The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-04-13 00:00:00

iteraey—Cartle, Mara 18, 1858.
H. L. ANDERSON,
Secretary to Government.
Malta, April 8, 1858.
From V.O. MONTANARO.

CAMP, CAWNPORE, Feb. 27, 8 cm.
The head-quarters camp is breaking up, and in an
hour or two I Mull be, says the Time: correspondent, on
my way to our first halting-ground at Oonao, in Oude,
10 miles from this and on the road to Lucknow. Wel-
pole's Brigade, Tombs's troop of Horse Artillery, and
the greater portion of the head-quarters staff, crossed
the Ganges this morning; and the Commander-in-Chief,
who is anxious to wait here till the last moment, to see
if the Calpee enemy really intend to move against
Cawnpore, will start witix hie personal staff to Bantam
(about 46 miles hence) to-morrow morning early, and
will ride the whole distanoe in one march, so as to over-
take us before we reach the UM camp. The garrison
at Cawnpore, strengthened by the remains of the 75th
Regiment, will be under the command of Major-General
Inglis, who has received precise instructions for his
guidance in ease of an attack, and • small oorps of
observation, consisting of the 88th and 82d Regiments,
some Irregular Cavalry, and a field battery, under
Colonel Maxwell, are patrolling the country between
Cownpore and Calpee. The heat is very considerable
to-day. . . .

_
I have already reported to you that the enemy at-
tacked the Alumbagli in the forenoon of Thursday last.
But they were not satisfied with the result of their first
essay on the 25th. Again they came out in force about
4 o'clock, and, animated perhaps by the uncertain light
of the moon, continued their abortive efforts on our
position at the Alumbagh till 10 o'clock at night. They
came up repeatedly within range of our pins and rifles,
but they fell in files again and again, and retired quite
disheartened, with very heavy loom Our casualties in
the two engagements were six killed and 30 wounded.
Colonel Berkeley is shot through the right arm, Cap-
tain Moorsom has • sabre-cut in Lim left arm, and Lieu-
tenant H. Gough has a musket-ball through his leg.
Brigadier Franks' last success is moat decisive. The
Nasim, whom he beat on the 19th, rallied his forces, and
made a forced march to seize on the strong pass of
%Arm, but Franks out-mancenvred him, and seised
upon the pus. The NaZilll then, by • long detour,
swept round Franks, and took up • strong position at
Badahahgunge, two milesfrom Sultanpora. On the 23rd
Franks made the same mancevre, swept round the
enemy's !right flank in • march of 10 miles, attacked
them in the rear, beat their army (which consisted of
25,000 men, including 5,0)0 Bepoys and 1,100 cavalry),
drove them off the field with the loss of 1,800 slain, and
captured 20 pieces of artillery out of 25, of which 10
were heavy, via.—one 32-pounder, two 24-pounders, two
18-pounders, four 12-pounders, and one 9-pounder; and
took all the enemy's ammunition, their baggage, and
standing camp. This great stamen, which leaves
the road to Lueknow open from the right, was achieved
at a very small loss—two killed and 10 wounded in all
the three actions.

It appears that it was the Nalleg brother, Bajee Rao,
who crossed from Oude in the boob the other night.
As he was followed by 200 regular ea valry, by • body of
infantry, and by several elephants and wagons, con-
taining his harem and baggage, he meet have made
some noise in his passage across the stream; but the
policemen who were specially stationed at the very point
where he crossed, because it was a likely place to make
the attempt, pretended not to have heard him, and the
only information given to our officers in charge of a
cavalry detatohment near Bithoor was brought by •
ohowkedar, who ran in to say that, from the noise at the
opposite side of the river, he thought the Nana was
going to cross. At the time he brought in this news
the Rao had got safely over, and When our cavalry
arrived it was only to find the trade of his passage. On
investigation it became evident that the policemen were
accomplices in the feet, and that they had been bribed
to keep their ears shut; and so after due investigation,
the whole party, II in number, were hanged, The Rao's
party, oontinning their Sight acrou the Doab, out up
the men of two police stations, which is • strong ad.
lateral proof of the guilt of the men at the river-side
station, and got into Calpee in the morning, Re is said
to have obtained large levies of men, awl to be enlisting
Sowers at 30r. a month, and infantry at 10r. and 15r. •
month. The most painful effect of our inability to
defend thaw who are faithful is, that they with justice
reproach us with their losses and with the insults, heaped
upon them. These Upon Sepoys have been enabled to
do great wrong and injury to our fast friend, the Ntiali
of of the little State Churkaree, south of the JUIIIIIS.
invaded his territories, beat his troops, carried off his
guns, insulted his Palace, and carried off three lace of
rupees, or £30,000 from his treasury.

Tug NATIVE INDIAN ARMY—We never can again
have • military force in India in which we cannot con-
fide, which we cannot bring ourselves to Ernst, or teach
our enemies to fear. The extent to which our regular
troops were in former days employed in police and es-
cort duties was in the lad degree injurious to discipline,
while the very rigidness of the discipline and rigours of
the forms required for • regular army unfitted HIS ooin-
ponenta for those light and irregulsr duties where self
reliance, prompt and independent action, are so much
more important than the formalities of the line, which
not unfrequently stand in their way. The duties of de-
fending our frontiers, of chastising our enemies, and of
maintaining order and auppreuing or detecting crime
among the people have no more connexion with each
other than this, that in both ewe physical force must
be resorted to; in both eases men must have arms com-
mitted to their hands with authority to use them. Yet
for all the groat purposes of external defence half the
army until now entertained by us would have sufficed,
had the deficiency been made up by pollee. For this
last branch of service the native must always be fallen
back upon. He may be made much more useful than
the European, and quite as site. The Sepoy mutiny
could never have ripened into insurrection but for the
acquaintance of the various corps with each other, the
oninninnity of their feelings and interests, the identity
of their discipline, and the frequency with which they
had served together. A pollee corps is necessarily •
local and an ineolated thing. Were the Ghent Rengers
to fly to anus, there is no reason whatever why any of
the adjoining local corps should sympathise, co-operate
with, or Join them—very many remits why It should be
the opposite. The knowle_dge of the feet is quite mile!.
int to prevent a rising. Were it otherwise we should
just have lost the tontine of &single insubordinate body,
which would be at once exterminated, and there at an
end. With sufficient abundanos of pollee amps them
mans no difficulty whatever of our boopznAlken,,dila In per
petialty with an army onolutively of or of main.
lintoya ramonable good th, 111 at
sa MolatftiraiiiN, ffitd tritiktly limodinato amount
,o 1 amamtios, owtrywnoro gnout ootuttry.

INDIAN MASIACILII.-4 letter received front SOS
Isis Serpent of the 2nd Suropean Beira Ftlailterk;
John Jones, shoes the exasperation of our batsmen at
the eight of the unheard-of eruelties forPetrs6r
" Subathoo, December 21, 185 f. My beloved Meer
and Mother,—* • • Our regiznent was ode el the
first of the anny that went out against these mused
rebels. On the 14th of May last we were ordered to
march from the hills ; so we went by foroed marches as
Jar as trinballa. On the 28th we were ordered to Delhi
,by forced marches. When we arrived within three
miles of that city the enemy came out to meet ne in
great force, I should say about ten to ono of oar force.
' We had to fight them from hall•past 5 o'clock in the
morning until 4 in the evening ; so that we cleared all
the heights before Delhi and took possession of the
station. The deeds that these cold-blooded murderer.'
had committed there on our poor defeneeleee women
and children are a subject too harrowing to describe.
On the morning of the 9th of Jose. the day after mir
battle, I rambled out among the reined hemp of the
station that Was burnt. Litt One Of thee) houses I
entered and the firat, thing t taw was • young boy nailed
to the Wall of the room with his head downwards, and his
beautiful hair nearly touching the floor; another man
being with me, we took him down. He appeared to
be from 11 to 12 years of age, and to have been, from
every appearanee, the son of • gentleman. I then went
into the yard, and on looking round the corner of a build-
ing I saw • poor lady dead ; m my opinion she must hare
been the mother of the boy I took down from the wall.
Poor thing, I suppose she was trying to make her escape,
and God alone knows what she had suffered. After we
stormed and entered Delhi, we saw • poor woman
crucified naked, and nailed up in the inino manner as
our Lord and Saviour is represented. Oh II shall say
no more, but that these poor creatures were all ravished,
and many of them in the presence of their husbands
and fathers—they, poor fellows tied to stone
pillars, not able to render the slighest assistance to
their outraged wives and daughters, but com-
pelled to stand there eye witnesses to these cursed
scoundrel, and their diabolical deeds, Oh I then, p
fathers brothers, and all that have any charity within
your breasts, my aloud and say 'We will be revenged
on all these cursed reptiles and mum of the earth.
Thanks be to the Lord, we are now getting the upper
hand of them, rascals as they are." The aged parents
of the writer reside at Boughton, Flintehire. J. Jones
has been in India for upwards of 14 years, and has seen
some hard work, including the war with the Sikhs in
1846.

CASUALTIES IN iNDIA.—In the Supplement *0 the
London Gazette, published on the Bth instant, we have
an official list of casualties which have happened to the
commissioned and non-commissioned officers, drummers,
and rank and file of the let Madras Firsileers since the
19th of May, 1851; also of further casualties by death
since the 12th of February, 1858, among the European
commissioned officers of the hon. Company's army, in
consequence of the mutinies in Northern India : Major
John Bates, 40th Regiment Native Infantry, at finnibnl-
pore, of dysentery ; Captain Arthur Parry Woodbridge,
of the same regiment, killed in action near Sumbulpore ;
and Captain George King Newbery, Bth Regiment
Light Cavalry, killed also in action at Shirapore. The
°sensitise to the Ist Madras Fin:ileac are certainly
severe, but the climate has been found, on comparison,
as destructive u the sword. There have been no less
than 79 fatal cases of cholera, 29 of sunstroke, and 11
of dysentery, making a total of 119 deaths by casualties
of climate and oonstitution. The number of men killed
in action in proportionately small, asnotmting in the ag-
gregate to 36, while 154 have been wounded, some very
severely, and several have died since from the effect of
their wounds. It is, moreover, a tut worthy of notice,
that of this large number only one soldier is represented
as having received • sabre wound, nearly all the others
having been wounded by cannon shot, shall, or ball,
which circumstance augurs strongly for the fact that the
enemy were not disposed for a hand to band encounter.
There is one sad item in the account of casualties—
namely, that of the massacre of 15 of the regiment at
Cunipore on the 4th of July. Bithoor, Cawnpore, and
Locknow have oortributed the most to the fearful deso-
lation in the ranks of the let Madras Fusileers, and the
name of Allahabad bespeaks also the severity of the en-
gagemente there in which so many of our soldiers fell.