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So maybe the OD cavalry (calvary?) riders should be looting and pillaging on their way? It would certainly spice things up a lot.

ma

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 10:08 PM, Mike Sherrell <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Forrest's confederate cavalry divisions operated alone a lot. They lived off
the land a lot, not uncommonly behind Union infantry lines (i.e., no
Confederate supply lines). Sherman himself marched from Atlanta to the sea
with both cavalry and infantry, living off the land -- the secret was to
move fast through rich country.

Attila, Gengis Khan and Tamerlane ran armies that were exclusively cavalry
and had no supply lines. The precondition was either pasture for grazing or
farms to loot for fodder.

Regards,

Mike Sherrell
Grizzly Analytical
www.grizzlyanalytical.com
707 887 2919; fax = 707 887 9834

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of k s swigart
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 9:43 AM
To: Ridecamp
Subject: [RC] Cavalry...a misnomer (was: OD's 15 Calvary Division Rules)

Mary Howell said:

> Old Dominion Cavalry Rules
> The concept of the calvalry is to mimic the rigors
> and primitive conditions a lone calvalry rider would
> have faced in crossing the wilds of uninhabited
> territory far from human intervention. The modern
> test of a solitary horse and rider is to compete on
> their own, without help, across 100 miles of
> natural countryside.

Lest one think that the subject line of my post is about the persistent
(not only in assorted discussions among the unedited of Ridecamp, but
apparently the OD rules as well) confusion of cavalry (mounted soldiers)
with Calvary (the hill on which Christ was crucified) or worse calvalry
(which is not a word at all), it is not...though I do find this constant
mistake to be mildly entertraining.

I consider it a misnomer to call it a Cavalry (note correct spelling)
division for several reasons, the first being that cavalry (like most
soldiers) rarely ever do anything alone.  Soldiers are usually in armies
and cavalries usually in troops or divisions...and followed, damned
closely, by the Quartermaster Corps.  It is a rare army indeed (and
usually a doomed one) that allows itself to get cut off from its supply
lines.

Additionally, no cavalry soldier worth his salt who had allowed himself
to get cut off from his supply lines or his division would then allow
himself to be disuaded from pillaging rations for himself and mount from
just about anywhere, anything, or anybody....certainly not hay that had
been left lying around by others, and probably not hay still in use by
others.  He would, after all, probably be armed.

When I read the list of the OD Cavalry rules provided by Mary, all I
could think was, "No mounted cavalry, whether alone or not, would allow
itself to be govnerned by these rules."

So, perhaps it WOULD be more appropriate to call it the OD Calvary
Division, Calvary being a virtual synonym for having to face great
adversity alone. As in Christ's dying declaration, "My God, why hast
thou abandoned me."

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)



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