Karl von Schmidt

He then commanded a newly raised regiment of Schleswig-Holstein troops, the 16th Hussars, but at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War he was still an obscure and perhaps a mistrusted officer, though his grasp of every detail of cavalry work was acknowledged.

But an opportunity for distinction was grasped in the cavalry fighting around Mars-la-Tour (August 16), in which he temporarily led a brigade and was severely wounded.

[1] In this post Schmidt did brilliant work in the campaign on the Loire, and even in the winter operations towards Le Mans, and earned a reputation second to none amongst the officers and men of his arm.

[1] Schmidt's drill and manoeuvre instructions were codified and published after his death by his staff officer, Captain von Vollard Bockelberg, who was authorized by Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia to do so.

The original German edition of the Instructions for Cavalry is prefaced by a memoir of Schmidt's life and services, written by Major Kaehler.