The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-18 00:00:00

The Staff College.

The following general order has been promulgated
for general information :--

of officers who may be candidates for admission to the
" The following regula‘t‘inonosrsreegGanradridnsg, Dtheen'ex3la,mliBn6a6tion
Staff College in February, 1868, are published for general
information. There will be vacancies for 15 officers, two of
whom may belong to the Royal Artillery, provided they
are among the 15 highest on the list. His Royal High-
ness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief having,
with the concurrence of the Secretary of State for War
decided that, in future, a previous service of not less than
five years, exclusive of leave of absence,* shall be required
to render an officer eligible to be examined for admission
to the Staff College, the attention of officers commanding
at home and abroad is called to the decision, which was
embodied in the revised edition of the Staff College Regu-
lations, dated May 1, 1866. •The certificates, 2,3, 4, speci-
fied ip the Staff College Regulations, should, if possible,
accompany the officer's application ; but if the) aro not
received at the Horse Guards by the 31st of July, with
a `satisfactory explanation of the delay, the
.officer's
examination will not be reported on by the Council of
Military Education. Officers serving in the United
Kingdom who are desirous of entering the Staff Col-
lege will be examined in London on the 22d of July next
and the following days. Commanding officers of Royal
Artillery, and of all regiments and depots of cavalry,
guards, and line, on the home station will forward to the
Adjutant-General, through the usual channel, for the con-
sideration of the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, the
applications of such officers as wish to compete for admis-
sion, together with the necessary certificates. Applications
should be sent in not later than the 15th June, after which
date the officers approved by his Royal Highness will be
instructed to place themselves in communication with the
Council of Military Education, with a view to their receiving
the rules for the examination. Candidates wishing to be ex-
amined at foreign stations must send in their applications, so
that they may be received at the Horse Guards on or be-
fore the Ist of May. The examination papers will only be
sent ont for those officers whose applicationsshall have been
thus received. The exam nation will commence on the 22d
of July, or as soon after that date as the examination papers
shall be received from the Council of Military Education ;
but no examination will be allowed to commence after the
15th of August. A board of officers will be appointed at
the most convenient station of the district by the general
officer in command, and will consist of three officers, one
of whom to be, when practicable, a Staff officer, having
the rank of field-officer, and the other two, if possible, not
under the rank of captain. One of these officers will belong
to one of the scientific corps, where any such officer can be
obtained. The questions are to be answered in the presence
of the board. The board will give to each candidate a num-
ber, which he will affix to each of his examination papers,
instead of his name. He will retain the same number
throughout the examination. The board will give to each
candidate a paper of the printed examination questions
on each subject at ;the time specified for the examina-
tion in that subject. Tho candidates will write their
answers to the questions in the presence of the board,
their papers,
tboheseparleindtebdef
oerxeambeininag-
will tbnegett collected at the hour appointed, and
whichwith
will
oom. The Board will imme-
diately questions,taken
made
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on of the examination forward the
papers of the candidates to the general officer commanding,
for transmission to the Council of Military Education, ac-
companied by a certificate that the candidates obtained no
assistance from books, or help of any kind in the examina-
tion. The Board will at the same time forward the names
c
ante envelope, for transmission
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the
corresponding
Militaryexaminations
Education. The following will
" First Day—Military Drawing, three hours; Hindus-
tani, three hours.
"Second Day—Fortifications, three hours each examine-

tion.
" Third Day—Mathematics, arithmetic (obligatory),
three hours ; algebra (obligatory), three hours.
" Fourth Day—Mathematics, Euclid (obligatory), three
hours ; (voluntary) first paper, three hours.
" Fifth Day—Mathematics (voluntary), second paper,
three hours ; military history and geography, first paper,
three hours.
" Sixth Day—Military history and geography, second
and third papers, three hours each examination.
" Seventh Day— French and chemistry, three hours each
examination.

" Eighth Day—German and geology ; three hours each
examination.

" The examination in military history and geography
will comprise, as stated in General Order, dated Horse
Guards, Sept. 12, 1866, the following portions of military
history and geography, viz.:-1. Campaign of 1812 in
Russia,. with a detailed account of the passage of the Bore-
sma. 2. Campaign of 1813 in the:Peninsula, with the battle
of Vittoria in detail. N.B.—Candidates will be expected
have an accurate knowledge of the geography' of the sea,
of war in both campaigns, with reference more especially
to military operations; and to make a rough sketch of any
portion of it that may be required, or of either of the battle-
fields named. There will be, in all arses, an interval of not
less than one hour between the two periods of examination
on each day. The papers will bo collected at the ap-
pointed hours by a member of the Board. Any candidate,
however, who may have finished his examination paper on
any subject before the hour named may deliver it into the
hands of a member of the Board. Candidates will bring
their writing and drawing materials, instruments, &c., and
also the tables of logarithms they are in the habit of using.
No other books or notes of any description will be allowed
to bo used. It is scarcely necessary to observe that no com-
munication whatever will be allowed between the candidates
at the examination. Officers commanding regiments abroad
are at once to transmit to the general officer in command,
in sufficient time to allow of its reaching the Horse
Guards on or before May 1, a return of the officers desi-
rous of competing, together with a medical certificate of
good health and fitness for the active duties of the Staff.
Such officers will then be ordered to juin at headquarters
for examination, or at any other places which may be
selected for the convenience of those at the more distant
stations. General officers commanding at foreign stations
will place no restrictions upon officers competing further
than the exigencies of the service may absolutely require.
It will be understood that the rule by which only one
officer can be spared from a battalion at a time for the pur-
pose of studying at the Staff College does not apply to can-
didates from battalions which have officers now at the
College, but whose course of study will terminate in De-
comber next.
"General officers commanding at foreign stations will

"* This is not to apply to the usual leave of absence
annually granted to officers."

select the hours for the examination which are best suited
to the climate and circumstances of the country, taking
care, however, to conform strictly to the number and dis-
tribution of the hours, as detailed in the foregoing regula-
tions. On the completion of the examinations General
officers commanding should transmit the candidates' papers
to the Vice-President of the Council of Military Education,
13, Great George-street, Westminster, with the least pos-
sible delay, in order to enable officers from distant stations
who may be successful in the competition to join the Col-
lege early in the following February. They will at the
same time forward to the Adjt.-General a return of the
officers examined with their certificates, as required by the
regulations. Officers serving abroad who may be success-
ful candidates will be allowed the regulation passage money
home on joining the Staff College. The names and ex-
amination numbers of the candidates who are successful in
the competition, as well as those who prove themselves
qualified, and the examination numbers alone of candidates
who fail, will be published immediately after the reports of
the examiners hare been received by the Council of Mili-
tary Education, with the total number of marks gained by
each candidate, and his place on the list. Candidates are
recommended to obtain the report of the last examination
for admission, with copies of the examination papers, pub-
lished by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion-court, Fleet-street.
"By order of his Royal Highness the Field-Marshal
Commanding- in-Chief,
"WILLIAM PAULET, Adjutant-General."