Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-20 00:00:00

ROYAL REVIEWS.

REVIEW OF TROOPS AT ALDERSHOTT BY THE QuEE'.v—
The rain which fell during Thursday night had the effect of
not only cooling the atmosphere, but of changing the nsua 1
sombre aspect of the heath. Aldershott never appeared to
better advantage. From day-break, the camp was in a state
of the greatest activity, the troops being afoot, cleaning and
burnishing their arms and accoutrements, which had become
dull and tarnished through the dampness of the preceding
night, while officers of rank were moving through the huts,
carrying out the general orders issued the previous night.
Soon after eight o'clock several splendid equipages containing
persons of rank and fashion arrived, and at half-past eight
the various corps were mustered and inspected by their rrs-
pective commanding officers on their private parades. The
position of the troops had been marked out by the Assistant
Adjutant-General, assisted by the adjutants of the various
regiments and a party of the Royal Sappers and Miners.
On the arrival of the Adjutant and Quartermasters-generals
and the s'aff of his Royal Highness the Commander-in-
Chief, the several battalions marched into position forming
continuous column right in front, composed of the Ist
Dragoon Guards (Royal), 6th Dragoons (Inniskilliens), 7th
Royal Hussars, 15th King's ditto, Coldstream Guards (Ist
battalion), 15th foot, 20th ditto (under orders for India)
22nd ditto, 64th ditto, (under orders for India), 66th ditto,
96th ditto, 97th ditto, (under orders for India), 98th ditto,
Ist battalion of the Rifle Brigade, and Ist and 6th bat-
talions of the Military Train on each fi Ink, and in the centre
were posted batteries of field artillery and Royal Horse
Artillery, supported by detachments of light cavalry. Every
available elevation was crowded with spectators, and
equigages of the nobility, corps of diplomatique and the
elite of society thronged the valley. A movement bei❑g
apparent near the Royal Pavilion, the troops stood to their
arms, and the regiments formed in double open order. The
arrival of the royal cortege, which was exceedingly flamer-
eau,„amLihrz.,hrilliant staff of the, n„....t —ne
infantry presenting arms, and the various bands playing
the National Anthem. The immense body of troops num-
bering upwards of 10,000, having been inspected by her
Majes'y and the Prince Consort, attended by the general
officers and their staffs, the column moved past in slow and
quick time, when, the column having halted in its original
position, the evolutions of a grand field day were carried
on with the same rapidity of movements and precision,
which marked former reviews; the charges of heavy and
light cavalry were splendid, squares by grand divisions
were formed as by magic ; and the Artillery cannot be too
much praised for their adroitness in limbering, un-
limbering, dismounting, and remounting the guns. The
column was then again formed, when, the customary re-
tiring honour having been paid, the troops marched back
to their respective quarters.

AN 9THER GRAND FIELD-Day.—Oa Saturday another
military spectacle in the shape of a grand field-day, or
review, took place at Aldershott, in which her Majesty was
not only a mere spectator, but a prominent actor.
Although it was generally known throughout the camp on
Fritlay that it was the intention of her Majesty to hold a
review of the troops on Saturday morning, it was not until
late in the day it was intimated that it was intended by the
Queen to have a second general field-day, and that sl,e
would attend in state at the review, prior to her
departure for the royal marine retreat at Osborne. Some
time, however, after the conclusion of the review and
sham fight on Friday, a general order was issued
directing the whole of the troops to assemble on the
ground westward of the South Camp, and be in position
by ten o'clock on the follosing mornino. (Saturday).
The general public were unacquainted' with this
arrangement, and consequently there was by no means so
great an assemblage of spectators as on the previous day,
and those who were present were mostly composed of the
aristocracy. His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief,
accompanied by his aice-de-camp, Sir Richard Airov,
General Wetherall, and a number of general and field
officers, left the Waterloo station by the eight o'clock
express train, arriving at Farnborough station at 8.55,
where his Royal Highness and staff at once mounted their
chargers, and proceeded direot to the Royal Pavilion, to
visit the Queen prior to their commencement of the field
operations. The troop, under the command of Lieutenant
General Knollys, Major General Lord W. Paulett, Major
General the Hon. J. Searlett, and Major General the Hon.
A. Spencer, took up their positions shortly after nine o'clock.
They consisted of the Ist Dragoon Guards, the Gth Ennis-
killens, the 4th Light Dragoons, the 7th Hussars, 15th
Hussars, the Coldstream Guards, lot Battalion, the 60 h
the 54th, the 22d, the 15th, the 96th, 20th, and 97th
Regiments of the Line, the Ist and 3d battalions of the
Rifle Brigade, two troops of Horse Artillery, one troop of
Foot Artillery, with field batteries; three companies of
Royal Engineers and Sappers and Miners, and pontoon
train, &e., amounting altogether to about eleven thousand
men. Her Majesty left the Pavilion precisely at ten
o'clock, and shortly after the booming of the cannon an-
nounced the arrival of the royal cortege on the ground.
Tne Queen, instead of being present in an open carriage as
on the previous day, was mounted on a splendid chareer,aud
attired in h r equestrian military costume. Her Majesty was
accompanied by the Prince C >nsort, who wore the uniform
of a field marshal, and the Duke of Cambridge. In the
midst of the brilliant staff by which her Majesty was sur-
rounded rude the Princess Royal, the Princess Alice, and
Prince Alfred on horseback. The princesses were attired
in black riding habits, whilst Prince Alfred wore a complete
tartan suit. Amongst the general company, although not
mixing in any way with the royal cortege, were the Duke
d'Aumale, the Prince de Joinville, the Duke de Montpen-
sier, the Count de Paris, the Duke d'Orleans, and other
members of the ex-royal family of France. As soon as
her Majesty reached the plateau on the west of the south
camp, the first division of the army, under the command
of Major-General the HO2. A. Spencer, consisting of the
Scots Fusilier Guards, the 3rd Bata\ lion of the Rifle
Brigade, and the 96th and 22nd Regiments, took up a po-
sition on the north bank of the Basingstoke Canal. The
evolutions of the troops continued in that direction, the
cavalry taking up a position on the right and left of the
long valley, whilst the artillery having gained the ridge of
the various hills, kept up a heavy fire in the direction of
the supposed enemy. By this time her Majesty the
Queen, the Prince Consort, the Commander-in-Chief, and
the royal cortege had gained the point of an immense hill,
from which a splendid view of both armies in the valley
beneath, as well as the pontoon practice on the Basingstoke
Canal, at a place called the " Cove," was obtained. It
was at first supposed, from each division throwing out its
skirmishers of Rifles, that a general sham fight would
take place; but this notion was speedily dissipated,
for no s Amer had the pontoon bridge been com-
pleted than the Coldstreams and the other regiments
which held the north side of the canal marched over
and joined the anticipated enemy. The cavalry then threw
out their videttes, and after manceuvring for some time
charged at full gallop across the valley. The Queen and
party then made their way in a south-westerly direction
to the ridge of the splendid hills known as Cmiar's Camp,
and which commands a view of the entire valley, Across
this the infantry, after a vast number of evolutions in
conjunction with the cavalry, flanked by the artillery,
formed in one immense line, which kept up a succession'
of volley and file firinc, which filled the valley with
smoke, until the want of ammunition put a stop to the
tremendous fire of infantry and artillery. Shortly
after one o'clock the sound of the bugles intimated
that the review was at an end, so far as the active
operations of the troops were concerned ; and her Majesty
and the royal cortege having descended the hill to the plain,
the whole of the troops marched past the Queen, each
regiment being headed by its respective band, playing lively
airs, and it was not until nearly two o'clock that the royal
party left the ground for the pavilion. Her Majesty
quitted the camp at Aldershott, and started with the Prince
Consort, the royal family, and suite, at four o'clock, under
an escort of the 7th Hussars, for the Farnborough station,
to proceed by special train, via the South Western Railway
to Gosport, and from thence to her Majesty's marine resi-
dence at Osborne. His Royal Highness the Duke of
Cambridge, with Generals Wetherell, Airey, and other
officers of his staff, started previously by special train for
London.