I tend to agree with you that ACW cavalry knew what it was doing (in that backward American sort of way, harumph harumph) after spending 4 years actually doing it. Actually, I think the world would benefit from a proper, objective analysis of the development of tactics during the C19th. I often get the impression that ACW experts know far too little about European warfare of the Napoleonic periods (both 1st and 3rd) while knowing their own subject immensely well - and I suspect that the reverse is probably true. My own knowledge of the development of skirmishing tactics in the 1870s in British service is derived mainly from the Zulu campaign where, inconveniently, they proved entirely wrong for the situation. Back to Dispatch July 2002 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com