And then comes the sudden gap in all the books; the blank pages more eloquent than words; the disappearance of the familiar signature of Dartmouth; and the student takes up a fresh set of books where England took up a fresh King.
The duties of the Master-General, and the various members and servants of the Board of Ordnance, were first reduced to a systematic form in Charles II.'s reign, while Lord Dartmouth was in office. The Warrant defining these was confirmed by James II. on the 4th February, 1686; by William III., on the 8th March, 1689; by Queen Anne, on the 30th June, 1702; by George I., on the 30th July, 1715; and by George II., on the 17th June, 1727.
Although some alterations were made by George III., they were very slight, and rendered necessary by the occasional absence of the Master-General and by the creation of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich – the Cadets attending that institution being placed in a very special manner under the care and superintendence of the Master and Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance. The orders under which the Board worked up to the beginning of this century were, therefore, practically those instituted during Lord Dartmouth's term of office; and in examining them, one cannot fail to be struck with their exhaustive anticipation of every circumstance which might arise for consideration.
The Master of the Ordnance, as he was originally called – sometimes also termed the Captain-General of the Artillery – received, in 1604, the title of Master-General; and was considered one of the most important personages in the realm. Since the great Marlborough held the office, it has seldom been given to any one not already possessed of the highest military rank: but this was not always the case. Lord Dartmouth was plain Colonel Legge when first appointed, and the social, as well as military rank of his predecessors, was sometimes far from exalted. It became, therefore, necessary to attach to the office some relative military status: and accordingly we find a Warrant issued by James II., bearing date the 13th May, 1686, directing that the Master-General of the Ordnance should always have "the rank, as well as the respect, due to our youngest Lieutenant-General: and that our will and pleasure is, that he command in our Garrisons as formerly, but do not take upon him the charge or command as a Lieutenant-General in the field, without our especial commission or appointment." The command in the Garrisons referred to in the Warrant is in allusion to the Master-Gunners and Gunners of the various Garrisons, whose allegiance to the Board of Ordnance, as being, in fact, custodians of the Ordnance Stores, was always insisted on.
The relative rank awarded to the Master-General entitled him, when passing through any Camp or Garrison, to a guard of 1 officer, 1 sergeant, and 20 men; the guards were compelled to turn out to him and the drums to beat a march; and the officers and soldiers of the Regiments he passed had to turn out at the head of their respective camps. In the old pre-regimental days, when the Master-General took the field in time of war, in his official capacity, he was attended by a Chancellor, thirty gentlemen of the Ordnance, thirty harquebusiers on horseback, with eight halberdiers for his guard, two or three interpreters, a minister or preacher, a physician, a master-surgeon and his attendant, a trumpeter, kettledrums, and chariot with six white horses, two or three engineers, or more if required, and two or three refiners of gunpowder. These kettledrums do not seem to have been used in the field after 1748. They were used by the train of Artillery employed in Ireland in 1689, and the cost of the drums and their carriage on that occasion, was estimated at 158l. 9s. As the reader comes to compare the wages of the drummer and his coachman – 4s. and 3s. per diem respectively – with the pay given to other by no means unimportant members of an Artillery train, he will realize what a prominent position these officials were supposed to hold. The drummer's suit of clothes cost 50l., while a gunner's was valued at 5l. 6s. 4d. Even the coachman could not be clad under 15l.– nearly three times the cost of a gunner's clothes.
Prior to the date of King Charles's Warrant, the pay of the Master-General had been very fluctuating, being considerably affected by fees, and even by sales of places in the department. By that Warrant, however, it was fixed at a certain sum, inclusive of all perquisites, and the amount would appear to have been 1500l. per annum. This remained unchanged until the formation of the Cadet Company, when the annual sum of 474l. 10s. was added to the Master-General's salary, in his capacity as Captain of the Company, and charged in the Regimental accounts of the Royal Artillery. Considerable strides in the direction of further augmentation were afterwards made, more especially in 1801, until we find Lord Chatham, in 1809, drawing no less than 3709l. per annum as Master-General of the Ordnance.
There was an order forbidding any increase to the establishment of the Ordnance without the King's sign-manual, but it speedily became a dead letter; and changes were frequently made without authority, involving additional expense, and covered by something akin to supplementary estimates. In fact, the Parliamentary Commission which sat in 1810 to inquire into the various departments of the Ordnance ascertained that both in matters of personnel and matériel the power of the Master-General in his own department was simply unfettered. That it was not more frequently abused speaks well for the honesty of the department, and the honour of its chief officers.
The Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance at the meetings of the Board was like the Deputy-Chairman of a Company. His powers were in abeyance when the Master was present: although there were one or two cases in which his signature was required as one of the quorum necessary to legalize the business transacted. His office was created by Henry VIII., the designation of General being added subsequently. Until the days of Sir Christopher Musgrave he had an official residence in the Minories; and on its being taken from him he received in lieu the annual allowance of 300l. Another perquisite of the Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance was the ground called, as the old deed expresses it, "Ye old Artillery Garden situate near ye Spitle in ye parish of St. Buttolph, Bishopsgate: " but this also being taken away from him, he was allowed, in March, 1683, the large manor-house and grounds commonly known as the Tower Place at Woolwich, together with the Warren, &c., where the Royal Arsenal now stands, a name given on the occasion of the visit paid to it by George III. in the spring of 1805. The use of this property by the Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance was, however, trammelled by the following conditions: – "That the proving of great guns should go on as heretofore in Woolwich: that the Government should have full control over all wharves, magazines, cranes, &c., and that a dwelling for the Master-Gunner of England should be allowed in the said Mansion-house, and lodging for ten fee'd gunners in the adjoining houses, and also for such Ordnance labourers as might be necessary."
The proper salary of the Lieutenant-General at first was 800l. per annum, supplemented, as mentioned above, by 300l. in lieu of a house; but rising like the pay of the other officers of the Board, we find in 1810, that it amounted to 1525l., besides an allowance for stationery. The Parliamentary Committee which sat in 1810 and 1811 suggested the abolition of the office of Lieutenant-General – a suggestion which was ultimately carried out in 1831. It was revived for a short time during the Crimean war, Sir Hew Ross holding the appointment during the absence at the seat of war of the Master-General, Lord Raglan; but this was a contingency which the Committee had foreseen, and was prepared to meet.
In examining the individual, apart from the collective, duties of the principal officers of the Ordnance, we find that the Lieutenant-General had the supervision of the military branch, and acted as a sort of Adjutant to the Master, who looked to him for all information connected with the various trains of artillery at the Tower and elsewhere. These he was bound always to have fit and ready to march: he had to direct and superintend the practice of the Master-Gunner of England, Firemaster and his mates, Fireworkers and Gunners, and acquaint the Master with their proficiencies; and also to see that all officials connected with the Department did their several duties.
The other four principal officers of the Ordnance were the Surveyor-General, the Clerk of the Ordnance, the Storekeeper, and the Clerk of the Deliveries, any three of whom formed a quorum. At the beginning of the present century the salaries of these officials were respectively 1225l., 825l., 725l., and 1000l. with a further annual