The Express.
London, England, 1868-04-14 00:00:00

BY ROYAL COMMAND.
JOSEPH GILLOTT'S
_ _ _ CILZBRATRD

STEEL P E N S.
Sold by all Dealers throughout the World.

THE VOLUNTEER REVIEW AT
PORTSMOUTH.

(raoM OCR SPECIAL itsrosscas.)
PORTSMOUTH, MONDAT.
The march past, so far as it went, was very in-
teresting, but there is no concealing that it was, as
a recognised portion of the day's proceedings, a
mistake. At a rough guess—and any mention of
numbers on an occasion like this must be regarded
as mere estimates—there were 16,000 who took
part in it, sad their appearance gave much satis-
faction, but some of the moat popular of the London
rifles were. omitted altogether, and were angrily
expressing their dissatisfaction as they prooeeded
to Portedewn-hill to perform a lees conspicuous
part. The marching past occupied about an
hour, sad after passing the grand stand the corps
turned sharp to the loft, and left the common, pro-
ceeding in different directions to Portsdown.
. .

The "sight from Portadown-hill, before the com-
mencemeint of the sham fight, was most magnifi-
cent. The sun was shining with unusual warmth
and brilliancy, and the air was so clear and bright
that the eye could easily discern all the objects of
historic and natural interest which are centred in
this part of Hampshire. This county has figured
in no unimportant manner in the early history of
England, but great as are its historical associations
it is no lees rich in points of natural beauty, and
nowhere does it present a finer panoramic view
than that which is to be obtained from the heights
of Portmlown-hill. Looming grandly in the dis-
tance stands the Isle of Wight, the towers of
Osborne being plainly visible. To the right runs
the Solent, winding its way to the waters
of Southampton, and on the left are the
forts which surround our great naval rendez-
vous, Spithead. In the valley lay the towns of
Portameatth,Gosport(originally named God's Port.
so says tradition), Portsea, Southsea, and Land-
port,with their harbours and creeks, which together
make a same in every sense most picturesque and
animating. A better place for a slum fight it
would scarcely be possible to select than that of
Portadown-hill, for on its summit are large for-
tresses, which are destined to form, when.n com-
pleted, one of the chief defences of the great
arsenal of Portsmouth. and near the foot of the
hill are the Hilsea lines. The fact that this spot
had been selected for the sham tight of the volun-
teers in their review of 1868 may well have
caused excitement in the towns which we
have mentioned, as well as in Cosham,
Fareham, Havant, &c., which are situate
near the hill. The pretty little village of
Cosham was this morning early alive with
excitement, and its few straggling streets were
decorated with a taste which would have done
credit to a more ambitious place. Triumphal
arches had been erected in suitable positions, and
there was a profusion of flags and banners. Its
streets were also thronged with holiday-attired
pedestrians wending their way to the hill, in order
to secure the best possible positions from which to
view the great event of the day. Acting upon the
advice iradared by the Mayor of Portsmouth,
hundreds of the inhabitant' of that and adjacent
towns proceeded to the hill early in the day, be-
lieving it impossible to combine a sight of the
marching past on Southsea-common with the
more elaborate and attractive movements which
were to beperformed at a later period. The best view
to be obtained of the fight was unquestionably
that from the slope of the hill, near Widley Fort,
behind the village of Cosham, and here many thou-
sands
of persons ensconced themselves. As the
morning advanced, and the railways arrived with
their heavy freights of passengers at the adjacent
stations, the roads leading to the scone of action
were much crowded, and presented a most lively
appearance. The majority of persons appeared to
have left their homes with a thorough determina-
tion to enjoy themselves, and the careful conside-
ration which they had given to the important
question of viands was plainly demonstrated by the
heavy loads of creature comforts which most of
them carried. The hill aide was ultimately so
stocked with people that it can be likened to
nothing more appropriately than the Epsom downs
on a Derby day, with perhaps a little less of that
exuberant fun which marks the great carnival of
the turf. The populace were congregated in and
near the entire length of the hill between
Southwick Fort and Widley Fort, a distance
of some two miles, this being the extent of the
line to be occupied by the invading army. It will
be well remembered that it was originally intended
to march the whole of the volunteers in review on
Southaea-common, but in consequence of numbers
this was found to be impracticable, and therefore
a material alteration took place in the programme.
Instead of conveying the whole of the volunteers to
Portsmouth, it was then determined to take those
of Sussex to the station at Havant, while those
connected with the different corps of the counties
of Wilts, Dorset, Devon, and Hants, were put
down at Fareham, both these stations being in
close proximity to Portadown-hill. Matters were
much simplified by its being decided that these
volunteers should be formed into two divisions,
and compose the attacking party. The de-
fensive army consisted of the various volunteers,
metropolitan and otherwise, which were conveyed
to Portsmouth, and who had to walk from that
place, after the conclusion of the march past, to
the Mises lines, which was the position assigned
for them to commence action against the enemy.
The volunteers composing the attacking party
put in an early appearance, and for several hours
they were enabled to enjoy the beauties of the
scenery around them, until the arrival of their less
fortunate comrades, who had to undergo all the
fatigues of a march of four miles on a dusty road,
with a broiling sun over their heads. With
scarcely an exception, however, this tedious
journey was performed in the most exemplary
manner, and the spirits of the men never seemed
for one moment to flag. In spite of the blinding
character of the dust which was raised by
their marching, they bore the inconveniences
of a parched mouth and almost blind vision
with the utmost good humour, and the
result was that the whole of the defending force
was enabled to take up its position on the field oil
battle within a very short period of the time which
had been arranged. No doubt something was also
due to the very admirable manner in which the
various roads leading from Portsmouth to Ports-
down-hill werekept, and the promise of the Mayor of
Portsmouth to secure an uninterrupted passage for
the progress of the volunteers appeared to have been
sustained as far as it was possible to do so. The •
plan of the battle which was originally decided upon
was materially altered on two or three subsequent
occasions, and the program e which was gone
through to-day was really not finally settled until
Sunday evening. This latest plan differed in several .
respects from those which were previously
published, but there is no reason to com-
plain on this score, for the alterations materially
tended to the simplification of the movements.
In feet the sham fight which was gone through to- I
day could not have been more intelligible and lass,
intricate in its general character. We will at once
proceed to give some idea of the nature of the battle,
and how it was carried out. An invading army,