The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-25 00:00:00

The War in Bhootan.

IWe (Times) have been favoured with the following
.etter

" Rungeeah, April 9.

" Long before this reaches England the telegraph
will have been told of the capture, destruction, and
evacuation of Dewangari, a landmark in the history
of one of England's perpetual little Indian wars.
" From March 21, the date of my last letter, until
the end of the month, nothing of any importance
took place. The camp at Soubaukhotta was still kept
up, and the forts and buildings there finished, to de-
ceive the enemy as to our projected line of advance.
The bait took admirably, and this pass was found
afterwards to be one succession of stockades, with
heavy abattis completely closing up the ravine.
" On March 30 the right wing of her Majesty's
55th Foot and another battery of Artillery marched
in from Gowhatty, and everything was at once got
ready for the advance. The force was told off into
two columns—the one, under Col. Richardson, 44th
N. 1., about 800 strong, with the Sappers and a bat-
tery of Artillery, being the advance guard, while the
other fouled the main body, under Col. Hume, 55th.
" The Soubaukhotta force was suddenly with-
drawn on the night of March 31, the tents being
left standing, and at 2 on the following morning
Colonel Richardson's column left camp for the
mouth of the Darunga Pass, each man carrying
three days' cooked provisions with him. The hills
were reached about daylight, and the column ad-
vanced up the pass and found the first three stockades
deserted. About 41 miles from Dewangari was a,
place where we had taken and destroyed a stockade
on the 19th of March, with the loss of 12 killed and
wounded, and here we found stockades reconstructed.
However, they were not held in force, and a few
shells from the howitzers drove the defenders out
without the loss of a single man on our side.
"After this the column advanced steadily until
within 1/ miles from Dewangari, where it halted for
the day, while a small party went on to reconnoitre.
A half-built stockade was found burning about 400
yards to the front, and had evidently just been fired.
Beyond this was a steep hill, on pushing up which it
was found that its summit had rashly been left un-
defended by the enemy. At this place, which was
about 700 yards from Dewangari, a sandbag breast-
work was at once thrown up, and a strong picket
brought up to hold it for the night.
" On the following morning, April 2, the main
body arrived about 7 o'clock, and the force advanced.
From the sandbag breastwork the whole position
could be clearly seen. On the proper right was a
high hill, which resolved itself into a spur funning
nearly north for three-quarters of a mile. This
range was defended by seven stockades and the
Rajah's house—a substantial stone fort, surrounded
by a bastioned stone breastwork. The key of the
position, however, was not this place, but a large
stockade about 500 yards from it, and 200 yards
from the left of the spur. This was some 50 feet
square, two-storied, with walls of loose stone 4 feet
thick between log framing, and had evidently been
constructed with much care.

" A company of the 55th advanced in skirmishing
order, sheltering themselves as much as possible be-
hind trees, while the mortars and howitzers were taken
to the front and commenced playing on this stock-
ade, and on two others on the extreme left which
flanked it. A party under Captain Macdonell,
of the police, was detached to turn these last-
named stockades by climbing a steep hill beyond
them, and in the meantime the artillery and Enfield
rifles tried to keep the fire down from the main
stockade, but with little success. The guns made
very poor practice, probably because their position
was changed several times, so that they had not a
fair chance of getting an accurate range, and, on the
other hand, the loopholes of the stockade were very
small targets for the 55th to aim at.
From immediately below the stockade a steep spur
ran towards us. Under cover of this the 55th were
brought more to the front, but even from here they
could not keep down the enemy's fire to any consi-
derable extent, and probably the Bhooteas had not
more than a dozen men disabled, nor we more than
twice as many, when Capt. Macdonell's party ap-
peared over the hill, and Gen. Tombs instantly formed
up a storming party of the 29th Punjabees, the 12th
Native Infantry, and one company of the 55th, and
sent them at the stockade. The Sikhs, who were in
front, climbed upthe almost precipitous hill and went
on with a yell, but when they reached the stockade
they could find no way into it. There had been but
one small door, and that was effectually closed ; the
rats were caged, but the cage kept off the dogs. At
last Capt. Trevor, R.E., and Lieut. Duudas, R.E.,
the two engineer officers accompanying the column,
climbed up the poles of:the stockade and showed the
way in. Both officers are recommended for the Vic-
toria Cross.

"Of course the defenders were doomed. Some
few may have escaped, but the rest were shot down
where they stood, and lay in heaps. If Englishmen
had not been present, even the 45 prisoners whom
we took would not have escaped with wounds, but
would have beep numberedwith theirdead comrades,
for neither Sikh nor Pathan has the vaguest idea of
mercy to an enemy.

" This stockade gave us Dewangari. On seeing
their stronghold, which they thought impregnable,
in our hands, the Bhooteasrusheddown the hill sides
and divided into the dense jungle, where it was im-
possible to follow them with any effect. On the left

Capt. Macdonell got possession of a stockade, which
he--personally gallantry itself—was vainly endea-
vouring to get his police and some other soldiers to
storm, instead of firing at. Here Weldon, an officer
of the police, was badly wounded, but in no other
place did we meet with any opposition. The Rajah's
house was taken almost without a shot, and in about
an hour the Sikhs were scattered in every direction,
looting what little there was left to be taken.
" Our total loss in the attack was about 70 or 80
killed and wounded. Upwards of 170 Bhooteaswere
counted dead on the field 45 badly wounded were
taken prisoners, and the number of wounded who
escaped to die in the jungle, must have been very
large. One rajah of importance,the Dyagur Penlow,
was found among the dead, but the Tongsoo Penlow
himself took good care to getaway with a whole skin.
" It is impossible to say with accuracy how many
men we had opposed to us. Our prisoners say there
were between 5,000 and 7,000 men on the range the
day before the attack, and that during the fight the
Tongsoo Penlow with 2,000 picked fighting men
was waiting close by the Rajah's house on the look-
out for any signs of disorder or wavering among our

troops, but that, as our advance was so bold and our
success so complete, he saw no opportunity for ac-
tion, and took to his heels.
" During the next three days D ewangari was com-
pletely destroyed, the Rajah's house blown up, the
temples pulled down, the trees felled, the stockades
burnt ; and on April 6the placewas abandoned, and
the force returned to Koomrukhotta, to be broken
up into detachments and go into quarters for the
rains, in barracks which are now being built for
them at Rungeeah and otherplaces. It is to be feared
that the troops will suffer much from fever here.
The rains have not yetfully come, and yet the num-
ber of sick is appalling. The 29th Punjabees, 600
strong, have 140 men in hospital ; the company of
Sappers, 90 strong, has 37 men sick, and so on.
"It has still to be determined whether the
Bhooteas or we have lost the more on this side of
their country. On the one hand, they said, '
you do not give us the tribute you have hithertci
given us we must take its value ;' so they turned us
out of Dewangari, built stockades at the mouths of
the passes to cover their foraging parties, burnt and
destroyed all the neighbouring villages, carried off
very large supplies of grain and many hundredhead
of cattle into the interior,then burnt their stockaded
and retired, having in the meanwhile caused us at
great cost to bring down some of our best regiment
to die of jungle fever in the Dooars. On the other
hand, we have taken and destroyed Dewangari ant,
killed some 400 of their men, at a cost to ourselves
of about one-fourth that number. Does the balance
hang even ? " R. E."

A GALLANT SAILOR'S REWARD. —Edward Cleary;
the soldier, who saved the jives of the captain and crow of
the Govindporo, during the cyclone at Calcutta, last Sep.;
tember, has boon presented with the Royal Humane So,
ciety's gold medal. Its-presentation, along with some othei
gifts, was made by the Lieutenant-Governor in Bengal, in
presence of the Viceroy, and a number of spectators.—
Times of India.