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Originally Posted by Farael
and as I said before, it should be taken into account that in the times LoTR was set in, saying "King X" or "General Z" meant the king and his army.
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Farael's point is well made in a sense. It sure is true, that old texts refer only to the leaders of armies, not so often to the number of soldiers coming behind them. Think of Shakespeare (Earl of Leicester came to the battlefield: meaning he and his men) or icelandic sagas (Njall went to Thingvellir: meaning he and his people).
But I think it's another matter to talk about Tolkien's usage of language. Although Tolkien was pretty serious with his characters, middle-earth languages, people etc. being so old-storylike than he was, his prose is quite modern. Or to be more exact, modern and romantic at the same time. He did not write like the venerable Bede or Snorri Sturluson, but as a twentieth century author.