History of the Bengal Artillery. By Franois W. Stubbs. Vole
I. and II. (Henry S. King and Co.)—The history of the Bengal Artillery began unluckily. The first company was raised in 1749, was at Calcutta when that place was captured by Suraj-ucl-Deulali, and lost forty-five men in the Black Hole. It was raised to its complement at the begin- ning of the following year, and took part in the vengeance which was exacted at Plaesey in June. Plaseey was, as Major Stubbs says, "till the final advance to storm the entrenchment, almost entirely an artillery engagement," and he rightly complains of the injustice which omitted the Bengal Artillery from the list of corps which were permitted to reckon it among their decorations. This was part of the preposterous jealousy of the Scientific Corps, of which proofs come across us in reading these volumes (we find Clive administering a severe rebuke to an officer of the Lino for declining to servo under a senior officer from the Artillery), and which can hardly be said to be extinct even now.
From that time, the Bengal Artillery bore its share in all the wars, groat or little, which were fought in or near its own region of India. Its oper- ations, indeed, were not confined within these limits. It was present at
Seringapatam and in Burmah, and was even sent to Mauritius and the Nile. Throughout this varied career, Major Stubbs follows the corps, with an industry and a care that are beyond all praise. The details of every engagement are given, and where the event Was of any importance, are
illustrated with maps and plans. We find, too, the records of heroic deeds, not prominent enough to be included in history (except, we ought to say, when Mr. Kinglake writes), but yet fully deserving of some re- membrance. This is one of the special uses of books of this kind, and
the author has always borne it in mind. Not only does it pay a debt justly duo, but it gives an interest to the narrative of numberless oper- ations which would otherwise be wanting. The second volume brings us no further than the " Second Siege of Blaurtpore," in 1826. We hope that this very moritorous work will moot with such encouragement as will induce the author to continue it over to our own times, or rather to tho date when the Bengal" became part of tho " Royal " Artillery. It was a glorious century of service, not always well rewarded, though sometimes an Artillery officer would come in for a good thing, as at the capture of the fort of Bijigarh, belonging to Chet Singh, Rajah of Bemires where the captain of Artillery present got, as his share of the prize- money, more than twenty thousand rupees, and throe lieutenants half as much each, But then the major in command, an officer of the Line, received nearly three hundred thousand. There are no such days now ; the hill tribes, which give our Indian troops most of their fighting, are nuts harder to crack, and with kernels not so riab.—The History of the Rifle Brigade, By Sir William H. Cope. (Choate and Windua.) When we compare Sir William Copes work with that of Major Stubbs, it seems to have the advantage of more recent, nearer, and on the whole, more lemons events. The "Ride Brigade" was first formed in 1800. It was originally a corps d'aite, the full strength of five hundred, which it originally had, having boon selected out of fifteen regiments. It served in the north of Spain before it was actually embodied, and not long afterwards in Nelson's fleet at Copenhagen. Iu 1805 the and Bat- talion was formed. After other services, less glorious or less fortunate, part of the Brigade embarked for Portugal. This part was afterwards considerably increased, and from that date throughout the whole of the Peninsular campaigns, the Riflemen bore a conspicuous part. There was not a single action in which they did not take an active share, excepting only Salamanca, where they wore hold in reserve. Nearly one hundred and fifty pages out of the five hundred of Sir W. Copo's volume are occupied with the narrative of the Brigade's services under Lord Wellington, services which, if they did not surpass those of all other regiments, certainly were not themselves surpassed. A 8rd Battalion had at this time been formed. The three were together for a time before St. Sebastian, and there, on the nineteenth anniversary of the embodi- ment of the corps, the first "regimental dinner" was held, on the heights of St. Barbara, a piece of greensward with a trench dug round it serving as a table. In 1814, part of the 2nd Battalion went to New Orleans. In the following year the Brigade fought at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. Some interesting anecdotes, and such anecdotes, we may say, abound throughout the volume—ace told of the adventures of various officers and men during these days. One of the most curious is an instance of "compensation," which the author would have hesitated to relate, but for the unexceptional authority which is given for it :—" Of WoreletaKincaid relates that he had at Badajoz received a shot in his ear, which came out at the back of his neck, which, on his recovery, had the effect of turning his head to the right ; and that now he re- ceived exactly a similar wound in the left ear, the ball coming out near the exit of the former, which restored his head to its original position." The total strength of the Brigade present at Waterloo was about fifteen hundred. Of these, sixty were killed, while the wounded were,—officers, thirty-two ; and non-commissioned officers and rank and file, three hundred and thirty-six. A long period of peace followed, the first active service being in Kaffraria. Then came the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny. We notice that the writer, though mentioning Lieu- tenant Tryon's gallant capture of the Rifle-pita (a feat which called forth the unusual compliment of a general order from the French commander-in-chief), says nothing of whet we remember to have read of this officer's marvelloue shooting at the battle of Inkermann, where he was said to have killed more than fifty men. The 1st Battalion was ordered to Canada at the time of the Mason and Slidell scare. Finally the 2nd Battalion went to Ashantee. The special use of the Brigade as a corps using arms of precision has now passed away, but the glories of such a history as Sir W. Cope has related so well will never be forgotten, and can hardly fail to be an appreciable force when the "Rifle Brigade" shall be called upon to serve again.
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