The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-05 00:00:00

THE BOMBAY ARMY.

The following is from an officer in the 12th Bom-
bay Native Infantry
Camp near Deesa, August 18.
"Now, dearest mo her, I will tell you a piece of
news which you are sure to see much exaggerated
in the papers, so don't believe a word there about it
exceptlwhat I tell you. The detachrw ntiof my reel
ment of 230 men which was sent. to Nussee! abad (the
very sink of mutiny) has mutinied. The facts were
these :—After they had received their pay Captain
Holbrow, who was commanding them, heard the
bugle blow the alarm for the troops in garrison to
assemble. So be commanded our men to fall in,
which they did without a murmur. There he left
them while he went to the Brigadier for orders.
One of the Bombay Lancers (Ist) had before ridden
to our lines in a state of fanat.cism, being- stimulated
by bang and other things, and told our men that
the Bombay Ist Lauct-rs had mutinied and taken
possession of the guns, and that if they were com-
manded to the artillery lin-. s not to obey, as the
guns would be turned upon them. As firing was
heard near the guns our men believed it, and when
Captain Holbrow cause back with the Brigadier's
orders to march to the artillery lines our men re-
fused to move, and, notwithstanding all his assur-
ances that it all was all s tfe, only three would move
out of the 250. Holbrow sent Lack to the Brigadier
and told him that his men were in a state of mu-
tiny, 93 he ordered down 100 men of the 831 Rei-
ment to the guns, under Lieutenant Swanson, of
the Horse Artillery, to our lines. Of course it was
a'l a lie of this man of the Lane ,rs that they had
mutined and taken the gnus. Bit while Hoibrow
was away this man of the Lancers came back to our
men and tried to kill toe Eurepeavas when they
cime up. But Swanson shy t him with a pistol, and
103 of our men were disarmed. Toe worst part of
the matter is that they were all found with tilt it
muskets loaded, which certainly looks very suspi-
cious ; but it is alleged they loaded them in self--
defence against the Lancers. Our men here (350)
are stanch. I can't the least fancy their ris.ng ;
but these are certainly anxious times. You see

by my account it was more of a panic than a
mutiny, as they believed the man who told them
the L tuceri la.A.d taken the guns and mutinied. I
have not the least doubt that if it had not been
for that the men would ban been as loyal
as could be. Do not believe anything you see
more than this, as you will be surd to see it is made
a great deal of in the papers ; there was every ex-
cuse for them. It is so very bad that our regiment
—` Sir Charles Napier's favourite'—who fought so
well and gallantly at Mee ~nee and Hyderabad,
should b 3 the first Bombay regiment to set the ex-
ample of mutiny. It is reported the 25th have
alsi mutinied. Ours and the 25th were Sir Chas.
Napier's two pet regiments. We are most anxiously
waiting for more men from Nuss3erabad. I think
it will not turn out half so 133 d as it seems. We
were before quite the top of the tree in the Bom-
bsy army, and now I suppose none are lower.
Such is life. I am great friends with our sepoys
here ; they like me very much, I hear. I hope it
is true."

The following letter is from an officer of rank :
" Belgaum, Aug. 23.
"Since I last wrote to you a singular event has
occurred. The mutiny of the 27th Regiment of
Bombay Native Infantry at Kolapore, which is in
the command of the southern division of the army,
about 70 miles from Belgaum. Without advanc-
ing any grievance, or giving any inkling of their
purpose, about 169 men of the regiment broke out
into open mutiny at 10 o'clock at night, plundered
the treasury of 45,000 rupee', and made for a dur-
gah (religious edifice) in the town, and in the early
morning marched clear away towards Wagotun, on
the coast by the Phoonda Ghat. No native com-
missioned officer accompanied the mutineers, but
no confidence could be placed by the commanding
officer in the remaining men to enable him to fol-
low the mutineers, of whom, howev,r, some 30 or
49 prisoners were taken. Perhaps the most re-
irkabla feature is that only one-third of the mu-
tineers were Hindostanee men, the rest being
Mahrattas and Konkan and Deccan Hindoos. The
trials are now going on, Colonel G. S. Jacob hav-
inot been sent there with Europeans and guns. He
and shot and hung 21 of the
immediately2t after his arrival, A de-
tachment mutineers disarmed
theo
7h
of
the 27th Native Infantry at Ratnag-
h•-rry has also been disarmed by two companies of
Her Majesty's 86th Regiment, who then passed on
t) Goa, en route to Belgaum, and they are ex
pected here to-morrow. The:r approach has per-
mitted of the despatch of a company of the 2d
Europeans this morniug to Dharwar, where there
is considerable treasure and a gaol of 600 pri-
soners. The Mahomedan
streacliittoioruss
last pressingw e
ek mutinoustwo,outsai
'outside'
under trial for ex-
popula;ion are ripe for
revolt. Four sepoys are now
werein te n ioownns ;
awayand
bl
,! from guns. The European force is nowsu{; 4-
to disarm both the native regu
nen.ts at _uesgaum
if it were necessary, which is not expected, as Only'
a few men in one of the regiments aro disatfectei.',

The following is an extract of a letter from Bel-
ga,um, dated Aug. 23 :
" None uf the native °facer.; f f the 27th 11,gi-
wont have rebelled. This is a gcol sigu ; the rest

of the sepoys will, I hope, remain firm. The Kola-
poor mutineers had to travel some distance ; 25
were captured at Sawunt Warree.

" Aug'. 10.
" Intelligence reached U 3 to-day of the slaughter
of 20 of the Kolapoor nautinet rs by their own regi-
ment. It appears these men could not get on at
all below the ghat where they at first went. They
could get no money and no food, so they came
back, and on being observed barricaded themselves
in a temple. The officers led out the regiment,
who broke into the place where the men were, and,
after a sharp hand-to-hand fight in close quarters,
they bayonetted the whole. A few of the men of
the regiment had trifling wounds. Now, there are
but 25 of the mutineers loose in the country.

"Aug. 11.
" Two companies of the 2d European Light In-
fantry came in this morning. The poor fellows
were drenched to the skin, and had eaten no food
for two days. The officers all marched on foot,
and they were for the most part lame when they
arrived. These companies are to go on to Dhar-
war on being relieved by two companies of the
86th. We have now 400 available Europeans, and
I think with them and the artillery we are equal to
anything. I attended the court-martial on Sheik
(Jsman, a greater rogue than the Monshea. He
appears to have directed his letters in English. I
saw the letters written inside in the native charac-
racter, and also the English translation, to the ef-
fect that everything was in readiness here. Seve-
ral leading men in the town and in the native
regiments (no names) were ripe for the insurrec-
tion. The plan for taking the fort, making the
prisoner commander, and cutting the throats of
Christians, was also laid out. The English were a
parcel of fools and did not 'smell the rat.' There were
manyothersubjectsdiscussed inthe epistles, but the
pith I havegiven you, and if these had not been inter-
cepted we should not have been inthe land of the liv-
ing. I afterwards rode up to the camp and passed
the European lines. The soldiers looked much
more comfortable with their clean kit, and were
enjoying their pipes.

" Aug. 13.
" To-day most exciting events have happened.
Two men have been sentenced to death, and are
to be blown away from guns to-morrow. The
Monshee's trial came to a close to-day, when he
was found guilty. Another man, a Perdassie, was
tried by a court-martial at the artillery messroom.
The chief witne4s was the adjutant of one of the
regiments, and his testimony was corroborated by
the Jewidar. This man, it seems, had come to
try and incite the Sepoys to insurrection, and the
Jemidar, a Havildar, and Naick, directly they
were aware of his in'entions, informed the adjutant
who accompanied them to the lines, when they hid
him in a hut behind a plain deal door with chinks
in it. They then introduced the Perdas.4e, and
the adjutant took down on paper the mutinous
conversation. Under such eircam.stauces the ras-
cal was of course convicted, and to-morrow will
meet the fate he deserves. I shall go and see him
executed, as I think that every European ought by
his presence to show to the natives his concurrence
with the justice of the sentence; and I am sure,
when we consider for a moment that bad those
letters of the Monshee not been intercepted, we
should all have] had our throats cut, it takes away
ail pity that one might otherwise have felt for
these wretches. I read the translations of the
Moonshee's letters, three in number. Like those
of the Perdassie, their plans were all arranged as
nicely as possible. One was to the Moulavie of
Poona, telling him the English were quite in igno-
rance as to what was going on. He also wrote to
Kolapor, and the mutiny in that place is attributed
to him. 5-- has been inderatigable in getiug
evidence and keeping spies. It was thr,ugh his means
that these lett:Ts were intercepted. These are indeed
exciting times. God grant all may yet be welt in
Bengal, and teat ro su:h insurrection may break
out here. S - had to break the tidings of the
sentences to the prisoners this evening, and to ob-
tain a confession, which I believe he got.

a Aug. 14.
" This day the traitors were blown away from
guns at 4.30 p.m. I mounted my horse, and on the
way met the prisoners in a cart guarded by a de-
tachment of the 64th ; presently we arrived at the
place of execution. It was on the little course.
There was a square formed. On one side were the
Mahratta horse, on the other some Shetsandi poli. e,
and in the direc. ion in which the guns were pointed
were the rabble, and at the other face were the
29th and 15th Native Infantry, and the 2d Euro-
peans drawn up, and between them and the guns all
the Sahib-log stood. Every one was present, from
the general downward. The Adjutant-General read
the sentence out to the prisoners, and they were
then led to the guns, and at a given sign d off they
went. That rascal of a Moonehee was drawing 15J
rupees a month for instructing officers of regiments
in Hindostanee at the very time he was pitting
their death. I should have mentioned that a H
vildar and four men of the 29th were given up by
the regiment this morning for plotting against Go-
vernment. " Aug. 15.
" I visited. S - this morning on the way to the
Symkhana. Ho informed me on the previous night
he had left the mess with a friend who had driven
him home, but the sharee he was to have gone in
was stopped near a Mussulman musjid, near a tope
of tree, by two men, who had ka nliu over their
heals. They eked if there was a Sahib
and, on t.e driver replying No,' dtt rmined to
look themselves and got into the cart and poked
about with a stick. I saw the marks. The Mus-
sulmans are sail to want to kill a European, to
sacrifice him to the newly-made saint who was exe-
cuted yesterday. I accompanied 8-- this evening
on the rounds. " Aug. 16.
"I went down to the lines, and was present at
the p trade assembled to promote the Jemidar,
Havildar, and Naick respectively, on account of
the painful dicharge of their duties in making
known the plot got- up by the Perdassie. The
General addressed each of them ; he also called out
she adjutant and complimented !Ain, and informed
h.m he had brought his conduct to the notice of the
Comma ider-in Ceief. This was a more gratifying
spectacle than that of the day before yesterday.
The General has been indefatigable ; he toll me of
the number of providential interferences that had
occurred for our benefit ; but under Providence
nothing has tended more to the safety of the
Southern Mahratta country than tote judicious mea-
sures taken by General L., and the sudden throw-
ing in of detachments of European troop. Gun.
L. has throughout acted promptly, firmly, and
judiciously, and, aided by Mr. S--, the superin-
tendent of police, has frustratel the plot, which,
had it not been discovered, would have caused the rising of the native regiments in the division."

Extract of a IetteMrUSSOUREE from a lady, dated Mussouree,
August 9 :
" We are very busy working flannel clothes for
our army before Delhi. They aro very badly off for these things, and being so much exposed at
such a season of the year, and in such a prover-
bially unhealthy locality, and fighting as they have
done so nobly, they really deserve to b 3 provided
for by us.
" Mrs. C. and myself have corected 350 rupees
here for this purpose, and aro constantly at work
in consequence, for, with the exception of our own
talors, and one or two others ladies have given up
to us, we can get none. Money is scarce, servants
ditto, and everything at ruinous prices. Mr. —,
the clergyman here, is also collecting for the same
purpose, and has got some 500 rupees ; Mr. —,
at Landour, 900 rupees ; add to this the collections
at Simla, iussowlee,'and Meerut, and our poca
soldiers, and the little Ghoorkas too, will get many
comforts, you will see. Wonderfulto say, though
I never did such a thing in my life before, I have
the management of our portion of the busines=,
which keeps me employed from early morning till
late at night. We meet, with several other ladie,,
at Dr. C.'s house every day, and as many tailors
as we can collect, and stitch away."

NYNEE TAL.
The following is from an officer at Nynee Tal :
" August *.
" Sincei I wrote yesterday news has come that
the Hindbes have risen against the Mahomedans
and seizel..Moradaba,d and the guns there, and that
they have als) split and are ready to go at one
another's 'throats in Bareilly. The Mahomedans
have been oppressing the Hindoos terribly, and
the worm has turned. The Hindoos are numerous
enough to wirrtee day if they are stanch.
" They are ale) very well affected to us (at least
in this neighbourhood), and have hem sending us
constant messages ,to Come back again, which we
sh ul.cl have done if we had had any free here at
all—l nrfan even two available field guns and 200
or 390 cavalry to go with the Ghoorkas and us. The
Hindoos really seem to mean fighting now.
" This is the best news we have heard for a long
time. The religious split will spread like wild fire
—into Delhi itself in all probability--aud which-
ever
loses, Hindoo or Mahomedan, we ought to
win. It also makes us at Nynee Tal quite secure
from any attack, for some time to come at any rate.
I hate sent a copy of this letter to my mother."

Tire following ij an extract from a letter received
from an Artillery officer at Calcutta, dated August
23 :

". Things are on the whole looking much brighter
than when I last wrote. Ths telegraph communi-
cation has been restored to Benares, and the post-
office now is open to Cawnpore. News has been
just received that Luckuow is safe. Gan. Have-
lock, although he could not reach the pla,co.;:!ias
saved it. The enemy went out to oppose him, and

the garrison, taking advantage of this, immediately
sallied out, took a large quantity of provisions, and
went back again all right. The enemy, finding that
there was then no chance of starving them out for
a long time, and knowing by exper ence that they
would not easily be forced out, began t:) quarrel
among themselves and to move off. Col. Inglis,
of the 32d Queen's, now commands at Lucknow ; he
has done good service.
" The mutineers at Delhi are on their last legs ;
they are quarrelling among themselves, and have
been dreadfully defeated every time they have come
out. They are now entirely surrounded, and are
begging for mercy, which of course has been refused.
Disease is carrying them off by hundreds, and death
by the sword or halter awaits the survivors.
" What will the natives now say? With every
advantage on their side, they having chosen their
own time, and having succeeded in taking us en-
tirely unaware, and the whole army, with very
few exc options, having united to expel us, they find
us still able with a few troops not only to keep but
to win back the country, even before the home re-
inforcements shall have arrived. The Sepoys have
often said that they had won and kept the country
for us. Now they see their mistake. It has been
proved over and over again that 100 Europeans
will easily beat 1,030 natives, even those disciplined
and taught by ourselves."