The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-15 00:00:00

OVERLAND MAIL.

INDIA.
(From a Correspondent of the Daily News.)
CALCUTTA, JAN. 9.
Although the last fortnight has been less full of
stirring events than its immediate predecessors, it
has yet witnessed the performance of good work.
The Commander-in Chief, with the Bth Foot, 23d
Fusiliers, 42d Highlanderi, 53d, 64th, 82d Foot,
93d Highlander; a regiment of Punjaub Infantry,
Remington's Horse Artillery, Smith's battery
Royal Artillery, the Naval Brigade with six
21-pounders, two 8-inch howitzers, and eight mor-
tars, the 9th Lancers, two regiments of Sikh Ca-

vdry, 10,,:;(1, F),l,iip: ri d V;l3,:;ed

towards Futtehgurh on the 24th ult. He arrived at Yesterday we went to see the Maharajah in full
Ohowbeepore, 16 miles distant, on the 25th, at Poona aDb7er hi amr
p. r e Is Leo ins
oanu s
fine
all.fellow,
He
and o
smade s
moat
mostD.
afacevic_.tuir-
y
on the 26th, at Urnowl, 40 miles from Cawnpore, dressed, but at the time in the very best taste. He is ae-
on the 27th. Teey found the country one sheet of ccmpanied by two of his brothers, one of them second
cultivation, although the villages were deserted. iii oJmirand, and the other without any specific appoint•
It was the practice to send Sikh skirmishers in ad- :3: went, The
formed
army,
iLi t) divisions, which e
com"msaintd6eodf aboutby the elJlu,on3o
0.95:
fle
an
l ,
t
vance and on the flanks ; they had been very sun- brothers. Indeed, half the Durbar was composed of his
cessful in bringing in prisoners. As many of these blood relations. After the Durbar, which did not last
as were proved to have been in arms against us half an hour, we went out to look at the troGp3. They
were brought to a drum-head court-martial on the owtehrer drtahwnb
eup int. li
o nes of.
n ret gimnetntbs,atone bwahei e
rndyth
spot, and were at once disposed of. These salutary
agreeably surplisedcboutrhsae l
itotrboei; statowoef eiscipliefrioy
agreeably,
proceedings had been attended with the best pos- pbytique, and equipment. They marched as steadily as
sible effects. The rebels had at last begun to feel lartnryl trosotepsdl ever
dsaw. Their double march was singu-
that we were in earnest, and desertions from their depfeyed, andy an
nassetPl review incoalummuostar,nadilasncitga and
ranks had been numerous. On the 29th ult. the stead manner.
manner. Far from realising our prec :nceived
notionst ofGeoorrpksh a
force reached Jellalabad, a small village two in he crack corps, diminutievenes the at an rate
, y
wereg ant sv,erayn d 4, m
aecvhe ny
largertliose thani n file,n
marches from Futtehgurh ; here, for the first time, non-selected regiments wentesr
an enemy made his appearance in the shape of a our Goorkba battalions. I inquired about their com-
ntivarnthewerittSl intgeh, the
ts.eConfdlin
Large body of matchlock men with several guns.
pcoomsitmioanrida'indfoGrmenensi
me
ed
No particulars of the affair have reached Calcutta ; they were all pure Goorkhas. The Jung exception
cmepoLltoannxiou7s,
it is only known that Sir Colin Campbell instantly to get at the enemy.
attacked the rebels, and after a nominal resistance We are in dailyexpectatioa of hearing that he has
defeated. them, capturing 18 guns and a large quan- re-occupied Goruckpore. He was at Bettiah on
'elYteef small arms. On the following day he Christmas-day.
continued his route to Futtehgurh, but cn Lower still in the Sarun district, about 70 miles
reaching the Rake Nuddee, about 15 miles north-west of Dinapore, the rebels have sustained
this •
side of the Cantonment, the suspen- another defeat. Captain Sotheby's naval brigade,
Rion brides, was
found to have been broken some Georkhas, and a small body of Sikhs, the
down,
and all the boats had been removed. A whole commanded by Colonel Rowcroft, wore sta-
working party was at once set to work to open corn- tioned at Marowah ; they ascertained that a numb: r
munication with the
repairs had almost beu
opposite bank. The necessary of armed men were coming down the Gogra river
completed when the rebels from Lucknow, and that they were assembling in
came down upon our party in
great
attacked two or arliforce.
three hours e Had they force at Mujhowlie in the Goruckpore district ; in
from the nature of the ground on the other
might, fact, they had already driven a body of Sikh', 50
side of in number, from one of the villages on the Saruu
the Kalee, have caused us considerable annoyance. frontier. Colonel Rowcroft resolved to attack them
Fortunately they delayed till the bridge Was
n tril, before their numbers should become too formidable;
working party than our troops, defiling over the re-, accordingly on the 26th ho advanced with the Naval
Brigade, two Goorkha regiments, and a few Sikhs—
paired bridge, attacked them. To borrow a noble \ about a thousand men in all. He found the enemy
and‘ most just expression of Lord Ellenboroueh's, , strongly posted at Mujhowlie, and numbering about
' the lions were led by a lion," and in an incredibl we thousand. They could not, however, resist Vie
short space of time the rebels were put to flight, andy ' onslaught of our troops, but fled before we could
all their guns, eight in number, captured. Two of come to close quarters. Forty of their bodiei
we? counted on the ground ;
them were 18-pounders, OUr loss was comparative)
Out of their four
slight in numbers, but amongst the wounded a Y.guns
Col.
Rooalrvelroosfat was t two.re d
pears the name of Captain H. Maxwell, one of the ' three. This officer's force
ween that advancing unfodrear sjtuhnegeonnectino• lii.k
Gen. Frank's columnsi3aila
most scientific and distinguished officers of the Ben- ' bst
daotoAr'fzri7lml
gal Artillery. This officer had lately returned to Goruckpore and G
India ; he had made the campaign of the Danube gurh and Juanpore. In the general advance it will
t;ll is quiet. Theam
with Omer Pacha, and had subsequently devoted ' probably take the line
e ando of
the
Calcutta Gcgra
himself to a study of the French and German Between Dinapore
systems of warfare. He arrived in India in suffi- ' Decca mutineers are, it is true, r
cient time to march to Luc know with Sir Colin ' country, but they are dispiritedo roaming about the
and broken
Campbell's relieving force ; for his services there receive no sympathy from the inhabitants. I and
n )7 ni
he was thanked by Captain Peel, to whose brigade last I mentioned the reception which the Chitta-
he was attached, in the presence of the whole bat- gong rebels
met from the Sylliet battalion, result-
tery, and was likewise mentioned in. Sir Colin ing ia the untimely death of their commandant,
Major Byng. The affair was most creditable to
Campbell's despasch. He retuned with the army
and Speaks highly for the
i time to rescue General Windham from hir3 peril- those engaged on our side,

state of discipline f the Sylhet battalion. The facts
sat thea no
,stance
or
fs first
oa il instancemiles.
from Not
findingSyl et
may be thus sum= trised. The detachment, 150 in
V hey proceeded to Latoo, 60 miles
nto u DaP
eb retra, bmg
ua rr ea
dcl
the enemy there,
distant—the en'eil:e journey of 140 miles having
been performed. in 58 hours. On arriving at Latoo,
they suddenly found themselves within 250 yards
of the mutineers, double their number. These at
first assailed them with persuasions, calling on
them to leave th e " Christian dogs, their officers,"
who were preps red to take away their religion. In-
stead of an ails/ rer the Sylhet Light Infantry obeyed
the command r,f their officers, and poured in a roll-
ing volley. Mitjor Byng then, raising his sword, or-
dered them to follow him and charge, when he was
struck down by a ball in the groin. Lieutenant
Sherer supplied his place, and drove the mutineers
out of the jungle with a loss of 32 killed and many
wounded. The loss on our side was confined to
four killed and one wounded. Major Byng was of
the former. A curious incident, showing the spirit
of the Sylhet men, occurred after the action. One
of the sepoyshad been taken prisoner. Lieut. Sherer
tried him by a drum-bead court-martial, and he
was condemned to death. As soon as the sentence
was known Lieut. Sherer made a short pithy speech
to the men. With one voice they replied, " May a
like fate happen to us if we desert our colours !"
The behaviour of the inhabitants of these provinces
throughout the rebellion has been very satisfactory.
Our easy conquest over the Burmans, by whom they
hatl been previously held under subjection, has no
doubt contributed to this result. This has especially
been the case in the province of Assam, the inhabi-
tants of which, although of a martial race, have
never attempted any
,disturbance. The system of
administration is a good one. It is governed by mi-
litary civilians, men to whom the quiet of the Pun-
jaub, Scinde, Burmah, and Assam is mainly to be
attributed—men who are equally ready with their
sword and at their desk, whose previous occupation
in the army has made them familiar with prompt
and active duties, and who consider a close inspec-
tion of the districts under their charge, galloping
40 or 50 miles a day, as more of a pleasure than a
duty. This conduct, moreover, has the best effect;
it familiarises them with the inhabitants, and the
inhabitants with them ; these latter see that they
are under the control of a man whom they can re-
spect for his manly qualities. A desk-man they
would not appreciate. It is the same with Asiatics
all over India ; the proof of it is to be found in the
state of the provinces I have referred to compared
with the condition of those which have been under
purely civil rule. It is a very satisfactory circum-
stance that in their transit through Eastern Bengal
the men who rebelled at Dacca and at Chittagong
have met with no open sympathy from the in-
habitants ; but it must be recollected that they
never had a chance of success. The tide had
long previously turned in our favour; and even
from the stations in which they revolted they fled
rather like a %beaten army than a revolting force.
In Sylhet, the inhabitants betrayed the most coin-
pieta apathy ; the fact probalely being that they did
not dare openly to pronounce for either party.
I observe that some of your weekly contempora-
ries have been very severe in their strictures on the
transport and commissariat arrangements in this
country. They are very unjust, for those arrange-
ir.eu ts may well challenge comparison with any that
have been in force in any country. In fact, the sol-
dier in this country is treated more like a gentleman
than a private. Everything he can possibly require
is provided for him by the Commissariat. He has
the best of beef and mutton, the best of bread, the
best of ale and porter (-gull to Bass's pale ale ; in
fact, Bass and Allsopp in hogsheads), and very good
rum. Every morning the commissa,riat agents bring
the daily supply for a regiment to the barracks :
the orderlies, two from each company, meet to in-
pect it ; if anyarticle, either meat, bread, tea, coffee,
sugar, or vegetables, should not be in their opinion
of the best quality, a committee of officers meets to
condemn it, and it is instantly replaced. I know for
a fact that officers lately arrived, who have been in
the Crimea, have expressed themselves surprised at
the excellence of the men's rations, and more parti-
cularly at the facility with which all the complicated
arrangements connected with the commissariat are
carried aut. They have no trouble whatever.
Everything goes en well, and without any inconve-
nience or annoyance to them. The fact is, the
commissariat officers are men trained to their work;
they have had exptrience of campaigning for the
last fifteen years, of the wants and requirements of
soldiers in all conjunctures, and they are prepared
for every emergency ; they know from experience
what is required beforehand ; they leave nothing
to accident. Hence work goes on smoothly and
satisfactorily to all parties.

The transport arrangements have been equally
satisfactory. They may be considered under the
heads of land-carriage and water-carriage. With
regard to the former, the very best possible arrange-
ments have been made. When the arrival of so many
Eur pean troops was first made known, the Lieut.-
Governor of Bengal, in communication with the
chiefs of the commissariat, appointed a civil officer,
of known suavity of demeanour, as superintendent
of supplies. It was necessary to appoint a civilian to
this post, because Bengal is a civil government,
and a military man placed in a civil position would
have been looked upon as an interloper. The people
whose carts were requited would have been encou-
raged to appeal against him, and business would soon
have come to a dead lock. But a civilian was sure
of support—hence, for the sake of peace, it was
necessary to appoint one. This officer, then, in con-
nection with the Commissariat, collected immense
supplies of draught bullocks and carts ; officers
ware stationed along the road at convenient dis-
tances to arrange for supplies of provisions at each
stage, and for replacing decayed or damaged carts.,
All the resources of the post-office, and of the pri-
vate dak companies, were placed in requisition.
The vans hitherto used for luggage, the dak car-
riages also, were all made over for the transport of
troops. The result was that from 150 to 200 Eu-
ropeans have been able to leave Raneegunge (the
railway terminus) daily for the north-west.
Nor has the river line been less useful. With
the resources of the private Companies at their dis-
posal government organised a flotilla of 16 steamers,
and the same number of flats, capable of conveying
6,000 troops per mensem, or allowing for the re-
turn trip, they would average for the year 4,000
men per month. The consequence is, there has
been, neither trouble, delay, nor mismanagement
iu the conveyance of troops up country. Thi.,
re-
suit is due mainly to the exertions of the commis
sariat office Captain Holiday, and to Mr. Halli-
day, the lieutenant-governor of Bengal, or rather to
Mr. Ward, by him appointed superintendent of
supplies. Short of a railroad, the transport ar-
rangements could not have bean more satisfactory.

BOMBAY, JAN. 13.
Three days only have elapsed since the despatch
of last mail, and there is little news to give you in
consequence.

Ono of the Columns prepared to act in:Raj pootana
has at last moved north tvards. Major Raines with
the field force under his command left Deesa on Jan.
2, en route to Nusseerabad. Besides the wing of
the 10th Native Infantry, the wing of her Ma-
jrsty's 95th, Captain Aiken's battery of Artillery,
and the 11th Company of Royal Engineers, he was
joined at Deesa by a siege train of six guns from
Ahmedabad under Lieutenant Reechell, Artillery,
and Major Taylor's troop of 21 Light Cavalry,
with a large quantity of engineer and park tools.
On the 6th a portion of the force was detached at a
place called Muddar, to a village iu the hills 10
miles distant, called Rowa, in the Seroli district,
the residence of a disafftctecl Thakoor, who had en-
trenched and fortified himself. We hear that the
o-ders were to destroy and burn the place, which
was accomplished, though not without much resis-
tance on the part of the natives, who are said to
have been 1,000 strong, with two gmr. The party
pt
of about 400 men, who were commanded by Major
"
Raines in person, accomplished the task by four
,gaetrovue
s ii
yn, 9f
u
o'clock, and returned to camp at Mtrddar by nine.
Capt. Macgown,
. Macquay, Engineers, wounded severAy ;
20th Nativeimen t Infantry,slig ht
1y
rseverelyr,ient.
Burtl
d,al Native ;
Capt. Froster,
:rneticrey, Regiment,
receiving
.gli slightly
sabreone cuts (two on