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

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 12, 1857. 1202 the way I took with me the Ist 2nd and sth Punjaub Cavalry, extending the infantry in skirmishing order with their supports. I took the cavalry to the open space near the European infantry barracks, with directions to wove as circumstances would permit. The 6-pounder Agra battery had by this time come up. I advanced them in support of the infantry on the road leading from the Ar tillery Parade•ground to the Dholepore road, and the skir mishers advanced and cleared the compounds to their front. The Punjaub Cavalry, under Lieutenant Watson, had then the opportunity of making a most gallant charge, driving off the enemy's sowers and capturing four guns. After this the rebels made no stand on the right, but the left continued to be hotly engaged, and the enemy's sowers advanced with great determination on the guns, one of which was disabled from its gunners having been cut down, and for the moment in the possession of the enemy. It was, however, instantly recaptured, and the 9th Lamers charged the sowars and drove them from the field. 1 regret to say that two most excel lent officers, Lieutenants French and Jones, were wounded, the former mortally, and I fear that little hope can be en tertained of the recovery of Lieutenant Jones. I ad vanced during this time on the Dholepore road, capturing guns as we went on, and the 9th Lancers and artillery, supported by the 75th and 2nd Punjaub Infantry, advanced on the left, taking four guns on their way. The whole line now moved to the front, the Punjaub Cavalry, as usual, performing most excellent service on the flanks, till we reached a village three miles hence, where we halted for a short time, the whole of the enemy being then in full flight. We were now joined by the 3rd Europeans, and Colonel Cotton, commanding at Agra, came up and took command of the whole of the troops. The enemy's camp was descried about two miles in advance, and we marched upon it, the road strewed in all directions with baggage and carts ; the infantry was ordered to halt at the camp, and the cavalry and artillery pursued the enemy to the Kharee Nuddee, ten and a half miles from Agra. The enemy had crossed the river before we reached it, leaving behind him all Ins guns, a return of which is attached. The artillery fired grape and round shot at the retreating enemy across the river with good effect. The country all round was covered with fugitives, of whom a large number were cut up; they have all now crossed the Kharee Nuddee. After a short halt we returned to camp, and the captured guns were all brought in during the night. I have not been able to estimate the enemy's number, as, in addition to the Indore force and the Neemuch and the Nusseerabad brigades, sepoys were found killed belonging to the Kith Grenadiers, Hurrianah Light Infantry, Gwalior Contin gent, and several others. The whole country as far as one could see was covered with fugitives, but of these many were probably camp followers and rabble. I have never seen such a rout, and had our artillery and cavalry been fresh, few would have crossed the Kharee Nuddee ; but they had marched forty-one miles in less than thirty hours before arriving at Agra. It is impossible to say too much of the excellent conduct of the whole of the troops, officers, and men, and I trust it will meet with the approbation of the major•general commanding the field force at Delhi. It is my intention, as soon as I have been joined by the detachment now on its way from Delhi, to proceed towards Futtehghur, with a view of effecting a junction with General Havelock's force, subject to the approbation of General Panny.—l have, &c., E. H. GREATHED, Lieutenant• Colonel, Commanding Moveable Column. The following extracts from a private letter, date d Peshawur, September 18, may prove interesting to our readers as showing the nature of recent military appointments in India : This mail will carry home, please God, the intelli gence of the fall of Delhi. The want of European troops of all arms, the scarcity of carriage and material which has caused this unfortunate delay, should be a warning to our rulers not to trust entirely to chance, or luck, or to our prestige. All the later revolts—i.e., all subsequent to the middle or the end ofJune—are directly attributable to the non-capture of Delhi on the arrival of our troops before it, and the delay of their arrival lies at the door of the late commander in-chief. Had he, on the first information given, moved rapidly, with all the Europeans, Ghoorkas, and Sikhs he could have collected, on Delhi, before the rebels had gained confidence, the gates might have been blown open and the place stormed; but when General Barnard arrived, too many reinforcements had reached the garrison. The imbecility and utter ignorance of the late commander-in-chief in military matters on service was apparent to all. He had plenty of advisers, but he was unequal to the emergency. Wilson is out and out the best of the commanders; but some people feel a little impatient. Nicholson is also a first-rate fellow : there are not two cpinions about him. One ought to be surprised at nothing now-a-days ; but the appointment of Outram to suc ceed Sir H. Lawrence and to the major-general's command did certainly astonish some of us. It looked something like the amalgamation of the two Presidencies, Bengal and Bombay. He must have most wonderful talent for business, with great power of übiquity. Ills command extends from Futteh- Our to Hazarebagh, and from Bundelcund, includ ing Mhow and Saugor, to the Nepaul frontier and to Tirhoot. He cannot do his duty efficiently as Com missioner of Oude, and make his tour of inspection and half-yearly report of the state of the troops placed under his command. The two appointments are incompatible ; and a Bombay officer holding one of the largest commands in Bengal (not one Bombay soldier being present) is assuredly a novel state of affairs. This appointment may, however, be a mere temporary measure during the present crisis. Any one would suppose that the Company's treasury was overflowing, from the novel and useless appoint ments made at home—l conclude at the Horse Guards. First, that of "Chief of the Staff " is a mischievous appointment, and one likely to create great discontent. The officer appointed knows nothing of Indian matters. It is to be hoped the Adjutant-General of the Army will insist on his rights as such. That there will be bickering and squabbling there can be no doubt, although Major. General Mansfield, the chief of the staff, is said to be a shrewd and clever man. While on this subject I cannot help going a little out of my way to ask if you recollect those disrepu table and scandalous letters published years ago, with the signature " One of 1,200," filled with abuse of the officers of the Company's service. They were in the Naval and Military Gazette. Two officers were suspected as the author. One of them bad, I think, brothers and cousins in the Indian army, men of distinction ; the other has been lately nomi• nated to a high staff situation under the com mander-in-chief in India. But to proceed. Hitherto when officers on the staff in India obtained the rank of lieutenant-general they vacated their staff appointments ; but Lieutenant-Generals Ashburnham and Beresford are appointed to the staff in that rank. Major Generals Windham, Cotton, Havelock, and Michell (being two above the authorised number) are appointed to the staff. Then come a major general of artillery with his aide-de. camp, and an assistant-adjutant•general, anti a deputy -assistant- quartermaster-general. The last appointment was never before heard of for the artillery at any of the Presidencies ; and the appoint. ment of a major-general to command the artillery at any of the Presidencies has ceased many years. I am told there is also to be a major-general to com mend the cavalry—quite a novel appointment. Surely the Horse Guards or the Home Government must suppose that the mutiny of the sepoys has greatly enriched the Indian Government, and that these additional and useless appointments can well be afforded. If the Court of Directors have approved of these innovations, they have not acted fairly by their own officers. The colonels of the Royal Artillery sent out entered the service subsequently to many of our captains of artillery. It is quite obvious that supercession is to be the order of the day, and that the Fano major-general system is to be played over again. Many of the sepoys of the native regiments were stanch until the: were led to believe by false repre sentationc that we were losing ground in all direc tions, and, in fact, that our raj was over. The 40th at Sealkote was one of those regiments so cajoled. When the outbreak there occurred, they took Colonel F— and another officer to the lines of the Gre nadier company and protected them, and afterwards escorted them to the fort. Whilst in the lines they tried to tempt these officers to enter the service of the Delhi potentates. The terms were, "You shall have 2,000 re. a month between you, and leave to go to the hills during hot weather." The Government have had many warnings of what at length appears to have taken them by surprise. I daresay you recollect hearing of the occurrence which took place more than a year ago in Calcutta, when Mr. Fergusson, Judge of the 24 Per gunnah, was shot at by a sepoy of the Calcutta Militia, while sentry at the gaol. The ball fortunately missed him. The man was seized. He said, "'The Feringhees were taking all the country, and had unjustly seized on Oude." He had more cartridges in his pocket, and said ho hoped to have killed as many English as he had cartridges. The man was sent to the madhouse as insane. I don't know what has become of him since, but there appears to have been some meaning in his madness. The additional mails to and from India will corn mence in January next, and will be despatched from London as follows :—Those intended for the I3cmbay packets, on the evenings of the 2nd and 17th of each month ; and those intended for the Calcutta packets including the mails for Ceylon, Madras, and China), on the evenings of the 9th and 25th of each month, as already announced. The Southampton mails will also continue to be made up as usual. The following table shows the several dates upon which the mails for India will be despatched from London, both by the route to Marseilles and by that of South ampton Date of despatch from London. Destination. Vii Marseilles Via Southamp- 2 4 s.. evening of ton morning of ~73 2nd Bombay. 4th = y Calcutta,&c. Calcutta,&e. 12th Bombay. El Bombay. gig .54 Calcutta, itc. 25th ;73 Calcutta, 47c. When the 4th, 12th, or 20th of the month falls on a Sunday, the mails will be made up on the previous evening, and when the 2nd, oth, 17th, or 25th of the month falls on a Sunday, the mails will be made up on the following evening. The homeward mails will, in like manner, leave Calcutta and Madras four times a month, and at nearly equal intervals, being de spatched twice by packet to Suez, as at present, and twice via Bombay. flth 17th - 20th THE NEXT INDIAN NEWS. On Christmas day another telegram will be due, with news from Calcutta up to November 21, and from Lucknow up to the 15th of that month. lore* an dolanial InttlitgenEe. FRANCE. The principal event in Paris during the week has been the suspension of the journal La Presse, for two months, by order of the Government. The Courrier de Paris has just started as a " constitu tional opposition." Some powerful articles in favour of " liberty " and universal suffrage, from the pen of E. de Girardin, have opened the campaign. The writer seems to anticipate that the Imperial Govern ment is prepared to adopt a more liberal policy, and thinks the empire is now strong enough to admit a greater freedom of discussion. It is said that M. Oliivier, one of the democrati deputies for Paris, has addressed, or is about to address, a letter to M. de Morny, as President of the Legislative Body, protesting against the "moral violence " practised towards him in the Chamber, in not being allowed to speak on the resignation of M. Segur. The new elections to fill up the vacant seats for the Haut-Rhin and Paris will not probably take place before March. The Moniteur of Tuesday announced that the commission of the four powers signed, on the sth inst., at Constantinople, the final act of the rectifica tion of the Russian irontier in Asia. THE PRINCIPALITIES. Prince Gortschakotf has addressed the following note to M. Boutenieff, the Russian Minister at Con• stantinople I have received your despatch inclosing the circular which the Ottoman Government has lately issued to its representatives at the Courts of the Governments that signed the Treaty of 2aris, and which has been officially communicated to you by Ash Pitch*. We deem it useless to enter upon a controversy with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs; or else we should have questioned his assertions with regard to the capitula tions of the Principalities, and especially the phrase sovereignty, which occeurs in his letter, and which can nowise be applicable to the relations between those pro vinces and the Sublime Porte. _ _ We shall leave the communication unanswered, and if Aali niche again speaks to your Excellency about it, yon will take care to tell him that we refer him to the purport of our circular of the 22nd of October. We are assured, says the Post, that when M. Boutenieff read the despatch in question to the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Aali Pacha simply replied to the Russian diplomatists that the despatch was an anachronism, for evidently Prince Gortschakoff, when writing it, fancied he was dating it after the Treaty of Adrianople and before the Treaty of Paris. A Vienna letter of the 2nd says that in a confer ence yesterday between Count Buol and Prince Kallimaki, the latter communicated the bases of the plan of organisation of Moldavia and Wallachia which the Porte is drawing up. The principal features are that two princes shall he elected for life by the Divans from families of the provinces, sub- ject to the confirmation of the Porte ; that a certain union shall exist between the Principalities as regards military, postal, customs, and telegraphic communications; that a Moldavian commission shall be nominated to superintend these matters in Wal lachia, and a Wallachian one in Moldavia ; and that the two shall at intervals form one commission, meeting at Jassy or Bucharest at fixed intervals to modify existing regulations. HAMBURG. The panic continues to spread notwithstanding the establishment of a Government discount bank. Up to the evening of the Bth the financial state of this city was very alarming ; " the assistance afforded is insufficient. Several important houses have been declared insolvent, with considerable liabilities , . _ • s