by Édouard Desbrière & Maurice Sautai
Berger-Levrault & Cie, Paris & Nancy, 1910
A definitive study of the French cavalry during the Directory (1795–1799), this volume examines the organization, administration, reforms, and battlefield employment of the mounted arm during the closing years of the French Revolutionary Wars. Written by Lieutenant-Colonel Édouard Desbrière and Captain Maurice Sautai as part of the French Army General Staff's acclaimed Organisation et tactique des trois armes series, the work is one of the most authoritative references on Revolutionary-era cavalry.
Drawing extensively upon official military archives, regulations, orders, and campaign reports, the authors analyze the reorganization of the cavalry under the Directory, including changes to regimental structure, strength, recruitment, training, equipment, remounts, and administration. The volume also examines the tactical employment of cavalry in the campaigns of the Armies of the Sambre-et-Meuse and the Rhine-et-Moselle during 1796, the Army of Italy in 1796–1797, the Army of the Rhine in 1797, the Army of Egypt, and the final campaigns of the Directory in 1798–1799.
Illustrated with maps and tactical sketches, the book provides detailed accounts of cavalry operations, reconnaissance, charges, screening actions, pursuit, and cooperation with infantry and artillery. It highlights the evolution of French cavalry doctrine and demonstrates how the reforms of the Directory transformed the mounted arm into an increasingly effective force, laying the groundwork for the celebrated cavalry of the Napoleonic era.
