CHAPTER IV.

TOPIC 7TH.

What is required for the military protection of India? ANOTHER Topic which I can scarcely do more than glance at, notwithstanding its vast importance, is the question, what is to be the future condition of the Indian army? Professional men will, no doubt, fully express their opinions upon this subject, and I do not profess to write with anything more than a plain sense understanding of the subject. What I have to say is merely that which would occur to any unprofessional observer of men and things that surround him in every-day life, and who is so situated as to be able to gather from many able and qualified military men the practical professional knowledge of the strange acts and proceedings which we have, of late, seen; but as it would take a volume to discuss the entire military question involved in this topic, even were I as capable of the task as I

feel myself to be incapable, my remarks must be few and brief. I cannot pretend to take a connected view of the whole subject: I seek only to offer a few desultory remarks upon some of the more obviously salient points of discussion.

Whether the Indian army is to be incorporated with the Royal army in the several branches, and to have the purchase system, with all the anomalies of exchange and transfer, introduced, or whether the military forces of India shall be kept as a distinct army composed of all arms, and of Europeans and natives with a special organization as at present adapted to the country, and the services for which required: Whether the Indian military forces shall be brought under the direct control of the Horse Guards and be dependent on the authorities of that bureau for all military honours, and have their military claims decided upon by officers selected for special duties without any knowledge of India or any connection with the Indian army:

Whether the military forces in India shall be considered as a separate force, belonging to Great Britain, but employed in India, and subject to a separate military control independent of the Horse Guards, and interested in its character, reputation, and efficiency, as a portion of the military forces of the empire: What shall be the future system of cantoning the military forces in India and of occupying military strongholds; in what manner military efficiency and discipline shall be strictly maintained, and the system of inspection and supervision exercised so as to enable Government to ascertain that the military forces are in a state of preparedness: Whether the Indian forces are to continue to be divided into three armies allotted to the three great territorial divisions of India as settled in the last century, or be consolidated into one army as a whole; or have such a partial union as to ensure the unity of system essential to military efficiency, without the evils resulting from the dispersion of one immense mass scattered over a vast extent of country varying in climate, races, and requirements: Whether the Indian army shall be to any extent, and, if so, how far, relieved from the numerous police duties, civil guards, and detachments, which it has, hitherto, furnished, by the formation of an efficient constabulary force for all India, suited to the localities and duties to be performed: Whether the Indian military forces can be entirely composed of English soldiers consistent with military efficiency, the financial ability of the Government to support such a force, and with due regard to the system of government maintained in India by Great Britain: On what scale of relative strength, European and native, the military forces of India shall be maintained; what proportions the different arms shall bear to each other, and what shall be the classes of men, the nature of the organization and system, so as to provide for the various peculiarities, regimental and general, essential for the efficient performance of the many duties for which it devolves on Government to provide: On what system the staff required for the general duties of the Government of India, for civil, detached, political, and military employments, shall be organized: Whether the staff shall be constituted a separate corps distinct from the regimental officers, or if regiments shall continue to supply officers, as at present; and if the former, what arrangements shall be made for maintaining

the staff corps; if the latter, what precautions shall be taken to prevent regiments suffering from discipline by the withdrawal of too many officers, or of an undue proportion in certain ranks, or of experienced men: Under what regulations as to qualifications, such as acquaintance with native languages, general ability, service in India, professional knowledge, military rank, and length of service, officers of the Royal and Indian armies shall be selected for staff employment: What precautions shall be taken to prevent powerful parliamentary, aristocratic, or royal influence being used in England to advance officers on the staff of India, or to benefit the officers of the Royal army to the injury of the officers of the Indian army, being absent from England, and having little or no influence from birth or by political connections; in what manner and by whom is the patronage of first appointments to the commissioned ranks of the Indian army to be disposed of, and what guarantees and arrangements shall be made in England to ensure proper selections of cadets: Whether military advancement in the army of India shall be dependent on the purchase system, as obtaining in the Royal army, or as partially and peculiarly applied at present in the Indian army: Whether selection is to be the principle on which promotion depends, or the seniority system as now strictly in force in India: What measures shall be adopted in India to provide for that higher quality of military training for officers, so carefully attended to in continental armies, and lately commenced at home: What course shall be followed for weeding the service of incompetent officers, and for securing officers of an age, and with physical and mental powers suitable for military commands: These, and a host of other questions of more or less detail, will, doubtless, suggest themselves to the minds of professional men. Indeed, since I commenced this work, we have received from England the military despatch No. 235 of the Directors of the East India Company, dated 25th November, 1857, directing the Government of India to assemble a commission of select officers from the armies of the three Presidencies and from the Queen's army, with one or more civil officers, all of ability and experience, the officers of the Queen's service to have had experience in India, and the civilians to be specially qualified by their knowledge of native character and general

administrative experience, and on whose knowledge, experience, and judgment Government can rely, to assist them by investigation and practical counsel founded thereon, in forming wise conclusions on the proper organization of the army in India.

The Directors designate certain heads of enquiry, to aid the Government in framing instructions for the guidance of the commission, allowing a wide latitude to Government to specify any other heads of enquiry, empowering the commission to extend their enquiries and to offer their opinions on the several branches of the native army :-infantry, regular and irregular; cavalry, regular and irregular; artillery and sappers and miners,—and to make to the Governor General in Council any suggestions or recommendations which occur to them, although not on matters comprised in the specified heads of enquiry.

The heads of enquiry enumerated by me are those likely to be considered by military men, and may, if answered in full, supply all the information which could be elicited by the heads of enquiry of the Court of Directors; but as the questions suggested to the Government of India from England involve details on the military system of India more minute than I have ventured to suggest, I think it right to place them before my readers, in the hope that they may be found to contain suggestive hints for those on whom the Indian crisis has forced the necessity of probing our entire military system. These heads for enquiry are arranged not according to the order in the Court's despatch, but with reference to the importance of the subjects themselves.

1st. What proportion should the European bear to the native portion of the army in India generally, and at each Presidency separately? 2nd. Should the artillery, and sappers and miners, be composed, as heretofore, of Europeans and natives, or be entirely Europeans? 3rd. How can the demands for European officers for staff and detached employments be best provided for without injuring the efficiency of regiments? 4th. Should cadets be trained and drilled in European regiments before they are posted to native regiments, or what would be the best mode of drilling and training cadets before they are posted to native regiments? 5th. If separate corps are to be maintained for military and police purposes, what will be the best organization for each branch respectively? 6th. Should a company or com

panies of Europeans form a component part of a native regiment? 7th. What alterations should be made in the recruiting regulations relating to tribes and castes, with a view to determine the future composition of the native army? 8th. Should corps be raised each in a particular district, and be recruited there and there only? 9th. Should corps be composed of troops and companies, each of which shall consist of separate tribes or castes; or should the tribes or castes be mixed up together in the whole regiment? 10th. Will it be expedient to enlist natives of other tropical climates, equally qualified for service in India, with the natives of the country, and, if so, should they be formed in separate regiments, or in companies, or otherwise? 11th. Whether the system of promotion, generally, by seniority to the grades of native commissioned officers (if these are retained), should not be altered and assimilated to the systems in force at Madras and Bombay? 12th. Whether, in native infantry regiments, the discontinuance of the grades of native commissioned officers, and the substitution of an European serjeant and corporal to each company, is advisable; and, if so, whether, in lieu of the prospect of distinction and emolument arising out of these grades, it would be advisable to establish graduated scales of good service pay and retiring pensions claimable after specified periods of service? 13th. Should the rules regulating enrolment in the native army be retained, or should they be assimilated to the rules which obtain in the British army; or ought there to be any and what changes in these rules, or in the system of punishment? 14th. Have the powers of commanding officers of native corps, and the power of officers in charge of companies, been diminished? What consequences have been the result? Is it desirable that those powers should be increased, or what other measures should be adopted for the improvement of discipline.

A second military despatch, No. 236, also dated the 25th November, 1857, from the Directors of the East India Company, points out to the Government of India that a review of the voluminous records, containing the details of late events, has entirely failed to satisfy the minds of the Directors in regard to the immediate causes of the mutiny, and that they have no doubt that the Government of India have not omitted to take advantage of all