CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



officers attached to him as aides-de-camp. These 

 are detached from their regiments, and their 

 employment is to convey the orders of their 

 general to the different sections of his command. 

 They form his personal staff, and share his 

 tent. 



Staff-officers receive a high rate of pay for staff 

 duty in addition to their other pay as officers of 

 their rank in the army. They wear broad gold 

 shoulder-belts and cocked-hats with lofty white 

 plumes. As all staff-officers are mounted, their 

 plumes render them very conspicuous as they 

 gallop about on the field of battle. 



We have now described the organisation of the 

 fighting men of the army, and how they are com- 

 manded ; but to keep our men up to the fighting 

 mark, they require to be fed, housed, doctored, 

 taught, and unfortunately punished ; and for 

 each of these services there is a distinct body of 

 officers and men, forming the 



Administrative Departments of the Army. 



These departments are all now merged into the 

 Control Department, of which there are three divi- 

 sionsrelating to (i) the food, (2) the shelter, (3) 

 the stores of the army. The chief officers of the 

 department are controllers, deputy-controllers, &c. 



Food. The collection of food, its preserva- 

 tion, and punctual distribution to the sections of 

 the army, are the all-important functions of the 

 Commissariat, which is superintended by a com- 

 missary-general, deputy, assistants, &c. The 

 formation of magazines of food, and the convey- 

 ance of great supplies to the requisite point, in 

 perhaps a devastated country, require a great 

 power of organisation in the superintendent of 

 the commissariat. Attached to this department 

 is the commissariat staff corps, a body of dis- 

 ciplined butchers, bakers, &c. who ply their 

 trades with the army, and furnish the troops with 

 fresh meat and bread. 



Shelter. In times of peace, and when not en- 

 camped, the soldiers are lodged in capacious bar- 

 racks ; each of these is in charge of an officer styled 

 a commissary of barracks, who has barrack-ser- 

 geants and labourers to assist him in maintaining 

 it in a habitable condition. When the troops are 

 encamped, or in the field, they are housed in tents 

 during the summer, and in huts during the winter. 

 These are under the charge of the quartermaster- 

 general's department, which is responsible for 

 their preservation, cleanliness, and issue in proper 

 numbers to the troops. 



Medical Attendance. Soldiers are liable to dis- 

 easefirst, in a small degree, from wounds re- 

 ceived in action ; secondly, and more, from the 

 hardships of campaigning ; thirdly, and in a pro- 

 portion far exceeding the other two together, from 

 the results of their own excesses. To counteract 

 disease, and superintend the general sanitary 

 arrangements, the army has a very large staff of 

 medical officers, comprising inspectors, deputy- 

 inspectors-general, surgeons-major, and surgeons. 

 The officers are fairly paid ; but the upper ranks 

 are too few to insure rapid promotion, and much 

 of the duty lies in tropical and unhealthy climates. 

 These causes render the Army Medical Depart- 

 ment unpopular with the profession. The Purvey- 

 ing Department consists of non-professional offi- 

 cers, who have charge of the food, clothing, and 

 comforts of the sick. The Army Hospital Corps ' 

 198 



is a body of ward-masters, male nurses, cooks, &C. 

 for service in the military hospitals : they are 

 under the orders of the surgeons. There is like- 

 wise a staff of female nurses for the general hos- 

 pitals, originated by Miss Florence Nightingale. 

 Every regiment has its surgeons, who attend their 

 patients in the regimental hospital, which is 

 a hut or tent set apart for the service. More 

 serious cases are sent to the divisional hospital, 

 where there is a deputy-inspector-general and 

 medical staff. On a still larger scale is the 

 general hospital, established usually in rear of 

 the army, where there is a full staff of officers, 

 nurses, &c. with every appliance that medical 

 skill can suggest, under the direction of an in- 

 spector-general. 



Stores. An army requires stores in a variety 

 and to an amount which seem quite incredible to 

 a civilian. It is of prime necessity that these 

 should be duly supervised as to their storage, 

 classification, and issue, for melancholy results 

 have ere now ensued from ill-organised arrange- 

 ments for the army stores. The Control Depart- 

 ment undertakes this duty. It consists of com- 

 missaries of stores, their deputies, assistants, &c. 

 in five grades. 



Divine Service. Having provided for the wel- 

 fare of his body, the state turns its attention 

 to the soldier's spiritual interests. At every 

 military station of importance there is a chap- 

 lain, who is a commissioned army officer ; 

 where the troops are too few to justify this, they 

 attend a neighbouring church, the incumbent of 

 which is paid according to the space occupied. 

 Army chaplains are not allowed to interfere with 

 the secular instruction of the men. They are of 

 three denominations namely, Church of England, 

 Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian, all of whom 

 rank equally. Their pay rises, with length of 

 service, from ros. to 223. 6d. a day. When a man 

 joins the army, he is required to declare his re- 

 ligion ; and he is compelled to attend the minis- 

 tration of that religion once every Sunday, when 

 practicable. The chaplains also superintend the 

 Sunday schools. 



Instruction. For the instruction of officers 

 there is the Staff College at Sandhurst, through 

 which all officers must pass at two very severe 

 examinations before they are eligible for employ- 

 ment on the staff. The Royal Engineer establish- 

 ment at Chatham is for instruction of officers and 

 men in their professional duties. The School of 

 Gunnery at Shoeburyness affords practical teach- 

 ing to the artillery ; while the Schools of Musketry 

 at Hythe and Fleetwood do the same for the infan- 

 try. For general instruction in drill and discipline 

 of the depots of corps on foreign service, the depots 

 furnish ample time and force. In all corps, gym- 

 nasia have been established, to afford the men 

 amusement, and develop their physical powers. 

 At Netley, near Southampton, is a Military Medi- 

 cal School, to impart a military, surgical, and 

 hygienic training to candidates who have already 

 passed as qualified practitioners. The camps at 

 Aldershot and Curragh, while being defensive 

 points at which strong forces are concentrated, 

 are, at the same time, great schools for tactics and 

 manoeuvring. 



As regards general instruction for the men, 

 each regiment has on its establishment a trained 

 schoolmaster, who gives lessons gratuitously to 



