Full Idea
It seems mandatory to an observer of soldiers to give 'the final touch of unity' to their aggregate entity (the army). ...Similar claims arise with the ontological and explanatory claims of other corporate entities.
Gist of Idea
Seeing a group of soldiers as an army is irresistible, in ontology and explanation
Source
David Wiggins (Substance [1995], 4.13.3)
Book Reference
'Philosophy: a Guide Through the Subject', ed/tr. Grayling,A.C. [OUP 1995], p.245
A Reaction
Wiggins must say (following Leibniz Essays II.xxiv,1) that we add the unity, but I take the view that an army has powers, and hence offers explanations, which are lacking in a merely group of disparate soldiers. So an army has an essence and identity.