In the mounted drill of the Cossacks there is a charge as
skirmishers (or "foragers") called the "lava," which is executed at
a great pace and with wild yells of "Hourra!"
Lieut. Grierson, of the British army, writes that: "A big fine man
mounted on a pony, with his body bent forward and looking very
top-heavy, always at a gallop, and waving his enormous whip, the
Cossack presents an almost ludicrous appearance to one accustomed
to our stately troopers. But this feeling is dashed with regret that
we possess no such soldiers."
_Transport and Supply_.--The Russian system of transport is in a
very experimental and unsatisfactory state. It is the only army
which provides regimentally for the _personnel_ and _materiel_ of
this department. In each regiment is a non-combatant company, in
which all men required for duty without arms are mustered.
All military vehicles required for the regiment are under charge of
this company. The intention of the system now developing is to
reduce the quantity of transportation required. [Footnote: In 1878
the head-quarters baggage of the Grand Duke Nicholas required five
hundred vehicles and fifteen hundred horses to transport it.
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