difficult for a single person. In nearly all large armies the strength of a troop (Eskadron) of cavalry and of a field battery is approximately 150 horses.[1] This corresponds approximately to what the farmer of northern Germany considers suitable to keep together in one establishment. If the estate is larger, requiring more than 150 men and horses, subsidiary farms[2] are established.
While column tactics were in vogue, the above mentioned requirements of a tactical unit were completely fulfilled by the battalion, but this is no longer the case. It is quite impossible for one voice to control the movements of a battalion in action; this is scarcely possible in case of a company. On the other hand, a company is too weak to carry out an independent mission in action. Nothing less than a battalion possesses the requisite fighting power, strength, and capacity for subdivision, to sustain an action independently, to solve minor problems of combat, and to remain a body full of fighting efficiency even after sustaining serious losses such as are unavoidable in every modern infantry action.
To attempt a further definition of the term "tactical unit" would be of little value. General von Scherff in a logical manner[3] constructs a "troop unit"[4] from "fighting groups"[5] (squad of infantry or cavalry, or one gun), several of which form a "fighting unit"[6] (company, troop or battery), "possessing the requisite power to carry out a specific task," and placed under the command of a responsible leader. "The definition of a fighting unit includes, on principle, its indivisibility in action. Dispersion is a crime, di-*
- ↑ General Marmont, in his Esprit des Institutions Militaires, p. 41, states that experience has shown that the most suitable strength for a troop is 48 files, divided into four platoons; but, he recommends that platoons should consist of 16-18 files in order to maintain this strength throughout a campaign.
- ↑ Vorwerke.
- ↑ Von der Kriegführung, p. 49.
- ↑ Truppeneinheit.
- ↑ Kampfgruppen.
- ↑ Kampfeinheit.
