The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-13 00:00:00

Liaval and itilicary intelligence.

The authorities at the War Department have, we un-
derstand, determined to increase the forces of the Corn-
raissariat oMcevs on the China station, orders having been
isi:ued that a uutnbtr of persons connected with that
branch of the army shall hold themselves iu huniediats
readiness to embark for Hong Kong.
The following circular has been addressed to the army
at home and abroad :

" Horse Guards, Jan. 7.
"In reminding commanding officers of regiments that
they are held responsible that in the dress and equip-
ment of their regiments nothing be adopted which is not
sanctioned by her Majesty's regulations, or by special
authority as an exception, his Royal Highness the Gene-
ral Commanding-in-Chief is pleased to direct as follows :
"The tuft of the men's forage cap is to be dark blue
for all regiments of infantry, except light infantry and
rifle regiments, which are to bo of the same colour as
the forage cap, viz., green.
"Chin straps are to be worn—peaks only to be used
on the stations prescribed by regulation. The forage
caps of officers and men of light infantry and fusilier re-
giments are to bear the Arabic numerals, surmounted by
a bugle or grenade, as the case may be ; the officers' in
embroidery, the men's in brass, as by pattern lodged at
the Army Clothing Department.
"The knapsacks of all regiments are to have the num-
bers in Arabic numerals, lt inches in height, painted in
white in the centre of the pack. Light infantry, fusi-
lier, and rifle regiments are to have the bugle or grenade
in white paint over the number of the pack. This does
not apply to flank companies.

"gnMber-plates for the knapsacks of every regiment
will be furnished by the Director-General of the Army
Clothing.

"It is to be distinctly understood that there are only
two orders of equipment for general parade, viz.:-Ist.
Review order, full dress, but without knapsack. 2d.
Marching order, when the full equipment of the soldier
is to be carried, the greatcoat folded at the back of the
pack, and mess-tin on the top as shown in the illustration
given in the circular memorandum, dated Horse Guards,
Oct. 3, 1854. The upper edge of the knapsack should be
on a level with the lower seem of the collar of the coat.
"The larger pouch to hang about four fingers below
the elbow ; the small pouch to be worn in front, on the
right side.
" The bayonet to hang on the right hip, and not too
far to the front.

" Without special authority to the contrary, the chev-
rons of non-commissioned officers are not to be worn on
arms, except in the cases sanctioned by the Queen's
regulations.—By command,
" G. A. WETHERALL, Adjutant-General."

The troops belonging to the corps of Royal Engineers
who have been for some time past engaged, under the
direction of Captain H. Schaw, R.E., in making the
necessary preparations for the destruction of old
Rochester-bridge, have completed the excavation of a
shaft on one of the piers of the bridge from which the
arches have been removed by manual labour. At the
base of the shaft two galleries have been driven, in which
to deposit the gunpowder used in destroying that part
of the works. The progress made by the troops has been
such that it is intended to blow up that portion of the
bridge this afternoon, when six charges of gunpowder
will be deposited in the galleries and fired simultaneously
by means of the voltaic battery. Each of the charges
will be about 501 b. weight. The explosion will take
place at the time of high water, and will be under the
general superintendence of Col. H. Sandham, director of
the Engineers' establishment. General Sir John Bur-
goyne, G.C.8., Inspector-General of Fortifications, will
be present to witness the undertaking. The destruction
of a much larger portion of the bridge will take place by
the Royal Engineers on Thursday next.
An order has just been issued from the War Depart-
ment, by which the various barrack serjeants of all bar-
racks in the :united kingdom are authorisad to draw a
daily ration from the several contractors, subject to the
same conditions as respect !the rest of the troops. In
all future contracts this order is to be made obligatory.
The head-quarters of the Army Works Corps, under
Sir Joseph Paxton, removed yesterday from the offices
in Whitehall-yard to 3, Spring-gardens, the premises
recently occupied being, it is said, intended for Lieute-
nant-General Sir Colin Campbell, the Inspector-General
of Infantry.
The following table shows the British fleet n commis-
sion and how stationed on the Ist of January, 1857, as
compared with the last year of the war, Jan 1, 1856. It
is compiled from official sources :