The silver twin-handled cup by William Hunter of London (28 cm, high), which includes the arms of Buckinghamshire and Middlesex, bears the inscription, ‘Presented to Lt. Col. His Grace The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos KG and the Officers of the Royal Bucks Yeomanry Cavalry from Lt. Col. Creed and the Officers of the First Brigade of Middlesex Artillery Volunteers. In remembrance of the good friendship & kindly feeling evinced towards them at the Volunteer Review at Stowe on 22nd June 1864.’
The ‘exceedingly picturesque’ Grand Volunteer Review and Sham Fight at the seat of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos at Stowe on Wednesday 22 June 1864 was attended by between 4,400 and 5,000 volunteers and yeomanry, as well as a very large number of spectators. Special trains for the volunteers and yeoman as well as excursion trains for spectators were organised by the Great Western, and the London and North Western Railway Companies to Buckingham through Aylesbury, and to Buckingham through Cheddington although some spectators found themselves stranded at Winslow when onward carriages to Buckingham failed to materialise. It was unusual to have infantry, artillery, and mounted troops all involved in such a review. Apart from some 200 men from the 1st Administrative Battalion of the Bucks Rifle Volunteers there were 400 men from the 2nd Royal Bucks Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry, including the latter’s horse artillery troops, as well as 50 men from the Taplow Troop (South Bucks Yeomanry Cavalry). The Duke commanded the Royal Bucks Yeomanry from 1861 until his death in 1889, and was also Lord Lieutenant of Bucks from 1868.
Units at the review were drawn from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire Oxfordshire, and Surrey, with elements of the Honourable Artillery Company also present. The sham fight saw one force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J. S. North MP (Oxfordshire) advancing from Home Farm Hill towards the defence led by Lieutenant Colonel Viscount Ranelagh (Middlesex) at the Obelisk Ground. The Royal Bucks Yeomanry were part of the defending force and the 1st Administrative Brigade, Middlesex Artillery Volunteers comprising 103 men with four 18-pounder artillery pieces, were part of the attacking force. The review concluded with an inspection by the Inspector General of Volunteers, Colonel William McMurdo. Only three minor injuries occurred – all to Bucks yeomen – with two men thrown and another kicked on the knee. The 3rd Duke provided a cold collation of beef, lamb and vegetables with ale and stout for all the Bucks yeomen and volunteers.
Formed as three separate corps in 1860-61, the Middlesex Artillery Volunteers were combined into an administrative brigade in April 1864 with its headquarters in Leicester Square. Henry Creed, formerly a captain in the East India Company’s Bombay Horse Artillery was appointed to the command only on 21 June 1864 so that the Stowe review was his first appearance in that capacity. The 3rd Duke became Honorary Colonel of the brigade in 1865.
