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must, however, be understood that though each of these several Commanding Officers is supreme only in the absence of his Superior, yet that his orders (not, of course, being inconsistent with those of his Superior) are to be implicitly obeyed. So where the Captain reports to the Colonel, or the Colonel to the District General, or the General to the Commander-in-Chief, or the Commander-in-Chief to the Minister of the Crown,' (to whom these Officers are responsible), the order or act of the subordinate Officer approved or adopted by-becomes in fact the order or act of-the Superior Officer (the chain of subordination and of responsibility being preserved throughout the Army) or of the State.2

17. Such is the Military Government and organization now existing, and it only remains for me to add that, in support of their authority over the Army, each of these Military Hierarchs or Magistrates, above the rank of Captain, has jurisdiction given him by Royal Warrant or the Mutiny Act, to establish a Court of Military Officers who are themselves subject to the Mutiny Act, for the Punishment of Military Crime committed by those under his Command. Thus, for the ordinary crimes of the Soldier, committed against the discipline of his Regiment, the Colonel (as responsible for it) can summon his "Regimental" Court. For graver offences-committed in the District, and beyond the authority of the Colonel-the General can summon his "District" Court; and for the highest military crimes-which are to be brought under the cognizance of the Commander-in-Chief-the "General" Court is summoned by his authority.

18. As in the Civil Administration of Justice, Courts of Petty Sessions for small offences; of Quarter Sessions for

rank is attended by the necessity for the performance of duty, and for attention to the maintenance of good order and discipline. It is not in the power of an Officer to lay aside or assume his rank in the Service at his pleasure, but most particularly not when he is on a parade upon which troops are formed for duty.”— G. O. of 17 Sept. 1813, Vol. vii. Gur. Desp., p. 7. Even at the Mess (Hough, 1825), pp. 650-664.

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Grant v. Gould, supra.

2 See the subject discussed in Vol. II. p. 148. When parts of Regiments are "detached," a "Detachment," with the same powers as a "Regimental," Court is summoned. See Art. 113 of 1872.

graver ones; and of Oyer and Terminer for crimes, have been established with separate and defined authority: so in the Military Administration of Justice, regard is to be had to the several Courts-martial, as Regimental, District or General, which are held under the Mutiny Act.

19. These Courts are not, however, permanent,' but created "pro hac vice," i. e. for the trial of the particular offender; but continuing until their adjudication upon his case has been finally disposed of by the Military Hierarch convening the Court. The Officers summoned to attend as Judges, do so as part of their Military duty; and for absence or neglect, they are liable to be punished themselves by a General Court.2

20. The General Court,3 which until the 3rd Geo. I. c. 2, the General could summon without authority from the Crown, is now constituted by Royal Warrant granted under the countersign of a Secretary of State, and the authority of the 6th Section of the Mutiny Act. An annual delegation is given to the Commander-in-Chief and other General Officers, which empowers the Officer holding the Warrant to assemble from time to time in the United Kingdom, as occasion may require, General Courts for the trial of any Officer or Soldier under his Command, charged with any offence against the rules of Military Discipline, and committed either before or after he undertook the Command. The Warrant further directs that the Court is to be constituted, and to proceed in the trial of such charges, and in giving Sentence and awarding Punishment, according to the rules prescribed in the Act and Articles; and then orders that the Proceedings of each Court shall be sent to the Judge Advocate General, that he may lay the same before the Sovereign, and afterwards send them to the Commander-in-Chief for the decision of the Sovereign thereon.

21. The District" Court, which was first authorized by the

1 Brooks v. Graham, 11 Pick. Rep. 445.

2 See Appendix D.

3 As to this Court in the Navy, see Chap. III. pars. 5 and 6.

Compare with 1 Geo. I. s. 2, c. 34.

The Warrant to General Officers abroad gives plenary powers, and a power of delegation to other Officers.

Mutiny Act of 1829, is constituted under a like authority. The Warrant authorises the General of the District to assemble "District" Courts for the trial and punishment of any Soldier belonging to the forces under his Command, who is charged with Mutiny or Desertion, or with any offences mentioned in the Act and Articles, as liable to be tried by such Courts, or with any other misdemeanour or misbehaviour contrary to the rules of Military Discipline. Here again, the Warrant directs that the Court is to be constituted, and to proceed in the trial of offenders, and in giving sentence-and awarding punishment (not extending to death or penal servitude), according to the powers and directions contained in the Act and Articles. The proceedings go, as of course, to the "District" General, and the Warrant authorises him (or in his absence, the Officer in acting Command) to confirm and put the Sentence in execution, or to suspend, mitigate, or remit such Sentence, as shall be best for the good of the Service.

22. The "Regimental Court" has always been convened by the Colonel under directions conferred by the Articles of War first in 1672, and now continued,3 without any special Warrant. The Commissioned Officers, on the appointment of their Colonel, or Commanding Officer, may hold "Regimental " Courts, and may inquire into such disputes and criminal matters as may come before them; but no Sentence shall be executed * until the Commanding Officer of the Regiment shall have confirmed the same.

23. Other Courts may be formed: one (first sanctioned in 1813), as the "Detachment General "5 to be held under Section 12, to punish offences committed against the inhabitants, in a Foreign Country; and the other (first sanctioned in 1830) as

1 In this year the number of Courts-martial rose from 384 in 1828, to 1043; of which 767 were "District" Courts, Com. Ret. 1426, 18th May 1830.

Art. 59. The Colonel had special authority given him (prior to 1829), to hold a General Court composed of the officers of the Regiment (as a General Regimental Court-martial), of which he might be, or name the President. He could not confirm these proceedings, and no officer could be tried. Hough (1825), * Chap. VII. par. 40, and Chap. XI. par. 11.

P. 393.

1 Art. 112.

• Art. 129.

1

the "Drum Head," to be held under Section 11, to punish on the spot, mutiny or insubordination committed on the line of march. These are exceptional proceedings which are within the competency of commanding Officers to adopt upon emergencies, but they are not Courts which need be here further adverted to.

24. These three-" General," "District," and "Regimental" -Courts are those under which the Army is governed, and by which the Military Law is administered. The details relating to each Court-as the number of Officers of which it should be composed, the offences which it can try, and the punishments which it can inflict-will be found set out in the Military Code, printed in the Appendix. These Courts, as divided into "General and District," on the one hand, and "Regimental" on the other, have to some extent a difference in their mode of procedure, which will be more properly explained hereafter.

1 Chap. XI. par. 12.

CHAPTER V.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE MILITIA AND AUXILIARY FORCES.1

1. CO-EXISTENT with the Military Government and Army Organization thus established by the Crown-but totally distinct from and as a counterpoise 2 to the Army-the Militia Government and organization was established by Parliament in 1660, and continued by the same authority until 1871. This constitutional organization (extending to the Volunteer and Yeomanry Forces) demands our present consideration, that the reader may understand not only the original Militia establishment, but the organic change recently made in the Government of the Auxiliary3 Forces, and the altered relationship in which these forces stand towards the Crown and the Officers of the Regular Army.

2. As the constitutional history of the Militia, Yeomanry, and Volunteers, and the several statutes under which each force has been raised may be found elsewhere, it will be sufficient for our present purpose to notice only those fundamental principles which are applicable to all of them alike :

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1st. That the Militia (and in that term the other auxiliary forces may be included) was essentially a dormant local force, raised in the county by the Lord-Lieutenant and his subordi

1 The information to which the Army was referred by General Orders, 32 o 1873, pars. 83-90 of the first edition, will be found in this chapter.

Vol. I. p. 37-8, 68, 84, 95, 104, and Vol. II. p. 60, 140, 324, and 355.

* This term was first applied to the "City Train Bands” (Vol. I. p. 35), but it is now used on the "Army Estimates" as a general term to include the forces referred to in this chapter.

Vol. I. Chap. III. and XIV.

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