15. THE ITALIAN ARMY. The Ital ian army follows the political movement of the nation. As the various regions of Italy were united in a short space of time to Piedmont, so all the military forces of the other states of the Peninsula united themselves with The military legions of that little kingdom.
It was necessary, however, to combine in one organization all the various little armies with their diverse systems and laws, and we have an instance of this in the action of the illustrious General Fanti who adapted the system devised for French troops to the needs of Italy.
The basis of Fanti's system was compulsory military Service, by which all citizens between 20 and' 39 years of age were compelled to serve in the army---in the line for the first few years and later on in the militia.
Another characteristic of this regulation was that each regiment should be drafted not from one special region, but from various parts of Italy. In this manner the provinces of the kingdom would not feel that they were being matched one against the other, and the pro vincial spirit would make way for a greater national spirit.
.Fanti's system remained in force for many years, but it is now deemed advisable that each regiment should recruit its forces from the cit izens who reside in the neighborhood of the army at the commencement of hostilities. The examples of the War of 1870 indicated the need of important changes in the military systems,' and General Ricotti provided for these by modelling the army, as much as possible, on the Prussian system, reorganizing special de partments of the army, requiring greater educa tion in the officers, and facilitating mobilization and creating the bold Alpine regiments which are stationed on confines of the kingdom to defend its borders.
Subsequently, through the efforts of Gen erals Mezzacapo, Bevel, Marselli, Milon, Co senz, and above all, General Luigi Pelloux, the government saw that imitating foreign military systems would not suffice for the defense of a nation, but that every nation should have some military characteristics peculiar to itself. Hence
arose the present military organization of Italy, by. which the principal strength of the army is in the infantry, to which are subsidiary a great number of cannon and a well disciplined cav alry. An extensive reorganization of the Italian army was undertaken early in the 20th century.
At that time only seven Alpine regiments were stationed in the Alpine valleys, two regi ments of grenadiers stationed in Rome, 94 regiments of infantry of the line scattered throughout the kingdom. There were 12 regi ments of sharpshooters, a special infantry with purely Italian characteristics; their record is world-wide; in them live the traditions of the Crimean War, and it is to the credit of General Latnarmom that he gave to Italy such a noble contingent. And as for its sturdy soldiers, speeding like arrows, their plumes flying in the wind, they pass in review before the people, who feel that their hearts beat in union with their strong defenders.
All the regiments of the line have, either at headquarters or as near as possible to where they are stationed, a base of supplies. Each regiment has 12 companies, with three bat talions of four companies each.
The artillery, before the European War, was composed of 24 regiments, part of them in the fortresses. There was a regiment of mounted artillery and one of light artillery, beside the five that furnished shoemakers, miners, ma chinists and bridge builders, the engineer corps, supplies, officers and soldiers for the telegraph and telephone service, for the setting free of carrier pigeons, for the management of bal loons and for every special mechanical and chemical need required by a well-organized army. The regiments of cavalry have each special and distinctive stripes, the headgear (Colbacco) special to the light cavalry, the helmet for the lancers.
The instruction of the is with a view of making it an active factor in an unex pected attack or in routing the enemy already scattered by the fire of the soldiery, and to detach the reconnoitering service to the van of the army.