Federal army and Washington, and rejoining the main army when north of the Potomac. Lee, unfortunately, sanctioned it, and Stuart set out on the 24th June, did some minor damage to the Federals, but lost Lee, not rejoining him till late in the afternoon of the 2nd July, the second day of the battle of Gettysburg. Had Lee had his cavalry with him, that campaign might have had a very different ending. Therefore, in this case, the timing of the raid was wrong, and of benefit only to the enemy. The value of Gourko’s raid across the Balkans in July 1877, when in eight days he carried dismay into the heart of Turkey, destroyed parts of the railroad and telegraph on the principal lines, and gained a great deal of information as to Turkish movements, appears to be undoubted. His force, however, was not entirely a cavalry one. Coming to a more recent date, in the Manchurian War, the Japanese, only a few days before the battle of Mukden, by means of an undertaking against the rear of the Russians, which was carried out by two Japanese squadrons (280 men), marching as quickly as possible by night and hiding by day, succeeded in reaching an important railway bridge 200 kilometres north of Tieh-ling and in rear of the Russians. The troops covering the bridge were surprised at night, and their attention was thus drawn away from the bridge, which a skilfully-led patrol succeeded in blowing up. The railway service was interrupted for several days. A regular panic set in among the Russian Headquarter Staff. The immediate result was that 8000 Russian troops were diverted for the defence of the line and were unable to take part in the decisive battle at Mukden: an instance of most admirable timing of a raid. It is true that cavalry raids may disorganize the lines of communication “which in the case of large armies,” as Bernhardi says, “have increased in importance.” But, on the other hand, we must remember that well-organized lines of communication are now almost invariably railways. On these there is a most efficient engineer service, with a breakdown train and gang of trained road-layers and menders always ready. These are able to mend a railway in approximately the same time that it takes to break it up. It is only badly organized lines of communication which are really vulnerable,--though we must not forget that the blowing up of a French bridge near the frontier in 1870, during the siege of Paris, very nearly caused the siege to be raised.