Francis Duncan

“ Of all the mistakes made by England in that war—and they were many—the hiring of mercenaries to fight the Americans was perhaps the greatest. It irritated many loyal men into rebellion, and gave a union and cohesion to the disloyal, such as they never otherwise would have gained. Nor were the mercenaries very valuable as soldiers; they were discontented and quarrelsome; and to their want of vigilance was the irreparable disaster of Trenton wholly due. Even to this day, the Americans talk most bitterly of their being hired by the English to shoot down their own flesh and blood ”

“ At this time in the Regiment's history the feeling attained strength and certainty that to be a scientific corps was as high an aim as to win battles. Armed science was felt to be the aim of study. Something higher than mere gallantry, something more durable than brilliancy or dash, was felt to be necessary in officers of Artillery. Inventive genius was encouraged in the professional field; individual talent was coaxed and rewarded; and to the ordinary Regimental esprit, without which a military life would be a mere Valley of Dry Bones, was added scientific enthusiasm. ”

“ The Royal Military Academy has gone through two stages—the era of stern restriction, and that of comparative liberty. The swing of the pendulum is as certain in military as in civil life. From the days of black holes and bullying, the reaction to liberty, confidence in a cadet's honour, thoughtfulness for his comfort, and a system of punishment not degrading nor unsuited to his age, were inevitable, and have come. ”

“ So successful was he, that the Duke of Cumberland reviewed the companies; on which occasion the gunners of the companies, with their field staffs, formed upon the right as a company of grenadiers; and the matrosses, with their muskets, as a battalion. There are not wanting, in the nineteenth century, men who wish that Colonel Belford's zeal had taken some other direction; who think the use of Artillerymen, even on field-days, as infantry, is a misuse; and who would remove the carbines from the Garrison Artillery, in order that more time might be allowed for their own special and varied drills. ”

“ As in the time of great pestilence, after the first alarm has subsided, there is a callous indifference, which creeps over those who have escaped, and among whom the familiarity with Death seems almost to have bred contempt, so—during this long siege—after the novelty and excitement of the first few days' bombardment had worn off, the men became so indifferent to the danger, that, when a shell fell near them, the officer in charge would often have to compel them to take the commonest precautions. ”

“ If England must always look back with pride to the annals of this war, so also must the Royal Artilleryman look back to this period of his Regimental History with amazement and satisfaction. It was a wonderful time,—a time bristling with ubiquitous victories,—a time teeming with chivalrous memories—Clive in the East, and Wolfe in the West—British soldiers conquering under Prince Ferdinand at Minden, under Lord Albemarle at the Havannah, under Amherst at Louisbourg, and under Hodgson at Belleisle,—English Artillerymen winning honours and promotion from a foreign prince in Portugal ”

“ The collection of the new revenue required imperial cruisers to enforce it: and these vessels sorely interfered with the habits and customs of the merchants of Massachusetts, who were the most systematic smugglers. With what petty matters are the beginnings of great revolutions entwined! The sensuality of Henry VIII. was a means to the religious reformation of England: the selfishness of the Boston traders was the note which raised in America the thirst for independence. It is an easy thing to raise a cry which shall at once carry with it the populace, and yet smother the real issues. ”

“ There was undoubtedly a market among the French colonists, which was all the New England merchants could desire; and so ready were the French peasants to trade, that no prohibitory action of their rulers could conceal their desire, although in a great measure it might prevent its gratification. The knowledge of this made the New Englanders frantic. They were men of immense energy, as they are now; they were of magnificent physique, made for war and hardship; and they rebelled against any obstacle to what they deemed their legitimate wishes. ”

“ But there were more pleasing subjects of correspondence between Woolwich and the out-stations than recruiting or promotion. There was a genuine desire springing up in the hearts of the more thoughtful officers for a more scientific training, a desire which was daily acquiring strength, and whose mere existence ensured success; for those who sought it for others, endeavoured by their own exertions to secure it for themselves. ”

“ In all that General Pattison did—whether on duty or not—he was essentially conscientious and hard-working. And these are the two qualities which rule the world. George Macdonald—in his lecture on Milton—said that on rising from a study of the poet's works, he felt that he had been gazing on one who was, in every noble sense of the word, a man. And the student of General Pattison's letters and orders feels also, in quitting the dusty tomes and faded letters, that he has been conversing with a true, a noble man. ”

“ But it took centuries of stagnation, and of bitter and shameful experience, to teach the lesson that Artillery is a science which requires incessant study, that such study cannot be expected unless from men who can regard their profession as a permanent one, and the study as a means to an end; and that, even admitting the possibility of such study being carried on by men in the hope of occasional employment, it would be too theoretical, unless means of practice and testing were afforded, beyond the power of a private individual to obtain. ”

“ Rich intervalle land on either bank, covered with heavy crops of every kind; fields and gardens studded with apple-trees, planted by the old French inhabitants; grapes in heavy clusters growing and ripening in the open air, and clean, white churches and cottages studding the landscape for miles; all unite in forming a picture, like the Utopia which haunts the dreamer's mind. The garden of Canada—an Artilleryman may well rejoice that so lovely a spot had a share in the birth of the corps to which he belongs. ”

“ The Royal Artillery may well be proud of such a man, who, although not in the Regiment, was so intimately connected with it by the nature of his duties; and as all the management of the various departments in the Arsenal is in the hands of officers of the Regiment now, there is no better model for them to study than this father, so to speak, of Woolwich Arsenal. And the interest which must be felt in him for his own skill and services is increased by the knowledge that no less than six of his descendants have held commissions in the Royal Artillery. ”

“ Among the educated, the agency at work is more complicated. Sympathy with the machine of which the individual finds himself a part, and a reasoning apprehension of the necessity of discipline, are mingled with a strong feeling of responsibility; and, as in the former case, habit steps in to cement the whole. Of all these agents, the noblest is undoubtedly the sense of responsibility, and the highest duty of a military commander is to awaken this sense where it does not exist, and to confirm and strengthen it where it does. ”

“ Let us, then, feel that we are one family, and let us rejoice in the success of every one of its members, whether they are so fortunate as to gain distinction in the field, in the siege, or in literary and scientific pursuits; and by so doing may we hope, not only to maintain our present high reputation, but to increase it as time goes on. ”

“ But we do not commit the old error of using men not under martial law. A driver who, on an emergency, finds himself with his whip merely to defend him, may possibly feel aggrieved: but however far he may run away, he cannot escape the embrace of the Mutiny Act, and is as liable to punishment as the man who deserts before the enemy, after his country has sent him into the field armed from head to foot.
In the very earliest days of Artillery in England, the number of gunners borne on permanent pay on the books of the Ordnance bore a very small proportion to the artificers so borne. ”

“ More than thirty years were to pass before Horse Artillery should form part of the British army, and show what mobility it was possible to attain; and more than a century ere Field Artillery should reach the perfection it now possesses, a perfection which treads closely on the heels of the more brilliant branch. ”

“ When, in June 1744, the Regiment was inspected by the Duke of Cumberland, a disorderly mob, without officers, or even uniform, drawn up on the right of the line, represented the cadets of the Royal Artillery. Let no man say that ceremonial inspections are useless. Defects, which are not apparent in every-day life, stare one in the face, as one stands behind the individual whose office it is to criticise. ”

“ Heroism such as this, in an educated man, may be inspired by mixed motives—personal courage, hope of being remembered with honour, pride in what will be said at home, and, perhaps, a touch of theatrical effect,—but, in a man like this brave matross, whose courage has failed even to rescue his name from oblivion, although his story remains—the heroism is pure and simple—unalloyed, and the mere expression of devotion to duty, for duty's sake. ”

“ The memory which will gloat over the stories of Minden, Gibraltar, or Waterloo, will look coldly on the Regimental Motto "Ubique." Therefore, he who would make the influence of history most surely felt by an Artilleryman must spare no labour in tracing the links which connect the Batteries of the present with the Companies of the past. For the Battery is the unit of Artillery: all other organization is accidental. Whether the administrative web, which encloses a number of Batteries, be called a Battalion or a Brigade system, is a matter of secondary importance. ”

“ With this feeling uppermost in his mind, the author of these pages has endeavoured on every occasion to revive the memories which will be dear to the officers and men of Batteries—memories which ran a risk of being lost with the introduction of a new nomenclature. On such memories an esprit de corps, which no legislation can create, will blossom easily and brilliantly; and no weapon for discipline in the hand of a commander will be found more true than the power of appealing to his men to remember the reputation which their predecessors earned with their lives. ”

“ Would not the officers of the corps be of a much higher scientific tone, if they spent a longer time at the University, and a shorter at the Academy? While admitting the fact that from the Academy there have come officers who have so pressed forward with the great army of Science, that they have become Captains and Generals in its ranks, it would be flattery to say that the Academy could ever be a rival to the Universities, although it might certainly be an honoured and useful helpmate. ”

“ A common object—the attainment of a glory which can be common and yet personal; a common charge—the great legacy of former glory, which a man would be a craven if he let the breath of scorn approach; and a common danger, which on service shall knit every man to his neighbour, and in after times shall bind them together again by sympathies and memory. ”

“ Nothing strikes the student so much as the absence of the scientific Artillery element in the early trains; and this feeling is followed by one of wonder at the patience with which our military leaders tolerated the almost total want of mobility which characterized them. Not until the last decade of the eighteenth century was the necessity of mobility officially recognized, by the establishment of the Royal Horse Artillery; and it took half a century more to impress upon our authorities that a Field Battery might not unreasonably be expected to move occasionally faster than a walk. ”