Part 3

I am aware it may be said, that this plan is defective; for there is no arrangement made, so as to remove one of the great objections to our present mode of promotion, with regard to officers of engineers, artillery, and marines; but I take a very simple view of this matter; for I would merely look to a list of officers of the regular army of all ranks, and to the dates of their commissions; and when a cornet or ensign of any regiment became by the regular routine of promotion a lieutenant, I would, as a matter of course, make any officer of engineers, artillery, or marines of the same standing, a lieutenant also, yet without giving him the additional pay till a vacancy occurred in his own corps; and I would do the same through the different gradations of ranks, until the officers of engineers or artillery had become lieut.-colonels. I would then style them, and cause them to act as chiefs of engineers or artillery, and which rank they should hold for the same number of years as lieut.-colonels commanding regiments, when, like them, they should become major-generals; and enabling them also to take advantage of the retirement from the country, and of the system to be proposed for the military fund, these accomplished officers, if they thought fit to remain upon the effective list, could become available for staff or any other appointments the same as other generals, and at the same period of life. Out of the effective list of major-generals, lieut.-generals, or generals, the Commander-in-chief, as at present, could select those whom it might be deemed advisable to employ upon the staff of the army, or for any particular object, and as it is to be presumed that their services might be constantly required, especially in our foreign possessions, few of them would be found an unnecessary burden upon the country.

Many objections might be started as to our present plan of unattached promotion; and if what I propose is adopted, these would be greatly increased. Staff officers alone should be allowed to hold unattached rank, and their promotion should progress in the same manner as I have suggested for the engineers and artillery. But if unattached promotion is to continue, it should be very rarely resorted to, and never but as a reward for very distinguished services; and if such officers must be brought into regiments, their being so would be infinitely less objectionable and annoying, than if they had got over the heads of their brother officers by money alone. My alarm on this head is on account of the interest or patronage which might be exerted. But I do not see how unattached officers can, with any degree of justice, be brought into regiments, unless it were done when vacancies occurred by deaths, or when officers were dismissed the service by the sentences of courts martial; and in the former case not allowing such steps to go in the corps, in which they took place, would be considered very unfair dealing. It might probably be said, let the unattached officers who have to be brought in, pay to retiring officers the whole sums usually given on such occasions--as will be pointed out when the plan for the military fund comes to be considered--but I must object to this, as it would be restoring the system of purchase, even in a worse and more objectionable form than it assumes at present.

A very essential duty should be performed by major-generals, for whose travelling and other expenses on such occasions a suitable allowance ought to be made; viz. that of superintending the ballot of the men for the regiments in the several districts. Assisted by at least two magistrates or civil authorities of the district, who could be supposed most able to afford information respecting the people, these major-generals ought to see the process of balloting carried on in their presence, and thus all bribery, or any kind of unfairness could be guarded against. They should also be required to see and approve of such men as were produced as substitutes. One major-general could superintend the ballot in a number of districts, but he should not be sent for two years following to the same places; so that the people might be satisfied that any kind of collusion was impossible; especially as our medical staff (also never going for two successive years to the same district) stand too high in rank and public estimation, to admit of its being for a moment supposed, that they could be induced by any means to pronounce a man fit or unfit for service, unless he really were so; and as for a man's height or appearance, the general could not be easily deceived in these respects.

The present expensive recruiting establishments throughout the United Kingdom might be greatly reduced, as in future they could only be required for certain colonial corps, which I shall have to speak of hereafter.

The cruelty of this system of ballot, although rendered almost as mild as that at present in force for the militia, would no doubt be much talked of by pretenders to philanthropy; and the people might be made to suppose, that it was intended to introduce as many horrors into it, as attend a Russian conscription; but the cases would be widely different. In Russia public opinion is of no weight, and is openly set at defiance. In Great Britain it is all powerful, and must be respected. I will not even talk of a French conscription, in which the youth of France gloried in the days of Napoleon. It may probably be asked, would you take away a father, and leave a large and perhaps helpless family to starve or become a burden upon the parish; or would you take away the only son of a widow, or her only one fit for agricultural purposes? I answer--that I intend to do no such thing--but let these philanthropists, and the parish or district, and especially the wealthy part of it, make timely arrangements to find substitutes for such fathers or sons, if they have not the means to do so themselves; and thus such contingencies could be easily met, by what would only be a charitable duty, which one man owes to another, if he presumes to say that his heart is influenced by correct christian feeling.

CHAP. II

Young gentlemen not under the age of sixteen, and not above nineteen, who may have prepared themselves for the army, by studying at any military college, academy, or other institution, should be selected for appointments to engineers, &c., but they ought always to be subjected to a previous examination, in order that it may be ascertained that they have been properly educated. Non-commissioned officers, who may bear high characters in their regiments, ought also to be occasionally appointed to ensigncies, provided they have been so well educated as to pass an examination, but not otherwise, however meritorious their conduct may have been. But I am decidedly of opinion, and many will agree with me, that no captain should ever be promoted to the rank of Field Officer, who could not pass a much stricter examination before a board which should be established for this purpose, and also for examining candidates for first appointments to cavalry, infantry, engineers, and artillery; and this would obviate the necessity of having expensive institutions for public military education.

One of the best educated officers I ever met with, had never been at any military school. He had been taught enough of his own language, in which so many are deficient, and Latin; but the study of the latter had not been allowed to occupy too much of that period of life, when boys can be best instructed in what is much more useful. At a respectable school, he had made considerable progress in the higher branches of arithmetic, also in Algebra, Geometry, History, Drawing, &c., and had acquired a perfect knowledge of what is so essential to an officer, viz. Geography, in all its various bearings; such as the dimensions, boundaries, aspect, climate, soil, mineral, and other productions, resources, commerce, &c. of countries; together with the genius, or bent of mind of their inhabitants; their education, habits, government, the reputations of their armies and navies, productive industry, internal communications, such as canals and roads, &c.; information upon all which points being what ought to be looked upon as constituting a considerable part of a military education. Under the able head of the school alluded to, who was aware of his wish to become an accomplished soldier, he went through fortification, chiefly according to Vauban's system; and he even acquired a slight knowledge, but sufficient for an infantry officer, of the theory of gunnery. Whilst thus occupied, and which was not uncommon in those days, he became an Ensign, and then a Lieutenant in a regiment of the line by purchase. He was also at this time able to avail himself of the advantages to be derived from the assistance of a scientific and practical French officer, who, on account of his loyalty, had been obliged to emigrate, after having served in the army of the Prince of Condé. By him he was advanced in the knowledge of the French language, and likewise made to understand, and how to apply usefully, what he had been previously taught. The military features of a country were pointed out to him; and wherein the strength or weakness of positions consisted; and other matters such as the effects of concentration and extension of force, &c.; and which should be understood by officers who have any pretensions to being considered scientific.

I hope the reader will excuse me for having been so minute in giving the history, trifling as it may appear, of this officer's instruction; but it has been done solely with the view of showing, in some measure, what I mean by a military education, and also what those should have undergone, who aspire to become field officers in the British army. In young gentlemen desirous of entering the army, I would in their previous examination expect to find, at least, the germs of such accomplishments; but the officer I allude to had mastered, without ever entering a military school, nearly the whole I have mentioned before the age of seventeen; and he had thus acquired habits of study, which were not only agreeable, but useful to him afterwards through life.

I beg here to remark, that it has always greatly surprised me, why it should be deemed indispensable, that a young gentleman must have a first rate education, in order to his being admitted into the artillery; whilst any one is allowed into our cavalry and infantry, without it being ascertained whether he can either read or write. Surely the latter may be supposed to want even a better education than the former, if it is expected that he should be able to manœuvre, or direct the movements of troops correctly, either upon a confined or large scale; or to act properly, or as a scientific officer in the field, as he may often have to construct field works, and perform other military operations, when well educated engineers are not at hand.

The examinations of captains might be allowed to take place at any period after they have attained that rank, but should they fail to pass after two attempts, they ought not to be allowed to present themselves again before the board, for this purpose. This last examination I consider as most important, for from amongst these officers must be taken our future commanders of regiments, who may reasonably look forward to become our generals, to be afterwards intrusted with important commands, and even with the civil government of portions of our foreign possessions; for which their high tone of honourable military feeling, and strict habits of discipline, as well as respect for civil authority, must render them so superiorly calculated, as to leave no comparison between them and civilians in general for such appointments; but if most of the allowances, and emoluments formerly attached to these governments, are not restored, and which were in general not more than sufficient to enable those who held them, to support with becoming dignity their stations as representatives of majesty, it would be perhaps as wise to yield to the fancies of a few turbulent and disloyal men, whose understandings seem to be obscured by wild speculations upon colonial affairs; and to allow them to rule in their own way, or as advised or instigated by that indefatigable organ of economy, our distant but valuable possessions--doubly valuable to Great Britain, for in the ships employed in our colonial trade, many of our seamen receive those early lessons which afterwards fit them, according to the present system, for our navy.

I would have been better pleased were it in my power now to proceed to other subjects, rather than have to touch upon what is really unpleasant to me; for I know that I am about to tread on very ticklish ground, and to offend the aristocratical notions of many; and I am also aware, it is very likely, that I shall in consequence be set down as a mere plebeian, or even accused of being wanting in that loyalty, which, as a British soldier, I should possess; but still I feel that I ought to go on steadily, in order, if possible, to accomplish what I have in view, that is to say--in endeavouring to do all I can so as to have our army the finest in the world, for which we possess ample materials, and as an essential step towards this, I must venture to propose to make certain changes in our regiments of guards; and I do not see how I can avoid recommending that they should, in a great measure, be converted into battalions of regular cavalry and infantry, so as to be supplied, in future, with recruits from (selected) districts, the same as other corps; for without this, they could only be composed of an inferior description of men: yet in point of rank they should, of course, be placed at the head of the list of British regiments, for their gallantry, on all occasions, well entitles them to this distinction; but the privileges and the advantages of their officers, in, I must say, improperly obtaining rank, can no longer, it appears to me, be tolerated by those noblemen and gentlemen, who, I trust, would, under the proposed system, officer our regular army. It can be of no consequence to the country, that a few of our young nobility, and the sons of wealthy men, who wish to go into exclusive corps, for a short time only, were prevented from getting too rapidly forward in rank, through the means of money and interest, to the discouragement of real soldiers. I must, however, in fairness, bring before the reader what a good soldier, Lieut.-General Sir Charles Dalbiac, says upon the subject.

"TO MAJOR-GENERAL THE RIGHT HON. SIR HENRY HARDINGE, K.C.B.

"My dear Sir Henry,--The army estimates for the ensuing year being now under the consideration of the House of Commons, I am induced to trouble you with a few remarks upon a point to which I have always attached considerable importance.

"It has been much the practice in previous years, when in committee of supply upon army estimates, for certain Hon. members of the House of Commons to raise objections against the establishment of our household troops; and in the session of 1836 the hon. baronet the member for East Cornwall moved as an amendment to the vote proposed by the Secretary at War (for a sum of money to be granted to His Majesty to defray the expenses of His Majesty's land forces), "that the Foot Guards be placed on the same footing as the infantry of the line." I feel quite assured that Hon. members could never entertain a proposition of this nature were they thoroughly acquainted with the difficulties and the consequences that would attend the conversion of the household regiments into regiments of the line; and an anxiety to aid your endeavours to disabuse Hon. members in this matter, should fresh occasion need, and thereby set the question at rest, must be the apology for my present letter.

"I may premise, not indeed, for your information, but for that of others, that the brigade of household cavalry consists of the two regiments of Life Guards and the royal regiment of Horse Guards (Blue). The brigade of household infantry consists of three battalions of the Grenadier Guards, two battalions of the Coldstream, and two battalions of the Scots Fusileer Guards, in all seven battalions.

"The grounds of objection taken against these corps have been,--

"1. That the maintenance of household troops creates an additional and unnecessary charge against the public.

"2. That the household troops are exempted from the ordinary tour of colonial service.

"3. That the officers of the household troops enjoy privileges in respect to rank which are not enjoyed by the officers in regiments of the line; and that such exemption from the ordinary tour of colonial service, and such enjoyment of privileges in respect to rank, engender invidious feelings between the officers of the different services.

"First, as to the plea that the maintenance of the household corps entail an additional and an unnecessary charge upon the public.

"It will be found by reference to the army estimates for the military year now expiring, that the charge for the three regiments of household cavalry is stated at the sum of 85,757_l._, and a little calculation will show that the charge for corresponding numbers of cavalry of the line amounts to about 62,757_l._ the difference being 23,000_l._ It will also be found that the charge for the brigade of Foot Guards amounts to 192,104_l._, and a little calculation will show that the charge for corresponding numbers of infantry of the line amounts to about 159,854_l._, the difference being 33,250_l._ It would thus appear, upon a first superficial glance of the army estimates for the current military year, that by converting (or changing) the household regiments into regiments of the line, a saving would accrue to the public of about 56,250_l._ per annum.

"It becomes very essential, however, to inquire by what process such proposed conversion could be carried into effect: and here I would again advert to the amendment moved by the Hon. baronet the member for East Cornwall in 1836, "That the Foot Guards be placed on the same footing as the infantry of the line," the particular wording of which amendment implies a supposition that the House of Commons or the Sovereign possessed the power of converting the household troops, as at present constituted, into troops of the line. But I humbly presume that any such conceived power would be subject to question; because it is quite unnatural to imagine that either the Sovereign or the House of Commons could ever commit a breach of faith with any portion of Her Majesty's forces.

"It is well known that the commissioned officers, the non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the household troops have, one and all, engaged or enlisted to serve Her Majesty in those particular corps, and in those particular corps only. And in consideration of the very privileges which are peculiar to the household corps have the officers thereof been induced to submit to extraordinary sacrifices in the purchase of their respective commissions, the regulated price of a lieutenant-colonelcy in the Foot Guards being double, the price of every minor commission more than double the price of corresponding commissions in battalions of the line. The supposition therefore that the existing establishments of the household troops can ever "be placed on the same footing as the troops of the line" is entirely out of the question; when they are no longer to be maintained as at present constituted, they must be disbanded altogether.

"Let us, then, commence with the commissioned officers. The contract under which the officers of the household corps engaged to serve Her Majesty having been annulled, the officers will be entitled, in common fairness, to be placed in the same pecuniary situation in which they stood prior to their having entered Her Majesty's service. They will accordingly require to receive back the regulated value of their respective commissions. Now, according to the scale of prices fixed by His Majesty's regulations of the 8th of April, 1824, the value of the commissions of the officers in the household brigade of cavalry, taken collectively (exclusive of the three colonels, who are general officers), amounts to the sum of 201,285_l._, and the value of the commissions of the officers in the brigade of Foot Guards, taken collectively, amounts to the sum of 610,600_l._, which two sums, being added together, form a total of 811,885_l._ But, as an appropriation in aid of the said sum to be provided, there will be the value of the commissions in the new levy of regiments of the line, which will be raised to replace the household corps. The regulated value of the commissions in three regiments of cavalry of the line amounts to 126,840_l._, and the regulated value of the commissions in six regiments of infantry of the line (which number of regiments will exceed the establishment of the brigade of Foot Guards) amounts to 242,400_l._; and these two sums being added together form a total of 369,240_l._, which total being deducted from the previous total of 811,885_l._, leaves a balance against the public of 442,645_l._ as the difference between the value of commissions to be paid for and the value of commissions to be sold.

"There will then require to be raised a new levy of 6,279 men to replace the non-commissioned officers and men of the household corps who are to be discharged; the bounty money for which new levy, with expenses prior to joining (officially stated at 5_l._ 2_s._ 6_d._ per man), will amount to 31,475_l._; and this sum being added to the previous balance of 442,645_l._ will swell the amount to be provided by the public to 474,120_l._ for raising regiments of the line to serve as substitutes for our present household troops.

"Next with respect to contingencies. The charge on account of army contingencies is stated in the estimates at 101,148_l._, of which sum the proportion of 65,000_l._ appears applicable to the troops stationed in the United Kingdom, their amount being about 37,500 effectives. But the said contingencies are not applicable to the household troops when employed on the London duties, except to a fractional amount; and the ordinary average of the household troops so employed may be taken at 5,000 men. This brings the expenditure on account of contingencies to about 2,000_l._ per annum for every 1,000 men. If, then, the military duties of the metropolis are to be performed by regiments of the line in lieu of the household troops, there will be an increase of charge on account of contingencies to the amount of 10,000_l._ per annum.

"One item of extra charge for the household troops comes under the head of clothing (and accoutrements), which exceeds the charge under the same head for corresponding numbers of the line by nearly 11,000_l._ But it may be asked whether the clothing or the equipment of the household troops surpasses in respectability or in splendour what is due to the seat of Royalty and the seat of Government, or what is consistent with the pageantry which should belong to the Sovereign of these kingdoms, or what the nation would desire to behold upon occasions of state or of Royal parade? If not, the same allowances with respect to clothing must be granted to the troops of the line when employed on the London duties as are now granted to the household regiments.