The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-14 00:00:00

THE GORDON ITIGELANDERS.

TO THE BOIT TIMES.
Tn; colt; mine
e i m
At
the honour to insert a letatne two
ort--.7.--p
THE
°i:dutalcieettle
be voliinteer In such large
months since you did
At that time I had read thatein t your
Gordon
nliuilihribleirnsld eitnrietin,o beenhkoatidhteirs Ilp
a
reduced to the band,
staff, and colours. This was literally,n almost true. The
n392edn, t
.I files ,
hies upwardsci roe
,f 700
whieCwsereunder the etsutahlish-
ary, are not the strength of a depot ; aaonucipliettsede olawillirl
consist :shortly of a handful of recruits and, aspl havesometimeits
past recruit-
ing parties, acting under orders from the Horse Guards,
I fear that one of the
service is likely to be
kept
mostheapv te recruited
a distinguishedcondition
regimentswf o
krother
tak corps,ie
pect of its seeing service in the field.
c h stwaY the remotest pros-
e
I feel so strongly,
Sir, that a noble sentiment is thus lost sight of--I mean
that of esprit de corps—and I have suet,raisgivings as to
the effect of the volunteering system, that I am induced
again to address you.
Let me give Lord Hardinge all credit, however, for the
speed with which at the last moment he collected and for-
warded to the scene of war 25,000 men. I have no wish
to throw any blame on his Lordship. There Was proba-
bly little time to inquire if the volunteering system was
likely to prove more expensive to the count—
,y in the long
run than the forwarding of the required number of men
without interfering with the establishment of regiments.
As the immediate presence of an English army in Turkey
was a matter of political importance, and it was thought
that each regiment should muster 800, T
call understand
that to select the first corps on the roster and to require
the others to complete them was thought the simplest and
best plan. In pointing to the vice of the volunteering
system I wish to cast blame on no one.
Nor will I dwell, though I may touch upon, the loss to
the Lieutenant-Colonel of the 92d of the fruits of his time,
patience, and labour. It is well known that recruits learn
at least as much from their elder comrades as from the ser-
geant-major or ' the non-commissioned officers, The'd t.
. u ies
of guards, and pickets, and others which I could name,
although they may be learnt in a few months, demand,
if we would rely on those who are to perform them, a self-
recollection which is the result only of experience. Again, I
it is a considerable time before a soldier becomes a good
shot, nor does he within a few months learn to do things in
general with that method and despatch which are so essen-
tial. In losing, therefore, the pick and prime of his regi-
ment, the Lieutenant-Colonel is deprived, if I may so say,
of
a groat body of instruction; while it cannot but be that of
the many who have left him some would have supplied the
places of the non-commissioned officers who will be from
time to time discharged. But Ido not wish to dwell upon
the loss or inconvenience to him. The same care and pa-
tience, no doubt, which made the Gordon Highlanders the
pride of every garrison in which they were ever quartered
will soon rest ,re them if they be rightly dealt with. They
have still their famous tradition to appeal to ; they can still
remember the Pass of Maya, where their courage, writes
Napier, " would have graced Thermopylae," where, as at
Quatre Bras, they left 300 on the field ; they can call to
mind Sir Denis Pack's words at Waterloo, when, riding
up to them, he said, " 92d, the troops to your right and
left have given way ; you must charge those fellows ;"
they can hear the echo of the cheers which answered
these words, and they can recall the after-speech of Sir
Denis—" You have saved the day, Highlanders, but you
must return, for there is more work to be done." All
this and more the 92d can remember. And, as the officers
and non-commissioned officers are learned in the constitu-
tion bequeathed to the regiment by its late lieutenant-
colonel, Lieutenant-General M`Donald, much as there re-
Inaillb to be clone, there is every 04couragozoat to be doing
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