Part 3

The Infantry consists of 131 battalions, attached to the different regiments of Infantry of the Line as their 3rd and 4th or other battalions, and belonging to the same regimental districts. Some regiments have only one Militia battalion attached, others as many as five.

The Militia is clothed, equipped, and armed identically with the Regular Army, the only distinction being that a Militia private wears the number of his battalion, and a Militia officer the letter M in addition on his shoulder-straps.

The Channel Islands have 4 regiments of Artillery, and 6 of Infantry Militia. Malta has 1 regiment of the latter.

The Militia numbers altogether 103,500 men.

[Sidenote: +Militia Reserve.+]

The Militia Reserve consists of men enlisted from the Militia for six years or for the remainder of their Militia engagements. These are liable to an annual training, or to embodiment in case of national danger. The body was created in 1867 as a temporary expedient for an Army Reserve, the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 having caused extreme uneasiness to our authorities; for they discovered then that we had absolutely no reserves whatever, in case we went to war. The inducement to join is a pecuniary one, _i.e._ £1 bounty, paid in advance, for every year service in the Militia. It numbers altogether 30,160 men.

[Sidenote: +Yeomanry.+]

The Yeomanry is composed of 39 county regiments of Cavalry, and forms a species of Cavalry Militia or Volunteers. They are called out annually for only one week’s training. They are liable to be called out, in addition, for service in any part of Great Britain in case of threatened invasion, or to suppress a riot. They receive allowances and pay during their training, an allowance for clothing, and their arms, from the Government; but have to find their own horses. There is no Yeomanry in Ireland.

The Yeomanry numbered, in 1889, 10,739 men.

[Sidenote: +Volunteers.+]

The Volunteers consist of a large number of Corps, both Artillery, Engineers, Infantry, and Medical Staff Corps, with 2 Corps of Light Horse and 1 of Mounted Rifles. The Honourable Artillery Company (composed of 1 battery Field Artillery, 6 troops Light Cavalry, and 8 companies Infantry), although not strictly Volunteers, may be considered as coming under this head.

The Artillery Volunteers are divided into 9 Divisions according to their locality, forming 62 Corps.

The Engineer Volunteers form 16 Corps of Engineers, 9 Divisions Submarine Miners, and 1 Railway Staff-Corps.

The Infantry comprises no less than 211 battalions, distributed throughout Great Britain, and attached to the different regular regimental districts. 31 Infantry Volunteer Brigades have now been formed, each consisting of five or more battalions, and each commanded by a colonel of Auxiliary Forces.

The number of Volunteers is unlimited, and has gone on steadily increasing, since their formation in 1859. The Corps were originally intended to be self-supporting, finding themselves in everything except arms. Now, however, the Government, having awoke to their importance as a great national reserve for home defence, gives a Capitation Grant of 35_s._ a year to the different Corps for every efficient Volunteer on their lists, and £2 10_s._ more for every officer and sergeant who obtains a certificate of proficiency.

Volunteers are liable to be called out for active military service in Great Britain, in case of a threatened invasion.

It is, however, a fact that, if they chose, the Volunteers might, on the eve of the invasion, all disappear within fourteen days by simply giving notice of their wish to retire! A little legislation on this point might not be out of place, though of course such a catastrophe is not to be dreamt of.

Volunteers are exempt from service in the Militia, and cannot be employed as a military body in aid of the Civil Power. They receive no pay, and have to attend a certain number of drills of different sorts every year, otherwise they are not considered efficient.

The Volunteers are not yet thoroughly equipped for service, but strenuous efforts are being made in this direction by private and public enterprise.

Their uniforms vary greatly in colour, from green or scarlet to drab or grey, and in appearance. It is, however, expected that all Corps will in time present a similar appearance to the Regular Forces, with the main distinction of silver or white-metal embroidery and buttons instead of the gold or brass of the Regulars.

The rifle of the Volunteers is either the Martini-Henry or the Snider.

The organisation of the Volunteer Corps is identical with that of the corresponding Regular Forces.

There were on the 1st January, 1890, 216,999 efficient Volunteers, besides 7,022 non-efficients—total 224,021.

[Sidenote: +Entrance Of Officers.+]

The mode of entrance of officers to the Regular Army is as follows:—The candidate, if wishing to enter the Cavalry or Infantry has two routes open to him. He may either pass a competitive “preliminary” and “further” examination for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, remain there one year, and then enter his regiment direct (if successful in passing the “final” examination), or else he may be appointed as 2nd lieutenant to a Militia battalion, undergo two annual trainings, and then pass an examination equivalent to the Sandhurst “final.” Formerly this latter mode of entrance, _i.e._ through the Militia, was considered much the easiest, but now there is not much to choose between the two.

A candidate for the Artillery or Engineers has to pass two examinations in the R. M. Academy, Woolwich, and then spend two years there. The order of merit in which the cadets pass the “final” determines which branch they are to join. As a rule, those passing out high up join the Engineers, and the others the Artillery.

[Sidenote: +Military Establishments.+]

Other Military establishments are:—

(a.) The Staff College near Sandhurst, which an officer may enter by means of a competitive examination, after he has served five years at least with his regiment. Here he remains for two years, and is instructed in the various acquirements necessary for a good Staff officer, and in the higher branches of his profession. Having passed the final examination, the officer is attached for two months each to the two branches of the service other than that which he belongs to, and then rejoins his own regiment; he is then entitled to put p.s.c. after his name in the Army List.

(b.) School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness, where experiments are carried out and new inventions in gunnery tried, etc., etc.

(c.) Artillery College at Woolwich.—Instruction, etc., in the higher branches of gunnery.

(d.) School of Military Engineering at Chatham, where officers and N. C. O.’s of different Corps are put through a course, experiments in engineering tried, etc., etc.

(e.) School of Musketry at Hythe, for instruction of officers and N. C. O.’s in the use of, and in details and experiments concerning, small arms.

(f.) Schools of Gymnasium and Signalling at Aldershot, the Army Medical School at Netley, the Veterinary School at Aldershot, and the School of Music at Hounslow, whose titles sufficiently explain their _raison d’être_.

[Sidenote: +Mounted Infantry, &c.+]

A glance at the latest accessories to the Army in the shape of Mounted Infantry, Machine-guns, and Cyclists, may not be out of place here.

The authorities consider that a force of Mounted Infantry (_i.e._, Infantry with rifles on horseback) will be of the greatest use to the Army in case of war. Accordingly, a force is being trained, little by little, which would be available to act as such on active service.

For the past two or three years 2 companies at Aldershot, formed of volunteers from the different Infantry battalions quartered there, and 1 company at the Curragh, consisting of 150 men each, have been trained during the winter months to act as Mounted Infantry. On the conclusion of the course, the men are sent back to their regiments, and a fresh lot come on the following winter. These companies are intended to be formed into battalions when required. The duty of this force on service will be to act as Infantry, but with a rapidity of transport from one place to another unattainable by ordinary Infantry. Thus they may be pushed forward to attack a village, to hold a defensive position till supported by other Infantry, to assist the Cavalry, or to perform a hundred other duties of Infantry far in front of the real Infantry.

It is proposed that every battalion of Infantry and regiment of Cavalry should in future wars have a Machine-gun Detachment of 2 machine-guns, worked by 1 officer and 12 men, attached to it. A large number of men have been trained in this work, but there are at this moment but few complete detachments in existence.

Corps of Cyclists, chiefly Volunteer, have also lately been started, but it seems very questionable whether they would ever be of any use in a hostile country except to carry messages to and fro along good roads.

[Sidenote: +Army Corps.+]

Finally, mention must be made of the recent apportioning of the British Regular Army into Army Corps. Serious difficulties have arisen in organising this matter, for, since regiments are always on the move from point to point at home, or between home, India, and the Colonies, it is a very difficult task indeed to arrange so that even one Army Corps should be ready to take the field at the shortest possible notice. It has, however, been done, and the 1st Army Corps is an accomplished fact. The 2nd is on the high road to completion, though as yet it is badly off for horses.

The above gives a tolerably fair idea of the strength and constitution of the Army of the British Empire. The Navy, it is true, is still our first line of defence, as it has been for hundreds of years; but although the best in the world, it is not yet large enough for our needs. Our Regular Army has also been shown to be barely large enough. It is, therefore, doubly necessary to keep the Army at a high pitch of efficiency, and fully supplied with everything needful, in order that if we ever come into collision with one of the colossal European powers detailed in the following pages, we shall not be found wanting.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: This article has been entirely re-written by the Translator.]

[Footnote 2: The Colonial forces really form a class between the two, but may be taken here with the Active Army.]

[Footnote 3: The Militia Ballot Act.]

[Footnote 4: _I.e._, West India Regiment, Malta Artillery, etc.]

[Footnote 5: More than 40 per cent. of would-be recruits are annually rejected by the doctors.]

[Footnote 6: Blue in the 16th and white in the 17th Lancers.]

[Footnote 7: Crimson in the 11th Hussars and brick-red in the lévée dress of the officers of the 10th Hussars.]

[Footnote 8: The Black Brunswick Hussars came over to England after Waterloo, and their uniform was so greatly admired that the 60th and 95th, who were in process of being changed from Light Infantry to Rifle regiments, adapted their Hussar uniform to the Infantry pattern.]

[Footnote 9: With one or two exceptions.]

[Footnote 10: Though liable to fifty-six days.]

THE GERMAN ARMY.

[Sidenote: +The German Empire.+]

It was in the autumn of 1870, during the Franco-German War, that the preliminary arrangements were made for the forthcoming consolidation of the German Empire. Up to that time, Germany consisted of a multitude of States, each with its own Government and its own Army. The interests of these States, ranging as they did from kingdoms down to small principalities, were extremely conflicting, and internal hostility was frequently the result. The one great aim of King William of Prussia was to see them all united into one Empire, and defended by one Army. Aided by the genius of Bismarck, the negotiations were brought to a successful conclusion, and on the 18th January, 1871, William of Prussia was declared Emperor of Germany with the title of William I. At the same time the forces of the different States were combined, and the present German Army is the result.

In peace and war this United Army is under the command of the Emperor, and each man is bound by oath to render him faithful and loyal service.

Several of the States, whilst keeping their own troops, have, by means of special military conventions, attached themselves and their forces still closer to the chief military power of the Empire, namely, Prussia. On the other hand, a few of the larger States have reserved for themselves a certain independence in the management of their armies. The chief outward and visible sign thereof is seen in the variations of uniform from the strict Prussian pattern. Thus, the Bavarian Infantry has kept its light-blue tunic, the Saxons still have red piping round their skirts, and the Württembergers wear double-breasted tunics and grey greatcoats.

[Sidenote: +Organisation.+]

The Army may be roughly divided into four groups:

1. The combined forces of Prussia and the following States, which have concluded conventions with her: Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Altenburg, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the two principalities of Reuss, Oldenburg, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Lippe, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lübeck, Bremen, Hamburg, Waldeck, Brunswick, Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duchy of Baden, and Grand Duchy of Hesse.

2. The Saxon Army Corps—(one).

3. The Bavarian Army Corps—(two).

4. The Württemberg Army Corps—(one).

Universal Conscription is the keystone of the Army. Introduced on September 3rd, 1814, first of all, it was amended by the law of the 16th April, 1871, and perfected by subsequent laws passed in 1874 and 1881. The recent edict of the 11th February, 1888, has put the finishing touches to it, so that it now holds sway throughout the whole Empire. According to this law, every German who is physically capable and who is in the enjoyment of civil rights, is bound to serve as a soldier.

[Sidenote: +Terms of Service.+]

A man is bound to commence his service, as a rule, with his 21st year.

The period of service is as follows:—

3 years with the Colours.[11] 4 years in the Reserve of the Active Army.[11] 5 years in the 1st Class Landwehr. 7 years in the 2nd Class Landwehr. 6 years in the 2nd Class Landsturm.

By this time the soldier is in his 45th year.

The 1st Class Landwehr is divided into complete units, and these are formed into Reserve Divisions for the Active Army. The 2nd Class Landwehr garrisons the interior and fortresses, and acts, if called out, as a reserve for the above-mentioned Landwehr Reserve divisions.

All men between the ages of 17 and 45 who are fit to bear arms and who are not serving in either the Active Army (including the Ersatz Reserve) or in the Landwehr, are enrolled in the 1st Class Landsturm. This body can only be called out in case of national invasion, or for garrison duty at home.

The Ersatz (_i.e._ Supply) Reserve consists of those men who are physically fit, but have, owing to surplus numbers or other causes, escaped being sent to serve in the Regular Army. Part of this Reserve undergoes a training of ten weeks in the first, six weeks in the second, and four weeks in the third year. These are considered as belonging to the so-called “Furlough Men”[12] class, and serve when required to complete the Army in the field. On the completion of their thirty-first year, the men are sent to the Landwehr and 2nd Class Landsturm, and there they remain till the termination of their liability to service, _i.e._, their forty-fifth year. The men of the untrained portion of the Ersatz Reserve remain available for service up to their thirty-second year, and then pass over to the 1st and 2nd Classes of the Landsturm in due order.

If every single able-bodied young man were to be taken for the Regular Army, two disadvantages would accrue to the State; on the one hand an immense amount of industrial labour would be lost to the country, and on the other, it would be impossible for the State to support such a huge Army. For this reason the law of the constitution has laid down that the peace Army is not to exceed one per cent. of the population. This gives the Army the respectable peace-strength of 468,409 men (not including officers and one-year volunteers). Of these numbers about 156,000 annually enter the ranks as recruits.

There is a supplementary clause to the law of universal conscription, and that is the one which allows of _One-year Volunteers_. It stands to reason that with a three-years’ bout of compulsory service, a large portion of the youth of the country are interrupted in the studies which are to prepare them for their particular professions, and that at a period when they can least afford to lose the time. For the labourer, who needs but little knowledge for his daily task, and for those handicraftsmen whose work demands but little brain capacity or culture of any sort, this interruption of business is of small moment. It is far otherwise, however, with the young man who requires to spend some time in the higher schools in order to fit himself for the profession he has chosen, be it industrial or scientific. This disadvantage of the conscription law makes itself felt in proportion to the progress in education and general culture made in the country. At the same time it is obvious that a man who has the assistance of a well-educated and well-trained mind does not require so long a period to master the intricacies of soldiering as one who is less intelligent.

For this reason the Government allows young men who have either received a certificate of educational efficiency from one of the higher schools or else passed an examination before a commission appointed for the purpose, to enter the service as volunteers on completing their seventeenth year. After one year with the Colours they are sent “on furlough” to the Active Reserve, and for this privilege they have to find themselves in uniform, equipment, and food during the period of their service. They may become officers in the following manner: If they have behaved well and have subsequently, during two trainings of several weeks each, whilst attached to a Corps, shown themselves professionally and socially qualified to become officers, they are balloted for by the officers of their district. If the ballot is favourable, they are commissioned by his Majesty and become full-blown officers of the Reserve. These have, in case of war, to complete the active establishment of officers to war-strength, or have to fill vacancies as officers in the Landwehr.

[Sidenote: +Officers.+]

The German Army represents the people under arms, and their officers represent the cream of the Army. The road to the higher, and even to the highest ranks, lies open to every educated man, without reference to social standing or birth, if he only have the necessary qualifications thereto.

Every candidate for an officer commission must possess—

1. A good general education, of which the candidate must give satisfactory proof, either by the possession of an “Abiturient” certificate,[13] or by passing an examination before a commission held in Berlin.

2. Physical qualifications for military service, including good eyes.

3. An honourable character.

Having satisfied the authorities on these subjects, the candidate now serves as a private for five months, generally with the regiment he intends to enter. At the end of this time, during which he is called an “avantageur,” he undergoes an examination in military duties, etc., and on receiving a certificate of satisfactory service from his superior officers, he becomes an ensign (“Porte-épée Fähnrich”) and is sent to a military college for a year. There he passes a final examination in military knowledge, and, if balloted for successfully by the officers of the regiment of his choice, he joins as second lieutenant.

As much as 40 to 45 per cent. of the officers are drawn from the Cadet Corps, which is distributed amongst establishments at Lichterfelde (near Berlin, head college), Kulm, Potsdam, Wahlstatt, Bensberg, Plön and Oranienstein, in Prussia; Dresden in Saxony, and Munich in Bavaria. A new college will shortly open in Karlsruhe. This Corps is chiefly composed of the sons of officers, who receive a cheap and excellent training and education. The proverb that “the apple falls close to the stem” is well exemplified here, for amongst the cadets are many who bear celebrated soldiers’ names, such as Roon, Steinmetz, Canstein, etc., etc.

Although the training in the Cadet Corps is chiefly a military one, yet on the whole the cadets receive an education equal to that of a first-class civilian college. Thus they are enabled in after-life, when they have left the Service, to pursue a civilian calling with greater ease than if their education had been purely military.

Mention may also be made here of the establishments in which the “Porte-épée Fähnrichs” (ensigns) are instructed: they are the military colleges of Potsdam, Engers, Neisse, Glogau, Hanover, Cassel, Anklam, Metz, and Munich. The higher branches of military science are pursued in the United Artillery and Engineer School, and the Staff College (Kriegsakademie), both in Berlin. The entire military education and training of the country are managed by an Inspection-General.

As in all large armies, the three great branches of the German service are Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery, besides the Engineers and Transport Corps, the latter of which is called the “Train.”

[Sidenote: +Infantry.+]

As everybody knows, Infantry is intended to go anywhere and fight anywhere. It is, therefore, equipped for all contingencies that may arise, and is armed with a weapon for use either at a long range or in close hand-to-hand fighting.

The German Infantry is[14] armed with a capital magazine-rifle, with a bore of ·315 inches, which, with a point-blank range of over 300 yards, will carry up to 2,400 yards. The magazine is detachable, and holds 8 cartridges. The bayonet is a short sword-bayonet, very similar to the new English bayonet.

As a rule, the German foot-soldier has to carry his own equipment, both on the march and in action. The equipment consists of a knapsack with large mess-tin attached, great coat, bayonet and scabbard (to which latter is fastened a small spade), havresack, and water-bottle, and three pouches, two in front and one behind. These pouches hold, altogether, 150 rounds. The whole thing can be put on or taken off at a moment notice, by simply buckling or unbuckling the waist-belt and slipping the arms into, or out of, the knapsack braces. This new arrangement also obviates to a great extent the discomfort caused by the older pattern of equipment, which compressed the man chest considerably.

The old division of the Infantry into Grenadiers, Musketeers, and Fusiliers has now no significance, except from a historical point of view. Nowadays, the whole of the Infantry being identically equipped, they all receive exactly the same amount of instruction and training, with the sole exception that the Rifle battalions (Jäger) spend somewhat more time and pains on their musketry than the other troops.