ORGANIZATION AND CONDITION IN 1869.
The organization of the school, which is fixed by a Decree dated Nov. 30th, 1863, is of a military character. There is a staff of military officers in addition to, and quite separate from, the staff employed in the duties of instruction. The pupils wear uniform, which, however, is more civil than military in appearance. They are formed into four companies which together constitute a battalion; and, although they are not actually subject to the penal code of the army, the discipline maintained and the punishments inflicted are entirety military in character.
The military establishment remains exactly as it was in 1856, and consists of:
The Commandant, a General Officer, usually of the Artillery or the Engineers, at present a General of Artillery.
A Second Commandant, a colonel or lieutenant-colonel, chosen from among the former pupils of the school; at present a colonel of Engineers.
Three captains of Artillery and three captains of Engineers, as inspectors of studies, chosen also from former pupils of the school.
Six adjutants (adjudants), non-commissioned officers, usually such as have been recommended for promotion.
Slight changes have been made in the civil establishment; it now consists of:—
1. A Director of Studies, at present a colonel of Engineers.
2. Seventeen professors,12(two additional professors for history) seventeenRépétiteursand assistantRépétiteurs, and five drawing masters. Of the 17 professors, two are at present officers of Engineers, and one an officer of Artillery; the remainder are civilians, of whom three are members of the Academy of Sciences.
3. Five examiners for admission, and five for conducting the examinations at the school. All of these at present are civilians.
4. An administrative staff consisting of a treasurer, librarian, &c.; and a medical staff.
The general control or supervision of the school is vested, under the War Department, in four great boards or councils, viz.:—
1. A Board of Administration, composed of the Commandant, the Second Commandant, the Director of Studies, two professors, two captains of the military staff, and two members of the administrative staff. This board has the superintendence of all the financial business, and all the minutiæ of the internal administration of the school.
2. A Board of Discipline, consisting of the Second Commandant, the Director of Studies, three captains of the Military Staff, and one major of the army, selected from former pupils of the school.13The duty of this board is to decide upon cases of misconduct.
3. A Board of Instruction, whose members are, the Commandant, the Second Commandant, the Director of Studies, the Examiners of Students, the Professors, and two captains of the Military Staff; and whose chief duty is to make recommendations relating to ameliorations in the studies and the programmes of admission and of instruction in the school to—
4. A Board of Improvement (Conseil de Perfectionnement), charged with the general control of the studies, and formed of:—
The Commandant, president,The Second Commandant,The Director of Studies,Two delegates from the Naval Department,Two delegates from the Department of Public Works,One delegate from the Home or Finance Department,Three delegates from the War Department,Two members of the Academy of Sciences,Two examiners of students,Three professors of the school.
The Commandant, president,
The Second Commandant,
The Director of Studies,
Two delegates from the Naval Department,
Two delegates from the Department of Public Works,
One delegate from the Home or Finance Department,
Three delegates from the War Department,
Two members of the Academy of Sciences,
Two examiners of students,
Three professors of the school.
The delegates from the public departments are appointed by the respective ministers; the members of the Academy, the examiners, and the professors are selected by the Minister of War. The real management of the school, so far as the course of instruction is concerned, is in the hands of theConseil de Perfectionnement; it will be seen that of the 18 members composing it more than half are entirely independent of the school, and are men of eminence in the various public services for which the instruction at the Polytechnic is preparatory. One of the chief duties of the Council is to see that the studies form a good preparation for those of the more special schools (Ecoles d’ Application) for the civil and military services; and the eminent character of its members gives great weight to the recommendations they make to the Minister of War.
The annual expenses of the school, as extracted from the Budget for 1869, are as follows:—
Instruction, maintenance, examination of candidates, clothing, books, &c.,
Allowances (premières mises) to 25 exhibitioners on admission to the military services at 750 fr. each
Add regimental pay of 28 officers and non-commissioned officers employed at the school,
The chief changes that have been made in regard to the course of instruction since 1856, may be summarized as follows:
1. The more elementary portions of chemistry and physics which are required in the entrance examination, but which were formerly repeated at the school, have been omitted. The course of instruction in these subjects is now confined to the more advanced portions which do not enter into the entrance examination.
2. The mathematical courses have in some points been slightly curtailed, and the number of lectures in French literature and German have been diminished. By the modifications thus made in the programmes, it has been found possible to shorten the whole course of study and to increase the length of the vacations.
3. The subject of “Military Art,” which formerly entered into the final examinationis no longer taken into consideration in determining the order of merit of the pupils. In this respect the course of instruction may be said to have even less of a military character than formerly. Topographical drawing is the single military subject which has any influence on the final classification of the pupils, and this only to a very slight extent.
4. History has been introduced as a subject of instruction. This change was made in 1862. The course comprises general history, both ancient and modern, but more especially the history of France in modern times. The introduction of this subject appears to have arisen partly from a feeling that an acquaintance with history was a necessary element of a liberal education, and partly from a wish to meet, to some extent, an objection often made to the Polytechnic course of instruction, that it was too deficient in studies of a literary character. History, however, like military art, is evidently still regarded as a subject of only secondary importance and has no influence on the final classification.
5. A diminution has been made in the number of examinations during the course, by the suppression of one of the half-yearly examinations by the professors (interrogations générales, as distinct from theinterrogations particulières) in each year. Further reference will be made to this point when speaking of the examinations at the school.
6. The importance of written exercises in determining the respective merits of the pupils has been decreased, apparently from the difficulty of establishing a security that such compositions were the unaided work of the individual.
The following table shows the present course of instruction during the two years, and the alterations which have been made in the number of lectures in each subject since 1856:—
* Introduced in 1862.
In connection with several of the courses, such as descriptive geometry, stereotomy, machinery, and architecture, much drawing is done by the pupils; hand sketches are taken of the diagrams shown in the lecture-room, and finished drawings are afterwards executed in thesalles d’étude. In addition to this, 30 attendances of two or three hours each, distributed over the two years, are especially devoted to drawing more elaborate plans and elevations of architectural constructions and machinery. The practical applications of the theoretical instruction are limited to manipulations in the laboratory in connection with the course of lectures on chemistry and physics. Towards the close of the second year the pupils are also taken to visit some of the large manufacturing establishments in Paris, in order to gain a practical acquaintance with machinery.
All the subjects taught at the school are obligatory, but history and military art, as already stated, have no influence in determining the order of merit of the pupils in the final result.
The only instruction in practical military exercises, which is compulsory upon all, is that in drill. The pupils are exercised under arms in company drill, and are also occasionally drilled as a battalion; but very little importance is attached to this point—the only really military portion of their training. Drill goes on only for about three months in each year during the spring and summer, and even during this brief period only takes place about twice a week. By the regulations of the school the pupils should be exercised in musketry practice, but although they are armed with the Chassepot rifle this regulation is never carried out. Instruction is given in fencing and gymnastics, but attendance at both is voluntary, and scarcely more than half the pupils take advantage of it. Neither riding nor swimming are taught at the school.
The school year commences about the 1st of November, and terminates about the first of August. Some seven months of the year are given up to lectures and the ordinary routine of study; about two months are occupied with the annual examinations and private preparation for them; the remaining three months—August, September, and October—are the vacation. In addition to this long vacation, from eight to twelve days are allowed after the periodical examination, which takes place near the end of February, at the close of the first portion of each year’s study.
One peculiarity in the arrangements of the school is that the subjects of each year’s course are not all studied simultaneously. The lectures in the main subjects of instruction—those which, as a rule, present the most difficulty—are divided into courses which continue only during a certain portion of each year. Thus in the junior division, analysis and descriptive geometry are the mathematical subjects studied during the first three months, or three months and a half. The course in them is then concluded; an examination by the professors (interrogation générale) is held in these subjects, and they are laid aside for the remainder of the year, though they enter into the examination at the close of the year. Their place is then taken by a course of lectures in mechanics and geodesy. Similarly in the second year, analysis and mechanics are the subjects of the first course of lectures, at the termination of which there is an examination; and for the remainder of the year no further lectures in them are given, stereotomy and military art taking their place.
The subjects involving as a rule less difficulty—such as history, French literature, German, and drawing—are spread over the whole year, forming generally the evenings’ occupation.
Thefirst French Artillery Schoolwas founded in the time of Louis XIV. (in 1679) at Douai. It had but a short existence: and it wasonly in 1720(under the Regency,) when the Royal Regiment of Artillery received a new organization, that schools of theory were permanently founded in each of the seven towns where there were garrisons of artillery. But no academy properly so called was established before that founded byD’Argenson at La Fère, in 1756, with a staff of two professors of mathematics, and two of drawing. This was transferred to Bapaume, near the Flemish frontier, in 1766, re-transferred to La Fère, and suppressed, among other schools, at the beginning of the Revolution.
Of early Engineer Schoolsthere was only one, the very distinguished School of Mézières, near the northern frontier. This was founded in 1749, also under the ministry of D’Argenson; Monge was a professor there; and it had a very high reputation down to its suppression in the Revolution.
When the wars of the Revolution broke out, Provisional Schools for giving a brief course of rapid instruction was established at Metz for the engineers, and at Chalons-sur-Marne for the artillery. These had to supply, at a great disadvantage, the officers needed for the protection of the invaded frontier.
It was intended originallythat the Polytechnic, established in 1794, should send engineers direct to the army; but it was quickly found to be a better plan to allow the pupils destined for this service first to spend some little time at Metz; which thus, in October, 1795, became a School of Application for Engineers. The artillery pupils in like manner went to Châlons. This separate system of two Schools of Application continued till 1802, when the establishment at Châlons was united with that of Metz, and Metz became what it has since continued to be, the seat of the United School of Application for the two services. The Polytechnic students whoselect theArtillerie de terre,Artillerie de mer, or theGénie militaire, enter here to receive the special and professional instruction deemed requisite to fit them for actual employment.
The students quitting the Polytechnic in the manner described in the account of that school, at the average age of twenty-one, enter the School of Application, with the provisional rank, the uniform, and the pay of sub-lieutenants (sous-lieutenants.) The ordinary term of residence is two years. Under special circumstances this may be shortened; and in case of illness or want of application individual students are occasionally retained for a third year. Each new body of students, eachadmissionorpromotion, is classified at the end of the first year, and the students composing it are arranged in order of merit in accordance with the reports of the professors, but without an examination; at the close of the second year they pass a final examination before the Board of Officers, and are definitively placed in the corps they have chosen, the artillery or engineers, according to the order of merit. They are allowed to count, as regards retirement from the service and towards military decorations, four year’s service on account of the two years passed at the Polytechnic School, and of the time passed in preparing for admission to it, reckoning from the day of their admission to the School of Application.
Metz is a fortified placeon the Prussian frontier, the seat of war at the time of the school’s first foundation; it is on the line of railway to Mannheim, about thirty miles from the point where this branch diverges from the main line to Strasburg. The Moselle flows through the town, and is employed, with its little affluent the Seille, in the military defenses. The garrison numbers 10,000 men; there is an Arsenal, a school of Pyrotechny for the manufacture of rockets, two Regimental Schools, one of Artillery and the other of Engineers. The School of Application occupies buildings erected on the site, and partly the original buildings themselves, of a suppressed Benedictine monastery. Three sides of the cloistered monastic quadrangle are devoted to the offices, lecture-rooms, galleries and halls of study. A fourth, formerly the ancient church, is converted into asalle des manœuvres. There is an adjoining residence for the commandant; and a separate modern building, four stories in height, affords lodging to the young men.
Thesalle des manœuvresis a large area under a lofty roof, rising to the whole height of the buildings of the quadrangle; it contains artillery of various descriptions, mortars, field and siege guns placed as in a battery, and is amply large enough to allow cannon to bemoved and exercises performed when the state of the weather may make it desirable.
The amphitheaters or lecture rooms, much on the same system as those at the Polytechnic, are two in number, one for each of the two divisions. Officers of the artillery and engineers who are in garrison, are entitled, if they please, to attend the lectures, and other officers also may be admitted by permission.
The galleries, partly on the ground floor, partly on the first floor, contain very good collections of models of artillery, ancient and modern, of sets of small arms, of tools, of locks, barrels and other portions of muskets in various stages of the process of their manufacture, of specimens of carpentry and roofing, of minerals, of models of fortifications, bridges, coffer-dams, locks, &c.
The library on the first floor has an adjoining reading room; and near it is the examination room, of which further mention will be made. The three halls of study (salles d’étude) on the first floor are on a different plan from those of the Polytechnic, each one being large enough to accommodate a whole division (seventy students.) Three rooms are also provided for the professors to prepare their lectures in.
The barracks, on the opposite side of the open space used for drill and exercises, form a lofty and handsome building, entered by separate staircases, the ground-floor rooms of each being assigned to a servant, who undertakes to provide attendance for all the young men lodging in the rooms above. The rooms are comfortable, mostly double-bedded, the bedroom serving also as a sitting room, and a small adjoining closet being used for washing, &c. Twenty or twenty-two appear to be thus accommodated on each staircase; there are lodgings altogether for one hundred and forty-five. A certain number of the senior sub-lieutenants would, probably, on the arrival of the new cadets from the Polytechnic, be removed to lodge in the town.
There is a riding-school adjoining the court; stables, for thirty-three horses, which are kept for the use of the pupils, and lodgings for the attendants are provided in the neighborhood.
The mere description of the buildings shows at once that the system is different in many respects from that of the Polytechnic. Young men of twenty-one and twenty-two years of age, already holding provisional commissions in the service, receiving the pay and wearing the uniform of sub-lieutenants, are naturally allowed much greater freedom of action. They live, and partly also study, not in the halls of study, but in their own rooms; they take theirmeals in the town, where they frequent thecafésandrestaurantsof their choice. Therappelsummons them every morning to rise and attend a roll-call at half-past five or six; military exercises, riding, or interrogations, similar to theinterrogations particulières, require the presence of a portion of the number, but the rest are free to return to their rooms. At ten they have to attend either the day’s lecture, followed by employment in the halls of study, till four o’clock P.M., or they proceed at once to the halls of study, and set to work on the drawings, designs, projects, &c., which are described hereafter in the account of the studies. From four to half-past five P.M.; drill, exercises, and riding occupy a portion of the number, probably those who were not called for in the morning. After half-past five they are left to themselves.
This ordinary routine of studies is interrupted in the summer months by the occurrence of expeditions for making surveys, and for measuring and sketching machines in manufactories. The young men are sent, two together, to survey (lever à boussole;) singly for the reconnaissance sketch(lever à vue;) and generally, a certain number are distributed about a district not too large for an officer to make his round in it, and see each day that all are at work. The railways afford considerable facilities; the expeditions never occupy more than ten days at a time, but they may be extended as far as Strasburg.
There are norépétiteursin the school; but the system ofinterrogations particulièresis carried on; and an examination by the professor and an assistant professor takes place after, about, every eight or ten lectures.
The Staff of the Institution consists of—
1 General Officer, at present a General of Brigade of Artillery, as Commandant.1 Colonel or Lieutenant-Colonel, Second in Command and Director of Studies, at present a Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers.1 Major of Artillery.1 Major of Engineers.5 Captains of Artillery.8 Captains of Engineers.1 Surgeon (Médecin-Major.)
1 General Officer, at present a General of Brigade of Artillery, as Commandant.
1 Colonel or Lieutenant-Colonel, Second in Command and Director of Studies, at present a Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers.
1 Major of Artillery.
1 Major of Engineers.
5 Captains of Artillery.
8 Captains of Engineers.
1 Surgeon (Médecin-Major.)
The Commandant is taken alternately from the Artillery and Engineers, and the command lasts for five years only.
The Second in Command is always chosen from that arm of the service which does not supply the Commandant.
The inferior officers of each rank are taken in equal numbers from the two arms.
The Staff of Instructors is as follows:—
1 Professor of Artillery, at present a Captain of Artillery.1 Assistant ditto also a Captain of Artillery.1 Professor of Military Art, charged also with the Course of Military Legislation and Administration (a Captain of Engineers.)1 Professor of Permanent Fortification and of the Attack and Defense of places (a Captain of Engineers.)1 Assistant ditto ditto (a Captain of Engineers.)1 Professor of the Course of Topography and Geodesy (a Captain of Engineers.)1 Professor of Sciences applied to the Military Arts.1 Professor of Mechanics applied to Machines (a Captain of Artillery.)1 Professor of the Course of Construction (a Captain of Engineers.)1 Assistant ditto.1 Professor of the German language (a civilian.)1 Professor of Veterinary Art and Riding (a Captain of Artillery.)1 Assistant ditto (a civilian.)1 Drawing Master, Chief of the Drawing Department (a civilian.)
1 Professor of Artillery, at present a Captain of Artillery.
1 Assistant ditto also a Captain of Artillery.
1 Professor of Military Art, charged also with the Course of Military Legislation and Administration (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Professor of Permanent Fortification and of the Attack and Defense of places (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Assistant ditto ditto (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Professor of the Course of Topography and Geodesy (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Professor of Sciences applied to the Military Arts.
1 Professor of Mechanics applied to Machines (a Captain of Artillery.)
1 Professor of the Course of Construction (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Assistant ditto.
1 Professor of the German language (a civilian.)
1 Professor of Veterinary Art and Riding (a Captain of Artillery.)
1 Assistant ditto (a civilian.)
1 Drawing Master, Chief of the Drawing Department (a civilian.)
In all, nine Professors, four Assistant Professors, and one Drawing Master.
The School employs in addition an administrative staff, consisting of—
A Treasurer,A Librarian,both of whom must have been Officers in the Artillery or Engineers.A Principal Clerk.An Assistant Librarian.Two Storekeepers, intrusted with thematerielbelonging to the two arms.One skilled Mechanic.One skilled Lithographer.One Fencing Master.
A Treasurer,A Librarian,both of whom must have been Officers in the Artillery or Engineers.
A Principal Clerk.
An Assistant Librarian.
Two Storekeepers, intrusted with thematerielbelonging to the two arms.
One skilled Mechanic.
One skilled Lithographer.
One Fencing Master.
Clerksand draughtsmen are provided as required.
The school is under the general superintendence of two hoards or councils, the Superior Council and the Administrative Council.
The Superior Councilconsists of the General Commandant, as President, the Second in Command, the Director of Studies, as Vice-President; the Major of Artillery, and the Major of Engineers, as permanent members; two Captains of the Establishment, one of each arm; two Military Professors, one of each arm; and one Captain of the Establishment; these five last being all removable at the General Inspections.
The Superior Council has the duty of drawing up the programme of the studies of the year, of suggesting changes in the regulations relating both to studies and discipline, all subject to the approval of the Minister of War; of preparing at the end of the year the classified list of the students, drawn up according to their conduct and progress in their studies, and of pointing out to the Jury of Examiners any students who should go again through the coursesof the year, and stay in consequence an additional year at the school.
When questions relatingto the instruction are brought before the Superior Council, the whole body of military professors attend and take part in the proceedings, and the Council is thus said to be constituted as a Board or Council of Instruction. Improvements are here suggested, and are subsequently submitted to the Jury of Examiners, and to the Minister of War; the value to be attached, in the system of marks or credits, to each particular course of study is determined; a statement is drawn up showing what printed works, models, &c., are wanted. The budget itself, to be submitted to the Minister of War, is finally drawn up by the Superior Council in its ordinary sittings.
The Administrative Council, composed of the Second in Command as President, the two Majors of Artillery and of Engineers, one Captain and one Military Professor, and the Treasurer as Secretary without the right of voting, takes cognizance of all the financial and other business matters of the school.
The studies at Metz consist of topography and geodesy, including military drawing and surveying under special circumstances; field fortification, military art and legislation, permanent fortification, and the attack and defense of fortified places, accompanied by a sham siege, without, however, executing the details practically on the ground; architecture, as applicable to military buildings and fortifications; the theory and practice of construction, and artillery. The programmes of these studies are inserted at length in the Appendix.
The instruction is given principally (as at the Polytechnic) by means of a series of lectures, and the knowledge which the students have acquired is first directly tested by requiring them to execute various kinds of surveys of ground, either with or without the use of instruments; to prepare drawings of buildings, workshops, and machines in full detail (plan, elevation, and s) from the measurements they have recorded in their note-books or on their sketches, and to accompany such drawings with descriptive memoirs of all particulars and calculations that may be necessary to exhibit their purpose or efficiency; to draw up projects and lay out works of field and permanent fortification, or of those of attack or defense of a particular place on certain given data, or according to the nature of the ground; to design a military building, bridge,machine, or piece of ordnance, accompanied by estimates and descriptive memoirs, showing in what manner the instructions and conditions under which it was drawn up have been complied with; and to prepare a project for the amelioration of the works of defense of a specified portion of a fortified place known to be defective in some respects.
The instruction during the first year’s residenceis common to the two arms; and the time is appropriated in the following manner, namely:—
Thesous-lieutenantswho complete their first year’s work are allowed nearly a month’s vacation during November.
The instruction given to the Artillery and Engineers during the second year’s residence is not entirely the same, as will be seen by comparing the accompanying table of the year’s study:—
We should not omit to state that there is a short course on the Veterinary Art.
The lectures, as before said, begin at 10 A.M., and they last usually an hour and a half, and are followed by work in the halls of study. It would appear, however, that very frequently the day’s occupation consists simply of work in the halls of study (or occasionally out of the school buildings, when the students are sent on some excursion;) and, accordingly, in giving the account of the studies, adayor day’s work will sometimes mean a lecture followed by drawing or other employment, sometimes this drawing or other employment without any lecture preceding. Taking a generalaverage, the proportion appears to be about two lectures to fiveséances,i.e., sittings without lectures.
The system will be better understood by referring to the accompanying tables, which are translated from the Project for the Employment of Time for the year 1851–2, submitted for the approval of the Minister of War. The dates in the first column indicate the days of the commencement of each particular study. The school year, it should be said, begins on the 1st of December.
EMPLOYMENT OF TIME FOR THE YEARS 1851–1852.
Att Attendances.LbW Lectures before Work.TL Total of Lectures.
Att Attendances.
LbW Lectures before Work.
TL Total of Lectures.
Lectures on Military Art in Topography—Conventional Tints,
Study of Hill Drawing (in sepia with contour lines,)
Plan of Stability of Revetments, &c.,
Study of the Drawing showing the effect,
Topographical Triangulation,
Defilement and Profiling on the Ground,
One day free in case of bad weather,
To find the Variation of the Needle,
One day free in case of bad weather,
Reconnaissance Plan—Out-of-door work,
One day free in case of bad weather,
Laying down and drawing the Survey made with the Compass,
Leave for their Vacation,
There remains therefore in this division:—1st. Three free days in case of bad weather; one after each survey. 2nd. Two days at the end of the year, the 4th and 5th November. Total five free day.
EMPLOYMENT OF TIME FOR THE YEAR 1851–1852.
Laying down the First Survey by Reconnaissance,
Attack and Defense:—Plate, Batteries, with Plan and Sections of Detail,
Designs and Constructions of Revetments, Arches, &c.,
Measurement and Drawings of a Cannon,
Project of Fortification in hilly ground, Plate 2cont.
Measurement of a Workshop,
Laying down the Measurement, . . . 28
Laying down the Measurement, . . . 24
Project of Fortification in hilly ground, Plate 3, . . . 14
Project for Machines, . . . 14
Abstracting and calculating Measurements, . . . 3
Questions in Artillery, . . . 5
1st. Measurement ofMatériel, Gun Carriages, &c., . . . 8
Register of the removal of Earth, . . . 3
2nd. Measurement ofMatériel, . . . 8
Project for a Cannon, . . . 24
Second Reconnaissance Survey,
Out-of-door Work and Tracing of the Lines on the Reconnaissance Plan,
One day free in case of bad weather,
Laying down the Reconnaissance Survey,
Memoir on Entrenched Lines,
Tracing or laying out Camps,
Operations of a Sham Siege,
Preparing for the Examination,
About six weeks of free or voluntary study is allowed, immediately prior to the Final Examination, for the sub-lieutenants to prepare for their last effort.