The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-16 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVE NUN G, JUNE 16, 1862.

THE VOLUNTEERS.,.

TIIE NAVY.

of the Thames will give the volunteers reason to
pray that they may be saved from their friends.

The Meeanee, 81, 400 horse power, belonging to
the first division of the Chatham steam reserve in
the Medway, has been removed to Sheerness, where
she is to be brought forward for service as a Coast-
guard ship. She is intended to take the place of
the Edinburgh, 60, screw steamer, at Leith, and
the officers and crew of that vessel will be turned
over to her. The screw gunboats, Herring and Mis-
tletoe, are also being fitted for service as tenders to
the Edinburgh, 60, in lieu of the Erne and the
Louisa. Both gunboats are to be completed by the
4th July, when the crews will turn over to them.
The Chesapeake, 51, 500 horse power, has had
the whole of her machinery removed, and is now
having only such repairs effected as are absolutely
necessary to float her until she can be taken in hand
for a thorough repair.
The Rattler, 17, 950 tons, 200 horse power, re-
cently launched at Deptford, and the Eclipse, 4,
200 horse power, are being brought forward for the
first division of the Chatham steam reserve, in lieu
of the Zebra, 17, 200 horse power, and the Cormo•
rant, 4,200 horse power, lately commissioned.
The Dutch corvette having on board the Japanese
Ambassadors was saluted by the flagship Formi-
dable, 84, on passing the Nore on Saturday, and also
by the field guns of the Royal Artillery at the
Camber battery, both of which were acknowledged.

THE SOUTHEND SHAM FIGHT.
It is really high time that something were done
to prevent the volunteer sham fights and demon-
strations from becoming ridiculous. The hoax
played off on Saturday upon the visitors to South-
end is, or should be, the last feather on the back of
that long-suffering animal, the British public.
Never was there a more complete fiasco than the
long-announced "Grand Volunteer Demonstration
and Naval Attack," which was fixed for Saturday
afternoon. The weather was as usual volunteer wea-
ther, that is to say, as bad as possible, but we cannot
lay on the weather the blame of the hoax of which
we complain. We do not know who is to blame,
or whether there is anybody in particular. Some
persons, carried away by vivid imagination,
doubtless, informed the public that an attack
upon Southend was to be made by two
yacht squadrons, consisting of about fifty sail,
"many of them armed with Armatrongs," and the
attack was to be repelled by we do not know what
multitudes of volunteers. The getters-up of the
thing probably meant to show England how fruit-
less would Ix the attempt of an enemy to land at
the mouth of the Thames, but they failed. We are
all the creatures of circumstances. In this instance,
however, they were the masters of circumstance;
and they must be content to answer to the public
for the shameful hoax of which the visitors, the
volunteers, and the residents were the victims.
When we reached Southend we were naturally
anxious to see the magnificent fleet of fifty yachts
which were to make the attack under the command
of Commodore Lord Alfred Paget. We found but
eleven yachts, including a Government steamer,
which had brought over the commodore in command
at Sheerness. These yachts lay off the end of the
long pier which adorns Southend, but they did not
appear to be, and as matters turned out they were
not, even thinking of an attack. We then looked
for the volunteer army, and found that it consisted
in the gross of about half a regiment made up of
odds and ends from various corps. We walked
about the town and found that nearly all the
bandsmen, a goodly number of the artillery, and a
host of riflemen, were taking their ease at their inn
or sauntering along the mile and quarter of pier, or
recreating themselves with excursions in ricketty
boats on the briny ocean, which, as if ashamed of
the naval part of the affair, was retreating from the
shore as quickly as it could. In front of the Royal
Hotel the cavalry mustered. The regiment of Essex
Yeomanry was represented by a colonel, a subal-
tern, a sergeant-major, and two full privates,
gorgeous creatures, resembling nothing so much
as Prussian general officers. Following them to
the scene of action, we discovered the concealed
batteries, which were pouring on the enemy a
fire which would doubtless have been deadly—to
stray shoals of whitebait or mackerel—only that the
charges went off with a " pluff," testifying to the
careless manner in which the powder was rammed
home. The batteries consisted of sundry old boxes,
crates, baskets, &c., mounted with a gun the size of
a blunderbuss, and two or three six-pounders, which
were fired "anyhow," and from which powder was
wasted in a fashion perfectly reckless. We asked
for a programme, and were informed that the line
of battle would extend for two miles along the sea
front, that the yachts would make the attack, and
that the following regiments would defend "the white
cliffs of Albion," in this instance represented by an
aggregate of mud banks :—The 2d battalion of
Essex Volunteers, under Lieut.-Colonel Capper, con-
sisting of the West Ham Rifles ; the stb Essex, Cap-
tain Cordy ; the 9th Essex, Major Silver; the Bth
Essex, Major Lowe—in all 600 men. The 3d Bat-
talion of Essex Rifla, Colonel Davis, 300 ; the West
Essex Yeomanry Artillery, Colonel Palmer, 120 ;
the 2d Essex Attillery, Captain Wingfield Baker,
50; the Waltham Abbey, 30; the 20th Middlesex,
Lieut.-Colonel Bigge, 300 ; the 37th Bloomsbury,
200; the 41st Middlesex, Enfield Lock, under Major
Taylor; and Spottiswoode's, 2d City of London—in
all, 2,400 men. The artillery, it was added, would
consist of a battery of 32 p3unders, and another of
18-pounders ; nine guns of Yeomanry Artillery, and
a battery from Shoeburyness. We have already
stated the force of artillery actually on the ground;
the promised line was equally distinguished by its
absence. Sundry corps were there, but the 37th
Middlesex and the 2d City were not. Of those that
were present not one brought anything like the
number placed to its credit, and the entire force
did not amount to more than 600 mend When
we asked " the reason why," we were told of the
weather; but, this being scouted, our informant
was good enough to lay the blame upon
Col. Ibbetson, the Government inspector, who had
arrived on the ground, and who it was stated had
disarranged the entire affair. But it was clearly
impossible that Col. Ibbetson's advent should have
diminish j the contemplated force by three-fourths,
or reduced the number of yachts from 50 to 10, so
that this explanation was no more satisfactory than
the other. At any rate the battle had begun. The
guns puffed away, and the troops formerly in column
now deployed into line in support of the artillery,
with the exception of one-third of the " army," and
this third did nothing all day except march on the
ground and off it again. But where was the enemy?
The yachts did not seem at all anxious to be in the
scrimmage, though two of them fired shots from
their one-pounder as a sort of testimony that they
had not on board any of the Armstrongs of which
the public had been informed. But there was an
enemy, and it appeared in a little yawl, in which
a nlni l i
were three persons armed with fowling pieces, from
which theydischarged loose powder everyfive minutes
or so. This was the naval attack on Southend !
miles,As o Ashore e theth
anything
y line e
k of e
it. defencelt didd i d e
xntoetnedxlt eon() d t
yardswo
or so, and along this front of 100 yards the volun-
teers discharged ever so many blank cartridges at
the impudent little boat over the heads of about half
of the spectators, who naturally considered that the
front was the best place to see. Nobody in particu-
lar appeared to have the direction of the movements.
The captains of companies did unto their men, in the
way of manoeuvres, whatever seemed right in their
eyes, and the consequence was an amount of club-
bing, from which the men relieved themselves in
any way they could—not at all particular whether
in the process they broke line or not. At length, to
everybody's relief, the little boat retired, probably
because the powder on board was expended, and
having fired some more blank cartridges over the
place where the boat had been, the volunteers re-
tired too, leaving the cheap-jacks, fruitsellers, and
gambling-stand keepers nominally as they had been
all the day masters of the field.
There was to have been an encampment for the
volunteers, and there was; but unfortunately its
extent was limited, as it consisted of only four
booths over which sentries kept careless guard.
There was to have been a grand dinner at the Royal
Hotel in the evening, but this we did not stop to
see. There was to have been a church parade yes-
terday, but it must have been thinly attended. And
there is to be to-day a grand regatta, with a grand
ball in the evening, both of which we hope, for the
sake of the Southender, will be a greater success
that was the grand volunteer demonstration and
naval attack. We are informed that the Admiralty
prohibited the naval attack. Whether this be or be
not true makes no difference. The demonstration
was a hoax, if not in intent, certainly in reality.
Any more demonstrations of this sort will go farther
to kill the volunteer force than all the sneers of its
enemies. Ridicule such as is sure to be engendered
by demonstrations of the Southend kidney the
volunteer force cannot survive; and although the
public may remember with gratitude and respect
the sham fights of Brighton both in 1861 and this
year, though it may look back with pleasure on the
reviews at Hyde-park and at Wimbledon, half a
dozen such fiascos as that of Saturday at the mouth

The Sultan target ship has been brought down
from her moorings in Porchester Lake and berthed
alongside Portsmouth Dockyard to have a number
of new armour plates affixed to her sides for testing
by the Stork's 68-pounder.
The trial of the Shannon's six-bladed screw at
Portsmouth was again deferred on Saturday, but
will probably take place to-day, as the weather
has moderated.

The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Stephen S. W. Moriarty,
master, additional, to the Revenge; Richard Dob-
son, supernumerary in the Euryalus, confirmed as
second-class assist.-engineer; J, D. D. Barnes,
George C. Hammond, and George S. Ralph, masters'
assistants, supernumeraries to the Royal Adelaide,
and Edwin W. G. Hilliard, master's assistant,
supernumerary to the Formidable.
The under-named gentlemen were nominated to
naval cadetships on Saturday :—Francis Edward
Ramsden, Robert William French, James Kirk-
connell Maxwell Witham, William Moore West,
Osgood George Turner Marsden, Charles Still,
George Stephen Henry Jackson, and Norman, C. F.
Uniacke.

tention, and to be
R
Popular with them, he (Major
should only be too
glad to be relieved of
his responsibily. Major Do Carteret and Captain
Osgood then briefly spoke in favour of Major
1 Richards, after which the bands, pioneers, and non-
commissioned officers of the regiment handed
up a
declaration of confidence signod by them, stating
that they would serve under no other commander.
It was also unanimously carried to present major
Richards with a sword of honour, or some other
, token of the esteem in which he is held by the regi_

ment.
RIFLE CONTESTS &C , TO COME,—The Vo/unteer
Times of Saturdriy gives the following arrangements:
Tuesday : Grand review at Bristol on Durdham
Down ; Inns of Court competition for a rifle pre-
sented by Mr. Merewether.—Wednesday, 18th :
Rifle shooting at Sneyd-park, Bristol, for volunteers
and all comers; annual prize meeting of the City of
Edinburgh and Mid-Lothian Association--mill con-
tinue next three days.—Thursday, 19th : revieW of
Eastern Counties Volunteers at Yarmouth.—Fri-
day, 20th : Inns of Court and West Middlesex
Battalion Match ; 20 men on each side, at 300
500, and 700 yards—Wormwood Scrubs.—Satur-
day, 21st : Inspection of the (South) Middlesex.
Inspection of the 19th Middlesex (Working Men's
College.) Inspktion of the North-East London
Rifles.