South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Monday 27 November 1854, page 4


THE DEFENCE. OF THE COLONY.

1 he Volunteer Force Bill, which has passed the Council, empowers the Governor to raise a volunteer force of not less than eieht hundred and fiftv nni.

more tnan two thousand men ; and the Militia Bill, which has also passed the Council, empowers the Governor, in case a sufficient number of volunteers are not forthcoming,^ raise a force of two thousand militiamen. We stated in our last Summary the districts that had been specified, with the number of volunteers required for each. These have been all now raised, with the exception of the complement of the men required for the district of Mitcham ; and the only reason why they are not forthcoming in this district is that there are not able-bodied men enough in the district to form the number. In several of the districts more volunteers than are wanted have offered themselves, and numbers are willing to enrol in parts of the country that have not been proclaimed districts. There has been therefore, as yet, no difficulty in obtaining an adequate number of volunteers, and the Militia Bill will not be required to be called into exercise. The rifles ordered from England have not yet been received. Most of the companies have, howpselected their officers and de*'- ' __

rill. The force thus constituted for the defence of the colony, when wellarmed' and disciplined, will be sufficient to protect -it from any attack of vwhich there exists any reasonable probability. The following appeared in a Gaiette Extraordinary issued on Saturday, the 4th November t — His Excellency the Lleutenant-Governor has bscn pleased to make tho following appointments under the Act to organize and establish a Volunteer Military Force ia South Australia, viz. : — Major Moore, of the 11th Regiment, commandinjr the troops in South Australia, to be Colonel Commandant on the Staff. Thomas 8, O' Hallo ran, Esq., formerly Captain in the 97th Regiment, to be LieutenantColonel commanding the 1st Battalion of Infantry. Tho Hon. Captain Freeling, B.E., to le Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Artillery. The Hon. B. T. Finniss, Colonial Secretary, to be Lieutenant- Colonel on the Staff. James Hesketli Biggs. Esq. (formerly Captain in the 49th Regiment), to be Staff-Adjutant, with the rank of Captain. E. A. Delisscr, Esq. (formerly Lieutenant of the 78th Regiment), to be Staff-Adjutant, with the rank of Captain. J. G. Nash, Esq., Colonial Surgeon, to bo Surgeon on the Staff. Joseph Clarke (late Color -Sergeant of the 95th Regiment), to be Staff-Sergeant. E. Roper (late Sergeant 18th Lancers), to be Staff-Sergeant. J. Simmonda (late Lance-Sergeant of the oldt Regiment), to be Staff- Sergeant. ; A number of gentlemen have(formed themselves into an' unpaid Mounted Rifle ddrps, and have appointed E. C. Gwynne, Esq., M.L.C., as their Captain; John Baker, Esq., M.L.C., Lieutenant ; F. J. Beck, Esq., Fnsign ; and Thomas Taylor, Esq., Surgeon. The services of this corps have been accepted by His Excellency the Governor, i The names of the officers of the volunteers raised .under the the Act have not yet been officially announced.