Organization: How Armies are Formed for WarFoster, Hubert
History
Organization: How Armies are Formed for War
Foster, Hubert
Armies -- Organization
The name and calling of the Engineer is traceable through English
history in the existence of the King’s _Engynour_, as mentioned at
the commencement of this chapter. He had charge of what we now call
Engineer Works, as well as of the Artillery. Both these Services were,
up to the Stuart times, mainly connected with fortresses and sieges;
but the first and the third King Edwards had with their field armies
a corps of _Military Artificers_, and Henry VIII. formed a body of
_Pioneers_ for work in the field. These were artisans, either specially
recruited, or taken from the ranks of the Infantry, as Pioneers
still are. The body was commanded by a Captain of Pioneers, who was
practically an Engineer Officer. He and his men formed part of the
field force, and were Field Engineers.
From this time onwards, the Pioneers are identified with the field
operations of an army, while individual Engineer Officers were attached
to the Staff. The latter were formed into the Corps of Royal Engineers
in 1772. This system, which differentiated between Pioneer men
commanded by Engineer Officers, and individual Engineer Officers on the
Staff, is exactly that which still exists in the German Army.
A Corps of Military Artificers was formed in 1770, and became the
_Corps of Sappers and Miners_ in 1780. It was constantly used in the
field, especially in the sieges in the Peninsula and in the Crimea,
after which it became merged with the Engineer Officers into the Corps
of Royal Engineers.
The developments of science applied to war, such as railways,
telegraphs, and balloons, the importance of mobility for modern armies,
which entails much road-making and bridging work, and the increased
demand for field works in the attack, as well as on the defensive, have
greatly increased the demand for Engineers with Forces in the field.
It may be pointed out that the Military Engineer existed for centuries
before the _civil engineer_, who is a nineteenth-century offshoot of
his military colleague, named after him, and not vice versa, as is
sometimes imagined. The _civil engineer_ was so called because, like
the Engineer, he dealt with tools, machinery, and works, but only for
civil purposes.
CHAPTER XIX
ORGANIZATION IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES
THE “NEW MODEL” ARMY
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