The office of Adjutant General to the Forces originated in the Parliamentary Army. After the Restoration the first appointment was made in 1673. From 1685 there has been a continuous line of Adjutants-General.
The Quartermaster General first appeared in 1686. Previous to this his duties had been carried out by the Provost Marshal, Scout Master General and the Harbinger.
An important office in army administration was that of Com missary-General of Musters. His chief duty was to keep up the establishment and to issue a certificate to the Paymaster-General for the actual number of men serving. The office was established just after the Restoration and abolished in 1818.
At the outset of the standing army the medical service was entirely regimental, but in 1663 was initiated central control which gradually developed into a directorate in the early part of the 19th century. Originally the provision of barracks was the business of the Board of Ordnance, but the need for extensive 'Based on information contained in The War Office List, 1927.
building in 1793 was responsible for the creation of the office of Barrack-Master-General. This office was, however, abolished in 1822 and the Board of Ordnance once more assumed the duty of providing and furnishing barracks.
In 1714 was constituted a Board of General Officers whose duty was to settle all financial disputes between colonels, officers and soldiers, and matters of precedence among regiments. With the creation of the Commander-in-Chief's office in 1793, the Board was shorn of much of its power which was now practically confined to matters concerning clothing. The secretary of the Board was the Judge-Advocate-General.
(ii.) From the Crimean War, 1854, to Aug. 1914.—Military administration underwent great changes during the period f ollow ing the outbreak of the Crimean War. The duties of the Secretary of State for War were divorced from those of the Colonies: the Commissariat Office was tiansferred to the War Department; the office of Secretary-at-War was merged into that of the Secretary of State; the Board of General Officers and the Medical Depart ment were absorbed by the War Department, and the War Depart ment now became known as the War Office.
The military control still remained in the hands of the Com mander-in-Chief, while the Secretary of State was responsible to Parliament. However, under the War Office Act (I870) the final welding was effected and the Secretary of State became responsible for every branch of military administration.
The next great change took place in 1904 by the creation of the Army Council by Letters Patent, consisting of four military and three civil members and a secretary. The President of the Army
Council is the Secretary of State for War; the Chief of the Im perial General Staff is the Ist military member, the Adjutant General the 2nd, the Quartermaster-General the 3rd and the Master General of Ordnance the 4th. The other civil members are the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War (vice president of the Council), the Financial Secretary of the War Office (finance member) and the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War is the secretary of the Council. The creation of the Army Council abolished the office of the Commander-in-Chief.
The creation of the Territorial Force in 1908 led to the creation of a Director-General of the Territorial Force.
(iii.) From the Outbreak of the World War, Aug. 1914, to the Armistice, Nov. 11, 1918.—The rapid expansion of the forces and their requirements and consequential effects of all kinds brought into being four separate ministries, viz., the Min istry of Munitions, Ministry of Pensions, Air Ministry and Min istry of National Service. The latter took over from the Adju tant-General the duty of recruiting for the army.
During the war the Army Council was increased by the follow ing members:—Military—Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Director-General of Military Aeronautics (who ceased to be a member on the creation of the Air Ministry) and the Per manent British Military Representative at the Supreme War Council, Versailles : Civil—the Director-General of Movements and Railways and the Surveyor-General of Supply.
The corresponding government department in the United States is the War Department, a description of which will be found under Government Departments, section United States.
(T. J. E.)