East of Scotland Tactical Society

The East of Scotland Tactical Society was formally constituted on 12 January 1887 with the object of promoting the study of tactics and other military subjects. The Society was open to anyone holding a commission in any branch of the naval or military services, or to anyone who had held a commission. At the first annual meeting of the council of the Society, held on 26 October 1887, a membership roll of one hundred and twenty-two was reported. The work done by the Society during the previous months included: a course of six lectures on minor tactics; a lecture on the German army and its discipline, organisation, and system; lectures on marches and volunteer finance; war games; and, a competition in military sketching. The syllabus for 1887-1888 was to include: war games; lectures and papers on the use of railways by troops, the chemistry of explosives, the defence of seaports, the defence of Glasgow, and maps and mapping; and, a demonstration of ambulance work. Society lectures took place in Dowell's Hall, George Street, Edinburgh, and war games took place in the city's Waterloo Hotel, Waterloo Place.