Victoria R.
Queen Victoria to Lord Panmure.
MILITARY EFFICIENCY
Windsor Castle, 9th November 1856.
The Queen has received Lord Panmure's two boxes of the 4th. She is glad to hear that the Military and the Defence Committees of the Cabinet are to be reassembled. The absence of all plans for our defences is a great evil, and hardly credible. There should exist a well-considered general scheme for each place supported by a detailed argument; this when approved by the Government, should be sanctioned and signed by the Sovereign, and not deviated from except upon resubmission and full explanation of the causes which render such deviation necessary; no special work should be undertaken which does not realise part of this general scheme. The Queen trusts that Lord Panmure will succeed in effecting this.
It is very much to be regretted that so few of the soldiers of the German Legion should have accepted the liberal terms of the Government. Those should, however, be made to sail soon.
The returns of the different Departments for the last quarter show a lamentable deficiency in small arms. Fifty-two thousand three hundred and twenty-two for the whole of the United Kingdom is a sadly small reserve to have in store; we should never be short of 500,000. The Queen was struck also with the little work done at Enfield. It appears that during the whole quarter this new and extensive establishment has completed only three muskets!
With regard to some of the barracks, the tenders have not even yet been accepted, although the year is nearly drawing to a close. The Queen hopes soon to receive the returns for the Fortification Department, which is fully two months in arrear....
With respect to the list for the Bath, the Queen is somewhat startled by the large number. Before sanctioning it, she thinks it right to ask for an explanation of the services of the officers, and the reasons for which they are selected for the honour. She returns the list for that purpose to Lord Panmure, who will perhaps cause the statement to be attached to each name. This, of course, does not apply to the foreigners. Amongst the Sardinians, however, the Queen observes the absence of the names of the Military Commissioners attached first to Lord Raglan and afterwards to General Simpson. The first was a Count Revel, who has frequently applied for the honour, and the Queen thinks ought to have it.