The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-11 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sut,—The government of the Army has been at all times
a subject of deep interest with the public, and this feeling is
not likely to be diminished by passing events.
That a spirit of emulation is necessary to the well-being of
every army, those, who best understand the constitution of
armies will at once admit; without this spirit, duties are per-
formed sluggishly, and the whole body gradually falls into
decay.
A commission is now sitting, at the head. of which is the
"like of Wellington, to inquire into the state of the promo-
tion of the Navy, Army, Ordnance, and Marines. The re-
port of this Commission is looked for by all those branches
With great anxiety. The Commission was appointed last
session, in consequence of a motion made by Lord G. Lennox,
~e calling on the House of Commons to inquire into the cause of
1„o slow promotion of the Marines, with, I believe, a petition
trona the Officers of that corps. The motion was very pro-
perly resisted by the Ministry, who considered that the
Marines were not in a wore condition than the other services.
, The statement of Sir Edward Codrington to which you
lately adverted, that there were eighteen Generals lately pro_
meted who had not been more than twelve years in the ranks
of Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel, I think must have been
made in error, because the Lieutenant-Colonels of 1813,
1814, and 1813, are not yet Generals.
In the years 1837 and 1835, there was what is called Bre-
vet Promotions, and I wish it to be particularly remarked by
Sir Edward Codrington, as well as by those Members of the
House who take an interest in our military establishments,
that in these years, about one hundred Colonels were made
Penerals, and that out of the hundred Colonels so promoted,
four or five only were taken from the actual army of cavalry
and infantry of the line ; all the rest were from the Guards,
toe Marines, and Ordnance, but chiefly from the half-pay,
many from the latter list, who had not performed one day's
service during the last twenty-five years or, the better to be
understood, I shall say since the peace of Paris, in the year
1815- This, then, is what is called promotion to the army
on her Majesty's coronation. One thing is certain, that the
Army do not consider those Brevets as promotion, and that
the system has engendered so strong a feeling of dissatisfac-
tion and disappointment among the higher ranks of those em-
ployed, that is to say, those who are held responsible for the
discipline and order of the Army, that the question must now
be decided whether when an officer arrives at the head of a
regiment, be is to be told so far mayest thou go, but no fur-
ther, By the present system, the Regimental Field Officer is
excluded from the rewards and honors of his profession. All
Staff employments are from the half-pay list, and many of
those Staff Officers attain the rank of full Colonel whilst hold-
ing very minor situations, such as Town Majors and Town
Adjutants, appointments which belong to the rank of Captain
and Subaltern, and not to that of Colonel, whose duties cor-
respond with those of a General Officer, and whose rank is
degraded by holding a subordinate situation. The Military
Staff Departments, and the Brigade Majors, the latter also
the appointment of a Captain, arc filled up in the same man-
ner, hence a Regimental Officer has but little chance of ever
succeeding to a higher command than his regiment, by which
he might hope to acquire some knowledge of the higher
duties of his profession. A Brigade Major succeeded to the
temporary government, first at Van Diemen's Land, then at
New South Wales ; a Town Major succeeds in other places,
and commands the garrisons of which he is commissioned as
Town Major or Adjutant. Is Staff Officer was placed over
the heads of all the Regimental Officers employed in the
Kaffir war, at the Cape of Good Hope. A Staff Officer was
the first to command, and the first to fail, in Canada. What
chance has a Regimental Lieutenant-Colonel in any of the
borne districts, what chance in any of our foreign stations?
The fag and responsibility of the service are indeed his, but
the rewards and emoluments belong to others ! It was not
always so—Wellington, Moore, Hill, and the two Pagets, were
Regimental and not Staff Officers.
It is not the Staff and half-pay alone which overtops the
regimental officer. The Guards, the Marines, and Engineers
have their share. It is an every-day occurrence for a Captain
of Marines to be Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, over the
heads of every Major in her Majesty's service. Let the Com-
mission take an average of the services of the Majors at home
and abroad ; let them be compared with those of the Marine
Captains at home and abroad, and it will be found a difficult
task to persuade the Army that there is so much value in the
one over the other, as to warrant the Marine Captains being
thrust over the heads of every Major in the army.
A lazy Guardsman, who perhaps never passed a day on
foreign duty, is at once promoted from Captain to Lieutenant-
Colonel; why should be possess this advantage to the prejudice
of those who are toiling in every clime ? Look at the com-
fortable dwellings of the different divisions of Marines, and
at the splendid houses of the Engineers, and then enter the
hovel of the commissioned officer of any regiment, and the ad-
vantages the former possess will be at once seen.
A subaltern of Engineers abroad has as much pay as a Ma-
jor, of Infantry, and a very superior quarter. The Captain of
Engineers has more pay than a Colonel commanding a regi-
ment, and a splendid house. The commissioned officer of
Engineers, in any station, is better paid and better lodged
than a General Officer on the staff.
All the services ought to be placed in point of rank on
an
and equality; exclusive privileges are viewed with jealousy
Fvee
rtplaces,
dissatisfaction. Staff Officers should be kept in their
pßrroe
for which alone they are commissioned. All
Promotions, if at all given, should be to those who are
Serving.
Commands ought not to be invariably snatched from those
Who have formed the Army, and who are the responsible
agents of its discipline. Town Adjutants commanding an
army is a burlesque upon the profession ; their duty is to look
after the pioneers, to see that cleanliness is kept about the
garrison, and that the guards have their orders correctly
A higher range is required to fit a man for command.
W. R.