The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-30 00:00:00

Dl PATCHES FROM INDIA,

(Prom the Gazette of last evening.)
INDIA BOARD, JAIL 23, 1858.
Tke Mowing papers have been received at the East
India Houe :

No. 1.
GINIIRAL 011D1R BY TIIS GOVSBNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA
IN COUNCIL.
Fort William, December 24, 1857.
No. 1,649 of 1857.
The Right lion. the,
.__Governor-General in Council is
pleased to direct the ¢a .of the accompanying the
army.
These papers contain accounts of the safe conveauco ofgarrison
the women and children., sick and wounded of the
of Luoknow across the Ganges : of the resista by Major-
desperate
General Windham to a
attack on his position at defeatCa by_
well-organized
1 and
large body of
and utter rout of the
rebels ; and of the subsequent
insurgents by the troops under Chief.tine
direction of
his Excellency the Commander lanil branches of the service
Throughout these operation!
Tied with each other in enhancingththsehgalvoreiosuescunraemdefowrhtihche
the contests of the last few mon
British army in Indio.-
As regards the operations of the 6th, the masterly gui-
dance of the Copman Ir-in-Chief has been scarcely less
oungpieltona at Cawnporee than it was at Lucknow ; each
9vement of his forces, fitting into one
disposition and ra
moiete and effective scheme, proof against all disturbance
by the chance of the 'day of battle. General Sir Colin
otrumpbell has added largely to the heavy claim which he
koids upon the gratitude and confidence of the Govern-
ment, and of the soldiers whom he leads to victory. In
two hours the camp of the rebels was reached and taken,
and their rout complete ; seventeen guns, and a large
amount of stores and ammunition falling into the hands
of the British Force.
His Lordship in Council desires to record his apprecia-
tion of the admirable manner in which Brigadier-General
Hope Grant, C. 8., has executed the duties of his division,
sad particularly of his exertions in pursuit of the enemy
on the 6th, and his operations on the Bth and 9th Dec., on
which occasion he took 15 of the enemy's guns without the
lose of one man.
On this, as on every occasion in which danger was to be
hoed and difficulty overcome, Captain Peel, R.N., com-
manding the Naval Brigade, was foremost in intrepidity
sad reseurce.
Lieut. Vaughan and the other officers and men of
H.M.S. Shannon are worthy of their brave commander ;
and it is a pleasure to the Governor-General in Council to
deelare his warm admiration of their conduct.
The Governor-General in Council very cordially concurs
in the praise so justly bestowed by the Commander-in-Chief
en the general officers commanding divisions, on Major
General Mansfield, chief of the staff, and on all the officers
of the general staff in all its branches and the personal staff,
and officers commanding brigades and regiments, troops
and batteries. In the commendation given by his Excel-
low to officers of every arm of the service, the Governor-
Ileneral in Council most heartily joins.
To all officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, en-
gaged in the defence of Cawnpore, or in the attack on the
enemy's position, the Governor-General in Council offers
his cordial thanks for their gallantry and good service to
the State.
It will be his pleasing duty to take the first opportunity
of bringing their merits to the favourable notice of her
Majesty's Government, and of the Honourable Court of
Directors.

R. J. H. BIRCH, Colonel,
Secretary to the Government of India.
in the Military Department.

No. 2.
The Commander-in-Chief to the Governor-General.
Head Quarters, Camp, Cawnpore,
Dec 2d, 1857.
My Lord,—ln accordance with the instructions of your
lordship, arrangements were finally made with Sir James
Ontrana, that his division, made up to follr.thousand (4,000)
strong of all arms, should remain in position before Luck-
now.
This position includes the Post of Alumbagh, his stand-
ing camp, of which the front is fifteen hundred (1,500)
yards in the rear of that post, and the bridge of Bunnee,
which is held by four hundred (400) Madras sepoye, and
wo (2) guns.
On the 27th I marched with Brigadier-General Grant's
division, all the ladies and families who had heen rescued
from Lneknow, and the wounded of both forces, making in
all about 2,000 people, whom it was necessary to carry;
and encamped the evening of that day a little beyond
Bunnee-bridge.
The long train did not reach completely and file into
map until after midnight.
When we arrived at Bunnee, we were surprised to hear
very heavy firing in the direction of Cawnpore. No news
had reached me from that place for several days ; bat it
appeared necessary, whatever the inconvenience, to press
forward as quickly as possible.
The march accordingly re-commenced at 9 a.m. the next
morning, and shortly afterwards I received two or three
notes in suceession— first, announcing that Cawnpore had
been attacked ; secondly, that General Windham was
hard pressed ; and thirdly, that he had been obliged to
fall batik from outside the city into his entrenchment.
The force was accordingly pressed forward, convoy and
all, and was encamped within three miles of the Ganges,
about throe hours after dark, the rear guard coming in
with the end of the train some 21 hours afterwards.

I preceded the column of march by two or three hours,
and reached the entrenchment at dusk, where I learnt the
true state of affairs.
The retreat of the previous day had been effected with
the loss of a certain amount of camp equipage, and shortly
after my arrival, it was reported to me that Brigadier
Carthew had retreated from a very important outpost.
All this appeared disastrous enough, and the next day
the city was found to be in possession of the enemy at all
points.
It had now become necessary to proceei with the utmost
caution to secure the bridge.
All the heavy guns attached to Gen. Grant's division,
under Capt. Peel, R.N., and Capt. Travers, R.A., were
placed in position on the left bank of the Ganges, and
directed to open fire and keep down the fire of the enemy
on the bridge.
This was done very effectually, while Brigadier Hope's
brigade, with some field artillery and cavalry, was ordered
to cross the bridge, and take position near the old dra-
goon lines.
A cross tire was at the same time kept up from the en-
trenchment, to cover the march of the troops.
When darkness began to draw on, the artillery parks,
the wounded and the families were ordered to file over the
bridge; and it was not till 6 o'clock p.m., the day of the
30th, that the last cart had cleared the bridge.
The passage of the force, with its encumbrances, over
the Ganges, had occupied 30 hours.
The camp now stretches from the Dragoon lines, in a
half circle round the position occupied by the late Gen.
Sir Hugh Wheeler, the Foot Artillery lines being occupied
by the wounded and the families,
A desultory fire has been kept up by the enemy on the
entrenchment and the front of the camp since this position
was taken up, and I am obliged to submit to the hostile
occupation of Cawnpore until the actual despatch of all
my encumbrances towards Allahabad has been effected.
However disagreeable this may be, and although it may
tend to give confidence to the enemy, it is precisely one of
those eases in which no risk must be run.
I trust, when the time has arrived for me to act with
due regard to these considerations, to see the speedy eva-
cuation of his present position by the enemy.
In the meantime, the position taken up by Brigadier-
General Grant's Division, under my immediate orders, has
restored the communications with Etittehpore and Allaha-
bad, as had been anticipated. The detachments moving
along the road from these two places have been ordered to
continue their march accordingly.
Major-General Wiudham's despatch, relating to the
operations conducted under his command, is inclosed.
In forwarding that document, I have only to remark,
that the complaint made by him in the second paragraph,
of not receiving instructions from me, is explained by the
fact of the letters ho sent, announcing the approach of the
Gwalior Force, not having come to hand.
The first notice I had o his embarrassment was the dis-
tant sound of cannonade as above described.
All the previous reports had declared that there was but
little chance of the Gwalior Contingent approaching Cawn-
pore.

I have, &c.,
C. CAMPBELL, General,
Commander-in-Chief.
P.S. Annexed is a return of caivalties from the 29th
ultimo to this date.

No. 3.

Major General C. A. Windham to the Commander-in-
Chief.

Cawnpore, November 30, 1857•

Sir,—In giving an account of the proceedings of the force
under my command before Cawnpore during the opera.
tions of the 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th instant, I trust
your Excellency will excuse the hasty manner in which it
is drawn up, owing to the constant demands upon me at
the present moment.
Having received, through Captain H. Brace, of the sth
Panjaub Cavalry, information of the movements of the
Gwalior Contingent, but having received none whatever
from year Excellency for several days from Lucknow, in
"Th'lrior to my letters to the Chief of the Staff, I was
obliged Coact for myself.
I therefore resolved to encamp my force on the canal,
ready
eimus- to strike at any of the advancing enemy that
munications safe with,keeping at the same time my com-
Finding that the Coat'
Cawnpore.
I resolved to meet their gent were determined to advance,
Nuddee. My force consisted
first Division on the Pardo()
8 gnus and 100 moarated.
4.41",,,ge and baggage to the rear, I
stgod of about 1,200 bayonets and
Having sent my camp
advanced to the attack
tote following order -.
Four companies of the Rifle Brigade,
four co under Colonel R.
Walpole, followed by
of the 88th Con-
-fnosil3oanueilesß. B. Maxwell, and
naught Rangers, under Lientg.
cruder Lieut. Chewier
four light 6-pounder Madras guns,
thewhole under the co of
ths Madras Native Infantry. Brigadier Carthew, of
Following this force was the 34th Regiment,
Colonel R. Kelly, with four 9-pounder guns--,
mint in, reserve, with spare ammunition.oec.th6
82d ltegi_
I had given directions, in the event of the en ;
found directly in our front, and if the groungrdolren-teCendg,
that Brigadier Carthew should occupy the
left of the road, and that Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly, to
the
the 34th, divided into wings, and supported by his '4artil-
lery, ehQuld take the right. It so happened, howevr
that thin order, on our coming into action, became exactly
inverted by my directions in consequence of a sudden turn
of the road. No confusion, however, was caused. The
advance was made with a complete line of skirmishers
along the whole front, with supports on either side and a
reserve in the centre.
The enemy, strongly posted on the other silo of the dry
bed of the Pandoo Nuddee, opened a heavy fire of artil-
lery from siege and field guns; but such was the eagerness
and courage of the troops, and so well were they led by
their officers, that we carried the position with a rush, the
men cheering as they went; and the village, more than
half-a-mile in its rear, was rapidly cleared. The muti-
neers hastily took to fl;glit, leaving in our possession two
8-inch iron howitzers and one El-pounder gun.
In this fight my loss was not severe ; bat I regret very
much that a very promising young officer, Captain H. H.
Day, Ryth Regiment, was killed.
from a height on the other side of the vil-
Observing,
lags, that the enemy's main body was at hand, and that
the one just defeated was their leading division, I at onentrench-
ce
decided on retiring to protect Cvvn pore, my
manic, and the bridge over the Ganges. We aucc)rtdoinfhlye
fell back, followed, however, by the enemy p
bridge over the canal.
Oa the morning of the 27th, the enemy commenced their
attack, with an overwhlming force of heavy artillerY•
positio n was in front ofe the city. I was threatened on all