Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/643

] Reserves and Auxiliary Forces. The reserves are divided into classes. The &quot; 1st Class Army Reserve &quot; consists (a) of men who, after a service of not less than three years in the ranks of the army, have been passed into the reserve to complete the unexpired portion of their engagement ; and (b) of soldiers who have been discharged by purchase or on completion of limited engagement, and have enrolled themselves for 5 years. The men of the 1st class reserve receive 4d. a-day, paid quarterly in advance, and an annual allowance of 1 for necessaries. In peace time they may be called out for 12 days training annually, or to aid the civil power, receiving daily pay at the rate of 2s. in the first case, and 2s. 6d. iu the second. In case of war or national danger, they may be recalled to service by proclamation, and attached to any regiment or corps of their own branch of the service, or formed into separate corps. They then resume their posi tion in all respects as soldiers of the regular army, and are liable for service at home or abroad, and until completion of their term of engagement. The 2d class army reserve consists of enrolled pensioners, men who have completed their second period of service in the regular army, and been discharged to pension. They receive no bounty, but an annual allowance of 1 for necessaries, and daily pay at the rate of 2s. or 2s. 6d. when called out for training or in aid of the civil power. They are subject to the same regulations as the 1 st class, except that they are only liable for service within the United Kingdom. By the Act of 1867, a militia reserve was created in addition to the above, consisting of men actually serving in the militia who voluntarily enrol in this reserve for a term of six years, during which they remain with their militia regiments in peace time, but in case of war may be drafted into the regular army. They receive an annual bounty of 1 in addition to their militia pay and bounty. Their number is limited to one-fourth of the effective strength of the militia, and in 1873 amounted to 28,286 men. The first attempt to organise a reserve of men who had passed through the ranks of the army was made in 1843, when the enrolment of pensioners for home service in special cases was authorised by Parliament. The num ber was originally limited to 10,000, but afterwards increased to 20,000. In 1859 when the military power and threatening attitude of France caused the alarm in England which led to the volunteer movement, an effort was made to organise a more efficient reserve from men who had taken their discharges on completion of their first period of service, but the inducements offered were insuffi cient, and the scheme proved a failure. In 1867, after the proved success of the short service and reserve system in Prussia, a new Reserve Force Act was passed, which, with subsequent modifications, laid the foundation of the present first-class reserve ; but it required increased inducements, and the Short Service Act of 1870, to give the reserve any importance. The militia reserve was formed as a temporary expedient, to be reduced as the army reserve increases. It has been objected to on the grounds that it entails increased expense without any real addition to the armed force of the country, as the men are merely passed from one force to another, and that it takes away the best men from the militia at the moment this requires to be most efficient. But, in the absence of a sufficient reserve of fully-trained soldiers, a reserve of partly trained men is essential. Practically the militia always has been the feeder of the line in war time, and it was thought better to enrol a number of men in peace time, when they could be selected, and all necessary preparations made for drafting them in at once in war, rather than adhere to the old system of offering high bounties at the last moment, and getting a worse class of men. For auxiliary forces,,, , see separate articles.

Local Organisation of the Military Forces of the Kingdom. The United Kingdom is divided into 10 military districts, or general officers commands, viz., England, 6; Scotland, 1 ; Ireland, 3. Within the district the general officer s authority extends over all the military forces regular, reserve, or auxiliary. These districts, again, are subdivided into 66 infantry brigade or sub-districts under colonels ; of these 50 are in England, 8 in Ireland, and 8 in Scotland. Each brigade comprises 2 battajions of the line, a brigade depot, 2 militia battalions, and such re serves and volunteers as are included in the sub-district ; the average male population of the sub-districts being 200,000. The two line battalions are independent of the colonel of the sub-district. One is always abroad, one at some home station, usually a garrison or camp of instruc tion. But they draw their recruits and reserves from the sub-district, and supply the officers and non-commis sioned officers for the brigade depot, and for the staff of the militia and volunteers. The brigade depot is the connecting link between the line battalions and the district. It is permanently established at some principal town iu the sub-district, and is formed of two companies from each line battalion, under the command of a major of the home battalions. To it are attached 2 captains (adjutants of militia battalions) and a large staff of non commissioned officers, who join the militia battalions when embodied, but at other times are employed at the depot in recruiting and drilling recruits. The duties of the colonel of the district include recruiting for the line and militia, the training of recruits and of all reserve and auxiliary forces, the annual inspection of the militia and volunteers, the registry and payment of the army reserve and enrolled pensioners, and the care of arms and stores of reserve and auxiliary forces. For cavalry purposes Great Britain is divided into 2, and for artillery into 12 sub-districts, under colonels, whose duties correspond in the main with those of the infantry colonels as regards recruiting and supervising the training of the auxiliary forces of their respective arms, but are more restricted, as they have no depots and staff of regulars under their immediate command. The colonel of the brigade depot is especially charged with the measures for mobilisation in case of war. On the order being given, the army reserve and militia reserve men are collected at the dep&t, and sent to the home battalion to complete it to war strength. The super numerary men of the reserve, and all men of the field battalion that are unfit for immediate service, are drafted to the depot, which is increased to the strength of an eight-company battalion, by calling in officers from the half-pay list, and by recruiting. A.t the same time, one, or, if necessary, both militia battalions are embodied. If an expeditionary force is to be despatched, the militia battalions relieve the regular army in all the home garri sons; and probably, as was the case during the Crimean war, in some of the foreign ones also.

Civil Departments of the Army.—Control Department. The Control Department was formed in 1869 and 1870 by the amalgamation of the five formerly distinct adminis trative departments, viz., Commissariat department, Barrack