• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

A BRIIJSH ARMT, AS IT WAS.—IS.-IlfD OUGHT TO BE: by EXAMPLES DUEIN\THE PENINSULAR WAR: WITH OBSERVATIONS T-.p INDIA—THE UNITED 8Ti\;J«'S OF Am1|r|cA— THE BOUNDARY LINE—ThJINAYWARFARE, &r. -iv .. BY LIEUT, JAMES CAMPBELL, LATE BRIOA^^^JOB 3RD DIVISION, AND VOEHSRLT OF TI|E AND 50X11 BBOIMBNTS. LONi^^rf. T. & nv. BOONE, 29, NEW BOND STREET. 1840. TO GENERAL SIR THOMAS M. BRISBANE, BART., G.C.B., Sc. &c. &c. ' ' J As a soldier who has seen much service in *all .parisof tlyi world, and commanded large bodies of troops in tlie tie’d, you can decide if^my views are correct or not. As a* General of the 3rd division, yoi^'’'.uSt know w’hcllier T have cri’ed (certainly uniiitentioiiiilly) in n»y stateiiieiitb; and I also trust vou will be able to hear me out when I say, that the honour and renown of my companions jin arms, and the good of the army in general, are my sole objects in appearing before the public. I wish to dedicate the fruits of my experience to you, as a tritiiiig tribute of l^ie gratitude I feel for the friend¬ ship and kindness you have shown me on many occa¬ sions. I caju with truth say, my motives in the following w'ork are pure and disinterested ; but my views are not those of the generality of writers of the dav. I know, as well ,as they do, tliat British sol^liers will always follow their gallant officers in any attempt, if even requiring the*most supernatural efforts ; but I am not, as tlKv almost all seem to be, blind k> the great iin- iv perfections of too many of those allowed to ent^ our regiments' • I can gladly leave them the reputation of possessing the most undaunted courage of any soldiers in the world, and the nation the honour and glory their deeds in battle have acquired. Let both pride them¬ selves, as they have a right to do, upon these; but for the time to come, we want, and ought to have, the good and true men of the British Empire brought into the ranks of our armies; and of whom many—very many— can be found, if called upon, as they should be, to serve their Sovereigd and their country as they might hereafter be served by a British armjt formed,” as it Q^glil. to be, to suk the times. • I have the honour to be, Sir, Your truly devoted humble servant, THE AUTHOR. RavemdaUf June 10, 1S40. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. Pai{e What a British Army was, is still, and the commencement of certain introductory matter, intended to show in part what it ought to be 1 CHAP. II. Continuation of the subject, and pointing out what fs required to render the army more suitable to the times . • .31 CHIP. III. Continuation of the subject, and showing how essential it is tliat corps for East India service, and for our colonies, should be formed, with a view to icndering tlie regular army perfectly efficient.— Various changes recommended and reasons assigned for them being necessary.—Some observations.(K) CHAP. IV. Continuation of the subject, with observations upon various matters connected ^with the efficiency and discipline of the army.— Veterans unfitly for service in North America.—-Remarks upon proposed changes in our militia.—Attention called to various sub¬ jects!—Improvements in system, &c. suggested.—Numl>erB of men taken away upon service from corps as bat-men, etil effects, and* a remedy proposed.—Baggage and followen of an army in the field, &c.^ . .68 VI •CHAP. V. Page Introductory ol}^rvations upon the stafFof an army.—Remarks upon the ^tat-major of the French army.—^The staff wanted for a British army.—Remarks upon the battle of Talavera.—Staff of an army continued.—An efficient and highly respectable police for an army in the field recommended.—Some of its duties aUuded to.—Important remarks upon military police and courts-martial. —Staff duties continued.—Medical department and its establish¬ ments in the field.—The commissariat department in the field.— Observations.120 CHAP. VI. Farther observations.—Insufficiency of allowance of practice ammu¬ nition for corps.—Hints for the maintenance of discipline in quarters and in the field.—Attention to the religious ani^v^enijral education o^regiments stjpngly urged.—A plan for this purpose proposed.—Vigrious necesssary observations, &c.—Lord Welling¬ ton’s letter to generals commanding divisions and brigades, with !'c*narks.—Useful observations upon the storming of (hudad Rodrigo.—Remarks and general ojjdef relating to the 3rd divi¬ sion in the retreat from Elbodon to Guinaldo.—iitorming of the castle of Badajoz.—Conduct of our troops tliere given to show the composition and conduct of a British army in the field . .171 CHAP. VII. The escalade of .the castle’of Badajoz hei'kup gs an example to future commanders of such enterprises.—The part performed by the 3rd division under Sir Edward Pakenham at Salamanca, with remarks, &c.—The French generals and 6tat-major before the lines of Torres Vedras, A'c.—Marshal Soult and his etat-major before the battle of Toulouse, 5^.—^The 3rd division at fi'onlouse, Ac.—Part performed by the 3rd division at VittAria, with re¬ marks.—Some occurrences at the Nivelle, with useffll observa¬ tions.—A few necessar^ remarks upon the battle of the Pyrenees. The 3rd division at Orthes, and shcwii\g its style of fight¬ ing there, and upon other occasions.—Tliis farther illustrated at the Vic Bigore, witJi other matters.219 Vll CHAP. VIII. P.ige Observations upon the United States* of AineriCB.—Theif* present position as regards' Great Britain, the Canadas, See.—Attention . particularly called to that country, with observations upon naval and military matters.—Expedition to Plattsburg,with other mat¬ ters of importance; 'Such as the question of the Boundary line, See. and some official documents respecting our North American territories.—Instructions of a military nature, respecting Lower Canada in 1814, with useful hints and matters of consequence to be attended to by Great Britain.—Future combined naval and military enterprises, with necessary and useful observatiqjQS^-^- Concluding general remarks.2Q4 ON THE BRITISH ARMY, ^C. ^C. CHAP. I. • I HAVE impt>sed upon iftyself a tasjj which miy pro¬ bably expose me to much annoyance, or perhaps severe criticism; so much so, that I ai» almost deterred from entering upon it, in consequence of feeling that although I may fancy I i^derstand the subjects 1 intend to write upon, yet at the same time I greatly fear I am unequal to do them that justjee which they require; but some¬ thing I shall neither attempt*to describe, nor analyze, urges me on in what 1 consider, as an officer of some experience, I ought to undertake; and let the conse¬ quences be what they may, I have the consolation to think, that my motives, at all events, are pure and dis¬ interested. , * Many well-meaning men, and many •mischievous men, have for years past been exerting themselves, with unwearied assiduity, to have the corporal punishment of flogging done away with* in our army; but no expe¬ rienced officer, or person acquainted with the Subject, 2 when be considers its former and present composition, can for instant entertain such an idea, unless some other mode of punishment can be thought of, as a sub* stitute, equally prompt, and which, from its conse.* quences, would keep the transgressor as sliort a time from the performance of his duties as flagellation does. 1 do not presume to say, that the conduct of all corps of cavalry, infantry and artillery, were alike; but such ■ officers as have been much employed with a British army ia the field, must be aware of what he had to contend with, to prevent irregularities, and above all drunkenness, and the crimes arising out of its demora¬ lizing effects, into which our soldiers invariably fell; so much so, that the greater part of them could never bfe trusted out of the sight of those who had the charge of them; and^ the annoyances and sufferings of the un¬ lucky officers who had too often to bear the blame for their disorderly conduct, especially in going to and returning from the several hospital stations, and upon ^cort, and other duties, which tqok them away from their corps in Portugal*, Spain, and other countries, cannot have forgotten what ^hey had to encounter, and they must fully bear me oiit when I say, that it was per¬ fect misery to have any thing to do with them ; and nothing but the certainty of being flogged, if caiight by the Provost absent from their corps, kept many of them in the line of march, or in their camps afterwards; and as for their conduct at sieges, and upon othef occasions, when they had the power of breaking loose, or from under the Watchful eyes of tHeir officers, the less that is here s^id by me upon the subject the better. 3 This is rea(ily a melancholy picture to draw of most of our soldiers; but 1 lament to say it is a true one, and I am also reluctantly obliged to admit, that the almost only redeeming qualit;^ which they possessed, was undaunted courage in battle* But to show that I do not make these assertions on slight grounds (and I would never bare been induced to do so without an important object in view), 1 must beg that the words of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, upon several occa* sions, may be duly considered.

Load more

  298

Copy Link