The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-25 00:00:00

Moultan. He would now read, wit', 7-ree;.'
eta House, some of the correspoi:dei,ce tna
The
taken place upon that important subject
The first letter was from Major Edwardes, and it con-
tained this sentence—" I take the liberty of Informing
you that the city of Moultan, after a week's
storming, has been taken, and I hope to raise the
Rog of old England over the walls of the
citadel before three days are over. ln eight-
snd-forty hours the citadel may be taken." Instead,
however, of this anticipation being realised it touk
three weeks to accomplish that end, and from a
letter addressed to the Governor-General by
General Whish, it appeared that the British
forces had to contend against an army of
36,000 men, and when the citadel was entered
3,000 were still among the ruins, who could ot.ly
be dislodged with difficulty. Now this affair, therefore,
was no trifling enterprise.—(Cheers.) No less than
36,000 shot and shells had been thrown into the citadel.
and so thick was the fire, that the only place which the
Chief of the besieged was able to find shelter was under
a gateway. The Duke of Wellington was heard to say
the other day at the farewell dinner given to Major-Ge-
neral Sir Charles Napier, that he considered that by the
capture of Moultan, the object of the war was accom-
plished; that it was one of the great events of the cam-
paign, and he hoped the end of it. Nothing was neg-
lected by the Governor-General of India to effect that
object. He called around him all the available re-
sources at his command. There were, according to the
returns, 26,580 men of all arms engaged in the affair,
comprising 505 European and 7,328 native officers. He
mentioned those circumstances for the purpose of doing
all honour to the Indian army. Shere Singh had de-
serted from his alliance, with 5,000 men, and his father,
Chuttur Singh, had also revolted from his duty. Upon
this Shere Singh prepared to resist the British army in
India, found himself at the head of 35,060 men, with,
in the first action 22 guns, afterwards increased to 70.
Lord Gough marched by the banks of the Jhelum,
and fought two actions. Shere Singh was driven from
his position, and was followed by Lord Gough until the
13th of January, on which day was the great battle of
Chillianwallah. The Seikh chief had 75 guns in that
battle, besides a large number of mounted swivels. After
the battle of Chilliauwallah, Shere Singh retreated and
encamped at a short distance from the British troops,
and while in that position ho was joined by a body of
Affghans, and by his father Chuttur Singh, and the re-
nowned chief Dost Mahommed, once more unfurled the
green flag against the British power in India, aided by
two of his sons, their united force amounting to 60,000
men, according to the lowest accounts to 50,000. Shere
Singh went in the direction of Lahore, snd was prepar-
ing to cross the river, when he found the pickets of
General Whish were on the opposite bank—the Gallant
General having anticipated him. The Gallant General's
division had, by a forced march, performed the march of
20 days in 17—(Hear)—thus fortunately reaching the
banks of the river in time to stop Shere Singh
from crossing. He (Sir John Hobhouse) found
also in the dispatches of .Brigadier General
Dundas, that the division made a forced march
of 32 miles in one day—(Hear, bear)—that they
marched the next morning at 11 o'clock, to join Lord
Gough's camp, and reached it that night, after a march
of if miles, and the next morning they were ready to
take the field; and throughout the 32 miles of forced
march, which was accomplished under the command of
Captain Barrett, only one soldier was found absent.
The troops, during four clear days on this service, suf-
fered the greatest privations without complaint, and were
unable during a march of 238 miles to cook their meals.
It was duo to the gallant men, both European and native,
that he should state those circumstances, the highest
honour being due to them.—(Llear, hear.) The whole
force which reached the camp of Lord Gough prior to
the battle consisted of 25,000 men and 100 pieces of
cannon, of which 20 were 18-pounders; while the army
of Shere Singh numbered 60,000 men. The Right
Hon. Baronet then read a letter, giving a glowing de-
scription of the battle of Goojerat, and of the great
slaughter to the enemy which took place under the
British fire, the rout they were put to, the confusion
in which they retreated, and the " dropped" effects
which their pursuers in the flight and melg picked up,
comprising all sorts of things, from guns and silver-
mounted riding- whips to slippers and champagne-bot-
tles, exciting much laughter by the details. He would
not be discharging his duty, he continued, if he did not
pay a tribute of just praise to the Addiscombe College,
y the scholars of whom the guns in this great affair
were principally served. Oae hundred guns in their
hands, kept up a continual fire for three hours from the
batteries, and the fire was considered by the best authori-
ties to be fully equal to that of the guns at Waterloo.
He then proceeded to pay a high tribute to the gallantry
and skill of Major-General Gilbert, to whom great
honour was duo for his distinguished services in this im-
portant campaign, and directed attention to the gallant
and decisive charge made by the British troops against
the enemy, including the Affghans, on whose mail, when
they found that their swords could not make an impres-
sion, they tried their muskets with astounding effect.
Sir Joseph Thackweil spoke of the intrepidity with
which the charge was made in the most enthusiastic
terms. He said it was a glorious charge, and
that not only did cavalry and artillery per-
form their duty to the utmost, but even the fleet-
posts which were engaged in taking the troops across
the Chenab, to join Lord Gough, performed a most
signal service. And now he though it his duty to call
the attention of the House to some of those officers en-
gaged in this hazardous service, in addition to Major
Edwardes and Lieutenant Blake, who, when the issue of
the war was doubtful, or before the main army was
brought upon the field, performed services which abun-
dantly entitled them to the gratitude of their country;
and those they performed alone, altogether unaided, ex-
cept by their own energy, and the moral influence which
their courage invested them with.—(Hear, hear.) And
amongst them he would first speak of Captain J. Hamil-
ton. He was deputed to be the chief leader of the ope-
rations preceding the passage of the Checab. For a
space of two mouths, by his own energy, he succeeded
in keeping the body of the enemy in check, and prevent-
ing them from effecting a junction with the main body.
The intrepid bearing of this officer, in the midst of dif-
ficulties of no ordinary kind, was highlyeulogised by many
distinguished officers who witnessed it, and was spoken
of in a dispatch in the warmest language, stating as
the result of his exertions that the Hasareh territory was
in our hands. Ile now came to the exploits of another
officer, if possible, almost as extraordinary. He alluded
to Lieutenant Herbert. On the Ist of December he was
detached against Attock, where he found a force of $OO
of the Mahommedan population, of whom he took the
command. His troops became mutinous, and in a dis-
patch of the 19th of December he stated that it was not
physical force which deterred him from making the
attack, but the defection of his own troops by daily de-
sertions. His situation, indeed, was a most arduous one.
Surrounded by 8,000 or 10,000 of the enemy continually
bearing upon a " watched fort," as he called it, he held
it notwithstanding until the 2d of January, when, having
assembled the leaders of this small force, and informed
them of the situation of affairs, he escaped from the fort
in a boat upon the Indus, but only for a short time, as the
event proves, and ho was now unfortunately in confine-
ment. Another officer had distinguished himself greatly on
the frontier, near the Bunnoo territory, and cleared it of
the enemy entirely. Those were instances of the peculiar
advantages offered by the English service, that at a com-
paratively early age young officers placed in situations
of great responsibility, and thrown entirely upon their
own resources, might show themselves equal to the
emergency, and perform this duty with a promptitude
and judgment generally expected from mature age and
long experience.—(Hear, hear.) And whilst mention-
ing those who had been spared, they must not forget
those who, in this campaign, had fought their last
battle.—(Hear.) They must not forget to do honour to
such names as those or Cureton, Fitzgerald, and many
others which he might mention, who had fallen on the
field, but whose memory would long survive them; and
also, although they had not lived to enjoy a share of the
triumph, had still left behind them a high example,
which would be a benefit to their country, and a glory
to their families.—(Cheers.) With one of these officers
he had become acquainted at Sandhurst, and he was a
distant relation of himself. He remembered that his
gallant friend came to him one day, and joyfully pro-
ducing the order to join his father in India, exclaimed—
" I know few will envy me now." He went to India,
arrived in time to cover his father's corpse, and was
himself slain. It was not for him to say, how rejoiced
they were to know that the gallant Commander-in-
Chief had closed a long and honourable career with this
great and decisive victory. He had received from a
gracious sovereign and a grateful Parliament rewards
which would hold him, and deservedly so, to his

country, as a brave and accomplished soldier, every way
Worthy of the honours and distinctions that had been
bestowed upon him ; and he was sure that amongst all
those honours, and all those distinctions, there was no
honour and there was no distinction which he would
niore prize than the thanks of the representatives of that
People to whose military glory he
.had added so much,
and to whose dominion be bed contributed another claim
to security.—(Great cheering.) He would now no
longer detain the House, but would conclude by observ-
ing that the East Tndia Company had given their vote
of thanks to these distinguished officers, and that, doubt-
less, the House of Commons would be unanimous in
signifying their grateful sense and ready recognition of
their services in India.—(Cheers.) He concluded with
moving the resolutions.
The Marquis of GRANBY then rose to second the
,1 motion; and begged to express most sincerely his cor.
sual concurrence in the eulogium which had just been
passed upon the brave officers, to whose prudence and
-valour their country owed so much.—(Hear, hear.)
etsair R. PEEL—I trust the House will permit me--
itwith cheerio to express the cordial satisfaction
th which I shall give my vote for the proposal of the
a"ght Hon, Gentleman.—(Renewed cheers.) I should
11,,Otrili.a_ve presumed to add my voice. to. that of the Right
r• Gentleman on this occasion, if it were not that on
Lint' previous occasions I have been a party to proceed-
bby which the merits of Lord Gough have been
..,!elight under the consideration of the Commons House
Parliament, for his services in the Chinese war, for
Zhe battle of Ferozeshah, for the battle of Sobraon,
eo I had the satisfaction of announcing to the House
Re distinctions conferred by her Majesty upon Lord
ough for his glorious achievements, and asking the
..use to perform that duty which they so readily
and cordially discharged, of marking their sense of
::1,!! services by a pecuniary provision.—(Cries of
het...-titear, hear.") It was with the utmost satisfaction that I
that that noble soldier had closed a long career of
chat
and of glory by an achievement worthy of his
altner exploits.—(Cheers.) He has now, I believe, for
_,ears served the Crown of the United Kingdom as a
l:Nel late—(gear.) If at the earlier period of this cat:a-
-u there were any doubts as to the ultimate result,
,;(tthe doubts I never shared.—(Hear, hear.) I felt
erd__ !Attest confidence that in its result that campaign
redound to the honour of Lord Gough, and would
(Cheer)lne security to the British dominion in Lillie.—
I do rejoice at the glorious termination of