THE VOLUNTEERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5751, 21 December 1896, Page 4

THE VOLUNTEERS.

THE BATTALION AT KAIAPOI. ' The experiment of a night inarch into the country, ami a day's work to follow, which was essayed by the Mounted liilles and the northern companies of the Canterbury Battalion on Saturday night and yesterday, proved, on the whole, successful. The weather was exceedingly favourable. There were very fair musters of the majority of the "companies j some really useful work was done ; and the men were well conducted and willing. The Mounted Rifles and the three Christchurch infantry companies paraded at the drillshed at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday, and at ton minutes to eight marched off en route for Kaiapoi. As the men were, naturally, tired after their day's work, they were permitted to march in drill order, their great-coats and packs being carried in covered waggons, four of which, one for each corps, followed the little column, bearing the packs, ammunition and cooked provisions for one day. The weather was admirable ; the men went at a good pace, and covered the first three miles in forty-three minutes. . On reaching the Styx, at a quarter past nine o'clock, they were halted and rested for ton minutes. An hour later, at what was formerly known as the Seven-mile Peg, they were allowed another halt of a quarter of an hour for rest and refreshment. They were supposed to then enter an enemy's country, and near Chaney's the Mounted Rifles, who formed the advance guard, came into collision with the enemy's scouts in the persons of a few cyclists of the Kaiapoi Rifles. Two of these were afterwards pursued and made prisoners on the northern side of White's Bridge. The column reached Kaiapoi at ten minutes to twelve o'clock, and at once marched to the drillshed. Here the Kaiapoi Rifles had made hospitable provision' of hot tea and coffee and bread and cheese. Abundance of straw was laid on the floor of the shed for the men to sleep on, and strstw pallets were provided in the adjacent orderly-room for the officers. The Rangiora Rifles had come in shortly before. The Kaiapoi Company furnished a guard, and the other corps soon " turned in," the horses of the Mounted Rifles being picketed on the adjoining railway reserve. A small detachment of men who could not leave town until late, arrived under Captain Creswell, at' 3.30 a.m. The night passed quietly, and early yesterday morning the force was astir. The Kaiaj)oi and Rangiora Rifles, with half a dozen cyclists, marched' off at a quarter past seven, under Captain Helinore, towards Woodend, with instructions to return and represent a force supposed to have been landed from a hostile vessel with the intention of attacking the town, which was to be defended by a force under Captain Day, consisting of the Mounted Rifles, the City Guards, and the College and City Rifles. Operations were to be restricted to a mile on either side of the North Ro^d. Major Slater, the officer in temporary command of the district, and Colonel Francis, acted as umpires. The Mounted Rifles were sent out to reconnoitre. The City (jruards, who formed the right of the defenders' line, were extended from the North Road for a considerable distance along the Beach Road. The City Rifles and College Rifles were extended across the country between the North Road and the Woollen. Company's mills. In front of the centre of the defence, by a mistake which proved fatal, the dense plantations along a portion of the outskirts of the domain were left unoccupied. Captain Helmore conducted the attack very ably. The Kaiapoi Rifles, which wore much the stronger of his two companies, formed its right and centre, a detachment under Lieutenant Simpson acting as a support, while tho Rangiora Rifles, under Lieutenant D'Auvergne, advanced on the left, keeping, close to the North Road. A sharp interchange of shots, soon took place between some of the* Mounted Rifles and the cyclists and others of the attacking force, and some of the Mounted Rifles were cut off. A detachment of them sent out to reconnoitre on the left of the defence, • apparently got too far away, and nothing was seen of it till after the action was over. Tfte bulk of the Kaiapoi Rifles, under Captain Miller, managed to approach close to the defenders' line and seize the plantation before mentioned almost at the same moment that the Rangiora Rifles, who had successfully made their advance on tho left, crossed the North Road, and also entered it. The companies on the left and centre of the defence resisted stoutly, but the line was too attenuated. The City Guards on the right were too widely extended to be concentrated to support their comrades in time ; and the attacking force had the advantage. At half-past nine o'clock " Cease firing" was sounded; the crackling of rifles was silenced, and the men of both sides mingled in amity, while the umpires discussed the position. The force was then drawn up at the junci-ion of the North and Beach Roads, and Major Slater, the umpire-in-chief, delivered the decision. The honours of the day, he said, belonged to the attacking force. In the early part of the movements the Mounted Rifles had been sent to the front to find the enemy. In their' zeal they had rather mistaken the duties they should have performed.- There had been a strong tendency on their part to bring off a fight on their own account, whereas their duty had been to find the enemy, and then to have promptly reported the numbers they had seen to the officer commanding the defence. If mounted men engaged in such duty brought on a fight the result must be disastnms to themselves and to the troops they were covering. He (Major Slater) had himself seen a brilliant little fight going on in front, and his opinion was that the mounted men engaged in it would have been cut off completely. He had heard reports brought in by them as to the numbers of the enemy which he knew were not justified by the actual facts. As regarded the remainder of the defence, the line had been too extended. There had not been the mutual support there should have been. It had been impossible for one corps to support the others. Eventually the attackers had come through, and there had been practically nobody to meet them. Perhaps some of the defenders might say, "We shot them all down before." He had said the very same thing himself, but he had been shown the fallacy of such talk. The men on the extreme right of the defence could not possibly have supported their comrades. He had, however, been pleased indeed to see the earnest way in which all had worked ; and the mistakes they had made had arisen from over-anxiety and overzeal. The men marched back to the drillshed for dinner. There was a second parade at 2p.m.\when the force, headed by the Kaiapory Band, who kindly volunteered their services, marched to the Domain. The infantry did battalion drill and the manual exercise, while the\ Mounted Rifles went through some work outside the domain. The whole were then exercised in marching past and the general salute. The movements were done very commendably, considering that the corps have not worked together for some time, and that many of the men are young volunteers. The Mounted Rifles, in particular, had fourteen newly-joined members in their ranks. The following was the strength of the various corps^—Mounted Rifles, Captain Snow, 27 ; City Guards, Captain Creswell, 35 ; Christ's College itifles, Lieutenant Smith, 20; City Rifles, Lieutenant Fairbairn, 35 ; Kaiapoi Rifles, Captain Miller, 42; Rangiora Rifles, Captain Helmore, 15; total, 174. Lieu-tenant-Colonel Francis was in command Captain Day acted as major and Captain Hobday as adjutant. Surgeon Parsons, of the Kaiapoi Kities, was in attendance Staff Sergeant-majors Barrett and Purvis' Battalion Sergeant-major Foster and Quartermaster-sergeant Mill* were present. Major Slater, the officer in temporary command of the district, accompanied the force from town, and was present at all the operations of the day. The Mounted Rifles left Kaiapoi for town at 4.30 p.m. The infantry companies followed at 5.10 p.m. After two rests, one of twenty-five minutes at the Seven-mile Peg and another of five minutes at Papanui, they reached the drillshed at 9.5 p.m.

Though the Garrison Band did not turn out, two of its members accompanied the infantry, and one of them, by means of a side-drum and a piccolo, materially assisted the march home. Colonel Francis, when thanking the officers and men before dismissing them, especially thanked the two bandsmen.