New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-21

The wsr in Indis is gradually passing into
that stage Of desultory guerrilla warfare, to
which, more than once, We have pointed - its
next impending and most dangerous phase Of do
yelopment The insurgent armies, after their sue
oessiye defeats in pitched battles and in the defense
of towns and entrenched camps, gradually dissolve
| into smaller bodies Of from two TO six or eight
thousand men, acting, to certain degree, ndepend.
emily Of each other, but always ready to unite for
short expedition against any British detachment
which may be surprised sinsly. The abandonment
of Bareilly without blow, after having drawn the
active field force of Sir C. Campbell some eighty
miles away from Lucknow, was the turning point
in this respect for the main army Of the insurgents;
the abandonment Of Calpee had the same sigoif-
cance for the second great body Of natives. In
either case the last defensible centrab.se Of opera
tions was given up, and the warfare of an army
thereby becoming impossible, the insurgents made
eccentric retreats by separating into smaller bodies
Theee movable columns require ne large town for
a central base of operations They can find means
of existence, Of re. equipment and Of recruitment
in the various districts in which they move; and
small town or large village as center Of reorgAn-
ization may be as valuable to each Of them as Delhi
Lucknow, or Calpee to the larger armies. BY
this change the war loses much of its interest; the
| movements of the various columns Of insurgents
cannot be followed up in detail AID appear confused
in the accounts; the operations Of the British COM
manders, to great extent, escape criticism, from
the unavoidable Obscurity envelopng the premises
on which they are based; success or failure re-
main the only criterion, and they are certainly Of
all the most deceitfuI.
This uncertainty respecting the movements of the
natives il already very great. After the taking OF
Lucknow, they retreated eccentrically-some
south. east, some north east, some northwest
The latter were the stronger body, and were fol-
lowed by Campbell into ROhilcund. They had
concentrated and reformed at Bareilly; but when
the British came up, they abandoned the place
without resistance and again retreated in different
directions Particulars of these different lines Of re-
treat are not known. We only know that portion
went toward the bills on the frontiers of Nepaul,
while one or more columns appear to have marched
in the oppo,ite direction, toward the Ganees and
the Doab (the country between the Ganges and the
Jumna). No sooner however, had Campbell oc-
cuped Bareilly, than the insurgents, who had re-
treated in an easterly direction effected junction
with some bodies on the Dude frontier and fell
upon ShabjehanpOre where small British garrison
had been left; while further insurgent columns
were Fastening in that direction. Fortunately for
the garrison, Brigadier Jones arrived with re-
endorsements as early as the 1lth Of Msy, aud de-
feaed the natives; but they, too. were REINFORCED
by the columns concentrating on Shahjehanpore,
and again invested the town on the 18th. On this
day, Campbell, leaving garrison in BareIy,
marched to its relief but it was not before the oath
of May that he attacked them and drove them back,
the various columns of insurgents which had CO.
operated in this maneuver again dispersing in diff
ferent directions.
While Campbell was thus engaged on the from
tiers of Rohilcund, Gen. Hope Grant marched his
troops backward and forward in the South Of Dude,
without any result, except losses to his own force
by fatigue under an Indian Summers sun. The in.
surgents were too quick for him. They were
everywhere but where he happened to look for
them, and when he expected to find them in
front, they had long since asain gained his rear.
Lower down the Ganges Gen. Lugard was occu
pied with chase after . similar shadow in the dis
trict between Dinapore, Jugdispere and BuxM.
The natives kept him constantly on the move, and,
sfter drawing him away from Jugdespsre all at
once fell upon the garrison of that place. Lugard
returned, and telegram reports his having gained
victory on the 96th. The identity Of the tactics
of these insurgents with those of the Dude and Ro-
hilcund columns is evident. The victory gained BY
LuRard will, however, scarcely be of much i'm
portance. Such bands can afford to be beaten
good many times before they become demoralized
and weak.
Thus, by the middle Of May, the whole insurgent
force of Northern India had given up warfare on
large scale, with the exception Of the army of
Calpee. This force in comp pArstively short time,
had organized in that town complete center of
operations; they had provisions, powder and other
stores in prdusion, plenty of guns, and even foun
deres a1d musket manufactures. Though within
25 miles Of Cawnpore, Campbell had left them IN
molssted; he merely observed them BY force on
the Doab or western side of the JumnA. Generals
| Rose and Whitock had been on the march to
Calpee for long while; at last Rose arrived and
defeated the insurgents in q series Of engagements
in front Of Calpee. The observing force on the
other aide of the Jumna in the mean time, had
shelled the town and fort, and suddenly the in
surgents evacuated both breaking up this their last
large army into independent columns. The roads
taken BY them are not at all clear, from the &C.
counts received we only know that some have
| gone into the Doab, and others toward Gwalior.
Thus the whole district from the HimAlays to the
Bihar ard vindhya mountains. and from Gwalior