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    RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INDIAN ARMY.

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    before the Sebastopol Committee furnishes the proof corroborative of that necessity by laying bare the actual state of things in the departments at the present time . The Dttke speaks of the war departments as they existed at the commencement of the war , and as , with some very slig ht change , they now exist . This country is engaged in a war with the most powerful state on the Continent . It was well known that our establishments had been rendered comparatively ineffective by reductions during the long peace , by disuse

    of the machinery , and by the fact that we had only superannuated men of experience , or younger men without experience . It became , therefore , tenfold more necessary to have a vigorous concentration of power in the department regulating the war . The necessity was recognised when a separate Secretary of "War was formed , the part having been formerly " doubled" by the Colonial Secretary . The conduct of the war is of course a subject for the Cabinet , and for the War Minister individually , as the member of the Cabinet to whose undivided attention

    the labour is given . "What , however , was the state of things when the Duke undertook the office thus divided ? In the first place , let us remark , there was no increase of his powers whatever . He was relieved of the colonial duties—that was all . He was supposed to hold , in his hand the general directions of the war . The discipline of the army , however , was reposed in the Commander-inrChief , with the appointment ^ of subordinate officers . Sometimes the

    Command'er-ih-Chief communicated with _ the Secretary" for "War ; -but , as we shall see , not always . The finances of the army were under the direction of the _ Seeretary at "War , and are now virtually carried on by the Undersecretary of State for War . When the Secretary for War , however , had to perform his duties , of regulating the movements- of troops in the Mediterranean , he had , for cavalry and infantry , to communicate with the Commander-in-Chief ; for the artillery , engineers , and sappers and miners , with the Master-Generalof the Ordnance : for materiel of a military

    kind , with the Ordnance ; for food and transport , withthe Treasury : and , in . the meanwhile , the Secretary at War communicated with the Inspector-General of the Medical Departments . It is not to be understood that this case presents the combination of a supreme authority and subordinate authorities . No ; in many respects the authorities were independent . The Treasury had its own views about the commissariat , and endeavoured to retain that department when the Secretary for War began the work of concentration . The Commander-in-Chief so

    far exercised an independent authority , that he recommended to the Crown tho appointment of General Lord Lucan , Brigadier-General Torrens , and Brigadier-General Goldie ; even departing from the usual practice of consulting with the Secretary of btate before making such high appointments . Lord Raglan , Master-General of the Ordnance , was in command in the Crimea , drawing the salary of his office at homo , but not performing the duties . Not even performing , it appears by this evidence , the duties ns they were understood of the Commander-in-Chief in tho Crimea .

    In April last year tho Duke of Newcastle addressed a despatch to Lord Kaglajt , pressing upon him tho necessity of making careful and secret inquiries into tho state of the Russian army in the Crimea , and tho strength of , the fortress of Sobnstopol , the recent additions to the defence , and the amount of provision for the garrison and town . But Lord Bagj , an " was unable to obtain any of the information required by the despatch : " and ,

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    in short , he seems to have acted , to a great extent , upon his own separate and independent views , except possibly so far as he was swayed by other officers nearer to him , English or French . - The medical department , to speak " straightforward , equally deceived the Duke as to the actual state of the stores and medical ministrations . The officials in the departments were , no doubt , writing the requisite memoranda and letters ; but the work was not

    done . Wine was directed to be sent , and lemon-juice was ordered ; yet the wine did not arrive ; and the complaints that lemonjuice had not arrived were sent home from the very quarter of the world where lemonjuice is bought . Yet reports were also sent home that the men had all that they wanted . How is this ? Were men engaged in a conspiracy to tell lies ? No , they reported what they saw , or what they wished to believe . There must have been myriads of

    letters , but emanating from so many sources , addressed to so many different authorities , and bearing such different reports , that the whole result is universal confusion- —anarchy , non-government . Early last 3 ear , Dr . Andrew Smith wrote a letter on the subject of military clothing , distinguished by great zeal , perhaps by an over anxiety on such subjects as flannel , and addressed to the Military

    Secretary , in whose official pocket it seems to have remained ; the subject , we suppose , not being military , or incapable of a strong military appreciation . Stores that were wanted first were put on board ship under stores that were wanted afterwards ; medicines for Constantinople under artillery for Sebastopol ; and when the Duke of Newcastle remonstrated with the Board of Ordnance , it was then ~? liscovered that " there was not that

    ppoper understanding between the Admiralty and the Board of Ordnance which ought to exist , " so it " was then resolved to establish the Board of Transport—another department to divide the authority . This is how the Duke of Newcastle found things working under him : what is the change under Lord Pakmxjbe ? The Committee has not yet penetrated so far ; and if it tries , probably " the requirements of the public service' ' will "bar itsF waj \ But we know two things . Some of the improvements begun by tiir » IDnirfi nf N-rc whistle have been carried

    out ; but the chief of the office is not the energetic and conscientious Duke in the prime of life . Lord Panmube is more experienced ; but he is a martyr to enfeebling sickness . Do we wonder that the second year of the siege of Sebastopol has opened , and that the fire has lasted from the 9 th to the 25 th inst . without material change ? The army , the officers , and Ministers , can hardly tell us why we got before Sebastopol at all ; they cannot guess when or how we shall come away .

    Reconstruction Of The Indian Army.

    RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INDIAN ARMY . Many circumstances have recently concurred to invest the Indian army with a degree of interest and importance which the British public seldom accords to any institution or subject not immediately and constantly before its eyes . The alacrity displayed by the officers of that service in undertaking to organise and conduct the Turkish Contingent , has inspired the nation with a feeling of respect and consideration that has hitherto been most unjustly withheld , notwithstanding tho distinguished achievements of that army . As long as war ia actually raging in our Eastern possessions ,.. tho brilliant exploits performed by our troops , both European and Native , fill every true , British heart with the glow of triumph and , martial prido . But when peace is again restored , tho glory

    acquired in a remote country is like that won by our forefathers in the ancient days of Cbesst and Agincoubt . A few hard sounding names are added to the schoolboy ' s hated task , but society in general— -which only moves and talks , and neither reads nor remembers—becomes serenely . forgetful of the men who have contributed a new illustration to the glorious annals of the nation . Gentlemen by birth , position , and character , bearing the Queen ' s commission , and

    entrusted with difficult and important public duties in , perhaps , the most valuable possession of the British crown , they are nevertheless unrecognised , alike by their sovereign and their fellow-countrymen , on their return to their fatherland . They have no military rank westward of the Cape , although they may have commanded entire brigades in the field , and turned the doubtful tide of battle . Nor

    are they known as public servants , although their whole life may have been consumed in maintaining the integrity of the British Empire , and in administering laws and justice to tens of thousands of British subjects . No matter how distinguished his own services , or how illustrious bis descent , not even a general officer of the Indian army is eligible as a member of the " Army and Navy" the " Senior United Service" Club . His

    youngest child , though only a midshipman or a cornet of horse , remarkable for nothing save ignorance and affectation , is entitled to a privilege denied to a veteran warrior who may have served , with honour to himself and advantage to his country , in every campaign that has deluged the plains of India with blood since the battle of Assaye . The distinction thus drawn between the ~ two services is most- invidious and unjust . It is equivalent to a declaration that the officers of the

    Indian army are to be regarded as mercenary soldiers in the pay of a mercantile community , and , therefore , quite unfit to be admitted into the society of their aristocratical comrades , who hold their commissions from the sovereign alone . It must be acknowledged , however , that this prejudice originally arose from the anomalous nature of the East India Company ' s power and dominion , and from the coarse manners and disreputable proceedings of .. the . reckless adventurers who in former times nocked to their standard . Til

    those days it was no rare occurrence for a military man to amass a large fortune in comparatively a few years , and to return to England rich in wealth but poor in personal consideration . A very inferior class of men then entered the Indian service , and the state of the European society iu that country was disgraceful and demoralising . It is , therefore , no matter of special wonder that tho officers of the royal army looked down upon men whose best attribute was a dashing courage , and who were totally deficient in those qualities which constitute the true Engto remark

    lish gentleman . But it is needless that this order of things no longer exists . A more honourable , or more intelligent body of men may not be found in the British Empire than the Indian officers of tho present day . They may possibly have more of Saxon than of Norman blood in their veins , and few of them are in a position to drive four-in-hand , or to bet a cool thousand on the speed of a horso and the honesty of his rider . But they belong to " tho gentry" of England , and are , therefore , befitting associates for the highest nncl the noblest in the laud . Tho exclusion of tho officers of tho royal army from all share in tho oxtcnaivo patronage in- tho gift of tho East India Company is , undoubtedly , another and very natural cause of tho jealousy that' unhappily oxists between tho two services . With the exception of regimental appointments and . tho Commander-

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    April 28 , X 855 . ] THE LEA DEB . 397

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1855, page 397, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2088/page/13/