The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-05 00:00:00

THE VOLUMEERS.

General Linds iy, the inspector-rienerat of her
Majesty's Reserve Forces, officially inspected the
Civil Service Rifle Volunteer Corps (the 21st
Middlesex), commanded by Lard Bury, at Wim-
bledon-common, on Wednesday evening. The
regiment is composed exclusively of officials en-
gaged in the Government offices, and its members
are therefore more concentrated for drilling and
other purposes than any other metropolitan corps.
There was, as might therefore be expected, a some-
what larger muster of the members than is generally
seen on parede of other corps, there being, out of a
regiment of eight companies, seven on the ground,
each company of between 20 and 21 files. The regi-
ment left the Waterloo station,and came at the Wi-
mbledon end of the common. A column of companies
was formed, and on the approach of the reviewing
General, who was accompanied by Colonel Daub-
ney, the column deployed into line, and gave the
usual salute. The ordinary course has been for the
corps to march past after this ceremony, but the
General had an open column formed, and ranks
having been opened, he dismounted and proceeded,
with his aide, to make a most minute inspection of
the arms, accoutrements, and uniform of the
men, inspecting not merely the nipples or
the interiors of the rifles, but both, and even
opening the cartouche boxes of the men to see that
nothing of an unmilitary character was kept in
them. This proceeding over, the march past
in open column at the " quick " and in quarter
distance at the " double" were gone through. Line
being again formed, Major Hawker, the second in
command, was then called upon to put the regiment
through the "Manual." The effect of the " Port
arms," with fixed bayonets, was somewhat marred
by two or three men coming to the position of the
"Support arms," and in the " Charge bayonets,"
some few of the rear rank, instead of standing un-
moved at the " Port," charged at the word upon
their comrades. Generally, however, the move-
ments were well executed. By the command of
the General, the regiment marched over the
common towards the Windmill, and for a couple
of hours engaged in a sharp light infantry
drill, as leaving one wing as a main body, and
sending out four companies as skirmishers and
supports, the " front covered" by the skirmishers
being the butts over by Combe-wood, where a
sharp fire was kept up. Several times the compa-
nies had to run in on their supports, and form
squares, so that there was some trying work in the
inspection. The battalion reformed line, and ad-
vanced by wings, firing, a movement which was
well executed, the firing being particularly effective
and regular.

General LINDSAY, at the close (some time after
nightfall), addressed the regiment, and said he
knew the Volunteers had many difficulties to over-
come in having few opportunities of drilling to-
gether, and in having drill places very limited in
space. Making these allowances, he considered the
regiment had done well as a whole, and what he
liked to see in the Volunteers since he had had an
opportunity of seeing them was the quickness with
which they got into order if they were at all
thrown out. He particularly remarked a looseness
in the ranks, the result of want of confidence in the
men, causing the supernumerary ranks to keep up
a constant " hum" of talking, so he supposed, at
correcting the men, for he-could not suppose there
was talking in the ranks. He remarked that in
firing the rifles were well Lvelled generally, but
some two or three men had their weapons nearly
perpendicular. Taking what was done as a whole,
he considered the regiment was excellently handled,
and if the whole of the members could be brought
together at the drills the corps could be made a body
capable of doing anything.
The remarks of the General were received in the
silence now regularly observed, the practice of
cheering the inspectors having been discontinued by
order, and the General having left the ground Lard
Bury addressed a few words to the corps, the mem-
bers of which were marched back to head quarters
and dismissed.