The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-31 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge held
a levee yesterday afternoon at the Horse Guards.
'There was a numerous attendance of officers.
TbeWar-office, which has appointed the committee
of scientific officers to inn uire afresh into the rela-
tive merits of Sir Wm. Armstrong's and Mr. Whit-
Worth's systems of gunnery, has added to it the
tit,mes of two eminent civil engineers of high stand-
ing to aid in the consider tion of the many impor-
tant mechanical questions the subject involves.
These gentlemen are Mr. John Penn, of Greenwich,
and Mr. Win, Pole, F.R.S., who is already serving
on the iron plate committee. The preliminary in-
vestigations which are, we hope, to terminate this
great gun controversy have been in progress r fo r
some time, and both Sir William and Mr. tiibit
worth have been examined at length, in. explana-
iton of their systems, before the committee.The

actual experiments, however, by which the contro-
versy must really be decided are not likely to begin
before the middle of March, the huge target which
has been made for the purpose not having yet left
the works of the Thames Iron Company. The expe-
mcnts themselves also are certain to extend over a
considerable period, as the committee are instructed
from the War-office to report upon their results
" from time to time."

I A spacious hospital for the reception of the wives
land children of the troops quartered at Chatham is
now in course of erection at that garrison by Mr.
Stump. the Government contractor. The building
was yesterday roofed in. The site on which it is
erected is a portion of the Government land between
Fort Amherst and Chatham barracks, the situation
being highly salubrious. The building is, in fact, a
continuation of the present large garrison hospital,
from which it is separated by a very few feet. By
this arrangement very little addition will have to be
made to the strength of the medical staff of the
existing hospital, the same surgeons being ab'e to
take charge of both establishments. The new hos-
pital, which will be ready for the reception of the
class of patients for whom it is intended in the
course of two or three months, will supply a 'want
which has long been felt of an institution of the
kind at Chatham.

The Roy al Engineers who left England in the
early part of 1857 for the purpose of making the
Ordnance survey of the Cape Colony, arrived at head
quarters, Chatham, yesterday, under the command
of Lieut. F. Bailey. They have spent upwards of
five years in the prosecution of the work. During
their passage to England the surveying party were
shipwrecked, and lost the whole of their valuable
surveying instruments, and, what were of still
greater value, the original plans of the survey.
Fortunately, however, they succeeded in saving the
duplicate copies which they had made before leaving
the Cape, and these will be immediately published,
their value being enhanced by the fact of their being
the only complete survey of that important colony
yet made.

The 20th company of Royal Engineers, under
the command of Capt. C. E. Sim, which recently
arrived at Chatham garrison from Western Aus-
tralia, after an absence from England of several
years, is ordered to be raised to its proper strength
from the companies at headquarters, the num-
bers having been very much thinned from the
length of time the company was away. The num-
ber of men belonging to the company who are
married being considerably in excess of the regu-
lations, an order has been received for their transfer
to the other depot companies. Since the 20th
company has arrived from Australia it has been put
through a course of study in ,the various schools
connected with the Royal Engineer establishment.

In accordance with the directions of Field-
Marshal the Duke of Cambridge, the whole of the
troops quartered at Chatham garrison are periodi-
cally exercised in route-marching on stated days in
each week, on which occasions the officers and men
are marched in various directions into the country
surrounding the garrison. On Wednesday the
mounted battery of the 9th Brigade Royal Artil-
lery, quartered at Chatham, with their Armstrong
guns, ammunition waggons, hospital carts, and
other material, left the garrison and proceeded on
the march for several miles in the direction of
Maidstone, returning to their quarters in the after-
noon. Yesterday the troops of the Line comprising
the 2d battalion of infantry quitted Chatham bar-
racks and took a lengthened march into the country.
By direction of Major-General Eyre these route-
marchings of the officers and troops are to be utilized
by the officer in command directing various move-
ments while the men are on the march, and, when
halted, for advance columns:to be thrown out and
some mancenvres attempted. The junior officers,
too, are to be instructed to prepare flying sketches
of the country traversed, wit's a descriptive report
of the districts and the advantages or disadvantages
they possess for carrying on military operations.
When marching along roads away from the towns
the troops are to be allowed to sing in concert, in
order to relieve the tedium and monotony of the
march.

During the late gale the marble slab on the sum-
mit of the Crimean Memorial-arch, at Brompton-
barracks, Chatham, on which was the Einscription,
was blown down and broken to pieces; one of the
marble slabs at the side, on which were recorded the
names of some of the officers and men of the Royal
Engineers who fell in the Crimea, was also thrown
down. Since the accident occurred the arch has
been surveyed, and it has been decided to take
down the whole of the marble slab, in order that
they may be re-lettered, and re-fixed in a more sub-
stantial manner. Workmen have already begun to
erect the necessary scaffolding.

The extensions which are now being made to the
Royal Marine Barracks at Chatham will, on their
completion in a few months, provide accommoda-
tion for about double the number of non-commis-
sioned officers and men who can at present be quar-
tered in the barracks. The new erection, which
is, in fact, a continuation of the present barrack
buildings, occupies the site on which formerly
stood a number of dwelling houses, together with
a large hotel, the whole of which property was
purchased by the Government a few years
ago, although nothing was done in the way
of commencing the new buildings until a few
months since. The addition will increase the esta-
blishment to about double its original size, accom-
modation being pi ovided for 1,600 men against 800,
the number for which barrack accommodation can
at present be found without inconveniently crowd-
ing the various rooms. The new blocks of buildings
ire 190 feet in length by 50 feet in depth, and they
have been erected in an exceedingly substantial
manner by Messrs. Foord and Sons, the Admiralty
builders, Rochester, under the supervision of Colonel
Greene, director of works to the Admiralty. The
buildings contain four tiers of rooms, each room
being 46 feet in length by 21 feet 6 inches in height,
fireproof stairs communicating wit every storey.
Each room is designed to accommo„ ate 24 men, in
addition to which, on each floor are built separate
rooms for married non-commissioned officers. In
the construction of the new barracks the most com-
plete sanitary arrangements have been made to pro-
mote the health, cleanliness, and comfort of the
men. Shafts for ventilation are introduced into
each of the rooms, which are so constructed that,
while they will not cause the least inconvenience to
the men, they at the same time maintain a current
of pura air in all parts of the buildings. The offi-
cers' quarters, which bounded one side of the n
aold
d
barrack -square, will shortly be taken down
thrown back to thee
presentestrem ity of the
comparativelyn e w
e lli barracks,fined
by which means the
barrack-square will be increased to double its exist-
ing size.

GENERAL JOHNSTON.—GeneraI Joseph E. John-
ston,( the Confederate officer, was born in Virginia
i about 1804. His education was superintended with much
care, and the intellect of the youth developed itself with
astonishing rapidity. After the usual school instruction
young Johnston was adopted by the United States, and was
brought up in the military academy of West Point at our
cost and under our flag. On leaving West Point in 1829
he was appointed second lieutenant of the 4th Artillery. In
1838 he was a first lieutenant of Topographical Engineers,
and served in that capacity through the Florida war, ob-
taining for his services the brevet of captain. In 1846 he
became full captain, and served first with the Engineers,
and next with a regiment of Voltigeurs as major and lieut.-
colonel throughout the Mexican war, being wounded twice
and receiving two brevets for distinguished conduct at
Cerro Gordo. He was also wounded at the attack on the
city of Mexico. At the close of the war he was retained in
the Topographical Engineers, with the rank of captain ;
afterwards was appointed lieutenant-colonel of cavalry,
and enjoyed a life of agreeable ease in the Government ser-
vice until June, 1860, when he was placed at the head of
the Quartermaster's Department, with the rank of brigadier
general. After resigning his post in the Union army,
General Johnston entered at once into the service of the
so-called Confederate States. He commanded the rebel
i
forces at Winchester, n July, 1861, and by his reinforce-
ment of the rebel army at Bull Itun, on the 21st of July,
turned the whole tide of that day's battle. He was reported
as being in command at Yorktown when it was besieged by'
General M'Clellan ; and at the engageir,int of Fair Oaks,
Virginia, he was seriously wounded. Ire was, on being
restored to health, appointed to thee remand of the De-
partment of the Mississippi, and ched Tennessee late in
November last, passing thence to sburg, Mississippi{
where, it appears, he is ntonand of the rebel
troops.—New York Herald.