convinced of what Lord Elcho says, although the only point I have any doubt about is with reference to using the long rifle, whether it can be so slung on the saddle that it is not an inconvenience to the man mounting and dismounting, because even with the carbine as slung in the bucket now it requires a man to be tolerably active, especially with those very tight trousers which have been mentioned, I can admit it is a very difficult thing to get a man into the saddle, but at the same time if a long rifle can be carried as well as a short one, there is no doubt the long one is infinitely preferable. I do not at all like the idea of having the front rank armed with one weapon and the rear rank armed with another. I think those days are entirely gone by. If you have your front rank armed with one, and your rear rank armed with another, it may do very well, supposing all your men are on parade, but it may happen in war that your front rank men are half killed, or if you want your carbines, and those men are killed, you lose the use of them; whereas if you have them all armed in the same way the squadron leader has only to say, "I want so many

46

men to go to the front," and those men are available for the purpose whatever weapons they have to use. Of course, my friend Major Boulderson, being a lancer, thinks it high treason for me to oppose him very vehemently, but I have also come to the conclusion, that really in our Army, lancers sbould be done away with. The lance is a very good weapon, and there may be cases such as those referred to in India where no doubt it is most valuable, and there are a great many cases where the lance is a very formidable weapon. But then we must look at the relative value between the lance and the sword. If I recollect aright there were two instances in the Austro-Prussian war. On one occasion the Austrian lancers were met by the Prussian hussars, and the Prussian hussars rode them down. On another occasion it was vice versa, the Prussians had lancers, met the Austrian's hussars, and the Prussian lancers rode the Austrian hussars down; proving that it is not altogether a matter of weapons but of men.

General WALKER: And place.

The CHAIRMAN: Exactly; so that with our small force of cavalry I cannot help thinking a lancer is an expensive arm for us to have. As it is at present the lancer has to use his lance, he has to be taught the use of his sword, and also the use of his rifle. You are asking a man to attain almost perfection in the use of three weapons, where, as every one knows, it requires a very considerable period of service to make a man able to use his lance, and when he uses his lance he has to be a swordsman, and on other occasions to be a good rifleman. It is asking a man to do more than the great majority of men are able to do, and, therefore, I am almost afraid the lancer would be jack of all trades and master of none. With reference to the mounted infantry there is no question, if we could have them, there are many occasions where they would be very good, but I am not quite certain in my own mind whether, if the money is to be spent and the men to be obtained, it would not be a far greater advantage to our Army to have them as cavalry and not as mounted infantry. I am very doubtful upon that fact. If the money is to be voted I am all for having more cavalry. There are such instances as those that Lieutenant Graves mentioned, in which no doubt they were very valuable, and did great service in the American war; but there is a feature that has come out very strongly in all these last wars, and that is the use of the spade for an army in position, and no doubt when an army takes up a position, entrenches itself, and occupies that position, mounted infantry are not of very much use. Mounted infantry may be useful for a raid, or to charge an enemy's position on different occasions, but in line of battle, where you have 200,000 and 300,000 in the field, a small portion of mounted infantry will be of very little use, more especially where you have entrenchments which no mounted infantry could come anywhere near. Those are all the observations I have to make, and I will, on your behalf, thank Major Boulderson for his interesting lecture.

Lord ELCHO: May I ask General Walker a question? I have heard that the Russians are now armed with lances.

General WALKER: They have been for many years.

The CHAIRMAN: General Walker was aide-de-camp to Lord Lucan in the Crimea ; perhaps he can tell us whether at that charge of heavy cavalry, when Sir John Scarlett and our heavy brigade went into that mass of Russians as a hot knife does

into butter, most of the Russian cavalry were armed in regiments or in ranks with lances.

General WALKER: I know they had lancers, because I was employed reconnoitring, and I believe I was the first person who ever counted the Russian cavalry; they had sixteen squadrons armed in a certain way.

Lieutenant GRAVES: What pace were the Russians moving at?

General HODGE: When the heavy cavalry charged in, the Cossacks enveloped the regiments that went in. It so happened my regiment was in reserve, and we came in almost to the rear.

General WALKER: My impression from memory is-it is difficult to answer these questions on the spur of the moment-that the sixteen squadrons of regular cavalry were all hussars, and there were about 500 Cossacks who carried the lance; but I think the regiments of regular Russian cavalry which I saw day after day, and got pretty close to, were all hussars, to the best of my recollection. If it is not too late I should like to make one short remark, in answer to your own very apt illustration of the campaign of 1860, where the Austrians and Prussians came out together. I do not think it matters when you come to heavy men whether they are lancers or swordsmen, because the men who go the greatest pace, and cut in with the greatest determination, will probably ride the others down. I have asked General Hodge's permission to advert to one of the most notorious instances in war where lancers were supposed to have gained the advantage. It was the day when General Hodge's father was killed. The story is supposed always to prove the great superiority which the lancers exercised over hussars; I heard the whole story from an eye-witness. It seems that a body of French lancers debouching from Genappe stuck themselves between two walls. The 7th Hussars charged them twice, and were received on the points of the lances, and spitted like fowls; but I believe our Life Guards rode them down afterwards, when they were foolish enough to come out from between the walls, but not till then. It was not until the lancers came into the open, and gave the Guards the opportunity of charging on equal terms that they were ridden down. While they stuck themselves between the walls and formed themselves into the phalanx they obtained the great success which they did obtain over the 7th Hussars. It was somewhat similar in the case of a very fierce fight that took place between Prussian dragoons and Austrian lancers. The Austrians had a great advantage as long as they remained in the narrow streets, but the dragoons being somewhat worsted in the commencement of the fight retreated; the lancers were foolish enough to come out from their point of vantage, and then the dragoons rode them down. Therefore it is very hard to say in a downright standup fight which has the best of it. Lieutenant Graves made a slight mistake in speaking about the Prussian dragoons being heavier men than the hussars. The Prussian dragoons and the hussars are the same sized men.

Lieutenant GRAVES: I referred to our hussars generally.

General WALKER: If it is any consolation to gentlemen here, I may state that the Prussian dragoons and the hussars weigh about 1 lb. to 1 lbs. more or less than ours do on an average; I really do not know which it is. There is not a single difference of weight in the equipment of the two armies; our light cavalry and theirs are as nearly as possible of the same weight, for the dragoons are light cavalry.

NAVAL ESSAYS

HONOURABLY MENTIONED.

SUBJECT:

GREAT BRITAIN'S MARITIME POWER: HOW BEST

DEVELOPED AS REGARDS—

1. FIGHTING SHIPS.

2. PROTECTION OF COMMERCE.

3. NAVAL VOLUNTEER OR SUPPLEMENTAL FORCE.

4. COLONIAL AND HOME DEFENCE; THE CLASSES, ARMAMENT, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE VESSELS NEEDED; AND THE ORGANIZATION REQUIRED TO SECURE A POWERFUL AND ECONOMIC IMPERIAL NAVAL FORCE.

GREAT BRITAIN'S MARITIME POWER, HOW BEST DE

VELOPED, &c.

By Lieut.-Commander JAMES B. HAYE, R.N.

(China Station.)

"ORGANIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION."

I.-Fighting Ships.

In considering the development of our maritime strength as regards fighting ships

It may be assumed that it is the province of the naval officer to represent to the naval architect and engineer the qualities that are desirable for the fighting ships, designed to perform each particular class of service, and to state the relative values and prominence to be given to the different qualifications, as draught of water, speed, coalcapacity, &c., to enable these vessels to perform the particular duties allotted to them. The naval architect and engineer will then have to calculate how far it is possible to combine these qualities, and what modifications are necessary or desirable. It is, therefore, idle to enter into questions of expense and construction without an intimate knowledge of the subject.

It is proposed to arrange the present ships of the Navy in classes, according to the work required of them, with remarks and comparisons, and to consider some of the questions of armament, armour, &c., which bear on the subject.

Naval architects might, with advantage, serve a time in the fleet.

Class A.

Would consist of the exceptional and experimental ships which it will be necessary to build, in order to keep pace with foreign nations in the rapid advance of modern invention and the development of naval warfare, especially as regards the Torpedo and the Ram. H.M.S." Inflexible," for instance.

The number of these vessels will necessarily be limited, but we should always have enough of them to hold our own at home and in the Mediterranean. Ships, of this class especially, will require

The writer regrets that want of time prevents him completing his programme, or sending a fair copy of his essay.

VOL. XXII.

2 E