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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)",
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    "title": "CAVALRY",
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    "verified_text": "in the years immediately preceding the world war ideas on the employment of cavalry were dis- tinctly confused. the leading military nations were agreed that its chief uses would be as an arm of reconnaissance and pur- suit, but only the british realised that the mobile fire power now given it by the possession of an efficient breechloading rifle had made it an effective arm of protection as well. no nation had realised the amount of auxiliary fire power cavalry formations would require if they were to act independently and carry out a dismounted assault when necessary. theories compared —the germans, with the exception of divisional cavalry, intended to employ the whole of their cavalry, independently to seek out and destroy the opposing cavalry and so from the outset gain superiority in the area to be reconnoitred. they put intelligence first, did not consider security and had no protective cavalry whatever. the french had a small amount of protective cavalry as well as the divisional, but, like the ger- mans, intended to employ the bulk of their cavalry indepen- dently against the opposing cavalry. the british considered that it would often be more important to screen one’s own move- ments than to fight for intelligence, which might arrive too late to be of use, and intended, after allotting a small proportion as divisional cavalry, to employ the bulk of their cavalry protec- tively and send forward only small detachments for independent reconnaissance. french and german cavalry training was, therefore, devoted mainly to reconnaissance duties and the mounted action, which they considered would be the decisive factor in the inter-cavalry struggle they so confidently expected. they neglected musketry and dismounted action and overlooked the possibility that they might never meet the opposing cavalry owing to the wide front over which the enormous armies of this period would be oper- ating, or that their opponent might decline a mounted combat and use his rifles and machine-guns instead. neither nation had fully realised the limitations which the introduction of the breech- loading rifle and machine-gun and the difficulties of the terrain in western europe had imposed upon the possibility of employing a mounted assault against a dismounted enemy, nor recognised that, unless surprise and a short distance to cover were obtain- able, he had first to be disorganised and demoralised by fire if such an attack was to succeed. british cavalry, recognising both the advantages and limitations of the mounted assault, and trained to fight either mounted or dismounted, as well as to rec- onnoitre, was distinctly superior to that of any other nation when war broke out in 1914. cavalry in the world war—both france and germany em- ployed to cavalry divisions in the west and the failure of these large bodies of cavalry to effect any decisive results is attribut- able to faulty employment and tactics. the germans put five divisions in their centre and left, where there were no flanks and the country unfavourable, and these divisions, which received very poor instructions, nerer got ahead of the leading infantry. cavalry the remaining five were employed with their right, the offensive wing, where there was an open flank, favourable terrain and ample scope for exploiting the mobility of cavalry—its chief asset--to the full. were all 10 divisions, skilfully employed, might have altered the result of the whole campaign. but these five divisions were given such misleading original directions, and were so misdirected subsequently, that golden opportunities were missed and their action was ineffective. their tactics were poor. the expected inter-cavalry struggle never took place, and after two divisions had failed disastrously to gallop down a weak rearguard of belgian cavalry and cyclists at haelen, aug. 12 1914, over unsuitable ground with no covering fire, they rarely attempted a mounted assault again, nor did they make full use of their mobility. at le cateau three cavalry divisions were employed in dismounted frontal attacks against the british if. corps and the latter’s exposed flanks and isolated condition were never discovered. the original french dispositions were equally faulty. they placed only three divisions on their exposed left flank, where there was ample scope for effective cavalry action, and speedily exhausted these by orders and counter-orders without obtaining any effective results. the remaining seven were distributed along the front where there were no flanks and the country was unfavourable, and, not having been trained in dismounted action, they effected very little. their tactics showed immense gallantry but little skill, mounted attacks being attempted regardless of circumstances. the british cavalry.—the british cavalry, consisting of one division of four brigades and an independent brigade, played a most effective rele in these opening stages. it successfully cov- ered the advance to and withdrawal from the mons position and the subsequent advances to the aisne and into flanders. the soundness of its pre-war training was demonstrated and the action of cerizay, fought in the early days of the world war, is a model of the combination of fire and shock action. all three combatants found divisional cavalry invaluable during this period of open warfare, though here again the british cavalry with better training and tactics proved itself superior. once trench warfare set in, all the cavalry were employed most effectively asa mobile reserve to occupy or reinforce rapidly a sector of the line or fill a gap, and here the training in dismounted action and high standard of musketry of the british cavalry proved invaluable. in 1915 the germans transferred most of their cavalry to the east, where conditions were favourable and they did most effec- tive work, but in 1917, owing to shortage of horseflesh and man- power, three divisions had to be dismounted. they never sent the remaining seven back to the west for their great offensive in the spring of 1918, an error to which ludendorff attributes its failure, for they had no cavalry with which to exploit the ex- tremely favourable situation created in its opening stages and, in his own words, ‘‘ without cavalry it is impossible to reap the fruits of victory.”’ the british commander-in-chief never lost sight of this necessity for mounted troops and, despite consid- erable criticism, retained all his five cavalry divisions throughout the long period of trench warfare, though two were sent to palestine early in 1918. by this period cavalry had been considerably strengthened in fire power by the addition of extra machine-guns and automatic rifles, and was to be reinforced by armoured cars, light tanks, extra artillery and infantry in lorries directly mobile warfare reappeared. the battle of amiens in aug. 1918, where the advance of the cavalry was limited only by the extreme diffi- culties of crossing an old trench warfare battle-field, showed to a great extent what possibilities lay open in european warfare to fast moving, hard hitting formations of cavalry, reinforced by other mobile troops, and capable of independent action in almost any nature of country, but the armistice a few months later, which came just as the german resistance was completely col- lapsing and an opportunity for effective cavalry action was im- minent, prevented this wise retention of his cava by haig from being justified as it deserved. allenby’s use of cavalry the value of cavalry in suitable cavan—cave country and against an inferior opponent was well demonstrated in the later stages of the campaigns in palestine and mesopo- tamia, and gen. allenby’s employment of his cavalry in his offensive in sept. 1918 will always remain a historic example of how this arm should be employed in pursuit. the enemy’s right flank was broken down by an infantry assault and three divisions of cavalry were pushed through and directed, first well in rear, to destroy vital nerve centres, such as headquarters and railway junctions, and then to place themselves astride the enemy’s line of retirement. with complete air superiority they were not hampered by air attack, and covering 7o m. within the first 36 hours, within 14 days completely destroyed the whole of the turkish forces in this theatre of war, over 100,000 prisoners and 500 guns being captured. in mesopotamia, with small forces engaged, cavalry, besides proving invaluable for reconnaissance, were again employed most effectively in pursuit, notably at ramadi, 1917, and shar- qat, 1918, where in each case cavalry were pushed round the flank of a retreating encmy, and, occupying positions well in rear across his line of retirement, compelled his complete sur- render. in both these eastern theatres of war, mounted action was successfully employed on many occasions, such as at el mughar in palestine, nov. 1917, where a yeomanry brigade successfully charged the flank of a position which had been hold- ing up an infantry division for some hours, and demonstrated once again the superiority of this form of attack to any other, given suitable ground, bold and skilful leading and adequate covering fire. some conclusions.—the peculiar conditions of trench warfare, which prevailed for so long in the main theatre of war and gave such little opportunity for the effective employment of cavalry, have caused its successes in open warfare to be overlooked, and a great deal of ill-informed criticism to be directed upon it. a new, and at present most effective, arm of assault has been intro- duced in the tank, and because cavalry, unless reinforced by other arms, has now such distinct limitations in this rele, it has been suggested that it should either disappear or replace its horses with mechanical vehicles. its capabilities as an arm of reconnaissance, of protection and of pursuit have been forgotten. for reconnaissance it is essential. aircraft can go further and bring back information quicker, but cavalry is the only mobile arm which can operate in almost any nature of country, take prisoners, examine documents, search ground closely and work by night or in rough weather. for protection and pursuit a mobile arm is again required which can operate in all natures of country including unsuitable tank country, such as covers a great portion of western europe, and which cannot only recon- noitre, but seize and hold positions, protect a flank or cover a retirement; so that even if a nation had sufficient light tanks available at the commencement of a future war to employ any large number as covering troops, a force of cavalry would be essential as well. for close co-operation with infantry as scouts and messengers, divisional or corps cavalry are invaluable, the trained mounted man being one of the most efficient means of inter-communica- tion once battle is joined. for warfare against a civilised oppo- nent, cavalry will, in future, require reinforcing by armoured cars or light tanks, extra artillery, cyclists or some form of mobile infantry and aeroplanes, and will possibly be most effi- ciently employed in brigades, any larger formation being diffi- cult to control effectively when dispersed, and too vulnerable a target to artillery and aircraft when concentrated, unless only moved at night, which would seriously diminish its efficiency. against an uncivilised opponent, in country that is suitable for cavalry, larger formations such as divisions or corps should prove most useful. with regard to the “arme blanche,” the french doctrine that “ cavalry manoeuvres on horseback and fights on foot ” has been forced upon them by the impossibility of turning a short service conscript into anything more than a mounted infantryman in the one year’s training available. to sacrifice the value of a well-trained cavalryman who can fight equally 33 00 well, either mounted or dismounted, by not teaching our long- service volunteers to ride home with a steel weapon as well as to scout and shoot, would be a serious mistake. mounted action, as exemplified in the world war, will still be possible by individuals or small bodies, given surprise and a short distance to cover and by larger bodies against an inferior enemy, or one already disorganised and demoralised by fire. the leading patrols must not gallop blindly into ambushes, as the french cavalry so often did in to1r4, but rather go straight for their enemy mounted whenever they have a reasonable chance of doing so, and thus establish a moral superiority over him such as the british had over the german cavalry in ro14. the results of the opening stages of a campaign are of far- reaching importance, and it is in the preliminary skirmishes between the opposing covering troops that a cavalry trained to use the “ arme blanche ” will have an immense advantage, while for pursuit or for operations against an uncivilised enemy, the mere possession of a stecl weapon has the greatest moral effect. see strategy; tactics; war. braniograpiry.—r., m._p. preston, the desert mounted corps oe) maj.-gen. t. t. pitman, the part played by the british cavalry tu tie surprise aitack on see ioi? (1923); ‘gen. m. von poseck, the german cavalry, 1914 (1923 (i ves. c. cavan, frederick rudolph eas roth earl of (1865- ), british peneral, was born oct. 16 1865, and suc- ceeded to the title in 1900. commissioned in the grenadier guards 1885, he was a.d.c. to the governor-general of canada 1891-3, and served in the south african war roor. retiring from the army in 1913, he was recalled in aug. 19r4 and in sept. went out to france to take command of the 4th (guards) brigade. in june rors he was promoted to command of the goth division, and in aug. to the guards division. winning a reputation as a trusted and admired fighting commandcr, his next step was the command of the iv. army corps at ypres, which he held from jan. 1916 to march 1918, when he was appointed to succeed gen. plumer as commandert-in- chief of the british forces on the italian front. a notable mark of trust was that the italian command put him in charge of the x. italian army for the final offensive. it was through the ini- tial forcing of the passages of the piave by the mixed british and italian troops under his command that the way was paved for the decisive successes which followed. remaining on the active list after the war, lord cavan was appointed to the aldershot command in 1920 and in 1922 was advanced to be chief of the imperial general staff, a unique distinction in that a retired officer was not only brought back to the active list but became the chief of the army. cautious, perhaps, in his attitude to mili- tary progress and new weapons of warfare, he was a tranquilising influence rather than a driving force. but in view of the political war weariness and military soreness which prevailed during the first stages of rebuilding the regular army, the former quality was an unquestionable aid in paving the way for subsequent reforms. cave, george cave, 1st viscount (1856- ), british lawyer and politician, was born in london feb. 23 1856 and educated at merchant taylors’ school, london, and st. john’ s college, oxford. called to the bar in 1880, he became k.c. in 1904. in 1906 he entered parliament as conservative member for kingston. the house of commons soon recognised that the new member was a man of sincerity and judgment with a wide knowledge of affairs, and mr. cave came to be regarded as a leading member of the conservative party. in 1915 he became solicitor-gencral and was knighted. on the formation of the first coalition govt., in 1916, he was appointed home secretary. in 1918 he was raised to the peerage. when, in torg, he became a lord of appeal, it appeared that lord cave’s political career had come to an end; but on the break-up of the coalition, mr. bonar law appointed him lord chancellor (1922). the election of 1923 brought about a conservative defeat, but when mr. baldwin re- turned to power in 1924 viscount cave was reappointed to his former office. he was elected chancellor of the university of oxford in 1925. 556 cavell, edith louisa (1865-1915), british nurse, was born dec. 4 1865 at swardeston, norfolk. she entered the london hospital as a probationer in 1895. in 1907 she was appointed the first matron of the berkendael medical institute, brussels, which became a red cross hospital on the outbreak of the world war. from nov. 1914 to july 1915 wounded and derelict english and french soldiers were hidden from the germans by prince reginald de croy at his chateau near mons, thence conveyed to the houses of edith cavell and others in brussels, and furnished by them with moncy to reach the dutch frontier with the aid of guides obtained through philippe baucq. on aug. 5 edith cavell was arrested and imprisoned. she admitted having sheltered and helped to convey to the frontier some 200 english, french and belgians. a court-martial was held oct. 7 and 8 and a belgian lawyer, m. sadi kirschen, defended edith cavell. on oct. 9 edith cavell and philippe baucq were sen- tenced to death with three others who were afterwards reprieved. despite efforts to obtain a reprieve in which mr. brand whit- lock, the u.s. minister at brussels, was active, edith cavell and philippe baucq were shot on oct. 12. miss cavell, who had tended many wounded german soldiers with devoted care, faced the firing squad with a dignity which moved the world. to the british chaplain who administered a final sacrament, she made the remark “patriotism is not enough” which at once became as historic as nelson’s utterances at trafalgar. on may 15 1919 her body was removed to norwich cathedral after a memorial service in westminster abbey. a memorial statue stands opposite the national portrait gallery, london. see the case of miss cavell from the unpublished documents of the trial, interpreted by ambroise got (1920); sadi kirschen, devant les conseils de guerre allemands (1919); correspondence with the united states ambassador respecting the execution of miss cavell at brussels, cd. 8013, stationery office (1915). _caviglia, enrico (1862- ), italian soldier, was born at finale marina (genoa) may 4 1862. after italy’s entry into the world war, he was promoted to major-general and com- manded the bari brigade. in june 1916 he took over the 29th div. and later was promoted lieutenant-general. in july 1917 he was given command of the xxiv. corps, which broke through the austrian lines on the bainsizza plateau. in june 1918 he was chosen to command the viii. army which played an important part in the final victory of vittorio veneto. from jan. to june 1919 caviglia was minister of war, and as such becamea senator, and in nov. of the same year he was promoted army general. in jan. 1920 he took over the command in venezia giulia. his task was difficult, since the discipline of the troops had been severely shaken by the example of d’annunzio’s fiume raid. he restored discipline, and when it became evident that only force would drive d’annunzio from titume, he did not hesitate to carry out his task (dec. 1920). cecil, lord hugh richard heathcote (1869- ); english politician (see 24.76), youngest son of the 3rd marquess of salisbury, the prime minister, was born oct. 14 1869 and was educated at eton and university college, oxford, where he obtained a first class in modern history in 1891, and was elected a fellow of hertford college. he gained his first insight into politics as one of his father’s secretaries, and was returned to parliament as a conservative in 1895. he took a particularly keen interest in ecclesiastical matters and was remarkable in debate for his oratorical powers and the loftiness of his ideals, thus establishing a reputation which was confirmed and height- ened during the progress through parliament of mr. balfour’s education bill of r902. in regard to the religious difficulty, he maintained that the only possible basis of general agreement was that every child should be brought up in the belief of its parents. he and mr. winston churchill gathered round them, in the early years of the 20th century, a small group of young and able conservative members, whose independent proceedings attracted some attention. he took a decided part in resisting tariff reform, and consequently lost his seat in 1906. lord hugh did not return to parliament until t910, when his high character and his academic outlook recommended him, in cavell—cecil of chelwood spite of his hostility to tariff reform, as a fitting member for oxford, his own university. he threw himself immediately and with passion into the struggle over the proposed curtailment of the powers of the house of lords, and was active in resistance to the parliament bill. but he never quite regained the authority which he had possessed in the house in his earlier years. during the world war he joined the flying corps, becoming a lieutenant in 1915, and he also served as a member of the commission that enquired into the mesopotamia expedition. after the war he took a less active part in politics, but generally found himself in agreement with his brother, lord robert (later lord cecil of chelwood), in adopting a more independent attitude toward the coalition government. with him, too, he supported the enabling bill, and he became a prominent member of the church assembly set up in accordance with its provisions. cecil of chelwood, edgar algernon robert cecil, ist viscount (1864- ), british politician (see 24.76), known before his elevation to the pecrage as lord robert cecil, was the third son of the 3rd marquess of salisbury, the prime min- ister. born sept. 14 1864, he was educated at eton and uni- versity college, oxford, and obtained a second class in law in 1886. he was a prominent speaker at the oxford union, and obtained political experience as one of his father’s private secre- taries from 1886 to 1888; but he determined to approach an active political career by way of the bar, and was called in 1887. making good progress in his profession he took silk in 1899, and soon established his position as a capable lawyer and advocate. it was not until 1906 that he entered parliament as conser- vative member for east marylebone, and he was one of the principal critics of mr. birrell’s abortive education bill of that year. though in this respect he showed himself in sympathy with the position of his younger brother, lord hugh cecil, he made his reputation mainly by assuming, in conjunction with mr. harold cox on the liberal side, an attitude of individualist opposition to measures such as those for eight hours for miners, and old-age pensions. ile also dissociated himself from the tariff reform policy of his party, and was consequently out of parlia- ment from 1910 to 1912, when he was returned at a by-election for hitchin. ie immediately resumed his prominent position in the ifouse, and was active in his opposition to schemes of social- ism and disestablishment. he was a leading advocate of woman suffrage, and, though not palliating militancy, was a strong critic of forcible feeding. ultimately, after women had been granted the suffrage, he had the satisfaction of carrying a resolution permitting them to sit in the house of commons. lord robert was in office throughout the world war from the time that the unionists associated themselves with the govt. in may 1915 till the armistice. his functions, at first as under- secretary for foreign affairs, then as minister of blockade and lastly as assistant secretary of state for foreign affairs were mainly concerned with the vital question of blockade, and it fell to him to announce in june 1916 to the general satisfaction, that the allies had decided to abandon altogether the declara- tion of london. lord robert resigned at the general election of 1918 on the ground that he could not support the decision of the coalition ministry to treat welsh disestablishment as a fait accompli, though out of office, he nevertheless went over to paris in 1919 to assist in the formation of the league of nations, of which from the first he was an enthusiastic advocate. he was subsequently indefatigable in pressing its claims upon both parliament arid people; and in 1920 he attended the first assem- bly of the league in geneva as a representative of south africa. in parliament he steadily drifted into opposition to the coalition ministry, and, though he did not form part of mr. bonar law’s unionist ministry in 1922, he joined mr. baldwin’s first cabinet in may 1923 as lord privy seal. before that cabinet resigned, he had been raised to the peerage in dec. 1923. his close asso- ciation with the league of nations was fitly recognised in dec. 1924, when he received the first annual award of the woodrow wilson peace prize of $25,000. he returned to office in mr. baldwin’s second cabinet, in nov. 1924, as chancellor of the duchy of lancaster, and on several occasions acted as deputy cell—cellulose for the foreign secretary, sir austen chamberlain, on the council of the league of nations. | cell: see cytology. celluloid.— this artificial substance, known also as artificial ivory and xylonite, is a compressed, solid solution of nitrated cellulose in camphor or a camphor substitute. it is colourless or slightly yellow, transparent in thin sheets, and capable of being stained with the most delicate colours, which permeate its entire mass. celluloid is of uniform composition and its specific gravity is about 1-35; it is insoluble in water or dilute acid, usually emits a faint smell of camphor and is inflammable. celluloid becomes plastic when immersed in water at or near boiling-point and can then be moulded into any desired form. at ordinary temperatures it can be cut, turned, sawn, drilled and otherwise worked to form numerous useful and ornamental arti- cles. having a tensile strength of 10,000-12,000 lb. per sq. in., it is one of the strongest of artificial materials. celluloid is clastic, and can be produced in very thin shcets and films; celluloid films 0:0000039 (sszs'na0) in. thick were made in 1924 by the u-s. bureau of standards, for use in x-ray researches. the solubility of nitrated cellulose in camphor is the important property on which the success of making ordinary celluloid de- pends. tissue paper, cotton, wool or other cellulose material is nitrated by means of a mixture of strong nitric and sulphuric acids. the product, which is of the nature of, but icss highly nitrated than, gun-cotton, is bleached, washed and dried; it is then incorporated in a mixing-machine, with natural or synthetic camphor and alcohol. at this stage colouring matter and filling material, selected according to the kind of celluloid required, may be added. the gelatinous mass obtained is transferred to heated adjustable rollers by which it is kneaded and rolled into sheets of any desired thickness. after removal from the rollers, the sheets are pressed and dried or seasoned, most of the volatile solvents being thus eliminated from the celluloid. numerous modifications of the process thus briefly cescribed have been proposed, the most important having for their objects the production of so-called “ non-flammable celluloid”? and the use of a substitute for camphor, the price of which is usually high and subject to great fluctuations. the attempts to make a celluloid which is less inflammable then ordinary celluloid have been to some extent successful. to achieve this result, a chloride, e.g., stannous chloride, is added to the celluloid-making materials, or acetyl cellulose is used, or a bromate or other substance capable of liberating flame-cxtin- guishing gases. in some processes, the pasty mass is pressed into a block by hydraulic pressure, cooled and then planed to any desired thickness. if supplies of cheap camphor were always available, the search for a substitute for it would lose much of its importance. there have been, however, very many attempts, mostly unsuccessful, to obtain a suitable camphor substitute. in 1914 the badische anilin und soda co. claimed that the acyl compounds of com- pletely hydrogenised aromatic amines were very efficient in dis- solving nitrated cellulose and were obtainable in large quantitics. the term cellujoid was first applied by j. w. and i. 8. hyatt, who began the manufacture of the material in the united states in 1869. their work was based on that of a. parkes and d. spill, who, in 1855 and 1868 respectively, succeeded in england in making plastic materials with pyroxylin as a base. the advance of j. w. and i. 8. hyatt was due to their investigations into the action of camphor upon cellulose and to their improved mechani- cal methods. the industry has become established in the united states, great britain, france, germany, austria, switzerland and japan, the total output being in excess of 200,000 lb. per day. not only ivory but also horn, tortoise-shell, amber, agate, ebony and many other natural substances may be imitated by means of celluloid, and it 1s used in making numerous useful and ornamental articles. these include cutlery handles, billiard balls, collars, automobile windows, piano keys, buttons, combs, brush and mirror backs, fancy boxes, dolls, hollow balls and other toys, cinematograph films, dental plates, accumulator cases, tele- phone mouthpieces, transparent screens and parts of drawing and 99/ optical instruments. during the war the demand for celluloid articles such as, for instance, accumulator cases and transparent screens, was very great. see f. boeckmann, cellx/oid (1921); h. i]. hodgson, celluloid (1925). ‘hag dee ine;",
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