SUBALTERN OEBiCERS. 
383 
to the junior regimental officers in the following words,, which it will 
not be inappropriate to quote in full at the end of this paragraph. Our 
officer is a gentleman—we require that he should be one, and above all 
that he should conduct himself as such ; and most particularly in 
reference to the soldier, and to his intercourse with the non-commissioned 
officers and soldiers. Indeed, we carry this principle of the gentleman, 
and the absence of intercourse with those under his command, so far, as 
that in my opinion the duty of a subaltern officer, as done in a foreign 
army is not done at all in the British army. It is done by the 
sergeants. Then our gentleman officer, however admirable his conduct 
on a field of battle, however honourable to himself, however glorious 
and advantageous to his country, is but a poor creature in disciplining his 
company in camp, quarters, or cantonments. The name, the character, 
the conduct, the family and relations, the fortune, the situation, 
the mental acquirements of each of the men of his company, are not the 
sole objects of his thoughts, as the same of his men are of the Prussian 
officer in the same situation, who carries into execution this same 
discipline in the company to which he belongs with the men of which 
he lives as a companion, friend, and adviser. - ”* 
9. The tendency of late years in the Royal Artillery has been towards 
decentralisation in so far as freeing commanding officers of batteries 
from unnecessary control, and giving them more latitude in the 
exercise of their commands. The practical proposal, which is now 
suggested, is that this principle be extended still more, so as to place 
every subaltern officer in the position of the responsible commander of 
his division. This would be quite possible if the duties of the battery 
were carried on divisionally, if divisions were always kept intact, and 
worked under their own officers. The subaltern officers would attend 
at the battery office every morning, and receive their orders direct from 
the battery commander—they themselves communicating these orders 
personally to their two sergeants, and acting as the executive of the 
commanding officer in carrying them out. If, for instance, the 
commanding officer ordered the gunners to be exercised in standing 
gun drill, instead of the whole battery falling in, as is now generally the 
case, under the sergeant major or assistant-gunnery-instructor, each 
officer would parade the gunners of his own division, and drill and 
instruct them himself. In the same way, sword and riding drill could 
be carried on by divisions—the divisional officer in all cases being the 
instructor. Would it not be possible also to set apart one day every 
* Since these words were written by the Duke of Wellington, great improvement has 
doubtless been made in the theoretical instruction and training of junior regimental 
officers, but is there any change in their practical duties as soldiers P This is the question 
we must put to ourselves. Theoretical study is only useful as a preparation for practical 
work. All study of war, all talk about war, all drawing of sketches, road reports, lectures 
on tactics, competitive examinations, and the like—these are but as the sounding brass and 
the tinkling cymbal, unless the knowledge acquired in these theoretical studies is daily 
applied to the performance of practical work. Is there not a danger in these days of 
mistaking pedantry for real knowledge ? Knowledge is certainly power, but the kind of 
knowledge necessary to enable officers to lead their men in war cannot be learnt from 
books : it can only be acquired by working with them in peace. 
