§ SIR GEORGE STUCLEYsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether his attention has been called to the statement made by Captain Hozier, in Vol. II. of The Seven Weeks' War, that the 3rd Regiment of Prussian Dragoons, at the Battle of Königgratz, in an attack against the Austrian Cuirassiers, lost very many men and horses, victims to the terrible sword cuts which, coming down upon the shoulder, cut clean through the shoulder blade, and often deep down into the body; that the swords of the same heavy Austrian Cavalry were shivered upon the brass plates of the Uhlans, who marked their track with heaps of dead, dying, and wounded; and, whether, after such experience, it may not be desirable to place some metal protection upon the shoulders of the British soldier?
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONSir, I cannot pretend to offer any opinion upon a Question of this technical character; and my answer must be that this question of the uniform of the British troops is entirely one for the Executive Departments of the army. All I have to do is to report the Question, and I shall certainly do so, to the Commander-in-Chief.