STAFF COLLEGE AND STAFF APPOINTMENTS.

HISTORICAL NOTICE.

THE Senior Department of the Military College at Sandhurst was constituted in 1808, to enable officers "to qualify themselves for the Quartermaster-General's and Adjutant-General's departments;" and during the Peninsular war, most of the officers in these branches of the service were educated there. So high was its reputation, that the French Staff School was suggested and modeled after it. From motives of economy, its independent government and instruction was gradually reduced, and its graduates, no matter how well qualified, were no longer sure of appointment and promotion, as against purchase, until, in 1855, it became virtually extinct, -the teaching force being reduced to two professors in mathematical studies, and the number of students to six. In the same year, the French Staff School, with its thirteen military and five civil professors, and its range of instruction covering the entire field of practical duties which belong to an efficient staff officer, was held up as a model. In the plans and discussions respecting the reorganization and extension of the educational system of the army, which followed the Crimean war-in the Report (1855) of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Sandhurst; on the suggestions (1856) of the Commissioners on the Training of officers for the Scientific Corps; the plan of Mr. Sidney Herbert, as Secretary of War, in 1854 and 1856; in the instructions of Lord Panmure, in 1856; in the resolution of the House of Commons, July 28, 1857; in the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the purchase system, in their Report of 1857; in the plans of the Council of Military Education, in the same year-the supreme necessity of a staff college, with admission by competitive examination, and the assured encouragement of appointment and

promotion on ascertained proficiency and general fitness, was so clearly demonstrated, that at the close (December 17) of 1857, the Senior Department of Sandhurst was changed to that of a staff college, with a corps of professors of its own. A separate building was completed for its accommodation, in 1862; admission was open to officers of all branches of the service by competitive examination. All appointments to the Staff were limited to graduates of the College, who had been attached, for specified periods, to each branch of the service, and to officers of approved ability in the field.

The present establishment consists of

1 Commandant; 1 Adjutant; 2 Professors of Mathematics; 7 Professors (1 in each) of Military history, Fortification and Artillery, Military Topogra phy, Military Administration, French, German, and Hindustani; besides the services of the Riding-master, and the Professors of Chemistry and Geology attached to the Cadet College of Sandhurst.

CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION IN 1868.

The college consists of thirty students. Fifteen vacancies will be offered for competition annually. Only one officer at a time can belong to the college from a battalion of infantry or a regiment of cavalry, and only four officers from the Corps of Royal Artillery; but any number can compete. The officer desiring to compete must be serving with his regiment.

The qualifications requisite for admission are:

1. A service of not less than five years previous to examination, exclusive of leave of absence.

2. A certificate from his commanding officer, as to his standing as a regimental officer, and his general knowledge of the service, character, habits, and disposition in respect to employment on the staff.

3. Certificate of having passed the examination for a troop or company.

4. Medical certificate of good health and fitness for the active duties of the staff.

The subjects of the admission examination, and the relative value of each, in the final result, are

In mathematics 400 marks are allotted to arithmetic, the first four books of Euclid, and Algebra, including questions producing simple equations; and of this number, at least 250 must be obtained for qualification.

Every candidate must take up either the French, German, or Hindustani language for qualification; the qualifying minimum is, in French, 150 marks; in German or Hindustani, 100 marks.

The remaining subjects, as well as the higher portions of mathematics, may be taken up or not at the option of the candidate, the marks gained therein being reckoned in determining his position in the list of competitors. No candidate, however, will be allowed to count marks in any subject left optional unless he obtains at least one-sixth of the number allotted to it.

COURSE OF STUDY.

The course of study occupies two years, and the yearly course is divided into two terms, viz., from February 1 to June 15, and July 15 to December 15. The subjects are

Mathematics.

French, German, and Hindustani.

Fortification and artillery.

Topographical drawing, military surveying and sketching.

Reconnaissance.

Military art, military history and geography.

Military administration, including the organization and equipment of armies in the field.

Military legislation.

Elements of natural philosophy, chemistry, and geology, as applied to the military sciences.

Exercises in composition will be afforded to the students during the whole course of instruction, in writing memoirs or essays on the subjects of the

course.

Riding.

During the whole course, monthly reports of the application and progress of each student are forwarded for the information of the Council of Military Education. Examinations are held at the end of every half year; the summer examination being conducted by the professors of the college, and the winter examination by examiners independent of the establishment, under the superintendence of the Council.

EXAMINATIONS.

The examination at the termination of the first year is probationary, and any student who fails to obtain the minimum aggregate of marks specified below, is required to withdraw. The following five subjects will be taken up by every student at the probationary examination, viz. :

Every candidate is expected to obtain 800 marks on the above subjects. All credits gained on the four military subjects are carried forward to the final examination.

Of the following subjects the student may select any two, and in those numbered from one to six, as well as in the language already selected as "obligatory," the student may, at his option, carry forward to the final examination the marks he gains, provided they amount in each case to three-fourths the allotted maximum, when he will be considered as finally examined in that subject:

In those numbered seven and eight, the marks gained are carried forward to the final examination.

In addition to any two of the above subjects, the following may be taken up at the probationary examination; and if 150 marks be gained in it, they may, at the option of the student, be carried forward to the final examination:

Spherical trigonometry and practical astronomy, 200 Marks.

The following are the marks attached to each subject at the final examination, including, in the maximum, the marks appropriated to the probationary examinations:

Subjects to be taken up by every student:

Every candidate will be required to obtain for qualification an aggregate of 1,800 marks on the above five subjects.

Of the following subjects, the student may select any two, and the credits gained will count for position in the order of merit :

In addition to any two of the above-mentioned subjects, the following may be taken up by any student who did not take it up at the first year's examination, or did not then obtain three-fourth marks in it:

Spherical trigonometry and practical astronomy, 200 Marks - 120 Marks.

In the examination in modern languages, great stress will be laid on original composition.

All officers recommended for staff appointments, who have not proved their fitness in the field, must pass examinations before a board of officers and by the Council.

a.-Aide-de-Camp.

Regimental Duty.-The candidate must be prepared in all the subjects required in the examination for promotion to a troop or company.

Tactics and Field Movements.-He will be expected to show a competent knowledge of the tactics and field movements of that branch of the Service to which he is destined to be attached as a staff officer, and a general knowìedge of those of the other two arms; the examination will include the movements of a brigade, and will be based on the regulation books.

On being reported by the Adjutant-General to possess the necessary professional qualifications, the candidate will be examined by the Council in

English Composition. The candidate's proficiency in this respect will be .. tested by his answers to the examination papers.

Foreign Languages.-He will be examined viva voce by the examiner appointed under the Council of Military Education in whatever language he may select and he will also write a short letter on a given subject in that language.

Military Sketching.-He will be required to sketch at least two square miles of ground selected by the Council. The sketch need not be elaborately finished, but it must clearly and intelligibly represent the features of ground, which must be determined by means of the pocket sextant or prismatic compass.

Field Fortification.-He must show a knowledge of the principles and construction of field works, and must explain the objects to which they are respectively applicable, as well as the modes of attacking and defending them.

b.-Brigade Major.

A certificate will be required from the commanding officer of the regiment to which the candidate belongs, or has belonged, that he possesses all the qualifications of a good adjutant. The examination for brigade major will be especially directed to the points more immediately connected with the duties attached to the appointment, as Military Law, the "Queen's Regulations and Orders of the Army," the Royal Warrant for Pay, Promotion, etc., and, in tactics, all that relates to alignments, points of formation, distances, etc. The subjects of examination are the same as in that for the appointment of aidede-camp, but the examination will be, throughout, of a higher order. c.-Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General.

Military Drawing and Sketching, Judgment of Ground, and its Occupation by all Arms.-The candidate will be required to make a rapid sketch on horseback, with report, of about six square miles of country; and to select a position which might be occupied by a given force of the three arms, for some stated object, and to show how he would dispose the troops for that purpose. He will afterward be required to make a correct and more finished plan of the position selected, with the disposition of the troops shown upon it. Practical Geometry and Trigonometry.-The examination in these subjects will be limited to determining heights and distances by ground problems, and the ordinary trigonometrical calculations with the aid of logarithms.

Castrametation.-The candidate will be expected to know the mode of encampment for each arm of the Service.

Permanent Fortification.-The theory and construction of permanent works, as exemplified in Vauban's or any other system the candidate may select, as well as the modes of attack and defence applicable to them.

Military History and Geography.—The candidate will be expected to give proof that he has carefully studied at least four of the most memorable modern campaigns, of which the details are best known, such as those of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, Napoleon, and Wellington, and in these he must be able to explain the apparent objects of the various movements and the reasons which he supposes led to their adoption, and, further, to describe the military geography of the seat of war.

Foreign Languages and Professional Subjects.---In languages before the Council of Military Education, as well as in professional subjects before the Board of Officers, the examination will be of a higher order than those in (a) and (b).

The examination for Assistant Adjutant-General and Assistant Quartermaster-General will, throughout, be of a higher order.