Page:Tactics (Balck 1915).djvu/64



After the heavy losses at St. Privat, two companies were combined into one for tactical purposes in some regiments of the Guard Corps. The administration of the consolidated companies had to remain distinct on account of the preparation of casualty lists, recommendations for promotion and decorations. On the day of the battle of Orleans, the strength of the German battalions varied from 459 men in the 1st Bavarian Army Corps to 747 men in the 40th Infantry Brigade. During the pursuit after the battle of Le Mans, the strength of the 56th Füsilier-Battalion was even reduced to 280 men.

The actual training of troops must be completed in the company. Combat by an independent company is the exception; combat by battalion the rule. By the consolidation of four companies into one unit, the battalion, consisting of 800-1,000 rifles, is formed. The French Chasseur battalions are the only ones that consist of six companies, because their proposed independent employment, for instance, in mountain warfare, makes it more often necessary to detach small units than is the case in operations on more favorable terrain.

As, in the course of time, the independence of companies in action developed, and as the combat of the battalion as an entity was transformed into combined action of the four companies, the strength of the company increased from 120 to 250 rifles while the number of companies in a battalion diminished. The battalion of Frederick the Great was divided for administrative purposes into five companies and for tactical purposes into eight pelotons. The battalion of the first empire consisted of six Füsilier and two Voltigeur companies, and the Austrian battalion, until the reorganization after 1866, consisted of six companies of which each two formed a division. Until 1866 the six company battalion predominated in the infantry of all European armies (France, Italy, Austria, and the minor German states), but early in the seventies most of the states adopted the four company battalion, Russia being the last to do this (four line and one sharpshooter company). In the regulations of 1812, Prussia had adopted the four company battalion. The independent employment of the four united sharpshooter platoons of a battalion was the exception even during the campaign of 1866. At present only the British battalion consists of eight companies, which cannot, however, be said to possess a capacity for independent action on account of their small size.

In the four-company organization the battalion possesses an asset which enables it to adapt itself easily to any combat situation. The battalion organization is the out