The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-18 00:00:00

THE CRIMEAN MEDALS.

PRESENTATION BY HER MAJESTY.
(THIS DAY.)

This morning a ceremony of a most brilliant and im-
posing description, though differing entirely in its cha-
rat2r from any that the people of this country have
been accustomed to witness throughout a long
series of years, was performed by her must gra-
cious Majesty the Queen. We need scarcely say
we allude to the distribution of the Crimean medal to
the officers, non-commissioned officer=, and privates
of the different cavalry and infantry regiments of the line
who have so gallantly distinguished themselves at Alma,
Ba!aklava, and Inkerman, and who have returned home
wounded or invalided. Included in the presentation
were a number of the naval brigade, who so nobly did
duty in the trenches.
The scene was one that will not, we imacine, be
readily forgotten, inasmuch as it served to impress
still more forcibly on the minds of those who were
present the sad reality that we are no longer exclusively
engaged in a peaceful rivalry with the world in the arts
of civilisation, but that, so far as a portion of it at least
is concerned, we are, in conjunction with a n-tion—once
our bitterest enemies, but now our firm and sincere allies
—embarked in a struggle involving all the horrors of
war in their most direful form, and against a formidable
and unscrupulous foe—a struggle, too, in which some of
the best and bravest blood of the country has already
been shed, and which, it is to be feared, will demand,
ere its termination, a still greater sacrifice of devoted
lives. At the sametime the scene was a truly touching one,
for it furnished another striking proof of the warm sym-
pathy our beloved Queen individually feels for her
brave soldiers for the unparalleled sufferings which they
have endured, and no less the admiration she entertains
of their splendid achievements, in spite of dangers and
difficulties which can scarcely be exaggerated. There,
too, were those heroic men of whom we have heard so
much and read so much ; there were the survivors of the
❑ever-to-be•forgotten Light Cavalry charge ; there were
the dauntless Guards, the stalwart Highlanders, and the
keen-eyed Riflemen, whose services in their respective
capacities have so well sustained the spotless reputation
of the British arms_ Many of these, too, bore upon
them more or less severe indications of the dreadful con-
tests in which they had taken so conspicuous a part, and
which the well-merited distinction awarded to them is
intended to commemorate.

The splendid spectacle took place in the spacious
parade at the rear of the Izt ase Guards, nearly the
whole of which, forming an immense square, was barri-
caded off. In the centre a raised dais, or platform, of
tolerably large dimensions, approached by three steps,
had been laid down for the accommodation of her Ma-
jesty, Prince Albert, the officers of state and suite. This
.cas covered with bright crimson cloth, and surrounded
with an elegant brass railing. From the centre rose a
flagstaff, from which, when her Majesty arrived,
the Royal standard was displayed. A balcony,
also tastefully fitted up and festooned, and cur-
uounted by an awning, wes erected above the
drive under the Horse Guards building, and overlook-
ing the dais for the reception of the Rvai Family and
he Duchesses of Kent and Gloucester. Besides this,
~xtensive galleries for the accommodation of spectators
acre erected at the rear of the cliff-rent G ,vernment
,ffices, and also two of capacious dimensions for the
Ise of the members of the two houses of Parliament.

The morning opened beautifully fine—in fact, the
cc:lt her was proverbially "her M sj esty's,"and for long be-
lore 9 o'clock the arrivals of the fashionable occupants
,1 the galleries referred to were incessant until they
yen soon completely filled. In the meanwhile, the
,pen space outside the barriers became flooded with thou-
ands of peopleof all classes eager to catch a glimpse of
,he proceedings ; whilst the roofs and balconies of the
Horse Guards, the Admiralty, the Treasury, and other
Government buildings, as well as of the whole of the
surrounding private residences, as far as the eye could
reach, were covered with perfect myriads of human
oeings. About half-past nine o'clock, the troops in-
-,ended to take part in the ceremony began to arrive,
regiment by regiment, and defiled into the enclosure,
preceded by their bands. These cansisted of the
Scots Fusiliers, and the Grenadier and Coldstream
Guards, the whole of whom appeared for the first
time in their new tunic uniform, and a brigade of
avalry, consisting of two squadrons of Life Guards
end Carbineers, under the command of Colonel Wood.
Che last to make their appearance were the wounded and
invalid soldiers, who marched on to the ground i❑ excel-
ent order, considering what they base undergone, They
were an exceedingly fine body of men, from various
regiments, and officers, non-commissioned officers, and
drivates numbered about 600 men. In circler to add to
he effect of the whole scene, drafts of young soldiers
sere sent in from the following regiments :—The 21st,
33d, 39th, 41st, 42d, 47th, 50th, 52d, 58th, 63d, 69th,
72d, 89th, and 93d.
The Naval Brigade and Marines, attended by their
nand, were the last arrivals. The ground to the left
of the dais was occupied by the cavalry and a portion
f the Guards, whilst the remainder of the Guards, the
Naval Brigade, and the miscellaneous drafts took up
their positions on the opposite side, the recipients of
the medal being drawn up in line in front of the dais.
['he general command was undertaken by Major-General
the Earl of Cardigan, who on arriving on the ground
was loudly cheered—as also was his Royal Highness
the Duke of Cambridge, who acted as field-officer in
command for the day.
Within the barricades, and between them and the lines
of sentries who kept the ground, assembled as eleven
o'clock approached, the hour at which it was announced
that her Majesty would arrive, vast crowds of fashion.
ably-dressed ladies and gent!emen, to whom the privilege
had been wanted, and intermingled with these were
large numbers of officers of militia and yeomanry, whose
brilliant uniforms added considerably to the splendour
and variety of the scene. At the same time, the spec-
tacle was evidently intended as a purely military one,
and accordingly the accommodation of the troops on the
spot appeared to have bee❑ more considered than that
of the general public, who, by the arrangements we
have pointed out, were kept at a considerable distance.
The populace, however, shifted as well as they could for
themselves ; and, being unable to obtain a very close
view of the ceremony, they thronged the space outside
the barriers and the park avenues—they climbed the
trees, railings, and walls everywhere adjacent—and,
-till further off, the Monument, the steds of the Duke
f York's Column, and the outle.ts from the parade, were
literally swarmed by the eager multitude.

Shortly before the arrival of her Majesty, the coup
cl'ceil, on every side, was one of glittering magnificence,
And was full of pleasing variety and contrast. The bright
uniform and accoutrements of the troops, the light and
elegant attire of the ladies in the galleries, and the thick
,uases of people, combined to form a tout ensemble
which cannot readily be described. The general im-
pression, too, of the whole wai considerably enhanced
by the martial strains of the different bands, which re-
lieved one another in close succession.

As the Horse Guards' clock at length pealed forth 11
the music ceased, and a deep low confused murmur of
expectation rose from amidst the dense crowd of human
beings. In two or three minutes.afterwards, with the
punctuality which invariably characterises the appearance
of her Majesty on public occasions, the escort of Life
Guards dashed under the archway into the esplanade,
and the arrival of the Queen was announced by
the roar of artillery in the park. Immediately
.the royal standard was hoisted, and the whole of the
bands in concord struck up the sublime .notes of the
national anthem, which were, however, altnnst drowned
in the unanimous and enthusiastic shouts of welcome
and greeting which resounded from thousands of
loyal throats. Her Majesty, wlio was accompanied
by his Royal Highness Prince Albert, the Prince of
Wales, and the Princess Royal, and attended, by her
Ladies in Waiting and a numerous suite, was received
on alighting at the dais by Viscount H ardinge, Com-
mander-in-Chief, his Royal Higness the Duke of Cam-
bridge, ths Earl of Cardigan, and a distinguished circle
of officers, and was immediately conducted to her chair
of state on the platform.
The ceremony was then proceeded with, the, bands
alternately played a march, and the recipients of
the medal defiled in slow time and in single file
past where her Majesty was standing, and each
received his medal as he passed from the hands of
the Queen herself. Her Majesty was assisted in
the ceremony by Prince Albert and the Duke of
Cambridge. The Duke himself, and the Earl of Cardi-
gan, were the first to receive the decoration, and did so
amidst vocifefous cheering. Then followed the Light
Cavalry heroes, next the Guards, thenthe other Infantre
Regiments of the Line, next the Rifles, afterwards the
Naval Brigade, and, finally, the Marines. Several of the
officers and non-commissioned officers were recognised,
and were gre-ted with applause particularly Sir Thos.
Troubridge, Bart., who has unfortunately suffered the
loss of both legs, and was drawn in a-Bath chair. The
distribution eccupied about an hour, and must have been
somewhat fatiguing to her Majesty. '
At the close of this portion of the ceremony,
the invalids and the whole of the troops on the ground
were passed in review in, line before the Queen, aria
afterwards in columns of troops. They were afterwarls
formed into line so as to present three sides of a square
in front of the dais when they presented arms, end sa-
luted her Majesty in the usual formal wanner, the bands
all the while playing the National Anthem, and the