ART. VI.-Scheme for the Amalgamation of the Indian and British Armies, Home News, January 26th, 1861. GREAT event in the history of our country is, while we write, A on the eve of accomplishment. Whilst these lines flow from А our pen, the scheme resolved on, after so many months of discussion and consideration, by the collective wisdom of three great offices of state, the Horse Guards, the India Office and the Executive Government of India, is receiving at the hands of a specially appointed Commission, that final manipulation which is to fit it for its appearance in the pages of the Calcutta Gazette. To give due solemnity to an occasion big with the fate of many thousands of British Officers, and which is to witness the obsequies of an Army, and its resurrection under a totally new organization, the Commander-in-chief has been summoned from Umballa, and is now present to render the Governor General the invaluable aid of his experience and judgment. A few days more, and the hopes and fears of four long years will be cleared up! In sober earnest it is a great event we are witnessing, and a spectacle at once grand and touching! We are witnessing the extinction of an army which has existed for more than one hundred years, amidst all the vicissitudes attending the acquisition of a mighty Empire;-which has emblazoned upon its banners the emblems of a hundred battles, and the officers of which have, by their ability, no less in the cabinet than in the field, contributed, in an eminent degree, to build up the reputation which England enjoys in the public opinion of the world. But though in some sense the process now awaiting the Indian Army is that of extinction, the word hardly conveys a true appreciation of the reality. It would be perhaps nearer the mark to compare the impending dissolution of the Indian Army with the case of the titled heiress whose wealth and titles merge, and are lost sight of, in the higher honour, and greater wealth of him to whom she gives her hand;-and just as the offspring of such a pair may be expected to inherit the characteristic virtues of both father and mother, so may we surely anticipate, that the army, which, in the next generation, will proceed from the British and Indian Armies, now to be united, will be worthy of the joint parentage from which it sprung! It is impossible, however, to mark without deep concern, the attitude in which a great portion of the Indian army is awaiting the official declaration of the scheme, by which their future prospects are to be decided. Whilst few are looking with hope and exultation to the enlarged field of action they see before them, too many, it may be feared, are regarding the coming arrangements with preconceived suspicion and determined hostility. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes, is the motto of these last. They have adopted the idea that they have nothing but coldness and injustice to look for from the detested Horse Guards, and their attitude is that of men, who, come what will, are determined to regard themselves as injured and trampled upon. This is doubtless very deplorable, and every effort of those who have the remotest chance of influencing public opinion, should be directed to the object of placing the impending measure in a just and reasonable light, before the eyes of those whom it is to affect. Whilst amalgamation, or the separate existence of the two services, was still a debated and open question, it was right that both sides should be heard, and natural, that where personal interests and feelings were concerned, the debate should be carried on with some warmth of temper and even acrimony. But for months the question has been decided, no argument and no cavilling can now affect it. The frigate, so to say, has had to succumb to the superior weight of metal of the line of battle ship. It behoves the crew of the frigate to haul down their colours with a good grace, and instead of meeting their captors with scowling and suspicious glances, to receive them with the frankness which belongs to brave men of the same profession. Surely this is the conduct which good sense prescribes to the officers of the Indian Army, in common with all who suffer under disappointed hopes or defeat. The situation as we view it, and dropping all metaphor, is this. Amalgamation, months ago resolved on, is now on the eve of accomplishment. A scheme for its achievement, approved and ratified by the Sovereign herself, only awaits a few necessary local arrangements before it is brought into operation. No hard words, no black looks, can alter what is to all intents and purposes, an accomplished fact. But the Indian officers have it still in their power to influence very materially, the footing upon which they shall hereafter stand with their future comrades, both of high and low degree. According to the temper in which they accept the inevitable changes will they receive the hearty sympathy and good will of those into whose ranks they are to pass, or an unfriendly and grudging welcome. At present all is smooth and smiling so far as the Duke of Cambridge, and the Army over which he presides, are concerned. We can confidently assure our readers that there is every inclination on the part of the Commander-in-Chief and those he influences, to render justice to the Indian officers, and to welcome them with a soldierly and high minded frankness. Ask those who were present at the Duke of Cambridge's last levy two months ago, what was his reception of the Indian officers who had the good taste and correct feeling to be present. The very appointment of Lieut. Colonel Norman to be Assistant Military Secretary at the Horse Guards, is an earnest of the . Duke of Cambridge's desire to stand on good terms with the officers of the Indian Service, and to act tenderly in regard to their interests. Could we ask a more acceptable appointment than Colonel Norman's to have been made? Had the Army been desired to elect its own representative at the Horse Guards, upon whom would its choice have fallen so unanimously as on Col. Norman? We repeat that Colonel Norman's appointment is at once a compliment to the Indian Service, and a guarantee that their claims will always have kindly consideration. Let those, who are still incredulous of the Duke's disposition toward the Indian officers, turn to the order lately issued by his desire, on the occasion of a number of Indian Officers being attached to do duty with the Royal Artillery at Woolwich. Surely it is the duty of officers, no less than their interest, to consider carefully the possible result to themselves and their comrades, in case, by a surly or hostile reception of an inevitable measure, they incur the risk of chilling and alienating feelings, which they may be assured are, at present, of the kindliest and most conciliatory nature. We write thus, well knowing that any scheme, which it is within the bounds of reasonable expectation, should be offered for the amalgamation of the two Armies, must press hardly on some one or other of the numerous interests involved. How indeed could it be otherwise? Nothing short of the locus quo ante would satisfy many, or, indeed, would suffice to place them in as good a position, as regards their future prospects, as they enjoyed before the events of 1857. Shall the new measure therefore be resented because it contains no proviso for reconstituting every mutinied regiment in Bengal and Bombay, and every office and command which the irresistible torrent of the mutiny has swept away? Surely to do so would be utterly unreasonable. Numerous cases of individual hardship must inevitably arise. Those whom they may affect must reconcile themselves to them, by the same reflection which we bring to bear when a drought ruins our crops, or an inundation sweeps away our harvest, or a stroke of lightning sets fire to our house or our hay-ricks. All that can be reasonably expected is, that there shall be no wanton disregard of the interests of the Indian Officers, and that wherever the blow is inevitable, it shall be dealt as gently as possible, and shall be accompanied by every alleviation that circumstances will admit of. But whateve happens we entreat officers to eschew the prejudice which ascribes beforehand every sort of chicanery and favouritism to the Horse Guards, as a matter of course, and never gives that much abused institution the credit of fair and honest dealing. Was the patronage of the Indian Army administered under the old regime so as to give universal satisfaction and contentment? Yet to listen to the language of those hostile to the arrangements which bring them under the power of the Horse Guards, it would be supposed that favouritism and jobbery were the exclusive attributes of the British Commander-in-chief-ship. Enough is generally known of the forthcoming scheme of amalgamation to justify us in noticing, in some detail, a few of its more salient points, and in endeavouring to form an opinion, as to the bearing the scheme is calculated to have upon the interests at stake. We would ask those who may be willing to follow us in our consideration of the measure, to do so in a spirit, as far as possible, removed from querulousness and prejudice; and to judge of it with a due remembrance of the surpassing difficulties with which its framers have had to contend, and of the imperative necessity which has hampered them, of hitting off the just medium between liberality to individuals, and due regard to the embarrassed state of the public finances. First let us see how the proposed scheme is likely to affect the European non-commissioned officers, and the rank and file of the Army. The men of the Artillery, of the Cavalry, and of the existing Infantry regiments of all three Presidencies will be called upon to volunteer for the corresponding branches of the British Army with a bounty. It may be reasonably expected that the great majority of the soldiery will accept such an offer without hesitation, and that the non-contents will be few in number. Those who accept, will of course then become liable for service out of India; but it is understood, we believe, that, for the present at least, the new brigades and regiments will continue to be employed exclusively in India. The Artillery volunteers will be formed into additional brigades of Royal Artillery, fourteen in number, according to some accounts; namely, seven for Bengal, four for Madras and three for Bombay. The Cavalry volunteers will receive numbers in continuation of the existing Cavalry regiments, and the Infantry regiments will (if the number of men of each regiment volunteering be sufficiently considerable,) take their places in continuation of the Infantry of the Line, under the designation of the 101st or Royal Bengal Fusiliers, the 102nd, or Royal Madras Fusiliers, the 103rd or Royal Bombay Fusiliers, and so on. Each regiment |