EUROPEAN ARMAMENTS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 28, 9 January 1862, Page 5 (Supplement)

EUROPEAN ARMAMENTS.

Capt. Petrie, of Her Majesty’s 14th Regiment, employed bn- the Topographical Staff, lately delivered a lecture at the United' Service' Institution, on “ The Armed Forces- of Europe.” ■ - The Morning Post availing itself of his “ great carefulness and research,” supplies its readers with the information which the lecture contained as to the relative strength "of the military forces of the great European Powers, uplon which the peace and progress of the world depend ; and from its tables we present the following:— Austria.— The war establishment of the") Austrian army, according to the organization that came into force in April, 1860, is as'follows :—309 battalions of infantry, 43V,364 men ; 41 regiments of cavalry, 60,110 ; 136 batteries of artillery, 27,176 men, 1088 guns; two regiments of engineers,'746o men ; six regiments pioneers, 6858 ; 24 squadrons train, 18,204 ; 10 companies sanitary corps, 2550 ; staff corps, corps of adjutants, and general staff, 3882—Total regular army, 564,211. Volunteer corps organised in 1859,'30,000 ; depots and reserves of arms, 103,751 ' gendarmerie, police, veterans, &c., 40,382.—Grand total of forces, 738,334 men, 1088 guns. ' Prussia.— lnfantry—Guard, rnine’gregiments, 28,674 men ; line, 72 regiments, ' 229*392 ; jagar, 10 battalions, 10,480. —Total 268,546. Cavalry 48 regiments, 36,768 ; field jager and staff orderlies, 902.—Total 37,670. Artillery—Nine regiments, 41,292 men, 1 1228 guns ; pioneers train, &c., 11,971 men.—Total fieldj troops, 359,479. Depots and Ersatz troops, 91,487 men, 216 guns ; Landwehr and garrison troops, &c., 261,126 ihen. —total of forces, 719,092 men, 1444 guns. Russia. —The army of Russia is so complicated in its organization that there would be considerable difficulty in making an exact analysis of it ; but the numbers have been ascertained withfonffl. eient accuracy to be on the present reduced establishment about 850,000 men. Of these the active army numbers 520,823 men and 1160 guns ; the rest are composed of disciplined Cossack and?irregular troops.

Feaxce.— The infantry consists of—lo 3 regiments of the line, each having three battalions and one depot battalion ; 20 battalions Chasseurs, three regiments of Zouaves, two regiments of foreign infantry, two battalions of African Light Infantry, three regiments of Turcos, or Tirailleurs Algeriens. The artillery includes— Four Regiments of Horse Artillery, with 192 gun*; 10 regiments Mounted Artillery, with 600 guns : 10 batteries of Foot Artillery,*•■with 60“ guns ; one regiment of Pontooners, six squadrons Train—giving a total of 38,767 men, 37,954 horses, 852 guns. This is in edition to 15,000 men garrison artillery, and the depots, artificers, &c. The total number of guns that can be brought into the field, including the Imperal Guard, is 942, all of which are of brass and rified. The Imperal Guard forms a complete corps (Tarmee in itself. It is composed as follows :—One regiment of gendarmerie ; seven regiments of grenadiers and Yoltigeurs, onejregiment of Chasseurs, one squadron of gendarmerie a-cheval ; six regiments of cavalry, 15 batteries of artillery, two companies of pontooners, two companies of engineers, four companies of train. Its total establishment is ; —38,060 men, 13,447 horses and 90 guns. The official returns on the Ist of Jan. 1860, gave the total number of available men as follows : —Troops in France [398,559 • in Algeria, 83,782 ;in North Italy, 55,281; in Rome / 094; in China,*s49B. —Total underarms, 550,994; men on conge, 64,471 ; reserve, 11,017 —Grand total, 626,482.

oi?o^ AT BEl o^r7 Begular troo P s of ! aU farm ®i 218,971 men, 30,0/2 horses, 366 guns, British local and colonial troops, 18,249 men, 248 guns ; foreign and coloured troops, chiefly in India, 218,043 men, 58 guns ; military police in India, 1 "70 264 mon ; grand total, 534,527 men, 30,372'‘horses, 672 guns. Of these there are in the United Kingdom : -Infantry : Guards, seven battalions, 6297 men ; line, 25 battalions, 33,105 men • total 39,402 men. Cavalry-Life and Horse Guards’ three regiments, 1311 men dragoons, &c.,"[l6' regiments, 10,560 men ; total, 11,871 men. Artillery —Horse six batteries, 8200 men, 36 guns • field, 23 batteries, 5060meu, 138 guns garrison, 30 batteries, 4680 men ; total, 10,940 men ; 174 guns. Engineers, 2316, military train, 1830; hospital corps, 609 ; commissariat staff corps, 300 ; grand total tof active forces, 67,268 men ; 174 guns. Besides, there are the depot establishments :—lnfantryline, 126 depots, 24,170 ; cavalry, 9 depots, 396 ■ artillery, 2275 ; total depots, 28,141 men. Reserves available for the defence of the kingdom in case of war Pensioners, 14,768 ; militia, 45,000 ; yeomanry, 16,080 ; Irish constabulary, 12,392 : volunteers, 140,000 ; total, 228,240 men.