The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-07 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, 0

THE 11PDIAN MUTINIES.

The following is from Dinapore, dated August
the 15th

"On Saturday, July 25, the 3 native regiments
(7th, Bth, and 40th) mutinied at Dinapore,
but held in check by her Majesty's 10th Foot
and a field battery of six guns they were unable
to do any violence or harm in that station,
although they succeeded in marching out intact
with all their arms, ammunition, and accoutre-
ments. On Sunday they crossed the river Soan, 16
miles from Dinapore and eight miles'from Arrah,
and upon Monday morning, July 27, marched into
Arrab, where they release the prisoners, about
400, and joined by the guard over them, many
hundreds also of armed deserters and men on leave
from other regiments, they numbered 3,000 disci-
plined troops. These were joined by an equal num-
ber of dependents of Koor Singh, a native of large
property and influence in the neighbourhood, and
the combined army took possession of the Govern-
ment treasury. I should here remind you of what
I informed you in a letter, that some weeks ago I
had-taken the precaution to fortify a small detached
two-story house, 50 feet square, with a flat roof,
which was in the corttPound with my main dwel-
linghouse. This I had done that in case of our
being surprised we might have some defensive place
place of refuge. It was provisioned with meal, corn,
biscuit, water, wine, and some beer, all of which I
had placed there, with a fewother necessaries, some
weeks previously ; and my preparations ahno.st ex-
cited a smile in some of those who were atterieards,
among the first to acknowledge the value of them.
On Sunday the 26th, we heard that the mutinous:
Sepoys were crossing the river Soane in large num-;
bers at a point eight miles from Arrah, and were
on their march towards M. One of the Govern-
ment officers and I rode out half way, but could
get no positive account or intelligence of their num-
bers, and, as the despatches sent from Dinapore to
warn us had been intercepted, we did not know
whether one, two, or three native regiments had
mutinied, and we hoped, but vainly, that they
would immediately be pursual. We had 50 Sikh
soldiers in Arrab, and, being 16 ourselves, resolved
to make a stand. Accordingly, on Sunday night we
occupied the bungalow, and the mutineer; after
securing the treasure on Monday, attacked us about
9 o'clock a.m. Most of the Europeans, besides re-
volvers and hog spears, had double-barrelled guns,
or a gun and a rifle, with abundance of ammuni-
tion, and providentially a large surplus, from which
(when the Sikhs' supplies began to run short) we
made some thousand cartridges. To describe the
repeated attacks, the almost incessant firing, and
the hairbreadth escapes we sustained until Suni.lay,
the 2d Aug., at sunset, would form a lengthy nar-
ra•ive, and, as I have by me a copy of an official
description of it, it occurs to me that the perusal of
it will interest you, and save the time it would
take me to write more at length. On Sunday after-
noon (Aug. 2) we saw an evident commotion among
' our assailants, and soon after heard faintly the firing
of cannon at a distance to the westward. This
afterwards proved to be a relieving force, which
had marched from Buxar to our assistance, and
which the main body of the insurgents went out to
meet, but the latter being defeated we passed Sun-
day night u .molested, and next morning marched
out of our shattered but still strong little fort tri-
umphant, but I hope not vainglorious, in having
kept at bay fora week 100 times our number. Our
miraculous preservation should be ever a continual
cause of the deepest thankfulness to us all, for ex-
cepting some scratches and bruises not worth men-
tioning but one of our little garrison (a Sikh) was
dangerously wounded. Numbers of the enemy
were killed around us, and in my own dwelling-house,
which was gutted and partially burnt after, every-
thing of value was either destroyed or carried away
by the back approach, which we could not com-
mand. What we were most apprehensive of for
some days was disease from the odour of dead
bodies, and four or five of our own horses (includ-
ing my b -st Arab riding horse) were shot and in a
state of decomposition within 50 yards of us ; but
neither was this allowed seriously to affect us. I
should now tell you of the terrible disaster which
befell a force of nearly 500 men sent from Dinapore
to our relief during the middle of the siege. They
had on Wednesday night (July 29) incautiously
approached Arrah, and fell into an ambush, and
there and in the retreat to the Ganges lost one-third
of their number killed and a large proportion badly
wounded, there being but a very few who escaped
unscathed. When we heard from our fort (not a
mile off) the sudden and heavy volleys about dark
midnight we guessed too truly what had occurred,
and I believe there were few among us who did not
feel far more deeply the reverse which (as the firing
grew fainter) we knew must have befallen our coun-
trymen than that by their defeat we had lost our
best and almost only
hope of succour.
" The nightly treacherous harangues made to us
by the mutineers from the cover of my dwelling-
house, 60 yards
off, were answered only by us,
when there was a pause, by a volley of bullets
directed towards the speaker's hiding-place. It
was agreed no other answer should ever be given
them, and I do not believe there was a man among
us who would have allowed himself, if possible, to
fall into their hands alive. The Sikhs have asked
me, and I have promised to build the well into a
permanent one as a memento of their services, and
that our little fort shall have fixed upon it the name
of .' Fut ehgur :' or house of victory.' For some
days after we had been relieved
I was engaged in
erecting some bridges that had been broken down
by the mutineers and restoring the main lines of
communication as field-engineer to Major Eyre's
force, when, in returning to Arrah, I received a
severe kick from a vicious horse, belonging to one of
our party. Luckily no bone was broken, but I
was laid up for two days, and on the force prepering
to leave Arrah I had to be carried into Dinapore.
I ain now able to get about a little, so that in
another week I hope to be as well as ever."
The following is a copy of the report by Mr.
Wake alluded to in the above
" Sir,--I have the honour to forward for the in-
formation of his honour the Lieutenant-Governor
the following narrative of our extraordinary defence
and providential escape. On theevening of Satur-
day, July the 25th, I received an express from.
Dinapore warning us that a disturbance was appre-
hended on that day, but
giving us no other infor-
mation. On the morning of the 26th of July a
Sower whoml had at Koelwar Ghat on the Soane
came in and reported that numbers of Sepoys had
crossed, and that many more were cr. ssing.
found that Mr. Palin, the railway engineer sta-
tioned at Koelwar, had eon.onied himself with
sending over for the boats to the Arrah side the
night before, but when leaving had failed to de-
stroy them, as he had promised to do. The police,
I imagine, bolted at the first alarm. All efforts to
ascertain the amount of the force of the rebels
were unavailing, and the police left the city on
Sunday the 26th. Thinking it highly unadvisable
to abandon the station when the rebels might be few,
and having 50 Sikhs on the spot, and finding
the rest of the officers of the station of the same
opinion, and that the few residents of the district
who ha I come in were willing to remain, we on
the night of Sunday, the 26th, went into a small
bungalow previously fortified by Mr. Boyle, tha
district engineer of the railway company. Our
force consisted of one jemadar and two hail dare,
two naicks, 45 privates, a. bhisti and cook of Capt.
Rattray's Sikh Police Battalion ; Mr. Littledale,
judge
magistrate ; Mr. Colvin, assistant ; Dr.
Rallis, civil-assistant-surgeon ; Mr. Field, ake : Mr. Combs, officiating collector ; Mr.
,w
sub-
deputy opium agent ; Mr. Anderson, his assistant ;
com-
pany Mr. Boyle, oyslye,n
d A districtzini oeondgeienne ear to. ictihnen
deputyrailway
col -
lector ; Mr. Daconsta, moonsiff ; Mr. Godfrey,
schoolmaster ; Mr. Cock, officiating head clerk of
the
r,epir
collectorateie ti andMr Hoyle,.Tait,ser e eLairlyway
to Mr. Boyle ;
Messrs. inspectors;
and Mr. de Souza. We had enough ottah and
grain for some days: of shorts allowance, and a
good deal of water for ourselves ; but owing to the
shortness of our notice, nothing but the bare ne-
e few days' water ; but as we expected the
r
cessaries could be brought in, and the Sikhs had
only
immediately we had not
nelba
a.m.,
the insurgent Sepoys, the whole of the 7th, Bth,
and 40th Native Infantry, arrived in the station,
and having first released the prisoners, rushed to
anxiety
followedatlt
rebels to
"On t o
Monday,
b ndou that score.
ye 27th
11P
of June, about B
the Colleetorate, where they were at once joined by
the Najibs, and looted the treasure amounting to
85,000 rupees. This did not take long, and they
then charged our bungalow from every side,
changed their tactics, and, hiding
hut, being met with a steady and well-directed
fire, theyhe trees, with which the compound is
tile
occupying the ou houses and Mr.
behindßloyd'
l t
Boyle 's
residence,l which WAS unfortunately within
60 yards of our fortification, they kept up an inces-
sant and galling file on us during the whole day.
They were joined by numbers of Kcor Sing's men,
and the sepoys repeatedly declared they were act-
ing under his express orders, and after a short time
he was seen on the parade, and remained during
the siege. Every endeavour was made by the re-