with the recommendations of the Council of Military Education, made
considerable changes in the examinations, and placed them on their
present basis. The subjects of regimental and ordinary duties on which
candidates were to be examined were more minutely detailed than
heretofore; the examinations were made entirely professional, geography
being excluded from the second examination, and at the same time it was
announced that lieutenants would be required to show a sufficient
knowledge of reconnaissance and of field fortification. But the most
important change made at this time was in regard to the mode of
conducting the examinations, which were no longer to be carried on
regimentally, but by a board appointed by the commanding officer of the
district, consisting (if possible) of three field officers,--with the
additional provision that in no case in which it could possibly be
avoided, an officer of the same regiment as the candidate was to be a
member of the board. Cornets and ensigns were to be required to pass the
examination before completing eight months’ service; and, in order to
give additional stringency to the regulations, it was announced that the
Commander-in-Chief would “not hesitate to promote (either regimentally
or from other corps) officers who may have passed the required
examination, in place of the idle and incompetent.”
REGULATIONS IN FORCE IN 1869.
_Infantry and Cavalry._
159. Before officers are recommended for promotion to the rank of
lieutenant, the commanding officer is to apply to the senior officer of
the district or station for a board to examine and report upon their
qualifications as under:
(_a._) They must have a thorough knowledge, and must give an
account, of the duties they have to perform as regimental orderly
officers, as officers commanding guards, or as subaltern officers of
guards under officers of superior rank.
(_b._) They must have a thorough knowledge of, and be able to put a
company through the various exercises and evolutions prescribed in the
first two parts of the “Field Exercises of the Infantry;” and they must
be acquainted with the rifle drill and practice, and the theoretical
principles of musketry, as defined in the authorized book of
instruction.
(_c._) They must know exactly the place of all the company officers
in every situation of the battalion, and be able to command a company in
battalion exercise.
(_d._) They must be acquainted with such parts of the Queen’s
Regulations and Orders for the Army as relate to the duties, and conduct
of a subaltern officer, and with the Mutiny Act and Articles of War, so
far as is necessary for the performance of their duties as members of a
court-martial.
(_e._) They must be acquainted with the regulations of the army in
regard to the pay and messing of the troops, the supply of clothing and
necessaries, and all details regarding the weight of, and mode of
carrying, the various articles of the soldier’s kit, arms,
accoutrements, and ammunition.
160. In addition to such portions of the foregoing as may apply to the
cavalry service, it is necessary in the case of cornets recommended for
promotion to the rank of lieutenant,--
(_a._) That they shall have learnt their foot drill and sword
exercise, and have been instructed in the single and double ride.
(_b._) That they shall be able to put a troop through the carbine,
lance, and sword exercise, and to exercise both a squad and troop in the
drill and evolutions prescribed in the Cavalry Exercise Book.
(_c._) That they shall be able to command a troop in squadron
exercise.
(_d._) That they shall have made themselves masters of the detail of
saddlery, the mode of fitting the saddle, bridle, etc., and of the whole
equipment of the cavalry soldier and his horse.
161. Lieutenants in the Cavalry and Infantry will, in addition to the
foregoing, before they are recommended for promotion to the rank of
captain, be required to show that they are further duly qualified as
follows:
(_a._) They must have a thorough knowledge of the provisions of the
Mutiny Act and Articles of War, and of the forms and proceedings of
courts-martial, and must give evidence of having studied some of the
standard works on military law.
(_b._) They must understand perfectly the evolutions of a regiment
of cavalry or a battalion of infantry, as laid down in the regulations
for those services respectively.
(_c._) They must be acquainted with the light infantry drill, duties
of outposts, patrols, escorts, advanced and rear guards.
(_d._) They must perfectly understand the interior economy of a
troop or company, and the established system of keeping their accounts.
(_e._) They must be thoroughly acquainted with the Queen’s and War
Office Regulations applicable to their own branch of the service.
(_f._) They must be competent to take charge of a troop, company, or
detachment, in every position in which it may be placed.
(_g._) And they will be required to show that they have a sufficient
knowledge of field fortification and reconnaissance.
162. The board of examination is to consist, if possible, of three
field officers; but on no occasion, when it can be avoided, is any
officer of the same regiment as the candidate to be a member. In all
cases the board will ascertain by practical examination, as well as by
verbal and written answers to questions, whether the officer is
instructed in the subjects specified in the preceding paragraphs. The
questions are to be written on half margin, and the replies written
opposite to them. The board will mark in red ink its correction of any
mistakes in the answers, and will certify in each case that “the
candidate has not received any assistance from books or other sources.”
The report of the board to be on a separate sheet, and when officers of
different regiments are examined by the same board, the report in
connection with each regiment is to be made separately.
163. The general officer commanding will forward the report of the
board, and the written questions and replies, to the adjutant-general,
accompanied by his own observations thereon, regarding the nature of the
examination, the correctness of the answers, and the eligibility of the
officer examined.
164. Every cornet or ensign is to be examined on the different points
herein specified, before he has completed one year’s service; and should
he fail to qualify himself for promotion within that period, his
commanding officer must report, through the general officer commanding,
for the information of the Commander-in-Chief, whether it is owing to a
want of diligence and attention on the part of the officer, or to
sickness, or other circumstances over which he could have had no
control.
165. No officer will be recommended for promotion to the rank either
of lieutenant or captain unless his examination papers and certificate
of qualification have been received by the Military Secretary; but the
Commander-in-Chief will, in all cases, select the senior officer who may
have qualified for promotion to the higher grade.
_Artillery._
166. The examination of lieutenants of artillery for the rank of
captain will include all the subjects required from officers of the line
of corresponding rank, except that a general knowledge only of the
evolutions of cavalry and infantry will suffice. In addition to the
foregoing, lieutenants of artillery are to be examined as to their
acquaintance with the more special duties of their arm of the service.
The following will serve as a guide:
(_a._) Field-gun drill. Exercise of heavy guns on ground and
traversing platforms, mortar drill, rocket drill, Armstrong gun drill,
practice with hot shot and molten iron shells, gun and transporting
carriage drill.
(_b._) General duties of the men, and principles involved in
mounting and dismounting ordnance generally, in placing guns on towers,
in embarking and disembarking ordnance, and in moving ordnance up steep
inclines; also the tackle, etc., required in the above operations.
(_c._) Different pieces of ordnance in use throughout the service at
the time of examination, their weight and calibre, and special purpose.
(_d._) Ammunition employed with ordnance generally; ammunition
employed with Armstrong guns; general construction of a Congreve rocket,
and the principle of its motion; manufacture and action of fuzes and
tubes; the advantages of the rifle action, and the principle upon which
it depends; essential points with regard to rifling ordnance: general
principles of breaching; position and employment of artillery in the
field; considerations which regulate the rapidity of artillery fire;
principles connected with the construction of artillery carriages;
general knowledge of laboratory duties.
(_e._) Embarking and disembarking horses; management of horses on
board ship.
(_f._) To be able to define technical artillery terms, etc., in such
a way as to make them understood by the non-commissioned officers and
men under their command, such as,--1, point blank; 2, point blank range;
3, dispart; 4, chambers; 5, preponderance; 6, different kinds of
artillery fire; 7, how elevation gives an increase of range; 8, windage;
9, deviation, etc., etc.
(_g._) Subalterns who have been one year or more in the horse
brigade, or in a field battery, will be required, in addition to the
foregoing subjects, to be thoroughly acquainted with stable duties, and
horse artillery or field battery movements and details. All must have a
general knowledge of these subjects.
167. Every officer, on becoming the thirtieth on the list of
lieutenants, must be prepared to undergo the required examination. Any
officer, after four years’ service, may apply for such examination at an
earlier period.
168. Instructions will, from time to time, be issued to the general or
other officer commanding districts or stations, to assemble a board, to
consist of three officers, viz., a field officer (of the artillery, if
possible), an officer of the staff, and a captain of artillery, or an
officer of that corps who may already have passed the examination.
Either the gunnery instructor or the fire-master should, when
practicable, be selected for this duty. If it be impossible to obtain a
staff officer, a captain of the line should be substituted; if a second
officer of artillery cannot be had, an officer of engineers should be
substituted; but either the president or one member must be of the
artillery.
169. That portion of the examination which can be best replied to in
writing will be conducted by means of questions prepared by the deputy
adjutant-general of artillery, and forwarded to the general officer
commanding the district. The _vivâ voce_ and practical examination will
be conducted by the board of officers, who will satisfy themselves that
the officer under examination not only possesses the requisite knowledge
himself, but that he is able to impart that knowledge in a clear and
satisfactory manner.
170. The board will then forward, through the general officer, its
report, together with the written answers, to the adjutant-general of
the forces; and, in returning to him the written answers, the president
of the board will certify that they are the _bonâ fide_ performances of
the candidates, without assistance. The written papers will then be
examined by the deputy adjutant-general of artillery, and the result,
together with the opinion of the board, reported to the
Commander-in-Chief.
ROYAL WARRANT OF OCTOBER 30, 1871.
In pursuance of the abolition of the whole system of purchase, sale, or
exchange for money, of commissions in the army, by Royal Warrant, dated
July 20, 1871, certain changes in respect to first appointments,
regimental promotion, and exchanges, became necessary, and were provided
for in the Royal Warrant issued October 30, 1871, which became operative
on the first day of November following. By these regulations, the first
step in official rank is that of Sub-Lieutenant; the rank of Cornet and
Ensign being no longer recognized. As a general rule, the final
appointments will be given only to successful candidates at a
competitive examination. These will be probationary, and revocable in
case the unfitness of the incumbents shall be demonstrated by practical
trial in their work. From the Memorandum of the Secretary of War (Edward
Cardwell), which accompanies the Warrant, we cite the following as
defining the present system of original appointments and promotion.
Commissions as Lieutenants will be given to all Cornets and Ensigns
appointed before the 26th of August, 1871, and to Cornets and Ensigns
appointed since that date from the A List at Sandhurst, their
commissions to date from the first of November.
Commissions as Sub-Lieutenants will be given to:
(_a._) All other Cornets and Ensigns appointed after the 26th of
August, 1871, the rank of Cornet and Ensign being abolished.
(_b._) Candidates who have passed the examination for Direct
Commissions, in their turn as vacancies occur.
(_c._) Candidates for commissions in the Household Cavalry and Foot
Guards who are nominated to fill the vacancies which occur in those
regiments, before the date of the first competitive examination for
Sub-Lieutenancies, and who pass a qualifying examination.
(_d._) Candidates from the Universities now on the
Commander-in-Chief’s list.
Sub-Lieutenants will be attached for a year to regiments at home. They
will then be required to go through a course of instruction, and on
passing a practical professional examination, be commissioned to
regiments as Lieutenants. They will be under strict discipline, and will
be liable to be removed for unfitness, either moral or physical, and for
misconduct. Those unsuited to the Cavalry may be transferred to the
Infantry.
In dating their commissions they will be allowed a portion, not
exceeding one year, of their services as Sub-Lieutenants; the time
allowed being determined by the class of certificate they receive after
their year’s regimental training, their conduct while under instruction,
and their position at the final examination. Their service for
retirement will reckon from the date of their commissions as
Lieutenants.
Candidates who have passed the examination for direct commissions, and
have also passed satisfactorily through a year’s course of study at the
Royal Military College before being appointed to be Sub-Lieutenants, and
Sandhurst Cadets from the B List will be commissioned to regiments as
Lieutenants on serving satisfactorily for twelve months with a regiment
as Sub-Lieutenants.
There are now a large number of supernumerary officers, and also a
large number of candidates who have passed for commissions.
The absorption of supernumerary officers will probably be completed,
and the candidates who have passed for commissions have received their
appointments in about two years from the present time, and personal
appointments in the Army will then only be given as follows:
(_a._) To successful candidates at a competitive examination.
(_b._) To non-commissioned officers recommended for promotion by the
Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief.
(_c._) To candidates from the Universities.
(_d._) To Queen’s Cadets, Indian Cadets, and Pages of Honor.
(_e._) To Lieutenants of Militia.
The competitive examination will be carried out by the Civil Service
Commissioners; the standard of qualification being that recommended by
the Royal Commission on Military Education. Ample notice will be given
of the first examination, and there will be no advantage in any
applications being made for admission to be examined before the
publication of such notice.
Non-commissioned officers, on being selected for promotion, will pass
an examination in certain professional subjects; and then, after twelve
months’ satisfactory service as Sub-Lieutenants, will receive
commissions as Lieutenants.
A certain number of Sub-Lieutenancies a year will be allotted to
candidates who have passed the University examination specified in the
Regulations. If they also pass the examination for the degree of B.A.,
they will be allowed two years’ extension of the limit of age.
University candidates will be required to give at least six months’
notice of their desire to be admitted into the Army. If in any year
there should be more candidates than appointments, the requisite number
will be chosen by competition between the candidates; after their
appointment they will go through the same course as other
Sub-Lieutenants.
There will be no vacancies for two years for any candidates from the
Universities whose names are not now on the Commander-in-Chief’s list.
Queen’s and Indian Cadets and Queen’s Pages will be required to pass a
qualifying examination, which for the present will be the same as that
recommended by the Royal Commission on Military Education. The
nominations will remain as heretofore. When appointed, Cadets and Pages
will go through the same course as other Sub-Lieutenants.
First appointments as Subalterns in the Militia will be made on the
recommendation of the Lieutenants of counties. Candidates, before
receiving their Commissions as Lieutenants in the Militia, will be
required to pass a qualifying examination in general subjects equal to
the standard fixed as necessary for a candidate for a Sub-Lieutenancy.
They will next be required to be attached to a regiment of the Line for
three months, or such time as may be necessary to teach them their
drill. After serving with their Militia regiments for two annual
trainings, they will be eligible for the appointment of Lieutenants in
the Army. In order to obtain such an appointment they must be
recommended by the commanding officer of their Militia regiment, his
recommendation being confirmed by the general officer commanding the
district, and they will be required to pass an examination in
professional subjects of the same kind as that which will be required of
a Sub-Lieutenant before he receives his commission as Lieutenant.
The limits of age, except for non-commissioned officers, will be fixed
at from seventeen to twenty for Sub-Lieutenants, the limit being raised
to twenty-two in the case of candidates who have passed their
examination for the degree of B.A. at the Universities, and from
nineteen to twenty-two for Lieutenants from the Militia.
In addition to the examinations hitherto required from regimental
officers, those who are promoted to the rank of Captain after the 1st of
November will, before being promoted to the rank of Major, be required,
to pass a professional examination.
The General Order promulgating the Royal Warrant and the Memorandum of
Secretary Caldwell contains the following paragraph:
His Royal Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, in
promulgating these regulations to the Army, would desire to impress upon
each individual officer, and especially upon those of junior standing
who have still a name to make in the service, that they must more than
ever rely upon their own exertions, upon their professional knowledge
and ability, upon their general character and conduct as officers, and
the opinion with which they impress their military superiors, for
advancement in the service.
_Examiners Employed by Council of Military Education._
_Mathematics._--Rev. Canon Heaviside, Norwich; Rev. W. N. Griffin,
late Fellow and Tutor, St. John’s, Cambridge.
_Classics._--Rev. Osborne Gordon, D.D., late of Christ Church College,
Oxford; Prof. Rawlinson, Camden Professor of Ancient History, Oxford.
_English._--G. W. Dasent, D.C.L.; W. Stebbing, M.A., Fellow of
Worcester College, Oxford.
_French._--M. Esquiros; M. Savoye.
_German._--Prof. Max Müller, Prof. of European Languages, Oxford; C.
Schöll, Ph.D.
_Hindustani._--Prof. J. Dowson; Rev. W. D. Mallagan, M.A.
_Experimental Sciences._--Prof. Liveing, M.A., Prof. of Chemistry,
Cambridge; Prof. Abel, Chemist to War Office.
_Natural Sciences._--Prof. Morris, F.G.S.; H. W. Bristow, F.R.S.
_Drawing._--Lt. Col. H. Scott, R.E.; Rev. W. Kingsley, late Fellow and
Tutor, Cambridge.
_Italian._--C. De Tivoli.
_Spanish._--Señor Vives.
_Portuguese._--Le Chevalier da Costa Ricci.
_Dutch._--Rev. Dr. Gehle.
_Modern Greek._--Rev. N. Morphinos.
_Danish._--Rev. J. Plenge.
_Military History._--Major G. P. Colley.
_Fortification and Practical Gunnery._--Lt.-Col. Hutchinson, R.E.;
Major Milman, R.A.
_Military Administration._--Major M. Petrie.
_Persian._--Col. Ouseley.
_Military Legislation._--Col. J. H. Laye, D.J.A.
_Artillery._--Major C. F. Yonng.
In the evidence before the Military Education Committee, of July 13,
1869, the Secretary of the Civil Service Commission expressed the
opinion that the entrance examination, both to Sandhurst and Woolwich,
on subjects purely civil, might be conducted by the latter; and that the
same and other subjects, in their scientific value, both in all
qualifying and competitive examinations for direct commission and
promotion, could be conducted by the same examiners, thereby securing
economy, more uniformity in the methods and tests, and more satisfactory
results. The staff of examiners should be composed of changing as well
as of permanent members, and when the service is professional, an expert
should be called in. The entire work of the Civil Service Commission,
including the India Service, is done by one Commissioner, the Secretary,
and his permanent examiners, with occasional assistants.
_Expenses of Council of Military Education._
_Year._ £ _s._ _d._
1858-59, 6,325 3 1
1859-60, 6,956 7 7
1860-61, 7,757 12 1
1861-62, 7,789 14 3
1862-63, 7,681 17 6
1863-64, 7,529 11 10
1864-65, 7,976 17 5
1865-66, 7,884 2 8
1866-67, 7,353 16 5
ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE AT SANDHURST.
I. HISTORICAL NOTICE.
The Royal Military College at Sandhurst was instituted in 1799, on the
persistent representations of its necessity and advantages, by General
Le Marchant, an eminent and distinguished officer, who met his death in
actual service on the plains of Salamanca, in 1812. The report of the
Parliamentary Commissioners of 1855 and 1870 give the following
particulars of the history and present condition:
It commenced as a place of instruction for officers, in 1799. In 1801,
the Junior Department was organized. The united departments took the
name of the Royal Military College, and his Majesty George the Third was
pleased by Royal Warrant to appoint a Supreme Board of Commissioners for
the purpose of managing all the affairs of the College.
An establishment and a course of study were recommended by this Board,
and adopted in a Royal Warrant, passed in the same year, 1801. From this
date warrants were issued from time to time until the warrant of 1808,
which cancels all former warrants, and still regulates the College.
By this warrant, a Board of Commissioners was appointed, consisting of
the Commander-in-Chief, the Secretary at War, the Master-General of the
Ordnance, the Quartermaster-General, the Adjutant-General, the Governor,
and the Deputy-Governor of the College,--all for the time being. Certain
other officers were added to these _ex officio_ members. In the Board so
constituted were vested the control, direction, and management of all
the affairs of the College. The College was to be under the immediate
command of the Governor and Deputy-Governor, to be divided into a senior
and junior department, each to have its own course of study, under its
own staff.
A collegiate board was created to take cognizance, of all matters
relating to the interior economy of both departments. This board
consisted of the Governor, the Deputy-Governor, and three other resident
military authorities.
The Royal Warrant of the 27th May, 1808, for regulating all matters
relative to the Royal Military College, states the objects of the two
departments of the College, as follows:
The Senior Department of the Royal Military College is established for
the purpose of instructing officers in the scientific parts of their
profession, with a view of enabling them the better to discharge their
duty when acting in command of regiments (the situation in which they
can best recommend themselves to Us, and be entitled to hope for
advancement in the higher stations of Our service), and,
at the same time, of qualifying them for being employed in the
Quartermaster-General’s and Adjutant-General’s Departments.
The Junior Department of the Royal Military College is appropriated to
the instruction of those who, from early life, are intended for the
military profession, and who, by this means, may be grounded in science
previously to their obtaining commissions in Our army.
This department of the College is also intended to afford a provision
for the sons of meritorious officers, who have fallen or been disabled
in the service of their country, and the means of education to the sons
of those officers who belong to Our regular service.
The first of the departments organized was thus the Senior Department,
which was established at High Wycombe, in 1799, although it would seem
that classes for the military instruction of officers had been in
existence previous to that year. The origin of the Senior Department is
thus described in the evidence given by Sir Howard Douglas before the
Select Committee on Sandhurst:
General Jarry, who was the first Commandant of the Senior Department,
was a Frenchman, highly educated in France, who entered the service of
Prussia a short time before the commencement of the Seven Years’ War,
and was on the personal staff of Frederic the Second through the whole
of that war. He returned to France, and became afterward one of the
generals of the French army; and, in the year 1795, defected from the
French army, and came to London, where he soon became very generally
known as a man of eminent talent, perfectly master of the science and
the practice of his profession, and, from his having served so long
about the person and on the staff of Frederic the Second, full of the
most interesting anecdotes and instructive details connected with that
war. General Le Marchant, having formed an acquaintance with General
Jarry, in London, it occurred to him that, if General Jarry could be
engaged to give lectures to a certain number of young officers Who might
be disposed to go and reside where the general might attend, it would be
very advantageous to the service. General Jarry was so engaged. A house
was taken at High Wycombe; a considerable number of the rising young
officers of the day became his students,--Sir George Murray, Sir Henry
Bunbury, Sir Richard Bourke, General Richardson, and a great many
others. General Jarry soon found that the rudiments of military science
in the British army were not sufficiently known to enable all the
students to profit by his instruction, and recommended that
mathematical, and fortification, and other classes, should be
established; and, accordingly, Mr. Dalby, a mathematical professor, M.
St. Denis, professor of fortification, and M. Polchet, of the
Polytechnic School, were engaged; and in this Way the Senior Department
was established.
General Jarry became commandant of the establishment on its institution,
and, in 1804, Sir Howard Douglas himself was appointed to assist General
Jarry, as superintendent.
The formation of the Junior Department had probably been determined upon
from the time when the Senior Department was established. It was
actually organized in 1801, when it was established at Great Marlow,
and, in the year 1803, consisted of 200 cadets; the Senior Department
being, at the same time, composed of 30 students. Each department had at
this time its own commandant, superintendent, and special staff of
instructors (7 for the Senior, and 19 for the Junior Department); while
there was, in addition, a general staff, consisting of a governor,
lieutenant-governor, and other officials, for the two departments,
which, although in separate localities, together constituted the Royal
Military College.
The Royal Warrant of 27th May, 1808, fixed the establishment on a still
larger scale, as follows:
1 Governor, 1 Lieutenant-Governor, 1 Inspector-General of Instruction.
_Senior Department._--1 Commandant, 1 Adjutant, 30 Students.
_Junior Department._--1 Commandant, 1 Major, 4 Captains of Companies,
412 Gentlemen Cadets.
_Staff._--1 Chaplain and Librarian and Superintendent of Religious and
Classical Instruction, 1 Agent, 1 Secretary to the Board of
Commissioners, 1 Paymaster, 1 Quartermaster, 1 Surgeon, 1 Assistant
Surgeon.
The number of professors is not fixed by the warrant, but, in 1810, 5
were employed at the Senior, and 32 at the Junior Department. In 1815,
the number of professors was 6 at the former, and 36 at the latter.
The establishment, with slight modifications, continued as above
throughout the period of the war which terminated in 1815; but shortly
after the conclusion of peace reductions began, in consequence of the
recommendations made in the report of the Finance Committee of 1817, and
at the same time the course of instruction in the Junior Department was
made of a much less military character than it had originally been.
The Senior Department was, as has been stated, originally established at
High Wycombe, and the Junior Department, as there was not sufficient
accommodation for it at the same place, was, on its institution, placed
at Great Marlow. It is probable, however, that it was intended from the
first that the Military College should be at Sandhurst, and it appears
that, as early as 1801, the greater part of the estate at Sandhurst had
been purchased. Owing, however, to doubts having subsequently arisen as
to the eligibility of Sandhurst as a site for the college, the works
there do not appear to have been commenced until 1809; and it was
eventually determined that the Junior Department alone should be placed
there, the Senior Department being accommodated at Farnham. In 1812, the
Senior Department went to the quarters prepared for them at the latter
place, and about the same time the Junior Department was removed to
Sandhurst. In 1820, in consequence of the space left vacant by the
reductions which had then been made in the Junior Department, the Senior
Department was transferred to Sandhurst; its separate military staff was
at the same time abolished, the number of students at it was reduced to
15, and the number of instructors to 2. It continued in this state down
to the time of its conversion into the Staff College, which took place
in January, 1858. The Junior Department was also, by successive
reductions, brought, in 1832, to the state in which it stood in 1855, at
the time of the appointment of the Select Committee of the House of
Commons, the number of cadets having been reduced to 180, divided into
two companies. In the year 1832, also, the Parliamentary votes in aid of
the College, which, in 1815, had amounted, for the Junior Department
alone, to £34,000, entirely ceased, and, from this time up to 1855, the
College was not only self-supporting, but, in some years, actually paid
money into the Exchequer.
In the year 1855, in consequence of attention having frequently been
drawn in Parliament to the state of Sandhurst, a Select Committee of the
House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the condition of the
Royal Military College. The establishment of the College, was, at that
time, as follows:
1 Governor, 1 Lieutenant-Governor.
_Senior Department._--2 Instructors, 15 Students.
_Junior Department._--1 Major and Superintendent of Studies, 2
Captains of Companies, 180 Gentlemen Cadets, 1 Chaplain, 1 Secretary to
the Board of Commissioners, 1 Paymaster and Quartermaster, 1 Surgeon, 1
Assistant Surgeon, 1 Riding Master, 16 Instructors.
This continued without material alteration to be the establishment until
1858.
The instructors undertook the following branches:
(_A._) _Senior Department._--1. Mathematics and Fortification.
1. Military Surveying.
(_B._) _Junior Department._--3. Mathematics. 2. Fortification.
3. Military Drawing and Surveying. 1. Landscape Drawing. 2. History,
Geography, and Latin. 3. French, 2. German. [The seniors in those
branches also gave instruction to the Senior Department.]
The Chaplain also gave instruction in History.
The title of Major and Superintendent of Studies dates from the year
1842. For some years previously, the offices of Adjutant, Paymaster, and
Superintendent of Studies, had been combined in the person of one
officer, Major Proctor. On his retirement, in 1842, Lieut.-Colonel
Prosser was appointed Major and Superintendent of Studies--an office
which has been retained to the present day--and the appointment of
Adjutant was abolished.
At the time of the inquiry by the Select Committee of the House of
Commons (1855), the Junior Department of the College was a school for
boys. The limits of age for admission were from 13 to 15. Candidates
were admitted by application to the Governor, on passing a qualifying
examination, before the professors of the college, in elementary
subjects of ordinary education. The maximum term of residence was four
years, the average period being three years. The course of study was
intended to complete the general education of the youth, in addition to
giving him military instruction, and included history, geography, and
Latin, as well as more professional subjects.
The system of instruction which prevailed at the College at that time is
described as follows by Mr. Twisden, now professor of mathematics at the
Staff College:
The instruction and examinations in the Junior Department were, in the
year 1855, conducted on the following system: There was a division of
the department into upper and lower school; but, practically, the
division was of little importance. The most important division was made
by the line which, in each separate branch of instruction, divided the
cadets in the Board class from those not in the Board class.
A cadet was in a Board class who was actually preparing for the public
examination, which took place before the “_Board_ of Commissioners for
Regulating the Affairs of the Institution.” The Board was, however, in
most cases, represented by not more than one or two of its members. In
any given subject, a cadet had to pass through certain grades of
elementary instruction before he could be placed in a Board class.
Moreover, he was only moved from one grade of elementary instruction to
another on passing examinations, which were held monthly by the senior
instructors in the several subjects. The junior instructors reported
those of their cadets whom they regarded as ready for promotion, and the
senior ascertained that the proper degree of proficiency was obtained.
Thus, in mathematics, a cadet had to pass examinations in Fractions and
Decimals, mixed numbers, Rule of Three, Interest, and Square Root,
Algebra up to the end of Quadratic Equations, and logarithms,--four
successive examinations in all. He had then to spend a half year in the
study of Euclid’s Geometry before admission to the Board class. It will
be understood that all the cadets were not examined monthly, but only
such as were reported as fit for examination; so that any one cadet
might pass a long time without examination, or he might be examined for
several successive grades in one subject, and not undergo any
examination in another. There was, in fact, scarcely any mutual
dependence of one branch of instruction upon another. I believe the only
exceptions to this were, that a cadet was required to have passed his
examination in algebra before getting into the lowest fortification
class, and to have gained a certain proficiency in military drawing
before getting into the surveying class.
The Board class in each branch was taught by the senior instructor in
that branch, except that the Board class of history was taught by the
chaplain. When a cadet had passed an examination in any subject before
the Board, he was said to have taken up a step. The steps which it was
possible for him to take up were as follows, and I have arranged them in
three groups, for conveniences of reference:
A.--(1.) Euclid’s Geometry. (2.) Fortification. (3.) Surveying.
B.--(4.) Trigonometry and Mensuration. (5.) Attack and Defence of
Fortification. (6.) History and Geography. (7.) Latin. (8.) French. (9.)
German.
C.--(10.) Elements of Mechanics. (11.) Elements of Coördinate Geometry
and Differential Calculus.
To gain a commission without purchase, it was necessary to take up the
three steps in the group A, and any three in the group B,--six in all.
But if a cadet took up more than six steps, the fact was mentioned in
the certificate given him on leaving the College. For gaining this
honorary distinction, the steps marked in group C were allowed to count;
but I believe not otherwise. I may mention that, in many cases, more
than six steps were taken up.
The process of examination before the Board was this: About seven
weeks before the end of the half year, the senior instructor in each
branch reported the cadets in his branch whom he thought capable of
taking a step. Thus the senior instructor or professor of mathematics
reported those cadets in the Euclid Board class whom he judged capable
of taking up the step. Shortly after, these cadets were examined before
the Lieutenant-Governor; about a week before the end of the half year,
they were examined again, on this occasion, before the Governor; lastly,
they were examined publicly before the _Board_. Failure was possible in
either of these examinations, and not unfrequently occurred at the
preliminary examinations, and sometimes, though rarely, at the Board
examination. The effect of failure was, that the cadet could not pass
his step without going through his examinations at the end of the next
half year.
The examinations were conducted entirely _vivâ voce_. The Governor’s
and Lieutenant-Governor’s examinations were searching; they sometimes
lasted from six to seven hours; but, of course, the cadets, severally,
were under examination only during a part of that time. The Board
examination, though less searching, was a real examination. A cadet
under examination had not the least notion of what was going to be
asked, except that it was fairly within the subject of the step.
The system thus briefly described was invented by Major Proctor, who
was at first _Adjutant_ and, afterward, Superintendent of Studies. It
was in operation, at all events, as early as the year 1818. It was open
to several objections; but it possessed this capital advantage, that it
was calculated to bring, and, in point of fact, brought a large majority
of the cadets up to a certain moderately high standard of proficiency.
The instructors were under no temptation to take great pains with a few
clever boys, and to neglect the rest; they were nearly sure to assist
every cadet showing the least inclination to work, and to assist those
most who were in need of assistance.
On the other hand, the system failed to supply a cadet of superior
ability with a motive to attain a high degree of proficiency in any
given subject. The utmost attained was, that cadets of more than
ordinary ability were encouraged to attain the standard of proficiency
in more than the necessary six subjects. The system was also open to the
serious objection that, under it, the cleverest cadets got through their
course quickly. This was bad for them, for it had the effect of bringing
their school-education to an early end; and it was bad for the
institution, because the eldest cadets were not the most intelligent.
I must be allowed to add, that my experience of the examinations by
_vivâ voce_ has given me a very lively sense of the value of that kind
of examination; and, though it is not adapted for all subjects, and,
where many have to be examined, takes too much time, yet it might be
used under many circumstances with very great advantage, and I regard
its total disuse since the year 1858 as a very serious error.
I have mentioned above the fact of the Junior Department being divided
into an under and upper school. I may add that there were six
classes,--three in each school, and two removes in each class. I believe
that this was the remains of an earlier organization, which, without
being formally abrogated, was, by degrees, nearly obliterated by the
introduction of the step system. The only thing that kept up the
distinction between upper and lower school was, that a cadet, to be in a
Board class, had to pass into upper school. The three classes in the
upper school did not have a nominal existence in 1851.
With respect to the Senior Department, a somewhat different system was
followed. The course was one of two years; but, in the case of officers
who had been cadets, the course was one of a year and a half. There was
an examination held at the end of each half year on the subject of the
half year’s course. The method of examination resembled that in use in
the Junior Department. The subjects comprised in the course are
mentioned in a paper printed on page 215 of the evidence taken before
the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Sandhurst (1855).
In certain respects, officers might do more than the prescribed
course, and obtain honorary mention, _e.g._, they might do extra plans;
they might take up a certain amount of analytical mathematics, with a
portion of Poisson’s “Traité de Mécanique,” and of Laplace’s “Mécanique
Céleste.” I have by me the synopsis of the ordinary course of
mathematics in use before the year 1858; but, as the heads of it are
given in the paper above referred to, it is unnecessary to give any
details about it.
The Report of the Select Committee of 1855 contained various suggestions
for the improvement of both departments of the College, but did not
propose to alter the character of the Junior Department as a place of
juvenile education. The only practical results of the report were, the
establishment of Queen’s cadetships, and the revision of the rates of
payment required from all classes of cadets. The institution of Queen’s
cadetships was determined upon by the Government in 1856, but the other
alteration was not immediately carried out, and no modification of
importance in the constitution of the College ensued from the
recommendations of the Committee. It was not until the general
reorganization of the system of military education which took place in
1857 that any important change was made in regard to the Military
College.
It appears to have been decided at the end of 1856 by Lord Panmure, then
Secretary of State for War, that an amalgamation of the Junior
Department of Sandhurst with the lower classes of Woolwich should be
effected. The Council of Military Education, on their appointment, in
April, 1857, were directed to suggest the mode in which this
amalgamation could be carried out, taking, as their starting point, the
principle that Sandhurst was to be converted from a school for boys into
a college for young men, with the age of admission ranging from 16 to
18.
The proposed plan having been approved, an announcement was made, in
December, 1857, that the education of candidates for all arms of the
service, who did not obtain commissions by direct appointments, would be
given at Sandhurst; that entrance would be obtained by competitive
examination, open to candidates between the ages of 16 and 18; that the
period of study would be two years, and would be terminated by a
competitive examination, the most successful candidates in which would
be permitted to select the Engineers or Artillery, according to the
number of vacancies in those corps, or would receive commissions without
purchase in the Cavalry, Guards, or Line. Those who selected the
Ordnance corps were to be removed to the school of application at
Woolwich.
Almost simultaneously with this notification, appeared a General Order,
announcing the conversion of the Senior Department into the Staff
College, which was then placed under a separate commandant and staff of
instructors,--the Junior Department being henceforward called the Cadet
College.
An examination for admission to Sandhurst, under the regulations
described above, took place in January, 1858, when 24 candidates were
admitted to the College. On the 26th of April, however, a resolution was
passed by the House of Commons, on the motion of Mr. Monsell, in
consequence of which the plan for the amalgamation of Woolwich and
Sandhurst was necessarily abandoned; and, in May, 1858, revised
regulations were issued, which again placed Sandhurst on the footing of
an entirely distinct establishment from Woolwich. In these regulations,
however, a new provision was introduced, by which a cadet at the
Military College was, if otherwise eligible, permitted to compete at the
examination for admission to Woolwich, without his position at Sandhurst
being affected by failure in this examination. This regulation has been
retained.
The large increase in the numbers of the College which was contemplated
by the amalgamation scheme was not carried out, the establishment still
remaining at 180 cadets, divided into two companies. At the same time,
the other alterations recommended by the Council in the constitution and
course of study of the College were brought into effect. Since this
period the system of juvenile military instruction, which had been
already abandoned at Woolwich, has been discontinued at Sandhurst. The
establishment was converted from a school for boys into a college for
young men, the minimum age for admission being placed at 16; while the
course of instruction--the length of which was fixed at two years--was
made almost entirely professional. The principle of competition was
adopted as the condition of admission, although not to so full an extent
as at Woolwich, the candidate for Sandhurst being required to apply to
the Commander-in-Chief, in order to have his name entered on the list of
competitors. The entrance examinations for admission to the College, and
the final examinations for commissions, were placed under the control of
the Council of Military Education; and the whole method of instruction
was revised, the old system of “steps” being abandoned.
For many years, up to this time, the College had been almost entirely
self-supporting. The orphan-class of cadets, established by the Royal
Warrant of 1808, who had received a gratuitous education, had, after
successive reductions, been finally abolished in 1822; and, though the
sons of officers were still educated at reduced rates, the system had
been gradually introduced of affording them this advantage without
expense to the public, by increasing the rates paid by the sons of
private gentlemen. This system, which had been animadverted on by the
Select Committee of the House of Commons, in 1855, was altered on the
reorganization of the College, in 1858; the rates of payment from all
classes were reduced, and the principle was, at least partially,
adopted, of defraying, by a Parliamentary vote, the difference between
the actual cost of the education of a cadet and the lower rates charged
for the sons of officers. The first public announcement of the
institution of Queen’s cadetships, the holders of which were to receive
a gratuitous education, was also made in 1858. Since this period, a
large part of the expense of the College has been borne by the public.
Some addition to the instructional staff was made in the year 1858, in
consequence of the general changes introduced at that time in the system
and subjects of instruction; and, in the same year, the office of
Adjutant--which had been abolished in the year 1842--was revived, in
consequence of the strong representations of the Governor, Lt.-Gen. Sir
H. D. Jones.
The next important change in the organization of the College was in
1862. After the abandonment of the scheme for the amalgamation of
Woolwich and Sandhurst, the Council of Military Education turned their
attention to the subject of enlarging the latter establishment, with the
view of making it a general military college, through which all
candidates for commissions in any branch of the service, except the
Artillery and Engineers, should be required to pass. The general outline
of a scheme having this object in view was submitted by the Council as
early as July, 1858, to General Peel, then Secretary of State for War.
It was still under consideration when General Peel left office, in the
summer of 1859, and was again brought under the notice of his successor,
Lord Herbert, in August of that year.
After some consideration, the general principle of the scheme was
sanctioned by Lord Herbert, in December, 1859; but no immediate steps
were taken for carrying the plan into operation. At the end of 1860,
however, the Council were directed to draw up a detailed scheme of
organization for the College, on the assumption that all candidates for
commissions in the Cavalry, Guards, and Infantry, would be required to
pass through a year’s course of instruction there; a vote was also
included in the estimates of 1861 for commencing the enlargement of the
buildings, with the ultimate object of providing accommodation for 600
cadets. The details of the scheme were, after some correspondence, fully
matured, and were on the point of being submitted to Her Majesty for
approval, with the view of the new system coming into effect on the 1st
of January, 1862. The plan, however, met with very great opposition,
both in the House of Commons and from the authorities of the
universities, who regarded it as necessarily leading to the exclusion of
university men from the army. In consequence of this opposition, the
Under-Secretary of State for War, toward the end of the session of 1861,
announced, in the House of Commons, that the new system should not come
into operation until Parliament had had a further opportunity of
expressing their opinion upon it. The original plan was also so far
modified that the extension of the College was limited to providing
accommodation first for 500, and then for 400 cadets, in the first
instance; but the abolition of appointments to direct commissions, and
the system of passing all candidates for commissions in the Line through
the College, were still contemplated, though the commencement of the
system was deferred until the 1st July, 1862.
The question was in this state at the time of the death of Lord Herbert,
in August, 1861. Sir George Lewis, who succeeded him as Secretary of
State for War, having, during the recess, reconsidered the question,
announced, shortly after the commencement of the session of 1862, that
it had been determined to abandon the idea of requiring all candidates
for commissions in the Line to pass through the College, and that the
system of appointments to direct commissions by purchase would be
maintained. At the same time, it was proposed that _non-purchase_
commissions should in future only be obtained by passing through
Sandhurst, and that an enlargement of the College to 336 cadets should
take place, to provide for the increased number of non-purchase
commissions caused by the amalgamation of the Indian with the Imperial
Army.
Even in this modified form, the plan for the extension of the College
appears to have been viewed with considerable jealousy by the House of
Commons. A vote adverse to it was actually at first carried; but the
question having, in consequence of the representations of Sir George
Lewis, been reconsidered, the plan proposed by the Government was at
length agreed to. Regulations for the College on the new footing were
issued on the 1st May, 1862. These regulations form the basis of the
present system of the College.
One of the most important changes made at this time was the great
increase in the number of free commissions placed at the disposal of the
College. Under the old system which existed prior to 1858, while the
institution was still a mere place of juvenile education, all cadets who
passed in the six “steps,” to which allusion has been made, received
free commissions; but there was, strictly speaking, no competition for
such commissions. After the alteration in the age of admission to the
College, and the general revision of the course of instruction which
took place in 1858, a limited number of free commissions were bestowed
upon those cadets who stood highest in the final examination. A large
number of these appointments, however, still remained in the gift of the
Commander-in-Chief, and were granted to candidates who passed the
ordinary examination for direct commissions. Since 1862, all
non-purchase commissions have been reserved for cadets at the Royal
Military College, with the exception of a small number (not exceeding on
an average 12 annually) bestowed upon non-commissioned officers promoted
from the ranks, and upon gentlemen who have held the appointment of page
to Her Majesty. The commissions given to the latter are exclusively in
the Foot Guards, and their number seldom exceeds one in each year. The
free commissions allotted to the College are thrown open to competition
among the cadets, with the exception of those reserved for Queen’s and
Indian cadets. Both of these classes of cadets have, since the
institution of Indian cadetships, which took place simultaneously with
the change of the College system, in August, 1862, been entitled to
receive free commissions on passing a qualifying examination at the end
of their term of residence.
The course of study at the College was, at the same time, considerably
modified, with the view of allowing its completion, under ordinary
circumstances, in one year, instead of two years, as formerly,--the
maximum term of residence being fixed at a year and a half. An attempt
was also made to render the course more strictly professional, and
better adapted to qualify a young officer for the performance of
ordinary regimental duties immediately on joining his corps, by the
introduction of instruction in military law, interior economy, etc.
The age of admission was fixed at 16 to 20 for candidates for the
Infantry, and 16 to 22 for those for the Cavalry,--an extension of a
year in these limits being for the first time introduced in favor of
students at the universities. A further privilege held out to the latter
class of candidates was that, while others could only obtain admission
by competitive examination, the fact of having passed certain university
examinations was of itself made a qualification for admission. These
concessions, which, at first, were made to the Universities of Oxford,
Cambridge, and Dublin, have been since extended to the other
universities.
The number of cadets was never raised to the extent contemplated in the
plan proposed by Sir George Lewis. It was originally intended that the
College should accommodate 336 cadets, divided into four companies of 84
each; but the establishment was ultimately fixed at 250. This increase,
however (the numbers having, previously to 1862, been 180), led to the
addition, in August, 1862, of a third company to the two in which the
cadets had been previously divided. An additional captain was appointed
to command this company, and, at the same time, three subaltern officers
(one to each company) were, for the first time, added to the strength of
the establishment, to assist the captains in the charge of the
companies. Simultaneously with this, an important alteration was made in
the discipline of the College, by abolishing the system which had
hitherto prevailed of employing the sergeants to assist in maintaining
discipline by reporting the cadets for offences committed against the
regulations.
The increase in the establishment also necessitated in this year an
augmentation of the staff of instructors.
The establishment of the Royal Military College in 1863, after the
change of system had come into effect, was as follows:
_General Staff._--1 Governor, 1 Chaplain, 1 Paymaster, 1
Quartermaster, 1 Surgeon, 1 Assistant-Surgeon, 1 Riding Master.
_Staff College._--1 Commandant, 1 Adjutant, 9 Professors, 30 Students.
_Cadet College._--1 Lieutenant-Governor, 1 Major and Superintendent of
Studies, 3 Captains of Companies, 3 Subalterns, 250 Gentlemen Cadets, 1
Adjutant, 40 Professors and Instructors, of whom two were employed also
at the Staff College.
The organization of the College has undergone no material alteration
since 1863, with the exception of the abolition of the office of
Lieutenant-Governor, and the substitution for it of that of Commandant
of the Cadet College. The change, though decided upon in 1862, was not
carried out during the tenure of office of the officer who, at that
time, held the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor, and did not actually
take effect until 1864. The Lieutenant-Governor, though nominally the
deputy of the Governor, had exercised no control over the Commandant of
the Staff College from the time of the institution of the latter
establishment, in 1858. His functions were limited to the Cadet College,
of which he was virtually, though not nominally, the Commandant.
The establishment of cadets was raised in 1865 to 300, and some slight
alterations have, at various times, been made in the number of
professors and instructors; but, in its general character, the
establishment at the present time remains as it was in 1863.
The modifications which have since been made consist chiefly in the
reduction of the higher limit of age for admission to 19 for all
branches of the service (retaining, however, the former exception in
favor of students from the universities); the discontinuance of the
study of military law, etc.; and the extension of the ordinary course of
residence from one year to a year and a half.
In regard to discipline, the system of assigning marks for good conduct,
which was introduced by the regulations of 1862, has been discontinued,
owing to practical difficulties which were found to occur in carrying
out the system with uniformity. At the beginning of 1868, an alteration
was introduced in the powers of the professorial staff with regard to
the maintenance of discipline. Previously to this period they had
exercised no disciplinary powers; they have since been required to take
notice of all offences which come within their cognizance, either in or
out of study, and have been empowered to place a cadet in arrest pending
an inquiry into the offence. Even at the present time, however, the
professors have no power of punishment, this power being confined to the
military staff of the College.
According to the Royal Warrant of 1808, the four companies of cadets
were placed upon the establishment of the army, and every one admitted
to the College received a warrant of gentleman cadet, with the daily pay
of 2_s._ 6_d._ Down to the year 1857, the regulations for admission to
the College contained the provision that, “in conformity to the Royal
Warrant, dated the 27th of May, 1808, all gentlemen cadets at the Royal
Military College are subject to the Articles of War.” This provision
appears to have been omitted from all regulations published on the
recommendation of the Council of Military Education since the
reorganization of the College, which took place at the beginning of
1858. At the present time, a cadet, on admission, is required to sign a
declaration “to conform, in every respect, to Her Majesty’s Regulations,
and to the rules and discipline of the service.”
The Board of Commissioners, at the time of the report of the Select
Committee of the House of Commons, in 1855, still continued to
administer all the affairs of the Royal Military College, in virtue of
the wide powers vested in them by the Royal Warrant of 1808. For some
years previously to this, however, the War Office had exercised
considerable control over the financial acts of the Board. On the
appointment of the Council of Military Education, in 1857, the latter
body began to superintend the course of instruction at the College,
their attention having been directed to this subject in the first
instructions issued to them on their appointment. At the beginning of
1858, they commenced to conduct the examinations for admission,
and, by a Royal Warrant of the 1st October, 1858, they were formally
appointed Visitors of the College, and required to report to the
Commander-in-Chief upon the instruction given at it. The power of
recommending either the appointment or removal of the professors and
instructors was, by the same warrant, placed in their hands.
The original warrant of 1808 has never been cancelled, and the powers
vested by it in the Board of Commissioners still, therefore, nominally
remain in force, except so far as by the warrant of 1858. Since this
time, however, the connection of the Commissioners with the management
of the College has been gradually diminished. In 1863, the office of
Secretary to the Board was abolished, his financial duties being
transferred to the Paymaster of the College, and the performance of his
other duties being provided for in the Commander-in-Chief’s office. The
discipline of the College still remains nominally under the
superintendence of the Commissioners; but, even in regard to this point,
their interference, except when questions of considerable importance
have arisen, appears to have been little called for. Their duties of
late years seem to have been principally confined to business connected
with the management of the College property, in regard to which,
although the estate is now formally vested in the Secretary of State for
War, the former powers of the Commissioners are reserved.
The attendance in the College, since its reorganization, has been as
follows, viz.:
1855 180
1862 250
1865 300
_Staff of Government and Instruction_, 1871-2.
_President._--Duke of Cambridge, Field Marshal.
_Vice-President._--Rt. Hon. Edward Cardwell, Secretary of War.
_Governor._--Lt.-Gen. Sir D. A. Cameron.
_Assistant._--Col. J. E. Addison.
_Paymaster._--Major Oliver Nicolls.
_Chaplain._--Rev. E. J. Rogers, M.A.
_Quartermaster._--John Davies.
_Surgeon._--A. McLean, M.D.
_Assistant Surgeon._--John Greig, M.D.
_Riding-Master._--Capt. C. C. Brooke.
CADETS’ COLLEGE.
_Adjutant._--Major W. Patterson.
_Captains of Companies of Gentlemen Cadets._--Lt.-Col. W. R. Farmar,
Lt.-Col. Alfred P. Bowlby, Capt. H. E. Couper.
_Staff of Instruction._
_Mathematics and Arithmetic._--Rev. J. W. Vintner, Rev. Alfred Deck,
G. Hester, J. P. Ketley.
_Fortification._--Capt. G. Phillips, Lt. E. D. C. O’Brien,
Capt. H. L. Mitchell.
_Military Surveying._--Capt. W. Paterson.
_Military History._--Capt. E. M. Jones.
_Military Drawing._--Capt. E. A. Anderson, Capt. C. W. Fothergill,
Capt. R. L. Leir.
_Landscape Drawing._--Robert Harley.
_French Language._--J. Balagué.
_Geology._--T. R. Jones.
_Chemistry._--Edm. Atkinson, Ph.D.
STAFF COLLEGE.
_Commandant._--Col. E. B. Hamley, C.B.
_Adjutant._--Major A. S. Jones.
_Professors and Instructors._
_Mathematics._--Rev. J. F. Twisden, T. Savage.
_Military History._--Major C. Adams.
_Fortification and Artillery._--Capt. H. Schaw.
_Military Topography._--Major S. B. Farrell, Royal Engineers.
_Military Administration._--Capt. W. Walker.
_French._--A. A. De Charente.
_German._--Dr. Overbeck.
_Hindustani._--J. Dowson.
_Military Drawing._--Capt. E. A. Anderson.
QUEEN’S AND INDIAN CADETSHIPS.
The creation of Queen’s cadetships originated in the recommendations of
the select Committee of the House of Commons on Sandhurst. At the time
the Committee reported (in the year 1855) the age of admission to
Sandhurst was from 13 to 15; in the following year, however, at the time
the recommendations of the Committee were adopted by the Government, it
was in contemplation to raise the minimum age for admission to the
College to 16; and it was consequently decided that, in order to meet
the case of those who under the former regulations would have been
admitted as Queen’s cadets at a younger age, a special allowance of
40_l._ a year might, at the discretion of the Secretary of State, be
granted to a candidate qualified for a Queen’s cadetship, at the age of
13, to assist him in his preparatory education, until he attained the
age at which he would be eligible for admission to the College. This
arrangement was sanctioned by the Treasury in 1856, and at first the
results of the recommendations of the Select Committee seem to have been
confined to granting candidates the special allowance in aid of their
preparatory education, as no cadet entered until 1860.
The first public announcement of the institution of Queen’s cadetships,
and of the regulations under which they were to be granted, was made by
a General Order, dated Horse Guards, 5th January, 1858. It had by this
time been finally determined to fix the ordinary minimum age for
admission to Sandhurst at 16; but an exception was made in favor of the
Queen’s cadets, who were to be admitted one year younger,--at the age of
15. The following were among the regulations:
These cadetships, of which there are twenty in all, are confined to
the sons of officers of the army, Royal navy, and Royal marines, who
have fallen in action, or have died of wounds received in action, or of
diseases contracted on active service, and who have left their families
in reduced circumstances.
Gentlemen cadets on this class are educated gratuitously.
The nominations, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State for
War, are made by the Commander-in-Chief for the army, in the proportion
of 15 cadetships, and by the First Lord of the Admiralty for the navy
and marines, in that of five cadetships,--to whom applications are to be
made.
No candidate can be admitted under the age of 15, nor above that of
17.
In a case where the services of the father and the circumstances of
the family are deemed such as to constitute a claim, a candidate
ineligible for immediate admission, on account of his not having
attained the proper age, but being a promising youth, may, at the
discretion of the Secretary of State for War, be allowed an addition to
the compassionate allowance, with the especial view of promoting his
education, until he is eligible for admission.
The regulations under which Queen’s cadets are at present nominated are
similar to the above, with the exception that the wording of the phrase
“diseases contracted on _active service_” has been altered to “diseases
contracted on _service abroad_,” and that Queen’s cadets, like other
candidates, are not now admitted until the age of 16. An addition to the
“Compassionate Allowance,” not exceeding 40_l._ a year, may at the same
time be granted to a candidate after the age of 13, in order to assist
him in his education until he becomes eligible for admission to the
College. The number of Queen’s cadetships (20) includes both those who
have entered, and those to whom the educational allowance is granted
previously to their admission.
From the first institution of Queen’s cadetships, the candidates
nominated to them have been admitted to the College on passing a
qualifying examination, and have received a gratuitous education; they
were, however, originally required to compete for commissions without
purchase, with other candidates, at the end of the College course. The
privilege of obtaining a free commission on passing merely a qualifying
examination was not extended to them until the institution of the Indian
cadetships in 1862. As it was found necessary to exempt the Indian
cadets from competition with other candidates for commissions without
purchase, a similar privilege was extended to the Queen’s cadets. Both
classes of cadets, in addition to their free education and maintenance,
receive clothing and pocket money.
The institution of Indian cadetships at Sandhurst took place in
consequence of the transfer of the government of India from the East
India Company to the Crown, and the subsequent amalgamation of the
Indian and Imperial forces.
The notice of the admission of Indian cadets to the establishment
appears for the first time in the College regulations of 1st May, 1862.
Their number, like that of the Queen’s cadets, is limited to 20. They
are nominated, under the provisions of Acts 21 & 22 Vict. cap. 106, s.
35, and 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 100, by the Secretary of State for India in
Council, from the sons “of persons who have served in India in the
military or civil services of Her Majesty or the East India Company.”
The restrictions, however, regarding the death of the father and the
circumstances of the family, which apply to a candidate for a Queen’s
cadetship, do not limit the nomination of Indian cadets. The expense of
the education and maintenance of the latter is borne by Indian revenues.
REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION, CLOTHING, BOOKS, PAYMENTS, ETC., 1867.
1. Candidates for vacancies at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,
will be required to undergo an examination under the superintendence of
the Council of Military Education. Examinations for this purpose will be
held in June and December of each year, at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
2. Twenty Queen’s cadets will be borne on the establishment, being the
sons of officers who have fallen in action, or have died of wounds
received in action, or of diseases contracted on service abroad; and who
have left their families in reduced circumstances. Fifteen will be sons
of officers of the army, and five will be sons of officers of the Royal
Navy and Royal Marines.
There will be, in addition, twenty Indian cadetships, for nomination
to which the sons of persons will be selected who have served in India
in the military or civil services of Her Majesty, or of the East India
Company.
3. Candidates, whether for the infantry or the cavalry, must be
between 16 and 19 years of age at the commencement of the term
immediately succeeding their admission examination.
Terms commence on the 1st February and 1st August.
Students from the Universities will be admissible at the ages stated
in Art. 11 of these regulations.
4. Every candidate for admission must apply (if under age, through his
parent or guardian) to the Commander-in-Chief, to have his name entered
on the list of candidates.
5. He must transmit with his application the following documents,
viz.: (_a_) An extract from the register of his baptism, or, in default
of that, a declaration before a magistrate, made by one of his parents,
giving his exact age. (_b_) A certificate, from the minister of the
Church or denomination to which he belongs, of his having been duly
instructed in the principles of the Christian religion.
6. His name having been placed upon the list of candidates, it will be
open to him to offer himself at any of the half-yearly examinations
which may occur while he is within the prescribed limits of age. If
unsuccessful in obtaining one of the vacancies at the college, he will
be allowed to present himself at any subsequent examination until he has
exceeded the maximum age. After he has exceeded the maximum age, he can
only be admitted into the army on obtaining a direct commission by
purchase, in the usual manner, after passing a qualifying examination.
7. He will be examined by a medical officer, who will ascertain
whether he is free from all bodily and organic defects, and whether, as
far as regards physical constitution, he is in every point of view fit
for military service.
8. The following will be the subjects of examination, but no candidate
will be allowed to be examined in more than _five_ of these subjects:
Marks.
Classics: Latin, 2,000; Greek, 1,600, 3,600
Mathematics, 3,600
English language, 1,200
Modern languages, each, 1,200
History, with geography, 1,200
Natural sciences (_i.e._, mineralogy and geology), 1,200
Experimental sciences (chemistry, heat, and electricity), 1,200
Geometrical drawing 600
Free-hand drawing 600
Of the above subjects, the elementary portions of mathematics and the
English language are obligatory on each candidate.
The following elementary branches will be included in the obligatory
section of mathematics, viz.:
In arithmetic: vulgar and decimal fractions, proportion, extraction of
the square root, and interest.
In algebra: fractions, simple equations, and questions producing them.
In Euclid: the first three books.
To these elementary branches 1,200 marks (out of the whole 3,600 for
mathematics) will be allotted, and it will be necessary for
qualification that at least 400 be obtained, of which 200 must be
obtained in arithmetic.
In the English language 400 marks will be allotted to correct and
legible writing from dictation, and to composition; and of these it will
be necessary for qualification that 200 be obtained.
Out of the remaining subjects the candidate may select any three.
No candidate will be allowed to count the marks gained in any of the
three voluntary subjects, unless amounting to one sixth of the whole
number of marks allotted to that subject; and for qualification he will
be required to obtain on his five subjects a total of 1,500 marks.
No marks will be allowed to count in any subject left optional to the
candidate, unless he gain at least one sixth of the whole number
allotted to that subject.
9. Every candidate will be required to forward to the Military
Secretary, Horse Guards, one month before the examination, a statement
of the subjects he desires to take up, as well as a certificate from the
master or tutor under whom he has been educated, of his general moral
conduct for at least the two preceding years. If a candidate has failed
in a previous examination he will only be required to forward a list of
the subjects he selects, and a certificate of conduct between the two
examinations. These documents are under no circumstances to be
transmitted before the date above specified.
10. After the examination the candidates will be reported to the
Commander-in-Chief in the order of their merit, and will be appointed
accordingly as far as vacancies will allow.
11. Candidates who have passed the examinations called “responsions”
and “moderations” at the University of Oxford, or those called “previous
examinations” at the Universities of Cambridge and Dublin, or the
matriculation examination of the University of London; or any one of the
three examinations required for the degree of M.A. at the Universities
of St. Andrew’s and Glasgow; or the “class examination of the second
year” (Curriculum of Arts) at the University of Aberdeen; or the
“preliminary examination” at the University of Edinburgh; or the “first
University examination” of Queen’s University, Ireland, will be
considered as qualified for admission to the Royal Military College
without further examination.
Candidates from the Universities must not be more than 21 years of age
for the infantry, nor more than 23 years for the cavalry. They will be
required to send to the Military Secretary, Horse Guards, two months
before the commencement of the term at which they desire to enter,
certificates from the responsible authorities of their college of
general moral conduct during residence at the University, and of having
passed the above-mentioned examinations, together with the certificate
of age, as required by clause 5
Should the number of general candidates be considerably in excess of
the number of vacancies at the college, a suitable portion of those
vacancies will be offered to the University and to the competing
candidates respectively.
12. Candidates for admission as Queen’s cadets must apply for a
nomination to the Commander-in-Chief, if the sons of officers in the
army; or to the First Lord of the Admirality, if the sons of officers in
the Royal navy, or Royal marines. The above nominations will be made by
the Commander-in-Chief or First Lord of the Admiralty, with the
concurrence of the Secretary of State for War. The Secretary of State
for India in Council will nominate to cadetships for the Indian
services.
_Provision of Necessaries, Books, Contributions, etc._
13. Every gentleman cadet will receive from the Military Secretary a
list of the articles of clothing, books, and instruments with which he
must provide himself before joining the college, and which he will be
required to keep complete during his residence.
Any other books, instruments, or drawing implements that he may
subsequently require for the prosecution of his studies, will be
provided at the college, and charged to his account.
14. The amount of contribution for education, board, washing, and
medical attendance, on account of each cadet, per annum, is as follows:
_a._ For sons of private gentlemen, £100
_b._ For sons of admirals, and general officers having
regiments or receiving Indian colonels’ allowances, 80
_c._ For sons of general officers, 70
_d._ For sons of captains and commanders of the Royal
navy, and field officers of the army having
substantive rank, 50
_e._ For sons of all officers of the royal navy and army
under the above rank, 40
_f._ For sons of officers of the royal navy and army who
have died in the service, and whose families are
proved to be left in pecuniary distress, 20
_g._ Queen’s cadets and cadets nominated by the Secretary
of State for India in Council, Free.
15. General officers on the non-effective list will pay according to
their last substantive rank.
Officers who have sold their commissions are, in this classification,
reckoned as private gentlemen.
The cases of officers who have retired voluntarily upon half-pay
previous to having served twenty-five years on full pay will be
specially considered.
Officers who retire on half-pay after twenty-five years’ service on
full pay will be classified for payment with the rank in which they last
served.
16. The orphans of officers whose claims do not come under classes
_f_, and _g_, must contribute according to the substantive rank last
held by their fathers.
17. For sons of officers who have retired on _full_ pay, the payments
will be according to the substantive rank last held by their fathers.
18. The sons of officers of civil departments having relative rank
with officers of the army and navy, of the permanent militia staff, and
of adjutants of the volunteer force, are admissible to the college on
the same terms as those prescribed for the sons of army and navy
officers of corresponding rank.
19. The sons of Indian naval and military officers not specially
nominated by the Secretary of State for India will be admitted on the
same terms as the sons of officers of the Queen’s service.
20. Contributions for the sons of professors at the Staff and Cadet
Colleges, at the Royal Military Academy, and at the late Indian
Colleges, Addiscombe, will be £50
For the sons of masters at the above institutions, 40
21. Any change which may take place by promotion or retirement in the
rank of the father of a cadet must be immediately notified to the
Military Secretary, in order that the contribution paid to the college
on account of such cadet may be regulated accordingly.
22. _Previously_ to the admission of a cadet (not a Queen’s cadet) he,
or if a minor, his parent or guardian, will be required to make the
following payments, viz.:
1. His contribution for half a year.
2. The sum of 15_l._ for his first equipment of uniform clothing.
3. The sum of 10_s._ for the support of the company reading-rooms.
4. A deposit of 15_l._ on account, for contingent expenses.
23. The above sums are to be paid to the paymaster of the College.
24. For each succeeding half year the regulated contribution is in
like manner to be paid in advance, to the paymaster of the college, to
whom must also be remitted the sum of 5_l._ for the further provision of
uniform clothing, and such sum as may be required to make up the
contingent deposit to 15_l._ The amount of this balance will be shown by
an account, rendered at the end of every half year, of the sums paid out
of the deposit during the past term.
25. No cadet on whose behalf these regulations in regard to payments
have not been complied with, will be received at the college.
26. No refund of contribution will be made for any portion of the half
year in which the cadet may be removed from the establishment, without
the special sanction of the Secretary of State for War.
27. No payments will be required from Queen’s or Indian cadets.
28. If a cadet be rusticated during a term, his contribution for the
half year will be forfeited.
29. If absent a whole term in consequence of rustication or sickness,
a contribution of 10_l._ will be required for the privilege of his name
being kept on the rolls of the establishment, and for a vacancy being
guaranteed at the commencement of the next term.
30. If absent from sickness during any portion of a term, a refund of
that portion applicable to subsistence will be permitted.
31. In the cases of cadets of the orphan class, whose annual
contribution is only 20_l._, the amount to be paid when the absence
extends over a whole term will be submitted to and determined by the
Secretary of State.
32. Every gentleman cadet will be supplied with a weekly allowance of
pocket money, at the discretion of the commandant of the college; but
this allowance will not exceed 4_s._ 6_d._ a week for a gentleman cadet
who is a responsible under officer, 4_s._ a week for a gentleman cadet
who is an under officer, 3_s._ 6_d._ a week for a gentleman cadet who is
a corporal, and 2_s._ 6_d._ a week for all other gentlemen cadets. The
expense of this allowance will be defrayed out of the amount deposited
for the purpose of meeting contingent expenses, and in the case of
Queen’s or Indian cadets it will be borne by the public.
_Discipline._
33. All gentlemen cadets are subject to such rules and regulations as
are, or may be from time to time, established for the maintenance of
good order and discipline.
34. Every gentleman cadet will be liable to be removed from the
college at any time should his conduct be such as to render it obvious
that his remaining would be either hurtful to the institution or
unprofitable to himself.
35. To every cadet will be assigned, at the commencement of each term,
100 marks for conduct.
From this number deductions will be made in certain authorized
proportions for every offence which shall have been met by a punishment
of more than two days’ drill.
Should the cadet forfeit more than three-fourths, or 75 of the above
100 marks, he will not be gazetted to his commission until all other
gentlemen cadets of the same batch shall have been provided for; and
should he lose all his marks for conduct he will be rusticated for one
term.
36. Gentlemen cadets are strictly prohibited from contracting debts
with any publican or tradesman in the vicinity of the college.
37. No perquisites or presents of any kind are to be received by any
person belonging to the college from either the gentlemen cadets or
their friends.
38. Gentlemen cadets will not be allowed to remain at the college
during the vacations without the special sanction of the Secretary of
State for War, on satisfactory proof being shown that they have no
friends in the United Kingdom to whom they could go. Payment of 1_l._
1_s._ a week will be required in such cases from those who are not
Queen’s cadets.
_Termination of the Course, and removal from the College._
39. The course of study is calculated for a residence of three terms,
or 18 months, reckoned from the commencement of the term in which a
gentleman cadet may join. It is open, however, for any cadet, who at the
end of his first term shall have proved himself qualified for promotion
at once to the third term classes, to compete for a commission without
purchase, or to be examined for a commission by purchase, at the end of
his second term; but no fourth term will be allowed on any plea but that
of long continued sickness, in which case special application must be
made to the Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by an opinion from the
surgeon of the college.
Gentlemen cadets allowed a fourth term will not be permitted to
compete for commissions without purchase.
40. Examinations for commissions will be held periodically. The number
of commissions to be given without purchase will be announced previously
to the examination. These will be competed for and awarded to the
candidates who are first in order of merit.
41. Candidates who have not succeeded in obtaining a place amongst
those to whom commissions without purchase can be awarded, but who have
obtained the minimum number of marks required for qualification, will be
considered to have prior claims to all other candidates for commissions
by purchase.
42. Queen’s and Indian cadets will receive commissions without
purchase on passing the qualifying examination. The names of those who
distinguish themselves equally with competitors for commissions without
purchase will be published in the same lists with the latter.
43. In every case a certificate of conduct and proficiency in military
and athletic exercises will be required from the governor of the college
before a cadet can be examined for his commission.
44. Any gentleman cadet desirous of entering the Royal Artillery or
Royal Engineers will be permitted, if otherwise eligible, to offer
himself as a candidate at any of the competitive examinations for
admission into the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich; and his position
at the Royal Military College will not be affected by his failure at
such examination.
45. No gentleman cadet will be allowed to present himself at a direct
commission examination during his residence at the Royal Military
College.
46. No gentleman cadet is to be removed from the college without the
permission of the Commander-in-Chief, obtained through the governor of
the college. And when a parent or guardian intends to withdraw a cadet,
or, if of age, the gentleman cadet intends to leave the college at the
end of a term, at least six weeks’ notice of his intention is to be
given to the governor. In default of such notice a quarter’s
subscription must be paid.
_Miscellaneous._
47. The establishment for Queen’s cadets having been sanctioned by
Parliament when the age of admission to the Royal Military College was
from 13 to 15 years, it has been decided that in any case when the
services of the father and the circumstances of his family are such as
to constitute a claim, an addition of not more than 40_l._ a year to the
“compassionate allowance” may, at the discretion of the Secretary of
State for War, be allowed to a candidate who is over 13, to enable him
to complete his preparatory education, as he is ineligible for immediate
admission into the college in consequence of the minimum age of
admission having been raised to 16.
48. It is desirable that every candidate who is under 21 years of age
should, at his admission, be accompanied by his parent, guardian, or
some other responsible person, to satisfy the requirements of the
college on his behalf.
49. The responsible parent or guardian of every successful candidate,
and the candidate himself, before he can be admitted as a cadet, will be
required to sign respectively the following declarations:
_Declaration by Cadet._
“I ___________________, do hereby declare that I have attentively
considered the regulations for admission to the Royal Military College,
and I consent to abide by the same in every particular, as well as to
observe and follow all such orders and directions as I shall from time
to time receive from the governor, the commandant, or other officers or
authorities of the Royal Military College. And I further hold myself
bound to conform, in every respect, to Her Majesty’s regulations, and to
the rules and discipline of the service.”
(Signature) _________________
_Declaration by the Parent or Guardian._
“I hereby declare that I consent to the admission of my (son or ward)
to the Royal Military College, on the foregoing conditions.”
(Signature) _______________
_Subjects of the Final Examination._
Max. allowed to count.
Min. allowed to count.
Min. required for Qualification.
50. Field fortification and elements of permanent fortification,
including preparatory course of practical geometry,
1,800 450 1,200
Military drawing and surveying,
1,800 450 1,200
Military history and geography,
1,800 450 1,200
Max. allowed to count.
Min. allowed to count.
Mathematics:
_First Section._--Arithmetic: algebra, up to simple equations;
Euclid, four books, use of logarithmic tables, elementary problems
in heights and distances, and mensuration,
1,200 300
_Second Section._--Euclid, Books V., VI., and XI. (propositions
1-20), higher algebra, plane trigonometry, and mensuration,
1,200 --
_Third Section._--Practical mechanics and hydrostatics,
1,200 --
Higher fortification,
600 300
French,
1,200 300
German,
1,200 300
Chemistry,
1,200 300
Geology,
1,200 300
Free-hand drawing,
600 150
In order to qualify for a commission, every gentleman cadet will be
required to obtain 1,950 marks in the obligatory section of
fortification, military drawing and surveying, military history, the
first section of mathematics, and one foreign language; of which number
of marks 1,300 must be gained in the three _military_ subjects before
specified.
SUBJECTS AND COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.
The studies of the college are mathematics, fortification, military
drawing and surveying, military history and geography, and one modern
language (either French or German), which are obligatory on all cadets,
and, in the final examination 1,950 marks (out of 5,400 required), with
a certificate of proficiency in military and athletic exercises, are
required to qualify for a commission. To these studies are added
chemistry or physics, geology, and a second modern language.
For educational purposes, the cadet corps is divided into three
companies, designated A, B, C, each company pursuing the same subjects
at the same time, with a classification of members into sections,
according to the results of the minor and term examinations. The minor
examinations take place every six weeks, and the term examinations every
six months, and the final examination at the close of the course, which
occupies three terms of six months each. The final examination is
conducted by examiners attached to the Council of Military Education.
The final result, as bearing on a commission, is reached by adding the
marks as determined by the average of the minor and term examinations,
and the answers of the final examination.
The instruction is given in halls of study, of which there are 18, large
enough to accommodate, each, 18 cadets, but generally occupied by
15. The lecture hall will accommodate 100 without crowding.
1. _Mathematics_, elementary for all sections, including arithmetic,
algebra up to simple equations, euclid, the use of logarithmic tables,
elementary problems in heights and distances, and mensuration; and
higher in the third section, including trigonometry and practical
mechanics and hydrostatics, occupies 21 hours a week during the entire
residence. To this branch is assigned a professor, one senior master,
and three other masters. To the highest proficiency in mathematics is
assigned a maximum of 1,200 marks, and a minimum of 300 is allowed to
count.
2. _Fortification_ includes field and the elements of permanent
fortification, with a preparatory course of practical geometry. To this
study, which occupies three hours every day, or 18 hours per week, are
assigned six professors, and to the highest proficiency is awarded a
maximum of 1,800 marks, with a minimum of 450. Field fortification is
taught in the first two terms, plan drawing and practical work going on
together. The cadets trace and execute portions of fieldworks, making
and planting revetement, gabions, and fascines, and doing all but the
heavy work, which is left to the sappers. They are also instructed in
bridge making and in pontooning, and witness every species of work done
in the hall, on the fortification ground.
3. _Military Surveying and Drawing_ occupy together 17 hours, under 12
professors. The cadets commence by drawing from copies, then from
models, being in the meantime also taught the use of instruments; then
in six weeks after joining the corps, they are taken out to triangulate
with the prismatic compass and pacing, and traverse roads. The former
practice with the theodilite and sextant has been abandoned, and the
whole instruction has been concentrated on the art of field sketching as
of more importance to an infantry officer. To the highest proficiency in
this subject is given 1,800 marks, and a minimum of 450 is allowed to
count in the final result. In the final examination the candidate for a
commission must obtain at least 1,200 marks in the above subjects.
4. _Military History and Geography_ is under the charge of one professor
and two instructors. The present course is to give instruction by
lecture, in the organization and mode of action of the three arms, and
explanation of the operation of the commissariat and transport
department of an army, followed by a short and simple campaign. In the
second half-year, two campaigns are selected, with a view to illustrate
the generally received principles of tactics and strategy, and in the
third half-year one campaign is thoroughly worked out in detail. The
cadets take notes of the lecture, on which they are examined orally, and
after the main propositions and facts are printed by the professor, a
subsequent study and examination on the printed scheme is had. In this
study the cadets draw plans of the theatre of war and of battles,
showing the position of the opposing forces.
5. _Languages_, French and German,--the former with one professor and
three masters, and the latter with one master. The usual course in
either language is grammar, exercises, dictation, translation, and
composition. To the highest proficiency in either, 1,200 marks are
assigned, and a minimum of 300 is allowed. One of these languages is
obligatory in the final examination, but the candidate can be examined
in both. The cadets can change from one language to the other at the
beginning of the term.
6. _Chemistry_ (including sound, heat, electricity, and magnetism) and
_Geology_ (including mineralogy and physical geography) occupy each a
half hour four days in the week, and employ part of the time of two
professors.
7. _Freehand or Landscape Drawing_ receives two lessons per week, first
from copies and models, and in the third term one lesson per week from
nature. To the highest proficiency is assigned 600 marks, and a minimum
of 150 is allowed.
8. _Military exercises_ enter into the programme for the day, and
consist of gymnastics for the first term, gun-drill and riding (one
lesson per week) in the second term, and two lessons in the last
exercises for the third term. Parade and infantry drill occupy, in
addition, half an hour before breakfast, and 50 minutes between the
first and second period of study in the morning (9.30 and 10.50).
For qualification a cadet must obtain an aggregate of 1,200 marks out of
5,400 on the three military subjects, and a total aggregate of 1,950 of
these. Similar proportions of marks must be obtained each term that the
cadet may return in the following term.
RESULTS OF EXAMINATIONS.
Out of 2,399 admission examinations in eleven years, from 1858 to 1868,
444 were unsuccessful; and in the final examinations, in the same
period, out of 1,726, 25 failed. The results of the examinations show
better preparation from year to year.
EXPENDITURES.
The expenditures of the government, on account of the Military College,
were as follows: for 1858-9, £27,969; for 1863-4, £39,690; for 1866-7,
£36,416, exclusive of payments made by the cadets or by the Indian
government, which, in 1866-67 was £4,237.
ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY AT WOOLWICH.
HISTORICAL NOTICE.
The Military Academy at Woolwich was instituted by George II. in 1741,
to give instruction to officers who served in the Artillery and
Engineers. It began in a small room in a building at Woolwich, where the
Board of Ordnance used occasionally to assemble, under the instruction
of two masters, who lectured by rotation during four consecutive hours
in three days of every week. At first only the officers of the single
battalion composing the Artillery, and of the corps of Engineers, were
required to attend. In the second year non-commissioned officers, and
privates too, were at liberty to attend, and upon its close cadets, to
the number of five to each company of artillery, resorted to the hall.
Being sons of officers of the corps, and not in uniform or under
military control, the cadets became an element of disorder, which led to
a more systematic organization. In 1744, the cadets were clothed in
uniform, and collected into a distinct company, under two officers, with
a drum-major. By 1782, the number of cadets had increased from twenty to
sixty, and in 1798, to one hundred,--boarding with their families. In
the last year arrangements were made to lodge and board the cadets by
allowing 2_s._ a day per head, until by degrees, in 1857, an imposing
pile of buildings had been erected, and the establishment for government
and instruction consisted of 18 officers on the military staff, and some
fifty professors and masters in the civil and educational corps.
REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION.
Previously to the year 1855 admission to the Royal Military Academy
could only be obtained by a nomination from the Master-General of the
Ordnance. The limits of age for admission were at that time from 14 to
16, and the candidates nominated were required to pass an entrance
examination before the professors of the Academy, which varied somewhat
according to the age of the individual. A certain number of the
candidates previously passed though the preparatory school at
Carshalton, admission to which was equally obtained by nomination from
the Master-General of the Ordnance, and were transferred to the Academy
on passing an examination similar to that required from those who
entered the latter establishment direct. The term of residence at the
Academy varied, according to the progress of a cadet, from two to four
years.
The inability of the Academy to meet the demand for officers for the
Artillery and Engineers created by the Crimean war, led to the
introduction of a new system of obtaining commissions in the scientific
corps. At first a limited number of nominations were placed in the hands
of the head masters of the great public schools of the country, and the
candidates nominated by them were appointed to provisional commissions
on passing an examination at Woolwich; but after a short time the
principle of open competition for admission to the Artillery and
Engineers was adopted, in 1855, by Lord Panmure, when Secretary of State
for War. Simultaneously with this change--the first recognition of the
competitive principle in regard to military education in this country--a
great alteration was made in the limits of age for admission to the
scientific corps. Both direct appointments to commissions in the
Artillery and Engineers, without any previous special instruction, and
admissions to the senior or practical class at the Academy, without
passing through the lower or theoretical classes at that institution,
were thrown open to public competition among all natural-born subjects
of Her Majesty. The limits of age for candidates for the direct
appointments were from 19 to 21. Those who were successful were in the
first instance to receive provisional commissions, and to be placed for
instruction under the Director of Artillery Studies, at Woolwich, for a
period of about six months, at the end of which they were to be
permanently commissioned. Candidates for admission to the practical
class at the Academy were required to be between the ages of 17 and 19;
those admitted were to remain in the practical class for six or eight
months, after which, on passing an examination, they were to receive
commissions in the Artillery or Engineers. The first competitive
examination under this system (the regulations for which will be found
below) was held in August, 1855, and was conducted by a body of
examiners specially appointed for the purpose, under the direction of
Canon Moseley. The examination for both classes of appointments thrown
open to competition was the same, and was based on the general education
of the country, the object being merely to compare the abilities and
attainments of the candidates without reference to special professional
knowledge. Two other similar examinations, both for provisional
commissions and for admission to the practical class, were held in
January and June, 1856, the only difference being that the limits of age
of the candidates were somewhat extended, and that in these later
examinations no commissions in the _Engineers_ were offered to
competition.
On the conclusion of the Crimean war, however, the system of appointing
officers directly from civil life to commissions in the scientific
corps, as well as that of admitting candidates to the practical class at
the Academy, which had been adopted to meet the pressure of the war,
came to an end. No other examination after that in June, 1856, was held
for a year; but in June, 1857, the first competitive examination for
admission to the ordinary course of instruction at the Academy took
place. The limits of age for admission were fixed at 17 to 20, and it
was announced that the successful candidates would remain under
instruction at the Academy “until sufficiently advanced in scientific
knowledge to pass a satisfactory examination.”
Since this period open competitive examinations have been held regularly
every six months for admission to the Academy; and though various
modifications in their details have been made, their general character
remains little altered. The limits of age for candidates, originally
placed at 17 to 20, were, however, in 1862, reduced to 16 to 19, at
which they are at present fixed.
The examinations for admission to the Academy, like those which had
previously been held for provisional commissions and for appointments to
the practical class, were at first conducted by Canon Moseley and a
special Board of Examiners appointed by the Secretary of State for War,
with whom the general management of the Academy, after the abolition of
the office of Master-General of the Ordnance, remained. In 1858,
however, the superintendence of the system of instruction at Woolwich
was transferred to the Council of Military Education, who, since July,
1859, have conducted the examinations.
Although the principle of open competition for appointments in the
scientific corps was first recognized in 1855, and in 1857 was extended
generally to admission to the ordinary course of instruction at the
Academy, yet the system of competitive examination did not become the
sole and universal means of admission to Woolwich until the year 1861.
Time was required to clear off the vested interests of candidates who
had been placed on the old nomination list of the Master-General of the
Ordnance; of youths who had been admitted to the preparatory school at
Carshalton; of cadets who, at the time of the proposed amalgamation of
Sandhurst and Woolwich, had obtained admission to the former institution
on the understanding that they would have the opportunity of obtaining
commissions in the Artillery and Engineers; and, lastly, of cadets at
the Indian Military College at Addiscombe, who, on the abolition of the
local Indian army, were transferred to Woolwich before receiving
commissions in the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers.
Out of 3,085 admission examinations in eleven years, from 1858 to 1868,
more than one-half (2,136) failed. Of those who entered after this
trial, in the same length of time, only three failed to pass the final
examination.
STAFF OF GOVERNMENT AND INSTRUCTION.
_President._--Duke of Cambridge, K.G.
_Governor._--Major General J. L. A. Simmons, K.C.B.
_Secretary and Treasurer._--Bt. Major E. J. Bruce, R.Art.
_Professor of Mathematics._--M. W. Crofton, B.A., and five masters.
_Professor of Fortification._--Lt. Col. J. J. Wilson.
_Instructors._--Major W. J. Stuart, and three others.
_Professor of Military History._--Capt. H. Brackenburg, R.Art.
_Professor of Military Drawing._--Lt. Col. A. W. Drayson.
_Landscape Drawing._--William Clifton.
_Professor of Artillery._--Lt. Col. C. H. Owen, and five masters.
_Professor of Practical Geometry._--T. Bradley, and two masters.
_Professor of German._--C. H. Schaible, and two masters.
_Professor of French._--Theodore Karcher, and two masters.
_Professor of Chemistry._--C. L. Bloxham.
_Chaplain and Classical Instructor._--Rev. W. F. Short.
EXPENDITURE FOR MILITARY ACADEMY AT WOOLWICH:
In 1858, £27,969; in 1861-62, £25,188; in 1866-67, £36,416,--exclusive
of payments made by the cadets.
REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION.
N.B.--All candidates for commissions in the Royal Artillery and Royal
Engineers are required to go through a course of instruction at the
Royal Military Academy.
I. Competitive examinations for admission are held in London twice a
year, in January and July. They are conducted by examiners appointed for
the purpose, in the presence and under the superintendence of the
Council of Military Education.
The candidates must be between 16 and 19 years of age.
II. The admissions will be determined by the result of the
examination, the subjects of which will be as follows, viz.:
Marks.
1. Mathematics
{ Pure
{ { Section I. Arithmetic, algebra, Euclid,
{ { plane trigonometry, 2,000 }
{ { Section II. Spherical trignometry, elements of
{ { co-ordinate geometry, and of the differential
{ { and integral calculus, 500 }
{ Mixed: Statics, dynamics, and hydrostatics, 1,000 } 3,500
2. English language and composition, 1,000
3. History of England, its dependencies and colonies, 1,000
4. Geography (modern), 1,000
5. Classics { Latin language, 1,500
{ Greek do., 1,500
6. French language, 1,000
7. German do., 1,000
8. Hindustani do., 1,000
The examination in French, German, and Hindustani, will include
writing from dictation.
9. Experimental sciences, _i.e._, chemistry, heat,
electricity, magnetism, 1,000
10. Natural sciences, _i.e._, mineralogy and geology, 1,000
11. Drawing { Free-hand drawing of machinery, architectural,
{ topographical, landscape or figure subjects, 1,000
Every candidate must qualify in geometrical drawing; _i.e._, drawing
in ink, with accuracy, neatness, and to scale, the several problems of
Euclid. The standard of qualification in this subject is 100 marks,
which must be gained, out of a maximum of 300 nominally assigned to it.
But the marks so gained will not count toward the general aggregate.
III. No candidate will be allowed to be examined in more than five
subjects, of which one must be mathematics, and no one who does not
obtain at least 700 marks in section I. of pure mathematics, will be
eligible for an appointment.
From the other subjects of examination, to which marks are assigned as
above, each candidate may select any, not exceeding four in number, in
which he desires to be examined. The rules for counting marks in such
subjects are as follows:
In all subjects carrying marks, except the 1st section of mathematics,
in which 700 marks are required, one-sixth of the number allotted to
each must be gained before they can be allowed to count.
In classics, the subject is divided into two sections as above, either
or both of which the candidate may take up as one subject; but he will
not be allowed to count the marks gained in either section unless they
amount to one-sixth of the number allotted to it.
In either _French_, _German_, or _Hindustani_, every candidate will be
required to obtain for qualification one-sixth of the maximum of marks,
whether he takes it up as a subject in which he desires to compete or
not.
It should be understood that, although only a small qualifying test
has been imposed in respect to modern languages, a knowledge of them on
admission will contribute greatly to a candidate’s future success at the
Royal Military Academy.
IV. The candidates are allowed to answer as many questions as the time
allotted to the subject will permit.
V. No candidate will be admitted unless he obtain an aggregate of at
least 2,500 marks.