British]
647
ARMIES
to meet the difficulty which has hitherto prevented the training at home of bodies such as are at once required for action in the field. It is pointed out in the ninth edition of this work that “as the battle-field is the ultimate object of all preparation, administrative considerations must give way to tactical ones where they clash, and all organization must conform to the tactical requirements of the day.” Unfortunately, the administrative difficulties which attend a vast empire, a free constitution, and voluntary service, and the indispensable condition of presenting an economical budget, have hitherto prevented the practical application of this sound principle. In order to create the reserve for filling up the ranks for war, and to provide for the colonial reliefs, it was arranged that there should be a battalion at home which should supply the battalion of the same regiment abroad with the annual draft required. This consideration became so paramount, that the importance for the purpose of training staffs for their work in war, and, therefore, of having constituted staffs to train, fell into the background at a time when the nation only calculated upon having to prepare for minor operations. There can be no doubt that the South African campaign plainly showed that trained staffs, accustomed to work together, and each to know its own particular share of the work, are indispensable to the smooth working of a large organization. The plea that it is frequently necessary to send out forces no larger than a division, and, therefore, that an army corps is not wanted, is not a strong one, because a division, or a force of similar strength, will not be the less effective because it is taken out of a larger body habitually associated with it, and out of which it can be supplemented by other troops with which it has regularly worked. We give in Table B the ordinary composition of a British army corps, because it is well that the term should be understood ; but, ever since this form of organization for armies was created, army corps have been of an infinite variety of form. All that the term implies is that it is a little army complete in itself, formed of every branch of the service, and being made up with all that is necessary to enable it to take its place in the field : that in itself it stands ready for war as soon as it has been mobilized. An army made up of army corps consists of several associated small armies, each capable of independent action in all respects. The “ divisions,” though called “ infantry divisions,” in fact consist of all arms, and frequently the several arms have been distributed throughout the divisions to form what are called “mixed divisions.” In the German army there is a double organization by which, while the several arms are associated together, unit by unit, larger bodies of each arm are for the purpose of working in larger bodies of the arm associated together. The great difficulty which encounters any attempt to associate large bodies of troops in England without flux or reflux, lies in the necessity of making protroops ° vision for the constant interchange and relief /or India between the units at home and abroad. The and the “ cry 0f the exiles ” is too strong to permit of Colonies. tjieir left abroad for more than a reasonable number of years, and experience has shown that there are grave disadvantages in allowing two separate systems to grow up in different parts of the empire. On the whole, it has proved better for the training of drafts that they should not be sent direct from depots to India, but that, after a few months with the depot, they should be passed to battalions which will, in turn, later in the year, send on a draft to the sister battalion in India. In order that this may not injure the home battalion it is necessary that the
draft should bear only a limited proportion to the strength of the nucleus of the battalion, and that the draft supplied early in the year to the home battalion from the depot should considerably exceed the draft to be sent out later to India; but, if provision be made to that effect, the system appears to work best for both battalions. A similar allowance is necessary for the cavalry, and even more for the artillery, because in the case of batteries it becomes a question, if the draft is too severe, of the loss of specially trained men. Independently of the movement of drafts, the change in units will involve special provision if the value of the permanent organization by army corps is not to be lost. Table B.—The Army Corps. Warrant [ and N.-C. Officersl Total. and Men. Staff 3 Infantry Divisions . 1 Cavalry Regiment . Headquarters Cavalry Regiment Corps Artillery (6 field, 2 horse batteries) Ammunition Park Regimental Staff Corps Engineers 1 Pontoon Troop 1 Telegraph Division 1 Balloon section 1 Field company 1 Field Park 1 Railway company 1 Battalion Infantry Supply Column Supply Park Field Bakery Field Hospital
34 978 25 7 60 20 2 5 6 3 7 1 5 29 6 9 5 5
1,639 672 6 208 238 51 205 44 153 981 145 531 312 56
1,699 692 8 213 244 54 212 45 158 1,010 151 540 317 61
Grand total with Field Force
1207
35,052
36,259
37
3,299
3,336
Detail left at base .
137 ! 171 29,124 30,102 506 j 531 44 S 51
Transport— Horses, riding ,, draught Pack animals Total Vehicles— Carts, 1 horse ,, 2 horses Waggons, 4 horses 6 „
2837 7234 76 ....
10,147 55 309 514 523
Total .... 1401 The War Office, as at present constituted under the supreme and absolute authority of the Secretary of State for war, is regulated, so far as its military per- Tbe sonnel is concerned, by an Order in Council of office and the 7th March 1899. That Order, altering in general certain respects the Order in Council of 21st adminisNovember 1895, which is cancelled by it, pro- ^rmy." °f vides for the distribution of the military branch into five great departments—those of the commander-inchief, of the adjutant - general, of the quartermastergeneral, of the inspector-general of fortifications, and of the director-general of ordnance. Each of these officers “ advises the Secretary of State ” directly on all questions connected with the duties of his department. The several officers are assigned duties which may be summarized thus:— Commander-in-Chief.—“Principal adviser” and “general superintender” of military departments. He is charged with the issue of army orders, inspections, the distribution of and “mobilization” of the land forces, with schemes of offensive and defensive warfare and military
