formation are equally strong, but, in this connection, it should be borne in mind that a deployment toward a flank, for the purpose of firing, always takes time and is apt to impair the steadiness of the men.[1]
If time admits, a position may be looked for near obstacles, such as ditches, hedges, swampy ground, etc., which impede the hostile cavalry. It is not necessary, however, for the infantry to occupy the obstacle itself; in fact, it is better to take up a position some distance away. The shortness of our rifles obliges us to form the firing unit at right angles to the line of advance of the approaching cavalry, and to avoid aiming obliquely. The provision contained in a number of drill regulations, including the French, that the bodies in close order (supports, reserves) should be formed in echelon, is objectionable, as this is apt to lead to their firing on one another (as the French infantry did in repulsing the charge made by Bredow's Brigade and the Dragoons of the Guard at Vionville). The deployment from "broad" and "deep" column to meet a sudden cavalry charge can, as a rule, be ordered directly by company commanders on the caution of the battalion commander, the method of meeting the attack being promptly decided upon. The main thing is to be in instant readiness for firing and to protect the flanks by means of echelons.
In a deployment from "deep column," the measures taken by the commanders
of the rear companies must conform to those of the leading
companies. To meet a cavalry charge coming from the right front, for
example, the following scheme would be appropriate:
The 1st Company forms left front into line so that its front is at right angles to the line of advance of the cavalry;
The 2nd Company forms as a support in rear of the left flank of the first company;
- ↑ General von Scherff (Kriegslehren, II, p. 263) believes that a frontal charge made by cavalry of sufficient strength has better chances of succeeding than a charge in deep formation against a flank. In a frontal charge, the suddenly appearing cavalry is exposed "only to the fire at will of individual skirmishers whose continuous front masks the fire of units in rear. In the other case (charge against a flank) the cavalry receives not only the fire of the closed bodies first encountered, but also that of the supports firing through the gaps between these groups. The frontal attacks executed with superb gallantry by the French cavalry at Sedan rather prove the opposite.
