Journal of the U.S. Cavalry Association from Leavenworth, Kansas • 150

CAVALRY WORK OF THE PUNITIVE EXPEDITION. By FIRST LIEUTENANT GEORGE S. PATTON, TENTH CAVALRY. can fight anywhere except at sea and only "CA the fact that the horse is not web-footed restricts its prowess even there." The limitation of a field library prevents an exact quotation, but something like the above is the goal toward which American Cavalry has ever aspired. Yet in spite of this glorious ideal, years spent in garrison, and frequently squadron garrison at that, had dulled our preception of the amount of effort necessary to attain our goal.

Indeed into such a state of beatific content had we settled that many of us has found his ingenuity taxed in order to occupy the meager two or three hours of daily drill with interesting and progressive instruction. Troop, squadron and regimental drill, with some dismounting to fight on foot and with the special drills, such as signaling, messenger service, performed in a perfunctory manner under the direction of non-commissioned officers, together with target practice; was about the usual limit of our carriculum. And even these drills were handicapped by the absence of numbers of men on the endless "details" which the home posts necessitate. It is certainly not over stating it to say that a very large proportion of the younger officers had never seen a regiment even at peace strength drill or march and a still larger number had never participated in the maneuvers of brigades or larger units at either peace or war strength? Hence, towards the end of July, 1916, we found ourselves at Dublan, with four regiments of cavalry and a war strength together in regiment of infantry and some artillery, all camped the midst of an unrestricted maneuver and hundreds of square.