The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-14 00:00:00

breaking out of the recent mutiny, being sent up to
Calcutta with his regiment, he relieved Benares, and
pressed on with forced marches to Cawnpore, in the
capture of which be assisted. Our readers will not
have forgotten his decision in the matter of the high•
caste Brahmins of that place, whom he forced to
degrade themselves by washing with their own hands
the bloodstained floor which was the scene of the
atrocities of Nana Sahib. During the subsequent
absence of General Havelock he held the command
of Cawnpore, and was recently intrusted with the
command of a brigade. He is represented to us, by
those who knew him of old, as a strict disciplinarian,
but at the same time one who never spared himself,
and was always ready to share with his men every
danger, difficulty, and privation. He attained the
regimental rank of major in 1850, and became a
major in the Madras army, with the rank of lieut.-
colonel, in December, 1853.

OUR readers will have observed with regret the
announcement of the telegraph that GENERAL A.
WILSON, for whom it was reserved, after so many
other leaders had been obliged to relinquish the un-
dertaking, to bring to a glorious close the operations
of our army before Delhi, has now himself been
compelled t, retire from the command, the fatigues
of which had proved too much for his strength,
already impaired by long and active servitude. His
successor is General N. Penny, C. 8., a most dis-
tinguished officer, of whom we may be assured that
he will follow in the steps of his able predecessor,
and be wanting neither in energy nor skill. Bri-
gadier-General Archdale Wilson was a cadet of
1819, arriving at Calcutta in September of that year.
He served with distinction at the siege of Bhurtpore,
under Lord Combermere, in 1826, and from that
period until the second Sikh war held appointments
in command of the artillery, at Saugor, Neemuch,
Lucknow, and Cawnpore. In the second Sikh war,
which was commenced in 1848, and which was
decided in our favour by the battle of Goojerat, called
" emphatically an artillery battle," we find the late
Sir H. Wheeler recommending Colonel Wilson for
honorary distinction for his services. His claims
seem, however, to have been unaccountably over-
looked. The next appointments held by Colonel
Wilson were those of commandant of artillery at
Jullundur and Dum Dum, the latter close to Calcutta,
and the most important artillery command under the
Bengal Government. In May, 1855, he again
visited England, this time for a few months only,
for in March, 1856, he was promoted to the command
of the artillery throughout the Presidency, with the
commend of the station of Meerut, whither, since the
time of Sir Charles Napier, the head-quarters of the
regiment of artillery had been removed. He was
further promoted, since the outbreak of the late
mutiny, to the command of the Meerut division, in
supercession of the incapable and imbecile General
Hewitt. On assuming command he was at once
ordered to Delhi, the capture of which has been
greatly owing to his skill and experience.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL NICHOLAS PENNY, C. 8., who
now succeeds General Wilson in the command of the
Meerut division and the troops at Delhi, is many
years his senior, having been appointed to the army
in 1807. He was for a time unfortunate in his
promotion, having been a subaltern of native
infantry for no less than eighteen years and a
quarter. During this time, however, he saw much
active service, having been present in the Nepaul war
in 1814, 1815, and 1816, in the Mahratta war of 1816
and 1817, and at Gurra Kotch in 1818. At the
siege of Bhurtpore, in 1826, he prominently dis-
tinguished himself, and, though hut just promoted to
his company, was recommended for a brevet majority
( which he obtained) by the commander-in-chief,
Lord Viscount Combermere. For his services during
this arduous siege Captain Penny received the
" India medal." In the year 1830 we find Major
Penny an assistant-adjutant-general in the Dinapore
division, whence in 183 k he was transferred to the
more important post of assistant-adjutant-general at
the Presidency. Having thus fully qualified himself
for the general staff of the army, Lieutenant-Colonel
Penny was placed in the comparatively independent
position of commandant of the Nusseree Battalion,
his nomination to which bears date 2nd June, 18.11.
In the Sutlej campaigns he commanded at first the
12th Brigade of the Fifth Division, and the 2nd In-
fantry Brigade on the breaking up of the 12th. He
was present at Aliwal in the thickest of the fight,
and was mentioned in the following terms by Sir
Harry Smith, in his despatch addressed to the
Governor General, dated Aliwal, Jan. 30, 1846 :

•
The intrepid little Ghoorkas of the Nusseree and Sir-
moor battalions, in bravery and in obedience, can be ex-
ceded by none. I much regret that I had no brigade to
give to Brigadier Penny, who is in orders for one. 1 can
only say that when be gets his brigade, if he leads it as he
did his gallant band of Ghoorkas, it will be inferior to
none.

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He was again engaged at Sobraon, where be was
wounded, and Sir Hugh Gough, "in the most earnest
manner," recommended him to the Governor-