The record-union., 1898-07-29
SOME COMMON WAR TERMS.
THINGS THE PRESENT GENERA
TION KNOWS LITTLE OF.
The Units of Fighting Forces on
Land and Sea-How Infantry
Forces Are Divided.

When General Robert E. Lee sur
rendered and the war of the rebellion
came to an end there We're few adults
in the United States who could not give
definition for ordinary military terms
Uniformed men formed a part of nearly
every gathering. and children were able
to tell the rank of an officer by his
shoulder straps. But with the disband-
ment of the volunteer army and the
resumption of peaceful occupations in
terest in military matters became less,
and the generation which witnesses the
present conduct of active warfare has
little knowledge as TO the meaning of
military terms. This fact was demon
strated recently by a correspondent,
who asked:
What is an army corps? What is
division? What is a brigade? What
is a regiment? What is a battalion?
What is company? What is a troop?
What is a platoon? What are Lieuten-
ants, and what do they have to do?
What is a fleet? What is a squadron?
What is a flotilla? What is battle
ship? What is a cruiser? What is an
auxiliary cruiser? What is a monitor?
What is a torpedo boat? What is a
torpedo boat catcher"
An army corps is made up of a num-
Der of divisions of infantry with
proper proportion Of artillery and cav
airy. An army corps is commanded by
Major General, and is in all respects
a complete army, being the largest of
the subdivisions of the military forces.
During times of peace there could be
no army corps in the United States, be-
% ~
over the country, and concentration
was impracticable and almost impos-
sible. An army corps is divided into
divisions, which term is applied to the
next tactical unit below an army corps.
BRIGADE" A FLEXIBLE TERM.
Brigades are to divisions what divi-
sions are to army corps. A division
differs from corps in SO far that while
the larger body includes every arm of
the service a division may be compos-
ed of only one of these arms. Thus
there may be a cavalry, artillery or in
fantry division or there may be a divi-
sion which includes all these. The num-
Der Of men for division depends upon
Three brigades may be
formed into division, but there is
nothing TO prevent its being twice as
large. A division is commanded by
Major General.
A brigade, commanded by a Brigadier
General, is composed of three, four or
five regiments, and may be made up
from one arm of the service or it may
include regiments of infantry and cav
airy and batteries of artillery, together
with engineers and signal corps.
A regiment is commanded by Colo
mel and is a permanent tactical unit
with it's own distinct individuality. In
fantry regiments, according to the new
regulations, have three battalions each,
and each battalion has four companies.
The second officer in regiment is the
Lieutenant Colonel, who, in the alb
sence of the commanding officer, takes
command. The battalion commanders
are of the rank of Major.
The platoon is to the company what
the battalion is to the regiment, and as
the Major is in command of a battalion
under the Colonel, so are the First and
Second Lieutenants in command of their
respective platoons under the Captain
THE LOWEST COMMISSIONED OF
FICER
The First Lieutenants have been de-
scrbed as holding the place of vice
captains. The title is purely French.
When company formation is made the
first platoon is commanded by the
First Lieutenant. Each company has
also a First Sergeant, QuartermaSter
four Sergeants and six Cor
pcrals, two musicians, one artificer, one
engraver and siXty-five privates. In
the cavalry arm of the service compan-
les are known as troops, and in the ar
tillery as batteries.
Other non commissioned officers in a
regiment are one Sergeant Major, one
Sergeant, one chief mu
sician, two principal musicians and
three hospital stewards.
The terms fleet" squadron and
'flotilla" are elastic in their nature.
They each designate a number of ves-
sells under single commander, but
fleet" is a term superior to squad
ron." and squadron" stands for more
than "fiotilla.' The term fleet" may
be properly applied to an aggregation
to hear of a fiotilla of oyster boats or
racing yachts. But at this time one cou-
pies the terms with the navy, and, ac-
fleet means a large number of yes
sells under the command of an Admiral
or other high naval officer. While it is
by some authorities that a
fleet must contain at least six ships,
others believe that smaller number of
vessels may under certain circum
stances be termed a fleet. There are
countries whose whole navy consists of
only four or five ships, but these could
be spoken of as a fleet with all pro-
priety. Technically a fleet has been
described as composed of thirteen yes
sels-two squadrons of six ships each
and a flagship. But this technicality
seems to be entirely disregarded in
practice.
A SQUADRON AND ITS COlI-
MANDER.
A squadron is a division of a fleet, a
detachment of war vessels employed
upon particular service or station.
and is always under the command of a
flag officer A flag officer is one who
has the privilege to display a flag de-
noting his rank-an Admiral Vice Ad-
miral. Rear Admiral or Commodore.