The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-06 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

Capt. Gabbett's battery of Royal Artillery will
arrive in Portsmouth this morning from Woolwich,
where they will embark on board the Magnet
steamer for Guernsey and Jersey.
The new members appointed to serve on the Royal
Ordnance Select Committee assembled in their office,
in Woolwich Arsenal, on Friday, and concluded
their arrangements for transacting the business of
the, department, which is henceforth to be distinct
from and unconnected with any other department,
nor is it intended, according to present stipulations,
that any of the members shall reside in the Arsenal.
By a memorandum from the Horse Guards, of June
2, the members composing the committee approved
by the Secretary of State for War, on the recom-
mendation of the General Commanding-in-Chief,
are as follows :—President--Col. St. George, C. 8.,
Royal Artillery; and the members—Lieut.-Col. and
Brevet-Col. Robinson, Royal Engineers; Lieut.-Col.
and Brevet-Col. Greathead, C. 8., Bth Foot ; and
Lient.-Col. W. J. Smythe, Royal Artillery. Col.
Pickering, who has been attached for some years
past to the committee as secretary, has received per-
mission to retire, and, as stated, will be succeeded
by Lieut.-Col. J. H. Lefroy, Royal Artillery.
His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief,
according to general regimental orders, has approved
the appointment of Second Capt. and Brevet-Major
C. C. Teesdale (Equerry to the Prince of Wales) to
be Aide-de-Camp to Major-Gen. Bloomfield, Inspec-
tor-General of Artillery.
Capt. Lewis, Lieuts. Sterling and Toms, two
sergeants, two corporals, two drummers, and 117
privates of the Royal Marines, left Woolwich on
Saturday for service on board her Majesty's ship
Edgar. The numerous draughts recently despatched
to the various ships in preparation for sea have re-
duced the Woolwich division to about 50 efficient
men, exclusive of officers' servants, prisoners, recruits,
&c. Notwithstanding the reduction of the standard
for admission to the corps, and the increase of the
bounty, and other emoluments obtainable, the num-
ber of recruits admitted to the division is inconsi-
derable. Twelve able-bodied young men were re-
ceived on Friday from Manchester, and six from
Pontefract, one of whom measured 6ft. 4-lin.
About 600 of the West York Militia have arrived
in Newcastle-on-Tyne, and about 250 at Sunderland.
The Northumberland Militia Artillery, under
command of Lieut.-Col. Clementson, left Hexham
on Friday in three divisions; the headquarters and
two companies to man batteries at Tynemouth, and
two companies to Liverpool and Carlisle. A small
detachment is also doing duty in Hull citadel.
The Royal South Gloucester Light Infantry Regt.
of Militia is called out, and will muster at Gloucester
on the 14th inst. for 21 days' training.

THE FRENCH NAVY.

(From a Correspondent of the Times.)

MARSEILLES, Thursday, June 2, 8.30 p.m.

The opening of the Marseilles and Toulon Rail-
way to the public afforded an opportunity, of which
I have availed myself, to endeavour to test, by per-
sonal observation, the truth of the various rumours
that have been circulated from time to time as to
the strength of the Mediterranean fleet, and the
resources of the naval yard and arsenal at Toulon
for its equipment and maintenance. The result is a
belief that the naval force of France, in ships and
materiel, has been considerably exaggerated, unless
we are to suppose that all the strengthof the country
has been put forth at Brest and Cherbourg. But
it is impossible not to foresee that in a few years'
time, were there to be no naval war, and were the
same rate of expenditure to be kept up as has been
during the last ten years, Toulon will become a very
formidable place, not only for the construction and
repair of ships, but also for the construction and
repair of steam machinery_ _ _

The line of country followed by the railway
seems to have been selected rather with a view to
satisfy the exigencies of military defence as a coast
line, than to fulfil the wants of ordinary trade by
keeping as near as possible to the high road, which
passes througk the principal towns and villages;
for, after running nearly parallel to the highway
from Marseilles to Aubagne, it dips down and
bends back towards the west, to pass by La
Ciotat, and, after followinc, the line of coast
for some time, it crosses the high road below 011i-
oules, and comes in at the back of Toulon, just at
the foot of the mountains. The railway has the
reputation of having been the most difficult to con-
struct in France. The tunnels are numerous, there
being two very long ones near (Mollies and so are
the cuttings, which are both deep and long. The
district traversed is wild and desolate—no manu-
factures, no trade, and but little agriculture, con-
sisting chiefly of the cultivation of the olive, with
here and there a patch of vineyard. At 011ioules,
protected from the mistral by the rocks against
which it is built, and where the orange tree re-
lieves the sad monotony of the tawny olive, the
principal objects of cultivation and trade are the
immortelles, which are sent to all parts of France
and the Continent, even to Russia. The whole of
the permanent way is admirably constructed, the
nissonry of the bridges and crossings of the most
substantial description. The only exceptions are
the stations, which are slight, that at Toulon not
being yet finished. That the line can ever pay from
local and through traffic, so long as it stops short
at Toulon, appears very doubtful. On the steep
limestone mountains which screen the coasts from
the interior, and have only a few patches here and
there thinly dotted with a scrubby vegetation, not
even goats could find sufficient food for their sus-
tenance. Where the olive is cultivated, on the
spurs of the hills, the ground has to be broken up in
terraces, with 'revetments of loose stones, to pre-
vent the little blood red soil that lies upon the sur-
face from being washed down into the sea when
the rains set in. The habitations are poor and
scattered wide apart, with only few exceptions.
The last thing a traveller would imagine the railway
was constructed for would be the requirements of
trade. When, however, we arrived at the Toulon
station, the motive of the works was explained at
once. Trains of short, shallow, open waggons, built
expressly for the conveyance of shot and shell, stood
in the sidings, and their contents, 13-inch shell and
idro-conical shot for rifled 30-pounders, were
piled up ready for shipment. There was no mis-
taking the purposes of the line. It seemed no more
a railway in the ordinary acceptation of the term
thltn did the short line that went from Balaklava
to the "front."

The harbour of Toulon haeseonffilo.ate years suffered
A glance
Con Isiderable change in its configuration oan
chart from
extension of the arsenal.
on north, north-west, and
sho my that it is nearly land-locked. The mountains
ro
sides,tect isttr oe
stretching
ht g
nor as they do down to the
shore protect
ben 6b, on either side of the harbour, and cradling it
as ftt were in their arms. From the east it is shel-
teroil by-the promontory. which runs out into the
sea , almost opposite the island of Porquerolles, and
for rag the roadstead of Hyeres. On the west it is
she dtered by Cape Cepet, which thrusts out a head-
, lan (St. Mandrier) to shelter the harbour from the
sou th-west, so that the anchorage ila the outer roads
mu ,st be secure in all winds except those from the
sou th, and then it is probable pallor s would not con-
sider it dangerous. The military defences of Tou.
lon c, independently of the men-of-war, are very
for inidable. The crests of the lills• inland are
crc rwned with detached forts, to command the road
fro m Italy by which Prince Eugene and the Duke
of Savoy, at the head of the allied forges of Austria
an d Piedmont, advanced to besiege the town in
17, D 7, while Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel, at the
he ad of the Anglo-Dutch fleets, blockaded it at sea,
an 'd assisted in the bombardment. A strong fort—
Fc Pharon, built on the break of one of the hills
co mmands the road from 011ioules, which, when
th e British occupied the town in 1793, was igno-
ra atly left undefended, and allowed the sans culottes
fr( mm Marseillei and Lyons to penetrate the natural
de fences of the town, the range of hills, and
in vest it. As far as could be counted, there ap-
peared to be six of these mountain or detached forts.
TI tey did not seem very formidable from the sea-
w; Ord, although, no doubt, they could direct a
to rrible plunging fire upon the two lines of ap-
pr ouches to the town. From their lofty position,
pc =lied in the clouds, they are not likely to be
to ken by assault. But they may not be so secure
fr em vertical fire as it was imagined they would be
w hen first designed. The real defences of the town
at 41 harbour are to seaward. The most important

of all, which commands the roads and harbour, is
Fort Lamalge, the last evacuated by -the English in
1793. It is built on a rising ground, east of the town
on the land side and opposite the healand St. Man-
drier, previously mentioned as stretching out from
Cape Cepet. Between these two points is the en-
trance to the inner roads. Fort Lamalgue is built
after Vauban's system, but the stone work, 30 feet
high, exhibits considerable wear and tear. A bat-
talion of the 86th Regiment of the line garrisons it,
which is about as many as it could contain. The
guns were all in store yesterday and the embrasures
empty. I was told they numbered about 200.
Probably one-half would be nearer the mark. To
the west of the fort Lamalgue, on the angle where
the roads open on the harbour, was a flagstaff bat-
tery with about 24 guns, which, it may be presumed,
were kept in position for saluting. Opposite Fort
Lamalgue, and crossing fire with it, are the two
forts of Eguillette and Ballagnier, which stand at
the edge of the water, and would prove very ugly
customers to any enemy's ships seeking an entrance.
They are said to mount 50 guns each towards the
water, and above them, crowning the heights of
Caire, is Fort Napoleon, which commands the en-
trance, crossing fire with Fort Lamalgue also, and
which commands the approaches from the seaward
on the south, Fort Napoleon is " le petit Gibraltar,".
extended and consolidated, which was the key
I of the British position in 1793, and it may also
• be said to the empire of France for the Sub
Lieutenant of Artillery who first discovered its
importance and prepared the means for its cap-
ture. Other forts and batteries stud the hills
and shores commanding the harbour, and are
said to,have, with the forts above named, 500 pieces
of artillery in store relay to be mounted.
In the roads were lying the following ships in
commission, and ready to put to sea:—The Bre-
tagne, the Ville de Paris, the Redoubtable, the
Arcole, the Alexandre, the Donauwerth, liners;
the heavy frigates Isly and Cyclope ; the floating
batteries Lave, Tonnante, and Devastation ; and
one gun sloop. These were all that could be said
to be ready for sea. As the author of " All the
Navies of the World" undertook to inform your
readers that I had misstated the strength in guns
of the Toulon fleet, affirming that there was no 140
gun ship in the French navy, and that the Bretagne
only carried 130, it may be as well if I state what
I saw and what I counted, in company with others,
so that no error is possible. La Bretagne showed the
muzzles of 20 guns on a broadside on each of her
three decks, and the muzzles of 12 guns along the
gangway. These, therefore, give a broadside of
74 guns, and make the number she carries 144. As
four of the guns she showed through the ports may
have been boat guns, her regular armament would
become 140 guns, at which she is rated. She carried
on each bow a large gun, probably Paixhan's 80
shell guns, and six of the same calibre amid-
ships on each broadside. The Redoubtable showed
44 guns on a broadside, the Arcole 46 guns, the
Alexandre 46 guns, the Donauwerth 39 guns, the
Ville de Paris 53 guns, the Isly 22 guns, and the
Cyclope 22, but the latter appeared a very ineffi-
cient ship. These figures would therefore make the
Isly and Cyclope 44 gun frigates, the Redoutable
an 88 gun ship, the Arcole and Alexandre 92 gun
ships, the Donauwerth a 78 gun ship, and the Ville
de Paris a 106 gun ship. In the last official list
printed by the French Government these ships are
classed according to their rates. Thus the Bretagne
is called a 140 gun ship, although she carries 144
guns and is pierced for 160 guns. The Ville de
Paris is called a 120 gun ship, although she now
only shows 106 guns, but to-morrow may have her
full rating ; the Arcole and Alexandre are both
rated as 90's, although they have 92 guns shown
through the ports, and may any day carry more or
less, as circumstances may dictate. The French
line of battle ships number so far as can be made
out from the amount of information which is
allowed to transpire, as follows :—The Bretagne,
140 guns, 1,200 horse power ; the Ville de Paris
120 guns, 600 horse power; the Friedland, 120
guns; 600 horsepower; the Montebello, 120 guns,
600 horse power ; the Souverain, 120 guns, 600
horse power ; the Redoutable, 100 guns, 900
horse power; the Algesiras, 100 guns, 900 horse
power; the Fleurus, 100 guns, 650 horse power;
the Navarin, 100 guns, 650 horse power • the Prince
Jerome, 100 guns, 650 horse power; power;
Castig-
lione, 100 guns, 900 horse power ; the Ulm, 100
guns, 650 horse power.; the Austerlitz, 100 guns,
650 horse power ; the Duguay Tronin, 100 guns,
650 horse power; the Turenne, 100 guns, 650 horse
power ; the Eylau, 90 guns, 900 horse power ; the
Arcole, 90 guns, 900 horse power ; the Alexandre,
90 guns, 900 horse power ; the Massena, 90 guns,
900 horse power ; the Fontenoy, 90 guns, 650 horse
power ; the Charlemagne, 90 guns, 650 horse
power ; the Duguescelin, 80 guns, 450 horse power ;
the Jean Bart, 80 guns, 450 horse power. The
following liners are either building or being fitted
with screws, or were so a short time back :—The
Valmy, the Louis XIV., the Desaix, the Tage, the
In trepide, the Ville de Bordeaux, the Imperial, the
Breslau, the Vile de Lyons, the Jena, the Bayard,
the Inflexible, the Hercule, the Ville de Nantes,
the St. Louis, the Gemappes. This :list, which is
necessarily incomplete, shows 41 liners, of which
many are on the stocks acid cannot be sent to sea
for years to come.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 8.30 P.M.

_ .
From the statement I sent you yesterday it
would appear that the French fleet at Toulon
ready for sea. consists of six liners—Bretagne,
Ville de Paris, Redoutable, Arcole, Alexandre, and
Donauwerth ; two heavy frigates Isly and
Cyclope ; three floating batteries—Lave, Tonnante,
and Devastation, with three steam gunboats. The
Ville de Paris is undergoing some slight repairs,
and is painted a slate colour. 'The Cyclope would
probably not prove very efficient. To these must
be, added the three liners, Napoleon Algesiras,
and Eylau, besides the heavy frigate Impetueuse,
rated at 56 guns, and 800 horse power, which are
up ,the Adriatic. The French Mediterranean fleet,
actually in commission and ready for sea, would
therefore appear to consist of nine line-of-battle
ships, and three heavy first-class frigates.
The reserve or advance squadron consists of five
liners, Prince Jerome, Charlemagne, Fleurus, Jena,
and Friedland, and three first-class frigates, the
Imperatice Eugenie, Foudre,. and Dryade. The
Fleurus is in dry dock, with her topmasts struck
and rigging removed. • She appeared to have all
her guns on board, and was
.having her stern post
repaired. The Prince Jerome was afloat in the
inner harbour without her topmasts and rigging.
The Jena was in like condition. The Charlemagne,
which has one of the earliest round sterns, has her
masts and rigging set up, and so have the two
steam frigates between which she is moored. These
—lmperatrice Eugenie and Foudre—are rated at
56 guns and 800-horse power each. The Dryade
is called a 60-gun frigate, and is provided with 450-
horse power. Judging from the state of the yard
it is not probable that the Fleurus, Prince Jerome,
and Jena could be got ready for sea under a couple
of months at least. The others are in a more for-
ward state. I noted, moreover, the following liners
laid up in ordinary alongside the quays, and which
might perhaps, by dint of hard labour, be sent to
sea in three months :—The Montebello, the Sou-
verain, and the Navarin, so that probably we should
not err in estimating that in three months or so
the Toulon fleet could be raised to 17 liners and six
first-class frigates.
.... . . . _ . .

Several of-the paddlewheel steam frigates that
have hitherto been armed en flute, and have been
employed as transports, have received orders to
take on board their full armaments. These are, for
the present, the Gamer, the Mogador, and the
Descartes. They are all provided with engines of
the same force, 450-horse power, and are to carry,
so it is stated, 22 guns. They are expected to be
followed with others selected from the following
list :—Panama, Sane, Eldorado, Magellan, Darien,
Caffarelli, Canada, Oronoque, Ulloa, Christophe
Colombe, and Asmodee. These paddle wheel vessels,
with engines of 450-horse power each, are admir-
ably adapted for transport purposes, and have
doubtless done good service in the conveyance of
troops, but as ships of war they are not likely to be
so efficient.

The gunboats are, with the exception of those in
the outer harbour, undergoing alterations for their
adaptation to a new system of naval warfare. They
are the Eclair, the Flamme, the Fleche. the Grenade,
the Alerte, the Mutine, and the Tirailleuse. The
first four are provided with engines of 110-horse
power, and with two guns, 50-pounders. Only one
of them, a three-masted fore and aft schooner rigged,
can be compared with. the English steam gun
sloops, of which the Coquette, that has been here,
is a noble specimen. The French boat carries
four 30-pounders amidships in addition to her two
long guns forward ; but, besides being inferior in
engine power, her build and lines would lead one
to believe that her speed must. he greatly inferior
to our steam sloops. The mode in which the heavy
guns forward are mounted and are to be worked
is a novelty. Whether it is likely to prove
successful, naval men will be most competent
Russian
into he Balticwar the
t odeci de
that Duringw er
were
theentwere F r epnrcoh
gunboats -
vided with moveable bulwarks, which, in action,
were made to fall down and forman inclined plane,
having on the exposed surface thick iron plates.
The object of this arrangement was that if an
enemy's shot struck the inclined surface it might
receive an upward direction at a sufficient angle to
pass over the guns and clear the ship. In • the
place of this arrangement, more ingenious than
practical perhaps, a new system has been adopted.
The stem and bulwarks are cut down level with the
deck to a point just before the foremast.. At this
point a stout bulwark of oak is built across the
deck from one side to the other and before the
foremast. The bulwark is inclined backwards at a

slight angle, and is to be faced with shotproof iron
plates. It is pierced with two embrasures, circular-
headed and straight-sided ; and through these the
guns are to be fired, the bowsprit being made
moveable to allow of it. From this arrangement
it inevitably follows that the guns cannot be
trained, the embrasures being much too narrow to
allow it, and that they must be fired in a line with
the ship's keel. The vessel would, consequently,
be obliged in action to always present her bows to
the enemy,—that is, to offer the greatest facilities
for being raked. Even if the iron-plated bulwark
did prove an effectual shield, which may be
doubted, the enemy's shot could penetrate other
portions, and rake just the same. Moreover, sup-
pose the shot struck the bulwark near the top, the
inclination of its surface would carry the shot over,
and land it probably among the machinery. The
result would be the effectual disabling of the vessel
until .@he had been refitted in a home port. It has
been reserved- for modern French naval artillerists
to discover that the best position for fighting a ship
is that in which she is exposed to be constantly
raked.

The three last named gunboats—Alerte, Mutine,
and Tirailleuse—are each fitted with one gun, 50-
pounder, mounted on the same principle, the shield
being lower, not much higher than a man's waist,
land curved inwards. Their engines are 25 horse-
power for each boat. The floating batteries are
much more formidable-looking things, provided
their crews are not stifled from the smoke of their
own guns. I only counted nine ports on a broad-
side, but was informed that they carried 18 50-
pounders, all of which could be fought on the same
side. These floating batteries have a further ar-
rangement which appears ingenious; they are
provided with gratings outside the bulwarks, which
can be let down so as to form a kind of balcony for
riflemen to stand upon. Thus, supposing the bat-
tery to be fighting her port broadside, the balcony
to starboard would be let down outside the bul-
warks, and the riflemen who stood upon it would
be protected by the whole breadth of the vessel.
The Coquette left Marseilles the first thing this
morning, with the Hon. Mr. Elliot and the attaches
to the Neapolitan Embassy= board. She also took
with her eight seamen, volunteers from- the mer-
chant shipping here for her Majesty's navy, mak-
ing 15 entered by Captain Foley within the last ten
days—since the Queen's proclamation was received
here. It is much to be regretted that the English
Admiralty should have, sent the Coquette away at
this time, for entering into the navy is growing
very popular. The men are, in fact, quite enthu-
siastic about it, and the ice having once been
broken, there was every prospect of the scheme
being eminently successful. As it is, there is no
ship to receive the men, however desirous they may
be to enter the service, and the term allotted will
have expired before a ship can be sent out to replace
the Coquette, whose crew have been unusually
steady and well-conducted—so much so as to make
one proud of hailing them as countrymen.