Men were chosen for military service, as in this story, either by voluntary enlistment or by ballot and conscription. There were many exemptions (monks, for example) and if a wealthy son was chosen, the family could buy his way out and pay someone else to take his place.

Rules changed from region to region. Compulsory military service did not apply to Hungarians until 1849, while, if you lived in the Military Border region, you were liable for a life time of military service. If you were conscripted before 1845, you served 14 years in the army, (later this was reduced to only 8 years), and if you were Austrian you could be called into the Landwehr for home defense until you were 45 years old.

There were three types of troops in the Austrian infantry: Line infantry, Border infantry (Grenz infantry), and Riflemen (Jagers). From February 1860 the Line infantry peacetime establishment of 62 regiments was increased to 80 regiments, but decreased in size from four to only three battalions each. In 1866, as the war with Prussia loomed, all regiments raised a fourth battalion and a second Depot Division.

Every regiment had a ceremonial Colonel-in-Chief, their Inhaber, after whom the regiment was named. The real commander was a Colonel, Oberst, and Lieutenant Colonels, Oberstleutnants, commanded each battalion assistant by Majors.

Each half-division, or company, was further subdivided into two half-companies of two platoons (Zuge). A Captain (Hauptmann) was in command assisted by Lieutenants (Oberleutnant), and Second Lieutenants (Unterleutnant), with 1st Class and 2nd Class divisions.

Sergeant-majors (Feldwebel) were the senior NCOs, followed by a hybrid of sergeant/corporal (Korporale), however the four senior Sergeant-corporals had, but the time of this story, a separate rank of Zugsfuhrer. Each company also had eight Lance-corporals (Gefreite).

Officially each company was supposed to consist of 221 men in times of war and 129 men in peacetime (before 1860), but rarely were these numbers met in reality. Estimates of 80 to 160 men were common. Theoretically, as the regiments prepared for war, their numbers should have risen from a regimental strength of 2,830 to 6,886 men.

In 1860 smaller regiments were formed, having a peacetime company strength of 69-89 men, but it has been estimated that during the 1866 each company should have expanded to 168 men, and the war regimental strength of 4,143 men, but, as this story tells, it was often hard to conscript enough men to achieve these numbers.