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

11,5%

bag, Havildar Mahor being at the same time wounded.
The powder being laid, the advanced party slipped down
into the ditch to allow the firing party, under Lieutenant
Salkeld, to perform its duty. While endeavouring to fire
the charge Lieutenant Salkeld was shot through the arm
and leg, and handed over the slow match to Corporal Bur-
gess, who fell mortally wounded just as he had successfully
accomplished the onerous duty. Havildar Tilluh Singh,
of the Sikhs, was wounded, and Ramloll, sepoy of the same
corps, was killed during this part of the operation. The
demolition being most successful, Lieutenant Home,
happily not wounded, caused the bugler to sound the regi-
mental call of the 52nd, as the signal for the advancing
columns. Fearing that amid the noise of the assault the
sounds might not be heard, he had the call repeated three
time, when the troops advanced and carried the gateway
with complete success. I feel certain that a simple state-
ment of this devoted and glorious deed will suffice to stamp
it as one of the noblest on record in military history. The
perfect success contributed most materially to the brilliant
result of the day, and Lieutenants Home and Salkeld,
with their gallant subordinate Europeans and natives, will,
I doubt not, receive the rewards which valour before the
enemy so distinguished as theirs has entitled them to.
An officer of the 01st, after describing the assault
and the desperate nature of the street fighting,
writes :

Thus, at last, with the help of the Almighty, we have
taken this blackguard place, where so many fearful deeds
were committed. The King has been caught, and his two
sons slain ; also his grandson, Aboo Bukkur. Their
bodies. naked and full of bullet holes, were cast in the
Chantlni Chouk (the swell 13egent•street of Delhi), before
the police•station, and were visited by hundreds, myself
included. Two of these accursed princes violated our
women, and then had them cut up in pieces. They are,
I'll be hound, in a warmer place than India just now, and
one too where punkas and taffies are not available. I was
on guard over the King and his wives and concubines on
the 24th and 25tli, and was obliged to be much on the
alert to prevent rescue or attempts at escape. l was
ordered to shoot him if things came to the last extremity.
Yesterday I handed him over to a guard of 60th Rifles,
being precious glad to be relieved of so responsible a
position. We daily find hidden in the houses sepoys who
were unable to escape from sickness or wounds; these are
all put to death on the spot; on the 24th I caught a fine
tall sower or trooper of some light cavalry regiment,
dragged him out into the street and shot him dead. No
mercy can be shown to them. We don't forget, and won't
forget, the massacres of women and children, and we kill
every sepoy we catch. The city is quite deserted, and all
the citizens have fled. It is curious to see a large place
like this without a soul in it. We have plundered all the
shops, and all the valuables are being collected and sold
for prize. Our vengeance cannot be appeased, for we
found several of our men who had been merely wounded
on the 14th in the assault, and overlooked by us, lying
dead minus their heads, and fearfully gashed with sabre
cuts; and so we spare no one. Every sepoy we catch,
" Shoot him" is the word.
No news of re
reached Delhi :

from England had

When all is over, the English regiments will, I suppose,
make their appearance. The country is still in a fearful
state, and Oude and Rohilcund will have to be overrun
with troops before we can hope to tranquillise it.

Another officer says that, as soon as our men got
inside the walls, they found "several stores of beer,
champagne, and brandy, placed there by Pandy (he
knowing too well the character of the British sol-
dier), and some of the European troops became a
drunken rabble."
General Nicholson received his death-wound while
cheering on his men to charge a gun laid in the
streets. " Every street," says the writer, " had one
or two pieces which poured grape into our advancing
columns, and could only be captured by the
bayonet ":
On the 21st I rode down to see the palace. The wall
and entrance are the finest part ; the interior is dirty,
filthy, and in great disorder, Tandy having revelled in its
cool archways. The hall of justice and the King's throne
arc entirely built of white marble; the latter is inlaid with
stones and mosaics. I went all over the state apartments
and the harem. The latter is a curious place, and had a
remarkable appearance; its floor covered with guitars,
bangles, ite., and redolent of sandal-wood. The fair
daughters of Cashmere had their swing in the centre of
the loom. They hid left in a great hurry; dresses, silks,
slippers, were lying on all sides.
On leaving the palace I met a dhoolie, surrounded by
some cavalry and a few natives on foot. Jts inmate was
a thin faced, anxious•looking old man. This was the new
King of Hindostan, the descendant of the Great Moguls,
entering his palace in the hands of his enemies. He was
captured some distance from the city. Being eighty-five
years of age, his life is to be spared. Ile will be kept a
close prisoner for life.
The sick and wounded in our camp outside Delhi
amount to about 4,000. The camp swarms with the
starving townspeople.