Part 10

It must be acknowledged, that our selections of officers for staff appointments were too often injudicious; but I do not allow that they were ever carried to the extent, shewn by an able French writer, that they were brought in France at the commencement of the year 1792, when the Etat Major of their armies were in so wretched a state, that it was found necessary to re-establish, quietly, but imperfectly, what had been destroyed by a decree of the 5th of October, 1790. The difficulties of the service augmented incessantly, from their ignorance even of the old forms gone through, and which some fancied they could remedy, by multiplying the numbers employed. The power of attaching assistants to the Etat Major consequently grew into a complete abuse; and at last, in the month of April, 1792, rose to such a pitch, that what with the numbers employed, and through the choice made, the Minister of War saw himself forced to try to put things to rights, by a circular letter addressed to Generals commanding military divisions, and which led to the dismissal from their employments of the whole of these assistants. It, however, soon after became necessary to employ the same, or others equally useless; and this letter did not by any means put a stop to the increasing evils of interest and patronage, for there were still appointed to the Etat Major the most improper and ignorant men, and even girls, who had mounted uniforms, and substituted the sword for the distaff. We are told that there is still to be seen a letter from General Dumourier to Pache, the Minister of War, reproaching him for having sent to his army an opera dancer as an adjutant-general. Men of abilities were, as may be well supposed, disgusted, whilst they were overwhelmed with business, to make up for the ignorance of others; and they were necessitated to use every expedient in order to get through, in any way, the tasks assigned them; and thus the service only presented one mass of confusion, the Minister of War not receiving connected reports or returns; and, as a matter of course, he could not give satisfactory information, when called upon to do so, to those really interested in knowing the state of the army. Another circular was, in consequence, issued by the Minister of War, dated Paris, the 20th of April, 1793; but it had no effect whatever, because it was not only unreasonable, but ridiculous, to require from men what they neither could do, nor knew how to do. The Committee of Public Safety, struck with this state of things, set about putting matters to rights; but two or three of its members, interested that the disorders should continue, found means to overturn all, and the state of the Etat Major was allowed to remain as hopeless as ever. It was not therefore until about the 4th year of the Republic, that they were able in some measure to put things into order, by turning out ignorant and incapable men, and the Etat Major then became composed of some good officers, who established plans to keep its machinery in movement; but France had then had time to see the danger, which there always is, in even slightly disorganizing useful establishments, under the pretence of reforming them. These remarks do not apply directly to us, farther than in the occasional appointment, through interest, of inefficient officers, for the returns of a British army, at least its regiments, were and are still well and regularly kept. Yet, I must say, that for the guidance of our staff in the field, we can scarcely show that we have a system, or what ought to be considered as such.

The staff of an army ought to be a distinct and permanent branch of the service, and no officers should be employed upon it but those who had received such an education, as is usually given to our engineers, the usefulness of which is so ably demonstrated by experiments and practice under Colonel Pasley, whose establishment for instruction (if we except what the artillery are taught at Woolwich,) is the only one worth keeping up; but it is a great drawback to our military service, that the officers of engineers are not more frequently placed in high responsible situations, and intrusted with high important commands and missions; at all events, officers employed even as Aides-de-Camp, but certainly as Brigade-Majors, or in the departments of the Adjutant and Quarter-Master-General, should have had a first-rate military education; but I repeat, that I would not ask where it had been acquired, whether in France, Germany, or wherever it can be had upon the most reasonable terms, for in England it is far too expensive.

Staff officers ought to be men of talents and of great enterprise and perseverance, and should possess even a certain knowledge of what is considered business, both in a civil and military point of view, which would render them capable of ascertaining and calling forth the various resources of a country. They should also be well acquainted with military police duties, or the best modes of exercising military law, in all its bearings, and to enable them to do this with advantage to the army, and to the country, they should have attached to them an intelligent _mounted police corps_. From the want of such an establishment, which it is the work of years to form, how often, and how severely have our armies suffered, and must continue to suffer till a change takes place.

Inexperienced officers, if even well educated, taken suddenly from their regiments, and, according to the fancy of general officers, or in compliance with the wishes of injudicious and interested friends, are unfit for, and must be ignorant of the complicated duties of the staff; and our generals, at least of old, were themselves too often unequal to instruct them. The consequences therefore invariably were, that on first taking the field, nothing could be worse managed than the departments over which our misnamed staff had to preside. The system, if it deserved to be so called, being undefined or ill-digested, the movements or manœuvres of the army, were, as a matter of course, often badly arranged, and nearly as badly executed; its combinations, as far as the staff were concerned in them, were frequently defective. The General-in-Chief had little or no assistance from the generality of them in the time of need, and it was really ridiculous to see how even our common out-posts were sometimes thrown out, leaving the most essential points unwatched, or wholly disregarded.

These are sweeping charges, and I ought to be able to shew that I am justified in making them: for example then--some may remember that on the 27th of July, 1809, the first day, I may say, of the battle of Talavera, the enemy's light troops broke unexpectedly in upon us at the Alberche river, when our troops were quite unprepared for such an event; some young corps were surprised and consequently did not behave well. Lord Wellington, himself, if I mistake not, and some of his staff were placed in a very perilous situation in an old unroofed house, into which they had gone in order to ascertain from its highest windows what was going forward; and his Lordship had, immediately after, to take upon himself, in a great measure, the direction of the hastily-formed rear guard of infantry, consisting of the 45th regiment and 5th battalion 60th; which corps, assisted by our cavalry, covered the retreat of the advanced division till it reached the position in which the battle of that night, and the following day were fought. But who, that witnessed it, can ever forget the scene of confusion which took place on the night of the 27th, amongst the Spaniards! They literally swept away with them, in their panic, occasioned by the fire of a few French sharpshooters who had followed up to their position, the part of the rear-guard to which I belonged. These untoward events, were, in a great measure, the consequence of the advanced division not being managed by instructed or experienced staff officers; but I can scarcely undertake to say, that even for some time afterwards this branch of our service had become respectable, though it certainly had improved by practice. In short, in point of movement and intelligence on the part of regimental officers, the British corps of cavalry and infantry were, in general, excellent; but we had not, with a few exceptions, many officers of rank employed, either as generals or upon the staff, who were capable of directing or making use of such troops scientifically, or to advantage. It may be said, that in thus speaking of British soldiers I now contradict my former assertions, but I by no means do so; I here only allude to their discipline and courage in the field, under good regimental officers, and not to what occurred too often upon other occasions.

The French fairly worked us into practical knowledge of war at last; not that the officers of that gallant nation were themselves so greatly enlightened, as was generally supposed, or that they or their troops gained the battles fought--although I often, and especially at first, wondered they did not--but we had almost always to pay most dearly for victory, that is to say, for getting possession of the field of battle, which was sometimes all we had to boast of.

I may not, perhaps, appear to be borne out in the opinions I have ventured to give, by Lord Wellington's general orders after the battle of Talavera; I must, nevertheless, bring it before the reader to enable him to come to a right conclusion:--

"G.O. _Talavera de la Reyna, 29th July, 1809._

"No. 1. The Commander of the Forces returns his thanks to the officers and troops for their gallant conduct in the two trying days of yesterday and the day before, in which they have been engaged with, and beaten off the repeated attacks of an army infinitely superior in number.

"He has particularly to request that Lieutenant-General Sherbrooke will accept his thanks for the assistance he has received from him, as well as from the manner in which he led on the infantry under his command to the charge of the bayonet. Major-General Hill, and Brigadier-General Alexander Campbell, are likewise entitled, in a particular manner, to the acknowledgments of the Commander of the Forces, for their gallantry and ability with which they maintained their posts against the attacks made upon them by the enemy.

"The Commander of the Forces has likewise to acknowledge the ability with which the late Major-General M'Kenzie (whose subsequent loss the Commander of the Forces laments,) withdrew the division under his command from the out-posts, in front of the enemy's army, on the 27th instant, as well as to Colonel Donkin for his conduct on that occasion.

"The Commander of the Forces, likewise, considers Lieutenant-General Payne and the cavalry, particularly Brigadier-General Anson and his brigade, who was principally engaged with the enemy, to be entitled to his acknowledgments; as well as Brigadier-General Howarth and his artillery; Major-General Tilson, Brigadier-General R. Stewart, Brigadier-General Cameron, and the brigades under their commands, respectively.

"He had opportunities of noticing the gallantry and discipline of the 5th battalion 60th and the 45th, on the 27th; and of the 29th and 1st battalion 48th, on that night; and on the 28th, of the 7th and 53rd: and he requests their commanding officers, Major Davey, Colonel Guard, Colonel White, Colonel Donallan, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Myers, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bingham to accept his particular thanks.

"The charge made by the brigade of Guards, under the command of Brigadier-General H. Campbell, on the enemy's attacking column, was a most gallant one, and the mode in which it was afterwards covered by the 1st battalion of the 48th, was most highly creditable to that most excellent corps, and to their commanding officer, Major Middlemore.

"The Commander of the Forces requests Colonel Fletcher, the Chief Engineer, Brigadier-General the Hon. Charles Stewart, Adjutant-General, Colonel Murray, Quarter-Master-General, and the officers of those departments, respectively, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bathurst and those of his personal staff, will accept his thanks for the assistance he received from them throughout these trying days."

Before the great French revolution, or about the year 1790, some able French officers had given their attention to the formation of an état-major, or staff, for their armies, which would have greatly conduced to improvement in carrying on business in the various branches of their service; and this was proposed to be chiefly accomplished by establishing an uniform, comprehensive, and connected system; embracing objects, to a certain degree, both civil and military; the details of which would develop themselves, as the several heads of service came to be examined.

These objects, owing to the confusion that arose out of the sudden elevation to power of daring and able, but generally inexperienced men, and the displacing of the old accomplished officers of the royal army were frustrated, or at least lost sight of for some time: but, although the French marched on from victory to victory over the neighbouring panic struck and astonished nations, the want of such an organized department, was seriously felt by the Commanders-in-chief of their armies, so much so, that upon an able work being published at Paris, by General Grimoard in 1809, styled "Traité sur le service de l'Etat-major-general des Armées," it was received with great approbation, and I may say, continued from that period to be a guide to the French Marshals and Generals, in the formation of the staff of the armies put under their charge; and it seemed also to be the system adopted, or approved of, by the Emperor.

Not long before this General Thiebault had also published a very useful work upon the same subject; but not by any means so comprehensive as that of General Grimoard; which I am inclined to think, would afford many useful hints to us in establishing a system for carrying on the duties of this essential branch of our service; but taken as a whole, it would, I am persuaded, be found too diffuse and complicated to be advantageously adopted by any army. I may however observe, that strictly speaking, we have no established system of this kind; for the experience of a few officers, acquired on service, most of whom are now high in rank, cannot be considered as such; and what a deal an officer who wants information, would have to wade through, if he endeavoured to find it in the several volumes of general orders of His Grace the Duke of Wellington, who must have felt, and evidently did feel, throughout his protracted operations in the field, how hard and wearing it was, not only to command a British army, but also to have so much of the weight and annoyance of attending to minute details of military police, the commissariat, and of almost every thing else, thrown upon him, and requiring his constant superintendence and watchfulness. I am aware, that after they had acquired experience in the field, he received assistance, to a considerable extent, from some of the head-quarter staff, and from the generals and staff of divisions and brigades; but I do not believe, and his orders fully bear me out in saying so--that any of our other generals could have been equal to the task he found it necessary to impose upon himself; for at first he was evidently not much better off, than a commander of a regiment, who happens to have an indifferent adjutant, and who is in the habit of hopelessly attempting to carry on the whole of its duties, and managing all its details, between himself and that functionary, without considering for what purpose he has been furnished with two majors, ten captains, twenty or thirty subalterns, and a number of non-commissioned officers. But it is really wonderful what His Grace had at first to get through, from the want of a properly organized staff for his army, who could have acted upon fixed principles, or established regulations. From not being able to avail himself of such assistance (and no Commander-in-chief of a British army can ever under present circumstances do so), he was obliged to come too much into contact with divisions, brigades, and regiments, and their minute details; and had even to decide, after having had all the trouble of inquiry into intricate matters, either personally or through the means of a general court-martial, as to the punishment the misconduct of many of our soldiers merited, and even to order it to be carried into effect.

These and many other considerations should convince us, that there ought never to be, what is usually termed a second in command, without a division to take charge of, for he is too often only in the way; but there should be a head, or chief of the staff of an army, in constant and immediate communication with the commander of it; and he ought to possess, in virtue of his office, considerable authority. He should have under him, for carrying into effect the orders or views of the Commander of the Forces, an adjutant, and a quarter-master-general, with a sufficient number of assistants attached to them; and one of each department, according to our present plan, should be appointed to each division of the army; and a brigade-major ought also to have the superintendance of the staff duties of each brigade.

The respective duties of the adjutant and quarter-master-general's departments ought to be clearly defined in every point, and carefully kept distinct; and the strictest system of responsibility, should at all times, and in all situations, be enforced throughout the whole; and it should never again be necessary for a Commander of the Forces to issue such an order as that which follows, and which shows at once, what must have been at first the composition of the staff of a British army.

"G.O. _Zarza Mayor, 4th July, 1809._

"No. 1. The assistant-adjutant-generals, and brigade-majors of those divisions and brigades stationed in the neighbourhood of head-quarters, must attend at the adjutant-general's office for orders at 10 o'clock precisely.

"No. 2. The brigade-majors will attend at the assistant-adjutant-generals of divisions to receive the division orders at half-past 11 o'clock, and at one, the brigade-majors must give out the orders to the adjutants of regiments, which must be given out to the troops and companies, and read to the soldiers at evening parades.

"No. 3. In case circumstances should prevent the brigade-majors from issuing the general orders to the adjutants of regiments before 3 o'clock on any halting day, they are to receive and issue on that day only the orders requiring immediate execution, of which the general-officers commanding brigades are to make the selection, and on the following day the other orders of general regulation.

"No. 4. All orders received by the adjutants of regiments must, at the first parade, or earlier, if necessary, be read to the troops.

"No. 5. On marching days the assistant adjutant-generals and brigade majors, stationed near head-quarters, will attend at the adjutant-general's office for orders as soon as the troops reach their ground.

"No. 6. All orders requiring immediate execution issued on marching days, must be given to the adjutants, and read to the troops as soon as possible.

"No. 7. The general orders will be sent from head-quarters to divisions at a distance by the first opportunity, those requiring immediate execution must be issued and read to the troops as soon as received; the others, if not received by the general officer of the division before 2 P.M., are not to be issued till the following day.

"No. 8. The assistant adjutant-generals, or the brigade major, of the division or brigade at a distance to which the general orders will have been sent, must send to the adjutant-general by the first opportunity, a receipt for the orders received, specifying the number for each day.

"No. 9. When pass orders will be sent, directions will be written on the back of them, stating whether they are to be circulated by the person who will have carried them from head-quarters, or to the officers respectively to whom they have been addressed.

"No. 10. Every officer, to whom they are addressed, must sign his name on the paper on receiving them, and insert the hour of the day at which they reached him.

"No. 11. As pass orders invariably must require immediate execution, they must be issued and read to the troops without loss of time.

"No. 12. The numberless mistakes which have occurred, and the many instances of neglect and disobedience of orders issued referring to the health, subsistence, or the convenience of the troops, renders it necessary not only to observe the early circulation of orders, but, if possible, obedience to them and their early and prompt execution.

"No. 13. The obedience to orders of general regulations must depend upon the attention of general officers commanding brigades, and commanding officers of regiments, and their determination to enforce regularity and discipline, but obedience to them requiring execution can be secured by other means.

"No. 14. Accordingly the Commander of the Forces desires that officers commanding regiments shall report to the general officer commanding the brigade, that the general orders requiring the performance of any duty, or the execution of any arrangement, have been obeyed."

All this proves that the knowledge and experience of the staff of a British army were, at that period, at a very low ebb; but matters were afterwards greatly improved, and the valuable time of the staff saved, which was thrown away in attending for orders, by Lord Wellington ordering the distribution of printed copies of general orders for departments, divisions, brigades, and regiments; but, still, too much of the time of the non-commissioned officers, who might have been much better employed in assisting their officers in looking after the soldiers, was always taken up in the field, in writing out orders for their respective companies. This ought to be dispensed with altogether. The corps should be quickly assembled in square, or close column, and the orders or regulations, which should be few in number, as almost every thing could be arranged before hand at the Horse Guards, ought to be read distinctly to them by the commanding officer, a field officer, or the adjutant; and when thus assembled, any explanations, or farther directions, which might be necessary, could be given, and the orders themselves more forcibly impressed upon the minds of the soldiers, which is rarely properly done, if left to company officers, or non-commissioned officers.

This plan would not only save much time, but also prevent many mistakes from happening.