Organization: How Armies are Formed for War

by Hubert Foster

Notes are given of the main points in which some foreign armies differ from the normal organization.

Then follow tables showing the war organization of each of the chief armies of the world (1909). That of the German Army, the typical Continental Army, is given in greater detail than the others.

Normal War Organization of Foreign Armies

INFANTRY

Company: 250 men.

Battalion: 4 Companies, or 1,000 men.

Regiment: 3 Battalions (all Russian, and some German, Austrian, and French Regiments have 4).

Brigade: 2 Regiments.

Division: 2 Brigades.

Army Corps: 2 Divisions (3 in France and Austria).

CAVALRY

Squadron: 4 Troops, or 150 men.

Regiment: 4 Squadrons (Russia and Austria 6; Italy and Japan 5; Switzerland and the United States 3, like England).

Brigade: 2 Regiments.

Division: 2 or 3 Brigades.

FIELD ARTILLERY

Battery: 6 guns (4 in France, Switzerland, and the United States, 8 in Russia).

“Group” (our Brigade): 3 Batteries.

Regiment: 2 “Groups.”

Brigade: 2 Regiments.