The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-18 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Duke of Cambridge, accompanied by Sir
Richard Airey, Colonels Clifton, Jervoise, and
Gambier, arrived at Plymouth last evening by the
610 express train from Paddington. He was re-
ceived at the railway station by Viscount Temple-
town, the Commander-in-Chief of the Western
District, and his staff and the principal officers of
this garrison. A salute was fired from the citadel.
In the evening the Duke dined with Viscount and
Viscountess Templetown and a select party, and
after dinner his Royal Highness gave a reception to
a large number of the elite of the neighbourhood.
To-day he will review the troops in the garrison,
and afterwards inspect the new fortifications.

The Edgar, 89, screw steamship, Capt. G. T. P.
Hornby, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir Syd-
ney C. Dacres, C.B. (in command of the Channel
Squadron), left Spithead yesterday afternoon for
Lisbon, having on board the Earl of Sefton, Lord
H. Percy, and suite, who arrived from London and
embarked from the dockyard on board the Fire
Queen, Master-Commander Paul.

The Hector, 34, ironclad frigate, Capt. George
W. Preedy, C. 8., sailed from Spithead yesterday
morning to join the Channel squadron.

The screw frigate Arethusa, 35, 3,141 tons, 500-
horse power, Mr. V. F. Johnson, master, in charge,
attached to the first division of the Chatham steam
reserve, has been taken into dock for the purpose
of having her bottom and valves examined. She
has shipped her revised armament from the Ord-
nance-wharf as follows—namely, main deck, 14
8-inch and 12 64-pounders ; upper deck, 8 40- ,
pounder Armstrongs and one 110-pounder Arm-
strong ; total, 35 guns. The Arethusa is the last
of the 50-gun sailing frigates converted at Chatham
dockyard to a screw steamer, and since her altera-
tions she has not been placed in commission.
She will be succeeded in the first division of the
steam reserve by the Bristol, 39, - 3,027 tons, 600
horse power, which has been for some time under-
going the requisite alterations and repairs to adapt
her for the pennant when required. The armament
of the Bristol has been altered by the substitution of
four 110 pounder Armstrongs for eight of the 40
pounders.
The Medusa, 2, 312 horse power, Master-Com-
manding J. H. Allard, has returned to Sheerness
from the western ports, where she has been em-
ployed for some time on special service. While in
the English Channel she fell in with a derelict mer-
chant vessel, the salvage for which will, it is stated,
amount to between £30,000 and £40,000.
The Formidable, 84, flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir
C. Talbot, Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, has
sent up topmasts and topgallantmasts for the sum-
mer season, and has commenced painting down.
The Basilisk, 6, 300 horse power, paddlewheel
steamer, which has been some time under repair at
Sheerness dockyard, and being prepared for the first
division of the steam reserve, is nearly completed,
and will shortly be ready to be turned over to the
officials of the Chatham bteam reserve. She has re-
ceived on board her armament from the Ordnance-
wharf, Chatham.

Her Majesty's iron paddlewheel sloop Trident,
850 tons and 350 horse power, is ordered to be sur-
veyed at Woolwich to-day, with a view to her being
repaired and brought forward for recommission for
service in the Mediterranean.

The Urgent, 4, screw steam troopship, Captain
Henderson, having embarked 12 officers, 300 men,
48 women, and 84 children of the Royal Artillery,
sailed from Portsmouth yesterday morning for the
Channel Islands to relieve tile same number sta-
tioned there.
The C troop, Royal Horse Artillery, under the
command of Major Greene, wfth six officers, 148
non-commissioned officers and men, and 146 horses,
embarked on Tuesday at Liverpool for Dublin.
Major-Gen. E. C. Warde, C. 8., commandant at
Woolwich, and Capt. A. H. W. Williams, A.D.C.,
have returned from leave of absence and resumed
their duties in the garrison. Col. A. lluyshe, com-
manding the C Brigade Royal Horse Artillery, re-
cruited and stationed hitherto at Meerut, in Bengal,
together with Lieut. and Brevet Col. C. V. Cox,

" The creation of a war harbour upon the Baltic
Prussian coast can be dispensed with for the pre-
sent, as Prussia is now in possession of an excellent
harbour in that sea, where she can establish an
arsenal adequate to the wants of her fleet without
loss of time. Inquiries show that the portion of
Kiel Bay nearest Friedrichsort is especially fitted for
such a purpose, as, apart from the depth of water,
the buildings upon the shore can be secured against
bombardment both from sea and land at compara-
tively small expense. This arsenal will occupy the
greater part of the tolerably straight shore between
Friedrichsort and the Vossbrock hills. The entire
cost of the intended wharfage will be 3,800,000
thalers. To this sum must be added the amount re-
quired for fortifications. The objects here in view are :
1. Efficient defence of the entrance into Kiel Bay.
2. Perfect security of the harbour and wharves,
with all appurtenances, against bombardment from
the land side. 3. Security of the arsenal against
surprise of overwhelming force from the land. The
first of these will be attained by the erection of a
fort on each side of the entrance to the bay, the re-
establishment of the fortress of Friedrichsort, and
the construction of a battery upon the opposite shore,
all these works being armed with guns of theheaviest
calibre. The second object requires the establish-
ment on both sides of the bay of five heavily-armed
forts, thrown sufficiently forward to keep hostile
batteries at a distance. For the third point a plain
enclosure, unassailable by storm, must be thrown
round the arsenal, and would have to be brought
into communication with the fortress at Friedrich-
sort by a covered way. An approximate estimate
places the cost of the fortifications at 1,390, 000thalers,
their armament 660,000, quarters for the garrison
300,000 ; in all, 2,350,000 thalers.
" The fortifications securing the entrance to the
harbour, being the most important and therefore
the first to be undertaken, can be completed in from
two to three yearsi-all the remainder, together with
the navy-yard itself, may be finished in from five to
six years. The total cost of the station at Kiel Bay
will therefore require an outlay of 6,lso,ooothalers,
spread over a term of five to six years as may be
thought desirable.
The creation of the navy-yard must be imme-
diately proceeded with, because Prussia's power of
defence by sea renders indispensable acceleration of
the building of a few iron-plated frigates, as a germ
of the war-fleet proper ; and for these the existence
of dry docks and workshops where they can refit
and repair damages are required, The fulfilment of
these most urgent necessities, which must be pro-
vided for within the next six years if the navy is to
acquire the development desired, will therefore de-
mand 6,150,000 for the navy-yard at Kie1,8,285,000
for the harbour and fortifications in the Bay of
Jande, 4,180,000 for building two iron-clad frigates,
and 1,000,000 for heavy cast steel ordnance for the
existing ships --in all 19,615,000 thalers.
" The means required for this outlay cannot be
supplied from the ordinary State resources. The
Government, however, hopes it would be enabled to
meet the emergency if granted an extraordinary
credit of ten million thalers, to be increased if
wanted. It therefore proposes to raise a sum of ten
million thalers by loan, the result of which would
be placed at the disposal of the marine department
within the next five or six years as may be needed.
The redemption would follow according to present
principles, at the rate of one per cent. yearly, and
would commence with the Ist January, 1872."
The plan for increase of the Prussian navy con-
tains the following paragraphs
" Prussia has two equally important and urgent
reasons for no longer hesitating to take rank with
naval Powers ; first, to protect her own maritime
commerce and that of Germany, and to defend the
coasts and harbours in the North Sea and the Baltic;
secondly, to be able in future constantly to main-
tain her influence in European affairs, especially
when these affect such countries as are only to be
reached by sea. The task which may be considered
the standard for the strength and composition of a
Prussion war navy can be summarised as follows :-
1. Protection and representation of the rising mari-
time commerce of Prussia and Germany on all seas,
and extension of its rights and relations. 2. De-
fence of the German coasts and harbours in the
North Sea and Baltic. 3. Development of her own
power of offence in interrupting the enemy's mari-
time trade, attacking his fleets, coasts, and ports.
"To carry out only one portion—the defensive
part—of this programme effectually, a navy is re-
quired capable of assuming the offensive if advisable.
But a navy able to accomplish the whole must be
of such strength and so divided that part protects
the trade of the mother country in distant seas,
while another part covers her coasts at home, and
the strongest part is yet at liberty to attack the
main force of the enemy on the ocean, chase it back
into its own ports, and keep it blockaded therein.
Now, of course no doubt can be entertained that
neither the financial resources nor the numbers of
the maritime population suffice to establish a navy
capable of executing the above-stated programme
the
in all its parts against a naval power
stillower require of the first
rank. For this purpose she would
sp:hweeers.tabTlishhme plan
belowalliance only nolfy atnhoetrhe fe or rae ncootnhteermpla navalt
e
of such a force as would be able to carry out the
whole task when opposed to several powers of the
second and subordinate ranks. The first among
these to be taken into consideration are those whose
coasts border the same sea with our own, and whose
geographical position has placed exclusive advan-
tages upon that sea in their hands. . . . To
oppose these navies, even if combined, with success,
the Prussian marine must take up a position com-
manding respect among naval powers of the second
rank. A Prussian navy unable fully to effect this
is not merely useless, but positively dangerous, and
equally censurable with unnecessary expenditure of
strength.

" All European fleets are composed mainly of
three classes :-1. Thefirst consists of ships intended
to keep the sea against the enemy and attack him
there with success. Hitherto chiefly composed
of ships of the line, this division now consists almost
entirely of ironclad frigates in all navies.. 2.. The
second class comprehends vessels intended both for

The Second Corps was engaged frequently and
heavily. That body must have sustained serious
losses. The Twenty-fourth and the Twenty-fifth
Corps repelled one or two attacks, and having in
turn been repelled in an assault upon the Confederate
breastworks, must have suffered very seriously. -
On the night of the Ist the whole front raged in
furious battle. 4rhe Sixth Corps, the Ninth Corps,
the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps, the
Fifth Corps, and the cavalry, were all engaged in that
bloody work. A murderous skirmish fire flashed
between the lines without ceasing,- save only when
silenced in the clash of heavy columns. Several
assaults were made upon the Confederate works
during that murderous night, and hundreds of those
that survived the terrible advances were stricken
down bleedinc, or dead in the still more terrible re-
treats of those unsuccessful attacks. Deep and wide
columns, swept thus by death going and coming,
and subjected to that appalling ordeal several times,
how shocking must have been the spectacle that
presented itself when the sun of the 2d rose in front
of the Confederate works ! How great must have
been the loss of that one night among the 70,000
or 80,000 Federal troops who marched to and fro
between the lines, their ranks torn to shreds by
hundreds of thousands of bullets !

The 2d of April was a day of battle. Furious
fighting
raged, we are told, on that day, and, em-
bracing 100,000 combatants, must have resulted in
immense losses to the army of Grant.
The cost to the Confederates of the four days'
engagements which had forerun the evacuation of
their position, we have no means of estimating. On
the first day, the Richmond papers declare that the
losses of Lee's army were but a small fraction of
those of Grant's. On the second day the disaster to
Sheridan, and the rout of the Fifth Federal Corps,
were the result of almost all the fighting of
the day; and in these the Southern loss must clearly
have been very trifling compared with that of the
Federal troops. During the night of the Ist the
penalties of the struggle were almost all on one
side. Cold Harbour reminds us how to estimate
the Federal losses in the repeated assaults of that
bloody night upon the army of Northern Virginia
in position. The fighting of the 2d of April was
that of pursuit and retreat, and probably cost the
Confederates somewhat more heavily than it did the
Federalists. This review shows that in killed and
wounded the army of General Grant must have sus-
tained during the four days' fighting a loss out of
all proportion to that of Lee's. In prisoners, how-
ever, the Confederates must have suffered much
more, for no matter how orderly a retreat may be,
very many of its men will be captured by such a
large and active force of cavalry as that of Sheridan.
The report which sets these down at 15,000 is highly
improbable. In consideration of the leisure and
order of Lee's withdrawal from his works, we think
that even 5,000 is nearer the truth.
Lee had been long prepared to abandon his late
position. He determined, however, that it should
not be given up short of heavy price. The cold
policy of crippling the Federal armies by a system
of murderous defence, led him to hold his ground
for one more renewal of Grant's attacks. The attack
came : the work of decimation of the Federal ranks
was again carried out, and Richmond, having paid
one more instalment of its cost in blood, was eva-
cuated I Lee, as he did at the Wilderness, has now
taken
at
Cold a new position : and, covered by works,
as harbor, and again at Petersburg, stands
ready to renew his old policy of wasting the Federal
power of attack, by cutting it, day after day, into
gashes, by the rifles of an army behind impregnable
defences.—New York Daily News.

RAILWAY ACClDENT.—Yesterday afternoon, while
the 3.25 train from Fenchchurch-street was stand-
ing in the Stratford Bridge railway station, it was run into
by the 8.23 train(North London) from Chalk Farm, which
it is stated ought to have stopped at the fog .signal instead
of steaming into the station. Both trains were filled with
passengers, and many of them were slightly bruised. Mr.
Pratt, the station-master, immediately took precautionary
measures against further accident, and obtained aid for the
sufferers. Messrs. Kenney and son and Mr. Elliott, sur-
geons, 'were soon upon the spot, and rendered valuable
assistance. The following are the persons who received
the severest injuries :—Mr. Madden, 2, Friendly-place,
Mile-end-road, broken ribs and fracture of the arm ; Mr.
Madden's child, much shaken ; Mr. Slaughter, Plaistow-
marsh, lacerated face and scalp and "contused hand ; Mr.
Boyer, 42, Nightingale-street, Marylebone, lacerated eye
and face ; Mr. Hackshall, 18, New-road, St. George'-in-the-
East, lacerated face and eye ; Mr. George Davison, Roches-
ter-terrace, Rochester, laceratedface and eye; Mr. Morgan,
1, Ely-place, Stratford, New Town, lacerated eye and con-
tused ankle and shoulder; Mr. Frederick Carrier, 4, Mile-
end-road, contused wrist and arm ; and Mr. Oakley,
Angel-place, Stratford, New Town, severely bruNed.
`THE PRITCHARD CASE.—A few days ago we were
enabled to state that the report of the medical men
on the chemical analysis on the remains of Mrs. Taylor,
conducted here, would be received in Glasgow at the end
of the week, and would be of a tenor to show that the de-
ceased lady did not dio a natural death. The report
was sent to Glasgow on Thursday, and we understand
that it ascribes the death of Mrs. Taylor, in common
with that of Mrs. Pritchard, to the effects of antimony.—
Scotsman.