Military schools and courses of instruction in the science and art of war, / in France, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Sardinia, England, and the United States. Drawn from recent official reports and documents. Revised Edition

by Unknown

An examination for admission to Sandhurst, under the regulations described above, took place in January, 1858, when 24 candidates were admitted to the College. On the 26th of April, however, a resolution was passed by the House of Commons, on the motion of Mr. Monsell, in consequence of which the plan for the amalgamation of Woolwich and Sandhurst was necessarily abandoned; and, in May, 1858, revised regulations were issued, which again placed Sandhurst on the footing of an entirely distinct establishment from Woolwich. In these regulations, however, a new provision was introduced, by which a cadet at the Military College was, if otherwise eligible, permitted to compete at the examination for admission to Woolwich, without his position at Sandhurst being affected by failure in this examination. This regulation has been retained.

The large increase in the numbers of the College which was contemplated by the amalgamation scheme was not carried out, the establishment still remaining at 180 cadets, divided into two companies. At the same time, the other alterations recommended by the Council in the constitution and course of study of the College were brought into effect. Since this period the system of juvenile military instruction, which had been already abandoned at Woolwich, has been discontinued at Sandhurst. The establishment was converted from a school for boys into a college for young men, the minimum age for admission being placed at 16; while the course of instruction—the length of which was fixed at two years—was made almost entirely professional. The principle of competition was adopted as the condition of admission, although not to so full an extent as at Woolwich, the candidate for Sandhurst being required to apply to the Commander-in-Chief, in order to have his name entered on the list of competitors. The entrance examinations for admission to the College, and the final examinations for commissions, were placed under the control of the Council of Military Education; and the whole method of instruction was revised, the old system of “steps” being abandoned.

For many years, up to this time, the College had been almost entirely self-supporting. The orphan-class of cadets, established by the Royal Warrant of 1808, who had received a gratuitous education, had, after successive reductions, been finally abolished in 1822; and, though the sons of officers were still educated at reduced rates, the system had been gradually introduced of affording them this advantage without expense to the public, by increasing the rates paid by the sons of private gentlemen. This system, which had been animadverted on by the Select Committee of the House of Commons, in 1855, was altered on the reorganization of the College, in 1858; the rates of payment from all classes were reduced, and the principle was, at least partially, adopted, of defraying, by a Parliamentary vote, the difference between the actual cost of the education of a cadet and the lower rates charged for the sons of officers. The first public announcement of the institution of Queen’s cadetships, the holders of which were to receive a gratuitous education, was also made in 1858. Since this period, a large part of the expense of the College has been borne by the public.

Some addition to the instructional staff was made in the year 1858, in consequence of the general changes introduced at that time in the system and subjects of instruction; and, in the same year, the office of Adjutant—which had been abolished in the year 1842—was revived, in consequence of the strong representations of the Governor, Lt.-Gen. Sir H. D. Jones.

The next important change in the organization of the College was in 1862. After the abandonment of the scheme for the amalgamation of Woolwich and Sandhurst, the Council of Military Education turned their attention to the subject of enlarging the latter establishment, with the view of making it a general military college, through which all candidates for commissions in any branch of the service, except the Artillery and Engineers, should be required to pass. The general outline of a scheme having this object in view was submitted by the Council as early as July, 1858, to General Peel, then Secretary of State for War. It was still under consideration when General Peel left office, in the summer of 1859, and was again brought under the notice of his successor, Lord Herbert, in August of that year.

After some consideration, the general principle of the scheme was sanctioned by Lord Herbert, in December, 1859; but no immediate steps were taken for carrying the plan into operation. At the end of 1860, however, the Council were directed to draw up a detailed scheme of organization for the College, on the assumption that all candidates for commissions in the Cavalry, Guards, and Infantry, would be required to pass through a year’s course of instruction there; a vote was also included in the estimates of 1861 for commencing the enlargement of the buildings, with the ultimate object of providing accommodation for 600 cadets. The details of the scheme were, after some correspondence, fully matured, and were on the point of being submitted to Her Majesty for approval, with the view of the new system coming into effect on the 1st of January, 1862. The plan, however, met with very great opposition, both in the House of Commons and from the authorities of the universities, who regarded it as necessarily leading to the exclusion of university men from the army. In consequence of this opposition, the Under-Secretary of State for War, toward the end of the session of 1861, announced, in the House of Commons, that the new system should not come into operation until Parliament had had a further opportunity of expressing their opinion upon it. The original plan was also so far modified that the extension of the College was limited to providing accommodation first for 500, and then for 400 cadets, in the first instance; but the abolition of appointments to direct commissions, and the system of passing all candidates for commissions in the Line through the College, were still contemplated, though the commencement of the system was deferred until the 1st July, 1862.

The question was in this state at the time of the death of Lord Herbert, in August, 1861. Sir George Lewis, who succeeded him as Secretary of State for War, having, during the recess, reconsidered the question, announced, shortly after the commencement of the session of 1862, that it had been determined to abandon the idea of requiring all candidates for commissions in the Line to pass through the College, and that the system of appointments to direct commissions by purchase would be maintained. At the same time, it was proposed that non-purchase commissions should in future only be obtained by passing through Sandhurst, and that an enlargement of the College to 336 cadets should take place, to provide for the increased number of non-purchase commissions caused by the amalgamation of the Indian with the Imperial Army.

Even in this modified form, the plan for the extension of the College appears to have been viewed with considerable jealousy by the House of Commons. A vote adverse to it was actually at first carried; but the question having, in consequence of the representations of Sir George Lewis, been reconsidered, the plan proposed by the Government was at length agreed to. Regulations for the College on the new footing were issued on the 1st May, 1862. These regulations form the basis of the present system of the College.