THE BRITISH ARMY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 656, 21 March 1879, Page 2

THE BRITISH ARMY.

The Annual General Report of the British Army for the year 1877 just published, shows that on Jan. 1, 1878, the army was considerably above its authorised strength, the establishment being 164,877, and the effective strength, owing to the number of supernumeraries enrolled, amounted to 166,366 rank-and-fije. The number of troops stationed in England is stated to be 70,058 ; in Channel Islands, 1862; in Ireland, 22,722 ; and in Scotland; 4036. The Colonies absorb 27,942, and the garrison of India accounts for 61,612, making a total, including drafts, on passage to and from India and the Colonies of 190,245 of all ranks. Of this number 1019 belong to the Household Cavalry ; 14,079 to the Cavalry of the Line ; 5106 to the Royal Horse Artillery ; arid 25,589 to the field and garrison brigades of the same regiment; 105,274 to the Infantry of the Line ; 4273 to the Royal Engineers ; 1960 to Colonial Corps ; 2501 to the Army Service Corps ; and 1264 to the Army Hospital Corps. The Milita of the United Kingdom has an establisement of 127,724. rank-and-file, but of this number 15,675 are wanting to complete — amounting to one-ninth of the establishment in England, oneeighth in Scotland, and nearly oneseventh in Ireland. Of the English Milita, 21 per cent, are enrolled in the Reserve, of the Scotch 29^ per cent., and of the Irish 22£ per cent., the regiment supplying the largest number of men to the Reserve being the Highland Light Infantry at Inverness.