BRITISH ARMY OFFICERS IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS - PART ONE
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BRITISH ARMY OFFICERS IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS – PART ONE In the British Army throughout this period most officers’ commissions and promotions in the cavalry and infantry, up to and including the rank of lieutenant colonel, were obtained by purchase, a system that continued until 1871. While it may appear scandalous to modern eyes that command of the King’s or Queen’s soldiers could be obtained by buying it, the system was not as iniquitous as it might seem. The logic was similar to that applied to someone joining the board of a trading company, when he would be expected to buy shares in that company. While the origins of purchase are obscure, it seems to have begun to be formalised after the restoration of Charles II in 1660, when the raising, training and equipping of regiments was farmed out to notables, who in order to recoup their outlay offered commissions in those regiments for a fee. By 1815 it had long been regulated by the state, rather than by individuals. It was the army that had executed King Charles I, the army that had brought his son back from exile and the army that had deposed James II. Purchase, on the other hand, gave the officer a stake in the system and a commitment to the existing order, which he was therefore less likely to attempt to overthrow, and it prevented the king from packing the army with his favourites, as James II had tried to do. In theory at least, the purchase system prevented parliamentary manipulation of the army, but as many senior officers were also members of parliament, interference by ministers or patrons could not be discounted entirely.
BRITISH ARMY OFFICERS IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS - PART ONE
BRITISH ARMY OFFICERS IN THE FRENCH…
BRITISH ARMY OFFICERS IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS - PART ONE
BRITISH ARMY OFFICERS IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS – PART ONE In the British Army throughout this period most officers’ commissions and promotions in the cavalry and infantry, up to and including the rank of lieutenant colonel, were obtained by purchase, a system that continued until 1871. While it may appear scandalous to modern eyes that command of the King’s or Queen’s soldiers could be obtained by buying it, the system was not as iniquitous as it might seem. The logic was similar to that applied to someone joining the board of a trading company, when he would be expected to buy shares in that company. While the origins of purchase are obscure, it seems to have begun to be formalised after the restoration of Charles II in 1660, when the raising, training and equipping of regiments was farmed out to notables, who in order to recoup their outlay offered commissions in those regiments for a fee. By 1815 it had long been regulated by the state, rather than by individuals. It was the army that had executed King Charles I, the army that had brought his son back from exile and the army that had deposed James II. Purchase, on the other hand, gave the officer a stake in the system and a commitment to the existing order, which he was therefore less likely to attempt to overthrow, and it prevented the king from packing the army with his favourites, as James II had tried to do. In theory at least, the purchase system prevented parliamentary manipulation of the army, but as many senior officers were also members of parliament, interference by ministers or patrons could not be discounted entirely.