The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-25 00:00:00

THE CAMP AT BOULOGNE.

BOI7LOGNE, Saturday Night.—After an absence of a
week the Emperor has returned. He arrived at Cape-
cure at 5 o'clock, having stopped on his way at Men-
treuil to review the troops stationed in that neighbour-
hood. No interest, however, attached to the proceed-
ings, which were limited to the usual inspection and
defile.. It is now understood to be positively fixed that
the long-talked-of manceuvres,'in which the whole Army
of the North will take part, will commence on Monday
at Eseceuilles, and extend thence to Desvres ; that on
Tuesday they will be continued in the direction of
Boulogne, and that arrangements have been made by
which the entire force at the different encampments will
take the field for five days. Prince Jerome Napoleon,
it is said, will be present, and, perhaps, the Empress.
The ground selected for the movements is well 'adapted
for the purpose, and, as there will be from 65,000 to
70,000 men out, something considerably beyond the
ordinary effects of a pails guerre may fairly be antici-
pated. Much, however, of the et joyableness of such
spectacles depends upon the weather, which for the last
few days,has been rather unsettled. On the 80th the
emperor, it is said, intends to hold a grr,nd parade for
the distribution of decorations, and on the Ist he returns
to Paris. So the prograinme stands at present, hut, as
I have frequently stated, nothing can be accepted as cer-
tain here until the last moment, for Napoleon keeps
what he intends to do entirely to himself, and implicit
confidence cannot be placed in what one is told of his
movements, even by those who are most likely to be
well-informed.

The only event which has varied the usual routine
of, camp lit round Boulogne for the last few days vies
the grand concert of military bands which tonic place
this afternoon in the Place des Tintelleries. ; It- was
held in 'aid of the funds of the Societe de DienWsance—
a local charity—and,, notwithstanding the unf ourable
weather, was really a splendid affair. There were 16
regimental bands present, including, it is s d, 1,200
Iv
performers, and the musical effect produced m y there-
fore be imagined, when at the close they united to play
" God Save the Queen" and " Partant pour la Syne.'
Whatever opinion may be formed of the French army
as compared with our own in other respects, the most
prejudiced must acknowledge their decided superiority
in this. We have some very good military bands, as,
for instance, those of the Royal Artillery and of the
Guards, but our regiments of the line would hardly
venture upon such a programme as that undertaken
here to-day and admirably played out. It incfuded the
choicest moreectux from the compositions ot Verdi,
Halevy,,Auber, Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer,
and the other authors, each band as it succeeded to the
vacant orchestra endeavouring to outvie its predecessor.
With us military music is for the most part confined to
a spirited rendering of such familiar airs as "The Girl I
left behind me," or "The British Grenadiers ;* nor do
we disdain to keep up in its full Shaksperian integrity
the attributes of the "ear-piercing" fife. The Iron Duke
rather discountenanced any Orphean tendencifis in the
army as involving officers in unnecessary expense, and
always insisted on regimental bands being coifined to
the regulation number. Perhays be was right, and,
other considerations apart, it may be wise not Ito allow
the character of military music to rise to a point beyond
which its stimulating effects upon the spirit of be corn-
mon soldier may be los; for want of appreciation.
The evolutions of the ensuing week will irobably
bring many of our military countrymen to Boulogne,
but at present the only representative of the British lion
here is a corporal of the Hertfordshire Yeomanry. Hu
arrived in full uniform some days ago, and has since
been incessantly engaged in scrutinising the' state of
the French army. Nothing escapes his noCce, and
there is no situation, however prominent, in which he
does not turn up as a conspicuous feature. Yesterday
he went to Honvault, and, having watched for some
time with a superior air an awkward squad or tsiro under
drill, proceeded to inspect the camp kitchens. : To the
chief cook, a swarthy soldier, from Algiers, he conde-
scendingly introduced himself in the only French words
he has yet been heard to utter—`• Je sui soldat comme
low." Having minutely examined the arrangements of
the cuisine, the corporal retired with great dignity to the
edge of the cliff, whence he made a deliberate reconnais-
sance of the Channel, evidently calculating in his
mind the chances of invasion. Coming after Corporal
Sutton, and the other crack men of the Guards
brought over by Prince Albert as his orderlies, our
Hertfordshire warrior excites an immense sensation
among the French soldiers. , Like Alexander the Great,
Richard 111., 'and other fighting celebrities, nature has
not been kind to him. She has placed "an envious
mountain on his back," and even worse, for his Military
bearing has made him very knock:knee:l. Nori has the
regimental tailor of the Hertfordshire Yeomanry been
judicious, but in' this respect it :is unnecessary to 'enter
into details. The corporal is pursued wherever 'he goes
with the most amusing civilities, and the gall* corps
to which he belongs will hear with pride that hel is gene-
rally saluted as " Notre anti Beeuf" by all the i gamins
of Boulogne. May the warlike cabinetmaker return
safely and brimful of military experience to his regiment.
The formation of roads to the camps and the practice
at targets are the chief ocoupations for the time leeing of
the portion of the army in this immediate neighbour-
hood.
The practice at targets is kept up incessantly on the
beach in front of all the camps, and is evidentl37, point
upon which every rank of the French service is deeply
interested. Prize competitions are constantly taking
place, and a large number of ()Slurs are generally pre-
, sent on these occasions. Yesterday one came off at
rionvanit, when as much as 60 francs were awarchel
to the best shot-.--a small fortune to a 'lnn who, if a pri-
vate, ' has -not much niOre tharra'gous a-day td spelid.
The sands are admirably adapted for the purpose, and
the vast- advantages secured by the /Ong rangei of the
' Millie rifle are them brought out with conspietioui effect.
It is imposaible that the use of the musket can 'survive
much longer when the soldiers of a great arni See a
portion of themselves supplied with a weapon haying six
or seven times the projectile force, and an increased a,-.-
curacy in still greater ratio. The Mini 6 is to the pei-
mission musket. more than what that was to the' flint
lock, and promises a change in military operations
almost as decisive as that from archery to firearms. The
attention of the French military authorities has been
unceasingly directed during: many years to this view of
the matter, and the Minie rifle and the 20 battalions of
Masseurs (le Vincennes are the result. The Russians
and the Prussians have also devoted much care and
thought to the subject, but with less success, and for
reasons which are obvious. If weapons requiring to
be constructed with extreme precision have to be sup-
plied in large numbers to an army, it will not do to resort
to indifferent workmen and .inferior machinery or the
purpose. The Russian rifle, with its sharp-pointed Conical
ball, may have a long range, but is not an instrument the
close shooting of which can be depended on. The Prus-
sian needle-gun is open to many objections also, and the
Min id remains unquestionably the best substitute that has
hitherto been found for the common musket. ,Many
distinguished officers in the French service warmly ad-
vocate the supply of this weapon to the entire infantry
force of the army, training the whole as Chasseurs.
That it is the right course to pursue is obvious, but
changes of so sweeping a kind require time to carry them
out. On this important point, therefore (the efficient
arming of our troops), our immense mechanical levities
stand us in good stead. We are able to turn to the
fullest account what ouV idly introduced, but can on'y
adopt by degrees. Every man in the English foree sent
to the East has his Mini°, which, if he only holds it
straight, will give him a decided superiority in battle,
one which is not dependent upon any fluctuation or
casualty, but may be nicely calculated and always 'relied
upon. The French army in Turkey has only its propor-
tion of Chasseurse- like our Rifle brigade—the rest'being
armed with the common musket. As one watches the
care with which the military service here is organised,
one cannot help being struck with the force of circum-
stances which gives to England at least an equal share
in the benefit of inventions like the Minis. We have
not yet, however, any Soldier so rapid in his movements
and so highly trained to that system of sharp shooting
into which war must now resolve itself as the Chasseur
do Vincennes. Those smart, sturdy little men, who have
practised to fire in every position, know how to shelter
themselves while they aim and execute every movement
with astonishing rapidity—what seems impossible for
them to accomplish.. France calculates confidently,
should her cause require it, on overrunning Europe with
her"Chasseurs, and their battalions nowiorm the portion
of the French army into which all ;young officers endea-
vour to enter who are anxious to put themselves in the
way of earning distinction.

REPORTED LOSS OF THE TRANSPORT SHIP
LADY NUGENT AND 400 LIVES:

It is with regret that we have to allude to this unfor-
tunate vessel, but the fact of her having been given up,
this week, as lost, at Lloyd's, renders the announce-
ment of her supposed loss a circumstance important to
disclose. The Lady Nugent belonged to Sir George
Hodgkinson, and was chartered early last spring by the
local government at Madras, as a troop-ship for the con-
veyance of reinforcements to the British forces at Ran-
goon, the seat of the Burmese war. She sailed from
Madras on the 10th of last May, having previously re-
ceived the troops, which comprised 350 rank and file of
the 25th Regiment of Madras Light Infantry, twenty
women and children with the staff officers, among whom
may be mentioned Lieutenant-Colonel Johnstone, Lieu-
tenant and Adjutant Daly, Lieutenant and Quar-
ter-master King, Lieutenant Bamford, Assistant-Sur-
geon Simpson, and seven native commanding staff-offi-
cers, the ship's crew, Captain Bannerman, the first,
second, and third officers, and 33 seamen. Within a
fortnight after her departure, a frightful hurricane swept
over the Bay of Bengal, which lasted three or fonr days,
causing a great Many melancholy casualties. Several
small vessels were seen to founder during its ravages,
and the Pluto steamer, belonging to t•ie Hon, East
India Company's service, With 500 troops on board, also
bound to Rangoon, was by a miracle saved f:om meet-
ing a similar fate. There can be uo doubt that the un-
fortunate ship, Lady Nugent, encountered that feaifu•
storm, and subsegnently foundered, carrying %%WI her
every living soul on board, who all perished. Formonths
hopes have been entertained that she survived the
gale, and had• been Wiw' anon" ,the knflamans
or other island's in the bay, and had become (Ik-
:Oiled. Vesseli and steamers, had, made the passage ta
and from Rangoon and ldadras since then without
meeting 'the least tiding of the missing shil)-
vernor-General, on hearing of it, despatched Th,etsGoos:
tris and NemeSis steam frigates to the AndaniimaNn,e,
we
adjoining islands in search of the wreck, I
hear, returned after a fruitless survey, f
for-
warding a formal report to the Gover7
bad been unable to discover any vestige
The agents of the ship at Madras
er and
this week sent advises to Sir G
owner; expressing their belief,
Bence, that She must have gone.
, . S . .- •
and not ,a soul escaped. Th %Ik' captain th° Ss...lnd
aestatinm that he
wr'eßoafntghoeonvehsasevle.
George Hodgliinson, the
froorngthe ship's long ab
down, during' he storm,.
eghip was zasured at Lloyd's.