ARMY OR'GANIZA'TION. The power of an army rests on two elements: Its matcriat strength and its moral strength; the former de pending on the character of its commanders. and soldiers and its organization, the latter being determined by its discipline, the system of mili tary education, and the national spirit. Organi zation, in a military sense, comprises. in general, all the measures taken to insure to the army a regular and normal working of all its parts, to provide it with all the necessary machinery, to obtain for it regularly all that it requires, to insure its proper instruction, to protect the rights and prescribe the duties of each individual by suitable regulations, to supply the personnel and material which it needs. and, finally. to pro vide all the means whereby nothing may be want ing to enable it to fight under the most favorable conditions. In a limited sense the word organi zation is also used to designate the composition or formation of any body of troops; but this is only a particular application of the general meaning of the word.
The entire theory of organization rests upon the principle of individual responsibility and subordination, so that no matter how small or how great the number of individuals gathered together, some one is responsible, to whom the others must be subordinate. This responsibility and subordination are the great factors in the control of an army, and tactical organization may be defined as the arrangement of an army in such wise as to enable it, in whole or part, to re spond at all times to the will of the commander, promptly and efficiently. One of the first ele
ments of strength im an army is the skillful organization of its command, and in this all na tions are agreed as to the necessity for that is, for a commander-in-chicf of the forces. Next in importance are the assistants to the commander-in-chief, viz. the staff and the en tire corps of officers. Finally. arises the clues tion of the number of men to be assembled under one leader, into bodies of various strength, their most advantageous subdivision, and the propor tion of accessories of all kinds to he joined to the combatant forces. The army, then, is made up of a collection of units, differing according to the purpose of the organization. Thus, tactical units are the basis of organization for the tac tical handling, of troops in the field, while admin istrative units are the basis for administration and supply. A tactical unit is the largest body of men which can be directly commanded by the voice of a single commander. An administrative unit is the smallest organized subdivision having a complete administration of its OW11.