The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-13 00:00:00

INDIA.

No fresh intelligence has come to hand regarding
the Jynteah and Cossyah rebelling, but we are told
that the services of the 28th Regimcnt Punjab
Native Infantry are no longer required in the hill
districts of Cossyah.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE,
(From the Calcutta Englishman of March 7.)

Money Market—Money continues very easy,
which assists stock speculation. There is, however,
a fair demand for business purposes at current rates.

Exchange—A very limited business has been done
in exchange for this opportunity, and that chiefly
in bank bills and credits ; the rates on London are
for bank bills, 2s, 011-16 d. to 2s. °ad.; for credits,
2s. 011.16 d. to 2s. ; and 2s. Oid. for docu-
mentary.

Freights,—After the closing of last mail our
freight market continued brisk, but is closing dull.

CHINA.

The principal intelligence of the fortnight refers
to the defeat sustained by a combined force of Ward
and Imperial troops before the city of Tai-tsars. It
will be remembered that the Ward force of drilled
Cninese recently passed into the command of Cap-
tain Holland, of the R.M.L,1., on the removal of
General Burgevine by the native authorities at
Shanghae. The following account of the engage-
ment in which Captain Holland has been defeated is
from the China Mail of the 28th February

"It appears that the Sunkiang troops (Ward's)
left Shanghae for Tai-tsan on the morning of the
10th February at daybreak. The expedition was
larger than usual, and much better equipped; it
consisted of 2,500 men, with 22 pieces of cannon and
abundance of ammunition. The force of artillery-.
men amounted to 700. Owing to the number of
broken bridges, several delays took place in the pro-
gress of the troops to Tai-tsan, and they were not
within sight of the city until the afternoon of the
13th February. On their way they had been joined
by a force of Imperialist troops, which rendered the
expedition so complete, that there need have been
no anticipation of a repulse. The country already
passed through was held by Imperial troops, who
had fortified themselves in numerous stockades.
Tai-tsan is beyond the radius of thirty miles, the
defence of which had been undertaken by the British
force stationed at Shanghae; but as Captain Hol-
land had been lent to the native authorities, he was
not under any restriction as to the distance of his
his operations. On the afternoon of the 14th, when
the expedition was near the city, a rebel stockade
on one side of a creek was found to be occupied by
a force, but of what strength;was not ascertained.
Instead of taking means to inform himself of the force
to be here attacked, Captain Holland brought up
the guns and opened fire, which was kept up for
two hours. As the rebels showed no signs of leav-
ing it, the captain embarked 200 men to storm the
stockade; but as it was ascertained that the dis-
tance, though half-a-mile by land, was nearly four
miles by water, the design was anticipated by seven
ove:
Europeans, who crossed the creekin a
the boat;
soon as they appeared approaching in d
retired
of the stockade, the rebels, about 100 strong,
ffraection
tphoasttea dine
iust.
upon Tai-tsan ; they bad evidentlyovvbeeedn
as a corps of observation. This
h
take had been made in firing at the place for two
hours without having first ascertained its actual
strength. Rows of stakes had d
before` the
beene
adarsi
ev e intoy
thtehi
re
4s
creek, and some more ay
i. 7 to be pulled up before boats could pro
hay t,
ceed.o It being then 5 p.m. the whole force halted for
the night. The guns were landed and got into
position
during the night, and a sortie made by the
rebels was repulsed, after which shells were fired at
intervals to show that the besiegers were on the
alert. On the following morning (Feb. 15), at day-
break, the rebels received large reinforcements from
Soochow ; these were received with immense cheer-
ing by their friends in the city. Fire was now
opened from two 32-pounders, eight 12-pound

PRICE.— -..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

howitzers, and four mortars; and this was con-
tinued for four or five hours. The 32-pounders
weree
dtphlatehlwernda
tol
son,
at 1
ai o
ne
deadly
d pe t
hni s ground,fi re
expfromos exposed
a bt
hto
hue
et r
i2fimOceOsnoy f aid
who
thes
besieged; the placing of the guns so near, when 1
they would have been effective at a much longer
range, proved to be a costly blunder. Cap. Hol
land then ordered the assault, and the disasters of
the Itrperial troops began. On the information of'
others, he had believed that acre was only a dry
ditch running round the city, instead of which it
was found that there was a deep unforde.ble
This proved the one rotten link in the plans for
the city's capture. A breach had been made in the
walls, and Captain Graham, with 20 men, volun-
teered to plant ladders for a storming party.
The volunteers picked up their ladders with a
cheer, which unfortunately was taken up by the
rifles in front and the Ist battalion behind, neither
of whom knew exactly what was going on, but
rushed past their officers to join in what they im-
agined to be the assault. Arrived at the moat,
which had been reported dry, the whole party stood
huddled together, exposed to a deadly fire from the
wall. A ladder was thrown across the moat, and a
few men with several officers got upon it; but it
gave way, and no further attempt was made. It
was here that a Chinaman (a sergeant major of the
Rifles), rushed forward with Ward's flag, and stood
for several minutes amid a fire, calling on his men
to come on; his clothes were cut in six places by
rifle bullets, but he escaped unharmed. A few men
who had managed to cross the moat attempted the
breach, but were shot down; the rest seeing it im-
possible, for want of proper appliances, to cross the
moat, and becoming tired of being shot down like
sheep, retreated under the protection afforded by
the two guns, which again began to throw shell into
the breach. Captain Holland now ordered a re-
treat, and directed the guns to be brought to the
rear. Without waiting to see his directions carried
out, he embarked in his chop ; the other boats fol-
lowed, and the retreat became general, the man-
darin troops falling into confusion. Major Cooke,
of the Rifles, is reported to have kept his men toge-
ther, and fought for about two hours longer, trying
to save the guns ; and the other regiments of disci-
plined Chinese are said to have supported them. In
spite of every effort to save the guns, it was found
impossible to do so, as they were deeply imbedded
in the mud. The enemy made a sortie, and were
repulsed ; they fired from a six-pounder with better
effect, and at last the guns were abandoned.
A correspondent of the North China Herald, upon
whose narrative the above account is based, gives
the following additional particulars of the occur-
rence :

The rebels fought admirably, and were all well
armed with European muskets. A mistake was
made in placing the guns so close to the walls ; the
artillerymen were shot down as they stood beside
them, as there was no cover. I doubt whether their
coated
tnhceeyn
tookt concentratedg
000ndo nc
care
rpe o
toi n t a ofvo
dh.e wlavl lh,
ewnh
ti
hc he
fire did much execution among the garrison, as it
owfasc oauirls
troops advanced to the assault, however, they stood
gallantly in the breach and fired point blank at
them. The loss of the Soonkiong force cannot yet
be correctly ascertained, as stragglers will pro-
bably drop in for some days to come. At the pre-
sent time it consists of about 600 killed, wounded,
and missing. Twenty casualties occurred among
the Europeans. Captains Maunder, Macarthy,
Macleod, and Bosworth killed, and twelve other
officers, besides four marines, wounded. Among the
former are Captains Graham, Murray, Tapp, Silver-
ton, and Dunn. The latter is shot through the
groin, and it is feared will not recover.
The retreat, it appears, was orderly, and only a
portion of the mandarin's troops fell into confusion.
Major Brennan has made an attempt against a
city called Fooshan, which was unsuccessful for
want of boats. The troops behaved very gallantly,
it is said, but lost ten killed and ten wounded.
This is the third expedition against the rebels in
the course of a few weeks which has been un-
successful.

The latest intelligence to hand rays, briefly, that
Captain Gordon, R.E., is to command the disci-
plined Chinese, in place of " Captain Holland."
From Ningpo, we learn that General Lebrethon
has been succeeded in command of the disciplined
Chinese force by General Tardif, and that the
troops were, at the date of our advices (Feb, 19)
under the walls of Shaou-hing ready for the
assault. Breaching guns of heavy metal had been
brought down from Shanghae by Captain Dow,
and a note received at Ningpo on the 18th inst.
stated that the city would be attacked on the first
or second day following. The taking of Shaou-
hing will be a great event, as it will open up the
whole of the silk and cotton districts, and greatly
improve the commercial prospects of Ningpo. S hou id
Shaou-hing be taken, Hang-chow will be made for
at once.