Military schools and courses of instruction in the science and art of war, / in France, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Sardinia, England, and the United States. Drawn from recent official reports and documents. Revised Edition

by Unknown

All the officers who can be spared from the duties of the office take part in these tours, as also a few staff officers called in from the commands, and a selection from the commanders of regiments.

They are also made on a smaller scale by the staff of the Corps, augmented by regimental officers attached for instruction, under the superintendence of the respective chiefs of the staff.

For the tour superintended by General Von Moltke, the theatre of operations and certain conditions likely to influence them are indicated, a supposed strength is given to two opposing armies, their depots and means of reinforcement are clearly laid down, and the influence likely to be exerted by the movements of other armies or bodies of troops on their flanks are taken into calculation. According to these data the senior officers present make their plans of manœuvre, employing their juniors in the preparation of all the subordinate arrangements, the movements of the troops, the selection of positions for attack or defense, the arrangements for supply, and for retaining a communication with the base. All these measures are carried out on the spot, and daily reports are made to the superintending officer, which, when necessary, are accompanied by such rough sketches as are usual during the progress of a campaign.

From these materials he is enabled to form an idea in what degree the spirit of the operations has been grasped by the directing officers, and in how far their juniors are instructed in the details of duties which they may hereafter be called on to perform.

5. A large share in the military education of the army generally, by taking part in the lectures given in the various educational establishments, and by acting as members of the commissions of examination and of studies.

6. Officers of the head-quarter staff are also detached to attend the annual corps manœuvres, those taking place in foreign countries, or the active campaigns of friendly allied nations.

Of the three sections into which the head-quarter staff is divided, the railway department forms part of the second of these sections, the chief of which selects an officer to preside over and superintend the working of it, and gather materials on inland and foreign railway communication. Certain officers are attached permanently, similarly, in fact, to those belonging to the sections of the accessory establishment, who have not only to make themselves theoretically masters of their subject, but by traveling on the various lines acquire practical acquaintance with the working of railway transport in all its phases. With a view to diffusing this knowledge as largely as possible, all officers of the staff have since 1867 been required to attend a six weeks’ course of study with this branch.

The section of military history has charge of the war archives of the Prussian army and of the library of the general staff, for additions to which latter a sum of 1,100 thalers, or 165l., annually, is voted.

The staff of the section is occupied not only with subjects of recent and immediate interest, but with the study and arrangement of materials belonging and relating to the wars of earlier date, of which there is a valuable collection, consisting of reports, day-books, plans, and other documents, many of them legacies of the prominent actors in the scenes to which they relate. The library is well supplied with the most important works in all languages on military history, tactics, geography, and military science.