attached to the corps d'armée in the field. Each battalion contains 1376 effectives. Each division has 15 pontoons, and is able to build bridges twenty-eight yards long. The two first ranks are armed with chasseur rifles and sword-bayonets: the third rank only with sabres. The pioneer corps, with a staff of 2 colonels, 1 lieutenant-colonel, and 1 adjutant, amounts to 5600 men. Very recently, the flotilla corps appointed in 1848 for Lake Guarda, the Danube, the Po, and the Lagunes of Venice, has been attached to the pioneers. It amounts to 1500 men, with 10 steam-vessels and 50 tugs.

It will not be necessary to enter into all the details of the various other corps attached to the Austrian army, but we may arrive at once at the following approximative statement. The strength of the Austrian armies (without depôts) is equal to 476,000 men, with 1140 guns; including depôts, it would reach the enormous amount of 593,000 men.

The whole of the forces are divided into 4 armies, or 13 corps d'armée, as follows:

1st army, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 9th corps d'armée

2nd 3rd

4th

,,

5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th

10th, 11th, 12th, and 1st cavalry corps d'armée 4th corps d'armée

The period of service is eight years in peace, commencing from the nineteenth year, with two years of reserve duty attached; and a substitute may be provided, in the shape of soldiers who have already served, or volunteers, by a payment of 500 to 700 florins. The reserve (since 1852 in lieu of the former militia) can be called out in a strength of 100,000 to 120,000 men, but are not generally summoned to exercise. The Borderers serve from the twentieth to the fiftieth year in the field, and to the sixtieth in house service. They are employed during peace to prevent smuggling, &c.; and nearly 10,000 of them are stationed at all the frontiers of Croatia and the Banat in watch-houses: they are relieved every ten or twelve days; and in war they serve as light infantry. In case of need, they can be raised to a strength of 200,000

men.

THE PRUSSIAN ARMY.

The history of Prussia and her army is of so curious a nature, when we take into consideration that but a century ago she took rank among the continental great Powers by the definitive occupation of Silesia, that we think it advisable to precede our account of the army by a slight glance at its origin and progress. The first Electors of Brandenburg did not maintain regular troops; they had, for their personal security, a guard of 100 horse, and a few companies of Lansquenets divided among their strong towns. In case of war they called out the population to arms, and it was nearly a levy en masse. When the Elector John Sigismond, the ninth Elector of the House of Brandenburg, inherited the duchies of Julius and Berg, he determined on defending his rights by main force, and raised a small army, composed of 400 horse and 1000 footmen, as well as 2600 militia. The same elector, in 1611, attached the duchy of Prussia to the Electorate of Brandenburg, and so obtained a very valuable addition to his forces, in men capable of bearing all the varieties of climate, fatigues, and privations.

It was not the custom, at that period, to provide for the subsistence of

the troops by means of storehouses filled beforehand, or by contracts : thus, in 1620, under the active government of the Elector George William, when the States of Brandenburg raised troops, they gave them the privilege of begging through the country to obtain their food: the peasants were ordered to give them a groschen each time they begged, and blows with a stick if they were not satisfied-a singular arrangement, in which, we may be sure, it was not always the soldiers who received the thrashing. In 1623 a levy was made among all the subjects of the Electorate-save the priests and notaries-of 3900 men, who were divided into twenty-five companies of infantry and ten squadrons. In 1638, the Brandenburg army was commanded by a general-the first mentioned in the history of the Electorate-and was composed of 8000 foot and 2900 horse; a very considerable effective, in proportion to the population, but much too weak to protect Brandenburg against the evils to which it was subjected during the Thirty Years' War both from Swedes and Imperialists, for friend and foe alike pillaged this unhappy country. On the death of George William, in 1640, the figures just quoted were reduced to 3600 infantry and 2500 cavalry.

Frederick William, successor of George William, recognised the necessity of maintaining a regular army. In 1653, on his dispute with the Palatine Count of Neuburg, relative to the succession of Cleves, he raised fifty-two companies of cavalry and eighty-two companies of infantry. In 1655, when preparing to support the Swedes against the Poles, he raised his army to 10,600 infantry and 14,400 horse: a very respectable number. At the head of this army were a marshal, a grandmaster of the ordnance, four lieutenant-generals, and seven majorgenerals. During the war of 1672 he had 26,000 soldiers, with whom he made his glorious campaigns in Pomerania and Prussia, which have given him a high place in history, and obtained for him the title of the Great Elector. On his death, in 1688, the Brandenburg army was composed of

The Brandenburg infantry was drawn up at that period in formation of six deep, two of pikemen and four of musketeers. At this time, too, no magazines were kept up for the support of the troops, in such a manner that, according to a celebrated expression, "they quitted a country after having eaten it up." The son of the Great Elector, who became in 1701 the first King of Prussia, under the name of Frederick I., augmented or diminished his army, according to the subsidies he received from his allies. At his death, in 1713, he left an army of about 30,000 combatants, forming 38 battalions, 53 squadrons, and 18 garrison companies. During his reign the Prussian army was brought to a very considerable degree of efficiency and discipline, and the troops were all armed with muskets. The second King of Prussia, Frederick William I., was brutal in the interior of his family, economic in the administration of his finances, minute in military exercises. The King of England, his brother-in-law, never called him anything but "my brother the sergeant." Frederick William only thought of two things: having a good army, and forming

a treasury, by means of which he could, in case of need, immediately mobilise this army. These two motives for the second King of Prussia and his successor contain the whole secret of the prompt elevation of Prussia to the rank of the great Powers. The economy of Frederick William was produced by the exaggerated luxury of his father, Frederick I., who tried to imitate in everything his contemporary, Louis XIV. This economy is depicted by a single fact: he gave a dozen Japan vases for a regiment of dragoons which the King of Poland proposed to disband, and which was afterwards known by the name of the Porcelain Regiment. The augmentation of his army was produced by the following causes, as an historian assures us: When crown prince, he was annoyed by hearing two English generals say that Prussia could not keep up more than 20,000 men without subsidies. He proved the falsehood of this in the first year of his reign by raising 50,000 men by his own unaided resources. The discipline and elementary tactics of his infantry left little to desire; it was the only body then to be found in Europe able to fire six rounds in a minute; it was still formed four deep, but eventually was altered to three. The cavalry was only remarkable for the great height of the men and horses. Frederick William manifested at an early date his mania for tall soldiers: the smallest foot soldier in his army must be five feet six inches. Imagining that he would be able to perpetuate a race of giants in his states, he even sought to marry his soldiers to the tallest women he could find. A comical accident happened to him in this matter. Perceiving one day, at the gates of Berlin, a young girl almost gigantic, he gave her a crown, and ordered her to hand a note he wrote to the commandant of Potsdam, on her return home. The young girl had her doubts, so she entrusted the note and the dollar to a poor old woman, who, that very evening, in conformity with the note, was married to an enormous soldier, who grumbled a long while before submitting to this unexpected connubial tie. The next day the monarch discovered the deception; but what was to be done? The young girl, a native of Saxony, had recrossed the frontier; so he ordered an immediate divorce of the ill-assorted couple. Frederick William, too, as respects his troops, went into excesses bordering on the ridiculous. All his soldiers, tall, well built, dressed in new uniforms every year, resembling each other in the slightest details, toupéed and powdered with care, carried arms, brilliant in cleanliness, and boots shining like mirrors, following the expression of a contemporary; but to attain this result, they passed all their time in polishing, pipe-claying, and varnishing. The Prussian soldiers were all cast in a mould; seeing one was seeing all. In the cavalry, the horse was kept with the same care as the rider. In spite of these absurdities, already introduced by him during his father's lifetime, corps belonging to the Prussian army distinguished themselves at Hochstedt and Turin; but never, during the reign of Frederick William, were the whole of the Prussian forces assembled, either for a campaign or for manœuvres. This king left, on his death, an army composed as follows:

This total contains 26,000 foreign soldiers recruited in various countries. It is impossible to deny the remarkable talent displayed by the second King of Prussia, as military organiser and instructor; he it was who founded the army which his son led so frequently to victory. He watched himself over the manner in which the infantry officers exercised their troops. He was easy of access to every soldier, and admitted complaints against his officers, whom he frequently chastised. An author has gone so far as to say that he knew all his soldiers by their names; we may assume that he was acquainted with a great number of them. A peculiarity relative to Frederick William deserves to be mentioned: he was himself inspector-general of his own army, which he reviewed at least once a year himself. In this manner, it was difficult to deceive him as to the instruction of his soldiers, to which he adhered the more strictly, as under his reign and influence was introduced this famous method of exercising, imitated afterwards by several nations, and to which the majority of his successor's victories were attributed.

Frederick II., on mounting the throne, gave up the gigantic soldiers of his father, brought their discipline within reasonable limits, and kept up the mélange of countrymen and strangers, which composed his army; he could do no otherwise, for the population of the kingdom of Prussia, only amounting at the time of his accession to the throne to 3,000,000 inhabitants, the army kept up by his father was in itself an effort, and to conquer Silesia at the expense of Austria, he was obliged to augment his effective force. He soon raised it to 100,000 and 120,000 men: during the course of the Seven Years' War it even amounted to 200,000 men. In consequence of the great number of strangers enrolled for life which it contained, the Prussian army could only be formed into a regular machine by the pressure of severe discipline. And so Frederick II. kept up the strictness of his father: he also took every possible measure to prevent the desertion, which decimated the army, and had its source in the system of foreign recruiting, which procured him that complement of troops which the population of his states could not furnish him.

On the death of Frederick II., the whole strength of the Prussian army amounted to about 200,000 men, costing about 10,000,000 thalers per annum, or 50 thalers per man, proving with what economy the administration of the Prussian army was carried on. The fourth king of Prussia, Frederick William II., entered France in 1792, at the head of 66,000 men, penetrated into Champagne, and took Verdun; but defeated by Dumouriez at Valmy, he was compelled to retreat. This monarch greatly improved the condition of the Prussian soldiers, and at his death the army was increased to 235,000 men (182,000 infantry, 41,000 cavalry, 12,000 artillery). Frederick William III., who mounted the throne in 1797, maintained the strictest neutrality during the wars of the French revolution; but in 1806 he could not resist the torrent of opinion, and consequently declared war against France. Prussia at that time had an army of 250,000 men, proud of its military reputation, and remembering with pride that the great king, in his will, had called it " an army educated for victory." It was, however, badly commanded, and utterly defeated in the battles of Jena and Auerstädt. The following year (1807) the treaty of Tilsit stripped the King of Prussia of half his territory, and reduced his army to 40,000 men. In 1809 a commission, presided over by Prince William, was charged with the organisation of the Prussian

army. So successful were its labours, that, in 1813, Prussia could bring into the field, during the War of Liberation, nearly 250,000 men. The new organisation given to the Prussian troops by Frederick William III. was accepted by the population of Prussia without a murmur, this being more especially due to the moment of its introduction, for at that period the very existence of the country was at stake; and during the forty odd years that it has been in use, it has passed into the manners of the people and become national, although no great war has as yet set the seal upon its value. This result is most praiseworthy for the Prussians; for, assuredly, the military burdens weigh upon them more than they did previously. In 1854 the Prussian army was made up as follows:

INFANTRY.-The Prussian infantry is composed of (a) the regular troops, consisting of 4 regiments of the guards, and 1 reserve regiment; 1 battalion of chasseurs of the guard, and 1 of rifles of the guard; 32 line and 8 reserve regiments; 8 combined reserved and 8 chasseur battalions; or, altogether, 144 battalions. (b) The Landwehr: 4 guard Landwehr regiments of the 1st levy; 32 provincial Landwehr regiments of the 1st levy; 8 Landwehr battalions of the reserve regiments of the 1st levy; 116 battalions of the 2nd levy; or, altogether, 232 battalions.

Line and Landwehr consequently amount to 376 battalions, each composed of 1002 men, including 81 under officers, and 120 corporals, and 18 non-effectives. As a portion of the battalions are reserved for the defence of the fortresses, &c., Prussia can only bring into the field 228 battalions. Altogether, however, Prussia has 228 field-battalions of 228,400 men; 60 battalions (reserved) of 60,000 men; 24 supplemental battalions of 1200 men; and 116 Landwehr battalions of the 2nd levy, amounting to 82,900 men.

The entire strength of the Prussian infantry may, consequently, be estimated at 372,000 men.

The troops are armed with muskets and bayonets, and about oneseventh carry Minié rifles. All the fusilier battalions and the regiments of the guard, or about 42,000 men, are armed with the light percussion or needle-gun; 10 chasseur battalions, amounting to 10,000 men, with Thouvenin's chasseur rifle; and finally, all the musketeer battalions with the new pattern percussion musket.

2. CAVALRY. (a) Permanent Troops: 6 guard and 32 cavalry line regiments; among them 10 cuirassier regiments (1 garde du corps, 1 cuirassier of the guard, and 8 cuirassier), 5 dragoon regiments (1 of the guard), 13 hussar regiments (1 of the guard), and 10 uhlan regiments (1 of the guard).

(b) Landwehr: 2 guard and 32 provincial Landwehr cavalry regiments (2 guard, 8 heavy, 12 hussars, 8 uhlan regiments, 8 squadrons--one to each reserve regiment) = 136 squadrons of the 1st levy.

Each cavalry regiment is 741 strong, with 702 horses (without officers). A Landwehr regiment contains only 602 horses.

In addition to the reserve squadrons, 55 newly-formed depôt squadrons, with 6350 horses, are detached for garrison duty. Of the Landwehr cavalry, 2nd levy, 104 squadrons of 120 horses can be called out, and, consequently, the line cavalry will amount to 38 regiments, or 152 squadrons with 26,700 horses; the Landwehr cavalry, 1st levy, to 34 regiments, or 136 squadrons with 20,500 horses; the remaining reserve,