The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-13 00:00:00

THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT.

The review of the Lancashire and Cheshire Vo-
lunteers at Newton-le-Willows, on Saturday, proved
a great success. The only drawback was one be-
yond human control—the weather. The great diffi-
culty to be overcome was the placing of 7,000 men,
gathered from 54 cities, boroughs, and townships,
spread over all parts of the two counties to a dis-
tance of 40 miles, upon the field, within so limited
a period as is available in an afternoon at this time
of the year. The difficulty was much enhanced by
the claims of the public, always put forward with-
out notice, and as indefinitely as possible, in about
100 different towns, to be allowed the privilege of •
looking at the spectacle. The lion's share of this
work devolved upon the London and North-Western
Railway Company, whose line from Manchester to
Liverpool, and their lines from the north and south
at Parkside and. Warrington Junction, were the
only railways converging to the scene of operations,
and the work was efficiently and satisfactorily per-
formed. It is under the truth probably to say that
50,000 persons had to be thus accommodated. The
Lancashire and Yorkshire, the Lancaster and Car-
lisle, the Manchester and Sheffield, and the South
Junction and Warrington lines brought their quota
of passengers, but considering that the traffic of all
these companies had to pass upon the Manchester
and Liverpool line to near the rendezvous, it was
marvellous that the work could have been so effi-
ciently performed within the available time. The
review took place upon the racecourse, about two
miles and a half from Newton station, and the Vo-
lunteers and the public began to assemble upon the
ground a little after three o'clock. From this
time to half-past 5 o'clock, when Lieut.-Gen. Sir G.
Wetherall opened the review, the arrivals were in-
cessant. The rains of several previous days had
rendered the ground wet and uncomfortable, but
up to this hour only a few light showers had
fallen to check the general desire of the public
to witness the proceedings on Saturday. At
the moment of opening the review the spectaele
presented was a magnificent one. In the
centre of the ground the Volunteers were drawn
up in four brigades. The second, third, and fourth
Manchester regiments, 1,800 strong, covered the
front, forming a line of 300 or 400 yards. In the
rear of this line was the remainder of the first bri-
gade. In the rear of these again were massed the
three other brigades, the third occupying the centre.
The cavalry, 300 strong, occupied a position on the
night flank to the front. The grand stand was
crowded by the rank and fashion of the neighbour-
hood, including a great number of ladies, and swelled
considerably by visitors from a dii.tance. The other
stands were also very crowded, and a dense mass of
people lined the sides of the racecourse extending
to a considerable distance right and left of the stands.
In front of the troops and between them and
the stands were the General and his staff. Among
the lookers-on were some hundreds of gentlemen in
the various uniforms of the line, and of volunteers
not taking part in the proceedings. In rear of the
troops were some extensive marquees prepared for
their refreshment after the heat and burden of the
day had been encountered. The evolutions Indi-
cated in the programme occupied about two hours.