,.^... IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // :/j 1.0 I.I 1.2:5 tAi MU |2.5 io 12.0 12.2 S i ffnpBrs 1.4 1.6 PWi w.^ /w ^. /: o w V 4^ ^ L1>^ \ \ *> ^ ^^ <. ;\ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicui6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or biack)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bieue ou noire) □ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires; L'lnstitut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procur jr. Les details de cet exempieire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/oi Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es I I Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ □ Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes □ Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es 0Showthrough/ Transparence □ Quality of print varies/ Quality in^gale de I'impression □ Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppldmentaire □ Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t^ filmies d nouveau de fa^on d obtenir la meilieure image possible. □ 10X This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X 7 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: National Library of Canada L'o;:amplaire film6 fut reprodult grica it la g4n(»rosit6 de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada The images appearing here are the best qual!ty possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in Iceeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at de la nettetd de I'exemplaire film*, at an conformity avec les conditions du contrat da fllmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrate J impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture 0n papier est imprim^e sont filmte an commandant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'illustration, soit par la second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres axamplairaa originaux sont film^s en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une emprainta d'imprassion ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte una telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol ^^ (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des oymboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols -^ signifie "A SUIVRE ', le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., pauvant 4tra filmds d des taux de reduction diff^rants. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra reprodult en un seul cliche, il est film* i partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droita, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammas suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 O M p. '/5 o o no T H K MMIML ETfmMEEm BY THE %^f lion. Sir Irancirf U ^tab, lart. ^n/«r soTM, bHmjing in the Clerk of Chatham. Smiih. The clerk of Chatham : he can write and read, and east aecompt. Caiic. Hero's a villain! - - Away with him, I say : hanc hm, with hw pen and inkhom about his neck. [£xit oiie uith lhn clerk.] Second Paht of Hkbbv VI., aet iv. «(»„, 2. LON DO N.- John MUKRAY. ALBLHARLE STREET. ^■rtgfiti^lrmjlalim^ u retemA. ■» I « ^ f * * : " a iv u>Hi>OK : riiJiiTKD Br w. owwEa a»d aom, duke 8tbket, btamvoko btmsbt. AHO CHABIMO CB0S3. TO THE BRITISH ARMY, THIS VOLUME, • SHOWWa THE NECESSITY OF ENLISTING, AS ITS PUTUBB QUTOB TO VICTOBT, BOTH IN ATTACK AND DEFENCE, SCIENCE, la BESPEOTFULLY, BY AN OLD RETIRED COMRADE, 15elifcatflr» a 2 ( I t c PREFACE. -*o* Forty-three years ago, seeing before me no chance of advancement — on the French principle of " reculer pour mieux sauter,"' I retired from the corps of Royal Engineers, after an apprenticeship in it for fourteen years. During rather more than a quarter of a century I had no communication whatever with it, and then only for a few days (in compliance with the request of General Sir John Burgoyne), to instruct its mounted Train in the application of the South- American system of lasso-draught. When eighteen more years, one after another, had rolled head-over-heels over Time's cataract, during which time I had not the slightest com- munication with the corps, it resolved to give an honorary dinner to its East-Indian brother- officer, the Abyssinian General. And as, during my retirement, I had written ' The Life of Bruce, the African Traveller,' and consequently had watched with especial interest Sir Robert Napier's campaign, I made an application, in reply to a 3 VI PUEPACE. which I received an official printed letter per- mitting me to join in the subscription for the proposed dinner, which I accordingly attended, as also, on the following day, some important " siege operations." And there, for the first time in my life, I saw and was introduced to General Frome, the Inspector-General of the Corps of lloyal Engineers, ani! to Major-General Simmo.is, C.B., the " Director of its Establishment for Mili- tary Instruction " at Chatham. In a short " Memorandum," published hy me (dated 7th August last), on the subject of Lord Napier's Campaign (see Appendix B), I had ventured to demonstrate that our army — especially for defence — must henceforward submit to be directed by a man of science ; but as the English public — generally speaking — really do not know what Military Science is, I resolved to apply for official permission to ascertain, and to make known — as accurately as I could measure it — how much or how little of that article we jDOssess. The following correspondence on the subject — which I have been permitted to publish — will speak for itself ; — PREFACE. fll I. "Croydon, August 22nd, 1868. " My DEAR GENEItAL FkOME, " If you see no public objection to my going over the Royal Engineer Establishment at Chatham, and taking notes of its proceedings, in the same way as some years ago, by order of Her Majesty's Postmaster-General, I was enabled to describe the interior management of the London General Post Office, I should feel obliged if you would be so good as to supply me in such way as you may think proper with an order to that effect. '• I feel it would not be proper for me to go to Chatham for the purpose I have mentioned without your knowledge and approval. "I have the honour to remain " Yours verv faithfully, "F. B. Head, " late Cajitain Royal Engineers." II. " War Oflice, Aug. 22nd, 18C8. '' My dear Sir Francis, "I can see no possible objection to your making notes of the system of education at the Royal Engineer Establishment, Chatham, and shall personally rejoice at your taking the matter in hand. " I will therefore write at once to the D.-A. -General, and ask him to send a Memorandum to M.-General Simmons, UN tlii PREFACE. tlio present Director, and also to let you know either from himself or through me. "I look upon tljo School of Instruction as m practical and excellent, that I feel truly glad its description should fall into such hands as yours. •' Yours very faithfully, « EdW- C. Frome." III. From the Depuiy-Adjutant'Omeral. ** Royal Engineers, Horse Guards, " 27th August, 1868. "My dear General Simmons, " The Adjutant-General has approved of Sir Francis Head visiting the Royal Engineer Establishment. " Will you write a line to Sir Francis Head, and invite him to come. " Yours sincerely, "J.F.Browne." With this authority I proceeded to Chatham; and, in compliance with my request, General Simmons — who, I may observe, entered the corps after I had left it — billeted me in two com- fortably-furnished barrack-rooms, vacated by an officer absent on sick leave. Of the 112 Engineer officers under his command I was totally unacquainted with all ; and as more than nine-tenths were young ones, undergoing PREFAOK. k ctical liould u •:/. tlieir course of instruction, we had no time to liold iiiiy communication witli each otlier. General Simmons gave me, witliout a moment'n licsitation, in every way, all the assistance I could possibly desire. He conducted mo himself over a small portion of the estaV)li8hmcnt of which he is virtually the Governor ; but as the greater part of my time was occupied in committing to very short-hand writing what was before my eyes, and as he had innumerable claims on his time, he — generally speaking — handed me over to the officers of Engineers in charge of the various departments, wlio, besides laying before me what- ever statistics I required, and instructing rae with great intelligence, very liberally allowed me — whenever I chose — to diverge from them, to question, and, in return, to obtain useful know- ledge from, the non-commissioned officers and sappers, who, besides the young officers of En- gineers, were studying in their respective halls. For four days, of eight hours eac!i, and for three hours of the fifth day,* I was intently occupied in the duty I had imdertaken, and in * As to many people this amount of time may appear insufficient, I venture to state that it took me exactly four days (including travel- ling over the whole line) to make notes sufficient for my published description (' Stokers and Pokers ') of the London and North- Western Railway. X PREFACE. less than half an hour after I had closed my second note-book I drove from Brompton Barracks, by myself, to Chatham Railway Station, and pro- ceeded by the 1-25 p.m. fast train to London. In submitting to the public — verging on my seventy-seventh year — a very rough sketch of what I witnessed, with a few observations and reflections thereon, I feel very strongly that, if my appraisement of a national establishment which I voluntarily undertook to estimate for the public at its true value should prove to be partial, exaggerated, or incorrect, I shall stand in the world destitute of excuse. Cboydok, Javuary I, ISO!). Ml. ; «. CONTENTS. Dedication. Preface. PART I. The Enlistment aud Education of a Gentleman Cadet ''"^ PART II. The Royal Engineer Establishment 27 KoyalEngineerTrain, Pontoon Troop A.. .. "' .' " " 33 Barrel Pier Bridges ^ American Tube Wells The Model Room .. .. ^t Drill .. .. ^^ • •• •• • QA, Military Discipline Survey Course for OfBcers |* ' «. „ „ for Non-commissioned Officers and Men im Electrical School " " Jj^jT Submarine Mines, Torpedoes *' * ,,. Floating Electrical School '' [ ,„, Lasso-Draught for Cavalry [ \ ,00 School of Instruction in Field-Works -iaa Printing School J** Royal Engineer Train, B Tro.p, conveying entrenching"tools ' "no Construction of Civil and Military Buildings, Bridges, &c. . ' 197 a he Electric Telegraph ^^' Photographic School "' gon Signalling by Sight and by Sound .. '.'. "■' „;? The Last Signal The 10th Company .. ffj The Puzzle.. ^^' Dinner [[ " '; ;; ;; 260 A Soldier's Knapsack.. ?f* Barracks "^^^ ■ The Practical Test '.'. ?!? 279 zli CONTENTS. PABT III. Page The Obsolete System of War 31g The Minid Rifle " 329 The Breech-Loader 33g The British Army 344 PART IV. The Invasion of England 353 Appendix A The Duke of Wellington's admirable order for an assault 373 „ B Memorandum on Lord Napier's Abyssinian Cam- paign 370 „ C Extracts from ' Hart's Array List ' 379 „ D What is a Sapper? By Captain Conolly, Quarter- master, Royal Engineers 380 „ E Descriptive Sketch of the Ordnance Survey, by Colonel Cameron, R.E., Executive Officer at Southampton 384 SKETCHES. The Royal Engineer Train B Troop, transporting in Waggons and on Pack Horses, Intrenching Tools for an Army in the Field Frontispiece The Royal Engineer Train, A Troop, proceeding under order to Bridge a River to face page 34 The Royal Engineer Train practising Lasso-Draught .. .. „ 140 Intrenching Tools on Pack Horses 188 The Royal Engineer Field Train, with its Office, Stores, and Electric Wire- Waggon 212 The Wire-Waggon 216 Signalling by Sight and by Sound ^ 234 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. PART I. THE ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION OF A " GENTLEMAN CADET." Until 1855 the Master-Greneral of the Ordnance, in addition to a salary of 3000/. a-year, enjoyed the perquisite or privilege of feeding the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich with as many cadets as war, pestilence, or other causes might require — in fact, while lads were paying premiums or purchase - money for admission into other professions, civil as well as military, he had at his sole disposal — as a free gift — admission, after due examination and competition, to every first commission in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and Corps of Royal Engineers. Some people thought, and even said, that a nohleman or statesman of such high position in the Constitutional Government of the country was not at all — and some people thought, and even said, that he was ver^y — likely to abuse the patronage thus intrusted to him. But whether he abused it or not, it is evident that, in either case, abstract merit would be " very 9 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part I. likely " to fall to the ground ; and, accordingly, there can exist no doubt that — generally sper.king — cadets obtained admission as competitors for the two scientific branches of our army, not so much in virtue of their own abilities, as by the intluence, moral or political, of a mai<; or female patron, invisible to the publir'. wi.^o might possibly be careless, ignorant, or both, of the requirements necessary for either corj)s. On the 25th of May, 1855, the fatal day of the abolition of the Ordnance Office,* the Master- General, with his salary and his patronage, his Lieutenant- General, his Surveyor- General, his Treasurer, and his Clerk, were altogether as sud- denly swamped, as are cattle in Holland when "the pressurc-from-without " of the wide wide sea — sans warning — carries towards them, as an unwelcome gift, the bank of the verdant meadow in which they are either grazing, or, after grazing, placidly cliewing the cud. And in lieu of the old system, Parliament, after a due period of gestation, gave birth to a new * Tho first Master of the Ordnance was hatched about 1414. He had a small ordnance staff under him, with which he served at the siege of Hai-flcur, hattle of Agincourt, &c. This Master of the Ordnance was also Master of the Works, a title equivalent in after times to that of Chief Engineer. The date when the Master-General, with a Board under him, was constituted, has not been traced. But it is believed that the Master- General and Board acted, as in late days, from the time of Elizabeth. Tho Office ol Ordnance is 6Ui>]X)8ed to have been constituted about 1597. Part I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 8 lingly, Baking for tlie » much luence, patron, bly be ements day of yiaster- ^e, liis al, his as sud- l when e wide as an leadow razing, t, after a new He had 10 siege of unce was to tliat of him, was e ]Master- <]lizabeth. ted about one, which, with respect to patronage as above described, was exactly as different from that \. hich it was to supersede, as a black baby is from a white one. Its principles were, and by authority are, explained and promulgated by orders officially 23riTited and circulated in pamphlet form, of which the following are extracts ; — Horse Guards, 1st Jcmuary, 1867. Regulations for the Admission of Gentlemen Cadets to the Royal Military Academy, Woolivich. N.B. — All Candidates for Commissions in tho Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers are required to go through a course of instruction at tho Royal Military Academy. • I. Competitive Examinations for admission are held in London twice a year, in Janiiary and July. They are conducted by Examiners appointed for the purpose, in tho presence and under the superintendence of tho Council of Military Education. The Candidates must be between IG and 19 years of age. ,.' VIII. Any gentleman who wishes to present himself at one of the Half-yearly Examinations, must send in bis name to the Military Secretary at tho Horse Guards one month before the time of Examination, forwarding with his appli- cation to bo noted the following papers : — 1st. An extract from the Register of his baptism, or, in default of that, a declaration before a magistrate, taken by one of his parents, giving his exact age. 2nd. A Certificate of good moral character, signed by a clergyman of the parish to which he belongs, and by B 2 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part I. the tutor' or head of the school or college at which he has received his education for at least the two preceding years, or such other proof of good moral character as will be satisfactory to the Commander-in- Chief. IX. The Candidates will be inspected by military surgeons on the first day of the examination, in order that it may be ascertained that they are free from any bodily defects or ailments calculated to interfere with the performance of mili- tary duties. Extreme short-sight, or any serious defect of vision, is regarded as a disqualification. As soon as, by the above prescribed examina- tion, the (?M^sic!es of the candidates have been ascer- tained to be sound wind and limb, and free from blemish, their msides are thus very severely tested : — 1. Mathematics ( \ 3,500 II. The admissions will be detei "^ined by the result of the examination, the subjects of which will be as follows, viz : — Marks, ' Section I. Arithme- tic, Algebra, Euclid, Plane Trigonometry 2,000 . Section 11. Spherical Pure ( Trigonometry, ele- ments of Co-ordinate Geometry, and of the Differential and In- tegral Calculus . . 500 Mixed : — Statics, Dyna- mics,and Hydrostatics 1,000 2. English Language and Composition 1,000 3. History of England, its Dependencies and Colonies 1,000 4. Geography (Modern) 1,000 I Latin Language 1,500 Greek ditto 1,500 6. French Language 1,000 5, Classics Taut I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 7. German Language 1,000 8. Ilindubiani ditto 1.000 The examination iu French, German, and Ilirdustani will include writing from dictation. 9. 'Flxperimental Sciences, i.e. Chemistry, Heat, Ele^;tricity, including Magnetism 1,000 10. l"Atural Sciences, i.e. Mineralogy and Geology .. 1,000 I Free-hand Drawing of Machinery,| Architectural, Topographical, Land-> 1,000 scape, or Figure Subjects .. .. ' Every Candidate must qualify in Geometrical Drawing ; i.e. Drawing in Ink, with accuracy, neatness, and to scale, the several Problems of Euclid. Considering that lads between sixteen and nine- teen to be examined as above, "in the presence and under the superintendence of the Council of Military Education," are candidates, not for com- missions, but merely for admission into an academy in which they are to be j^ermitted to he(/i7i to study for their commissions, it would at first appear that the preliminary large amount of knowledge required (as above detailed) was amply suffi- cient. However, for reasons, the wisdom of which I will endeavour to explain, a still larger amount is required. The prize of free commissions offered by Parlia- ment to be competed for by the sons of the com- munity at large is so valuable, that the country is entitled, in return for these gifts, to obtain for the two scientific branches of its army the very 6 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part T. best article which the market, when duly tested, is willing to supply. Su23posing, therefore, that the object of the com- petition was merely to obtain active, athletic young men, it is obvious that the higher the youths were required to jump, the faster they were made to run, and the heavier the weights they hurled or lifted, the more valuable would be the results of the contests. And, in like manner, where the object of the competition is to obtain for Her Majesty's Service quick active minds, combined with stout reasoning faculties, a large amount of knowledge is required, not for its intrinsic value, but to attract candidates of high mental capacity. Proceeding, therefore, on this shrewd mercan- tile principle of raising the price of a commodity in proportion to its demand, the Horse Guards, on the last page of tlieir pamphlet, conclude their list of requirements by the following one, which, — just as a large, lean, savage dog, tethered to a tree of rosy-cheeked apples, is said by gardeners to be ^^ good for keeping off hoys,' — must inevitably have the effect of frightening from the competitive examination every idle, inattentive, pleasure-loving lad, be he ever so good-looking. Indeed, it really is, in the words of Sam Slick, " a caution fm' an owir Part I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. Syllabus op Examination in the Diffeuential AND Integral Calculus. Differential Calculus. Tho meaning of Difterontiation. Tho Difforontiafcion of Elementary Functions of one indc- pondont variable. Tho tliGOrems of Taylor and Maclaurin, with their appli- cations. Tho theory of Maxima and Minima, with its applications. The equations to tho Tangents, Normals, and Asymptotes of Plane Curves. The curvature of Plane Curves and their radii of curvature and evolutes. Tho Differential Co-efficients of tho Arcs and Areas of Piano Curves to rectangular and polar Co-ordinates, and of tho surfaces and volumes of solids of revolution. Integral Calculus. Tho meaning of Integration. Tho Intogi-ation of Elementary Functions. The Integration of Rational Fractions. Tho determination of the lengths and areas of Plane Curves, and of the surfaces and volumes of solids of revolution. But an owl, especially by sunshine, is much easier terrified than an eagle, and in like manner on youths of a higher class of intellect the above requirements have no deterring effect. On the contrary, the attractions ^f the national prize have, on the whole, proved to be so much stronger than the terrors of the examination, that, for only forty vacancies offered to the whole community, as many as 100, 150, and even 200 candidates THE IIOYAL ENGINEER. Part I. liave simultaneously stepj^ed forward ; and as, in their examination, favouritiism is unknown, and intjrcst nil, the cream of the whole mixture is, in the manner described in the following official document, every half-year skilfully skimmed off by the Horse Guards, and for the use and great benefit of Her Majesty's Service despatched to the Eoyal Military Academy at Woolwich : — REPOllT. The Council op Military Education have the honour to submit to His Royal Highness the Fiekl-MarsLal Comnianding-in-Cbief, the following RGj)ort of the Open Competitive Examination for Admission to tbe Royal ]\Iilitary Academy, Woolwich, which was held at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, in July, 18G8. The Examination commenced on Wednesday the 1st, and was continued according to the following arrange- ment : — Weduesday, July 1 Thursday „ 2 Friday, Saturday. Monday, Tuesday, „ 7 Wedne«dny, „ 8 Medical Examination of Candidates. Morning — Geonielrical Drawing. A fternoou — French. ]\Iorning — Landscape Drawing. Afternoon — French. Morning — Mathematics. Afternoon — English. Morning — Mathematics. Afternoon — English. Morn ing — Mathematics. Afternoon — History. Morning — Mathematics. Afternoon — Hi8tor3% '^w Paut I. [ as, in n, and •e is, in official aed oft* 1 great lied to 5 honour Marshal lie Open 3 Eoyal at the the 1st, M'raugc- ulidatotj. IWlllg. niK Part I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 9 Thursday, July I) „ 10 j Mori) iiig — !Matheniatica. ( Aftonioou— Geography. J Mt)rniug — Mathematics. Friday, „ 10 j Afteruoou- Geography. Saturday, „ 11 .. Latin. Monday, „ 13 .. Greek. Tuesday, „ 14 .. German. Wednesday, „ 15 .. Experimental iSciences. Thursday, „ 16 .. Natural Scienuos and Hindustani. The numhor of Candidates who presented then: elvos on the first day was 144; of whom jno was rejected Ijy the Medical Board, and two others suhscc^uently with- drew; of the remainder 57 were found (qualified in every respect, and the names of tho 40 highest on tho list Averc suhmitted to His Koyal Highness the Ficld-JMarshal Com- munding-in-Chief, on tho 2ord July. Every cadet is liberally granted by his country a specified pay per day, wliicli, as will appear from the following extracts, amounts, with cer- tain exceptions, to exactly 125/. a-year less than nothing : — Regulation VIT. — Each Cadet on joining will be required to pay a sum of 251. to cover tho expense of Uniform, Books, &c. lie will also bo required tc pay a contribution of G2l. 10s., payable in advance, for each half-yeai" of tho time during which he remains under instruction. The annual contributions, however, for sons and orphans of Naval and Military Officers will be regulated at the follow- ing rates, as heretofore : — For sons of Admirals and of Generals having £ Regiments 80 For sons of Generals without Reffimento 70 i 10 TIIK ROYAL KNaiNEEU. Tart I. For sons of Captains niul C'oinmaiulcrs of tlio Navy, £ and of Colonclb nud Kcginiontul Field Ofliccrs of tho Army 'j<* For sons ol all Officers of tho Army and Navy under tho above Kanks 4u For sons of Officers of the Army und Navy who hiivo diod in thu service, und \vh< -so fiimilics are proved to be left in pecuniary distress 20 DisTRiuunoN OF TiiK Pay ov A Gentlkman Cadet in the Uoyal Military Academy, "Woolwich. Fay at 2«. Grf. per diem Messing- at 23. for 280 days Washing for 40 weeks Hair-cutter Subscription to Library Is. per month Balance applicable to several ex-' pcnses, such as Housekeeper's Sa- lary, Servants' Wages, keeping up Class Books, Drawing Materials, Eepair of Clothing, and other con- tiugeueies £ 8. d. 28 4 4 12 12 1(3 £ 8. d. 45. 12 45 12 45 12 ■^.' I Every cadet, on joining the Royal Military Academy, is designated "a recndt,'* in which grade, especially deemed inferior by his comrades, " like the lobster in boiling water restless and never satisfied," he remains under the zealous Paiit I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 11 tuition of ;i steady, highly iutoUigent, sharp, smart drill-so rjoaiit for ahout four months, when, the anguish of his preliminary education being over, he is ordered " to join the ranks," where, unentitled to wear any weapon but a bayonet, he, in every respect, acts the part ;)f a private soldier, nnless, or until, by " steadiness " and good conduct, he may become one of the few declared in public orders to be " promoted to the rank of Corporal, and to be oboved as such." During the whole of their residence at the esta- blishment, the infantry drill of the cadets, under strict but very considerate instruction, advances from simple goose-step to manual and platoon drill, to battalion drill, and even to brigade drill ; they occasionally taking their place on garrison field- days as infantry. Their education, the details of which, though highly interesting and important, might possibly weary the general reader, may be very briefly described to him by the following list of the illustrious personage, experienced officers, and learned professors, who either govern the whole, or the particular study which it is the important duty of each to superintend : — ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY AT WOOLWICH. Governor Lt.-Gov., Commandant (Field Marshal ILE-H. The JDuhe of Cambridge, KM., G.C.B., K.P. G.C.M.G. Grcn. Guards. Maj.-Gen. John Wm. Orml.^hy, R. Art. Itisp. of Studies, 2nd Commandant Lt.-Col. Geo. Tlios. Field, K. Ait. 12 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Pabt I. Assht. Iiisp. of Studies Capt. E. J. Bmcc, 1{. Art. , , . , „ . , „ ,, /'Capt. Oliver R. Stukcs, 11. Art. f^Pt^>''>^» of Companies of GeutlemeuL^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^"'"'^^ ■• ••(lit. Lt.-Col. Geo. A. Miluiun, R. Art. T . . , fr< ■ .• /i i7 iFi"'i"'k Johnson, R, Art. Lieutenants of Companies oj LrentleA^ ^ Cuuningham, R. Qate Bcug.) Ait. '»''^^<^'^i» (G.J.Burgmann,R.Art. Chuphiin iiet'. A. C. Fraser. Paymaster and Adjutant Clias. Houth, m. Quartermaster G. A. Shepherd, R. Art. Surcjeon E. S. Protheroe, R. Art. (/§'«;•(/. i¥((j.) CIVIL BUANCH. Professor of Mathematics ., .. J. J. Sylvester, Es(j., M.A., F.Ii.S. Professor of Fortification .. .. Capt. J. J. Wilson, R. Eng. Professor of Artillery Bt. Lt.-Col. C. H. Owcu, R. Art. Professor of Mechanics T. M. Goodevc, £«(/. 1st Mathem. Mast Stephen Feuwick, i'sr/., F.^.^.l/fci'. 2nd Mathem. Mast Bev. G. Y. BoiUly, M.A. 'Srd Mathem. Mast. "VVm. Racster, Esq. ith Mathem. Mast. Morgan W. Crol'ton, Esq. ( Bt. Maj. W. J. Stiuiit, R. Eng. Instructors in Forlificulioni~ . . Professor of Geometrical D.awinf) , Blasters for Geometrical Drawing , ! Capt. C. N. Martin, R. En£. ^ Capt. E. L. Bland, IX. Eng. 2nd Capt. H. F. C. Lewin, R. Eng. Thos. Bradley, Esq. (G. S. Pritchard, Esq. ■|F. Bri Blasters for Landscape Drawing Bradley, Esq. jGeo. B, Campion, Esq. ■• (A. Penley, Esq. Instructor in Artillery 2nd Capt. O. H. Goodenough, R. Art. , . , , . i2ndCapt.H.\V. Briscoe, R. Art. Assist. Instructors m Artillery . .\^^^^ ^^^^^^ ji Braekenbuiy. R. Art. Professor of Military History .. Professor of Surveying and Topo-)j^^ ^^^y ^ ^^ Drayson, R. Art. graphical Drawing 2nd Capt. G. A. Crawford, R. Art. Ai-sistiad Instructors in Surveying] Capt. A. H. Hutchinson, R. Art. and Topographical Drawing J Capt. F. E. Pratt, R. Eng. (Lt.W.H. Collins, R. Eng. Professor of French Alphonso Lovey, Esq. French Masters \ '^''''^^"'^"^■" Kii-^'l^ei". ^«2-. LL.JJ. •'(Ediuuud Valentin, i'sj. Pabt I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 13 m Fro/cssor of German [C. A. Fciling, JEs^. i F. Schlutter, Esq. German Masters \c. II. BchaMc, Esq., Ph. D., M.I). ■ Professor of Hindustani Maj. R. Robertson, ret. Inil. Army. Lecturer on ChemiBtry C. L. Bloxam, E"*!}. Clerk William M'Gee, £"82. Of the above squad of studies,' those which very properly are the most severely insisted on arc mathematics, fortification, and artillery ; which latter embraces gun and mortar drill, with the actual practice of both ; standing drill with garrison guns of the larger calibres in battery ; instruction and attendance at all the manufacturing establish- ments in Woolwich Arsenal. Visits to Shoeburyness, to Enfield, and also to Waltham Abbey, to learn the manufacture of gun- powder, each cadet being required to make copious notes, with drawings of the machinery, which are examined and credited according to their merit at his final examination. The course of fortification teaches minutely the German and other modern systems, the cadets themselves executing field-works, as also field- surveying, contouring, sketching, and reconnoitring, in all of which they are sedulously instructed. As regards modern languages, every cadet is obliged to learn French, but if, as is very rarely the case, he prefers Hindustani to German, he is not required to study the latter. In attending the lectures on mechanics, geology, mineralogy, and chemistry, each cadet is required 14 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part I. to take notes (which are afterwards written out fair, and submitted to inspection), and o.t the con- clusion of eacli lecture he is examined in it before he leaves the theatre, attached to which there is an excellent chemical laboratory, where all are prac- tised. The lecturer, moreover, with unsatiated apj^etite, encourages and takes great interest in voluntary attendances, in which many of his pupils become good manipulators. All the cadets, most properly, go through a course of riding, and, as already stated, of every description of drill — infantry and gun. All are required to attend as acrobats, at the gymnasium, for the first year, whether they like it or not, afterwards voluntarily. For recreation between their studies, they have cricket, football, quoits, an American bowling-alley, a workshop for turnery and joinery, two first-rate raquet-courts, covered in ; billiard-tables, bagatelle- tables, and, lastly, a nasty smoking-room, with, per contrhy a bathing pond, with also baths in each of their division barracks. Their dietary is abundant, — their beverage, Inde and Coope's beer, brewed in March and October, on purpose for them. Those cadets who have friends in the neighbour- hood are permitted to go to them, "on leave," from Saturday at 3 p.m. till Sunday at 11 p.m. Each has two suits of uniform given to him per year, so that his payment of the highest rate of vi^ Part I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 15 Inde tober, contribution (125/. per annum) is not, after all, a very bad investment, seeing tliat at the end of two years and a half, in return for advances amounting to 312/. 10.V., iio has received a first-class education, has been fed, clothed, lodged, warmed, amused, and finally — on the top of all — presented, in a scientific corps, with a commission, for which, had he gone into the line, he would have been charged by his country for the privilege of fight- ing for it 450/. It appears from the foregoing rough sketch that, during their residence at the academy, the cadets, besides a costly education, daily pay, &c., are provided by Government — that is, by the public— with a most liberal supply, or rather mixture, of amusements of almost every description ; and as monarchical government, and, indeed, every other description of government, is based on the prin- ciple that he wlio receives from it protection owes to it allegiance, it follows that any set of students, and especially a litter of young sucking soldiers, are bound, and, if necessary, should Ijo compelled, not only to obey the orders of their superiors, but, without murmur, to submit to punishment if they (UsohQj them. Now, the four military punishments which for ages had been inflicted on insubordinate cadets, at the old Eoyal Military College at Great Marlow (which I entered exactly sixty-one years ago), at Sandhurst, and at the Royal Military Academy at 16 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part T, Woolwicli Arsenal, and afterwards, when it was removed to its present site on the Common (I was a cadet at both), were drill, arrest, (that is 'con- finement to his bed-room), black hole, and expul- sion. A beloved son, however, of that well-known and universally respected " fine old English gentle- man" Paterfamilias, having lately, in the Wool- wich Academy aforesaid, been subjected to the penultimate of these four punishments, such a quantity of indignation letters — just as toadstools start up in a swamp — managed to appear in the broadsheets of our newspapers, that Grovernment, finding themselves not in a " muddle," but simply in a puddle, assailed by a tremendous storm, deemed it advisable to tranquillise both, by abolish- ing the sable punishment which Paterfamilias — majestically shaking his head — and his supporters, stamping their feet, had declared, and had there- fore, they conceived, proved, "gentlemen cadets were too old to undergo." Now, my own experience, my own reflection, I must say, have taught me that there is no punishment more harmless and more wholesome for a " gentleman cadet " than solitary confine- ment for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, on bread and water, in the "" black hole." It does not, as Paterfamilias and Co. may think, discolour the culprit's skin, nor raise on any., portion of it either short weals or little red Part I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 17 on on reel pimples. It does not cause a recumbent position to be uneasy, or make it at all uncomfortable to him to sit clown. It simply, without inflicting any bodily suffering, deprives him of sunshine, of "Ind and Coope's beer, brewed on purpose for him," of the cheery faces of his comrades, and, accordingly, left entirely to himself, with nothing in the whole world to do or look at, it forces him to think. And his reasoning faculties, strengthened by his mathematical studies, soon demonstrate, or, at all events, under the cold-water cure, have a fair opportunity of demonstrating to him, that he had acted insubordinately, — that his animal spirits had raised him in his own estimation a peg or so too high, — and thus he may, and I believe often does, gradually comprehend in darkness what he had failed to see in broad daylight, namely, the justice as well as the necessity of the long-established proclamation of his, as well as of everybody's, lieutenant-governor : — ■ "meum est corrigere nefas, et debellare superbos." In reply to the new theory which forbids a cadet to be deposited in solitary confinement, it may be asked upon what reasoning should he — wearing a bayonet, and being himself a delinquent — be pre- vented during his military education, paid for by the pubHc, from learning, and frjm practically feeling, one only of the list of soldier punishments I 18 THE llOYAL ENGINEEII. Paiit I. wliicli, wlien an officer, he will have power to inflict ? And again, if, within the precincts of our barrack squares, at the period in question, were occasionally to be heard the faint, almost suppressed moans of a veteran soldier, suffering, but manfully enduring, corporal punishment, — upon what prin- ciple of justice or common sense could a beardless youth of eighteen^ equally subject to military dis- cipline, be declared to be not, as many people would expect, too young, but too old (!) to be punished ? But the extraordinary fact is that the practical effect of the present alteration is, to increase in- stead of diminish the amount of the cadet's punish- ment, or, to use a commoner expression, to throw him "from the frying-pan into the fire." To shield him, while a lad, from an imaginary dis- grace, lasting only a few hours, and, after all, known only to his comrades, he is, by rustication., now branded with a public disgrace, which not only, for many months, maims and dislocates his education, but which, if he be sensitive, haunts him through life, and, whether he be sensitive or not, — by the actual loss of steps in a seniority corps caused by others having, during his rustication, risen over his head — lasts till his death. But it will appear from the following extract from the official pamphlet already quoted that the hohgohlin Paterfamilias has, moreover, inflicted a pecuniary fine upon the real Paterfamilias, — that is, the father of the rusticated youth. Part T. ENLTS'l'MENT AND EDUCATION. 19 Iii:ouLATiON VII. — If a Cadet bo absent a whole term in consequence of sickness or rustication, a payment of lOl. will bo required for the privilege of his name being kept on the rolls of the establishment, and for a vacancy being guaranteed at the commencement of the next term. If rusticated during a term, the daily pay will cease from the date on which the Cadet is sent away, and the contribu- tion made for the half-year * will be forfeited. The simple, obvious, and eifectual prescription for correcting the error that has inadvertently been committed, would be to include henceforward in the surgeon's preliminary examination of every candidate for admission into the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, what should be advertised in the official pamphlet of Regulations as ^Uhe Uack-hole test,'' for which the candidate, according to his success in undergoing it, should receive "marks" similar to those designating different proficiencies in mathematics, astronomy, &c. In which case, should the surgeon, on the other hand, report a candidate as " too delicate " to be black- holed, the defect, like imperfect limbs, feet, hearing, or eyesight, should cause him to be rejected, as inifit to be exposed in daylight and dai'kness to rain, wind, sleet, frost, and snow ; and as incapa.ble before the enemy, either in the field or in the trenches, to encounter cheerfully the blows, heavy * " The contribution '" is half-yearly from G2/. lOrf. to 10/.,' accord- ing to the regulated rates already detailed. c 2 20 THE EOYAL ENGIXEER. Part I. and light, inflicted upon the soldier by the rough, rude, hard hand of war. The course of studies which has been detailed is sedulously by tlie professors, and usually zealously })y the cadets, continued for the regulated period of two years and a half. Examinations. The final examination for commissions (as also for progressive advancement from one class to another), wdiicli takes place half-yearly (June and December), is exclusively under the Council of Military Education, of wdiich H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge is president. No member of the Royal Military Academy, from the Lieut. - Governor downwards, has the slightest control over it. Special examiners from our universities, as well as from the artillery and engineers, are appointed by the Council for every separate subject. The questions drawn up by them to be put before each cadet are previously submitted to the Council, who, on a]>proval, forward them to the authorities of the Royal Military Academy, con- fidentially , arranging, as an additional precaution, that they shall not reach them until the hour at which the examinations actually begin. The im- portant subjects of these examination papers for June last (now before me, and which form a printed octavo volume of 228 pages) will briefly be explained by its preliminary page of Part I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. CONTENTS. 21 Fifth Class.* Mathematics. Practical Gcometiy. French. Gennan. Hinclustani. Fourth Class. Mathematics. Fortification. Practical Geometry. French. German. Hindustani. Tjihuj Class. Mathematics. Fortification. Topographical Drawing. French. German. Hindustani. SixoNi) Clas,s. Fortification and Siege \\ orks. Artillery. Surveying. French. German. Hindustani. Mechanics. Natural Philosophy. Elementary Chemistry. First Class. Fortification and Field Works and Bridges. Artillery. Surveying. Mechanics. Natural Philosophy. Applied Chemistiy. Military History and Art of V^'ar. * r The lowest class. 22 THE ROYAT. ENGINEHIJ. Paut I. Before the examinations begin, the cadets in each hall are so placed tliat they cannot copy or receive any oral assistance from each other. As soon as each succeeds in digesting as many of tlie hard, tough questions in each jjaper as he can manage to swallow, he takes his written answers or solutions to the examiners of each subject, who, when all those distributed are col- lected, designate their absolute and comparative value, by attaching to each marks, or numbers, according to their merit. The whole of the papers thus " marked" are then submitted to the Council, who, by collating them, aie enabled to award to the owner of the highest immbcr of marks the highest place, and down- wards, in gradation, throughout the total number of cadets examined. This list, to which is appended the professor's reports of proficiency, conduct, &c., is prepared by the Council, and kej^t by its Yice- President in the strictest confidence, until what is called the '^Public Day," at which H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge has given notice that he will preside. At his appointed hour the whole of the cadets, under arms, on the parade in front of their barracks, and usually in the presence of many officers and visitors of distinction, receive His Royal Highness with a royal salute (at which ceremony I was lately permitted to be j)resent). After minutely inspecting them, the Commander- in-Chief himself selected and ordered one of the .any I Part 1. KNTJSTMENT AND EDUCATION. 28 " cadet-imder-officers " (one grade above that of "cadet-corporal") to drill the battalion in his presence, from manual and j^latoon to battalion evolutions. He then inspected them at gun and mortar drill — field and garrison, — after which they marched to their salle d\irines, where tlierc was sufficient s[)ace for them all to be formed. The Duke, having here taken his place on a '^a'is, in front of a table on which were laid out all the prizes, about twenty in number (the two of highest honour being a sword for general good conduct, and the Pollock gold medtd), the Tice- President of the Council, opening his Report, pro- ceeded to read it to the Duke, as also a list of the cadets, arranged in precedence, according to the number of " marks " which each, at his examina- tion, had attained. When this was concluded, the Lieut.-G overnor of the Academy, advancing for the purpose, read to the Duke his own Report of the conduct of all the cadets, of their progress in the several classes, and of the consequent award of the different prizes. On the first name of the recipients of these prizes being called out, a highly intelligent-looking jT-y cadet, step]:)ing to the front, halted before the • r^ Duke, who, after bestowing upon him a well- earned and well-expressed short compliment, pre- 1 sented him with the sword of honour, for which, n in return, the recipient — evidently, from the crown 'ii THE nOYAL KNOINEKI?. Taut I. of his head to the soles of his feet, one soHd him[) of happiness — gave to the Field-Marsluil a sahite, in strict, stift", military form. When all the prizes had hcen thus distributed, the Duke, lislng, addressed to the whole of the cadets assembled a short s])eech, or rather a pa- ternal admonition, in which — after with great dignity and facility having expressed to them his determination to enforce in the Koyal Mili- tary Academy, as the foundation of military edu- cation, strict discipline and obedience — he pointed out, especially to those who were about to attain commissions, the career which it was alike their duty and their interest to pursue. On the conclusion of this sensible address, which was listened to with great attention, he proceeded to inspect the dinners and kitchen establishments, and tasted,* or, at all events, apjieared to taste, the beer. In one of the halls of study, the drawings, surveys, and fortification plates by all the cadets, as well as the photograj)hs of those who had practised that art voluntarily, were — in a few instances minutely — inspected by the Duke. • * At a critical moment, wlion the " grande armee" of Napolonu I. were on half rations, with thin claret as sour as vinegar, a soldier, advancing from the front rank of the old " garde," with a mug contain- ing ahout half a pint of the luipopular mixture, asked him to " taste it!^ The Emjieror, as he sat on his horse, raised it to his lips — swigged it all off— and then, without the movement of a tell-tale muscle in his fcountenance, calmly said, as he hauded back the empty mug to the veteran, " Non, ce itest ^las hon" Part I. ENLISTMENT AND EDUCATION. 35 The most importnvt moment, however, of tlio ceremony of the day, especially to those interested iu it, was tlie announcement of the names of the cadets wlio, by dint of liard study, were to receive commissions, eitlier in the Artillery or Engineers. On this point it should be clearly explained and understood, that, during the course of the education of the cadets at the Royal Military Academy, not the slightest distinction, or differ- ence, is made between those who inay desire, eventually, to enter the one service, or the other. The election, or choice (for, as above stated, there is no selection), is left entirely to them- selves. But as those who, at the finnl examina- tion, find themselves at the top of the list, are entitled to the first choice, it, practically sjieaking, almost invariably happens, that tliey apply for, and therefore receive, the vacant commissions in the Engineers. The remainder pass into the Royal Regiment of British Artillery, whicli, by the science, appli- cation, zeal, abilities, and prowess of its officers, con- tinues to be admired, resj^ected, and in many in- stances copied, by its enemies as well as by its allies. As soon as the series of important ceremonies, or rather duties, above imperfectly described, were concluded, the Duke, receiving the bow, inclina- tion, or salute, as the case might be, of those who had attended him, entered his carriage, and at a rapid pace returned to London. THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part I. His departure, of course, produced .upon tLe whole of the cadets exactly the effect which, upon a regiment standing; motionless and quiet, under discipline, is prodaced by the simple word of command ^^ break off^'' to which, in the present instance, althougli uot expressed, was clearly enough understood, the additional words, ^^ and all he off to your homes' The dissolving views which instantaneously commenced were composed in unequal propor- tions, of cadets, portmanteaus, carpet bags, and hat-boxes, sometimes separately, and sometimes conjointly, hurrying about in all directions. How- ever, the fine, healthy brood of young birds were soon ready to depart, and accordingly, " With hearts beating light as the phiinage that grew On their merry-thought hosoms, away thoy all flew." Paut II. ROYAL ENGINEER ESTABLISHMENT. 27 PART 11. THE EOYAL ENGINEER ESTABLISHMENT. " The child whom many fathers share, lias seldom known a father's care." In all countries suffering under the despotic government of an individual, a large and efficient army is usually maintained. In the constitutional government of England, thriving under a sove- reign and two enlightened and well-educated houses of parliament — composed of 1122 memhers, each governed by a particular free will of his own — a small, costly, and mefficient army is always main- tained. For instance — "Kotlxing but abundance of money," wrote Sir John Moore, in his despatches to Lord Casiloreagh, dated Lisbon, 18th and 24th November, 1808, "will compensate for the want of experience and ability in our commissariat." And accordingly, on his retreat to Corunna, "abundance of money" was abandoned, and merely for want of shoes many cavalry horses were shot, many foot-sore soldiers left in the rear. Again, when the French army besieged Badajoz in 1811, although their despotic Emperor had liberally supplied it witli 100 miners, 483 sappers, and 60 artificers, all of whom acted as assist- ants, it required 41 days of open trenches to 28 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Taut II. take the place. Whereas, per contra, under the con- stitutional government of England, the rcicaptiire of Olivan^a in April, 1811 ; the attack of I'ort Chriy- toval in May, 1811 ; the siege of Badajoz in May and June, 1811 ; the siege of Ciudad Itodrigo in 1812; the siege of Badajoz in March and April, 1812; the escalade and capture of the French works at Ahnaraz in May, 1812 ; the reduction of the French posts at Salamanca in June, 1812; the capture of the Retiro at Madrid in August, and the siege of Burgos in September and October, 1812, were one and all undertaken and conducted by a British army unattended by a sirgle sapper or miner (at 01ivan9a there were pj.'csent two military artificers — one a carpenter, the other a mason) ; the inadequate number oi Engineer officers being supplied by infantry officers, who, in lieu of sappers and miners, selected from 100 to 200 private soldiers, wlio, although tliey literally had never seen a military gabion, fascine, sap, or mine, were collected to superintend, under jSre, by night as well as by day, in darkness and in all weathers, the formation of trenches, parapets, and batteries, constructed by working parties of their fellow-soldiers, amounting to from 1000 to 2000 men. •' We liave the greatest difficulty," wrota Colonel (now Field-Marslial) Burgoyno, the director of fi\'e of tlie sieges, ** in preventing the men of the line from buiying them- selves." Tart II. ROYAL ENGINEER ESTABLISHMENT. 29 In tlie year 1809 the Royal Engineer force in Portugal consisted of 10 officers and a detachment of 29 "Eoyal Military artificers," composed of 6 non-commissioned officers, 7 carpenters, 5 masons, 4 smiths, 1 wheelwright, 1 collar-maker, 4 miners, and 1 labourer, all alike innocent of any know- ledge of field duties, and without the reqi'isite tools and implements. To remedy this constitutional evil. Lord Wel- lington, with considerable difficulty, succeeded in obtaining a larger number of Engineer officers. Previous, however, to their arrival from England, he himself framed instructions for the creation of an equipment of entrenching tools, to be carried on 100 mules to accompany the army. He also established a siege park to contain the Engineer resources, tools, implements, &c., requisite for a siege. Yet with these inadequate means the loss of money and men at the sieges continuing to be enor- mous, on the nth February, 1812, he wrote to Lord Liverpool as follows : — " "While on the subject of the artillery I would beg to suggest to your Lordship the expediency of adding to the Engineer's establishment a corps of sappers and miners. It is inconceivable with what disadvantage we undertake anything like a siege for A\ant of assistance of that description. "There is no French corps d'armee which has not a battalion of sappers and a company of miners. But we lire obliged to depend for assistance of this description .".0 THE KOYAL ENGINEER. Part II. 1113011 the regiments of the line; and although the men are brave and willing, they want the knowledge and training which are necessary. Many casualties among them consequently occur, and much valuable time is lost at the most critical period of the siege." Two months afterwards, at the second siege of Badajoz, — Jiis irreparable loss from the inadequate means he had reported having amounted to 4822 officers and men killed or wounded), — The fire began to burn the stick, The stick began to beat the pig, and the constitutional government of Great Britain and Ireland, Gruernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, driven by the above letter, and by the ghastly list of killed and wounded which followed it, to jump at last over the stile, a royal warrant was issued, under date of the 23rd xipril, 1812, for the formation of " an establishment for instructing the corps of Royal Engineers in military field-worksT Lord Mulgrave, the Master-General of the Ord- nance, selected Chatham, with its adjoining dock- yard and fortifications, as the most suitable place for carrying into effect the above royal order, and, suiting his action to the word, he appointed as :he director of the establishment Major 0. W. Pasley, R.E. ; and on the 4th of the following August Lord Mulgrave further ordered "that upon the corps of ' military artificers' should be conferred the additional title of * Royal Sappers and Miners.' " * • 'History of tlie Eoyal Sappers and Miners,' vol. i. p. 189. * By T. W. J. Conoliy, Quartermaster of the Royal Engineers.' Paut II. KOYAL ENGINEER ESTi\ BLISHMENT. 31 But the reader may possibly interrupt ine by exclaiming, " Why, how many educations are you going to give to your ' Royal Engineer ' ? He has had tivo already." Now, to obtain for the reader, as accurately as possible, the information above desired, I ventured on the 22nd September last to address a circular to the head masters of all our public schools, as also to the Lieut." Governor of the Eoyal Military Academy at Woolwich, all of whom most obligingly ■►-eplied to the following Question : — " What is the average age of the twelve oldest boys at school ? " Their Answers, arranged alphabetically, were as follows : — Years. Months. Charterhouse 17 lOJ Eton 18 Harrow 18 6P^ Marlborough 18 3 Rugby 18 6 Westminster 17 n Winchester 17 6 Total .. .. 12G 71 Average ..18 1 Royal Military Academy at) Woolwich, — average age j ^^ ^ Now, considering that under the latter military system, education is compulsory, while partly at our public schools, and almost wholly at our universi- ties, it is voluntary, may it not truly be said that, 32 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Tart IT. when a young man 20| years of age leaves the Royal Military Academy, he has practically re- ceived quite as many days' instruction as on an average have been received by young men on leaving their schools and universities ? And, if so, is not the education which a young officer of Engineers commences at Brompton Barracks, bona fide, a third one in addition to those which end the education of our upper classes at our universities ? Having endeavoured to explain the parentage and birth of the Royal Engineer establishment at Chatham, — which, be it always proclaimed and remembered, owes its present character to the abilities and untiring energy of the late General Sir Charles Pasley, — I must now proceed to the heavy task of attempting to describe its education, or rather the education which it has imparted, and, for the general use of the army, is now im- parting, to the corps of Royal Engineers, which, as by law established, for the present Hnancial year, is composed of — Officers. For Imperial services 384 For Indian services 336 Total .. .. 720 Sappers. Non-commissioned officers and men (in 40 companies) 3838 A and B mounted troops ., 474 Totfil „ ., 4312 Tart II. rONTOON TIIOOP A. 33 ROYAL ENGINEER TRAIN. (Pontoon Troop A.) Captain Micklem, R.E. On the morning after my arrival at Chatham, immediately after breakfast, seated alongside of General Simmons on the box of his waggonette, we passed rapidly across the barrack-parade, over a drawbridge, on either side of which it appeared to me that we were separated from sudden death and destruction only by a chain. However, as one eye of our fiery high-stepping steed had reason to be exactly as much terrified at the chasm on its right, as the other eye by precisely the same chasm or ditch on its left, having no more disposi- tion to turn to the one side than to the other, he philosophically, like a certain animal between two bundles of hay, proceeded as straightly and as cheerily as if there had been no chasm at all. Descending the precipitous hill into Chatham, we glided through its tortuous narrow street, until, on beginning to ascend that of St. Margaret's, I caught a glimpse of Rochester Castle, and its Cathedral, in the vicinity of which I had passed my boyhood. The old venerable square castle, guarded by a sentinel-tower at each angle, looked not a day older than it did sixty years ago. In fact, the holes in its imperishable mass of solid masonry, 84 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part II. ,^; h; ■i I 5 r' • :t\ originally made for tlic admission of a very small allowance of light, and for the transmission from I %ows of tiny arrows, now appear as if they had ^,T3een lately ^)ierccd by half-a-dozen of the 300- pounders and smaller artillery of tlic present day. :' ; TliQ bells of the ancient cathedral, which have outlived the melodious voices of the most celebrated singers, male and female, of many generations, were chiming exactly as clearly as when we were yoiuiger ; and either perched on the weather-cock, hovering above it, or popping in and out of anti- quated holes in the belfry, I saw those very same jack-daws, whicli some one who believed in the doctrine of transmigration long ago endeavoured to demonstrate must be the souls of departed prebends, whose low old-fashioned domiciles, called " Minor Canon Row," are immediately beneath. On reaching St. Margaret's church, which stands, just as it has always stood, on the summit of the hill, we saw flowing beneath us the dull dirty water of the Mcdway, which, however, glittering ^' in the sunshine, like the unwashed face of an ■' innocent child, looked quite as cheerful as if it had been clean . '^^^: ^>;V'}vn.: ^ a^ ;■>.>. : For about three miles we proceeded, almost without passing a house, along the Aylesford road, and were what is called " completely in the country," and, as the following day was to be the 1st of September, I was naturally thinking of partridges, when, > v ^ v :r A :^fe ¥^^:^' r '^ -. .' " Arma vimmque caiio ! ^(? ; •V!j,-^'^>^ ': 'A 'sih' nr J' lost Ford Ithc be mg m. S hi' I ' Part 1 1. PONTOON TKOOP A. all of a sudden I saw immediately on om* riglit, in a green meadow wliicli sloped downwards to the river, the white tents of a military encamj)- ment, in front of which there appeared drawn up, and drawn out, a heterogeneous line of scarlet Sappers under arms, horses under men, and wag- gons under a blue strange-looking load, forming altogether " The Koyal Engineer Pontoon Train," in front of which, seated on his horse, with drawn sword, and in full uniform, sat, as upright and motionless as his men, its commander. Captain Micklem, R.E. ; and in this position I must beg his permission to leave him for a very few moments, very briefly to observe that a pontoon train, which by all military authorities has been considered to be a necessary accompaniment of every manoeu- vring army in the field, for its passage, without delay, -ver rivers, canals, or other inland waters, where there are no standing bridges available, is usually either distributed among its divisions, or kept in advance, or in rear, or in reserve, or otherwise, according to the anticipated require- ments for it. A pontoon equipment should combine in the greatest possible degree — 1. Thorough efficiency as a floating power when used either in parts, or put together. 2. To be light and compact on its carriages for transport, and to be easily and rapidly put together or dismantled. D 2 tV 3G THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part II. 3. Simplicity in construction, so that any part that may be defective or deficient can be readily replaced. 4. Diu'ability and strength to bear rough hard usage. Several different systems for a pontoon equip- ment have been adopted in different countries ; and it is therefore still a matter for military study as to which of them is best in whole, or in part, or what improvements or substitutes can bo suggested for all. Pontoons, of ordinary shape, are not exclusively applicable for forming a bridge ; when insufficient for that object, they may be used as boats or in rafts to convey bodies of troops across a river ; the horses being made to swim with their heads held up by their bridles at the sides of each pontoon — the artillery in such cases being carried over on rafts; — indeed, it was in this way that, in 1814, a preliminary footing was rapidly established on the right bank of the Adour, about three miles below Bayonne, capable of resisting the strong sortie sent out from tliat garrison to oppose it. Of numerous similar instances of the service which even an extemporised pontoon-train has ren- dered to an army, I will select only the following one, recorded by Captain Conolly in his * History of the Royal Sappers and Miners,' vol. i. p. 254 : — ^ "A reinforcement of tliiity men, under Lieutenant Rutherford, R.E., arrived at tl.e Ca^ c of Good Hope on »*;*■ Paut ir. PONTOON TROOP A. 37 the 24tli July, 1810. In conscquonce of hostilities with tho JuiflirM, tho detachnicut niaivhcd 700 miles to tho south- cjistcrn frontier. It trtiversed u wild and thiekly-wooded country, where there were neither bi-idgcs nor roads ; and in tho absence of soldiers of tho (inartermaster-Generars Department, facilitated by their exertions the progress of the troops. In places where civil artificers could not bo procured at any rato of wages, tliey executed various services and works of defence for the security and tran- quillity of tho settlement. On one occasion they con- structed a temporary bridge, of chance materials, to span one of tho principal rivers of tho country, which was swollen by floods, and rendered deep, rapid, and danger- ous. Tho bridge was thrown in six hours, and the whole of tlie force, about 2000 horse and foot, a demi-battery of guns with ammunition-waggons, about 100 baggage- waggons with commissariat supplies, camp equipage, &c., crossed in perfect safety in three hours." Until the year 18G2 the Royal Engineers' pon- tooning ground for the corps had been close and convenient to their barraclcs ; but on the absorp- tion of this ground for the purpoi^e of extending the Dockyard at Chatham, it became necessary to remove it elsewhere, and, accordingly, the present locality was selected, for the double object — Lst. Of securing a position in wliicli all Engineer officers and sappers could be instructed by practice in throwing pontoon bridges from bank to bank ; and — 2ndly, During this course of instruction, by en- camping officers and men, and by picketing their horses, to educate and habituate all, in some degree. d8 THE ROYAL ENGINKEll. Part II. to camp life ; so that, when suddenly called into active service, they might not find it strange to them. By such means the soldier, in peace, is hest prepared for his duties in war; and, as it takes fourteen months' instruction in the Royal Engineer establishment to convert a recruit into a sapper, a change from barracks and a barrack square to canvas, turf, pure fresh air, and muddy water con- stitutes a recreation as wholesome for his body as for his mind. For the above reasons it has been wisely resolved not to erect any permanent build- ings for either men, waggons, &c., during the iustruction of the former, but to send all the re- quisite materials from Chatham at the commence- ment of each season, parking them during the summer. The practising ground lately purchased by Go- vernment for this object contains about 20 acres of meadow for encamj)iiig, witli about 7 acres on tlie opposite side of the river, so that eventually, as the roads leading to botli are improved, bridges may be thrown across from bank to bank, to be practically tested by troops and guns passing over them. The soft banks on both sides of the Medway between high and low water marks have been covered by the sappers with two rows of fascines, upon which they deposited a thin stratum of chalk, with a coat of gravel on the top, to enable them to work at all times of tlie tide without sinking above M Tabt II. PONTOON TIIOOP A. 39 their knees into soft mud. Medwfiy miid, how- ever, hke Napoleon's " clouds of Cossacks," is a troublesome enemy to subdue, for such quantities of it — stolen by the rain from the estates, not only of neighbouring, but of far-distant landed pro- prietors — are carried oft' in suspension in the water, tliat it speedily settles, or, as emigrants term it, "locates,'' forming a slimy covering to whatever it rests on. This inconvenience, especially during the pre- valence of certain winds, mftst always be experi- enced at the point selected ; however, the Engineers neither made the river nor stole the mud, which, after fill, is not a bad instructor to those young officers and sappers who have to learn pontooning for actual service. The Royal Engineer Pontoon Train, in peace, consists of one troop of the following strength : — 1 caiitaiu i _, , „ . 122 N. 0. 0. and sttppcrs ; 140 horses ; 95 drivers ;* — and drawn up in the form above described for General Simmons's inspection, it certainly formed a picture of discipline and organisation which I did not expect to witness. Tlie whole detachment, composed of drivers and * Wiicnever necessary, the sappers uHsist the drivers in cleaning liotli their horses and their harness. 4o THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part If. sappers, were, as regarded their iipriglit, military, and physical appearance, their uniforms, their ac- coutrements, their horses, and the state of their harness, in as high order as those respectively of a regiment of the line, cavolry, or artillery, while encamped ; and as the drivers, during the time General Simmons was minutely inspecting !he whole train, sat motionless on their horses, each with an extended wdn'p in his right hand, the lash resting on the shoulder of the off horse, the waggons guarded hy 65 non-commissioned officers and sappers armed with Sneider artillery carbine rifles, I could not help contrasting the whole wn'th my recollection of the pontoon train attached to tlie Duke of Wellington's allied army in France in 1815. The troop, composed of 12 waggons, weigh- ing 40 cwt. 20 lbs. (each carrying two blue pon- toons, with all necessary superstructure, and drawn by six horses), is divided for discipline, and if necessary for detachment, into three sections, each under an officer of Engineers. I'lie whole can form 100 yards of bridging fit for infantry, marching at open order, four in front, or for cavalry or horse artillery. If required for field-guns, in order to strengthen the bridge the 100 yards must be con- tracted to 80. Every driver, as well as every non-commissioned officer of sappers and drivers, has fbr his saddle, instead of hempen girths, a South- American raw- Paut II. PONTOON TROOP A. 41 hide surcingle, to which he is drilled to attach a lasso, to be used by him whenever required. Each driver's oft' horse carries his kit, packed in a valise covered with black sheepskin, a tin can- teen for cooking or carrying food, a wooden water- bottle, nose-bag, forage-rope, and cleaning imple- ments. The traces of the leading horses, I observed, are cleverly divided into two lengths, connected by hooks, which, on being uncoupled, enable these leaders at once to act as wheelers; and, as all the horses' eyes are emancipated from " blinkers," they see and understand as well as the drivers the nature of the work their country requires them to perform. To each section is attached — One general-service covered waggon, weighing 2G|cwt., drawn by four horses, carrying two spare drivers, and containing Ctimp equipage, i.e. tents, blankets, and water-proof sheets Ibr the men, horse- clothing, intrenching tools, axes, bill-hooks, &c. The whole train is also accompanied by a similar covered waggon, laden with tools for carpenters, wheelwrights, tin-smiths, painters, collar-makers, and blacksmiths. One forge waggon complete (4 horses), weight 36jcwt. One waggon (6 horses), carrying an iron boat, 21 feet long, ^ of an inch thick, for casting anchors and laying out moorings: weight 33| cwt., and capable of holding ten men. , . 42 THE IIOYAL ENGINEEE. Tabt II. One spare waggon (4 liorses), containing a landing-bay, spare wheels, cables, oars, and axles : weight 46 cwt. One cart (2 horses), fitted np as a travelling office, containing the books and papers of the troop, a complete case of surveying as well as of drawing instruments of different descriptions, &c. : total weight 13 cwt. To each pontoon-waggon is attached as its guard, and to assist in forming the bridge when- ever required, one non-commissioned officer and six sappers, each armed with the short " artillery carbine" breech-loading rifle. The weight of each pontoon- waggon, loaded for the march, is 4G cwt. 20 lbs. To the whole troop are attached only four spare horses — a meagre allowance — which, on actual ser- vice, would of course be insufficient. I was greatly pleased with the shape, make, style, and breeding of the horses attached to the train. Stout, short-legged, short-backed, punchy, and yet very active, they appeared admirably adapted to the varied work they have to perform. The credit, however, of their selection belongs, not to the Engineers, but entirely to the officer of artillery, whose duty it is to supply the troop with horses similar to those which have always dis- tinguished his own service, which appears to be gifted with an hereditary talent for obtaining active valuable draft horses of unusual description. Part II. PONTOON TROOP A. 43 of In addition to tlie waggons, liorses, and men above described, there were attached to the encamp- ment — solely for instruction in pontoon exercise — 8 young engineer officers and 84 sappe rs, all ol whom I observed hard at work learning to throw across the river beneath us, 160 yards broad, a pontoon bridge, on which some were standing, and many kneeling. As soon as the Pontoon Train, with its covered waggons of supplies, &:c., guarded by its band of armed sappers, had, after a minute inspection, what is technically called marched past, in stiff military ordei', the six horses of one of the car- riages carrying two pontoons were, in compliance with my request, detached from it, and in their stead six non-commissioned officers in full uniform, with their swords in steel scabbards dangling at their horses' sides, were ordeied, with lassos* un- hooked from their own saddles, to replace them. The mandate was promptly obeyed, and the waggon to bedrawn by six non-commissioned officers' horses in front, and with two with lassos attached to it be- hind, for the purpose of holding it in going down hill, was on the point of advancing, when, observ- ing that the youngest trumpeter of the train was the only remaining useless horseman, I said to Greneral Simmons, '' Can't he help too ? " Without answering me, he at once gave my sug- ■ * These " lassos " are simply strong 1 J-incli ropes of different lengths, fitted at one end with a tug- hook, and at the other with clip-hooks. 44 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Paut it. gested order to the lad, whose saddle, like those of the non-commissioned officers, having been equipped with the South American raw-hide sur- cingle and lasso, and he having also like them been taught the application of the latter, he at once hooked on to the waggon, and, at the word of com- mand, the six non-commissioned officers and their trumpeter walked away over turf (a much heavier draft than a hard road) with 4G cwt., leaving behind them a moral for the consideration of cavalry of infinitely greater weiglit and value. As soon as this experiment was concluded, and the drivers had reattached themselves to their waggon, the whole train was ordered to advance in file — that is, one pontoon carriage, &c., guarded by its sappers, following another. After they had proceeded in this shape for a short distance. Captain Micklem very sharply uttered the word of command — ^'- Form, for defence against cavalry V and in less than two minutes, by a movement exactly the re- verse of that described by the lines, — " These are Clan- Alpine's warriors true ; And, Saxon, — I am Roderick Dhu !" — he, his horses, his drivers, and his sappers, became the invisible garrison of a fort or polygon of twenty sides, formed by his pontoon and covered waggons drawn up so close to each other that in several instances they almost touched, and in others left an interstice or embrazure of about a foot or 18 inches on the outside. •<■- Pabt II. PONTOON TROOP A. 45 As I rode round and close to this rapidly con- structed fort, whenever I came to an interstice, a sapper on one knee, with his sword in bayonet- form attached to his firearm, with two others standing one behind the other above him, each and all looking direct at me, nearly together snapped their Sneiders in my face. Others beneath the waggons shot at me from between the wheels ; and I have no hesitation in saying that the officer's word of command was so completely carried into practical effect that the rampart formed by his waggons was totally impenetrable, not only to cavalry using swords, but to lancers. Now, without intruding upon the reader any valueless opinion of my own on the importance of the above Engineer's manoeuvre, I will simply contrast it with the following extract from Captain Conolly's ' History,' describing the Pontoon Train under the Duke of Wellington in 1815 (a portion of which, on its march to Paris, as already alluded to, I had what is commonly called " the honour to command" : — " On one occasion, near St. Denis, all the sappers of the army, nearly 1000 strong, were assembled to witness an execution, and, strange to add, in that imposing force there was not a single fire-arm ! " At anotlier time there was an inspection of the Pon- toon Train of eighty pontoons and other carriages, with horses, drivers, and pontooners, occupying a line of road nearly two miles in length. The sappers were present in their whole strength, but without a musket in their 46 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part II. ranks to show the quality of protection tliey could afford to the immense cliarge intrusted to them. Fifty men with fire-arms could easily have destroyed the whole force in ten minutes." This striking contrast will, I hnml)ly hope, help to demonstrate to the public the miserable results of the English firmly-established system (Portugal, Spain, Belgium, France, and the Crimea to wit) of maintaining at enormous cost an army of brave men, who, from parsimony and mistaken economy, are hurriedly despatched to a battle-field, destitute as beggars of the ordinary requirements of war. As the chief danger which the baggage train of an army has to apprehend is the dash of a bold and enterprising cavalry, I submit that the prin- ciple of self-fortification, as above developed, should not, as it hitherto has been, be allowed to remain perfectly disregarded by our army authorities. But to return from this discussion to the men and horses which it left enclosed by 20 waggons, within a circle not exceeding GO yards in diameter. The mode in which the officer's word of com- mand, "Form for defence against cavalry" (which the sappers and drivers among themselves, from its circular shape, and from the Sneider sparks that centrifugally fly from it, travestie into ^'' Form Catherine Wheel!"), is in detail eftected as follows : — At the word of command, already quoted, the leading waggon,, after curving, at first slightly and Tart H. PONTOON TROOr A. 47 then strongly to . the left, halts ; the succeeding waggon, curving in like manner to the left, is made to halt so that its side may touch or nearly touch that of waggon No. 1 ; and exactly the same curved operation is performed by the remain- ing waggons, until, by the right side of waggon No. 20 being made to touch or nearly to touch the left side of waggon No. 1, the whole of which with tired horses, I was informed, can be done at a trot, the magic circle of defence is completed. The state of the garrison, however, is extra- ordinary, and at first sight appears very alarming, for, excepting a very small clear space in the centre, the horses are jammed together so closely that most people would expect that, in this state, there would break out among them a civil war as fearful as the attack, real or imaginary, they were formed to resist. However, this is not the case. In hunting in Leicestershire it is a daily and occasionally almost an hourly occurrence, that, say 150 scarlet-coated men on horses of high breeding, in order to avoid an impracticable fence, converge at a gallop upon a gatev/ay, in the approach to which for several minutes they are jammed together so tightly that occasionally the mass cannot advance an inch ; and although, during this time, and subjected to this squeezing, there are among it many well-known and well-avoided ''kicJcers;' yet the bodies, and ])ones, and legs of the animals during the. opera- ^m y^^^ 48 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Tart IT. tion are so liiistled, that the vicious for the mo- ment only — greatly against their wills — become virtuous. As I sat on my horse outside the fort, peeping through its waggon-embrazures at its garrison of compressed centaurs, I certainly felt that I should prefer trying "to get 20,000 men out of Hyde Park," to attempting to undo the engineering puzzle before me. However, impracticable as it appeared to me, I saw it very easily effected by the simple word of command — " Disemjage ! " On which the drivers of pontoon No. 20, advancing with their six horses, not out of the fort, but into the small vacant space in its centre, simply halted ; and a gap having thus been made, pontoon No. 1, wheeling its six horses to the " right about," moved through it straight away from the circle, followed in like manner by the rest of the troop, " in columns of subdivisions," or, as Messrs. Pickford and Co. would more mildly term it, " single waggons," ready for any formation they might be required to make. In getting in and out of this Catherine wheel, I observed such horsemanship on the part of the drivers, that I own I was unable to understand how in mere pontoon-train service it could pos- sibly have been acquired. On inquiry, however, the mystery was clearly enough explained to me. It appears that, when the services of the men F Part II. PONTOON TROOP A. 49 and horses of the Royal Engineer Train are not require.I for pontooning, tliey are utilized by tlieir officers in drawing stores, &c., for engineering purposes. For instance, at Cliatham their "Mgue-duty" has been to transport materials for field-work ex- periments', &c. At Aldershot two-thirds of the Pontoon Train horses have turned out every day to cart materials for the public works which Engineer officers are executing there, such as building barracks, &c. Under Colonel Simmons, R.E., they assisted not only to make the dam of the principal reservoir that supplies the camp and barracks with water, but they hauled away, across rough and occasionally miry roads, a very large portion of Hungry Hill (many thousand loads of gravel), to make the parades and roads about the camp. At this labour the Royal Engineer Train, I was informed, has under its own officers, worked for six or seven years (some of them are at it now), not only creating thereby skilful drivers and service- & ne manageable horses, but effecting a large saving to the public. In fact, I believe it may truly be said, that every pair of Royal Engineer horses at the above work have paid, and are paying, for their own keep, and for their drivers' daily pay, which averages (there are different rates) 1.9. 7c?. Now, instead, I will not say of applauding, but E • 50 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part IT. simply of encouraging the Royal Engineer Pon- toon Train in the zealous performance of the heavy work above detailed, the very same fatal principle of parsimony and false economy which has neg- lected to prepare for the army wliat it wanted, has been deliberating, and by many advocates is still advised, in time of peace, to destroy an im- portant portion of what it has got, by transferring the drivers and horses of the Royal Engineer Pon- toon Train A with those of its mounted Train B (whose duty, as will hereafter be described, is to carry entrenching tools, &c., for the defence of the army), to " a General Service Train," which it is theoretically stated should^ but which in practice never would, provide for such periods as may be required experienced draught horses /or all services of the army, except the Artillery. The project of converting these two effi'^ient trains into what is mildly termed "a General Service Train," rests on the argument that draught horses and drivers are, and therefore ought to be, equally efficient for any description of work. The argument equally applies to the soldiers of the Guards or line, who, because they proved their courage, strength, and endurance at Alma and In- kerman, might therefore be economically set to work in time of peace as "general service labourers" on any and every description of public work. For bringing up siege trains, or great pontoon equipments held in reserve for very occasional Taut II. PONTOON TllOOr A. 61 im- >> operation B, the Royal Engineer Troops A and B might reasonal)ly be required to, and no doubt would, for a short period, zealoimly assist ; but the economical project under consideration, of breaking up both if deliberately cstablislied, would, I firmly believe, fail in profit, and end in ignominious loss. In forming a pontoon bridge 60 sappers are em- ployed, with which number the unpacking of the waggons, the descent of the pontoons, and the formation of the bridge (every act of which, as well as every subsequent movement in breaking it up, is given by word of command), can be carried on simultaneously. The bridge, when constructed, is about 10 feet wide, and, when intended for horse artillery, is formed with the pontoons moored at intervals of 12 ft. 6 in. When heavier loads are required to be passed over it, these intervals are contracted to 10 or 8 feet, but, excepting on a raft consisting of three pontoons, no heavier gun than a 20-pounder should be taken across the present construction of pontoon. Sixty sappers can form 100 yards of this bridge (at full intervals of 12 ft. 6 in.) in about 40 minutes, including unpacking the waggons. In 1815 the Pontoon attached to the British army was a long, narrow, flat-bottomed, iron, open boat with hollow sides. In the year 1825, after a trial at Chatham on the 26th of September, in presence of the Duke of Wellington, of the capa- bilities of several descriptions of pontoons, this E 2 52 THE llOYAL ENGINEER. Paiit II. unwieldy boat (which, in spite of its defects, had in July 1815 formed a bridge across the Seine, over which first passed the Duke of Wellington, and then the whole army, with its artillery and bag- gage) was superseded by one invented by the late Major Blanchard, R.E., which in shape is simply a hollow tube of tin, 22 ft. 3 in. long, with hemi- spherical ends, which enables it, when moored in a tidal river, to present to both ebb and flow a sliarp-pointed prow. The interior of this pontoon (2 ft. 8 in. diameter) is divided into nine water-tight compartments, each separated by a wheel with spokes, which, being backed with tin, thus making each compart- ment water-tight, enables it to be easily pumped dry in case of leakage. Its advantages have been, and are, that, being tubular, like a corked empty glass bottle thrown into the Atlantic, it cannot possibly be swamped. The defects, however, of this long-tried faithful servant are now declared to be — 1st. That it is weak in its back, i. e., it has not floatation to carry a heavier gun than a 20-pounder ; and being moreover liable to be submerged by a moderate crowd of men, it is no longer able to bear those heavy burdens wliich modern war now unmercifully imposes upon a pontoon. 2nd. Its waggons, when loaded, are too heavy. A waggon laden with two, being equal in weight (46 cwt.) to a 20-pounder gun, in crossing u diffi- Part II. PONTOON TROOP A. 68 cult country could not be made to keep up with the lighter horse or field artillery, for the passage of which over a river they were required. 3rd. On a march its weight precludes the sap- pers from being carried on its waggon. Its tubular form prevents it from being used as a boat. General Simmons therefore for a considerable time has been making a series of experiments with a new pontoon, which he calculates will possess the following advantages : — 1st. Its greater buoyancy will enable the new bridge to carry a 40-pounder gun of position, and by very slightly strengthening the roadway, a 64-pound tr can be taken across it. In this new equipment, each waggon laden with one bay or 15 ft. of bridge, will weigh from 35 to 36 cwt., which, being about the same as that of a 9-pounder Royal Horse Artillery gun, the Pontoon Train, thanks to the Artillery, gifted with equally good horses, will, on emergen- cies, be able to keep paco on the line of march with the noble weapon it is intended to convey across water. As the proposed improvement is one of great military importance, I was glad to be able minutely to inspect it. This new pontoon, which I found lying near the river, was constructed (from a design prepared by a Committee of Engineers, and approved of by General Simmons) by Mr. Clarkson, of 54 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Pabt II. his valuable material, consisting of a casing five- eighths oi: an inch thick, composed two-thirds of a layer of cork, and one -third of pine -wood, connected together by thin canvas, saturated with his water-proof composition ; a thick coating of a different composition protecting also the out- side. The sides of this new pontoon, including its decked e^nds, have a double casing, with an inter- vening air-space, which gives buoyancy, and which, from being divided into separate compartments, cannot by a shot or other accident be sunk. To my surprise, its bottom is perforated by a hole about 1 J inch in diameter, which allows a pipe to pass from the upper flooring through the air-tight chamber to the water below. And, as the pon- toon when laden with the whole of its own super- structure, and a light moving load, equal, say, to a horse cr eight or ten men, does not draw sufficient water to immerse it to the depth of this upper floor, not only will no water rise into the pontoon, but any water that has got into the pontoon will flow out. Not satisfied with the result of a series of ex- periments which demonstrated that a pontoon of Clarkson's material, of the dimensions given to it, possessed the necessary amount of floatation, it was resolv(^d to subject the interior as well as exterior of this valuable public servant to the amenities of martial law, truly designated by the Duke of Wei- Part II. PONTOON TROOP A. 55 lington as " no law at all." By the sentence there- fore of a sort of drum-head court-martial, of which General Simmons was president, it was subjected to almost every description of mal-treatment. First it was shot at ; then holes were knocked, or rather attempted to be knocked, into its sides with sledge-hammers ; then its unoffending bottom was dragged over rough, uneven, stony ground. In its wounded state it was heavily laden, and in that condition men in unbroken step were marched over it, and yet in frame and spirits it continued adequately buoyant. The efficiency of Clarkson's material having been thus proved, — " So they loil'd Bill Jones in the negro pot, To see what fat he had got," — the sappers and artificers of the pontoon train, under the direction of one of their own officers, are now employed in making with it a complete equip- ment to suit the full requirements of modern war. Three pontoons on the same principle, and of the same material, but all three differing from each other in various details, have been experimentally made under Greneral Simmons's supervision, in order to ascertain the best details to be finally adopted. For this object a new description of baulks, net requiring to be pinned in, experimentally con- structed of American elm, of Kaurie pine, and of Honduras mahogany, have, on a single section of roadway, been subjected to rude and severe trials. 56 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part II. Sappers packed upon them in fours, as close as they could stand, were made to mark time (the severest practical test that can be applied). The result showed that the elm baulks stood the best. Under a similar severe test, one of two boats, ex- pressly made as light as possible for facility of trans- port, showed that it required a little strengthening in its floor. The other proved to be efficient. Subsequently I witnessed in the barrack-square at Brompton still severer tests, which will be de- scribed. The result of all is that the sapper- artificers of the pontoon train under Engineer officers are now themselves constructing of Clark- son's material, and fitting up, an experimental pontoon train of 100 yards in length, with a view to its general adoption in the service. Bach of these new pontoons (of Clarkson's mate- rial), with five yards of superstructure, including ropes, anchors, oars, &c., carried complete on one waggon, will weigh only from 35 to 36 cwt. It will therefore, when drawn by six horses, be capa- ble of being used with speed, to accompany, on a march, cavalry, or a 9 -pounder Royal Horse- artillery gun, — -or with four horses, infantry. BARREL PIER BRIDGES. i! (All officers, non-commissioned offi.cers, and sappers of the whole corps are practised at this.) A certain Part II. PONTOON TROOP A. 57 number of barrels, usually tbe ordinary ones used by the navy or commissariat for provisions and rum, according to their size and power of floata- tion, are firmly lashed together side by side, and in this form take the place of the piers of an ordi- nary permanent bridge, or of the pontoons of a floating bridge. The seventy barrels I witnessed would enable an army without pontoons, with its cavalry, field- artillery, and infantry four deep, to cross a river fifty yards broad. The wooden cases lined with metal, used for carrying on board ship ammunition for the new heavy guns, can be adapted by the pontoon train for this purpose. Since the moment of my arrival in the camp, and during the whole time I was witnessing the series of experiments I have endeavoured to describe, the eight young Engineer officers and eighty-four sappers under tuition were busily occupied in throwing a portion of a bridge across the Medway, and accordingly, diijmounting from my horse to pass over the stratum of fascines, &c., lying on mud, through which the animal would have sunk, we walked down to witness the operation, every detail of which was directed by the word of command, through a speaking-trumpet, of an old veteran moored in a small boat, who — although he rather closely lesembled Virgil's description of the head of Neptune rising out of troubled water — was in reality 68 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part II. Serjeant-Major Knight, Field-work Instructor, formerly a serjeant in the trenches before Sebas- topol. As fast as two of the blue pontoons were with considerable ingenuity removed from their waggon, and across a very slimy, slippery, dirty roadway, were launched into the water, they were secured in tlieir position, both stem and stern, by anchors* dropped in their proper localities from a boat ; and were fixed at the ordinary prescribed interval between them of 12 ft. 6 in. The f)rocess of connecting them together was, in plain words, that which forms the flooring of a house, in which on sleepers rest joists, and on joists floor-boards. In technical pontoon language, the sleeper or " saddle " is fixed longitudinally along the upper circumference of the cylindrical pontoon. The joists or "baulks'* resting on the saddles, and "pinned" to it, connect together the two pontoons. The floor-boards or "chesses," 2 ft. li in. broad, are then laid transversely, one after another, on the baulks, and finally, for the purpose of forming a guard-rail to prevent wheels from going off the bridge, baulks, oars, and boat-hooks, laid longitu- dinally above the extremities of the chesses, are secured in their position by rack-lashings, which, • The nuralier of anchors required by a pontoon of course dejxjnds on the force of the stream or tide, and the nature of the bottom as a holding-ground. Part II. PONTOON TROOP A. 59 passing round the chesses (planks), and the outside baulks (joists) below them, are tightened by a rack- stick, which finally fixes them steady as a vice. At this interesting drill, all were, under instruc- tion, by word of command, performing their various duties with zeal and intelligence ; and utterly regardless of slime, mud, slush, or water, they were to be seen in various attitudes, and especially on their hands and knees, racking the rail-guard, which requires practised manipulation. In the ordinary daily drill which I thus wit- nessed, the young Engineer officers, with a view to increase their practical knowledge, were, I observed, required to perform non-commissioned officers' duty in charge of rafts. H.R.H. Prince Arthur (at present the junior lieutenant in the corps of Royal Engineers) be- longed to the first party encamped for pontoon instruction, in which he took such zealous interest that on one occasion he was seen swimming, with his clothes on, in water the mud of which was very little calculated to improve them. But he is re- ported to have said on joining the Royal Engineer Establishment, " / am not come here to shirk work^" nor did he. On the side of the Medway, nearly opposite to the encampment, I observed a large deep chalk-pit. Some years ago its proprietor asked the Royal Engineer establishme.it at Brompton to assist him in working it, on the readily accepted conditions that he was to find powder — they men. 60 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Pabt II. i In this labour of love the Engineers, officers and men, earning* experience in mining and in manipulating large charges of powder, empjloyed themselves nearly six weeks, sinking shafts about sixty feet, driving galleries fifteen or twenty feet, and eventually effecting the object of the proprietor by explosions, in which the charges all fired simul- taneously by electricity amounted to 50 barrels, each containing 100 pounds of gunpowder. Ac- tuated by the same " esprit de corps " as volunteers, they afterwards effectually demolished and removed the ancient bridge of Eochester, a labour which required nearly 1000 men. All the sappers of the whole corps of Engineers are taught to row, and as a necessary precaution to swim. As a proof of their proficiency in the former useful art, I was told that two days ago a ten-oar cutter race took place between the men of the Royal Marines and those of the Engineers, both parties having practised for two or three hours per night, for about a mile and a half up and down the Medway, the tide thus being alternately for and against them. The Engineers accidentally broke an oar at starting, but, in spite of that, beat the Marines, on their own element, by thirty seconds, — at least so their antagonists say. I write cautiously, recollecting a Scotchman's shrewd observation to a similar assertion, ^''Yasl hut tJie deevil is — ye canna believe 'em." On leaving the pontoon bridge we ascended Tart II. PONTOON TROOP A. Gl across the grass to the camp, which, as already stated, forms a hollow picturesque square, hounded or guarded in front by its line of blue pontoons on their carriages, the other three sides being hedged in by white tents pitched 25 feet from centre to centre. Parallel to the tents the horses I had seen at work stood picketed, thus leaving a vacant space in the centre. The sappers' tents — 15 feet in diameter — which on service would shelter 15 or 18 men (in Abyssinia they lodged 12 officers or 20 men) — here contained about 12. They were luxuriously boarded by a circular floor of wood, composed of four segments of the whole circle. In rear of the horses were other white tents for officers and stores, with cooking-sheds covered with black canvas. During their intervals of work the pontoon-men retire to their canvas homes, to enjoy Saucho Panza's " blessing," i. e. sleep. The camp, which on its formation had no water, save the saline, muddy, griping mixture of the Medway, is now abundantly supplied by two tiny American wells, composed of a slight iron tube_, driven into the ground by the combined forces of two men and a monkey, and whose iron handles are barely two feet long. One of these pumps was driven by the aforesaid two sappers and a monkey, (or dropping weight of 75 lbs.), through 17 feet, chiefly of hard chalk, in about an hour and a half. THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Taut II. It was immediately set to work, and has yielded, I was informed, throughout all this dry summer, an abundant supply of water for 120 men and 12 horses, which, though thick just at first,* has since been and still is (I can vouch for this) beautifully clear and cool. The whole corps of sappers are instructed to drive these tubes. As the Abyssinian army — Sir R. " Napier," (or " Noah,") and his ark of animals, — staff, army, ele- phants, cliaplains, camels, horses, mules, donkeys, &c., — were, as he has himself reported, abundantly supplied, or rather suckled, for certain periods, by these simple instruments, inserted and superintended by 1 officer, 1 non-commissioned officer, and 20 sap- pers from the Royal Engineer Establishment, — it may be proper, to explain that their object is limited to obtaining water in those situations only where the water-bearing stratum is within the depth from which it could be drawn by a common suction- pump ; that is, about 28^ feet. These American tube-wells possess the following military advantages : — 1. They and the apparatus for fixing them, being simple, are not easily put out of order. * The American who came to Chatham to exhibit tlicse wells for exiH3riment, after driving the pointed tube first through a stratum of earth, and then deep into the chalk, on Ixiginning to work it, shrewdly and good-humouredly observed, with a strong nasal twang, — " Wall ! this is the first time I have struok milk from the earth ; and I guess if I could sink such a well in America I should just make my fortune!" Part II. PONTOON TROOP A. 63 2. Being light and divisible, they can be carried on pack-saddles. 3. Being easily withdrawn, they can be re-iised. 4. Being readily applied, they can be used for raising water not only from beneath the surface American Tube Well, of the ground, but from ponds or rivers for the purpose of filling troughs or reservoirs, thereby obviating the annoyance to soldiers of having to drink water made muddy by themselves, from ''/ 64 THE ROYAL ENG INKER. Paut II. Laving been allowed to dip into it from its edge, and, moreover, made foul by horses and cattle. The solitary agent in raising the water is a series of small iron tubes, usually about 10 feet in length (in Abyssinia, for convenience of transport on mules, they were only 6 feet), and of about 1| inch in diameter, the lowest of which is perforated by tiers of holes, which, terminating in a solid iron or steel point, enables it to be forced down by any simple driving apparatus {see sketch). The tubes, as fast as they are driven, are connected by a wrought-iron collar 2 inches long, which by means of a screw firmly or matrimonially binds them together. Where the stratum containing water is very porous, as in gravel or some sorts of chalk, it flows healthily ; in sandy loam, sluggishly ; in quick- sand, asthmatically ; and in dease clay it expires. The whole of the pontoon horses are picketed * — each by a strap round one of his fore fetlocks — to stout ropes or lines, 25 yards long, subdivided by strDng pegs driven into the ground into lengths of 25 feet each. The troop-serjeant-major informed me that at night, out of thirty horses, about five or six lie down at a time, — say ten or twelve throughout the night. He added (I think erroneously) that in * All the sappers, as well as drivers of the R. E. Train, are drilled in camping and picketing horsos. Tart IT. PONTOON TROOP A. C)r, at lie pormanent cavalry barracks, where horses in halters attached to their mangers are separated by swing- ing bails, he had observed that about the same number only, probably from the fear of being kicked, lie down at night.) He added, truly enough, that horses can sleep standing, and ho might liave added that men, especially fat ones, can go to sleep while sitting on them. At night, in fine weather, they have a tliick blaidvct ; in wet weather, a waterproof protection to their backs and loins. I observed an ingenious mode of cooking adopted by the sappers. With a few hundred bricks, which I was informed they themselves collected from an old building, they have formed an oven 1 foot 10 inches only nbove the ground, a small iron pipe, hooded at top, making the chimney ; while an iron door and handle, forged by them in camp, keeps the heat in, and thereby enables the oven (I was told) to cook dinners for 200 men ; and if so, its adoption in encampments would be a great luxury to all soldiers (infantry as well as cavalry), whose food, generally speaking, is cooked in camp- kettles, made to- boU in a trench. In addition to the above, I saw a field-oven for feeding the officers and non-commissioned officers, made by the hands of the sappers. Also a slate sun-dial constructed and erected by the latter, which told me the time truthfully ; and lastly, a forge with its supply waggon. F 66 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part IT. The officers' mess-room was a tent handsomely furnished with a variety of hard-bottomed benches of not exactly the same height, and with a deal table, whose shape at once declared it to be the child of parents of very irregular habits. In Euclid's ' Definitions ' we learn that " al) quadri- lateral figures besides these (a square, a rectangle, a rhombus, or a rhomboid) are called trapezia." The Royal Engineers' camp mess-table at Wouldham I therefore proclaim to be a trapezium. As throughout my life I have agreed with the prescription of a South American Gauclio, wdio, wdien I offered him money to get a bottle of wine in sunshine, replied, " A^(?, Senorl vino con sol, no es hueno I " while the young officers were partaking of refreshment I strolled for a few minutes by myself into the camp of instruction, which imparts to engineer officers, sappers, and drivers, the follow- ing pieliminary education : — 1. It teaches them zealously and cheerfully to perform work beneficial for the army, be it rough or smooth, dirty or clean. 2. It leaches the whole corps how to conduct and constru-^t, for the passage of an army, bridges of pontoons or of casks — how to repair pontoons — how to make them. 3. It teaches them all to row and to swim; so that if on ser^^I ,e a secret order, either verbally or in \ siting, be despatched by a sapper, on coming to a narrow river, he can, if he can seize a boat, row, if not, swim across it. !i-'f ^^t:'".. Ti" ■r^" Part If. PONTOON TROOP A. 67 4. It teaches tliera how to live with horses in an encampment. 5. Lastly, it teaches them to make themselves, on Her Majesty's service, useful. On returning to Brompton Barracks after the inspection I have endeavoured to describe (whicli occupied five hours), I entered the vestibule of its principal hall. F 2 li t 68 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Pakt II. THE MODEL EOOM. " Of what vast consequence is man ! ' Not of th' imix)rtance you supj^wse, Replied a flea upon his nose." Gay's FuUes. If a large landed proprietor, while looking down from an eminence upon his almost boundless estate, should feel his mind gradually becoming what old nurses call " windy," or, in the windier words of our great lexicographer, " inflated with pride," there is no medicine in the London Pharmacopoeia which can produce so cooling, so chastening, and so salutary an effect, as for a friend, suddenly from behind his back, to hold before his eyes an inverted telescope, which, in one second, reduces his noble mansion with its tenements to apparently a cottage and pigsty, his broad river to a shining thread, his park to a tiny meadow, his deer and hunters grazing therein to field-mice, and the beloved members of his family and their retinue of ser- vants to animalcula% crawling or hopping accord- ing to their respective ages. In like manner, in the moral world, the life of man in his own estimation teems with pompous ap- purtenances. There are the throne, the palace, the woolsack, the church, the slate, and other prominent objects of human ambition, all of which, when sud- denly viewed through approaching Death's inverted telescope, suddenly delineate notliing clearly, save d q§ Part IT. THE MODEL HOOM. 69 the outlines of a very small cradle and a very narrow grave (illuminated by the prismatic colours of a rainbow, or shadowed by a dark cloud), sepa- rated from each other by a mist which renders everything between them invisible. But a " model " is the image of an object seen through an inverted telescope, the focus of which has been scientifically adjusted, so as to reduce di- mensions without rendering any one of their com- ponent parts indistinct. It is true that a bird's- eye view for half an hour from the top of St. Paul's church would enable an intelligent foreign staff- officer to draw up for his government a better plan and project for the occupation of London by its army, than he could have done had he meandered tlirough its streets between St. Giles's and St. James's for half a day. For instance, from his exalted position on the sacred dome, he would be able to note down as a convenient cordon of en- campment for the bulk of his sovereign's army — say, St. James's and the Green Parks, Hyde Park, Regent's Park, with any convenient open ground between Hackney and Bow, and between them and Regent's Park. He would briefly catalogue, as is usual, the churches which, from their respec- tive localities, were best adapted to shelter men, and, if absolutely necessary, horses; and for the important object of enabling his encamped army to support and maintain a communication with that portion of it billeted in the City, the whole Ill )l 70 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part TI. line of houses in Regent Street, the large pub- lic buildings — such as Millbank Penitentiary, the New Houses of Parliament, the Horse Guards, Whitehall, the Admiralty, the National Grallery, and barracks adjoining — with the other great buildings round Trafalgar Square, as well as the Athenaium, United Service, and other club-houses about Waterloo Place and Pall Mall, would, in the usual routine of business, be scheduled to be strongly occupied by troops. To command the line of the N Thames, which would of course be of great mili- tary importance, he would, according to ordinary rule, dot down the "new Midland" station (the largest space, I believe, ever covered by one roof), Somerset House, the Tower, St. Catherine's and London Docks, all of which nobody could fail to see are admirably adapted for barracks. . But, although the staff-officer could thus rapidly delineate a hasty project of the above description, for the occupation of the huge, wealthy, unfortified city lying prostrate beneath him, yet, from his position, it would be utterly impossible, and he ; jjii therefore would not presume even to suggest the strategic movements of his army along or across, say 100 square miles of the surrounding country, the qualifications and features of which, either for attack or defence, when seen only in perspective, , become impracticable for him to estimate. Give j him, however, the opportunity of looking down 1 only for a few minutes, not on a painted plan, but Tart II. THE MODEL ROOM. 71 on an accurate model or fac simile of the whole tract of country in question, and he would then be enabled to form and deliver to his general a more correct judgment on the quickest and safest mode of advance, both by lines and columns of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and supplies, than if he had attempted to ascertain the innumerable necessary details for such a report on horseback. For the foregoing reasons, to all descriptions of spectators, and especially to young military students of fortification, a model not only gives a clearer, but a more enlarged and a more enlightened concep- tion of the country it represents, than when from any one point it is viewed in its real dimensions. The Royal Engineers' model room, situated in nearly the centre of the range of offices which form a portion of the northern boundary of the Brompton Barrack square, is a large theatre, com- prehending a lower floor, open in the centre to the roof, with an upper story or gallery round three sides, throughout all of which, as well as below, are distributed a valuable and useful selection of models, open to all officers, non-commissioned, and sappers of the corps — as well as to every officer of every regiment and department in Chatham garrison ; and I was moreover informed " that the corps is but too glad to show its contents to any offi'cer of any country." W THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Tart IT. The object of these models is to ilhistrate to young Engineer officers, and to all sapper recruits, a course of preh'minary lectures, while going through their course of instruction in field-works. On these lectures the former are examined in writing after the completion of their whole course of instruction — the latter being catechised day by day thereon. The advantages \\liicli both classes or ranks derive from these models before tliem are, that tliey are enabled to see, and practically to under- stand, the precise form and position of those very " field-works " of all descriptions, which, under the instruction and direction of the officers in charge of that department, they will shortly be required to execute, on full size, with tools, gabions, &c., models or specimens of which have been jDre- v\ously placed before them. For the attainment of these important objects, in the hall or theatre have been collected, and arranged throughout its lower area and galleries, models of almost every system of fortification ; of civil and military bridges of all descriptions ; of barrel pier-rafts ; of pontoons with their super- structure ; of floating bridges, showing the various systems in use in England and on the Continent, as adapted either for public works, or for rapid field operations. Specimens of mining and boring tools ; also of complete sets of tools required by the sappers, Tart If. THE MODEL ROOM. 73 either as carpenters, wheelers, coopers, farriers, smiths, collar-makers, bricklayers, masons, painters, miners, or for entrenching. Models of barracks, both for cavalry and infantry, as have been actually constructed under the super- vision of the officers of the corps. Tools for boring wells. Models of Engineer materials required for siege operations, such as gabions of various descriptions, fascines, escalading ladders. Models illustrating the different modes of sap- ping — double and single — as practised by the corps. Models of different methods of loop-holing walls of farm-buildings, &c., and placing them in a state of defence ; also showing how best to obtain cover from a house or walled garden. Models of gun-carriages, with platforms of various descriptions. Models of different descriptions of Martello Towers. Models of fuzes for mining operations, both ordinary and submarine, with a small but in- different collection of mineral and geological spe- cimens. Models of steam-engines of various constructions. A model of Gribraltar, showing the condition of its defences at the time of its memorable siecre, described by Drinkwater. A model of siege operations against a regular front of fortifications — showing, on a very large 74 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part IT. scale, the defensive and offensive works of both besieged and besiegers, with breaches in the several escarps of the former, especially in their salient angles, evidently executed by a veteran officer of great practical experience in the destructive powers of war. Lastly. — The centre square already described, is almost entirely occupied by a large, low, billiard- looking tablo (20 ft. by 15 ft.), (m which the students have a bird's-eye view of some square miles of agricultural country — with its houses, villages, hills, dales, high-roads, by-roads, hollow roads, streams, &c., in nearly the centre of which appear embossed, in all their details, the parallels, batteries, and approaches to a besieged fortified town, whose works, standing in bold relief, are accurately represented. At a glance, the young Engineer officers, who, as I have shown, have all previously, both theo- retically and practically, studied the subject at the Royal Military Academy, — as also the sapper re- cruit, who, per contra, has probably never seen or heard of it, — ahke see betore them, in this model, the process by which a well educated army captures a fortress. And although my attention has long been di- verted from this subject, I will venture to submit to those readers who perhaps have never con- sidered it at all, the following very few words of explanation : — Paht it. THE MODEL ROOM. 76 It may be observed, in general terms, tbat, excepting in small operations, where the invaders are inefticient in nnmbers, open towns (that is, not fortified) have always been given up at once to the master in the field : for instance, tlie best peojile in civilized Europe for the defence of houses and towns are perhaps the Sj)aniards, whose towns, containing convents, massive premises built of solid masonry, with flat roofs and covered bal- conies, afford great advantage for defence, espe- cially to a people prone to desultory warfare, and to act together by general impulse ; and yet the unfortified towns of Spain, such as Madrid, Seville, Salamanca, Yalladolid, &c., although in all of them preparations were started and confident hopes of self-defence entertained, were always given up to any French army in force. At Berlin, Moscow, and Viennn, where every man is more or less a soldier, no resistance was offered. Even at Paris, containing an army of well-equipped soldiers of the National Guard, its defence was not attempted. And, although, in the subsequent insurrectional street-fighting, from the lukewarm attacks of the troops, who eventually joined the defenders, a temporary success was ob- tained, yet, so soon as the army became stanch, the barriers proved of little account. But as regards a regularly fortified town the case is different. " Fortification,'' as defined by Vauban, " is the i ;.. iil.' I! 'ill ii ■!■'. :i "1: 76 . THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Tart IT, art of enabling a small body of men to resist /or a considerable time the attack of a greater number," from wliicli definition it may logically be inferred, what is practically the case, namely, that after " a considera.ble time" the lease or life or strength of the art of fortification having expired, the fortress by which it had been defended, surrenders. Of course it will be remarked that " a con- siderable time " is an indefinite expression, and by Yauban it was purposely left indefinite, because the duration of a siege is lengthened or shortened by, — 1st, the amount of its powers of resistance, that is, by the nature and arrangement of its works, and by the strength or weakness of its garrison. 2nd. As compared with the above, the prepon- derating force of men, guns, mortars, and siege materials of the besiegers. But, whatever may be the result of the compari- son, just as all men, however stout, sooner or later are sure to die, so is an ordinary fortress, whatever may be its strength, predestined to surrender, after it has " resisted for a considerable time the attack of a greater number," provided always that that "greater number" has been sufficiently great, and that they have approached their victim with a supply of siege artillery and materials adequate to their professional requirements. With these advantages given, the result of the attack, be it fast or slow, is just as sure and certain J- '«., Tart If. THE MODEL ROOM. 77 its its •^! to end in the surrender of the garrison as was tlie policy, or " military arithmetic," of the Federal General Grant, who, on finding that his army tri2)led in number that of the Southern States, resolved, without very much caring about a day's victory or defeat, to " go hammering on" killing man for man, knowing that the bloody process (he lost in "\^ii'- ginia alone 1 50,000 men) must inevitably end, as it did end, in the e.vhaiistion of his opponents* When a fortress is known to be provisioned for an insufficient period, it may be reduced without blood-letting, simply by cutting off by a tourni- quet, or, as it is termed, by investment, the sup- plies which nourish it ; in which case the garrison, after undergoing " the horrors of war," 2. e. almost starvation (at the siege of Malta, the French gar- rison, on the 2nd of September, 1798, after having held out for two years and two days, before they yielded, nobly ate all their mules, asses, and rats), surrender. Again, in the Russian war, the defenders of Kars were so weakened by famine, that great num- * Tlie Surgeon-General of the United States, in his Report lately published, has stated : — " Surgical operations were performed on wounded soldiers in the tirst two years of the war ... 187 470 " Amputations followed by death g'705 " Number of deaths in tiie two years from disease '^""^ 56,193 " Number of cases, including wounds, in 1862, was 1,711,803." Besides the above loss of men the Northern States spent 1000 mil- lions sterling, of which 600 millions have been borrowed by the P'ederal Government. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT.3) 1.0 Uit2B |2.5 |S0 ■^™ ■■■ *ii 1^ 12.2 ^ "ri I.I 1.25 ;: m lb I u 2.0 m 1.4 IIIIII.6 V] t^ 7^ 7: V y /A ~x — -^^ )? ■c' I. 78 THE ROYAL ENGINEER, Pabt it. bers of them could not carry themselves, much less their arms, when they surrendered " with all the honours of war." If tlie supplies are sufficient, the process is pre- cisely that so clearly illustrated in the great model before us. As a meagre outline of the practical knowledge which, by the assistance of these models, the En- gineer officers whose duty it is to lecture are enabled to impart to their students, as standing all round they look down upon their details, for the infor- mation of a few readers unacquainted with them, I will continue to explain, that so soon as a besieging army, with its siege guns and ponderous require- ments, has approached almost within range of the guns of the doomed fortress (that is, ^^ doomed'' unless an army marches to its relief), their first process is, during the night, to draw up — with their feet touching a white cord laid down by an Engineer officer — a line of soldiers, who, with spades in their hands, and well protected in their front, set vigorously to work, in darkness, to dig a " trench," tlie earth of which, thrown into a bank or line of gabions (empty circular baskets standing with their mouth'.i open and on their ends), forms a parallel, which at daybreak is a good deal too visible to the besieged. The object of this parallel is of course to contain, by day and by niglit in all vyeathers, protected soldiers sufficient in numbers to defend the trenches. Part II. THE MODEL ROOM. 79 lore as also batteries constructed in or near it to subdue and eventually silence, to a certain degree, the artil- lery fire from the fortress. As soon as this first foothold (defensive as well as offensive) has been firmly established, the next process is to construct, for the very same purpose, a second and similar parallel about half way between it and the doomed fortress. But as this second parallel, within musketry range, is too close to the enemy to be laid again by tlie white-line process, which, even if it could be attempted, would isolate it from protection as well as from siege and all other supplies, the advance to its locality is effected by a continua- tion of short zigzag trenches, each directed by the Engineer, to point a little to the riglit or left of the fort, so as to prevent the enemy's artillery from raking or enfilading it. AVhen by means of these zigzags or approaches the second parallel, with its batteries both for guns a^d mortars, has been constructed, and when its artillery by very rough treatment has sufficiently succeeded in more or less silencing that of the doomed fortress, as likewise in battering its works, by similar process a third parallel, near to the crest of the glacis fort which covers the ditch of the body of the place, in spite of occasional sorties from the garrison which the besiegers have strength to repel, is established. From this point, the whole approach to which 80 THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part TI. has been a sanguinary struggle, becoming day by day more determined on the one side, and more desperate on the other, two breaches in the enemy's escarp should be promptly completed. If the breach or breaches be not practicable, by a protected descent unnecessary to describe in detail, by a due mixture of mining and gun- powder they are made so, and, when so made prac- ticable, the governor of the doomed fort is occa- sionally, by a flag of truce, invited to spare the further unnecessary effusion of human blood by a surrender. If he refuses, or, without any such appeal to him, if he resolutely continues his defence, the assault — the last scene in the fifth act of war's bloody tragedy — is arranged and ordered. And now, casting aside what the reader may possibly have considered to be " fancy's sketch, " I will lay before him as a stem reality the following short extract from * Journals of the Sieges in Spain, by Colonel Sir John T. Jones, Royal Engineers,' describing one of the nine principal "assaults " therein enumerated; which I have selected, simply, 1st, because, although it is not the most sanguinary, it is narrated in the fewest words; 2nd, because it was executed in darkness ; and 3rd, because it delineates the picture of a great commander writing (in outward appear- ance only), as calmly as if he were smoking a cigar, the death-warrant of a portion of his army : — »# Part H. THK MODEL ROOM. 81 Extract. " In the ufternooii, the tower being nearly beaten down, and the main breach rendered extremely good, Lord >V('llingtv)ii, after a clo8«3 reconnaissance of both breaches, decided to give the assault in the evening ; and sitting on the reverse of one of tlie advanced approaches, wrote the following order for that operation. In the mean time he directed the fire of the batteries to be turned against the defences, which was done with considerable effect. « ARRANGEMEXTS FOR THE ASSAULT . (Written as ahove ile8crH)ed by Lord Welliiigton.) "* '* The attack upon Ciudad Rodrigo must be made this evening at 7 o'clock. . . ." (Here follow a continuation of orders in detail, signed " VV.," occupying almost three octavo pages of print. (See Appendix A.) "Immediately," continues Sir John Jones, "it became dark General Picton forned the 3rd division in the first parallel and approaches, and lined the parapet of the second parallel with the 83rd regiment, in readiness to open on the defences. At the same time General Crau- furd formed the light division in rear of the convent of St. Francisco, and the other detachments for the assault paraded agreeably to Lord Wellington's memorandum. " At the appointed hour the attack commenced on the side of the place next the bridge, and immediately a heavy discharge of musketry was opened from the trenches, under cover of which 150 sappers, directed by Captain Macleod and Lieutenant Thompson, of the 74th regiment, advanced from the second parallel to the crest of the glacis, each man carrying two bags filled with hay, which they threw down the counterscarp into the ditch, and, having reduced its depth from 13i to 8 feet, fixed the laililers upon the bags. Major-General IM'Kinnon's brigade 82 THE POYAI. ENGINEER. Taht II. followed close in rear of the sappers, and immediately jumped upon the bags into the ditch ; the garrison, who Iiad prepared and ranged a vast number of shells and <'ombustibles at the foot of the breach, and on its ascent, precipitately fired thorn, and they therefore spent them- selves before the troops reached the sphere of their action. " General M'Kinnon's brigade instantly pushed up the breach, in conjunction with the 5th and 94th regiments, which arrived at the same moment along the ditch from their I'ight. The men moimted in a most gallant manner, against an equally gallant resistance, and it was not till after a sharp struggle of some minutes that the bayonets of the assailants prevailed and gained them a footing on the summit of the rampart. The defenders then concen- trated behind the retrenchment, which they obstinately maintained, and a second severe struggle commenced. i " General Vandeleur's brigade of the light division moved from behind the convent of, St. Francisco at the same time with the brigade of the 3rd division from the parallel, and during its advance received a heavy fire of musketry from the ramparts, by which Major-General Craufurd was mortally wounded. " Bags of hay were thrown into the ditch, and, as the counterscarp did not exceed 11 feet in depth, the men readily jumped upon the bags, and without much difficulty carried the little breach, which, having no interior defence, was not obstinately disputed. "The division, on gaining the summit, immediately began to form with great and most praiseworthy regu larity, in order to advance in a compact body and fall on the rear of the garrison, who were still nobly defending the retrenchment of the great breach. The efforts of the 3rd division to force that retrenchment increased with their duration; and, after losing many men and officers thrown down the scarp into the main ditch, a depth of 30 feet, a desperate effort was directed along the parapet on r.vnr IT. THE MODEL BOOM. 8R both flanks, which succeeded in turning the retrench- ment The garrison then abandoned the rampart, having first exploded a quantity of powder in the ditch of the retrenclimcnt, by which General JVI'Kiunon and many brave men perished in the moment of victory. " It is probal:)le that the success of the column at the lesser breach had become known to the defenders of the great brencli before the final effort which overpowered them, as they suddenly relaxed in their defensive effort.s, individually dispersed, and sought refuge in the town, where they were pursued from house to house till all the survivors were made prisoners. " The Portuguese, under Brigadier-General Pack, spirit- edly escaladed the small redan in front of the gate of St. lago, defended by a small guard, which they over- powered and bayoneted; but no attempt was made to escalade the main rampart, on account of its great height, and the double obstacle created by the fausse-braie. "LOSS OF THE INFANTRY. " The loss of the besiegers during the operation was J) officers and 217 men killed, and 84 officers and 1000 men wounded. Of the above numbers, 6 oflfieers and 140 men were killed, and 60 officers and 500 men wounded, in storming the breaches ; amongst the latter was Lieu- tenant Thomson, the Engineer, with the third division."— Journal of Sieges, vol. i. p. 127. The lecturer having explained to the young Engineer officers and sapper recruits the various uses to which the diflferent models before, above, and around them are applied in the art of War, they proceed, as will be shown, to he instructed to execute and practise them, in their full dimensions, and with their own hands, in the Field. G 2 84 THE ROYAL ENGINEETl. Part IT. DRILL. I was lying wide awake on my barrack-bed, in my barrack-room, when the big belief the barrack- clock, slowly commencing its first stroke of 5 a.m., was suddenly accompanied, rather than interrupted, by a young watchful bugler beneath it, whose loud, joyous, melodious reveilUe^ to which the monotonous clapper above him for a short period seemed to beat time, announced to officers and men the glo- lious addition of another new day to the military liistory of a veteran world. • In theory, and probably according to orders, every bed ought, I suppose, at this signal to be vacated ; however, the bugler, for some reason no doubt well known to himself, in about a quarter of an hour awoke everybody again, the result of which reminder ^vas that ere long I heard on the parade the heavy tread, occasionally at quick, but generally at " double-quick " time, of a considerable body of sapper recruits, undergoing that mental and physical process which, in due time, not only inevitably converts men into soldiers, but which, accompanivid by gymnastics, ought, I argued to myself, for the following reasons, to form part of every national and rational system of education. No animal, whether on four legs or on two, however he may enjoy life, can be of any use in the busy workshop of man, until he has been suf- I'AUT II. DRILL 85 ficiently divested of that portion of his natural inheritance commonly called "a will of his own^ What's the use of a cow, if she won't allow either man or maid to milk her ? What's the use of a horse, if ho won't put his head into a collar, or suffer a saddle to be placed on his back ? In like manner, of what use to the community is a man, in any rank of life, if he refuses to practise the heraldic motto of the Prince of Wales, " Ich dim — / serve ; " in short, if the fellow won't obey ? Now as, in Mr. Rarey's hands, a couple of little straps proved sufficient not only to conquer Cruiser, but to divest numberless other horses, mules, and donkeys of that portion of their self-will which had made them useless, instead of useful, to man, so would a system of military drill in our public and jirivate schools incline the rising generation of boys " to do their duty in that station of life unto which it shall please God to call them." In the army, drill does not make a gang of recruits an ounce braver than when they enlisted ; but, restraining rather than exciting their courage, it teaches them gradually to exchange their own will for that of their serjeant, captain, colonel, or general, until complete discipline welds these floating particles into a solid mass, which twenty times the number of equally brave but undisci- plined men are utterly unable to resist. But, as Mr. Rarey's principle is equally appli- cable to a rough Shetland pony as to a cavalry niE ROYAL ENGINEER. Pabt II. officer's thoroughbred charger, so is miHtary drill as advantageous to boys of all grades and profes- sions as to their brother soldiers. The dull-sounding but mngic little words Of command, "Eyes right!" "Eyes left!" "Eyes front!" "Right turn!" *'Left turn!" "Right about turn ! " " Quick march ! " " Halt ! " " Stand at ease!" "Attention!" &c., such as while lying in my bed I heard uttered sharply beneath me on the parade, instil into the minds of a lot of little boys the elements, not of war, but of peace. In- stead of making them ferocious, to use Mr. Rarey's expression, these words ''gentle" them, until, by learning to be subservient, not to their own, but to the wills of others, they become fit, in every pos- sible department, to serve their country. On entering the Foreign Office, Home Office, especially the Church, the Counting-house, the Manufactory, or the Farm, in which they desire to labour, their habit of obedience would prove so beneficial to their employers, as well as to them- selves, that I feel confident, if a system of drill was firmly adopted in our public and private schools, a tall, undrilled young man, like a raw, unbroken horse, would, by the community, be con- sidered as ' unserviceable.^^ Part If. MILITARY DISCIPLINE. 87 pos- MILITARY DISCIPLINE. Lieut. - Colonel FitzKoy Somerset, K.E., Superintendent. Brigade - Major Waurand, R.E., Assistant- Superintendent. The reader will remember that the Senior Cadets of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, in their final Examinations for Commissions, were required hy H. R. H. the Commander-in-Chief, '' to drill the battalion in his presence, from manual and platoon, to battalion evolutions ; " and as, from the age of eighteen to twenty and a half, they had been continuously serving in the ranks, either as private soldiers, corporals, or under-officers, prac- tising almost daily drill, it must be evident that on leaving the Academy, they were as smartly sp^ up, and in as high a state of discipline as tiic generality of young non-commissioned officers of the line of two and a half years' service. Nevertheless, it has been very sensibly decreed that before being permitted to commence their third professional education, All Officers on first joining the Royal Engineer establishment at Chatham, are to be placed under the orders of the Field Officer for Military Discipline, who is responsible that their uniforms are correct, and m TIIK nOYAL EKGIXKKP. Pabt ir. .strictly according- to legiilatioii, that thoir books, &c. arc com])loto, and tliat tliev arc acquainted with the standing orders of the garrison. Under him they are put tlirougli a complete course of Brill, including the use of the riile ; are instructed in the interior economy and management of a (,^omj)any, and generally in tlie strict performance of their military duties, which they are educated to consider as the foundation of the character of their Corps. Moreover, during their subsequent course of instruction, in order to maintain their discipline, excepting those on the survey and constructional courses, all are required to attend drill one day in each week, also Brigade Field-days ; and the Field Officer for Military Discipline, by a standing order from the Director, is further directed to report to His Koyal Highness, on the last day of each month, " the progress and attention of each officer under his especial command." The total time allowed for his military course is 105 days. Lastly, before leaving the establishment, every officer is examined in his military duties (exactly as if he held a commission in the line) by a Board composed of field officers nominated by the General in command of the garrison, whose report is for- warded by the Director, to the Commander-in- Chief. Vaut U. SAPPER RECRUITS. K9 --t SAPPEU KEORUlTf^ are unlisted Iroia the ag'e of eigliteen to tweiity-Hve vears — 1st. Bi/ External Miasureinent^ that !«, they iuii}>.l. be ill lieig-ht five feet six inches and upwards (one inch higher tlian is required for the line), and from thirty-three to thirty-five inclies (according to their heights above the standard) round their cliests. 2nd. Bj/ Internal Measurement, namely, they must be men of good character, able to read and write ; and lastly, by actual trial in the trades to which they profess to have been brought up or apprenticed, their qualifications must be scrupu- lously and accurately tested. The attraction of intelligent recruits to the Corps of Royal Engineers, is precisely that which attracts to the London police, to the Irish constabu- lary, and indeed to oil trades and professions, men of superior attainments, — namely, liberal remuner- ation, as follows : — In addition to their regular military pay, non- commissioned officers and sappers receive working pay according to their classification as workmen or artificers, for those days on which they are* actually employed on the public works. This classification depends on their skill and attention, and they are raised from one Rate to another, on the recommendations of the Captains of their companies, and of the officers under whom f m THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part II. 1 tliey are employed. But, liefbre tliey can be placed' on the First Rate of working pay, tliey must be examined and declared qualified lor it by a Board of Officers. The working pay granted according to the d liferent rates, is — (*. d. 1st liuto ..2 per day. 1 G H. d. 4tli Itatc ..0 y per day. 5th „ C „ ' (IJurelypaid.) 2iid „ iird „ 1 When under instruction when on Field-works, the3e rates are reduced to — Ist Kate . . 9 | 2nd Eate . . 6 | ^rd Kate . . 6 3 On an average, the men of the Corps at the above rates earn in each week, in addition to their regimeiital pay and beer money, about four and a half days' working pay, which they do not receive when on guard, on the march, or on purely mili- tary duties ; but, as when employed on public works, the pay of Sappers (defrayed cut of the estimates thereon) is consideral)ly less than that paid by contractors to workmen of similar descrip- tions, a liody of Military Engineers are really, in these cases, a saving to the public. As soon as they are enlisted, all Sapper Recruits go through a severe course of infantry drill, in- eluding gymnastics and rifle-shooting, which lasts four months, at the expinition of which they join the ranks of Sappers, and as such, become Taut IF. SAPPER RECRUTTS. 91 'entitled, in addition to their ordinary anny pay, to the different rates of working pay above detailed. The non-commissioned officers and men of the Corps are armed with a short Lancaster breech- loading rifle, with an elliptical bore, the lesser diameter of which is the same as the diameter of the Enfield rifle— length four feet not including its sword-bavonet. 03 THE KOYAL ENGIKEKIJ. Pakt ir. HALLS OF STUDY FOR OFFICERS. Each newly-appointed officer while at the Royal Engineer Establishment is required to go throiigli six distinct courses, for which the following periods are allotted. Mull Ills 1. Drill and military duties . . .. 3i 2. Survey course .. 6 3. Field-works and military bridges . .. 4 4. Architectural course .. U 5. Chemistry . . .. OJ 6. Telegraphy and submarine mining .. 1 Total, exclusive of leave .. 21 The working hours of the Corps, as fixed by the Engineer Code, are as follows : — From 1st March to 30th September, Oh. 50m. „ Ist October to 31st October, "9h. Om. „ 1st November to 30th November, 8h. Om. „ 1st December to 12th January, 7h. 15m. „ 13th January to 13th February, 8b. Om. „ 14th February to 28th February 9h. Om. The time allowed to the men for dinner is one hour, viz., from 12 to 1 o'clock throughout the year. Before leaving the establishment each officer is examined — Ist, in his military duties, as already stated, by a Board of Field Officers, no one of them an Engineer, and, 2ndly, in writing, in the six different courses he has studied. Paut ir. HALLS OF STUDY. 93 The written examination paper of each officer, after due consideration, is then forwarded to IT.K.H. Commanding-in-Chief, by the Director, with a confidential report descrilnng his general quaHfications, and also stating — as a nseful practical record-- -whether lie lias shown particular aj)titude for any special branch of his jDrofession. Young officers, although gifted with temporary commissions, are not permanently gazetted to the Corps until they have completed their course of instruction at the Royal Engineer Establishment ; and accordingly, if through indolence they exceed the time allotted, their permanent commissions may at the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief be antedated to a dace subsequent to that upon which they were gazetted to temporary ratdv. By this act they would lose the intermediate service, and with it, possibly, one or more steps in their Corps which, as the promotion is by seniority, would be, literally speaking, a life-long punish- ment. 111 ii u THE ROYAL ENGINEER. r.\nT IT. Course of Instruction for Officers in General AND Special Surveying, Eeconnoissance, AsTRONo^iY, Defilade, Survey for Deter- mining Lines of Communication by Roads, Railways, and (!anals. Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, C.B., Royal Engineers Instructor. Lieutenant C. Halkett, Royal Engineer Assistant- Instructor. All Officers of Engineers are required to go through this course, for which six months, or 15(1 working days, are allowed. For this object they are required to parade at the office at 8 a.m., to receive from the Instructor especial directions as to the work of each for that day, and the amount of progress, daily recorded, is reported each month to the Director of the Establish- ment, with remarks whether for each study the progress of each Officer has been on the whole above or below the time allotted for it, also whether it has been, or not, satisfactory. As the young officers advance in the different branches of military science, in wliich they are here instructed, in order to test their progress, they are required to compose plans and designs, with a report in writing thereon of various descriptions — for instance, one of a fort, with an estimate of the amount of deblai and remplai, Part II. THE SURVEY COURSE. 96 with the probable cost of the earth-works, a scrutinising test of the knowledge acquired, of the delineation of ground upon a contoured plan, in fact, it is the practical application by the Engineer, of a most complicated work to a given site. These jilans and projects had, I observed, been carefully examined by the Chief Instructor, who had recorded upon them, in red ink, for a purpose hereafter to be described, remarks, several of wliicli I copied into my note-book, as evidcuce of very efficient supervision. The details, however, of this course of instruc- tion are so numerous and abstruse, that, as I cannot altogether pass them over, or, on the other hand, attempt to enumerate them all, I will record a portion of them, which may be especially interest- ing to the reader, as having formed part of the course of instruction which Sir Robert Napier, as a young East India Engineer officer, j^ractically received during his progress through the Royal Engineer P^stablishment at Chatham. In reconnaissance the young officers (who at the Royal Military Academy had been well grounded in the preliminary principles of sketching) are here required to make a reconnoissance or military sketch on a scale of six inches to a mile, founded upon a base and system of triangulation, showing the position of towns, villages, churches, detached houses of importance, roads, streams, fords, bridges, &c., accompanied by a report in writing describing 9(; THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Part IT. among other details *' whether the surrounding country is closely intersected with fences, and favourahle or the contrary to the movement of the troops of an army. Whether with respect to any road included in their sKe+clies there is any point where communication hy it could he easily destroyed, either permanently, or hy hasty demolition. What number of troops or horses could be shel- tered at a given position on an emergency, or for continuance, and the number and description of carriages and carts that could be provided. AVhether the country is well adapted for defence, especially noting any position that is capable of l)cing rendered defensible speedily — whether each town or village in the sketch is close open, sur- rounded by walled gardens, or other buildings which could readily be made defensible. Whether there is any ground suitable for an en- campment, either for a jDcrmanence, or for troops on the march, or any spot particularly adapted for a defensive position. Which of the roads designated on the plan are capable of bearing continuous heavy traffic, and what means are at hand for their repair. Whether tlie information reported has been obtained from the officer's personal observation, or derived only from report. ^ Lastly, all proper names are required to be in italics, in characters sufficiently large to be easily legible to a man on horseback. Paht ir. THE SURVEY COURSE. 97 The following is a portion only of the synopsis of the amount of instruction Colonel Fishor is selected to impart. THE SURVEY COUIISE. The (course of surveying for the Officers of the Royal Engineers is intended to qualify them for carrying on survey operations of every description, and for designing and laying out engineering works, so far as these are influ- enced by the features of the ground on which they are placed, or over which they are carried. The course consists of two parts : the one, relating to surveying processes exclusively; the other, to the uses made of the plans and maps, prepared by such processes, for engineering purposes. Under the first of these divisions the officers are prac- tically instructed in Astronomical, General, Special, and Reconnoitring Surveying, including the accurate delinea- tion of the inequalities of ground by Levelling and by Contours traced instrnmcntally, and also the giving reliefs to hill forms by sketching with the pen and drawing with the brush. Under the second division they are exercised in the adaptation of works of fortification to contoured sites ; and in the selection and survey of lines of comminiication by roads, railways, and canals, and in drawing up projects for their execution. Astronomical Sukveyino. The officers are taught the construction and use of astro- nomical instruments, and are practised in making observa- tions with them. They study from published works and memoranda printed at the establishment the most useful problems for finding THE ROYAL ENGINEER. Taut II. the Time, tlio Latitude and Longitude, tlie Direction of the Meri