Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1861-05-21
Organization and Parts Ofthe
ARMY.

| 90 many persons, unacQlainted with the
organization Of an army, are making inoui.
ries upon that subject. that we COPY from
| the Cincinnati Gazette the following outline
, OF its elements, as recognized in the French
/ school and in our own, so far as we have
I 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
! general rule for the organization Of such a
| company gives one captain, two lieutenants
| nve sergeants, four corporals, and eighty
hve men. Formerly each company had an
ensign, who carried the flag; but this place
Is now supplied by one of the sergeants.-
| There is one more sergeant than corporals,
the nrst sergeant being called the orderly
sergeant, and Is. next to the captain, the
most important man In the company-car-
rying the books OF the company, and calling
the roll morning and evening. The COM
pany is formed. when in column. into two
| piatoons and four sections, each platoon
commanded by lieutenant, and each sec,
! ton by a sergeant.
A regiment is regularly composed of ton
I companies, or two battalions a battalion
being half regiment, composed of five
companies-One of them called a light or
to operate outside Of the heavy columns. as
Ranking parties and guards.
The officers of q regiment, independent
of company officers, are colonel. iieuten-
ant colonel. two majors, adjutant, quarter
master and c0mmissary. Each senarate
body Of troops must have a commissary and
quartermaster, but in large army they
are apportioned to regiments or brigades.
y regiment, when constituted, will be
formed thus:
l colonel, lieutenant colonel. adiu-
tant, l quartermas,er, l commissary, .
majors, III captains, 20 lieutenants, 80 SER
geants, 40 cOrporals, and $50 private men
making 9I5, butin reality there are some
others each company has q regular drum
mer and tifer, which make a regimental
band OF ~, besides the drum major. Then
the regiment. when full, is made IN regu-
larly to 900 men
A brigade should be composed of two
regiments, a squadron of cavalry, an6
corps of field artillery. If these were all
full, a complete brigade operating alone,
would, In our service, or the French, make
2,400.
division is composed of two brisades.
with additional corps of cavalry and artil-
lery, making an army, including the whole
staff and music, Of about 5, 600 men. This
Is the highest element of Organization in our
service; but in France, as they organize
immense armies. there is one other.
Ehe corps is composed of one or more di.
Visions, frequently Of four or five. The
corps Is, in the French, properly command.
ed by field marshal-an officer unknown
to our couEtry-and the corps properly
complete army an itself
In NapoleOu's march on Russia, he had
eight or ten Of these corrs in active service
making field army of from $50, 900 TO
100000 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 ex-
act order and discipline. 10 the field all
orders and operations are carried on through
the staff of the army, and when we come to
active service, the staff is the most import
ant part of the army for this being vast
machine, of which each part is perfectly
obedient to and directed by the head. it is
evident that all must depend on the skill.
ability and ciscernment Of the staff through
which 1t acts. 1t is in vain that Scott. or
any great General commands, if the staff
officers are incompetent.
The staff consists of the Aids, the Adju-
tant General, the Engineer, the Quarter
master, aud Commissary Generals. Through
the Adjutant General all orders are con-
veyed to each particular part. By the
Qnartermaster General all transportation,
and vehicles, and horses are furnished by
the Commissary all supplies by the Engi
neer the'topography of the country IS thor
oughly examined, the practicaLility Of
passes determined, Notifications built or
attacked. Then the staff of an army be-
comes its eyes, and all its faculties, the
General simply deciding the movements Of
the army on the facts and elements thus
furnished. In the grand French armies
there was chief Of the-staff, or head of the
military bureau. In Napoleon's time this
chief Of the-staff was Marshal Berthier,
deemed one of the ablest officers of the
French army. Napoleon knew the value
of good staff, and had ADLER men in it than
were at the head of the divisions.