The provisional battalion, under the command of Major Doubourdieu, and the 21st Fusiliers, under Major Deare, occupied the works against which the attack was directed, as a defending force; and Colonel Sir Leonard Greenwell directed the operations in person.

The firing of artillery and musketry was maintained with great vigour on both sides unil the explosion of the mine gave the signal of attack.

The impetuous assault of the storming-party of the 50th, and the skilful manner in which the rifles, moving over broken ground, and availing themselves of every obstacle, dislodged the defenders, who disputed every tenable position in a most effective manner, were admirably calculated to show the efficiency of both those modes of attack; and whilst the uninitiated had the opportunity of gleaning experience, the veteran could not fail to be reminded of scenes in his former services.

The lodgment was effected by the Royal Sappers and Miners, and a good musketry-parapet established and occupied by the 95th regiment under Capt. Drewe, in less than ten minutes after the commencement of the work. This operation was also highly interesting.

We have subsequently been informed, that the gallery situated under the experimental mine has been explored, and the effects produced have been correctly ascertained; about one-half of it was either partially injured or totally destroyed.

Though little has been heard of it, the system which was first sanctioned and recommended by the late lamented Duke of York, of carrying on different military operations in the garrison of Chatham in concert with the Royal Engineers attached to the establishment, for field instruction, has been persevered in by authority, to a certain extent, for many years.

The regiments and depôts, as they successively pass through the garrison, are regularly exercised in the various duties connected with the attack and defence of places; pontoon bridges are also formed occasionally across the river Medway, over which the cavalry at Maidstone and the troops in garrison at Chatham are marched.

Some of the duties thus acquired were brought into play in the storming of stockades, and on other occasions, during the Burmese war; and, as opportunities may offer, will doubtless prove highly beneficial to the service. Many officers of distinction were present on this occasion, and were highly gratified, and even instructed, by this well-planned and expertly executed war game."

66

MILITARY EQUIPMENT.

THE following suggestions have been submitted by their author, Captain Hare, on the half-pay of the 51st light infantry, to the General Commanding-in-Chief and Master-General of the Ordnance, by whom they have been taken into consideration. The "water-proof cartridge," in particular, will, we believe, be submitted to early trial, as promising to realize a very desirable improvement in the preservation of that important but wasteful munition.

WATER-PROOF CARTRIDGES.

In submitting the water-proof cartridges to the authorities for whose inspection they are intended, the inventor takes leave to make the following observations.

Experience has taught him, that a cartridge that will resist damp and exposure to wet is a desideratum which, when obtained, must be of infinite advantage both to the naval and military services; that they have suffered

hitherto, in numerous instances, from the ammunition being rendered completely unserviceable, at a moment too when it was of vital importance that every round should be most effective, for instance in the passage of rivers, on boat services, and by the troops being unavoidably exposed to heavy rains, is a fact known to all practical naval and military men.

It must also be well known, that the cartridges now in use are very liable, from the loose way in which they are enveloped in paper, to shake out the powder, which, after a march or field-day, will be found in the bottom of the soldier's pouch; and it has been by no means an unusual occurrence for the pouch of a front rank man to blow up, by a spark from his comrade in his rear igniting this loose powder.

Economy, simplicity and expedition have also been studied in their manufacture; for it can be shown, that with all the advantages here described, these cartridges could be supplied at about the same cost as the present clumsy, inefficient article of that denomination, and by the application of a little simple machinery, the manual labour would be very much lessened, which, at times, on a sudden demand, might be very important, by the preparation of a large quantity in a short space of time; and as blank ammunition is liable to great deterioration from damp magazines and other casualties, it would be, probably, an object worthy the consideration of the ordnance, (bearing in mind that no increase in price would be caused by the water-proof preparation,) to cause the whole, whether ball or blank, to be made as proposed.

The ease with which the soldier can bite off the top, to prime and load, is quite equal to the common one; neither will the water-proof cartridges be more liable to injury by friction in carriage, when packed in the simple way now in practice. The officer who has projected these cartridges courts the criticism and tests which it may be deemed proper to subject them to.

SAPATA.

The sapata, or temporary shoe, is strongly recommended on an expedition being ordered for a foreign campaign. Those officers and men who had the good fortune to serve in the peninsular army, as well as many others on other services, must have seen, with distress, (if they did not themselves suffer,) the inconvenience many of their comrades were put to by the loss of their shoes, (an article so indispensable to the soldier,) at a time too when a supply was not at hand, neither could they be purchased; for instance, Sir John Moore's retreat to Corunna, and on various other occasions.

It is therefore proposed that every soldier should be his own shoemaker; that he should be shown how to cut out and form the sapata; and as the Brtish soldier is so fortunate, except under very extraordinary circumstances, to be furnished with his daily ration of beef, and that very frequently too in parts of a country distant from a commissariat depôt, and when their conveyances could not get at him with a supply, yet where bullocks can be driven, as is the usage on service-a man, then, in this emergency, has only to attend at the slaughtering-place, and supply himself with a piece of hide of sufficient size, and, without much ingenuity, or any tool but a knife and the point of his bayonet, will be able to supply a substitute for shoes, soft and easy, to his probably already galled soles, and be ready for the march again in the short space of from ten to twenty minutes.

It is also desirable that each man should be supplied, on leaving England, with a pair of these hide shoes, not only as a pattern to cut out others by, but as a resource in case of need; and they may be very usefully disposed of inside the jacket on the soldier's back, by being placed one on each shoulder, (being attached by a couple of tapes,) with a view to guard them from the friction and gall of his knapsack straps, without adding much to the weight of his overcharged back.

THE SELF-FIXING BAYONET.

The self-fixing bayonet to the soldier's musket (though a contrivance of itself not altogether new) is respectfully submitted to the General commanding in chief, with a view to obviate some evils to which the infantry service of His Majesty's army is at present liable.

It must be well known to commanding officers and captains of companies, that the present mode of fixing the bayonet is attended with much inconvenience, as well as resulting in much expense, by the men violently striking the socket (to unfix,) and thereby knocking off the sights; and not unfrequently the socket itself is put out of repair. In cases of embarking and disembarking, many bayonets have been lost overboard by their fitting too loosely in the scabbards; and by being accidentally reversed, must, and do necessarily fall out.

Officers who have served at the investment and storming of fortified places can readily bear testimony to the many distressing casualties, which have occurred, both to men waiting to ascend the ladders, as well as to those who, from some accident or trifling wound, have let go their hold when on the ladders; those in the former case having received the bayonet fall on them from a killed or wounded comrade, and those in the latter case, by falling on the bayonets of the men assembled below. It will be clearly shown, that these evils may be mitigated, if not entirely obviated, by the self-fixing bayonet, as it can safely be allowed to remain in its unfixed position, until the moment of its being required for actual service, the fixing being instantaneous.

It should be observed also, that the only article of furniture of which the musket is deprived by the substitution of the self-fixing bayonet, is the sling," to which the soldier, for his own convenience, attaches no importance, as it seldom or ever occurs that he uses it to carry his firelock, except expressly commanded. The simplicity and absence of complication in this article of military equpment, together with its not being easily put out of repair, it is respectfully presumed, will be a strong recommendation to it; and it should be observed, that the same words of command are equally applicable to this mode of "fixing bayonets" as heretofore, though with a less number of movements, and with much less noise; when, after coming to the "port," the word "charge bayonets" is given, the men have only simultaneously to pull the front trigger by which the bayonet is released; the rear rank might receive the word to "fix" from the recover taking a pace to the right to form an interval; to "unfix," the motion is much more simple than that now in practice. On the word "unfix," the thumb of the right hand is placed on the spring knob at the heel of the bayonet, when, by pressure, it instantly falls from its perpendicular, and by sliding that hand down the back of it, the point readily finds its place in the groove at the head of the stock, from whence the concussion of firing, or any sudden blow, will not cause it to escape. Light infantry, or troops employed as such, will find the bayonet afford them a desirable rest from which to take their aim, and which can be affected at pleasure (the bayonet being suspended from the muzzle) by raising or depressing the butt of the musket. It should further be observed, that the self-fixing bayonet can readily, and at a very trifling expense, be fitted to the firelocks now in possession of regiments, as well as store arms, and that the present bayonets would also be made applicable for the purpose.

THE following description of the day and night telegraph, which has been lately brought into operation at Rouen, has been communicated to us:— "The telegraphs in common use in France have three arms, which form the figure of a Z when in a state of inactivity; but those just introduced by Ferrier have but two; and the arms do not stand in immediate connexion together, but are attached to two vertical poles, with an interval of ten feet between them. Two lanterns are fastened to the extremities of both these arms; one of them stationary, and the other so adjusted as to travel round its companion. A fifth lantern is placed between the two poles, and has a horizontal motion. The various positions of these five points, with respect to each other, constitute the several signals. This mechanism answers equally well whether for day or night use; for the lanterns, being coated with black, are as distinctly visible on a fine day, as they are, from their lights, on a dark night *."

MILITARY SCHOOLS.

The grants voted for the support of these establishments during the present financial year (1833-4) are as follow:

School of St. Cyr

Polytechnic School f

Royal Military College of La Flèche

Cavalry School

Special School for the Staff

School of Practice for the Artillery and Engineers at Melz
Military Schools of the second class, called "Gymnases Militaires

11.3,680 bid

T
FORTIFIED POINTS AND NAVAL PORTS.

£81,680 dw

France abounds in fortresses, and some of them rank among the strongest in Europe. The most important on the list are Dunkirk, Bergues, Lille,

* We may here observe, that Trojanski, professor of Classical Literature at Cracow, has clearly shown that telegraphs, consisting of five lights, exhibited on the summits of hills and mountains, were known to the Greeks and Romans. His main proofs are derived from several passages in Cæsar's Narrative of his Wars in Gaul, in which mention is made of "letter telegraphs," and from which it would appear that the ancient Gauls were the first inventors of the art.-ED.

An idea of the proportion of officers which this celebrated establishment prepares for the civil and military services respectively may be formed from the subsequent data; namely, that out of 3501 pupils, as many as 2740 have entered into the artillery and engineers, and 761 have chosen the service of the mines, or of the Ponts-etChaussées, for their career. It appears that the pupils are not assigned to any par ticular service after examination into their several qualifications, but are called upon to choose for themselves a twelvemonth beforehand. In Napoleon's time, the more rational plan of awarding the service according to the qualifications was pursued. The school was originally set on foot in 1794, in consequence of a report made to the legislature by the Committee of Public Safety: its first appellation was "The School of Public Works," which it exchanged for its present name in the following year. The pupils did not board or lodge under its roof, until they played a distinguished part in a theatrical row in 1807, when Napoleon ordered them to be quartered in barracks. Since that time, besides the science of fortification and gunnery, their range of study has embraced mechanics, the arts of design, geography, chemistry, natural and experimental philosophy, and the German language. The ordinary number of pupils is about three hundred, and four and twenty of them are educated at the public

expense.

Douai, Cambrai, Valenciennes, Condé, Maubeuge, Avesne, Rocroy, Givet and Charlemont, Mezières, Sedan, Thionville, Metz, Bitche, and Weissemberg, on her northern frontier, on the borders of Belgium, and near the confines of the Prussian and Bavarian dominions; Huguenau, Strasbourg, Schelestadt, and Neu-Brisach, on her eastern frontiers, next central Germany; Belfort, Besançon, and the new fort De l'Ecluse, on the same frontier, adjoining Switzerland; Grenoble and Briançon on the borders of the Sardinian dominions; Perpignan, Bellegarde, and Mont Louis, on the eastern frontier of Spain; and St. Jean-Pied-de-Port and Bayonne, on her western quarter. According to the scheme lately propounded by Colonel Bricqueville's hero, who brought back caravan-loads of pictures and other spoils, but not one solitary piece of cannon, as trophies of his exploits in the Peninsula, Toulouse in the south, and Nantes and Tours in the west, are to be added to this array of embrasured bulwarks. Paris, also, is to be guarded by an entrenched camp between Nogent and St. Denis, a circle of detached forts around it, and a regular circumvallation or girdle of high walls, as an enceinte de sureté. It has, however, been proved, beyond dispute, by the first native military authorities, that this project of Marshal Soult is overtly and ridiculously inefficient as regards an invading foe, but that it is covertly devised to admiration as a means of keeping the uproarious blood of his master's" loving lieges of Paris" at the cooling point. His Excellency the Minister of War, (and all the world knows how indisputable a claim the butchery of Toulouse has given him to that title,) having one day asserted in the Lower Chamber, that not a cannon from the nearest of those forts could endanger a single chimney-pot within the precincts of the French metropolis, it has been proved, by actual admeasurement, that eight at least of the intended forts, if only armed with 12-inch Gomer mortars, or simple 24 pounders, could level the " enceinte de sureté"! and a pretty considerable fraction of our “good city" to boot, to a plane line with their site. But who could expect good faith in such a quarter? Not a soul in the old or new world, we reckon, barring his new cronies at Whitehall; much less one who has served under him and sums up a relentless fire of facts in his onslaught upon the Marshal's feint, by neatly adding, Our souls may well be disquieted within us, when we come to recollect, that each of these forts is to be manned with a garrison of a thousand muskets, an armament of eighty mouthpieces of iron, and a save-all, where five and twenty thousand good and true pounds of powder are to be kept under his Majesty's lock and key."

We had almost forgotten the Naval Ports of France: these, which are supplied with slips and dock-yards, comprise Brest, Toulon, Rochefort, Cherbourg, and L'Orient. Corvettes and sloops are also built at Bayonne, Nantes, and St. Servan.

The plan which is said to be in contemplation for remodelling the School of Artillery and Engineers has excited great sensation. It seems to be the intention to render the officers, who are prosecuting their studies in it, liable to three examinations: the first for the purpose of determining their admission to the Military School; the second for that of ascertaining their fitness to receive an officer's commission, and wear the uniform of the rank; and the third for that of establishing their claim to the grade of an officer of artillery. Such as may not be inclined or able to pass these three examinations, will be allowed to enter the infantry and cavalry solely. The latter two branches of our military establishment have, however, taken so much fire at the degradation, which they conceive such a plan calculated to inflict upon them in the eyes of the whole country, that there appears little chance of its being carried into execution.