HC Deb 23 March 1860 vol 157 cc1154-5
CAPTAIN LEICESTER VERNON,

Referring to Clause 18 of the Warrant of October, 1858, which specifies, "that the commands of General Officers and other situations on the Staff, both at home and abroad, shall not be held for more than five years, unless by reappointment under special cases," To ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is to be understood that an Officer, having held one Staff appointment for the period named, can be considered eligible for immediate nomination to another Staff appointment; and, if so, whether there be any, and what, limitation to such successive appointments? The clause in question was rather hazy, and he should be glad to have information on a point so important to the service. For instance, in the event of a deputy adjutant-general having served the whole of his five years, could he, on the expiration of that term, be appointed to a brigade at Alder-shot, and after that again be eligible, say, for command in the West Indies? Could an officer, immediately on vacating one Staff appointment, be re-appointed to another, or was there to be any limit to these re-appointments? He should like also to know whether the same rule was to apply to the Ordnance.