The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-05-01 00:00:00

THE EASTER NANCEUVRES.

In numbers, extent, and importance, no preliminary
series of Easter Volunteer manceuvres has probably
equalled those which took place on Saturday. During
the whole week departures of bodies of Volunteers
had been taking place, the several destinations being
Dover, Shorn°liffe, and Colchester in an easterly
direction, and Portsmouth and Aldershot in the
west and south-west. Of the five fields of operation
that of Dover proved the most attractive to both
Volunteers and public, and Portsmouth offered but
little less of interest. Upon both places strong
marching columns had been directed, that for
Dover being under the command of Colonel
Moncrieff, of the Scots Guards, and that towards
Portsmouth under the command of Colonel the Hon.
P. Methuen. Colonel Moncrieff's column consisted
of five strong battalions, the force being supposed to
represent a portion of an invading army, and the
general idea of Methuen's force was that of an ad-
vanced guard of a force proceeding from Aldershot
to Portsmouth and meeting with obstacles. In both
cases the general ideas of the initial operations dove-
tailed into the features of the main events of Easter
Monday, the whole forming an intelligible and con-
nected plan. The opportunities of military instruc-
tion afforded by the preliminary operations have been
more and more fully recognised in each successive
year, and every year a greater number of men are
brought under their influence. This year the 2nd
London Rifles, 3rd London Rifles, Civil service, 4th
Surrey, Ist City of London Engineers, and some others
turned out in good strength for marching and
bivouacking purposes in the south-west, while in the
east the South Middlesex, St. George's, London
Scottish, London Irish, the 2nd Battalion Royal
Fusiliers, the Finsbury Rifles, the Post Office corps,
the Artists', Ist Middlesex and Tower Hamlets
Engineers, the 17th Middlesex Rifles, and the Volun-
teer Medical Staff Corps have all been prominent. On
what may be called the minor theatres of Volun-
teer activity, the Bloomsbury Rifles and the Ist
V.B. Royal Fusiliers have made an excellent if less
showy choice of a mode of spending the holidays.
In connection with Shorncliffe Camp, an instructive
series of exercises in conjunction with the Regulars
encamped have been carried out, culminating on
Easter Mondaf in instructive tactical battles. The
same might be said of Aldershot, where the 11th
Middlesex, the command of Colonel Sir W. Charley,
always preferrs to spend his holiday; and of Col-
chester, where Sir Evelyn Wood gave practical proof
of his interest and admiration of the Volunteer move-
ment. At each and all of these centres the opera-
tions culminated on Easter Monday in impressive
lessons. The main bodies of the marching columns
directed both east and west followed the
driblets of the first days of the week by leaving in
thousands on Good Friday, and Kent and Hampshire
after their arrival acquired a distinct accession of
patriotic enthusiasm. The good work done and the
self-denial exercised by thousands of citizens, who
show how really they desire to do their soldiering
excited the most bucolic, and phlegmatic, and the in-
direct benefits of the sham fights on Friday and Satur-
day cannot easily be exaggerated. Even the sleepy
cathedral city of Canterbury appeared to be iistinctly
fluttered by the spectacle of so many uniforms—red,
green, and grey—passing through its quiet streets.
"The Battle of Lydden," which formed a promi-
nent part in the volunteer manceuvres near Dover,
took place on Saturday in the presence of the Nike
of Cambridge apsl Lord Wolseley, who arrived upon
the scene as the defending force from Dover and the
marching column from Canterbury, under Colonels
Moncrieff and Routledge, were hotly engaged in the
mimic warfare. The volunteers on either side were
reinforced by cavalry and artillery. The advancing
column was much stronger in numbers than the force
sent from Dover to check the movement, both of
whose flanks were turned, and the road thus left free
for the investment of the fortress by the invaders.
After the battle the troops marched past the Com-
mand'sr-in-Chief. . Church parades were on Saturday
held by the volunteers in garrison or in camp at
Dover, and during the day the Duke of Cambridge
made a visit to the quarters occupied by each of the
corps.
The volunteers marching on Portsmouth, under
Colonel Methuen's command, had another engage-
ment on Saturday with the force under Colonel
Festing. The advancing force was numerically
stronger than the defenders, who, however, had the
advantage of a body of marine artillery. The scene
of the fight was Portsdown-hill, and the encounter
resulted in the defeat of Colonel Festing's force, which
retired to Portsmouth. There was a good attendance
of the various corps at Portsmouth at the church
parade on Sunday. • -, '
Sir Evelyn Wood on Saturday directed the Essex
and Herta volunteers assembled at Colchester how
to defend that garrison from a surprise on the part
of an imaginary enemy.
The sham fight at Dover on Easter Monday.
which was witnessed ,by the Duke of Cambridge,
was of an interesting character. The attacking force
—7500 strong—was commanded by Major-General W.
Cooper, C. 8., and the defenders, who numbered about
4700, by Major-General J. Dunne. The attack was
pushed on with great vigour, and the defenders' posi-
tions at St. Radigund's and Mount Ararat Farm
carried; but in face of ' a heavy artillery
fire General Cooper was unable to secure any fur-
ther advantage. At the 'close of the fight a
march past took place before the duke. The Hamp-
shire review on Monday, between Portsmouth and
Petersfield, was a very pretty spectacle, nearly
10,000 troops being engaged on the one side and the
other, and a large proportion of them being clothed
in scarlet, while the southern force had the advan-
tage of the assistance of the Royal Sussex Regi-
ment which took part in the famous desert march
of last year. The great drawback to the instruc-
tion supposed to be given by these dis-
plays was the entire absence of artillery, which
caused a certain unreality in the whole affair. The
actual contest only lasted an hour, and the troops
were got to their destinations in good time in the
evening. The ffeld-day at Colchester passed off very
successfully, the Essex and Hertfordshire Volunteers,
with the garrison, taking part in a sham fight. Sham
fights also took place at Snorncliffe and Maidstone,
and volunteers were likewise busily engaged at
Sheerness and Aldershot. i"