The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-29 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The colonelcy of the 88th Regt. (Connaught
Rangers) has become vacant by the death of Lieut.-
General R. 13. Macpherson, C.B. and K.H., who
died on Saturday at a ripe age after military ser-
vices extending over 63 years. In June, 1795. the
gallant officer entered the 88th as ensign, and at
the latter part of that year he accompanied a part
of that regiment to the West Indies, and was pre-
sent at the taking of St. Lucia in the following
year, also at the reduction of the brigands in Gre-
nada, at the storming of Port Royal, and several
other places in that island. He embarked for the
East Indies with his regiment in 1799, and for six
years was actively employed in the three Presi-
dencies. In 1806 he proceeded with the expedition
to South America, was present at several skirmishes
on. the march to and in front of Buenos Ayres, and
at-the storming of it, when he was wounded. In
June, 1809 he accompanied the 2d battalion of the
88th to the Peninsula, and was present at the de-
fence of Cadiz. In March, 1813, he succeeded to
the command of the Ist battalion, and commanded
it at the battle of Vittoria, and at those in the
Pyrenees he was present also at the battle of the
Nivelle. He succeeded to the command of the 88th
at the battle of Orthes, and was at the battle of
Toulouse, besides being in several minor affairs. In
July, 1814, he proceeded. to Canada in command of
the Ist battalion, but was recalled with his regi-
ment from North America in June the folloN\ iig
year to join the army in the Netherlands. For his.
services in the Peninsula he was in 1815 mule a
Companion of the Order of the Bath, and in 1835
he was made a Knight of the Royal Hanoverian
order. He had received the gold medal and one
clasp for Vittoria and Orthes, and the silver war
medal and three clasps for the Pyrenees, Nivelle,
and Nive. In July, 1852, he was appointed Colonel
of the 73d Regiment, and in February, 1857, on

I

the death of General Sir J. A. Wallace, was ap-
pointed to his old regiment, the 88th. The late
General's commissions bore date as follow :—En-
sign, June 3, 1795 ; Lieutenant, July 22, 1795 ;
Captain, December 3, 1800; Major, March 17,
1808 ; Lieutenant-Colonel, June 4, 1814 ; Colonel,
January 10, 1837; Major-General, November 9,
1846 ; and Lieutenant-General, June 20, 1854.
Since the account which appeared in The Sun of
the experiments made at Chatham with the newly-
invented breech-loading gun the invention has
attracted a great amount of interest, the model
having been inspected by several of the most emi-
nent officers belonging to the Royal Artillery and
the Royal Engineers, with other persons qualified
to give an opinion, all of whom are unanimous in
pronouncing it one of the most valuable inventions
of the day. The model, which is of brass, and only
four inches in length from the breech to the muzzle,
has been subjected to the most severe tests, and
always with the most complete and satisfactory
results. The inventor, Mr. Robt. Warry, Armoury
Sergeant of the 3d battalion at Chatham, has made
repeated experiments with it in the presence of a
large number of officers connected with Chatham
garrison, the results being as satisfactory as they
were astonishing. The model gun, although of the
diminutive length stated, propelled the balls to a
distance of at least 200 yards, doing effective exe-
cution at 100 yards. With the greatest ease the
gun is made to fire 10 rounds per minute, and on
one occasion 50 rounds were fired in seven seconds
less than five minutes, the shot at each discharge
striking an object placed at 100 yards distance
Notwithstanding the rapidity with which the
model was loaded and fired the gun remained as
cool at the close of the experiments as it was at the
commencement, the opening at the breech admit-
tino• a current of air to pass through the gun, thus,
entirely doing away with the serious evils resulting
from the heating of cannon caused by incessant
firing, which, it is well known, will in a
comparatively short time render a piece of
ordnance almost useless. Mr. Warry is now
engaged completing a model of his breech-
loading cannon of much larger dimensions,
for the purpose of submitting it to the
Duke of Cambridge. The gun is of wrought iron
and 15 inches in length, the interior of the bore
being rifled on the same principle as the ordinary
Enfield rifle musket. The ball to be used will be
the conical-shaped rifle bullet, which, however,
will be covered with a composition coating of a
peculiar character. The inventor expresses his
confident belief that this cannon will throw a ball
fully two miles, doing effective execution at 1,000
yards, the gun being loaded and discharged at the
rate of five rounds per minute.