The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-29 00:00:00

JUNE 27.

STOOK EXCHANGE.—This market was rather firm to-
day, and transactions chiefly in local stocks. London and
North Western, Eighths, Staffordshire Gas, 12i p.
Great Westerns, Olt.

•
14

857

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

THE MUTINY IN THE INDIAN ARMY.

(FROM THE TIMES CORRESPONDENT.)
BOMBAY, MAY 27.

In my letter of the 11th I mentioned that a tele-
graphic message had that afternoon arrive 1 at Bom-
bay from Agra, to the effect that the 3d Bengal
Light Cavalry, stationed at Meerut, was in a state
iof open mutiny. The report soon received ample
confirmation, and worse was to follow. For several
day 3 the intelligence from the north-west told of
nothing but revolt and murder. As was to be ex-
pect?d, much thus reported has since turned out to
be untrue. Stations said to be disturbed are found
to he perfectly quiet, and eminent public servants
a serted to have fallen victims to the soldiery are
preserved to their families and to the State. Other
facts there are, too, of a cheering nature—the steadi-
ness and promptitude of the Lieutenlnt-Governor,
the loyalty of the native States of Central India„
the failure of the outhreak in its attempt to spread
over and occupy a very extended area. Neverthe-
less, after making allowances for these legitimate
sources of comfort, the occurrence is one of the
gravest moment. At the two great stations of Mee-
rut and Delhi the whole of the native troops have
broken out into mutiny and plunder. From the
former place they have fled or been expelled. The
latter, where no European troops were quartered,
remained, at the date of the latest accounts, corn-
pletely in their possession.

I will endeavour t ) digest into a continuous nar-
rative as much of the fragmentary intelligence that
has been day by day rushing down from Agra as
has been proved, or may be reasonably conjectured,
to be true.

At the commencement of this month the native
force at Meerut consisted of the 3d Light Cavalry
and the 11th and 20th Regiments of Native Infantry.
Among the cavalry the question of the greased cart-
ridges, which had previously been mooted at Bar-
rackpore and other stations, was freely agitated.
The result of the movement was that 85 men of the
regiment refusing to handle the cartridges, found
themselves in the early days of the month tried by
court-martial, and sentenc3d to various terms of
impriEonment with hard labour. On the 9th their
sentence was read out on parade, and the offenders
marched off to gaol. Up to this time disaffection
bad shown itself only through incendiary fires in
the lines, hardly a night passing without one or
more conflagrations. But on the 10th it appeared
at once in all its unsuspected strength. Towards
the evening of that diy, while many of the Eu-
ropeans were at church—for it was Sunday—the
men of the two native infantry regiments, the 1111
and 20th, as if by previous conceit, assembled
together in armed and tumultuous bodies upon the
parade ground. Several officers hurried from their
quarters to endeavour to pacify them. Colonel
Finnis, of the 11th, was one of the first to arzive,
and was the first victim of the outLrealc. He was
shot down while addressing a party of the 20th,
which is said to have been the foremost regiment
in the mutiny. Other officers fell with the Colonel
or in the terrible motrents that ensued, for the
troopers of the 3d Cavalry poured out of their
quarters to join the insurgent infantry, and the
whole body, now thoroughly committed to the
wildest excesses, rushed through the native lines of
the cantonment, slaying, burning, and cl,slroying.
Every house was fired, and every Englishman,
woman, or child, that fell in the way of the muti-
nears was pitilessly massacred. Happily, however,
many of their officers and their families—the great
majority, I hope and believe—have already escaped
to the European lines, where they took refuge in
the Artillery School of Instruction. Mr. Greathed,
tlae Commissioner, and his wife were saved,
it is said, by the fidelity of their servants,
who assured the assassins that their mas-
ter and mistress had left their house,
though they were at the time concealed in
it. The mutineers set fire to the bungalow and
passed on. The names of the victims lam unable
as yet to give with certainty or completeness. This,
however much to be regretted, is, in the present
confused state of things at and around Merut,
inevitable. A list was published here yesterday,
emanating from Agra, and said to be "from au-
thority,.though open to correction." 1 will copy
it in extenso presently, when I have written of the
occurrences at Delhi.

While the main body of the mutineers were thus
destroying the houses in the native lines, some of
their number proceeded to the gaol, broke it open
and' released the prisoners of the 31 Cavalry.
Which regiment had furnished the gaol guard on
that day is not stated ; but as we hear of no resist-
ance and r•o loss of European life at that point we
may pre-mme it was one of the native corps. Mean:-
while the European portion of the brigade was
called out and marched down to the native lines.
It consisted of the Carabineers, the Ist Battalion
of the 60th Rifles, and Artillery, horse and foot.
But they were too late to save life or pro-
perty, and night falling fast, they were un-
able, we are told, to inflict any serious loss on the
insurgents, who abandoned the station and betook
themselves to the open country. Some of them—
how many we know not, but probably a large body
—made the best of their way down to Delhi, dis-
tant some 40 miles. The garrison of this city was
entirely native. It consisted of three regiments of
infantry—the 38th, 54th, and 74th, and a company
of one of the native battalions of artillery. On the
arrival of the mutineers from Meerut the whole of
the infantry force ran t) arms, and forced, we are
told, the reluctant artillery to join them. The
latter stipulated for the safety of their officers, all
of whom accordingly have reached Meerut. The
infantry showed no such good feeling, but attacked

their officers, though with different degrees of in-
veteracy, the 38th being the worst. Tnen tice in-
surgents ran riot through the city, which was en-
tirely at their mercy, and the bloody scenes
of Meerut were reproduced in the streets
of this ancient Mogul capital. How many Eng-
lish lives have hero been lost will in all pro-
bability not be fully known till the day of
retribution has arrived and the place is again in
our possession. Many are already known to have
escaped, as will be seen from the list already re-
ferred tr), and which I will now subjoin. But it is
feared to be only too certain that Mr. Fraser, the
Commissioner, has fallen, and Captain Douglas,
Commandant of the Palace Guard, and Mr. Jen-
nings, chaplain of the station, with his daughter
and many others of all degrees, including Sir Theo-
philus Metcalfe
KILLED AT MEERUT,
11th Regiment Native Infantry.—Colonel Finnis and
Mrs. Chambers.

20th Regiment Native Infantry.—Captain and Mrs.
M'Donald, Captain Taylor, Lieutenant Henderson, and
Ensign Pattie.
$d Light Cavalry.—Lieutenant MaeNabb, Veterinary
Surgeons Phillips and Dawson, and Mrs. Dawson and
children.

6th Dragoons.-1 private (name unknown).
Sappers and Miners.—Captain Fraser and Mr. Tr&
gear, Inspector in the educational department.

WOUNDED AT MEERUT.

6th Dragoons.— Two troopers.
Artillery Reeruitc.-12.
Artillery,—Lieutenant Colonel Hogge.
31 Light Cavalry.—Dr. Christie.
ESCAPED TROY DELHI.

Mr. Le Bag, judge, to Kurnaul or Utnballah ; Briga-
dier Graves, ditto ; Capt. Nicoll, Briga le Major, ditto ;
Dr. Balfour and Miss Smith, ditto ; Mr. Wagentrieber

and family, ditto.
Artil!ery— Capt. and Mrs. Da Teissier and child to
Meerut ; Lieut. Wilsor, ditto ; Lieut. Alilabie, ditto.
Engineers.—Lieut. &add, to Meerut.
03th Native Infantry.—Col. Knyvett, to Meerut ;
Capt. and Mrs. Tytler, to Kurnal or Umballah ; Miss
Hollings, ditto ; Mrs. Holland, ditto • Ensign Gambier,
to Meerut ; Lieut. Proctor, ditto ; Ensign Drummond,
to Kurnaul or Utnballah ; Ensign Glubb, ditto.
54th Native lufautry.—Lieut. Osborn, to Meerut;
Lieut. Vibart, ditto.
74th Native Infantry—Major Abbott, to Meerut ;
Capt. and Mrs. Wallace, ditt, ; Capt. and Mrs. Gordon,
to Kurnaul or Umballa ; Mrs. Batoon and chiLiren,
ditto ; Ensign Mew, ditto ; Lieut. Taylor, ditto.
Lieut Forest and family, Assistant Commissary of
Ordnance, to Meerut.
Mrs. Hutchinson, C.S., to Meerut.
Mrs. Fraser, Engineers, to Meerut.
Air. Marshall, merchant, to Meerut.
Two battery sergeants and families (names unknown),
to Meerut.

Mr. Murphy, ditto.
Mes,rs. Thompson and Stewart (regiments unknown),
to Kurnaul or Umballa.
Raving thus got rid of All the English in the

city, the insurgents proceed to proclaim some off.
shoot of the old Royal House Sovereign of India,
and in this position, with the town and its treasure
at their disposal, but, as we shall presently see, no
further rising or influx of mutineers to assist them,
they await their inevitable dcom.
But to revert to Meerut. On the evening of the
16th occurred the murder of Capt. Fraser,' whose
name appears in the list. This officer was cornmeal.,
dant of the Bengal (Native) Sappers and Minerok.
He was marching down from the headquarters of
his corps at Beorkee to Meerut, with_a body of his
men. On reaching their destination the Sappas fell
out among themselves, probably in discussing the
propriety of following the mutinous example that
had been set them, and when their commanding
officer attemptei to compose their quarrel one of
their number shot him through the head. They
then broke and fled, but were pursued by
parties of the Carabineers and 60th, and for the
most part killed or captured. Since thii occurrence
Meerut has been tranquil. Fears being entertained
that the convent at Sirdhana with its children's
school might be attacked and devastated, a party
was sent out from Meerut, which brouglit in all ttre
nuns and children to a safe asylum at the station.
It remains to mention how the intelligence of the
mutiny was received at other stations in the north.
west, and what steps have been taken towards the
punishment of offenders. At Agra, as from its proxia
mity to Delhi might be expected, public excitement
at first ran high. But great as was the emergency,
Mr. Colvin, the Lieutenant-Governor, proved him-
Of equal to meet it. On the morning of Thursday,
the 14th, when the popular ferment was at its
height, and the wildest rumours were abroad, Mr.
Colvin harangued the whole brigade of the station,
the European soldiers as well as the native, on the
parade-ground. By all—no less by the two native
regiment., the 44th and 67th, than by the European
artillery—his address was received with applause.
Even after he had left the ground the cheering of
the Sepoys continued long and loud. The effect of
this happy speech was shortly felt throughout the
whole of the city, which settled down again into a
state of quiescence that has not again been disturbed.
At Etawah, a station further down the Jumna, half
a dozen of the mutinous 3d Cavalry were cut to
pieces by the police and a small party of the 9th
Native Infantry. At Allyghur the 9th Native In-
fantry arrested a mutinous agent whom they found
in their lines, and handed him over to the com-
manding officer. At Benares, and throughout Ben-
gal, all was and has remained quiet. At Lucknow
the mutiny of the 7th Oude Infantry preceded by
some days the emeitte at Meerut, but it was checked
by the firmness of Sir H. Lawrence and the loyalty
of the rest of the brigade, and the Regiment dis-
persed at the flash of a lighted port-fire, and has
ceased to exist. Since then, down to the 18th, the
date of our latest news, the city and district have
been tranquil. Indeed, the insurrection in the
North-west may, I hope, be said t) be confined
within the walls of Delhi. Within these walls
it will be—very possibly has already been—
beaten down awl trodden out. One ef the
first acts of the Lieutenant-Governor was to
issue the vigorous proclamations which I enclose,
placing under martial law the districts around
Meerut and Delhi, to the eastward of the Jumna,
warning all landholders and others from joining the
insurgents, and announcing that prompt vengeance
would overtake all past or future delinquents.
These are no vain threats, incapable of being car-
ried into execution. The great blow will be de-
livered from the North ; but by all the great roads
in other directions troops have been closing in
upon the doomed city. The Sirmore battalions
were at Boolundshuhur, on the east, the Agra Bri-
gades, strengthened by cavalry and artillery from
Gwalior, advancing from Muttra on the south, the
troops of the Jat Rajahs of Bburtpore and Ulwar
moving up on the west. From the north-west
were pouring down the horsemen of the Rajahs of
Putteala and Jheend, while the great road from
the hill stations by Kurnaul and Meerut lay open
for the march of the Commander-in-Chief. General
Anson was to leave Umballah, whither he had re.
paired in haste from Simla, on the 18th. He had
brought with him from Kassowlie her Majesty'
75th Regiment. At Umballah he found the 9th
Lancers, the Ist European Fusiliers marched in
from Dugshaie, the 4th Light Cavalry, the sth and
6th Native Infantry, and two troops of (European)
Horse Artillery. The whole of this force he would,
it was expected, take down with him to Meerut,
where he would find the Carabineers, the 60th, and
a strong force of artillery, and taking them with
him would advance at once upon Delhi.
.The city
lying upon the further or right bank of the Jumna,
and being connected with the left bank by a bridge
of boats only, which the insurgents have doubtless
destroyed, it is possible that some time may be oc-
cupied in conveying the troops across the river.
But before many days are past we shall, I suppose,
hear that retribution as signal as merited has been
dealt to the insurgent soldiery.

I pass to the Punjab. I wish we could feel sure
that this the latest acquisition of British power in
the North-west would escape the contagion of mu-
tiny. At Ferozepore, however, disturbances have
arisen, and there are rumours also of the existence
of disaffection among the regiments cantoned at
Meeau Meer, the military station at Lahore. In
both cases the offenders, I should mention, are
neither Bengal Regulars nor Punjab Irregulars.
The Lahore Chronicle of the 15th itst., received
to-day, gives an account of the plans adopted to
check the spirit of insubordination in the Punjab
at a council of war held at Peshawur

Major-General Reed, commanding the Peshawar
sion, assumes the thief military command in the Punjab.
His head-quarters will be the head-quarters of the Pun-
jab Civil Government. A moveable column will at once
be formed at Jhelum, consisting of her Majesty's 27th
Foot from Nowshera ; her Majesty's 24th from Rawul
Pindee, one European troop of horse artillery from
Pesbawur, one light field battery from Jhelum, the
Guide Corps from Murdan, 16th Irregular Cavalry from
Rawul Pindee, Ist Punjab Infantry from Bunno, Ku-
maon battalion from Rawul Pindee, a wing of the 2d
Punjab Cavalry from Kohat, a half company of Sappers
from Attock. The necessary orders for this column
have been issued. The column will move on every point
in the Punjab where open mutiny requires to be put
down by force, and officers commanding at all stations in
the Punjab will co-operate with this column.'

Such is the position of affairs in the North-West
and the Punjab as represented by the latest news
received to-day. Here the local Government, secure
in the fidelity of its sturdy little-low-caste Sepoys,
has found itself able to lend no small assistance,
when compared with its means, to the embarrassed
Government of Calcutta. The 64th and 78th Regi-
ments returned to Bombay from the Persian Gulf
en Saturday and Sunday last.
They found everything ready for their tranship-
ment when required, from sailing vessels to
steamers, and were immediately sent round to Cal-
cutta. The Ist European Fusiliers are by this time
well on their way from Kurrachee to Mooltan by
the Indus, and the Ist Belooch battalion is ordered
to the same stat►on from Upper Scinde. Madras
also has furnished its Ist Fusiliers. Would that we
had a dozen more English regiments. Pity that the
Himalaya, the Retribution, the Transit, and the
rest, are not bound for the Sandheads instead
Hongkong. The quarrel with the lethargic, Chins
man might keep—not so that with the explosive
Bengal Sepoy.
News of the Shah's ratification of the treaty
with England reached us from Busbire on the 15th.
More of the troops will yet be down before the rains
in all probability, and will be cantoned at the sta-
tions near Bombay. We shall be glad to have them,
as we have our riots, or rather our riot, and our
rumours of riots. At Broach lately a fierce fight
took place between those ancient foes the Mussul-
mans and. the Parsees—if, indeed, that can be called
a fight, übi tupulsas ego vapulo tantunt, for the
former had it all their own way. Irritated, accord-
uroesseb,
ofm tuhsseuirimmaonsaq
accord-
ing to their own account, by an act of desecration
one
ee
committed in
table Parsee, daefidliedsrepthue-
principal fire-temple in the place, murdered the
chief priest and another man, and more or less se-
verely wounded several others. A similar riot was
apprehended at Surat, and the Government sent off
a wing of the 9th Native Infantry in hot haste to
join head-quarters at that stator). Rumours are
floating about that the anticipated disturbance did