Organization: How Armies are Formed for War

by Hubert Foster

The Colonel practically owned the Regiment he raised, and especially the first Company of it, from which he derived his emoluments. It thus became a practice for men of position to raise Regiments, first of Horse—then the nobler Arm—and later of Foot also. Such noblemen were often too busy, or too grand, to attend personally to their Regiment, and soon became mere absentees. Their Command was then gradually transferred to their locum tenens, the lieu-tenant of the Colonel, so called because the Command of the Company, or Troop, of which the Colonel was nominally the Captain, always devolved on his Lieutenant. Thus the officer styled the Lieutenant-Colonel began to act as Commander of the Regiment, as he is to this day in England.

EARLIEST REGIMENTAL ORGANIZATION

The origin of the modern organization of Regiments of Horse and Foot can be traced in most of its details to that of the German Landsknecht Infantry and Reiter Cavalry in Germany towards the end of the fifteenth century. The organization of both was nearly identical, being no doubt adapted from the Swiss, and the Italian Condottieri, or the English Free Companies, typical fourteenth-century mercenaries.

The Regiment was raised as follows: A leader of distinction, the Colonel, selected his Captains; the latter raised the Troops or Companies to form the Regiment, by enlisting recruits in their districts with beat of drum and proclamation, exactly as in England for centuries later. The Captain of Horse was called Rittmeister (Reiter meister, or master of Reiters), and the Captain of Foot, Hauptmann (Head-man), as they are in Germany to this day.

The Colonel chose his locum tenens, or Lieutenant, as did also each Captain. A Fähnrich (Flagbearer) was appointed to each Troop or Company, that his flag might present a conspicuous rallying point. To the Flagbearer was attached a Trumpeter in each Troop of Horse, or a Fifer and Drummer in each Company of Foot, so that the men could rally to the flag by sound, as well as by sight, in the confusion of battle. The flag of the Horse was triangular or hornshaped, whence it was called in French a Cornette, while that of the Foot was square, and termed the Enseigne (Latin Insignium). Hence the officers who carried the flags were later designated Cornets and Ensigns, in Cavalry and Infantry Regiments respectively. These titles for the junior Lieutenants who carried the flags survived in England till late in the nineteenth century, and it seems a pity to have replaced so picturesque and concise a designation of rank by the cumbrous and un-English term Second Lieutenant.

There were thus, in each Troop or Company, three Officers, the Captain, the Lieutenant, and the Ensign, the same found in the subsequent organization of all armies.

Besides these three officers, each Troop of Reiters had a Wachmeister, and each Company of Landsknechts a Feldwebel, terms still retained in Germany with the meaning of Sergeant. This officer was of great importance in the unit, as he was charged with its drills in peace, and with its manœuvres in battle, when the other officers were in front fighting, and could not watch the men. As the Sergeant had to give orders in action, he became also responsible for Orders at all times, so that he was virtually a kind of Adjutant to the unit. In battle the Infantry Sergeant had to run up and down the Company to supervise its movements; he, therefore, could not well be encumbered with the long pike, but retained the earlier halberd, which survived as the special arm of the Sergeant of Infantry in England down to 1829.

There was similarly in the Regiment a corresponding officer, the Sergeant-Major, later styled simply the Major, as he still is. He was practically a Staff Officer, or Adjutant, to the Colonel, exactly as the Sergeant was to the Captain. He issued the Colonel’s orders to the Sergeants, and was responsible for the drill of the Regiment, and its manœuvres in battle. He was therefore mounted, even in the Infantry Regiment, like our Adjutant to-day, in order that he might move rapidly up and down the Regiment, to superintend its movements and give orders to the Sergeants of the various Companies.

There was also in the Reiters a Quarter-Master, the Fourier (as the French still style him), with a subordinate (now the Quarter-Master-Sergeant). His duties were to provide quarters, and, as the men had to be fed in these quarters, he became charged in addition with subsistence, exactly as is our Quarter-Master to-day. In old times the Quarter-Master was also responsible for reconnaissance, which was no doubt due to the fact that, having to precede the troops on the march, so as to provide quarters for them that evening, it fell to him to decide on the correct route, and he had, therefore, to reconnoitre to the front. What are now the Staff duties of reconnaissance and directing marches became thus associated with the Quarter-Master of each unit, and afterwards with the corresponding officer, the Quarter-Master-General of the whole army. Therefore, down to a few years ago, the Q.M.G. was charged with all Staff work connected with marches, routes, reconnaissance, and information—a curious survival through four centuries of the organization of the Reiters.

As regards subordinates, or, as we should now say, non-commissioned officers, there was a File-Master (Rottmeister) at the head of each file, for the Troop or Company was drawn up in very deep formation. This specially selected soldier was called Capo di Squadra (Head of the Squad) in Italian, a reminiscence of the early formation of the smallest fighting body (our Squad) in a square (Squadra). From Capo di Squadra came the French Caporal (which we have rendered Corporal, by false derivation from corporalis, corpus, body), who is still the Squad leader. The fact that they originally stood in the ranks at the head of the files accounts for the inclusion of Corporals, but not Sergeants, in the expression Rank and File, for the Sergeants were out of the ranks, superintending the men, as they are to-day.