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
British Army officer rank insignia 1813) and different graded General officers by the combination of chevron-shaped ess pattern laces on the sleeve. During the Napoleonic wars, Field Marshals wore oak-leaf embroidered collar and cuff; and shoulder cord instead of previous pattern. It was continued till the end of 1830. At the beginning of 1831, new rank distinction was ordered for Field Marshals and General officers. After the Crimean War (30 January 1855), War Office ordered different rank badges for British General, staff and Regimental officers. It was the first complete set of rank badges to be used by the British Army. In 1868, Brigadier Generals