COLONEL JONES AND THE ARMY.—We noticed last week Colonel Jones's
explanation of certain charges made against him. In giving the explanation, Colonel Jones read the regimental order in consequence of which he was compelled to quit the service. To show our readers the terrible character of a document which so deeply offended the morgue of the Duke of York, we subjoin a copy.
" Barrscicie ORDERS, Dublin, 2d August 1825.
" Colonel Jones regrets to be under the painful necessity of pointing out to his officers 'what are the imperative points of duty they should attend to on a move of the battalion, when their attention to preserve discipline is more particularly called for than at any other moment. Officers of any date should not require to receive instructions : they should be capable by their intelligence, foresight, and example, to instruct their juniors, :who, from want of experience. cannot be supposed to be as effective as their seniors. Officers are not to consider themselves as mere passive beings, merely to repeat orders given, or to consider themselves solely as ornamental points, on the pivot, thank, or in the rear rank. Those in charge of companies should consider themselves as much re- sponsible for the regularity of the company, as the commanding officer is of his batta- lion, and exert themselves in the same proportion, that order may be preserved. They .should take care that no man falls out of the ranks; that he should receive nothing into them; that no civilian, man or woman, comes in contact with the soldier, on any move- ment of the battalion ; and though in marching the officer be required to be on the pivot dank, yet as the covering is not so strictly exacted as in manoeuvres, his attention should not be diverted from the general conduct of his men. On a halt, his attention should be wholly given to the moral control of them, that no irregularity occur. He is not to seek a spot of shade, while his men are exposed to the sun; he is not to seek a point of repose, and place himself in reclining attitudes, while the soldier is under arms, and indulge in idle gosSip with the supernumeraries, nor are these to do so with each other. Officers are not to occupy themselves with their own comforts and conve- niences. but dedicate themselves solely to the directing of their men, and the rear should implicitly follow the van. After the men are disposed of, and that every • essential duty is performed, then they may look after their conveniences but officers should take such precautions in sending their baggage beforehand—should make such previous arrangements for their mess concerns, and have their servants, pri- vate or military, so well organized and drilled, as to have no occasion to direct their personal attention to such matters. Officers who are desirous of discharging conscien- tiously their duty, and anxious to distinguish themselves by their zeal and intelligence, will entirely discard self, and never dream of their own wants, until their charge of the soldier be fully executed. They will never leave any duty to anon-commissioned offi- cer, which they are called upon by the rules of the service, or common sense, to perform themselves. Any officer so far forgetting himself is unfit for the trust reposed in him. The attention to the belly is a leading defect o! the British soldier, and which too often hail-ebbed him of that reputation which his superior force and energy of character gene- rally secure to him, and which distinguish him beyond that of every other country. It would be unbecoming of the soldier to consider and seek the gratification of his appetite as a leading point—how much more disgraceful is it that the officer, an educated person- age, should oiake it such !
"The cultivated mind of the officer, the high and honourable feelings thereby created, should lead him to submit to every privation with patience, and to bear every fatigue with resignation ; when on duty, he should seek no other enjoyment but what relatively can be shared by the soldiers.
" Colonel Jones could never have dreamed that it was possible that an officer who has attained the rank of eaptain,—who has been from eight to nine years in the Army, that he should leave men intrusted to his charge, entirely to the care of u drill-sergeant —that he should go seek repose in an inn, and no further occupy himself with the men under hiscommand, left in boats, at a considerable distance front The quarters which he obtained for himself.
" Colonel Jones is equally astonished that a senior officer, whohas bad the advantage of having been on foreign service, and who was sent expressly to a particular station, to assume the responsibility of the command, should, from the falsest indulgence, have permitted such idleness and neglect of duty. When men are so abandoned by their officers, it is only surprising that they..should not disgrace themselves aud their colours by the most untoward misconduct and insubordination. It should not be requisite that a commanding officer should have occasion to give instructions for the commonest points of duty. Officers in charge should he thoroughly masters of what discipline requires of them; indeed they should be capable of exercising their own discretion, and giving such orders as circumstances may call for. 'That no such neglect in future shall occur, Colonel Jones positively commands that no officer will ever .presume to leave his company, or detachment, or guard ; that he will only move with his men ; that no officer in charge will depute it to another; and that every such officer will consider it a bounden duty to have, either on a march, a halt, or temporary disembarkation, repeated parades, to insure sobriety, cleanliness, and good order.
" But when on any such occasions rations are to be issued and messes cooked, that no ti me be lost in their delivery and preparation, and that the MR be always cautioned to liold themselves in readiness to move at the shortest notice. "To prevent the necessity of repeating such instructions, Colonel Jones directs the Adjutant to send to each officer absent a copy of this order."
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