



Produced by Brian Coe, Charlie Howard, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
book was produced from images made available by the
HathiTrust Digital Library.)









ORGANIZATION




  ORGANIZATION

  HOW ARMIES ARE FORMED FOR WAR


  BY
  COLONEL HUBERT FOSTER

  ROYAL ENGINEERS


  LONDON
  HUGH REES, LTD.
  119 PALL MALL, S.W.

  1911
  (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)




  PRINTED AND BOUND BY
  HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
  LONDON AND AYLESBURY.




PREFACE


The Author was led to compile this account of Army Organization owing
to his inability to discover any book dealing systematically with that
subject. Military writers do, of course, make frequent allusions to
Organization, but a previous acquaintance with the subject is generally
assumed. One looks in vain for an explicit account, either of the
principles underlying organization, or of the development of its forms
and methods.

It is true that the word Organization figures in the title of more than
one Military treatise, but the subject is handled unsystematically
and empirically, so that the ordinary reader is unable to realize the
significance of the facts. In some cases the term Organization is
interpreted in so wide a sense as to include not only Tactics, Staff
Duties, and Administration, but any matters of moment to an army. Thus,
in the volume of essays recently published, an author of weight states
that “Organization for War means thorough and sound preparation for war
in all its branches,” and goes on to say, “the raising of men, their
physical and moral improvement... their education and training... are
the fruits of a sound organization.”

In the present work, Organization is taken in a more literal and
limited sense. The book would otherwise have tended to become a
discussion of every question affecting the efficiency of armies. The
intention of the Author is to give in broad outline a general account
of Organization for War, and of the psychological principles underlying
the exercise of Command, which it is the main purpose of Organization
to facilitate.

At the same time the organization discussed is not restricted to that
of the British Army, but is that of modern armies in general, as well
as of individual armies in particular, that of the British Army being
described in greater detail, in Part II.

In Part IV. will be found a sketch of the History of Organization,
which should interest any one who, like the Author, is not content with
knowing things as they happen to be at present, unless he can trace the
steps by which they came to be so.

The subject is intentionally not treated with minuteness of detail.
To have made the book a cyclopædia of detailed information about
organization would have obscured its purpose. It is hoped that the work
may prove useful to the increasing numbers of those who have taken up
Military work throughout the Empire, and not uninteresting to general
readers, and students of history.

            HUBERT FOSTER.

  SYDNEY, _June 1910_.




CONTENTS


                                                                    PAGE

  PREFACE                                                              v

  ABBREVIATIONS                                                       xv

  INTRODUCTION                                                      xvii


                                 PART I
                 _WAR ORGANIZATION OF THE PRESENT DAY_


                               CHAPTER I
                       THE OBJECT OF ORGANIZATION

  Command                                                              3
  Definition of Organization                                           4
  The Chain of Command                                                 5
  Units or Formations of Troops                                        6


                               CHAPTER II
                          THE FIGHTING TROOPS

  The Arms of the Service                                              8
  Characteristics of the Arms                                          8
      1. Cavalry                                                       9
      2. Artillery                                                    12
      3. Engineers                                                    13
      4. Infantry                                                     15


                              CHAPTER III
                 ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITS OF EACH ARM

      1. Infantry                                                     17
      2. Cavalry                                                      21
      3. Artillery                                                    23
      4. Engineers                                                    30


                               CHAPTER IV
                    NEW VARIETIES OF FIGHTING TROOPS

      1. Mounted Infantry                                             32
      2. Mountain Infantry                                            33
      3. Mountain Artillery                                           34
      4. Machine Guns                                                 34
      5. Cavalry Pioneers                                             35
      6. Cyclists and Motor Cars                                      36
      7. Scouts                                                       37
      8. Field Orderlies                                              39
      9. Military Police                                              39


                               CHAPTER V
                         FORMATIONS OF ALL ARMS

      1. The Division                                                 42
      2. The Army Corps                                               44
      3. Cavalry Corps                                                47
      4. The Army as a Unit                                           48
         The Administrative Services for the above                    51


                               CHAPTER VI
                               THE STAFF

  Composition of Head-Quarters                                        54
  The General Staff                                                   57
  The Adjutant-General’s Branch                                       59
  The Quarter-Master-General’s Branch                                 59
  Staff of Subordinate Commands                                       60
  Importance of the Staff                                             60
  Number of Officers allotted to the Staff                            61


                              CHAPTER VII
                           WAR ESTABLISHMENTS

  Their Object and Utility                                            62
  States and Returns                                                  65
  Reinforcements                                                      66
  Evils of Improvised Organizations                                   68
  Importance of Preserving Original Organization                      69
  The _Ordre de Bataille_                                             71
  Importance of keeping it Secret                                     72
  Consequent drawbacks of Symmetry in Organization                    72


                                PART II
                       _BRITISH WAR ORGANIZATION_


                              CHAPTER VIII
                        THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

  Its Composition                                                     78
  Composition of Subordinate Commands                                 80
  Strength of the Sub-Commands, and of Whole Force                    83
  Strength of Units of each Arm                                       85
  Composition of their Head-Quarters                                  86


                               CHAPTER IX
                 THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (_continued_)

                        ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

  Their Directors                                                     88
  Organization of the Lines of Communication                          90
  The Main Services, having Units with the Fighting Troops            92
      1. Service of Inter-communication                               92
      2. Transport                                                    97
      3. Supply                                                      101
      4. The Medical Services                                        106


                               CHAPTER X
                 THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (_continued_)

                SERVICES ON THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION

      5. The Veterinary Service                                      111
      6. The Ordnance Service                                        112
      7. The Railway Services                                        115
      8. The Works Service                                           116
      9. The Postal Service                                          117
     10. The Accounts Department                                     118
     11. The Records Branch                                          119
     12. Depôts for Personnel                                        120


                               CHAPTER XI

  The Territorial Force                                              121
  The Army of India                                                  122


                              CHAPTER XII
              SPECIAL FEATURES OF BRITISH WAR ORGANIZATION

  Their Object and Advantages                                        125


                                PART III
                    _ORGANIZATION OF FOREIGN ARMIES_


                              CHAPTER XIII
                WAR ORGANIZATION OF THE FIGHTING TROOPS

  Normal War Organization                                            140
  Organization of each Army                                          141
      1. GERMANY                                                     141
      2. FRANCE                                                      145
      3. RUSSIA                                                      147
      4. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY                                             148
      5. ITALY                                                       150
      6. JAPAN                                                       151
      7. SWITZERLAND                                                 152
      8. UNITED STATES                                               154


                              CHAPTER XIV
                     COMPOSITION OF NATIONAL ARMIES

  Armies of First Line                                               155
  Armies of Second Line                                              156
  Reserves                                                           158
  War Strengths of the Various Powers                                160


                                PART IV
                       _HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION_


  INTRODUCTION                                                       165


                               CHAPTER XV
                 ORGANIZATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

  Origin of Organization                                             167
  Earliest Regimental Organization                                   171
  The early Standing