Chapter XL: Part VIII (6)

Allied to the plan for making a military college the sole channel of admission to the commissioned ranks of the army is one for requiring all candidates for commissions to serve as cadets, in order to acquire a practical acquaintance with their duties, before obtaining the rank of officer. This proposal, originally suggested by Lord Clyde, before the Royal Commission on the Purchase System, has more recently been supported by the authority of Sir W. Mansfield and Lord De la Warr; the latter officer, however, appears of late to have somewhat modified his views, and to advocate at present, for all young men who obtain direct commissions by purchase, a probationary course of six or twelve months’ instruction in military subjects and drill, at their parents’ expense, prior to joining their regiments, in accordance with a plan submitted to the Commission. The cadet system has also been advocated by Lord Walden before the Commission.

To the class of plans which advocate the postponement of professional instruction for the majority of the officers of the army until after the service has been entered, belong Mr. Sidney Herbert’s original proposal, in 1854, for the introduction of a system of garrison instruction--the recommendation of the Commissioners of 1856 “that young officers after entering the army should go through some course of professional study,”--the suggestion made by the Royal Commission on the Purchase System for “an improved system of training after the first commission is granted,”--and the proposal of the Council of Military Education, in 1857, for the establishment of depot battalion schools for young officers. Opinions founded on the same principle have been expressed by several witnesses before the present Commission. The system of garrison instructors at large stations, that of regimental instructors in each corps, and, lastly, a combination of both systems, have been respectively advocated by various authorities as the machinery by which the later instruction of officers should be carried out. Even those who advocate a special education at a military college as the universal condition of obtaining a commission do not, in the majority of cases, contemplate the cessation of all instruction on the commission being obtained; at the same time in many instances they do not consider that this later instruction should be made compulsory on officers, and, while recommending that facilities should be afforded for it, they maintain the superior efficacy of a system of preliminary military education at an earlier age.

I. SURVEY CLASS AT ALDERSHOT.

The survey class at Aldershot originated in an order of the Quartermaster-General in 1857, appointing two extra deputy-assistants to afford professional instruction to officers of the division stationed there in military sketching and surveying, field and permanent fortification, and photography.

These courses and conditions of attendance are as follows:

1. An elementary course comprises practical geometry, so far as is necessary for the understanding of the principles of surveying and fortification, plan drawing, the construction and use of scales, and military sketching.

The other course embraces surveying in its more advanced branches, military reconnaissances and road reports, field fortification, including the attack and defence of small posts, the construction of simple intrenchments, redoubts, and field works, profiling and tracing on the ground, gabion and fascine making, camping, and the construction of field ovens and cook-houses.

2. Officers will not be allowed to go through the course of instruction unless their commanding officer will certify that they are intelligent, zealous, and well conducted; but considering that the stay of regiments at this camp is frequently limited, the Lieutenant-General Commanding would wish that every facility should be given to officers to avail themselves of the instruction, even though they may not be thoroughly acquainted, with all their duties.

3. Every officer wishing to attend the course of instruction will submit his application to his commanding officer, who will forward it with his recommendation and the certificate mentioned in the last paragraph, or with such remarks as he may have to offer, should he consider it his duty not to recommend the application.

4. Officers going through the elementary course will be struck off all
duty for two months (Sundays excepted). They will go on flying columns.

5. Officers anxious to attend the second course will be allowed to do so for four months, during which time they will take all regimental duties which would entail extra work on the other officers, but will be excused all brigade and divisional duties, except those mentioned in paragraph 7.

6. Officers permitted to attend are not to absent themselves without
leave from the Lieutenant-General commanding.

7. Officers are to be present at divisional field days, and when the division marches into the country during the winter months, either with the deputy assistants quartermaster-general sketching the ground, noting the movements, preparing reports, etc. (in undress, without swords), or if not so employed they are to fall in with their respective corps.

8. The number of officers attending is restricted to two per regiment.

9. The instruction will extend from 10 A.M. till 1 P.M., excepting on
Saturdays, when all the officers will attend till 12 only.

10. Staff officers who may wish to avail themselves of the instruction given at the Survey Office, or in the field, may attend at such hours as the nature of the duties they have to perform will admit.

11. Officers of the division generally will be assisted by the D.A.Q.M.G.s as far as practicable, in pursuing their studies in other branches.

12. A diary will be kept showing the names of all officers attending, the hours of attendance, the work done, etc.; this diary is to be submitted for the inspection of the Lieutenant-General commanding, and from it a monthly report will be prepared for the information of the Field Marshal.

13. Officers will be allowed the use of surveying instruments but will have to provide their own drawing and other materials. They will, however, be permitted to retain all sketches, plans, and reports thus made on their own materials, after they have been returned from the Council.

The course actually carried out in 1868-69 was as follows:

Explanation, use, and construction of scales--several examples worked and a plate of scales drawn--mode of using the usual drawing instruments, protractors, and Marquois’ scales.

Use of the prismatic compass--a road is traversed with the compass--bearings and measurements entered in a field-book, and the result plotted indoors on a large scale.

A plate of the conventional signs used by the topographical department, and a set of the seven examples of shading ground (by the late Major Petley), according to the latest scale of shade, are given to each officer to copy.

The general principles of plan drawing, and the mode of conducting a survey by means of measuring a base, and by a triangulation, are explained, and a flat piece of ground is sketched with the compass, and plotted in the field.

The method of representing ground by contours only is now explained and illustrated by models, drawings, etc., and it is shown how from a contoured plan sections and elevations of ground are made, also how by adding shade to the contoured plan, a certain pictorial effect is produced, etc.

Abney’s pocket level and clinometer is explained, and various modes of
rough levelling illustrated.

The method of using the pocket sextant is next shown, and the officers are taken to a plateau with strongly marked slopes, a base is measured, triangulation made by means of the sextant; and the artificial features filled in.

Contours at 25 feet vertically apart are now sketched in chain dotted lines, and several sectional lines taken by means of the level, clinometer, compass, and a scale of hypothenuses, and the various angles of inclination written on the sketch. The scale of shade is explained, and the officers taught how to apply it to the sketch of ground so contoured, and the sketch finished up as directed in the memorandum by the Council of Military Education.

Major-General Napier’s pamphlet on reconnaissance is given to each officer, and four or five miles of road reconnoitred, sketched, and reported on.

A sketch on a small scale of as large a tract of country as time and weather will permit of is next made, triangulation done with the sextant or theodolite, and lastly, a rapid eye-sketch, without instruments, of some hilly ground.

Some work on field fortification, chiefly the chapters describing the defence of buildings, villages, and positions, also some work on surveying, is read.

At the conclusion of each course all sketches and reports, with a return showing the number of hours’ attendance of each officer, his attention and progress, are forwarded to the Council of Military Education.

ADVANCED CLASS FOR ARTILLERY OFFICERS AT WOOLWICH.

The necessity of more advanced attainments both in the science and practice of gunnery was pointed out by the Commissioners in 1856, but nothing was done till Colonel Lefroy urged the matter on the Council of Military Education in 1862, and in November, 1863, regulations were issued for the establishment of Advanced Classes of Artillery Officers at Woolwich.

A Director of Artillery Studies was first appointed in 1850, upon the recommendation of Field-Marshal Sir Hew Ross, G.C.B., R.A. (then Adjutant-General of Artillery). His duties were to take charge of and direct the studies of the young officers of artillery on first joining at Woolwich, to assist them in their professional pursuits, and read with them military law, military history, treatises on artillery, fortification, etc.

The appointment was made provisionally in the first instance, but confirmed before the close of a year. In April, 1853, the department was increased by the addition of French and German masters, who, besides assisting the young officers, were called upon to afford instruction in their respective languages to officers of artillery of all ranks who might be desirous of profiting by it.

An allowance of 300_l._ per annum was also made to enable a proportion of the more intelligent of the young officers to accompany the Director in visits to arsenals and fortresses abroad and manufacturing districts at home.

In July, 1855, the Director of Artillery Studies was allowed the following assistants: 2 Captains of Artillery, 1 Instructor in Surveying, 1 Instructor in Military Drawing, etc., 1 Lecturer on Natural Philosophy and Mechanics, 3 Non-commissioned officers, for the purpose of giving instruction to certain gentlemen provisionally commissioned from public colleges or schools after a competitive examination, but without passing through the Academy.

The Director was expected to advise and assist the efforts of officers of the Royal Artillery in improving their professional qualifications, and to arrange classes of officers for instruction in chemistry, photography, drawing, French, and German, at the Royal Artillery Institution. He was to inform himself of all the more interesting experiments under the Ordnance Select Committee, as well as the operations and processes carried on in the Government manufacturing departments. He was to arrange and conduct the annual military tour on the continent; and direct the studies of young officers.

Upon the formation of the Advanced Class in 1864, the staff was greatly increased, and an Assistant Director appointed, to take charge in the absence of the Director; to give instruction to classes of officers of the regiment sent to Woolwich from time to time, to officers from the Staff College, and to Militia and Volunteer artillery officers; to prepare questions for the examination of subaltern officers Royal Artillery for promotion, and report on the results of such examinations; to attend on foreigners of distinction, and other duties performed by the Director prior to the formation of the Advanced Class.

The following shows the attendance for the year ending 31st March,
1869:

Advanced class of artillery officers, 6 2 years’ course.
Firemasters’ class, R.A., 7 9 months’ course.
3 short course classes, “ “
{ Royal Artillery, 29 } 2 “ “
{ Military Store Staff, 8 }
Shoeburyness gunnery class, R.A., 20 3 “ “
Officers of the late Indian brigades, 3
{ 1 for 3 months’ course; 2 for 2 months’ course.
Officers from the Staff College, 13 1½ months’ course.
Militia artillery officers, 6 2 “ “
Volunteer artillery officers, 2
-- Total, 94

_Non-commissioned Officers and Men, Royal Artillery._

2 long course classes,
non-commissioned officers, 19 6 months’ course.
10 short course classes,
non-commissioned officers and men, 200 2 “ “
Shoeburyness gunnery class,
non-commissioned officers, 36 3 “ “
--- Total, 255

The young officers lately joined attend here twice a week to receive instruction, by lectures, from the Assistant Director of Artillery Studies on military law, courts-martial, and interior economy.

REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION IN 1869.

The examination will be early in February of each year, at Woolwich, under the Council of Military Education.

Candidates for this examination must have undergone a course of instruction at Shoeburyness; or they must pass satisfactorily a preliminary examination in practical artillery.

No officer will be admitted who will not have completed six years’
service on 31st March, 1870.

The subjects in which the candidates will be examined, and the
relative importance attached to the subjects, are as follows:

Mathematics, 700
Chemistry and physics, 300

_Mathematics_ includes--

Plane trigonometry (so much of it as is included in the first 16
chapters of Todhunter’s treatise).

Coördinate geometry of two dimensions (Hymer or Todhunter), viz.:

Straight line referred to rectangular, oblique, and polar coördinates. The circle, parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola, referred to rectangular and polar coördinates. The equation to the tangent, and the normal to the circle, parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola referred to rectangular axes, the sections of a right cone made by a plane.

Applications of the above to solutions of simple problems.

_Differential Calculus._--Differential coefficient of simple, inverse, trigonometrical, and complex functions; proof of Taylor’s and Maclaurin’s theorems and examples of expansions of functions; differentiation of functions of two variables; limiting values of functions which assume an indeterminate form; change of independent variable; maxima and minima of functions of one variable; tangents, normals, and asymptotes to plane curves; differential coefficients of arcs, areas, etc.; radius of curvature (Hall or Todhunter).

_Integral Calculus._--Meaning of integration; examples of simple integration; integration by parts; lengths of curves; areas of plane curves (Hymer, Hall, or Todhunter).

_Elementary Mechanics._--(Whewell or Parkinson.)

_Chemistry._--The general laws of chemical combinations,--the chemistry of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen, and of their chief inorganic compounds. The metallurgic chemistry of iron. The chemical principles of the manufacture and explosion of gunpowder.

_Physics._--In heat,--the subject of “thermometric heat” as treated in
the first seven chapters of “Tyndall on Heat.”

In electricity,--the subject of frictional electricity.

Officers competing are expected to be able to read French scientific works, such as Helie’s “Traité de Balistique,” Piobert’s “Cours d’Artillerie,” etc., etc., reference being constantly made to such works during the course of instruction.

At the conclusion of each year’s course there will be a final examination in the subjects read during the year; the marks gained at the first examination being carried forward to the second, when certificates will be given to those students who are found qualified.

The course of instruction extends over two years.

The subjects of study the first year are: Pure mathematics; metallurgy; chemistry; mechanism and the steam engine; royal gun factories; royal laboratory, Part I.

The subjects for the second year are: Mixed mathematics and applied to gunnery; metallurgy; chemistry; heat and electricity; royal laboratory, Parts II., III., IV.; royal gunpowder factory, including manufacture of gun cotton; royal small arms factories, Enfield and Birmingham; royal carriage department.

In connection with the instruction on metallurgy, the class visit each year some of the principal private establishments in England and Wales, accompanied by Dr. Percy, F.R.S., the lecturer on this subject. They also visit locomotive and marine engine works in connection with the lectures on the steam engine.

The following processes of manufacture are noted:

In the Royal Gun Factories: Metallurgy of copper, tin, zinc, and their
compounds; mechanical and chemical properties of gun metal.

Metallurgy of iron, including cast iron and wrought iron, steel and
alloys; mechanical and chemical properties.

Principles of construction of cast guns.

Principles of construction of built-up guns, welding, etc.

The steam hammer.

Turning, boring, rifling, and sighting guns. All the machines, lathes,
special tools, and processes.

Comparison of systems of rifling and breech-loading for cannon.

Gauges and micrometrical measurements.

Organization of labor in the Royal Gun Factories.

System of account keeping, pricing, and payment in the Royal Gun
Factories.

Relations to the Director of Stores, Director of Contracts, Principal
Superintendent of Stores, and Director of Ordnance.

Patterns, system respecting them.

Examination of Stores.

Duties of the Inspector of Artillery: proof of guns; examination of
guns and stores.

The Small Arms Departments, Enfield and Pimlico, will follow the Royal Gun Factories, and be treated in the same comprehensive manner, including the system of supply of small arms to the army, their repair, and comparison of systems of rifling and breech-loading for small arms.

From the Royal Gun Factories the class will proceed to the Royal
Carriage Department, where the subjects will be:

Selection and purchase of timber.

Seasoning of timber.

Sawmills.

Planing and other machinery applied to working of timber.

Construction.

Mechanical principles as applied in military machines.

Friction, draught, traction, locomotive power.

Harness.

Organization of labor in the Royal Carriage Department.

System of accountability and payment.

Prices.

Relations to Director of Stores, Director of Contracts, Principal
Superintendent of Stores, and Director of Ordnance.

Patterns, systems respecting them.

Examination of stores.

Here will evidently conveniently come in the organization and duties of the department of the Principal Superintendent of Stores, including the detail of equipments for all services, and proportions of stores, packing ammunition, arrangement of magazines.

The last term will be devoted to the manufacture of gunpowder, ammunition, and generally the duties of the Royal Laboratory, including the chemistry of the subjects.

Selection and purchase of pyrotechnic material.

Examination and refining of saltpetre, etc.

Gunpowder and powder-mills.

Theory of gunpowder, qualities, effect of different sized grains.

Electro-ballistic apparatus, and other modes of proof.

Gun cotton.

Detonating compounds.

Other laboratory preparations.

Small arm ammunition, cannon ammunition, fuzes, rockets, etc.

Manufacture of bullets.

Casting of every description of projectile for smooth-bored and rifled
ordnance.

Organization of the Royal Laboratory Department.

Supply of raw material.

System of account keeping and payment.

Prices.

Relations to the Director of Stores, Director of Contracts, Principal
Superintendent of Stores, and Director of Ordnance.

Patterns, inspection. Examination of stores.

III. SCHOOL OF GUNNERY AT SHOEBURYNESS.

Shoeburyness first became a station for artillery practice in the year 1849. The practice was, however, at that time confined to experiments, which were conducted on a very limited scale, under the department of the Director-General of Artillery. A battery was constructed and some wooden huts erected at the station in that year; but for several years nothing but experimental practice was carried on by batteries of artillery who were sent to Shoeburyness merely for the summer months, and were quartered, at least partially, under canvas. No permanent staff were employed, the senior officer present with the troops being in command of the station. In 1854 the establishment assumed a more permanent character, and was placed under a lieutenant-colonel of artillery as commandant, who was also at the same time superintendent of experiments. It still, however, continued to be merely a station for artillery practice and experiments, until 1859.

The objects for which the School of Gunnery was established are to ensure a completeness and uniformity in the instruction of the officers and men of the Royal Artillery in the use of the weapons and military machines they are called upon to use; impart to them a knowledge of the ammunition, stores, and appliances made use of in the artillery service; of the effect of shot and shell under various circumstances; and, by constant practice from guns of every description, to train and educate from year to year a number of officers and men who would carry with them to their respective brigades an amount of valuable knowledge and experience which would become in that way, and in due time, diffused throughout the Royal Artillery, in the same manner as the gunnery instruction for the Royal Navy on board the “Excellent,” and the musketry instruction for the infantry at Hythe have percolated with such advantage through those services.

On the first of April in each year a class of from 20 to 25 officers is formed for what is termed a “long course,” embracing a period of 12 months; and a class of about 40 non-commissioned officers, for a similar course.

These classes are formed into two separate squads, and entirely occupy the time of the chief instructor, one gunnery instructor, and four assistant instructors. They are instructed in the drills and exercises of every species of ordnance, and the mode of mounting and dismounting them under various circumstances and with different means; in transporting the heaviest guns from place to place and mounting them under difficulties; in making rafts; embarking and disembarking guns; making up ammunition; preparing demands for stores; carrying on gun practice with shot, shell, etc.; making signals; throwing up batteries as at a siege, and afterward testing their efficiency by firing at them; attending lectures on artillery subjects by the officers instructing the classes, and on subjects of a scientific nature, and bearing upon the science of artillery, by professional gentlemen engaged from time to time for the purpose.

The non-commissioned officers attend these latter lectures, and also receive from the schoolmaster, under the direction of the officer in charge of the class (and with great advantage), instruction in mathematics, and in mechanical drawing applicable to the course they are being carried through.

In addition to these “long courses,” as they are termed, another class of 33 non-commissioned officers is sent every three months to go through what is termed a “short course,” for the purpose of being instructed in the various duties connected with the service, transport, etc., of heavy guns.

The result of this system is that an officer and two non-commissioned officers highly qualified to instruct in all artillery duties and exercises are sent annually to each brigade; also eight non-commissioned officers well qualified to assist in the instruction of the non-commissioned officers and men of their brigades in most duties connected with heavy ordnance, and with enlarged views of artillery subjects generally.

Further instruction is imparted to the regiment by sending batteries from Woolwich, Aldershot, and other contiguous stations, to carry on their practice, and regimental duty. They take guards and fatigues, move guns, and otherwise prepare for experiments, and each in its turn goes through a short course of instruction. The officers and a proportion of non-commissioned officers of these batteries are formed into a class under one of the gunnery instructors and his two assistants, and when they have gone through a preliminary course, one of the batteries, or more if practicable, are taken off duty for a month, in order to go through a systematic course, which, though short, is nevertheless highly valuable.

The staff for government and instruction consists of:

Commandant and Superintendent of Experiments, Brigade major, Surgeon, Adjutant, Quartermaster, Master gunner, Sergeant-major, Quartermaster-sergeant.

_School of Gunnery._

1 chief instructor, a field officer
4 gunnery instructors (including 1 at Woolwich), captains.
1 first-class clerk.
1 third-class clerk.
6 first-class assistant instructors.
1 army schoolmaster.
22 store, magazine, and lobbymen.

_Experimental Establishment._

1 Assistant superintendent.
1 second-class assistant superintendent.
1 first-class clerk.
3 laboratory sergeants.
3 range sergeants.
15 storemen, etc.

1 staff wheeler, 1 hospital sergeant, 1 photographer, 1 armorer, 2
wheelers, 2 smiths.

Elementary exercises for the purpose of instructing the squad in dealing with heavy weights without machines, showing the best mode of applying power in moving guns, commencing with light and progressing to guns of 23 tons; instruction concerning ropes, tackles, knots, etc.

Field, garrison, and siege gun drill with smooth bore and rifled guns mounted on various carriages and platforms; drills with howitzers and mortars; throwing up works of offence and defence, arming them and laying platforms, making up ammunition, and arrangements for night firing.

Exercises with military machines; construction of sheers, derricks, etc., and placing them in awkward places; construction of trestle and other bridges for the purpose of passing heavy artillery across ditches, etc., and of rafts for similar purposes.

Embarkation of artillery and horses.

Mounting, dismounting, and moving heavy guns without the aid of
machines.

Practice from heavy and field guns, smooth bore and rifled, at known
and unknown distances, with full and reduced charges.

Battalion drill and telegraphy.

In the lecture room, instruction in the mechanical powers, in gunnery, systems of rifling, action and penetration of the service projectiles; construction, examination, and record of guns.

Army administration as affecting artillery.

Lectures on gunpowder, gun cotton, and fulminates; on metallurgy; on the various modes of computing velocities and the instruments employed; on electricity and steam; on strategy and tactics.

Cordage, knotting, tackles, parbuckling, pinching, slewing, etc.

Mounting and dismounting with and without gins.

Drill and practice with 32-pr. and 8 seconds guns.

Drill and practice with mortars on standing and travelling beds, also
mounting and dismounting.

Drill practice with 40-pr. and 64-pr. guns, firing at moving target; drill with 7 seconds B.L. guns; drill with 7 seconds, 9 seconds, and 12 seconds M.L.R. guns and practice; dismounting and mounting the above.

Laying platforms, etc.

Use of platform wagon.

Light sheers.

Rocket drill and practice.

Facing B.L. guns.

Practical examination, etc.

Cordage, knotting, elementary exercises.

Ordinary shifts and machine drill.

Mortar drill and practice.

12-pr. B.L. gun drill and practice.

40-pr., 64-pr. and 7 seconds B.L. gun drill and practice.

7 seconds and 9 seconds M.L. gun drill and practice.

Dismounting 7 seconds and 9 seconds guns by gins and jacks.

Parbuckling 7 seconds and 9 seconds guns and moving on sledges.

Laying platforms.

Rocket drill and practice.

Sheers (heavy and light), derricks, etc.

Facing vent pieces.

Redrilling and examination of the non-commissioned officers.

STAFF COLLEGE AND STAFF APPOINTMENTS.

HISTORICAL NOTICE.

The Senior Department of the Military College at Sandhurst was constituted in 1808, to enable officers “to qualify themselves for the Quartermaster-General’s and Adjutant-General’s departments;” and during the Peninsular war, most of the officers in these branches of the service were educated there. So high was its reputation, that the French Staff School was suggested and modeled after it. From motives of economy, its independent government and instruction was gradually reduced, and its graduates, no matter how well qualified, were no longer sure of appointment and promotion, as against purchase, until, in 1855, it became virtually extinct,--the teaching force being reduced to two professors in mathematical studies, and the number of students to six. In the same year, the French Staff School, with its thirteen military and five civil professors, and its range of instruction covering the entire field of practical duties which belong to an efficient staff officer, was held up as a model. In the plans and discussions respecting the reorganization and extension of the educational system of the army, which followed the Crimean war--in the Report (1855) of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Sandhurst; on the suggestions (1856) of the Commissioners on the Training of officers for the Scientific Corps; the plan of Mr. Sidney Herbert, as Secretary of War, in 1854 and 1856; in the instructions of Lord Panmure, in 1856; in the resolution of the House of Commons, July 28, 1857; in the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the purchase system, in their Report of 1857; in the plans of the Council of Military Education, in the same year--the supreme necessity of a staff college, with admission by competitive examination, and the assured encouragement of appointment and promotion on ascertained proficiency and general fitness, was so clearly demonstrated, that at the close (December 17) of 1857, the Senior Department of Sandhurst was changed to that of a staff college, with a corps of professors of its own. A separate building was completed for its accommodation, in 1862; admission was open to officers of all branches of the service by competitive examination. All appointments to the Staff were limited to graduates of the College, who had been attached, for specified periods, to each branch of the service, and to officers of approved ability in the field.

The present establishment consists of

1 Commandant; 1 Adjutant; 2 Professors of Mathematics; 7 Professors (1 in each) of Military history, Fortification and Artillery, Military Topography, Military Administration, French, German, and Hindustani; besides the services of the Riding-master, and the Professors of Chemistry and Geology attached to the Cadet College of Sandhurst.

CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION IN 1868.

The college consists of thirty students. Fifteen vacancies will be offered for competition annually. Only one officer at a time can belong to the college from a battalion of infantry or a regiment of cavalry, and only four officers from the Corps of Royal Artillery; but any number can compete. The officer desiring to compete must be serving with his regiment.

The qualifications requisite for admission are:

1. A service of not less than five years previous to examination, exclusive of leave of absence.

2. A certificate from his commanding officer, as to his standing as a regimental officer, and his general knowledge of the service, character, habits, and disposition in respect to employment on the staff.

3. Certificate of having passed the examination for a troop or company.

4. Medical certificate of good health and fitness for the active duties of the staff.

The subjects of the admission examination, and the relative value of each, in the final result, are

Mathematics, 1,200 Marks.
Military History, 600} 900 “
Military Geography, 300}
French, 300 “
German, 300 “
Hindustani, 300 “
Fortification, 600 “
Military Drawing, 300 “
Mineralogy and Geology, 300 “
Chemistry, Heat, Electricity, and Magnetism, 300 “

In mathematics 400 marks are allotted to arithmetic, the first four books of Euclid, and Algebra, including questions producing simple equations; and of this number, at least 250 must be obtained for qualification.

Every candidate must take up either the French, German, or Hindustani language for qualification; the qualifying minimum is, in French, 150 marks; in German or Hindustani, 100 marks.

The remaining subjects, as well as the higher portions of mathematics, may be taken up or not at the option of the candidate, the marks gained therein being reckoned in determining his position in the list of competitors. No candidate, however, will be allowed to count marks in any subject left optional unless he obtains at least one-sixth of the number allotted to it.

COURSE OF STUDY.

The course of study occupies two years, and the yearly course is divided into two terms, viz., from February 1 to June 15, and July 15 to December 15. The subjects are

Mathematics.

French, German, and Hindustani.

Fortification and artillery.

Topographical drawing, military surveying and sketching.

Reconnaissance.

Military art, military history and geography.

Military administration, including the organization and equipment of
armies in the field.

Military legislation.

Elements of natural philosophy, chemistry, and geology, as applied to
the military sciences.

Exercises in composition will be afforded to the students during the whole course of instruction, in writing memoirs or essays on the subjects of the course.

Riding.

During the whole course, monthly reports of the application and progress of each student are forwarded for the information of the Council of Military Education. Examinations are held at the end of every half year; the summer examination being conducted by the professors of the college, and the winter examination by examiners independent of the establishment, under the superintendence of the Council.

EXAMINATIONS.

The examination at the termination of the first year is probationary, and any student who fails to obtain the minimum aggregate of marks specified below, is required to withdraw.

The following five subjects will be taken up by every student at the probationary examination, viz.:

Maximum. Minimum.
I. Fortification, 280 Marks 90 Marks.
II. Military drawing and surveying, 270 “ 90 “
III. Military history, 300 “ 100 “
IV. Military administration and legislation, 300 “ 100 “
V. French, German, or Hindustani, 400 “ 133 “

Every candidate is expected to obtain 800 marks on the above subjects.

All credits gained on the four military subjects are carried forward
to the final examination.

Of the following subjects the student may select any two, and in those numbered from one to six, as well as in the language already selected as “obligatory,” the student may, at his option, carry forward to the final examination the marks he gains, provided they amount in each case to three-fourths the allotted maximum, when he will be considered as finally examined in that subject:

1. Mathematics, lower course, 400 Marks.
2. Mathematics, higher course, 500 “
3. French, 400 “
4. German, 400 “
5. Hindustani, 400 “
6. Any other modern language, 400 “
7. Natural sciences, lower course, 150 “
8. Experimental sciences, lower course, 150 “

In those numbered seven and eight, the marks gained are carried
forward to the final examination.

In addition to any two of the above subjects, the following may be taken up at the probationary examination; and if 150 marks be gained in it, they may, at the option of the student, be carried forward to the final examination:

Spherical trigonometry and practical astronomy, 200 Marks.

The following are the marks attached to each subject at the final examination, including, in the maximum, the marks appropriated to the probationary examinations:

Subjects to be taken up by every student:

Maximum. Minimum.
Fortification and artillery, 600 Marks 300 Marks.
Military drawing and surveying, 350 } “ 350 “
Reconnaissance, 350 }
Military art, history, and geography, 600 “ 300 “
Military administration and legislation, 500 “ 300 “
French, German, or Hindustani, 400 “ 200 “

Every candidate will be required to obtain for qualification an
aggregate of 1,800 marks on the above five subjects.

Of the following subjects, the student may select any two, and the
credits gained will count for position in the order of merit:

Maximum. Minimum.
Mathematics, lower course, 400 Marks 240 Marks.
Mathematics, higher course, 500 “ 300 “
French, 400 “ 240 “
German, 400 “ 240 “
Hindustani, 400 “ 240 “
Any other modern language, 400 “ 240 “
Natural sciences. 400 “ 240 “
Experimental sciences, 400 “ 240 “

In addition to any two of the above-mentioned subjects, the following may be taken up by any student who did not take it up at the first year’s examination, or did not then obtain three-fourth marks in it:

Maximum. Minimum.
Spherical trigonometry and practical astronomy, 200 Marks 120 Marks.

In the examination in modern languages, great stress will be laid on
original composition.

* * * * *

All officers recommended for staff appointments, who have not proved their fitness in the field, must pass examinations before a board of officers and by the Council.

_a.--Aide-de-Camp._

_Regimental Duty._--The candidate must be prepared in all the subjects
required in the examination for promotion to a troop or company.

_Tactics and Field Movements._--He will be expected to show a competent knowledge of the tactics and field movements of that branch of the Service to which he is destined to be attached as a staff officer, and a general knowledge of those of the other two arms; the examination will include the movements of a brigade, and will be based on the regulation books.

On being reported by the Adjutant-General to possess the necessary professional qualifications, the candidate will be examined by the Council in

_English Composition._--The candidate’s proficiency in this respect
will be tested by his answers to the examination papers.

_Foreign Languages._--He will be examined _vivâ voce_ by the examiner appointed under the Council of Military Education in whatever language he may select and he will also write a short letter on a given subject in that language.

_Military Sketching._--He will be required to sketch at least two square miles of ground selected by the Council. The sketch need not be elaborately finished, but it must clearly and intelligibly represent the features of ground, which must be determined by means of the pocket sextant or prismatic compass.

_Field Fortification._--He must show a knowledge of the principles and construction of field works, and must explain the objects to which they are respectively applicable, as well as the modes of attacking and defending them.

_b.--Brigade Major._

A certificate will be required from the commanding officer of the regiment to which the candidate belongs, or has belonged, that he possesses all the qualifications of a good adjutant. The examination for brigade major will be especially directed to the points more immediately connected with the duties attached to the appointment, as Military Law, the “Queen’s Regulations and Orders of the Army,” the Royal Warrant for Pay, Promotion,” etc., and, in tactics, all that relates to alignments, points of formation, distances, etc. The subjects of examination are the same as in that for the appointment of aide-de-camp, but the examination will be, throughout, of a higher order.

_c.--Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, Deputy Assistant
Quartermaster-General._

_Military Drawing and Sketching, Judgment of Ground, and its Occupation by all Arms._--The candidate will be required to make a rapid sketch on horseback, with report, of about six square miles of country; and to select a position which might be occupied by a given force of the three arms, for some stated object, and to show how he would dispose the troops for that purpose. He will afterward be required to make a correct and more finished plan of the position selected, with the disposition of the troops shown upon it.

_Practical Geometry and Trigonometry._--The examination in these subjects will be limited to determining heights and distances by ground problems, and the ordinary trigonometrical calculations with the aid of logarithms.

_Castrametation._--The candidate will be expected to know the mode of
encampment for each arm of the Service.

_Permanent Fortification._--The theory and construction of permanent works, as exemplified in Vauban’s or any other system the candidate may select, as well as the modes of attack and defence applicable to them.

_Military History and Geography._--The candidate will be expected to give proof that he has carefully studied at least four of the most memorable modern campaigns, of which the details are best known, such as those of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, Napoleon, and Wellington, and in these he must be able to explain the apparent objects of the various movements and the reasons which he supposes led to their adoption, and, further, to describe the military geography of the seat of war.

_Foreign Languages and Professional Subjects._--In languages before the Council of Military Education, as well as in professional subjects before the Board of Officers, the examination will be of a higher order than those in (_a_) and (_b_).

The examination for Assistant Adjutant-General and Assistant
Quartermaster-General will, throughout, be of a higher order.

MUSKETRY, AND OTHER ARMY SCHOOLS.

SCHOOL OF MUSKETRY AT HYTHE.

The first School of Musketry was established in June, 1853, and was composed of detachments from regiments in the neighborhood, viz.: a sergeant, a corporal, and eight rank and file, from the first, second, and third battalion of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Fusileer Guards, Rifle Brigade, etc., to the number of eleven sergeants, eleven corporals, and eighty-eight rank and file. In 1855, a permanent corps of instructors of musketry was organized, and in 1861 a second school was instituted at Fleetwood, which was discontinued in 1867, as one establishment was found sufficient for training an adequate number of officers of the regular army, and a due proportion of officers and sergeants of militia and the Rifle Volunteer Corps.

In connection with the establishment at Hythe, district inspectors are appointed to superintend the general system of musketry instruction throughout the army, viz., three in Great Britain, two in Ireland, five in the colonies, and ten in India.

The instruction embraces not only the practical use of fire-arms, but the details of construction, both of the weapon and ammunition, the theory of projectiles, and the comparative value of different arms for different services.

The staff of the School of Musketry at Hythe consists of 1 Commandant and Inspector-General of Musketry Instruction; 1 Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General; 1 Chief Instructor; 2 Captain Instructors; 1 Paymaster; 1 Quartermaster and Acting Adjutant; 1 Surgeon.

In addition to the preparatory and professional schools for officers of the British Army, already described, there are other public institutions of a military character and for the military service, which will be briefly noticed.

ARMY SURGEONS.

In addition to the competitive examination of candidates for the post of Assistant Surgeon, for which a medical degree is preliminary, the successful candidates must spend four months at Netley, where the Army Medical School is now located (since 1863), in connection with the Royal Victoria Hospital (capable of receiving one thousand patients), where large numbers of invalid patients of the army are treated. Here, with every facility of study, observation, and practice, instruction is given by four professors, each with an experienced assistant, in military surgery, medicine, pathology, and hygiene, and all the specialities of the military hospital and field practice, peculiarities of climate, etc. After spending at least four months in the hospital, laboratory, museum, and lecture-rooms, the candidate is then examined for his commission as Assistant Surgeon.

VETERINARY SURGEON.

Although not exclusively for military service, all veterinary surgeons in the army must hold the diploma of the Royal Veterinary College in St. Pancras, London, or of the Veterinary School in Edinburgh.

ARMY SCHOOLS FOR SOLDIERS AND SOLDIERS’ CHILDREN.

In 1811, on the recommendation of the Duke of York, then Commander-in-Chief, a royal warrant was issued, authorizing the appointment of a sergeant-schoolmaster to each batallion for young recruits and the children of soldiers, with provision for room, fuel, and light in each regimental barrack, and allowance for necessary books and stationery. In 1846, to give greater efficiency and uniformity to the schools established under the warrant of 1811, a new warrant was issued, requiring that the sergeant-schoolmaster should obtain a certificate of fitness from the military training college at Chelsea, and ordering the appointment of an inspector of army schools. In 1854, the following classification of masters was introduced: _First Class_, at 7_s._ a day and certain allowances; _Second Class_, at 5_s._ 6_d._ per day; _Third Class_, at 4_s._ per day; and _Assistants_ at 2_s._ The first-class schoolmaster was a warrant officer, and ranked next to those holding a commission; the second and third class ranked next to sergeant-major, and the assistants ranked as sergeants. At this time the privileges of the regimental schools were extended to the children of discharged soldiers, pensioners, and various persons employed about the barracks. A schoolmistress was also employed for the infant division of pupils, and for teaching needle-work to the girls. In 1863, the office of superintending schoolmaster, with a relative rank of ensign, was created, and four (since increased to twelve) from among the most experienced first-class masters, were appointed to inspect and examine all army schools in their several military districts, and candidates for pupil-teachers and schoolmistresses.

According to the report of the Council of Military Education, for March, 1870, there were two hundred and fifty-nine masters employed by the army schools, and four hundred and eighty-five mistresses and assistants in the children’s schools. In Great Britain there were three hundred and eighteen schools, and thirty-five thousand three hundred and seven non-commissioned officers and men on the books, nine thousand three hundred and fifty-nine boys and girls, besides 11,414 children in the infant schools.

ASYLUM FOR SOLDIERS’ ORPHANS.

Prior to the establishment of the Army Schools in 1811, two large institutions for orphan children of soldiers who had fallen in battle or serving at foreign stations, had been founded and maintained at the public expense.

The Royal Hibernian Institution at Dublin, Ireland, was commenced on a sum appropriated by the Irish Parliament in 1765, and chartered in 1769. It has large buildings, with thirty-four acres of land, and provides for four hundred and ten children on an annual parliamentary grant of twelve thousand pounds for its maintenance, besides the income from a small endowment.

The Royal Military Asylum in Chelsea was begun by the Duke of York in 1801, and can now accommodate five hundred children on a public grant of twelve thousand pounds, besides a further grant of three thousand pounds for furniture and clothing from the Board of Works and the general vote of the army.

NORMAL SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS IN ARMY SCHOOLS.

In the Military Asylum at Chelsea, since 1846, there has existed a Normal School, where teachers of army schools may review their studies, or candidates for vacancies, or pupil teachers, may qualify themselves by study, observation, and practice, for appointment as schoolmasters, and when found qualified they receive certificates of the first, second, and third class, and are paid accordingly.

MILITARY SCHOOL OF MUSIC AT KNELLER HALL.

In the British Army the cost of maintaining the regimental bands falls upon the officers. In the infantry a sergeant, a corporal and nineteen privates are taken from the effective strength of each regiment to form a band. These receive their ordinary regimental pay,--the rest of the pay, and the entire salary of the band-master, if a civilian, together with the cost of the music and musical instruments, are provided out of the Band Fund, which is raised by “stoppages” from the officers on first appointment, and promotion, and by subscription. This fund is managed by a committee of officers. Owing to difficulties in retaining the men, and of finding band-masters with all the requisite qualifications, the Commander-in-Chief (Duke of Cambridge) established a Military School of Music in 1856, in concert with the Secretary of War, which was opened in Kneller Hall for the reception of pupils in March, 1857. The institution must be viewed (1) as a barrack, and (2) as a school of music. (1). As a barrack it is under the direction of the Secretary of War, and is managed as any other barrack. (2). As a school it is under the immediate direction of a military officer (who is appointed by the Commander-in-Chief), and a musical staff composed of nine permanent professors, four occasional professors, and a varying number of special assistants who are selected from the first-class students. There is also a schoolmaster who gives instruction one hour a day in general knowledge to each class, and a military chaplain. The instruments taught in Soprano (8); Alto (3); Tenor (3); Bass (6). The students are divided into four classes, each of which is divided into sections according to the instruments to be learned. Seven hours a day are devoted to obligatory study--but more are given, and a restriction prohibits all practice after 6.45 in the evening.

This course of study occupies two years, and there is a higher which comprises, beside practical instruction in playing and teaching the instruments composing the band, some general acquirements under the theory of harmony. There is also practical training in the duties of a conductor. In addition to ordinary military music, classical concert pieces, or chamber music, specially arranged for wind instruments, are performed. Cheap admissions to the operas and principal concerts of the metropolis are obtained (900 in one year), to such of the advanced students as are recommended for diligence by the professors.

Pupils are selected from the various regiments, and often selected for this special purpose. Boys specially trained for the bands are obtained from the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, the Hibernian Military School, Dublin, and the Metropolitan Poor-law School. Each candidate must be examined by the surgeon of the regiment, and certified to as in good health and with no tendencies to disease liable to be aggravated by playing on a band instrument.

A military band-master is now sanctioned by the Government for any regiment and battalion throughout the service, who receive regimental pay of first-class staff sergeant, and 100_l._ from the Regimental Band Fund.

The expenses of Kneller Hall as a barrack are borne by the government; as a school of music, by the regimental officers--including an original assessment of 5_l._ for supply of instruments, and the salaries to about 1,100_l._ annually.

The average number of students annually admitted is 74; the average number in attendance, 148. The total number admitted since 1857 is 592, of whom 163 were practiced musicians, 63 band-masters, 271 band-men.

III. NAVAL AND NAVIGATION SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Before describing a class of schools in England, which is now receiving special attention and aid from the Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education, viz. NAVIGATION SCHOOLS, we will glance at the condition of Nautical Education generally in this great maritime and commercial country.

The old system of training officers for the Royal Navy, under which mere children with the smallest possible amount of elementary knowledge, made the ship their school, even after a Naval Academy was established, had its peculiar advantages as well as its drawbacks. The captain, having the nomination of an almost indefinite number of “youngsters,” stood towards them in _loco parentis_. He was their governor, guardian, and instructor, and did not “spare the rod” when he thought its application necessary. The captain was then looked up to with a feeling bordering on awe. Without assigning a reason he could disrate or discharge a midshipman; and he could also do much towards pushing him on in the service. The youngster felt that he was entirely in the power of his captain, and, unless of a reckless cast, used his best endeavors to gain his favor. The captain, on the other hand, talked of _his_ youngsters with pride. He, (if he belonged to the better class of naval captains,) took care that every facility should be afforded them for learning their duty, often made them his companions on shore, and superintended their education afloat, sometimes taking a leading part in their teaching. He felt responsible for their bringing up, for some were sons of personal friends or relatives whom he had promised to watch over the youthful aspirants, and all were more or less objects of interest to him. But all this was swept away in 1844, and the captain’s patronage limited to one nomination on commissioning a ship, the Admiralty taking the rest of the patronage into their own keeping. And what was the result? No sooner had the Admiralty absorbed the naval patronage--for the captain was frequently shorn of his one nomination before leaving Whitehall with his commission--than old officers and private gentlemen in middling circumstances found themselves unsuccessful applicants, while the influential country gentleman totally unconnected with the service, but able perhaps to turn the scale of an election, was not under the painful necessity of asking twice for a naval cadetship for his son, or the son of his friend. But what cared the captain for these Admiralty nominees? Too many of them were incapable of profiting by their opportunities, and others neglected to avail themselves of the instructions of the professors of mathematics, and became the victims of dissipation.

I. NAVAL OFFICERS.

_Royal Naval Academy._

The first attempt to educate lads for the naval service of England was in 1729, when the Royal Naval Academy was instituted in Portsmouth Dockyard. The course of instruction included the elements of a general education, as well as mathematics, navigation, drawing, fortification, gunnery, and small arm exercises, together with the French language, the principles of ship-building and practical seamanship in all its branches, for which latter a small vessel was set apart. The number was limited to forty cadets, the sons of the nobility and gentry, and attendance was voluntary. Small as the corps was, it was never full, probably because there was an easier way of gaining admission to the service through official favoritism, by appointment direct to some ship, on board of which during a six years’ midshipman’s berth, he acquired a small stock of navigation and a larger knowledge of seamanship and gunnery practice. In these ships where the captains were educated men, and took a special interest in the midshipmen, and competent instructors were provided and sustained in their authority and rank, this system of ship instruction and training worked well, as under the same conditions it did with us. In 1773 a new stimulus was given to the Academy by extending a gratuitous education to fifteen boys out of the forty, who were sons of commissioned officers. In 1806, under the increased demand for well educated officers, the whole number of cadets was increased to seventy, of whom forty were the sons of officers and were educated at the expense of the government. From this date to 1837 the institution was designated the Royal Naval College, but without any essential extension of its studies. In 1816 a Central School of Mathematics and Naval Architecture was added to the establishment, and in 1828 the free list was discontinued, and the sons of military officers were allowed to share the privileges of the school with the sons of naval officers, at a reduced rate in proportion to their rank. To keep up the number of students who would go through the four years course, it became necessary to extend special privileges, such as made promotion certain and rapid over those who entered the navy direct. This produced inconveniences and jealousies, and in 1837 the Naval College was discontinued.

_Training Ship and Naval College._