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    TSTo/394 OcroBEii 10,1857.] THE LEADER. ...

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    The Indian Revolt. > No Further News Dir...

    been perpetrated as have been ^ committed h * re and J > y Semen we fed « nd were kind to . Nearly eighty men 2 w > teen bun & and nearly one thousand k i lled in the district We are strongly fortified here , and do not fear anattack from any number . Delhi has not fallen , but thousands hare been killed .,. 'Our men cannot be restrained , and they are like demons let loose . We have had more than twenty thousand men attacking three thousand or four "thousand , and they have fled losing hundreds . Five hundred men at Agra tbrashed five thousand , the mutineers being entrenched , and having twelve guns playing round shot and shell . They cannot stand our charge for a moment ; eighteen gentlemen mounted ( all tho cavalry we had on this occasion ) , cheeked five hundred cavalry , and these are but two out of hundreds of instances of gallantry displayed all over the country .- ' -This has saved us , by God's mercy . . . .

    " The Hindoos . and Mussulmans quarrel , and the Hindoos reproach tliem and say , ' This is all your fault . ' H " o matter ; we care not . We only know their lives are forfeited , and that not one shall be spared . Many innocent may be killed , but they have brought the curse' on themselves . Think of their cutting up children before a father ' s eyes and putting the pieces in his mouth , and putting other babies alive into boxes and burning them ! " Would any one believe this ? Acts like this produce such as tie following : —The Highlanders and others passed through Cawupore the other day , where those brutal murders had leen committed , and they killed every native they could find . And they did but justice , for all were implicated . They either helped or remained passive . Columns will be formed to move about all over the country , and the Sepoys will be hunted down like beasts .

    " We have a corps here of mounted volunteers , in number about thirty—gentlemen , a few officers , and tradesmen . Tliey went out not long ago against three thousand Goojurs , people of the villages near here ; they killed a great many , cut off the head of their leader , and stuck it on a pole . They are soon put to flight , their dread of the ' gora log , ' or white people , is so great . They are armed with matchlocks ; spears , and swords . "

    MUSSOUREE . A ; lady , writing from . Mussouree on August 9 tli , says : — " "We are very busy working flannel clothes for our army before Delhi . They are very badly off for these things , and being so much exposed at sucb a season of the year , and in such a proverbially unhealthy Iocalit 3 ' and fighting as they have done so nobly , they really deserve to be provided for by us . "

    DELHI . An artillery officer , under date Calcutta , August 23 rd , supplies -some information as to the dissensions among the mutineers at Delhi : — " The mutineers at Delhi are on their last legs ; they are quarrelling among th emselves , and have been dreadfully defeated every time they have come out . They axe now entirely surrounded , and are begging for mere } ' , -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 nativ-ca now say ? With every advantage on their side , they having chosen their own time , and having succeeded in taking us entirely unawares , and the whole army , with very few exceptions , having united to expel us , they find us still able -with a few troops not only to keep but to win back the countr } -, e / en before the home reinf ' orcements shall have arrived . The Sepoys have often said that they had won and kept the country for us . Noiv they see their mistake . It haB been proved over and over again that 10 0 Europeans "will easily beat 1000 natives , even those disciplined and taught by ourselves . " The anticipations with respect to winning back the country before the home reinforcements arri-ved ¦ w ere a little over-sanguine . Another artillery officer writes from , the camp before Delhi on the 13 th of August : —

    Our position hero id certainly by nature a wonderfully secure one . Providence lms assisted us in every Way ; from tlw beginning the weather lias been most propitious , and in cantonments I have noveT seen troops so health y as they are hero now . Cholera occasionally Pays us a visit , but that inust always be expected in a largo standing camp . The river Jumna completely prowets our lort front and flank , while the large jlieel ^ watercourse ) which rmia away to the south-west is at line season quite impnsHablc for miles , and provents any mrpnso on our right flank so that a few cavalry are

    sufli-, t ns ft guard for three faces of our position , and wo wo consequen tly enable < l to devote our wliolo force to ° 1 > front from surprise ; but to do tliis whenever abl « Rttacke ( l in miy forcG takes almost every aviulenem a " '" Camp > At a moder « t ° calculation , the [ run "l " mimtor n ° w nearly 40 , 000 men , besides Li ! . UMll mItC ( l » an « they certainly work them well : iwnu " UlUl T IlIso fi K l * t well , but their cavalry , both notllin " > , UTe K ular » a- ™ " » t worth sixpence , they do

    imiBi ^ V ' - 11 the inf - antl T regiments hero tho most distin-Ghoorl 18 - * COthUi < l <*; thoynml tho gallant little of t ! i Ul Sirmora Battalion have Imruo tho brunt conJ Yi I" nffnir ' nn < 1 »» fforod fearfully ; after them 410 tno l » t Puailicra and tho Guides . Thin morning

    we surprised a battery they had recently erected rather too near to our pickets , and in such a positio-n that our heavy guns could not bear on it , so it was decided to carry it by assault . The 1 st Fusiliers and Coke ' s Punjab Rifles ( also a fine corps ) did the business well , each regiment capturing two guns . We always suffer immensely in officers . A third of our number have been killed or wounded in the two months , besides which cholera has carried off several ; however , we shall soon bring the business to an end . .... " I only trust all the women and children , will have been removed £ b y the time the city is takenJ , for , once inside , few will be spared- It will be an extraordinary day for those that see the end of it , if the Paddies only wait to fight ; but I sometimes think the greater part will be off with the plunder they have got , and we shall have to follow them up somewhere else . "

    FESHAWUB . An officer serving in the Punjab writes from Peshawur , July 21 : — " You will be glad to learn by this mail that , though risings have taken place in many parts of ^ India since my last , here we have been tolerably quiet , with the exception of the force at Fort Mnckisore , which made overtures to the hill tribes , and were discovered intriguing by our indefatigable Commissioner , Colonel Edwardes . As soon as lie heard what was going on , he told the negotiators in the hills to ask the Sepoys of the fort to give them a written promise to deljver up the fort . Then he had them ; and one night , with a considerable body of cavalry and two guns of the mountain train , under my friend

    Colonel S . s old adjutant , Captain is ., off he started for the fort , halted half way , and sent a body of one hundred and fifty men by another road , so that they might get to the rear of the fort by the grey of early dawn . These arrangements , cleverly made and well executed , enabled him to surprise the mutineers . The Colonel arrived before the fort before daybreak , and had the pleasure -of hearing the neighing of his cavalry horses on the other side just as he reached the place . They were taken aback , and , being called upon , laid down their arms . The chief negotiator , a havildar , was at that very time in the hills , and when the roll was called was missing . He was shortly after brought in by the hill chief , and , two days after , blown awav from a gun . "

    NYNEE TAL . The following ( dated August 5 th ) is from an officer at Nynee Tal : — " Since I'wrote yesterday , news has come that-the Hindoos have risen against the Mahometans and seized Moradabad and the guns there , and that they have also split and are ready to go at one another ' s throats in Bareilly . The Mahometans have been oppressing the Hindoos terribly , and the worm has turned . The Hindoos are numerous enough to win the day if they are staunch . " They are also very well affected to us (« it least in . this neighbourhood ) , and liave been sending us constant messages to come back again , which we should have done if we had had anv force here at all—I mean even

    two available field guns and two hundred or three hundred 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 longtime . The religious split will spread everywhere like wildfire — into Delhi itself in all probability ; and , whichever loses , Hindoo ot Mahometan , we ought to win . It also mak « s us at Nynee Tal quite secure from any attack , for some time to come at any rate . I have sent a copy of this letter to my mother . ' * That there Bias been much henrt-hurning between the Hindoos and Mahometans , is quite certain ; but it does not seem to have gone to the extent anticipated by the writer .

    DEESA . Some interesting particulars are communicated by an officer in u letter to his mother , dated August 18 th : — " The detachment of my regiment of two hundred and fifty men which was sent to Nusseerubad ( tho very sink of mutiny ) has mutinied . The facts were these : —After they had received their pay , Captain Holbrow , who Avaa commanding them , heard tho bugle blow the alarm for tho troops in garrison to assemble . So ho commanded our men to fall in , which they did without ai murmur . There he left them while ho went to tho brigadier for orders . Ono of the Bombay Lanoers ( 1 st ) had before ridd « n to our lines in a state of fanaticism , being stimulated by bhang and other things , and told our men that

    tho . Horn bay lat Lancers had mutinied , and taken possession of the guns , and that if they were commanded to mnr « h to the artillery lines not to obo } -, as the guns would bo turned upon lUem . As firing wa « heard near tho guns , our men believed it , and when Captnin Holbrow came buck with the brigadier ' s orders to march to the artillery linea our m « n refused to move , and , notwithstanding all his assurances that it was all aafe , only three would move out of the two hundred and fifty . Hoi brow sent bnck to the brigadier and told liim that his men wore in a Btnte of mutiny , ao lio ordered down <> i > u hundred men or the Hilrrt ltogimmtt to tho guns , under Lieutenant Bwanaon of the I lor . so Artillery , to our linea , Of course it was all a lio of this man of tho Lancers that th < vy bad mutinied and token tho guiifl . But whilo liolbro > v was away this man of the Lancers camu back to

    our men and tried to fall the Europeans when they came up Rut Swansea shot him with a pistol , and one hundred and three of our men were disarmed . The worst part * f the matter is that they were all found with their muskets loaded , which certainly looks very 8 usp . icious but xt is alleged they loaded them in self-defence against the Lancers . Our men here ( three hundred and fiftvi are staunch . " J '

    ME MASSACRE AT CA . WNPORE . The following has been received from a lady at Cawnpore : — " Cawnpore , May 27 . " Dearest F ., —It is not yet the mail day , nor will be for some days , but I am induced to write while the dak is open to . Calcutta , and we are still able to communicate , lest fresh difficulties should encompass us , . and you should he left without a notion of tie events of these days . ' It is a sad history . We are living in awful realities , and we cannot see the end of tbem . We were apparently safe and quiet here till the 21 st , when the 2 nd Cavalry began to show symptoms of uneasiness , and intelligence was given that a rising of the native troops ¦

    was in contemplation that night . Mr . H ¦ , the magistrate and collector , brought his wife and children in to us in the afternoon , and we agreed all to remain together . Up to this time , no suspicion having been entertained of the troo ps' loyalty , no preparations for defence had been made . Now , however , all were astir . The General ( Sir Hugh Wheeler ) telegraphed to Lucknow for succour , the European barrack at the depot wa 3 assigned as a rendezvous , and some families went there for safety . We , however , determined to remain at our house untU . further alarms were given ; but Colonel E—— - said he would go and sleep in the midst of his tnen to show that he had confidence in them ; so we had only Mr . H ¦ to stay with us . Presently , about eleven

    o ' clock at night , he was called away to make some arrangement , so we thought it scarcely right to remain here alone . Accordingly , we took our little unconscious children out of their beds , and with the ayali 3 off we set in the carriage to the European barracks . There we found a number of refugees in a state of great alarm , of course , but for the mest part composed and resigned . It was a night of fearful suspense , yet it passed away without any disturbance , and I had the happiness of seeing my husband in the morning alive and well , and we went back to our house for the day . The danger had been imminent , but the posting of six guns in front of our barracks , the state of preparations we were getting into , and the move of the officers ( at least of two ) to

    sleep among their men , seemed to have checked the ardour of the mutinously disposed , and -they -put off , without abandoning , their evil design . The next day ( Friday ) was one full of agony and dread ; and the night was more than poor human nature , unassisted , could endure . When my husband left xne that night to go to his post , I never expected to see him ulive again , for some of his men had been overheard wildly talking of mutiny and murder , and had made a proposal to destroy their officers ! Colonel E himself had fully made up his mind that a death-stroke would be given , yet he flinched not an instant in the performance of his duty . I am happy to say we were preserved for that night again . I could scarcely believe that rny

    husband s voice sounded outside the tent ( for we had now arranged for a tent just outside the barrack for ourselves ) . After that miserable night , the Saturday following seemed like heaven , for wo went to our house and spent the day quietly there—at least with such quietness as was possible with the most terrible rumours coming in throughout the day and reviving all our saddest apprehensions . Of course we returned to the depot at night , and , for the firat time since our move , exhausted nature would be attended to , and I fell asleep for somo hours , and for a time shut out all the horrid realities of our situation . All Sunday was pretty quiet . The Eede came oil * that day and the next , when , it was expected that an outbreak would occur . It did not « o , however , and on Monday morning our iniuds were

    somewhat reassured by all they Mussulmans of the lat Regiment coming in a body according to custom to salaam to Colonel E after their prayers , And they expressed tliieir intentions of fidelity , & c , all of which are very well , hut not to bo depended on novr-a-days . W « returned to thoso melancholy -night-quarters ; oh I such a scene . Men , ofliccrs , women , and children , beds , and chairs , all mingled together inside and outside tho barrack ; some talking or even laughing , some very frightened , some defiant , others despairing . Three guns in front of our position , and three behind , and a trench in course of formation all round . Such sickening sights for peaceful women , and the mincrable reflection that all tills gh * stly ahow is caused not by open foes , but by the treachery of those wo have fed and pampered and honoured and trusted in for so many years .

    . . . It is not hard to die onoeelf , but to hoc u dear child flutter and perish , that in the hard , tlio bitter triul , and tho cup which I must drinlc , should <» od not deem it lit that it should pnRH from irko . My companion , Mm . H— , ia delightful ; poor young thing ! fihe Iiuh such a gontlo spirit , bo unmurmuring , bo donirouB to moot the trial rightly , « o unHclfirth and rs weet in every way . Her hurtband ia an oxoellont man , and of course very much oxposed to < lanK « r , ulino . it an much as mine . Slio has two children , and wo fuel that our duty to our little

    Tsto/394 Ocrobeii 10,1857.] The Leader. ...

    TSTo / 394 OcroBEii 10 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER . ^^ 963

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 10, 1857, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10101857/page/3/