Question: Based on your observations during the Napoleonic Wars, if French cavalry were to break through the infantry squares of the northern nations in a battlefield charge, would they surrender their arms and let you control them?
Answer: If such a situation were to occur, the Austrian infantry would throw down their weapons, each claiming to be Polish, and follow you faithfully. The Prussian infantry would also lay down their arms, but once they sensed reinforcements arriving, they would immediately pick up their weapons and rejoin the battle. The Russian infantry would lie on the ground, allowing the cavalry to leap over them, and then get back up to use their weapons again.
— Jean-Baptiste de Blac, Expert in French Light Cavalry "Light Cavalry Outposts"
Confidential
To: Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
