American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1857-09-25

sitting before TINS city, ana do not Know
what the plans of the compaign are
whether We are to wait for tho rein.
forcements expected up from the south,
or 10 attack the place and take it by
assault. Tho latter ought to have been
adopted number of days ago. but 4
think The, former plan iskhe one that wiH
be pursued; and if tho European troops
which are said To be marching up, ale
near. undoubtedly it will be the wiser
plan.
mo, one Hindostanee can be trusted
The Sikhs and Ghoorkas (bill men,
chiefly from Nepaul as well as tho
PunJabee irregular troops, are the on.
~ natives. we can trust. and they are
fighting tight manfully by our sidei but
they are not numerous, and our Euro
pean soldiers not many. as our force is
the Reserve Amy of ludia.' We are
however, well off in the field artillery,
about 81 or SO field guns, manned by
Europeans, also good number ofFoot-
Aiu!lcrymen, consisting of about $500
men, 2,400 of whom are Europeans,
the rest natives of the class above mem
toned. There have been great ma.
ny skirmishes since | last wrote--in-
deed, the average is two or three week.
The sepoys are great hands at conceal.
ing themselves well under cover, but if
you catch thea on tho open grounds are
great towards.
"The sh Irpes fight we have yet had
was on the 23d of June. This was the
Tooth anniversary ofthe battle Of Plas.
soy, and tho day predicted for the ter
mination of our rule in India. They
fought from half past 5 p. NJ, till half
past p NJ. and lost great many men
700 or 500 at least On our side there
were about $50 killed and wounded
more than we can spare. There WIS
another sharp skirmish on the 9th an
other on tho 4ih inst, and again on the
9th, on which last occasion the mulin-
GERS were well punished. They had
made themselves quite drunk with ma.
tive drug called 'blang,' and conse.
quently were more Courageous than u
sual, and charged our men two and three
times at one of our batteries. A small
party of the Goth Rifles killed in one
spot so men, and 60 men of the Guides
| of Corps killed 80 in another. Alto.
ge,her they must have lost that day
! about GOO men.
"Wo have been quiet stree, but are
on the lookout daily for another attack.
Their custom is when party of mutt.
tineers from another station como to Join
their Delhi brethren, to make them 90
out and fight before they admit them
| into the city. Those who once fight
do not like to do so a second time. They
are however. very numerous within Del
bi-about $4,000 men. Long before
this l hoped to have told you of the fall
OF Delhi. We must have patience, how.
ever. We have lost a great many men
and officers since the commencement of
the outbreak on the 10th of May by
sickness and by the enemy, TO say moth
ing of the barharous massacre of help.
less men, women and childlcn in isola.
ted stations. .a
81 am most anxious about F and
A.. of the 1st Cavalry. a portion of
which is now at Mhow. 1t has mulini.
ed in another station and n as possibly
done the came at Mhow. God protect
them both Every mail that goes home
must bear sorrow TO many hear. For
such risks, soldiers take service; but
the horrible part is the murder Of wo.
men and children. Iadia a0iU he no place
for 'oomen for tie nertt,oO or Mree gears.
| may be wrong, but fancy tie present
campaign sciU not be concluded before
March or april. five get over The
hot weather, all right it will be pleas
at enough moving about after these Sc
poys. but at present the climate is rath-
er trying, and after day spent on duty
one feels quite knocked up; but as
said before, | never felt better. hope
the government will not delay in sond-
ing US out troops; 10000 ought to be
sent out, and as many as possible ihro'
Egypt by the overland route. The
whoIe OF India is in a critical state
Troops from Malta and Gibraltar might
be pushed on"
r. TIE AFFAIR AT AGRA.