The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-07 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

A large draught of troops will leave the camp at
Colchester in May for India and China. The men
have gone through a preliminary course of rifle
instruction, and are now waiting orders to embark.
The draught will be drawn from the following
regiments :-Ist battalion Ist Royals, 1 sergeant,
3 drummers, and 60 rank and file ; Ist bat-
talion 6th Regiment, 4 sergeants and 59 rank
mid file; 54th, 80 rank and File; 56th, 1 drum-
mer and 139 rank and file ; 66th, 4 sergeants
and 35 rank and file ; a•nd 88th, 1 ser-
geant, 1 drummer, and 188 rank and file ; Ist bat-
talion sth Regiment, 129 rank and file; 34th, 75
rank and file ; 37th, 1 sergeant, 1 drummer, and
120. rank and file; 38th, 1 sergeant, 2 drummers,
and 65 rank and file ; 44th, 90 rank and file; and
97th, 80 rank and file ; making a grand total of 12
sergeants, 8 drummers, and 1,119 rank and file.
The
gether draught of 90 rank and file from the 44th, to-
withathfre officers, are actually under orders
for China,
chaster are expected instructions for them to leave Col-
presex.ecrad daily. force at The strength of the
battalion 2 field
officers,
camp is as follows :-9th
cers, 9 captains,
7 staff sergeants, 40; 16 subalterns,
isoetrgebants, 20 drummers, and
1,127 rank and file battalion-2 field officers,
10 captains, 23 subalterns, _ staff sergeants, 52 ser-
d 1,505 rank and file ; in
geants, 17 drummerst
all, 2,836 officers and men. Some
Ist
t 7 men of the
44th, 22 of the 66th, and 33 of the
have served 10 years in India, are ahouto?:oals, who
their discharge after joining their depots rieneetihve
camp. • e
In consequence of the great increase which has
recently taken place in the detachments of Royal
Engineers at headquarters, Chatham—which,
ex-
clusive of the usual companies, now number 500
men—orders have been given for the formation of
three divisions, or depot companies, each of which
will be under the sole charge of separate officers.
One of these divisions has been already formed and
placed under the command of Capt. G. Langley,
the depot company consisting. of 100 men. A
second company will be formed on the 15th inst.,
and placed under the charge of Capt. E. 0. Hewett,
who willjoin head-quarters on that date for that
purpose. The remaining portion of the detach-
ment will still be under the charge of the Adjutant

of Royal Engineers. Nearly the whole of the re-
cruits who have recently joined this branch of the
service are skilled mechanics and handicraftsmen,
including draughtsmen, photographers, surveyors,
and engravers.
Capt. Bruce aid Brevet-Major Lukin have been
appointed to command the 9th and 10th batteries,
newly formed and added to the depot at Woolwich,
to contain the corps of clerks, orderlies, officers' ser-
vants, and others employed belonging to the garri-
son, of which the new batteries will be exclusively
composed. The organisation having been fully
carried out and the staff appointments filled, the
new batteries will receive their first month's pay
this morning.
We have to record the demise of Colonel F. C.
Irwin, K.H., formerly of the 63d Foot, and many
years commandant of the troops in Western Aus-
tralia, which occurred at Cheltenham a few days
since, at an advanced age. The deceased officer
entered the army on the 25th of March, 1808, and
served in the Peninsula from April, 1809, to Febru-
ary, 1814, including the capture of Oporto, battles
of Talavera and Fuentes D'Onor, siege and storm of
Cuidad Rodrigo, siege of Badajoz and capture of
the castle by escalade on the 7th of April, 1812,
battle of Salamanca, capture of Madrid and the
Retiro, battles of Vittoria and the Pyrenees, besides
various affairs and skirmishes on the advance and
retreat of the army. He also served the Kandyan
campaigns in 1817 and 1818 in Ceylon. He was
gazetted :commandant of the troops in Western
Australia in 1839, where he remained until he re-
tired from the army in 1855. He has received the
war medal and nine clasps for his valuable services.

The outer walls intenaeo to form the new wings
in course of construction at the Royal Military
Academy, Woolwich, which were commenced in
October last by Mr. Myers, the contractor, have
progressed rapidly, and have already reached the
height of sft above the plinth. Yesterday an order
was received from the commanding Royal Engineer
that on account of the walls being faced with red
bricks, which was pronounced objectionable, the
work must be removed and commenced anew. The
bricklayers have been accordingly dismissed until
their services shall be again required, and the deci-
sion has been obtained as to the appropriate colour
of the facings, hitherto given universally in favour
of red bricks. The expense of the alteration is cal-
culated at upwards of £l,OOO, which will be borne
by Government.