fied places. This warrant gives one
of the earliest records of the nature of accommodation provided, and a few
extracts from it are worth notice. No definite regulations as to cubic or
floor space per man are laid down; but in the infantry, twelve men, and in
the cavalry, eight men are allotted to one room. "Bedsteads or berths" are
allowed, "a single one to each man, or a double one to two men," or
"hammocks where necessary." The married soldier's wife is barely
recognized, as shown by the following extract:--"The Comptroller of the
barrack department may, if he sees fit, and when it in no shape interferes
with or straitens the accommodation of the men, permit (as an occasional
indulgence, and as tending to promote cleanliness, and the convenience of
the soldier) four married women per troop or company of sixty men, and six
per troop or company of a hundred men, to be resident within the barracks;
but no one article shall on this account be furnished by the
barrack-masters, upon any consideration whatever. And if the
barrack-masters perceive that any mischief, or damage, arises from such
indulgence, the commanding officer shall, on their representation, displace
such women. Nor shall any dogs be suffered to be kept in the rooms of any
barrack or hospital." Another regulation says: "Where kitchens are provided
for the soldiers, they shall not be allowed to dress their provisions in
any other places." In about 1818 the civil barrack department was abolished
on account of abuses which had grown up, and the duke of Wellington as
master-general of the ordnance and commander-in-chief transferred to the
corps of Royal Engineers the duties of construction and maintenance of
barracks. In 1826 a course of practical architecture was started at the
school of military engineering at Chatham under Lieutenant-Colonel
(afterwards Sir Charles) Pasley, the first commandant of the school, who
himself wrote an outline of the course. Wellington interested himself in
the [v.03 p.0430] barrack question, and under his orders single iron
bedsteads were substituted for the wooden berths, two tiers high, in which
two men slept in the same bed, then a certain cubical space per man was
allotted, and cook-houses and ablution-rooms were added. Next, sergeants'
messes were started, and ball courts allowed for the recreation of the men.
It was not, however, till after the Crimean War that public attention was
directed by the report dated 1857 of the roya