Any Corporal or trooper who, during his three years' service, has been sent to prison or to the cells, must at the expiration of his three years' service, remain with the colours for a number of days equal to those he has spent in prison or in the cells.
I have not yet exhausted the list of punishments which may be inflicted upon French privates. There is another one more terrible than all the others I have described. This consists in sending a soldier to the Compagnies de discipline. This means transportation to Algeria. There the soldier is drafted into one of the special companies encamped far away in the interior. The men are drilled for several hours daily, and during the remainder of the time they are employed at road-making and subjected to other hard labour. Officers and Sergeants in command are always armed with loaded revolvers, and at the least sign of disobedience they can blow a man's brains out. For the slightest fault these men are sent to the silos—deep holes dug in the ground, and funnel-shaped at the bottom, so that neither standing, sitting, nor lying down is possible. They are left there for one or two days with bread and water. An awful case occurred some years ago in connection with these silos, which will be described in the course of my narrative.
"The Minister of War," say the regulations, "has full power to send to the Compagnies de discipline any private who has committed one or several faults, the gravity of which makes any other mode of repression inadequate."
Usually, however, such men are tried before a Conseil de discipline. When the Captain in command of a squadron considers that one of his troopers has deserved to be sent to a Compagnie de discipline he sends a written report to the Major stating the faults or misdemeanours of the trooper and the punishments which have been inflicted upon him, dwelling upon the recurrence of certain acts which show a perseverance in ill-doing, a danger to the good order of the service.
This report is endorsed by the Major, and the Lieutenant-colonel, who hands it over to the Colonel. The latter can either transmit this report to the Minister of War, who decides upon the case, or (as is usually done) he can assemble a disciplinary commission (Conseil de discipline) consisting of the following officers of the regiment:
One Major (who presides over the commission).
The two senior Captains and the two senior Lieutenants, provided they do not belong to the squadron of the trooper to be tried.
The Captain who applies for the infliction of the punishment, as well as the Major who commands the squadrons to which the trooper belongs, lay their case before the court. They then retire, and the trooper is brought in and makes his defence. The court then deliberates and sends its decision to the Colonel. It must be remembered that the court merely gives its advice, and this is sent to the General commanding the division of which the regiment is a unit. Should the court recommend the trooper to be sent to the Compagnies de discipline, the General can decline to act upon their advice, but should the court decide that the trooper ought not to be sent there, the General is bound to abide by the decision. This seems, at first blush, an equitable procedure, but when we remember the almost unlimited power possessed by a Colonel over the officers of his regiment, it is easy to realise that a Conseil de discipline usually sits for the mere purpose of carrying out the well-ascertained wishes of the supreme regimental authority.