The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-27 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

.The Channel Fleet &sited from gpithead en its
cruise westward yesterday afternoon. At 1 p.m.
dense smoke from the funnels of the respeeive
ships told of the preparations making on board, and
very shortly afterwards the ships could be seen
with wreaths of steam escaping from their etcam-
pipes and cables hove in short, waiting the signal
to start. At 3.45 p.m. the Edgar screw two-decker,
71 guns, Capt. G. P. Hornby, bearing the flig of
the Admiral Catzman,:ing 11,:ac-Admiral S. C.
D ,cres, 0.8., ltd the way out of Spithead by the
eastern passage for the Channel. ;followed in line
by the other shins in the order in whien they are
named. Aurora, 35, (unarmoured) screw, Gip% Sir
F. M'Clintoelz ; Hector, 24, iron frigate, screw,
Capt. G. W. Preedy, 0.13. ; Defence, 10, iron fri-
gate, screw, Capt. A. Phillimore ; Warrior, 40,
iron frigate, screw, Capt. A. A. Cochrane, C.B. ;
Prince Consort, 35, ironcased frigate, screw, Capt.
Black Prince, 40, iron frigate,
Cr. 0. "Welles, 0-13-;
screw, Capt. I. F. B. Wain wt ight ; Rate) 4,
Commander C. J. Rowley. The
iron-cased sloop,
fleet will be put through a series of evolutions under
steam, and sail between Portland and the Cuops of
the Channel by Rear-Admiral Dacres, and will oce
casionallY, until further Admiralty orders, look in
at Torbay anchorage. Letters for the fleet should
therefore for the present be directed to Torquay.
The Royal Sovereign, turret ship, Capt. Seerard
Osborn, C. 8., did not join the Channel Fleet at
Spit head previous to its sailing, as had been pre..
viotaly arranged. Up to sunset last evening sh
remained in Portsmouth harbour.
Her Majesty's paddle yachts Victoria and Albert,
Capt. H. S. H. the Prince Leiniogen, and the
Alberta, Staff-Commander Welch, sailed from Ports..
mouth yesterday morning, the former for Graves..
end and the latter for Flushing, both in the service
of the Prince and Princess Louis of Ti
—esse.
The Forte, 39, screw frigate, Capt. Arthur Mel•
lish, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Laird
Warren, late Commander in Chief of her Majesty's
naval forces on the south east coast of America,
arrived at Spithead yesterday, and on anchoring.
exchanged the usual salute with the flagship of the
Admiral in command at Portsmouth. The Forte
sailed from Rio de Janeiro on the 30th Jane, from
Bahia on the 12th of July, and from Fayal on the
9th of August. Light winds were generally ex..
perienced throughout the voyage until Monday
last, when a very strong easterly gale was fallen
in with. Off the Start a steamer showing the
Federal American colours was sighted, resembling
the Kearsage in her hull and rig. Admiral Warren
with his family and secretary landed at Portsmouth
yesterday from the Forte, and his flag was hauled
down at sunset. The Forte is ordered to proceed
from Spithead to Sheerness to dismantle and pay
out of commission, and will sail some time daring
to-day. Forty naval invalids and supernumera-
ries came home in the ship from vessels on the
station, and were transferred to her Majesty's ship
the Victory and Hasler Naval Hospital yesterday.
Yesterday Mr. E. C. Nepean, one of the officials
from the War-office, who has been occupied for the
past week in the inspection of the armoury for land
and sea service, guns, shot, shell, and other War
Department stores, together with the land maga.
tines at Chatham, as well as those for the navy at
Upnor, brought his inspection to a close, and during
the day left the garrison for Dover, to commence
the inspection at that station. The number of the
smoothbore cast iron ordnance, consisting of 32
pounders, 68 pounders, and 95 cwt. 10 inch guns,
now in store at Chatham is very considerable, and
as these are comparatively useless against armour
plated ships, no further ordnance of the kind will
be stored at Chatham. A large number of the 100
pounder smoothbore guns, for naval service, which
are now in course of manufacture at the Royal gun.
factory, will shortly be received at the Gun wharf,
together with the first supply of the Armstrong
300 pounders, for distribution to the ironclad
frigates now under construction at the dockyard.
MajoreGen. A. J. Taylor, the recently-appointed
Inspector-General of Royal Artillery, accompanied
by Cipt. S. Nicholson, his aide-de-camp, yesterday
brought to a termination his first annual inspection
of the Royal Artillery forces in the Chatham
district, in which duty he had been engaged for
two days. On the previous day the Inspector-
General was occupied in the inspection of the Ist
division of the depot brigade, consisting of fire
batteries, under the command of Lieut.-Col. W. K.
Fooks, the forces comprising which were paraded
in marching order on the review ground in the
centre bastion, Sheerness, where the Major-General
was received with the customary "present." After
a close inspection had been made of the clothing,
and accoutrements of the non-commissioned officers
and men, the lino broke into open columns of
divisions, right in front, and marched past in slow
and quick time with remarkable steadiness and
precision, considering that the ranks were mainly
composed of young soldiers, the wheeling intervals
being very correctly preserved, and the align.
meat of the divisions well sustained, both in open
and quarter-distance columns. A series of battalion.
movements followed, at the termination of which
the parade was dismissed, and the Armstrong rifled
and smoothbore guns commanding the channel ap-
proaches to Chatham harbour manned, when some
excellent practice was made from both descriptions
of ordnance, with shot and shell, the target being
moored to seaward at a distance of 2,000 yards.
During this portion of the inspection the officers
and men were closely examined as to their know-
ledge of their various duties pertaining to the use
and management of artillery and the appliances of
guns, sling-carts, parbuckling, aad the numerous
modes of shifting and handling heavy ordnance. Itt
company with Col. C. I. B. Riddell, 0.8., in corn-
mand of the Royal Artillery stationed in the Chats
ham district, Major-Gen. Taylor subsequently made
an inspection of the offices, barrack.rooms, married,
quarters, hospital, and other buildings, with the
whole of which he expressed himself in generally
satisfactory terms. The afternoon of yesterday was
devoted to an inspection of the mounted field..bata
tery of Royal Artillery, now Occupying the north
square at Brompton Barracks, and the efficiency of
the officers and men, tested by a series of field
manamvres on Chatham lines, where the customary
review movements were gone through in a highly
creditable and efficient manner. The men were also
inspected dismounted in the barrack square, by
Major• General Taylor, who likewise inspected the
Armstrong guns, waggons, horses, stables, &c. The
annual inspection was brought to a termination yes-
terday afternoon, and Major-General Taylor will
this morning proceed to the other Royal Artillery
stations in the south-eastern district.
In accordance with instructions to that effect
from the Admiralty, the boats. anchors, and cables
for the iron frigate Valiant, 24, 800-horse power,
have been sent from Chatham and Sheerness dock •
yards to the Victoria Doek:s, where the Valiant is
being prepared for sae..
The following app',Anttnents and promotions have
been made at the Admiralty :—Lieut.. D. D. Fre-
mantle to the Brisk—Denton H. Speer, master in
command of the Acorn—James B. Haines, master
to the Brisk—Sub•Lieut. J. I. Bell and Sub. Lieut. Edward A. Liadert to the Brisk—John H.
son, Robin-
Clam les T. Turner, James M. Bance, and Claude
C. de Crespigny, midshipmen to the Brisk—Stephen
H. Thompson, George Wilson, and Fits H. B.
Crowe, naval dadets to the Brisk—W. cipaa,
Paymaster, to the Brisk—A. G. Young, assist. pay'
master, to the Brisk—Edward S. Butler, assist.
surg., to the Hibernia—Arthur J. Ireland, assist.
surg., to the Caradoc—William Redmond, assist.
surg., to the Royal Adelaide—W. Clay, clerk, to
the Brisk—Charles G. Robertson and G. H. Stoate,
master's assistants, to the Brisk—A Borthwick and
W. C. Hiider,
of the Asia, and J. Wlntyre, of the
Royal Sovereign, promoted to be engineers—T.
Barber, of the Asia, and C. J. Jerdan, of the Gala.
tea, promoted to be first-class assist, engineers—F.
Pugh, of the Medusa, T. Catchpole, of the Asia, and
G. F. Sutton and J. Finlay, of the Cumberland,
confirmed as first-class assist. engineers—R. Irwin,
of the Wolverene, and William Savage, of the Cam-
berland, confirmed as second-class assist. engineers
—and Frederick Smiley, assist. engineer to the
Marlborough, as supernumerary.