1 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS. 97
2 cloth and trappings about them, and are armed
3 with a sword intended merely for a thrust, while
4 the irregulars are in possession of a strong heavy
5 weapon, capable, when properly wielded, of doing
6 great execution. Nevertheless there is another vast
7 difference existing between the regular and irregular
8 cavalry ¢ the latter possess in their ranks men of
9 high caste and family who are accompanied and
10 followed into the field by young relatives who do
11 their utmost to imitate them. This spirit of emu-
12 lation does not exist in the regular cavalry; every
13 man does what he considers his duty, and no more.
14 In ‘“Affghanistan one of our regular cavalry corps
15 refused to charge the Affghan horse, even when it
16 was certain, from the very weight of its horses, to
17 overthrow the enemy! The advantage of charging
18 en masse has not yet been fully impressed on the
19 Native cavalry ; they still trust to their individual
20 exertions, which, in the absence of effective weapons,
21 can achieve but little. Could the regular Native
22 cavalry be brought to believe that a dense and com-
23 pact body of well-trained horsemen will bear down
24 undisciplined troopers, less reliance would be placed
25 in individual power, and the full advantage of a
26 body of dragoons might be realized. In some regular
27 Native cavalry corps a proper impression prevails
28 (as witness the 1st Bengal regiment in Affghanistan,
29 the 3rd at Alleewal, the 5th at Moodkee, and the
30 9th at Meeance) but it is far from being universal.
31 In the battle of Moodkee, the loss in the European
32 infantry and cavalry was great, as compared with
33 that sustained by the Native branch of the service,
34 Why does
35 irregular ca-
36 valry: possess
37 any advantage
38 over the regu
39 lar?