New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-11-14
The Spanish Army,


The Spanish Army.
The Spanish correspondent of the Lopi,
STANDARD, writing from Santander, a,
much exaggerati0n has been going cj
late as regards the numbers of the Spari
army, And it may be of some interen
military men out of Spain to know the n
figures of the forces actually emplossl
the civil war. The Spanish armies at !
present moment in front of the Carl1
comprise every one of the forty regiue,]
OF the line and the twenty five battalion,
. Cazadores, which form the permanent to,]
of the realm. The forty regiments Of N
line have each two battalions and ten oo1
panies per battalion. A royal order
council has authorized the war ministe, !
raise the strength o. the eighty line N
twenty-five Cazadore battalions to 1900 IA
out of the new levies and depots. Nsrl
the line the Spanish army has forty n
talions of reserve, chiefly composed Of n
last CONSUMPTION, and most of these V,I
are also in front on the Ebro or in N
Basque provinces. The Spanish cayl
includes $4,000 sabres in regin.}
of hussars, lancers and mounted I'D
or CazadOres. The artillery has l6,,Qus}
divided into mounted artillery, horse ID
rison and field regiments. The strengh
a mounted battery is generally over |
men, four officers and seventy mules ior !
six eight-inch krupp howitzers and III
ammunition. A mounted battery OF Il
inch krnpps or eight inch long brass y
has $50 men, four officers and ninet7a
mules. Nothing can be finer than The
Dearance of these batteries when they Ii
past at the trot of the splendid mules VII
draw guns and carriages with perfect es
over very hard ground sometimes. Spar
artillery officers are all men who b
passed through military colleges, and az
superior class of men to the infantry Ofrs
The cavalry regiments are generalyE
mounted, and the men are fine fellow;
the squadrons are seldom kept up to nj
than seventy-fve troopers. The mOu,
rifles are, on the contrary, kept up to
sabres, because they operate separatav
Central Spain and Catalonia. TneyaN
formed into regiments. As a matte
course cavalry is of little use in the nj
famous districts of Navarro and the BaS
provinces. The Carlists have most
tary dread OF the, cavalry, and Their ii
in the Ebro valley or Alava have
stayed by the mere presence Of some IL
seven regiments in t oat Deighborhood
The infantry of the line, Cazadore
foot regiments is eaid, according to Oh
statistics, to. comprise l0l, 79i men.
these must be added the reserve bata
and the provincial cOfpe, amountin:
S4,793. The reserve is forty battsliou
the last conscription, and they have ala
active service. The provinciales wen
proceeds Of the great levy OF Marsha
ranO, when $4,000 men between the ssa
twenty-five and thirty five were called
on the express condition that they
be formed into bsttalions only for thi
tense OF their own provinces. Mani
these corps, having attained good saa
training, are used in the garrisOns o.
north, and some have seen actually
share in the war. They have been d
terred from their provinces to the III
war. have seen them in PamplOEi
Vittoria, in Miranda and in Bilboa
the men do their work cheerfully, al
most seem to have forgotten that
were promised to be left in Their
inces. Outside these forces, which ar
lighting men Of Spain, there are about
men in the transport service, hospital
veterans, commissariat. The Roya
gineers, IN five regiments, have fN7
The government has also taken intOlr
10000 modified volunteers In the pros
where the Carlists are in arms, and
are nearly 10000 gpardias civiles O.
darmes, scattered over the distrlen
the seat OF war, to guard roads. rails
and districts halt subdued. Sumnn
the different branches of the servS
find that Spain has, including the 90
civile, 256, 722 men under arms at the
ent day. What the expense of such
may be can be.imagined when we req
that only q few months back it vs.
cial y stated that were the army est
and contracts punotually paid, the
Of the Spanish exchequer would
cover it, leaving nil for the other IT'D
public expenditure annually.
Now, Ia the above bret sketch o.
numbers Of the Spanish army hsV
included the last CONSUMPTION whni
decreed by King Alfonso. The cons
were only drawn IN the first days o.
tOber, and nothing certain is yet kna
to the results OF the call. One hu +
thousand were called for, but, as y
government will be content if seveHl 4
obtained. Besides, 1t is expected thai
l2.0OO will redeem themselves, as
cree has allowed Them to do 50, ia
reals, or ESQ. The War Ministe
pocto W 10 0ulO W uhuu ONcI W.
league of the exchequer about FL ,OW y
this way, and it is not every month "
forlorn treasury is gladdened with
sum. The CONSUMPTION is likely .
better results than previous ones
several provinces have been wrestel
the Carlists In central and eastern
The young soldiers are to Join the !
and begin theirinstrIotions this mont
generally get pretty quick through 70
and preparatory instructions, so
the middle of December we can e1ps
see them sent into gsrrisons and foru n
The intention of the governmenl i,
draft them into the line as soon y
. thing can prndently be attsmptea;
10 the last effort which Spain is msk
grapple with Csrlism, and it is mar =
for the rural districts. The consonp =
mere lads of eighteen, and will o ~
stuff to face the hardships of wn p
the snow-olad mountains of N ~
Spanish statesmen and economists ~
seem to reflect upon the deplorsble IN,
Of these repested lcvies, which slos
surely drain the country of the %
its youth, while the agriCultural clss
deprived of men whom they can bui
spare. II we glance over the ~ \.
years, since the reign Of King Ans
1873. we find the following calls mss =