AUCKLAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1591, 14 June 1861, Page 4

AUCKLAND.

By the Wonga Woxga wo have received a Copy of the - 'Southern Cross ' of the 28th ultimo, via Nelson, and by the Lord our, usual' files up to the 7tfi' r in^t., from which wo have taken the following extracts :— Excellency the GovVrnb'r held a Levee at Government House, at 3 o'clock/pirn., in honor of the Queen's birthday. The attendance was not so large as on former occasions, butvthis.was owing to the late hour at which the review terminated. The Olahuhu Cavalry, attended in their blue sc3rge^hirts> ; not ibaving time to change apparel; and the. Auckland Rifle Volunteers, ydid ; not arrive at Goreviiment Hcfuse till the Levee was over. .

Her Majesty's Birthday.— -After several, days of. unprecedentedly wet weather, it 'suddenly cleared in honor of Her ' Majesty's Birthday, and Friday morning was nearly as bright and pleaiauVaday as we hafe had during the winter.

/The great event was, of course, the review which was to be held at Ellerslie ; and at an early hour; bugles and drums were ; he. a rd ; . .and streams of Volunteers and others were seen wending their way to Albert: ' Barracks, where, the Artillery, the' %slh Regiment, and the A.uckland Kifles and Coast Guard paraded at 10 o'clock.^ They then started for. Ellerslie, which, they readied simultaneously with the, force, from Otahuhu, consisting of the;l4tb, 40th, 70th, and the detachments of th c 1 2 th . • .

/The; fallowing were the numbers of all rasks under arms : — ; ; . Boyal Artillery... 158 : * Royal Engineers 23 ' Ist Batt P 2th Regiment •••' 162 ' 2nd Battalion, 65th 767 . 3rd " 70th 564 ? 4tb ' " 40th.. 490 Koyal Cavalry Volunteers ... 60 ■ I! ' ' Totai..'....2 > 929 So'largea force have never, we believe, been paraded before in any of the Australian Colonies. •{'■•■ vLteut.-General Cameron, C;B ,i attended! by Major Whitmore, ; Military Secretary;,. Cqptairi McNeil], A.D.C. Lieutenant, , 14th ;Regimeut, Acting Brigade Major: his, .Excellency the (Governor, and suite, .escorted by a detachment of the Auckland Cavalry Guards, under. Captain Beckham ; Col. Mould, &.E , and Colonel Sillery arrived on the ground shortly afterwards. The tf bops were, then drawn up in line/ deploying on the light company of the 12th and 14th, the Rifles to the extreme left of the regulars. The Artillery, with 6 12---pounder Armstrong guns, were on the right, and the Cavalry on the left flank. The line extended more than three quarters of a mile, and had a most imppsihg appeerarice! Exactly at noon the, battery opened fire with 7 guns, and a feudejoie was fired in the usual manner by the troops, the Band playing between the rounds " God Save the Queen," and the whole concluded with a cheer which resounded far and near.

The whole force then marched past the salutiug flag in slow and quick time, the Artillery leading, and the Cavalry bringingliiplh7e~rear, 'The appearance of all arms was greatly admired. The artillery h&rses do credit to their breakers- in, and' as. for the. Cavalry, the only criticism that we^Keard of was that they were too few in number. The Rifles, under Colonel BlilfcfeaviS 1 , looked' most soldierly, even amongst as fine a body of soldiors of the liftft-as-ong opuld easily bring, together. Their band gave great satisfaction.

fTiieloyal business of the day having been got through, preparations were made for- the great spectacle :— a desperate, fight with an unknown enemy. The troops having; reformed column/took up ground to the left at the lower part of the paddock. The enemy were supposed to be between them and Auckland, and we presume ; advancing to the attack. The action begau with a solitary gun. Then a line of skirmishers was thrown outy, and, advanced with their supports a^posslhe field, keeping up a sharp fire ojjLjthe enemy's tirailleurs, who kept themselves admirably concealed. Our skirmishers, however, must have succeeded mfdriving them in, for they were soon manning a scoria wall at the bottom of the B field, and holding ie for some time against an overwhelming foroe. They were, however,, repulsed at last, and retired skirmishing, the plain body, of ttjie, en^injfy.we •conclude,. following them up ; The first line,, however, adviain6e.d,and a/ heavy fusilade ensued, when theqn^pay being evidently miion shaken the charge' was sounded and with the usual, result. In a few m^nutes f (he Otahuhu Cavalry were amo^gst'^he brokeii ranks of the enemy, cutting and hewing, and doing good service,

The enemy's infantry being repulsed a general advance of the reserves on our side took places. The splendid cavalry of the enemy however now advanced to cover the retreat of their foot and threatened our infantry, who immediately formed sqii a res of battalions extending c.D I'chclfon- iiurosK the Held, and a murderous Hie. wns'o|ieiHM!.on the hostile! squadrons, which were I'm ally repulsed with heavy loss.. Tho British remained in possession of the field, the enemy retreating in the direction of the Junction Hotel. It was impossible to follow up the victory as tho Governor's leveo had to come off at three o'clock.

Thus euded tho best field day we ever remember in Auckland, and wo only regret that it'was not considered advisable lohave the Auckland Militia represented on this .occasion as they were last year. Every man we believe in their ranks would have rejoiced to assist in doing honor to Her Majesty's birthday, and we must remember that though the absence of a uniform may give them a motley appearance, hot agreeable to military eyes, on field, days, still it will be found, if ever real work is called for, that' the bone and sinew of the country is to be found amongst them.