The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-19 00:00:00

ability with whibh Col. 111‘Murdo handled his small
army vas seen to much advantage. Standing near
the farmhouse, one might have imagined that there
was not such a thing as a rifleman upon the ground,
the main body of the Volunteers was completely
sheltered as well from sight as from the enemy's
fire by the ridge behind which it was moving; the
leading companies of the Inns of Court lay down be-
hind the small bank which they lined, waiting the
order to commence firing, and the reserves and sup-
ports were also recumbent in sheltered positions.
It was only by moving nearer to them that the scar-
let collars and crowns of their caps could be seen,
like heather-bloom above their gray uniforms. A
second later, and they were keeping up that sharp
skirmishing fire which resembles nothing so much
as the conversation of a rookery, which is always
on the point of dying away till " a last contradic-
tory croak" sets the whole tribe off again in full
chorus. It is always a trying thing to young troops
to advance in line over the crest of a hill, especially
when, as in this case, some of the officers in com-
mand did not seem to have made up their minds
which was the directing flank; but this movement
on the part of the main body Was, novertheless, im-
posing, and the steady drill of the London Brigade
in particular was conspicuous. The skirmishers
had by this time dislodged the enemy from the
farmhouse, and were driving him over the hill. The
other battalions having come within range, the
skirmishers lay down while a murderous file fire
was poured over their heads from behind, and then
rushed forward again with a cheer to secure the
ground which the enemy had abandoned. They
kept up the pursuit with great animation through
the furze bushes; the regiments which had pre-
served their compact formation moving through
these by three different routes. Having reached
the open ground at the other side, the skirmishers
were in their turn driven in, and the line then did
its part in repelling the enemy with vigorous file
firing and occasional volleys. The foe, baffled in a
direct attack, then tried to intercept the volunteers
from the Epsom-station---a movement which, of
course, necessitated a corresponding change of posi-
tion on their part. Darkness had now so far de-
scended that the motions of isolated battalions could
not be followed, but the effect of the firing was
much enhanced. The line of skirmishers, no longer
attacking, but engaged in covering the new forma-
tion, protected the force with a belt or fringe of fire,
whose hungry shooting tongues of flame darted
hither and thither, and seemed to lick the edge of
the line as waves do the base of a rocky shore.
The fusillade from squares was more concentrated,
but it lost in point of distance and extent what
it gained in intensity. The firing, however,
in a military point of view, was very creditable,
especially from the small but well-disciplined
battalion of Lord Radstock. Indeed, it may be said
of the entire force that the manner in which

acquitted itself was deserving of high commenda-
tion. On occasions such as these, where the object
is not merely to march past in good order, but to
perform important manoeuvres with facility and
promptitude, an insight is gained into the relative
merits and deficiencies of different corps which at
other times is rarely obtained. Thus a close ob-
server might have noticed on Saturday that the
Westminster companies were by no means equal as
to drill ; that some required a good deal of prompt-

ing ; that they were fidgetty about the muzzles of
their rifles ; that the London Scottish, though they
marched well and shot well, had a tendency to over-
run their coverers ; and that the 38th, while par-
donably conscious that they were artists, could not
forget that they were critics as well. But minor
points like these were more than counterbalanced
by the general aptitude and hearty good will with
which each order was obeyed. The movements
closed shortly before 9 o'clock with a final charge,
in which the impetuosity of the Ist City of London
carried them so far forward that they were only
stopped by a pretty steep hill.

Colonel M'Murdo then called the mounted officers
to the front, and expressed to them his satisfaction
at the manner in which the movements had been

executed, regard being had to the difficult nature of

_ ..., _..._.
the ground. He had not gone strictly by the book,
but had conducted the evolutions in the manner

that would be necessary in case of actual warfare.
In doing this he had relied on the spirit and intel-
ligence of the volunteers, and he had not been dia-
_ _

appointed. The line had been formed with as much
steadiness and rapidity as could be expected from
regular troops in face of an enemy; and he felt
bound to notice particularly the manner in which
the Inns of Court had charged up the hill in front
of them, and the soldierly march of the London
Brigade through the furze on their left. Colonel
_ _ _ _ _

M'Murdo gave a brief explanation of the move-

ments which had just been gone through, and re-
quested the commanders of the different brigades

to express to the officers under their charge his
great satisfaction at the manner in which they had
been performed.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

SOUTH EASTERN.

Tho gross traffic receipts for passengers, mails,
goods, &c., for the four weeks ending the 26th of
April amounted to £75,M7, from which was de-
ducted £2,313 for collecting and delivering goods,
&c., leaving £73,204. To this sum was added
£1,718 for rents and sundries, and £3,740 for steam
packet service, making the total receipts £78,662.
Front this was deducted £39,182 for rates, taxes,
tolls, Government duty, and expenses of steam
packet service, leaving a net balance of £39,480.
The total receipts for the 12 weeks and one day,
ending as above, amounted to £211,794, from which
was deducted £119,552, being the total expendi-
ture, leaving a net balance of £92,242.