The Press. — London, England, 1857-10-31 00:00:00

1054 church, Skinner's house, the college and the grounds about. Preparations are being made to turn the guns from the captured bastions on the city, and to bring up other guns and mortars to commanding points. The enemy for the present retain the Lahore and other bastions, the palace, Selimghur, and the chief part of the city ; but our hold of the position that has been secured appears firm, and the fall of the remainder is to be ex pected. General Nicholson, Colonel Campbell, 52nd. and Major Reid, Sirmoor battalion, are among the wounded officers, who are numerous. Lieutenants Bradshaw, 52nd, and Fitzgerald, 75th, were killed. A body of troops were observed to march off by the bridge, but pursuit is impracticable until Selimghur and the river front have been occupied. The chief losses were experienced in attempting to reach the Jumma Musjid and to penetrate beyond the Cabul Gate. The following description is from a letter from Colonel Becher : Tke troops entered at the breach near the Cashmere Gate without serious opposition, and pined possession of the large buildings in its neighbourhood, and advanced along the ramparts to the Moree Bastion and Cabal Gate, in progrvis to which the resistance was very obstinate, and the loss consequently has been severe; but we are advanc ing within the city. Large bodies of the enemy have been seen retreating both in the direction of the Knottib and over the bridge. Arrangements are in hand for batteries to be male in the city, and their own heavy guns have been turned against them. Several messages rapidly followed the first an nouncement of the assault. Our troops made good their ground first won, but in an imprudent attempt to penetrate the town met with desperate resistance and suffered severe loss. They were at length prudently recalled from their too hasty advance into the close lanes of the city, hivoqacked for the night in the comps• ratively open space inside the Cashmere Gate, and the walls which they had won upon either side of it. Head-quarters were established in the house once occupied by the renowned Irregular Horseman, Skinner, and now known to us by his name, to the natives as Secunder's. Preparations were at once made for shelling the enemy out of the Palace, the Selimghur, and the other strong places of the city, and the firing commenced next morning, the 15th. That day was spent in shelling the Magazine, which is immediately to the south of the church, taken on the 14th, and the Palace, somewhat further on in the same direction. While this work was in pro. grew), the guns on the Shah (or Moree) Bastion and the tower near the Cabal Gate were turned upon Burn Bastion and the Lahore Gate, positions to the southward which had been taken up by the mutineers. Throughout the day our soldiery con• tinued to work their way slowly to the south ; and by nightfall a practicable breach having been made in the walls of the Magazine, it was resolved to storm it next morning by daybreak. During the whole of the 15th, bodies both of rebel cavalry and infaltry kept leaving the city, but the greater part of the mutineers continued resolutely to dispute our further progress. At daybreak on the 16th the Magazine was stormed by the 61st and a portion of the Belooch battalion, and carried with little loss ; in it were cartured 125 guns. The shower of shells which throughout the preceding day had been poured without intermission on the Palace was kept up. The party advancing along the ramparts compelled the enemy to abandon the Kishengunge Battery, a little to the north of the Lahore Gate. A battery on the other side of the river, which had galled our soldiers in their advance, was also reported to be abandoned. Towards the afternoon it became apparent that the organisation of the mutineers into regiments was fast being broken up ; they continued, however, to fight in detached groups in a spirit of the most determined inveteracy. During the day they even made an attempt to retake the Magazine, but were repulsed with little difficulty. By nightfall the British had established a line of posts from the Magazine to the Cabul Gate—that is, nearly along the north bank of the canal ; at once an indication of how much of the city they had unquestionaoly wrested from the enemy, and of the far greater and more important part which, after three days' hard and incessant fighting, still remained t) be taken. For the rest we depend entirely upon the Jeypore despatches, which run thus : On the 17th shelling the Lal Kills (Red Fort; this appears to be some other stronghold than Selimghur) and city. Fighting all day; leaders and native officers in open dissension, accusing one another, in presence of the King, of cowardice. In the entl unanimity prevailed, and they resolved to attack and fight as men without hope of mercy or pardon. Friday, the 18th.—Shelling all night on the Lid Kills. This morning fighting recominenced, and muti neers on some points successful, but constantly repulsed. Rifles doing much mischief among the rebels. City people, both rich and poor, running away. Suburb, where Reid failed (the Kishengunge), is ours, end also the rebels' battery there. King and two sons concealed. One bastion of the Lal Kills, destroyed, and it will be taken. Captain Eden adds, "The above is from the Durbar news•writer to the Raj ah at Jeypore." THE PRESS, OCTOBER 31, 1857. There may be some exaggeration, but in the main I am inclined to believe this report, as the man has always sent us correct reports on the whole. After this the report of the total occupation of the city on the 20th may be accepted, but we may be sure only after very hard fighting. The following was received by express from General Roberts, commanding the forces at Ahme dabad, who despatched the intelligence to the Go vernor on the 29th of September : By express through Dr. Derinzy, Residency surgeon, Jeypore, the 23rd of September, five a.m.—We have this moment received information from the Durbar of our troops having occupied the entire city of Delhi on Sunday last, the 20th. The Vakeel of the Jhujjur Nawab had been here a little - a hile before with the same intelligence, so you may rely upon it. The King is said to be in the Durgah Nizam•oodeen, about six miles from Delhi. He and his two sons escaped disguised as women, and the women of the Zenana iu men's clothes. It was reported at Ahmedabad, upon the strength of letters from Ajmere, that the King of Delhi hail been cap. tured. So much only is known of the assault and capture of Delhi. When full details arrive, we shall no doubt learn that it was as gallant and desperate a struggle as ever was won by British troops. The city, it is clear, was fiercely and obstinately defended foot by foot by the rebels, and the courage and per severance of our soldiers and their gallant allies we may feel confident was worthy of the reliance placed in them. The next great object of the war, the relief of Lucknow, is not announced by this mail. General Outram, who by the last mail anticipated reaching Cawnpore on the 9th September, only reached there on the 17th. The difficulties of transport were so great. A body of the rebels also disputed his progress : A party, estimated by its subsequent destroyer at about 300 strong, with a few guns (the number is not men tioned), crossed the Ganges from Oude, presumably for the purpose of plunder, at a point ahead of Sir James's line of march. As soon as they were heard of Major Vin• cent Eyre, of old Affghan and recent Arrah celebrity, was sent on with part of his own battery, detachments of the sth and filth Foot, and a troop of Irregniar Horse, to attack and disperse them. On the major's aprroach the enemy hastily betook themselves to their boats, pursued by the cavalry, upon whom, when they had re-embarked, they kept up a smart fire. Even when the infantry came up, and poured volley after volley into the crowded boats, the rebels still made what defence and return they could, but when the field pieces opened with grape they threw them selves panic-stricken into the river, to perish almost to a man under the fire of all arms that rained upon them from the bank. The boats were sunk and the gilds with them.-- Times cor. This was on the 10th of September. On the 15th the head-quarters of the sth Fusiliers and the re mainder of the 78th Highlanders reached Cawnpore, and Sir James with the rest of the force being ex pected on the following day, orders were given by General Havelock to prepare to commence the crossing of the river at half-past two the next morn ing. The crossing, however, either did not take place, or at least was not completed before the 19th, for a despatch from Benares, Sept. 20th, states that " Generals Outram and Havelock report from Cawn pore en the 19th, at six p.m., that the troops crossed that morning without opposition, skirmishing only with advanced posts." The word " skirmishing" inadequately, as we may fear, represents the amount of resistance encountered by the troops, for is is quite certain that the rebels ware in great strength on the opposite banks, as the following letter testifies : Cawnpore, Sept. 19. In the course of the past week we have hal augment a tions to our army from the lower provinces, and more are daily expected. General Sir J. Outram, with seven hundred bayonets and one horse field battery, is to come in to morrow from Allahabad, and it is said that we await the arrival of some eight hundred more, ere a move to Lucknow will or can be effected. Morning and evening parades and roll calls are quite the order of the day, together with the training of the volunteer cavalry in the use of the sword, Ste., as also our new horse battery, which has made wonderful progre.s. This morning the battery was out manoeuvring the guns, firing blank to see the effect of the shock on the young horses. I am told they stood the fire well, and with a few more exercises will be deemed efficient for the field. The enemy are working like bricks on the other side of the river, erect ing breastworks, batteries, and mining the roads. A few days since they had an experimental explosion of one of these mines, but the simpletons had the train set on the wrong way, and when a great mob had congregated to witness the burr a tamadia—tarunsha in truth !--for it sent some 3,001 or 4,000 kicking in the air. Yesterday we sent a reconnoitring party of one hundred men on board the Hon. Company's steamer Ile rhampootra, but the vessel, on crossing the Ganges. got foul of a sandbank and stuck fast. No sooner did the rebels notice this mishap than they thought it a good chance to sink the vessel, which they considered a great bore, and blazed away their guns at her. On hearing and seeing this we replied to them by our 21• pounders from our iutreucbed camp, and several of the insurgents were floored, together with one elephant, the whole of its posterior being carried clean off with a round shot. This proved sufficient for the enemy, and they were seen scampering off in searelt of the road home. Last evening they again assembled close to the river side in thousands, and fired oil a few of their 9-pounders. We again returned the compliment by our monsters, and a few shots sufficed to scatter them. Boats were sent for the unsuccessful reconnoitring party, and the steamer soon afterwards floated, and is now safe at the bank side, having received no damage. The bank on this side of the river is much higher than that on the other, and we therefore command a better view and range than they do. Their shot drop far short of the land on this side ; ours, though of the same calibre, carry well across. It is contemplated to leave the whole of the sick, with four hundred effective men, in the intrench rnent, the main body of the army going on to the relief of the garrison at Lucknow. Of the actual position of the besieged garrison at Lucknow, the little that is known is highly satisfac tory. A letter from General Outram, dated liumern, 11th Sept., states : I have just received a note from Cawnpore of this date, from which I extract the following :—'• We had very good news from Lucknow yesterday. A fierce cannonade at gunfire, and towards noon the enemy exploded a mine but by some mischance it went off just under the feet of those advancing to attack, killing, it is said, nearly 100. The garrison then made a sortie, which utterly completed their discomfiture." The following extract of a letter written by a cavalry officer at Cawnpore, dated Sept. 3, is also cheering : The news we have from Lucknow is very good. We have often communication with them. A man came in yesterday. They are all as jolly as they can be under the circumstances. They appear to have plenty to eat, though no luxuries. Fighting goes on daily, of course, but there is no chance of a further assault, as the niggers got such a lesson last time. I hope we shall relieve them before the 25th, certainly. We have now, I should think, 1,500 Europeans. The cavalry only numbers gO, but is to be made up to 100. We have a battery of horse and one of foot artillery, and six 24. pounders drawn by elephants, besides some mortars; and when the 90th and sth join us, as the) will about the 12th or 15th, we shall be able to give the blackguards something they do not expect. 1 feel, and indeed we all feel, very hopeful of Lucknow. Whether or no the expedition this time will succeed in effecting the relief of the heroic garrison remains to be proved. The Calcutta officials ridicule any notion of failure. The Hurkaru of September 24 says:-- As to the success of the expedition, few in Calcutta, none of those who ought to be best informed, entertain the smallest doubt, and if the heroic garrison possess the means of prolonging their resistance but a few days longer, their safety will, in all human probability, be secured. It is not anticipated that the opposition to our advance will be of the same determined nature as on the former occasion ; in fact, two regiments have already made overtures to our authorities to return to their allegiance, and although the offer of course was scouted, still the fact of its having been made at all proves the disunion prevalent amongst the insurgents. But against this the (=respondent of the Daily News remarks :—" Fifty two miles intervene between Cawnpore and Lucknow ; the left (Oude) bank of the river which runs just under Cawnpore is strongly fortified, and there are twelve or fourteen large villages on the road ; each of these has been made a small fortification, and all will require to be stomed." And adds There are several stories abroad as to the disunion prevailing amongst the enemy, but I can state most positively that these stories are greatly exaggerated. No cordiality of feeling can ever exist between Mahomedan and Hindoo, but it is equally certain that they have for the moment dropped their mutual dislike, in order to combine against us, and that however great may be their hatred to one another, it falls short of that felt towards the Feringhees." A letter from Havelock's camp states that two of the mutineer regiments have sent in to the general, offering to lay down their arms if their lives were spared. The reply was that no overtures from any rebels could be entertained, but that if they gave ocular demonstration of their sincerity, that is by fighting their brother mutineers, their case would be taken into consideration. One of these repentant, regiments is supposed to be the 22nd N. 1., who generously offered to assist their officers from the Government treasury at 1F zabad , and who, it will be remembered, spared their lives. The Ghoorkas being on one side and the Europeans on the other, with the King and Ally Nucky Khan not coming up as promised and fully expected long ere this, they appear to have taken a sudden fit of loyalty again, as they now find that their visions of double pay and two hunched bighas of land in Oude promised to each sepoy have been merely figurative ; attempting to grasp these, they have lost Lie Company's regular pay and batta. The following was an intercepted letter to the Barrackpore Brigade, and more par• titularly addressed to one regiment there:— Oh, ye warriors greeting ! We expected great things from you; you have, however, deceived us. We consi•