10th Foot. 10th Foot. 19th Foot, 25th Foot.
26
and now it has come again to their turn in regular succession to proceed upon foreign ser- vice for another period of at least ten or more years as above, while upon reference to former years it appears that scarceely any regiment has been again sent abroad under a period of from four to five years at home.
Such being the present state of the foreign reliefs, with the means at my disposal for providing for them, I have only to request to be honoured with Her Majesty's commands as to the extent to which they are to be carried into effect during the current year, when it will become a part of my duty to attend to the above-mentioned plan of rotation, in so far as it may be in my power to act upon it.
That your Lordship may yet more clearly see the severity with which the colonial service presses upon the army generally, and upon individuals in particular, it will only be necessary to observe that the regiments named in the margin disembarked in Ireland, after their usual period of foreign service, and that it has not been, and is not likely to be in my power to give them the advantage (so much desired by all) of being quartered in England even for a short time prior to their re-embarkation abroad, according to the usual routine.
The periods of the year at which the several reliefs have been recommended to take place, with a view to the preservation of the health of the troops, are as follows:-
North America Cape of Good Hope Mauritius
Ceylon
West Indies April Jamaica
Apri
Malta
October
Gibraltar
May
Ionian Islands
I have, &c.
(Signed)
HILL.
27
two unequal parts, the one of 6 service companies of 315 rank and file, and the other of 4 depot companies of 224 rank and file, and thus securing to the public the largest share of labour abroad and at home with the smallest numbers of men in the most
efficient state.
It is further intended to prove that the present system facilitates more than any other hitherto tried, the rapid increase of the army upon a sudden and unexpected emergency, whether at head quarters or elsewhere; also while maintaining the gar- risons abroad in a state of the most complete efficiency, it provides for the ordinary duties and the sudden calls of home service, without interrupting the reformation of the regi- ments on their return from abroad, and of breaking them up to supply the necessary detachments in a manner injurious alike to military discipline, and generally to the interest of the public service.
Assuming the statement of the numbers, and the whole of the deductions resulting from them, as contained in the paper of the Secretary at War, to be arithmetically accurate; such other computations as it may be necessary for me to enter into on taking a more military view of the question, will be based upon the same figures and the comparative arrangements and distribution of the troops also will be founded upon the estimates of the same years as those adopted by the Secretary at War; 1820 and
1839.
1820.
In this year the Army consisted of 97 Battalions of Infantry of the Line, composed and dis- tributed as follows:-
1839.
In this year the Army consists of 109 Battalions
and distributed as follows:-
of Infantry of the Line, and which is composed
No. 11.
Observations upon, the Paper of the Secretary at War.
Horse Guards, May, 1839
IN this paper it is stated that a distribution of the army which would give to each battalion no more than three years and seven months at home, after every term of colonial duty of sixteen years in India, and ten years on other foreign stations, would be a severity of service obviously impossible to impose upon the troops for any considerable time; but that by a different organization of the infantry of the line, it would be possible at once greatly to diminish the pressure upon the troops of the colonial service, and also to make some reduction in the expense of maintaining the same amount of force as at present." The object being as it should seem," to show that a change of system is alone wanting to diminish the pressure of the colonial service upon the infantry of the line, without making an augmentation of the army, to an extent which would be attended with a very large and inconvenient expense;" and in proof of this statement comparative reference has been made to the numbers and distribution of the army in the years 1820 and 1839.
Concurring with the Secretary at War that three and half years at home between every tour of colonial duty would be a severity of service that ought not to be imposed upon the troops for any considerable time; but being doubtful whether the contem- plated change in the organization of the army would have the effect of materially dimi- nishing the present pressure, the following remarks upon the whole of this important question are offered for your Lordship's consideration.
In making arrangements for the formation of large bodies of armed men, there are two leading points to be kept in view, each of equal importance to the public service, the one the pecuniary expense, the other, the extent and magnitude of the work to be done; and which, as in the case now under consideration, becomes the principal, if not the only proper measure of its value.
The purport, therefore, of these observations is to prove that if the numbers and expense of the English army be compared with those of any other army, and with the work done over the face of the whole carth, it will be difficult to devise any system combining economy with efficiency in a greater degree than the present, whereby the 10 companies of a regiment of 739 rank and file, were intended to be divided into
Regiments.
Establish- ment.
Total.
Batta- Establish. tions. ment.
Total.
Increase.
East Indies.
15
1000
15,000
20
740
14,800
5
New South Wales
1
650
650
5
740
3,700
4
Ceylon
4
650
2,600
4
479
1,916
Mauritius
650
1,900
3
479
1,437
(2 650
1,330
559
559
650
1,950
13
559
1,677
650
3,250
5
479
2,395
650
4,550
479
3,832
Jamaica.
650
2,600
559
2,236
850
3,900
559
3,913
650
2,600
650
3,260
18
600
10,800
9
-
600
600
1
St. Helena Cape Gibraltar Mediterranean
West Indies
Nova Scotia. Canada Bermuda.
Total abroad
58
42,950
79
*
47,865
2)
2 on Passage.
81 Abroad.
968
48,829
BATTALIONS.
of 650 25,350
1,000
At Home
39.
10 Veteran Battalions
Total at Home
49
10,000
35,350
Home.
*TED*
22 Depots of
260
5,720
15
of
11
180
2,700
19
17
of
139
2,641
22 Batts. of
739
16,258
Total at Home
27,319
The Comparison will therefore stand thus:-
1820
Abroad
•
Abroad
58 Battalions 42,950 At Home, 49 Battalions 79 +
1839
On Passage 2
}48,823 At Home
More in 1839
5,873
35,350
27,310
Less in 1839
8,031
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
LEICO.
885
1 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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