Note 38 — Chapter VIII · THE RELIEF OF LADYSMITH

This, nevertheless, is precisely what Mr. Goldman does in a passage of his book, “With French in South Africa,” p. 422. His proposition, sufficiently bold in itself, is that the regular Cavalry were not given sufficient chances in South Africa, and he instances particularly Buller’s failure to use his Cavalry in pursuit at this period. By the use of the vague word “Cavalry” to cover all Buller’s mounted troops, the majority of whom were irregular mounted riflemen, Mr. Goldman introduces into a correct statement of fact the unwarrantable suggestion that the steel weapon, the distinguishing feature of Cavalry, was deprived of a chance of inflicting a “crushing defeat” on the enemy. It must be understood that Mr. Goldman, in the essay I am referring to, is engaged in an express effort to prove the superiority of Cavalry over mounted riflemen.