The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

- -- ----- Add to all this the unprotected condition of the great towns—Benares, Patna, and others—along the banks of the Ganges, none with more than a detach ment or so of Elitist) troops, and all swarming with i x population deeply implicated in the conspiracy against us, and it must be admitted that the effect of the mutiny at Dinapore and Segowiie is likely to prove more grave than the authorities of Calcutta, who for weeks had been warned of it, ever anti• cipated. DELHI. On the real position of affairs before Delhi the Ministerial papers preserve either a discreet silence, - - or endeavour to propagate the most ridiouloua misre- presentations. Our army has suffered such severe losses that it is now compelled to act strictly on the defensive. There is no doubt that, up to the last dace, our force was so weakened by disease a•id losses that General Wilsoa's position had become extremely critical. The rebels were receiving con stant reinforcements. We had received none, and the necessity of abandoning our position before the city and of retreating upon Kurnaul was discussed at a council of war. The result of the discussion is believed t, have been a determination to hold out at all hazards a week or two longer, and if possible to maintain the position. ltsinforcements were being pushed down from the Punjaub, but up to the latest intelligence none had reached the camp. An artillery of f icer, writing on the 23th, says : We know of the China troops being on their way up, but we can't ascertain where. I don't think abything decisive can be done for the next month. We could go into the city any time we liked with but little more loss than we have every time we get under the walls, but then what are we to do when we are there? We have not men enough to hold it and defend our camp here. They have latterly been trying hard to get at us again in the rear, but we have blown up all their bridges, and effectually stopped them. Gholab Singh is going to send us a lot of his rabble. I would much sooner be without them. However, they hate the Pandies. We aro acting now merely on the de fensive, and fire as little as possible, only now and then, to induce them to waste their ammlnition. " Gholab Singh is going to send us a lot of his rabble" is a very ominJus sentence, if true. He continues : We have had eight or ten small engagements with the Pandies, but most of them very unsatisfactory ones. It generally ends in our troops finding themselves under the walls of the city and coming under the grape of their heavy guns. On the whole, I think at present we have lost thirty-two officers either killed or died of cholera, which has carried off several lately—one or two friends of mine, poor fellows (it is a wretched graveyard to lie in)—the victims of these accursed traitors. Before long I hope I'rovidence will avenge the loss of some of our bravest and our best. The men 1 think look well, much more so than I have often seen them look at this season of the year in cantonments, and I hope they will continue so ; the excitement, of course, keeps them up, but they get very tired of this bush•ti;hting, the jungle is so very thick ►hat it is most unsatisfactory work, and they dread so being left behind, poor fellows; one or two have been, un fortunately, and their heads are cut off and paraded through the city. Another officer writes, giving some details of interest : Since I last wrote, just the same kind of thing has been going on as before ; attacks on our position every third or fourth day or so, always terminating in the same result— the entire repulse altd discomfiture of the enemy, and often with great loss, but never without a greater number of casualties on our side than with our small force we can well afford. You will hardly be prepared, T dare say, at home to hear of our still remaining ou the defensive ; we are the besieged, in fact, instead of the besiegers ; but so it happens. I Lucy say from the day of our arrival here it has been so, and when the strength of our little army is known, people will be the less surprised to find such to be the case. It looks mighty well on paper—sis regiments of European in fantry and four of native infantry (Sikhs and Ghoorkas). and I have no doubt the number is set down at 10,000, men, but the real strength is probably under 4,ooo—say 2,100 Europeans, and the remainder natives. I have nut seen the returns lately, but I think I must be above the mark in saying we have 4,000 infantry. In artillery we are, fortunately, tolerably well off, but in cavalry the enemy perhaps outnumber us by five to one. It is as well that they are a most unenterprising set of scoundrels, the cavalry, or they might do us infinite damage in cutting off our supplies. As it is, our rear is perfectly open, and supplies are as plentiful and cheap as they would be in the best regulated cantonments. You will ask impatiently what wo are going to do, and how long we are to remain In our present position. lam not in the general's secrets, but I fancy there is no doubt that we shall do nothing towards attacking the place until we receive considerable reinforcements. Matters are in such a distracted state below that, though troops are known to have marched from Allahabad on the 4th of this month, they may have so much to do at Cawnpore, Lucknow, and elsewhere, that we almost give up the hope of theit reaching us in reason able time, and we therefore look forward to the large force now on its way -rani the runjaub to join tie. All ought THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 26,1857. to be here about the 12th or 15th proximo, and then we shall be strong enough to set to work in earnest with the wretched city. The troops coming down amount altogether to some 4,000 infantry, of whom about 1,100 are Europeans and the rest Glicorkas and Sikhs. Tuere are also artillery and cavalry, and another siege train with heavier gnus than we now have, and out force will on the whole very nearly be doubled, certainly so in infantry, in which we are now comparatively weakest. We have only to pray that sickness may not overtake us here befire these fresh troops arrive, and there is every hope that it may not be so, as the sickly season seldom commences here before the middle of September or later, when the rains leave off. With respect to the nature of the work our soldiers have got upon their hands at Delhi, the Times on Friday quotes some remarkable extracts from a letter by an of " high in command," in order to show that " the pluck " of the British soldier is "as brilliant in the heat of India as in the biting cold of the Crimea." Nobody ever doubted it, and if the gallant general's letter only proved that, its value would not be worth much; but the letter proves a far more important point. It shows unmistakeably that if the " pluck " of our soldiers maintains its high standard, it is severely trie 1 by the resources of the rebels—that our men are exhausted with the labour of repulsing the rebels, who come up again and again witn fresh forces After each attack our men fell back into their positions; when the mutineers, relieved by their numbers, again came on, our men beoame exhausted by heat and exe`r• Lion, and supports after each attack were necessary, until at last all the available force was engaged. Welchman, with the left wing of the Ist Fusiliers, after Jackson's death, bad advanced and had taken possession of Subzee Mundee again, when he was severely wounded and had to leave the field ' • the wing cleared the streets, but the enemy renewed their attack four times, and were sue• cessively repulsed. Young Owen, of the Ist, highly dis• tinguished himself, charging four times down the street with his company ; his gallantry was very conspicuous. The right wing in the meantime continued their advance under Dennis, and, after driving away the mutineers and killing a large number in a sersi, they retired exhausted to Hindoo Roa's house. The big guns on the right flank fired occasionally, but owing to the nature of the ground the enemy could avoid them. All our troops had now been engaged, and the greater part had fallen back exhausted. _ _ He goes to the Mosque Battery, to find " every one exhausted and done up " _ I went on to the new advanced battery ; it was crowded with worn out men ; the artillerymen, likewise done up, had ceased firing; another party of Rifles in a similar state in another position ; 120 men of the 2nd Fusiliers, who had marched twenty three miles that morning, and had had no breakfast, were lying down exhausted ; three weak companies of Ghoorkaa were out as skirmishers, but they too were exhausted, and the remainder were resting under a rock. The heat was terrific, and the thermometer must have been at least 110 degrees, with a hot wind blowing, and a frightful glare. A lieutenant of Bengal Engineers, in a series of letters from the 7th of July, gives a vivid picture of the daily fights of the rebels : Camp, Delhi Cantonments, July 7. Our present occupation seems to be driving the enemy back whenever he shows himself, which to do him justice is not seldom, though not so frequently as when we first came here. The Bareilly rascals had the impudence to come round to our rear a few days ago, and our only re gret is that one of them ever got back. I was out with the force sent against them, and cannot say that 1 felt much pity for the redcoated villains with " 08," " 18," and "28 " on their buttons. Mercy seems to have fled from us for ever, and if ever there was such a thing as war to the knife we certainly have it here. The sepoys stand well to their guns, and work then► fully as well as ourselves, which is little to be wondered at when you think of the pains we have taken to teach them gunnery. The astonishing thing is to see how different the story becomes when Pandy (camp name for the enemy after " Mungul Pandy," the first mutineer hanged) sees a bayonet pointed at him. We have all read and heard much of "the British cheer," but its effect must be seen to be appreciated. I never saw it better than at liadh ka•Serai. Pandy's guns were all in position, and a beautiful position it was; every gun was in full play, and our advance column, under Brigadier Grant, with which I was, had got round Pandy's flank to his rear. Nothing was to be heard but heavy guns and the rattle of musketry, in the very teeth of which her Majesty's 7511 and Ist Europeans were march ing up as if on parade, when that British cheer saluted our ears. It was like magic. Every gun except our own was silent immediately, though certainly not for very long. Even musketry seemed almost to have ceased, and we knew that the bayonet was doing its work on all who waited for it. It was some little time before the enemy's guns opened again, and when they did I can assure you they did nit forgive the ad , anue column for out•manaeuvring them. I had not up till this time paid much heed to the shot flying all round me, for galloping along at full speed with hose artillery and cavalry thundering after you is some small excitement to a " griff," and as I was the guide to the column I felt somewhat interested in taking up our position quickly. But it is a very different story standing quietly under heavy fire for the first time, with nothing to do but to look on. I quite envied the gunners who were so hard at work, for it is no small satisfaction working to such good purpose, and I cannot say that I felt 937 my heart breaking at the sight of these rascals getting their deserts. 'I his is war in ate very worst phase, for generosity towards an enemy seems to enter into 110 one's mind. If anyone owes these sepoys a grudge I think I have some claim to one, but I must say that I cannot bring myself to put my sword through a wounded sepoy. I cannot say that I grieve much when I see it done, as it invariably is; but grieve or not, as you please, he is a clever man who can keep back a European from driving his bayonet through a sepoy, even if in the agonies of death. The hardest fighting goes on at the right of our position. Our batteries are at this point, and Pandy's whole efforts seem concentrated on it. He has good cover from the Lahore gate of Delhi up to the very foot of the hills on which our batteries are. This cover consists of houses, walled gardens, and large inclosures with high walls l oopholed at the top. They have made a good many attempts to erect counte:•batteriea in these inclosures, and generally pay the penalty. They were hard at work at one of these batteries the other day, and like idiots had blocked up every entrance but one. Twenty of our riflemen rushed in at this door, whereupon Panay fled like a flock of sheep into a corner, and commenced firing indiscriminately at the riflemen, but being too much flurried did little damage. On the approach of the bayonet they had the barefaced ness to beg for mercy. They might as well have begged for mercy of a Sh3lock, for in another moment fusty of them were lying pierced with bayonets. We have sepoys hanged in our camp every evening, which I have no doubt will astonish some of the people at home. I think hear a faint wail from Exeter•hall and the usual talk of European brutality and torture on the mild Hindoo sepoy. If you hear any such sentiments by all means ship off their propounder to this country at once. Let him see one•hslf of what we have seen, and compare our brutality with theirs, then send him home again, and I think you will find him pretty quiet on the subject for the rest of his liie. Thank goodness they seldom get hold of any of our wounded, but woe betide the unfortunate when they do. I myself had a narrow escape a few mornings ago. I had received orders to prepare a survey of the ground as close up to the walls as poss.ble, and for this purpose had crept up not very far from them to " Ludlow Castle," where poor Mr. Simon Fraser lived. I had finished my pacing and taken my angles, and was looking round me at the desolation when I heard an explosion behind me, and instantly saw the ground ploughed up either with canister shot or shrapnel. I took the hint and walked off leisurely, little dreaming of the truth. I even repaced a distance I was not sure of. I was just outside the gate of Sir T. Metcalfe's grounds, when I heard a horseman galloping abo'it inside them. As I was a good deal in advance of our pickets, and not very sure of my friend on horseback, I crept behind a bush, and never felt more thankful for a revolver I had borrowed for the occasion. 'the horseman, after prancing backwards and forwards for sonic time out of my sight, moved off, and on my return to camp, to the astonishment of everybody, I learned what an escape I had had. Pandy hail seen me from the walls, and had taken the trouble to send out fifty horsemen (rather hard, fifty to one !) to catch me. The horsemen had been seen from o•tr right battery, who knew of my whereabouts, and immediately sent word to our centre battery, which opened fire on the cavalry and saved me, ovly one of the ruffians having had the pluck to continue the search. An officer of rank writes from Meerut, July 17 : A letter from Brigadier -- to Colonel —, informing him that we were the besie tea party, and could not advance our batteries without being annihilated in five minutes, name ten days since, and dispelled our notions of the early full of Delhi ; indeed of its falling at all until further re inforcements arrived. We have ceased to expect anything but accounts of outside skirmishing until Wheeler or the commander•in•chief make their appearance with fresh forces. We cannot have anything certain regarding Wheeler's movements ; indeed our chief reason for sup posing him near is the evident fright they are in at Delhi regarding him. In the absence of bridges and boats if the force here were to move, it would, I imagine, take the Kurnaul route, but we are hampered with 500 women and children, for whom we could procure no sufficient carriage, and to give up that place, as some talk of, seems perfect madness, the loss of prestige, the loss in barracks, and other property enormous, so that, unless the very existence of our hoops at Delhi was jeopardised, the abandonment of Meerut would, I think, be a most serious evil. I only hope it is not contemplated by those in authority. We are still fortifying and intrenchlng to an immense extent, but for what purpose I cannot make out—the time for such works seems to me to be quite past. The remarks about poor Sir H. Wheeler at that date, three weeks alter his death, show how com pletely all communication is stopped between our different detached positions. What reinforcements are actually en route it is very difficult to say. Lerge levies are undoubtedly b.fing made in the eunjaub, and General Nicholson with his flying column having destroyed the Seal kote mutineers, may fairly be expected to push on to Delhi. The newly raised Sikh levies under General Van Cortlandt should also be with the army by this time. The general has done excellent service in the Hurrianah district, to the northwest of Delhi, which, in conjunction with Lieutenant Pearse and his Ilikaneer and other irregulars, he is said to have " completely pacified." At Hissar, where the general joined Pearse on the 16th of July, the English offi cers found many melancholy traces of the massacre that there betel. Tile survivors who had returned with the force were able to point out several localities where they bad seen men and women of their