GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



287 



non-commissioned officers, and 22 men at Wool- 

 wich, Sandhurst, and other colleges and schools, 

 and 77 officers and 147 non-commissionefl officers 

 in other establishments. The estimates provided, 

 moreover, for 217,551 additional imperial, colonial, 

 and irregular forces during the war in South 

 Africa, making the total strength, exclusive of 

 India, 430,000 men of all ranks. The force main- 

 tained for service in the United Kingdom on Jan. 

 1, 1899, was 106,686 men of all ranks, consisting 

 of 11,676 cavalry, 17,572 artillery, 5,351 engineers, 

 and 72,087 infantry and special corps. Of the 

 total number 79,057 were stationed in England, 

 3,942 in Scotland, and 23,687 in Ireland. There 

 were at the same date 125,165 British soldiers 

 stationed abroad, of whom 4,257 were in Egypt, 

 44,605 in the colonies, 74,466 in India, and 1,837 

 in Crete. The effective strength of the regular 

 forces, home and colonial, in 1901 was reported to 

 be 234,963; of the army reserve of the first class, 

 24,128; of the militia, 110,743; of the yeomanry, 

 10,114; of the volunteers, 230,785; total, 610,733 

 of all ranks at home and in the colonies, or 677,- 

 314, including 66,581 regular forces, on the Indian 

 establishment. There were serving in South Africa 

 on Dec. 1, 1900, 142,893 non-commissioned officers 

 and men of the regular army, consisting of 11,600 

 cavalry, 12,700 artillery, 105,300 infantry, and 13,- 

 293 others; also 33,000 colonial troops, 8,000 im- 

 perial yeomanry, 7,500 volunteers, and 18,900 mili- 

 tia. The total strength of the forces in South 

 Africa, exclusive of officers, was on that date 

 210,293. Of the non-commissioned officers and 

 men serving in the British army on Jan. 1, 1899, 

 there were 165,038 Englishmen, 17,285 Scotchmen, 

 28,358 Irishmen, 10,015 born in the colonies and 

 India, 97 foreigners, and 1,580 not specified. 



Army reform has been discussed since the first 

 call for troops to go to South Africa, when only 

 a single battalion could be sent from England 

 without mobilization, and the inadequate reen- 

 forcement had to be slowly got together by drafts 

 from India and from the colonial garrisons. The 

 war has shown that better organization is re- 

 quired, and that Great Britain must be able to 

 send at least 3 army corps abroad besides having 

 a properly organized force for home defense. 

 More artillery and mounted troops are needed; 

 the transport and medical service requires to be 

 reformed; the officers should be better trained; 

 there should be less parade drill, and more mus- 

 ketry practice, scouting, and individuality. Apart 

 from war, there must be maintained 115,000 men 

 in India and the colonies, and this force depends 

 on voluntary recruiting. The Government has 

 decided to develop the existing system rather than 

 either to establish a separate Indian army or to 

 adopt compulsion for home defense, which could 

 not in any case be taken up after a year which 

 gave 140,000 voluntary recruits of various kinds. 

 The system decided on by Mr. Brodrick, the Sec- 

 retary of State for War, is the division of Great 

 Britain and Ireland into the following six army 

 corps districts: Aldershot, Salisbury Plain, Ire- 

 land, Colchester, York, and Scotland. Each dis- 

 trict will contain troops of all arms necessary for 

 an army corps, and will be provided with bar- 

 racks, stores complete, and transport. The first 

 3 corps will consist entirely of regulars; the last 

 3 will contain 60 battalions of militia and volun- 

 teers and 21 militia and volunteer field-artillery 

 batteries. Officers appointed to command- in peace 

 must be certified fit to hold the same commands 

 in war. There will be large delegation of author- 

 ity to army-corps commanders, the decentraliza- 

 tion of authority, and the centralization of re- 

 sponsibility. Volunteers and militia in the army 



corps will be specially trained. '1 '. corps com- 

 posed of regulars are produced, r,< /really in- 

 creasing the regulars, but by (V. , i, om 

 garrison duty abroad; by establi-. garrison 

 battalions of older soldiers; by employ in:; 7, In- 

 dian battalions in certain stations; arid \>\ -!,i-u re- 

 ferring small coaling stations to tlu; navy, so as 

 to avoid dual control. This will give 5 additional 

 battalions, and will free 18 battalions from rar 

 rison duty abroad if the navy takes the coaling 

 stations, otherwise 13 battalions. The militia will 

 be raised from the strength of 100,000 to lf>0,00<), 

 and improved. Each man will receive 3d. a day 

 for rations, as in the army, and will have after 

 two trainings, in order to keep him, the total sum 

 of 4 10s. instead of a 30s. bounty. All men 

 after serving in the regular army and with the re- 

 serve, or after ten years of service in the militia, 

 will be entitled to 4rf. a day, or 6 a year, for 

 joining the militia reserve for home defense. 

 When necessary these men will be trained in mus- 

 ketry. The gain will be 50,000 men, without rais- 

 ing a single additional recruit. The yeomanry, to 

 be known as the imperial yeomanry, correspond- 

 ing to similar corps in the colonies, will be armed 

 with rifles and receive horse allowance and extra 

 pay. They will be raised .to a strength of 35,000 

 men, furnishing mounted troops for home defense. 

 The volunteers will consist of 25 battalions, 15 

 batteries of field-artillery, and 40 batteries of 

 heavy field-artillery, to be specially trained for 

 the army corps and for positions round London. 

 They will have more drill and rifle shooting. The 

 total number of new troops is 126,500, to cost an 

 average of 15 a man, or less than 2,000,000 a 

 year. The institution of these corps and the ex- 

 perience of the war entail reforms in artillery, in 

 the drill and training of troops, in the education 

 of officers, the modification of the rifle, and fa- 

 cilities for training by maneuvers. The home 

 force, consisting of 155,000 regulars, 90,000 army 

 reserves, 150,000 militia, 35,000 yeomanry, and 

 250,000 volunteers, will number 680,000 men. Of 

 these 260,000 will constitute a field army, 196,000 

 garrisons at home, 100,000 the volunteers trained 

 for the defense of London, and 4,000 on the staffs, 

 making 560,000 effectives, and leaving a surplus 

 of 120,000, representing the sick and untrained 

 recruits. The question of reform in the W r ar 

 Office was left to be considered by a committee 

 of which Clinton Dawkins was chairman, and to 

 some of its recommendations the Secretary of 

 State gave effect. One of the reforms in the War 

 Office decided upon is to increase the military ele- 

 ment considerably. 



The army maintained in South Africa through- 

 out 1901 was 200,000 strong, and 30,000 troops 

 were despatched to China, mostly from India. 

 The removal of Major-Gen. Sir Henry Colville 

 from the command of Gibraltar,, and his enforced 

 retirement on half-pay, drew upon the Government 

 the censure of its opponents in Parliament. He 

 was dismissed on the advice of Sir Evelyn Wood 

 and the recommendation of Lord Roberts, com- 

 mander-in-chief of the army, because he failed to 

 succor Gen. Broadwood at Sanna's Post, in the 

 Orange Free State, withdrawing his force when 

 close to the scene of the disaster. Much stronger 

 criticism was directed at the Government by sup- 

 porters as well as adversaries when the officers se- 

 lected to command the three army corps of regu- 

 lars were announced Sir Redvers Buller, Sir 

 Evelyn Wood, and the Duke of Connaught. Gen. 

 Buller, who had failed to relieve Ladysmith, but 

 sacrificed many soldiers in the attempt after first 

 advising the commander of the garrison to sur- 

 render, was acknowledged to be no suitable com- 



