A time came, however, when even the most determined partisans of this system had to turn against those they had extolled but the day before. First came Esterhazy, the liar, the swindler, and the traitor; then Henry the forger, and de Paty du Clam, his accomplice. It is a remarkable fact that amidst all these scenes of violent abuse there should be but one man who maintained implicit trust in the good faith of his worst enemies--Dreyfus himself--the victim of this most abominable conspiracy. His case is, unfortunately, but a greatly magnified example of what daily happens throughout the French army, and the recollections I am now offering to the reader, of the time I served in its ranks, will show that Dreyfus has been a victim not so much of the malice of individuals as of a faulty system. It will be seen how, in a regiment, the Colonel forms his opinion of a private from the character given to him by his Corporal or Sergeant, and how the mere fact of appealing against a punishment is considered as an act of insubordination. It is always the same principle--_le respect de la chose jugée_ (the upholding of a judgment, without considering upon what grounds or evidence it has been delivered). I wish it to be clearly understood that this little book has not been written for the purpose of attacking the French army as represented by its officers. It is intended merely as a faithful account of the hardships I endured when I served my time in the ranks--hardships which every Frenchman has still to bear. I cannot follow M. Urbain Gohier in his virulent and indiscriminate attacks upon all French officers--among whom individuals differ as in other classes of men; but each one of my readers will be able to draw his own conclusions with regard to the system which, in practice, is universally in force. ILLUSTRATIONS _Dragoon in Full Dress Uniform of 1880_ _Frontispiece_ _Dragoon sitting on his bed eating from Mess-tin_ _To face page_ 56 _The Plank Bed_ " 90 _A Fatigue Party of Dragoons_ " 108 _Exercises in Riding School_ (_vaulting_) " 128 _A Duel in the Riding School_ " 244 INTRODUCTION I Every Frenchman is liable to military service during twenty-five years of his life--viz., from the age of twenty until he is forty-five.[1] In time of peace this period of service is thus divided: (i) Three years of active service. (ii) Ten years in the reserve of the standing army, during which two periods of a month each with the colours must be undergone. (iii) Six years in the territorial army, with two periods of thirteen days each with the colours, and (iv) Six years in the reserve of the territorial army. The conscription lists are thus made out: