The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

936

hit me sideways, and the folds of cloth I had round my
hat saved me.

August 1.

T have just heard that about thirty men came in last
night who got separated from us in the dark, and wan-
dered to the river, where they got off in a native boat.
The aulhentio return I have just seen; 150 men killed,
the rest wounded, except about fifty men who escaped un-
touched. I suppose audit a disastrous affiir was never
heard of before in India—most dreadful management
throughout.
Another writer says

On a sandbank they all landed, with about 50 Sikhs,
nearly 404) men in all, and 17 officers. They marched to
Arrah, a distance of fourteen miles. When they were
going along quietly in the dark, and near the gates of
Arran, there was a volley poured into them, which nearly
annihilated them, and then such a scene commenced—
firing and retiring for fourteen miles. They had to swim
a branch of the Ganges besides. The company I belong
to lost 25 men killed and 12 wounded. Our loss in the
two companies is as follows:-78 killed and wounded,
viz., Captain Dunbar killed; Ensign Erskine, died of
wounds ; Lieut. Sandwith, wounded ; Captain Meilhurst,
wounded; 48 privates killed and 30 wounded. No joke
out of two companies; but if you had seen the state of the
poor fellows when they arrived yesterday, you must have
pitied them. There were four officers of her Majesty's
37th killed. I don't know how many men, but should say
nearly as many as the 10th lost. There were eight officers
killed and four wounded, volunteers the whole of them. It
was a general massacre. There were great deeds of
bravery performed, but what was the use, they were over-
whelmed by thousands in a strange country. They fought
from eleven p.m. until eleven a.m. the following morning,
without bit, bite, or sup, since leaving this. Ilow so many
came to be killed was, the sepoys beat out their brains
after they fell wounded. The mate of the steamer was
also killed. When our fellows came to the branch of the
Ganges, the boats were there, but they could not got them
off the sand, at least they only got off a few. There was
one boatload of ors wounded men burned to death by the
sepoys. Some had to swim it with three wounds on them.
It was a horrible affair altogether. The 10th had just got
the Enfield rifle served out that day, and they did good
work ; they killed about 600 sepoys. After the first volley
they broke into skirmishing order, and our chaps couldn't
get them in a body at all to charge them. I could fill two
sheets of paper. only I am pressed for time and room.
The men have been belted ever since ; we expect them to
be down on us every moment from both aides of Patna and
Arrah. The four regiments of sepoys, besides alt the
villagers, are against us. In the dead of the night it was
horrible, they kept banging after them from every bush
and tree. One of our men ha.l two shakoes shot off his
head, his pouch blown off, and his firelock smashed, and
even the heel of one of his boots was shot off. One officer
of her Majesty's 37th Regiment was wounded twice in the
foot, and he had to fall ; so he drew out his revolver, and
shot himself. Another of our men was flayed alive by the
brutes, and then his body was burned. One of the drum.
niers of the regiment fired, and retired, for about six miles,
with two wounds in his shoulder, then he got a third
through the body and dropped. Ile again got up and fired
his last shot at the sepoy who shot hint, and immediately
fell back and died. Captain Dunbar got riddled with balls.
We have two companies and two guns at present at Patna.

A very descriptive letter is the following from a
lady, the wife of a civil engineer. Et is dated "Boat
off Dinapore, July 28th." We presume that her
residence was some miles up the Ganges, beyond
Dinapore

On the evening of the 25th we got a private note from
the brigade•major in Dinapore, under official cover, to say
the troops were expected to mutiny every moment, and to
make our arrangements accordingly. We had been so
often frightened before that we did not think so much of
it, but got a boat anchored close to our house, and got as
many of the ferry boats on our side of the river as we
could. Went to bed, and about four o'clock in the morn-
ing heard that sepoys were gathering on the opposite
banks; did not believe it, but got un and went to the
boat, saw nothing unusual ourselves, so went home again.
Presently another alarm came, and we all coolly walked to
the river side, and, to our dismay, saw something very like
sepoys opposite. Before we knew where we were, they
had many of them got into boats and were firing et us,
and we saw the honses and works beginning to smoke.
We got into our boat half dead with fright, and got off
as fott as strength could get us. It was awful ; ten
minutes more and we could not have escaped, or if our
villagers had proved treacherous nothing could have saved
us, as we should, if we had got from the banks, have
been fired at on passing. as they have done but too effec-
tually in many places. We took the river for Dinapore,
and all the way down we saw nothing hut fires—bun-
galows, villages, anything the villains could fire.
We got near Dioapore and found all the aepoy lines in
a blaze, and after about six hours me g.it the n•-ws that
three thousand of the native troops had mutinied, made
direct for poor Knoekar, on their way up to Arrah and all
the stations upcountry. And, fancy! the old woman of
a general let these three regiments mutiny, help them-
selves to sixty rounds each of ammunition, and would not
allow the loth to fight.

All Dinapore is perfectly incensed about it, and what
should we be? The first thing they fired on the east side
was our new house, and then they destroyed everything
and every building belonging to the works ; crossed, but
before that butchered a poor inspector, wife, and daughter,
burnt, robbed, and committed all imaginable atrocities;
my poor pet buggy horse killed in his stable, and every
living thing destroyed, as far as we can learn, except
J—'a riding mare—that we have some slight hopes of,