The Press. — London, England, 1857-08-29 00:00:00

838 before Delhi after the rains set in, there will be sad accounts of both men and officers " The mutineers generally sally out every afternoon with a couple of guns and some cavalry, the greater portion of them, however, being infantry. These gentlemen come skirmishing up towards our big house, between which and one part of the city is some very nasty rocky ground, covered with brushwood ; sneaking up behind the rocks and stones these scoundrels come, and when near the house we have to sally out and drive them back. On the afternoon of the 9th, the day we arrived, a very large body of the villains came out, and we had some very sharp fighting to drive them back. Poor young Bettye was, I ant sorry to say, mortally wounded through the stomach, the ball coming out at his back. He lived twenty•four hours only, and we buried him yesterday morning. A more g allant soldier never lived. Daly, our commandant, was cut through the boot, and a alight scratch made on his instep. 1 was slightly wounded in two places—one a sword cut across my chin and lower part of my cheek, and the other across my left hip, a little below the bone. Both cuts are doing famously, and healing up quickly. The way I got them was this :—I was skirmishing along with a number of men, and had helped to pepper the mutineers out of the rocky ground, very nearly down to the city walls, when suddenly a very sharp fire indeed was directed on us from some place in front. 1 rushed on, calling on the men to follow. After running up about fifty yards 1 suddenly came up with our commandant and a few men halted in front of a steep ridge of rocks (which formed a splendid breastwork), and over which Daly was unable to scramble, having too few men to force the position, so that my rein forcement was just what was wanted. . . Immediately on jumping over I had the satisfaction of seeing three fellows coming with a rush at me ; the first, a great tall fell:sw, evidently excited to delirium almost by bhang, opium, and cherries, raised his sword and made a slashing backhanded cut, which, had it taken full effect, must have rolled my head off. However, my usual good luck came to my help, and instead of cutting at my friend I had just time to change the cut into a guard. My good cavalry sword stood well, though a deep cut was made in the steel. However, my guard having been hurriedly made, and my ooponent a stronger man than myself, my sword was beaten d tern and my cheek laid open. After the blow I hail my turn, and gave my friend one across the head, which did not cut him down to the shoulder, as I had imagined (the skull being a very tough article) ; at the same moment one of our men bayoneted this fellow, and Daly cut him down too. As I got my cheek cut I felt a cut just below my hip. The man who did it was instantly bayoneted, and a moment afterwards a third fellow rushed at me—a rather short little scoundrel ; he made a vicious cut at my head too, but, being touch taller, I easily guarded it, and, as I stepped a little forward after his blow, I had full time to raise myself, arm, and sword to their full stretch. My sword caught him at the back of the neck and down across the shoulder a fearful gash, and he fell on his face to rise no more, for a dozen bayonets were stuck into him.— Private Letter. The rebels work their guns well, and with their enormous supplies of ammunition can afford to throw two shots to our one : Our engineer and artillery officers say they work their guns beautifully, and fully equal us to good shots. We who are on outpost duty here, some twenty of us (officers and men), all live in the gateway of this house. The day before yesterday ( the 17th), while quietly sitting and chatting together, a round shot came humming and whisk• ing right into the mouth of the gateway, struck the wall when it had gone about three yards, and burst into a thousand pieces. Poor young Wheatley, of the late 54th (one of the few who had escaped the massacre), was taken from the middle of us, a large piece of the shell striking him in the shoulder and nearly cutting him in two. He dropped down dead, poor young fellow ! Five of us who were sitting within a circle of ten yards of him were more or less struck, but none seriously. I got an admonitory thump on the shoulder from a large piece of a stone that was sent whizzing by my ear ; thank God, a stiff shoulder is the only damage done. Two more were cut about the face. The splinters then left us alone in a most curious way and went about six yards, I expect with a large piece of the round shot, which must have struck the wall at the other end of the gateway and burst again, for it killed two men of the eth Carabineers who were sitting at the mouth of the gateway, smashing their massive brass helmets and thick turban covers, as if they had been made of thin glass, and at the same time five or six Ghoorkas of the Sirmoor Battalion were killed on the spot, also a poor syce. 1 t was a most wonderful thing we were not all killed, but a merciful Providence was watching over us. We have now some sandbags as a wall in front of the gateway, and are pretty safe from shot and shell.—/b. At the tight on the 19th of June our troops do not seem to have been well handled : On the 19th they came out again, having received rein forcements, which they immediately sent out to fight us. At the same time a very large force sent out a long way and tried to get round into the rear of our camp. A large force of ours consequently went out to meet these gentle men, and a tremendous fight was the consequence. Out arrangements were very bad in this tight—the cavalry, infantry, and artillery all mixed up in sad confusion ; many of our men, I fear, killed by our side. The mutineers held a capital position, and their big guns did terrible execution, loaded as they were with grapeshot ; unfortunately, too, evening closed in on the fight, and, instead of quietly retiring, so tia to protect our camp, we were ordered to fight on, and the confusion became terrible ; at last, however, the order came to retire ; many of our guns were left on the ground till morning, as also our killed and wounded, but were luckily all safely brought back into camp next day. I fear our loss was nearly equal to the THE PRESS, AUGUST 29, 1857. enemy's that day ; several officers were killed and wounded, among the latter our commandant, Daly, shut through the shoulder. He is doing well, however. Kennedy, of our cavalry, too, has since been shot through the leg and stomach ; he is also doing well, but he had a narrow escape. On the morning after the last fight the mutineers again came out to try the same plan as the evening before, but the lesson we had had made us wiser, and we marched out in capital order. The enemy, seeing this, immediately began to retire, and tried to draw us on into some broken ground. This, however, they did not succeed in, and, as they kept retiring from place to place, our horse artillery punished them a good deal. Finding they could do no good that day, they wisely retired, and we returned to camp. No loss on our side.—lb. Upon the 23rd of June the battle was long and well contested, and at one time our troops were in a highly critical position. The supply of ammunition failed, but the sepoy proved himself no match for the European at close quarters : I was with the Guides on the right, and from sunrise to past sunset we fought altogether fifteen hours, without anything to eat and only water to drink. We managed to bola our own well, nevertheless, till about one o'clock, and killed an immense number of the mutineers ; but at one o'clock an immense reinforcement came to the assistance of the opposite party, and we had enough to do to hold our own. I twice fired away every shot we had, nearly 100 rounds per man, and had sent back for more ammunition. The men I sent came back with the fearful news there was no more ; to leave the position was contrary to all orders, so we had to do our best by pretending to fire and keeping the post with the bayonet. All this time we were under a perfect hailstorm of bullets, round shot, and shell, for the enemy bad brought some of their light field guns round, and were playing with great effect on our reduced numbers. I certainly thought we should all be done for, when, by the greatest go‘ s.l luck, a part of the regiment of Sikhs that had that very mcrning marched into camp came up with a yell to our assistance ; they were fresh men, and had lots of ammunition, so we rushed on and drove the enemy back. At the same time we were ordered to advance as far as we could ; this we did, and drove the enemy back into the city, after which, as they did not seem inclined to come out again, we retired, it being past sunset.—lb. An officer writes from Meerut, June 1 8, and gives us some notion of the feeling which animates the British soldier : Our batteries are playing on the city and palace of Delhi. The sickness inside is awful; they have their dead and wounded all together, and the stench is frightful, even outside. Two European deserters were cut down at the guns. One had dyed his face, but he called for mercy in English, and was in a thousand pieces in a minute. Martial law has been declared, and we hang six or so every evening, most of them the butchers who were en gaged in the affray, and had assisted here in murder and plunder. I rode out this morning to see the bungalows, and found nothing but heaps of bricks and rubbish. Every bungalow here nearly was burnt, and some people lost, I dare say, 6,000 or 10,000 rupees—carriages, horses, fur niture, everything gone. The moment the sepoys here broke out, thousands of villagers swarmed in, and carried off everything. I could write volumes, but horror and disgust stop me. It makes me sick at heart to think of having to trust native regiments again. This is a strange feature in my Indian career. Bitterly have we been taught that, if we teach our servants to fight and then go to sleep, they are sure to rebel. We hsve learnt how India must be ruled at the cost of many lives and the suf ferings of poor helpless women and children. By God's mercy it is no worse ; and our arms have been successful on every occasion, notwithstanding the numbers are to the sepoys about one to ten. We have a large force at Delhi, and the Delhi people are dispirited at finding that, though they attack us by sorties day and night, still on every occa sion it only decreases their numbers by hundreds. Our troops are as jolly as possible, and each man is mad to have his thrust at these devils—and such thrusts ! One man the other day bayoneted two men at once against a wall; he sent a foot of the barrel into the first man, and bent it like a corkscrew. Thp bayonet is here. Various have been the feats of strength and bravery. One man shot four men out of five who were coming to attack him, and who loaded and fired at hilt as they advanced; but he was a rifleman, and had lite Minis. The natives cannot understand how their men drop at such an immense dis tance. They are very fine fellows, the 60th, as indeed are all the English soldiers. Ten of our English cavalry disperse 5,000 of the villagers. The feeling in the country is in our favour, and the people relish but little what the sepoys do, which is plunder and murder. Naturally enough, agriculturists have little to gain and everything to lose by such acts. An officer, writing from Meerut, happily gives us a more favourable picture of the state of affairs there than we could have reasonably anticipated. We appear to be in some force, but the general (Hewitt) was " awfully cautious." He has since, we learn by telegraph, been superseded : Meerut, June 9.6. Our great safety lies with the Sikhs and Ghoorkas. The mutineers in Delhi came out the other day to fight, and some hundred of them, seeing a party of Sikhs cooking, threw aside their arms and said, " Come to us ; we ale your brothers." The Sikhs said nothing, but when the mutineers came up killed every one. The Ghoorkas hate behaved like Englishmen. Wuen they advanced to the charge the mutineers called out, " e respect you; come to us." " We are coming," said the Ohoorkas, and they did come. They fought like devils. We have lost many men, I regret to say. We have fortified ourselves here, and are expecting an attack from about 2,000 mutineers. We have here about 700 men to guard the place, and shall meet them just outside the station with about 300 or 400 men—all we can spare, as we have barracks and many women to protect. We are ready, and have always been, day and night. Pickets out on all sides—guns, &c., and cavalry, as many as we have. We lie down ready for an alarm. When Delhi is taken, headquarters will be here. Two moveable calumns will be formed here, as troops are assembling down the country. However, in the field we can easily thrash them ; the walls of Delhi alone have kept them alive and together. Our bayonets are all powerful; it seems as if nothing could stand against them. In spite of the times, we still drive out every evening on the course ; but it will be some time before any one (except a man well mounted and armed) will be able to travel at all. There have been schemes for volun teers here going out, in which 1 have joined, of course, but in vain. The general here is so awfully cautious. I am on picket duty every other night, and twice a week for twenty-four hours, day and night. The men are on duty every night, and are hard worked ; horses saddled day and night in case of an attack. We have some of the 130th Rifles and artillery recruits, who, though not drilled, are stanch fighters, and some of them old soldiers. We have our orders in case of an attack, and each one knows his position and can reach it in a minute. We have a very formidable little place here, with bastions, &c., complete heavy and light guns, and a hundre•l volunteers to man the walls. They little expect how we are prepared for them if they do come. My belief is they will go to Delhi; but if not, as I said befcre, we shall not wait for them, hut go out to meet them, while they will expect us crowded in our fortifications. They must be different from all the other mutineers, and we very different from all the other English, if we do not give them a thorough beating, and perhaps get their treasure (eight laws of rupees). The fortifications must only be our last resource, as they ate too small to hold every one. The natives in the bazaar (the worst characters we have) are as humble and quiet now as possible, end seem terrified at us. We have hung and flogged so many that they see they cannot ci mmit atrocities unpunished. The mail goes such a roundabout way from here (the ordinary route not being open) that must send this oft• at once. The country is all up. An officer, writing from Allahabad, anticipates an affair of campaigns:— This is certainly, and will, from all appearance, be a tedious campaign; for, besides the straits we are reduced to, the bad weather is setting in—viz., the rains. I am regularly rationed like a common soldier, get a loaf of bread, a pint of beer, a little sugar and milk, and a small piece of mutton, besides tea twice a day, spirits and beer only once, as also the mutton, for tea is given out at night, but, as several of us have been living together, we have managed to get on very fairly. Oude is now the head. quarters of the rebels. Every single regiment has n- uti nied, and the country will have to be taken a second time, but this time by force of arms. The brave Sir Harry Lawrence has manfully defended the residency against the insurgents, but if assistance is not rendered him, and the people who have taken refuge within its walls, amounting to several hundreds, they will be all starved out, for from the last aecuunts they have been obliged to teed on grain and sugar. They have next to nothing to cook it with, and no pots of any sort to cook it in. It is reported that a detachment of the 84th, the Queen's, who went over there from Cawnpore the other day, have been cut down to a man, but this has not been confirmed. There are thousands upon thousands of natives assembled there, and assistance will have to come quickly, or not a European will be saved. There is a force of 500 Europeans and a detachment of my present corps going over to Cawnpore most likely on Tuesday morning, and most likely I shall go with them; at least, I hope and trust it may be my good luck to be able to. These are stirring times. They are hanging men up at Benares and here. The cruelties committed by the rebels are "beyond belief." A letter from Allahabad says : The cruelties committed by the wretches exceed all belief. They took fortreight females, most of theni girls from ten to fourteen, many delicately.nurtured ladies — violated them, and kept them for the base purposes of the heeds of the insurrection for a whole week. At the end of that time they made them strip themselves, and gave them up to the lowest of the people, to abase in broad daylight in the streets of Delhi. They then commenced the work of torturing them to death, cutting off their breasts, fingers, and noses, and leaving them to die. One lady was three days dying. They fdiyed the face of another lady and made her walk naked thri.n.th the street. Poor Mrs —, the wife of an officer of the Regiment, at Meerut, was soon expecting her confinement. They violated her, then ripped her up, and, taking from her the unborn child, cast it and her into the flames. No Euro• peen man, woman, or child has had the slightest mercy show them. l do not. believe that the world ever wit nessed more hellish torments than have been inflicted on our poor fellow•countrywomen. At Allahabad they have rivalled the atrocities of Delhi. I really cannot tell you the fearful cruelties these demons have been guilty of—cutting off the fingers and toes of little children, joint by joint, in sight of their parents, who were reserved for similar treat• meat afterwards. Colonel Neile is now hard at work getting his force together to move on to the assistance of Cawnpore and Lucknow, both places being in the greatest danger, for all the sepoys that have run away are now gathering around Lucknow. Our reports concerning that city and Cawnpore are most gloomy, but reports in this country and at this time are always against us. You can have no idea of the awful weather and of our sufferings from the heat; we sit ■