Supplement to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica/Academies, Military and Naval
Academies for military and naval Instruction.ACADEMY is also a term applied to these royal collegiate seminaries in which young men are educated for the navy and army. In this country there are three seminaries of this description: The Naval Academy at Portsmouth; the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich; and the Royal Military College at Farnham and Sandhurst.
Naval Academy at Portsmouth.I. The Naval Academy at Portsmouth was founded by George I. in 1722; but the official warrant for its establishment does not appear to have been issued till the 21st of February 1729. This warrant bears, that the academy was instituted for the education of forty young gentlemen, fifteen of whom were to be sons of commissioned officers in the navy. The commissioner of the navy at Portsmouth was, ex officio, to be governor; and there were to be two masters for the instruction of the students in navigation and the sciences introductory or auxiliary to it, besides a master for writing and drawing. The annual expence was about L. 1169.
In the year 1773, his present Majesty, during a visit he paid to Portsmouth, suggested the extension and improvement of the Naval Academy; but no steps were taken towards this object till the year 1806, when an order in council was issued for a new and enlarged establishment. By this order it was henceforward to be called the Royal Naval College at Dock-yard, Portsmouth, and the following officers were appointed: 1st, a Governor, who was to be the First Lord of the Admiralty for the time being; and, 2d, a Lieutenant-Governor and inspector, who was to be a post-captain in the navy. As the course of education which the students were to follow necessarily embraced the mathematical sciences, the order directed that the University of Cambridge should recommend three of its graduates, who were able mathematicians; one of whom the first Lord of the Admiralty, as governor, was to nominate Professor. In order to incite him to the regular and faithful discharge of his duty, he was to receive no fixed salary, but to be paid L. 8 annually by each student attending the Academy. The next in rank and authority under the professor is the preceptor, or head master, who must be a graduate of one of the universities; he has the control of the students at all hours, and is to instruct them in the classics, moral philosophy, geography, history, and general literature.
The order in council also appointed a writing-master, who, besides giving instructions in his own immediate line, was to prepare the students for the lectures of the professor, by teaching them arithmetic, fractions, algebra, and geometry. There are, besides, masters for drawing, French, dancing, and fencing. The surgeon of the deck-yard gives his professional advice and assistance. The domestic economy of the establishment is entrusted, by the order in council, to a disabled and meritorious half-pay lieutenant.
The peculiar advantages of this academy, however, consist in the practical knowledge which it is intended and calculated to bestow on those who are admitted. For this purpose, the master attendant of the dock-yard gives weekly lessons on the management of ships afloat, in one of the cruizing sloops; and likewise lessons in rigging, and preparing ships for sea, on board such vessels as are preparing to sail from Portsmouth harbour. Forty seven lessons are given in each of these branches annually, five weeks being allowed for holidays.
The master shipwright of the dock-yard instructs the students in the principles on which ships of war are built; and in the mode of putting the several parts together—making masts, and all other branches of naval architecture, by attending them one day in the week, during the six summer months, through the dock-yards. The gunner of marine artillery also instructs them in the practical knowledge of gunnery, and in the use of the firelock.
The number of scholars, by the order in council of February 1806, was increased from forty to seventy: of these, thirty might be indiscriminately sons of officers, noblemen, or gentlemen; but forty were invariably to be sons of commissioned officers in the naval service. None are admitted under thirteen, nor above sixteen years of age: those are preferred to fill vacancies who have been previously at sea, provided they are of the proper age. No student can remain at the academy longer than three years; and the whole period of his residence is to be reckoned as two of the six years, which it is necessary for a midshipman to serve, before he can obtain a lieutenant’s commission. Each student, while actually at the academy, that is, during three hundred and thirty days in the year, receives four shillings daily; out of which he pays L. 8 annually to the professor. The annual expence of the establishment, as fixed by the order in council of 1806, is about L. 6363.
In order to secure to the country the services of the students in that line, for which they have been educated, the parents of all of them, except such as have been previously at sea, grant a bond of L. 200, which is forfeited, in case they do not enter into the naval service. The first year they are at sea, they are rated as volunteers, on able seaman’s pay; the second year, they have the rank and pay of midshipmen. They are directed to keep journals; to draw head-lands, &c.; and when the ship comes into port, they are to attend the professor, who is to inspect their journals, and examine them regarding their advancement in the theoretical and practical knowledge of this profession.
This academy, as established by the order in council already mentioned, was confined entirely to the education of young cadets for the navy: but in the third report of the commissioners, appointed to inquire into the civil affairs of the navy, laid before Parliament in June 1806, a regular system of education for shipwrights was also proposed; and the suggestion was accordingly carried into effect, though not till some years afterwards. The professor of the naval academy is also the instructor of the shipwright apprentices, but his instructions extend only to that class who are to serve on board his Majesty's ships of war. No apprentice can be admitted to the academy under sixteen years of age; and he must be previously examined by the professor, before a committee of the navy board, in arithmetic, the first six books of Euclid, and in French. If the candidate is approved, he must be bound to the resident commissioner of the dock-yard, for seven years, six of which he spends at the academy, and one at sea. The salary of the apprentices increases yearly, from L. 60, to L. 140; out of which they pay L. 8 to the professor. The number of these apprentices was originally limited to twenty-five; but latterly, six more have been added. They spend half the day under the professor; and the other half under the master shipwright, in the mould lofts, learning the management of timber, and manual labour in ship building. Lectures are delivered three times a week, after working hours, on the branches of science connected with naval architecture; and annual examinations take place before the resident commissioner, the master shipwright, and the professor.
Ont of the class of shipwright apprentices, thus educated, are selected the master measurers; foremen of shipwrights; master boat-builders; master mast-makers; assistants to master ship-builders; mechanists in office of inspector-general of naval works; assistants to surveyors of the navy; master ship-wrights; second surveyor of navy; inspector-general of navy works; and first surveyor of navy.
Military Academy at Woolwich.II. The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich was established by George II. by warrants dated 30th of April and 18th of November 1741; for the purpose of instructing “raw and inexperienced people, belonging to the military branch of the ordnance, in the several parts of the mathematics necessary for the service of the artillery, and the business of engineers.” We find no further notice respecting this institution till the year 1776, when the number of scholars, then called cadets, amounted to forty-eight. In the year 1786, they were increased to sixty; in 1796, to ninety; and in 1798, to one hundred, forty of whom were educated for the service of the East India Company. This number continued till the year 1806, when the establishment was improved and further extended; the number of masters being increased, and the cadets being divided into two bodies. This latter regulation took place in consequence principally of the unhealthy and confined situation of the old buildings in the royal arsenal; new buildings haying been erected on Woolwich Common, on the side of Shooter’s Hill, in a more open and dry situation. As soon as these were finished, one hundred and twenty-eight cadets were lodged in them; sixty continuing in the royal arsenal. At this period there were nine masters of mathematics. In 1810, the cadets for the service of the East India Company were withdrawn from Woolwich; and the extra cadets, who, for want of room, had been sent to Marlow, or to private schools, were taken into the college, under the name of supernumeraries. The establishment at present consists of two hundred cadets, one hundred and twenty-eight of whom are in the new buildings, and seventy-two, including twelve supernumeraries, reside in the arsenal. The number of cadets is not fixed by warrant, but is at the discretion of the master-general of ordnance, who, with the board of ordnance, have the entire superintendence of the institution. The immediate direction, however, is vested in the lieutenant-governor and inspector, who are chosen generally from the artillery or engineers by the master-general of the ordnance. It is the duty of these officers, aided by the assistant-inspector, to control the masters and professors, and to see that the cadets are taught the necessary branches of instruction. The professors and masters are appointed on the recommendation of the lieutenant-governor, who, assisted by men of science, previously examines them. One master is appointed for every sixteen cadets. At present there are a professor of fortification, with two assistants; a professor of mathematics, with six masters and assistants; two French masters; a drawing-master for ground, and an assistant; a drawing-master for figures; and another for landscape; a dancing-master; a fencing-master; two modellers; and a lecturer on chemistry. Lectures are also given on the different branches of natural philosophy. The inferior branches of education are taught at the lower institution in the arsenal, and the higher branches at the buildings on the common.
The young men educated at the Royal Military Academy of Woolwich are the sons of noblemen, gentlemen, or military officers. They are called gentlemen cadets, and cannot be admitted under fourteen, nor above sixteen years of age. They are nominated by the master-general of the ordnance, as governor of the academy; but they must be well grounded in English grammar, arithmetic, and French, and they undergo a previous public examination before the masters of the academy. The cadets educated at Woolwich are considered as the first company of the royal regiment of artillery, of which the master-general of the ordnance is the captain. They are also divided into companies; each company having a captain and two subalterns, as military directors. Each cadet receives 2s. 6d. a-day, or L. 45, 12s, 6d. a-year, which covers all his regular expences, except keeping up his linen. The annual vacations consist of twelve weeks.
Monthly returns of the studies of the cadets, shewing the relative progress of each in every branch, with his particular character subjoined, are sent to the master-general of the ordnance; there are also public examinations before the general-officers of the ordnance corps. Commissions are given to the cadets according to the report of their merits and acquirements: they have their choice of entering either into the artillery or engineers. The whole expence to Government of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich is at the rate of about L. 100 for each cadet.
Royal Military College.III. The Royal Military College, which is at present established at Farnham, in Surrey, and at Sandhurst, near Bagshot, was originally settled at High Wycombe and Great Marlow. The establishment at High Wycombe commenced in January 1799, at which time there was a superintendent, commandant, two or three professors, and thirty-four students. Next year four more professors were added; and in 1801 it took the name of the Royal Military College by his Majesty’s warrant. A supreme board of Commissioners, to superintend and regulate its concerns, was appointed, consisting of the Commander-in-chief, Secretary of war, and the heads of the great military departments, with others of high rank in the army; three of whom, including the Secretary at war, and the Adjutant or Quartermaster-general, were to form a board of management. By his Majesty’s warrant, dated 4th of June 1802, another department, called the Junior Department of the Royal Military College, was formed; and the objects of this, as well as af the original, or Senior Department, were specifically pointed out. A collegiate board was also established, for the internal government of the college, consisting of the governor, lieutenant-governor, and the commandants of the two departments. The last warrant relating to this establishment is dated 27th May 1808: this places both the departments, forming one college, under the command of the governor and lieutenant-governor; it continues the collegiate board, and vests the appointment of professors and masters, after public notice of vacancies, and the examination of the candidates in the presence of the collegiate board, in the supreme board.
By these warrants, it was declared that the Junior Department of the Institution, which was then at Marlow, was principally intended for those who were destined for the military profession, in order to ground them in the necessary sciences by the time they could hold commissions, and also to afford provision for the orphan sons of meritorious officers, who had fallen or been disabled in the service of their country, or whose pecuniary circumstances rendered them unable to educate their sons properly for a military life. The warrant of 1808 fixed the number of students in the Junior Department at four hundred and twelve, divided into four companies of an hundred and three cadets each. They are admitted upon three different establishments:—1. Orphan sons of officers of the army or navy, who have fallen, died, or been disabled in the service. They are admitted free of expence, except that they are to bring the first suit of uniform on their admission, and to keep up their stock of linen, during their residence at the college. 2. The sons of officers actually serving in the army or navy, who pay a certain sum annually, (from L. 10 to L. 60,) according to the rank of their fathers. 3. The sons of noblemen and gentlemen, who pay L. 100 per annum each.
The military branch of the establishment attached to the Junior Department, consists of a commandant, a major, three captains, an adjutant, and inferior officers.
The studies pursued in this department are mathematics, natural philosophy, history, geography, fortification, military-drawing, landscape-drawing, arithmetic, classics, French, German, fencing, and writing. There are seven masters of mathematics, four of fortification, five of military-drawing, three of landscape-drawing, four of history, geography, and classics, six of French, one of German, and three of fencing. The course for this department lasts from three and a half to four years.
Applications for admission must be made to the Commander-in-chief, through the governor of the college, and his Majesty’s approbation obtained. Every candidate, previous to admission into the Junior Department, must pass an examination in Latin and English grammar, and in the first four rules of arithmetic; no candidate can be admitted under thirteen or above fifteen years of age.
Examinations are held monthly, which are conducted by the professors of the Senior Department, for the purpose of ascertaining the progress of each cadet, previous to his removal from one class to another. There are also half-yearly examinations, in presence of the Collegiate Board, on which occasion, one or more members of the Supreme Board, not being members of the Collegiate Board, attend. These examinations are held previous to the cadet’s receiving commissions from the college; and if they acquit themselves well, they are furnished by the Board of Commissioners, in whose presence the examination takes place, with certificates of qualification to serve in the army as officers. The third class, or gentlemen-cadets, are allowed to purchase commissions at any time during their continuance at the college; but no gentleman-cadet can be recommended for a commission by private interest, until he has made a certain progress in his studies.
The Senior Department of the Royal Military College, which was originally established at High Wycombe, is intended for the purpose of instructing officers in the scientific parts of their profession, with a view of enabling them better to discharge their duty, when acting in the command of regiments, and, at the same time, of qualifying them for being employed in the quarter-master and adjutant-general’s department. The military branch of the establishment of the senior department, consists of a commandant and adjutant. Lhe studies pursued are mathematics, in all the various branches, fortification, gunnery, castramentation, military-drawing, and surveying, the reconnoitring of ground, the disposition and movement of troops, under all the various circumstances of defensive and offensive war, rules for estimating the military resources of a country, and the German and French languages. There are six professors in this department,—one for mathematics, one for fortification, two for military-drawing, one for French, and one for German.
The full complement of the Senior Department consists of thirty students. No officer can be admitted till he has completed the twenty-first year of his age, and actually served with his regiment, as a commissioned officer, three years abroad, or four years at home. Applications for admission must be made to the governor, through the commanding-officer of the regiment to which the candidate belongs, and the governor transmits the application to the commander-in-chief for his Majesty’s approbation. Such examination as may be deemed requisite, is required previous to admission. Each student of this department pays into the funds of the college thirty guineas annually, and after a certain period he is obliged to keep a horse, for the purpose of receiving such instruction as is given in the field. There are public examinations half-yearly, conducted on the same principle as the half-yearly examinations of the Junior Department. Such officers as have gone through the regular course of studies, and have passed this examination with credit, receive certificates that they are duly qualified for staff-appointments, signed by the board who examined them, and sealed with the seal of the college.
Officers or students of the first department, non-commissioned officers, and other military persons belonging to the college, as well as the gentlemen cadets of the junior department, are subject to the articles of war, for which purpose, the latter are placed on the establishment of the army, and receive 2s. 6d. per day. This money contributes towards the expence of their education. The gentlemen cadets wear military uniforms.
The general staff of the college consists of the governor, the lieutenant-governor, the inspector-general of instruction, and the chaplain, who, besides performing divine service, teaches the evidences and principles of Christianity. The rest of the staff are exclusively occupied with the finances of the college.
In 1801, five hundred acres of land were purchased at Sandhurst near Bagshot; and on this space large and commodious buildings have been erected, into which the Junior Department has been recently removed from Great Marlow; the Senior Department remaining at Farnham, which is no great distance from Sandhurst.
The reader will find an account of some establishiments for the education of those destined for the service of the East India Company, under the word Hertford, in this Supplement.(C.)