The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-31 00:00:00

1856.

ALDERSHOT.-REVIEW OF THE TROOPS
BY HER MAJESTY.

Yesterday hor Majesty again vigited the camp at Alder-
shot, to review the newly-arrived and last batch of troops
from the late seat of war in the East. As this, we believe,
is intended to be the last public or holiday review of the
military season, so it was also in -he number of troops on
the ground, and of spectators to witness their manoeuvres,
by far the best of the many which have taken place there.
Of course, with the peculiar fatality which attaches to
all the spectacles at Aldershot, even the display of yester-
day caused some disappointment, for in the neighbourhood

of the camp rumours had been industriously circulated
that it would take place on Tuesday; and on that day,
therefore, some thousands assembled in the vain expecta-

tion of witnessing a review which was never intended to

take place. This disappointment, however, seemed to
have produced no very serious effect, for the visitors from
the surrounding towns and villages to camp yesterday im-
mensely exceeded the numbers which have attended on
any previous similar occasion. The metropolis also con-
tributed a considerable portion of the concourse, and long
epeeist trains were started by the South-Western to meet
the increased demand.

During the early part of the morning the weather was
very close and cloudy, betokening either ono or the other
of Aldershot evils, heat or heavy rain, in rapid alternation,
between the extreme of which the unhappy denizens of the
camp pass their lives. But before ten o'clock the former
nuisance had asserted its superiority in the most marked and
vindictive manner. The surface of the country was
covered with a light wavy mist like a deluge of heat ; the
dust rose without provocation, and settled lazily on every-
thing, and the dark marshy plains of Aldershot looked like
a great pitch lake, and was quite as hot under the fierce
morning sun. As a matter of course, under such circum-
stances, there was an unusually small muster of vehicles
at the Farnborough station, and the drivers of these wisely
took advantage of the times to extend their fares far be-
yond the bounds of previous extortion. London visitors
wore, of course, obliged to submit 'to whatever terms the
conscience of the fly driver dictated, for the alternative of
toiling over hill and dale to camp by such a dusty road and
on such a day, was a step, or rather series of stops, into
taking which no amount of extortion was likely to lead.
The Orleans Princes, Da Joinville, D'Aumalo, and Da
Nemours, arrived at Farnborough by an early train. We
may mention, to show the hospitable inducements which
visitors to the camp receive, that it was with difficulty
that these illustrious individuals procured a limited break-
fast of eras and bacon at a road-side inn. It was not till
visitors came to the camp that they found they had arrived
hours too soon, for the review was not to take place till four,
and all seemed to have secured their places on the heath
before twelve. A few strolled about the camp, which bears
a less painful resemblance to a dirty colliery now than it
did a week or two ago. The Rifles, 42d, 88th, some
Artillery, and small detachments of other regiments, are
under canvas, and the clean lively aspect of the tents much
relieves the monotonous rows of low black huts of the rest
of the camp.
Is the south camp the Artillery have erected stables for
some 200 horses. The north side of the stables is formed by
a steep bank made of earth ; the other parts by fir stakes
driven in the ground, and interwoven with fir branches, the
whole being roofed over with canvas supported on poles.
These have been erected by artillerymen, assisted (and we
presumed directed) by some Sappers and Miners. The
stables are good, but more than this we cannot say, for
they certainly are not so good as they ought to have been
made, and with such materials at command as they could
easily have been made. We were called upon to admire
them as evidencing the ease with which the English soldier
adapts himself to the necessities of his position, and the
skill with which he remedies its deficiencies. But we re.
gret that we could not view them in such a favourable
light. It was only because the Artillery ware ordered to
build stables that they did so, and unless they now com-
plete what they have begun, and really protect the horses
against the changes of our uncertain climate, the stables
will be useless and empty before November. But poor and
inadequate as these stables are, making the men erect them
is a step in the right direction, and we also hope the com-
mencement of a system of drill-training which has been
utterly neglected in our service—we mean of teaching the
troops of all arms to rely upon their own exertions for
forming a good camp and its accessory kinds of shelter.
Two years ago and an artilleryman would as soon have ex-
pected to be told to make a watch as stabling for his horses.
Her Majesty arrived at the Farnborough station from
Osborne at five minutes past one. Royal carriages were in
waiting with a guard of honour of the 7th Hussars to con-
vey the party to camp.

Her Majesty was accompanied by his Royal Highness
Prince 'Albert, the Prince of Wales, Prince Arthur, the
Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, and attended by
Lady Churchill as Lady in Waiting.

All the party immediately entered the carriages, and
proceeded at once to the Royal Pavilion in the south camp.
Immediately after the royal cortege had departed, his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge also arrived from
Osborne in a special train, having missed that which con.
veyed her Majesty by a few minutes.
Shortly before three o'clock all the troops in camp were
under arms and began to move by various routes to the
usual review ground, the long valley on the right of the
nl,l n=forti-road. As the troops moved a hot, stifling
breeze was sweeping across the heath, laden with clouds of
sandy dast, so fine that as the Egyptians say of the " Sa-
miel," it would enter an egg through the pores of its shell.
But in spite of the painful annoyance, the aspect of the
common, covered in all directions with masses of troops,
was beautiful and striking in the extreme. On this oc-
casion there was a larger muster of troops than wo believe
has ever before been witnessed in England on any one
spot. More than 26,000 of our best soldiers were under
arms. There was the 4th, 7th, 19th, 20th, 23d, 33d, 38th,
41st, 42d, 44th, 49th, 77th, 88th, 00th, 95th, and 97th
Regiments of the Line; the Ist and 2d battalions of the
Rifle Brigade, and three battalions of the Grenadier,
Coldstream, and Fusilier Guards. With this, fine
body of infantry were the Ist Dragoon Guards, the
7th, 11th, and 15th Hussars, two regiments of cavalry of
the British Gorman Legion, two troops of the Royal Horse
Artillery, and two field batteries.
- - - -

The cavalry and artillery formed up on the long hill to
the south of the valley. The infantry drew up in two
double lines, extending nearly the length of the valley—
considerably over a mile.
Which formed the first line, or how the various regi-
ments were placed, it is quite impossible to say, for the
same absurd rules as to keeping all visitors at a distance,
which on the last occasion excited such discontent, were
still rigidly adhered to. What an invaluable officer General
Knollys would be to occupy a large extant of country,
since it seems to require nearly half a county to draw up
21,030 men in double lines. What would he have done if
the Government, impressed with an appreciation of his
military genius and his long and arduous services in so
many bloody campaigns, had sent him to the Crimea. How
would he then have disposed of his army of 50,000 men,
with all their material and stores, which, with the French
and Turks, were confined to less space than he yesterday
allotted at standing room for his troops. As was also the
case on the last occasion, the representatives of the press
were kept far away from the troops with the most jealous
care. The officer in charge of the party of the 15th Hussars,
keeping the ground, behaved with the utmost courtesy,
and promised to endeavour to procure permission for the
reporters to advance to such a distance as would give them
a chance of seeing what was going forward among the
troops. But this permission, for some inscrutable reason
or other, he was unable to procure, and the reporters from
the London papers were consequently quite excluded. The
case, to say the least, was equally hard with the thousands
of other visitors, who had come many miles in the hope of
witnessing the review, but who, kept at a distance of
nearly half a mile, could of course discern little beyond
dust and a gleam of bayonets. If these reviews at Alder-
shot were intended as mere Court amusements we should
not again have adverted to the illiberal and irrational re-
gulations laid down by General Knollys, but as her Ma-
jesty's gracious intention of visiting the camp is always
officially announced beforehand, it is evident that the at-
tendance of the public on occasions of such national inte-
rest is rather sought than otherwise. Under such circum-
stances, therefore, it seems doubly hard upon the public,
after having journeyed many miles, to be excluded, by the
command of one officer, from witnessing the sight they
came to see. The annoyance yesterday was not the less
severely felt and complained of, by knowing that whoever
had the honour of acquaintance with the mounted police
could always pass the lino when kept by them, and the
company of an officer in uniform was sufficient to pass
large parties through the line kept by the soldiers. While
the troops were drawn up, the three French princes, ac-
companied by the Prince of 'Wales, rode round the lines,
minutely surveying the various regiments.
Her Majesty came upon the ground in au open pony car-
riage precisely at four o'clock, and was received with a
royal salute from the artillery and the usual honours. The
Royal party then slowly drove along the lines of troops
until the whole force had been inspected. The different
corps then marched past. The cavalry and artillery came
first, thou the Guards and the regiments of the line. Only
three of the latter among the nowly-arrived troops require
special notice—the 42d Highlanders, 77th and 88th regi-
ments. The first named—the long famous " fighting forty-
twa," lost but few men in the East, and scarcely any from
the casualties of war, for the events of the campaign pre-
vented their participating in any of the great struggles save
thcZ battle of Alma. The regiment, therefore, is but:little
changed in material, and is still the best drilled and finest
in our service.lTheir companies marched past her Majesty
with the evenness and solidity of little walls—not a man
an inch before or behind the precise lino. In executing
this manceuvre they excel in appearance and equal in dis-
cipline the famous marching of the household troops. The
88th and 77th suffered most severely in the late war, 75
per cent. of tho number that left England having been kil-
led or died of disease. At the battle of Inkerman the 88th,
out of 230 men in action, lost 117 men and officers killed
and wounded—a greater loss in proportion to numbers
than was sustained by any other corps on that bloody day.
' It was the bayonet charge of the 77th and 88th that re-
captured the two,Engliola g 4115, taken by the

Both gallant corps marched well past the Queen, and the
latter regiment showed that it wants but little drill to
make it, as of old, the famous Connaught Rangers, who, iu
every quarter of the world, have done more to uphold the
reputation of the British arms than almost any o thor
corps in the service.

Yesterday General Knollys was, we presume, out of
f spirits. At least he declined to nuance the spectators with
any of the military mance tyres so peculiarly his own, and
a sample of which original tactics ou the occasion of the
last Royal review at Aldershot compelled the Prince of
Prussia to relax his stern features into something as near
a smile as court etiquette permits on such untoward occa-
sions. Those of our military readers who were present on
that day will easily recollect the beautiful warlike ar-
rangement we refer to. The gallant general was then sup-
posed to be defending the steep bluff eminence of Coese.r's
Camp against an attack by superior numbers. To secure
the victory to his side he drew up his cavalry in a line of
squadrons, placed his skirmishers behind them, and firing
along their ranks ; his artillery in the plain below these
again, and firing point blank into both skirmishers and
cavalry. The infantry, as a branch of the service not
much used in the defence of steep rugged heights, ware
judiciously placed on the open common, half a mile, in the
rear of all, in long solid lines, looking on quietly, as if
the novel military dispositions carried out on the height
above them were expressly for their protection.
however incredible it may appear to our military
readers who were not present, is nevertheless a perfectly
true account of what actually took place. We wonder
does such drill as this, when one regiment is taught
to fire into the back of another, at all account for the
pugnacious relaxations which the troops at Aldershot
have enjoyed when off duty. After marching past,
therefore, the troops merely retired still further from the
already distant spectators, and commenced a slight sham
battle. It was principally an affair of skirmishing, and
as the men were only provided with five rounds of car-
tridge no heavy firing took place. All the movements were
simple, and consisted merely of an advance upon a gentle
slope, which was surmounted by a wood, held by skir-
mishers. The great distance which intervened between the
spectators and the troops prevents our giving more than
this bare announcement, that something in the nature of a
sham fight did take place. The review terminated soon after
seven. JA er lfajesty slept at the Pavilion in camp last night.
The arrangement of the railway authorities at Farnbo-
rough were, as usual, moat complete; and, notwithstand-
ing the great rush of visitors, gave general satisfaction.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The steam transport Ayrshire arrival at Spithead yes-
terday morning from the East with the following troops :
—1 subaltern, 2 serjeauts, 2 corporals, 1 trumpeter, and
47 rank and file, of the 4th Dragoon Guards ; 1 captain,
1 subaltern, 6 serjeants, 5 corporals, and 109 rank and file,
of the 21 Dragoons ; 2 subalterns, 2 serjeants, 3 corporals,
and 75 rank and file, of the 6th Dragoons; 2 captains, 2
subalterns, 1 staff, 3 corporals, and 75 rank and file, of the
10 Hussars ; Medical Staff, 1; total, 416. The officers are
Major Thompson, Capt. Loftus, Lieut. Bird, Cornet Mayne,
and Assistant-Surgeon Hooker, of the 10th Hussars ; Capt.
N ugent, of the 2d Dragoons (Scots Greys) ; Lieut. Dun-
bar, do. ; Lieuts. Sleigh and White, 6th Dragoons ; and
Lieut. Fisher, of the 4th Dragoons.
Her Majesty's steamship Sanspareil, 71, Captain A. C.
Key, C. 8., arrived at Spithead yesterday morning early
from the Crimea, bringing 725 rank and file, and the fol-
lowing officers of the 72d Highlanders :—Lieutenant-
Colonel W. Paike, Majors Thelluson and M'Kenzie, Cap-
tains Price, Robinson, Alison, Coathupe, and Fielden ;
Lieutenants Vesey (Adjutant), Stewart, the Hon. H.
Ward, Richardson, Brownlow, Bassett, Beresford, and
Campion ; Surgeon Seaman, Quartermaster Munro, Pay-
master Webster, Assistant-Surgeon Roberts. The Sans-
pareil passed the steam-transport Robert Lowe (engines
disabled) with Land Transport on board, on the 23d inst.,
off Cape Finisterre. The 72d landed yesterday at Ports-
mouth Dockyard.

Her Majesty's steam-frigate Sidon, 22, Captain Ingle-
field, was paid off at Portsmouth yesterday.

Har Majesty's steam-frigate Leopard, 18, Captain Hayes,
left Spitbead on Tuesday evening for Plymouth.
The Claro transport, No. 121, arrrived yesterday morn -
ing at Spithead with Ordnance stores.
Her Majesty's steam two-decker James Watt, 91, Capt.
T. V. Anson, left Spithead yesterday morning for Ply-
mouth, in tow of her Majesty's paddle-frigate Valorous,
16, Captain C. H. M. Buckle.
The James Watt transport, N. 112, left Spithead yes-
terday for the Thames, to disembark stores from the East.
Her Majesty's ships Queen, 116, Capt. Robert F. Stop-
ford, and London, 90, Captain William H. Jervis, were
appointed to go from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze yes-
terday (Wednesday).
The paddlewheel steam-transport Rhadamanthus, 4,
Commander Edmund P. Cole, from Woolwich, arrived at
Plymouth on Tuesday, and went into Hamoaze.

The steam-transport Istamboul, from Portsmouth, for
orders, arrived at Plymouth on Tuesday, and went up
Hamoaze.

The screw steam-vessel Osprey, 4 guns, recently com-
pleted and fitted in Woolwich dockyard, having been com-
missioned by Commander Henry J. Blomfield, loft her
moorings yesterday for Greenhithe, prior to departure (i t
is said) for the East India station.

The Arthur Gordon transport, No. 238, which arrived
at Woolwich on Sunday, has cleared her Ordnance stores
and entered the Victoria-docks to discharge Tower stores.
The governors of the convict-hulks Warrior and Defence,
moored off Woolwich dockyard and Arsenal, received in-
structions yesterday from Colonel Jebb, Superintendent
of the Board of Directors, to prepare a list of the officers
under their respective charge who may be entitled to su-
perannuation claims, as, from the changes which are about
to take place, their services will be no longer required.
The Warrior and Defence are now to be broken up, and
the convicts will be transferred to the newly-erectei
prison just completed at Chatham.

The Prince, City of Dublin Company's steamer, Captain
Dearl commander, arrived at Kingstown on Tuesday from
Liverpool, having on board 102 privates, 2 serjeants, and
1 non-commissioned officer, of the 2d Royal North British
Dragoons. This detachment came direct from the camp
at Aldershot.

The head-quarters of the 96th Regiment embarked on
Tuesday at Kingstown, on board the screw steam-trans-
port ship Bahiana, for Gibraltar. This section of the 96th
comprised 60) rank and file. The 96th only returned 15
months ago from the East Indies, whore it hul been sta-
tioned in various quarters for 16 years, during which period
the corps had a large ah%ro of arduous service, and lost
nearly half its number by contagions disease and the vi-
cissitudes of tho climate. Another draught of the smile
regiment, comprising 260 privates and 16 women, were to
embark at Kingstown yesterday in another transport for
Gibraltar. _ _ _

The following appointments were made at the Admiralty
yesterday :
Lieut. H. Berkeley, to the Princess Royal ; Lieut. G. J.
Dall, to the Cruiser ; Lieut. E. M. Smith, to the Fury ;
A. A. Hanson, to the Inflexible ; and Lieut. Samuel T.
Dickens, to the Majestic ; Assistant-Surgeon J. Little to
the Edinburgh ; Assistant-Surgeon C. N. Godfrey to the
Tyne ; Assistant-Surgeon J. Dunwoodie, to the Malacca;
Assistant• Surgeon W. E. Hambly, to the Waterloo.