The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-10 00:00:00

THE BRITISH* GERMAN LEGION.

On Saterday morning a review of the British German
Legion by Major-General Wetherell, Adjutant-General,
and the presentation by him of a set of Royal and regi-
mental colours, by command of her Majesty, tceone of
the regiments of which it is composed, and now ahnut to
proceed to the East, imparted an unwonted degree of
animation anffinterest to the whole camp at Shorncliffe,
where it has been principally trained for active service
during the last year.
This foreign auxiliary legion, now fast approaching
completion, will ultimately consist of two regiments of
Jagers (rifles), six regiments of light infantry, and two
of light dragoons, making an aggregate force of about
10,000 men, and will be divided into two brigades of in-
infantry and a brigade of cavalry. Besides these, two
depot regiments wit' eventually be Formed, one for each
brigade, and of the same strength as the other regiraents.
The first brigade, consisting of the Ist Jager Corps, and
the Ist, 2d, and 3d Light Infantry Regiments, is now
stationed at Kueelee, under the command of Brigadier
Woolridge, formerly colonel on the staff of General Sir
De Lacy Evans in Spain ; and three companies of the
let Light Infantry are at Sinope, protecting Govern-
ment stores. The 2d Jager Corps and the 4th Regi-
ment of Light Infantry are now at Shorncliffe, complete
and ready for service, and are destined to proceed to
Scutari in 10 days er a fortnight. The let and 2d
Light Dragoon regiments, also at Shorncliffe, at present
want their full complement both of men and horses. Each
regiment of cavalry, when complete, will muster 600 hor,e3
and 775 men, and each regiment ef infantry 1,077 men.
The sth Regiment of Light Itifaiary,
,now in course of
rapid formation in Heligoatnd, will be c nnp'ete in about
10 days, and 700 of them (the present numerical
strength of the regiment) will be removed to Shorncliffe
towards the end of this week. The 6th Light Infantry
iS also being embodied at Shorneliflo, and will probably
be complete by the end of the present month. The sol-
diers composing the legion have been collected from
nearly every part of Germaey, but principally in Hano-
ver, Brunswick, Schleswig-Holstein, Oldenburg, Meck-
lenburg, the Prussian Rhenish provinces, Bavaria, Nas-
sau, and fleece, including some Belgians. They count in
their ranks, as non-commissioned officers' or privates,
many young men of superior education and good fami-
lies, and, in some instances, soldiers who have served as
subaltern officers in different parts of Germany. The
whole force is under the comtnand of Major-General
Baron Stetterheim, who formerly served with Gen. Sir
De L. Evans in Spain, and lately held a command in
the army of Schleswig-Holsteie. This Officer, by whose
indefatigable exertions, in spite of almost insuperable
difficulties and discouragement., the legion has been em-
bodied and brought to its present satisfactory state of
efficiency, has endeared himself to the whole corps,
officers as well as men, by an habitual comrso of kind
and considerate conduct, without in the least relaxing
the necessary rigours of discipline. He will leave Shorn-
cliffe in a few days with his staff, and proceed to Con-
stantinople to take command of the two brigades of in-
fantry and the brigade of cavalry. The officera of the
cavalry are chiefly English, and those of the infantry
almost wholly German.
The ceremony of Saturday possessed considerable in-
terest. The day was fine, and many of the inhabitants
of the adjacent towns of Folkestone, Saudgate, and
Hyt he attended to witness it. About half-past ten o'clock
Major-General Wetherell, accompanied by Major Gene-
ral Stutterhehn and the efficers of his staff, and Colonel
Xinloch, appeared upon the ground. At that time the
two regiments of cavalry, the 21 -Tager (Rifle) Corps,
and the 4th Regiment of Light Infantry, were drawn
up in line, forming two sides of a square, and as the
Adjutant-General approached they presented arms, and
the bands of the several regiments played the national
anthem. The cavalry wore under the command of Colo-
nels Percival and Fleming; the 4th Light Infantry of
Lieutenant-Colenel Humphrey ; and the Rifles, of the
Hon. S. Jocelyn. General Wetherell having ridden
along the line and closely inspected the me n and horses,
an open square was formed, consisting of the two regi-
ments of Light Drageons on the right, and the Rifles on
the left,—the 4th Regiment, to which the nolours were
presented, occupying the centre. The Rev. Mr. Wil-
mans, Field Chaplain of the 2d Brigade, then proceeded
to consecrate the colours, which were raised en two
pyramids of muskets. Major-General Wetherell then,
addressing the regiment, said it was hie pleasing duty,
by command of her Majesty, to present those colours to
them, and it would be their duty to defend them, conse-
crated as they had been by the ceremony which they
had witnessed. Colours, he added, became the soldier's
altar, on which he vowed allegiance to his Sovereign,
and in defending whose honour he defemled his own.
He hoped, in the field to which they were about to be
called they would seek to etnultite, shou:d occasion offer,
those deeds of heroism which would distinguish the re-
cent campaign above every other for all time.
Baron Stutterheine rendered the Adjutant-General's
address into German, and at his suggestion the soldiers
gave three heatty cheers for the Queen. The cavalry
then marched past, first at a walk, and then at a brisk
trot ; and the infantry, first in open columns of compa-
nies, and then in double columns of companies to the
centre, after the manner of the Qerman column of attack.
The Adjutant-General subsequently made a minute in-
spection of the arms and accoutrements •f each com-
pany, passing up and down both the front and rear
ranks. He was also shown over some of the barrack huts,
and expressed his satisfaction at the cleanly and orderly
state iu which they were, as also with the manner in
which the regimental accounts were kept.