The garrison of Gibraltar, in time of peace, numbers five or six
thousand men, made up chiefly of regiments brought home from foreign
service, that are stationed here for a few months, or it may be a year
or two, not merely to perform garrison duty, but as a place of rest to
recover strength for fresh campaigns, from which they can be ordered
to any part of the Mediterranean or to India. While here they are kept
under constant drill, yet not in such bodies as to make a grand military
display, for there is no parade ground large enough for the purpose.
Gibraltar has no Champ de Mars on which all the regiments can be brought
into the field, and go through with the evolutions of an army. If the
whole garrison is to be put under arms, it must be marched out of the
gates to the North Front, adjoining the Neutral Ground, that it may have
room for its military manoeuvres. When our countryman General Crawford,
who commanded the Pennsylvania Reserves at the Battle of Gettysburg, was
here a few years since, the Governor, Sir Fenwick Williams, gave him
a review of four thousand men. But that was a mark of respect to a
distinguished military visitor, and presented a sight rarely witnessed
by the ordinary traveller. It was therefore a piece of good fortune
to have an opportunity to see, though on a smaller scale, the splendid
bearing of the trained soldiers of the British Army. One morning our
Consul (always thoughtful of what might contribute to my pleasure) sent
me word that there was to be a parade of one of the regiments of the
garrison for the purpose of receiving new colors from the hands of the
Governor. Hastening to the Alameda, (which is the only open space
within the walls at once large enough and level enough even for a
single regiment,) I found it already in position, the long scarlet lines
forming three sides of a hollow square. Joining a group of spectators
on the side that was open, we waited the arrival of the Governor, an
interval well employed in some inquiries as to the corps that was to
receive the honors of the day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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