The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-10 00:00:00

THE CAMP AT ALDERSHOTT.

Some progress is undoubtedly being made in the
arrangements of this camp, and we rejoice to find
among the new features recently added traces, how-
ever slight, of the intention to give to it an experi-
mental character. Portable huts and tents with
some attempt at ventilation have been erected on
the ridge behind the south lamp, and, though
these innovations have guards mounted on them,
and are not so open to inspection as they should
be, they serve to indicate important objects
which Aldershott may be made to subserve.
As yet we have there no cavalry or artillery, no
rifle practice, nor any of that training in the
more advanced branches of military science by
which the real value of such a place must be ul-
timately determined. Thus far, it is merely a
favourable, spot for drill and exercise ; and in these
respects the troops are evidently making consider.
able progress. The field days, which take place
twice a-week, afford unmistakable evidences of
this, and when a larger body of men, representing
every arm of the service, has been brought together
the results achieved will be still more manifest than
they are at present. The huts are being nicely de-
corated, and are assuming by degrees an air of com-
fort which they did not at first possess. Besides
the Bedfordshire Militia a battalion of the Rifles
has been established there since our last notice.
Many of the new kitchens have been finished, and
arrangements are in progress for securing an abun-
dant supply of water stored in tanks. In time the
camp will grow into something worthy of the nation
and useful after a fashion ; but, while civilians
feel confident of the possibility of organising a
new system of operations which might give to our
men such proportionate advantages as they pos-
sessed in the last war, the beaten track is steadily
adhered to, and few and faint are the indications
given of novelties which may compensate for pau-
city of numbers and arm our soldiers with the might
of our superior resources. The summer has passed
away and not a single field gun has appeared on the
heath, nor has anything less harmless than blank
cartridgesbeen fired. Brown Bess has not given way
to the Minie, nor, after the lapse of months, is there
any indication of more important results than those
which arise from volunteering. In this respect,
indeed, some good has been done. Colonel Wood's
Regiment of Middlesex Militia have recently con-
tributed 150 men to the regular army, and other
corps have been proportionally liberal and patriotic.
But Aldershott ought surely now to be serving
higher purposes, considering the great outlay of
public money at which it has been established. It
will be said that, as Rome was not built in a day,
so the camp cannot be expected to develope its full
utility at once. Still the whole arrangements are
assuming so fixed and permanent a form, there is
so little scope left for novelty, for experiment, and,
above all, for experience in those varied emergen-
cies which are constantly occurring in the field,
that one cannot help thinking we are once more
playing at soldiers. The people want to see the
army made a real profession, and their wishes and
anxieties are cheated by an improvised garrison
town on one of the heaths of Hampshire. Just as
gouty M.P.'s go to the Highlands in autumn, anti,
surrounding themselves with every kind of luxury,
fancy that they are a race of Mohawks, so in a
great measure is this Aldershott a delusion. And
what makes the matter worse is that the imposture
is carried on with troops the vast majority of
whom have been raised for home service, and
whose campaigning propensities will never be sub-
jected to a severer test than billeting in the villages
and towns of their native counties. If we are to
have a great camp, costing the nation, one way or
another, nearly a million of money to get ii up, for
the sake of common decency and common sense let
it be turned to practical account. Let the men be
taught the full and perfect use of those weapons
by which battles are fought and won. Let the in-
genuity of the country be challenged to produce
things the best adapted for field use, and exhibit
in the presence of your soldiers and under the eyes
of the public some at least of that mass of invention
and discovery which the select committee of the
Ordnance is either shuffling off in despair or taking
precious months to decide upon at Woolwich, En-
field, Hythe, and Shoeburyness.

THE LATE COLONEL SHADFORTH

OF THE 57th.

The following letter from the Acting-Sergeant-Major
of the 57th to the widow of Colonel Shadlorth, who was
killed in the attack on the lledan, on the 18th of June,
affords a most affecting testimony to the esteem with
which the Colonel was regarded by his regiment, and the
courage with which he led them to the assault :
" Camp before Sebrstopol, July 10.
‘‘ Madame, --I trust you will pardon me for presuming
to address you while in the midst of such distress, but I
consider it my duty to convoy to you the deep regret of the
noncommissioned officers and men of the regiment at the
death of our late Colonel. He was our father and friend,
and watched over the regiment and its wants in a manner
that gained for him the adoration of his men • and never
did we see more genuine grief among a body of men than
what was seen in the 57th Regiment for the poor Colonel,
and for the memory of his many acts of kindness, of his
unflinching courage at the head of his own "Die-hards,"
and of his glorious death, will long be a theme in the 57th
Regiment.
" Such are the feelings of the men of the regiment.
They have lost their best friend, but I have lost, if possible,
more than any of them, for I never experienced such kind-
ness as ho invariably showed to me and my welfare. He
lost no opportunity in advancing me in my profession, and
not only did he look after my temporal, but my spiritual
welfare, and if ever a man died a Christian he did.
" I spoke to him a few minutes before he fell ; the last
words I heard him say were, ' Now, Colonel Warre, you
mind the right, I will take the left, and Major Inglis the
centre.' This was said amidst a shower of missiles of every
kind, and he was then as cool and collected as if on parade.
Poor Colonel ! it was the last order I beard him give, and
the last time I saw him alive. He could not have suffered
much from the nature of the wound.
" I would have written to you before, but I did not wish
to intrude upon your grief. If there is any service I can do
for you, or any information I can furnish, I will do so
with pleasure; and Boakes knows that if there is anything
to be done which he cannot properly manage I will give
him all the assistance in my power.
" In conclasion, I beg respectfully to assure you of my
best wishes for the welfare of yourself and the young
ladies, and I trust you will not consider me too forward in
thus addressing you.—l remain, Madam, your very hum -
ble servant, _

" GEORGE CUMMING,
"Colour-Sergeant and Acting-Sergeant-Major,
57th Regiment."

The following letter, from Lieut.-Colonel Warre, cf
,he 57th Regiment, is dated

" Camp before Sebastopol, June is.
"My dear Mrs. Shadworth,—l trust the report from
other sources will have prepared you to receive the pain-
ful intelligence it becomes my duty to convey to you.
" When I look to the sincere regard all the officers and
men of the 57th Regiment felt for our lamented Colonel,
it is with unfeig,necl grief that I have to inform you that
he is no more. His gallant spirit fled while leading his
men to the unfortunate and unsuccessful attack on the
Roden this day.
" As a soldier, his 30 years' service in the 57th Regi-
ment has endeared him to officers and men, and the recol-
lection of his devoted attachment to the regiment has
spread a gloom through our camp, showing hew beloved
ho was in life and how respected in death. His remains
were brought up by unattached men, and they will be in-
terred to-moi row in the cemetery attached to the division,
where our late Colonel Goldie and Lieutenant-General
Cathcart already rest in a soldier's grave.
" Pray accept my deepest sympathy and heartfelt con-
dolence for your irreparable loss, and believe me, your
faithful servant, "HENRY J. WARM%
Lieutenant-Colonel, 57th Regiment."

Colonel Shadforth seems to have felt some presenti-
ment of his approaching fate, for he took leave of his
wife and children the night before the assault in the
following terms :

"Before Sebastopol, June 17, 9 p.m.
"My own beloved wife and dearly-beloved children,
at 1 o'clock to-morrow morning I head the 57th to storm
the Redan. It is, as I feel, an awfully perilous moment
to me, but I place myself in the hands of our gracious
God, without whose will a sparrow cannot fall to the
ground. I place my whole trust in him. Should I fall in
the performance of my duty, I fully rely in the precious
blood of our Saviour, shed for sinners, that I may be saved
through him. Pardon and forgive me, my beloved ones,
for anything I may have said or done to cause you one
moment's unhappiness. Unto God I commend my body
and soul, which are his • and, should it be his will that I
fall in the performance Of my duty, in the defence of my
Queen and country, I most humbly say, Thy will be done.'
God bless you and protect you ' • and my last prayer will
be, that He, of his infinite goodness, may preserve me to
you. God ever bless you, my beloved Eliza, and my
dearest children ' • and, if we meet not swain in this world,
may we all meet in the mansion of our Heavenly Father,
through Jesus Christ. God bless and protect you) and
ever believe me, your affectionate husband and loving„
father, " THOMAS SHADFORTII.
who have suffered iu her service which bast aY
Her Majesty, with that anxious consideratiosn.for_atlidoisse.
tinguished her, has already signed a al: granting a
pension of 2001. a year to Mrs. Shadfowrthra,
inti-
mated that she will take advantage of any anter' aosppor
etuonloitnyelwshhicalidimoratywsococeurrvitcoesm
served in it for 32
a Colhis father, who was
onel er
S haapdPfroercit ha t ihoandl
hereditary connexion wbituhertainf having
years, severely wounded at A
years, and two of his brothersi being also officers in the
same regiment.

----
LIVEIWOOL.—On Tuesday morning, as
from Dublin, was proceeding
up
the Iron Du
perceived a flag of distress flying
she
from
the Mers!Y' ship Ocean Express, and the signal that
the Americas ship
i on board. This •
was muany is being communicated to
there
Mum".
Akre steamer,
authorities, Superintendent. Boyd, with a party of
mtheen, bearded the ship, which was lying off the Rock
Light, outward bound, where they found all hands Isit-
ting in the- forecastle. Two of the ringleaders were
ar-
rested and brought before the American consul, who
advised the captain to return on board, and ask the other
men again to work,
;
which he did, but they refused, and
the whole of them, 3Q number, were landed on shore
and turned adrift, forfeiting their clothes and outfits ;
the English authorities, owing to the vessel being under
the American flag, not being able to deal with the Case.