The Evolution of the Engineers
The name and calling of the Engineer is traceable through English history in the existence of the King’s Engynour, as mentioned at the commencement of this chapter. He had charge of what we now call Engineer Works, as well as of the Artillery. Both these Services were, up to the Stuart times, mainly connected with fortresses and sieges; but the first and the third King Edwards had with their field armies a corps of Military Artificers, and Henry VIII. formed a body of Pioneers for work in the field. These were artisans, either specially recruited, or taken from the ranks of the Infantry, as Pioneers still are. The body was commanded by a Captain of Pioneers, who was practically an Engineer Officer. He and his men formed part of the field force, and were Field Engineers.
From this time onwards, the Pioneers are identified with the field operations of an army, while individual Engineer Officers were attached to the Staff. The latter were formed into the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1772. This system, which differentiated between Pioneer men commanded by Engineer Officers, and individual Engineer Officers on the Staff, is exactly that which still exists in the German Army.
A Corps of Military Artificers was formed in 1770, and became the Corps of Sappers and Miners in 1780. It was constantly used in the field, especially in the sieges in the Peninsula and in the Crimea, after which it became merged with the Engineer Officers into the Corps of Royal Engineers.
The developments of science applied to war, such as railways, telegraphs, and balloons, the importance of mobility for modern armies, which entails much road-making and bridging work, and the increased demand for field works in the attack, as well as on the defensive, have greatly increased the demand for Engineers with Forces in the field.
It may be pointed out that the Military Engineer existed for centuries before the civil engineer, who is a nineteenth-century offshoot of his military colleague, named after him, and not vice versa, as is sometimes imagined. The civil engineer was so called because, like the Engineer, he dealt with tools, machinery, and works, but only for civil purposes.