The Volunteers.

Bruce Herald, Volume x, Issue 957, 13 November 1877, Page 5

The Volunteers.

THE REVIEW;

(By our Special Reporter.)

The Review; which took place at the Forb«ry on the- Prince of Wales birthday, is an ev orit i -which takes rauk among the premier gatherings of , .volunteers in this Province. Without indulging in preliminaries and introductories after the manner of the metropolitan press, I will at once plunge -in, medias res. The yolunteera fell in , at. the Custom-house, Dunedin, at about 10.30 a.ra. in the following prcUr :— Artillery and .Cadets, with. Armstrong guns, Captain Jack commanding. First Battalion, under. Major Wales, consisting of— No 1 City Guards, ! Not eh Dunedin, South District, and Wakari Rifleßj with Majors Reeves and Kobertß. No. 2 Battalion, under command of Major Jones, aud consisting of— Bruce, East and West Taieri, and Nos. 1 and 2 Clutha Rifles, Captains Andrew and M'Neil Acting- Majors. No.. 3 Battalion, in : command of Captain Murray, and consisting-. of—No. 1 City Guardß, High School Itifles, North District, South District, aud Middle District School Qadets, with Captains Thomson and Graham Acting-Majors. The other corps which afterwards formed the defending force in the sham fight, supported by the batteries on the sand hills, under the , command of Captain G^ldie, were as follows :—J>unedin and Port Chalmers. 'A aval Brigades, Naval Cadets, and the Inyercargill 'Contingent, with Captain Haj wood as ; refer.ee. ..--.•■..,. | "The whole division was under Major Stavely, and his_ staff consisted of Lieut. ICingsweli .of the InvercargiU , Artillery i (acting-major of Brigade); Lieuts. Cutten »nd Keid (aides-dc camp) ; Dr Hpcken, Btaff surgeon ; Staff-Sergeants Stevens, Paxton, Smith, M^ckeay, and. Harrison. ■. The attendance was— Duuedin Artillery, 34 ; .mgh.gQbool: Carets, 4\; .Inyercargill Artillery, 50 ; ; .Tlity.. Guards, 77 ; -. ; North Dunedin Rifles, 52 ; Ipvercarg'ill Rifles, 38 ; South District. Rifles, 30 ; Waip.ori Rifles, 32 ; Bruce Rifles : Lieutenant Scott, Sub-Lieut. Reiil, 3 sergeants, 27 rank and file.; total, 31. East Taieri, Corps : Lieutenant Donnelly/ Sub-Lieutenant Brown, 3 sergeants, 3 cor-porals,-16 rank and file; total, 25.. West Taieri Corps : Captain lyeson, Lieutenant Blatch;3 sergeants, 20 rank aud file ; total, 25.. No« 1 Clutha : Lieutenaut Smail, Subi Lieutenant Stevens, 3. sergeants, 22 rank and I file ; tota), 28. Ifo. 2 Clntha; Lieutenant Henderson, Sub-Lieutenant Stewart, 3 Bergeants, 2 corporals,, 20 rank and file; tptalj 28. Portobello, 24 ; Dunedin Naval; 60 ; Port Cbalmers Naval, 61 ; and a very large number of Cadets from the various schools. Tha volunteers marohad to the scene of action at 1i.30, No. 1 Battalion proceeding to the Forbury via St Kilda, and Noa. 2 and 3 by tbe Gas Works. The Ocean Beach Railway Company, which, that day carried 4463 -passengers from the Dunedin Station, and which did a splendid business by virtue of the volunteer attraction, with ita characteristic illiberality could not or would not provide carriages for the volunteers, who had to tramp it by way of preliminary for a hard day's work on the sandhills. The firat manoeuvre was THE SHAM EIGHT. This' was looked forward to as the great event pf thg day. The enemy consisted of the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Navals, the Naval Cadets, and the Invercargill Cadets, in command jof Captain Goldie, % Captain Hey wood referee.. They held a well nigh I impregnable positions on the sandhills. ' Thoir main battery was on a height within a «hort aigtanqe of" the qga, and. a fei? hundred yards in advance, of this and on elevated positions were a central battery and two flag batteries, " mounted ' with Armstrong guns. The attacking force consisted of three battalions — the first under command of Major Wales, forming the right attacking column ; the second battalion tmdey Major J;ones, forming the left attacking " column ; and the third battalion under Captain Murray, forming tbe reserve of the attacking force. A division, of the Artillery and Artillery Cadets accompanied each qf the af4ack}r,« ppjutmis.. At fhe eommaad of Major Stavely the attacking columns moved to the assault, after which they were left in tlie Ijari^s fif th,ejr ppmmandin^ officers. U^e assault was commenced first by the right column, with Artillery and skirm.isbe.rs, $h.e left column quickly following sqit. The right flank buttery of tf)£ enemy w«s spon silenced

and taken ; and after the one'oii tbejeft had shared a similar fate, the attacking forces moved towards the central battery, pouring in volley after volley of musketry, while the enemy responded with three six pounders. The enemy, in giving. way, carried with them their, right and left flank guns, but abandoned the guns of the central battery, and fell back upon their main position in the rear. The Bruce Rifles, who were the. right of the left j attacking column, were the . first to get into the central battery and drive the enemy out. They jumped into the battery amidst the j most, enthusiasting cheering,, and having spiked the enemy's guns, ■> charged tbe main j position ; and after a desperate fight of about i hailf-an-hour, were driven back on the first line, when the three batteries were after a hard recaptured, by their ' former occupants in gallant style. : The position occupied by the enemy was ; such tha,t it was almost: impossible to dislodge them, and every credit must be given to the menj and officers for the way in which they worked. All showed undeniable plucky and in their eagerness to gel to the attack several of ; them wenetwell marked by powder 'and scare, and one had his neck scratched w ith the point of a bayonet, The sham fight, however, as a spectacle cannot be pronounced a brilliant success. - This was owing to- the fact! that men, women; and children, to the number of .three or four thousand occupied the position: that had been allotted for the engagement, thereby rendering it impossible for the men to acquit themselves so well as the otherwise would have done. It was . u tterly impossible to keep. the: grbnod: clear. Now to the ; BAYOKET BXKBCISE. <! The competition for the prize of £10 offered for the corpaV beßt at this- exercise, created intenee excitement. ; Nofc only volunteers but spectators were imbued with the keenest interest in the contest. The, prize was offered by "the Review Committee^ and the conditions were that every competing company should furbish a team, of not - less than 2<V rank and file, and should be put through the exercise by one of it 9 commissioned officers. Ex-Major Atkinson umpired, and he was assisted by Staff Sergeants Smith, and Harrison. The competing; companies were the Bruce Rifles, under Lieutenant Reid ; the City Guards, under Captain Wilson ; the North Dunedin Rifles, under Lieutenant Pollock; Wakari Rifles, under Captain Ueid ; and the No. 1. lnvercargill Rifles, under Captain. Macrorie. The lnvercargill Artillery also entered a team for the competition; but withdrew. The various companies drew for position. No. 1 falling to the Bruce Rifles. The company, under Lieut. Reid, went through the exercise in. splendid Btyle, the obser ved of a vast assembly of 7000 or 8000 persons Its steadiness was remarkable, and the .men could not be surpassed from the ranks of the regulars. The total number scored against the men was eight points, and one against the officer. The other, cpmpaniescame out ofJthe ordeal as- -follows •— i Wakarißifles> twelve paints against the men; No. 1-City Gruards, fifteen points against the men ; North Dunedin Rifles, nine points against the men; Invercargill Artillery, fifteen points, against the. men, and one point against the office*. When it become known that the Bruce and North linnedin Rifles tied, expectation was at its highest;. When informed that the tie' hi*d to be, decided, Lieut Reid elected to put his men through, first. Large jamounts of money were staked on the result of the competition . Bruce proved to be. the loser* nine points being scored against it to five against Norih Dunedin. , Maj>r Atkinson put it very well when, the officers being called to: the front, he said North Punedih had won the money, . but 'Bruce merited the praise,;. I heard the, opinion expressed that,; bad the officersr of North Dunedin allowed more time for the,, detection of several mistakes, the result,; if not. different, wonld atj all events have been more favourable ; to Bruce. It was simplj rushed:through, while acquitted itself steadily and brilliantly.