§ VISCOUNT LEWISHAMasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether, when telegraphing to the General Commanding in Egypt, on the 12th ultimo, relative to a Force to be collected at Suakin, the Adjutant General was aware of the exact strength and composition of the "Battalion of Marines" to which that telegram refers; and, if so, whether the Staff and the proportions of 666 Field and Company Officers to Men was the same for this Battalion of Marines as that laid down for a Battalion of the Line taking the Field?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONThe Adjutant General was not aware of the exact strength and composition of the Battalion of Marines which would be despatched from the Fleet in the Mediterranean to Suakin; but Lord Wolseley had been informed by the Admiralty that 500 Marines, with a due proportion of officers and non-commissioned officers, would be sent from home to the Fleet; and he assumed that about a corresponding body would be sent on to the Red Sea, as complete in officers and non-commissioned officers as circumstances would allow.