The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-25 00:00:00

with a party of the Bengal Police Battalion attached to
the European attachment, likewise accompanies for sub-
raission.

Captain Harrison to the Assistant-Adjutant-General-
Dinapore.

Dinapore, July 31, 1857.
Sir,—lt is wit much concern I have to report, for the
infcrmation of the Major-General commanding division,
on the following occurrence connected with the expedition
to Arrah, for the purpose of relieving the European inha-
bitants at that station.
A 3 o'clock p.m. of the 20th inst. the steamer carrying
detachments as per margin,* arrived off the point of de-
barkation, about 3 miles from the mainland. The party
of Sikhs were detached, and shortly afterwards reached
the shore for the purpose of seizing boats to enable the de.
tachnients to pass over. On arriving there, under the com-
mand of Lieat. Ingilby, 7th Native Infantry, the party
were fired upon by some of the rebels posted on the spot to
prevent the seizure of the boats by us. These, however, we
landed, after some shots were fired in direction, and after
about three hours and a half the passage was accom-
plished.
Having formed, the detachments commenced their march
towards Arrah at 7 o'clock p.m., and, with the exception
of a few shots being fired at the Sikhs thrown out on our
flacks, we reached without opposition a bridge distant
from Arrah about one mile and a half. This was the
place where I had represented to Captain Dunbar the ex-
pediency of halting until daylight; to which he replied he
bad heard from the magistrate of the improbability of our
=toting with any opposition; he thought it was preferable
to push on.

After advancing from the bridge about half an hour, wo
were assailed, from the embankment of a wood on the
right of the road, by a large body of the rebels firing about
30 yards distance on the flank of the column, which at once
did severe execution, and was followed up by a continued
running fire, which caused great destruction among offi-
ten and men. Here, I believe, Captain Dunbar fell.
The men endeavoured to gain shelter on the other side
of the road, but it being quite dark, they fell down a steep
embankment (about six feet), and many men lost their
firelocks. After straggling for some distance, the officers
succeeded in re-forming the men in a field some 400 yards
from the ambuscade, and took up a position for the night
(it was then about midnight, and very dark), in a field ad-
joining, which seemed to afford some protection. Here we
remained until daylight, the rebels keeping up a fire during
the night on our position.
We then commenced our retreat towards the steamer, 12
miles distant. Inconsequence of the men of both regiments
having fastedsuch a long time:they were too exhausted an
tired to act as skirmishers. However, our rear-guard and
files on the flanks frequently kept up a fire until all their
ammunition was expended, by which time we arrived at
the bank of the river. We were compelled to march in
column, the rebels pursuing us in large bodies the whole
distance to the gkauts, both on flank and rear; but their
fire visibly slackened the last two miles. The rebels, it was
supposed, were running short of ammunition, and wished
to reserve it.

On our arriving at the ghants, notwithstanding the ef-
fors of the officers, the men made a rash to the boats ;
immediately upon which the rebels advanced upon us, and
commenced a heavy firs of musketry and two guns upon
the boats, which were forsaken by the boatmen. This
caused great loss, and one fired one of the boats.
The remnants of the detachment gained the steamer,
which I immediately ordered to Dinapore, to gain assist-
ance for the wounded.

The loss we Inflicted on the rebels I believe to be small,
on account of tho darkness, and the men being too ez
hansted to fire.

The people of the country turned out against us.—l
hay., &c.

R.;;.P. HARRISON, Captain,
Commanding detachment of her Majesty's
37th Regiment.

Lieutenant Waller to the Assistant-Adjutant-General,
Dinapore.

Dinapore, July 31, 1857.
Sir,—l have the honour to report, for the information of
the Major-General commanding the station, that, hearing
on the evening of the 29th, that a party of her Majesty's
10th Regiment was ordered to proceed to Arrah, I volun-
te, red to accompany them. We started from here at day-
light on the 30th. in the steamer , and proceeded
np the river to where the flat attached to the Government
steamer Horungotta was, and took her in tow, with a
party of her Majesty's 37th Regiment, and 50 Sikhs of
Captain Rattery's police corps on board ; the steamer Ho-
rn ,gosta being on board.
We then proceeded to Beharee-Ghant and anchored,
Lent. [lngilby, 7th Native Infantry, then gave me com-
mand of the 50 Sikhs ; Ensign Anderson, 22d Native In-
fahtry, and Ensign Venonr, of my own regiment, volun-
teering to do duty with me.
Lieut. Ingilby then proceeded, with 15 men, Sikhs of
the 7th and Bth Nativelnfantry, whom he had taken from
here with him to a nullah about. two miles off, for the
purpose of seizing the boats to cross the detachment.
About twenty minutes after Lieut. Ingilby had left, I
heard shots in the direction of the nullah, and immedi-
ately started with my fifty men ; but when I got up to
the place the firing had stopped, except a few shots which
were fired to stop the boat that was sailing up the river,
although desired to stop. Lieut. Ingilby then crossed the
nnith with his fifteen men, leaving me on the other side.
I then sent off one of my men to Captain Dunbar, to
tell him we needed no assistance, hoping I should be in
time to prevent his coming with his detachment, who were
cooking when I left ; but they had got about half-way
before my messenger reached them. Upon the arrival of
the 10th and 37th Regiments at the nullah, the order was
given to cross, which took up a long time, as the current
of the river was very strong, and the boats large and
heavy ; we had finished crossing by six o'clock p.m.,
an I then commenced our march—except that the
road was dreadfully uneven and very distressing to
the feet, we had no difficulties of any kind ; it was
a moonlight night, and the only armed men we saw
from the time we left the steamer until our arrival
at Arrah were the few men who fired at Lieutenant
Ingilby, and who were left (so the villagers said) by Baboo
Koowar Sing, to give him news as soon as we arrived,
which showed, with what occurred afterwatcle, that they
were well aware of the party having been sent against them.
We arrived in Arrah about 11 o'clock (it was then quite
de. le. as the moon had gone down), and were proceeding
quickly through the outskirts of the town in the following
order :—Lieut. Ingilby a short way a-head of the column
with his 15 men; then her Majesty's 10th, followed by my
Sikhs; and her Majesty's 37th brought up the rear; when,
in passing by a large tope of mango trees, which Lieu-
tenant Ingilby had passed without seeing or hearing any-
thing, we received a most dreadfully severe fire, which I
heard killed a good number of our men, who, not being
pr. pared, and the fire being so heavy and so very close to
111, ran off the road into the fields on the other side, and
frum thence commenced firing on the tope. I lost on the
road the native officer, a first rate fellow, who was shot
close to me, and also some men, but how many I do net
know, as we did not go near the place again. The men
were dreadfully scattered, and there was great difficulty in
collecting them ' • some did not join ns till the next day,
and others were dropping in all night. We then retreated
to another road, and lay down behind a small "
which rose along both sides of the road facing the topes in
which the rebels were, and which afforded a capital shelter
from the fire, which was kept up at short intervals all night,
It was after retreating to this band that Ensign Anderson
Atli killed ; poor fellow ! he was shot dead through the heart.
We remained here during the whole night, and at daylight
started back for the steamer, a distance of about 13 wiles.
We were followed in large numbers by the rebels ; the
mein body would not come within range, but they sent
out a great number of sepoys (picked shots, I fancy) right
an.l left, who took advantage of every tree and inequality
of the ground the whole way, and kept up, without the '
least cessation, a most severe fire on our column the whole
march—nearly all, or a great part, of their shot telling on
ns, whereas they were so much scattered, and au well
covered, that they did not suffer much loss ; however,
although we lost a great number of men, we arrived at the
gh ut with comparatively very little loss to what we ex-
pected.

When we arrived at the mulish we found a number of
large boats on this aide, into which the men immediately
rushed, and commenced trying to shove the boats across,
bir, most of them were aground, and the others were so
laree that the men could not manage them, and all the
boi tmen had been driven away by the sepoys; every time
a a an showed himself outside a boat he was fired at from
the village, whfch was close by, and at last the men gave
up altogether the idea of getting across in boats, and, tak-
ing off all their clothes, those that could swam across.
Upon getting down to tke nullala, Ensign Venour and I
got into the boat with some of the men, and while I was
shoving out the boat we tried with a rifle to shoot some of
the fellows who were making &mark of use. He knocked
over one, but unfortunately got shot himself immediately
aft. r through the thigh, and dropped. I tied up his leg
as well as I could, and getting some more help I succeeded
in vetting the boat off, but the fire was so hot, as they saw
a chance of our getting away from them, that I and four
men left the boat and swam ashore, being fired at the whole
way across. Ensign Venour also left the boat a short time
afterwards, and although wounded managed to swim
ash ire; the fire from the village the whole time was most
severe, killing and wounding a great number.
After those who could swim got away, the sepoys first
opened a most severe fire on the few who remained in the
boats that were aground, and after wounding most of the
men in them they all rushed down and set fire to the roof.
It was here that poor Lieut. Ingilby wee killed, and a
gre .t number of wounde.l, who had been carried so far,
e obliged to be left ; a few escaped in a small boat in
which some Sikhs took some wounded officers across (En-
sign Erskine amongst others) whom they brought for above
ruihs on a bed, procured in a village. They icurned a
leveed time with the boat, indespite of the fire.
Nothing could be better than the way in which the
Sikhs behaved from the time I got command of them ; they
imai!e themselves extremely useful in every way, and were
always cool, steady, and under perfect control.---I am, &e.,
H. WALLER, Lieutenant,
40th Regiment Native Infantry.