The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-28 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 28, 1857.

Peninsular and Oriental steamer may be expected at
Suez, to convey troops to Calcutta, on the 24th instant.
Bentinck met Pottinger and Hindustan on the 12th, and
Emeu on the 14th instant. All well.
This message is forwarded from Malta by Admiral Lord
Lyons at 11.15 a.m. on November 24th, 1857, having
just been received from Alexandria by British steamer
Dutchman.
Lvoxs, Admiral and Commander in-Chief.
Consul Crum.
Cagliari, Nov. 24,9 p.m.

The following telegram was received at the
Foreign-office on the 25th of November, 1857, of
10.40 a.m.:—

The Vectis, just arrived from Alexandria, brings no
further news than was communicated this morning by
telegraph, except that Lucknow was reinforced by her
Majesty's 63rd and 93rd Regiments about the 24th of
October. By the 30th Oreathed would raise Havelock's
army to 7,000 men.
Lord LYONS.
Cagliari, November 24, 1857, 4 p.m.

The following was received the same day at the
India Board :

The Madras Presidency continued quiet throughout.
In the Bombay Presidency there was no serious die
turbance ; but the Punjaub, and Rajpootana especially
were unsatisfactorily situated for want of troops.

DELHI.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SIEGE OP DELIII.

Extracts of letters from a young officer with the
besieging force at Delhi, to his mother :
September 24.
....Thank God, everything is again quiet, and I
can write to you as before, having now p!enty of
leisure. We attacked Delhi on the 14th, and took
it by storm. The atmosphere of bullets we were in
for an hour or so was something beyond description,
and how any one escaped I cannot imagine, but I
did escape without even a wound, and that night
before I laid me down on my hard bed (for we had
to sleep on the ground, the whole of Delhi not
being in our possession) I thanked God for his
merciful deliverance. Our loss that day was 61
officers and 1,380 men killed and wounded. Officers
who were in the Cabul campaign, and in the Sutlej
and Punjaub campaigns, say the fighting there was
mere child's play compared with what we have had
here. We have also Crimean officers here who have
been rather astonished at what they have had to
undergo, and who much preferred the Crimea to
Delhi ! In my regiment we bad 1 officer killed, 1
dangerously wounded, 1 severely, and 1 slightly;
38 men killed, and 49 wounded ; many of whom
died afterwards—this out of a little regiment that

went into action only 280 men strong, including
everyone ! Every regiment suffered severely, but
when we got inside, the bayonet commenced its
silent work.

The way we took the place was this :—The ad.
vanced batteries knocked down a portion of the wall,
and we had to get into the ditch, then climb up
ladders, and scramble on the best way we -could. I
shall never forget the morning of the storm. We
knew well enough the night before what would hap-
pen on the morrow, but everything went on as usual.
We went to mess, and were all very cheerful. I soon
after went to bed, determined to have a good sleep.
At two a.m. we all got up, and I buckled on my
sword and fell in with the coverers. I was told off
to cover the ladder-party—anything but an enviable
situation in an attack, as you are ahead of all. We
had to march about three miles, and when we were
close to the walls—i.e., about fifty yards or so—we laid
down and waited for the order to advance. lean-
time the shot came tearing over us, and it was almost
impossible to lift one's head up. Numbers of
wouuded and killed men and officers were constantly
being carried off, which was not a cheering sight.
At last we got the order to advance. It, was now
broad daylight, and up we all rose. 1 waved my
sword, and, shouting to the men to follow me, dashed
into the fire, neck or nothing. How I escaped I can-
not make out. However, I got to the ditch in safety,
a very steep and deep one and I had to slide down
it, and thus we got inside. Then came a fierce
rattle of musketry, which lasted about forty minutes,
and afterwards the different columns dispersed over
the city. I happened to come into one of their
largest bastions, one that had annoyed us cruelly
during the siege, when I immediately turned the
guns against the enemy, who were outside in great
numbers, and astonished them not a little with grape
and round shot both together.
The scoundrels could not believe that we
could scale their walls ; so, many of them had
not time to bolt, and hundreds were bayoneted in
consequence. Many concealed themselves in houses,
under bedding, Sze., but the men soon dragged them
out and shot them. Their vile bodies lie all over
the city, and the stench is something fearful....
Well, after getting into Delhi we bad to shell the
palace, Jumma, Musjid and fort, and the whole city.
At last the place became too hot to hold them, and
the remainder bolted in every direction, without
leaders, money, or ammunition—so Ido not think it
will be long before they meet with their just deserts.
After we got into Delhi we were still under a very
hot fire of all sorts. One bullet struck the ground
between my feet one day, which is the nearest I have
seen, although many a one bad pinged about my
ears and head.

The King and Begum wera caught a day or two
ago, and are close prisoners ; he looks like a very dirty
" kitmutgar," or worse. Two of the King's sons
and his grandson, the wretches who ordered our
poor ladies to be murdered, were yesterday caught
and shot, and I had the pleasure of seeing their
bodies lying in a cart ; they were afterwards spread
out in the " Cutwallie," the scene of theft atrccities,
for the public to gaze at them. A European ser-
geant has also been caught who has been with the
mutineers the whole time, and who directed their
guns drc., and he will, I hope, meet the tate he
deserves.
The quiet now seems quite strange, and is cer-
tainly very pleasant, for during the last two months
we have heard nothing but the roar of cannon, the