UA 
 647 
 
 W39a 
 
 
 WEBSTER
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 MR. DAVID BO(il T E begs to announce that the 
 business, which since the decease of Mr. Hardwicke 
 he has carried on at 192, Piccadilly, under the style 
 of HARDWICKI: & BOGUE, is now removed to more 
 commodious premises at No. 3, ST. MARTIN'S PLACE, 
 TRAFALGAR SQUARE, W.C., and will after this date be 
 continued in the name of Mr. DAVID BOGUE only. 
 
 !.>'/, 1879.
 
 THE 
 
 AMALGAMATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BRITISH ARMY. 
 
 A PROPOSED SCHEME. 
 
 BY 
 
 JIOBERT G. WEBSTER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'SHOULDER TO SHOULDER.' 
 
 LONDON: 
 HARDWICKE AND BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, W. 
 
 1877.
 
 ' : ""
 
 4-7 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IF we wish to avoid war, we ought to make the most 
 perfect, but at the same time most economical, prepara- 
 00 tions in the time of peace. 
 
 5 The whole theory of our national defence is based on 
 2 the assumption that all branches of the Service would 
 be capable, at a short notice, of co-operating effectively 
 together. 
 
 Is that anything more than an assumption ? I hope so. 
 We have mobilized our Army, and though many of the 
 Army Corps are not complete in Artillery, Cavalry, and 
 Engineers, that is a step in the right direction. We, too, 
 have also established, in the Localization Scheme, brigades 
 composed of Regulars, Militia, and Volunteers. 
 
 f^ But have we in any way identified the Reserve with the 
 ^__ Regular forces ? I really think we have not, and that, to 
 1:0 quote a letter of the Duke of Wellington (then Marquis of 
 
 T^ 
 
 o Wellesley) whilst in India, writing to Colonel Stevenson, 
 a after the treaty with Scindiah in 1804, "Everybody ap- 
 pears to be convinced of the necessity of having an army, 
 but nobody appears to be inclined to adopt the measures 
 which are necessary for that purpose. The same little 
 temporary measures are adopted that have been before 
 practised, and they will equally fail." 
 
 Our military system shows no elasticity. The success of 
 every modern campaign depends, in a great measure, on 
 the facility and rapidity with which an army can be 
 mobilized and brought upon a war footing. 
 
 All military critics allow that a good military organiza- 
 tion is one in which the divisions are pliable bodies, which
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 can be easily handled, easily moved, yet formed of such 
 due proportions of the different arms as to be capable of 
 independent action. 
 
 But the great defect that appears to me in our Services 
 is our want of a really efficient Reserve. When the 
 splendid army we sent to the Crimea became thinned, 
 as every army in the field does, we had no Reserve to fall 
 back on, and had to bribe with large bounties to our 
 ranks, anyone whether fit or not who would enlist ; till 
 Lord Raglan wrote home, "Send me no more recruits 
 they crowd the hospitals, and die like sheep." 
 
 Every man in our skeleton army in the Crimea was 
 at one time doing the work of three, and sinking and dying 
 from the failure of overtaxed strength ; but there was no 
 Reserve at home, no help, and no relief, and so they fought 
 and died until battalions ceased to exist, and only mus- 
 tered little groups of sick and weak but strong-hearted men. 
 
 At home all was alarm and excitement ; any amount of 
 money was unhesitatingly voted ; but soldiers, not money, 
 were wanted, and no amount of money could buy them. 
 
 We formed at our leisure German, Italian, and Swiss 
 Legions, most of whom were ready for service about the 
 time when the war was over. Even excluding the question 
 as to the amount of money we then lavished on raising these 
 corps, and the improbability in the present state of Europe 
 of being able to raise foreign legions, I imagine if such a 
 resource was not ready in time during such a crisis as the 
 Crimean war, it would be scarcely likely to be available 
 at the present day. 
 
 Therefore I suggest that every regiment of both Line 
 and Militia should have a second battalion ; the second 
 battalion, in the case of the Line, to be in the main com- 
 posed of men whose three years' service had expired, who 
 would be liable to be called on again if required.
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 In a memorandum, dated March 19, 1813, the late Duke 
 of Wellington writes from the Peninsula thus regarding the 
 reorganization of the Portuguese Army : 
 
 " The regiments, as now formed, have no reserve. A 
 regiment takes the field, and if, by the fatigues of the ser- 
 vice or casualties of war, its numbers should be reduced, it 
 must go bodily to garrison ; whereas, by the organization 
 which I propose, it will always be possible to keep it up in 
 a respectable state for service. 
 
 " What I should propose is, that each regiment should 
 consist of i Colonel, I Lieutenant-Colonel, I Major, 12 
 companies, each of 100 men, and I Captain, and 3 Sub- 
 altern Officers. The regiment to be formed into two 
 battalions, each battalion of six companies. 
 
 "In case the regiment should not consist of 1200 men 
 complete, it should have only ten companies, of which six 
 in the first and four in the second battalion. 
 
 " The regiment would thus become more manageable in 
 manoeuvre. 
 
 "The second battalion of a regiment, left behind in 
 cantonments, would be a reserve for the first, and would 
 furnish it with trained recruits to keep up its numbers. 
 
 " The two battalions of the same regiment should always 
 belong to the same Army, and it would of course rest with 
 the Commander-in-Chief of the Army whether he would 
 or not take both into the field. 
 
 " If he should do so, they would of course act together 
 in the same brigade, under the command of the Colonel, 
 but in separate battalions. 
 
 " Generally speaking, however, I would recommend 
 leaving the second battalion in cantonments, and having 
 the first battalion only in the field." WELLINGTON. 
 
 No one expects that Englishmen would consent to the 
 Prussian system ; but surely it would be possible to devise
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 some scheme to place our different Services on a proper 
 footing, whilst at the same time not shocking our constitu- 
 tional sensibilities. 
 
 I fear I may shock the Conservative instincts of many 
 by hinting at the possibility of forming a Reserve to Her 
 Majesty's Guards. I cannot help that. I dare say those 
 who remember the state of the Guards' regiments the day 
 after Inkermann would not, at that time, have objected to 
 there being a Reserve Guard at home to recruit from. 
 
 With the Prussians, the nearest approach to our Militia 
 system is the Landwehr. But besides Landwehr Infantry 
 they have Landwehr Regiments of the Guards, Landwehr 
 Cavalry (of which branch more anon), Landwehr Artillery, 
 and Engineers. 
 
 That part of the scheme which relates to Light Horse 
 Reserve may be the subject of much criticism. It will be 
 said it is a useless expense, and you can never make 
 Cavalry regiments which are trained only for a portion of 
 the year, of any practical use. To which I would reply, 
 "Are Englishmen, or are they not, as good horsemen, 
 as a rule, as the average Prussian ? " 
 
 Directly after the Prussian and Austrian war of 1866, 
 one reads of an inspection of a corps of Landwehr Cavalry 
 that had only been called out a few weeks, and had, on 
 the advance of the army on Prague, been able to furnish 
 patrols and supply scouts, and driven back, in one instance, 
 to seek refuge under the walls of a fortress, some of their 
 enemy's troops : 
 
 " The way in which the regiment manoeuvred was per- 
 fectly marvellous, considering that a few weeks ago the 
 soldiers were all employed in peaceful occupations and the 
 horses were at farm work. 
 
 " This sudden perfection of the Landwehr Cavalry, 
 though due in some measure to the energy of the officers
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 and to the military capacity of the men, is a direct conse- 
 quence of the Prussian military organization." 
 
 It will be seen that although I propose to have the 
 whole body of troopers in the force of 10,000 Light Horse 
 Reserve trained at three different periods, I have only 
 allowed for 3000 horses to be permanently kept at the 
 Government's expense, and 1000 horses at the men's, as 
 it would be impracticable and a useless expense to keep 
 as large a body of horses as 10,000 for use only a portion 
 of the year. 
 
 In case they were required, the 6000 remaining horses 
 could be purchased, and as the men would know their 
 work, and be fairly trained horse soldiers, with the assist- 
 ance of a few rough riders the horses would soon be made 
 into useful troop horses. 
 
 It would be useless to increase the efficiency of our 
 Army in other respects unless we increased our Army 
 Service Corps, both in men, horses and waggons; and 
 a small Army Service Corps Reserve would be a very 
 valuable force, nor would it require a very long training to 
 be able to ride postilion on a cart-horse. 
 
 In 1866, a letter from me appeared in the 'Times,' a 
 part of which I will venture to quote here : 
 
 "Sir, Having resided some time in Germany, where I 
 had an opportunity of seeing the perfect unanimity which 
 existed between the Regulars and the Reserve Corps, the 
 latter being in fact but old Regulars, it has often struck me 
 that there was a want of cohesion between our three Ser- 
 vices the Line, Militia, and Volunteers. 
 
 " The Services should be taught to act together as one 
 grand army of Englishmen, not as separate bodies ; and I 
 am about to propose something very heterodox, and quite 
 as absurd as, four years ago, it would have been to propose 
 ' Turret ships,' or breechloaders for the Army, both of
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 which will soon be accomplished facts. Why not have 
 a general camp for the three Services once a year, for a 
 week or more, on some great common, say Salisbury Plain ? 
 " We can always spare from garrison duties, &c., 20,000 
 Regulars. There are 120,000 Militia; suppose one-third 
 of them, 40,000, were present, and the same number of 
 Volunteers, in all 100,000 men. They would thus all act 
 together, and get used to evolutions of large bodies ; and, 
 being under discipline, order might be as well kept as it is 
 now at Wimbledon. * * * * 
 
 " I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 
 
 " CANTAB." 
 "Aug. 21, 1866." 
 
 Since writing these lines my "heterodox" ideas have 
 become a reality, in a certain measure, in our annual 
 autumn manoeuvres. I must, however, say, from my expe- 
 rience of having been to one of them with my regiment in 
 an army of about 20,000 men, that, unless we increase our 
 Army Service Corps considerably, some of the 100,000 
 would have rather a hungry time of it. 
 
 There is, however, no use in attempting to really con- 
 sider the Militia as an effective Reserve Army unless the 
 billeting system is done away with. If the Government 
 could abolish it, and place the men in barracks, they would 
 find that a good Militia regiment at present would soon 
 compare favourably with some of the regiments of the 
 Line in smartness and discipline, and those Militia regi- 
 ments not quite up to the mark would improve greatly. 
 Bad as the billeting system is, it is more especially ruinous 
 to a regiment called up for a month's training. To place 
 soldiers in public houses, close to barrels of beer and gin 
 casks, where they are ever urged to drink, and jeered at if 
 they do not, does seem a miserable wretched policy indeed,
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 unworthy of this great and rich country, and may, and 
 probably is, the cause of ruin to many a smart young 
 fellow. Nor has it the advantage of being economical. 
 Put the number of a Militia regiment at 1000 men, the 
 price paid to the innkeepers for the wretched accommoda- 
 tion they give is 4^. a night each man. (In many towns, 
 for lack of accommodation, two men are put in the same 
 bed.) For twenty-seven days' training that amounts to 
 45<D/. which is the sum the country pays annually to 
 elevate the social condition of one Militia regiment, and 
 make the men, if I may express it, beery. But 45O/. paid 
 annually represents, at 3 per cent., a capital of 1 5,ooo/. 
 
 In some cases there are suitable barracks at present 
 lying idle near the head-quarters of two or three Militia 
 regiments. And where there are not, if barracks were 
 built in a central position to contain a Militia regiment, 
 and three regiments were trained in them one after the 
 other, not only would the regiments be improved, but a 
 great saving effected to the country. 
 
 The Localization Scheme is, I presume, theoretically a 
 good idea, but owing to the large amount of troops we 
 have in India, Aldershot, and Ireland, I imagine only the 
 head-quarters of a regiment will, as a rule, be at the dep6t 
 centres. But I do not think it goes quite far enough in 
 making the Militia regiment feel that it has any special 
 interest or anything in common with the regiment of the 
 Line that happens to be in the same brigade with it. One 
 remedy for that would be, to quote a writer to the 
 ' Times ' : 
 
 " Place a given battalion in direct communication with 
 a given battalion of the Line ; let each know that {pr the 
 future they were to look to one another, and you would 
 find that the Militia battalion would quickly acquire the 
 esprit de corps of the Regulars to whom they were attached,
 
 and that, if occasion required, the one would fight as well 
 as the other." 
 
 It would entail no expense, as the Militia uniforms 
 became worn out, to change gradually their uniforms to 
 that of the regiment of the Line in their brigade, marking 
 the distinction by the shako-plate. 
 
 What nation can show a body of Volunteers equal to 
 ours in intelligence and cheapness ? Their services have 
 never been required, but their brother Canadian Volunteers 
 across the Atlantic have ; and it is well known how well 
 the Canadian Volunteers behaved in 1866 against the 
 Fenians, and Colonel McDougall reported thus of them : 
 " Both as regards proficiency and drill, acquired under 
 great disadvantages, this force is of great value. Many 
 have sacrificed more than twice the pay given by the 
 Government rather than withdraw from their duty." 
 
 It has been urged by so many writers, apparently with 
 not the slightest effect, that it seems like going over a 
 thrice-told tale to contend that if you wish to have a good 
 and efficient supply of the backbone of an army, namely, 
 non-commissioned officers, you must hold out inducements 
 to them, and not let them feel that when they leave the 
 Service after having held a responsible position in it, their 
 sole way of gaining a livelihood is to become commis- 
 sionaires. In other countries they are made railway and 
 telegraph officials, subordinate Government clerks, overseers 
 of the public forests, non-commissioned officers of police, 
 post-office clerks, and gaolers, and generally are found to 
 be respectable and well-disciplined men. In most cases 
 were an old soldier to apply for any of these posts here, 
 no matter what character he bore, the fact of his having 
 been a soldier would cause his application instantly to be 
 refused without any further inquiry. 
 
 It will be noticed that in this Reorganization Scheme
 
 ( II ) 
 
 I base some parts of it on the assumption that return to the 
 ballot is inevitable if we wish to have an effective army. I 
 am no advocate or admirer of the ballot for the Militia or 
 any other branch of the Service. All I am an advocate for 
 is that we have a really effective and useful army for the 
 money expended ; and if we can do so by voluntary 
 enlistment by all means let us continue on that system. 
 
 If we do have the ballot we must, however, take care 
 that while it ensures us having an efficient army, it presses 
 as lightly as possible on the population. 
 
 I do not think 220,000 men an excessive amount out of 
 our population of 31,000,000. It is an average of about 
 seven to every thousand inhabitants of these isles ; at 
 present about four in every thousand enlist voluntarily in 
 the Militia ; then, as now, many would volunteer for a 
 second and third term of service, and probably about 
 three or four per thousand would only require to be drawn 
 every three years, or at the rate of one per thousand a year. 
 In Prussia and France about thirty per thousand of the 
 entire population are dVawn by ballot, and are liable to 
 serve. 
 
 It may be asked if the total amount of service is to be 
 six months two weeks during the five years the Reserve 
 soldier is enrolled, would it not be better for him to drill 
 two and a half months the first year, and to have one 
 month's drill each of the succeeding four years ? This plan, 
 it appears to me, would break more into the recruit's 
 duties in civil life, and, being a tax on his time for five 
 years instead of practically for three, would prove a 
 more onerous mode for completing his service, and not 
 produce better results in drill, discipline, or shooting than 
 the way I suggest. 
 
 In three months' drill in the first year after enlistment, 
 a man of average intelligence would fairly learn his work.
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 During the second year's training of six weeks he would 
 not have to hurry over the different duties demanded of 
 him as he has at present to do in a month. Four weeks of 
 his time might be devoted to battalion movements. 
 During the remaining fortnight of the training in alternate 
 weeks, the right and left half battalions could go through a 
 musketry course and ball practice. 
 
 The half battalion not engaged at musketry would be 
 practised in light infantry drill. 
 
 One or two route marches during a training would also 
 be useful in teaching the men the duties of advance and 
 rear guards, and give them a change from the monotonous 
 groove. 
 
 The time at present devoted to musketry during a 
 month's training obliges the instructors to give the men 
 three hours' aiming and position drill at a stretch, instead 
 of the short and frequent drills they have in the Regular 
 Army; these long drills only tire and weary the men, 
 without doing them very much good. 
 
 In the third year's service six weeks' training again 
 would allow plenty of time for the drill being well kept up. 
 
 After three years' service the Reserve soldier would 
 return to civil life with a good knowledge of his military 
 duties ; and, in whatever position he might then be, he 
 would find no difficulty in attending a week's drill each of 
 the remaining two years ; and I should imagine the 
 rejoining his regiment, and meeting his comrades, would 
 make it rather a popular duty than otherwise. 
 
 If we resort in any degree to a ballot at all, it ought 
 to be a practical measure ; we ought to make out of it 
 real regiments, not sham ones. It would be advisable also 
 to allow respectable men that are drawn to serve in 
 regiments where their comrades would be in their own 
 social position ; and also give the men who would have
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 to serve the country for three years in the Reserve Army 
 a chance of being made officers if fit for that position, 
 not only in the Reserve but in the Regular Army. When 
 one sees, as we do now, the immense number of candi- 
 dates for commissions in the Army, I do not think we 
 should have any difficulty of filling the ranks of the two 
 regiments of Light Horse and of the Reserve Guard, in 
 which is offered an especial chance for men of ability and 
 position of obtaining commissions in the Regular and 
 Reserve forces. For it is a serious question with many 
 whether a man of fair ability, possessing youth, zeal, and 
 a sound constitution, does not make a better Cavalry 
 and Infantry officer than a scientific bookworm turns out 
 to be ? 
 
 We shall have a large body of unemployed officers 
 under the new Retirement Scheme. If we made it a sine 
 qua non that they served in the Reserve, allowing full 
 pay whilst on duty, in addition to any half pay they 
 might be entitled to, we should gain for the Reserve 
 service a large number of valuable officers. I think there 
 is no doubt they would amalgamate with the Reserve 
 officers, who are, in many cases, the elder brothers of 
 families, whose younger scions go into the Regular 
 Army. If the Regular officers who served were in the 
 second battalions only, it would entail a less tax on their 
 time, as one quarter only of the officers would require to be 
 present the whole six weeks of the training, the remainder 
 being present but one week. 
 
 It is a difficult thing to make remarks about the amount 
 of drill that a soldier in our Regular Army goes through in 
 an endless and wearying round. Imagine a man just 
 returned from a campaign worried with position drill and 
 the "goose step" at Aldershot. Does not this on the 
 face of it appear an amount of useless, misplaced energy ? 
 
 B 4
 
 Probably many of my readers may be aware that a 
 large percentage of Prussian soldiers only serve six months 
 before they are placed in the Reserve, and that four out of 
 five of the Prussian Regular Army are not during peace 
 present with the colours. 
 
 I am well aware that in an unacknowledged, haphazard 
 sort of fashion, Militiamen have been recruited for, and 
 served in large numbers in the Line. In the Indian Mutiny, 
 the Crimean War, Waterloo, and in one instance, in the 
 Peninsular War, a regiment went into action with half its 
 men wearing their Militia uniforms ; they had not time 
 to change. 
 
 I am also conversant with that institution called the 
 Militia Reserve, to which a large proportion of the men in 
 Militia regiments belong, and receive I/, annually on the 
 understanding (if the men indeed clearly understand what 
 they receive it for) that in case they are required they will 
 have to serve in the Line without further bounty. Now 
 I should like to ask one question. If a man had a certain 
 sum of money in each of his side pockets, would he con- 
 sider he had added to his wealth by taking a large sum 
 out of his left pocket and putting it in his right ? What 
 do we find here ? If an emergency was to arise and it is 
 only for an emergency that, I presume, we present this 
 4O,ooo/. annually to the Militiamen we should fill up the 
 ranks of our Line regiments by drafting into them as many 
 of these Militia Reserve men as we could catch. Those 
 we did not succeed in finding would also desert from their 
 Militia regiments. We should take away the men from 
 their own regiments and officers who understood them, and 
 draft them amongst strangers. We should turn our Militia 
 regiments into skeleton corps, useless as a reserve, or 
 anything else, composed of officers, a sergeant-major, and 
 a band.
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 Whereas by the plan I suggest, the first battalion of the 
 Line would be mainly completed to its full strength by 
 the Reserve men in its own second battalion. In case 
 these men were not sufficient, plenty of recruits could be 
 obtained from the first battalion of the linked Militia 
 regiment, without our wasting I/, a year on each man in 
 the Militia Reserve. And, in its turn, the first battalion of 
 Militia would make up its ranks from its own second 
 battalion. The first battalion of the Line regiment would 
 be thus complete, and mostly composed of regular soldiers, 
 with a complete and efficient first battalion of its linked 
 Militia regiment, to act and be a really efficient, and not 
 a merely paper reserve. 
 
 With regard to the increase on the Estimates, we find the 
 present Militia of 120,000 men for 1875-76 cost 672,6^1. 
 Under the balloting system some portion of this sum, say 
 I72,ooo/., would not be required for bounties, and bringing 
 money for recruits, &c. Many regiments have, at the 
 present time, a staff of officers and sergeants sufficient for a 
 larger body of men. So the increase of 100,000 men would 
 not bring the Militia estimates above i,ooo,ooo/., or a total 
 increase of about 23O,ooo/. ; add to this 70,000!. for the 
 increase of 40,000 effective Volunteers, and the total 
 increase would be about 3OO,OOO/. for the 140,000 addi- 
 tional men in the Reserve Army. 
 
 We are, as a nation, fond of peace, and, the world 
 knows, not ambitious of conquests ; we wish, however, to 
 have a sufficient force to keep our country respected and 
 possessions safe ; we require, therefore, as large a body as 
 possible of available, efficient and willing men at the least 
 possible cost to the country. 
 
 I now venture, with this introduction, to lay before my 
 readers this scheme of Army organization which I have 
 drawn up, reminding them of ^Esop's Fable, in which the
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 lion who was bound with ropes, and could not extricate 
 himself with the most strenuous and fierce endeavours, 
 was released by the nibbling of his cords by a little 
 mouse. I do not presume to say I am the mouse which 
 is to extricate our Services from the chains of " routine " ; 
 but if I only show other mice the ropes to nibble I have 
 fulfilled my task. I have written this with ever before my 
 eyes the fact that " No system of administration would be 
 worth having, unless, jealous of expense in time of peace, 
 it allows for a wide expansion without hurry and without 
 confusion in time of war."
 
 SCHEME FOR THE AMALGAMATION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ARMY AND THE RESERVE ARMY. 
 
 1. Acknowledging that the present military forces of 
 Great Britain would not be sufficient for an emergency. 
 
 2. That the present system of voluntary enlistment does 
 not bring a sufficient number of men of the required stamp 
 to the colours. 
 
 3. That even were the bounty and pay greatly increased, 
 it is doubtful whether the ranks would be filled; but 
 certain the country would have to pay an undue amount 
 for the troops, and also certain it would cause desertion to 
 be more prevalent, owing to the increased temptation of 
 men deserting to obtain a second large bounty. 
 
 4. That if the ballot is inevitable, it ought to be applied 
 so as not to withdraw men entirely against their will from 
 year to year from civil life. Therefore it ought not to 
 be applied to our Regular Army. 
 
 5. That properly managed it might with facility be used 
 to fill the Militia, and if worked well not be unpopular in 
 the country. 
 
 6. Also acknowledging that the country, whilst requiring 
 a larger number of troops, demands that the expenses of
 
 the Army be increased as little as possible, and since ten 
 Militiamen cost the country the price of one Line soldier, 
 it would be most expedient to increase that force in 
 numbers and efficiency. 
 
 7. In round numbers our Army at present is : 
 
 Regular Army 1 30,000 
 
 Militia 120,000 
 
 Yeomanry . . .... . . 12,000 
 
 Volunteers 160,000 
 
 422,000 
 
 My scheme is to increase the Army by 10,000 men by 
 voluntary enlistment, and the Militia by 100,000 men 
 by ballot ; and also, by permitting an efficient Volunteer 
 of two years' standing not to have to chance being balloted 
 for, increase the Volunteer force to 200,000 men. 
 
 8. The addition to the Regular Army to consist of, 
 5000 Field Artillery, 4000 Cavalry, 500 Engineers, 500 
 Army Service Corps. 
 
 9. The names of Militia and Yeomanry to be abolished, 
 in lieu of which Reserve A rmy to be substituted. 
 
 jo. The Army would then consist of: 
 
 Regular Army 140,000 
 
 Reserve Army 232,000 
 
 Volunteers 200,000 
 
 572,000 men 
 
 ii. All first battalions of regiments of the Reserve 
 Army to be increased to their proper strength. To certain
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 regiments second battalions to be created. No new regi- 
 ments to be formed. 
 
 The regiments of the Regular Army being 109, the 
 regiment of the Reserve Army to be the same number, 
 each regiment of Reserve having a higher number than 
 109, to be changed to form the second battalion of some 
 regiment of Reserve under 109, not having a second 
 battalion. 
 
 As the regiments of the Reserve are to be intimately 
 connected with the Regular battalions whose number they 
 bear, this will entail an entire renumbering of the Reserve 
 battalions. This, as these numbers are not at present used, 
 will entail no difficulty. 
 
 One would thus speak of the 5ist Regiment and the 
 5 ist Reserve. 
 
 12. The percentage of the young men from nineteen to 
 twenty-five who would have to serve in the Reserve Army 
 would not be large in our population of 30,000,000 to 
 keep up the Reserve Army to 232,000, and would allow 
 exemptions, such as a son supporting his parents, &c. 
 
 An efficient Volunteer of two years' standing liable to be 
 balloted for if he became non-efficient or left the force 
 before the age of thirty-five. 
 
 Substitutes would be allowed of good character. 
 
 13. To induce men to like the Service, and not to leave 
 it, would be the best policy. 
 
 Each regiment of Reserve to have two battalions, the 
 service to be as follows, for five years only : 
 
 ist year . . . . 3 months > 
 
 2nd . . . . 6 weeks > in first battalion. 
 
 3rd .. . . 6 _
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 Reserve soldiers then to have option of volunteering for 
 six years more service in first battalion, receiving bounty 
 as at present. 
 
 First enlistment to be solely by ballot. 
 
 If not re-enlisting, to pass into second battalion. 
 
 4th year . . . . I week ) 
 
 , ' > m second battalion. 
 
 5th ....i,,J 
 
 First battalions to be at their proper complement during 
 all the training. 
 
 Second battalions, during the week the fourth and fifth 
 year men are up, at full strength ; remainder of training 
 about one-third strength. 
 
 The 232,000 Reserve Army to consist solely of first, 
 second, and third year men. The fourth and fifth year 
 men to be in addition. 
 
 14. To those who have had dealings with, or have been 
 in command of the Militia, as at present constituted, the 
 fact is evident that there are many men in the ranks of 
 doubtful character, and that many men of respectable posi- 
 tion, who might be drawn by ballot, and who would have 
 no objection otherwise to serve their country in the Reserve 
 Army, would purchase a substitute instead of serving with 
 them. 
 
 15. The remedy first abolish the billeting system ; it is 
 bad, demoralizing, and expensive. 
 
 Build cheap huts, as at Aldershot ; and, by ordering out 
 three regiments consecutively, they will be full, six months 
 in the year, prove cheaper, and make the regiments better 
 in health, cleanliness, and discipline.
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 Never put, if possible, more than ten men in a room. 
 
 Let the sergeants have a room to themselves. 
 
 16. Before proceeding to describe another remedy, it will 
 be needful to proceed to roughly divide how many of the 
 232,000 of Reserve Army will be apportioned to each 
 branch of the Service. 
 
 Reserve Army. 
 
 Yeomanry, left as before described, as 
 Auxiliary Cavalry, with numerical 
 
 numbers 12,000 
 
 Light Horse : same amount of drill. 
 Infantry first year, three months ; 
 second year, six weeks ; third, ditto ; 
 in 20 regiments of 500 men each. 
 Described 1st Light Horse Reserve, 
 and so on ; connected with corre- 
 sponding numerical Cavalry regi- 
 ment 10,000 
 
 Artillery, reserve of, and bearing simi- 
 lar letters on collar to Regular Ar- 
 tillery 25,000 
 
 Engineers : reserve of Regulars . . 4,000 
 Army Service Corps : ditto . . . . 1,000 
 Reserve Guards, in twenty battalions. 
 Height not under 5 feet 8 inches. 
 Good character. Uniform similar to 
 
 Her Majesty's Guards 20,000 
 
 Reserve Infantry: 109 regiments, with 
 first and second battalions, as pre- 
 viously described 160,000 
 
 232,000
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 17- The whole tone of the Service, which has improved 
 much of late years, would be improved by the class of men 
 the ballot would bring in. 
 
 Of all branches, make as corps cT elite : 
 
 The Light Horse. 
 The Reserve Guards. 
 
 No man allowed in these Corps without inquiry as to 
 his antecedents. 
 
 1 8. The Light Horse uniform to be handsome, but 
 serviceable. Men drawn of good character, and used to 
 horse exercise, to be allowed to apply for permission to be 
 enrolled in this branch of the Service. 
 
 The whole 10,000 to be formed into two brigades of 
 5000 each. 
 
 Two brigade barracks to be formed capable of holding 
 1500 horses. 
 
 The brigades to be drilled at three periods : first four 
 regiments, then three regiments, then three regiments. 
 
 The men of one regiment (one of the first four trained) in 
 each brigade to supply their own horses, to have them fed 
 at the Government expense, and receive a bonus for 
 keeping them. 
 
 The bonus to be paid nine months after the training, on 
 the horse being produced and inspected by a Government 
 veterinary surgeon. 
 
 The drilling of the brigade would occupy seven months 
 in the year ; during the other five months, the barracks 
 to be turned into a Cavalry riding school, and some horses 
 drafted to other work required by the Government.
 
 The two regiments containing men supplying their own 
 horses would contain a proportion of men of position and 
 education suitable to be made officers. 
 
 The twenty Light Horse regiments would require twenty- 
 five officers each, in all 500 officers. 
 
 The Colonels of the two regiments supplying their own 
 horses to have the privilege of nominating twenty-five men 
 for commissions in the Reserve Cavalry each year, and five 
 commissions on passing qualifying examinations to the 
 Regular Cavalry. 
 
 Pay and allowances during training to be similar to 
 Regular Cavalry. 
 
 All regiments to be commanded by ex- Regular officers. 
 
 Alternate commissions to the rank of Captain to be given 
 to retired Cavalry officers and to Lieutenants in the regi- 
 ments. 
 
 19. It is a thing apparently lost sight of, that if you 
 give a man a uniform he is proud of, and not the slovenly 
 uniforms served out to the present Militia, you make him 
 more anxious to do credit to himself and his regiment. 
 Therefore, allowing for the position and physique of the 
 recruits, the ballot would bring to the Reserve Army twenty 
 battalions of men of 5 feet 8 inches, of good character, 
 who could be enrolled in the 
 
 Reserve Guard, containing 20,000 men ; 
 
 these added to the Guards, three regiments Guards Cavalry, 
 three regiments Dragoon Guards, with proportional Horse 
 Artillery, Field Artillery, Engineers, and Army Service 
 Corps, would form a 
 
 CORPS D'ARME of 30,000 Guards.
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 The Reserve Guard to be formed into four brigades of 
 5000 men each, and, if practicable, drilled together in two 
 standing camps, the same standing camp serving for two 
 brigades ; one brigade trained after the other. 
 
 A regiment of the Guards to be sent to drill with each 
 brigade, to give the Reserve Guards a standard to work 
 up to, as far as possible, that to which troops drilled a 
 portion of the year only could be expected to attain. 
 
 The Colonel of each regiment to have the privilege of 
 nominating five men of sufficient position and education 
 to the rank of Sub-Lieutenants in the Reserve Army each 
 year, and three Sub-Lieutenants of the Reserve to be nomi- 
 nated, on serving two years in Reserve, for a commission in 
 the Regular Army, after passing qualifying examination. 
 
 The Colonels to be ex-Line officers. 
 
 The rank of Sub-Lieutenant or Lieutenant to be by direct 
 appointment, or from the ranks. 
 
 The rank of Captain to be given alternately to ex-Line 
 officers, and to the Lieutenants in the regiment. 
 
 The pay, allowances, and uniform to be similar to Her 
 Majesty's Guards. 
 
 The first battalions to be complete. 
 
 The second battalions one-third full strength, except 
 when the fourth and fifth year men serve. 
 
 The 20,000 Reserve Guard to be exclusive of fourth and 
 fifth year men, which would increase the number. 
 
 20. The Artillery Reserve (25,000 men) to be drilled and 
 associated, as far as practicable, with the Line Artillery. 
 If practicable, a small portion turned into field batteries. 
 
 21. The Engineer Reserve (4000 men) similar to the 
 Royal Engineers in uniform, drill, and pay.
 
 22. The Army Service Corps Reserve (1000 men), re 
 cruited from men accustomed to horses, such as waggoners, 
 grooms, &c., and when not required for their duties as the 
 Army Service Corps, to be drilled in four small battalions 
 of 250 men each, as Infantry. 
 
 23. The Infantry Reserve (160,000 men). Each regiment, 
 with its first and second battalions, to change to the 
 number of the regiment it is linked with in the mobiliza- 
 tion scheme, which number to be placed on the uniform. 
 The number to be marked in silver. The rest of uniform 
 identical to the same number of regiment in Line. 
 
 The drill pay allowances to be the same as Line. 
 
 Strength of first and second battalions as paragraph 13. 
 
 Colonel to have the power of nominating two officers 
 a year to pass for commissions in Line, and in case of 
 exceptional merit, to raise men from ranks to the grade 
 of Sub-Lieutenant. 
 
 The commission of Captain to be given alternately to 
 half-pay Line officers and officers in the regiment. 
 
 The Colonel to be either an ex-Line officer, or an officer 
 who has been through the Reserve Army only. 
 
 24. As it is proposed to allow officers to retire earlier 
 on half pay, make it obligatory on them, on taking half 
 pay, to serve till the age of forty in the Reserve Army. 
 Their pay in the Reserve Army to be extra to their 
 Army pay. 
 
 25. The above scheme would, I submit, make the Army 
 Corps complete in every branch of the Service, besides 
 adding a new Guards Army Corps of as fine troops as any 
 in the world, about 30,000 strong. And when it is taken 
 into account the large amount that is now spent in bounties
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 to Militia recruits, 25 per cent, of whom never join the 
 colours, which expense would by the ballot be abolished ; 
 when also we take into account the large amount that is 
 paid in half pay to officers who give nothing to the country 
 for the money they receive, we find we lose much money, 
 and the services of a large body of excellent officers. 
 
 The expense to the country would be inconsiderable, 
 and the advantages great. 
 
 The cost ought not to exceed 3oo,ooo/. on the Estimates, 
 for increasing the Reserves by 140,000 men, which would 
 be a small premium on the extra security to this country 
 and to our colonies and possessions all over the world. 
 
 26. The ballot would not press heavily on our large 
 population, If a man was drawn, and did not find a 
 substitute, his sole military duties would consist of six 
 months' drill in three years in time of peace, with two 
 weeks' drill the two years afterwards. A week's drill is 
 now undergone by many Volunteer regiments under canvas, 
 at their own and their officers' expense. In the Reserve 
 Cavalry and Reserve Guards, and in certain cases in the 
 Reserve Line, a man might become an officer in the 
 Reserve Army, and, if he passed an examination, in 
 the Regular Army. 
 
 27. The Auxiliary Cavalry, now Yeomanry (12,000 men), 
 to be allowed to recruit only to a stated strength. Each 
 man to enlist and serve five trainings in it ; if missing one, 
 to serve an extra year. 
 
 Such service to be an exemption from the ballot. 
 
 28. The Volunteer regiments (200,000 men) to recruit 
 to a stated strength, to bring the whole force up to 200,000 
 men.
 
 The Volunteer regiments to be attached to, and serve 
 with the same brigades as in the mobilization of the Army. 
 
 Volunteers to enlist for five years, and, if non-efficient, 
 liable for the ballot. 
 
 29. From the increased number of men who would have 
 to serve, an increased number would be found willing to 
 enlist as volunteers in the Regular Army from the Reserve 
 Army. 
 
 30. The service in the Reserve Army being compulsory, 
 the recruiting for entering the present Militia would not 
 compete with the recruiting to enter the Regular Service. 
 
 Associate the Reserve Army with the Regular Army. 
 
 Slightly increase the bounty on joining the Service. 
 
 Make certain civil appointments under the Crown eli- 
 gible for old soldiers only. 
 
 . The fact of the present system of deferred pay will, in 
 the course of a year or two, be well known, and it seems 
 certain that not only will the numbers of the Reserve 
 Army be increased, but that recruiting will increase, and 
 the Regular Army become more popular. 
 
 [NOTES.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 (i). The Act of anno 42 Geo. III. cap. go, for balloting for 
 the Militia, although in abeyance, still exists. A new Act would 
 require to be passed, and a new system planned workable at the 
 present day, in case the country should decide to revert in any 
 degree to the ballot. 
 
 (2). The name " Militia" only dates back to about 1641, and 
 was then condemned by Whitlock, addressing the House of 
 Commons, thus : " I do heartily wish that this great word, this 
 new word the Militia this harsh word might never have come 
 within these walls" ('Commons Journal,' vol. ii. pp. 316 and 406). 
 The numbers put at the side of Militia regiments in the ' Army 
 List' were drawn by lot in 1854, have no historical interest, are 
 not used, and, in most cases, not known by either officers or men. 
 
 LONDON : PRINTED UY WM. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
 
 
 EKRATUM. 
 
 Page 3, lino 18, for "Marquis of Welloslcy" read "Major-General the 
 Hon. A. Wellesley."
 
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