Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1877 — The British Army. [ARTICLE]

The British Army.

The military strength of England is viewed with interest at this moment. Considering the vast extent of the British empire, and the number of warlike and semi-eivilized nations under- its guardianship, the standing army of Great Britain is very small. The army is composed of 31 regiments cavalry, 32 brigades of artillery, and 113 regiments infantry, besides staff corps. The infantry regiments are composed of battalions; the cavalry of squadrons. A regiment may consist of 1 battalion of 770 men, or be increased to 4 battalions of 1,030 Men each; a total of 4,120.. In this way the strength of the army may be more than quadrupled, without a new regiment being created. Eacli battalion is divided into 10 companies. The cavalry regiments are augmented by increasing the number of troops and squadrons;' The ordinary peace footing of a British regiment of cavalry is 8 troops, of from 65 to 70 men each. In time of war the regiments may contain 16 troops of 100 men each, though more than 12 troops are rarely put into one regiment. The artillery brigades are 31 in number, of which 6 are horse brigades—that is, the cannoneers are mounted—while the other 25 are field, or foot artillery. The peace maximum of an artillery brigade is 5 batteries, of 6 guns and 150 men, and the war maximum 12 8-gun batteries of 200 men each. In this way the British army may be raise d from 120,000 to 580,000 men, without a new regiment being established. The force now under arms is 208,920, of which 17,920 are cavalry, and 28,800 artillery. Of this force, 66,000 are in India, and 35.000 in other places abroad, anil 107,000 in Great Britain and Ireland. Behind the regular army are the militia, aggregating about 109,000 men, who may be called out by vote of Parliament for home or foreign service, and the volunteers, more numerous than the militia, hut not subject to service outside of the United Kingdom. Conscription is unknown in England, am!the militia has beon calied out but once since its organization—to the campaign which ended at Waterloo. Great Britain was never in better condition for war than at present. Jts credit is good, and men are plenty, and there is no rea- . son to believe that the British have lost any of that unyieldiug stubbornness which has brought them out ultimately victorious from every European conflict in which they have participated for centuries past. —Neiv York Sun.