u 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
one or the other side, can, however, never remain long concealed when they 
are conducted by railway. 
2. Advance by railroad requires sufficient rolling stock. Only in railway 
carriages—which again can only be used on railroads and drawn by loco¬ 
motives—can troops, &c., be conveyed on railroads. There is a sufficiency of 
rolling stock, either when there are enough carriages at the starting point for 
the whole advancing body of troops, or when there are at least sufficient 
for the first empty train to have returned to the starting point before the 
last has left. In the latter case, the carriages are sufficient for any weight 
that the railroad can convey. Even this simple truth has not been every¬ 
where remembered, and the delay in the transport of the enormous siege- 
train for Paris was chiefly due to the over-estimate which was made 
of the disposable carriages. The German railways are mostly private under¬ 
takings, and have all of them very little more rolling stock than is required 
in time of peace; if the state wishes to secure itself against a time of war, 
it is its business, not that of the private company, to procure in time 
of peace a sufficient number of carriages for that purpose. In the same way 
as cannons, vessels, and weapons are kept in arsenals, so also could railway 
engines and carriages be prepared for a time of war. Properly managed, the 
expense would not be great, as the company would always place at the 
disposal of the state its whole material, which would only require to be 
supplemented. There should be proper carriages, too, for the transport of 
the wounded and for ammunition. 
3. A railroad will convey only a certain weight, in a certain time, for a 
certain distance. The consideration of these three conditions—which, how¬ 
ever, are really only one, as they depend one upon the other—is perfectly 
indispensable for the proper us‘e of railroads in time of war. The weight to 
be moved must of course depend upon the available moving power. Strong 
engines can draw, upon lines with no steep inclines, in one train— a , 1000 
men (infantry), with their complement of wagons,and horses ; b , a squadron 
and a half, or 225 men (cavalry), with horses and baggage; c, a battery, 
or six guns, with men, horses, gun and ammunition carriages; d, a light 
pontoon train; e , two light or one heavy field hospital; f, rather more than 
half a provision or ammunition train. The general strength of a German 
army corps is—25 battalions infantry, 6 cavalry regiments, 16 batteries, 
1 pioneer battalion with a light pontoon train, 3 light and 1 heavy field 
hospitals, and at least 8 provision or ammunition trains; therefore it would 
require— 
Trains* 
For the Staff... 3 
h Infantry...*. 25 
n Cavalry . 18 
n Artillery. 16 
« Battalion of pioneers. 1 
n Light pontoon train. 1 
n Field hospital. 3 
ii Ammunition and provisions . 16 
Total. 83 
In case of necessity, perhaps part of the field hospital and the two trains 
( for the pioneers, and the pontoon train, may be left behind, as well as, for 
