The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-15 00:00:00

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, ac-
companied by several members of the Staff at head-
quarters, will leave town at an early hour this
naorning for Aldershot, to inopect the militia regi-
ments in the camp.
Lieut.-Col. C. J. Woodford, of the Rifle Briga:le,
whose death is reported to have taken place on the
28th .Nov. in the engagement Gen. Windham had
with the Gwalior mutineers, was son of General Sir
A. Woe)dford, the Lieut.-Governer of Chelsea Hos-
pitaL ..:Che deceased officer entered the Rifle Bri-
gade as Second Lieut. in Feb., 1840, and shortly
afterwards served as aide-de-camp to his father,
then Governor of Gibraltar. During the 17 years
he had been .in the army he had seen much active
service, having taken part in the Caffre war of 1846
and 1847. At tie outbreak of. war in the East he was
ordered to the scat of war with his battalion, and
during the Easteun campaign acted as Deputy-As-
sistant-Quartermaster-General at head-quarters,
and was wounded is the attack on the Redan on
the Bth. He raceivod a medal for his services
during the Caffre war, and a medal and two clasps
for his services in the Crimea. His commissions
bore date as follows :—...3eeond Lieut., 28th Feb.,
1840 ; Lieut., 3d June, 16143 ; Captain, 14th April,
1847 ; Brevet-Major, 12th Dec., 1854 ; Major, 9th
Feb., 1855 ; and Brevet-Lient.-Col., 2d Nov. 1855.
The Lieut.-Colonelcy of tile 37th (the North
HaMpshire Regt., is vacant by the death of Lieut.-
Gen. W. Smelt, C. 8., whose death has been an-
nounced as having taken place .at Bath ou Sunday
last. The gallant officer was in his 76th year. Hart's
Army List gives the following record of his ser-
vices Lieut. -General Smelt served in the Ame-
rican war, and was present at the ta,fting of Platts-
burgh, storm and capture of Oswego, avtion of Lun
dy's-lane, storming of Fort Erie, Aug, 13, 1814,
where he was severely and dangerously wounded.
He served also during the Burmese war in 1824,
1825 s and 1826, and was present at the capture of
Rangoon, and other actions in Ava." The deceased
had also served in Ceylon, Madras, &c. He entered
the army as cornet, in arch, 1798, and obtained
progressive rank, as follows :—Lieutenant, Dec. 11,
1799 ; Captain, March 21, 1805: Major, Jan. 28,
1808 ; Lieutenant-Colonel, June 4, 1814; Colonel,
July 22, 1830 ; Major-General, Nov. 11, 1851. He
held the colonelcy of the 37th Foot since April,

1851.
Colonel W. R. Eden, Commandant at Chatham,
by the demise of Lieut.- General Wm. Smelt, C. 8.,
is promoted to the rank of Major-General, and will
consequently vacate his present appointment.
Yesterday the reinforcements under orders to
embark for India, to the number of 354 non-com-
missioned officers and men, proceeded from Chat-
lain to Gravesend, where they embarked from the
,Custom-house-quay on board the screw steamer
United Service for Bombay and Kurrachee.
The Racoon,2l, screw steamer, Capt. J. A. Payn-
ter, left Chatham yesterday, and proceeded to Gil-
lingham-reach, for the purpose of taking on board
her guns and sea stores, previously to taking her
departure.
The paddlewheel steam-vessel Princess Alice,
Master Commander Mugford, proceeded down the
river yesterday morning from Woolwich on survey,
to decide on an eligible spot for laying down moor-
ings to harbour the various ships employed on
special service connected with the approaching
Royal marriage.
The freight ship Royal Rose arrived at Woolwich
yesterday morning from the docks, under orders to
ship 29 heavy guns, together with 440 tons of
military stores, for the Mauritius.
Six Russian guns, captured at Sebastopol in 1855,
having been supplied with gun carriages, were yes-
terday despatched from Woolwich Arsenal to Salis-
bury, Wells, Scarborough, Evesham, Ripon, and

Cardiff. -
Letters from India, received by the last mad,
report the following movements of the transport
steamers belonging to the European and American
Company's fleet :—The Golden Fleece and the
- Lady Jocelyn were about to leave Calcutta for
England with passengers and cargo, the former at
the end of December and the latter in January.
The Queen of the South arrived at Madras on the
Ist Dec. with the head-quarters a the 66th Regt.,
and was ordered to take them on to Cannanore,
whither she proceeded immediately. The Hydaspes,
with artillery, arrived at Galle on the 14th Deo.,
and left on the 16th for Calcutta. She also took

from Galle the troops conveyed there from Suez,
-,who were to be left at Madras on her way to
e Calcutta.

t- THE DESPATCH OP TROOPS TO INDIA

A blue book of some 50 pages, yesterday issued,
gives copies of official correspondence on the subject
of the despatch of troops to India from the colonies
of the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, and Dil.witlua.
It was on the 29th of June, 1857, that the Colo-
nial Secretary of State conveyed to Sir G. Grey,
Governor of the Cape colony, the wish of her Ma-
jesty's Ministers that a regiment be despatched to
Calcutta as speedily as possible, in consequence of
the news received from India ; and on the 14th of
July a private despatch was forwarded to Sir G.
Grey, requesting that a regiment be at once sent to
Ceylon to replace the troops which had been
draughted to Calcutta, and instructing Sir George
to purchase 1,000 horses for the artillery and cavalry.
Another confidential despatch of the Ist of August
expressed the confidence of her Majesty's Govern-
, merit in the discretion of the Governor of the Cape
in continuing to take measures for sending such
troops to India as he could spare. " The Govern-
ment," writes Mr. Labouchere, from Downing-
street, " place the most entire reliance in your dis-
cretion in continuing to take such measures with
regard to the movement of troops in communication
with the Indian authorities which (as) the interests
of the public service may require." The horses
ordered might be geldings or mares, and they were
to be sent, by preference, to Calcutta.
As some comments have recently appeared in
the Times on the subsequent scanty supply of rein-
forcements from the Cape of Good Hope to India,
it may be well to state that on the 29th of August
Mr. Labouchere intimated to Sir G. Grey that the
Government at home made no question that ho
would have used every exertion to render the as-
sistance to the Government of India as prompt and
effective as possible. Mr. Labouchere, basing his
expectations on the Governor's own description of
the perfect tranquillity of the Cape colony, trusted
that he would have been able to spare six regiments,
which would leave him four, besides the German
Legion and the Mounted Rifle Corps. "In any
case, however," continues the Colonial Secretary of
State, "you should not already have sent six regi-
ments to India (including the one which has gone
to Ceylon), I have to instruct you to do so with as
little delay as may be practicable ; unless indeed'
the circumstances of the colony should have
so materially altered since the date of your last
despatches as to render this step manifestly dan-
gerous to its security." The Admiral at the Cape
station had received ample directions about the
transport of the troops, and the Government (Aug.
26) further proposed to send out two regiments from
England to remain at the Cape, with the view of
enabling Sir G. Grey to send on thence two other
regiments in thesame ships to India, as " seasoned"
troops, adapted to serve in that climate. On the
21st of October Secretary Labouchere was com-
manded by the Queen to express to Governor Sir
G. Grey the sense which her Majesty entertained
of the zeal and public spirit which he had evinced
on this occasion, and her Majesty's entire approval
of the measures which he had taken to render the
most prompt and efficient succour to the Admini-
stration of India. " The succour which you have
afforded," adds the despatch, " has doubtless been
moat '
timely and valuable, and her Majesty's Go-
vernment. rely with the utmost confidence on your
con t muingte assist the Indian Administration by
every means in your power as circumstances may
require and enable you to do so." On the 23d Oct.
Lord Panmure's " entire appr
approval" of the measures
o
"taken by Sir G. Greydespatching troops to India
was communicated to him through Mr.
211houocftiNereo..
.
The Admiralty concurred. On the
No-
vember last, Mr. Labouchere addresse7dtialesworisthof
"reminder" to Sir G. Grey, reiterative:,
of the Home Government, that he should avaeisl
himself of the large number of troops then as-
sembled in South Africa, to render the utmost as-
sistance in his power to the Indian Government,
and trusted that he would have been able to do so
consistently with the safety of the colonists. An-
other despatch, of the nth of December, throws
cold water on a proposal of Sir G. Grey to receive
at tae Cape and at Natal any Sepoy regiments
which it might be desirable to receive from India,
and this closes the of despatches from
Down-
ing-street. Ti series -
They jochad lose of Sir G. Grey are appended.
the aforesaid proposal about the
Sepoy regiineet
G. Grey's rnealit:' and give detailed accounts of Sir
India. On the r2e43tlfio r supplying reinforcements to
expressed his desire &ptember Sir G. Grey again
Indian Government,to afford all pos.ible aid to the
writes toain
Sepoys hereference to the
31 of October that the Downing-street on the
acc Alas received at
the Cape of the atrocities, committed by those
wretches had created 'Leo strong a feel-
ing against them in the
colony to allow their re-
ception. The offer, however, had been declined in
•
, the interim by the Government of India.ire of The
despatches from Ceylon and theMauri:
routine character. The
of Governor Sir
H. G. Ward appear to have been tin.°
rovea by
the Government.
And now, let us ask, wiat were the actual
achievements of the Governor of the Cape? He
boasted much, but it appears from the papers