The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 26,1857.

to be here about the 12th or 15th proximo, and then we
shall be strong enough to set to work in earnest with the
wretched city. The troops coming down amount altogether
to some 4,000 infantry, of whom about 1,100 are Europeans
and the rest Glicorkas and Sikhs. Tuere are also artillery
and cavalry, and another siege train with heavier gnus
than we now have, and out force will on the whole very
nearly be doubled, certainly so in infantry, in which we
are now comparatively weakest. We have only to pray
that sickness may not overtake us here befire these fresh
troops arrive, and there is every hope that it may not be
so, as the sickly season seldom commences here before the
middle of September or later, when the rains leave off.
With respect to the nature of the work our soldiers
have got upon their hands at Delhi, the Times on
Friday quotes some remarkable extracts from a letter
by an of " high in command," in order to show
that " the pluck " of the British soldier is "as
brilliant in the heat of India as in the biting cold of
the Crimea." Nobody ever doubted it, and if the

gallant general's letter only proved that, its value
would not be worth much; but the letter proves a
far more important point. It shows unmistakeably
that if the " pluck " of our soldiers maintains its
high standard, it is severely trie 1 by the resources
of the rebels—that our men are exhausted with the
labour of repulsing the rebels, who come up again
and again witn fresh forces
After each attack our men fell back into their positions;
when the mutineers, relieved by their numbers, again
came on, our men beoame exhausted by heat and exe`r•
Lion, and supports after each attack were necessary, until
at last all the available force was engaged. Welchman,
with the left wing of the Ist Fusiliers, after Jackson's
death, bad advanced and had taken possession of Subzee
Mundee again, when he was severely wounded and had
to leave the field ' • the wing cleared the streets, but the
enemy renewed their attack four times, and were sue•
cessively repulsed. Young Owen, of the Ist, highly dis•
tinguished himself, charging four times down the street
with his company ; his gallantry was very conspicuous.
The right wing in the meantime continued their advance
under Dennis, and, after driving away the mutineers and
killing a large number in a sersi, they retired exhausted
to Hindoo Roa's house. The big guns on the right
flank fired occasionally, but owing to the nature of the
ground the enemy could avoid them. All our troops had
now been engaged, and the greater part had fallen back
exhausted. _ _

He goes to the Mosque Battery, to find " every one
exhausted and done up " _

I went on to the new advanced battery ; it was crowded
with worn out men ; the artillerymen, likewise done up,
had ceased firing; another party of Rifles in a similar
state in another position ; 120 men of the 2nd Fusiliers,
who had marched twenty three miles that morning, and
had had no breakfast, were lying down exhausted ; three
weak companies of Ghoorkaa were out as skirmishers,
but they too were exhausted, and the remainder were
resting under a rock. The heat was terrific, and the
thermometer must have been at least 110 degrees, with
a hot wind blowing, and a frightful glare.

A lieutenant of Bengal Engineers, in a series of
letters from the 7th of July, gives a vivid picture of
the daily fights of the rebels :
Camp, Delhi Cantonments, July 7.
Our present occupation seems to be driving the enemy
back whenever he shows himself, which to do him justice
is not seldom, though not so frequently as when we first
came here. The Bareilly rascals had the impudence to
come round to our rear a few days ago, and our only re-
gret is that one of them ever got back. I was out with
the force sent against them, and cannot say that 1 felt
much pity for the redcoated villains with " 08," " 18,"
and "28 " on their buttons. Mercy seems to have fled
from us for ever, and if ever there was such a thing as
war to the knife we certainly have it here. The sepoys
stand well to their guns, and work then► fully as well as
ourselves, which is little to be wondered at when you think
of the pains we have taken to teach them gunnery. The
astonishing thing is to see how different the story becomes
when Pandy (camp name for the enemy after " Mungul
Pandy," the first mutineer hanged) sees a bayonet pointed
at him. We have all read and heard much of "the British
cheer," but its effect must be seen to be appreciated. I
never saw it better than at liadh ka•Serai. Pandy's guns
were all in position, and a beautiful position it was; every
gun was in full play, and our advance column, under
Brigadier Grant, with which I was, had got round Pandy's
flank to his rear. Nothing was to be heard but heavy
guns and the rattle of musketry, in the very teeth of
which her Majesty's 7511 and Ist Europeans were march-
ing up as if on parade, when that British cheer saluted
our ears. It was like magic. Every gun except our own
was silent immediately, though certainly not for very long.
Even musketry seemed almost to have ceased, and we
knew that the bayonet was doing its work on all who waited
for it. It was some little time before the enemy's guns
opened again, and when they did I can assure you they
did nit forgive the ad,anue column for out•manaeuvring
them. I had not up till this time paid much heed to the
shot flying all round me, for galloping along at full speed
with hose artillery and cavalry thundering after you is
some small excitement to a " griff," and as I was the
guide to the column I felt somewhat interested in taking
up our position quickly. But it is a very different story
standing quietly under heavy fire for the first time, with
nothing to do but to look on. I quite envied the gunners
who were so hard at work, for it is no small satisfaction
working to such good purpose, and I cannot say that I felt