The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-16 00:00:00

interment of the putrid bullock, and all accoutred with
musket and bayonet have relieved each other on sentry
without regard to the distinctions of rank, civil or military.,
Notwithstanding all these hardships, the garrison hai
made no less than five sorties, in whim they spiked two of
the enemy's heaviest guns, and blew up several of the
houses from which they had kept up their most harassing
fire. Owing to the extreme paucity of our numbers, each
man was taught to feel that on his own individual effirts
alone depended in no small measure the safety of the entire
position. This consciousness incited every officer, soldier,

and man to defend the post assigned to him with such
desperate tenacity, and to fight for the lives which Prdel•
dence had intrusted to his care with such dauntless de.
termination, that the enem), despite their constant
attacks, their heavy mines, their overwhelming numbers,
and their incessant fire, could never succeed in gaining one
single inch of ground within the bounds of this straggling
position, which was so feebly fortified, that had they once
obtained a footing in any of the outposts, the whole place
must inevitably have fallen.

If further proof be wanting of the desperate nature of the
struggle which we have, under God's blessing, so long and
so successfully waged, I would point to the roofless and
ruined houses, to the crumbled walls, to the exploded
mines, to the open breaches, to the shattered and disabled
guns and defences, and lastly to the long and melancholy
list of the brave and devoted officers and men who have
fallen. These silent witnesses bear sad and solemn testi-
mony to the way in which this feeble position has been de.
fended. During the early part of these vicissitudes we
were left without any information whatever regarding the
posture of affairs outside. An occasional spy did indeed
come in with the object of inducing our sepoys and [ten
vents to desert ; but the intellig'nce derived front touch
sources was of course entirely untrustworthy. We seat
our messengers daily oalling for aid and asking for infor-
mation, none of whom ever returned until the twenty.
sixth day of the siege, when a pensioner named Ungud
came back with a letter from Generol Havelock's camp,
informing us that they were advancing with a force Ruth.
cier.t to bear down all opposition, and would be with us in
five or six days. A messenger was immediately despatched,
requesting that on Cie evening of their arrival on the out-
skirts of the city two rockets might be sent up, in order
that we might take the necessary measures for assisting
them while Porcine their way in. The sixth day, however,
expired, and they came not ; but for many evenings after
officers and men watched for the ascension of the expected
rockets, with hopes such as make the heart sick. We knew
not then, nor did we learn until the 29th of August—or
thirty-five days later—that the relieving force, after having
fought moat nobly to effect our deliverance, had been
obliged to fall back for reinforcements, and this was the
last communication we received until two days before the
arrival of Sir James Ontram on the 25th September.
The privations and sufferings, too, of the beseiged
were painfully severe :
Besides heavy visitations of cholera and smallpox, we have
also had to contend against a sickness which has almost
universally pervaded the garrison. Commencing with •
very painful eruption, it has merged into a low fever,
combined with diarrhoea ; and although few or no men
have actually died from its effects, it leaves behind a weak-
ness and lassitude which, in the absence of all material
sustenance, save coarse beef and still coarser flour, none
have been able entirely to get over. The mortality among
the women and children, and especially among the latter,
from these diseases, and from other causes, has beeu
perhaps the most painful characteristic of the siege. The
want of native servants has also been • source.of much

privation. Owing to the suddenness with which we were
besieged, many of these people who might perhaps have
otherwise proved faithful to their employers, but who were
outside the defences at the time, were altogether excluded.
Very many more deserted, and several families were
consequently left without the services of a single domestic.
Several ladies have had to tend their children, and even
to wash their own clothes, as well as to cook their scanty
meals, entirely unaided. Combined with the absence of
servants, the want of proper accommodation has probably
been the cause cf much .f the disease with which we have
been afflicted.

" I cannot refrain " says Colonel Inglis at this
point, " from bringing to the prominent notice of his
lordship in council the patient endurance and the
Christian resignation which has been evinced by the
women of this garrison. They have animated us by
their example. Many, alas ! have been made
widows, and their children fatherless, in this cruel
struggle. But all such seem resigned to tho will of
Providence, and many, among whom may be men-
tioned the honoured names of Birch, of Polehamp-
ton, of Barbor, and of Gall, have, after the
example of Miss Nightingale, constituted themselves
the tender and solicitous nurses of the wounded and
dying soldiers in the hospital."
Colonel Inglis then calls attention to the heroic
conduct of the different officers engaged in the
defence. Without exception their behaviour has
been superb. It would be invidious to select here
one name before so many which are wreathed with
imperishable glory, but that of Lieutenant James,
Sub-Assistant Commissary-General, who was severely
wounded by a shot through the knee at Chinhut,
notwithstanding which he refused to go upon the
sick-list, and carried on his most trying duties
throughout the entire siege, draws from Colonel
Inglis a special encomium. "It is not too much to
say," remarks'Colonel Inglis, " that the garrison owe
their lives to the exertions and firmness of this
officer. Before the struggle commenced, he was
ever in the saddle, getting in supplies, and his