Prince of Cavalry Soldiers

Philip St. George Cooke
Harper's Weekly, June 12, 1858

From the 1895 memoir of Philip St. George Cooke by Wesley Merritt in the Journal of the United States Cavalry Association:

. . . I have always had reasons to congratulate myself that my associations were so intimate with this prince of cavalry soldiers. . . .

General COOKE was par excellence a cavalry officer, drawing his inspirations form the history of the wars of the Great FREDERICK and the First NAPOLEON. He insisted on the mounted charge for cavalry, was opposed to fighting on foot save in cases of necessity. His motto being, “Sharp sabers, and sharp spurs,” and his orders and example forcing a free, fast and furious charge on the enemy wherever found. . . .

. . . General COOKE’s experience in campaigning on the frontier fitted him, in conjunction with his studies of the cavalry of Europe, as the most accomplished conductor of a march that the service has ever produced. His interest in the command while marching never relaxed for a moment. He observed every trooper, man and animal in the command. His care, with reference to grazing and watering, was constant. It was a fixed rule in his command that when possible all the horses should be watered at the same time, in order to accomplish which he would order the command “Front into line,” halting in the stream, or into double column of troops in line, and require that the leading troops should ride to the farther side of the stream, leaving room for the horses in rear, before the head of a single horse was allowed to drink. His care in these matters is mentioned as an object lesson to cavalry officers. No officer or trooper was permitted to mount till “To horse!” was sounded, and woe to the cavalryman who continued mounted when the command was out of the saddle. The modern cavalryman may sneer at this attention to details, but I feel assured that the officer who keeps his command in good condition by careful attention to what may be called trifles, is of more service to his country in time of war than are some men who win battles.

For the good of the service, I hope that some capable person, who can do the subject justice, will write the life of General PHILIP ST. GEORGE COOKE, once Colonel of the Second Dragoons. . . .

. . . Throughout his varied career General PHILIP ST. GEORGE COOKE gave us an example of loyalty, professional pride and devotion to duty in its highest sense. He was the incarnation of a cavalry soldier. His greatest ambition was to excel in this, his favorite arm. On the frontier he gloried in making long and rapid marches without injury to his horses. During the war he was among those who thought that the legitimate sphere of cavalry action was mounted and in the crisis of battle. He was a splendid horseman and always looked every inch the soldier while mounted on his spirited, showy horse. He was a chivalrous soldier, a consistent Christian, a model gentleman.

--Life and Services of General Philip St. George Cooke, U. S. Army

Of the three books by Cooke, Wesley Merritt refers only to one, Cavalry Tactics. No mention of Scenes and Adventures in the Army (1857) or The Conquest of New Mexico and California (1878).