There was no grouping of the units of the army into larger organizations, except on the battlefield, when fractions of the battle array were sometimes temporarily placed under a named Commander. The whole army marched, camped, and fought as one body, covering but little ground compared with the armies of to-day, owing to its smaller numbers. It was thus always under the eye of the Commander, whether on the march, in camp, or in battle.
The march columns were shortened, when possible, by moving the Infantry in column of sections down the broader roads, or even in battalion column across the open fields alongside. At night, to prevent desertion and marauding, billets were never used, and bivouacs seldom, but the army lay concentrated in a formal camp in order of battle, so that it could, without delay, form up in front of the camp ready for the combat.
In battle, the disposition of the army was in two lines of Infantry, among which some of the lighter guns were dispersed in pairs, while the heavier ones were massed on the wings and at the centre. The Cavalry were on each flank. The wagon train was parked in rear under a strong escort for its protection against marauding cavalry. The marshalling of the army in due precedence of each unit, and placing the army in correct position without overlapping or crooked lines, was a delicate process, which would often take hours to perform.
Whether in camp, or in battle, each of the Regiments was separate and unconnected, and each received its Orders direct from the Commander, who himself personally watched their execution. He thus commanded in the strictest sense, and needed little assistance from his Staff Officers, who were chiefly used to gallop to the troops with his Orders.
The above gives a picture of the earliest regular armies in Europe, such as those commanded by Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Marlborough, and Frederick the Great. The latter, however, introduced, during his long wars, several improvements in his army, which became, during the Seven Years’ War, the model of Europe owing to its extraordinary success, opposed though it was to the larger but inferior armies of Austria, Russia, and France. Some of the details of Frederick’s organization have been mentioned in previous pages dealing with each Arm.
Frederick himself generally acted against the two first-mentioned enemies, and detached a very able General, Ferdinand of Brunswick, to oppose the French. Ferdinand had under his command an allied force, formed of small separate armies of all Arms, provided by Prussia, Britain, Holland, Brunswick, and Hesse. These remained under their own Commanders, and were virtually what were later known as Divisions.
In Frederick’s army the only trace of higher organization is found in his dividing the whole for battle into two Wings and a body of Cavalry, and allotting separate Commanders to each portion. In this, we perhaps find the germ of the Army Corps system adopted in the next century.
UNIFORM
Uniform, or clothing of a uniform pattern, was not customary till the middle of the seventeenth century. It had been seen in the red coats of selected troops which Henry VIII. brought in; but the historic red coat was first given to the whole army by Cromwell, and continued after the Restoration. Uniform was brought in by Louis XIV. later, and its use spread everywhere. Gustavus had distinguished his Brigades by coloured scarves. The English, fighting for Protestantism in aid of the Netherlands against Spain, wore Orange and Blue scarves, whence perhaps the adoption of one or other of these colours to represent the Whig in English politics in the eighteenth century. Cromwell’s army wore an Orange scarf, whence no doubt came the hue of Protestant Ireland, which was to a great extent settled by his parliamentary soldiers.