2-982-597 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Her Majesty inspecting the Aldershott Division at Frimley, 1858. '...the whole division consisted of eleven regiments of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, twenty-four guns, a detachment of engineers, and a battalion of the Military Train, in all about 12,000 or 13,000 men - a very respectable force to move with facility even for a few miles along a turnpike-road...the Queen, accompanied by the Prince Consort, who was attired in the undress uniform of a general officer... took up their stations on Frimley-green...The column of troops...marched past the Queen's carriage without carrying arms or dipping the colours...The appearance of the troops in heavy marching order, incumbered by all the useful but inelegant accessories of active service, if not so gay as when on parade, is infinitely more martial, and impresses the spectator with the idea that he is witnessing a really effective military force, not a mere holiday procession. The discipline of the troops seemed admirable: regiment after regiment, as they rounded the inclosure and defiled past the Staff, stepping as one man, showed the strict training they had been under...The Queen remained standing during the whole time occupied by the passing of the column, upwards of an hour and a half'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.