New-York tribune., 1915-03-28
Losses Among Officers.

The cavalry, after six months OF wal
still nossesses an excess OF oIhcers'
There are on an average thirty-SM
oficers TO a regiment, instead OF the
tb,rtv-one considered to be the ncces-
sarv minimum. The artlllerZ' Whioh
has suffered relatively little, mas a'So
AN excess of officers, and Is fultAeI
able 10 count upon large numDel
of captains and other officers VINO pc
lore the war were employed IN tnf
arsenals or in technical research
Finally, the reserve arullery o"iSela
have nearly all proved TO be eNceIlc"'
battery commanders.
The losses in the junior commis-
stoned ranks have, naturally Oeeh
highest in the infantry. There is'
however. nothing like a want OF ON,
GERS in this arm. Many captains ana
Iieutenants who have been wounded by
machine gun fire lsuch wounds are
usually slight and quickly nealeu
have been able to return speed!l! 10
The reserve officers have in general
done remarkably well, and IN many
cases have shown quite exceptional
ATTITUDE for the rank OF company com
manders. The nOn-commlssloned ON
Gers promoted to sub-lieutenants make
oycellent section leaders, and even
chow themselves very clever and ener-
getic company commanders 10 the hrlu'
II must be remembered also that,
thanks 10 the intellectual and pnySical
development Of the generation no"
serving with the colors, and thanks.
above All. to the warlike qualities OF
the race and the democratic spirit Oh
our army. we have been able 10 ara"
upon the lower grades and even upon
the rank and file for officers. Many
men who began the way on August :
as privates now wear the oinceI
epaulets. The elasticity OF our reg
uiations regarding promotion In WAT
time. the absence Of the spirit OF caste
and the friendly welcome extended ny
all officers to those OF their mlIlIaIy
interiors who have shown under nre
their fitness to command have ehaO'eu
US 10 meet all requirements.
The state Of our infantry cadrcS OH
January Is was very satisfactory anu
much superior TO that Of the German
infantry. On an average, each OF our
regiments has forty-elght olhcers, m
GLIDING eighteen regular othcers, M
,een reserve officers and tltteen non
commissioned officers. In eacn reeI-
ment six Of the twelve companies are
commanded By captains who are reeu-
Iar officers. three by captains OF the
reserve and three by lieutenants. Each
company has at least three ohcers'
The state of the army as regards the
commissioned ranks from the highest
70 the lowest is exceptionally brilliant;
The army is led by young, well trained
and daring chiefs. and the lower com
missioned ranks have acquired the art
Of war b. experience.
The writer pays a warm tribute
TO the work of the stafs OF the
armies and Of the army corps,
which were formed three years ago
and have thrown themselves INTO
their work in entire agreement
both Of views and methods
Including all ranks, France now has
more than 100000 men at the front,
and every unit is, or was on January
I6 nj war strength. The infantry COM
NAMES are al least 200 strong. In many
regiments the companies nave Il
strength Of $50 or more.
In the other arms. which nave SUI
fered less than the infantry, the units
are all up 70, or above, regulation
strength.