Beginning, therefore, at the top, it must be noted9 that the first commander-in-chief under the restored Monarchy was a subject, George Monk10, Duke of Albemarle. His appointment was inevitable11, for he had already held that command as the servant of the Parliament over the undisbanded New Model, and he was the only man who could control that Army. Charles, in fact, lay at his mercy when he landed in 1660, and could not do less than confirm him in his old office. The powers entrusted12 to Monk by his commission were[309] very great. He had authority to raise forces, to fix the establishment, to issue commissions to all officers executive and administrative13, and to frame Articles of War for the preservation14 of discipline; he signed all warrants for expenditure15 of money or stores, and, in a word, he exerted the sovereign's powers as the sovereign's deputy in charge of the Army. On his death in January 1670, Charles, by the advice of his brother James, did not immediately appoint his successor, and though in 1674 he issued a circular to all officers of horse and foot to obey the Duke of Monmouth, yet he expressly reserved to himself many of the powers formerly17 made over to Monk. Finally, when in 1678 he appointed Monmouth to be captain-general, he withheld18 from him the title of commander-in-chief. On Monmouth's disgrace in 1679 Charles appointed no successor, but became his own commander-in-chief, an example which was duly followed by James the Second and William the Third. Thus the supreme19 control of the Army, with powers far greater than have been entrusted to any English commander-in-chief of modern times, continued at first practically the same as it had been made by Oliver Cromwell. It was exclusively in military hands.
The special branch of military administration in the hands of the commander-in-chief was that relating to the men. The care of material of war was committed to the ancient and efficient Office of Ordnance20. At the Restoration the old post of Master of the Ordnance was revived with the title of master-general; and in 1683 the Department was admirably reorganised, as has been seen, by the Duke of York. At the head stood, of course, the master-general; next under him were two officers of two distinct branches, the lieutenant21-general and the surveyor-general. The lieutenant-general was charged with the duty of estimating the amount of stores required for the Navy and the Army, and of making contracts for the supply of the same; he was also responsible for the maintenance of marching trains[310] for service in the field, and for the general efficiency of the artillery22 both as regards guns and men. His first assistant was named the master-gunner. The surveyor-general was responsible for the custody23 and care of all stores, and for all services relative to engineering; his first assistant was called the principal engineer. Transport of ordnance by land was the care of a waggon-master, transport by water of a purveyor24. The laboratory was committed to a fire-master, whose duties included the preparation of fireworks for festive25 occasions. The only weak point of the office was the exclusiveness of its jurisdiction26 over artillery and engineers, which was carried to such a pitch that all commissions in the two corps27 were signed by the master-general, though that functionary28 and his staff received their own commissions from the commander-in-chief.
I turn next to the department of finance. Here in place of the old treasurers30 at war there was created a new officer called the paymaster-general. Parliament, I must remind the reader, never recognised the existence of the Army under the Stuarts, nor voted a sixpence expressly for its service. The force was paid out of the King's privy31 purse, or, in the case of James, out of sums intended for the payment of the militia32. Thus the House of Commons through sheer perversity33 lost its hold upon the paymaster-general, and when it came to examine his office a whole century later, found, as shall be told in place, a system of corruption34 and waste which is almost incredible. The first paymaster-general, Sir Stephen Fox, received a salary of four hundred pounds a year, but this he soon supplemented by becoming practically a farmer of a part of the revenue. Knowing that Charles was chronically36 deficient37 in cash, he undertook to advance funds on his own private credit for the weekly pay of the Army, in consideration of a commission of one shilling in the pound. At the end of every four months he applied38 to the Treasury39 for reimbursement40, and if his claims were not immediately satisfied, he received eight per cent on the debt owing[311] to him, thus making a very handsome profit. This system was discontinued in 1684, but the deduction42, or poundage as it was called, was still levied43 on the Army, for no reason whatever, for a full century and a half. For the care of all other military expenses there was an office called by the old title of Treasurer29 of the Armies.
So much for the broad divisions of the administration, under the three heads of men, military stores, and finance. It is now necessary to trace the rise of a new department, which was destined44 to give to civilians45 the excessive share that they still enjoy in the direction of military affairs. While Charles the Second was yet an exile in Flanders in 1657, he had appointed a civilian46, Sir Edward Nicholas, who had been Secretary of Council to Charles the First, to be his Secretary at War. It was not uncommon47 for such civilian secretaries[210] to be attached to a general's staff, and we have already seen John Rushworth taking the field with the New Model as secretary to the Council of War. After the Restoration, and within six months of the date of Monk's commission, one Sir William Clarke was appointed to be secretary to the forces. Though a civilian, he received a commission couched in military terms, which were preserved for fully48 a century unchanged, bidding him obey such orders as he should from time to time receive from the King, or the general of the forces for the time being, according to the discipline of war. In effect he was a civilian wholly subordinated to the military authorities and subject to military discipline so far as that discipline existed; little more, indeed, than a secretary to the commander-in-chief. His services were not estimated at a very high rate, for he received at first but ten shillings, and after 1669 one pound a day, as salary for himself and clerks. The appointment was of so personal a nature that Clarke accompanied Monk to[312] sea in 1666, and was killed in the naval49 battle of the 1st of June, the first and last secretary at war who has fallen in action.
Monk then applied for the services of one Matthew Lock, whom he knew to be a good clerk, and Lock was appointed to be Clarke's successor with the title of sergeant50 or secretary at war. There is not a letter from him to be found in the State Papers until after Monk's death, which is sufficient proof that he was a person of no great importance; but in 1676, when there was no longer a single commander-in-chief, he was entrusted with the removal of quarters, the relief of the established corps, the despatch51 of convoys52, and even with authority to quarter troops in inns, all of which duties had been previously53 fulfilled by military men. Thus early and insidiously54 arose once more that civil interference with military affairs which had with such difficulty been thrown off at the establishment of the New Model. The system was wholly unconnected with any question of Parliamentary control, for Parliament would have nothing to do with the standing55 Army. Most probably it was due simply to the indolence of the King, who would neither do the work of commander-in-chief himself nor appoint any other man to do it for him. Thus the Army was placed once and for all under the heel of a civilian clerk.
The staff at headquarters was based on the model of that which had prevailed under Cromwell, though of course on a scale reduced to the minute proportions of the Army. The duties must, at first, have been within the scope of a very few officials, and it is probable that Monk required little assistance. There was, however, a commissary of the musters57, to whom in 1664 a scoutmaster-general, or head of the intelligence department, was added. The business of foreign intelligence in all its branches, diplomatic, naval, and military, had been conducted with admirable efficiency during the Protectorate by the Secretary of State, John Thurloe, but Pepys remarked a sad falling away in this department[313] after the Restoration, due, as he admits, to the scanty58 allowance of funds allotted59 to the service. Charles was not the man to face the difficulties of establishing a great administrative office on a sound basis. James, on the other hand, began to grapple with them very early after his accession. He strengthened the staff by the addition of adjutants and quartermasters-general of horse and foot, and strove hard to improve the efficiency of the office; but his time was too short and his distractions60 too manifold to permit him to do the work thoroughly61. Had he reigned62 for ten years, his familiarity with the system of Louvois and his own administrative ability might have reduced our military system once for all to order. It is not too much to say that his expulsion was in this respect the greatest misfortune that ever befell the Army.
Even he, however, would have found it a hard task to overcome the obstacles raised by Parliament, namely, the difficulties of regular payment of wages and of maintaining discipline. It was impossible to enforce military law on the troops, since Parliament steadily63 withheld its sanction to the same.[211] Nothing therefore remained but the civil law. A soldier who struck his superior officer or got drunk on guard could legally only be haled before the civil magistrate64 for common assault or for drunkenness, while if he slept on his post or disobeyed orders or deserted65 he was subject to no legal penalty whatever. Parliament never seems to have been the least alive to the danger of such a state of things, nor to have weighed it against its fixed66 resolution not to recognise the standing Army. As a matter of fact, however, military offences seem to have been punished as such throughout the reign of Charles, though without ostentation67; and discipline appears to have been maintained without serious difficulty. The[314] number of the troops was, after all, but small; many of the men were already inured68 to obedience69; the traditions of Oliver and of George Monk were still alive; and the men probably accepted service with a tacit understanding that they were subject to different conditions from the civilian. But when the three regiments71 returned from foreign service and savage72 warfare73 at Tangier, and Monmouth's rebellion had brought about a multiplication74 of regiments, the situation was altogether changed. James, who knew the value of discipline, determined75 to arrogate76 the powers that Parliament denied to him, but, like all weak men, endeavoured to effect his purpose by half measures. To secure the punishment of certain deserters he packed the Court of King's Bench with unscrupulous men; and though the culprits were hanged, discipline was only preserved at the cost of the integrity of the courts of law, a proceeding77 which damaged him greatly both in the Army and the country at large. It will presently be seen how this question of discipline was forced upon Parliament in a fashion that allowed of no further trifling78.
The subject of pay opens a melancholy79 chapter in the history of English administration. It has already been related that Charles the Second let out the payment of the Army to a contractor80 for a commission of a shilling in the pound. This commission of course came out of the pockets of officers and men; they paid, in fact, a tax of five per cent for the privilege of receiving their wages, and this not to the State, to which the officers still pay sometimes an equal amount under the name of income-tax, but for the benefit of a private individual. If the mulcting of the Army had ended there, the evil would not have been so serious, but as a matter of fact it was but one drop in a vast ocean of corruption. I have already alluded81 to the immense service wrought82 by the Puritans towards integrity of administration, and towards raising the moral standard of the military profession. The destruction of the old traditions and the substitution of new principles was a[315] magnificent stroke, but it was unfortunately premature83. The new principles might indeed have endured had they but been cherished and encouraged for another generation, but unfortunately no man better fitted to starve them could have been found than the merry monarch2. His difficulties were doubtless very great, but he brought but one principle to meet them, that come what might he must not be bored. His indolent selfishness was masked by an exquisite84 charm of manner, and being a kind-hearted man, he always heard complaints with a sympathetic word; but to redress85 them cost more trouble than he could afford. Any man who would save him trouble was welcome; any shift that would stave off an unpleasant duty was the right one. There was abundance of deserving suitors to be provided for, still greater abundance of importunate86 favourites to be satisfied; administration was a bore and money was sadly deficient. All difficulties could be solved by the simple process of providing alike the impecunious87 and the greedy with administrative offices, or, in other words, with licences to plunder88 the public. If they chose to purchase these offices for money, so much the better for the royal purse. Thus the whole fabric89 built up during the Commonwealth90 was shattered almost at a blow.
The effect on the Army was immediate16. A great many of the returned exiles, including Charles and James themselves, had served in the French army, where the system of purchasing commissions had never been abandoned, and where the abuses which had been shaken off by the New Model were still in full vigour91. The old corrupt35 traditions had not been killed in thirteen years, and, reviving under the general reaction against Puritan restraint, they sprang quickly into new life. The old military centralisation of Oliver, upheld for a time by Monk, rapidly perished, and what might have still been an army sank into a mere92 aggregate93 of regiments, the property of individual colonels, and of troops and companies, the property of individual[316] captains. Every civilian of the military departments hastened to make money at the expense of the officers, and every officer to enrich himself at the cost of the men. The flood-gates so carefully closed by the Puritans were opened, and the abuses of three centuries streamed back into their old channel to flow therein unchecked for two centuries more.
At its first renewal94 the system of purchase was carried to such lengths that the very privates paid premiums95 to the enlisting96 officers; but the practice was speedily checked by Monk in 1663. In March 1684 the system received a kind of royal sanction through the purchase by the King himself of a commission from one officer for presentation to another. Then nine months later Charles suddenly declared that he would permit no further purchase and sale of military appointments. Whether he would have abolished it if he had lived may be doubted, but it is certain that the system continued in full operation under James the Second, gathering97 strength of course with each new year of existence.
Let me now attempt briefly98 to sketch99 the organised system of robbery that prevailed in the military service under the two last of the Stuarts. The study may be unpleasant, but it is less pathological than historic. First, then, let us treat of the officer. On purchasing his commission he paid forthwith one fee to the Secretary at War, and a second, apparently100, to one of the Secretaries of State. After the institution of Chelsea Hospital, as to which a word shall presently be said, he paid further five per cent on his purchase money towards its funds, the seller of the commission contributing a like proportion from the same sum to the same object. He then became entitled to the pay of his rank, but this by no means implied that it was regularly paid to him. In the first place, his pay was divided into two parts, termed respectively his subsistence and his arrears102, or clearings. The former sum was a proportion of the full pay, which varied103 according to the grade of the[317] officer, it being obvious that an ensign, for instance, could not subsist101 if any large fraction was deducted104 from his daily pittance105, whereas a major could be more heavily mulcted and yet not starve. This subsistence was therefore paid, or supposed to be issued, in advance from the pay-office and to be subject to no stoppage. The balance of the full pay, or arrears, was paid yearly after it became due, and after considerable deductions106 had been made from it. First of these deductions came the poundage, or payment of one shilling in the pound, to the paymaster-general, and the discharge of one day's full pay to Chelsea Hospital. These stoppages were more or less legitimate107. Then the commissary-general of the musters stepped in to claim from the officer, as from every one else in the Army, one day's pay, a tax which caused much discontent, and was in 1680 reduced to one-third of a day's pay. Then came a vast number of irregular exactions. Every commissary of the musters claimed a fee, amounting sometimes to as much as two guineas for every troop or company passed at each muster56, which, as musters were taken six times a year, was sufficiently108 exorbitant109. Next the auditors110 demanded thirty shillings, or eight times their legal fee, for each troop and company on passing the accounts of the paymaster-general. Finally, fees to the exchequer111, fees to the treasury, fees for the issue of pay-warrants, fees, in a word, to every greedy clerk who could make himself disagreeable, brought the tale of extortion to an end. Let the reader remember that this system of subsistence and arrears, with the same legitimate deductions and almost equal opportunities for irregular pilfering112, was still in force when we began the war of the French Revolution, and let him not wonder that officers of the Army will still cherish unfriendly feelings towards the clerks at the War Office.[212]
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Now comes the more distressing113 examinations of the officers' methods of indemnifying themselves. For this purpose let us study the pay of a private centinel, as he was called, of the infantry114 of the Line. This consisted, as it had been in Queen Mary's time, and was still to be in King George the Third's, of eightpence a day, or ￡12 : 13 : 4 a year. Of this, sixpence a day, or ￡9 : 2 : 6 a year, was set apart for his subsistence, and was nominally115 inviolable. The balance, ￡3 : 0 : 10 a year, was called the "gross off-reckonings," which were subject of course to a deduction of five per cent, or 12s. 2d., for the paymaster-general, and of one day's pay to Chelsea Hospital, whereby the gross off-reckonings were reduced to ￡2 : 8s. This last amount, dignified116 by the title of "net off-reckonings," was made over to the colonel for the clothing of the regiment70, an item which included not only the actual garments, but also the sword and belt, and as time went on the bayonet and cartridge117 box. The system, as will be remembered, dated from the days of Queen Elizabeth, when half a crown a week was allowed to the men for subsistence and a total of ￡4 : 2 : 6 deducted for two suits a year. It is sufficiently plain that the sum now allowed for clothing was insufficient118, and that a colonel who did his duty by his men must inevitably119 be a loser. Moreover, this was not his only expense. The clerical work entailed120 by his duties demanded assistance, for which he was indeed authorised to keep a clerk, but supplied with no allowance wherewith to pay him. This clerk presently became known as the colonel's agent, and though a civilian and the colonel's private servant, virtually performed the duties of a regimental paymaster.
The results of such an arrangement may easily be guessed. It was not in consonance with military tradition, certainly not in accordance with human nature, that colonels should lose money by their commands, and it is only too certain that they did not. The contractor was called in, and the door was opened[319] wide to robbery at the expense of the soldier. Colonels took commissions or even open bribes121 from the contractors123; the agent took his fee likewise; and in at least one recorded case a colonel actually accepted a bribe122 from his own agent to give him the contract. It may easily be imagined how the soldiers fared for clothing. But the mischief124 did not end here. The subsistence-money, though in theory subject to no deduction, was practically at the mercy of the colonel and his agent, who, under various pretexts125, appropriated a greater or smaller share of the poor soldier's sixpence. As an additional source of profit, it was not uncommon for colonels to abstain126 from reporting the vacancy127 caused by an officer's death, to continue to draw the dead man's pay and to put it into his own pocket.
Captains of companies, with such an example before them, were not slow to imitate it; and from them too the unfortunate soldiers suffered not a little. But their easiest road to plunder was the old beaten track of false musters, which was rendered all the easier by the corruption of the commissaries. Any vacancy in the ranks after one muster was left unfilled until the day before the next muster, and the captain drew pay for an imaginary man during the interval128. Or again, the passe-volant, old as the days of Hawkwood, made his reappearance at musters and was passed, with or without the collusion of the commissaries, as a genuine soldier. Finally, Charles himself gave countenance129 after a manner to this fraud by reviving the practice of allowing officers so many imaginary men or permanent vacancies130 in each troop or company in order to increase their emoluments131. And so the passe-volant became naturalised first as a "faggot," and later as a "warrant man" in the infantry and a "hautbois" in the cavalry132, and survived to a period well within the memory of living men.[213] The remoter a regiment's quarters from[320] home the grosser were the abuses that prevailed in it, and in Ireland they seem to have passed all bounds. Captains calmly appropriated the entire pay of their companies, and turned the men loose to live by the plunder of the inhabitants. It was a reversion to the evils rampant133 in Queen Elizabeth's army in the Netherlands, and, in justice to the officers, it must be added that those evils were brought about in both cases by the same cause. Officers were simply forced into dishonesty by the withholding134 of their own pay by civilian officials in London.
It must not be thought that these scandals passed unnoticed at headquarters. As early as 1663 orders were issued to put a stop to fraudulent musters, and two years later the salaries of the officers of the Ordnance were increased almost threefold to check the sale of places and to diminish the temptation to accept bribes. Similar orders were respectively promulgated135 from time to time, but with little or no effect; possibly they were issued mainly as a matter of form, to stop the mouth of criticism. The root of the evil is to be traced to the civilian paymaster-general, who from the peculiarity137 of his position was accountable to no one, and enjoyed total irresponsibility for full forty years. The King no doubt flattered himself that the men were regularly paid; the abuses took some time to attain138 to their height, and in the short reign of James the Second it is probable that his attention to military business did somewhat to improve matters. But while Charles was on the throne the paymaster-general did as he pleased. Though wages were nominally paid after each muster, they were often withheld for months, and even for years. Finally, when payment was at last made, it was discharged not in cash but in tallies139 or debentures140 which could only be sold at a discount; while the colonels' agents seized the opportunity to deduct41 a percentage in consideration of the trouble to which they had been subjected to obtain any payment whatever.
So the old foundations of fraud were renovated,[321] and on them was built during the next century and a half a gigantic superstructure of rascality141 and corruption which is not yet wholly demolished142. Let it not be thought that in the seventeenth century such malpractices were either new or confined to England. They were, as I have often repeated, as old almost as the art of war, and they were rampant all over Europe. The excuse of English officers for their dishonesty was always, "It is so in France," and in France, as the history of the French Revolution shows, the old evils endured and throve for another full century. But the sin and shame of England is, that though she had once put away the accursed thing from her, she returned to it again as the sow to her wallowing in the mire143. In 1659 English soldiers were proud of their name and calling; in 1666 it had already become a scandal to be a Life Guardsman.[214] Recruits had been found without difficulty under the Commonwealth to make the military profession, as was the rule in those days, the business of their whole life; but after a very few years of the Stuarts the King was compelled to resort to the press-gang. The status of the soldier was lowered, and has never recovered itself to this day.
I turn from this melancholy tale of retrogression to contemplate144 the changes made in other departments of the service. Herein it will be most convenient to begin with the regimental organisation145 and equipment. First, then, let us glance at the cavalry, which at the Restoration appears definitely to have taken precedence as the senior service. The reader will remember that in the New Model the fixed strength of a regiment was six troops of one hundred men, which was reduced in time of peace to an establishment of sixty men. Setting aside the Life Guards, which were independent troops of two hundred gentlemen apiece, the regiment which first occupies our attention is the Blues146, which began life with eight troops, each of sixty men. So far there was practically no change, but in 1680 the strength of the[322] Blues was diminished to fifty men in a troop; and in 1687 the newly raised regiments were established at an initial strength of six or seven troops of forty men only. Finally, as shall presently be seen in the campaigns that lie before us in Flanders, the establishment of a troop for war sinks to fifty men, and the establishment for peace to thirty-six. Here, therefore, is Cromwell's excellent system overthrown. The troop of cavalry is so far weakened as to be not worth assorting into three divisions, one to each of the three officers, and the seeds of enforced idleness are sown, to bear fruit an hundredfold. Hardly less significant is the appointment, in 1661, of regimental adjutants to help the majors in the duties which they had hitherto discharged without assistance.
The equipment of the Horse was likewise altered. The trooper retained the iron head-piece[215] and cuirass, the pistols and the sword of the New Model, but he was now further supplied with a carbine, which was slung147 at his back, and with a cartridge box for his ammunition148. The new equipment was served out to the household troops in 1663, and to other regiments of Horse in 1677. It marks a new birth of the futile149 practice of firing from the saddle, which has wasted untold150 ammunition with infinitesimal results. As regards horses it was still the rule, which had been little modified during the Civil War, that the trooper should bring with him his own horse; if he had none the King supplied him with one, at an average price, and the money was stopped, if necessary, from the trooper's pay.
The drill still bore marks of Cromwell's influence, for the men were drawn151 up in three ranks only; and though the attack was opened by the discharge of carbines and pistols, yet it was distinctly laid down that when the fire-arms were empty, there must be no thought of reloading, but immediate resort to the sword.[323] Moreover, although the front was still increased or diminished by the doubling of ranks or files, there were already signs of the man?uvre by small divisions that was to displace it.
Passing next to the dragoons, the reader will have noticed that this arm was not represented in the original Army formed by Charles the Second. Notwithstanding the high reputation which dragoons had enjoyed during the Civil War, it was not until 1672 that a regiment of them was raised, and then only to be disbanded after a brief existence of two years. The Tangier Horse, now called the First Royal Dragoons, was converted into a regiment of dragoons on its return from foreign service in 1684; and four years later there was added to the establishment a Scotch152 regiment which bears a famous name. It was made up in 1681 of three independent troops that had been raised three years before, and was completed by three additional troops, under the name of the Royal Regiment of Dragoons of Scotland. It now ranks as the Second regiment of the Cavalry of the Line, and is known to all the world as the Scots Greys.
Dragoons still preserved their original character of mounted infantry. Twelve men of each troop besides the non-commissioned officers were armed with the halberd and a pair of pistols, while the remainder were equipped with matchlock muskets154, bandoliers, and, after 1672, with bayonets. In 1687 this equipment was improved by the substitution of flintlocks for matchlocks, of cartridge boxes for bandoliers, and of buckets, in addition to the old slings156, for the carriage of muskets. The tactical unit of the dragoons was still called the company, though at the close of the Civil War often denominated the troop; but the tendency of dragoons to assimilate themselves to horse is seen in the substitution of cornet for ensign as the title of the junior subaltern. This tendency was perhaps the stranger, since the companies of dragoons, eighty men strong, must have presented a favourable157 contrast to the weak and attenuated158 troops of horse.
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A new description of mounted soldier appeared in 1683,[216] in the shape of the Horse-grenadier. I shall have more to say presently of grenadiers, when treating of the infantry, so it is sufficient to state here that Horse-grenadiers were practically only mounted men of that particular arm, who as a rule linked their horses for action and fought on foot like the dragoons. There were in all three troops of Horse-grenadiers, which were attached to the three troops of Life Guards. Their peculiarity was that the two junior officers of each troop were both lieutenants159, instead of lieutenant and cornet.
The infantry, like the cavalry, suffered an alteration160 in the regimental establishments after the Restoration. The old strength of one hundred and twenty to a company was reduced to one hundred, and in time of peace sank to eighty, sixty, and even fifty men. The number of companies to a battalion161 was also altered. The First Guards began life with twelve companies; and though for a time the Coldstreamers and newly raised regiments retained the original number of ten, yet twelve gradually became the usual, and after the accession of James the Second, the accepted, strength of a battalion. It must be noted that after 1672 a battalion and a regiment of foot cease to be synonymous terms, the First Guards being in that year increased to twenty-four companies and two battalions162, a precedent163 which was soon extended to sundry164 other regiments.
On the accession of James there was added to the twelve companies of every regiment an additional company of grenadiers. These were established first in 1678, and took their name from the grenade,[217] the new weapon with which they were armed. The hand grenade was simply a small shell of from one to two inches in diameter, kindled165 by a fuse and thrown by [325]the hand. Hence it was entrusted to the tallest and finest men in the regiment, who might reasonably be expected to throw it farthest. The white plume166, supposed to be symbolic167 of the white smoke of the fuse, was not apparently used at first as the distinctive168 mark of grenadiers. They, and the fusiliers likewise, wore caps instead of broad-brimmed hats, to enable them to sling155 their firelocks over both shoulders with ease. These caps, which were at first of fur, were soon made of cloth, and assumed the shape of the mitre which Hogarth has handed down to us. Another peculiarity of grenadiers was that they were always armed with firelocks and with hatchets,[218] and that both of their subaltern officers were lieutenants.
Another new branch of the infantry was the regiment of Fusiliers, so called from the fusil or flintlock, as opposed to the matchlock, with which they were armed. They were, in fact, simply an expansion of the companies of firelocks which formed part of the New Model in the department of the Train; they were borne for duty with the artillery specially169, and therefore included one company of miners. Miner-companies were armed with long carbines and hammer-hatchets peculiar136 to themselves, and they had but one subaltern officer, a lieutenant. Like the grenadiers, the fusiliers did not recognise the rank of ensign, and their junior subalterns were therefore called second lieutenants.[219]
It is somewhat remarkable170 that so much should have been made of a weapon so familiar as the firelock. Men who, like Gustavus Adolphus, saw that the whole future of warfare turned on the fire of musketry, had long accepted its superiority to the matchlock; and George Monk, on marching into London in 1660, had at once ordered the Coldstreamers to return their [326]matchlocks into store and to draw firelocks in their stead. Nor was this preference confined solely171 to military reformers, for we find the Assemblies of Barbados and Jamaica, remote islands in which old fashions might have been expected to die their hardest, uncompromisingly rejecting the matchlocks prescribed for them by the English Government and insisting on arming themselves with "fusees."[220] At home, however, jobbery and corruption were doubtless at work, for the Coldstream Guards reverted172 to the matchlock in 1665. Finally, after many compromises, the Guards were in 1683 armed exclusively with firelocks, while the other regiments carried a fixed proportion, probably not less than one-half, of the superior weapon among their matchlocks.
Correspondingly we find throughout these reigns173 a steady diminution174 in the use of the pike. In companies of grenadiers and regiments of fusiliers they were utterly175 abolished; in other corps the proportion, which had once been one-half, had already sunk at the Restoration to one-third, whence it speedily declined to one-fourth and one-fifth.[221] We find them, however, still in use during the wars of William the Third, and we shall see that they did not want advocates even at the close of the Seven Years' War, to say nothing of the part that they played in the French Revolution.[222] As a weapon for officers it survived for many generations under the form of the half-pike or spontoon,[223] even as the halberd prolonged its life as the peculiar weapon of sergeants176. To the officers also was assigned by a singular coincidence the preservation of the memory of [327]the armour177 which had once been worn by all pikemen; and the gorget survived as a badge of rank on their breasts long after corslet and tassets had vanished from the world.[224]
None the less the pike had received its death-blow through the invention of the bayonet. This new and revolutionary weapon had been invented in 1640, when it consisted of a double-edged blade, like a pike-head, mounted on two or three inches of wooden haft, which could be thrust into the barrel of the musket153. In this form the bayonet was issued first to the Tangier regiment[225] alone in 1663, and to all the infantry and dragoons in 1673, but only to be withdrawn178, until in 1686 it was finally reissued to the Foot Guards. It was not until after the Revolution that bayonets were served out to the whole of the infantry.
In the matter of drill there was little or no change. The front was still increased or diminished by the doubling of ranks and of files, and the file still consisted of six men. The reduction of the numbers of pikemen, however, greatly increased the homogeneity of the infantry and contributed not a little to simplify its movements. Moreover, although the file might consist of six men, it is not likely, considering how far the musket and bayonet had superseded179 the pike, that the formation for action was greater than three ranks in depth. The platoon is not mentioned in the drill books, the probable reason being that it was not favoured by the French School, in which Charles and James had both of them received their training. But for this, there is every reason to suppose that the army encamped on Hounslow Heath would not have been found behind the times in the matter of exercise and equipment if it could have been transported without change to the field of Blenheim.
[328]
Of the artillery there is still little to be said. Until 1682 gunners seem to have enjoyed their original distribution into small, independent bodies, in charge of the various scattered180 garrisons181. Even such small organisation as appeared in the New Model seems to have been lost, and field-guns appear to have been told off to battalions of infantry, or to have been worked by such of the escort of fusiliers as had been trained by the few expert gunners. The artilleryman had long looked upon himself as a superior mortal,[226] but in 1682 he was brought under the Ordnance, subjected to military discipline, and regularly exercised at his duty. The time was not far distant when the organisation of the gunners was to be improved. Of engineers I can say no more than the few details already given when describing the Ordnance Office and the fusiliers.
A word remains182 to be said of the foundation of Chelsea Hospital. It has been told that Queen Mary was the first of our sovereigns who showed any care for old soldiers, and that Elizabeth was intolerably impatient of such miserable183 creatures. Two generations, however, had bred a softer heart in English sovereigns, and when Charles the Second had been twenty years on the throne, and England was again thronged184 with maimed and infirm soldiers who had served their time in Tangier, in the West Indies, or in the Low Countries, it was felt to be a reproach that faithful fighting-men should be left to starve or to beg their bread. Kilmainham Hospital in Dublin was the first-fruit of this sentiment, and was founded in 1680; Chelsea followed it in the succeeding year. Sir Stephen Fox, the paymaster-general, was the man who was foremost in the work, and it is to his credit that, having made so much money out of the private soldier, he should have[329] chosen this method of repaying him. The scheme of the hospital was submitted to the King, who was asked to grant a piece of land for a building. Charles, always gracious, readily complied, and offered the site of St. James's College, Chelsea. "But odso!" he added, "I now recollect185 that I have already given that land to Mistress Nell here." Whereupon, so runs the story, whether true or untrue, Nell gracefully186 forewent her grant for so good a purpose; and Chelsea Hospital is the British soldier's to this day. It is painful to have to add that the officials of the pay-office seem to have begun at once to steal part of the money contributed by the Army to its maintenance, though the fact will astonish no reader who has followed me through this chapter. But the friends of the Army have always been few, and the best of them in former times, strange conjunction, were a queen and a harlot. Had they endowed a fund for supplying African negroes with Bibles, or even with mass-books, much would be forgiven them in England; but they thought more of saving old soldiers from want, so Mary Tudor is still Bloody187 Mary, and Eleanor Gwyn the unspeakable Nell.
Authorities.—The reader will find the fullest of references for the details in this chapter in Clifford Walton's History of the British Standing Army, with an index which will enable him to trace them without difficulty. Having myself perused188 the War Office books and papers in the Record Office, and the Calendars of the Domestic and Treasury State Papers independently, I can answer for the care and accuracy of the author in the preparation of this vast store of information, and gladly acknowledge my debt to it. The defect of the work is, of course, that it begins abruptly189 at the year 1660. Mr. Dalton's Army Lists and Commission Registers are also of great value, and claim the gratitude190 of all workers in the field of English military history. Sir Sibbald Scott's British Army is worth consulting occasionally for a few details, but is superseded by Hewitt's Ancient Armour on one side, and by Colonel Clifford Walton on the other. Mackinnon's Coldstream Guards contains a very valuable appendix of ancient documents. Sir F. Hamilton's History of the Grenadier Guards should be used only with extreme caution. The drill and exercise of the period may be studied in Venn's Military Observations, 1672.
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1
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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purveyor
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| n.承办商，伙食承办商 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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treasurers
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| （团体等的）司库，财务主管( treasurer的名词复数 ) | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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chronically
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| ad.长期地 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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reimbursement
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| n.偿还，退还 | |
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deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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43
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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50
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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51
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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52
convoys
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| n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队 | |
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53
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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insidiously
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| 潜在地，隐伏地，阴险地 | |
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55
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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56
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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57
musters
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的第三人称单数 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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58
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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61
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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62
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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63
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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68
inured
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| adj.坚强的，习惯的 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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70
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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72
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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73
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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74
multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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75
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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76
arrogate
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| v.冒称具有...权利，霸占 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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80
contractor
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| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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81
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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83
premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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84
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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85
redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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86
importunate
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| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
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87
impecunious
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| adj.不名一文的，贫穷的 | |
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88
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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89
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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92
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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93
aggregate
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| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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94
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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95
premiums
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| n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价 | |
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96
enlisting
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| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的现在分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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97
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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99
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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100
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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101
subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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102
arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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103
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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104
deducted
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| v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105
pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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106
deductions
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| 扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演 | |
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107
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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108
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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109
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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110
auditors
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| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
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111
exchequer
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| n.财政部；国库 | |
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112
pilfering
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| v.偷窃（小东西），小偷( pilfer的现在分词 )；偷窃（一般指小偷小摸） | |
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113
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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114
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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115
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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116
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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117
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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118
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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119
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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120
entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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121
bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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122
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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123
contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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124
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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125
pretexts
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| n.借口，托辞( pretext的名词复数 ) | |
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126
abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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127
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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128
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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129
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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130
vacancies
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| n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺 | |
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131
emoluments
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| n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 ) | |
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132
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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133
rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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134
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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135
promulgated
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| v.宣扬（某事物）( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 )；传播；公布；颁布（法令、新法律等） | |
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136
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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137
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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138
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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139
tallies
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| n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合 | |
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140
debentures
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| n.公司债券( debenture的名词复数 ) | |
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141
rascality
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| 流氓性，流氓集团 | |
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142
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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143
mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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144
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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145
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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146
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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147
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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148
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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149
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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150
untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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151
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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152
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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153
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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154
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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155
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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156
slings
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| 抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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157
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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158
attenuated
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| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
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159
lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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160
alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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161
battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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162
battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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163
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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164
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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165
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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166
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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167
symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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168
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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169
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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170
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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171
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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172
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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173
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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174
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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175
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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176
sergeants
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| 警官( sergeant的名词复数 )； （美国警察）警佐； （英国警察）巡佐； 陆军（或空军）中士 | |
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177
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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178
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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179
superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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180
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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181
garrisons
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| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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182
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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183
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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184
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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185
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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186
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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187
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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188
perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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189
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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190
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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