Army Council (1904) practice, however, a huge amount of influence was retained by the exceedingly conservative C-in-C Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge, who held the post between 1856–1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind Britain's rivals, a problem which became painfully obvious during the Second Boer War. The situation was only remedied in 1904 when the post of Commander-in-Chief was abolished and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff. An Army Council was created along similar lines to the Board of Admiralty, chaired by the Secretary of State for War, and an
Recruitment in the British Army British Army was reduced after the Treaty of Ryswick, and stood at 7,000 troops at home and 14,000 based overseas, with recruits ranging from 17 to 50 years of age. The army was kept small by the government during peacetime, mainly due to the fear that the army would be unduly influenced by the Crown or used to depose the government. The Bill of Rights of 1689 specifies that Parliamentary authority is needed to maintain a standing army in peacetime. For much of the 18th century, the army was recruited in a wide variety of places, and many of its