The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-15 00:00:00

Easter Monday Review,

On Monday the Volunteers, after a rather long
interval, will again renew their pleasant acquaint-
ance with the breezy Downs of Brighton. If the
weather should only prove favourable, the review
and sham fight on this occasion are likely to be the
finest which the gatherings of our citizen soldiery
have yet afforded. Rarely yet have more than
15,000 or 16,000 Volunteers of all arms been brought
together, but on Monday there will be no less than
22,000 men of all arms. Artillery and infantry will
in the course of two or three hours be transferred
from London to Brighton, and formed in readiness
for action on those undulating Downs which almost
seem as if they had been formed by nature specially
for the proper exhibition of such displays. It is in-
tended that the whole force employed on this occa-
sion shall go through a long and complicated series
of manoeuvres representing the varying fortunes of
an uncertain and hardly contested battle. The in-
fantry will be divided into two main divisions—the
first consisting of four brigades and 7,600 strong—
the second of five brigades, and no less than 11,400
strong. Each of these will be supported by a pro-
portionate force of artillerymen and guns, of which
latter there will be an unusually heavy force pre-
sent. In all there will be 46 guns on the ground, of
which 22 are light field-battery ordnance, manned
by 500 men, and 24 will be very heavy pieces,
manned by 650 men. To serve and manoeuvre these
guns alone no less than 400 horses will be required,
while in addition to all there is to be a garrison
brigade of artillery of 2,000 men, trained only in
the use-of heavy guns. The whole muster, there-
fore, will, in round numbers, comprise 19,000 in-
fantry with 3,000 artillery and 46 (guns--a force
which would be reckoned an important army by
any adversary in Europe. It is, as we have said,
only on one or two occasions that such a muster of
the Volunteers has ever been got together. On the
occasion of the first visit to Brighton, when these
Easter Monday reviews were inaugurated,
the numbers that could be got together
on that celebrated day were short of 12,000
men. Since that time—now nearly five years ago
—every Easter Monday Review has shown a steady
increase upon the numbers of the previous gathering.
Never, however, has the muster been so large as that
which is promised for Monday. That something may,
be owing to the popularity with which the place fixed
for the evolutions is regarded is likely enough, but
beyond a doubt a great deal more is due to the firm
root which the movement has taken throughout the
country, and the slow but steady rise in numbers
which has marked the existence of all the chief corps.
Nor will it be in numbers alone that the spectator
of the review on Monday will be able to mark the
progress of improvement. A certain amount of
familiarity with these displays, and a sort of general
knowledge, through Volunteer fiends and relatives,
as to the movements which are done well or ill, has
educated the public into a most appreciative au-
dience of these great military fetes, so that we be-
lieve the spectators of Monday will at once be en-
abled to value at its full extent the advance which
has been made since the various corps were last at
Brighton in steadiness and regular solidity of drill.
Some of the best London regiments, with the chief
provincial corps from the south, south-east, and
south-west of England, will be on the Downs, and,
from all we hear, we feel confident that the evolu-
tions of the majority will contrast favourably with
those of the best militia of the Continental Powers.
It is only to be hoped that on this occasion the spec-
tators will not so crowd upon the ranks as to pre-
vent their movements being properly exercised. The
regiments only require a fair field to add to their
previous reputation, and' if the spectators will ac-
cord them this we feel sure that they will be amply
repaid for their discretion. We may venture also
to impress on Volunteers the absolute necessity of
strict punctuality in their time of arrival at the
various railway stations. Without this it will be
almost impossible to carry out the complicated ar-
rangements of trains required to carry the unusual
traffic, and any failure of this portion of the pro-
gramme would be almost certain to result in a failure
of the whole.

The following are the names and strength of each
corps, with the divisions and subdivisions of bri-
gades and the points at which each is to assemble
at Brighton :
Major-General Sir R. Walpole, K.C.8., commanding.
STAFF.—Capt. W. Congrevo, 4th Foot ; Lieut. Moorson,
Rifle Brigade ; Lieut. Jones, R.E. ; Ensign Walpole, Rifle
Brigade.
VOLUNTEER STAFF.—OOI. G. Erskine, Inspector-General
of Volunteers ; Col. E. W. C. Wright, Deputy-Inspector of
Volunteers ; Lieut.-Col. C. P. Ibbetson, Assistant-Inspector
of Volunteers; Lieut.-Col. Roney., ditto; Lieut.-Col. B.