The Press.
London, England, 1857-08-22 00:00:00

June by a force from Saharanpur° and Deyra,

which killed and wounded many, and took several

prisoners. The rest retreated towards the Bikaneer
territory, and were pursued by General Van Cort-
landt, in command of the Irregulars of Jowaheer
Sing, Rajah of Bhutiana, to the vicinity of Sirsa.
Here the general was joined by 2,700 irregular
horse, furnished by the Rajah of Bikaneer, and

thus reinforced he advanced to Khyrakee, on the

Sirsa road :

On the 19th of June he found the insurgents, consisting
of rebel sepoys and others, strongly posted in two villages,
separated from each other by the road. Both villages
were attacked at once, the road being commanded by
artillery, and all resistance swept away in two hours. The
villages were stormed, 200 rebels killed, and 18 taken
prisoners. The loss on our side was slight. Jowaheer
ding's force behaved admirably. The enemy having
been thus destroyed, a detachment under Captain Robert•
son scoured the country, and order was gradually restored.
Another detachment, consisting of a considerable body of
horse and foot, under Lieutenant Pearse, was pushed on
to Hisser, the scene of a late frightful massacre, and
Brigadier-General Van Cortlandt was to follow in the same
direction. Thus the country to the north and north-west
of Delhi has been entirely cleared of rebels, and we may
expect to hear that Cortlsndt's column, after reducing
Hansi and Hisser, has joined General Barnard, and
afforded him a useful reinforcement.—lb.
- -

With regard to Oude, " I fear it may be said
(writes the Times correspondent) that the whole of
the contingent is gone—nor the contingent only, but
also the 22nd Native Infantry at Fyzabad, with a
company of native artillery " :
These latter troops treated their officers with respectful
deference, and supplied them with boats to escape down
the river Gogra, which joins the Ganges at I)inapore. On
the passage down the fugitives were attacked, anti several,
it is feared, killed. Sir Henry Lawrence, with the 32nd
and artillery, and suct► of the native portion of the
Lucknow force as has remained stanch, still holds the
capital. From the large civil station of Fatehpore,
between Allahabad and Cawnpore, the residents fled
across the Ganges to Banda, where the Nawab received
and entertained them kindly. But they had not been
there many days when, on the 14th of June, the detach-
ment of native infantry and the Nawab's troops rose toge-
ther, and they fled to Nagode, which all of them reached
in safety. There the 50th Native Infantry is stationed,
and has not yet, to our knowledge, exhibited any un-
pleasant symptoms. But one cannot but feel very doubt-
ful of its fidelity, so rapidly has the contagion spread.
The important station of Saugor, with its 31st and 42nd
Native Infantry and 3rd Irregular Cavalry, is gone, though
the English company of artillery, with its guns, and we
hope the unarmed residents also, is safe in the fort.
Jubbulpore, where the 52nd Native infantry is stationed,
is certain to go too.
At Cawnp're, up to the 19th June, Sir Henry
Wheeler with three hundred men held out bravely,
though besieged by a powerful and imposing force
of rebels, who, confident in their strength, upon the
17th June, made two desperate assaults upon the
British position. They were repulsed with tremen-
dous loss, but it was feared that Sir Henry Wheeler
WWI short of provisions. The history of this mutiny
and its terrible massacres is as follows :
At the latest dates that general was regularly besieged
by the sepoys of the Ist and 56th Native Infantry, the 2nd
Light Cavalry, and the 12th Native Infantry, from Jhansi.
The first three named regiments rose on the sth June,
between eight and nine o'clock in the evening. Two
squadrons of the 2nd, fully armed and accoutred, rushed
down into the civil lines, plundered the treasure, and set
fire to the bungalows. it was a sultry night, a gale of
wind blew, and the flames spread rapidly. An eyewitness
says that " the intolerable heat of the atmosphere, the
clouds of dust raised by the storm, the houses in confla-
gration, and the men of the 2nd Cavalry galloping about
on their horses committing devastations, altogether formed
a scene baffling all description." Some of the officers and
several merchants were murdered during the plunder at
the station, but the majority of the Europeans succeeded
in assembling within the defences prepared beforehand by
the care of Sir Hugh Wheeler, whilst two officers, Lafont
and Christina, made good their escape to Allahabad. Jotee
Persaud had sent in supplies for the use of the Europeans,
but they were scanty, and fears were evidently entertained
at Allahabad that hunger might be added to the list of
sufferings inflicted on the British at Cawnpore. Once
confined within the intrenchments, no chance of supply
can have been available until relief came from Allahabad,
as the mutineers, joined by the Rajah of Bithore, had
encamped to the west of the walls and closed the com-
munications. The Rajah of Bithore has been irretrievably
thrown into rebellion by one of the most dastardly deeds
that have been recorded since the disasters of Delhi. Atter
the mutiny of the 10th Native Infantry at Futtelighur, 132
European civilians, men, women, and children, embarked
in fifty little boats on the Ganges for Cawnpore. They
reached Bithore, where, by the order of Nana Sahib, the
Rajah, they were fired at in these boats with cannon—the
first shot striking a lady and killing her on the spot. The
boats were then boarded, the people remaining in theta
landed and brought to Cawnpore, where they were hacked
to pieces in cold blood. Not a soul, it is said, escaped.
The 12th Native Infantry, which came to Cawnpore, com•
mitted cruelties almost equally great. They rose on the