The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-08 00:00:00

TILE ARMY.

The 30th and 31st companies of Royal Engi-
neers, which haye been placed under orders to em-
bark for the Mediterranean, were medically in-
spected at head-quaiters on Saturday, prior to
leaving Chatham for their destination. Each com-
pany has bees made up to 100 non-commissioned
officers and men from the 35th and 36th depot com-
panies recently formed. According to present ar-
rangements the 30th company, under the command
of Capt. A. S. Creyke, will proceed to Malta to
relieve the Ist company ; and the 31st company,
commanded by Capt. A. B. Fyers, to Corfu, to
relieve the 9th. The Ist and 9th companies have
been absent from England some years, both having
served in the Crimea previously to proceeding to
Malta and Corfu.

Lieut.-Col. H. W. Montagu, R.E,, the com-
manding Royal Engineer at Sheerness, has been
appointed commanding Royal Engineer at Malta.
Major F. H. de Vere, R.E., who has been appointed
second in command at Malta, is now undergoing a
course of general instruction at the Royal Engi-
neer establishment, Chatham, to qualify himself for
the appointment.

Gen. Sir Richard llacres, commanding the garri-
son at Woolwich, finding that the military distur-
bances in the lower part of the town are gaining
consistency from the perseverance on the part of a
few of the proprietors of publichouses in resisting
the pickets dispatched in quest of loiterers and
absenteeN has established a permanent picket,
to consist of one sergeant, six corporals, and 24
gunners and privates, for the purpose of patrolling
that part of the town, and carrying out the disci-
pline of the service with efficiency.
A squadron of the 6th battalion Military Train
will march from Woolwich garrison this morning
for Liverpool to embark for Ireland, to be followed
by headquarters of another squadron of the same
battalion about, the 16th inst. The battalion is to
he relieved by the 7th battalion Military Train, ex-
pected shortly to arrive in Woolwich.

The huts at the camp at Colchester are fully
occupied, the strength of the garrison being returned
in the current monthly statement at 3 field officers,
71 officers, 51 sergeants, and 2,547 privates. The
number of cases under medical treatment is about
100. Some men selected from the 10th battalion,
under the charge of Lieut. Bicknell, of the 38th, are
to proceed forthwith to the Hythe School of Mus-
ketry. About 200 men have left the camp for Al-
dershott as probationary candidates for the Com-
missariat Corps.
The annexed circular memorandum, headed
" Ammunition," has been received at Woolwich
from the Horse Guards, signed by the Hon. Sir J.
Y. Scarlett, Adjutant-General of the Forces :
"Doubts having arisen as to the relative duties
of the Adjutant-General's department and the com-
manding
reserves
eorffiv
ec es rs
of of
ammunition, Artillery
gards
anditbeinga mat-
ter of of importance to the efficiency
of the
those duties should be clearly defined, and
t a
no
certainty should exist as to the
,functions
of at
officers concerned in the provision of ammunition Highness the
l for the use of the troops, his Royal
General Commanding-in-Chief deems it expedient
(
to direct that the circular dated Horse Guards,
March 14, 1860, be considered as cancelled, and,
with the concurrence of the Secretary of State for
War, the following regulations substituted :--1.
The Adjutant-General of an army in the field is
responsible to the General Commanding-in-Chief
for the ammunition of that army. 2. To enable him
efficiently to perform his duty he will be furnished,
as often as he may deem necessary, by the officer
commanding the Royal Artillery and the chief
military store officer with the army, with returns
of the state of the reserves in the Royal Artillery
and 'military store charges respectively. 3. The
Assistant-Adjutants-General of divisions will be
held responsible that the officers commanding the
divisions are at all times made acquainted with the
state of their reserves of ammunition, and, as often
as may he required, will be furnished with the ne•
cessary reports from the officers commanding the
Royal Artillery of the division ; and any deficiency
' the regulated amount of ammunition is to
be inamete._,-iv made known to the Adjutant-Gene-
ral of the army. •=. Q 9-0 first and second reserves
re n
of gun and small arms amtnauu:— ,
charge of the Royal Artillery, and conveyto enb “.e i
.1.
replenished as hereinafter directed ; the third re-
serves of gun and small arms ammunition and the
grand depot of reserve will be in the custody of the
Military Store Department. 5. The first reserve
of ammunition for the guns (about 50 rounds per
Ru) is that contained in the second line of wagons
of ell.ch battery. 6. The first reserve for small arms %

(about 30 rounds per man) will be conveyed in
small arms ammunition wagons attached to the
field batteries of the several divisions, and each of
the wagons will be provided with cradles to admit
of the ammunition being taken by the leading horses
of the teams to such positions from the second re-
serves. 7. The second reserves are to be completed
from the reserves under the charge of the Military
Store Department, upon requisitions of the officers
commanding Royal Artillery with the army, made
through the Adjutant-General. 8. On emergency,
however, the military store officers in charge of
reserves of ammunition are to make issues on re-
quisition of Assistant Adjutants-General of divi-
sions. 9. The third reserve for guns and small
arms, in charge of the Military Store Depart-
ment, should not be more than an ordinary two
days' march in reach of the army. Its transport is
to be provided for in such manner as the General
Commanding-in-Chief may consider the most ad-
vantageous. Should the base of operations where
the grand depot of reserve is placed be further dis-
tant than an ordinary two days' march from the
reserves last mentioned, intermediate reserves will
be required, upon the organisation and disposition
of which the commanding officers of Artillery and
the chief military store officer should be required to
report to the Adjutant-General, and the General
Commanding-in-Chief may determine what course
should be followed to ensure a regular and sufficient
supply of ammunition for the grand depot of re-
serve for the use of the army. 10. The supply of
ammunition in the field is to be obtained on requi-
sition of commanding officers of corps to the Assis-
tant-Adjutant• General of divisions, for which the
commanding officers of Artillery divisions will re-
ceive the orders of the general officer commanding
as to the extent of the issue to be made. When,
however, the army, or a part of it, is actually
engaged, the commanding officers of Artillery
with divisions may issue ammunition on the re-
quest of any commanding officer whose corps may
be in want of it, reporting that he has done so, as
provided in paragraph 3. 11. In fortresses, gar-
risons, &c., general officers commanding are to hold
the military storekeeper responsible that the reserve
of small-arms ammunition in his charge is equal to
the authorised proportions, and available at all
times for issue if required. 12. The reserve referred
to in the 11th paragraph is to be maintained to the
extent authorised by the Secretary of State for War,
in addition to the store of small-arms ammunition,
for the current service of regiments and corps, the
quantities for which service are to be determined
by the general officers commanding, in accordancq
with the Queen's Regulations, pages 112 and 113,
and communicated by the Adjutant-General to the
military storekeeper, that he may, by demand on
the War-office from time to time, obtain the
necessary supplies. Issues for the store of am-
munition are to be made on requisition of command-
ing officers of regiments and corps, to be sent
through the Adjutant-General for the authority of
the general officer commanding, if abroad, and, if at
home, of the Secretary of State for War. 13.
Small-arms ammunition wagons have been sent to
the camps of instruction at home, and general
officers in command of those camps are to accustom
the troops to obtain small arms ammunition for
exercise when in the field in the manner that would
be followed in actual warfare in the event of the
supply of ball cartridge with the infantry being
exhausted."