MILITARY SCHOOLS 



MILITIA 



191 



languages, mathematics, history, geography, na- 

 tural and experimental, sciences, and drawing. 

 The examination was competitive, and those who 

 had the most marks were admitted as cadets as 

 soon as vacancies occurred in the college. The 

 cou rse of study lasted two years, and embraced a 

 variety of subjects connected with military science. 

 The friends supplied clothing, books, and instru- 

 ments, and paid annually for education, board, 

 and lodging from 20 to 100. The highest sum 

 was paid for ' the sons of private gentlemen,' the 

 lowi-st for ' the sons of officers of the army or navy 

 who had died in the service, and whose families 

 were proved to Ije left in pecuniary distress.' 

 Twenty were 'Queen's cadets,' sons of officers 

 ' who had fallen in action, or had died from the 

 effects of active service, and had left their families 

 in reduced circumstances.' These were admitted 

 on passing a qualifying examination, and educated 

 gratuitously. In 1870 a different system was tried, 

 but, the results not being satisfactory, it was very 

 quickly condemned and the old system reverted to. 

 The length of the course of study has, however, 

 been reduced to one year, and the cadets have 

 much more freedom than formerly, when they were 

 treated in all respects like soldiers in barracks. 

 See CADET. 



Admission to the Royal Military College, Sand- 

 hurst, is obtained by open competition at ex- 

 aminations held each half-year under the direc- 

 tion of the Civil Service Commission. Candidates 

 must first have passed the same ' preliminary ' 

 examination as for the Royal Military Academy, 

 Woolwich, or one recognised as equivalent to it, 

 and the medical examination. They must be 

 between the ages of seventeen and twenty, un- 

 less graduates of the universities, when they 

 may oe as old as twenty-two. The number of 

 trials is three for ordinary candidates, but only 

 two for university graduates. The ' further ' ex- 

 amination includes mathematics, classics, modern 

 languages, English history and composition, experi- 

 mental sciences, geology, and drawing divided 

 into twelve subjects, of which seven may IKJ taken 

 up. Successful candidates for the Royal Military 

 College remain there for one year, and, subject to 

 passing the half-yearly examinations in fortifica- 

 tion, tactics, military administration, law, and 

 topography, and becoming proficient in drills and 

 exercise (including riding, gymnastics, and mus- 

 ketry), are then given commissions as second- 

 lieutenants in the cavalry or infantry. They are 

 liable, however, to removal for grave misconduct 

 or incapacity. 



At the Army Medical School, Netley, South- 

 ampton, medical candidates already professionally 

 qualified are further instructed in pathology, mili- 

 tary surgery, medicine, and hygiene. All invalid 

 soldiers from abroad are sent to the hospital at 

 Netley, to which the Army Medical School is 

 contiguous. After passing the prescrilied course 

 ami examinations, the candidates are commissioned 

 as snrg"ons in the medical staff of the army. 



Kutrance to the Staff College, at Camberley, near 

 Sandhurst, is obtained by competitive examination. 

 The first twenty-eight officers who qualify at the 

 annual examination are admitted, with certain 

 limitations. These officers must all qualify at 

 the examination, held every summer, in simple 

 mathematics, one modern language, fortification, 

 military topography, and tactics. A service of at 

 least five years is also required, and candidates 

 must l>e under thirty-seven years of age, be cap- 

 tains or have passed the qualifying examination 

 for that rank, and have l>een selected by their 

 commanding officers as lit for the staff' in physical 

 qualifications, military knowledge, conduct, habits, 

 and temper. The college course commences in 



February of each year, and includes the study of 

 modern languages, military history and geography, 

 fortification and artillery, tactics, staff duties, mili- 

 tary administration, topography, and law. There is 

 an examination at the end 01 each year, and officers 

 must also pass in military equitation. If success- 

 ful, they leave the college at the end of the second 

 year, and, after being attached for a month to each 

 of those branches of the service with which they 

 have not hitherto served, rejoin their regiments 

 until opportunities occur for appointing them to 

 the staff'. 



At the School of Gunnery, Shoeburyness, officers 

 and men of the Koyal Artillery are put through a 

 course of gunnery and artillery exercises, and ex- 

 periments with new guns, shells, fuses, armour- 

 plates, &c. are carried out in connection with the 

 ordnance committee; while at the Artillery College, 

 Woolwich, officers are instructed in the manufacture 

 of ordnance, laboratory work, chemistry, metallurgy, 

 electricity, &c. 



The School of Military Engineering, Chatham, 

 is for the instruction of engineer officers and men 

 in construction and estimating, practical fortifica- 

 tion, surveying, submarine and military mining, 

 bridging, ballooning, electricity, chemistry, photo- 

 graphy, &c. Young officers on appointment from 

 the Royal Military Academy remain under instruc- 

 tion and ' on probation ' at this school for two 

 years. For officers of other branches of the service 

 there are classes for instruction in ' field-works' 

 and surveying ; for cavalry soldiers, a ' cavalry- 

 pioneers' ' course ( hasty demolitions, obstructions, 

 &c. ) ; and a class for infantry pioneer-sergeants. 



The School of Musketry at Hythe (q.v.) is for 

 the other arms what the School of Gunnery is for 

 the artillery. For the Royal Military School of 

 Music, Kneller Hall, see BAND. 



At the School of Gymnastic Instruction, Alder- 

 shot, officers qualify for the appointment of super- 

 intendent of gymnasiums, and non-commissioned 

 officers or men for that of gymnastic-instructor. 

 The course includes fencing with foil, sword, or 

 bayonet. Recruits are put through a three months' 

 course of gymnastics here and in every garrison 

 where there is a gymnasium. 



Army Schools (q.v.) are provided for the general 

 education of soldiers and their children ; and 'gar- 

 rison classes ' under specially qualified staff-officers, 

 generally graduates of the Staff College, for the 

 technical instruction of officers studying for the 

 examinations which they must pass before promo- 

 tion to the ranks of captain ami major. 



For the United States Military Academy, see 

 WEST POINT. Other military schools in the 

 United States include the Virginia Military Insti- 

 tute at Lexington (founded in 183D), the Kentucky 

 Military Institute (1846) at Farmc-ale, and the 

 school for subalterns of artillery at Fortress Monroe, 

 in Virginia, for infantry and cavalry officers at 

 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and for engineers at 

 Willet's Point. Moreover, there are forty com- 

 missioned officers detailed to act as professors of 

 military science and tactics at certain colleges 

 which have received from the United States grants 

 of land. In Canada there is a Royal Military 

 College at Kingston (1876). 



llilitHlo. a town of Sicily, 21 miles SW. of 

 Catania. Pop. 10,505. 



Militia (Lat. miles, 'a soldier') is the name 

 sometimes given to the troops of the second line of 

 a national army. Thus, an Italian or Russian 

 soldier, after serving in the active army and its 

 reserve, passes into the militia available as garrison 

 troops or to form a field army. The corresponding 

 troops in Germany and Austria are called hmdwehr 

 and landsturm, and in France the territorial army. 



