Soldiers of the Short Grass. Dan Harvey
advancing under enemy fire, he ran across open ground to attend to another wounded man. In so doing he was himself severely wounded, though he survived and lived for another twenty-three years. The only man to win both a Victoria Cross and an Iron Cross was Dublin-born Assistant Surgeon (later Surgeon General) William Manley. He was with the Royal Regiment of Artillery in a medical capacity during the Waikato-Hauhau Maori War in New Zealand and on, 29 April 1864 near Tauranga, in the course of an attack on a rebel hill-fort, he risked his own life by attending to a wounded naval officer whom he carried away, returning to see if he could find any more wounded. The citation for the award of the Iron Cross earned during the Franco-Prussian War was, ‘For services with the British Ambulance Corps [which was attached to the 22nd Division of the Prussian army] caring for the wounded of the 22nd Division in the actions of Chateauneuf and Bretoncelle on 18th and 21st December 1870, and the battles of Orleans and Cravant on 10th December 1870.’
It was the Franco-Prussian War and the manner of the Prussian victory that was to shake the evident complacency of the British establishment. No longer could they continue to exist in the delusionary status quo of so-called defence. The military climate in Europe had begun to change. In response to the potential Prussian threat, the British Parliament, in early August 1870, approved monies for the recruitment of 20,000 additional troops. The prior provision of the 25,000-strong army for the Crimean War had practically denuded the country of every serving soldier on the ‘home front’, a situation that was repeated immediately after to meet the requirement to suppress the Indian Mutiny. The momentum for this enlargement had been seized upon by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell who, with the support of the Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone, introduced measures to update the army, bringing real change to bear by firstly centralizing the power of the War Office, then abolishing the system of purchasing officers’ commissions and by creating a strategic reserve at home. The Cardwell Reforms initially addressed the abolition of flogging, firstly at home, then on active service abroad and completely in 1880. It was considered imperative to discharge men of bad character and attract instead good quality recruits; consequently, the seven-year short service option was introduced, which was later extended to ten years and then increased to twelve years. The withdrawal from overseas territories saw 26,000 troops come back from far-flung self-governing colonies where locally raised forces began to manage their own defence. A functioning reserve was raised at home and, significantly, Cardwell divided Great Britain and Ireland into sixty-six regimental districts, thus ‘territorializing’ the infantry with each regiment associated with a particular county. There were to be two battalions per regiment, with one battalion serving overseas and the other garrisoned at home for training. Each regiment had a training depot and associated recruiting areas. Militia units would make up a third battalion. The infantry was re-equipped with the first proper breech-loading rifle – the Martini-Henry – and Cardwell’s reforms also extended to improving the Spartan living conditions of the soldier which were previously austere and harsh. Frugal barrack-room furniture was basic with rudimentary beds, benches and tables. Sheets were now changed monthly while the straw in the mattresses was replaced every three months. Pay was low: one shilling per day and one penny ‘beer money’. A four-and-a-half penny deduction for rations was abolished in 1873, but so too was the beer money. A soldier’s net pay was often subjected to regimental stoppages for lost kit and ‘barrack damages’.
The Curragh Camp’s original wooden hutments, even at their initial installation, had never really been fit for purpose. A decade and a half later, having weathered badly and now being almost dilapidated, they were deemed unsuitable for living in, the ill-fitting wooden planks forming their walls proving no barrier to the Curragh’s cold and winter winds. The last three decades of the nineteenth century saw the camp undertake a transformative journey from wood through concrete hutments to red-brick buildings. This allowed for the incorporation of Cardwell’s desire to improve the conditions of the ordinary soldier by upgrading facilities such as reading-rooms and canteens.
The Curragh Act 1868, as has been discussed, provided for the regularization of the status of the British army on the Curragh, a status protected by bye-laws passed the same year, and the Curragh formally became the main training ground for the British military establishment in Ireland. The Cardwell reforms updated and enlarged the army, and the concentration of forces at home enabled a strategic reserve to be built which could be given proper training at major camps such as Aldershot and the Curragh. ‘Ball practice’, musketry range-practice and great mock battles were part and parcel of training, and demonstrations were arranged for the regular visits of the commander-in-chief of British forces in Ireland. The training of the troops changed over the years to encompass new weapons, especially more accurate, longer range and quicker firing rifles, as well as new tactics – cavalry, for instance, becoming ‘mounted infantry’ – and new strategies, improved communications and means of transport. Important too was the opening of the Suez Canal which allowed for a more rapid deployment of troops to faraway destinations. Ireland was ideal for recruiting, training and providing an embarkation point for troops to serve in the colonies. The Cardwell Reforms had been exceptional, changing the strength, equipping, organization and training of an enlarged army in a radical and positive way so that it was available for action on the home front, in the colonies and for war.
Police Duties
When deploying their forces in Ireland during the nineteenth century the British had to achieve a balance between guarding against internal insurrection and having adequate manpower to meet the exigencies arising from colonial wars. The Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s had gone a long way towards addressing this situation, especially as the need for soldiers abroad was constant, on occasions increasing, because of the continuous climate of conflict in the colonies. Agitation in Ireland, never far below the surface, was to find expression at this time in what became known as the Land War (1879–82), a period which saw the country gripped by a new wave of agrarian unrest. In the late 1870s, improvements in transatlantic transport led to European markets being flooded with a supply of cheap grain, causing a drop in prices paid to Irish farmers. A disastrous wet season in 1877 led to a further failure of the potato crop, causing more hardship. Unable to pay rents, small farmers throughout the country were evicted by unscrupulous landlords. The spectre of famine was, once again, beginning to raise its head as oppressed tenants found their already difficult struggle for daily survival becoming intolerable. In 1879, a member of the Fenian Brotherhood, Michael Davitt, who had spent many years in British prisons, set up an organization known as the Land League, dedicated to assisting farmers in their struggle against landlords and their often over-zealous agents. Davitt organized large public meetings to galvanize support for his efforts and to put pressure on landlords, one of the biggest such gatherings – ‘an especially large assembly’ – taking place on the Curragh plain. Officially, the League did not condone violence, but among its members were a number of men belonging to agrarian secret societies who displayed few qualms about using force to achieve their objectives. Some of the ‘big houses’ were burned, crops and livestock destroyed and, in some cases, landlords killed. The army was, once again, called upon to act in the role of police. The role required troops to be split into small detachments, contrary to the military principle of concentrating on strength to ensure maximum effect, and the tasks undertaken by the military at this time included providing escorts for prisoners and personal protection for sheriffs, bailiffs and landlords, assisting at forced evictions, guarding jails and attending public gatherings in order to prevent breaches of the peace. The military authorities always supplied the necessary troops when requested to do so by their civilian counterparts, but they could not conceal their dislike of the tasks involved. While stationed in Ireland, British units often became subsumed into the evolving history of the country, which saw the army acting in a police capacity. One result was the reintroduction by the army of ‘flying columns’ which were sent to areas to quell unrest that had erupted or threatened. And though order might be restored, an anti-English feeling remained and proved fertile ground for sedition. The list of lingering wrongs was lengthening.
Chapter 3
By the Turn of the Century
The Camp Rebuilt
Progress comes with practice, and