Back to Album belonging to Colonel F F Colvin 9L (1860-1936). Contains newspaper cuttings and paper ephemera
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Item 0101
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| Accession number | 912L : 2124/6 |
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SUSSEX DAILY NEWS , TUESDAY , APRIL 16 , 1895. ade his dispositions THE EASTER MANOEUVRES . BATTLE OF BALMER DOWN . A SHORT AND MERRY MILL . IRISH RIFLES TO THE FRONT . Lord Belhaven's Surrey Brigade at Brighton had the co - operation of the Royal Irish Rifles in a field day on Saturday morning , and the Regu lars distinguished themselves on Balmer Down by a brilliant charge that was ruled to be highly successful . The eight Surrey Battalions , the Middlesex Yeomanry , the Royal Irish Rifles , and the Cadet Battalion of the King's Royal Rifles participated in the proceedings , the " idea " governing which was as follows : An invading force has landed at Newhaven , and pushed its advance guard t Lewes . The defenders are mobilising an army corps , of which the Surrey Brigade forms a portion , at Brighton . The advance guard of the enemy sends out a Brigade to reconnoitre in the directiou of Stanmer Downs . The officer com . manding the Surrey Brigade , formed as a division , receives orders to drive back the enemy . The enemy " on Saturday was commanded by Colonel Drewitt , 2nd West Surrey , who had under him his own Corps , the 2nd East Surrey , and the Cadets . Against him were six Surrey battalions , the Royal Irish Rifles , and the Yeomanry . All the troops paraded in Brighton at eight o'clock in the morning , the " enemy " proceeding out of the town via Lewes - road , and the de fenders by way of Ditchling - road , the sub sequent battle ground being the familiar down on the northeastern side of Stanmer Park . Colonel Drewitt had about 400 of his own Corps , under Major Smith , 320 of the 2nd East Surrey , under Colonel Bailey , and 70 Cadets , commanded by Major Freeman Wills . Major Barrett acted as Aide - de - Camp . Leaving Brighton about half - past eight the little force reached Mary Farm at ten o'clock . Thence they proceeded to the coppice beyond the farm , the 2nd West taking the higher ground near the copse , with the Cadets in the centre , and the 2nd East at the other extremity of the line . THE MARCH OF THE DEFENDERS . Brigadier - General Lord Belhaven , in command of the defenders , had his force moving out of Brighton soon after half - past eight . The 1st Royal Irish Rifles mustered over 500 , under the command of Captain and Adjutant Curzon ; the Middlesex Yeomanry Cavalry numbered close on 40 , under Captain W. Duncan ; the 1st , 3rd , and 4th Volunteer Battalions West Surrey Regiment had an aggregate strength of about 1,350 , and constituted a sub - Brigade commanded by Colonel S. R. Bevington , of the 3rd West ; and the 1st Surrey Rifles and the 3rd and 4th East Surrey , mustering about 800 , formed a sub - Brigade under Colonel Villiers , of the 1st Surrey Rifles . The defenders , therefore , outnumbered the enemy by 1,850 men , apart from the useful body of cavalry . Each of the battalions was headed by its own band , and the long march up Ditchling - road was accomplished creditably . The Royal Irish Rifles and the three West Surrey Battalions were halted near the Upper Lodges of Stanmer Park to enable the whole of this part of Lord Belhaven's troops to get well together , and before they started again the men got a very welcome ten minutes ' rest . They then pushed on to High Park Corner , where the four Bat talions were deployed into line before they ap peared over the top of the ridge . The right flank was taken by the Royal Irish Rifles , and the left by the 3rd West Surrey . Meantime the East Surrey Sub - Brigade had assembled at their rendezvous at the Horndean road , and were after wards led by Colonel Villiers some distance in the rear of the others to High Park Corner . THE DEFENDERS PLANS . It was expected by Lord Belhaven , as it after wards transpired , that the daring invader would retire upon its base at Lewes , but Colonel Drewitt had other views . While the defenders were advancing within range he hastily surveyed the country in his rear , and , regarding Balmer for bringing the whole of Down as a practically unassailable point , rapidly his command upon this height . There was some preliminary trouble on the right flank with the Yeomanry , who were occasionally to be seen hovering below the copice , and several volleys were sent in their direction , and a small firing party detailed to prevent a repetition of the earlier surprise . It was , however , soon manifest that the real trouble was brewing on the other flank , where the Royal Irish were advancing . The advance of the defenders " was a very pretty spectacle . The Royal Irish Rifles , on the right , skirted the Park to the foot of Stammer Down . The West Surrey Sub Brigade made direct for Balmer Down , the troops being well extended and taking advantage of every piece of cover . The East Surrey sub - Brigade followed as a reserve force , the Brigadier General and his staff , on the right of the sub - Brigades , watching care fully the execution of his orders . When half the distance had been covered the East Surrey men were sent to the front , the men of the West taking the second line . A CAVALRY INCIDENT . It was now half - past ten , and the Middlesex Yeomanry went to the front of the defenders ' line , and quickly surprised some of Colonel Drewitt's force . The bulk of the latter's men were in rear of the coppice beyond Mary Farm , and the Colonel , having thrown out advance parties , was awaiting signs of the defenders . At this interesting juncture the Middlesex Yeo manry , " nder Captain Duncan , with Captain and Adjutant Forrester Colvin ( 9th Lancers ) , Captain Rawson ( of the Brighton Troop ) , and Lieutenants Edwards , Rivers , Langman , and Gastrell , which had been patrolling in the neighbourhood , slipped unobserved round the coppice , and suddenlycharged down upon Colonel Drewitt's right , creating no little diversion in that neighbourhood . Yeomanry quickly advised Lord Belhaven of the whereabouts of the invader , and not much time apsed before a general action raged . The A DASHING CHARGE . Firing now was general , but when Colonel Drewitt was giving attention to the advance of his assailants over Stanmer Down towards his right wing , he was disconcerted by the appear ance on his left of the Royal Irish . Excellently hidden in the valley , Captain Curzon had got within short distance of the without being observed . The advance of the Irishmen rendered it exceedingly dangerous to await the coming of the defenders on the opposite ridge , and after greeting the new arrivals Colonel Drewitt directed a general retirement by succes sive companies , a brisk fire , however , being maintained . The movement was well carried out enemy by all except the Cadets who were left on the high ground immediately to the front of Balmer Down , and quickly cut off from the other battalions by the advancing Royal Irish . Reserving their fire and taking advantage of all the cover available , the Irishmen went on rapidly , and finally , using their magazine rifles , made a splendid dash , and capturing the position that had been held by the left wing of the enemy's force . Finally Colonel Drewitt brought his battalions together for a stubborn defence against the remainder of Lord Belhaven's troops . he Cadets , having sent some shots after the rishmen , were taken to Colonel Drewitt's aid . Concentrating on the of the ridge of the steep the 2nd East Surrey on his left , the Cadets in the centre , and the 2nd West Surrey on his right , he received the final assault of the defenders , which took the form of a front attack by the East Sarrey Sub Brigade , and an out - flanking movement on the enemy's right by the Western sub - Brigade . As Lord Bellaven's forces closed up and began to ascend , the hill a furious fusillade began , and was continued till the " Cease fire ! " was sounded , when the opposing forces . got within a hundred yards of each other , and the Middlesex Yeomanry were about to execute another charge on Colonel Drewitt's right . Owing chiefly to the rapid advance of the Royal Irish and to Colonel Drewitt's decision to make a stand instead of fighting a retreating battle , the opera tions were over by about noon . THE EASIER MANOEUVRES . BATTLE WITH THE CROWD . MARCH PAST AT BRIGHTON . The fine weather that had favoured the Surrey Brigade at Brighton since their arrival last Thursday night continued throughout yesterday , the when the Eastertide manoeuvres were brought to a close with a sham fight on Balmer Down and a March Past on Brighton racecourse . It had been reported that yesterday's operations would take place between Ovingdean and Rottingdean , but the fact that the field day was in quite a different direction had no material effect on size of the holiday crowd , and yesterday's fighting was seriously interfered with by the mass of civilians that accompanied the troops out of town , and covered the field of operations . A much larger force of Volunteers was engaged than on the preceding days , the Surrey Brigade being strengthened by the addition of the Brighton Rifles , Brighton Artillery , and Eastbourne Artillery , and , though the field day was , owing to the crowd , less satisfactory to the military critic than it might have been , the March Past in the afternoon was quite a pretty and successful spectacle . THE " IDEA " AND THE FORCES . The " idea " whi h governed the operations yesterday was the same as that on Saturday , the only variation being in the place where the two forces took up their positions . The Brigadier General , Lord Belhaven , again had the general direction of the Brighton Army , which was repre sented by the 1st , 2nd , and 4th Volunteer Bat talions of the West Surrey Regiment , numbering close on 1,570 of all ranks , under Colonel S. R. Bevington , whose own regiment ( the 3rd West Surrey ) was with the enemy ; the 1st Surrey Rifles , and the 2nd and 3rd Volunteer Battalions of the East Surrey Regiment , with an aggregate strength of some 1,260 , under Colonel Villiers , of the 1st Surrey Rifles ; and the 1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers , numbering 435 of all ranks , under Colonel Boxall ; while for cavalry he had the Middlesex Yeomanry under Captain W. Duncan , and the Mounted In fantry of the Surrey Brigade , both parties aggre gating about fifty horsemen . Colonel Drewitt , of the 2nd West Surrey , who again commanded the " enemy , " was provided with a considerably ang mented force compared with that of Saturday , his command embracing the 1st Volunteer Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment , the 2nd Sussex Artillery Volunteers ( without guns ) , the 3rd West and 4th East Surrey Battalions , and the 1st Cadet Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps . The troops of both sides paraded before eight o'clock , the Brighton Rifles assembling at their head - quarters in Church - street , at 7.30 , in marching order . The parade state shewed 370 of all ranks present , including thirty non - com missioned officers and twelve officers , namely , Colonel Hugh Verrall , in command , Majors Clarke and Parsons , Captain and Acting Ad jntant King , Captains Shapland , Abbey , and Hart , and Lieutenants Clarke , Castle , and Carlton Hall ; and ; Surgeon - Captain Turton and Surgeon - Lieutenant Chepmell , in charge of the ambulance detachments . They , with the 3rd West Surrey , about 305 all ranks , under Major Dixon ; the 4th East Surrey , about 600 , under Colonel Bowen ; and the Cadets , about 70 , under Major Freeman Wills , were well on the march along the Lewes - road at 8.30 o'clock ; and on arriving at Falmer were joined by a contingent of the 2nd Sussex Artillery , 100 having come over from Eastbourne by the 8.20 train , while an additional 38 had been drawn from the district of lailsham aud Heatlifield . The officers with this contingent were Colonel Cardwell ( in com mand ) , Captain and Adjutant J. R. Stansfeld , R.A. , Captains Sangster and Kelsey , and Lieu tenants Hillman and Jones . Down . AN ACCIDENT ON THE ROAD , The East Surrey sub - Brigade were the first of the defending force to follow the enemy on the Lewes - road , the 3rd V.B. East Surrey being on the march a little after 8.30 . Colonel Villiers assumed the command at Falmer , and led the way on to the Downs by the road at the far end of the village , but a halt was made near the Old Forge Barn to get the troops together . This , however , was no easy task , for the crowd of people who had been pouring out of Brighton had become very dense , and in the rather narrow road it was hardly possible to move . Colonel Bailey , however , led off the 2nd East Surrey down the valley to the right , and the other two batta lions then moved forward by the road to Balmer They were closely followed by the Posi tion Battery of the 1st Sussex Artillery Volun teers with four 16 - pounder rifled muzzle - loading guns , fully - horsed , and two waggons , under the command of Major E. Leslie Beves , the other officers present being Captain Gell Woolley and Veterinary Lieutenant Morton . The Position Battery had been delayed for some little time by an unfortunate accident which occurred before they well out of town . The horse on which Driver Elliott was . mounted stumbled , and , though his rider succeeded in pulling him up once all right , the animal stumbled again and fell , with Elliott below him . Another horse fell over him , so that the unfortunate man had two horses on him at The gun carriage was , however , stopped before the horses attached to the shafts moved any further forward , but only just in time . Plenty of willing hands were soon at the rescue , and Driver Elliott was at once attended to by the ambulance detachment , which was present under the charge of Surgeon - Lieutenant Fox Goode and Staff - Sergeant E. Major . Strange to say , it was found that no ribs were broken , but there was a rather severe contusion on the face . After he had been carefully attended to Driver Elliott was taken back to Brighton to his home . Position Battery then pushed on as rapidly as possible , and were not many minutes late in arriving on the scene of action . were once . The THE MARCH PAST . GETTING INTO POSITION . have been seen that the defenders of In so extended and undulating an area as the were again vastly superior in strength Brighton Race Hill , anything like an accurate nemy , having a total of all arms of over computation of the numbers of a great crowd is minst 1,485 , with the advantage of the extremely difficult , if not impossible , but it is on of guns and cavalry . The enemy , " certain that many thousands of persons must on Saturday been defeated on Balmer have been present there yesterday afternoon to nd Buckland Bank , retired yesterday to witness the final event in the manoeuvres . There nextending from Ashcombe Bottom to was a concourse of ladies in the grand stand . Farm . Colonel Diewitt placed his Both sides of the course were lined by people for nk on the Down immediately behind the a distance of half a mile , and there were all the farm , putting the Cadet Battalion and attractions of SUSSAY Awill QUAM The Lord Mayer look and the Sheriffs of London request the honour of the company of Captain Colvin at Tenner at Guildhall , on Friday . the 9th day of November 1894 , bring Lord Mayor's Day . MOVEAS The favor of an early answer addressed to the City Remembrancer . Guildhall is requested . If the invitation be accepted a Card of Admission will be forwarded 94 , PICCADILLY . W. Core interval for the me fixed for the place at the ourse was kept s , assisted by ice Force , Chief udent Raggett , or Parker , and eing on the hree o'clock accompanied chawk Hill , luting base . on the field the addition anding the d of the 1st ied conduct Bear Forenibe I have been meaning میرا posite , their three o'clock for can in Sussex . Almal he DE . Awful & writi le pon por some time . contemplati le condole with pron riitt dep s'has por ou homens for Perhepe When I remember the diſſe first to be e east , and , diers should , nirably , con lf - mile post ch later on . he Position inteers , with n companies 2nd Sussex the first to onlookers . slay till that . then the sub - Brigade and point , ey Mounted Corps , ad the pioneers talions , and 3rd , and 4th ellent style , nders . The ing ans , and from a spectacular point of view the return was even more effective than the first effort . The regiments had first passed in column of companies , and they returned in quar ter column formation . The Position Battery went by in line at a walk , and returned in column of sections at a trot . The cyclists went by dis mounted , and returned at a rather faster pace , mounted . The men acquitted themselves so well that frequent marks of approbation were elicited , gratulations of the Brigadier - Gefieral he commanding officers . As shew aven's anxiety to perform his duties il , it may be mentioned that part of orps , who brought up the rear on ere cut off from sight by the crowd the racecourse , and , apparently all had passed , the Brigadier - General ode away from the saluting - place , on seeing what had happened , and remainder of the cyclists had gone igadier - General congratulated the nding the 1st and 2nd Sussex Ar he officers of the 1st V.B , Royal nt on the march past , his lordship y well pleased with the bearing of e also expressed his satisfaction to rs and Colonel Bevington ( com b - Brigades of the Surrey Regi that the only matter in which ment might be made was listance maintained between the nies . The march past and the ed nearly an hour , and soon after he regiments , with their bands ir heads , were marching off the bulk of them by way of Freshfield two via Elm - grove . The larger Surrey Brigade left Brighton by the evening , but the 3rd East anover - terrace , depart this morn the 2nd West Surrey , from Cir 1.25 . The Middlesex Yeomaury eleven o'clock . Battalions Surrey , the gnallers and ain public expressed . Royal to come , alion Royal he transport tter a large hen all had t - mile of its troops that After a long e past the id Mounted riate music , the Brighton verse order bands now ing inspirit - i LANRY AT CHRIST CHURCH . x Yeomanry , accompanied by ass band , paraded in front of the 1st before ten o'clock , and pro e Front to Christ Church , Mont t s , however , they were not ex eleven o'clock , they were in suffi cient time to allow of their marching through one or two of the streets in the immediate neighbour hood . The muster numbered just under 60 all told , the turn - out being an exceedingly smart one . The Yeomanry were accompanied on the way to the chyby a crowd of several hundred . The sacred edid was full , the officiating clergy being the Incumbent ( the Rev. R. M. Hawkins ) and his Curate ( the Rev. T. H. Peate ) . The service was that appointed for the day , and Easter hymns Were sung . Mr. Hawkins preached an impressive sermon on the Resurrec tion , this being one of a series of addresses de livered by him on " The supreme altruism of our Lord . " A large crowd congregated outside the church just before the conclusion of the service at about 12.45 p.m. The men were quickly formed up and marched towards the Front , headed by the band playing " Tommy Atkins , ' and were dismissed opposite the Albion Hotel . " EMPIRE " THEATRE OF VARIETIES . SATURDAY , APRIL 13th . GRAND MILITARY NIGHT + UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF THE Officers and Members of the Middlesex Yeomanry Cavalry , ADMIT ONE TO OFFICERS ' BOX . |
