Such information as this would enable the Commander of the Forces, or the generals acting under his instructions, to employ the commissariat advantageously, and also to order from the cities, towns or country, whatever number of men, animals, &c. might be required for various military purposes; and they would be enabled to decide what part of the resources of the country could be made available for supplying many of the wants of an army, so that considerable quantities of food, forage, &c. might thus be obtained upon the spot, in place of its being necessary to bring supplies from perhaps distant countries, and even by ships, at an enormous expense, as was often the case during the Peninsular war.
I do not pretend to be able, nor have I any wish to write a regular military treatise; but I beg to observe, that acting thus upon system, and every thing being, if possible, punctually paid for, or good arrangements entered into, in cases of forced contributions, almost any country could be made to contribute considerably towards the wants of an army; but without such arrangements its resources are either plundered or wasted. But nothing of this kind can possibly be effected, unless an army has attached to it, a well organized mounted police, to enforce regularity and punctuality.
The officers of the Quarter-Master-General's department, cannot possibly perform the many duties required of them, without the occasional aid of such a police force as I have in view, and which in the end would be found to be a vast saving of expense, incurred in many ways, by the country; nor without the assistance of a corps of mounted men, usually termed guides; and which ought, if practicable, to be raised in the country, the seat of war; and they should be so well paid and treated as to insure their fidelity.
I must now, however, conclude this part of my undertaking, by remarking, that into whatever parts or branches the duties, services, or the business of an army may be divided, the whole should, as far as possible, be brought under the Adjutant or Quarter-Master-General's departments, and their correct and punctual performance should be shown by the most simple, yet sufficiently comprehensive, returns or reports, of which the forms should always be given; and they should be similar, in many respects, to that which enabled the Duke of Wellington to know, every day, the exact state or distribution of his army; returns or reports of this kind cannot possibly be dispensed with from the commissariat or ordnance, as the Commander of the Forces, and generals of divisions and brigades ought to know, at all times, how the army, and the parts of it under their charge respectively, are to be supplied with provisions, ammunition, &c. &c.
It may probably, by those who wish to remain independent at the head of departments, be deemed desirable, that the medical, commissariat, and ordnance branches of the army should remain distinct, and that they should continue to communicate direct with the Commander of the Forces; but in this I cannot coincide, and it strikes me that it would be desirable, to place the medical department and its establishments under the Adjutant-General, and the commissariat under the Quarter-Master-General. My reason, in the first place, for the former is, that no where is it so essential, that the strictest discipline should be maintained, as at the several hospital stations, and in every thing connected with the medical department of an army; and in our future wars this must be particularly necessary, from the rapidity with which they must be carried on, as I intend more fully to show hereafter, when the instant removal of sick and wounded to places of safety will appear to be indispensable.
The Duke of Wellington, a most excellent teacher, says, in a General Order, dated Pero Negro, 23d Oct. 1810—
"No. 1. The Commander of the Forces has observed, with great concern, the large number of men returned by the several regiments, as sick in hospitals, compared with the returns received from the medical officers, of the number of men actually on their books in the hospitals.
"No. 2. The former at present is more than double the latter, and it must be owing to some existing abuse.
"No. 3. The Commander of the Forces has besides been informed by many officers, commanding regiments and brigades in the army, that there are many non-commissioned officers and soldiers walking about the streets in Belem and Lisbon, quite recovered, while others are doing the duties of these men before the enemy in the field.
"No. 4. In order to put a stop to these abuses, the Commander of the Forces desires that the following regulations be attended to."