28 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
Miani in 1843, but with one exception in 1846 it did not become common
practice until the dispatches of Lord Raglan in 1855.^8 The latter of these
two options presented a potential problem if the promotion made an officer
of a common soldier. There was a very club-like atmosphere to the mid-
Victorian officer corps. The officers were in the main drawn from the scions
of the upper classes while the ranks were filled with refugees from the
lowest levels of British society. A huge gap existed between officers and
men, and little encouragement was given for the enlisted men to cross that
gap.^9 The soldier who won a commission endured a miserable life in most
cases, always an outsider, exiled from his origins by his new rank, ostracized
from his new companions by his origins. It also had the undesired effect of
promoting men who were not suited to command, in some cases turning a
good senior NCO into a bad junior officer.^10
Liberalism preached the doctrine of individual duty and individual reward
for hard work.^11 Although Samuel Smiles did not publishSelf Helpuntil 1859,
already in the 1840s the idea that the individual was personally respons-
ible for his or her actions and that right conduct would be rewarded by
society was a popular one. Indeed, it was his association with the members
of a working-class mutual improvement society in 1845 that provided the
core ofSelf Help.^12 This change in outlook was evident beyond the business
office and seats in parliament. Recognition of the individual can be seen
in the Nonconformist religious revivals of the early nineteenth century,
with their special emphasis on personal salvation and personal responsib-
ility for one’s actions, as opposed to the more corporatist litany of the
Anglican High Church. In government, in society, and in the pulpit, the
early Victorian period was an era of growing importance for the concept
of self.^13
At the same time as the value placed on individuality increased, British
identities were in transition. The American Revolution and the series of
conflicts precipitated by the French Revolution fostered the growth of a
‘British’ identity that absorbed, but did not eliminate, the existing concepts
of regional identity.^14 Increasing literacy rates played a part in the develop-
ment of a British nationalism. More and more people had their basic letters
as the century progressed. The circulation of theTimesrose from about 5000
copies daily during the Napoleonic Wars to over 40,000 by the time of the
Crimean conflict. In addition, the news carried by the mid-century news-
paper was far more immediate due to the railroad and the telegraph.^15 While
not every village was in the main stream, literacy provided a connection to
events beyond the borough or parish boundary and gave access to vicarious
pride in the accomplishments of distant fellow subjects.^16
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