Editing Brigade (section)

==Origin==
Borrowed from the French cognate word ''brigade'', the term originates from the Italian noun {{lang|it|brigata}}, itself derived from the Italian verb {{lang|it|brigare}}, to contend or fight.<ref>{{cite book |title=New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary |date=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |pages=283}}</ref> The word is first attested in England in the 17th century as a term for a larger military unit than the squadron or regiment. It was first adopted when armies began to consist of formations larger than a single regiment.  Previously each regiment, battalion, cavalry squadron, or artillery battery operated somewhat independently, with its own field officer (i.e., colonel, lieutenant colonel, or major) or battery commander (usually a captain) reporting directly to the [[field force]] or "army" commander. As such a "field army" became larger, the number of subordinate commanders became unmanageable for the officer in general command of said army, usually a major general, to effectively command. In order to streamline command relationships, as well as effect some modicum of tactical control, especially in regard to combined arms operations (i.e., those involving a coordination of infantry with cavalry and/or artillery forces), an intermediate level of command came into existence.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

The Swedish king [[Gustavus Adolphus]] improved the brigade as a tactical unit, introducing it in 1631 during a reorganization of the Swedish Army in the course of the [[Thirty Years' War]]. The invention of the brigade overcame the lack of coordination inherent in the traditional army structure consisting of independent regiments of infantry and units of supporting arms (viz., cavalry and artillery) acting separately under their individual commanding officers. Gustavus Adolphus accomplished this battlefield coordination by combining battalions of infantry with cavalry troops and artillery batteries into a "battle group", viz., {{lang|sv|brigada}} or "brigade" commanded by a senior colonel, or lieutenant colonel, appointed as a ''brigadier-general''.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

In France, Marshal [[Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]] (1611–1675) copied the brigade organization; he made it a permanent standing unit, requiring the creation in 1667 of a permanent rank of {{lang|fr|brigadier des armées du roi}} (literally translating to "brigadier of the armies of the king"). Unlike the Swedish brigades, French brigades at that time comprised two to five regiments of the same branch ({{lang|fr|brigade de cavalerie, brigade d'infanterie}} etc.). The rank, intermediate between colonel and {{lang|fr|maréchal de camp}}, disappeared in 1788 and should not be confused with that of {{lang|fr|général de brigade}}, which is equivalent to a brigadier general. (A modern {{lang|fr|général de brigade}} is referred to occasionally as {{lang|fr|brigadier}}.){{cn|date=March 2025}}