The Oxford intelligencer., 1861-05-29

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So many persons, upacquaintcd with the Of
ganization Of an army, are making inquiries
upon that Subject, that we copy from the Gin
cinnati Gazette the following outline of its ele-
ments, 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 sup
4 posed to average, on the war basis, one hundred
! men, officers Included The general tule for
the Organization Of such 4 company gives one
Captain, two Lieutenants, five Sergeants, and
four Corporals, and eighty five men, Formerly,
each company had an Ensign, who carried the
| flag; but his place is now supplied by the Color
| Sergeant 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 coippany-car-
rying the books of the company, and calling
the roll, morning and evening. The company
Is formed, when in column, into two platoons
and four sections each platoon commanded by
Liestenant and each section By Sergeant
A regiment is regularly composed of ten COM
panies, or two battaliops 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 thanking parties, guard, ETC.
The officers of regiment independent of
company officers, are, Colonel, Lieutenant
Colonel, two Majors Adjutant, Quartermaster
and Commissary. Each separate body of troops
must have Commissary and Quartermaster,
but in large army they are apportioned to regi
ments or brigades. A regiment, when consti-
tuted, will be formed thus one Colonel, one
Lieutenant Colonel, one Adjutant, one Quarter
master, one Com.aissary, two Majors, ten Cap
tains, twenty Lieutenants, fifty Sergeants, forty
Corporals, and eight hundred and fly private
men-making nine hundred and seventy five.
But in reality, there are some others; each
company has regularly drummer and fifer,
which make a regimental band of twenty be-
sides the Drum Major. Then the regiment,
when full, is made up regularly to one thou
sand men.
The brigade should be composed of two regi-
mcnts, a squadron of cavalry, and corps of
field artillery. If these were all full. a CON-
plcte brigade operating alone, would. in our
service, or in the French, make two thousand
four hundred men.
division is composed Of two brigadcs, with
additional corps Of cavalry and artillery, max
ing, in our army, including the whole staff and
music, about five thousand men. This is the
highest element Of organization in our service !;
but in France, as they organize Immense armies,
there is one other
The corps is composed Of two or more divis-
ions, 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 complete
army in itself
In Napolcon's march on Russia, he had eight
or ten of these corps in active servicc--making
a field army Of from two hundred and fifty
thousand TO three hundred thousand men.
From the elements we have given, it will be
seen that, however large the army may be, it is
so organized as to be perfect in all its parts
and moves with exact order and discipline. In
the field, all orders and operations are carried
on through the staff of the army, and when we
como to active service the staff is the most i'm
portant part of the army; for, this being vast
machine, of which each part is obedient to and
directed by the head, it is evident that all must
depend On the skill ability and discernment of
the staff through which it acts. 1t is in vain
that Scott, or any great General commands, if
the staff officers are incompetent.
The staff consists of aids, the Adjutant- Gen
eral, the Engineer, the Quartermaster and Com
missary generals. Through the Adjutant, or
ders are conveyed to each particular part. BY
the Quartermaster General all transportations,
vehicles and horses are furnished by the Com
missary, all supplies by the Engineer the to-
Biography of the country is thoroughly exam
ined, the practicability Of passes determined,
Notifications built or attached Then the stall
of an army becomes its eyes, and its faculties,
the General simply deciding the movements of
tho army the facts and olomonts thus fur
nished. In the grand French armies, there was
Chief-ofthc-staff or head of the active mill
tary bureau. In Napoleon's time, the chief of
the staff was Marshal Berthicr, deemed one of
the ablest officers of the French army. Napo-
leon knew the value of good staff and had
ADLER men in it than were at the head of divis-
ions