The Express.
London, England, 1858-01-15 00:00:00

(Stamped id. Additional.) [TWOPENCE.

yards of you. I cannot think how we escaped. One shell
burst within a lbw yards of me, but not s man was touched.
One of our fellows was hit in the hand.

November 30.

aboln"at two o'clock inin ththYelemtleorrninaag, "to had
doccupyth the Baptist
ll:upttisatt
Chapel. We thought we should have had • quiet day ; but
jest after breakfast time crack went the rifles in front, and in
about tenminutes the enemy's shot, shell, and grope came
pinking into and over the place in fine style. However, no
one was hit, as we had excellent cover. We soon got tired of
it, however ; end to our delight we perceived a reinforcement
tithe 34th coming up the road. So we " fell in" in front of
them, end marched down the road for about half a mile, when
we suddenly came upon the enemy's battery in a most for-
midable position. Of course, the instant they peroeivd us •
storm of grape, shot, shell, &c., opened upon us. The bri-
gadier gave the word to charge, and " &Vern" we went • but
sadly reckoned without our host. You. will imagine what a
fire we wore exposed to when I tell you that invent in 14 OH-
amend 160 men ; of the former, 7 were killed directly, and
11 wounded; of the latter, only 18 killed, and 15 wounded;
so the officers were evidently picked out. We fought at the
gems for about ten minute'. Two ware spiked—one, by
Major Stirling, who suahed up to it, sword in hand. The
native gunners rushed at us in the most ferocious manner,
cutting with their swords and throwing bricks. By the
latter, Captain Bowiby and I were knocked down together,
but jumped up again directly when the devils came at us
again with swords and shields. I fired my pistol at one
fellow, end I supra. I hit hint, for be did not come on.
Brigadier Wilson was killed. I was just behind him when
his home wee struck by two balls He was afterwards shot
through the body. However we were regularly beaten off,
and then ocenzuenced a most terrible retreat. The guns
—eta in number—end swarms of infantry poured in a
withering fire. As I ran to the rear, officers end men were
shot down within a yard of me ; but I escaped by the greatest
miracle. I ran by the brigadier's aide, until his bores was
kit, which wee ohne he yards ibis the maim when I
passed him. Directly an officer was down the sepoys cut him
to phew with their tulwars. But just fancy 160 men charg-
ing 6 guns and about 1,000 infantry '. We were awfully
blown In getting up to their position, as we bad to =IN a
deep "nallah" and up the other side. I was one of the first
"fortunate." up—at least all the officers were in front; but
there could not have been more than 50 men with us. We
had two guns in our possession for a few minutes ; but our
supports failed us, and then it was, " Devil take the hind-
most." We have been under a hoe fire now since the 26th.
I am writing this from our outer trench, and the
shot and shell are flying about from both sides.
However, we are quite safe, and haven't had a
casualty since we entered the trenches. The sepoys
occupy the adjacent ruins, and ea they cut from
one to the other, we pot them. They had done themeelres
' tip with " bbang" yesterday, intending to rush at us with
their swords, but the brutes funked it after all. It was a
dreadful sight to nee the poor officers being cut up. They
were ell round me, but by the greatest mercy I was not
touched. I lost my sword-belt, scabbard, pistol, and keys
(which were attached to the scabbard). Whether the whole
apparatus was cut away by a shot or not I don't know. Oh,
I forgot to tell you that in the first day's fight I tumbled
into a burning lime-kiln, but didn't get hurt • bit, although
I lost one of my pistols. One of the poor fellows (Gibbon.,
62nd), who was afterwards killed at the charge on the gene,
rushed In after me, but I scrambled out by myself. We
caught a spy or Sepoy this morning, end didn't we blow his
brains out I 'I never could have believed that one could get
so accustomed to firing ; bat I can assure you that one pays
no more attention to " whistling Dick" going by then one
would a bit of paper. In the gun scrimmage my coat and
'word were splashed all over with blood. Fortunately the
seine night that we fall back upon the entrenchments
Sir Colin's force came in from Luclmow, for we were getting
rather hard pressed. These Dwellers that are fighting now
are some 20,000 strong, and the natives ere joining them
awry day. They had 40 guns or so at the beginning of the
row ; but now they have lost some to us. This trench busi-
ness is hamming work. We have been four days end four
nights without taking our things off. There is a ruined bun-
galow about 400 yards off full of Sepoys. The brutes sometimes
the into nein the middle of the night, and the generals won't
let us maks a rush and drive them oat. They 'belled our hos-
pital the other day, and I believe wounded some of the pa-
tients. The ladies and children have arrived from Lucknor ;
but I don't think they are in the entrenchment yet. Gem rat
Havelock died of dysentery, end Gen. Neill was shot through
the had as he penned through an archway. I hope the
next time I twits to be able to tell of these brutes getting
a good licking. The following is a list of our killed in the
charge on the guns:—Brigadier-General Wilson, Major-
Coapentain.ibicupt.i.orphy IlLekjourte), Acting
..talutaainuar:
Mackin-
non, Gibbons (52nd), end some officers attached to the 64th.
All the others were allows of the 64th. You will me by
the proportion that the officers meet have been picked off,
for ell the staff were killed. The grape was fired at us when
we were no more than twenty yards from the gnus. The
other day the Rifle Brigade captured and brought in two
large guns. You may not get this letter by this mall, as the
toad to Calcutta is stopped up. I don't think we, in the
trenches, will have any field fighting again, as we are all eo
knocked up, end require rest. Well, I must finish, so be-
lieve me, my dear father, your affectionate eon,
A— C—.

Da. BlaDON.—The name of this eminent stir-
gem, who has received honourable mention in Brigadier
Ineis's narrative, and special mention in the despatch from
the Governor*r Ilia care of the sick and wounded
of the beleagnted-Oeneral,son of Lacknow, ought to be better
known than it morally is, from his connexion with the
British army in Aistan in its disastrous retreat from
Cabal, on the 6th January, 1846. What ti history he alone
can relate of the lemon of the Khyber Pass, of which be
was the sole survivor, may be gleaned from the folio *nig
extract from Mies Martineau's History of England during
the Thirty Yellle Peace .—" The British were now advieed•
by the enemy to go back to India: and they were as nearly
starved that they agreed to do so : though some of the officers
were still of opinion that they should fight their way for the
mile and a half which ley between the cantonments and the
citadel, and take refuge Mere—trusting to the interest of the
country people to supply them with food. They set out,
however, Dome of them knowing that the Afghan chiefe
were saying that they would allow only one man to live :
that they would cut off his limbs, and bet nim down at
the entrance of the Khyber Pass, with a letter between
his teeth, werning the British to meddle no more
with Afghanistan. Many set forth, believing this
boast to be not unreasonable: and it was too tree that
only one man reached Jellalelnid. Thom who gave them-
selves up as prisoners and homages were saved—each of
them es did not die of fever and hardabi but only one mu
performed the march from Cabul to Jellal shed. The doom
of the force was clear at the end of five miles. Four thou-
sand five hundred fighting men, and twelve thousand ramp
followers, beside. women and children, fin forth from Cabal
on the 6th of lanuery. The distance traversed that day
was only tire miles; yet it was two o'clock in the morning
before the last of the bra came up. The glare from the
burning cantonment' was visible to the fugitives es they sat
in the snow end beard what had been the destruction
already, and 'Lew what a road lay before them. Maws
and solar' lay dead in the bloody mow, all the way leek to
Cabul ; baggage was abandoned at the very gate' el the
cantonments; the ladies had only what they wore, and some
of them, hurried away or sick, wore wily night clothe'.
Hoch day was worse than the Lat. One lady had harming-
est boy matched from her arms by an ; and another
saw her eldest girl pet into • sack and carried off. The
=
rower.,
whose frostbitten feet would carry them no
died by hundreds along the roadside, or crawled In
among the rooks, without food or prospect of any. On the
fourth day only 270 soldiers were left. On the fifth, the Iced
altogether was about 12,000 men out of 17,000. On the sixth
day thin were but twenty to make "stand against the still tor-
menting foe. Twelve moaned from • bonier which detained
them cruelly under the enemy's fire and of them twelve
six dropped before ruechin the last town to be parsed. Near
this town sons posests ired brad to the remaining six
who were temisehele. They stayed a few moments only ;
but in We' few memeats the iababitants were arming. Two
wars island/A*ly oat down. The other four men fled as
MSS may do who have death at their heels, and safety
slime in sight: but three of the Lear roam were evertehmi
and slaughtered within four milts of Jellalabsd, and Dr.
Dryden smiled ekes. He was seen from the fort
over kis jelled pew, evidently wounded—looking er=
in hie approach es weld be imagined. He was supposed to
be a messenger, and the gate was opened in readiness to ad-
mit him : but his may moose was such a one as perhaps
ao other saes has greet had to deliver—that he we tiles sole
remnant of ea may. Except the burying of Camp=
army in the Airless desert, such • destruction ban
awes Um Mead et is the world."
CHELMED AND BLACKwAtEn NAVIGATION
I'ANT.—A• llMPlatif of the MOM= 011111010617 100
•
. dividend of Wee per one. was artiareL