Prince William, Duke of Cambridge is 30 on 21st June 2012. William went up to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals on 15 December 2006. In this context it is timely to look back at the early military career of the last Duke of Cambridge, Prince George, who dominated the Victorian Military Establishment as Commander in Chief from 1856 to his retirement in 1895. When he became Duke of Cambridge in 1850 at the age of 31, Prince George had chalked up 12 years of service in the infantry and cavalry and reached the rank of Major-General.
Conservative or Reformer?
To a certain extent the Duke of Cambridge was the link which connected the Army of Wellington to the Modern British Army. Accused by many of conservatism, he nevertheless worked with the civilian Secretaries of State for War, Sir Sidney Herbert, Lord Panmure and Lord Cardwell overseeing root and branch reforms to the Army.
After the death of the Duke of Wellington, and 37 years on from Waterloo the condition of the Army had become fairly dire. Whilst Inspecting General of Cavalry in 1852, Prince George’s reforming instincts started to emerge and his efforts were largely directed towards introducing order, not only to the cavalry but to the Army generally. It was chiefly due to his initiative that manoeuvres on a large scale were first carried out in England, as far back as the year before the Crimean War. He landed with the Army in the Crimea as General commanding a Division in 1854; and two years afterwards he became Commanding-in-Chief on the retirement of Lord Hardinge.
As Commander-in Chief he turned his attention towards reforming the system of Army Education and the inauguration of the Staff College was largely due to him. During the next decade his efforts were mainly directed towards preserving the Army from reduction in size following the end of the Crimean War
The Duke was also known as ’The Soldier's Friend’. Whilst he was Commander-in-Chief, the pay of the soldier was considerably increased, largely owing to his repeated efforts. On 1 March 1860 the conditions under which men could earn Good Conduct pay were improved; and again, on 29 June 1867, an increase of two pence a day was made to the soldier's ordinary pay, and an additional sum of one penny a day was granted to all who re-engaged. As the stoppages for messing remained the same as before, the soldiers derived the full benefit of this increase.
On 20 September 1873, the scale of pay was once more revised. Beer money and the stoppages for bread and meat were abolished, the Secretary of State undertaking to furnish the Non-commissioned. Officer and the Private Soldier with a daily ration of one pound of bread and three-quarters of a pound of meat, in addition to his pay of one shilling a day.
Apparently, among the old long-service soldiers it was ever an article of faith that the Duke had obtained for them the extra two pence per diem in 1867 which was greatly appreciated.
Closely connected with the question of 'stoppages' of pay was the issue of ‘barrack damages.' In 1866, when giving evidence before the Royal Commission on the recruiting problem, the Duke expressed himself strongly on the question of barrack damages. He stated that ‘barrack damages' are a source of constant complaint. There was scarcely ever a change of quarters where some complaint did not arise out of ‘barrack damage.'
‘I think that fair wear and tear ought to be more liberally accepted than it is now ;and thus I think that if any little thing has been done which has rather improved than deteriorated the barrack, which is now considered as " barrack damage," it should be accepted as an improvement and not charged at all.'
The Soldier's lot was also vastly ameliorated during the Duke's command by the gradual increase in the clothing and equipment issued for free. In 1854 the Soldier had issued to him free of cost only the following articles full-dress coatee, his trousers, and one pair of boots annually. He had to pay for everything else he wore, besides providing himself with a knapsack, haversack, and leather stock. Gradually this was altered until the men were issued for free most of the outer clothing they required; and all their regimental necessaries.
For a volunteer army the whole question of remuneration was of great importance to the men and the gradual increase in their disposal income by increasing basic pay, reducing stoppages and barrack charges and providing free equipment would have made a great difference to the men.
According to his Military Biographer, William Willoughby Cole Verner
“the views and ideals of his whole military life can best be summed up by saying that throughout he was perfectly 'straight'; and that his sole object was to do the best he could, according to his lights, not only for the particular units or individuals which composed the force he commanded, but for the general welfare, from a national point of view, of the great institution which he loved to describe as the King's Army.”
To understand the background to the Duke of Cambridge’s career, it is worth looking back to the very start.
Early Career
Prince George of Cambridge was born on 26th March 1819 in Hanover, where his father Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge was Lieutenant Governor and later Viceroy. Prince George spent most of his early years in Hanover, until aged eleven he came to live with his uncle King William IV at Windsor Castle. His early years were spend in the care of Rev. Canon Wood who was responsible for his education and his youth involved a round of visits to Hanover, a keen interest in Field Sports and a slowly developing interest in matters military.
On 3rd November 1837, Prince George then aged 19 was gazetted to the rank of Brevet-Colonel in the British Army. Despite his rank, he subsequently went through a thorough and complete course of instruction in drill and military discipline. Gibraltar was decided upon as a suitable station where the young Prince could acquire the first preliminaries to learning the duties of a soldier, in a Horse Guards letter of 29 September 1838 to the Governor of Gibraltar Sir Alexander Woodford, K.C.B., it was notified that
‘Her Majesty had been pleased to approve of Colonel H.R.H. Prince George of Cambridge being attached to the Garrison of Gibraltar and being employed in any manner in which the Governor may require H.R.H’s services.'
Prince George, accompanied by Lieut.-Colonel Cornwall, started on his journey to Gibraltar on 21 September 1838. On 24 September they embarked on the Falmouth steam packet, and after a rough passage arrived late on the evening of the 26th at Vigo. On the 28th the packet anchored in the Tagus, where a British Squadron was lying, and the Prince was taken ashore. At Lisbon he was entertained by the King and Queen of Portugal. Whilst there he set out on a battlefield tour of the Peninsular War, riding to Torres Vedras and then to battlefield at Rolica.
The party returned to Lisbon on 5 October, and on the 7th the Prince sailed in the Tagus steamer for Gibraltar where he arrived early on 9 October.
Sir Alexander Woodford wrote to Prince George’s Father, the Duke of Cambridge;
“I am willing to persuade myself that the Prince is disposed to take interest in everything here, and I shall propose a plan whereby H.R.H. will get every information relative to the interior order of a regiment, and I shall also arrange for some drill and exercises with the 33rd Regiment. After that I propose that the Prince should take duty on the Field Officer's roster, and on field days
I shall put the light companies of the five regiments together and give H.R.H. the command. ... I trust that all this, with what the Prince will see of daily routine of duty here, will give him much insight into everything connected with the service in general. I have selected an officer of Engineers who will give the Prince information upon that branch of the service, and I shall do the same for Artillery practice and Gunnery. ... I am certain that it will be very agreeable to the Duchess and to you, Sir, to hear that the Prince has pleased everybody here on his arrival by his good-humoured and unaffected manners. “
On 12 October 1838 Prince George commenced his military duties. In his diary he wrote
'This morning I went for the first time to the barracks of the 33rd to be drilled. I am to be attached for the present to that regiment, and learn my duty with them. They are a very nice corps, and were the Duke of Wellington's own regiment in the East Indies. ‘
In his diary of 21 January 1833 the Prince wrote:
'The half-yearly inspection of the 33rd took place on the Neutral Ground, and in the afternoon I went with the General to examine the books of the Regiment.'
On the 14th February he was placed in command of the 33rd Regiment at a Divisional Drill of two Brigades; subsequently he did Field-Officer's duty, and eventually 'Colonel of the Day* with the two Field-Officers under him.
In April 1839, Prince George left Gibraltar for Malta and Sir Alexander wrote as follows:
‘It has afforded me much pleasure to have H.R.H. here, and I feel persuaded that he has seen a great deal of life, and has heard a great deal of the opinions and sentiments of men of all ranks, which knowledge is always useful to a young man, and particularly to one so circumstanced as your son, Sir, and who is, moreover, a quick and apt observer.'
Prince George landed at Malta on 90 April 1839, and remained there as the guest of His Excellency Lieutenant- General Sir H. P. Bouverie for about a fortnight. During his visit he accompanied the Governor on his half-yearly inspections of the various regiments quartered in the island, and on 16 May embarked in H.M.S. Hermes and sailed for Corfu.
Returning home to Britain, through Greece and Italy, Prince George visited the Austrian Army Manoeuvres under Field-Marshal Count Radetzky. Colonel Cornwall reported that ' H.R.H. took much interest in the manoeuvres, and cannot have failed in deriving much improvement from them.'
His experiences of the Austrian Military Manoeuvres in the autumn of 1839, when he witnessed the splendid squadrons of Austrian Cavalry in the field, possibly influenced his inclinations towards the cavalry and on 8 January 1840 he was attached to the 12th Lancers, and did duty with them for two months at Brighton, and subsequently in Dublin as a lieutenant-Colonel. On 25 April 1842 he was gazetted as Colonel of the 17th Lancers, then serving at Leeds. Whilst there he was actively engaged in suppressing the disturbances that took place that year in the manufacturing districts, receiving the thanks of the magistrates of Leeds
On 20 April 1843 Lieutenant-Colonel and Brevet-Colonel Prince George was promoted to a substantive Colonelcy, and appointed Colonel on the Staff to command the garrison at Corfu
On 7 May 1845 he was promoted to the rank of Major- General. On 1 October 1846, when in his twenty-seventh year, he was appointed to be a Major-General on the Staff and given the command of the troops at Limerick. After six months' experience of a mixed command at that station he was appointed, on 1 April 1847, to the command of the Dublin where he served his full period of five years, up to 31 March 1852.
On 16 March 1850 Prince George of Cambridge was also appointed to be one of the Commissioners for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and also for the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea. On 8 July 1850, upon the death of his father, Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, he succeeded to his titles and dignities as 2nd Duke of Cambridge.
So on becoming Duke of Cambridge, the Duke had accumulated 12 years of varied military experience: including basic regimental duties with the infantry of the line, cavalry service, colonial service and experience of garrison command together with the study at close quarter’s continental military systems.
References
The Military Life of HRH George, Duke of Cambridge
William Willoughby Cole Verner- London 1905
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