The adjutant must have been furious. He had every reason to be, because the commander of the Easdale Volunteers was trying to deceive him.
It was November 1870 and Captain James Bett was in command at Easdale. He had sent an important document to the adjutant in Rothesay, where the headquarters of Argyll’s artillery was now based. The adjutant would examine the nominal roll of the Easdale Volunteers before authorizing ‘efficiency’ payments. Volunteer soldiers were entitled to £1.10s each year, if they had completed the necessary training. But the adjutant was suspicious. He thought James Bett was claiming money for three men who were not eligible for it.
A Volunteer was expected to attend a minimum number of drills – training periods. He also had to shoot his rifle to the required accuracy, participate in the live-firing of the 32-pounder guns, and be on parade at the annual inspection where his uniform and equipment would be checked. Volunteers declared ‘efficient’ would receive £1.10s, their only financial reward for loyal service. Captain Bett would have encouraged his soldiers to achieve the necessary training and attendance, because that would reflect well on the Easdale Volunteers – and on him.
Every commander in Argyll was feeling the pressure. For some years the headquarters had been publishing league tables for its twelve companies. Competition results were announced in Brigade Orders for all to see. Recruiting and training figures were published as well. They showed how many volunteers each company had, compared to what they were meant to have; and whether those figures were better or worse than last year’s. Even more revealing was the number of those declared efficient. One simple table exposed which companies were the best recruited and best trained – and which were the worst.
Of course, James Bett might have made a mistake when he submitted the nominal roll. But the adjutant didn’t think so. In a personal letter to Captain Bett he made his feelings clear.
As it appears that Corporal J Livingston and Gunner Dugald Brown were actually present at my last inspection, I can have no objection to these volunteers being returned as Efficient, although I am not over pleased at the latter leaving the parade before being regularly dismissed. As regards the other man, I regret my inability to pass him and would refer you to the certificate on the last page of the nominal roll, and I am well assured that you would be the last person to ask me to tell a falsehood. I would not knowingly place a false document before our noble Commanding Officer for his signature for the value of my commission.
In the following year, 1871, James Bett again tried to claim money for four men who had not earned it. This time the adjutant showed the document to Colonel Campbell, the commander of Argyll’s Volunteer Artillery, before replying to Captain Bett in language no less blunt than before.
After this, James Bett all but disappears from the records. He remained in command at Easdale, at least on paper, but was recorded as ‘non-efficient’ in 1874 and he resigned his commission in November that year. It is ironic that the adjutant’s letters – personal notes meant for Bett’s eyes only – have survived in our archives whereas other routine documents have not.
Top Photo – the Nominal Roll for 1871 (War Office Form 1613). This is an office copy. The original was sent to the headquarters of Argyll’s Volunteer Artillery.