The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-23 00:00:00

Volun tefi

;owe Park,

Yesterday a N eoluntser Review, exceedingly pic-
turesque in char acter, and successful in all its de-
tails, was held at Stowe-park, the seat of his Grace
the Duke of But. kingham. The total number of
troops present did .not in the aggregate exceed 4,500,
but the display waei remarkable beyond its many
predeoessors by the large force of cavalry taking
part in the evolutions, and by the fact that a sug-
gestion more than once put forward in The Sun,
that Yeomanry might mingle advantageously with
Volunteers at such reviews, was carried into opera-
tion with the happiest results. The park, compris-
ing within its available area about 1,300 acres,
made one of the noblest review grounds yet placed
at the disposal of the Volunteers. Its formation
permitted the troops, over a circuit of some two or
three miles, to be kept continually in sight of the
spectators, and the surface of the ground was so
beautifully even that, although cavalry and artil-
lery charges were frequent and rapid, not a single
accident was reported as having occurred. Con-
trary to the usual practice, according to which the
commencement of Volunteer reviews is often post.
poned till the shades of evening are settling down
upon the scene, the assembling of the troops was
fixed for a very early hour ; the original proposal
being, in fact, that the first gun should fire, not in
the afternoon, but before 12 o'clock. The directors
of the Oxford, Buckingham, and Bletchley Rail-
way, having regard to this fact, and also to the cir-
cumstance that theirs is but a single line, made up
their minds to suspend all the ordinary traffic and
to run none bat special trains—an arrangement no
doubt convenient to neighbouring Volunteers and
residents, but attended with obvious drawbacks to
sight-seers from a distance who placed their depen-
dence upon " Bradshaw." According to this
guide a choice of two trains, one at the early hour
of 6.30 a.m. and one at 11 o'clock, was open
to the public desirous of proceeding to Bucking-
ham, but, for those who acted upon the faith of this
information, the company might as well have fol-
lowed the American example and torn up the rail-
way. A trainfall of disappointed passengers was
duly deposited upon the platform of Winslow junc-
tion at 12 35, in abundant time to proceed to the
review, but there were no carriages to take them on.
The special trains had gone off hours before to give
the local public a good long day at Stowe, and, in-
stead of returning for additional passengers, they
acted in the spirit of Mr. Gladstone's suggestion
about our transports in the Crimea, and " waited
till the fight was over to bring them back again."
As regarded the passengers who had put their trust
in " Bradshaw," there were two courses open to
them—one to give up the review altogether, and
the other to walk to Stowe, a distance of 11 miles,
not a horse or vehicle of any kind being procurable
in the district on any terms. What made the matter
additionally provoking was that a special train con-
veying the railway staff to Buckingham was
actually in the station while the train from Bletch-
ley was waiting for admittance outside, and could,
if detained a few seconds, have carried on the whole
party with the greatest ease.

The magnificent avenue along which the approach
lies to the scene of the review from the town of
Buckingham in its general character very much re-
Bembles the Long-walk at Windsor. The rolling
nature of the country interrupts the line of sight
and dispels in this case the disheartening impression
produced upon the pedestrian at Windsor, where
every step seems to repel instead of bring nearer
the equestrian statue in the distance. But in actual

measarement there cannot be any great difference
between the two approsehes. The parallel lines of
tree end with an arch, constituting the great gate
of S:-owe, and passing through this the specta-
tor finds himself gazing on an exquisite pano-
Tama of grassy kno:ls and valleys, wooded uplands,
dotted here and there with miniature lakes. The
ground was kept in the most admirable manner by
detachments of the Buckinghamshire, Oxford, and
Northamptonshire police, whose task was facilitated
by a very simple arrangement, which may be com-
mended to the notice of the Department of Works.
It consisted in a few stakes planted in the ground
at long intervals and connected by a strip of wire,
drawn " taut," as sailors would say, by an ordinary
farm engine. An effectual restraint is thne imposed
upon the spectators, at the same time that all fiti.-

getting as to an imaginary boundary line is obviated.
Those gradual encroachments and sudden repulses,
regarded hitherto as inevitable incidents of " keen-
ing the ground," were entirely avoided. The grand
stand, moreover, within which the elite of the county
found accommodation, was a structure very much
in advance of the ordinary type at Volunteer re-
views. Tne force upon the ground was divided into
two bodies of nearly equal strength, the attacking
force, stationed, in the first instance, at Home Farm-
hill, being under the command of Colonel Erskine,
C. 8.; while the defending force, posted at Obelisk-
hill, was under the personal direction of Colonel
14I'Murdo, C. 8., who commanded in chief. Lieute-
nant-Colonel North, M.P., filled the post of Briga-
dier-General to the former gallant officer, and Lord
Ranelagh acted in the same capacity towards Col.
M‘Murdo. The divisions respectively were composed
as follows :

the Duke of Manchester's cavalry swept down on
the squares and endeavoured to carry off the artil-
lery. In this attempt he was defeated, and Lord
Ranelagh, continuing the movement from the point
where it had been interrupted, was successful in
making further progress towards the point at which
the defenders from the first intended to make their
final stand. Just at this moment the Buckingham-
shire Yeomanry in close column of troops, with the
Hon. Artillery Company following in the rear,
passed suddenly to the front, deployed on the
centre squadron, and charged the whole line of the
attacking party, which naturally formed squares
to resist the onset. Suddenly the two wings of the
cavalry force wheeled outwards, retired round the
flanksof Lord Ranelagh's force, thereby unmasking
the guns which had followed in their rear, and these
_ _

had now an opportunity of playing with destruc-
tive effect upon the hostile infantry still in their
formation of squares. Lord Ranelagh ultimately
placed his line with its right resting on a fort, per-
manently erected within the demesne, in which were
two 9-pounders and four 6-pounders; and, as this
accession of strength was more than sufficient to
redress the inequality of artillery force from which
the defenders had previously suffered, the attacking
party were obliged to desist from their operations.
The proceedings closed with a march past on the
part of all the troops, and with a trot and gallop by
the cavalry and artillery. In speaking of the per-
formances of the latter branch separate mention has
not been made of the artillery troop belonging to
the Buckinghamshire Cavalry, because this was
attached to and worked with the Hon. Artillery
Company, and, except at very close quarters, when
it was seen that they adhered to the old artillery
dress with its five rows of buttons, it was nearly im•
possible to distinguish one from the other. It is
right, however, to add that among the surprises
which the provinces have this year prepared for the
metropolis in matters connected with volunteering,
the appearance and efficiency of this corps must be
ranked. It used to be supposed that the flying bat-
teries of the Hon. Artillery Company were unique
of their kind, but the Buckinghamshire Artillery
are by no means unworthy rivals, though lacking
some of the style of the older regiment. The entire
Yeomanry Corps looked to great advantage; the
men were well mounted, and had enjoyed the bene-
fit of several days continuous drill. Of the different
infantry corps it is enough to say that they frilly
sustained the reputation of that service.
The display as a whole was highly successful.
The weather, with the exception of one smart
shower, was ;all that could be desired, and as the
assembly left the ground there seemed to be but
one pervading sentiment—that of gratification at
the liberality shown by the Duke of Buckingham
and at the skill with which the manoeuvres from
first to last were conducted by Colonel M'Murdo
and the force under his command.

_ -
The Shoeburyness Competitive Trials,

After so much trying work, though not the less
,nteresting, we have at last come to one of the comic
ncidents naturally inherent to all competitions.
When the parallelograms were brought forward,
and communicated to the two competitors, the com-
parison was entirely founded on the methods of
points described in last week's notice, whereby the
Whitworth gun had a slight advantage over the
shunt Armstrong, while the breech-loader was dis-
tanced by both. Then, we have every reason to
believe that, in a certain quarter, the tables were
well received, it was a triumph. But it so happened
hat—led on by our sense of duty, and by a strong
doubt as to the validity of such a method, far it
must obviously disguise when it does not faithfully
convey the truth cf the case—we took two quite
distinct lines for own independent investigation,
and thereby came to a very different conclusion as
to the order in which the guns stand by reason of
the parallelograms. Taking the mean ranges as
they are at present erroneously calculated, we made
up the areas, and then their sum for each sort of
ammunition, and each separate gun determined the
order of merit in the minor categories of common
shell, solid shot, and segment shell. It followed
that, by adding for each gun its three category
areas, WO were sure of obtaining a correct measure-
ment of their performances, the greatest surface
repr:!senting the least merit. Moreover, we deter-
mined on proving this method by a third plan, viz ,
that of enclosing the fractional areas of every degree
into the largest amongst them for each kind of prow
jectile, thus taking the greatest surface as the
expression of the highest degree of erraticity possible
for each, when firing one particular ammunition.
The result confirmed that of the second method,
placing the breech-loader first, the shunt second,
and the Whitworth third ; and consequently, apart
from the appearance both these methods carry along
with them, as to logical soundness, there is indeed
good reason to abide by their conclusions. The num-
bers arising from these modes were not given by us,
out of regard to the calculations which might be car-
ried on by the special committee ; but the facts they
establish were, we trust, explained clearly enough
in our columns of last Wednesday. "When this be-
came known, that same party who had rejoiced
at the order of merit first established, and found
nothing to say against the parallelograms, as they
were given, immediately turned round upon them,
and altogether repudiated their correctness. On the
ground of the mode pursued for fixing the e-
range, this determination is not untenab' -``eon
the mean "proper" might bear or- ' though
order of merit. Objection may • -• last the same
the use of a mean range - - even be token against
green of error. Be
.c all tee determine the de-
rate, subject le-
.tus as tt may, we have, at any
~ a warm debete, which, besides cans-
iug merri'Acne, may eventually turn out very useful
with
. regard to the scientific points it will necessarily
ering ander the notice of the committee. What,
however, we sincerely regret is the feeling shown
towards the principal originator of this change in
the reading of the parallelograms. In the discharge
of our duty we have never looked forward to the
approbation of one rival more than of the other;
but to the gratification that springs from the ac-
knowledgment of our doing the country gm' ser-
vice. Nevertheless, we can only deplore the feeling
which would either smother or corrupt public
opinion, and which then requites impartiality with
a penalty of childish sulkiness.
Exception is taken to the finding of the paral-
lelograms on two grounds—viz., that, firstly, the
breechloader was known to fire unsatisfactorily,
wherefore it cannot stand ahead of the Whitworth ;
and secondiY, that the flatness of the trajectory being
more marked
le the hexagonal than in either of the
other two cerep
etitive guns, it must necessarily fol.
lonwgr that
than those of the former will be
o
the latter. Whence, considering
longer
n the
those
of
the influence exercised by such desirable flatness en
the question of accuracy, it is obvious that the method
of drawing out areas of comparative error on the
horizontal plane, is radicall
y defective for the deter-
mination-nlgoaedaecrcuwraascyfo2u' found inferior in its firing
of" Now, in the first,place,
the steel breech-loader
chiefly as compared to that of the service wrought
iron soil 12 pounder. It is in this senseptrhatttiebeot
ofh
officers and men, who were used to the
et
the latter, complained of that made by the former.
On examining into the causes of this relative
inferiority, we soon attributed it to the steel block
not expanding under pressure, in the same way as
the wrought iron coil; and though this reason was

not accepted at the time it was given, yet it has
proved true, and it is pleaded in extenuation of the
first performances made with the breech-loader. In
relation to the other guns, this unforeseen defect of
non-expansion, by increasing the disadvantages due
to lower initial velocity, as well as to the greater
elevation required for target prectice, naturally
tended to that of the other two guns ; in fact, wita
regard to the number of times it loses, its position
of rank is the worst in all three classes of the pro-
jectiles used. But what retrieves the breech loader
is its greater regularity in point of erraticity ; thus,
the sum of the areas made with comuion shell by the
breech loader is about 85 times greater than the
smallest amongst them ; while for the Whitworth
the total is about 1,520 times; and for the shunt
125 times greater than their respectively least sur-
face. With solid shot, the sum of the measurements
of each gun taken separately is equal to about 81
times the least amongst them: in the case of the
breech loader it is likewise equal to 81 times its own
minimum area for the Whitworth, and equal to 215