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

814

the Panjaub forces and a wing of the Bombay European
Fusiliers which marched from Mooltan to Lahore on the
22nd of June. All that is known respecting reinforce-
ments to General Barnard was, that a wing of her Majesty's
61st Foot left Ferozepore on the 13th June, Loodhiana on
the 19th, Umballah on the 23rd, and have doubtless arrived
at Delhi by this time; that the Ist Punjaub Irregular
Cavalry, 500 sabres, under Colonel Hughes, left Feroze-
pore for Delhi on the 20th ; that Brigadier Chamberlain,
now acting adjutant•general of the army, had passed
Raiment with his force, awl reached the scene of opera.
tions on the '24th ; that further reinforcements had passed
through Umballah ; that the Ist Punjaub Infantry had
reached Kurnaul ; that the Kumaon battalion from Rawnl
Pindee had started for Lahore, which it might expect to
reach on the 4th of July; that the 4th regiment of Pun.
jaub Infantry, which left Bunnoo for Lahore on the 20th
of May, had reached Attock on the 10th of June ; and
that a wing of the 17th Irregular Cavalry, joined by a wing
of the 9th Irregular Cavalry, bad left Lahore for Delhi,
the latter reaching Umballah on the 25th. On the other
hand, the moveable column under Brigadier• General
Nicholson, at Phillour, was paralysed by the disarmament
of the 33rd and 35th N.I. on the 24th of June ; whilst
another moveable column, under General Van Cortlandt,
was busy in pursuit of a corps of mutineers through the
sandy deserts of the Bikaneer Rajah's territory.
Whilst our European army is thus likely to be but
feebly reinforced from the northward, and circumstances
at present render aid from the southward impossible, the
mutineers have gained considerable accessions of strength
from all quarters. They have despatched letters in every
possible direction, calling on their brother sepoys to aid
them ; amongst others, one addressed to the mutineers of'
Bareilly and Mooradabad was intercepted at Hauper. It
runs as follows :

From the officers of the army at Delhi to the officers of the

Bareilly and Mtioradabad regiments.
It you are corning to help us, it Is incumbent on you that if
you eat your food there you wash your hands here, for here the
fight is going on with the English, and by the goodness of God,
even one defeat to us is ten to them, and our troops are as.
sembled here in large numbers. It is now necessary for you to
come here, for large rewards and high rank will be conferred by
the King of Kings, the centre of prosperity, the King of Delhi.
We are looking out moat anxiously tor you, like fasters watching
for the call of the muezzin. Our ears are, intent on the thunder
of the cannon, and our eyes, like the eyes of the are
watching your road. Now, also, it is incumbent ou you, that
you consider this call as very urgent and come, for our house is
yours.
" Come, come, for there Is no rose
Without the spring of your presence.
The opening bud with draught
Is as an infant without milk."

There is no doubt that these appeals have met with
a ready response. _

- -
Of the actual operations carried on before Delhi
we have full particulars. The sorties appear to have
been on both sides very gallant affairs. On the 9th
and 10th of June two desperate assaults were re-
pulsed. On the 12th the rebels made a serious
attack upon our position. The enemy stealthily
crept up in the grey of the morning to both flanks of
our position, which they simultaneously attacked,
nearly turning the left. The arrangements of our
outposts appear to have been defective, as the
attack was in some measure a surprise :

On the morning of the 12th a most determined and
well-planned assault was made upon both extremities of
our line at once. On the right, at Hindoo Rao's house,
the attack was promptly defeated, and the troops at that
post (611th Ghoorkas and Guides) slew considerable num•
hers of the enemy—fifty of them in one garden, it is said.
But on the left there seems to have been something of a
surprise. The battery at the signal tower was surrounded,
and would probably, but for the signal gallantry of a picket
of the 75th, have been captured. The flank of the position
was in imminent danger of being turned. But the nine-
pounder battery in the centre opened fire, supports were
brought up rapidly, and at length, though not till after a
hard fight of two hours, the enemy gave way at all points.
The loss on this day fell chiefly upon the 2nd Europeans
and the 75th. Captain Knox of the latter regiment was
shot through the head while leading his men to the tower
battery. On the day following a large inclosnre in advance
of our left, known as Metcalfe-house, was occupied by our
troops, and the erection of a battery of heavy guns and
mortars commenced. Against this battery a sortie was
directed on the 15th, but was repulsed without difficulty,
as had been another earlier in the same day against our
right. On the 17th an affair took place in which we were
the assailants. That morning a shot from the city struck
the corner of Hindoo Rao's house, and, glancing off,
killed Lieutenant Wheatley, of the late 54th, attached to
the Gboorkas, and (it is said) six men. Having this
advanced post of ours well under fire in front, the enemy
determined to attempt it also in flank, and for this purpose
commenced on the 17th to throw up a battery outside the
western gates of the town, at a large building known as
the Eedghah. There they were attacked that same after.
noon by Major Tombs' troop of Horse Artillery, some
cavalry, Rifles, and Gboorkas, and beaten out of the place
with the loss of the only gun they had had time to bring
out, all their ammunition, and, perhaps, a hundred lives.
For this achievement the major received high commenda-
tion from General Barnard, who rode over to his position
for the purpose.—Tines cor., July It.
During the 13th, 14th, and 15th the city was bom-
barded, and red-hot shot thrown in. The morning
of the 19th revealed a new, though not alto-
gether unexpected, enemy. The Nusseerabad
mutineers, with a battery of six guns, made their
appearance in the British rear, and attacked in