language of command?

[footslogger]

Thinking about armies in our period and how many different languages must have been present in an army, I wonder, what was the language of command?

I guess I wouldn't be surprised if most of the generals spoke French though I think it was a little later when it was fashionable for every educated person to speak French, but I'm not sure about that even.

Or, did all commanders learn some basic battlefield conversation in several languages?

Anything written on this?

(And, I thought we had this topic before, but searching for it, I couldn't find it. If there's a thread on it already, please accept my apologies for not finding/reusing it).

[Russian James]

Don't know about Generals, but Sergeant-Majors always seem able to communicate no matter what language...!

[obriendavid]

Thinking about armies in our period and how many different languages must have been present in an army, I wonder, what was the language of command? .

You should try and run a game which involves, Fifers, Weegies, Geordies and Brummies, that can lead to serious language command problems.
Cheers
Dave