The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-19 00:00:00

BENARES.

The following ara extracts from a letter-written
by a staff officer recently, at Dinapore. The dates
areas recent as the 3d of August
" Benares, July 22.
"As for news, it is no use mentioning what the
papers will have, viz., that Havelock has just destroyed
Bitthaor and taken 13 more guns there, and is en route
to Lucknow, crossing the Ganges to-day. Al" the
women were killed by the Nena in batches, so many
a-d:.y. He violated all he could first, and sent the rest
naked into his camp for the men ; at Jhansi they tied
the husbands to trees while the same atrocities were in
process, and tore the children limb by limb. They've
atade mothers kill their own children, and that sort of
thing: Poor old -(a civilian) was daintily stabbed
oa sir bayonets, and carried round kicking, and
then killed. It is as well to tell these things, which
don't half come up to the untellelele atrocities of the way
in which ladies were tortured and exposed, because the
more you all know in Eogland the better, as for want
of cavalry these wretches get very little cut up now, and
they .must be punished afterwards in cold blood.
They had stiff fighting at Cawnporeiethe 78th men how-
Leg in the most appalling manner •on account of the
women and children as they closed with the enemy.
The Nena has gone t) Humeerpore. Loyd, the collector
there, was murdered. C arke (J. J., the assistant,ur-
geon)) is here ; Cockerel' was killed at Banda. They've
discovered an attempt at a rising here, and got a ma
hejan,' out of whose house came 150 tulwars' &c., and
and also boned' four of the head • budmashes.' We're
charing a spot at Raj Ghat, which is a natural fortifi-
cation, and whence we shall get howitzers to command
the city. We shall have it all eur own way now if Bom-
be); keeps quiet, as the sth Fusitera and the 37th are
ou the river, and will make Havelock strong enoegh for
anything. He drives them like sheep as it is, but the
punishment of these fiends is -the thing that will take
time ; the Government is too mild, the authorities in
C ticutta still patter and hurnbue.
"The rising was a Mussulman plot, aided by the
Brahmins ; religion bad nothing to do with it beyond
their hatred for us IC:ars. The Nena was animated by
Ipersonal pique. - Government orders spoiled our rev-
' meats in making officers fools and men insolent. Go-
vernment actually the last few years have been con-
stantly asking the Sepoys to dictate to them, forbidding
havildars' or naicks' being punished, allowing appeals
against commanding officers'*lightest punishments, and
asking the men, whose hair has been cut for 20 years, if
se-ing the Sikhs with long hair isn't likely to raise
mutiny in their elegant bosoms."

" August 2.
"You'll see by the papers that the Dinapore brigade
have mutinied ; they are on the road to Sasseram. The
whole thing was disgracefully mismanaged, and
ought to:be hung. After the men had shown-a mutinous
spirit he sent a message that he wanted their percussion
caps, instead of sending the 10th Foot to disarm them.
Fenwick, commanding the 10,:h, pointed out the neces-
sity, but the stupid incapable- woaldn't see. The evil of
it is, besides a few more murders in the district (that
we're used to), that the troops that should be reinforcing
Havelock are now wanted to clear the Grand Trunk
Road and punish these fellow,. Havelock carries all
before him, and has taken 64 guns elreaciy, Having
only 1,500 with him, there will be a narrow
thing of it to reinforce him in time. Humanly
speaking, if he gets reinforced by the sth and
90th soon, all will go well enough till yon comfortable
people at home send some 20,000 ; but if things go
wrong in these parts and delay his reinforcements Agra
will go yet. We disarmed the remnant of the 12th h-
ie gulars here last night, and the wing of the 25th Native
Infantry, just arrived, is to be disarmed. The district
here is quiet, but there are so many mutineers between
As and Calcutta and Oude-wards, that some sort of
scrimmage in the neighbourhood is likely. Holmes's
c elm of Irregulars mutinied and cut him and the doctor
and their wives into bits. This shows what bosh' it is
talking of penalty of officers, or want of soldierly know-
ledge on their part. Holmes's corps was acknowledged
by all bands to have been the most perfect body of light
horse in the.world, and Holmes, like poor Fisher, only
lived for his men, and loved them—see the result !
"It is an implacable hatred to us as a nation, the
timid policy of a Government who tolerate and cherish
i !olatry and Mahornedanism, and rather persecute their
having any religion
)int natives to advance
prejudices ,tvleeiern religion,seasking invariably
y thdeiisrclaaci
toss
prejudices and find grievances, degrading their officers,
and talking of Black Acts and sending natives to Par-
liament wed making civilians of them, the Commander-
in-Chief taking 20 petitions a-day against commanding
aficers, begging the Jacks to find out that they ought
to mutiny because their beards, shaved without a mur-
mur for 40 years, are shaved still. These things, pant-
pering thOSepoys, and above all the breaking out of a
the same to the editor of theots
tlohnisg-reohwe,riasnhdedifMyuouss,dulmhiannt
tpht , are the real causes et
7 intes you'd be an useful member of society. Just heard
that the loyal (I) brigade of Sepoys are making along
thies
mGaannaggees , If Lloyd does not
mdavHinagvethloeckr°gadet4sOmpeonre men we shall go on
swimmingly ; nothing will prevent our final success, but
things are very critical just now. This station is the
safest in Lower India, I think ; some rows may happen,
ant we are one of the safest positions in the country.
We are making no end of fine entrenchments at Raj
Ghat—it's the strongest natural position I ever saw.
" August 3.
" Just come back from Raj Ghat. Three 18 pounders
and two '24 pounders just arriving from Chunar, and
ditto and some mortars to come from Allahabad. We
have just heard very bad news. Havelock is obliged to
suspend his advance. He says he has only 760 effective
men left. As it is imp ossibl3 that he can be reinforced
from this side for a fortnight it is a regular fix. Both
his force and Lucknow 1 ink very fishy. If it had not
been for General —_-'s fatuous iuiotcy strong 'reinforce-
ments would have been past Allahabad already. J
really should not wonder if diet Dinapore folly does not
end by 1 .sing Lucknow, Havelock, and Agra. Five or
six of the mutineers of the Sikh corps here (drill men)
were discovered, through the evidence of the Sikhs who
remained faithful, to be in the Benares Rajah's service.
A. court-martial is sitting now, and they skill be hanged
no doubt. Toe Nab has been intriguing and is under
surveillance. We reinforced Chunar last night ; the
fellows Nese(' our bungalow singing one of the most
ringing English-sounding choruses you coul I imagine.
Is drives one savage to think of —'s perilling Have-
-1 Eck by, his idiotic belief in the three Sepoy carps ; they
aro now hemmed in by the detachment of the sth Fusi-
leers and two guns, who went to Buxar by steamer,
lAnded and w nt down the road, and the 10th Iron Dina-
pore coming up; but whel-,hsr they will not get away by
a cross road which exists is I fear a probable contingency.
They killed the collector of Arrah, and 50 Sikhs who
were his guard. Here we shall be impregnable, worst
come to the worst, but I am very anxious to know about
higher up. If they coield only take Delhi Ilavzl•ck
inight be relieved. More news just ir. The detach-
eient from Divapora came on the rebels. They—i.e.,
our fellows, had no advance guard or flinkeri ; they
came suddenly on a wall: up jumped the Sepoys and
irlazeil into them. Out of 300 two-thirds were hersele-
hombat. By this volley 80 were kiiled, and 3 officers,
and the remaining 100 barely got away with tbeir
wounded to a steamer. Somehow the brutes had got
,uns ; in Arrab, probably, hid beforehand. They have
nuhelered all the Europeans in Arrah, and the worst of
it is that the detachment from Buxar wilt fall into
be trap tae, for there is no way of warning them. Have-
leek will get no reinforcements and will be driven back.
Fenwick, of the 10th Queen's, has taken command of
Dinapnre. We are working like mad in getting our
toms, Sec., down to Raj Ghat. It is my private opinion
that this place and Allahabad stand a chance of beteg
toe only two places in our oceepetion between Calcutta
end the Puujeb, unless that Delhi force does something
quick. I have.no fear of the ultimate result, of course,
,or I believe God does not mean us to lose the country,
but we are very shaky just now. The Grand Trunk
• cad is all up, so I try this by B nnbay. It is a most
,pravidential thing we began to fortify 10 days ago, and
have Pat Stewart and Limond and a first-rate civil engi•
neer, Piddie, here. Jenkinson, the
joiet magistrate, too,
is a trump ; he drills lihitneutgars in boots, it is true,
bat the style of his recruits has nothing to do with him.
He works like a horee, and is always ready to !go 20
n s, and scuttle boats, or anything else where dash is
wanted."