In the days just after the American War, the British army was not well
organized or officered. Instead of the fighting machine that it
afterward became, it was a sort of gentleman's training school, so far
as the officers were concerned. Any one who had good family
connections or money could get a commission. The skill and experience
were supposed to come later, on the field of action.
This fact explains the early promotion of Arthur Wellesley. At the age
of seventeen, soon after leaving Angers, he was made an ensign in a
regiment of infantry, and within five years, by the time he was
twenty-two, he had been made a captain. Nor did his rapid advancement
end here. In 1793 he became a major, then a lieutenant colonel; and by
1796 he was a full-fledged colonel--at twenty-seven! The secret "power
at court" was his brother Richard, who was a secretary to Pitt, the
statesman. But another friend was Lord Westmoreland, Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, who took a fancy to him and made him a staff officer.
As one historian puts it, regarding army commissions: "Wealth and
interest were nearly all-powerful; it was the palmy day of purchase
which George the Third had tried and had failed to abolish, and, until
the Duke of York became commander-in-chief, infants of both sexes
figured in the army list as the holders of commissions.
Pages:
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108