Reform of military punishments began in 1829 when the nearly unlimited power of courts-martial began to be restrained. Picture by Robber Esq via Flickr Creative Commons 1. Spurred on by an 1836 report into corporal punishment, and by Henry Marshall and Alexander Tulloch’s statistical investigations into sickness and mortality in the army, he fought against tight-fisted and conservative wings of government to introduce a series of much-needed reforms. The Whig politician Lord Howick used his stints as Secretary of War (1835-9) and Colonial Secretary (1846-52) to improve the lives of ordinary soldiers. Fortunately for the soldiers, there were a few reformers set on changing this.
