Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1861-05-24
Organization and Parts Of the Army.

Organization and Parts of the Army.
So many persons, unacquainted with the
organization of an army: are making iuqui-
ries upon that subject, that We copy from
the Cincinnati Gazette the following out
line of its elements, as recognized in the
French school and in our own, so far as we
have had armies:
A company is the unit Of an army, and is
supposed to average, on the war basis, one
hundred men, officers included. The gen.
eral rule for the organization Of such com.
pany gives one Captain, two Lieutenants,
FIVE Sergeants, and four Corporals, and
eighty.fve men. Formerly each company
had an Ensign, who carried the flag; but
his place is now supplied by the Color Ser
geant. There is one more Sergeant than
Corporals, the First Sergeant being called
the Orderly Sergeant, and is next to the
Captain, the most important man in the
company-carrying the books Of the COM
pany and calling the roll, morning and
evening. The company is formed, when
in column, into two platoons and four Sec
tions, each platoon commanded by Lieu
tenant, and each section by Sergeant:
A regiment is regularly composed Of ten
companies, or two battalions; q battalion
being half a regiment, composed Of FIVE
companies-one of them called Right or
Rout company, intended in regular service
to operate outside of the heavy columns as
Aanking parties, guard, &c.
The officers of regiment, independent
of company officers, are a Colonel, Lieut..
Colonel, two Majors, Adjutant. Quarter
master, and Commissary. Each separate
body of troops must have Commissary and
Quartermaster, but in large army they
are spportioned to regiments or brigades.
A regiment, when constituted, will be form.
ed thus: one Colonel one Lieut.. Colonel,
one Adjutant, one Quartermaster, one Com.
missary, two Majors, ten Captains, twenty
Lieutenants, fifty Sergeauts, forty Corpor-
ais, and eight hundred and fifty private
men-making nine hundred and seventy
FIVE. But in its reality there are some 9th
ers each company has regularly a drum
mer and fifer, which make regimental
band of twenty, besides the drum Major
Then the regiment, when full is made up
regularly to one thousand men.
The brigade should be composed of two
regiments, squadron of cavalry, and a
corps of field artillery. If these were all
full, complete brigade operating alone,
would, in our service, or in the French SER
vice, make two thousand four hundred men.
A division is composed of two brigades,
with additional corps of cavalry and artil-
lery, making in our army, including the
whole staff and music, about five thousand
men. This is the highest element Of organ
ization in our service; but in France, as
they organize immense armies, there is one
other.
The corps is composed Of two or more
divisions, frequently of four or five. The
corps is, in the French service, properly
commanded by Field Marshal-an officer
unknown to our country, and the corps is
properly a complete armyin itself
In Napoleon's march on Russia, he had
eight or ten of these corps in active service
making field army Of from two hun
dred and fifty thousand to three thousand
men. From the elements We have given,