It is a curious fact that the English press, which, for the last six 
months, has busied itself with nothing but the position of Austria, 
should never have given us any positive information about the real 
military force which Austria can throw into the scale the moment 
she may choose to follow a definite line of policy. The London 
daily journals have been divided upon the question whether the 
Austrian alliance or an open rupture with Austria was the 
preferable thing. But these journals, which represent the public 
opinion of a nation priding itself upon being the most businesslike 
in the world, have never condescended to enter into those details 
and statistics which, not only in trade and political economy, but 
also in national policy, form the ground-work of every measure 
intelligently adopted. In truth, the British press would seem to be 
conducted by gentlemen who are as ignorant in their line of 
business as those British officers who think they are doing all their 
duty when they buy a commission.* One paper says the Austrian 

lliance must be cultivated at all hazards and under all cir- 

cumstances, because Austria is an immense military power. 
Another says the Austrian alliance is worse than useless, because 
all her energies are required to keep in check Hungary, Poland 
and Italy. What the real military forces of Austria are, neither the 
one nor the other ever trouble themselves to know. 

The Austrian army, though managed up to 1849 according toa 
cumbrous and old-fashioned system, was entirely remodeled in 
that year. The defeats in Hungary had as great a part in it as the 
victories in Italy. The Administration was freed from old 
traditional hindrances. The army, employed in a country where 

revolution in the capital and civil war in the provinces had only 
just been subdued, was organized on a regular war footing. The 
distribution of the army into permanent brigades, divisions, and 
corps, as it existed under Napoleon, and as it exists now in the 
Russian active army, was introduced with success. The 77 
regiments of infantry, beside riflemen, and 40 regiments of 
cavalry, which had been split up during both the Italian and 
Hungarian campaigns, not only battalions of the same regiment, 
but even companies of the same battalions being employed partly 
in Hungary and partly in Italy at the same time—were now 
reunited and brigaded in such a manner as to prevent any similar 
disorder and to insure the regular course of regimental adminis- 
tration. According to this new plan, the Austrian force is divided 
into four armies, composed of twelve corps d’armée and two corps 
of cavalry. Every army is not only complete in the three arms, but 
provided with a perfectly independent administrative staff, and 
the material to insure its immediate readiness for action. The first 
army—1st, 2d, and 9th army corps—generally occupies the 
German provinces of the Empire; the second army—5th, 6th, 7th 
and 8th army corps, and 2d cavalry corps, and the third 
army—10th, 11th and 12th army-corps, and Ist cavalry corps— 
generally occupy the Hungarian and Slavonic provinces; while the 
fourth army, consisting only of the 4th army corps, occupies Italy. 

Every army corps consists of from two to three divisions of 
infantry, one or two brigades of cavalry, four batteries of reserve 
artillery, and the necessary detachments of pontoniers, train- 
conimissariat, and medical officers. A cavalry corps consists of two 
divisions, equal to four brigades, or eight regiments of cavalry, 
with a corresponding number of light batteries. An infantry 
division consists of two brigades of five battalions, with one foot 
battery each, and from two to four squadrons of cavalry. 

The whole force thus distributed consists, as we have stated 
above, of seventy-seven regiments of infantry, beside riflemen, 
forty regiments of cavalry, and fourteen regiments of field- 
artillery, beside garrison-artillery, engineers, sappers, etc. The 
infantry is composed of sixty-two regiments of the line, fourteen 
regiments of frontier infantry, and one regiment and twenty-five 
battalions of riflemen. A regiment of the line consists of five active 
and one dép6ot battalions, or of twenty-eight active and four dépot 
companies. The active company numbers two hundred and twenty 
men, the dépot company one hundred and thirty. A regiment of 
the line, consequently, is expected to number, in its five active 
battalions, 5,964 men, or, for 62 regiments, inclusive of dépots, 

369,800 men. The frontier infantry, counting fourteen regiments, 
has two active and one reserve battalions to each regiment, equal 
to twelve active and four reserve companies. The active company 
has the strength of 242 men, inclusive of 22 riflemen. A frontier 
regiment, therefore, numbers 3,850 men, and the whole of the 
fourteen regiments numbers 55,200. The rifle-force, or Jagers, 
consists of one regiment of seven battalions—32 companies, 
inclusive of dépdt; and 25 battalions— 125 companies, inclusive of 
dép6ts; every company numbering 202 men, making the entire 
rifle-force 32,500. The total is thus 470,000 men. 

The Austrian cavalry consists of 16 heavy regiments (8 
cuirassiers and 8 dragoons) and 24 light regiments (12 hussars and 
12 lancers). In the arm of cavalry, the different nationalities 
composing the Austrian Empire have each been used, very 
properly, according to their distinctive capabilities. The cuirassiers 
and dragoons are almost exclusively Germans and Bohemians; the 
hussars are all Hungarians, and the lancers are all Poles. In the 
infantry a similar distinction could hardly be kept up with any 
profit. As a general rule, the Germans and Hungarians form the 
élite battalions of grenadiers, while the Tyrolese (German and Ital- 
ian) and the Styrians generally furnish the riflemen; and the great 
majority of the frontier infantry is composed of Croats and Ser- 
vians, who are equally well adapted to the duties of light infantry. 

The heavy cavalry counts six active squadrons and one dépot 
squadron to each regiment—the squadron numbering 194 men. 
The light cavalry counts eight active and one dépot squadron to 
each regiment, with 227 men to each squadron. The entire active 
cavalry force is 62,500, without dépots, and 67,000 men, including 
dépots. 

The artillery consists of twelve field regiments, one coast 
regiment, and one rocket regiment. The Austrians have no 
horse-artillery. In what they call cavalry-artillery, the men serving 
the guns are transported on the carriages. Every field regiment 
has four cavalry batteries (six-pounders) and seven foot batteries 
(four six-pounders and three twelve-pounders), beside reserve 
companies. Every battery has eight guns. The coast regiment has 
no permanent batteries, but is only divided into battalions and 
companies, and employed for garrisoning the coast defenses. The 
rocket regiment has 18 batteries, of eight tubes each. The total of 
Austrian artillery is thus seen to be 1,056 guns and 144 rocket- 
tubes. The artillery has, besides, eight battalions of garrison artil- 
lery, of about 10,400 men, with technical detachments consisting 
of 4,500 men. The engineering troops number about 16,700 men. 

Beside these active, reserve and garrison troops, Austria 
possesses separate corps organized for special service, who, 
although not available as active combatants, prevent a reduction of 
the active force by those drafts of men which very often reduce 
battalions to companies, and regiments of cavalry to squadrons. 
There are three sanitary battalions, train-troops, and with every 
army corps a detachment of cavalry to do duty as orderlies. The 
latter institution has just been introduced into the English army, 
by the formation of the Mounted Staff Corps. The whole Austrian 
army counts altogether something like 476,000 men, and 1,140 
guns of active troops; including dép6ots, technical troops, staff, gar- 
rison and police troops (gendarmes), they count about 620,000. 

The Austrian soldier serves eight years, remaining for two years 
more in the reserve. By this arrangement a reserve is kept 
available, which, in the case of war, can be called out to the 
strength of about 120,000 men. In the military frontier every 
Grenzer*” has to serve from his twentieth to his fiftieth year. Thus 
the active force of 55,000 frontier infantry can be increased up to 
150,000 or 200,000 men. During the year of 1849 there were at 
least 150,000 of them under arms. But at that time the military 
frontier was so deserted that the women had to do all the work of 
husbandry. 

The sum total of these details, for the correctness of which we 
can vouch, shows that the military organization of Austria allows 
her to take the field, at once, with a force of 600,000 men, of 
whom 300,000, at the utmost, may be made available on any given. 
point; and, at the same time, a reserve of about 200,000 veteran 
soldiers may be called out, without the necessity of any extra re- 
cruiting, or extra strain upon the productive forces of the country. 

The Russian army is organized upon a footing which allows 
of far greater numbers being admitted into its framework. The 
population of Russia is 60,000,000 to Austria’s 40,000,000; yet, we 
have seen that Austria, by merely calling in the reserves, can 
increase her army beyond 800,000; while Russia, in order to attain 
the same number, has been obliged not only to call in the reserves, 
but also to recruit fresh troops, at a ratio equal to four years’ 
regular conscription.