A regiment is a title used by some military units. The size of a regiment varies markedly, depending on the country and the arm of service.
Historically, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a full-strength regiment was typically supposed to be a thousand men, and was commanded by a colonel.
Today, there is no set size for a unit calling itself a "regiment", which may be:
- Less than a battalion-equivalent, e.g. Regiment of Life Guards
- A battalion-equivalent, e.g. 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment
- A number of battalions (or equivalents, such as US squadrons) e.g. Royal Regiment of Scotland, 2nd Infantry Regiment (United States)
- An entire arm of service; In several commonwealth countries, the entire artillery arm is often titled "regiment" (e.g. the Regiment of Artillery), and may then be sub-divided into "field regiments".
Read more about Regiment: Historical Origin, Regimental System, Commonwealth Armies, United States Army, United States Marine Corps, Russian Army, Irish Army
Famous quotes containing the word regiment:
“Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement; a sanded floor and whitewashed walls and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside; or a grimy palace amid the same with a regiment of housemaids always working to smear the dirt together so that it may be unnoticed; which, think you, is the most refined, the most fit for a gentleman of those two dwellings?”
—William Morris (1834–1896)
“With two thousand years of Christianity behind him ... a man can’t see a regiment of soldiers march past without going off the deep end. It starts off far too many ideas in his head.”
—Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894–1961)
“We had an inspection today of the brigade. The Twenty-third was pronounced the crack regiment in appearance, ... [but] I could see only six to ten in a company of the old men. They all smiled as I rode by. But as I passed away I couldn’t help dropping a few natural tears. I felt as I did when I saw them mustered in at Camp Chase.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)