The Express.
London, England, 1862-08-04 00:00:00

f Stamped, Id. AdditissaLl

yOLUNTZER MILD DAY AT ASCOT.

On Saturday last the BSricshire Volunteers,
assisted by some inatrepelitnn corps and the largest
contingent of regular troops which hat yet been
Isees at a Volunteer display, finished their week's
sasampment on Ascot-heath with a review and
sham tight, which had been intended to be very
brilliant and imposing, but which, from more than
one untoward circumstance, was considerably cur-
tailed of its anticipated splendour.
On Saturday morning the men in green and grey
commenced striking their tents on the heath, and
the men in scarlet came over from Aldershott and
pitched theirs in the immediate vicinity. The per.
umlaut volunteer force consisted of the Berkshire
corps, assisted by, we believe, one or tem mutt opoli-
tan and provincipal corps, and the regular force in-
cluded two battalions of Horse Artillery the 13th
Ilussar the 9th Lancers, and the 15th tants),
26th (Cameronians), and the 20th is
of the Line. The regular forces therefore
must have amounted to between 3,000 and 6,000
Men, horse, foot, and artillery, being the largest
'amount of regulars that had yet appeared at a
volunteer parede. The original intention war, we
believe, that the volunteers shotikl have been pitted
aguinat the regulars, but there was something wrong
in the preliminary arrangements of the former
which•prevested tee anneal of more than one half
dttbaawpr anti thrfiebi evoiatiose had niterl,y to:-
talented.
Let the• blame be where it may, the fact
was that, the Volunteer muster was considerably
!short oI ithat had been expected, and many of the
corps who did tome were too late to take part in '
the evolutions. The first business of the day took
lace at 3 o'clock, when General Pennefather de-',
livered, in front' of the Graud Stand, the prises
*hi& had been won during the week, and nume-1
diatk after the forces were mustered preparatory
to the evolutions. In order to witness theee the
public bad in very considerable numbers taken
places in the Grand Stand, but after they had been
comfortably seated, and had all got their field-glasses
to the proper focus, they were disagreeably sur-
prised to tee the whole army march off to the un-
knoin bog behind, leaving the race-course and the
encampment deserted, except by one military band
which had been compassionately left to console
them, and a coloured gentleman, who carried on a
mock auction, in which he induced people to buy
boxes at sixpence a piece by professing to fill them
with shillings. Some of the company, on finding
the actual 1440 aira, rushed up to the back of
the roof, ant in M way one row of spectators
were enabled' tti cat& an otcaatonal glimpse of
smoke over the unequal ground behind ' • others
melted manfully to the shine of the bog, reckless
of the half-crowns they had paid for sesta in the
grand stand ; but all agreed that they could see
nothing but smoke, either the modesty or
the military zeal of the volunteers having
carried them so deep into the bog that
their evolutions were all, as far as the public
were concerned, performed in the strictest privacy
and seclusion.

The commandant of the day was Lieutenant
General Pennefather' Lord George Paulet com-
manded the cavalry, and his Royal Highness
the General Commanding-in-Chief was also pre-
sent, but iu plain clothes, and took no part in the
proceectiags of the day. Sir R. Airey and a good
number of officers of rank accompanied his Royal
Highness. The plea of evolutions was that the
honour of the attack should be given to the men of
Berke, who were to attack and obtain possession of
the heights between Ascot and Aldershott. They
had to assist them a battery of the Royal Horne
Artillery and the whole of the 13th HUIIIIMM The
defence was maintained by the sth Fusiliers and the

otlasemmimenta of the line, who were to have been
strengthened by the London contingent, but they,
like Grouchy at Waterloo, were not up to time.
The London Scottish and the St. George's gut up
when the fight was at the hottest, and fired some
volleys, the close regular sound of which was much
appreciated by the people on the Grand Stand.
The regular cavalry distinguished themselves bril-
liantly, although the grouud was not adapted for
frequent charges, and after a few more evolutions
the proceedings of the field day terminated, and ix-
rangemente were commenced for that only sure
card atvolunteer field days, the final "march past"
The people on the Grand Stand now at last an
to understand, to admire, and to applaud. At
first their attention was attracted by the lancers in
front, who were clearing the ground, and who
effected quite a series of brilliant charges against
solitary little boys who would run across the course,
and." dodged" the mounted dragoon in the most
daring and reckless manner. Sometimes two or
three soldiers would close round the juvenile gut-
ril* but the latter, nothing daunted, would duck
in and out under the horses bellies, and break out
in a fresh place, perfectly secure that his enemy,
however be • might frighten, would never think
seriously of hurting him. The crowd shouted sad
applauded, and, after an exciting passage of arms,
the guerilla would be driven to the rails, which he
would clear with • bound, and by several sugges-
tive gestures would then intimate his opinion that
a mounted dragoon was not after all so very dread-
fui an opponent. After this the trumpet sounded,
and Genera Pennefather and his staff were seen
to take their places in front of the grand
stand. A cloud of dust was seen to rise
on the left side of the stand, which gradually
approached, and from its centre emerged one of the
finest bodies of cavalry in the world—the Royal
Horse Artillery. Like so many mailed statues,
these perfectly disciplined soldiers took their places
' in a double line at the entrance of the course, and
there waited until by slow degrees the whole ad-
vancing column was formed. Close behind the
Horse Artillery the Human and Lancers fell in,
after them the regiments of the line, and finally
the volunteers, as fast ea they could be pulled to-
I getber. A considerable delay occurred in the
muster, through waiting for the City of London,
the North Middlesex, and the Queen's West-
minater, none of which corps arrived until the
evolutions of the field day had terminated. At
last the bugles sounded the advance. It 'would
be impossible to imagine anything finer than the
numb of the regulars. The Royal Horse Artillery
were cheered to the echo, and the Hussars and
Lancers became equally popular favourites; but
the climax of the public approbation was reserved
fur the line regiments, whose marching was abso-
lute perfection. Without saying anything invidious
of our citizen soldiers who followed, we must
express our opinion that nothing could
more lead to the making of their discipline I
perfect than their being as often as possible set thus
to act with regular troops, in order that the march-
ing and whole deportment of the latter should serve
as a standard by which they might be able to met, ,
sure and to perfect their own proficieney. There
were numbers of Volunteers on the stand, and
nobody seemed to be more struck with the differ-,
euce between regular and volunteer marching„,
although the latter was perhaps better than any
other volunteer marching in the world. The vo-
lunteers, like true Englishmen, are of course anxious
that everything they undertake to do should be
done as well as possible, and they cannot take a
better means of improving than by endeavouring to
matte the regulars as strenuously as possible.
After the termination of the hiug past,
General Pennefather ettnimoned t ssb• • aims
to the front, and aidreesed them as follows :
I an excessively stinid to yea for the yea
have rendered me today ltly greatest possible desire is to
utilise the volutrors by weals( them is amjusetise with
the regular army. I have had the pleasure of re 2....
voluuteen before ; I was sot, the ehrts. gulls
far the sight which I hams sus tiesetbose wl:7=l
alf sash more mo
hills Ulm previ usly
o bsproollUilly. It weahl have t
wry Wive the mini, g out
rts as
to the ooututiodsr-imehlet the state al et3otbey to
asy humble min Me, the Tabuaeran lees *Wood. sad ft
be my greatest, pleasure, as it is my duty, to say that I bars

LTWOMICE

every reaeon to be- minded with the movements of tr
day ; and it is impassible for any =a b be mere se*
with the way in which the voluirseem mem so the SINN le
soden, passing over a diflicult causeway mid Wait alq
gUlt ground in a somber which reflected the
credit on their steadiness and teeming. 1 have be=
thieg to regret, that the last troops which aims down mar
your grace's (the Duke of Wellisston) commuted, and Farl
Grosvenor, oould not be engaged le the Ana line. Allow
me to my that it often happeos that a greet part of the
army is not mwed in a bible, add ie wool, Imbed, iodi-
ses a sad eats of Oily for the Let wan of thous, to
be acenally engaged. (Laughter.) lord George Panne has
&owe his good generalship in keepiug lack this reserve
le the lase usomento. mi to be prepared for any ruse which
Colemel Armstrong might have pnictim d upon bfia. It is
impossible foe any interest t wed in a mewl mire there
is a dance of loam& sad by holding back She seenve pre-
parations were made to meet that chance. At the mine time
whilst in a military point of view these tactics showed good
generalship, in a acesal and decidedly inferior light, I regret
that the corps I refer to were not earlier on the monad,
:12:211 it would have shows Lord George to be a woes.
than be has proved himself to be. 1 thank you
rub, and wish you a very. good evelpg.
The proftedinga finished with a gallop by the
cavalry, and a complimentary farewell from the
General of the day.