The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-04 00:00:00

_

6171 HUGH. ROSE. PAPER.
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By the time these lines meet the reader's eye,
Sir Hugh Rose's career will be, we presume, over
for the present. But the Government of England.
will yet remember where to find a Aaniquar tA
any duty. His share in it is one of thy: west
nous and splendid episodes in the war. ikeni(
from the shade at the head of the Centragnaiarl
field force when Central India is threatened by
portentous horde ;- and he shows what one man's
de irness of head and vigour of pnrpose can accom-
plish against any barbarous enemies, however com-
manding the position they may have seized (in the
very midst of our most vital communication), how-
ever ample their munitions and resources, however
reat the numerical odds on which they rely, how
- -
ever strong the fortifications behind which theytak
t heir stand. He is terrible to the rebels for his vide-
ries and the unhesitating severities which have fol-
lowed those victories in dealing with traitors, taken
armed and "in the manner." lie is terrible, also,
because he has given them no time to breathe, be-
cause he has put his victories into so short a corn-
Pass. His resiomation of the command of the Cen-
tral India field foree (whether or not his zeal for
the service or some-temporary necessity induce him
to prolong his functions, and thus in part to recall
practically his resignation) affords us the oppor-
tunity of glancing hastily at the sum of what he
haS accomplished. We need not trace the line of
his march, which, 'in such a season and such a
country, would have been something of which a
mere traveller would not have been ashamed in

time of peace, as showing the _energy and speed
with which .he advanced through an
country. . Yet that march, long and devious as the
track is, was no peaceful excursion, but a series of
and sieges which will figure imperishably
in the history-of British India. The last, of which
we have full particulars, is not the least of them.
As Sir Hugh with natural emotion says in his ad-
dress to the force of which he is taking leave—
" The Major-General witnessed with satisfaction
how the troops and their gallant comrades in arms,
the Rajpootana Brigade under Brigadier Smith,
stormed height after height, and guns after guns,
under the fire of a numerous field and siege artil-
lery, taking finally by assault two 18-pounders in
position, and Gwalior. Not a man in these forces
enjoy=ed his natural strength or health—an Indian
sun and months of broken rest and march had told
on the strongest ;_ but the moment they were told
to take Gwalior for their Queen and country they
thought of nothing but victory. They gained
it, restoring England's true and brave ally to his
throne, putting to complete rout the rebel army,
killing numbers of them, and taking from them in
the field, exclusive of those in the fort, 52 pieces
of artillery, all their stores and ammunition, and
capturing the city and fort of Gwalior, reckoned
the strongest in India." . All this leaves out of
view the numerous and brilliant actions, and
their results, which preceded the particular
achievement to which Sir Hugh Rose is referring
He then pays a well-merited tribute to Brigadiers
Napier, Steuart, and Smith, " for the very able
assistance which they gave him, and to which he
attributes the success of the day." These are, in-
deed, able and valuable officers ; but the public
will know how to appreciate Sir Hugh Rose's
modest and generous attempt to blot himself out
altogether. Had he been absent Brigadier Napier
might have supplied his place. But this, as it
happens, is only our opinion ; whereas the actual
presence and services of General Rose are a fact.
He closes his address by adding—" He bids them
and their brave soldiers once more a kind farewell.
He cannot do so under better auspices than those
of the victory of Gwalior." That is true ; and un-
less the fugitives from that place (who were, it
seems, more numerous than the public supposed,
numbering, by the last accounts, 11,000), rally more
effectually than we have any apprehension of their
doing, the revolt proper will, perhaps, be hereafter
described as having closed in the rout of Gwalior,
and as having been followed only by such a rural
demoralisation and such a disturbance of roads and
communications as succeed to most wars. An ex-
tension of police measures, and, finally, one cam-
paign more in Oude, will, we trust, form the very
worst chapter that remains to be added to the
story of the Great Indian Rebellion. In that story
few survive who can throw into shadow the part
played by Major-General Sir Hugh Rose. If we
-be unhappily deceived—if more must yet be ac-
complished by the soldier—he is one of those left
to us the announcement of whose presence in the
field will ever give confidence and joy to his coun-
trymen and strike terror among their enemies.—
_Bengal Hfirkant.