It is, however, essential for every Commander to be kept informed of the state of his Command for fighting purposes, which the Establishments do not show. This information is supplied by every Commanding Officer of a Unit in a document called a _State_, rendered, as a rule, daily. The _State_ shows the fighting condition of the unit, its strength in officers, men, horses, and guns, the amount of ammunition in hand, as well as any other points affecting its fighting efficiency. A State may be rendered by telegraph, or even verbally, to ensure its prompt arrival. _Returns_ of strength are also made by every Commanding Officer. These differ from _States_ in being rendered at longer intervals, so that they can be more deliberately and accurately made out. They are used for purposes of record and accounting. REINFORCEMENTS The importance of keeping up the effective strength of the Army cannot be exaggerated. Drafts of reinforcements should be prepared at the outset, and the supply continuously maintained. There is no principle of organization more clear than the necessity of keeping the existing units up to strength, and not reinforcing with new units, even if the numbers added to the Army be the same in both cases. New units are not so efficient as the weak old ones reinforced by fresh men. They will soon become mere skeletons like the old units, after which the Army will consist of a great number of very weak units--a state of things very detrimental to Command and force of action. The wastage of war falls mainly on the Infantry, whose losses in battle and sufferings on the march exceed those of other Arms. Far more losses are incurred on the march than in the fighting. Marching is the rule of the soldier’s life in war, fighting the exception. Infantry wastes away like snow in the sun, as it marches; footsore men fall out, and fatigue and privations cause illness. The statistics of the diminution of the two finest of the Prussian Corps in 1870 are most striking. The Third Corps, which fought so well at Spicheren on the 6th August, and magnificently at Vionville on the 16th, losing in these battles 350 men per battalion, dropped 200 per battalion on the road. The Guards, who entered France with 30,000 Infantry, had only 13,000 rifles after Sedan, a month later, and 8,000 when they reached Paris, their loss in battle being only 8,350. The battalions therefore had lost 300 men on the road, apart from fighting, during the first six weeks of the war. In a hard campaign it seems likely, therefore, that a loss of at least 100 men per battalion per month must be expected during hard marches, besides losses in fighting which may amount to more. Some Prussian Regiments lost from 300 to 500 men per battalion during one day’s fighting in 1870.