Name : Army Chaplains' Department Started : 1796 Ended : 1919 Subsequent Regiment Lineage : ---------------------------------------- Royal Army Chaplains' Department (1919 - Present)
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The Army Chaplains' Department
According to Clode, in the year 1662 a chaplain was appointed to every regiment, and in the Articles of War of that year they were directed "to preach to them as often as with convenience shall be fought fit." The first Chaplain-General was the Rev, J, Gamble, in 1796, when regimental chaplains were done away with, and their duty was performed by ordinary parish priests: but for foreign service there was a little provision, so that in 1806 "Lord Cathart embarked with a corps of 14,000 men, and only one chaplain," and throughout the Peninsular War there were practically few, if any, chaplains employed. The office of Chaplain-General was abolished in 1829, but was restored in 1846.
Three heroes of the department may well be mentioned here. The first is the Rev J.W. Adams, who won the Victoria Cross in Afghanistan for helping the wounded and saving life; another is the Rev G.N. Gordon, who was mortally wounded at Candahar when attending to the men under a heavy fire; and the third is the Rev. R. Collins, who crossed from one square to the other at Hasheen, in the Soudan, to Convey a message from Major Alston. In the "Army List" the Presbyterian chaplains have the letter "P." before their names, the Roman Catholic "R.C." The black uniform has the usual badges on the collar. The forage-cap is adorned with black embroidery.
