The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-18 00:00:00

THE PRES. 5, JULY 18, 1857.

and in a position defended by heavy guns from the
Delhi arsenal. The rebels were assaulted by one
of those rapid movements of which we have had
frequent examples in Indian annals. The pace was
so great, the attack so impetuous, that the incur-
gents were driven from their guns, and put to flight
without a chance of rallying. Their panic was
fatal. The pursuit was hotly pressed, and twenty-
six field-pieces were captured with all the horses
and harness, the artillerymen having abandoned
their charge and precipitately fled, to be sabred by
the cavalry. No time was lost in following up the
first advantage, and in the evening a considerable
English force had reached the Delhi cantonment,
and encamped for the night on the heights corn
manding the city. These heights are not suffi-
ciently near, it is said, to command the town effec-
tively, but the position is good to batter the city, if
necessary. The rebels are now in a net, from which
they have no egress. On the right bank of the
Jumna the occupation of Badulla Serajs leaves no
opening for retreat. The fort of Rohtuk is occupied,
and the Kurnaul road rendered impassable, while in
the direction of Muttra the native contingents stop
the way, and Brigadier Wilson commands the passage
of the Hindun, intercepting the roads into Rohilcund
and Dudh. Nothing now remains for the rebels
but to defend themselves in Delhi or surrender at
discretion. A ring of bayonets and artillery is
drawing around them, and possibly by this time
thousands of these misguided men have either ex-
pired amid the ruins of Delhi or perished upon the
scaffold.

The European troops before Delhi consist of the
9th Lancers and Carahineers, 75th, 60th, Ist and
2nd Fusiliers, three troops of horse artillery, a field
battery, and a siege train, besides a portion of the
Punjaub Guide Corps, horse and foot, brought down
from their station of Murdan, on the Affghan fron-
tier. There are also the trusty Goorkhas of the
Sirmoor battalion. The defences of the mutineers
against this formidable force are a high wall and a
ditch. and the guns of two siege trains. How they
are off for ammunition is not known. The maga•
zinc was fired, and at least partially destroyed, at the
commencement of the outbreak by Lieutenant
Willoughby, the Commissary of Ordnance, whose
escape is yet doubtful. The mail at Bombay was
detained forty-eight hours in the hope of its receiving
intelligence cl the fall of the city, but it was com-
pelled to leave without those satisfactory tidings.
Nevertheless, all speculation as to the fate of the
Delhi mutineers will, we hope, be set at rest by the
next mail.
While so much is known of the career so far of
the Meerut and Delhi mutineers, a horrible story
remains to be toll of the fate of the Euro-
peans left in Delhi at the time of the outbreak.
When the 3rd Light Cavalry, which first broke out in
open mutiny at Meerut on the 10th of May, entered
Delhi the next morning, they rode at once towards
the British quarters and commenced by shooting
down every European they met. Mr. Fraser, Capt.
Douglas, and Mr. R. Nixon were the first victims.
Notice was instantly conveyed of what was occurring
to the brigadier, and the 51th Regiment N. 1., with
two guns, was sent down. The 54th marched
through the Cashmere Gate in good order, but on
the approach of some of the Sowars, the sepoys
rushed suddenly to the side, leaving their• officers in the
middle of the road. The troopers immediately rode
at them at a gallop ; the officers were unarmed, and
one after the other were shot down. After butcher.
ing all the officers of the 54th, the troopers dis-
mounted, and went among the sepoys of the 51th,
shaking hands with them, and then, joined by the
51th, proceeded to search the European residences at
hand. The dreadful news, we can believe, rapidly
spread throughout the British quarters; our un•
happy countrymen and women rushed, some to the
Flagstaff Battery and some to the Palace, for protec-
tion. Little could be afforded them; there were no
British troops to defend them. The 38th Native
Regiment in possession of the fort was in the con-
spiracy, and so, on the advice of the commanding
officer, every one who could fled on horseback to
Kurnaul or Meerut. Many hairbreadth escapes are
of course related, but happily the main body of
residents got safely oft Those poor forty eight
unfortunates, women and children, who had taken
refuge in the Palace, firm in their reliance upon the
King of Delhi to protect them, were soon atter upon
the demand of the mutineers given up by him to be
cruelly massacred one by one. It is told by an eye-
witness that these troopers, drunk with European
blood, thirsted yet for vengeance, and as they
dragged out these poor creatures to butchery, and
worse, pointed to their own legs, and called attention
to the marks of the manacles which had been put
upon them at Meerut, and appealed to the poor
trembling women, whether they were not justified in
what they had done and were about to do. It
is too terrible to dwell upon this frightful scene,
and we will trace rapidly the spread of the mutiny
northwards and eastwards. At. Futteyghur, Etawab,
Pinaporc, Setapore, Lucknow, Ferwpore, 140 tit

. _
Lahore, it is the same ; even in Gwalior and Seepra a
similar pernicious spirit has been evinced. At Fero-
zepore the mutineers were attacked by the Olst Foot,
the 10th Cavalry, and artillery, with such effect that
the 57th Native Infantry at once laid down their arms,
and the 45th, after losing many of their number, fled in
confusion. The 9th Native Infantry made no at-
tempt to murder their officers, contenting them-
selves: with the plunder of the treasuries. Some few
of the sepoys stood to their officers to the last, and
have been well rewarded with promotion.
At Meean Meer, the camp of Lahore, the three
native infantry regiments of the garrison, the 16th,
26th, and 49th, were disarmed on the 13th by Briga-
dier Corbett, with the 81st Foot and the powerful
force of artillery, horse and foot. At Peshawur, on
the 22nd, three more infantry regiments, the 24th,
27th, and 51st, and the sth Light Cavalry, were de-
prived of their arms. A Subandar major of the
51st was hanged in presence of all the troops. At
Murdan, the 55z1i, or the greater portion of the
regiment, deserted their colours. Their colonel,
Spottiswoode, committed suicide. A party of Euro-
peans and Irregulars from Peshawur attacked them,
killed or captured 200, and drove the remainder to
seek safety by hasty flight into the Swat Valley in
their rear, the entrance to which is now carefully
guarded against a possible attack by the tribes. Six
men of the corps halt already been shot at Peshawur,
together with a native officer of the 10th Irregulars,
and the prisoners, 150 in number, were to be tried
as soon as they were brought into the station. At
the latest dates the whole of the Punjaub was pei-
fectly tranquil.
At Lucknow the mutiny broke out in the same
manner as at Meerut, commencing with the burning
of almost every thatched house near the native lines.
But Sir Henry Lawrence was ready for the explosion.
He at once turned out with her Majesty's 32nd
Foot, a battery of artillery, and that portion of the
7th Cavalry which remained faithful, and attacked
the insurgents ; the latter were not only defeated, but
pursued fur thirty miles. Several of their number
were killed and a few taken. These latter have
since met the fate they deserved, by being blown
from guns—a death more calculated than any other
to strike terror into the native mind. In the course
of this outbreak we have to deplore the loss of about
a hundred Europeans, including five officers, among
them Brigadier Handscombe, a noble old soldier.
At Alyghur and Etawah, the native regiments soon
began to show symptoms of the prevailing disease.
At Mynpoorie, fifty miles south-west of Agra, two
companies of the 9th Native Infantry rose in open
mutiny. Fortunately, one of their officers, De
Kantzow, and several native officers, hail presence
of mind and influence enough to persuade the men
to leave their cantonment peacefully. There is every
reason to believe that they proceeded first to Aly-
ghur, where four companies of the 9th Native
Infantry were quartered. That portion of the 9th
Native Infantry was ready to join in a movement
towards Delhi, having abandoned its allegiance under
circumstances curiously illustrative of Indian
character and English in:smanag,ement. An ernis•
sary of the insurgents had been discovered in the
fort of Alyghur tampering with the regiment. The
sepoys, under loyal influence, surrendered him to
their commander, and on their evidence he was
tried, sentenced to be hanged. The sepoys pro-
tested that it would bring disgrace upon them to
hang the man. Shoot him if the authorities pleased.
He was hanged, and at the moment of execution,
a fanatic from the ranks, stepped out and (pro.
claimed that they had destroyed a martyr to
the cause of religion, since the Company's
Government were firmly bent upon abolishing
caste throughout India. The men listened, debated,
wavered, and finally broke up with loud shouts, de-
claring their intention of marching to Delhi, and
speedily put their resolve into execution. The
rest of the 9th Native Infantry, quartered at Etawah,
followed the example of its fellows, and marched off
towards Delhi, after burning the bungalows and
robbing the treasure. At Agra the 44th and (17th
mutinied, and proceeded to Delhi, murdering, it is
feared, some or all of their officers. The spirit
shown by these companies determined Mr. Colvin at
once to disarm the remainder of the regiments to
which they belonged, which was accoreingly done
on the Ist of June, in the presence of the 3rd
Europeans and Captain D'Oyly's European field
battery. The affair went off quietly, and the city
has since been tranquil. Some of Scindia's contin•
gent came up from Gwalior and were employed to
garrison the deserted station of Etawah and restore
the ejected civil authorities. Out of the Europeans
in Agra a corps of volunteer horse has been raised,
which, under the command of Lieutenant Gteatlied,
assisted a few days after the disarming of the 41th
and 07th in the execution of a capital piece of
service. The Rao or petty chief of Burtorolee, near
Alyghur, availed himself of the prevailing disorder
to declare his indeoendence, turning out Govern-
ment officials, burning villages, exacting contribu-
s tiOnst and es U4)442436 himself at N.hyrr as the sea

698

of his new and extended sovereignty. His coarse
was soon run. Mr. Watson, the magistrate of
Alyghur, with a few troopers and the Volunteer
Horse, made a sudden swoop upon Khyrr, caught
the Rao, tried him by drumhead court martial, found
him guilty of rebellion, and hung him on the spot—
s salutary example that will scarcely need to be

repeated.
These outbreaks, disagreements, and general dis-
affection were rapidly I ollowad by similar symptoms

throughout Rajpootana.
On the 24th of May the Bengal troops at
Nusseerabad, including the 15th and 30th regiments
of Native Infantry. and the second company of the
7th Battalion of Artillery, all of whom had long been
wavering, broke out into open mutiny. They had
been cowed by a regiment of Bombay Lancers, kept
saddled day and night, and a battery of Bombay
artillery, with its pieces loaded. Unfortunately the
disaffected regiments finally overcame their fears,
and on the 28th of May a light company of the 15th
Native Infantry seized the guns of Captain Tim•
brell's battery, whilst the horses were down at water,
and the rest of the regiment rising at the same
moment, turned the guns on the Ist Bombay
Lancers. The men of the battery, and those of the
30th Regiment, refusing to act either one way or the
other, finally joined the movement, after seeing their
kuropean officers safe on the road to Ajrnere. The
Bombay cavalry, in all 240 sabres, charged repeatediy
at the guns, and lost several officers in a vain effort
to capture them. Major H. Spottiswoode and
Colonel Penny were killed, and Captain E. A.
Hardy and Lieutenant F. A. E. Loch wounded.
The whole of the mutineers retired the next morning
towards Delhi, with their colours flying and drums

beating.
At Neemuch—where were stationed the 72nd
Native Infantry, and a native troop of Horse
Artillery (4th of Ist Battalion), both from Agra, and
a wing of the Ist (Bengal) Light Cavalry—the whole
of the troops broke out into open mutiny on the
night of June 3. They began by firing all the
officers' bungalows. The post-office was fired by
men of the Ist Bengal Light Infantry, who plun-
dered the treasure chest and destroyed the records.
Some European officers were killed, but the whole
of the officers of the 72nd were saved. Neemuch
remained in the hands of the mutineers.
At Allahabad, near Benares, on the south-west
side, and at Nusseerabad, on the south-east, and at
no great distance from the liNnbay frontier, a muti-
nous spirit showed itself early. It became necessary
to march five companies of Sikhs from the neigh-
bouring city of Mirzarore, to exclude the sepoys of
the 6th Regiment from the fort at Allahabad, to
place the magazines in the hands of English con-
ductors, and mask the guns. At the same time
Chunar, near Benares was divested of 166 English
invalids, who marched to Allahabad. The flth
Native Infantry is, therefore, incapable of present
mischief. _ .

At Hisser and Hansi, two stations to the north-
west (north west of Delhi), the troops, consisting of
the Ilurrianah Battalion and the 4th Irregular
Cavalry, were reported to have mutinied. A general
massacre is asserted to have taken place. As regards
Hisser it was confirmed at Lahore by the Vakeel of
Pattealah, at that place, who writes that four
troopers had arrived from Delhi, and caused the
troops there to rise, and every European, young
and old, was massacred. From Hansi there was no
definite news.
Such forms a brief summary of some ten days'
events in India. Never were days so pregnant with
the fate of a great empire. It is impossible to pre-
dict the limits of the movement. So far it appears
confined only to the Bengal army, but the unchecked
desertion of 30,000 disaffected men will scatter the
seeds of revolt far and wide over the country, and
compel us to reconquer Bengal at least before
we can hope to reestablish our authority.
In every case but one it is gratifying to find the
British behaving with all the courage and energy
habitual to them in such circumstances. The one
case was at Simla. A perfect panic appears to have
seized every one upon a false rumour that the
Goorkbas at Jutog had mutinied and were advancing
on Simla. A correspondent writes:—
In the meantime, on the mere rumour that the regi-
ment was in mutiny, a panic seized on many (Aileen who
enjoy good and high appointments, who, without waiting
to hear if the rumour was correct, betook themselves to
instant flight; right down the khnds by broken by•paihs,
these valiant heroes escaped, leaving women and children
to their fate. Many who had signed their names calling
for an armed assembly were the first to make a clean bolt
of it, helter skelter, away they went, and of course others
who heard of this rapid exodus took to flight likewise ;
without bonnets, ladies were to be seen escaping on foot,
and many poor sickly ones who would have been horrified
at the ides of walking a mile, actually walked fifteen
thirty—nay, in some cases forty miles—old men, decrepit
and shaky, trudged off valiamly, and the road from Simla
to Dueshai beggars description: under a burning sun,
with no protection, families were to be seen pouring
along halt dead from terror and fatigue ; they still
pressed on, and weak and helpless women who would have