The requirement of professional study from Officers after entrance into the Army is a point almost peculiar to the Sardinian service. The principle of the Prussian Division School is, indeed, almost the same as that of the two Schools we are about to describe; but the examination for which the Division Schools prepare is a qualification for obtaining a commission, and not (like that of the Sardinian Schools) for subsequent promotion. And this difference is partly owing to an obvious cause, the slowness of promotion in the Prussian Service. If the Division Schools and their examination were placed before the promotion to a Captaincy, the candidates attending the School would be in most cases nearly forty years of age.
Some instruction in Topography is given to the Officers of every Regiment in the Sardinian Army, under the direction of the Chief of the Staff of the Division. Care is taken to render the teaching uniform throughout the Army, and it may be considered as a preparation for the more systematic instruction given in the Schools of Ivrea and Pinerol. The former of these is intended for the Infantry; the latter for the Cavalry. Every Officer, excepting those of the Special Arms, must have passed a year of study in one or other of these Schools, as well as a subsequent examination, before he can obtain a Captaincy.
The studies are mainly practical, as may be seen from the “Prospectus of Instruction” annexed. Topography, Field Fortification, and Secondary Operations are the only branches of Military Science in which instruction is given; and upon these much care appears to be bestowed.
One-third of the Officers of the Sardinian Army are promoted, as has been mentioned, from the ranks. Accordingly, a class has been recently added to the School of Ivrea, intended exclusively for the Education of those Non-commissioned Officers who aspire to a Commission. This class is to be common to Infantry and Cavalry.
The following extracts from the Regulations of the Minister of War, will exhibit the practical character of instruction in this class of schools.
Prospectus of Instruction to be given to Lieutenants in the Military School of Infantry.
Soldiers’ Drill, Squad, Company, Battalion, and Chasseur ditto, &c.
Fencing with the Bayonet.
Exercise of the various Arms, &c.
Musketry Practice.