The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-19 00:00:00

The thirty-two ladies and children who were left be-
bind were conveyed by the Nana into a pucka•house
called the Snbhadhur, and kept in custody by the• Nana
Sahib's people, but without being insulted.
One Portuguese woman, the daughter of a bugler, was
made captive by a trooper of the 2ud Cavalry, and car-
ried to his house when the mutiny first broke out ; but,
when he was absent, she took his sword and killed his
wife and two children and then herself.

With respect to Delhi, putting aside the report of
our retreat, and acting only upon the latest authentic
intelligence, we find that our position was such as to
cause no little apprehension. We were literally
besieged. The sorties of the rebels were powerful
and gratuitous attacks upon our works, not move-
ments executed in defence of their own. In three
of these attacks, on the 9th, 15th, and 18th of July,
we had lost 500 men killed and wounded, Brigadier
Chamberlayne being among the latter. The severe
battle on the 9th was only briefly paragraphed by
last mail. We learn now that the fight was well
contested; and that though our loss was heavy, 181
killed and wounded, of which an unusual proportion
were officers, we inflicted upon the rebels a loss of
killed only estimated at 1,000 men. The first onset
of the rebel cavalry headlong into our camp was
made in the grey of the morning upon a detachment
of artillery under Major Tombs and Lieutenant
Hills. The major was the first to discover their
approach, and had but just time to order the men to
their guns, when the rebel horse charged sword in
band. Both officers gallantly dashed forward at the
same time to bleak the brunt of the charge. A hand.
to•hand conflict was maintained, in which Major
Tombs killed two men and saved Lieutenant Hills
from a cut which would have proved fatal to him.
This little episode consumed but a few minutes of
time—enough, however, to spread the alarm ; so
that, when the rebel horse, continuing their rush,
passed through Tombs' detachment, they were
encountered by Captain Fagan (Artillery), who
hastily gathered together a few recruits, twenty five
in number, followed them, and succeeded in killing
fifteen, amongst them the sirdar, or leader, richly
dressed in shawls and embroidery. Whilst this was
proceeding, the enemy attacked our positions in
force from front, flank, and rear. The Subzee
Mundee was again the scene of close and hard.con-
tested fighting, and a most desperate eflirt was made
to take the Hindoo Rao, where upwards of ninety
sepoys were killed in the attempt to dislodge a small
body of Sikhs. The rebels fought at considerable
advantage in point of numbers, but with matches
substituted for the percussion lock.
Of subsequent events the following letter gives a
vivid representation. The battle of the 15th was very
serious, and our loss especially severe :
Camp near Delhi, July 26.
We are still remaining in the position we took up on
the afternoon of the Bth of last month after fighting the
battle of Battle Semi; it is a very strong one. We lie
about two miles from Delhi. We are encamped on the
old parade ground of the native regiments, perfectly safe
from everything but their shells, wnich fall into our camp
almost every evening, without doing any great harm.
We are lying on the defensive till we recd ive reinforce-
ments, only tiring from our batteries when the enemy pro-
voke us by opening theirs or coming out at the gates.
They are continually getting in reinforcements. It is not
known certainly whether the troops from Neemuch have
yet reached Delhi. Our spies state that they are losing a
good irony by desertion. Their money is failing, and it is
generally believed their stock of percussion caps is nearly
exhausted, and they cannot make new ones. They have four
separate commanders in•chief, and have shown iu every
attack a want of concentration, which has helped us much
in driving them back.
We were not troubled after the affair of the 9th till the
13th. The day before they fired a salute of twenty•one
guns for the sack of Agra and the reverse we had expe•
rienced there. They vowed to carry our batteries next
day, and came out in great force to storm the pickets under
Hindoo Rao's house and in the Subzee Mundee. They
brought two guns to bear upon our right. Our men, under
good cover, kept them back for several hours, only losing
twelve men, when Brigadier Chamberlayne, the adjutant-
general, ordered out our infantry and two troops of home
artillery into the Subzee Mundee. The infantry went in to
clear the thickets and gardens in front of Hindoo Rao's
hill and the Subzee M undee. As they came upon the enemy
they gave a tremendous cheer and dashed on. The Delhi-
wallahs turned their backs and ran in crowds to the gates.
The artillery galloped up and poured a shower of grape
into them. Our force was within 20:1 yards of the walls.
Such a shower of grape and musketry fell upon us that we
were compelled to fall back. Chamberlayne had his arm
shattered below the shoulder. Our loss was as heavy as
200 men killed and wounded, including thirteen officers.
We retired in good order. The enemy did not follow us
far. Our men are getting very discontented with this kind
of work. They are ready to carry any position, however
strong, the enemy must be driven from. But to carry a
strong position a dozen times only to see it abandoned and
reoccupied next morning is what no soldiers will do with-
out losing heart.
Since General Wilson bas assumed command we have
remained more strictly on the defensive. We are strength.
citing our position every day, and demolishing the houses,
and clearing the thickets in the Subzee.3lundee.