HC Deb 30 April 1868 vol 191 cc1579-80
SIR PATRICK O'BRIEN

said, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Why the promotions in the Coldstream Guards in succession to Captain and Lieutenant Colonel Clive have been delayed since the 14th of March; whether it is proposed that the present number of Lieutenants and Captains in that Regiment be reduced; and, if not, why has the Regiment been kept short of its proper complement of officers; and, whether there are in the Coldstream or other Regiments of Guards officers qualified by service to fill such vacancy?

SIR JOHN PAKINGTON

Sir, the vacancy caused by the promotion of Captain and Lieutenant Colonel Clive has not been filled up; but there is no intention whatever to reduce the number of officers in that Regiment. When the vacancy occurred it was discovered that a very unusual state of affairs existed in the Regiment—one nearly without precedent; the six senior Ensigns of the Coldstream Guards were not qualified by service for their promotion, while of the whole sixteen Ensigns only two were so qualified — one of them standing seventh upon the list, and the other being, as it happened, the junior Ensign of the Regiment. The question then arose whether these two officers were entitled to have their claim to promotion over the heads of all their fellows recognized, the principle if acted upon in the case of the officer who stood seventh being, of course, binding on the other case also. Now the junior Ensign is an officer who has lately left the Rifle Brigade, and if he were to be promoted, he would be passed over the heads of sixty-seven officers of his late Regiment, the Rifle Brigade, and fourteen other officers in the Coldstream Guards, so that altogether he would have attained the rank of Captain in the Army over the heads of no less than eighty-one other officers. It was considered very undesirable that the course of promotion should be thus interfered with; and as only a few weeks will elapse before the senior Ensign will be qualified, it was thought better to wait before making the appointment.