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

INDIA. CAPTURE OF AND MASSACRE AT CAWNPORE. DEATH OF SIR HUGH WHEELER-MUTINY AT SEALCOTE IN THE PUNJAUB.-RISING AT HYDERABAD. THE following despatch, received from Mar seilles on Thursday evening, gives in a more accurate and detailed form the nature of the intelligence received by this mail : The Vectis arrived at seven this evening. Sir Hugh Wheeler, with the whole of the garrison of Cawnpore, had been massacred. The miscreant Nana Sahih murdered 240 women and children. The following are amongst the killed :—Brigadier Yack, Colonel Williams, Lindsay, Prout, Sir George Parker. Quin, Redman, Supple, Halliday. Reynolds, Prose, Smith, Eckford, Dempster, Jervis, Challwin. General Havelock has since fought three battles with Nana Sahib, and always defeated him, taking from him in the field eleven guns, re-capturing Cawnpore, arid taking twenty-six more guns. Sir Henry Lawrence died of his wounds on the 4th of July. _ _ _ The garrison "f Lucknow still held out. Sir Henry Barnard died of dysentery on tho sth of July. General Reed succeeded him. On the sth of July an obstinate battle was fought before Agra, between the garrison of that place and the Neernuch mutineers, who had marched thither with reinforcements, which brought their numbers up to 10,0(X) men. Our force was obliged to retire with a heavy loss. Among the officers killed in this action were Mejor Thomas, Captain Doyly, Lieutenants Lamb, Pond, and Fellowes ; and of the civil service, Messrs. O'Connor, C. Horn, P. Horn, Carlton, Smith, Jordan, Prendergast, Whiteray, Black, Bardbrank, Freeze, Outram, o:dfied, and Deedes. The 9th Light Cavalry and 46th Native Infantry mutinied at Sealkote on the 9th of July. They massacred Captain Bishop, Dr. Graham, the R-v. Mr. Hunter, with his wife and chili ; Brigadier Britt(' was wounded. The remaining Europeans at this station were safe in the fort. These mutineers were totally defeated by General Nicholson on the 16th. At, Meerut, General Hewitt had been removed from the command fnr supineness. At Setapoor were killed Colonel Birch, the Chris tians, Gavins, Snell, and Bsz. A rising took place at Hyderabad on the 18th of July, but WAY at once put down. The entire territories of Bombay and Madras were perfectly quiet. The Funjaub was tranquil. The Queen's sth Fusiliers and 90th Light Infantry had safely arrived at Calcutta. In our second edition of last week we pub lished the first despatch received on Friday week. At present we confine ourselves to the following : CHINA. Lord Elgin arrived at Hong Kong on the 2nd July. His lordship was to proceed northwards in the Shaun°it, accompanied by six gunboats. The mails from England arrived on the Bth. At Foochon, confirrnivory reports had been re ceived respecting injury sustained by the tea-plant from not being thoroughly picked. AUSTRALIA. Dates pPr European are—Sydney, June 20; Mel bourne, 25th. The European arrived at Melbourne on the oth of June. Shipments of gold to the 23rd of June, 1,230,428 ounces. The Assembly had resolved to abolish the public grant for the support of religion. IVelton's offer for the establishment of a line of steamers between Sydney and Panama has been ac cepted by the Government of New South Wales. GOVERNMENT DESPATCH. The following telegraph was received at the :Foreign -office through the British Vice-Consul at TrieAte, Aug 26, 7 30 p.m.:— ALEX kNPRIA, August 20. The Bombay arrived at Suez yesterday morning, brunzing dates from Bombay to the 80th July. The latest date from Delhi is July 14, at which time the city was still held by the rebels. Though we have THE PRESS, AUGUST 29, 1857. parts of five regiments before Delhi, only 2,000 Europeans can be mustered for any effective attack, is consequence of detachments to protect other Sir Henry Barnard died of cholera on the sth of July, and was succeeded by General Reid. The Bombay and Madras Presidencies were per fectly tranquil, and their armies continued loyal. General Sir H. Lawrence died on the 4th July. The garrison of Lucknow is holding out. General Havelock, at the head of 2,000 Euro peans, has defeated the rebels in three engagements, reoccupying Cawnpore and capturing twenty-sit guns. These actions were very brilliant, and with very little loss on our side. The garrison of Agra fought the Neemuch muti neers on the sth July. Our loss was forty-nMe killed and ninety-two wounded, out of the total force of 500 . Several massacres have taken place in the north • west provinces. The Punjaub continues quiet, with the exception of a mutiny at Sealcote of the oth Light Cavalry and 46th Native Infantry, who took the route to Delhi. They were attacked on the 12th July by Brigadier Nicholson, and were driven back with 200 killed and wounded, leaving their baggage and plunder in our hands. Our loss was six killed and twenty-five wounded. A rising took place at Hyderabad on the 18th July, but was quickly sup pressed. The dates from Hong Kong are to 10th July. Lord Elgin arrived on the 2nd July, and was about to proceed north. (Signed) JOHN GREEN. Trieste, 3 p.m. (Signed) RAVEN. LErTEns FROM INDIA. THE mail, which is now expected every hour, will bring us intelligence of dreadful interest. We shall hear of the fall of Cawnpore and of the massacre of 211) women and children ; of the deaths of poor Sir Hugh Wheeler, Sir Henry Lawrence, Sir Henry Barnard, and numerous brave and gallant officers ; of obstinate battles, terrible losses, and of the con• tinued spread of the mutiny. From the letters before as, we gather sufficient to show the dread with which a spread of the movement is anticipated in India. It is " a great Mahomedan plot," writes a member of the civil service. " All the rajahs think our raj is gone," writes another ; " and what Asiatic; can then be stanch?" he asks. The people of India no longer tear us. We have lost that terrible element of our rule. The natives on all sides see British officers and Englishwomen starving naked wanderers, subjected to every humiliation, and mas sacred at pleasure. It is " horrible and heart• rending," and subjects those in power to a terrible responsibility. Bombay and Madras remain stanch, by the latest dates, and the Punjaub was" tranquil ;" but "I know," writes a correspondent from Madras, "from the very best authority that the Mahomedans are plotting at this place, but whether they dare rise will depend on how things go on in other places : The events of the next three weeks will be most mo mentous. The panic has been intense. I believe, too, that the fears are reasonable. We have at Bangalore a strong force, and the Madras senoys have hitherto proved loyal. There is one circumstance in our favour. We allow all our regiments to have their women and children with them in their lines, whereas in Bengal the sepoy leaves his wife in his village, and is allowed to visit her for a certain period every year. Our system, doubtless, is a great check on the sepoys, as they know that, in the event of their rising, their families are in our power, but the Bengal soldier can roam at will. Peshawur is said to be "quiet" and "all well." What the signification in this case of these terms is may be seen by the following extract from a private letter, June 30th We are certainly in a dangerous situation. We only get one night in bed as the duty becomes so heavy, and then we must lie in our clothes with our muskets beside us ; and, to add to our trouble, we have to find a strong guard over• the families of the officers. If there is not some speedy assistance sent us from Europe, we have a poor chance of maintaining our ground. The refugees at Nynee Tal were safe up to the last account, and were defended by a regiment of Üboorkas I think we are here as safe as we can be ( writes an officer ). Capt. Ramsay is most vigil mt and wise in his proceedings. The ro:ids are guarded by Ghoorkas ( filith Ghoorka Regt ). A company of Ghoorkas are also in this station; and guns; all the gentlemen have been formed into a militia, caUlel th Kiimaon Militia, subject to Captain Ramsay in rty way. This militia is divided into companies ; there are about a hundred gentleman with firearms, and they take it by turns to patrol. Enough grain for three months 837 is being brought in, because we are afraid onr provisions may run short, as there are so many people, and until the country is quieter no one can go to the plains. The fihabur (the country at the foot of the hills) is overrun with dacoits and bad characters. It is horrible that we cannot hear what is going on below. Strange reports come, and we don't know what to believe. From Gorruckpore the following letter from Mr. J. A. Steel, nephew of John Steel, Esq., M.P. for Cozliermouth, will be read with interest : Gorruckpore, June 2,5, IS-57. My dearest Willy,—l inclose you a copy of a letter I wrote some days ago to the major-general commanding at Dinapore, to which he replies he has no European troops to spare." That is all very well, but still what I want is that European aid should be sent us from some available source. We are all quiet at pre.ent, but of course I dare not give an order to hang a mutineer of my own regiment captured on his return home (Gorruckporej—we cannot avenge the murder of five of our fellow-countrymen—ail around see how weak we are, and fancy the raj is gone. tinder such circumstances we can but stay here until we are kicked out, unless some European troops can be sent sharp, and then with the rains coming on all behind the Rabtree at least would be perfectly aeltire—our treasure (six lacs), our gaol, and our lives. Thank God our dear belongings have gone, hut still if Gorruckpore is worth saving, it is surely worth while sending European troops. Two companies world make us strong, and no doubt both the N. I. and I. C. would then do good service in the districts. It is the filthy lucre that is the hitch, and if once Europeans had charge of it there would be no longer covetousness, because were the power to help themselves gone they would turn their thoughts elsewhere—but if Gorruckpore is not worth saving, it is hardly fair to ex pect a number of Europeans to stay and sacrifice their lives unprofitably. Since I wrote to the general all Ouile, except Lucknow, is gone, and we are daily threatened with an attack from Fyzabad. May God avert it. All the rajahs begin to think our raj is gone, and to-day we hear Cawnpore is gone —if such be the case it is impossible to say what may be the consequence. Azimgliur and Jaunpore both went some three weeks ago, since when until three days ago our in that direction were all closed. For seven blessed days we heard from no one, until at last Holmes managed to send us the dak through Segowlie. Janopore still remains in anarchy and confusion, but Azimgbur has been reoccupied by an indigo planter, who has been vested with magisterial powers, but should the Juke through that district be closed again I see no help fur us I see nothing to prevent S ur going. Holmes's Irregulars have hitherto been stanch, and were no doubt a check upon ihe N. 1., who have also been calm and apparently cheer;ul since the rush towards the treasury—hut what Asiatics can be stanch if they think our raj is gone ? It is useless to go on daily telling that European troops are fast pouring into Calcutta, for they naturally think why not show them then ? The good men and true want assistance, and the bad are only wondering how much longer we mean to stay here. Surely this Is a pleasant state of affairs. A few days ago every man would have trembled lest even a drunken European should get injured near their village, hut now they have seen English officers and their wives flying from Oude—five of them murdered with im punity ; they have seen others stripped, go barefooted, nearly naked, hungered and athirst—threatened with death, and subject to every humiliation. Having seen all this, how is it possible they can any longer fear us? (and it was only fear that made our rule sl strong). Depend upon it, the troops are only waiting to see the late of Lucknow, and Sir H. Lawrence writes he is well provisioned and can hold out for three or four months. I hope and pray such is the case, and, if so, surely it is worth while saving that whi , h we still hold. By holding Gorruckpore and Azimghur firmly all the districts of Chupra, Sarum, Chumparm, Tirhoote, will be saved, but if we go, I see no help for them. Holmes has no more than twenty or thirty men with him, and his men must be demoralised by such a state of things—even to preserve his good corps should be a potent consideration. Will you now, like a good fellow, do your best for me in this matter? Take op the map and look at the importance of our position. Urge this on the autkorities. Wyttard, who is acting•commis sioner. has written to Sir P. Grant. Do you also please urge it on my account. I am alone, the only military man here, and owing to our ticklish position do not like to send for more officers, but once T felt we were steady f would beg to have all the officers of the 17th Native Infantry, who are quietly waiting at Benares, sent to us. My dear wife and child I have written to, to take the first steamer from Ghszeepore ( where th v. they should arrive tomorrow) to Calcutta. Take care of them, and now, with every good wish, God bless and keep you. Believe me, yours ever affectionately, _ _ J. A. STEEL. P.S.—T am sick of talking and haranguing, for what can one say? It is no longer religion, it is plunder— " Minch "—sir, which the native officers themselves will tell you is the disease now ! Adieu. INCIDENTS OF THE SIEGE OF DELHI. Many private letters from officer; in the camp before Delhi give animated pictures of :the nature of . the work in hand. The mutineers, it would seem, have fortified Delhi strongly, and fight their guns admirably well. "The men out here," says a civilian, " who were also out in the Crimea, say that was a joke to this." Sickness, we regret to say, is on the increase in the camp, and, observe letters from headquarters, 66 if the troops have to remain