HINTS TO VOLUNTEERS.
THE Volunteer movement has now been extended throughout the length and breadth of the island. It is only in a few towns where short-sighted mortals hold sway, like Rochdale, where class jea- lousy prevails, as at Glossop, or where folly is queen, as at Newport, in Monmouthshire, that the movement has failed. In some quar- ters, indeed, it is far too exclusive, but in others all classes of men are found acting side by side. To give it a proper development it should include those members of the working classes who would not in any ease enter the Militia or the Line, but none of those who might enter the former under some better system than that in force.
The development of the force may safely be left to itself. It has its source in no temporary cause, it has its stimulus in the permanent attractions of the musketry school and the shooting match. But to give that development consistency and direction will demand constant vigilance and critical supervision. It is towards these points that the friends of the Volunteer force should direct their efforts. First, how to make a real force of soldiers, a reserve to the regular army on which the Government can rely ; next, to determine how they shall be used in order that their training may fit them for duties required.
The Volunteer movement has- a practical character and aim. Volunteers arc to become soldiers. When a young man desires to become a musician he subjects himself to a severe course of drill under an accomplished master of the art. It is the same with drawing and painting. So the mail who voluntarily offers himself as a soldier must, if he would become a soldier, subject him- self to drill and discipline. Drill, so often sneered at, and so often abused, lies in feet at the foundation of all excellence in soldiership. We do not mean over-drill. May no corps of Vo- lunteers ever be in the plight of that crack battalion of the Guards, which, subjected to empirical experiments, was drilled until the men did not know what they were about. What we mean by drill is that necessary amount of systematic exercise at the word of command which enables a body of men all to do the same thing at the same moment. Ordinary drill, in fact, is no- thing but a training of the ear and the limbs ; just as ordinary drawing is a training of the eye and the fingers ; as musketry drill is a training of the eye and the intellect. In our Volunteers the two must be combined if they are to be effective ; but the power of moving in order, of moving with ease, promptness, and ra- pidity, of standing solidly on the ground, should be obtained be- fore proficiency in shooting is taught. Our emphatic advice is— Stick to drill until you can do well, as well as regular soldiers, at least all the things set down as essential to a volunteer by Sir Charles Napier.
We are glad to find that our views are in unison with those of an illustrious veteran who has contributed a valuable paper on Volunteers to the Cornhill Magazine. Speaking of the force of volunteers already enrolled, he says- " Here is a mass of most superb material; but we would earnestly im- press upon the Volunteers, and upon the countq, not to rely too much upon stout hearts and good shots : much else is needful. It is quite a mistake to suppose that mere perfection in firing at a mark will make a good rifleman for the field. Volunteers, to be efficient in action, must form a component part of an army. Every part of an army in the field must be well in hand of the generals in command—light infantry and riflemen must be equal to all movements, in compact as well as dispersed order, and in the several combinations of the two. By this alone will they be really formidable, and by this alone will they acquire a confidence and steadiness which mere in- nate courage can never give."
And he further bears out what we have written by adding that " in order to act as riflemen and light infantry conjointly with regular troops, Volunteers will require the highest possible train- ing as soldiers." In other words, they must become what we have always maintained they can become, good skirmishers. If they accomplish this part of their duty they will surely be able to act most efficiently with our regular forces, not least efficiently, as organized mobs operating independently and on their own ac- count, but as part of a machine moved and controlled by su- perior officers, and directed to fulfil certain duties, items in the great duty of destroying the enemy. To do this they should rival the regulars in training, which they may do without any great expenditure of time by bringing to bear upon the matters in hand that intelligence in. which they excel the ordinary recruit. "It cannot'be too strongly impressed upon Volunteers," says Sir John Burgoyne in the article above referred to, " that unless they will submit to the necessary training as soldiers, and are complete in organization as infantry, no general in the world will have any confidence in them as a field force." This is the truth. Volun- teers are bound by no other bonds than those of honour. An ap- peal against them lies only in that court. Let none break their bond by neglecting duties they have honourably undertaken, and thus render themselves liable to a verdict of shame.
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