“By half past eight o’clock, all the different troops of the line, together with the corps of Yeomanry and Volunteers, had taken up the positions assigned to them. The line, which partly ran parallel with the wall of Kensington Gardens, extended from Buckden Hill to the Piccadilly gate of Hyde Park; a brigade of horse artillery formed the extreme right of the whole; next to them were drawn up successively in line, several regiments of Dragoons, the Royal Horse Guards, the Blues, the Queen’s Bays, and the Scots Greys; next followed two regiments of Light Horse, we believe the 9th and 13th; the Surrey Yeomanry, with the London Light Horse, and several other minor corps, completed the whole of the cavalry.
“The different battalions of the three regiments of Guards not at present employed on foreign service, headed the line of infantry. We did not observe any other regiment of regular troops, and the rest of the ground was occupied by battalions of Volunteers. They comprised most of the Volunteer Corps still existing in the metropolis; and though, in general, they did not muster very strong, yet, even in point of numbers, their appearance was respectable. These troops are not again likely to meet under arms for some time to come, and the close of their patriotic military career well merited the distinguished honour of this day’s review, by three of the most powerful Sovereigns in Europe.
“About ten o’clock, the Duke of York, accompanied by a numerous staff, rode down the line. Soon after, the firing of a gun announced that the Royal personages had entered the Park. They were preceded by a detachment of the 10th Hussars: the Prince Regent had, on his left, the Emperor of Russia, and on his right, the King of Prussia. The cortège of the sovereigns was extremely numerous, and of the most brilliant description, comprising all the distinguished military characters at present in London. Among others, Marshal Blücher, Prince Platoff, Lords Hill and Beresford were recognized and cheered by the spectators. The effect of the whole was impressive, from the richness and variety of the uniforms; but, above all, from that singular combination of august and powerful Sovereigns, and of men who had conferred the greatest benefits on Europe by their military talents.
“The Royal party, commencing with the extreme right, rode along the whole of the line, and were received with presented arms, by the different corps. They then took their stations near the centre of the Park, when a feu-de-joie, in three successive rounds, was fired from right to left. The effect of this continuous fire was exceedingly fine, from the rapidity and precision with which it was executed. The different corps then defiled by companies in front of the Royal personages, and in this order marched off the ground, which concluded the business of the review. We cannot, accurately, estimate the number of troops on the ground; but, from the time occupied in their marching in review, we should suppose that they must have amounted to 15,000. The Dragoons, in particular, were
admirable for their equipments and martial appearance. The day, though lowering at times, and rather cool, was, upon the whole, extremely favourable to the spectacle. We did not hear of any serious accident happening; though some of the lower orders, who perversely mounted on the trees in the Park, met with some falls by the breaking down of the branches. We were sorry to observe that some of the younger plantations were injured by the mob climbing upon trees insufficient to sustain their weight. It was a pity this wanton mischief had not been prevented.”
One person, at all events, who was present, must have carried away with him, when he left England, a curious recollection of Hyde Park; for as old “Vorwärts,” as Marshal Blücher was familiarly termed, (used, as he must have been to being mobbed whenever he appeared in public,) was walking one day in Hyde Park, it is said that the crowd went so far as to investigate his person, and that the veteran was fain to put his back against a tree for protection; a scene thus humorously caricatured.
There were no reviews of particular importance in Hyde Park until we come to the present reign—when the Queen, soon after her Coronation, reviewed a small but select body, about 5000, of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, for the delectation of her foreign guests.
The following account is condensed from The Times of July 10, 1838:—
“It was at one time proposed to hold a review of a much larger number on Wormwood Scrubs, but considerations of expense interfered, and it was settled that a smaller number of picked troops should be reviewed, as we could not vie with the vast assemblages of troops which were sometimes called together at Töplitz and elsewhere on the Continent. But the foreign critics were loud in their praises of the appearance of all the troops they saw, as regarded their perfect order and discipline, and the admirable way in which the manœuvres and evolutions were executed, and declared that they would have borne advantageous comparison, in their different branches, with any troops in the world—but perhaps, this was only their natural politeness.