Organization: How Armies are Formed for War

by Hubert Foster

1. INFANTRY

Infantry, as will be seen in the historical portion of this work, used to be of various natures, such as Guards, Grenadiers, Fusiliers, Rifles, and Light Infantry, which still survive, but as names only. Napoleon said he wanted but one sort of Infantry, and that good Infantry. This aspiration may now be realized. All Infantry, however designated, is of one kind only, and works in the same manner in war.

The formations of Infantry are the Company, the Battalion, the Regiment, and the Brigade.

THE COMPANY

The Company, with its three officers—Captain, Lieutenant, and Ensign—and its Sergeants and Corporals, has been for centuries the foundation stone of the organization of Infantry. Its Chief, the Captain, is the officer with whom the men are most intimately associated, as he is responsible not only for their drill, discipline, and training, but also for their food, clothing, pay, and lodging. The men’s confidence in their Captain is grounded on this responsibility. It is to him that they learn to look for their well-being, comfort, and redress of grievances, as well as for praise or blame. The Captain is thus in daily contact with the men, and learns to know them, and be known by them. His influence with his men, owing to these personal relations, is the keystone of command and discipline, and makes him their natural leader in action.

To avoid repetition, it may be here mentioned that the same remarks apply to the Squadron and Battery Commanders, who, in the Cavalry and Artillery, hold the same position with regard to their men as the Captain does in the Infantry.

The Company is usually divided into Half-Companies, commanded by a Lieutenant, and into four Sections, each under a Sergeant; but the German Company has three Sections under a Lieutenant. The tactical movements of a Company in action are usually carried out by Sections.

THE BATTALION

The Battalion of 1,000 men is universally recognized as the Tactical Unit of Infantry. Operations are ordered, carried out, and recorded by Battalions. The Battalion is in modern armies provided with transport to carry its ammunition and entrenching tools, as well as its baggage and immediate supply of food, so as to render it independent.

The Battalion is commanded in foreign armies by a Major or his equivalent, but in the British and Russian Services by a Lieutenant-Colonel. The Battalion Commander is assisted by a Staff Officer, styled his Adjutant, and by a small Administrative Staff.

The number of Companies in a Battalion is, in the British Service, eight, with 3 officers and 120 men each, but in other armies four, with 4 or 5 officers and 240 men.

The system of dividing the Battalion into a few large companies was adopted in Prussia during the eighteenth century so as to economize in officers, partly to save expense, partly because of the dearth of men fit for commissions, in the increasing army of that small country. In the huge armies of to-day this system commends itself for the same reasons; while England and the United States have kept to small companies, with their original strength of about 100 men. Owing to the increasing difficulty of exercising control in battle, small companies give advantages as to Command. They also provide any necessary detachments, such as outposts and advanced guards, better than large companies, which may have to be broken up for these purposes. The fact, too, cannot be overlooked, that in an army of small companies there are four Captains more per thousand men, which gives a useful reserve of officers.

THE INFANTRY REGIMENT

Two, three, or four Battalions form a Regiment, designated by a number or by a permanent name, territorial or personal. In the Regiment are embodied the honourable traditions which have accrued in history, and the esprit de corps engendered by them. The officers are on one Regimental List for promotion, and so serve continuously in the Regiment. They thereby acquire a camaraderie, professional feeling, and personal intimacy with each other and with their men, of the greatest value in war. In foreign armies, with short service of two years, it is hardly too much to say that the Regimental Officers really constitute the permanent army, through which there flows continuously a stream of recruits, receiving a professional impress from their officers.

The Regiment is in foreign armies commanded by a Colonel (with sometimes a Lieutenant-Colonel), assisted by an Adjutant and a small Administrative Staff. The British Regiment is merely a peace organization never found as a whole in war, and the Battalion, with its Colonel and his Staff, its Colours and band, its traditions, history, and esprit de corps, represents what in foreign armies we find in the Regiment. The battalions of the foreign Regiment are merely its tactical units, just as the companies are to the Battalion.

THE INFANTRY BRIGADE

The Brigade is the largest body formed of Infantry only. In the British Service, where there is no Regimental organization in war, the Brigade comprises four battalions. In foreign armies it is composed of two Regiments (comprising six to eight battalions), a faulty organization for Command purposes, as shown in [Chapter I.]

Brigades are commanded by a Brigadier-General, with a Staff Officer, who is styled in England the Brigade Major.