2-995-926 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Cavalry quarters at the camp of Chalons - from a drawing by M. Beaucé, 1860. 'The encampment of a regiment of Hussars...presents much the appearance of a street inhabited by an equal number of human and equine beings, only the former are accommodated with a tented covering, while the latter are merely protected by the canopy of heaven. Fortunately they are of the hardy Arab race, light and enduring, undergoing the inclemency of the weather with less danger than their masters, who are, moreover, uniformly kind to their steeds...The rows of tents, each of which is adapted for eight troopers, are placed about twenty yards apart. The tower at the farther extremity is one of the towers of observation...Outside the tents the men were engaged in all kinds of employment, some mending articles of apparel, others furbishing up accoutrements, while frequent recourse was had to the pails of blacking and whiting as either came into requisition. The undress of the hussars at work under and around the tents was so varied as to render it difficult to believe that all the men belonged to the same regiment, but this ease and liberty appears to be looked upon by the soldiers as one of the greatest charms of camp life'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.