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

THE PRESS, OCTOBER 10,1857. up well by shelling the town for several days, and making a decent breach : _ All agree that taking it by assault is out of the question, and our batteries, on account of the great height of the glacis, will have to be advanced so close that a practicable breach will be made in a day or two after we once com• mence, so there will be no delay when once we have the train. • • • Some details of our force, and their losses by sick. ness and action, are appended by this officer. They are of interest. -- The force on duty on the 10th of August amounted to 3,342 European soldiers, 2213 European officers, with 2,024 natives (Sikhs and Ghoorkas), and 46 native officers; with 520 horses, 12 9-pound horse artillery guns, and 16 6-pounders, besides heavy artillery. From the Bth of June to the 10th of August we have had 308 officers, 4,310 Europeans, and 2,481 natives employed before Delhi. Out of these, 25 officers, 212 Europeans, and 117 natives have been killed, and 76 officers, 671 Europeans, and 458 na tives wounded inaction. we now have is a volunteer guard of a part of the inhabi tants only). His lordship opposes both, but as the necessity which called for them will cease to exist in a few days, with the termination of the holidays and the arrival of further reinforcements, he will probably give in before long, in pursuance of his policy of doing everything either insufficiently or too late—sometimes both ! We shall see. Such is the position of affairs at Calcutta. It is scarcely one to be regarded with satisfaction. SIR COLIN CAMPBELL AT CALCUTTA. From letters received in Glasgow dated Calcutta, August 22, Sir Cohn Campbell, who arrived there on the 14th of August, was in perfect health at that time, and had taken the command of the army. On the 17th of that month he issued the following order of the day to the troops in India : BY THE COMMANDER IN•CRIEF. Her Majesty having been graciously pleased to appoint me Commanderin•Chief of the Forces in India, in the room of the late lamented General the Honourable George Anson, and her Majesty having also been graciously pleased to confer upon me the rank of General in the East Indies, I now assume the command of the army in India. In doing so it affords me the highest satisfaction to find under my orders troops who have so fully proved them. selves, in the recent arduous operations in the field, to be what I have ever known British soldiers in every quarter of the globe—courageous, faithful, obedient, and en during. In former years I have commanded native troops of India, and by their side I have been present in many battles and victories in which they have nobly borne their part ; and it is to me a subject of deep concern to learn that sot. August 5. there of whom I have been accustomed to think so favour- Since I wrote yesterday, news has come that the Hin ably should now be arrayed in open and defiant mutiny does have risen against the Mahomedans and seized More against a Government proverbial for the liberality and dabad and the guns there, and that they have also split and paternal consideration with which it has ever treated its are ready to go at one another's throats in Bareilly. The servants of every denomination. Mahomedans have been oppressing the Ilindoos terribly, When I join the none now in the field restoring order to and the worm has turned. The Hindoos are numerous the district disturbed by the disaffection of the army of enough to win the day if they are stanch. Bengal, I shall, at the head of the British troops, and of They are also very well affected to us (at least in this those native soldiers who, though few in number, have not neighbourhood), and have been sending us constant mes feared to separate themselves from their faithless comrades, sages to come back again, which we should have done if and to adhere to their duty, feel my old confidence that they we had had any force here at all—l mean even two avail. will march to certain victory. able field-guns and 200 or 300 cavalry to go with the 1 shall not fail to notice, and the powerful Government Ghoorkas and us. The Hindoos really seem to mean which I have the honour to serve will not fail to reward, fighting now. every instance of fidelity and valour shown by the troops This is the best news we have heard for a long time. nude- my command. The religious split will spread everywhere like wildfire— I call upon the officers and men of both European and into Delhi itself, in all probability—and whichever loses, native troops zealously to assist in the task before us; and, Hindoo or Mahomedan, we ought to win. I t also makes by the blessing of God, we shall soon again see India tran- us at Nynee Tal quite secure from any attack, for some quit and prosperous. time to come at any rate. I have sent a copy of this letter (Signed) CoLIN CAMMIELL. to my mother. This statement has not been supported by official DELHI. intelligence of the fact. An officer of the Bengal Artillery, writing from The Punjaub scarcely appears to be in a satis- Do.lhi, August 13, expresses an opinion that the We are armin factory or a safe position. g and seizure of Delhi by the rebels, and our long siege , training huge bodies of natives, and placing implicit has been entirely in our favour. It concentrated the main force of the rebels on one spot : confidence in native chiefs who have hitherto been under the strictest surveillance. A writer remarks The mere fact of our being here in front of Delhi has attracted all the mutineers to this one spot , without on the 15th August : which loadstone they would certainly have wandered all The Sikhs fight well, being enraged against the sepoys, over the country. Our communication with the Punjaub who, by proclamation of the King of Delhi, massacre them would have been cut off by their getting round to the rear. without mercy, if caught. This, I suppose, is the reason We should have had the greatest difficulty in getting sup• which has induced Government to adopt a policy which, to plies, as with the numbers their army has swelled to, they me at least, appears hazardous. With a thin line of Sikhs could have surrounded the whole city and rendered our already running through the country, they are raising a foraging a work of great danger ; instead of which, we further force of about 20,000 of this recently conquered race, have had a daily post in from the north-west, and, after and have granted a commission to some of their captive the first few days, supplies of every description have been chiefs here. It is true there is hatred between the Sikhs plentiful. Besides this, had a repot t been spread that the and sepoys, but that does not prove that the former have mutineers were on their way to Umballah and the Pun• any love for us. We, ourselves, are rearming an army of janb, the people would have risen universally with them. the most formidable anti most recent of all the foes we ever Even now it is generally believed that the l'utteeala Rajah, encountered, and can we wonder it' this should induce them as well as several Sirdars in the Jullundur, and other to attempt to regain the independence they so recently lost? Doan of the Punjaub, are greatly inclined to join the If they keep true to us no doubt they will be valuable auxi. rebels ; but, seeing all work anti business carried on as liaries, but is not the experiment too great a temptation for usual, they have sense enough to feel that our Govern - human it y ? If the Russians had conquered England, and ment is not quite at an end, although there is no doubt it then, after ten years or so, found themselves likely to has received a great shock. succumb before a powerful insurrection in Scotland, what do think would happen it' they enlisted and trained a large Exactly so; but what will be the effect of the Pan- 3a.ormu y of Englishmen ? I think the Russians would be dies when they leave Delhi, and disperse themselves wiser than to try any such experiment, but would prefer over the country? Nobody believes for a moment taking their chance, anl waiting until they could receive reinforcements from home. I fear these new that they will wait to be caught in their own trap ; levies may give us eventually mote trouble titan our present at least no one in the British camp believes it. This enemies. writer, among the others, has his doubts:— Then, again, the elements of rebellion exist in the shape of several disarmed Bengal regime nts. A letter It will be an extraordinary day for those that see the end of it, if the Pandits only wait to fight; hut I some- from Peshawur this week says : limes think the greater part will he off with the plunder We have a very large native force here, although without they have got, and we shall have to follow them up some- arms; and nothing but unremitting vigilance can save us. whine else. Three regiments are armed, and would doubtless turn The rebels, ho remarks, ate well handled, and to against us, and five regiments are unarmed. I cannot repel their attacks it takes " almost every available conceal from myself that we are by no means strong, inas much as we have the whole of this large cantonment to man" in our camp. They are numerous, too, at protect, and the fort also; and thus the Europeans are Delhi : parcelled out in guards, and not concentrated. At a moderate calculation the enemy must muster now Besides them, we have Pathan levies, not yet equal to nearly 40,00 men, besides guns unlimited, and they cm , their work, and sonic Sikhs, together with a good numbea tainly work them well; their infantry also fight well, but of Mooltani horse, who will stand by us. So we must their cavalry, both regular and irregular, are not worth hope for the best; but we have sent away a troop of one sixpence, they do nothing but run away. European horse artillery, a horse field battery, and sixty three European foot artillerymen. This has weakened us, Having waited so long (sums up this writer on our anti we are making shift by using the officers of the dis• prospects of capture) it is better, perhaps, to finish i armed regiments partly to man the artillery division. Besides these, " several have died from disease.' The sick and wounded on the 10th of August amounted to 54 British officers and 804 of their men, with 12 native officers anc 289 men. The great dis proportion between the European and native killed and sick must strike every one. A letter from Nynee Tal gives a report of a reli gious split between the rebels . 983 It is so curious to observe these writers, who place implicit faith in the native Sikh, protesting against the blindness of the Government in having relied upon the Ifindoo and the Mussulinan. The same writer remarks:— Nothing can prove in a stronger light the folly of our Government intimating to Mussulmans and Himloos any authority in the country. Those very people, our own servants, educated by us and placed in situations of trust, have turned against us at this crisis. Such treason has rarely been witnessed. Well, but are we not doing exactly the same now with the Sikhs? This is curious, too, as coming from a writer who was aware that Gholab Singh of Cashmere, just previous to his death, had placed his frontier forts in condition, and had lent our Government 500,0001. to arm and train the Sikh levies, of course without any view o future emer gencies. An officer at Moradabad writes (August 16th) a very sensible letter upon the state of affairs. After detailing his duties for the last few weeks—heading a body of Ghoorkas, and attacking the rebels wher ever he has met them, and they are numerous enough, for he writes, " The astonishing thing is where all these well-armed and mounted men, with guns, spring from—he sums up our position as fel lows : My information is probably more correct than any you will get in the newspapers. The force before Delhi con slats of under 2,70:) Europeans, with 31)0 Ghoorkas as good as Europeans, and about 4,000 Sikhs, who will tarn against us if European reinforcements do not rapidly make their appearance. Thus we have about 7,000 men, against whom are opposed about 25,000 mutineer troops within Delhi, and they are daily receiving reinforcements. With our small force, part of which cannot be depended on, an attack on the ci:y, with its narrow streets and high houses, would be madness, as one failure would insure the loss of India, by turtling the Sikh troops and native States against us. Moreover, sepoya always fight well behind walls, while those in Delhi have the advantage of one of our largest arsenals, fortified by our own engineers, added to the desperation of a halter round their necks. The only reinforcements we can for some time expect are 1,200 Europeans, 600 Ghoorkas (Kamm Battalion), and 3,000 Sikhs from the Punjaub, while 2,500 more Europeans aro advancing from Agra—in all 6,700 men, which, united to the force at present before Delhi, will make up our force to 13,000 men, a large enough force :o capture Delhi, if the Sikhs remain true and the cholera does not make its appearance in the camp—August being the worst month for this disease in our provinces. In the meantime the whole of Ilohilcund and Bundelcund, with the major por- tion of Oude, and the district east, west, and south of Delhi are in the hands of the mutineers, and will require a considerable force to reconquer them ; in fact, we will be able to do little more than hold our own till reinforce• ments arrive from England to the amount of at least .20,000 men ; and if the Ministry have not sent these out at once, they deserve to be hung. THE KOLAPORE MUTINY. Some full details of this affair have come to hand. It appears that the letters directing the rising were intercepted. A moonshee drawing a salary of 151. a month from Government was one of the principal instigators of the massacre of his masters. A letter from Belgaum, August 11, says : I attended the court•martial on Sheik Hainan, a greater rogue than the moonshee. He appears to have directed his letters in English. I saw the letters written inside in the native character, and also the English translation, to the effect that everything was in readiness here. Several leading men in the town and in the native regiments (no names) were ripe for the insurrection. Tho plan for taking the fort, making the commander prisoner, and cnttinl. the throats of all Christians, was also laid out. The English were a parcel of fools, and did not " smell the rat." There were many other subjects discussed in the epistles, but the pith I have given you, and if these hail not been intercepted we should not have been in the laud of the living. August 13. Today most exciting event; have happened. Two men have been sentenced to death, and are to be blown away from guns to-morrow. The moonshee's trial came to a close today, when he was found guilty. Another man, a nerdassie, was tried by a clurt-martial at the artillery mess room. The chief witness was the adjutant of one of the regiments, and his testimony was corroborated by the jemadar. This man, it seems, had come to try and incite the sepoys to insurrection, and the jemadar, a havildar, and Naick. directly they were aware of his intentions,infortned the adjutant, who accompanied theme to the lines, when they hid him in a hut behind a plain deal door with chinks in it. They then introduced the perdassie, and tho adjutant took down on paper the mutinous conversation. Under such circumstances the rascal was, of cotese, convicted, and to-morrow will meet the fate he deserves. I read the translations of the moonshee's letters, three in number. Liko those of the perdassie, their plans were all arranged as nicely as possible. One was to the Monlvie of Poona!), telling him the English were quite in ignorance as to what was going on. Ile also wrote to Kolapore, and the mutiny in that place is attributed to hint. S— has been indefatigable in getting evidence and keeping spies.