INFANTRY (ante). The term infantry was originally applied to a body of men collected by the infante of Spain. for the purpose of rescuing his father from the Moors. The attempt being successful,• the term was afterwards applied to foot-soldiers in gen eral, as opposed to cavalry. Among the ancient nations of Europe the foot-soldiers constituted the chief strength of the armies. In the best days of the Grecian and Roman states, battles were won mainly by the force and discipline of the phalanges and legions, and the number of the infantry in the field far exceeded that of the cavalry. The cav alry were then, as at present, employed chiefly in protecting the wings of the army and in completing a victory gained by the infantry. The ancient Franks, when they left the forests of Germany, were accustomed to march and fight on foot; and they per severed in this practice even after they had obtained possession of the country of the Gauls, which abounded with horses. Tint soon after the time of Charlemagne the lust: tutions of chivalry began to be generally adopted in the kingdoms of Europe. These led to frequent exhibitions of martial exercises or horseback in presence of the sov ereigns and assembled nobles; and the interest inspired by the achievements of the knights on those occasions was naturally followed by a high regard for that order of men: By degrees the cavalry, which was composed of persons possessing rank nail property, and completely armed, acquired the reputatiqui.of being the principal arm in war; and the foot-soldiers, badly armed and disciplined, were held in comparatively small estimation. This continued 400 years, and although war was the principal occu pation of mankind, military science fell into neglect. But rulers were forced by the power of feudalism to make an alliance with the despised class of foot-soldiers, and in 1214 we find that some of the German infantry was recognized to be "very good, and trained to tight on the level even against cavalry." The chivalry of France was routed at Courtrai by the infantry during the next century, and the Austrians suffered defeat by the efficient work of the Swiss pike at Morgarten (1315), Sempach (1386), and Nafels (1388). At Cressy and Poictiers (1346-56) the knights of England dismounted to fight beside the successful infantry. The principal weapons of the infantry before the inven tion of gunpowder were long-bows, halberds, cross-bows, spiked clubs, axes, pikes, straight swords, shields, corselets, mail-jackets, helmets, and partisans. In the 16th c., however, these weapons were replaced by fire-arms, and in the 18th c. the musket was in general use. It became customary during the thirty years' war to form battalions of infantrytomposed of 500 men, which were massed into dense columns during battle, in spite of the deadly effect of the enemy's artillery and fire-arms. The absurdity of this formation was first exposed by Gustav Adolph, who, recognizing the destructiveness of fire-arms, arranged his battalions with a view to increasing the effectiveness of the fire of his own troops, while avoiding exposure to that from the enemy. His tactics were so
successful at Brei tenfold and Lutzeu (1631-32) that they were soon afterwards universally adopted. The bayonet came into use in 1670, and the socket-bayonet about 1699. Fred crick the great made many 'improvements till then comparatively unknown. The rapidity with which his infantry troops performed their evolutions during battle con tributed largely toward his famous victories in the seven years' war. In fact the Prussian infantry have ever since his time served as models for other European countries. The superiority of this arm consists in the troops being able to act on ground where cavalry cannot, and it is obvious that the latter must be nearly useless in the attack of fortified towns. During the war of the rebellion in this country skirmishing was iu vogue in the northern and southern armies. It had been in rise during the revolutionary war, and was well suited to the American character. Skirmishing has since been adopted in Prussia, and the skirmish line is recognized as the proper formation in battle to avoid the destruc tive effect of breech-loaders. The co-operation, however, of cavalry and infantry troops was neglected by American generals. Artillery fire usually opened the battle, and was followed by the advance of the whole line on the run in a final charge. The infantry tactics in general use were those of Casey, founded on those of Scott. Casey's tactics, however, were abandoned for those of Hardee, and in 1867 those of Upton were finally adopted.
Pursuant to the act of congress of Aug. 15, 1876, the army of the United States was reduced to a maximum of 25,000 men, and by general orders issued May 19, 1S77, the maximum strength of the infantry was fixed at 9,375. This included 37 enlisted men per company for 250 companies of infantry, and 5 for non-commissioned staff at each of 25 regimental head-quarters of infantry.
The arm that has been adopted for the infantry is the Springfield breech-loading rifle, and the uniform for privates is a single-breasted dark blue Basque coat, sky blue trousers, blue cloth cap with a white pompon; for officers, a double-breasted frock-coat of dark blue cloth, and light blue trousers with black stripes. The overcoat is a dark blue double-breasted snrtout. The equipments are a knapsack with great-coat straps, a haversack, a canteen, a cartridge box, and a bayonet scabbard. The pay of the United States infantry is as follows: Co]., $3,500 per annum; lieut.col., $3,000; maj., $2.500: rapt., $1,800; adj., $1,800; regimental quartermaster, $1,800; first lieut., $1,500; second lieut., $1,400; chaplain, $1,500; first serg.. $22 per month; serg., $17; corp., $15; private, $13. An increase of 10 per cent is allowed for every five years' service, provided the total amount of increase does not exceed 40 per cent of the whole pay.