GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL. Yeomanry Cavalry. MR. EDITOR,—In the observations which I took the liberty of addressing to you, and which appeared in your admirable Journal of May last, I regret that some expressions have given offence to one at least of your readers, who signs himself "A Cavalry Captain." I separated the subject under consideration into two parts; the one relating to the regular service, all interference with which I explicitly disclaimed; the other relating to yeomanry, to which alone I adverted: whether his remarks or mine most merit the character of" unmeaning criticisms,” and “sneering comments," I leave others to decide. The " Cavalry Captain" has mingled these two subjects together, for the purpose, as it would seem, of representing me as pronouncing a judgment upon matters of which I was an incompetent judge, and thereby exciting the esprit de corps of his brother regulars against a luckless wight of a yeoman, who should presume to hazard an opinion upon the sublime mysteries of "threes about," and "left shoulders forward.' He has also, though I trust unintentionally, quoted my words as asserting that which I only put hypothetically. But now to the charges of this "Čavalry Captain.” The lines behind which I stand entrenched are-1st, That when yeomanry officers are placed in line with their backs to their men, any irregularities which arise must be corrected by the non-commissioned officers on their flanks, or not be corrected at all. 2nd, That in the yeomanry, noncommissioned officers are not so competent to correct such irregularities as the commissioned officers. 3rd, That the usual unsteadiness of the horses of yeomanry officers renders them unable to move with that accuracy which is indispensable to enable the men behind them to preserve an unbroken line. The Cavalry Captain" observes upon the first, "Does he then forget, or is he altogether ignorant of the fact, that whether troop officers are in front or on the flank, still according to all regulations, whether old or revised, the dressing of the squadron when ordered to advance has invariably been to its centre; and for an officer upon the flank of a squadron to call to the men to dress toward him, or by his direction, would be a flagrant violation of the principles of Dundas, who so frequently urges the necessity of all dressing proceeding from that point to which the eyes of the men are turned, and which in this case is of course the centre." Now, Sir, to adopt the courteous language of the "Cavalry Captain," you will perceive at once how "frivolous and ill-founded are the objections of our critic," by remarking that he confounds, or does not understand the difference between a direction, order, or caution, given to his men by an officer on their flank, and ordering them to turn their eyes toward him; he seems to think it impossible that an officer on a flank should be able to say " eyes centre," as easily as eyes right." The essential difference consists not in the words he has to say, but in his being able to see when to say them. This he can do when he is on the flank; and this he cannot do when his back is turned towards his men. 66 The "Cavalry Captain" next says, " To dress the squadron from its two flanks at the same time, on the supposition that the squadron officer cannot see anything of his men, because his back is turned towards them, would have the effect of making him a complete cipher; and frequently of actually disjointing the squadron in its very centre, where of all places it ought to be most solid and compact." I said nothing about "dressing from two flanks at the same time;" but I assert an uncontrovertible fact, that for the purpose of correcting irregularities as they arise on the march, the commander, by having his back to his men, is "a complete cipher;" and of this ciphering I complain. U. S. JOURN. No. 32. JULY 1831. 2 D The "Cavalry Captain" endeavours to fix a charge of inconsistency upon the statement that the unsteadiness of the horses of yeomanry officers makes them less fit than those of the regular cavalry for being placed singly in front of the line, while at the same time I recommend, that agreeably to the regulations of Dundas, "the officers should be placed on the flanks, where steadiness and correctness are of such exceeding importance." Is it possible that the experience of an old troop officer" should not have shown him that horses are generally more quiet in line, and abreast of other horses, than when sent out singly by themselves? But even let that be granted, which is contrary to fact, namely, that a horse unsteady in front of a line, would be equally unsteady abreast of a line; in the one case his unsteadiness disorders the whole squadron which is to follow him; and in the other case the unsteadiness of his horse does not in the least affect it. 66 The "Cavalry Captain" assures us, that some regiments of yeomanry do go through a routine of complicated manoeuvres on a field-day performed in pedantic mimicry of regular cavalry," who yet, when" marching home in high spirits at the encomiums of the reviewing officer, are grievously puzzled, officers and all, by having to pass an overturned waggon, where diminishing their front, and again increasing it after the obstacle was passed, would have obviated all the difficulty." I am as much opposed to the mimicry of the regular cavalry, and the fooleries of reviews, as the " Cavalry Captain ;" and I am extremely surprised at hearing it stated on such authority, that a regiment can "go through complicated manoeuvres," and yet be unable “to diminish and increase its front." It would seem as if the "Cavalry Captain' was ignorant of the fact, that all manoeuvres whatever are nothing but increasing, diminishing, or altering the line of front. It is, no doubt, very presumptuous in a yeoman critic" to give this lesson in tactics to an "old troop officer," but I, nevertheless, venture to assure him, that he has been doing nothing all his life of cornetcy, lieutenantcy, and captaincy, but extending and diminishing his front, or giving it a new direction; and this preparatory only to an advance, or a retreat. Perhaps, like the lady who on discovering that there were only two kinds of language, poetry and prose, found out that she had been speaking prose all her life without knowing it, the " Cavalry Captain" may only just have learned that forming column, is diminishing a front; and forming line, extending it. 66 The "Cavalry Captain" is pleased to give us a specimen of his wit, as well as of his powers of argument, by a right merry and conceited description" of a field-day on which the captains of troops of yeomanry were unable to wheel their squadrons into line, from not knowing their markers. But the wit and the argument are alike misplaced, from the "Cavalry Captain" having failed to show the only point in discussion, namely, how these captains,who could not properly lead their squadrons when placed on the flanks, would have been better able to lead them when placed in front. If he finds any great source of mirth in seeing men spend time and labour to no purpose, he may rest assured that he will be much more gratified under the new regulations than under the old. Leaving all farther general arguments, I will now state a few facts which have occurred since the date of my last communication to you. A troop of yeomanry has been lately raised in one of the districts that was harassed by mobs last winter. None of the officers had ever served before, and were selected for commissions, as is usual in such cases, on account of their property and influence. A captain of hussars who was badly wounded in the Peninsula, and has been ever since on half-pay, and a major of cavalry, who served to the end of the war, both of whom reside in the neighbourhood, kindly undertook to drill the troop. The officers fell in with the men; were placed on the flanks of divisions; and no yeomanry could perform better. As soon as the regiment was completed, and an adjutant fresh from the line appointed, the task of drilling devolved upon him; this he did according to the new system, and the officers were placed in front of the line. I was lately present at one of their drills; the two officers who had previously drilled them, were on the ground also; no men could perform worse, to the great mortification of those who had previously witnessed their cor rectness. The commanding officer of one of the largest yeomanry regiments that has yet been raised, and himself formerly in the hussars, and therefore prejudiced in favour of the method there adopted, has recently issued orders for the regiment to be drilled according to the instructions of Dundas. The adjutant of a regiment of yeomanry who has just left the line, and who is very anxious to adopt the new method, acknowledged to me, that it will be impossible, unless he can get the horses of the officers as steady as those of the line. This brings me to the really insurmountable part of the difficulty. There is no portion of the duties of cavalry, in which so great improvement has taken place in late years as the horsemanship; but whoever thinks that it will be possible for the yeomanry to approach in the smallest degree to the regulars in this department, knows nothing of scientific equitation himself, nor of the description of horses on which yeomen are mounted. If one of the regiments of Life Guards was mounted upon horses fresh from the yeomanry, can any cavalry officer be so ignorant as to suppose that that regiment could perform as it now does on field-days? Nay, farther; let the men be mounted upon 300 of the best hunters in Leicestershire, the result would be the same. It is notorious, that using the term riding in its scientific sense, there is no nation in Europe that rides so ill as the English; have their horses so badly set up; and so little in hand and at ready command. The difficulty of yeomanry in this respect is much increased by the absurd practice of having a pattern bit; a practice quite indefensible, unless a pattern mouth could be procured also. The evil effect of this is not felt so much in the regular cavalry, because the horses are always rode in the same bit, and may be habituated to it in time; but the yeomanry horses are never rode in it except on the days when they are out on duty, and when the horses are, especially, unquiet owing to the noise, glitter, and irritation of the accoutrements. The necessary consequence of all this is, that yeomanry, not having their horses properly in command, will never preserve their line so perfectly as a regiment of the line; and I maintain, that an officer is in a better situation to correct irregularities as they arise in a place where he can see them, than in a place where he cannot. I am old enough to remember the time, although the "Cavalry Captain" may not be, when regiments were drilled according to the fancies of their several colonels. The Duke of York obliged them all to adopt the same system. The best parts of all their fancies were received after accurate consideration. Sir David Dundas took up nothing from caprice or idle imitation; his regulations were the result of experience, and grounded upon scientific principles: that the farther we depart from them is for the worse, and the closer we adhere to them is the better, is the increased conviction of, Sir, your obedient servant, A FIELD OFFICER OF YEOMANRY. The reputation of the Turkish cavalry was entirely owing to their horsemanship, and not to their superior use of the sword. In the lines before Ishmael, the young Russian officers were very fond of going out in small parties, or singly, to challenge the Turks. Wherever the Russians were single, they were invariably killed by the Turk, who always contrived to gain the left flank of his adversary, and which we know a horseman cannot defend; while on the other hand, when there were four or five Russians who would keep together in one unbroken band, they were the victors. The Twenty-third Light Dragoons at Talavera. MR. EDITOR,-You are right in saying that Colonel Napier “has given short measure of praise to the 23rd Dragoons for their conduct at Talavera." Victor Duke de Belluno was not so parsimonious of his praise, when he sent his aide-de-camp to the officers of the 23rd who were taken prisoners, and "told them that he wished to see the men that made so daring and successful a charge;" and after several compliments on their gallantry, sent his aide-de-camp to conduct them into good quarters at Castel Legos, with an intimation, that if they would write a letter to Sir A. Wellesley, requesting to be exchanged, it should be forwarded by a flag of truce: which was done. Gen. Villatte was equally complimentary, and so were a great portion of the French general officers, who came to see what sort of people the 23rd could be, who would dare to burst through the invincible column: they thought it must be the effects of aguardente. Victor's Aide-de-camp (Capt. O. G-m) told one of the 23rd officers, while conducting him to Castel Legos, that the General was never so much astonished as at the daring and desperate charge made by the 23rd; in fact, that the fighting on that day exceeded any thing he had ever seen before; that the English fought more like lions than men, and that their conduct throughout was above all praise, but that of the 23rd was never equalled. During the three days that the officers were at Castel Legos as prisoners of war, with a very slender guard, indeed almost nominal, they were treated by Gen. Villatte with the utmost kindness. He sent dinner to them from his own table, with abundance of wine. His Aide-de-camp and brother-in-law, Capt. Cholet, visited them twice each day, to see they wanted for nothing, and two and sometimes three surgeons visited them (by order) twice a day to dress their wounds; in fine, the greatest possible kindness and attention was shown to them, and when their escape on the night of the 31st of August was easily effected, if not connived at, as the French retired without insisting on the officers being taken away, although carts had been provided, they pleaded the badness of their wounds, which was taken as excuse sufficient to be left behind. A great portion of what is above stated can be vouched for by the three senior officers of the 23rd, who are still happily alive, and it would not, and could not, be denied by Victor, Villatte, and many other generals of the French army and their staff who are still alive, and are certainly more ready to admit merit in the English army than the English are themselves. The writer could furnish many anecdotes connected with the transaction, that would convince Gen. Victor and his staff that he knows all about it. Any use you may choose to make of the above is at your service, and to put it into any form you may please; but never let it be denied that the 23rd charged through the French column-that still can be proved beyond all doubt. AN OLD TALAVERA MAN. Yacht Clubs and Regattas. MR. EDITOR,-The writer of an article headed "Yacht Clubs and Regattas," which appeared in the May Number of your excellent Journal, in enumerating those regattas which are, as he asserts, conducted " on a liberal and extensive scale," altogether omits that of Cork Harbour, and would, I presume, lead your readers to believe that the regatta at Cove is conducted on less liberal principles, or is less extensive than those of Cowes, Dublin, Belfast, and Plymouth, which are honoured by his notice. This indirect reproach upon the oldest Yacht Club in the United Kingdom,* and upon a * The Cork Yacht Club is of great antiquity, and there are no records extant to show the exact period of its foundation. We are in possession of a book containing the rules of the original establishment, called "The Cork Harbour Water Club," which was printed in 1720; but the Club was no doubt founded previous to that period. regatta, which, to say the least, is not inferior to any of those that have been enumerated, is so unjust, that I trust you will give a place in your pages to the following short statement of the principles upon which the Cork Harbour Regatta has been hitherto conducted, and of the prizes which have been offered by the club for the last two seasons. I must first premise, that unlike the exclusive regatta at Cowes, where yachts belonging to the Royal Yacht Club only can contend for the prizes, (this was also the case at Portsmouth and Plymouth until last season,) the Cork Harbour regatta has always been open to gentlemen's yachts from any part of the United Kingdom. That no military precision is exercised with regard to the time of entrance or starting; so that a visitor, delayed by accidents or contrary winds until the day before the race, has no apprehension of being told that he is "too late to enter;" nor are yachts obliged to start until the stewards satisfy themselves that they are all equally well prepared. Our Club-house also is open to the members of the Royal and Northern Yacht Clubs during their sojourn in our harbour. So much for the liberality of principle on which the Cork Harbour Regattas are conducted; I shall now proceed to show their extent. Hookers, or Fishing Boats not exceeding 30 tons 41 Ditto Ditto Whale Boats, 1st Class 17 Hookers, or Fishing Boats not exceeding 30 tons 35 Ditto 15 ditto 20 Trusting, Sir, that I shall be considered to have shown that in the list of |