3-003-752 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Review of the Cumberland Rifle Volunteers in Rickerby Park, Carlisle, 1861. Engraving from a sketch by Mr. W . H. Nutter. '...the whole battalion was inspected by Major Harman, the Government Inspector for the Northern District, in the presence of from 10,000 to 12,000 spectators...the volunteers, in varied uniforms of grey and scarlet, gave a picturesqueness to the scene, as they moved across the greensward, now wheeling and forming into line, now breaking out into long scattered bodies of skirmishers, and re-forming into close masses and impenetrable squares...The most interesting part of the proceedings of the day was, perhaps, the "marching past"...Major Harman...took up his position near the saluting-flag, and the whole battalion marched past in quick and afterwards in double-quick time...When subsequently the whole force on the ground, including cavalry and artillery, marched past in slow time, in review order, with the bands playing in the centre of the square, the scene was an imposing one. The volley-firing and skirmishing were performed with great precision, and, considering that this was the first gathering of the kind, the battalion drill was executed in a most praiseworthy manner'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.