In 1860 the Field Batteries, which had until then 8 guns, were reduced to their present strength of 6 guns.
The experience gained in 1866 caused considerable modification in organization to be made before the war of 1870 broke out. The Reserve Artillery was abolished, and divided among the Army Corps, thus forming “Corps Artillery” of 7 Batteries. The 5th Squadron of Cavalry was made into a depôt, and Regiments took the field in 1870 with 4 Squadrons only, as at present. The Reserve Cavalry was abolished, and Cavalry Divisions formed. These were attached, not to Army Corps as in France, but to Armies, being intended for reconnaissance far to the front.
Of recent years the Corps Artillery has been abolished, and the Batteries comprising it are distributed among the two Divisions, so as to increase the co-operation of the Artillery with the Infantry.
Proportions of the Arms
CAVALRY AND INFANTRY
In the sixteenth century the Horse outnumbered the Foot, but in the Thirty Years’ War they were roughly equal. In the English Civil War, and later in the seventeenth century, the Infantry began to outnumber the Cavalry, and in the eighteenth century the proportion of Foot to Horse rose, till it was in the proportion of 3, or even 4 to 1, and in the Napoleonic Wars, of 6 or 8 to 1.
In the nineteenth century, when armies became much larger, the proportion of Infantry to Cavalry increased still more, owing to the expense of the latter Arm, and the longer training it needed, till in 1870 it was 10 to 1 in the French Army, and 13 to 1 in the German. It is still 13 to 1 in the German Army, but only 16 to 1 in the French.
GUNS AND INFANTRY
The number of guns was small till the close of the seventeenth century; in the armies of Maurice it was 1 gun to 1,000 Infantry, a proportion which Gustavus raised considerably. In Marlborough’s army it was over 3 per 1,000. The number of guns to 1,000 Infantry rose during the eighteenth century, till it became 4 or even 5 in the later armies of Frederick the Great; but it was only 3 or 4 in the larger armies of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1866 there were 6 guns per 1,000 Infantry in the Austrian Army, and 5 in the Prussian; in 1870, 3 to 4 guns in the German Army, and 3 in the French. There are at present 6 guns per 1,000 Infantry in the German Army, and slightly more in the British, but rather less in the other armies.