Reserve troop

“ The whole is divided into six brigades, and provisions are taken for training recruits and supplying the losses during war. The fortress troops, for the defence of fortresses, consist of forty-three battalions of twelve hundred men each in time of war, and nine companies of three hundred men each. The depot troops, for garrison service, consist of thirteen battalions and three hundred detachments.
The reserve troops supply 204 battalions of infantry, 56 squadrons of cavalry, 57 batteries of artillery, and 34 companies of sappers. ”

“ Each part of a position that is lost to the enemy must be immediately retaken by a counterattack carried out by troops held in reserve. The first line is retaken by reserve troops in the support line, and similarly, if the support line is lost, it must be retaken by reserve troops held in the third line. ”

“ Amongst their reserve troops were men of all classes, and while our “second category” men constituted, according to our generals in the field, an element of particular weakness, their reserve soldiers, thanks to the patriotism and the martial spirit which permeated all ranks, fought not only no worse than their regulars, but in some cases better. [71] The appearance of their reserve units in the first battles was indeed a complete surprise for us. ”

“ All the nations mentioned in paragraph 6 above have made provisions for supplementing their regular army units by other units made up in whole or in part from reserve troops. The reserves are composed both of men who have completed the regular period of enlistment and have been granted long-term leave, and also of men who have never served regularly with the colors but have received limited periods of military or semi-military training yearly. ”

“ Battalion reserves must start with the assaulting column and get across "No Man's Land" as soon as possible; they must not get out of hand. Such a reserve is usually checked in the vicinity of the enemy's front line trench, where it can be thrown in to assist the advance or extend a flank as needed.
The brigade reserve is kept well in hand just clear of the friendly front line and support trenches. Reserves of companies and battalions must start moving over the top of the ground with the rest of the assaulting troops. ”

“ Ans.—If enemy commences withdrawal before front lines have given way, troops in action push forward until enemy in their front are driven away. Cavalry and horse artillery are thrown against flanks of retreating enemy, or on their front. Purpose to further disorganize the enemy, beat him to bridges, defiles, etc. In meantime reserve is sent into the pursuit, while troops engaged are assembling to constitute a new reserve. General scheme is to keep in continuous contact with enemy, giving him no chance to reorganize. ”

“ The training in the active reserve consists of two periods of training and maneuvers which last for four weeks each, in the Territorial army one period of two weeks, and in the Territorial reserve, no fixed period. There are more than 2,000 reservists per battalion produced by the length of the reserve service, and when the troops are mobilized the active units can be easily maintained at full war strength. The number available in this way gives enough men for each battalion and regiment in the field with enough men left over for routine home guard work. ”

“ To prevent any ill consequences from the impetuous temerity which might attend the first attack, a considerable corps of reserve is always formed of the more experienced troops, who are able to support their comrades in the front, when too severely pressed, or of forcing them to rally, should they discover any disposition to fly. ”

“ The regulars cannot, from not being accustomed to the work, go clambering over rocks, or beating covers after their foes. Therefore I conclude that in these wars [1] regular troops should only act as a reserve; that the real fighting should be done either by native allies or by special irregular corps, commanded by special men, who would be untrammelled by regulations; that, except for the defence of posts, artillery should be abandoned. ”

“ Whenever an army takes the offensive, it should always contemplate the possibility of being compelled to act on the defensive, and by the posting of a reserve between the base and front of operations the advantage of an active reserve on the field of battle is gained: it can fly to the support of menaced points without weakening the active army. It is true that to form a reserve a number of regiments must be withdrawn from active service; but there are always reinforcements to arrive, recruits to be instructed, and convalescents to be used ”

“ But owing to the shortage of officers and lack of supplies, these units would vary [Pg 89] much in their value for war. While our advanced troops only could be concentrated as quickly as those of our neighbours, the reserve troops could be mobilized but slowly, the reserve units would be quite inadequate, and, finally, the militia would not be embodied at the same time as the others, and even then only with great difficulty. ”

“ While, therefore, the Forward Body, Supports, and Local Reserves must be adequate in numbers for the task allotted to them, a commander will generally retain about half his available force for the delivery of the Decisive Attack, and when this decisive blow has been delivered the Reserve will carry on the pursuit of the beaten enemy until such time as other Infantry, or Cavalry, or Tanks, have caught up and passed them. ”

“ These reserves are particularly useful when the configuration of the country leads to double fronts of operations: they then fulfill the double object of observing the second front, and, in case of necessity, of aiding the operations of the main army when the enemy threatens its flanks or a reverse compels it to fall back toward this reserve.
Of course, care must be taken not to create dangerous detachments, and whenever these reserves can be dispensed with, it should be done, or the troops in the depots only be employed as reserves. ”

“ A reserve is no exception, even when it becomes a whole second, or even third line: for the [176] reserve ex hypothesi is not fighting: when it is wanted to fight it is brought up to the front, and ceases to be in reserve. Foot-soldiers standing on the defensive, especially as against horsemen, present the largest amount of front in the safest way by forming a closed figure, the ring of the Northmen and of the Scots, or the familiar square of modern infantry in the days before the rifle. ”

“ Next to the conception of a sound plan of attack, and the issue of clear and comprehensive orders to the company commanders, the most important duty of the officer commanding a battalion is the handling of his reserve. It is by means of the reserve that he makes his influence felt in action, and by reinforcing the firing-line at the right time and at the right place keeps the attack moving and eventually attains the superiority of fire. ”

“ You do not want the field train to move out and to accompany you in your movement. The third infantry you have decided to make your reserve. It ought to take up some kind of position to the right of the second infantry and in rear of it. The first infantry should move out and should follow the road leading south, and before any of the others of the troops it ought to attack the enemy in front. You want the first infantry to begin their movement right off and then later on to support the enveloping attack. The enveloping attack you have trusted to the second and third infantry regiments. ”

“ The troops not needed for manning the parapets are held under cover in a central position as a reserve, to strengthen the force at any part of the parapet or to meet and drive out any body of the enemy penetrating the work. ”

“ If it is intended only to delay the enemy, a fairly strong deployment is sufficient, but if decisive results are desired, a change to the offensive must be contemplated and the corresponding strength in rear provided. This strength is in the reserve, which should be as large as the demands of the firing line and supports permit. Even in a passive defense the reserve should be as strong as in the attack ”

“ The general reserve should be posted at the point from which it can best move forward, counter to the probable direction of the hostile attack, while, at the same time, making the most of the features of the ground. When only one flank is secure, the general reserve is, as a rule, placed in echelon in rear of the unprotected wing. When both flanks are in the air, nothing remains but to place sufficient reserves in readiness in rear of one flank to ward off a hostile envelopment, while retaining as strong a force as possible in rear of the other for the purpose of bringing about the decision. ”

“ Another recommendation may be given, and it is of great importance,—that the troops be made to understand they must by no means despair of finally defending a line which may be forced at one point; because, if a good reserve is at hand, it may take the offensive, attack the assailant, and succeed in driving him out of the work he may have supposed in his power. ”

“ The whole establishment of this branch amounts, therefore, to 180,000 men, belonging to the active service, but its effective strength is at present 123,000. The reserve of four of the six armies consists in eleven regiments—six of infantry, four of cavalry, and one of artillery; composing a force of 212,000 effective soldiers, while the other two armies have not yet their reserve of soldiers who have served five years. In time of war, however, the reserve would form two corps of 25,000 men in each army ”

“ Plainly, it is very much more to our advantage in the conduct of offensive operations to bring up those units which one has at one's disposal—with the sole exception of a Reserve, which is not to be kept too weak, at deploying intervals on the same alignment—in formations which adapt themselves well to the ground, and insure rapid deployment to the front, with the necessary depth in the supports following. ”

“ The ridge which contained the front line shielded all the immediate back area from direct observation, so that even the garrisons of the support trenches could wander about in the open, while if there was "nothing doing," the men back in reserve could lie out in the long grass and bask in the sunshine. This was all very comforting and relieved the strain of war very considerably, but the advantages in the matter of organisation were illimitable. ”

“ Every young man of sound body, when he becomes of age, must serve two years in the army, eight years in the reserve, and ten years in the national militia, or second reserve. The active strength of the army in time of peace is 35,640 men, the first reserve 160,751, and the second reserve 126,110, making a total of 322,501 men capable of military service in time of war. ”

“ Even this small force is short of officers, ammunition, and equipment. Furthermore, it has no organized reserve.
Our National Guard, with negligible exceptions, is far below its paper strength in men, equipment, and efficiency.
Our coast defenses are inadequate, our fortifications insufficiently manned and without adequate organized reserves.
Our navy is neither adequate nor prepared for war. This, our first line of defense, is inadequately manned, short of ammunition, and has no organized reserve of trained men. Our submarine flotilla exists chiefly upon paper. ”

“ An elephant battery of twelve-pounders also moved with the reserve force. Other corps in the neighbourhood or on the line of march might complete the whole reserve force to a numerical strength of about eight thousand men.
Thus, within a month, the whole army might, when concentrated on the frontier, amount, in round numbers, to nearly thirty thousand men, with one hundred pieces of artillery. Nearly one-third of which force would consist of British troops, including the artillery, of which not more than one-third were natives. ”

“ When advancing or retreating in line of battle, the usual skirmish-line constitutes the picket-line, and may have "reserves," but usually the main line of battle constitutes the reserve; and in this connection I will state that the recent innovation introduced into the new infantry tactics by General Upton is admirable, for by it each regiment, brigade, and division deployed, sends forward as "skirmishers" the one man of each set of fours, to cover its own front, and these can be recalled or reenforced at pleasure by the bugle-signal. ”

“ It is at the disposal of the minister of war, who can decree the recall of all men discharged to the reserve the previous year and all those whose time of service has for any reason been shortened. The reserves of the active army are composed of those who have served the legal period in the active army. These are recalled twice, in the eleven years during which they are members of the reserve, for refresher courses. The active army and its reserve are not localized, but drawn from and distributed over the whole of France. ”

“ It enables him to meet the varying contingencies of an engagement or to ward off counter-attacks. If the attack succeeds, the general reserve pushes forward rapidly to take up the pursuit; if the attack fails, it serves as a rallying force, but before the commander decides to leave behind even a part of it, he should consider whether, by launching all the troops at his disposal, he could break down the resistance of the defender. The commander can only exercise an influence on the course of the action by means of a reserve. ”

“ Battalions should be constantly exercised in forming for the attack from a position of assembly, the frontage being always varied, and a different number of companies told off to the firing-line and the reserve. It is only by practice that a commanding officer can acquire the facility of recognising at once how many companies should be extended in firing-line, and how many allotted to the reserve. ”