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ABSTRACT OF ALL THE SIEGES

Lieut. – General Borgard has been present at from the year 1675.

ABSTRACT OF THE BATTLES

Lieut. – General Borgard has been present at from the year 1675.

CHAPTER IX.
Twenty Years. 1722-1741

Twenty years, during which Englishmen made no conquests; but during which they had "peace, ease, and freedom; the Three per Cents, nearly at par; and wheat at five- and six-and-twenty shillings a quarter."¹⁰

Twenty years, during which England's army did not exceed 26,000 men; when there was actually a war of succession in Europe, and our rulers did not interfere; during which our King could go to Hanover for a couple of years, and the coach of the State move on steadily and without interruption in his absence; and during which our only alarms of war were two in number, and speedily disappeared.

It was a favourable childhood for the Regiment; it gave time for the old establishments to dwindle away, and the new one to acquire consistency and strength with the funds which thus became available at the Ordnance; instruction to officers and men could be deliberately and systematically given; discipline could be learnt; the fortifications could be armed; and the defects of the original scheme of organization in the Regiment could be ascertained and quietly remedied, instead of being more rudely exposed in time of war.

Only three events occurred between 1722 and 1741, which are worthy of comment; but there are details connected with the every-day life of the Royal Artillery during that period, which, though unworthy of being called events, yet cannot but be interesting to the student.

The first was the camp at Hyde Park, in 1723, which was attended by a train of Artillery.

The second was in 1727, when the Spaniards laid siege to Gibraltar; a siege, however, which only lasted four months.

The third was in the same year, when the States-General of Holland, becoming nervous lest an attempt should be made on the Netherlands, called upon England to hold in readiness the contingent of 10,000, which she was bound by treaty to furnish, if required. For this, a train of Artillery was ordered to be prepared, and although not required, pacific counsels having prevailed in Europe, its constitution is worthy of mention.

In the camp at Hyde Park, held the year after the Regiment obtained its Colonel, probably for the amusement of the Londoners, there was a train of Artillery of twenty pieces of Ordnance, comprising two 6-pounders, four 3-pounders, and fourteen 1½-pounders. This battery was horsed by seventy-six horses, but the detail to the various natures of Ordnance cannot be traced. The officers and men attached to the battery were as follows: 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 fireworker, 2 sergeants, 4 corporals and bombardiers, 20 gunners, 40 matrosses, and two drummers.

The Infantry was called upon to furnish a guard over the guns when parked, of twenty-five men. Six regiments of Dragoons, and twelve of Infantry of the Line, attended the camp.

In 1727, the bad feeling, which had for some time existed between England and Spain, produced an open rupture. A force of 20,000 Spaniards besieged Gibraltar, opening their trenches on the 11th of February. By means of reinforcements from England and Minorca, the garrison was increased to 6000 men, and the bomb-vessels, which were sent from England and from other parts of the Mediterranean, rendered great assistance by enfilading the enemy's entrenchments. The siege was raised on the 23rd June, having only lasted four months, during which time the Spanish loss had been great, while that of the English had been inconsiderable. With the reinforcements from England had come some guns and stores, which assisted to make the fort more easily defended, its previous armament having been but indifferent. Colonel Jonas Watson commanded the Royal Artillery during the siege, having arrived for that purpose from England, accompanied by Captain Hughes and some young officers. The force under his command was two hundred in number. The only Artillery officer killed during the siege was Captain-Lieutenant Holman.

In this the first defensive operation in which the Royal Regiment of Artillery was engaged – as in its first offensive at Vigo – it was on the successful side. And in both cases, it not merely represented, but it was the principal arm of the English forces. The next event, the third proposed to be chronicled, took place in the same year. The train which it was deemed probable would have to proceed to Flanders was for field, not garrison service. It comprised four 6-pounders, twelve 3-pounders, and eight 1½-pounders. There were also six Royal mortars to be provided. A complete company of Artillery – with the exception of the cadets of the company, and nine of its bombardiers – attended the train, and 12 artificers and 22 pontoon-men, under a bridgemaster, were also ordered to accompany it. Conductors and commissaries were also included. Unless, however, it was proposed to enlist foreign Artillerymen into the British service, on landing in the Continent, – the staff of the train seems certainly excessive.

For a total of 140 of all ranks – smaller than a single battery now – the following staff was detailed: 1 colonel, 1 comptroller, 1 paymaster, 1 adjutant, 1 chaplain, 1 quartermaster, 1 commissary of stores, 1 waggon master, 1 surgeon, 1 assistant-surgeon, 1 assistant provost-marshal, 1 kettledrummer and his coachman.

These, then, were the three military events of most note during the twenty years ending in 1741; and they are certainly not such as to affect the peaceable reputation of the period. An unhappy expedition to the West Indies, under Lord Cathcart, was ordered in 1741, but as it was not completed until later, it can be alluded to more fully in a succeeding chapter.

But the domestic life of the Regiment during this time requires description. The rank of Captain-Lieutenant had been introduced in 1720, and the third and fourth Lieutenant of a company were called Lieutenants and Fireworkers, the conjunction being speedily dropped. The strength of a company was during this period as follows: —

The annual pay of each company amounted to 2956l. 10s.

It was in 1727, that the Regiment was increased to four complete companies. The siege of Gibraltar suggested an augmentation which the declining numbers on the old establishment admitted of the Board carrying out. On this taking place, the staff requisite for the Regiment was added, and Colonel Borgard was styled Colonel-Commandant.

The staff consisted, in addition to the Colonel, of a Lieutenant-Colonel – Jonas Watson; a Major – William Bousfield; an Adjutant, a Quartermaster, and a Bridge-Master. To meet the demand for the more scientific element in the new companies, one Second Lieutenant and one Fireworker per company were transferred from the old, and the number of bombardiers and gunners in each reduced to eight and twenty respectively. The matrosses, as being more easily obtained, and requiring less special training, were increased to sixty-four per company; and from this time vacancies among the gunners were filled by the most deserving matrosses.

The large number of junior officers and of bombardiers in each company was intended to meet the demands of the bomb-service, which even in this peaceable time were very heavy: more especially for the bomb-vessels in the Mediterranean. It created, however, an evil which must always be found in a profession where the junior ranks so greatly outnumber the senior, and where the prizes are so few, while the candidates are many; – the evil of slow promotion and even stagnation, and in their wake, discontent, loss of zeal, and, at last, indifference. So soon did this manifest itself, that by reducing the number of junior officers, and increasing that of the seniors, it has been repeatedly attempted to remedy it; the last attempt being so recent as during the tenancy of the present Secretary of State for War – Mr. Cardwell. But this remedy has its limits. There are duties to be performed suitable only to inferior military rank, and the performance of which, by senior officers, would have the effect of degrading the rank to which they may have attained. A considerable proportion of an army's officers, therefore, must always hold inferior military rank; but whether the evil which accompanies stagnation in their ranks is to be remedied by increase of pay in proportion to service, or by enforced retirement in the upper ranks, is one of those questions which it is not for the historian to argue.

The Captains of the four companies of the Regiment after the augmentation were

Captain James Richards,

Captain Thomas Hughes,

Captain James Deal,

and Captain Thomas Pattison.

The first-mentioned two were at Woolwich with their companies, although compelled to furnish detachments for Scotland and the bombs; the third was at Gibraltar, and the fourth in Minorca. Special establishments still existed for Annapolis and Placentia. The pay per diem of an Artillery Captain was 10s.

It was in Minorca that the question of the military precedence of Artillery officers was first authoritatively settled. The officers of the four Infantry Regiments stationed there having refused to sit on courts-martial on the same terms as the officers of the train, the matter was referred to England, and by order of the King the Secretary at War informed the commandant at Port Mahon that whenever any of the Artillery were being tried, the officers of the train were to sit and vote with other officers of the Army, according to the dates of their commissions.

The objection taken by the Infantry officers was doubtless based on the fact that until 1751 the commissions of Artillery officers under the rank of field officer were signed by the Master-General, not by the King. This decision, however, settled the point effectually; and ten years later there is a record of the trial by court-martial in London of a deserter from the Artillery in which all the members of the Court were officers of the Guards, and the president belonged to the Artillery.

Among the places which were supplied with additional armament during this time of rest were Berwick, Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Hull, but the charge of the Ordnance and Stores still remained in the hands of the master-gunners and gunners of Garrisons, numbering at this time respectively 41 and 178. The value of these officials may be estimated by a description of certain accepted candidates for the appointment in 1725, who were "superannuated and disabled gunners, who have served long and well, and being too feeble for active service, are subsisted until they can be placed in the garrisons."

An augmentation to the companies was commenced in 1739, but not completed until the following year, when one new company was raised; the strength of the companies at home being increased to 150, and of those at Minorca and Gibraltar to 100. It was 1741 before the distribution of the companies at home was finally arranged; for it was found necessary to divide the three into four, for purposes of relief and detachment. At this time, – the end of the twenty years, the strength of the Regiment at home, in addition to the companies abroad, amounted to thirty-five officers, eighty non-commissioned officers, of whom fifty-six were bombardiers, twenty miners, ninety-two gunners, thirty-two pontoon-men, 184 matrosses, and eight drummers.

There were also sixteen cadet-gunners, and sixteen cadet-matrosses, the number in each of the four home companies having been reduced to four. It was from the cadets that the lieutenant-fireworkers were generally, although not always, chosen. The employment of officers of that rank on board the bomb-vessels without superior officers above them rendered it necessary often to promote non-commissioned officers, whose experience would enable them to carry on such an independent service, better than the young and inexperienced fireworkers, just promoted from among the cadets. The discipline among these young gentlemen may be gathered from the marginal remarks of the commanding officer on the muster-rolls of the two companies at Woolwich in 1739. After alluding to one officer as having been lame for six months, and to another as having lost his memory, and done no duty for seven years, he comes to the cadets of the companies. Out of the whole number of sixteen, there is a remark against the names of no less than nine, "I know not where they are," and against another, "A very idle fellow!" The remaining six were detached, two at Portsmouth, one in the Tower, one on board the bombs, and only two at Woolwich.

There is in the same list a remark made against the name of one, Captain-Lieutenant George Minnies, which might justly have been made against others of the same rank in later days, if indeed it may not also have to be made again, "old and worn-out in the service."

The end of this period brings us near to that time when the Regiment, having quitted the nursery, so to speak, entered the school of war, which was provided for it in Flanders. Before, however, tracing its story then, it will be well to describe some little matters connected with the foundation and early history of an institution which was founded in 1741, the last of our twenty years, to meet a want, which the above comments of the commanding officer must prove most distinctly to have existed.

CHAPTER X.
Foundation of the Royal Military Academy

From what was mentioned in the last chapter, it will be seen that there were cadets long before there was an Academy. Although, however, this institution is of a date so long posterior to the formation of the Regiment, and although by many of the practical officers serving when it was founded, who had acquired their knowledge in the school of experience, it was looked upon very coldly, as a useless and undesirable innovation, – yet no History of the Royal Artillery would be complete without some reference to its early days. For, although often mismanaged, and even now almost paralysed as an Artillery school by the marvellous arrangement under which the best Artillery scholars are invited to join the Royal Engineers, it has yet acquired such a hold upon the affections of those who have been there, as to ensure it a prominent place among our Regimental Records.

The warrant founding the Academy was issued in 1741. The cadets then in the Regiment were to be instructed there, but not these only; it was to be available for the professional education of all "the raw and inexperienced people belonging to the military branch of the Ordnance." At first, the sum proposed to be voted annually for its support was merely 500l., but this was almost immediately doubled, and before 1771 it had reached 1364l. 14s. From the very first the practical and theoretical schools were distinct. The former was attended not merely by the cadets, but also by all officers and men off duty; the latter by all above the rank of bombardier, as well as any below that rank who had evinced any special talent, or capacity for study. In the Theoretical School, pure and mixed mathematics were taught; in the Practical School, the various gun drills, fortification, laboratory duties, &c. Once a year there was performed before the Master-General, or his lieutenant, "a great and solemn exercise of Artillery, in which exercise those who were best advanced in the several classes shot with different pieces of Ordnance at several marks according to their different proficiencies, or produced some other specimen of their diligence and application in their study of fortification, drawing, &c., when he who best distinguished himself in each class was presented with some prize of honour – if an engineer, officer, or cadet – or some pecuniary premium, if a private man, as an encouragement."

It will thus be seen that from the earliest days there was no finality in the education acquired by a cadet at the Academy. His training was not supposed to cease when he was commissioned. It is well to remember this at a time when there are not wanting men to decry the continuous education of Artillery officers, and to express perfect contentment with the amount of Artillery education obtained at the Academy.

Probably these very men who deem Artillery an exact and finite science to be mastered by a boy in his teens, would be the first to protest against the idea that a man could master the intricacies of the stable, without many years of progressive and practical experience. Chemistry as applied to the service of Ordnance, dynamics, metallurgy, might be sufficiently conquered at the Academy, or might be conscientiously dispensed with, but the perambulation of a horse infirmary might go on for a lifetime, and yet a man's education be incomplete.

The best friend to his corps is the man who denies and scorns such a theory. National predilections have made and will continue to make the horsing of the English Artillery the best in the world, but the gun must not be lost sight of in devotion to the horse. And this once recognized, from that moment an Artilleryman, to be conscientious and progressive, must be studious. At the altar of science he should be the most regular votary; for gunnery, to be perfect, draws incessantly and largely upon science.

In the early days of the Regiment, an officer might master in a short time the requisite details for working his guns. In the present day, an Artilleryman is unworthy who fails to watch every scientific advance which may increase the power of his weapons, and raise the tone of his corps. And to enable the officers of the Regiment to do their duty in this respect, no effort for continued exertion and study should be spared; mutual interchange of ideas should be fostered; and the main use of Artillery as an arm should not be concealed behind a veil of pipeclay and harness-polish. The merits which these last-named agents are calculated to foster will come almost spontaneously: it is the study of the higher uses, and of the scientific progress of Artillery over the world, which requires persuasion and encouragement.

The Academy, as we have said, was founded in 1741. Not until four years later was the cadet company formed. During the interval, as before the institution of the Academy, the cadets were under no discipline worthy of the name; they wore no uniform, and were so outrageous in study, that one of the occupations of the officer on duty in the Warren was occasionally to visit the Academy, and prevent the masters from being ill-used, and even pelted. When, in June 1744, the Regiment was inspected by the Duke of Cumberland, a disorderly mob, without officers, or even uniform, drawn up on the right of the line, represented the cadets of the Royal Artillery. Let no man say that ceremonial inspections are useless. Defects, which are not apparent in every-day life, stare one in the face, as one stands behind the individual whose office it is to criticise. The readiest critic is he who is most interested on such an occasion. He is not the most demonstrative; he is glad beyond measure if the blot escapes the inspecting eye; but he remembers. And to such a man remembrance means remedy. Next January, the cadets were no longer a mob; they were no longer unofficered: they were clothed, but they were not yet in their right mind.

It may be said of the Cadets of the olden time, that they were veritable sons of Ishmael; their hands were against every man, and every man's hand against them. They were the parents of their own legislation; à priori law-making was unknown; and not a statute was passed that had not been anticipated by the offence it was intended to curb. The cadets' ingenuity in evading detection was equalled by their talent in inventing new methods of annoyance. This talent was too often aided by the connivance of the newly-commissioned officers, whose sympathies were more with the law-breakers they had left than the law-insisters they had joined. Hence came threats fulminated against an intimacy between cadets and young officers, which made such intercourse all the sweeter; nor was it effectually put an end to until the Academy was removed from the Barracks in the Warren to a secluded spot at the foot of Shooter's Hill. The extreme youth of the cadets in the earlier days of the Academy, coupled with the very different views then in vogue as to educational discipline, produced a system of government which was harsh and penal. The Royal Military Academy has gone through two stages – the era of stern restriction, and that of comparative liberty. The swing of the pendulum is as certain in military as in civil life. From the days of black holes and bullying, the reaction to liberty, confidence in a cadet's honour, thoughtfulness for his comfort, and a system of punishment not degrading nor unsuited to his age, were inevitable, and have come. So far, indeed, has the pendulum swung, that the young officer must occasionally look back with regret on the greater comfort and the absence of responsibility which were characteristic of the older life. The absence of degrading punishments has been brought about, in great part, by the system of competition for cadet-ships, which, commencing with the practical class in 1855, has now for many years been universal. Young men from public schools, or from private tutors under whom they had to study proprio motu, and without the spur of discipline, could not be submitted to the same restraints as the mere boys who were cadets in the earlier days of the Academy. Nor does their absence lessen the sense of discipline which is necessary in a military body. The sympathy of numbers is the strongest wall against which a recalcitrant member can dash his head, and the result to the head is proverbial. And among educated youth, past the stage of mere boyhood, reasonable restraint and discipline can always be enforced with full confidence in the support of the governed.

The extreme youth of the cadets, in the early Academy days, is the key to the many ludicrous laws and anecdotes which have come down. For many years the average age of the cadets was between twelve and fourteen years, and old heads cannot be expected on young shoulders. As a matter of fact, old heads were not to be found; and the history of the Academy, over a hundred years ago, is one of the most comic narratives which can be perused. The incessant war going on between the Gulliver of authority and the Lilliputians of defiance, who so frequently got poor Gulliver on his back, – the laughable use of unaccustomed power by cadet corporals, bewildered by their position, – and the grandiloquent appeals of Governor after Governor to the feelings of rebellious youth, all combine to make up a rare picture. We meet threats against cadets who shall pass an officer without pulling off their hats, or who shall stay away from church, or shall play during the hours of study. So fond were the boys of bathing, more especially after it had been forbidden, that no punishment could deter them, until ingenious authority decided that any cadet found swimming in the Thames should be taken out and carried naked to the guard-room. Special punishments were devised for those who should wear officers' uniforms for the purpose of getting past the guard at the Warren gate, and for those who should break out over the wall after tattoo, or spoil the furniture, or write upon the walls. Nor is it merely the extreme youth of the cadets which is revealed by these orders; it is their incessant repetition, month after month, day after day, that makes the student detect the utter want of discipline that existed. A record remains of a cadet who was expelled for striking and maltreating another on parade, in presence of an officer, and "refusing to make any concession, although urged to do so by the Lieutenant-Governor." Two others are described in an official report as "scabby sheep, whom neither lenity will improve, nor confinement to a dark room and being fed on bread and water." These two, having openly displayed contempt of orders and defiance of authority, were dismissed ultimately from the Academy. Another, on whom the same penalty of expulsion fell, rather checkmated the authorities by taking with him his cadet's uniform and warrant, which enabled him to create such disturbances in the town of Woolwich, that he had to be threatened with the civil power if he did not give up the one and discontinue wearing the other.

But in the orders which it was found necessary to issue can be read most succinctly the account of life among the earlier cadets.

"The Gentlemen Cadets are now strictly forbid to cut or carve their names, or initial letters of names, on any part of their desks, or any way to spoil them… They are not to spoil their own locks, or those of any other Gentlemen Cadets, by attempting to open them with wrong keys… The Lieutenant-Governor expects that henceforward no Gentleman Cadet will be guilty of ever attempting to open or spoil any of the desks or drawers of the Inspectors, Professors, or Masters, or of any other Cadet, or even attempt to take anything out of them under the name of smouching, as they may be fully assured such base and vile crimes will be pardoned no more. The Gentlemen Cadets are, likewise, forbid from leaping upon or running over the desks with their feet; and the Corporals are expected, not only to keep a watchful eye to prevent any disorder in the Academy, but, by their own good behaviour, to set an example to others."

Shortly after this order a remonstrance is published, arguing that "the cadets have been guilty of a habit of making a continued noise, and going about greatly disturbing the Masters in their teaching; also, when the Academy ends, by shutting their desks with violence, and running out of the Academy hallooing, shouting, and making such a scene of riot and dissipation, greatly unbecoming a Seminary of learning, and far beneath the name of a Gentleman Cadet; and, lastly, during the hours of dancing, several of the Under Academy, whose names are well known, behave at present in so unpardonable a manner when dancing, by pulling, and hauling, and stamping, that the Master is thereby prevented from teaching. Hence the Lieutenant-Governor assures the gentlemen that those, who are anyways found guilty of such conduct for the future will be immediately sent to the Barracks, and receive such corporal punishment as their crimes deserve."

Yet again in stately language, it is reported that "it had come to the ears of the Lieutenant-Governor that of late the Corporals have inflicted a mode of punishment entirely inconsistent with the Rules and Regulations of the Academy – namely, that of making the Gentlemen kneel down on both knees, with uplifted hands, in the attitude of prayer; at other times placing them in painful and ridiculous postures, rather tending to excite laughter than to inflict punishment. The Lieutenant-Governor henceforward forbids all such modes of proceeding, as also that of striking the Cadets. On the contrary, when any Cadet is thought deserving of punishment, the Corporals may order them to stand sentinel, or report them to the Master on duty, or, with his leave, march them to the Barracks, and report them to the Commanding Officer in writing, who may punish them according to their crimes. On the other hand, the Lieutenant-Governor expects the Gentlemen Cadets to obey the Corporal's commands equally the same as any other superior officer, subordination being the most essential part of military duty. Lastly, the Lieutenant-Governor expresses the highest satisfaction in the genteel behaviour of the Company during the hours of dancing, in a great measure owing to the care of the present Corporals."

These extracts are sufficient proof of the youth and unruly habits of the earlier cadets. Courts-martial among them were far from uncommon; and cases of disturbance worthy of the name of mutiny are also recorded. Yet, in the very earliest days of the Academy, officers joined the Regiment who entered with such spirit and zeal into their duties, that they called forth special commendation from their commanding officers. In Flanders, in 1747 and 1748, Colonel Belford and Major Michelson warmly acknowledged the assistance they received from the young officers in their arduous attempts to impart to the Artillery Train a more military appearance than had hitherto distinguished it. And when, some years later, we find this very Colonel Belford protesting against the officers who joined from the Academy, and wishing that Institution were "detached as a Repository for Captain Congreve's curiosities, and that a number of fine young fellows were appointed as Cadets to every Battalion, and such as were fit for every duty to go upon all commands," we must bear in mind that, so great had the demand for officers been in the years immediately preceding his complaint, that the cadets had hardly any time to spend at the Academy – three or four months only being far from unusual, and, therefore, that the fault lay not so much in the system as in its neglect. A lad of eighteen years of age will be able to acquire even discipline in a very short time, because he is able to understand its necessity, and he soon becomes a creature of habit in this as in other matters. But a boy is always, either from restlessness or mischief, chafing against restraint, and takes longer time to subdue. The extreme youth of the earlier cadets prevents surprise at the ludicrous state of discipline which prevailed, and creates wonder that the officers who joined so young, after such a training, were so good as they proved. If the truth were known, we should, doubtless, find that, while their intellectual training commenced at the Academy, their real discipline did not commence until they joined the Regiment.

Not merely did the exigencies of the service curtail the stay of the earlier cadets at the Academy, but the abuses and jobbery which were rife in the last century rendered it possible for cadets to be at the Academy without any previous education at all. With a proclamation hanging on the wall that the Institution was created for teaching the "Mathematicks," we find piteous Masters protesting against the presence of cadets who could neither read nor write. There were cadets, – not in the Academy, but away in their homes, – drawing pay as such almost from their cradle; and not until the Academy had been a considerable time in existence was this abuse put an end to. Before the formation of the Company of Cadets, the pay of a Cadet Gunner was 1s. 4d. per diem; that of a Cadet Matross was 1s. When the company was formed, all cadets received the higher rate; and ultimately, although not until twenty years had passed, the pay was raised to 2s. 6d. When enrolled in a company, military duties were expected of them which were never dreamt of before: they carried arms, and mounted guard, the post where the cadet-sentry was placed being generally over the commanding officer's quarters. The officers of the company – in addition to the Master-General, who was its captain – were a Captain-Lieutenant, whose daily pay was 1l. 3s. 6d.; a First Lieutenant, with 5s.; a Second Lieutenant, with 4s.; and a Fireworker, with 3s. But it was not for some time after its formation that the officers of the company were borne as supernumeraries in the Regiment. A Drum-major was also on the strength of the company.