The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-02 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

During the recent very unfavourable weather
the troops at Aldershott have been in a great mea-
sure confined to their huts and barracks, even the
usual marching out two or three times a week for a
distance of eight or ten miles and back having been
constantly interrupted. The weather, indeed, for
the last fortnight at camp has bean most tempe
tuous, with such incessant storms of heavy rain
that the surrounding country has been almost con-
verted into an immense quagmire, which even the
drainage in the immediate neighbourhood of the
camp itself fails to do more than mitigate. The
total force at present in the Aldershott division,
including men on furlough, amounts to 16,000 of
all arms, of which number about 13,000 are actually
in camp, divided into three brigades of infantry
and ono of cavalry, as follows :-Ist brigade con-
sisting of the Ist battalion of the 11th, second ditto
of the 19th, the 58th Regiment, and Royal El-
thorne Militia ; 2d brigade, the 2d battalion of the
11th, 2d battalion of the 18th, the 2d battalion of
the 20th, and the King's Own or Ist Tower Ham-
lets Militia. The 3d brigade consists of the 2d
battalion of the 12th Regiment, Ist battalion of
the
16th, 2d battalion of the 11th, and the 2d or Royal
Lanarkshire Militia. The cavalry brigade is only
composed of the 18th Hussars and 15th Dragoon
Guards, with two troops of Horse Artillery. With
the infantry are four field batteries, with
detach-
ments of the Royal Engineers, Military ' Train, and
a complete hospital staff—in fact,the whole per-
sonnet and 'materiel necessary to enable a division
of 15,000 men to take the field at a moment's no-
tice. The 9d battalion of .the 24th was, until its
recent oToss insubordination, attached to the 2d
brigade, but is now en route for Cork. No regiment
its
has yet been named to supply place in camp.
The very novel punishment which the authorities
have inflicted on the men of the 24th for their
recent murderous breach of discipline has ex-
cited no small amount of surprise in camp.
The reason of this feeling will be evident to our
readers at a glance, Few regiments like
being quartered at Aldershott for any- long pe-
riod ; indeed, the only reason for which the
men like it at all is, that they have less night duty
there, having at least four or five nights a week in
bed, while at all other quarters in England the men
are on duty nearly every other night. The novelty-
of this indulgence at Aldershott, soon wears off,
especially when against it are balanced the dulness
of the camp and the excessive fatigue duties enforced
there in the way of reaclinaking and draining. For
the wear and tee); of clothes consequent upon the
latter work "baba" money was formerly allowed.
Now it has been discontinued, to the great disgust
of the men, so that for these and other causes there
are very few regiments which, after a month's or six
weeks' dirty at Aldershott, would not rejoice to
escape from it to any phrters, and more Fatima-

larly during the winter. If, then, insubordinate
regiments are only to be punished by the infliction
of a boon for which they long, how is discipline to
be maintained there at all ? Soldiers aro apt at
learning these lessons, and will not be slow to per-
ceive that while no amount of good conduct liberates
them from Aldershott, they have, on the other hand,
only to turn round and murder one or two of their
comrades in another regiment to be at once ordered
off, like the 24th, to some pleasant garrison town.
A monopoly of the roadmaking and draining at
Aldershott for a couple of months would really be
an efficacious punishment for a riotous regiment,
and the north and south camps are sufficiently wide
apart to keep asunder the most pugnacious corps.
One thing is certain, that, with the present novel
mode of punishment, the Commander-in-Chief will
only be able to keep regiments at Aldershott as long
as they themselves may please to remain, and not a
day beyond.
Major-General Hay, Inspector-General of Mus-
ketry, has visited the camp at Colchester, and in-
spected the 9th and 10th battalions. The Major-
General instituted a searching inquiry into the
course of practice pursued during the past year,
and examined the men to whom prizes had been
awarded in respect to their knowledge of the
theoretical principles on which the new system
of rifle instruction is based. About 25 inva-
lids, belonging to the 9th and 10th battalions,
have left the camp for Chatham, in order to receive
their discharge. In the course of the past week a
rather serious disturbance has taken place between
some of the City of Dublin and Donegal Militia on
the one hand, and some of the privates of the 6th and
56th Regiments on the other. Fists and bludgeons
were unsparingly used on both sides, and before a
strong picket, despatched to quell the disturbance,
could reach the scene of action, two men belonging
to the 56th Regiment were seriously hurt. It
seems the combatants had an old grudge against
each other, and resolved to settle the matter by a
regularly concerted fight.