The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-20 00:00:00

THE SUN.

or perhaps more, he retired—to eat his dinner I fancy,
for he has left us alone from that time to the present."
Another eerrespondent writes:—" We remained tolerably
quiet in our new cerep until the 231, when it haring
ben previously arranged that we should chenge ground
:1-gain, a demonstration was made by General Whhh in
the form of a reeenneitrieg party. At da bre,,k of the
above date the right wings of regiments raved out vita
serae horse artillery and squadrons of cavalry, and hd-
vanced a few hundred yards in front of to - p.quets un-
molested. They had hardly returned to camp when the
enemy appeared in great force, with apparently the
whole of his troops drawn out in array. Edwardes soon
proceeded with a large body of cavalry and some guns, to
check their movements. Some long balls were fired by
the parties, without more harm on our side than a sepoy
(of the 51st) and a camp follower killed. Some of the shot
tumbled into the European piquets and cavalry videttes,
without doing any mischief, however. After keeping the
sepoys and other troops wider arms for some hours
(whereby the former lost their dinners), we slowly dis-
persed to enjoy the shade of our tents. All due pre-
cautions were taken in caso of a nocturnal visit, but
we were permitted to enj.)y unbroken rest on that night."
On the 24th the park and heavy guns were moved heel(
a couple of miles into a better position, and on the
morning of the 25th the force followed. The European
corps moved off the ground first—the Bth and 50d Na-
tive Infantry, with two guns and a squadron of Skinner's
horse, being left as a rear guard to see ever.) thing into
camp, which they reached about ten o'clock. They had
been but a short while in their tents when they were
again called to arms by the arrival of General Cortlandt
with the intelligence that the enemy were advancing in
force. Their approach was indicated by columns of
dhuaslft
ofin foroorntcaamndpotnhetyhe left.
halt
ed Whenin withinadatogr a mile and
oveto a
recon-
noitre. Edwardes, who on all occasions seems to have
been foremost in the fray, sent out some artillery and
cavalry, and a cannonade was kept up for an hour or
two, when the enemy sheered off and returned to the
fort. They were on coming out determined to annihilate
the Feringhees, but, most probably, distrusted one
another, and so contented themselves with showing their
teeth.

The 26th and 27th were passed in quietnes, the
troops being employed clearing away the brushwood
around the camp, and planting guns and howitzers in
the batteries erected on the right and in front of the left
column. A party of the enemy endeavoured, on the first
named day, to carry off a number of camels, but were
punished for their temerity by a troop of the 7th Irre-
gular Horse. On the latter-mentioned date, Lieutenant.
G. R. Taylor joined from Dhera Lmael Khan, from
whence he had been recalled shortly before; and Colonel
Drummond, quartermaster general, left on a recon-
noitring expedition—it was supposed his destination was
the fort of Soojaabad, twenty-five miles off, whither a
party of officers had proceeded on the 24th to report on
its eligibility as a depot for the siege guns, engineers'
park, stores, sick, &c. They returned to camp the same
day. The 20,0001. from Lahore, to intercept which a
portion of Shere Singh's force had quitted Moultan, fell
into the hands of General Whish, who WAS at the time
so much in want of cash for the troops that he had
requested a loan of like amount from our ally of Baba-
wulpore. Meanwhile the jealousy and mistrust betwixt
the Moolraj and Raja Shere Singh were daily becoming
stronger—could they but have put faith in each other,
our troops would have been harassed much more than
they were in their movements. On the 27th, the men
of the latter demanded a month's pay from the former,
but he very coolly told them that as they had not yet
fought with the Feringhees, they were not entitled to any
wages from him. A letter is said to have been written,
as if from General Whish, by Edwardes to Shere Singh,
congratulating him on the approaching completion of
the plot, and thanking him for his " successful schemes."
Of course good care was taken that this should fall into
the hands of Moolraj, who forthwith summoned a dur-
bar, and taxed the ieikh chief with treachery. Shere
Singh was of course amazed beyond measure, and to
prove his innocence of the charge brought againt him,
resolved to annihilate every one of our force he fell in
with! The Dewan appeared satisfied with this, but the
spirit of mistrust, before strong, was doubtless increased
tenfold, which may in a great measure account for their
backwardness in attacking us, after three times coming
almost within shot of us for that purpose. On the
28th a party of officers with a few cavalry
rode to within a few hundred yards of the
walls of the city, but were neither molested nor did they
see any of the enemy. This was probably a lure to en-
tice them further on, when they would no doubt have
seen rather too many of them. Four hundred camels
laden with grain fell into the hands of Edwardes, which
proved a godsend to us. A large quantity of ammuni-
tion on its way to the insurgents was seized on the river
by the steamers. Two regiments and four guns joined
the Moolraj this day from Chuttur Singh's force. Our
force was all the 21Ith and 29th engaged, as oa the two
days previous, clearing away jangle: many of the
sepoys are, however, said to have refused to do so.
This is improbable, as they have all along shown them-
selves willing to work in any way they were desired.
The 30th passed away nearly as quietly as the three
preceding days. A party of the enemy's horse having
got scent of a sum of about 4,0001. beidg on its way
from Bahawulpor to Edwardes's camp, went out on the
night of the 29th to intercept it. The convoy, however,
eluded them. Determined not to return empty-handed,
they pounced on a drove of about 200 of our camels,
which were guarded by about 70 of Lumsden's Guide
Corps. The alarm was given in camp, when Capt. Plow-
den with the squadron of Skinner's horse were sent out to
the rescue. 'I he enemy had, however, gained a consi-
derable distance before their pursuers were on their
track, and escaped with their booty. A few of them

were fell in with and cut down, our cavalry suffering an
equal loss. On the night of the 29th the commander of
the steamer Conqueror received intimation that his ves-
sel was to be attacked. The steamer was immediately,
pushed into the middle of the stream, and every prepara-
tion:made to receive her intended captors, who, however,
did not make their appearance. The grain depot at
Sirdarpoor had been pillaged by Mallee Singh's troops,
and those of Bhoor Singh had maltreated the steamer's
men, and prevented the friendly natives from supplying
her with fuel or supplies. The steamer Meaneo reached
Shere-Shah-ke-puttun from. Ferozopore on the 30:h,
with 50,0001. and a large supply of ammunition. A de-
tachment of a wing of the 51st Native Infantry and a
squadron of cavalry was sent on the Ist October to es-
cort the precious cargo into camp; and the-steamer was
ordered up to Sirdarpoor to the assistance of the Con-
queror. The story of the two European soldiers taken
prisoners on the 9th September by Moolraj having been
first tortured and then hung, turns out to be false. One
died of his wounds; the othei, together with a rifleman,
of the 72d, both wounded, were hospitably treated. Our
troops fully expected a grand attack would be made on

them by Moolraj on the day of the great festival of the
Dusserah (7th October). He was being daily reinforced
from the Manjah, and would by that time, probably, have
about 24,000 men collected, with about 50 guns. He
was said to be determined, at all events, to see what
could he done before reinforcements :reached our camp.
Shere Singh was still looked upon with distrust by
Moolraj, and the men of the former were said to be
greatly discontented at not having received their
pay. Should the enemy give General Whish a
fair fight in the open field their defeat will be certain,
as his force, with the troops of Edwardes and the
Bhawnl Khan, must ba at least 20,000 men, with
about forty pieces of field artillery. Our troops
continued in the highest health and spirits, longing for
an opportunity to avenge the death of their comrades who
had fallen during the siege. The wounded were gene-
rally doing well, notwithstanding the great heat et the
weather. Preparations were made at Bombay for their
reception a fortnight since, but on the Ist October they
were still in camp. Lieut. Richardson, 49th Native In-
fantry, who had received ten desperate sabre wounds,
was doing well. Lieut. Herbert, 10th Foot, had been
pronounced out of danger. Lieut. Irwin, 49th, was still
in a precarious condition. It was feared that lockjaw
would supervene in Lieut. Hollinsworth, 10th Foot,
whose knee had been smashed. Lieut. Christopher,
Indian navy, was delirious: his leg had been amputated
below the knee, but from some cause it had been found
necesary to repeat the operation higher up. All the re-
mainder of the wounded offi iers were doing well.
The regiments forming the army ordered to assemble
at Ferozepore are hurrying to their destination with all
possible speed. The force will consist of about 25,000
men of all arms, and is, it is said, to be headed by the
Commander-in-Chief in pirson. Lord Gough is ex-
pected at Ferozepore on the 2d November. Colonel
Cureton is to command the cavalry division. Sir John
Littler and Sir D. St. Leger Hill have tendered their
services to Government in the coming campaign. All
officers on staff employ belonging to regiments ordered
to the frontier have been directed to proceed to Feroze-
pore at the public expense. The order for the
formation of the army is now daily looked for. Colonel
Eckford's brigade, which had been ordered to leave Fe-
rozepore for Moultan on the 2d October, has ben di-
rected to stand fast till further orders.

THE PUNJAUB.
spirit among
movements towtharead
(From the Overland Calcutta Star, of October 7.)
The defection of Shere Singh has induced a mutinous
rsSt
.e
theik h
centraltroops
provincesbeyond
have In Indus, and
movements towards the central provinces have been re-
been occupied and it "
in check, tll Generlaslßut the Lords the mutineers have
on their
expected‘v of the river will be kept
as.wiil enable him to resume
receives such reinforce-
mentsK.sautime offensive oprations.
The disturbances in the;
the ra and Noorpoor dis-
trictsnsubpypre
Majors Fisher,leader,
i npaa'nrty entirely
Singh was
signally
defeatedb been Suppressed; the leader, Ra'n Siogh was
signally defeat
broken up, and himself a fugitive whose
ex-
pected every instant. At Peshawnr downcapture is
inst. all was well; an attempt to effect a 8
:t() the 18th
gins of the division at that capital was
ferizuutre of the
the contemplation of it, and though erniss triess raed
in
are hard
at work to induce a demonstration in favour of Chuttur
Singh, they have not yet been successful. Major Law-
rence is, however, s.nsible of the jeopardy in which
he stands, and he demanded troops from La-
hore without lo.s of time. Captain Abbott is still
in face of Chuttur Singh at Nara. lie yet re•
frains from marching towards Moultan until he can
obtain the co-operation of the Peshawar division.
and there are strong fears that ho will obtain it. At
Lahore, it was resolved by a coup de main to garrison
the fortress of Govindg'nur (which commands Umritsir)
with British troops ; thifatternpt was made with great
skill and crownedwith success, and the SPiklis who
had held possession in the name of the Darbar, were
shown the door with much politeness. Meanwhile
there is a general move of our army upon the north-
west frontier. The complement of each regiment has
again been raised to 1,000 men, and the officers of those
corps which are now in the I'unjaub who are on the
staff duty have been ordered to join without delay.
Some of these gentlemen have been twenty years absent
on civil employment, and would have been better disposed
of by being permanently removed to such employment,
their regimental places being otherwise supplied.

LONDON,

The following is th 3 t adVine from—
: Govindg,hur, 22d Slst., 1843.
"Cocks left for Lahore this morning, in high spirits at
tho success of his trip; he remaiuel a 7-1. extra day, 0 as
to complete all arrangements_ with Col. 2,lf•Sherry. It
was a very wise precaution taking charge of this fortress.
Another day anl We should: have been too late, for th,s
Sciklis had already corninc_need making arrangements to
give any troops who nai.,,ht presume ti approlleh a warn
reception. A party. of 150 of the Guide Corps first of all
obtained admittance into the fort, under the pretence of
escorting prisoners, which was one of the Lahore ruses.
The Seikh soldiers left the fort in a most sullen
way, and the feeling in the city of Umritsir is
very strong. The people are in an excited state,
and publicly speaking of taking off the head
of the Killsdar, should opportunity offer; the poor man
is quite happy at having us in the fort; and
he says he now sleeps comfortably without the prospect
of losing his head. He seems to be an intelligent ysing
man, speaks a little English, and is most anxious to
learn and write—and become a real Killadar.

"The 14th Irregulars leave to-night for Lahore, and the
let, I fancy, will remain here fdr some time, until the
artily is formed, when it will be relieved. Col. M•Stierry
is too good an officer to be coved up here, when there
is anything to be dune in the field."
The following is from a correspondent at Noorpoor.
The letter bears date 20th Sept.:—
" The following is an exact account of what has been
going on here. You have heard ere this that a party
was sent to this to catch Ram Singh, the son of the
Vizier of the Noorpoor Raja, who was removed by
the Commissioner in a somewhat summary manner,
and according to all accounts dealt with too
harshly. Ram Singh, disgusted at the treatment
received by his father, joined Mahraja Singh, the
Gooroo, but upon that worth's proceeding towards
Moultan, he returned to Noorpoor, and took up his
quarters first in one place and then in another, and at
last on a hill overlooking Noorpoor. Here he col-
lected one hundred and fifty followers, defied all autho-
rity, looted the country, made prisoners of travellers,
committed murder in cold blood, and eventually fired
at the commissioner and officers who were with
him. Orders were then dispatched for- mere
troops, and one company of the 29th from Hajee-
poor, four companies 71st from Rhodes Find, 250 men
of Major Hodgson's Seikh corps from Hoshearpore,
besides strong parties of the 15th and 16th Irregulars,
and 150 of the Hill Seikh Regiment under Lieutenant
Wallace, proceeded hither by forced marches, from dif-
ferent stations; and on the ❑ight of the 18th all arrived
in camp outside Noorpoor. The hill on which Ram
Singh was encamped is a low, though steep spur—
surrounded on three sides by the dry bed of a river, co-
vered with thick jungle, and accessible only by rude foot
paths, on the dry bed of hill streams, and traversable only
by one man at a time. On the fourth side is the junction
of the hill—to some low broken ground, wild and jungly'
—by a narrow ridge with dense jungle on either side.
We attacked the enemy on the morning of the 19th. The
troops moved out of camp at hours corresponding with
the respective distances they had to go. There were
fonr parties. Tho Seikh Infantry, under Major Hodg-
son, and the Company's of the 29th under Lieutenant
Johnson, attached the hill on the west by two paths.
The 71st under Captain Rind, attacked the south
side, and the hill men, under Lieutenant Wallace,
attached the north side. The two latter forces,
meeting at the top went along the ridge and thus
got the: enemy in front and rear. Ram Singh's pickets
most obstinately defended their posts—firing steadily at
the advancing troops—and while they were retiring,
stopping to re-load and fire again. The loss on
the part of the enemy, which mustered 250 or
thereabouts, was between 50 or GO killed and
wounded. Our loss was as follows:—The 29th, 1
killed and 4 wounded. The Seikh Corps, none
killed, but 4 or 5 wounded. The Irregular skirmished
along the foot of the hill, and took 15 or 16 prisoners;
but unfortunately Ram Singh escaped. One cannot
have any sympathy with such a cold-blooded animal ;
yet it is generally believed that harsh and unnecessary
measures have driven him to desperation. Major Fisher,
of the Irregulars planned the attack, and displayed
throughout that zeal and activity which in both services,
met with commendation."