Officer of Carbineers. (Belgium.)
Artillery—4 Regiments Field Artillery, consisting of 30 Field, 4 Horse and 6 Reserve batteries. The Reserve batteries are skeleton ones and have no guns. The remainder have 6 guns each—total, 34 batteries with 204 guns, besides 3 regiments of Siege Artillery, each of 16 Siege, 1 Reserve, and 1 Depôt batteries.
Engineers—1 Regiment of 3 battalions, and 5 companies for special work, i.e., pontooning, railway, telegraph, pyrotechnic and general trades.
Train—1 Battalion of 6 companies.
Strength of Army.
The whole peace-strength numbers about 45,000 men, with 204 guns. Both Dutch and Belgian Infantry are armed with single breech-loaders, the Beaumont and Albini rifles respectively, and there seems no present intention of introducing magazine-rifles.
The Belgian Army is clothed chiefly according to the French model; the tall bearskins of the Grenadiers and Guides are peculiar and striking.
Both Holland and Belgium will have to follow the example of other nations in adopting strict universal conscription. It will be only when this is accomplished that their Armies will represent the armed strength of the nation and satisfy the demands made on a National Army.
Belgium.
