The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 24, 1859.

PUBLICATIONS.

Tll 13 NEW .NOVEL.
Now ready,'at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,

THE WAY OF THE WORL D.
-A- By ALISON' REID.
Hurst and Blackctt, Publishers, successors to Henry Col-
burn, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

NEW WORK BY MISS KAVANAGIL
Just ready, in 3 vols., post 81,0,. -
S EVEN YE ARS
By JULIA KAVANAGIL
•
Author of
. "Nathalie," "Adele," " The Two Sleilies," &c.
Hurst and Blackett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

NHOTICE.—A ' New Edition of Sir JAMES
-Li EMERSON TENNENT'S work on CEYLON will be
ready next week. • London: Longman, Green, and Co.,
Paternoster-row.

This Day, Two Volumes, Post Octavo, 18s.,
_MISREPRESENTATION : a Novel. By ANNA
11. DRURY.

By the same Author;
FRIENDS AND FORTUNE. Second Edition. 61.
THE INN BY THE SEA-SIDE. An Allegory. 2s.
London: John W. Parker and Son, West Strand.

This Day is published, in Bvo., price 145.,
-1,-4SSAYS, MILITARY and POLITICAL,
written in India by the late Sir HENRY MONT-
GOMERY LAWRENCE, 1i.C.8., Chief Commissioner in
Oude, and Provisional Governor-General of India.
London : Nm. 11. Allen and Co., 7, Leadenhall-street.

Just published, price 2s.,:free by post,
ON SPERMA TORRHCE A.
By F. B. COURTENAY, M.R.C.S.E.,
And formerly_Surgeon to the Metropolitan Infirmary for the

211 E NA

The Ariadne, 26, screw frigate, just commissioned
at Chatham by. Capt. E. W. Vansittart, is very
nearly completed in the shipwright deiprtmeut, but
it will be.some time before she will be out of the
hands of the engineers. Several of the officers have
already joined, and, notwithstanding that she has
only been commissioned a few, days, men ore enter-
ing very fast, this fine frigate app:arin. to Fe a
favourite with the bluejackets and the captain very
popular. There is no doubt that her requisite com-
plement of 400 men will be obtained in a short

... ~
time. The following officers have taken up their
commissions:—Hon. C. St. George Crofton, lieu-
tenont ; C. Fox, master ; F. G. Pearce, paymaster;
W. B. Dalby, surgeon ; J. Patterson, chief engineer;
W. Steil, second class assistant engineer ; J. Parry,
third class assistant engineer; F. Martin, acting
second class assistant engineer; J. Smith and T.
Ritchie, acting third class assistant engineers; and
A. Hertzel and W. M. Mitchell, assistant clerks.
The screw corvette Charybdis, 21, 'now being
rigged at Chatham, is to be taken into the fitting-
dock evacuated by the Ariadne, 26, to be brought
forward for the steam reserve, first division.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Commander Henry S.
Hawker to the Fisgard ; Lieut. C. Pringle to the
Royal Albert; Lieut. A. J. V. Collins to the
Queen ; Lieut. Wellesley Gregory to the Icarus ;
and R.B. Moorman, paymaster, to the Queen.

~sx~s~..~s ~ah'iy]t7r'~t ri. ~ ~.

In order to enable the non-commissioned.officers
and men of the Royal and Indian Thigincers now
at head-quarters, Chatham, to acquire a knowledge
of military drawinr, and fortification, an evening
class has been formed at :Brompton Barracks,which
is carried on under the direction of the officers of

. .
e Royal Engineers, and is already attended by
a number of the most intelligent of the non-com-
missioned officers. The system of fortification taught
is that known as Vauban's, in the drawings and de-
tails of which the Royal Engineers under instruc-
tion have made considerable, progress.
Yesterday a number of military tailors were sent
fsom Chatham garrison to Woolwich, where they
v;i11 be employed in assisting to complete the cloth-
ing for next year. Several improvements are to be
made in the description of clothing now worn by
the troops, among which the "greatcoat is to lie im-
proved upon, And a better description of cloth used
than that of which the coats are now made. Each
coat is also to be supplied with a larger cape than
that now worn, which will maketit much warmer
than the greatcoat in use.
WAR STORES FOR CHlNA.—Woomvicir, Nov. 23.
—An immense. quantity of stores, consisting of
howitzers, shot, shell, rockets, and other ammuni-
tion, has been prepared at the Royal Arsenal for
immediate shipment to China in vessels taken up
by the War Department. Captain Grant, R.A., in
accordance with instructions to that effect, will im-
mediate superintend the construction at the Royal
Arsenal of an ambulatory cooking apparatus, pon-
toon kettles, &c., on the principle tested in the pre-
sence of his Royal Highness the Commander-it-
Chief, at Hyde Park, and on a scale sufficient to pro-
vide the means of cooking, by various processes, for'
at least 5,000 men. The pontoon kettles are to be
so constructed that they may be used, in a case of
emergency, for the rapid formation of a bridge,
which can be easily tlirown across a river for the
passage of troops.

On-Monday Major-Gen. Bloomfield, Inspector-
General of Artillery, reviewed the City of Dublin
Militia Artillery, at present stationed in the camp
at Colchester. The corps presented a very credit-
able appearance. •

VOLUNTEER. CAVALRY.

TO THE EDITOR, OF TIIE Trmgs.

Sir,—General Sir Wm. Napier has in several let-
ters lately published in the Times pointed out the
direction which the discipline and organisation of
rifle volunteer corps should take—namely, that of
teaching them to act in independent small bodies
as irregular troops, and he showed at the same

time that the project of making them in large
bodies with the view of taking the place of regu-
lars was only likely to lead to bad results. Now,
would propose that the system he advocated should
be extended to the formation of irregular cavalry
from our mounted gentry and farmers. I am aware
that there is nothing novel in the proposal to form
cavalry volunteer corps, but I believe in almost all
instances the proposition has been to create a de-
scription of half irregular cavalry, half yeomanry,
that is, neither one thing nor the other, and which
must entail the collecting together and drilling a
molt or less large body of men, all or most of whom
having other pursuits renders it a difficult if not
impossible proposal to carry out. What I propose
would entail no collection of men in one place, and
little or no drilling. All that is necessary is that
every man composing the corps should be able to
cross country, and should, when debarred hunting
by the frost, take a little healthy exercise.
There is nothing that an English army is so ,defi-
cient in as a body of thoroughly light irregular
cavalry—such, for instance, as the Cossacks,for em-
ployment in outpost duty, foraging, reconnoitring,
cutting off parties of the enemy, carrying despatches,
and, most important of all, hanging day and night
on thq flanks and rear of an enemy and collecting
information. There is no country in the world in
which a few intelligent irregular cavalry, perfect.
cross-country horsemen, could be of such service
as in England. In an open country undiscip-
lined irregular cavalry could always be driven off
by a few disciplined repulses. In a close country,
such as most parts of England, a regiment of foreign
cavalry, aye, and an English one too, would find a
ditch and rotten bank as great an obstacle as a
British square has been found before now. It would
ordinary
cbaeviai tltreyr;l uselessywbile t toa
party
ympotf employtEon
glish foxhunters
these hedges would afford a perfect screen from the
enemy's riflemen, till, seizing the opportunity when
they were extended skirmishing with our light in-
fantry or rifle volunteers, a small party, even 10 or
12 of them, suddenly dashing in would create great
confusion and havoc among any number of infantry
running in disorder to form rallying square. Once
they had made their dash, they should leave them
again, for massed they would form a good mark for
our riflemen to plump their shot among, which
would soon make them re-extend, but very warily,
to give the riders another chance.

An enemy's column advancing in England, and
findinc, bodies of rifle volunteers annoying it, would
naturally throw out a cloud of skirmishers, which,
considering their superiority in discipline and prac-
tice in skirmishing, and the proximity of a large
body of supports, would drive the volunteers °fraud
keep them at a respectful distance; and though, of
course, the very fact of obliging him to throw out
his skirmishers would occasion delay and loss, it
would soon be overcome. If, however, each company
of volunteers had, say, 12 such irregular horsemen
attached to it, I really cannot conceive how a column
could advance without the greatest caution. The
usual practice of throwing out cavalry to support
the skirmishers when threatened by cavalry could
net Tee attempted by the enemy for the very simple
reason that on such ground their cavalry could not
accompany their horses in the undertaking. And
skirmishing with the probability of having cavalry
dashing in upon you every minute would be a very
ticklish job.
a small party aware that it can be urged against this that
party of horsemen would have no chance
against riflemen. This objection is more specious
than real. In the first place, the ground to be
covered under fire is very short, and it is not very
easy, under such circumstances—that of the mark
going at a hand. gallop—to hit it, especially when,
from the distance changing every second, a different
sighting of ;the rifle is necessary. In the second
place;the shooting is not very steady when men
find themselves Query moment getting into more
dangerous proximity with horsemen, at whose
mercy, from their extended order, they know-they
will be the next instant. The feeling of " &lure
qui peat" will be very strong in the coolest men,
and every one knows who has seen it in service how
wild the firing is in such a case; and, thirdly, when
once the horsemen: have made their swoop—if,
bear in mind, they have accomplished their mis-
sion and make off as fast as they:can, leaving the
enemy disadvantage for
convinced,the r i fie s to
littleo tlt
e
r es a
rest--they thet a
y will
am
suffer, I
com-
paratively to the great effect they will have pro-
duced.

I have thus briefly attempted to sketch the dash-
ing part of their career. There is another as bril-
liant, though steady service for them. What would
not a General give for a dozen or half-a-dozen such
orderlies—well mounted, intelligent men who could
carry messages which no common trooper could be
intrusted with—who could, in fact,perform all the
duties of an aide-dc-camp ? And how many regular
troopers would this not free to perform their proper
work? Our Generals never have a quarter the
number of orderlies a French General has attached
to his person, simply, I believe, because if they had

our regiments of cavalry would appear in the field
with a score of men or so. Again, what service the
irregulars might perform reconnoitring, as from
their intelligence the General would be enabled to
depend on their reports!
If such formations would be useful—and I think
no one can doubt it ; if it is imperatively necessary
to strain every nerve to put ourselves in a proper
state of defence—and I think no one can doubt it
who has read the article in the Times of the 15th,
and has watched the throbbing pulse of the most
feverish nation of the Continent, our opposite neigh-
bour—what is necessary to form these bodies of
irregular cavalry?
There are at, present many hundred gentlemen
amusing themselves hunting; they could without
one shilling of expense to the country, and vs ithout
much trouble to themselves, be of this incalculable
service. From the great heat of the summer we
are likely to have many fretAy mornings; on such
days, instead of kicking their heels doing nothing
but growling at the weather, let them form parties
of 10 or 12, and, under the word of command of one
of their number, if a cavalry drill sergeant is not at
hand, learn to move together and practise a few
evolutions; it will merely be good exercise, and keep
both man and beast in condition. The only
evolutions necessary are simple enough—to walk,
trot, canter, and gallop in double and single
rank—to wheel, to advance, which they know
well enough, to pull up sharp, go about by threes,
and retire on the instant, which will be more diffi-
cult to teach them. Then some singlestick prac-
tice, and using the sword, especially on horseback,
not that it often comes to hand-to-hand combat, but
the knowledie gives confidence, and confidence will
enable a man to do wonders against any odds, of
which Lieut. Hodson in India • gave a brilliant
example. Then it accustoms the horse not to swerve
and plunge when a sword whisks past his ears, and
may save the rider from the annoyance of cutting off
his own horse's ears—a not improbable result if he
has never learnt to use his sword on horseback.
We come next to the use of their especial arm, the
lance, and practice is necessary to enable a man to
carry and handle this with effect. The lance, which
for regular cavalry charges is, in my opinion, a use-
less weapon, for this species of irregular work is un-
rivalled, from the reach it gives ; besides, it can be
used to picket a horse to, and at worst, if found an
'icumbrance, may be thrown away.
_The only othe,

weapon required is a revolver—a dangerous wen•
pon to put in the hands of cavalry, enticing them to
burn powder to frighten infantry or ono another,
instead of coming to close quarters. But, as in this
case such a result need not be feared, the pistol may
safely be recommended as likely to be occasionally
useful. :Our irregulars are now armed, viz., with a
lance, a sword, and a revolver, for which they re-
quire the accoutrements of a sword-belt with sabre-

tash and a cross-belt, with cartridge-box and tele-
scope, or field-glass (opera-glass) case. Holsters are
useful, but the pistol should be carried on the
sword belt, as it is when accidentally dismounted
that the pistol is most likely to be required.
The uniform ? What better could they wear than
the common hunting costume with the scarlet coat?
Well, to save appearances and prevent the er,emy
having any excuse to hangaman who fell into their
hands as an unlicensed soldier, let us throw in a
helmet or a limiting cap with a funny plume. Oh,
but how conspicuous a red coat would be! Has it
never 2truck any of the partisans of invisible coats
that in the confusion and smoke of action it is diffi-
cult to tell friend from foe, and that the introduction
of distinctive uniforms was, as with crests in olden
time, to guard against such mischance ? Iles the in-
troduction 'of rifles and distant lighting done away
with the necessity of this distinctiveness. Ask
any ono who was at Inkerman if he did not hear

the men curse the hour when they went intoaciion
in greatcoats, instead of as a " thin red line," saying
that it was impossible till they came close upon him
to tell a Russian from an Englishman. It was a
drizzling, misty day ; are we not as likely to have
misty days in England ? Then we were at close
quarters, and one would imagine nothing could be
more dissimilar than the outlines of our men and
of the Russians in their fiat broad caps and Noah's
ark greatcoats.

When you come to long distance rifle shooting
no human being can guess your country. Many a
poor fellow of the rifle volunteers will, if ever the
occasion comes for active service, and he finds him-
self potted at .from the rear, regret the hour when
fancy was allowed unlimited sway in picking out
invisible grays. I should . say the greater the dis-
tance at which you are to fight the more marked
should be your uniforms, and certainly neither the
French nor any other continental nation has made
their uniform less marked in consequence of the in-
troduction of rifles. Why, Sir, with us every vo-
lunteer corps has a different and more.curious uni-
form; no human being except the tailor who de-
vised them knows what they belong to at 20 yards'
distance. If you ask, you are answered, " Oh, I
suppose it is a. rifle volunteer." In action a bullet
may ask the question. I have digressed ; I have
nothing to do with i-olunteer uniforms, but I wished
to point out that there were two sides to the ques-
tion of conspicuousness ; and for our irregular
cavalry, who are to be here, there, and every-
where in small parties, I should say, let them wear
something nobody can mistake them in—the colour
England has always fought in. Any one can pro-
tect himself from the enemy, but to be taken for an
enemy by both—and to be mistaken is in all
probability to be shot at—is rather awkward.
Hoping that this may find a place in your
columns, I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
R. E.
Junior United Service Club, Nov. 22.