SUBALTERN OFFICERS. 
377 
commander of somebody or of something. The general commands bis 
division, the brigadier his brigade, the colonel his regiment, the major 
his battalion, the captain his company, the lieutenant his half-company, 
the sergeant his section, the private has charge of his rifle, the gunner 
of his gun, the driver of his horse; all form links, so to speak, of a 
chain which extends unbroken from the general to the soldier.* How¬ 
ever great or small the responsibility of each is, it is absolute as far as it 
goes. Provided everyone does his work well, and satisfies his superiors 
at the periodical inspections, he meets with no interference either from 
above or from below. On the contrary the utmost latitude is allowed to 
all. At the inspections, which are of the most searching nature, 
officers are expected to produce certain results, but it is left to them¬ 
selves to work out the particular way and means by which those results 
are to be obtained. The battalion commander delegates the greatest 
amount of authority and power, consistent with the maintainence of his 
own command, to the captains of companies, who in their turn apply 
the same principle in dealing with their subordinates, and hold their 
two subalterns responsible for the efficiency of their half-companies, 
abstaining as far as possible from interference with their executive 
work.f A lieutenant in the Herman army has in this way a command, 
smaller indeed, but as independent as that of his captain : and provided 
he gives satisfaction at the inspections he is allowed in his work the 
same iatitude and discretionary power, which is allowed to the captain 
by the major, and to the major by the colonel. J In the same way the 
# “ Every man seems to be in his place, and to know his proper business. The finished 
intelligence, of large reach and measure, which presides over the whole strategic operations 
of Yon Moltke, is proportionally represented in every military organism from the Corps 
d’Armee to the company. Miscarriage or mistake seems no more to adhere to their 
ordinary operations, than to the working of the machinery of a cotton factory. But when 
any of these masses are resolved into their parts, the units too, of which they are formed, 
have each had their separate training, and each is capable of acting alone in his own 
sphere.” Edinburgh Review, October, 1870. “ Germany, France, and England.” 
f The following anecdote related by Colonel Kaulbars, a Russian officer sent by his 
government to study the German military system, was alluded to by Colonel Hale. R.E. 
in his paper published in Macmillan’s Magazine, on the “ Spirit of the military training in 
the German Army,” as an instance of how German officers abstain from interfering with 
the executive work of their subordinates. It is worth re-producing here. “ I heard,” 
said Colonel Kaulbars, “ a general one day express to a captain under his command his 
astonishment at the method the latter was following in training his company. “ Acting 
as you do,” said he to the captain, “ I will engage that you do no good.” Closely 
observing this company for the next four weeks I saw the captain steadily pursuing the 
course he had originally adopted. At the inspection of the company, which was made by 
the commander of the regiment, the captain came off with flying colours. The general was 
present as a spectator, and thus addressed the captain publicly, “ I ought to acknowl edge 
that you have beaten me, and although certain details should have been otherwise treated, 
you have obtained results very different from what I anticipated.” He then congratulated 
him warmly, and added, turning to us : “ Gentlemen, this shows that one is never too old 
to learn.” 
X The same Russian officer alluded to above, inquired from a German captain what 
amount of supervision he exercised over his subordinate officers. He received the following 
remarkable answer. “We take special care not to live near the barracks ; our doing so 
would be a restraint on the lower ranks, and the result would be this: that the command¬ 
ing officer being always present at the drill would, in spite of himself, interfere with it, and 
would destroy all initiative among the instructors. It is not we who conduct the drills; 
we ought therefore to appear on the drill-ground only occasionally, to assure ourselves; 
that things are going on properly.” Macmillan’s Magazine, July, 1868. 
