The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-19 00:00:00

As to Sir Colin's plan of operations, little is known.
One Calcutta writer speculates as follows :

It is understood that Sir Colin will, when all
is ready, cross the Goomtee, advance on the bank opposite
the town, and from that vantage ground shell the enemy
out. He will then recross, and perhaps enter the Resi-
dency without the loss of a man. (?) Lucknow, once
secure and fortified, will become his bead•quarters, whence,
inch by inch, he may reconquer Oude. The plan is
strikingly able, but its success depends partially upon two
contingencies. The first is the time for which the garrison
can hold out. That appears to be settled by the letter
qucted; but an accident, the explosion of a mine, or the
loss of any of the powder in store, may upset all calcula-
tions. Secondly, can Sir Colin silence with the guns at
his disposal the batteries the rebels will erect on their own
side of the river? The sepovs work their artillery well,
and possess quantities inexplicable to men who forget there
are 400 fortresses in ()tide, not one of which has been dis-
mantled since the annexation.

The following extract of a letter from an officer
of the 64th Regiment, on the general's staff at Luck-
now, to a brother officer at Cawnpore, though not
very conclusive, gives a point or two of interest .

Lueknow, Oct. 27.
My dear M—, I dare say you thought I never an-
swered your last to me, but I did. It unfortunately, how-
ever, was obliged to be destroyed, as the bearer was stopped
on his way to Alumbagh. However, there was nut much
in it, so you lost nothing. We got your good news of the
reinforcements this morning. lam certain the greater
portion of the niggers will bolt when they hear of the
Delhi column having crossed the Ganges. They are
dividing their affections at present between Alumbagh and
us, so we only have half the work with them, but they
kick up no end of a row every morning with their bands
and drums and bugles. They must be rather tired of it
by this time, and, I think, will scarcely stay to get another
pounding from the new column if it be as strong as report
makes it. They are falling out among themselves now ,
and cannot have much more ammunition left. All we
want is a body of troops to occupy the suburbs opposite
the two bridges ; we could then easily force a passage to
this side of the bridges, and thus open a communication
with the country for cattle and grab again.

It is generally understood that Nana Sahib has
assumed the command in chief in Oude, and some
profess to see traces of ability and plan in the more
recent movements of the rebels. " That some idea of
concentration prevails among them," writes a Calcutta
correspondent, "is obvious from the manner in
which the detached bodies have quitted Bengal" :
It is certain, too, that they fight harder than they did.
Government has published a telegram announcing a victory
at a place called Hardee, near Allahabad. Captain Peel
makes the best of his story, but it seems clear that the
enemy fought with desperatiDn, that our loss was severe,
and that it was not considered prudent to retain so ad-
vanced a position. At Futtehaerai again, near Agra, the
rebels were dislodged by a party from the garrison on the
29th of Cle.ober. Most of them fled, but a party seized a
building on the heights and died like men with the halter
round their necks. Lieutenant Glubb and seventeen
privates were killed.
Indeed, not only do the rebels fight harder, but
they appear at last to be acting on some-
thing in the shape of a combined plan of opera-
tions. Not only in Oude but in Central and Western
India do we see preparing a war, to be more or less
severely contested. On the banks of the Nerbudda
will one battle for our supremacy have to be fought.
The mutineers of Delhi, Jhansi, and Bhopal, of
Indore and Mhow, are concentrating here. The
Gwalior Contingent would appear to be hesitating
between an attack on Cawnpore and a march down
the Nerbudda. The whole of these districts are in
the enjoyment of the utmost anarchy ; the rebels,
" like flies in summer," are in every direction ; the
country, a series of deep rivers and difficult mountain
eaves, is one of the most terrible countries for a
campaign, the most favourable for an active guerilla
war. From the Khandeish hills on the left bank of
the Nerbudda, to the parallel of Nagpore, we find
no place we can call our own except Saugor, Hindle,
and liosungabad ; whilst all around rebels in force
threaten these isolated towns, and render the posi-
tion of their defenders most precarious. If we turn
to the westward, we discover the enemy at Rutlam
and Mundesor, or threatening Neemuch and Nus-
seerbad. Indeed, the whole country between the
mountains of Khandeish, and from Mhow to Ajmere,
to the Aranulli hills, must be reconquered from the
rebels by a British army, to say nothing of the neces-
sity of dealing separately with the Bheels and Kolies,
who infest the outlying country, are up against
us, and harass our troops to death

Bent on mischief and quick in thetr motions, these, and
the predatory hands of Bheels, do no stand before a regular
force, but fly from place to place, evading attack by taking
up positions difficult of access to regular troops. The
most noted chief of late has been Bhagaji I.3hangria ,
brother of one Rhag tjt Rhanzria, who was hanged for
treason in IRIII, who, with 500 Meet followers, made tiis
appearance in the hills near Alimeilimgger. A party of
fifty police sent out to w itch lthangria reported that he
had changed his position three times between the 29th of
October and the tat of November, moving first from Yesla
to a place six miles distant;_ thence to a spot in the hills,
fourteen miles further, and at last to a mountain most
difficult of access, called Mahadeo Donge, east of maw.