take the working of telegraphic communications in war and in an enemy s country ; and four are permanently engaged on the great ordnance survey of the kingdom. The others are distributed throughout the principal garri sons ; eight or ten usually remaining with the headquarters
at Chatham.The duties of engineer officers are very various. Besides the actual command and superintendence of their men, and their instruction in all branches of field engineering, they include the charge, construction, and repair of forti fications and barracks, the survey of the kingdom, the management of a number of scientific and experimental establishments, the development of all the scientific appli ances of war, such as armour plating, torpedoes, field telegraphy and signalling, c., Engineer officers are also largely employed under the civil government in connection with the educational departments, railways, prisons, &c.
Infantry.
The infantry consists of 3 regiments of Foot Guards (7 battalions), 109 of the Line (137 battalions) and the Rifle Brigade (4 battalions,) total, 148 battalions.
The three regiments of guards are the Grenadier Guards, of 3 battalions ; and the Coldstream and Scots Fusilier Guards, of 2 battalions each. These form together the brigade of foot guards. They are stationed principally in London, and rarely leave the country except for active service in the field ; they furnish the guards on the royal palaces, and guards of honour on state occasions, receive a special rate of pay, and have certain privileges. Up to 1872 their lieutenants had the rank of captains in the army, and their captains that of lieutenant-colonels. This privilege, however, was abolished by a warrant of July of that year as regards officers entering subsequent to that date.
Of the line regiments, Nos. 1 to 25 have two battalions each, two rifle regiments (the 60th and Rifle Brigade) have four each, and the remainder one only. By the localisation of 1873, the single battalion regiments have been grouped in pairs to form "district brigades." The several battalions are altogether independent of one another in matters of command, internal economy, &c. ; but recruiting is carried on for the brigade, and men or officers may be transferred from one battalion to another within it. A district brigade comprises two line battalions, a brigade depot, and a certain proportion of reserve and auxiliary forces.
A battalion of infantry consists of eight companies. Its war establishment is 1 lieutenant-colonel, 2 majors, 8 captains, 16 lieutenants and sub-lieutenants, 1 adjutant, 1 paymaster, 1 quartermaster, 1 assistant-surgeon, 10 staff sergeants, 8 colour sergeants, 32 sergeants, 16 drummers, 40 corporals, 4 hospital orderlies, 10 pioneers, and 946 privates, in all, 31 officers and 1066 non-commissioned officers and men. On service it takes with it 62 horses (of Avhich 9 are officers chargers and 53 draught horses), and 14 waggons and carts (3 ammunition carts, 1 entrenching tool waggon, 1 for quartermaster s stores, and 9 for camp equipment and baggage). The peace establishment varies. Most of the battalions at home are kept at a reduced establishment of 520 rank and file, the guards at 750, the battalions next for foreign service at from 700 to 820, and the battalions in India at 820.
The infantry is at present armed partly with the Snider (converted Enfield) rifle, and partly with the Martini- Henry, but will ultimately be armed entirely with the latter. This weapon, which was selected in 1870 after a careful and protracted series of trials, is a breech- loading rifle, 4 feet 1 inch long, weighs 8 E>. 12 oz., and ranges up to 1000 yards. It is seven-grooved, bore 451 of an inch, carries a bullet weighing 1 oz., and has been fired at the rate of 25 rounds a minute. The soldier carries 70 rounds of ammunition, viz., 20 in each of two pouches on the waist belt, 10 in expense bag, and 20 in a pocket in his valise. The bayonet (Elcho sword-bayonet) is a short heavy sword, with saw-back, which can be attached to the rifle as a bayonet, or used independently as a sword, or to cut up firewood, chop bushes, &c.
Although the regiments are named Rifles, Fusiliers, Light Infantry, &c., the organisation, armament, and training is the same throughout, the only distinction being in matters of dress. The two rifle regiments wear dark green ; all the rest of the infantry wear red. The guards are distinguished by their tall bearskins; the fusilier regiments (9) wear sealskin caps, resembling the bearskins of the guards, but smaller. There are 9 Highland regi ments, of whom 5 wear the kilt and bonnet ; the others have minor distinctions in dress. The light infantry regi ments, 1 1 in number, are distinguished by a horse-hair plume to the shako in place of a ball. The " facings " vary with the different regiments, but all "royal" regi ments have blue.
All regiments now carry the valise equipment, sub stituted for the knapsack in 1870. It consists of a black leather bag slung from the shoulders by straps and fitted to lie in the hollow of the back, connected with a waist- belt and ammunition-pouches in such a manner as to distribute the weight evenly over the body, and cause it to hang direct on the shoulders. The greatcoat, when not worn, is strapped above it. The valise holds a spare shirt, pair of boots, socks, cap, towel, and other small articles, and when full weighs about 15 BJ ; the total weight carried by the soldier, including arms, ammunition, and the clothes he has on, amounts to about 52 K).
Each battalion has four hospital orderlies, picked men specially trained to the care of sick and wounded, and relieved from all other duties ; and ten pioneers, skilled artificers of various trades, who carry a complete set of carpenters and other tools, and are employed, sometimes under the quartermaster of the regiment and sometimes under the engineers, in executing repairs and other works. The guards and rifle regiments recruit through the country generally : the former maintain a high standard, usually 2 or 3 inches above that of the line ; the latter take men of low standard, but require special chest measurement. The other infantry regiments recruit as far as possible within the brigade districts in which the depots are permanently stationed. Of the 141 line battalions, 50 are stationed in India, 20 in the colonies and foreign garrisons, and 71 at home ; thus allowing one battalion at home and one abroad from each brigade. The chief foreign garrisons are Malta (7 battalions) and. Gibraltar (5 battalions). The largest home stations for infantry are London (for the Guards), Portsmouth, Dublin, Cork, Plymouth, Chatham, Dover, and the camps of Aldershott, Colchester, Shorncliffe, and the Curragh,
The oldest infantry regiments are the Coldstream Guards (General Monck s regiment), the 1st " Royal Scots" (origin ally the "Douglas" regiment), the Grenadier and Scots Fusilier Guards, the 2d " Queen s " (raised for the defence of Tangier), and the 3d " Buffs " (raised from the London train-bands). These regiments were formed between 1660 and 1662. The principal augmentations made to the army between this date and the Crimean war have been already detailed. Second battalions were added to the regiments from 1 to 25 in 1857-59, and the 100th was raised in Canada in 1858. The nine regiments from 101 to 109 were formed from the European regiments in the service of the East India Company, on the transference of tha powers of that company to the Crown.
