The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-21 00:00:00

A GERMAN MILITARY ACCOUNT OP

TILE .IVEWTON REVIEW:

The Allgenzeine 111-tlitar-Zeztung gives an account,
by correspondent, of the Newton Review, and of
the rifle movement in general. A translation of
this article will no doubt prove interesting to our
volunteers, and especially to those who were present
at the review. After giving a full account of the
display, the writer says :

" England, as, well as Germany, is arming to
repel the attack with which Bonapartism threatens
her ; the British volunteer riflemen arose from the
same cause which made Prussia double the number le .0
of her battalions of the line. It will, therefore, bee
of interest to the German military public to ieS:7"'
ceive some detailed information on the present
state and the fitness for actual service of the
British volunteer army ; for this army, from its
very origin, and in virtue of its fundamental idea,
is an enemy of Bonapartism, an ally of Germany.
A very few battalions excepted, this army of
volunteers dates from the latter half of last year; the
great body has not been put in uniform and drilled
more than a twelvemonth. At present its strength,
on paper, is 120,000 men, but if we may draw con-
clusions from what is the fact in some districts,
there will not be more than 80,000 men really effec-
tive and drilled; the remainder take no interest in
the matter, and had better be erased from the lists.
If we consider that the great mass of the
troops present at Newton consisted of corps which,
counting one, two, or at the outside three com-
panies, arc not formed into permanent battalions,
have no officers from the regulars, have been drilled
by drill sergeants alone, axe], have only now and
then been brigaded together in a battalion, we shall
have to allow that the volunteers have done every-
thing that was possible, and that they are no longer
on the same level with our civic guards. As a mat-
ter of course, the corps which form permanent bat-
talions, and are directed by adjutants from the line
(for the adjutants, so far, are the virtual com-
manders of battalions), were also those which
went most steadily through the evolutions at the
review. The men upon the whole looked well.
There were, indeed, some companies as puny as
Frenchmen, but others surpassed in stature the
average of the present British line. Mostly, how-
ever, they were unequal in size and breadth of
chest. The pallor peculiar to the inhabitants of
towns gave to most of them a rather unpleasantly
unwarlike look, but eight days' encampment would
soon get the better of that. The uniforms, some
of them a little over-ornamental, made a very good
effect in the mass. The five years' drill has taught
the volunteers so much of the elementary move-
ments, that they may now enter upon skirmishing
and rifle practiee. They will be far more handy
at both these kinds of work than the English line,
so that by summer, 1851, they would form a
very useful army, if only their officers knew
more about their business. This is the weak
point of the whole formation. Officers cannot
be manufactured in the same time and with the •
same means as privates. Up to now it has been
proved that the willingness and the zeal of the mass
may be relied upon, as far as is required for making .
every man a soldier as -far as necessary. But
this is not sufficient for the officers. As we have
seen, even for simple battalion movements, wheel-
ing in column, deployments, keeping distance (so
important in the English system of evolutions,
where open columns are often employed) the officers
are not by far sufficiently formed. What is to be-
come of them on outpost and skirmishing duty,
wwhheerree
sjoudmgmanenyt
other
ergrdouiffindealits
matterseveryt hing' and
are
to be
taken into consideration ? How can such men
be entrusted with the duty of taking care of
th 9 safety of an army on the march ? Govern-
ment has made it binding upon every officer of
volunteers to go to Hythe for three weeks, at
least. So far, so good; but that will neither
teach him to conduct a patrol, nor to command a
picket. And yet, the volunteers are chiefly to be
used for light-infantry service—for that very kind
of duty which requires the cleverest and most re-
liable of officers. If the whole movement is to lead
to something, this is the point where Government
will have to step in. All companies which are still
existing—singly, or by twos and threes, ought to be
compelled to combine together in permanent batta-
lions, to engage adjutants from the regulars. These
adjutants should be bound to give all the officers of
their respective battalions a regular course of in-
struction in elementary tactics, light infantry ser-
vice in all its branches, and the regulations affect-
ing the internal routine of service in a battalion. The
officers should be bound, besides attending Hythe,
to do duty, for at least three weeks, with a regi-
ment of the line or militia in some encampment ; and
finally, they should, after a certain time, be all made
to pass an examination, proving that they have
learnt at least the most indispensable part of their
business. Such a course of instruction and exami-
nation of the officers; further, a medical examina-
tion of the men, in order to weed out those who are
physically unfit for field service (and there is not a
few) ; and an annual revision of the company lists,
for the removal of those men who do not attend
drill, and who only play at soldiers and will not
learn their duty;
if this was done, the 120,000
men now existing on paper would be considerably
reduced, but you would have an army worth three
times the one which now counts 120,000 men on
paper. Instead of that, it is reported that the
military authorities are busy discussing the impor-
tant question, whether it would not be desirable to
clothe, at the first opportunity, all rifle volunteers
in the so very desirable brick colour of the line."

F &TAT. BOAT ACCIDENT.—An accident, attended
with- fatal results occurred on Tuesday last at Duuoon, a
favourite watering place a few miles below Greenock. It
`appears that a party of ladies and gentlemen started
01 a sailing expedition up the Clyde, and when off
Dumbarton Castle a sudden squall struck the sails
and capsized the boat. Some men from the Castle
gallantly sti uck out to the rescue, but in consequence of a
heavy swell running at the time were unable to render any
assistance. We regret to learn that the whole party met
with a watery grave. Tho names of the sufferers by this
lamentable accident are---Captain Pyne, Mr. John James
Turnbull, Miss Julia Turnbull, Henry Reed, and Thomas
Smith, the boatman.

A public enquete is about to be opened for the
formation of a boulevard round Paris within the fortifica-
tions. it is to be planted with trees at each side with foot-
paths, and will form a promenade round the capital of About
20 miles iu length,

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