The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention to military affairs but he was keen on efficiency. In 1870, he pushed through Parliament major changes in Army organisation. The German Empire's stunning triumph over the Second French Empire in the Franco-Prussian War proved that the Prussian system of professional soldiers with up-to-date weapons was far superior to the traditional system of gentlemen-soldiers that Britain used.[1]
The Reforms were not radical; they had been brewing for years and Gladstone seized the moment to enact them. The goal was to centralise the power of the War Office, abolish the purchase of officers' commissions, and create reserve forces stationed in Britain by establishing short terms of service for enlisted men. Ending the purchase system was controversial. The families of officers had invested millions of pounds in the commissions and when a man was promoted he sold his junior commission to help pay for the more expensive senior commission. Legislation in the Commons would reimburse the officers for their full purchase price but the measure was defeated, whereupon the government announced that all purchases were abolished, thereby destroying the value of those commissions. The House of Lords passed the remedial legislation and the final expenditure made by officers was reimbursed.[2]
^Ensor 1936, pp. 7–17.
^Albert V. Tucker, "Army and Society in England 1870–1900: A Reassessment of the Cardwell Reforms", Journal of British Studies (1963) 2#2 pp. 110–141 in JSTOR
The CardwellReforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the...
Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier CardwellReforms. The reorganisation was effected by General Order 41/1881, issued on...
praised the Cardwellreforms as an essential steps to full modernization. They point out that the Duke of Cambridge blocked many other reforms, such as the...
Look up Cardwell in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Cardwell may refer to: Cardwell, Queensland Cardwell, Missouri Cardwell, Montana Cardwell Hall, Kansas...
County Kildare, Ireland. From 1868 Edward Cardwell began a series of significant Liberal government reforms to the War Office and the army. He faced considerable...
continued until it was abolished on 1 November 1871, as part of the CardwellReforms. Formally, the purchase price of a commission was a cash bond for good...
rifle regiment), with its headquarters at Brecon. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
was in Dorset, at Poole, Lulworth or Weymouth. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
agreement." The CardwellReforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell with Gladstone's...
Barracks built in 1876 as the depot for the Queen's. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the militia formally joining their linked regiments...
would have mustered at Melrose in time of war. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
at Redhill in Surrey, England, in time of war. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
war. Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the CardwellReforms of 1872, Militia regiments were brigaded with regular and Volunteer...
Press Guard) Lancashire RVC on 3 September. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell'sreforms further, the regular regiments dropping their numbers and...
distinctive music to announce their arrival, but as a result of the CardwellReforms of 1881, all British Army Highland Regiments were required to use "Highland...
international crisis over the Russo-Turkish War. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
with 1st Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the militia formally joining their linked...
have mustered at Redhill in time of war. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked regiments becoming two-battalion...
way forward, however; from the 1870s, the localisation agenda of the CardwellReforms saw new and old barracks established as depots for regional or County...
it was never expanded to a second battalion. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
have mustered at Manchester in time of war. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the militia formally joining their linked...
the other Regular and Militia battalions. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the militia formally joining their linked...
Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone in time of war. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
international crisis over the Russo-Turkish War. The Childers Reforms took Cardwell'sreforms further, with the linked battalions forming single regiments...
regiment was formed as a consequence of the 1881 Childers Reforms, a continuation of the CardwellReforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment...
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