The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-28 00:00:00

THE ATTACK ON LUCKNOW.

We take the following interesting extracts from
the letter of the Special Correspondent of the

Times :

" SATURDAY, MARCH 18.
" In order to prevent any attack on our position
from the north, two guns pointing towards the can-
tonments were placed so as to sweep the road, and
one gun behind a trench bore on the bridge. We
dismounted and left our horses under cover, and
then lei by Outran, ran the gauntlet along the
side of the street up to a house close to the bridge,
from which a view could be had of the opposite side.
The enemy in the houses at the other side did not
lose their chance, and their ballets went singing
past us sharply. The houses on both side of the
street were occupied by our men, English and Sikh,
who kept up a steady fire on every living object
visible on the housetops and in the windows of the
mansions and mosques along the other bank of the
river, which is only 30 or 40 yards ccross at this
place. Looking through the balustrades on the
top of the house, we could see the entrench-
ments in front of the Mohtee Mahal, or 'the
Pearl,' and the enemy's batteries commanding the
bridge. There were five dead Sepoys on our side
of the bridge, and a large number of livie,g Sepoys
at the Enemy's side ; their heads were for a moment
visible now and then over the parapets of their
works. Behind them spread out the vast extent
of the Kaiserbagh, and its innumerable gilt
cupolas, domes, and spires, its towers, and fretted
walls, its long lines of windowed enclosures, and spa-
cious caurt-yards. It was evident that we were
expected from thq other side, for the works of the
Kaiierbagb, and even those of the Mohtee Mahal
and Mess-house, were turned towards the streets
leading from the Canal towards the Residency.
Of the latter building all that remains is one ruined
tower, and the houses in the neighbourhood
bear numerous traces of the fierceness of the can-
nonade which raged there during that grand de-
fence. After a careful inspection Sir James de-
scended to the street, and suddenly gave way to
au uncontrollable desire to visit a battery on the
bank of the river, which could only be done by
crossing the street. We were ordered to remain
under cover while Sir James sallied forth with Sir
Hope Grant and Colonel Turner, and ambled
across the street. It was odd enough, but hero
were Brigadier David Wood, Col. Berkeley, chief
of Sir James's Staff, two of the aides, Lieut. Ste-
wart, of the Bengal Engineers, and myself, look-
ing at this little race, as if it was one of the best
jokes in the world, mid for the moment little
thinking that an inch to the right or to the left, and
down would drop any one of three as gallant officers
as her Majesty's service can boast of. However,
they all got safe across, and having visited the
the battery down a cross lane, they came
ambling back again with a similar whistling
accompaniment of matchlock and musket bul-
lets around them, the enemy having previously
favoured us by a few, just to show they knew where
we were, and that they would be on the look out
for us as we ran back to our horses. It is a most
unpleasant sensation to feel that a score of dusky
gentlemen are waiting, with their eyes to unknown
chinks, and with their index fingers crooked on the
triggers of cocked firearms, just as a patty at the
end of a beat watch for some remarkably knowing
old cock pheasants, to get a crack at you the mo-
ment you break cover. But it was all over in a
minute. Out came Sir James, brass sheathed
sword, white cap cover, blue frock, General's spurs
and all; and then, in single file, we glided—one of
us at least with a cold sensation at the small of his
back—towards the place where we left our horses.
Bang ! bang bang ! ping ! twit ! twit, a flight of
wasps passing by your ears ; and it is all over, and
nothing hit but the wall, which comes in for it
very smartly. It is quite evident, however, that
morning walks with Sir James Outran are not the
most healthy recreations in the world, and ate pret y
much akin to rides with Sir Colin Campbell. But
where is he going to now ? Off to visit another
battery. This time we go down a shady lane, but,
alas ! it is not very long in turning, and the
moment we come to that turn the wasps are on us
again, and we find that we are in full view of a line
of loophold houses on the other side of the river.
That escapade over, we mounted our horses, and
suburb—
here a dense village, with narrow lanes through
proceeded to ride homewards through the
which a horse could just go in a knee-scraping
walk, the principal object in view being apparently
to ascertain if there was a good chance of being
shot by some of the fanatics who were known to
be shut up iu the houses. Many of these had never
been entered by our men, and the doors were
fastened from the inside. Here and there some
wounded wretch had crept away to die, and one or
two very miserable old women still lurked in the
huts. One sat by the side of a body covered
with clotted lulool and tenderly caressed the
dreadful form. Another was creeping along
with a heap of rags on her back—her journey
eery Lear its close. Inside one of the enclosures
one of .the officers told me thera lay dead a
pretty little boy of some seven or Eight years of
age, his back torn Olen by
a grape-shot, and
his beside him shrieked and chattered 1 • s pet par-
roquet in a cage, just as it had fallen from his
hands, as he was flying with it across the corn-
fields. Some kind hand liberated the poor bird.
These are the accidental, but necessary incidents of
war. Our soldiers are not unmoved by them, and
the officer who discovered the sad sight I have
mentioned told me that he was grewly pleased the
day before by the kindness of some soldiers of the
79th to a very ugly and dirty little Hindoo whom