ARMY AGENT—ARMY WORKS CORPS.
representative in matters relating to military organ-
isation and discipline. The Secretary is the organ
through whom the wishes of the Sovereign are recon-
ciled with the wishes and intentions of parliament.
Until the war with Russia in 1854, the administra-
tive departments were much scattered ; their defec-
tive organisation led in great part to the miseries
suffered by the British troops in the Crimea ; but
now they are all consolidated under the Secretary of
State for War. See WaR DrpARTMENT.
ARMY AGENT. Sece AGENT, ARMY.
ARMY ESTIMATES. In the spring of every
year, the British government having formed a plan
concerning the extent and appliances of the mili-
tary force for that year, the War-office sends
to the Treasury a series of accounts setting forth
the probable cost of everything required. These
accounts are called the A. E. If they are approved
by the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
adverts to these, along with other estimates, in his
annual °financial statement,” made to the House
of Commons in its capacity guardian of the
public purse. In preparing the A.E. the Secre-
tary of State for War applies to the heads of all
the departments under him for detailed accounts
of their probable requirements, Another functionary
then incorporates .and adjusts these into a whole;
they are submitted to the Treasury; and, if
approved, are presented to the House as the A. E.
Should the Commons grant the money, the Account-
ant-general of the War-office makes the requisite
drafts or demands from time to time ; and the Trea-
sury authorises the Paymaster-general of the Forces
to honour these drafts. The money itself is in
the Bank of England ; this establishment receives
a certain annual sum from the government for
managing such financial matters.
The A. E. are drawn up in conformity with a
model which differs little from year to year. There
are certain great headings, each comprising many
minor divisions : viz., Land Forces and Militia
(numbers, pay, allowances, and miscellaneous
charges) ; Cuwil Hstablishments (administration,
manufacturing establishments, civil departments) ;
Supplies (clothing, provisions, forage, warlike stores);
Works and Buildings (barracks, fortifications, &ei);
Educational Bstablishments (schools, chaplains, libra-
ries, &c.); Non-effective Services (half-pay, retiring
allowances, pensions, &c.). These are not exactly
the technical names of the several headings ; but
hey will be more intelligible to gemeral readers.
The various items are more or less sifted by the
House of Commons; and any one or more of them
can be refused altogether, or granted in diminished
amount. The A. B. for 1859—60, which may be
cited here as an illustrative example, refer to the
period from April 1, 1859 to March 31, 1860. The
total number of British troops provided for in these
estimates is 229,557 ; but as 106,902 are charged to
the East Indian treasury, being required for
India service, the House of Commons was asked
only to provide for the remaining 122,655. The
horses are 24,069, of which 11,321 are for India ser-
vice. Without going into any details, we will simply
give the amounts under the six great headings :
. £4,524 843
a
as
as
Pay and allowances, .
Civil and manufacturing departments, 1,170,787
Clothing, provisions, forage, warlike
stores, : § ; s : s 2,121,692
Barracks, fortifications, buildings, . 1,334,701
Educational and religious charges, . 268,532
Reduced and retired pay, pensions,
rewards, . 2 . s s . 2,147,505
£11,568,060
422
{
ARMY LIST is the name of a publication
issued by authority of the War-office. It contains
the names of all commissioned officers in the
British army, arranged according to the dates of
their commissions. Then come the officers of the
East India Company’s service—or, now, that por-
tion of the Queen’s army which belongs exclu-
sively to India. Next the names of all officers
who hold military honours or staff appointments.
The bulk of the work, however, is taken up with an
enumeration of all the regiments in the Queen’s
army, and all the officers in each regiment, arranged
according to the numerical rank of the regiments.
To this are added lists of the officers of the Rifle
Brigade, Colonial Corps, Royal Artillery, Royal
Engineers, Royal Marines, Commissariat, and Army
Medical Department ; and of officers retired on full-
pay and on half-pay. The A. L. for 1859 contains
the names of little less than 14,000 commissioned
officers. Another work of similar but non-official
character, Hart’s A. L., by a more condensed
arrangement of type, gives all the information
contained in the official list, and much in addition.
ARMY SCHOOLS. The colleges, academies,
and schools relating to military matters in this
country may be grouped into two classes—those
intended to increase the military efficiency of the
officers and men; and those which bear relation to
the ordinary school-tuition of soldiers of the ranks
and their children. The principal of those in the first
group are the Royal Military College at Sandhurst,
the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, the
School of Instruction at Chatham, the Department
of Artillery Studies at Woolwich, the School of
Artillery at Shoebury, the School of Musketry at
Hythe, and the Royal Artillery Institution at Wool-
wich. The chief among the second group are the
Royal Military Asylum (better known as the Duke
of York’s School), the Regimental Schools, and the
Garrison Schools. Chelsea College or Hospital is an
asylum for veterans, not a school of instruction.
Most of these educational establishments will be
found briefly described in this work, either under
the names of the places where they exist, or of the
arm of the service to which they belong,
ARMY WORKS CORPS. When the British
generals engaged in the Crimean war, in the later
months of 1854, knew that the siege-army would
need to winter outside Sebastopol, grave difficulties
were presented to their notice. The distance from
the landing-place at Balaklava to the front of the
siege-camp was not less than eight miles; and the
only road was a mud-track, almost impassable in
wet weather. How to get the heavy guns, the shot
and shell, the provisions, and the general stores, up to
the front, was a question not easy of solution. The
British soldiers were too few even for the ordinary
military duties, and yet they were called upon for
services of extra and arduous nature. When
these facts became known in England, a suggestion
was made that an ¢ Army Works Corps’ should be
formed, to consist of strong and efficient railway
excavators, Cornish miners, and well-sinkers; that
these should have with them all the tools and appli-
ances for making roads and digging wells; and that
they should be accompanied by travelling work-
shops and skilled artisans, to effect that which might
require more skill than physical labour. The imme-
diate necessities of Lord Raglan, in regard to bring-
ing up supplies, were met by the construction of a
railway from Balaklava to the heights outside
Sebastopol, by special contract with Messrs Peto
and Brassey; but the large amount of bodily
labour continually needed for various services, led
to the formation of the A. W. C. The raising and
an
an
