BARRACKS, called by the French Casernes, places for soldiers to lodge in, especially in garrisons. Till the middle of the year 1792, when there was a prospect of war with revolutionary France, and the British ministry became apprehensive of disturbances in this country, barracks were not numerous, nor were they under the control and management of a separate and peculiar board. Previous to this they were built under the authority and directions of the Board of Ordnance, which also supplied them with bedding and the necessary utensils; and any extra articles that were requisite were furnished by the secretary at war. In 1792 orders were issued by the ministry for building cavalry barracks with the utmost dispatch, and the deputy-adjutant-general was directed to superintend the building and fitting them up. In January 1793 the same officer was appointed superintendent-general of barracks; and on the first of May the king’s warrant was issued for their regulation. Greater powers were given to the superintendentgeneral in the year 1794; but as these seemed to interfere with the duties and powers of the Board of Ordnance, a new warrant was issued in the year 1795, defining and limiting the respective duties and powers of the Board of Ordnance, and the superintendent-general, or barrackmaster-general, as he was now called. In the year 1796 the barrack-office establishment consisted of a barrackmaster-general, with two clerks; a deputy-barrack-mastergeneral; an assistant-barrack-master-general, with three clerks; an accountant, with five clerks; an assistant-barrack-master-general for the general inspection of barracks, and six other assistant-barrack-masters-general for the particular inspection of barracks in different districts; five clerks for general business; one assistant-barrackmaster-general for the building branch; one checking clerk, and seven other clerks; two architects and surveyors; one assistant-barrack-master-general in North Britain, with two assistants and clerks; one treasurer; and three other assistant-barrack-masters-general for general duties, and visiting barracks. The salaries and extra pay of these officers amounted in 1796 to L.9524. 17s. 2d. The establishment was afterwards considerably increased, in proportion as the number of barracks throughout the kingdom increased, and by the creation of some new officers, among whom was a law clerk.

During the year 1800 the Commis.sioners of Military Inquiry began their duties; and their first reports were on the subject of the barrack establishment. In the arrange^ ment of this establishment, and the mode in which its duties were performed, the commissioners pointed out many things that were highly objectionable; and concluded their reports by recommending that the offices of barrack-master-general and deputy-barrack-master-general should be totally abolished, and that the superintendence of the barrack establishment should be vested in commissioners. This suggestion, and some others relative to the mode of transacting the business of the department, and preventing useless and extravagant expenditure, were followed, and the barrack establishment was placed under the direction of four commissioners, one of whom was generally a military man..

But as it frequently happened that barracks required to be built on an emergency, when there was no time to summon a jury to value the land before the commencement θt the building, and as most persons were averse to have barracks near their dwelling-houses, or even on their property, government was consequently obliged, in all such cases, to pay an extravagant price for the land which Was needed for their erection. In order to remedy this therefore, it was provided by the act usually called e defence act, 43 Geo. III. cap. 55, that justices of the peace might de plano put any general officer into the possession of such ground as he might deem fit for the erection of barracks, provided the immediate necessity for such ground was certified by the lord lieutenant or two deputylieutenants of the county; the value of the ground so appropriated to be afterwards fixed by a jury in the ordinary way.

Barracks throughout the country are more immediately under the management and care of the resident barrackmasters, especially since the reduction of the barrackoffice establishment, and the further reduction of the assistant-barrack-masters-general attached to districts.

The barrack districts in Great Britain are as follow :— 1. the northern, containing Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham; 2. York, containing Yorkshire; 3. the eastern, containing Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Huntingdonshire, and all Essex, except Tilburyfort; 4. the southern, containing Kent, Tilbury-fort, and Sussex; 5. the south-western, containing Hampshire and Dorsetshire; 6. Isle of Wight; 7. the western, containing Devonshire, Cornŵall, and Somerset; 8. Severn, containing Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, and South Wales; 9. the north-western, containing Cheshire, Shropshire, Lancashire, North Wales, and the Isle of Man; 10. London; 11. the home, containing Middlesex, Surrey, Hertfordshire, and part of Kent; 12. the north-inland, containing Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Rutlandshire; 13. the southinland, containing Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and Buckinghamshire; 14. Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney.

The Scottish districts are, 1. the northern, containing Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness-shire, Nairnshire, Morayshire, and Banffshire; 2. the western, containing Aberdeenshire, Argyleshire, Ayrshire, Bute, Kincardineshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, and Wigtonshire; 3. the central, containing Angusshire, Clackmannanshire, Dumbartonshire, Fifeshire, Kinross-shire, Perthshire, and Stirlingshire; and 4. the southern, containing the Lothians, Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire, Roxburghshire; and Dumfriesshire.

On the 14th of July 1805 there were in Great Britain, the Island of Jersey, &c. 84 established barracks of brick and stone, 12 of wood, 75 temporary barracks, and 41 rented; in all 212. But the number was afterwards considerably increased. The annual rents at this time amounted to L.40,231. The whole of these barracks were calculated to accommodate nearly 100,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry. In the cavalry barracks, field-officers have two rooms each; captains one; subalterns, staff, and quarter-masters, one; serjeants of each troop of dragoons, and corporals of each troop of horse, one; eight rank and file one among them; and two rooms are allowed for the officers’ mess. In infantry barracks, fieldofficers are allowed two each; captains one; one is allotted to two subalterns; the staff has one; twelve noncommissioned officers and private men one among them; the serjeant-major and quarter-master-serjeant one; and two are allotted for the officers’ mess. The barracks are supplied by the barrack-office with beds, bedding, sheets, blankets, towels, house and stable utensils, coals, and candles; beer was formerly supplied, but now an allowance is made instead of it. Forage is supplied by the commissariat.

The expense of erecting barracks must of course greatly depend on the price of materials at the time, and, in some measure, on the part of the kingdom where they are erected. In the year 1805 permanent barracks for a battalion of 800 men, in the south of England, cost L.37,000; and barracks for 1200 infantry and 400 cavalry L.60,000. The following statement exhibits the several particulars
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During the last war the annual expense of the barrack establishment in Great Britain varied from L.350,000 to L.500,000. But in Ireland, where barracks are more numerous, the expense generally equalled, and often exceeded, that of Great Britain in this particular. Thus, in 1814, the sum required for Great Britain was L.309,826, whilst that necessary for Ireland was L.360,515; and a similar excess appears in the peace estimate for 1816, which was for Great Britain L.173,500, and for Ireland L.213,000. Since this period the annual expense has of course varied, though within limits so narrow that it seems unnecessary to particularize the sums voted for the service of each year. The barrack estimate of 1828 was, for Great Britain and the colonies L. 105,963, and for Ireland L.81,705; that of 1829 amounted, for Great Britain and the colonies, to L.l 17,636, and for Ireland, to L.102,721. The estimate for 1830 embraces the different heads of repairs; barrack-masters’ expenditure; allowances to barrack-masters, serjeants, and miscellaneous charges for barrack service; and colonial expenditure: under the first of which the sums voted were, for Great Britain L.67,746, for Ireland L.60,000; under the second, L.54,827; under the third L.l 1,762; and under the fourth L.56,539: total, L.250,874.

See first, second, third, and fourth Reports of the Commissioners of Military Inquiry, 1806; the Finance Reports and Estimates laid before parliament for the years 1814 and 1816; and the Army Estimates for 1828, 1829, and 1830.