The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-09 00:00:00

Volunteer Review and Sham Fight at Lamb-

ton Park, Durham.

I On Monday, a large number of the Durham corps
were reviewed at Lambton Park, the seat of the
Earl of Durham. The prizes won in a recent com-
petition were distributed by the countess, who was
present on the occasion, with Lady Williamson and
three of her children. There was afterwards a sham
fight ; and at the close of the
evolutions
review-
ing officer, Colonel M‘Murdo,add the
sed the men
who had taken part in them. He said he would
not detain Lord Durham and the volunteers at
that hour further than to express to his lord-
ship the pleasure he had bad in inspecting the
volunteers of the county under his lordship'se
jurisdiction. The movements that were at first
performed being movements of drill purposely per-
formed from his order and under his commend were
very good ; but if they wished to acquire steadiness
of movement in brigade and to make themselves
really serviceable, he should advise them—if they
would take his advice—to eschew for the future
sham fights. They might rely upon it that the few
movements they performed at the beginning of that
day did them more good in the ten minutes or quar-
ter of an hour that they were engaged in them than
the sham fight just concluded. Sham fights were apt
to unsettle the best of troops. It was impossible so
to attempt the movements of a sham fight as to
make it look like a real one without showing a great
want of combination and a great want of un-
derstanding between men and officers. That
arose from the inability of volunteers to assem-
ble often in brigade, and their inability to spend
more than a few hours for any purpose like that for
which they were now assembled, and for which
they only met together about once in a year. There-
fore, these fights only tended to unsettle them until
they could acquire greater steadiness in brigade
drill. In making these remarks he did not mean to
say they were unsteady. He spoke of them by
contrasting the movements they performed in the
beginning of the day with the movements they per-
formed at the end of the day. The movements they
performed in the beginning of the day did real good
in improving their steadiness; but the movements
they had performed since tended to produce nothing
but unsteadiness both in their body and mind. Now
in commanding a brigade he had to impress on officers
commanding battalions especially that they would
do well to obey implicitly the orders they received
from the general officer. Without the most im-
plicit obedience there all that they did was likely
to be very far wrong. When they were marching
upon the fort they should not have to be told that
there was an enemy firing at them in front. Now
by a mistake of an order he found a body of artil-
lery at the beginning of the fight had gene up to
and within a hundred yards of the enemy's posi-
tion. That occurred chiefly from the daring of the
outposts in their zealousness, but it was also
a misunderstanding of orders given. Hence, if
they were to derive any instruction from these
sham fights, it was most important that they
should
pay implicit obedience to the orders con-
veyed to them. Before he left them he must con-
gratulate them upon the present state of the
Volunteer force. He had had much to do with
that force of late at meetings such as had been
held that day. He had seen the county forces of
a great number of the counties of England, and
from what be there saw he was able to say that
they had increased in numbers and in efficiency. A
gallant friend of his who was there present had read
a paper to the British Association the other day.
He had read a report of it in the Times. He did
not know whether the report was true or not true,
but he was rather surprised to find it stated that
the volunteers were falling away—that the
musters were fewer and fewer. He should have
been very glad indeed if his gallant friend before he
read the paper had asked him a few questions as
to whether that were so or it were not. He should
have told him that the volunteer force was
never in a higher state of efficiency than they
were at present as compared with former
years. He thought that it was almost too much
that the old ladies who had listened to a former
paper in which it was said that England was falling
away and could not last another 200 years—(laugh-
ter)—after that it was too much for them to hear
that the volunteer movement was also falling away.

(Laughter.) He thought we were yet far from ex-
hausting the resources of England, and that et all
events one consolation remained he thought that
England would always be the Old England that she
at present was. (Loud cheers.) He had already
said that the volunteers were in a state of groat
efficiency. He did not know what the regimental
muster here might be; he could only say that
the Government were of opinion that too much
drill was not necessary for volunteers. They were
intellectual men, who, having once learned drill,
would find that the limited number of attendances
required by the corps would be sufficient to keep up
their efficiency. He would not detain his lordship
and them any longer, but again express the pleasure
he had had in seeing the volunteers of his lordship's
county.
The Earl of DURHAM said he would add nothing

o what they had heard, but would simply call upon
,hem to give three cheers for Colonel 111‘Murdo.
Three lusty cheers were given for the gallant

officer.

Colonel Al‘MunDo could not allow such a compli-
ment to pass unanswered. He knew that they
would join with him in giving three cheers for the
lord lieutenant. _ _ .

Three hearty cheers were given •for his lordship
by the united forces.
The total force on the field was 1,882 men,
—Newcastle Chronicle.