A British army, as it was,--is,--and ought to be

by James Campbell

During the splendid movement which Lord Wellington made from the frontiers of Portugal, and which ultimately compelled the French to concentrate their army and fight the disastrous battle of Vittoria; the Assistant-commissary-general attached to one of the divisions, had, through mistake, come into a part of the country, the supplies to be got from which were allotted to the 3rd; and he was waiting patiently, in a neat Spanish village, for the baking of a large quantity of bread, to be finished; which he intended for his own division. Whilst this was going forward, he had taken care, as commissaries usually did, to establish himself in one of the best houses. Sir Thomas Picton very soon learnt what he was about; and ordered that he should be brought before him. "How dare you, Sir, to plunder that village?" "I am no plunderer, Sir, and am only procuring bread for my division," "Neither you nor your division, have a right to any thing in that village; and if you don't instantly be off, Sir, I will order the provost-marshal to hang you up on that tree." The zealous commissary (indeed he was one of the most efficient in the army, and well known to be so by Sir Thomas, who during the scene could scarcely conceal how much he was amused), set off in great alarm, and without further reply, at speed, to head-quarters; which happened to be not very distant, where, we were told, he requested to see Lord Wellington: "What is the matter?" demanded his Lordship, upon observing the commissary's great perturbation. He told his story; concluding by declaring, "and he was actually going to hang me!" His Lordship, now scarcely able, as the story was told—to keep his gravity, asked with much apparent earnestness, "Did he really say, that he would hang you?" "Yes, he really did." "Then," said his lordship, "take my advice, and keep out of his way, or he will certainly do so." The worthy commissary now began, for the first time, to suspect that he had been made to cut a ridiculous figure.

Sir Thomas Picton, though stern in aspect, possessed a most warm, benevolent, and feeling heart. As an instance of this I cannot help relating what occurred on one occasion in Spain. An officer, commanding one of the regiments of his division, was killed in action. He, like too many soldiers who fell in battle, left his widow and a child in very narrow circumstances. This by some means or other came to Sir Thomas Picton's knowledge, when he sent for a field-officer of the regiment, to find out from him the widow's address; and his feeling remark on the occasion was, "that both grief and poverty were hard to be borne at one time." Having got the information he wanted, he took care that a large sum of money (being apprehensive of making a mistake, I shall not venture to say how much) was paid to her.

Towards the close of the war in the South of France, the Duke of Wellington had brought his army—not only improved in its staff, but in many other respects—into a complete state for service; indeed he had made it as much so, as a British force, composed as it was and still is, can be; and his plan of giving good commissariat establishments to divisions and brigades, which enabled them to act at all times efficiently and independently, was most admirable, and should, as far as possible, be always imitated whenever our troops, in any considerable numbers, may be hereafter required to take the field; but those, who from experience, could properly form such establishments, may most probably have then passed away, and the advantages which might have been looked for from their practical knowledge of commissariat duties, cannot be available, and I do not know where I could recommend any one to look for correct information upon such subjects. But does not this most clearly point out, the want of established system in this as well as in other essential branches of our service, and for which I do perseveringly contend.

It may appear to some, that to accomplish the various objects I have alluded to, would be attended with vast expense to the country, yet this will not be found, upon a calm consideration, or rather investigation, to be so great as might be imagined; but no one acquainted with military matters will pretend to say, that they can be dispensed with, if the country is to be served by its armies as it ought to be; and, I trust, that I have already shown in what manner savings can be effected, more than sufficient to meet any increase of expenditure I may venture to propose. I must now, however, leave the subject of the staff of an army for the present, and proceed to other matters which must still be brought before the reader.

CHAP. VI.

As I find that I have not yet touched upon some of the subjects which I am anxious to bring under consideration. I must again beg here to remind the reader, that having shown, in several instances, in what manner considerable savings can be effected, I will now go on to point out a very injudicious piece of economy, the consequences of which have been always felt in our regiments, viz. that of never allowing one quarter enough of ammunition for practice; and the result was, that our soldiers, in general, I will venture to say, were probably as bad marksmen as any in the world. Our game laws are in a certain degree the cause that the lower orders of the people are all so ignorant of the use of fire-arms; but this is a subject with which I do not intend to meddle, and shall only say, that when English archers were so formidable, the people were encouraged and even compelled to assemble at various times of the year to practise this to them amusing craft; and the result of this wise policy on the part of their rulers was fully evinced in battle. I must, however, observe, that our old-fashioned heavy muskets recoil, or kick so violently, after firing even a few rounds, that if they then go off at all, they cause a man to think twice, and probably to raise his eye from the object aimed at, before he ventures to pull the trigger; but since I made a note of this, with the intention of bringing the subject under consideration, I find that an improvement in fire-arms, for the army in general, is actually in contemplation.

I by no means wish to increase the quantity of blank cartridges usually allowed to amuse grown children at mock-fights, &c. but of ball and buckshot ammunition; for it is most desirable that the soldier should know and be able to calculate, at what distances he ought to use both with proper effect.

A general officer, now long in his tomb, entertained certain very odd notions, in which I sometimes fancy that I participate; in one of his usually laconic addresses, or exhortations, in which he was fond of indulging even when going into action, upon one occasion, and rather to the astonishment of the soldiers he led, though accustomed to his ways, and after cautioning them, that he would not give the word fire until he could see the white of the enemy's eyes; and he was very near-sighted—he thus addressed them—"Now, lads, there is the enemy, if you don't kill them, they will certainly kill you; and it is better to break their shanks than to fire o'er the crown of their heads." There was much to be admired in this pithy address, which could be perfectly understood by soldiers. But I must say, that I have often regretted seeing a useless, distant fire kept up, which had no effect whatever upon the enemy, and certainly did not improve the taste of our soldiers for the bayonet, in whose hands it may be always made a very useful instrument for deciding the fate of battles. I must, however, apologize for taking up the reader's time with these remarks, and also for having so unceremoniously introduced the general, my worthy ancestor, to him; yet I must beg to add, that a very brave and esteemed friend of mine, Major Smith, 45th regiment, who fell fighting gloriously, but too rashly, for he really went up to the French bayonets at Busaco, had also sometimes a very odd way of expressing himself. I remember hearing him on one occasion emphatically observe, "I don't like your prudent officers, Sir, who deal in long shots, and who talk so much of sparing the effusion of human blood—their prudence, Sir, always increases it in the end, Sir." But those who knew him will readily recognize this to be genuine; and it may be well supposed, that he must have come up to Sir Thomas Picton's ideas of what a good soldier should be; at all events, he considered that the 3rd division and the country, sustained an irreparable loss when Major Smith fell. But to proceed—I beg to recommend, that there be erected, as near as may be deemed consistent with the safety of the passers by, and even against the high walls of barracks, sufficient mounds of earth against which to fire with ball; and this should not only be made the means of useful instruction, but also, like the bayonet and sword exercises, conducive to the soldier's amusement; and whilst I would greatly increase the allowance of ammunition for practice, I would also suggest that a sum of money be annually granted to regiments to be laid out at the discretion of commanding officers, in rewards to the best shots and the best swordsmen. This is very essential, as light troops are so much employed in modern warfare, that their being good marksmen cannot be dispensed with; therefore, with a superior description of musket, having a good percussion lock, serviceable in wet as well as in dry weather, and fire never being uselessly thrown away in action in a volley like a single report, which in former times was considered so fine, our soldiers would be more than a match for the Yankee Back-woodsmen, or any other troops in the world.

I have now arrived at a part of my undertaking in which I am very much interested, and to which I am desirous of attracting attention; for I am sure it will be readily allowed, that amongst any body of men, there will always exist irregularities and misconduct; it is therefore indispensable, that there should be at hand the means of making those guilty of offences promptly feel the consequences of committing them. With this in view, I conclude it will be thought necessary, that there should be several small, dark, dry, and well ventilated cells in all prisons attached to barracks at home and abroad, in which offenders can be separately confined, either upon bread and water, low diet, or otherwise for fixed periods, according to the present system, and to the sentences of courts-martial, for I am obliged to write so as to suit the times, and whilst undergoing this kind of punishment, the inmates should be subjected to the most perfect silence; which, if duly attended to, will soon be found to constitute the severest part of the punishment, and to produce the most desirable results; every necessary precaution should, therefore, be taken on this head; but it should never be overlooked, that such kinds of punishment for the maintenance of discipline, can never be resorted to when regiments are in the field.

In no regiment that I have ever had any thing to do with, have I yet found the link of responsibility perfectly kept up. For instance, the majors were not made answerable for the state of their respective wings. The captains were almost never interfered with by the majors, who were really little else than sinecurists: indeed, commanding officers in general, did not like their doing so; as they too frequently looked upon it as meddling with what did not concern them; and they too often rendered the captains also mere nonentities with their companies; managing all promotions, &c. (so powerful is the love of patronage) between themselves and their adjutants. It was the same as to granting leave of absence from the regiments, or even from common parades; and thus captains were entirely stripped of influence. It was also much the same with regard to men guilty of crimes or irregularities: their names were found in guard reports; the adjutants were made to inquire into the reasons of their confinement, and they were sometimes sentenced by courts-martial, and even punished, without any reference whatever being made to their captains; and I have heard commanding officers say, that there was no use in consulting them, as they knew nothing about their companies; but whose fault was that, and why were they not encouraged and made to do their duty, and to look after their men's conduct?