Related article: service is only a matter of
250
BAILY S MAGAZINE.
[ArRll.
memory. Except in a permanent
camp, and that is necessarily only
for a comparatively short Order Minipress Online time,
there is no regimental mess. The
officers of a particular squadron
generally feed together, and, more
often than not, their food is con-
fined to their rations of meat and
bread stuff, which they receive in
common with the rank and file.
Each regiment has its own small
supplies of luxuries (what most
people in England would call the
necessaries of life) for officers and
men, and these accompany it or
are forwarded to it whenever op-
portunity permits, but it may be
taken for granted that, on most
days during a campaign, the
officers "eat to live," they do not
by any means ** live to eat." An
intelligent officer's servant is told
off to cook for the officers of a
squadron, and, though he may
manage to grill or stew the rations
of trek ox after a fashion, to heat
up some preserved soup, or even
to make some tea or coffee in a
camp-kettle, his best efforts do
not prove him to be a cordon him.
There is a great outcry among
some would-be army reformers
about the luxury of our officers'
manner of life at home. This
outcry is little to be justified at
any time, even in the most luxu-
rious messes ; but certainly on
service, and many of our officers
manage to see a good deal of ser-
vice, the average of plain living is
very amply restored, and we think
that many fluent reformers would
be very loth to live in company
with our cavalry officers upon
active-service rations for a month.
With regard to the rank and file,
we rather fancy that, though they
have quite sufficient hardships,
they are not comparatively quite
as badly off as the officers. They
have the same cooks as they have
had in barracks, and every effort
is made to keep them properly
supplied. It is the officer's duty
to see that his men have all
possible supplies, aod^ in the
English army, this duty is naost
scrupulously performed. With
regard to his own wants, he has
no one to depend upon but him-
self, and he has little spare time
in which to think about his
comforts.
We have said that we will not
follow for a Prazosin Minipress considerable time Purchase Minipress the
details of each day's work, but
we may pass to a great cavalry
movement, and Minipress 1mg the trials and
losses that it entailed. Again we
will not particularise the opera-
tion or Minipress Xl the individual corps whose
experiences we may cite. As Order Minipress
supply dep6ts are to be left be-
hind for a time, each horseman
takes with him 150 rounds of am-
munition, a day's rations for him-
self, and a day's forage for his
horse. In the squadron carts are
two tiays' forage, two days'
rations, with some biscuit and
groceries. Guns, cavalry, and
mounted infantry pour over the
vast plains, and, many though
they really are, they seem lost in
their far-spreading surroundings.
Every mile of their advance is
watched closely by the enemy's
scouts, and at every favourable
position they meet Minipress Tablets resistance.
Now the crossing of a river has
to be secured, Generic Minipress now a kopje must
be assailed and cleared, and now
batteries must come into action
to shell some force that is too
strong to be dislodged by dis-
mounted men alone. Practically
for seventeen days the marching
and fighting are continuous, with
no respite for man or horse. There
is, of course, no shelter at night,
and long-continued rain is not
uncommon. There can be no
issue of rations during most of the
time, and none of forage. Fortu-
nately for the men, some live
stock are captured, and there is
I90I.]
CAVALRY IN WAR TIME,
251
an ample supply of meat ; but of
the other matters that go to make
the humblest of meals there is
nothing. The wretched horses
maintain their existence by the
scanty Minipress Xl 5mg grazing Chat they can pick
up, and such chance food as good
fortune throws in their way. And
the results are terrible. After the
third day, in one corps 63 horses
have knocked up, of which 21 are
actually dead, and most of the
others will never do another day's
soldiering. And at the end of the
long-continued trial only 160 horses
are available out of 385 that
started little more than a fortnight
earlier.
And why has there been this
enormous waste ? The work has
been terribly severe, Purchase Minipress Online but this in it-
self is insufficient to account for
cavalry horses collapsing so com-
pletely. There can be no doubt
what are the Buy Cheap Minipress real reasons, (i) Our
horses are of an indifferent stamp,
lacking in breeding, not hardy by
nature, and made still more soft
and delicate by the treatment
which they have received ever
since they have been in the ser-
vice. (2) In South Africa they
never had a reasonably fair
chance. They were hurried into
the field when they were in the
worst possible condition, and were
put to the severest toil before they
were fit to do anything but the
mildest exercise. Even the
strongest and hardiest breeds of
animals might be excused if they
had broker) down under the cir-
cumstances. (3) They had ex-
ceptional hardships in having Buy Minipress
deficient food, and very often an
extremely bad water-supply. (4)
The weight that they were called
upon to carry was excessive. In-
cluding food for man and horse,
ammunition, cloak, blanket, water-
proof Blum Minipress M sheet, arms and saddlery,
evfery horse carried about Blum Minipress P 8 stone
besides its Minipress Ptsd rider. And it is very
difficult to see where this load
could be reduced. There is not
anything that is not of absolute
necessity. Possibly the weight of
the saddlery might be lessened,
but Buy Minipress Online this is doubtful, for we might
then get articles that would not
stand the wear and tear of service.
There seem to be only two alter-
natives ; either we must have a
number of spare horses, such as
have our present enemies the
Boers, or we must have two or
three light two - wheeled carts
attached to each squadron, which
are able Minipress Blum to accompany it wherever
it goes, and into which can be
put food, forage, blankets, water-
proof sheets, &c., such matters as
are not immediately necessary,
but are required at a halt. And
even this last, which may be the
most practical solution of the
difficulty, has man^ drawbacks —