History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1 / Compiled from the Original Records

by Francis Duncan

It may be said of the Cadets of the olden time, that they were veritable sons of Ishmael; their hands were against every man, and every man's hand against them. They were the parents of their own legislation; à priori law-making was unknown; and not a statute was passed that had not been anticipated by the offence it was intended to curb. The cadets' ingenuity in evading detection was equalled by their talent in inventing new methods of annoyance. This talent was too often aided by the connivance of the newly-commissioned officers, whose sympathies were more with the law-breakers they had left than the law-insisters they had joined. Hence came threats fulminated against an intimacy between cadets and young officers, which made such intercourse all the sweeter; nor was it effectually put an end to until the Academy was removed from the Barracks in the Warren to a secluded spot at the foot of Shooter's Hill. The extreme youth of the cadets in the earlier days of the Academy, coupled with the very different views then in vogue as to educational discipline, produced a system of government which was harsh and penal. The Royal Military Academy has gone through two stages—the era of stern restriction, and that of comparative liberty. The swing of the pendulum is as certain in military as in civil life. From the days of black holes and bullying, the reaction to liberty, confidence in a cadet's honour, thoughtfulness for his comfort, and a system of punishment not degrading nor unsuited to his age, were inevitable, and have come. So far, indeed, has the pendulum swung, that the young officer must occasionally look back with regret on the greater comfort and the absence of responsibility which were characteristic of the older life. The absence of degrading punishments has been brought about, in great part, by the system of competition for cadet-ships, which, commencing with the practical class in 1855, has now for many years been universal. Young men from public schools, or from private tutors under whom they had to study proprio motu, and without the spur of discipline, could not be submitted to the same restraints as the mere boys who were cadets in the earlier days of the Academy. Nor does their absence lessen the sense of discipline which is necessary in a military body. The sympathy of numbers is the strongest wall against which a recalcitrant member can dash his head, and the result to the head is proverbial. And among educated youth, past the stage of mere boyhood, reasonable restraint and discipline can always be enforced with full confidence in the support of the governed.

The extreme youth of the cadets, in the early Academy days, is the key to the many ludicrous laws and anecdotes which have come down. For many years the average age of the cadets was between twelve and fourteen years, and old heads cannot be expected on young shoulders. As a matter of fact, old heads were not to be found; and the history of the Academy, over a hundred years ago, is one of the most comic narratives which can be perused. The incessant war going on between the Gulliver of authority and the Lilliputians of defiance, who so frequently got poor Gulliver on his back,—the laughable use of unaccustomed power by cadet corporals, bewildered by their position,—and the grandiloquent appeals of Governor after Governor to the feelings of rebellious youth, all combine to make up a rare picture. We meet threats against cadets who shall pass an officer without pulling off their hats, or who shall stay away from church, or shall play during the hours of study. So fond were the boys of bathing, more especially after it had been forbidden, that no punishment could deter them, until ingenious authority decided that any cadet found swimming in the Thames should be taken out and carried naked to the guard-room. Special punishments were devised for those who should wear officers' uniforms for the purpose of getting past the guard at the Warren gate, and for those who should break out over the wall after tattoo, or spoil the furniture, or write upon the walls. Nor is it merely the extreme youth of the cadets which is revealed by these orders; it is their incessant repetition, month after month, day after day, that makes the student detect the utter want of discipline that existed. A record remains of a cadet who was expelled for striking and maltreating another on parade, in presence of an officer, and "refusing to make any concession, although urged to do so by the Lieutenant-Governor." Two others are described in an official report as "scabby sheep, whom neither lenity will improve, nor confinement to a dark room and being fed on bread and water." These two, having openly displayed contempt of orders and defiance of authority, were dismissed ultimately from the Academy. Another, on whom the same penalty of expulsion fell, rather checkmated the authorities by taking with him his cadet's uniform and warrant, which enabled him to create such disturbances in the town of Woolwich, that he had to be threatened with the civil power if he did not give up the one and discontinue wearing the other.

But in the orders which it was found necessary to issue can be read most succinctly the account of life among the earlier cadets.

"The Gentlemen Cadets are now strictly forbid to cut or carve their names, or initial letters of names, on any part of their desks, or any way to spoil them.... They are not to spoil their own locks, or those of any other Gentlemen Cadets, by attempting to open them with wrong keys.... The Lieutenant-Governor expects that henceforward no Gentleman Cadet will be guilty of ever attempting to open or spoil any of the desks or drawers of the Inspectors, Professors, or Masters, or of any other Cadet, or even attempt to take anything out of them under the name of smouching, as they may be fully assured such base and vile crimes will be pardoned no more. The Gentlemen Cadets are, likewise, forbid from leaping upon or running over the desks with their feet; and the Corporals are expected, not only to keep a watchful eye to prevent any disorder in the Academy, but, by their own good behaviour, to set an example to others."

Shortly after this order a remonstrance is published, arguing that "the cadets have been guilty of a habit of making a continued noise, and going about greatly disturbing the Masters in their teaching; also, when the Academy ends, by shutting their desks with violence, and running out of the Academy hallooing, shouting, and making such a scene of riot and dissipation, greatly unbecoming a Seminary of learning, and far beneath the name of a Gentleman Cadet; and, lastly, during the hours of dancing, several of the Under Academy, whose names are well known, behave at present in so unpardonable a manner when dancing, by pulling, and hauling, and stamping, that the Master is thereby prevented from teaching. Hence the Lieutenant-Governor assures the gentlemen that those, who are anyways found guilty of such conduct for the future will be immediately sent to the Barracks, and receive such corporal punishment as their crimes deserve."

Yet again in stately language, it is reported that "it had come to the ears of the Lieutenant-Governor that of late the Corporals have inflicted a mode of punishment entirely inconsistent with the Rules and Regulations of the Academy—namely, that of making the Gentlemen kneel down on both knees, with uplifted hands, in the attitude of prayer; at other times placing them in painful and ridiculous postures, rather tending to excite laughter than to inflict punishment. The Lieutenant-Governor henceforward forbids all such modes of proceeding, as also that of striking the Cadets. On the contrary, when any Cadet is thought deserving of punishment, the Corporals may order them to stand sentinel, or report them to the Master on duty, or, with his leave, march them to the Barracks, and report them to the Commanding Officer in writing, who may punish them according to their crimes. On the other hand, the Lieutenant-Governor expects the Gentlemen Cadets to obey the Corporal's commands equally the same as any other superior officer, subordination being the most essential part of military duty. Lastly, the Lieutenant-Governor expresses the highest satisfaction in the genteel behaviour of the Company during the hours of dancing, in a great measure owing to the care of the present Corporals."

These extracts are sufficient proof of the youth and unruly habits of the earlier cadets. Courts-martial among them were far from uncommon; and cases of disturbance worthy of the name of mutiny are also recorded. Yet, in the very earliest days of the Academy, officers joined the Regiment who entered with such spirit and zeal into their duties, that they called forth special commendation from their commanding officers. In Flanders, in 1747 and 1748, Colonel Belford and Major Michelson warmly acknowledged the assistance they received from the young officers in their arduous attempts to impart to the Artillery Train a more military appearance than had hitherto distinguished it. And when, some years later, we find this very Colonel Belford protesting against the officers who joined from the Academy, and wishing that Institution were "detached as a Repository for Captain Congreve's curiosities, and that a number of fine young fellows were appointed as Cadets to every Battalion, and such as were fit for every duty to go upon all commands," we must bear in mind that, so great had the demand for officers been in the years immediately preceding his complaint, that the cadets had hardly any time to spend at the Academy—three or four months only being far from unusual, and, therefore, that the fault lay not so much in the system as in its neglect. A lad of eighteen years of age will be able to acquire even discipline in a very short time, because he is able to understand its necessity, and he soon becomes a creature of habit in this as in other matters. But a boy is always, either from restlessness or mischief, chafing against restraint, and takes longer time to subdue. The extreme youth of the earlier cadets prevents surprise at the ludicrous state of discipline which prevailed, and creates wonder that the officers who joined so young, after such a training, were so good as they proved. If the truth were known, we should, doubtless, find that, while their intellectual training commenced at the Academy, their real discipline did not commence until they joined the Regiment.

Not merely did the exigencies of the service curtail the stay of the earlier cadets at the Academy, but the abuses and jobbery which were rife in the last century rendered it possible for cadets to be at the Academy without any previous education at all. With a proclamation hanging on the wall that the Institution was created for teaching the "Mathematicks," we find piteous Masters protesting against the presence of cadets who could neither read nor write. There were cadets,—not in the Academy, but away in their homes,—drawing pay as such almost from their cradle; and not until the Academy had been a considerable time in existence was this abuse put an end to. Before the formation of the Company of Cadets, the pay of a Cadet Gunner was 1s. 4d. per diem; that of a Cadet Matross was 1s. When the company was formed, all cadets received the higher rate; and ultimately, although not until twenty years had passed, the pay was raised to 2s. 6d. When enrolled in a company, military duties were expected of them which were never dreamt of before: they carried arms, and mounted guard, the post where the cadet-sentry was placed being generally over the commanding officer's quarters. The officers of the company—in addition to the Master-General, who was its captain—were a Captain-Lieutenant, whose daily pay was 1l. 3s. 6d.; a First Lieutenant, with 5s.; a Second Lieutenant, with 4s.; and a Fireworker, with 3s. But it was not for some time after its formation that the officers of the company were borne as supernumeraries in the Regiment. A Drum-major was also on the strength of the company.

The number of cadets in the company, which had been almost immediately increased from forty to forty-eight, varied with the demands on the Academy during different wars. At the end of last century, and the beginning of the present, so heavy were the wants of the Regiment, and of the East India Company's service, that accommodation for cadets had to be sought for in the various private schools in Woolwich and its vicinity, and even in the Military College at Marlow. With the opening of the new Academy in 1806 this necessity gradually disappeared, the Government accommodation being sufficient.

Besides the cadets of the company, the Academy was attended by supernumeraries in the earlier days, who were permitted to study there pending vacancies. Certain students, also known as gentlemen attendants, who did not meditate joining the Army, but attended for general education, were permitted to avail themselves of the services of the Academy Masters by paying the annual sum of thirty guineas. Classics were taught as well as mathematics, at the schools in the Warren; and, in fact, Woolwich was used by these gentlemen attendants, much as West Point is used in America by students who recognize the value of the education imparted there, but do not contemplate entering the military profession.