The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-12 00:00:00

888 of them a 24-pounder, another an 18 ditto (we had only 13- pounders). The Enfield rifle frightened them : the fellows at the guns were spotted off at 700 yards without seeing an enemy or hearing a shot. On we went, capturing our own ammunition, treasure, tents—all their food and car• riage, even to their cooking materials ; went right through the town, and encamped on the other side, without losing a single European. A good many of the enemy were killed and wounded. The sun knocked up our own men a good deal. We have the 78th Highlanders with us ; they joined us at twelve a.m. of the 12th. We were drawn up to receive the force, which in all gave us about 1,200 men to ours of 800 (400 Sikhs and artillery, and 400 Europeans). All of a sudden the bagpipes struck up " The Campbells are Coming." The surprise to me was such that 1 could scarcely stand ; twenty years before, and under different circumstances, I had heard the same tune, probably played by the same bagpipes in Edinburgh. Our men (Sikhs) are true as steel, and 1 am proud to have medical charge of such a regiment. Whatever in the way of brovery a European can do they can. The Euro. peen soldiers know it, and yesterday they cheered us in passing. The Sikhs were delighted at the compliment, for the name of European troops is so great in this country that the people say they are half gods, half devils. like the life very well, and would not have missed yester- day for something. As usual, when anything is going on, lam into it. 1 am the only surgeon in charge of the regiment, and am entirely on my own hook. The Euro peans have about one to every 200 men. T 1-1 E PRESS, SEPTEMBER 12, 1857. The last engagement at Delhi was very severe, and we were nearly beaten ; the insurgents came out at the close of the day and got to our rear. Captain M'Andrew, with a few horsemen, was skirmishing about and happened to see them ; he galloped off and warned the Jheend Rajah's men to be ready for action ; the insurgents came up and attacked them in great force, but with the help of the rifle and artillery they were driven back. The next day they were heard skirmishing among themselves, and our only hope is that they will cut each other's throats. We can never starve them out, and we have not enough cavalry to cut off their foraging parties, and our guns are not of calibre enough to make much impression on the wall, which is thirty feet high, seven miles round, and a ditch outside; inside all the gates are bristling with cannon, and we had ourselves put the fortress in an entire state of repair. They have 1 tX) 24. pounders inside. All the in• surgents who are wounded by our Enfield rifles are im mediately killed by their comrades, as the Enfield rifle is discharged by the objectionable cartridge, so the men who are wounded by it have lost caste. The sepoys come out to fight with ladies' dresses on ; is it not revolting ? They also came out loaded with money, which our men take as soon as they kill them. One man of the Rifles got 1,600 rupees; they quite deserve it, but when they get into the city what a ." loot " there will be with all those jewellers' shops ! They will be like madmen; the officers cannot control them when they take a city by storm. June 29. Sanday passed off quietly; the soldiers went off to church fully armed, and sentries were all round it ; it looked warlike to see soldiers at church with loaded muskets. No good news from Delhi yet. We have 24. pounders, but only ammunition for IS•pounders, and when they were going to get the howitzers into play they found that they had no metal fusees. Two heavy batteries are going from Peshawur to Delhi. Yesterday we heard that the native infantry regiments at Midrapore had added themselves to the list of mutinous regiments ; also the sepoys at Baroda, where they had the impudence to cut down the Residency flagstaff for their own use. But the most impertinent thing of all was done at Bareilly, where the Suddur Ameen (a native judge) took our judge, Mr. Robertson, prisoner, made a regular trial, English fashion, and hanged him. And at Alleyghur they put a wretched sepoy on horseback aud called him the " General Sahib," and forced the English officers and civilians to salute him ! Just wait till we have twenty more European regiments in this country, and then won't we pay them off for their impudence ! JUBBULPORE. The following letter is from a lady, the wife of an officer of the 52nd Regiment. It gives a vivid repre sentation of the harassing anxieties borne by our people : Jubbulpore, July 17. e are in a kind of intrenched camp. All Jubbulpore —at least all the gentry—assembled at Major Erskine's house, which has been strongly fortified and defended in every possible way. It is a fine large house, fortunately, for there are sixteen ladies, fifteen children, and thirty gentlemen in it now. Soon after the first sad mutinies at Meerut and Delhi our regiment showed symptoms of excitement, and we had several alarms. One day a sepoy tried to stab Mr. Miller on parade. The native officers behaved well, and seized him. It turns out he has on several occasions been mad, so on that plea he has been tent away into keeping. Another morning we were all roused out of our beds and told to hasten to Major Slee man's house, as our regiment was going to mutiny, but it was a false alarm. Colonel Jamieson still hopes we shall get through this terrible crisis without a mutiny, but a great deal of humouring and diplomacy has been needed, and we dare not say we are safe. We have two companies on guard here every night outside, and we have guards at all our bungalows, and all is going on quietly ; but so did the flth Native Infantry at Allahabad, and vet they turned at last and murdered their officers. You will have heard, perhaps, that your poor cousin, Mr. Innes, was one of the victims. Poor fellows, it was very awful; the wretches murdered them at mess, and had not those on guard in the fort been summarily disarmed there would have been a fearful massacre of all there, both ladies and children. Poor Mrs. H— had only been married a fortnight. Her husband was one of the victims. The whole station of Allahabad is in ruins. But all this, sad though it be, is nothing compared to the terrible murders. The wretches have not spared innocent women and children—monsters of cruelty' Even ladies are getting quite hardened. I really think I did feel pleasure in seeing hundreds of the rebels killed at and Meerut. Some poor ladies and children were most brutally mar dered at Jhansi. It was fearful. First the ladies saw their husbands shot, then the innocent children cut up before their eyes, and then, and not till then, their own fate. What fearful times we live in ! We cannot say our throats are safe from day to day. How lucky you are to be out of it all ! Oh that we were safe in Old England! I shall never feel happy in this country again, at least so I think now. Our Resident, Major E—, is most kind, and tries to make us all as comfortable as possible. I have a small room with Mrs. H— and Mrs. W— and three young H--'s ; plenty of noise. We have not much com fort, as you may imagine. All our mess establishment is here, and we form a large party. At Saugor the 42nd have gone; the 3lst remain stanch; the hOth, at Nagode, remain as yet stanch. Our safety depends much on Saugor and Nagode keeping quiet. All lathes are ordered into places of safety, and at one time it was half settled to send us all off to Mit zapore, but the heavy rains and the un settled state of the country rendered it impracticable. Some poor ladies are very nervous. I have not been so as yet, and sleep very soundly. We have officers on guard and patrol all night, and 'we are not allowed to go out of the compound without leave. THE MURDER OF SIR NORMAN LESLIE. The following is an extract of a letter written by Major Macdonald, commanding the sth Bengal Irregular Cavalry, after the attack upon him and his brother officers, in which it will be remembered Sir Norman Leslie was murdered ! Two days after my native officer said he had found out the murderers, and that they were three men of my own regiment. I had them in irons in a crack, held a drum head court•mattial, convicted, and sentenced them to be hanged the next morning. I took on my own shoulders the responsibility of hanging them first, and asking leave to do so afterwards. That day was an awful one of sus pense and anxiety. One of the prisoners was of very high caste and influence, and this man I determined to treat with the greatest ignominy, by getting the lowest caste man to hang him. To tell the truth, I never for a moment expected to leave the hanging scene alive, but I was determined to do my duty, and well knew the effect that pluck ail decision had on the natives. The regiment was drawn out; wounded cruelly as I was, I had to see everything done myself, even to the adjusting of the ropes, and saw them looped to run easy. Two of the culprits were paralysed with fear and astonishment, never dreaming that I sho ill dare to hang them without an order from tiovernment. The third said he would not be hanged, and called on the Prophet and on his comrades to rescue him. This was an awful moment; an instant's hesitation on my part and probably I should have had a dozen of balls through me; so I seized a pistol, clapped it to the man's ear, and said, with a look there was no mistake about, " Another word out of your mouth, and your brains shall be scattered on the ground." He trembled, and held his tongue. The elephant came up, he was put on his back, the rope adjusted, the elephant moved, and he was left dangling. I then had the others up, and off in the same way. And after some time, when I had dismissed the men of the regiment to their lines, and still found my head on my shoulders, I really could scarcely believe it. A young lady of nineteen, writing from Murree in the Punjanb, gives some details of great interest. The remark upon the battle before Delhi of the fith June confirms what has already been stated : To-day we have beard that the whole Gwalior Contingent has mutinied ; it consists of 16,000 men and thirty guns. They are on their way to Delhi. Our men are quite exhausted, and how can they fight these new men who pour in'o Delhi *very day ? Unless you send us help soon we are done for. There has been a frightful massacre at Shajehanpore. We have not yet received the particulars —it happened on a Sunday. At Bareilly the brigadier's sentry shot him in his own drawing-room. At Nusseerabad the two native infantry regiments mutinied, and seized thirteen guns. The Bombay Lancers endeavonred to recover the guns, but failed, and lost four officers. Nee much has been burnt and several people killed, also all the bungalows at Lncknow have been burnt. Uncle H.'s military secretary and brigadier have been killed, and uncle has fortified Lucknow, and put in three months' provisions, and he will hold out. I hope, by God's help, till we can relieve him. Uncle J— says if it goes on much longer he must send us down to the fort at Lahore. The Mahomedans are much the worst. At Jullundur the three native infantry regiments mutinied, and killed their officers. Mrs. Fagan was living there alone, her husband having gone to Delhi as engineer; the treasury was in her verandah, and a havildar (native officer) and some sepoys guarding it. She heard firing in the night, got up, and asked the havildar what it was. He said, " They are firing in the lines." She said, " Will you protect me and my children ?" He said he would, and presently she heard the mutineers coming into the com pound and beginning firing. One bullet came into her room (she is going to keep it in remembrance of that night). The havildar called out to them to stop, and said there was no one in the hoose ; then they came and carried off the treasure chest out of the verandah and took it into the gsrden and divided it, after which the havildar came in and made his salaam to her, and said he had pi otected her as long as he could and now he must go off %Jth the rest. Then she ordered her carriage and went Li the European lines, where she was safe. Poor Dr. Mawe's fate and poor Mrs. M.'s sufferings have been sad indeed. She is now safe at Major Ellis's house at Nagode. The 12th mutinied at Nougaon, and all had to fly. They were trying to make their way to Sanger. Villagers rose, and they were attacked by a large body of Daeoits. Took to their horses. There were three females. The party was hunted from village to village. Poor M., who had been ill at Nougaon, was at last fairly done for— his horse shied, he and his wife fell off, and were left to die. Poor— wrote a heartrending account two days ago of Mrs. M. She is now safe at Nagode and her child-- little Lotty. Poor M. died soon after the fall. Poor J. crept away and sat in a tomb to hide herself; villagers found her, robbed her of her guard ring, and dragged her into the village. Two miles off, the Nawab of Banda, hearing of a lady in distress, sent an elephant and guard for her, and when she reached Bands she had the happiness of finding Lotty safe with Captain Scott and some of the other officers; this was a ray of comfort for her, poor soul, but she writes as if she was distraught, and is, poor thing, daily expecting a premature confinement. My heart bleeds for her. Yester day Mrs. H. made up a large package of clothes for Lotty and herself ; we put in all we thought would be useful and sent it off. There are only two ladies left in Nagode. Every one is flying to Calcutta. Major E. heard of Sir H. Lawrence's death; a terrible report that Sir H. Wheeler died in garrison, basely murdered. Major Wiggens we suppose gone. Mrs. W.'s name is mentioned as being killed again. Poor Mrs. Wiggens we bear died from sick ness ; also it is said the Nana Sahib has kept upwards of 100 hostages. NYNEE TAL. The following is from a gentleman wbo escaped from Bareilly, dated Nynee Tal, July 7, and is re markable as showing the value of the fidelity of the Sikbs at this moment, as well as expressing the opinion of the English in India as to the degree of trust we may place in that fidelity. "No confi dence," writes an artillery officer from Ferozepore, " can be placed in any native regiment :" Our state here is very precarious. The whole of Rohl]. cund is in a state of anarchy and bloodshed. The foot of the hills bounded by the deadly forest called the Terai has been at present one cause of our safety. The aepoys, as a body, dread the Terai, and, moreover, at present they have all resorted to Delhi as their head-quarters. But the forest is filled with thunsands of cut-throats, who only don't come up here because the Ghoorka regiment still con tiours faithful to us ; but how long it will be so God only knows. If we gain a very decisive battle before Delhi it will, in all human probability, stand firm ; if we do not, I don't believe it will dare to stand. If the Sikhs were now guilty of the same treachery of which the armies of the line have been they might turn the scale instantly against us, and our army must be destroyed to a man. We are all as well as our extreme anxiety will allow us to be. In two months and a half the small treasury here must be emptied, and there will be no pay for the Ghtiorkas or for any of the people here. If relief of some kind come not before that happens that cause alone will be productive of terrible consequences. God in His mercy help us, and help all in this ill-fated country. Another letter dated Nynee Tal, July 8, says : Nearly the whole of the Bengal army have now mutinied. There is no doubt that had the cavalry at Meerut not broke out as they did, and the plot had been allowed to ripen as was intended by the rebels, not a European would have been left alive in the north-western provinces. Provi dentially, the cavalry put us on our guard by their prema ture proceedings and murders at Meerut. We have, how. ever, a tough job to hold our own even now against such overwhelming numbers. Delhi up to this date has not fallen. On this depends the lives of us who are in out ofthe way stations, where aid cannot be sent in time. The liareilly force who so long threatened this little station at last made up their minds and went towards Delhi. They are, after all, a sad set of cowards. Here we are a small force, yet they dared not attack us, though they numbered thousands, with many cannon. They knew we were prepared and would give them a warm reception Should Delhi not soon fall our position here will not be safe, and we shall have to make the best retreat we can across the hills to Mus soorie, where we shall be nearer the European troops at Meerut ; but should all go well at Delhi it is supposed a small force will be sent to our assistance as soon as possible ; but, as we are new well into the rains, I fear we shall not see relief till the beginning of October. Our great anxiety is as to the lathes and children, who are five times as numerous as the men. Many have fled here from the different stations for safety. We have bad to disarm all the Mussulman artillery that were with the guns here, for fear of their doing any mischief. We also dread our own Mussulman servants. Captain C. Troup is here ; he managed to escape from Bareilly with the loss of all he had. Every house in Rohilcund has been burnt down and plundered. THE MAGAZINE AT DELHI. A most interesting narrative, officially communi cated to Government by Lieutenact Forrest, gives an accurate detail at last with respect to the blowing up of the magazine at Delhi on the outbreak of the mutiny. Lieutenant Forrest shares with Lieutenant Willoughby the honour of this brave action. On the morning of the rebellion these two officers and Sir C. Metcalfe were in the arsenal when they heard of the treachery of the native sepoys, and they took instant measures to check their advance upon the arsenal. Sir C. Metcalfe, wbo had gone out to see the extent of We movement, did not return. Lieu