Americans who never handled rifles until called
upon to fight in the great civil war a few years
ago? Even with the comparatively small force
now at command, we have a nucleus of
regiments and brigades, which could, and no doubt
would, be strengthened to almost any amount
in case of invasion. But the nucleus must have
a different and a better style of officers as
captains and subalterns; or at least those
now filling these positions should be all
obliged to do what many of them no doubt
have done—be obliged to learn their duty,
and practise it for two or three months
with a regular corps before they do so with
volunteers.

As a proof of what I say, I would instance a
volunteer artillery corps that marched into
Portsmouth the day but one before the review.
The commander of the battery is an old Indian
campaigner, who for many years commanded a
troop of horse artillery in the Western Presidency;
and I wish I had half as many sovereigns
at my bankers as he has seen cannon-shots fired
in earnest. Most, if not all, the officers under
him are civilians who never served in the regular
army. But they have all thoroughly learnt
their duty, and the consequence is that the
battery would not cut a bad figure even at
Woolwich. Let these men but take the field
for a campaign, and in three weeks they would
be every bit as serviceable as the best regular
artillery. And much the same may be said of
all the volunteer artillery corps. To unlimber,
fire, limber-up, and drive guns—to bring them
into position, and to advance or retreat as
ordered—every officer, and indeed every gunner
and driver, must have a fair knowledge of his
work. This the commissioned, non-commissioned,
and rank and file feel, and therefore
they learn their duty thoroughly. I may be
wrong—perhaps I am—but it strikes me
forcibly that our volunteer infantry "go in" too
much for firing, and neglect other portions of
their military training.

But one thing can hardly fail to strike every
person as the troops defile past the general
commanding, and that is the wonderful number of
well-built, sturdy, strong, clean-made men in the
ranks of every corps. Here and there we see
a volunteer who has run a little to seed, and
whose waist is a matter of history. There are,
too, a few seedy, weedy-looking individuals,
but both these are rare exceptions from the
general rule. This strikes me still more forcibly
when I follow the corps that have gone off to
form the attacking army, and who for four and
a half mortal hours are never for one minute off
their legs, and seldom standing still. Considering
the sedentary lives that most of these men
lead, and that the greater number of them never
go through a really hard day's work except at
this annual review, it is astonishing to see how
few of them knock up or are obliged to fall out
of the ranks. I am certain that more regular
soldiers break down at an ordinary Aldershot
review than I saw break down at Portsmouth,
and yet I can safely say that I was in every
quarter of the field at one or other part of the
day's manœuvres.

In the sham fight of Easter Monday last
there was a new feature introduced. Soon
after the engagement became general, two
gun-boats and a number of steam launches came
puffing up Porchester Creek, the latter towing
a whole flotilla of pinnaces. These took up
their position opposite the village of Paul's
Grove, which was supposed to have fallen into
the hands of the attacking enemy, and upon the
latter they opened a fire which was splendid to
witness. But previous to this a battery of
heavy guns, which were required to defend the
Portsmouth lines, had to be taken up the
earthworks. These were, of course, too steep for
the employment of horses, so the guns were
taken in hand by their gunners, helped by a
regiment of volunteer infantry, and were all run
up into position in almost as little time as it
takes to write this description of what
volunteers can do in the way of actual work, and
this estimate of what they would do in the
field if required.

A detailed plan of the sham fight would be
interesting to those, and only to those, who know
the country about Portsmouth. The first and
second divisions—that is the force that did not
march past—were supposed to form the enemy,
which had advanced from Fareham, had taken
the three forts on Portsdown-hill, and had made
the lines of defence at Southwick the base of
their operations. So much for the attacking
enemy. The defenders were the third and
fourth divisions, aided by regular artillery and
infantry. The defenders had to drive back the
enemy from the lines, and to do this, under
cover of the fire from the gun-boats, they had
to make a sortie over a pontoon-bridge, which
was placed over the creek in a very short space
of time by the regular engineer corps. Then
they had to attack and carry the villages of
Cosham and Wymering, and thus force the
position of the enemy, turn his flank, and drive
him back over the Portsdown-hills. For a
time the enemy had decidedly the best of it;
the turning-point for the defenders being when
the gun-boats opened their fire from the
creek. When the enemy began to give
way, and the defenders crowded out after
them in regiments and brigades—when they
seemed really to swarm like ants out of
the lines to drive away the attacking force—
was the finest sight of the whole day. As I
said before, to enable them to cross the creek
a pontoon-bridge had to be constructed, and in
less than a quarter of an hour from the time
when it was commenced, artillery guns passed
over it. Nothing could be better conceived than
the whole plan to give our volunteers an idea
of what real warfare is, particularly the kind of
warfare which, if ever their services are
required, they will be very sure to witness.

By a few minutes after five o'clock the
business of the day was over: the last shot was
fired, and regiments began to move towards
the railway station on their way back to