L850), and the proceeds of the first annual ball, it closed with
the corps being in debt over L1,000. On the formation of the 2nd county
battalion, Col. Scott took command thereof, Major Sanders being
promoted. He was followed by Lieut.-Col. Mason, on whose resignation, in
February, 1867, Major Ratcliff succeeded, the battalion being then 1,161
strong. Col. Ratcliff retired in June, 1871, and was replaced by
Major-General Hinde, C.B., who held command until his death, March 1,
1881. Major Gem who temporarily acted as commander, also died the
following Nov. 4, Major Burt filling the post till the appointment of
Col. W. Swynfen Jervis. The first adjutant (appointed in 1860) was
Captain McInnis, who retired in 1870, having received bodily injuries
through being thrown from his horse; he was succeeded by the present
Adjutant-Colonel Tarte. The first uniform of the corps was a grey tunic
with green facings, and a peaked cap with cock's feathers; in 1863 this
was changed for a green uniform with red facings, similar to that worn
by the 60th Rifles, with the exception of a broad red stripe on the
trousers. The trouser stripe was done away with in 1875, when also the
cap and feathers gave place to the busby and glengarry, the latter in
1884 being exchanged for the regulation army helmet, and soon perhaps
our boys will all be seen in scarlet like their brothers of the
Staffordshire battalions. At no date since its enrolment has the
battalion been free from debt, and it now owes about L1,300, a state of
affairs hardly creditable to the town which sends out yearly, some
half-million firearms from its manufactories. The annual balls did not
become popular, the last taking place in 1864; bazaars were held October
14-17, 1863, and October 24-27, 1876; athletic displays have been given
(the first in May, 1865), and the cap has been sent round more than
once, but the debt--it still remains. At the Volunteer Review, July 24,
1861, before the Duke of Cambridge; at the Hyde Park Review, June, 1865,
before the Prince of Wales; at the Midland Counties' Review at Derby,
June, 1867; at the Royal Review at Windsor in 1868; and at every
inspection since, the Birmingham corps has merited and received the
highest praise for general smartness and efficiency; it is one of the
crack corps of the kingdom, and at the present time (end of 1884) has
not one inefficient member out of its 1,200 rank and file, but yet the
town is not Liberal enough to suppor