Mr. R. Long, of Rood Ashton, M.P., offered a prize to be given to the best shot of either battalion: each corps sending one competitor, when Sergeant Baker, 7th Wilts, 2nd Administrative Battalion, was declared the winner. Lieut.-Colonel Everett and Major T. Clark gave prizes, but these went to the 2nd Administrative Battalion, as did similar prizes given by Lieut.-Colonel M.F. Ward and Major Perry Keene; but the prizes offered by Lieut.-General Buckley and Major Penruddocke fell to Sergeant Graham, 2nd Corps, Trowbridge. The challenge cup, value £50, with a piece of plate valued at £25, given by the inhabitants of Warminster, was unfortunately lost (after tie shooting) to the 1st Battalion, being given to Corporal Nott, 5th Corps, 2nd Battalion, whose score of 41 was equalled by Lieutenant Wakeman of the 10th Corps and Corporal Purton of the 1st Corps, whilst Sergeant Butler of the 1st, and Sergeant Harris of the same corps, came next in order, and this out of eighty-one competitors.
The prizes were given away by the Marchioness of Bath, and the opportunity was taken advantage of to hold a battalion drill, but it was rather a failure—very few attended. The officers afterwards messed together at the "Bath Arms," and a plan was hastily sketched out for a camp to be held for the whole battalion in the coming year, it becoming only too evident that these spasmodic battalion drills were useless, and that each corps would be better for a continuous and systematic course of drilling and discipline, either at Aldershot or in a regimental camp. The usual annual prize-meeting between the officers of both battalions, to compete for a challenge cup of large value, and a very beautiful silver claret jug, to be retained by the winner, came off at Chippenham, and was won by an officer of the 1st Battalion. These valuable and most desirable prizes were given each year by Mr. Poynder, whose liberality in supporting the Rifle Corps and rifle movement generally was unbounded. Perhaps the terms on which this officers' prize was to be shot for did not encourage good shooting, or prove that the winner of a silver claret jug was in reality a terrible man at the targets. Each year saw the challenge cup held by a new officer, who was somewhat heavily handicapped for the next year's competition: so much so, indeed, as to render his chance, or the chances of his predecessors, in the prize holding from repeating themselves almost impossible. Under these circumstances, it appeared but a calculation of time as to how long it might be before each competing officer in the two battalions possessed an embossed silver claret jug.
These massive or fragile pieces of plate being offered as prizes for excellence in shooting, to the volunteers, were a mistake. To many of the men money prizes would have been much more acceptable, as these cups, mugs, salvers, &c., were of small advantage to any but the silversmiths, who, seizing the occasion for emptying their shops of all the ill-shaped rubbish accumulated by time, charged the donors a price far beyond the real value of the article. Experience has made all wiser, and old pint pots, and drinking cups, almost transparent in their absence of metal, have been relegated to the melting-pot. The year 1867 was a marked epoch in the history of this battalion. It was a year of preparation for more systematic arrangements generally, and for drawing tighter the cords of discipline and unity. It was very desirable that the two battalions should form regimental camps, and by these means ensure a knowledge of combined movements being more general throughout the battalions; but proposals fell to the ground, and the oft-repeated hasty assembling, and more hasty departure of portions of corps for train-catching, were continued for yet another year.
Lieut.-Colonel Everett and Lieut.-Colonel Ward, with their respective adjutants, met together at Warminster for the purpose of organizing a camp for both regiments at Devizes, and it was hoped that if this camp were held during the training time of the county militia and yeomanry, good would result; but after much correspondence with the Lord-Lieutenant, the Marquis of Ailesbury, commanding the yeomanry, and various officers, the scheme had to be abandoned. It was evident that an encampment of the battalion in its own district, and under the sole control of the commanding officer, could alone be brought about, and not improbably would meet all that was required. There was a meeting of officers commanding battalions in the three counties of Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire, and the neighbouring counties, held at Bishopstoke Station, at which meeting it was determined to hold a volunteer review on a large scale at or near Salisbury, on the 29th May. The review took place accordingly at the date specified, on the downs, a very hard three miles' distance from Salisbury. It may have been satisfactory to some of the performers in it; but as to any real knowledge of how troops should be handled in absolute warfare there was none given. The infantry, divided into three brigades, numbered nearly 5000 men, of which this battalion yielded 500; the artillery, 228 men, with six guns, being two guns per brigade, and 180 sabres; yeomen, serving in the Wilts and Hants Yeomanry and Mounted Rifles; Colonel Erskine, Inspector-General of Volunteers, being in command, assisted by Colonels McMurdo, Bruce, and Colville, assistant inspectors.
After passing in review order, the supposed enemy had to be dislodged; but as this enemy were short of cavalry, and we, being well off in that respect, as the returns showed, it was resolved to lend him ours, so, halting the infantry, these gallant troopers passed through the openings left between brigades, and in the four-deep formation, to disappear in the valley where the enemy lay concealed. We re-formed, unsuspicious of their treachery.
Advancing once again, the battle began; but success was not to be the portion of the attackers. They retreated, and were followed up in this retreat and harassed considerably by the cavalry so kindly lent to them but a short quarter of an hour previously. The firing was great, the confusion greater, but the damage was unappreciable; the proportion of cavalry to the retreating infantry, about one horseman to thirty infantry men, not being overwhelming. Besides, the bravery of these cavalry in riding within a few feet of the muzzles of groups of riflemen must have led to heavy casualties. However, all is well that ends well, and at the termination of the manœuvres the authorities expressed themselves satisfied with the day's performance.
The Hampshire Mounted Rifles under Colonel Bower exhibited some pretty skirmishing at this review. Men and horses were all well trained and thoroughly understood their work. Colonel Bower here showed how useful an adjunct mounted infantry would be in the event of invasion.
The annual inspection of the regiment took place at Warminster Down in the month of August., Colonel Bruce being the inspecting officer.
On the 1st January 1868,—the officers of the regiment appeared thus in the Army List:—