The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-27 00:00:00

The following letter from a youth of 17, gives a gra-
phic account of the late actions in India:—
" Camp, somewhere near Ferozepore, on the banks
of a nullah' (river), Jan. 2, 1846.
" My dearest Uncle,—Before this letter reaches its desti-
nation, you will, no doubt, have seen and read the Governor-
General's dispatch, containing an account of the two actions
fought—on the 18th of December, and the other on the 21st
and 22d of the same mouth—also, a list of the killed and
wounded ; and, amongst the latter, you will see flourishing
my father's and my own name ; but when you see them be
not alarmed, for we are both, thank God, doing well ; and,
what's more, you will not only see us mentioned amongst
the killed and wounded, but, I hope, amongst the gallant and
brave. One thing I can safely say, that we neither of us
disgraced the family, nor the Irish blood flowing within us.
I suppose you would like to hear my account of the battle ;
well, as much of it as I saw you shall have. In your last
letter to rite (received yesterday) you advised me to offer my
services as a cavalry volunteer, should there be war with the
Punjaub. You will be surprised to hear that I offered my..
self more than a fortnight ago, and wai accepted, and made
acting aid-de-camp to Brigadier Gough on the spot, who
commanded the second brigade of cavalry, consisting of the
Governor-General's body guard and the sth regiment of
Light Cavalry. I thought myself one of the luckiest dogs
on the face of the earth ; and all I wished for was a fight
that day, just that I might have an opportunity of showing
the brigadier what sort of fellow lie had for an aid-de-camp.
By Jove, uncle! I had scarcely expressed the wish when a
letter came to say that the Seikhs were in force not far
ahead. The order was immediately given to advance in line,
draw swords, and load pistols; and we advanced in a most
beautiful line, horse artillery and cavalry together, the in•
fantry in the rear a good distance. Well, we advanced in
this way for many miles; and at last, seeing no enemy, the
order was given to halt, at a place called Moodkee, and mark
out the ground for the camp, which was done in a abort time;
and, soon afterwards, we found ourselves seated round a
table in the open air, eating and drinking away at a splendid.
lunch, or tiflin, as they call it in this country But a
soldier's life is so uncertain ; you do not know what a
minute may bring forth. There we were (eight of us),
seated round this table. talking, laughing, eating and drink.,
ing, little thinking what was in store for us. We had
been in this way for about half an hour, when, all of a
sudden, one of the officers jumped up and said, Do
you hear the assembly' sounding r We were on our feet
in half a second, and soon after every man was on horse..
cheer
back. I took up my post close to thebrigadier, and followed
him every where he went. The order was given, 2d bri-
gade,
you;!'
form
Theline
gallantand a advance; vyaonucneg;
fellowsthe e enemy eomf
tyh rset wh igt ha
gave
aa
—enough to do any ones heart good who heard it, and ad-
vanced steadily. We had proceeded about three-quarters of
a mile from camp, when we heard a bang and a whiz, and.
then another and another in rapid succession. Our artillery
came up in the meantime, and began firing at theirs. The
cavalry were drawn up in line behind the artillery, and every
now and then a round shot from the enemy's guns came into
our ranks. The infantry had not come up at this time. An
order came from the chief, telling the cavalry to go at a
smart trot, and turn the left flank of the enemy. At this
time I was not with the brigadier, he having sent me to
camp to tell the 4th Lancers to come up at a gallop and join
the rest of the cavalry. When I returned I found the cavalry
moving round the flank, and I was obliged to go at a good
gallop to overtake the brigadier. Whilst passing the sth a
round shot came whiz quite close to me and entered their
ranks, that was the first shot that took effect that day, it
broke two of the horse's legs, and that was the last I saw of
the sth Light Cavalry. Her Majesty's 3d Dragoons were
leading, followed by the 2d brigade, and also by the 4th
Lancers. We had gone in this way for a mile, when the
Dragoons ahead of us gave a cheer; they had just got a
glimpse of the enemy. We took up their cheers—had scarcely
commenced, when an order was given, 'Body-guard, right-
wheel.' I turned round to see what was the meaning of the
order, and the first thing that caught my eye was a body of
the Seikh cavalry amongst a lot of bushes. A great number
of the body guardmen did not hear the order and fol-
lowed the 3d Dragoons. We managed, however, to get
about forty of them together, and went at the enemy in
sections of threes—not being able to form a line aud
charge on account of the bushes. The cheer I told you of
before, that the 3d Dragoons gave, raised my Irish spirit to
such a pitch that I said to myself, Now, then, for the
honour of Old Erin,' and in another minute I found myself
in the middle of the Sikhs. I was surrounded by four of these
blackguards, all cutting and slashing at me with their swords,
and to make me worse, I lost both my stirrups: there was
not a man of the body-guard near me at the time ; it was a
dreadful situation to be in, certainly ; and the only thing left
was to make a last effort, which I did by digging both my
heels into the sides of my little horse, and giving one or two
jolly cuts with my sword, which cleared the way for me ; I
soon found myself amongst the body-guard again, with only
a slight wound on the thigh. Not long after this, we were at
them again, and I got a shot right through the muscle of my
right arm, and another a little higher up, which went .
throught my coat and my shirt, but never touched my skin.
Was not that a narrow escape? Four officers out of six were
wounded that evening; I mean those of the body-guard.
Well, after fighting for some time, we (forty of us) gave,
about 200 of the Seikhs as good a licking as ever they got.
But if those fellows fought as well at the end as they did at
the commencement they would have cut up every one of us;
for we are no match to them in hand-in-hand work. They
use their swords and manage their horses a great eeal
better than we do ; and they proved it that evening. Two
of the officers had their reins cut; a fellow tried that at
mine, but missed, and caught my horse such a cut be,-
hind the ear.
"The battle of Moodkee, I see, has taken up a whole sheet
of paper. I must therefore cut it short; but, before doing
so, I must tell you something of my father, and the narrow
escape he had that evening. My dad, with his regiment,
lost sight of the brigade soon after we made the move round
the enemy's flank. The dust and smoke were so great that
you could not see your hand before you. Had it not been
for that, the sth would have been tip with us when we at-
tacked those fellows in the bushes, and the consequence
would have been that they would all have been butchered,
and very likely we should not have been so severely cut up.
When my governor found himself all alone with his regiment.
he was rather puzzled what to do ; but, rather than stand
still, he moved on with his regiment towards some dust
he saw in the distance, not knowing whether it was the
enemy or ourselves that was kicking it up, and caring very
little which—but on he went. After ten minutes' canter-
ing, he was astonished to hear his men cheering, and
asked them why they did so ? They said they saw the
Seikhs ahead. He bad not time to give them an
order, for no sooner had they commenced cheering than his
horse—a brute he gave 1,000 rupees only a week before—
took to its heels, and rushed off right into the middle of
the enemy's infants y. Not a man of the sth went after
Jinn, though they would follow him to the —, if they had
orders ; but they were obliged to keep to their ranks. The
Seikhs fired volley after volley at him ; but, by some luck
or other, he went right through their ranks without getting
a hit. He was a long time riding alone by himself, and at.
last he came up with the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Robert
Sale, and the 31st Queen's. He was talking to Sir Robert
Sale when he was shot, and, at the same time, my go-
vernor, was hit with some grape in the left arm, and
had his sword broken over his head; and an
hour or two after the fighting was over, we all returned to
camp and had a splendid dinner. Now then, uncle, I
must hurry over the account of the next action, which lasted
twenty-four hours ; the Waterloo of India. We had two
days given us, after the Moodkee affair, to rest our limbs
and bury our dead. On the morning of the 21st we marched
at sunset in battle array, the infantry leading, followed by
artillery, protected by cavalry. We marched about twelve
miles, when the halt was sounded. We dismounted and had
something to eat. We had about a quarter of an hour's rest,
when we were on the move again towards the enemy's in-
trenched camp, which was distant about two miles. In a short
time we were within gunshot of it. The halt again sounded,
and the Governor-General, Commander-in-Chief, and all the
general officers, held a consultation whether we should at-
tack them at once, or wait until the following morning. Sir
Hugh Gough was for attacking them at once, and it was
atntiherreeewoas'claochke,aso.yurfilrieeakvyeptguunsp
last we managed to set fire to their
forpoemn givene
dbionithphoiisisidilteabsveyruArca;tmsop'.
camp. Our infantry made three or four charges at their bat-
teries, and succeeded in driving the fellows away from their,
guns, and spiking them ; but they could get no further than
the guns. The enemy's infantry fought beautifully. I don't
mean to say they could lick ours, but they blew hundreds of
our brave fellows up by springing mines, and then conving
down in numbers, and tiring at us with their matchloclis. It
was about nine o'clock when our infantry retired *am the
camp. I was at that time with the sth Cavalry talking
to my father, when a round shot came right between us
both, and killed a trooper and a horse behind us. By Jove
uncle, I shall never forget that shot as long as I live, the
whiz that that ball made was ringing in my ears for at lewd
an hour afterwards. We bivouacked for that night close to
the enemy's camp, and they amused themselves by firing at.
us with their big guns the whole night. At daybreak, on the
morning of the 22d, we went to them again, and drove them
out of their entrenchments at one o'clock. The Governor-
General sent for the 6th Cavalry, and ordered it tcs
go ahead four miles, to see if the Seikhs had gone oft.
We had scarcely gone a mile when the blackguards
came down on us again. That was the critical mo..
ment ; the fate of India was at stake; it was a regular
case of fight or die, and the former we did in style. At
three o'clock in the afternoon of the 22d the fate of
Incite was decided, and the most bloody battle ever fought
in this quarter of the world finished. At five o'clock that
evening we went into Ferozepore, and bivouacked that
night. The next morning I went and got my wounds dressed,
and lucky for me I did. The first thing the doctor said
ych—a
when he saw my arm was, It's lucky for you, my Ants
anotheryoung man,
day without
you
e yourit
dressed,arm t otidea
you would have lost the use of it altogether. Now, take my
advice, and stay quiet for a few days, and have it dressed
regularly.' I took his advice, and now my arm is getting
on beautifully. My governor's arm is now quitenh chances
don't wont more interest at head-quarters than I have got.
I have got a good name amongst all the people at head-
quarters, and that's all I require ; and, another thing is, I
have to thank no one but myself, What can I want more
than that, uncle? A good name iS A great thing fur a young
sYa
well,
ee L
boostthat
i
fellow to begin life with.
irs
of

townTlLEp,FYl.RrksTeouFnlt,
FIGHT ABOUT ABOUT OREGON. In Hopewell'
on the 24th ult., a dispute arose between
Jesse Gilbert, of Maryland, and William Blair, of Ohio, relative to
the Oregon question. Mr. air called Mr. Gilbert a Tory (that is,
being a whole hogger and a$ epudiator) for which insult Mr. Gilbert
challenged
arrangement
States hi
rifles—the ot mortal combat. The weapons used were United
distance sixty paces. According to the
the seconds, they stood back to back,
and at the word stepped off thirty paces, wheeled and
tired. Mr. Gilbert's ball passed through the right lapel of Mr.
Blair's coat, when the seconds Interfered, compromised the dlffi.
culty, and prevented any effusion of blood. This is the Irst fight in
the Oregon war, and it has terminated without any body being killed
or wounded. Mr. Blair, the individual mentioned in this paragraph.
is a native of Paisley, who emigrated to America a number of years
ago. He is in comfortable pecuniary circumstances. When in his
native land he was (being a Paisley man) as a matter of course a
keen reformer ; since his sojourn in his old adopted country he has
ranged himself on the side of the "old country."—Greenock Advertiser.
DEATH IN THE STREET.—Last night an inquest
was held by Mr. Bedford, at the George, Carey-street, Lincoln's Inn,
on the body of Rebecca Anglish, aged about forty-five, whose death
took place under the circumstances subjoined. From the evidence
it appeared that the deceased was, on the morning of Wednesday.
about four o'clock, found by the police-constable on duty in New.
court, Great Wild-street, Drury-lane, in almost a state of nudity,
an old gown being the only article of apparel she had
on. She was lying across the pavement, and her appearance indi-
cating illness she was removed on a stretcher to the King's
College Hospital, before reaching which she ceased to exist. De.
ceased was the widow of a broker, and had for years dwelt
in Broker's-row. After her husband's death she would
nightly go out, when her shop was shut up, and return at a
late hour the worse for liquor, when, instead of going to bed, she
would lie on a heap of cinders. In November last she was ejected
item her house, which she rented under the Mercers' Company, and
since then she had, up to about two months ago, been living upon
the money her goods fetched. Since that time she had suffered for
the want of the common necessaries of life, and her person was
filthy in the extreme. It was supposed that she had not slept in a
bed for seven years. Latterly she was supposed to be partially in-
sane, and her only relative, a sister, is at present an inmate of Bed-
lam. Mr. Evans, physician of King's College Hospital, stated that
the body of deceased presented a very emaciated appearance, and on
making a post mortem examination he had discovered the cause of
death to be serous apoplexy. Verdict, " That the deceased died of
semis sPoPloxY, Mind by her irregular habits.".