PART IV
HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION
INTRODUCTION
This interesting subject can only be treated very cursorily, but it is hoped to present a general view of the developments which have taken place in the organization of armies in the field, since the introduction of firearms.
The method adopted for describing this process of evolution is as follows:
The beginnings of organization, and the earliest organized forces—those of the Reiters and Landsknechts in the fifteenth century—are briefly described.
An account follows of the subsequent development of organization in each Arm of the Service separately, noting especially the armies which stand out as the best organized of their time—namely, the Dutch Army of Maurice of Nassau, and the Swedish of Gustavus Adolphus.
A description is given of the “New Model” Army raised by the Parliament in their struggle with Charles I., which is a typical example of seventeenth-century organization. The New Model is of especial interest to Englishmen, not only from the unmatched quality and unbroken success which make it one of the most remarkable armies in history, but because its organization still survives to a great extent in the British Army of to-day.