Edward Cardwell Viscount Cardwell

Edward Cardwell Cardwell, Viscount 1813-86, British statesman. He entered Parliament (1842) as a supporter of Sir Robert Peel, under whom he was secretary to the treasury (1845-46). He was president of the Board of Trade (1852-55) under Lord Aberdeen and secretary for Ireland (1859-61) and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster (1861-64) under Lord Palmerston. While colonial secretary (1864-66) he worked toward federation in Canada. As war secretary (1868-74) under Gladstone, he reformed the British army, abolishing the purchase of commissions, shortening the term of enlistment, and creating a reserve.

Cardwell, Edward, Viscount (1813–86) British statesman. A supporter of Sir Robert PEEL, he served as Secretary to the Treasury (1845–46) and as Secretary for War in GLADSTONE's ministry of 1868–74. British incompetence in the CRIMEAN WAR (1853–56) and the efficiency of the German army in the European wars of the 1860s were the background to Cardwell's military reforms.

Cardwell, Edward (1813–86). Son of a Liverpool merchant, educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford, Cardwell became a Conservative MP in 1841. Close to the leader Peel, he followed the Peelite free traders after the party split of 1846. Elected for Liverpool in 1847, he was defeated in 1852 for supporting repeal of the Navigation Acts. In ministerial posts under Aberdeen and Palmerston, including colonial secretary, he stood out as an administrative reformer and economizer. Gladstone's secretary at war from 1868, he ended flogging in the army and undertook major reforms, prompted partly by a sense of Britain's military weakness. Infantry regiments were given territorial designations and linked to reserves, short service was introduced, and the commander-in-chief's office was brought under clearer ministerial authority. The abolition of purchase of commissions was controversial; when the 1871 Army Regulation Bill was blocked by the Lords, the change was implemented by royal warrant. Cardwell became a viscount on the Liberal defeat in 1874. Strains of prolonged office may have contributed to later insanity. Historians have become sceptical about the military significance of his army reforms.

Bruce Coleman