No. 13 CORPS. WESTBURY.
[No returns have been received.]
14TH CORPS. HEAD QUARTERS, WILTON.
The earliest records of the formation of this corps have not been preserved, but that is no reason for supposing that the stir for some more satisfactory system of self-defence than then existed did not affect the good people of Wilton and its neighbourhood as much as in other parts of Wiltshire. However, all were slow in moving, but whom to blame for this supineness it would be hard to say. The lordly owner of Wilton House, and of some thousands of acres stretching away into Dorsetshire and North Wilts, was residing abroad, and his representative, distinguished as a senator and one of the ministry, perhaps too much occupied at such a moment with greater matters to enable him to find the necessary time to work out details and set the thing well on its legs. It was plain that any rifle corps raised at or near Wilton must be composed chiefly of the tenants of the Earl of Pembroke, and that the starting this corps, which then simply meant coming down with a large sum of ready money, the obtaining uniforms, accoutrements, ammunition, even arms, armouries, and practice grounds, must fall to a very great extent on the possessor of Wilton House. Of course, for a time, as long as enthusiasm lasted and the French blustered, men would offer their services, and county gentlemen contribute handsomely to the funds, and acknowledging that it was very hard for patriotic Thomas, the blacksmith's assistant, or William, the village carpenter, to leave work early two or three times weekly, and stump across miles of down to Broad Chalke, Dinton, or elsewhere, to attend squad or company drills, so willingly helped towards the expense of conveying such men to these drills; but this philanthropic tendency would not last, and the expense would devolve either on the officers and men themselves, ultimately causing the corps to be lost altogether, or to sink into mere pot-shooters, but if to be kept up as a disciplined and useful adjunct to the forces of the Empire, the command, and many incidental expenses, and arrangement connected therewith, would fall upon the Herbert family.
Not improbably, then, it was from want of an initiative being shewn by this house that the delay arose in the formation of a rifle company at Wilton, and that the one ultimately raised became No. 14 Corps in the 1st Administrative Battalion Wilts Rifle Volunteers.
On the 23rd March, 1860, a public meeting was called at Wilton, at which Charles Penruddocke, Esq., of Compton Park, Geo. Lapworth, Esq., J. Woodcock, Esq., W.J. French, Esq., with Messrs. Chipperdale, Wm. Allen, G. Young, D. Dodds, W. Naish, E. Rawlence, &c., present, and from whom a committee of management was formed; ultimately causing a body of riflemen being raised at Wilton and from the surrounding neighbourhood, termed the Wilton Rifle Volunteer Corps, with a strength of one captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, and 100 of all ranks. The officers recommended for commissions were Charles Penruddocke, Esq., of Compton Park, as captain; Mr. Geo. Lapworth as lieutenant; and Mr. J. Woodcock as ensign: Mr. W.J. French as assistant surgeon, and the Rev. B.S. Chermside as chaplain; Mr. Chipperdale undertaking the post of secretary; Messrs. Barnes, Eyres, Dodds, Miedenhall, Wm. Allen, and G. Rawlence being appointed non-commissioned officers.
As with other corps composing the battalion, the first great difficulty showing itself was in arranging so that drills should be numerous, practical, and easily and inexpensively attended by the corps; but with its members scattered from Wilton to the borders of Dorsetshire and many miles apart, the conveying to drill, whether at first for squad and company, and later on for battalion and camps, was ever a source of difficulty and great expense. Nevertheless, the attendances, both at battalion drills and in camps and at autumn manœuvres, with reviews, and less grand assemblies, have been uniformly good, as the following numbers will show.
Before the creation of the battalion this corps attended the Review held in Clarendon Park to the number of 72; at Bath, 60; at Salisbury, 70; at Wilton Park, 72; at the Autumn Manœuvres, 68; at the Grand Review in Windsor Park, 2 officers and 72 men; and the average attendance at the annual regimental camps has been 2 officers and 60 men. Recently, indeed, at the Jubilee Review at Portsmouth, it showed 3 officers and 64 men. This represents a heavy expenditure for travelling and incidental expenses, which cannot be met by the men themselves, and usually falls upon the officers. A company of 60 volunteers is not taken from the wilds of Wiltshire and placed down on a hillside overlooking the sea at Portsmouth for a small travelling allowance, or at their own expense.