First Attempts at Formation.
The desire, however, of the Audit Office Meeting was that special favour should be shown to Civil Servants, so it was decided to express the views of the meeting in the following letter, which was despatched, not to the War Office, but to the Prime Minister himself, Earl Derby:
“Audit Office, 20th May, 1859.
“My Lord,—I have the honour to transmit to your Lordship a copy of the Resolutions passed at a meeting of gentlemen of the Audit Office, held on the 18th instant to take into consideration the formation of a Volunteer Rifle Corps from the members of the Civil Service and I beg leave respectfully to request that your Lordship will be pleased to cause me to be furnished with replies to the Resolutions in question for the information of the gentlemen in this office who have signified their desire to join a Civil Service Rifle Corps.
“The junior members of the Civil Service being generally in the receipt of small incomes, your Lordship will perceive that the only difficulty in obtaining volunteers from the Civil Service is the expense attending their outfit. I would therefore, venture more particularly to draw your Lordship’s attention to the 3rd Resolution, in which we request that the arms and accoutrements only may be supplied to volunteers from the members of the Civil Service by Her Majesty’s Government; and as this is a question which affects nearly the whole body of the Civil Service, who are anxious to enrol themselves into a Volunteer Rifle Corps, I trust that your Lordship will not think us intrusive in asking you to take these Resolutions into your favourable consideration.
“We hope your Lordship will pardon us if we have taken any liberty in bringing this subject under your consideration, but as Civil Servants of the Crown we are anxious that we should not be behind others in the present movement in favour of the formation of Volunteer Rifle Corps.
“I have, &c.,
“F. A. Hawker.”
The reply to this letter came from the War Office, and affords an admirable illustration of the amount of official support, which the Volunteer movement received in its infancy.
“War Office, 31st May, 1859.
“Sir,—I am directed by Secretary Major-General Peel to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant, on the subject of a Civil Service Volunteer Corps, which has been forwarded to this office by Lord Derby.
“In reply, I am to inform you that the Government have decided not to supply arms to Volunteer Corps, either by sale or otherwise; and that General Peel does not consider the case of the gentlemen on whose behalf your application has been made to be one in which he can sanction a departure from the general rule.
“I am, &c.,
“H. R. Drewry.”
Thus closed the first act in the attempt to form a Civil Service Rifle Corps, for this snub appears to have had the effect of quenching the military ardour of the Auditors to such an extent that several months elapsed before they recovered from it.
In October, however, roused by events going on around them, they took heart once more, and returned to the charge. By this time Government had partially thawed, under the influence of the excitement throughout the country. Lord Ranelagh’s Committee had sat at the War Office, and it had been decided to issue arms to Volunteers at the lavish rate of one rifle to every four men enrolled.
In answer, therefore, to a letter despatched to him by Mr. Hawker, the Secretary of State for War stated, in a reply dated 7th November, 1859, that he would be happy to recommend Her Majesty to accept any offer of the service of a Company or Sub-division of Volunteers, which he might receive from Mr. Hawker through the Lord-Lieutenant of the County.