Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of"
69. The period of reform commences therefore with 1870, and is connected
882 words | Chapter 77
indissolubly with the name of Edward, Lord Cardwell, secretary of state
for war 1869-1874. In the matter of organization the result of his
labours was seen in the perfectly arranged expedition to Ashanti (1874);
as for recruiting, the introduction of short service and reserve
enlistment together with many rearrangements of pay, &c., proved so far
popular that the number of men annually enlisted was more than trebled
(11,742 in 1869; 39,971 in 1885; 40,729 in 1898), and so far efficient
that "Lord Cardwell's ... system, with but small modification, gave us
during the Boer War 80,000 reservists, of whom 96 or 97% were found
efficient, and has enabled us to keep an army of 150,000 regulars in the
field for 15 months" (Rt. Hon. St John Brodrick, House of Commons, 8th
of March 1901). The localization of the army, subsequently completed by
the territorial system of 1882, was commenced under Cardwell's regime,
and a measure which encountered much powerful opposition at the time,
the abolition of the purchase of commissions, was also effected by him
(1871). The machinery of administration was improved, and autumn
manoeuvres were practised on a scale hitherto unknown in England. In
1871 certain powers over the militia, formerly held by lords-lieutenant,
were transferred to the crown, and the auxiliary forces were placed
directly under the generals commanding districts. In 1881 came an
important change in the infantry of the line, which was entirely
remodelled in two-battalion regiments bearing territorial titles. This
measure (the "linked battalion" system) aroused great opposition; it was
dictated chiefly by the necessity of maintaining the Indian and colonial
garrisons at full strength, and was begun during Lord Cardwell's tenure
of office, the principle being that each regiment should have one
battalion at home and one abroad, the latter being fed by the former,
which in its turn drew upon the reserve to complete it for war. The
working of the system is to be considered as belonging to present
practice rather than to history, and the reader is therefore referred to
the article UNITED KINGDOM. On these general lines the army progressed
up to 1899, when the Boer War called into the field on a distant theatre
of war all the resources of the regular army, and in addition drew
largely upon the existing auxiliary forces, and even upon wholly
untrained civilians, for the numbers required to make war in an area
which comprised nearly all Africa south of the Zambezi. As the result
of this war (see TRANSVAAL) successive schemes of reform were undertaken
by the various war ministers, leading up to Mr Haldane's "territorial"
scheme (1908), which put the organization of the forces in the United
Kingdom (q.v.) on a new basis.
Innovations had not been unknown in the period immediately preceding the
war; as a single example we may take the development of the mounted
infantry (q.v.). It was natural that the war itself, and especially a
war of so peculiar a character, should intensify the spirit of
innovation. The corresponding period in the German army lasted from 1871
to 1888, and such a period of unsettlement is indeed the common,
practically the universal, result of a war on a large scale. Much that
was of value in the Prussian methods, faithfully and even slavishly
copied by Great Britain as by others after 1870, was temporarily
forgotten, but the pendulum swung back again, and the Russo-Japanese War
led to the disappearance, so far as Europe was concerned, of many
products of the period of doubt and controversy which followed the
struggle in South Africa. Side by side with continuous discussions of
the greater questions of military policy, amongst these being many
well-reasoned proposals for universal service, the technical and
administrative efficiency of the service has undergone great
improvement, and this appears to be of more real and permanent value
than the greater part of the solutions given for the larger problems.
The changes in the organization of the artillery afford the best
evidence of this spirit of practical and technical reform. In the first
place the old "royal regiment" was divided into two branches. The
officers for the field and horse artillery stand now on one seniority
list for promotion, the garrison, heavy and mountain batteries on
another. In each branch important changes of organization have been also
made. In the field branch, both for Royal Field and Royal Horse
Artillery, the battery is no longer the one unit for all purposes. A
lieutenant-colonel's command, the "brigade," has been created. It
consists of a group, in the horse artillery of two, in the field
artillery of three batteries. For the practical training of the horse
and field artillery a large area of ground on the wild open country of
Dartmoor, near Okehampton, has for some years been utilized. A similar
school has been started at Glen Imaal in Ireland, and a new training
ground has been opened on Salisbury Plain. Similarly, with the Royal
Garrison Artillery a more perfect system has been devised for the
regulation and practice of the fire of each fortress, in accordance with
the varying circumstances of its position, &c. A practice school for the
garrison artillery has been established at Lydd, but the various coast
fortresses themselves carry out regular practice with service
ammunition.
INDIAN ARMY
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