Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-30
HOW THE u. S. ARMY ISMADEUP
By Colonel Cornelis Dewitt Wilcox, u S. A.
Part of article I'm Hnrpers Magazine for November

The work of the United States
army, like any other work, calls for
units adapted to he ends sought. The
first of these is the captains COM
mand. the company of infantry or of
engineers, the battery of artillery, the
troop of cavalry. Four companies
make a battalion of infantry; two
or more batteries n brigade or group
(called battalion by us); and four
troops q squadron. Each of these
battalion units is in our service un-
der a major. The next command
unit is the regiment, whether of in
fantry, engineers, cavalry, or artil-
lery, composed of three battalions of
infantry-of variable number in
the engineers, of two or more bat
talions of artillery, and of three
squadrons of cavalry-and COM
manded by a colonel. Two or three
regiments Generally two to-day go
to make the brigade, whether of in
fantry. artillery or cavalry. Passing
to higher groupings, two brigades
made a division of infantry, or of
cavalry (there is no artillery divi-
sion), and two divisions (infantry or
cavalry make a corps or army
corps.
A brigade with us is commanded
Il
q maj or-general. The higher grades
of general officer-namely, lieuten-
ant-general and general-are dor
mant, because they are usually be-
slowed to reward the two or three
commanders of successful armies, or,
rather, groups of armies during or
after war.
Any combination of army corps
makes an army, technically so called.
In theory the ternary plan is per-
haps the best. in which three units,
beginning with the battalion, go to
make the next higher. but it has not
been generally adopted. We have
now but to fix the numerical strength
of the company in order to arrive at
that of all the higher units the
strength of any army, as defined
above, is, of course, arbitrary, be-
cause it depends upon the number of
corps assembled under one and the
same commander. We have, there
fore, beginning with the company of
$50 men, battalions of 1000, regi-
ments of 1000, brigades of 5000,
divisions of 10000, and corps of a.
900 infantry.
The Coming of Aviation
The brigade of infantry is the
largest unit composed exclusively of
troops of that arm the infantry di-
vision, however, contains the other
arms in addition, such as field ar
tillery, cavalry. engineers, in suffi-
cient number to bring up its strength,
in round numbers, to 10000. The
army corps, therefore, a miniature
army in itself. totals about 1000
men, and in the war of movement
constitutes the fundamental strategic
unit.
1t was by armies composed sub
stantially of the elements just men
tioned-field armies assisted by avi-
ation-that the opening campaigns in
1914 were made. The classic idea
held full sway-infantry armed with
the rife and bayonet, cavalry wait
ing for it's opportunity, artillery, on
one side at least, chiefly of the field
type. The airmen had come. how
ever, and weer taking a hand, and
motor transportation, as had been
anticipated, was employed from the
first. But these two novelties, to call
them such, made no fundamental
change in the relation of the three
arms nor in the character of the
actual conflict. That change was to
come when the race to the sea had
ended in a dead heat, when the two
armies first stood face to face on n
fiankless line. Thus the corps still
exists, but, robbed as it is of tts
strategic value by its enforced inn
mobility, it has lost Importance; it