The life of Major-General Sir Henry Marion Durand, K.C.S.I., C.B., of the Royal Engineers | by H. M. Durand Volume 2 - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1883 edition. Excerpt: ...take the field. Formerly, from the greater abundance of native troops, a great part of what may be styled the mere friction of military operations could be thrown on them, and the Europeans spared much harassing duty. This is no longer practicable to the same extent, and tho result is that the European battalion exposed to this augmented friction of ordinary fatigue duties comes into fight porportionately weaker. In former days, when the establishment strength of regiments was higher than that now in force, a battalion was considered to answer expectation when it brought into actual fight from 600 to 650 muskets. Now, making every allowances for the assumption that tho Commander-in-Chief in his proposition does not contemplate war, and thereforo omits the contingency of operations on an extended scale as. foreign to his Excellency's estimate of probable contingencies, so that the calculation has reference to a state of peace in India, thus putting lengthy lines of operation out of the question, and confining movement to limited spheres of action such as petty frontier or internal disturbances,--still, even under such a supposition of the most favourable circumstances, it may be confidently predicted that everything considered, a corps of 750 privates would seldom bring effective for actual conflict more than from 450 to 500 muskets. In fact, judging from past experience, the battalion of 750 privates establishment strength would scarcely ever bring into action the smaller of these two numbers. Even the ordinary casualties of a successful skirmish tell seriously on such a strength, and cripple the battalion considerably. Regarding a European regiment as valuable, not only as a symbol of power, but for the real fighting capacity which it may...