History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original Records — John Shaqi
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original RecordsDuncan, Francis
History
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original Records
Duncan, Francis
Great Britain. Army. Royal Regiment of Artillery
Of the many to whom he is indebted for assistance he feels called upon
to mention specially the Secretary of State for War, by whose permission
he had unlimited access to the Ordnance Library in the Tower; Colonel
Middleton, C.B., Deputy Adjutant-General of the Royal Artillery; General
McDowell, commanding the troops in New York; Lieutenant A. B. Gardner,
of the United States Artillery; and the Committees of the Royal
Artillery and United Service Institutions.
The works which the author has consulted are too numerous to mention,
but among those which were most useful to him were Drinkwater's 'Siege
of Gibraltar,' Murdoch's 'History of Nova Scotia,' Browne's 'England's
Artillerymen,' Clode's 'Military Forces of the Crown,' the Reports of
the House of Commons, the Records of the Royal Military Academy, Kirke's
'Conquest of Canada,' Rameau's 'La France aux Colonies,' Cust's 'Annals
of the Wars.'
* * * * *
Among the mass of MSS. through which he had to wade, the valuable
manuscript notes connected with the 'History of the Royal Artillery,'
arranged by the late Colonel Cleaveland, deserve special mention. The
skeleton of this work, however, was furnished by the old Record Books of
the Battalions, deposited in the office of which the author is
Superintendent.
In the succeeding volumes, the advantage of being able to use the old
letter-books of the head-quarter offices of the Royal Artillery will be
apparent. But there was no head-quarter staff for the Regiment up to the
time where this volume finishes; so that the student has, up to that
date, to depend greatly on men like General James Pattison and Forbes
Macbean, who placed on record, in their diaries and letter-books,
valuable and interesting information connected with the Regiment during
their service, which would otherwise have been hopelessly unattainable.
The value of such a History as this, if the writer has not utterly
failed in his object, cannot be better shown than in some words
addressed by one of our most distinguished Artillery officers (Sir E. C.
Warde) to an audience at the Royal Artillery Institution a few months
ago. The family affection which he urged as the model for Regimental
_esprit_ cannot be better fostered than by reviving the stories of our
predecessors' gallant deeds and scientific excellence. As a Regiment, we
are now large almost to unwieldiness, and conflicting interests and
tastes tend to diminish the desired sympathy and cohesion. And, as in
the crowded pit of a theatre before the performance commences, there is
elbowing, and crowding, and wrangling for place, yet when the curtain
rises all is hushed and quiet,—there is room for every one,—and the look
of selfishness is exchanged for one of interest and pleasure,—so, among
our great numbers, although there must be many and diverse interests and
tastes, yet we all become as one as we gaze on the great dramas in which
those of us have acted who have gone before.
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