The salutes in the Tower were fired from culverings and 8-pounders, and were in a very special manner under the command of the Master-General himself. As little liberty of thought was left to the subordinates at the Tower as possible. Warnings of preparation were forwarded often days before, followed at intervals by reminders that the salute was not to be fired until a positive order should reach the Tower from the Master-General.
The letter-books at the Tower teem with correspondence and orders on this subject, and the Master-General seemed to write as many letters to his loving friends at the Tower about a birthday salute, about which no mistake could well occur, as he did about a salute of another kind, albeit a birthday one, when on the 10th June, 1688, "it pleased Almighty God, about ten o'clock of the morning, to bless his Majesty and his Royal Consort, the Queen, with the birth of a hopefull son, and his Majesty's kingdom and dominions with a Prince: for which inestimable blessing" public rejoicing was invited. It was a false tale which the guns rang out from the Tower:—only a few months, and the hopeful babe was a fugitive with its ill-fated father, and remained an exile for his life.
"He was indeed the most unfortunate of Princes, destined to seventy-seven years of exile and wandering, of vain projects, of honours more galling than insults, and hopes such as make the heart sick."[[6]]
At this time, Woolwich was gradually increasing in importance as an Artillery Depôt, and in 1672 the beginning of the Laboratory was laid, 70 feet long, "for receiving fireworks."
In 1682 Lord Dartmouth was appointed Master-General, and from this date until the Revolution the student of the Ordnance MSS. recognizes the existence of a master-spirit, and a clear-headed man of business. In 1683 he obtained authority from the King to reorganize the whole department, and define the duties of every official—a task which he performed so well that his work remained as the standard rule for the Board until it ceased to exist. His physical activity was as great as his mental: not a garrison in the kingdom was safe from his personal inspection; and the results of his examination were so eminently unsatisfactory as to call forth orders which, while calculated to prevent, had the effect also of revealing to posterity abuses of the grossest description. Not merely was neglect discovered among the storekeepers and gunners of the various garrisons—not merely ignorance and incapacity—but it was ascertained to be not unusual for a Master-Gunner to omit reporting the death of his subordinates, while continuing however to draw their pay. Lord Dartmouth's measures comprised the weeding out of the incapable gunners; the issue of stern warnings to all; the bringing the Storekeepers (who had hitherto held their appointments by letters patent from the Exchequer) under the immediate jurisdiction of the Board of Ordnance; the increase of the more educated element among the few Artillerymen on the permanent establishment, by the appointment of Gentlemen of the Ordnance, "lest the ready effects of our Artillery in any respect may perhaps be wanting when occasion shall be offered;" the appointment of Engineers to superintend the fortifications, with salaries of 100l. a year, under a Chief Engineer, Sir Bernard de Gomme; the encouragement of foreign travel and study; and the creation of discipline among the gunners at the Tower. Among the various causes of regret which affected Lord Dartmouth after the Revolution, probably none were more felt than the sorrow that he had been unable to complete the reformation in the Ordnance which he had so thoroughly and ably commenced.
As a specimen of a train of Lord Dartmouth's time may be taken the one ordered to march on 21st June, 1685, to join Lord Feversham's force at Chippenham, and to proceed against the rebels. It consisted of
| Pay per diem. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | s. | d. | |
| Comptroller | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| His clerk | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Commissary of the Artillery | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| His two clerks | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Paymaster of the Train | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| His clerk | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Master of the Waggons | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Two assistants | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Commissary of the draught horses | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Two assistants | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Gentlemen of the Ordnance, three at 5s. each | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Purveyor | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Provost-Marshal | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Two assistants | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Master-Gunner | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Two Mates at 3s. | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 32 Gunners at 2s. | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 32 Matrosses at 1s. 6d. | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Conductors, six at 2s. 6d. | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Chirurgeon | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| His Mate | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Tent-keeper | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| His assistant | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Master-Smith | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Two Smiths | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| One Farrier | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Master-Carpenter | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Four Carpenters at 2s. each | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Master-Wheelwright | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Two Wheelers | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Master Collar-Maker | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| One Collar-maker | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Master-Cooper | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Gunsmith | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Captain of the Pioneers | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| One Sergeant | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| One Corporal | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| One Drummer | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 Pioneers | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 118 Drivers at 1s. each | 5 | 18 | 0 |
| ——— | —— | —— | |
| Total per diem | £22 | 9 | 0 |
| ——— | —— | —— | |
The guns used were brass Falcons and iron 3-pounders.
On examining the comparative pay of the various ranks, the Provost-Marshal seems to be well paid, ranking as he does in that respect with the Surgeon, and the Captain of the Pioneers. But if we may judge of the discipline of his train from one incident which has survived, his office can have been no sinecure. We find on the 23rd December, 1685, the King and Privy Council assembled at Whitehall, discussing gravely some conduct of certain members of the train, which had formed matter of complaint and petition from his Majesty's lieges. Four unhappy farmers had had a yoke of oxen pressed from each—the day after the rebels had been defeated—to bring off the carriages of the King's train of Artillery (then immovable, as might have been expected), and the animals had been made to travel as far as Devizes, forty miles from their home. One of the farmers, William Pope by name, had accompanied the train, in order that he might bring the oxen back. On applying for them at the end of the journey, the conductor "did abuse William Pope, one of the petitioners, by threatening to hang him for a rebel, as in the petition is more at large set forth." So the farmers now prayed to have their oxen, with the yokes and furniture, or their value, restored to them.
As the King in Council was graciously pleased to refer the complaint to Lord Dartmouth, with a view to justice being done, the reader need not doubt that the petitioners went away satisfied.