The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-11 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The annexed General Order has been promul-
gated
" The Queen having been graciously pleased to
command that a medal, similar to that granted by
her Majesty in 1842, shall be conferred upon all
the officers and soldiers of her Majesty's Army and
Indian Forces employed in the operations in China
which resulted in the capture of the city of Pekin ;
and that clasps, inscribed ' Canton, 1857,' Taku
Forts, 1860,' and 'Pekin, 1860,' be granted to such
of her Majesty's Forces as may have been engaged
in those services ;
" And, further, that an additional clasp, inscribed
China, 1842,' shall be granted to such of her Ma-
jesty's Forces as may have received the medal
granted in commemoration of the former opera-
tions, and who have also been engaged in the war
recently terminated;
" His Royal Highness the General Commanding-
in-Chief desires that this mark of her Majesty's
gracious approbation of the services of that por-
tion of her Forces employed under Major-Gen. Sir
C. T. Van Straubenzee, K.C.8., and Lieut:-Gen.
Sir James Hope Grant, G.C.8., in 1857 and 1860
respectively, shall be published in the General
Orders of the Army.
" The general officer commanding the Forces in
China has been instructed to furnish nominal lists
of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men
entitled to receive the honourable distinction which
it is her Majesty's gracious intention to bestow
upon them."
The following General Order has been issued in
reference to examinations of officers of the Royal
Engineers for the Staff College :
" Horse Guards, March 4.
" His Royal Highness the General Commanding-
in- Chief, with the concurrence of the Secretary of
State for War, has decided, in consequence of the
high standard of the examination which an officer
of Royal Engineers is required to pass before ob-
taining his commission, that in future officers of
that corps shall not be called upon to pass through
the Staff College in order to qualify themselves for
employment on the Staff of the Army."
The following circular memoranda, signed by Sir
J. Y. Scarlett, Adjut.-General, addressed to the
army at home and abroad, were on Saturday an-
nounced at head-quarters of the Royal Artillery at
Woolwich, for promulgation :
"Horse Guards, Feb. 25.
" Instances having occurred in which Regimental
Boards of Survey have subjected rifles supposed to
be defective in accuracy of shooting to tests not
only injurious to the arms, but also not calculated
to elicit the truth as to their capabilities, and there
being no fixed rules for general guidance on this
subject, his Royal Highness the General Command-
ing-in-Chief, with the concurrence of the Secre-
tary of State for War, is pleased to desire, that
whenever it may be found necessary that rifles
should be examined by Regimental Boards with a
view to test their accuracy of fire, the following
course should invariably observed :
" 1. The arms must be previously examined and
cleaned in the armourer 's shop by the armourer
sergeant. 2. One of the best and steadiest shots in
the battalion should be selected to fire all the arms
under examination. 3. The charges of powder
should be carefully weighed, and the ammunition
properly examined. 4.N0 fixed rest is to be used,
as they cannot be depended on ; but any other de-
scription of rest may be used in firing from the
shoulder. 5. The diagram of the shooting should
contain not less than 10 shots for each range, not
including the two or three trial shots necessary to
ascertain the force and deviation of the wind, &c.
6. The mean deviation should be taken from the
point of mean impact, without reference to the
centre aimed at. His Royal Highness takes this
opportunity of desiring that the practice of using
what in some regiments is called a nosing stick, or
any brickdust or gritty. substance, for cleaning the
interior of the barrel, is on no account to be per-
mitted, eh the lands thereby become worn, and the
shooting of the rifle is affected."
" Horse Guards, Feb. 28.
" It being desirable that the claims to Staff em-
ployment of officers who have passed the final exa-
mination at the Staff College, and have fulfilled the
requirements of the regulations dated January 23,
1860, shall not be lost sight of, the General Com-
manding-in-Chief directs the attention of general
and other officers commanding at the different mili-
tary stations at home and abroad to General Orders
issued periodically from this department, publish-
ing the names of officers who have passed success-
fully through the College ; and his Royal High-
ness desires that on the recurrence of a vacancy on
the Staff in any command where there may be
serving an officer who has qualified himself at the
Staff College (or at the late senior department of
the Royal Military College), and whose rank may
render him eligible for the vacant appointment,
such officer should, as a general rule, be recom-
mended to fill the same in preference to one who
has not undergone that ordeal."
" Horse Guards, March 2.
"His Royal Highness the General Commanding-
in-Chief hereby notifies that the Secretary of State
for War has consented to the admission into mili

tart' hospitals of pensioners employed as clerks in
the district military offices, whenever hospital
accommodation can be made available for them
without prejudice to the service, and in cases where
the senior medical officer at the station or district
may deem it necessary. They will, however, be
placed under the usual hospital stoppages during
the periods of their being under treatment in
hospita2."

Orders were on Saturday received by Col. H. D.
Harness, C. 8., director of the Royal Engineer
establishment at Chatham, directing the following
alterations to be made in the disposition of the com-
panies of Royal Engineers :—The 15th Company,
under the command of Capt. J. P. Magnay, with
Lieut. J. J. Robertson, to proceed from Chatham
to the Curragh Camp, there to relieve the 31st
Company, which will return to headquarters, to
' be held in readiness to embark for the Mediter-
ranean. The 4th Company, under the command
of Capt. H. W, 11. D. Dumarqsq, to proceed from
Chatham to Dover, there to relieve the 30th Com-
pany, which will rejoin headquarters, and be
held in readiness to embark for the Mediter-
ranean. The second Company, under the com-
mand of Lieut. A. R. Macdonnell, to proceed from
headquarters to Aldershott Camp, to relieve the
18th (Captain G. Longley's) Company, ordered
to Portsmouth to relieve the 36th (Capt. E. IV.
Hewett's) Company, which returns to Chatham to
form one of the depot companies at Brompton. The
3 th and 31st companies, that proceed to the Medi-
terranean, will relieve the Ist and 9th companies,
which return to headquarters, Chatham.

No. 3 field-battery, Bth brigade, Royal Artillery,
equipped with Armstrong guns, &c., left Ililsea on
Thursday morning, on the march to Bristol, on the
way to Bailin Collig, Ireland. The following officers
accompanied the battery : —Major Hawkins, Capt.
Percival, Lieuts. Drysdale and Stratton, Assistant-
Surg. Hogg, M.D. The dismounted party, under
the command of Lieut. D. Murray, will proceed by
rail on Tuesday.
The present strength of the force stationed in the
camp at Colchester is 64 officers and 2,196 rank and
file. There are also 230 women and 273 children

in the camp. Lieut. Dew, of the 88th, has been
appointed musketry instructor, in the room of En-
sign Dwyer, reigned.

Capt. Ford, of the Ist Royals, has been posted to
the Ist battalion of that regiment, and is under
orders to join the service companies of his regiment
in India.

Major the Hon. Wm. Charles Yelverton, RA ,
had an interview with Col. C. Bingham, Deputy-
Adjutant-General of the Royal Artillery, on Satur-
day, at the Horse Guards.
Instructions were on Saturday issued at Wool-