Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights
John Stuart Mill · en
With bomb shells, fired from guns of the largest caliber, there are also
indicators which are timed to the second. The range and time of
explosion previously figured out by officers, the shell explodes where
it is intended that it shall, and the work of the great explosive is
done with resultant damage.
WAR'S MANY DEVELOPMENTS.
The war has developed many of the new methods of fighting and revived
many of the old means of warfare. Cavalry has not been as active in the
relation in the great war as in any of the wars of comparatively recent
date, because of the extensive trench warfare which has formed so much
of the fighting plan. Fighting has been a question of trench raids, and
barrage fire, followed by the infantry charge through shell holes. The
impression brought home to the modern observer is that the older
recognized methods of warfare are gone for good.
The thing which war changed in the work of the cavalryman is in the
nature of an addition, rather than a subtraction from his duties and the
training he must have. The day of cavalry--as cavalry and nothing
else--has passed. For today the cavalryman must be familiar not only
with the sword, lance and revolver, but with the rifle as well. It has
been demonstrated that such long periods of trench warfare may develop
that it becomes necessary for him to dismount and make himself valuable
in the scheme of military economy by fighting as infantry until such
time as the enemy line is broken and he can again take to his horse and
the work of harrying the retreating foe.
The war has been full of surprising results as regards cavalry. It was
popularly supposed that in facing such terrible modern weapons as the
repeating rifle of long range, the machine gun and the automatic field
pieces which have become so well known as the French "75s," any body of
cavalry which attempted to charge the enemy would be annihilated.
CAVALRY'S SUCCESSFUL CHARGES.