The Press. — London, England, 1858-01-16 00:00:00

.••y • 'ow , q" — %A.• tft 41.4......0—Ar Two days after the lamentable repulse at Chinhut, Sir Henry Lawrence met his death, not, as is gene rally supposed, in the trenches, but from the acci dental bursting of a shell within his own room at the Residency : On the Ist July, an R-inch shell burst in the room in the Residency in which Sir 11. Lawrence was sitting. The missile burst between him and Mr. Couper, close to both, but without injury to either. The whole of his staff implored Sir Henry to take up other quarters, as the Resi dency had then become the special target for the round shot and shell of the enemy. This, however, he jestingly declined to do, observing that another shell would cer tainly never be pitched into that small room. But Pro vidence had ordained otherwise, for on the very next day he was mortally wounded by the fragment of another shell, which burst in the same room exactly at the same spot. Captain Wilson, Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant•General, re ceived a contusion at the same time. Sir Henry Lawrence lingered until the 4th July, when he expired in great agony. Colonel Inglis, by Sir Henry's previously expressed desire, at once assumed military command of the garrison, Major Banks taking upon himself succeeding Sir Henry as Chief Commissioner. Within three weeks, on the 21st of July, Major Banks, "while examining a critical outpost," was shot through the head by a bul'et, and died without a groan. Colonel Inglis then pooeeds in his narrative : The description of our position, and the state of our defences when the siege began, are so fully set forth in the accompanying memorandum [not received by Govern ment], furnished by the garrison engineer, that I shall content myself with bringing to the notice of his lordship in council the fact that when the blockade was commenced only two of our batteries were completed, part of the defences were yet in an unfinished condition, and the buildings in the immediate vicinity, which gave cover to the enemy, were only very partially cleared away. Indeed, our heavies► losses have been caused by the fire from the enemy's sharpshooters stationed in the adjoining mosques and houses of the native nobility, the necessity of destroy ing which had been repeatedly drawn to the attention of Sir Lleary by the staff of engineers; but his invariable reply was, " Spare the holy places, and private property too, as far as possible;" and we have consequently suffered severely from our very tenderness to the religious preju dices and respect to the rights of our rebellious citizens and soldiery. As soon as the enemy had thoroughly com pWted the investment of the Residency, they occupied these houses, some of which were within easy pistol-shot of our barricades, in immense force, and rapidly made loop holes on those sides which bore on our post, from which they kept up a terrific and incessant fire day and night, which caused many daily casualties, as there could not have been less than 8,000 men firing at one time into our position. Moreover, there was no place in the whole of oar works that could be considered safe, for several of the sick and wounded who were lying in the banqueting hall, which had been turned into a hospital, were killed in the very centre of the building, and the widow of Lieutenant Duch . ' and other women aatl children were shot dead in a room into which it had not been previously deemed pos sible that a bullet could penetrate. Neither were the enemy idle in erecting batteries. They soon had from 20 to 25 guns in position, some of them of very large calibre. These were planted all round our post at small distances, some being actually within fifty yards of our defences, but in places where our own heavy glans could not reply to them, while the perseverance and ingenuity of the enemy in erecting barricades in front of and around their guns in a very short time rendered all attempts to silence them by musketry entirely unavailing. Neither could they be effectually silenced by shells, by reason of their extreme proximity to our position, and because, moreover, the enemy had recourse to digging very narrow trenches about eight feet in depth in rear of each gun, in which the men lay while our shells were flying, and which so effectually concealed them, even while working the gull, that our based sharpshooters could only see their hands while in the act of loading. From the Ist to the 20th July the euemy kept up this incessant fusillade in order to cover their mining operations. On that day, at ten a.m., they exploded their first mine close to the Water Gate. From that until the arrival of Outram they continued with un ceasing watchfulness and audacity to pour upon the devoted garrison an incessant storm of shot and shell, besides making three separate and desperate attempts to carry the defences by assault. The first mine, says Colonel Inglis, which was close to the Redan, and apparently sprung with the intention of destroying that battery, did no harm, but as soon as the smoke had cleared away the enemy boldly advanced, under cover of a tremendous fire of can• non and musketry, with the object of storming the Redan But they were received with such a heavy fire, that after a short struggle they fell back with much loss. A strong column advanced at the same time to attack Innes's post, and came on to within ten yards of the palisades, affording to Lieutenant Loughnan, 10th N. 1., who commanded the position, and his bravo garrison, composed of gentlemen of the lincovenanted service, a few of her Majesty's 3'Lnd Foot and of the 13th Native Infantry, an opportunity of distinguishing themselves, which they were not slow to avail themselves of. and the enemy were driven back with great slaughter. The insurgents made minor attacks at almost every outpost, but were invariably defeated, and at two p.m. they ceased their attempts to storm the place, although their musketry fire and cannonading continued to harass ns unceasingly as usual. Matters proceeded in this manner until the 10th of August, when the enemy :p - 4.4 - .„ .i•••• THE PRESS, JANUARY 16, 1858. made another assault, having previously sprung a mine close to the brigade mess, which entirely destroyed our defences for the space of twenty feet, and blew in a great portion of the outside wall of the house occupied by Mr. Schilling's garrison. On the dust clearing away, a breach appeared, through which a regiment could have advanced in perfect order, and a few of the enemy came on with the Utmost determination, het were met with such a withering flank fire of musketry from the officers and men holding the top of the brigade mess, that they beat a speedy re treat, leaving the more adventurous of their numbers lying on the crest of the breach. While this operation was going on, another large body advanced on the Cawnpore Battery, and succeeded in locating themselves for a few minutes in the ditch. They were, however, dislodged by hand grenades. At Captain Anderson's post they also came boldly forward with scaling la lders, which they planted against the wall ; but here, as elsewhere, they were met with the most indomitable resolutioc, and the leaders being slain, the rest fled, leaving the ladders, and retreated to their batteries and loopholed defences, from whence they kept up for the rest of the day an unusually heavy cannonade and musketry fire. On the 18th August the enemy sprung another mine 'in front of the Sikh lines with very fatal effect. Captain Orr kunattached ), Lieutenants Mecham and Soppitt, who commanded the small bady of drummers composing the garrison, were blown into the air, but providentially returned to earth with no further injury than a severe shaking. The garri son, however, were not so fortunate. No leas than eleven men were buried alive under the ruins, from whence it was impossible to extricate them, owing to the tremendous fire kept up by the enemy from houses situated not ten yards in front of the breach. The explosion was followed by a general aasaitlt of a less determined nature than the two former effirts, and the enemy were consequently re pulsed without much difficulty. Hut they succeeded, under cover of the broach, in establishing themselves in one of the houses in our position, from which they were driven in the evening by the bayonets of her Majesty's 3 - I.nd anti 82nd Foot. On the sth Septeniber the enemy made their last serious assault. Having exploded a large mine, a few feet short of the bastion of the 18-pounder gun, in Major Apthorpe's post, they advanced with large heavy scaling-ladders, which they planted against the wall, and mountegl, thereby gaining for an instant the embrasure of a gun. They were, however, speedily driven back with loss, by hand grit nades and musketry. A few minutes subsequently they sprung another mine close to the brigade mess, and advanced boldly ; but soon the corpses strewed in the garden in front of the post bore testimony to the fatal accuracy of the rifle and musketry fire of the gallant members of that garrison, and the enemy tied ignomi niously,leaving their leader—a fine-looking old native officer —among the slain. At other posts they made their similar attacks, but with less resolution, and everywhere with the same want of success. Their loss upon this (lay must have been very heavy, as they came on with much determination, and at night they were seen bearing large numbers of their killed and wounded over the bridges in the direction of cantonments. The above is a faint at tempt at a description of the four great struggles which have occurred during this protracted season of exertion, exposure, and suffering. To neutralise the efforts of the rebels at mining— " a species of offensive warfare," says Colonel Inglis , " for the exsrcise of which our position was unfortu- nately peculiarly situated"—and to repel their assaults, required untiring watchfulness and determined daring on the part of the besieged By countermining in all directions we succeeded in de tecting and destroying no less than four of the enemy's subterraneons advances towards important positions, two of which operations were eminently successful, as on one occasion no less than eighty of them were blown into the air, and twenty suffered a similar fate on the second ex plosion. The labour, however, which devolved upon us in making these countermines, in the absence of a body of skilled miners, was very heavy. The labours of all in this protracted struggle were heavy indeed. " I can conscientiously declare my conviction," writes Colonel Inglis, " that few troops have ever undergone greater hardships, exposed as they have been to a never•ceasing musketry fire and cannonade :" They have also experienced the alternate vicissitudes of extreme wet and of intense heat, and that too with very insufficient shelter from either, and in many places with. out any shelter at all. In addition to having had to repel real attacks, they have been exposed night and day to the hardly less harassing false alarms which the enemy hate been constantly raising. The insurgents have frequently fired very heavily, sounded the advance and shouted tor several hours together, though not a mart could be seen, with the view, of course, of harassing our small and ex• hausted force, in which object they succeeded, for no part has been strong enough to allow of a portion only of the garrison being prepared in the event of a false attack being turned into a real one. All, therefore, had to stand to their arms and to remain at their posts until the demonstra• tion had ceased ; and such attacks were of almost nightly occurrence. The whole of the officers and men have been on duty night and day during the eighty-seven days which the siege had lasted, up to the arrival of Sir J. Outrarn, G.C.H. In addition to this incessant military duty, the force has been nightly employed in repairing defences, in maving grins, in burying dead animals, in conveying ammunition and commissariat stores from one place to another, and in other fatigue duties too numerous and too trivial to enumerate here. I feel, however, that any 'old of mine will fail to convey any adequate idea of what our fatigue and labours have been, labours in which all ranks and all classes—civilians, officers, and soldiers, have all borne an equally noble part. All have together descended into the mine, all have together handled the shovel for the * • -. % ~‘,..,,,,5pe: interment of the putrid bullock, and all accoutred wi t h musket and bayonet have relieved each other on sentry without regard to the distinctions of rank, civil or military., Notwithstanding all these hardships, the garrison h ai made no less than five sorties, in whim they spiked two of the enemy's heaviest guns, and blew up several of the houses from which they had kept up their most harassing fire. Owing to the extreme paucity of our numbers, ea c h man was taught to feel that on his own individual effirts alone depended in no small measure the safety of the entire position. This consciousness incited every officer, soldier, and man to defend the post assigned to him with such desperate tenacity, and to fight for the lives which Pr del• dence had intrusted to his care with such dauntless d e . termination, that the enem), despite their constant attacks, their heavy mines, their overwhelming numbers, and their incessant fire, could never succeed in gaining one single inch of ground within the bounds of this straggling position, which was so feebly fortified, that had they once obtained a footing in any of the outposts, the whole place must inevitably have fallen. If further proof be wanting of the desperate nature of the struggle which we have, under God's blessing, so long and so successfully waged, I would point to the roofless and ruined houses, to the crumbled walls, to the exploded mines, to the open breaches, to the shattered and disabled guns and defences, and lastly to the long and melancholy list of the brave and devoted officers and men who have fallen. These silent witnesses bear sad and solemn testi mony to the way in which this feeble position has been de. fended. During the early part of these vicissitudes we were left without any information whatever regarding the posture of affairs outside. An occasional spy did indeed come in with the object of inducing our sepoys and [ten vents to desert ; but the intellig'nce derived front touch sources was of course entirely untrustworthy. We seat our messengers daily oalling for aid and asking for infor mation, none of whom ever returned until the twenty. sixth day of the siege, when a pensioner named Ungud came back with a letter from Generol Havelock's camp, informing us that they were advancing with a force Ruth. cier.t to bear down all opposition, and would be with us in five or six days. A messenger was immediately despatched, requesting that on Cie evening of their arrival on the out skirts of the city two rockets might be sent up, in order that we might take the necessary measures for assisting them while Porcine their way in. The sixth day, however, expired, and they came not ; but for many evenings after officers and men watched for the ascension of the expected rockets, with hopes such as make the heart sick. We knew not then, nor did we learn until the 29th of August—or thirty-five days later—that the relieving force, after having fought moat nobly to effect our deliverance, had been obliged to fall back for reinforcements, and this was the last communication we received until two days before the arrival of Sir James Ontram on the 25th September. The privations and sufferings, too, of the beseiged were painfully severe : Besides heavy visitations of cholera and smallpox, we have also had to contend against a sickness which has almost universally pervaded the garrison. Commencing with • very painful eruption, it has merged into a low fever, combined with diarrhoea ; and although few or no men have actually died from its effects, it leaves behind a weak ness and lassitude which, in the absence of all material sustenance, save coarse beef and still coarser flour, none have been able entirely to get over. The mortality among the women and children, and especially among the latter, from these diseases, and from other causes, has beeu perhaps the most painful characteristic of the siege. The want of native servants has also been • source.of much privation. Owing to the suddenness with which we were besieged, many of these people who might perhaps have otherwise proved faithful to their employers, but who were outside the defences at the time, were altogether excluded. Very many more deserted, and several families were consequently left without the services of a single domestic. Several ladies have had to tend their children, and even to wash their own clothes, as well as to cook their scanty meals, entirely unaided. Combined with the absence of servants, the want of proper accommodation has probably been the cause cf much .f the disease with which we have been afflicted. " I cannot refrain " says Colonel Inglis at this point, " from bringing to the prominent notice of his lordship in council the patient endurance and the Christian resignation which has been evinced by the women of this garrison. They have animated us by their example. Many, alas ! have been made widows, and their children fatherless, in this cruel struggle. But all such seem resigned to tho will of Providence, and many, among whom may be men tioned the honoured names of Birch, of Polehamp ton, of Barbor, and of Gall, have, after the example of Miss Nightingale, constituted themselves the tender and solicitous nurses of the wounded and dying soldiers in the hospital." Colonel Inglis then calls attention to the heroic conduct of the different officers engaged in the defence. Without exception their behaviour has been superb. It would be invidious to select here one name before so many which are wreathed with imperishable glory, but that of Lieutenant James, Sub-Assistant Commissary-General, who was severely wounded by a shot through the knee at Chinhut, notwithstanding which he refused to go upon the sick-list, and carried on his most trying duties throughout the entire siege, draws from Colonel Inglis a special encomium. "It is not too much to say," remarks'Colonel Inglis, " that the garrison owe their lives to the exertions and firmness of this officer. Before the struggle commenced, he was ever in the saddle, getting in supplies, and his 1 1 a 1 5 11 a Ii a I. 5