The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-12 00:00:00

PRIVATE LETTER F. 0:12 INDIA.

The following letter from a private soldier at the
seat of war iu Oude, will be read with interest, as
furnishing some particulars respecting the state of
affair sin India which have not Lefore appeared. It
is addressed to the brother of the writer

" Poonk, Jan. 27, 1858.
" There is an extra mail leaving to-day, of which
I must take advantage. We, or rather people with
whom I am acquainted, are now daily receiving
letters from the 78th Highlanders (the depot is still
in Poona), and they and the 64th well deserve
every eulogium that has been passed upon them.
When history records their advance from Cawnpore
to Lucknow, their almost superhuman efforts un-
der the most trying circumstances, surrounded by
demons who outnumbered them by twenty to one,
and who, like the wild beasts when their fangs
have once h-en imbued in blood, were mad with
the orgies which they had witnessed and partici-
pated in in the diabolical outrages at Cawnpore,
and other places, the 25th of September is a
day which will never be forgotten, either by those
who were relieved, or that noble band of heroes
who fought their way through countless numbers
to the relief of their besieged brethren whose hours
were numbered, but for theiropportuue arrival. A
few hours later and every Christian soul in Luck-
now would have been at the mercy of the fiends who
had previously plied their devilish work at Cawn-
pore and Delhi. What a mercy that they had a
man like Havelock to rescue them ; and he under
his command men, every one of whom deserve to
have their names engraved in letters of gold. The
time is now arriving when such deeds as these must
not be passed over as heretofore with six months'
batta. What must be a man's feelings, as glow-
ingly described in one letter I heard read from a
soldier of the 78th to his sister in Poona—a bridge
bed to be crossed before entering Lucknow, of
which the rebels had possession, and the only ap-
proach to which was a narrow road, down which
the enemy kept up a continual shower of grape and
canister. We got a gun in position to return the
fire, but another fatal discharge from the enemy
laid every gunner low. Again the gun was manned
by volunteers ; but the same fate awaited them,
when brave young Havelock rode to the front, and
even amid a shower of iron, smilingly told the
brave 78th those guns must be yours. With a
cheer such as must have struck terrorithecrs they
cravens
hearts, they bounded forward, and proved, as
bad daily done for weeks before, thaadvattnhecyed were
heroes still ; but the farther theythe
had the
more terrible their task. They (the 78th)
post of honour assigned them ; the whole of the
other troops advanced, leaving them to bring up
tggage and supplies for the e eaguered gar-
ril'e b 3 b
gar-
rison. They had to wend their way through streets
_the houses are three and four stories high, and
loopholed from top to bottom—barricades across
every street—the tops of the houses, windows, Sic.,
tined with devils, and every poor fellow who was
wounded and not able to walk was compelled
to be left behind, and sad was their fate ; for
even before their comrades' eyes these incarnate
fiends cut them into a hundred pieces. The only
mystery to those who are spared is their being so.
They attribute it to a merciful Providence that one
is left to tell the tale. Now, let a generous country
think of some method to reward such unexampled
heroism. Search both mo lern and ancient history,
and no such glorious deeds of arms are to be found.
Her Majesty's
's 78th Highlanders, and her Majesty's
(as they call 1'),
64th,Mhaajvtestysayed
jewel in England 'd
s insistcrown. Let the the brighte-t
people of Eng-
land r
such demand,an
unexampled bravery be sterling recompense
fo
doing it.not chary in
"Render unto Comer the things that
are Caesars, » and let the distinction be made ; let
those reap who sow ; let the Crimean system of
rewarding be bygones ; let every officer and maL,7B
name, who was actually there, be recorded, and to
them be the glory given ; let those of a cravenits
heart, who belong to those two noble regiments,
64th and 78th, be politely told we will have none