THE ORGANISATION OF THE ENGLISH ARMY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5209, 1 December 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE ORGANISATION OF THE ENGLISH ARMY.

The f dlo wing it an extract from an article in the Kolnisckc Zcituny, written by Julius V. Wickede, the well-known German military authority : —“ Of all the groat European Powers Great Britain possesses by far the weakest land forces, and if Eu land be regarded according to the number of her troops, she is only a second-rate Bower; iudee 1, not more than Spain and Sweden and Norway. In times gone by, when the proud history of Old Kngluid was writleu, she possessed no larger army than she does at present. In Lond-ci might have been seen many foreign regiments in the English pay, and instead of sending her own countrymen to the b ittle-tiehl, the armies even of the iron Duke of Wellington were duly hall composed of Englishmen. Theotherhalf was composed of Spanish, Bortnguese, Dutch, and still more of Germans. The happy | osilion of England as an island, which is far better def.aided from foreign invasion than any other European State, permits Flighted to rest contented with so small an army, and to rely upon a, powciful licet for her defence. Whilst other powers of the raa uland, even in limes of peace, are obliged to maintain enormous armies, that of England is not at the present time so strong even as it was thirty years ago As it is wit.li respect to the strength of the Erg isli army so wiilt the organisation of the English army, which for the last, fifty years lifts' s remained unaltered. Whilst all our Continental Bowers have been engaged iu army reform (and those of France, Go many, Russia, Austria, and Italy have during the last-ten years been completely reorg,tithed), the English army had remained upon its old footing. Instead of rod coats the infantry of the line wear red jackets. They carry the best breach-loading rifles ; the artillery also possess better guns, and the serveo cud drill regulations have been somewhat altered, but this is all the modification that has taken place." Herr Wickede then goes on to review our mode of recruiting as compared with that of other nations, and attributes to this system the great number of deserters which in the year 1876, out of the home and colonial forces of 169,000 men, numbered 7CSS men ; whereas iu the French army of 423,000 men and the German army of 402,000 (peace footing), the deserters only number 300 yearly. But the English s Idiers are better paid, clothed, and fed than any

I others in the world, receiving in one week more pay than the poor Russian does in a month. ’The pensions, also, are much higher than are allowed by any other Slate. England can iind-r her present system only bring about lS f ',o‘)o men iiro the field; and should she have to go to war with a powerful continental State hVe would he obliged to have recourse to some other recruiting system. In Kngland the large field manoeuvre- with mixed arms, wirch take place in European countries yeadv, are unknown. In the whole English army, therefore, there is not a f ingle general who his had under his orders 30,000 men. Should the English army, therefore, ever have to go to war with a European Power, , and have to fight great batUs, the want of manceuvriug capabilities of the troops, and the still less practice of the higher generals having under their orders corps of 40,000 to 50,000 men, will cause them great prejudice, in the Crimean war it was shown that the English troops in point of courage were quite equal to the elite of the French army, but they were far exceeded in their manoeuvring by the latter. Ami then the French manoeuvred worse than the Germans, who in this respect take the first rank in Europe. With respect ,to the improved military education of the officers since the Crimean war, great progress has been made in the English army. The military academy of Woolwich is excellent, and the officers are well educated, and the same may be said of Sandhurst. But it must be admitted that the English infantry and cavalry officers are far behind both the French and German officers in military education. With respect to the improvement of the men, the officers seem to give themselves little trouble in this matter. It is left to non-commissioned officers. The distinction between officers and non-commissioned officers in the English array is still greater than in those of Germany aud France. The purchase system has been abolished, however, and therefore a great evil in the English army is removed. The officers, especially of the cavalry and Foot Guards, generally belong to the aristocracy, ami receive allowances from their parents. The Uglier bourgeoisie do not send their sons into the army, but place them in commerce aud manuf ictme, as was the case in Prussia up to 1866. The English officers are, everything considered, worse paid than the German. An infantry lieutenant imis-t at least have a private income of 60 to SO guineas in order to exist, and twice as much is necessary for a cavalry officer. When off duty the English officers do not wear uniform and seem as proud to be thought gentlemen as officers.