Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/639

B. Preserve and Auxiliary Forces. All Ranks. 1st Class Army Reserve 7,993 2d ,, 23,804 Militia Artillery 15,735 ,, Infantry 123,283 Yeomanry Cavalry 15,086 Volunteers Artillery 30, 750 Infantry, Mounted Hides, &c 130,000 Total Reserve and Auxiliary Forces 346,651

The addition to this of the regular army at home, 105,434, rives as the total of forces, active and reserve, within the United Kingdom, 452,085.

C. Indian and Colonial Troops. r lien. Horses. Gun& Indian Native Army. Infantry, 130 Battalions 101,134 18,575 896 4,385 13,587 623 36 Cavalry, 37 Regiments Artillery, 6 Batteries Engineers and Miscellaneous Total Indian Army 124,9n 1,822 373 264 14,210 36 West Indian Regiments (2) Royal Malta Fencibles Lascars, Hon cr -Kong and Ceylon Total Indian and Colonial Troops... 127,449 14,210 36

D. Colonial Militia, Volunteers, atid Reserve Forces.

Men. Horses. Guns. Xorth American Confederation 52,414 3,952 4,343 2,116 19,055 20S1 610 1143 120 1703 48 24 19 6 43 West Indies African Colonies c Possessions in Asia A ustralian Colonies Total 81,880 5657 140 Note. The contingents furnished by Native Indian States under our protection are not included in the summary of our Indian forces ; and the disembodied or untrained militia of Canada, amounting to about 600,000 men, lias not been taken into account in the summary of Colonial Reserve Forces.

Staff.

The staff of the British army may be classed under three principal heads—

1. General Officers, commanding divisions, districts, brigades, &c. ;

2. General Staff, including Adjutant-General and Quarter master-General s Departments, brigade-majors, &c. ;

3. Personal Staff, consisting of military secretaries and aides-de-camp.

Appointments to commands are made from the lists of superior officers of corresponding rank. Sometimes, how ever, commands are given to officers of lower rank than that of the appointment, in which case they receive local and temporary rank The command of brigades is usually given to colonels, with temporary rank of brigadier-general.

General officers are responsible for the discipline and efficiency of all the military forces within their commands. They are required to make annual inspections of every regiment or corps, and report minutely on them for the information of the Commander-in-Chief. They are assisted in their duties, and their orders conveyed to the troops, by the officers of the staff. Officers for the General Staff are selected exclusively from the regular army, and, except in cases of proved abilities in the field, must have passed through the Staff College. Admission to the Staff College is obtained by competitive examination, the number entering being limited to twenty annually. Candidates must have served not less than five years, and be reported to be thoroughly good regimental officers, qualified from general character, disposition, &c., for employment on the staff, and physically fit for its active duties. Before being allowed to compete, they are reported upon by a board consisting of the commanding officer and two next seniors of their regiment and corps, and also by a general officer, to whose staff they have been attached for a month on trial. Officers of not less than seven years service may present themselves at the final examination without having studied at the college ; but the same qualifications and certificates are required from them. After completing the course and passing the final examination, officers are attached during the following summer drill season either to the staff of a general officer, or to the other arms of the service.

Officers appointed to the Personal Staff are not required to pass through the Staff College, but have to undergo a qualifying examination.

Staff appointments are held for five years only, at the end of which time the officer reverts to his regiment or to half-pay. Most of the lower appointments are held by regi mental officers who are temporarily withdrawn from their regiments, but still borne on its establishment. No effective field officer of a regiment, however, can hold a staff appoint ment, and no regiment of cavalry may have more than one captain and one subaltern, and no battalion of infantry more than two captains and two subalterns on the staff.

The following table shows the principal ranks and rates of pay of the staff of the army :

General (daily pay) 5 13 9 Lieutenant-General 3 15 10 Major-General 1 17 11 Brigadier- General 186 Colonel on the Staff 129 Adjutant- or Quartermaster-General 11711 Deputy do. do 19 Assistant do. do 14 3 Deputy- Assistant-, Adjutant- or Quarter-") master-General, Brigade-Major, Assistant > ,, 096 Military Secretary, or Aide-de-camp )

The Headquarter Staff receive a special higher rate of pay. These rates are in addition to the pay or half -pay of their regimental commissions. Staff officers also receive an allowance for horses, varying from two for the lowest ranks to eight for a general.

The staff are the assistants of the general in all his

duties, and the channels through which his orders are con veyed to the troops. The duties of the officers of the Adjutant-General and Quartermaster-General s Departments, and of military secretaries, correspond generally to those of the same departments at headquarters ; the Adjutant- General and his deputies or assistants being charged with the issue of all orders, and matters referring to drill, dis cipline, returns, duties, &c. ; the Quartermaster-General, or his subordinates, with matters connected with the movement and quartering of troops, camps, military positions, recon naissances, embarkations, and disembarkations, &c. ; and the military secretaries with questions relating to promo tions and appointments, miscellaneous confidential corre spondence, and communications with the civil authorities. A brigade-major performs the duties of the Adjutant and Quartermaster-General s Departments within his brigade. The duties of an aide-de-camp are of a more personal nature. In the field he is employed to carry orders, .tc. ; in peace he attends his general at inspections and on all public occasions, and renders such services as his general re quires of him. Officers of the General Staff, as a rxile, are not under the rank of captains ; aides-de-camp are appointed without regard to rank, but no officer may hold a staff appointment till he has served three years with his

regiment or corps. Appointments to the General Staff are