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Leader (1850-1860), 13th March 1858, Edition 1 of 1, Page 245

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      other batteries , six and seven hundred yards in advance , wS constructed . That nearest the walls was armed with two 18-pounders and two S-inch howitzers . The bombardment commenced on the 21 st , and continued with increasing vigour as our batteries came into operation . A mortar battery was now advanced to within three hundred yards of the wall . r ™ P »» £ . ** breaching , with a view to an immediate assault , began on the 23 rd . Meanwhile , the storm which prevailed over the greater part of India descended with terrible fur ? in Rajpootana . The night was p . tchy dark , the wind blew a hurricane , the rain poured in torrents , and the thunder and lightning overmatched the roar ana the the

      blaze of our artillery . In the midst of tempest , enemy managed to escape , despite the chain of posts of infantry and cavalry which had been drawn so carefully round that it seemed almost impossible to evade them . Their flight was first discovered by a portion of H . M . s 95 th , concealed in rifle-pits within forty yards of the wall . The defence , considering the inadequacy of their weapons , was on the whole an obstinate one , an incessant but very ineffective fire having been kept up upon us from the first , which failed to occasion a single death casualty . About one hundred and seventy prisoners were taken , of whom twenty-five were executed ; sixteen guns , the whole of the park , with a large quantity of ammunition , stores , grass , and grain , fell into our hands . " STATE OF MEERTJT . The writer of a letter from Meerut , dated January 11 th , says : — " We continue in a very disorganized state up here , being continually threatened by the immense body of rebels still in arms in Rohilcund . As yet , the Commander-in-Chief has not been able to get up so far . The last report received states that lie had just reoccupied Futtehghur , the mutineers having retreated towards Bareilly as our men advanced We shall doubtless see Sir Colin up this way . The Bengal Artillery has lost since the outbreak , by killed and dead , forty-two officers and two hundred aud ninety-three men . We are all very indignant up here just now . Government will give us no prize-money for Delhi . They have laid hands on about fifty-three lakhs the prize agents had got together , and offer us six months' batta . Mine ( a sergeant in the Bengal Artillery ) will come to thirty-eight rupees . It cost me four times that for clothes during the campaign . "

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      NAVAL LETTERS FROM CHINA . If . M . S . , Canton River , Jan . 13 . Here : I am back again—all right , safe , and sound . Canton is taken and the Naval Brigade broken up . We were heartily tired of it , having been fifteen days on shore , only returning yesterday evening . The first two or three days were very jolly , but since that they have been moving us about the town , ending with tents on the southern wall . But I suppose } 'ou want a fuller account , which I will endeavour to give you when these beggars knock off making a row and go up to smoke . . . All quiet now , so I will write you a yarn about Canton .

      At 9 . 30 A . M ., on the 28 th of December , we went on board the Bustard gunboat with the Nankins , and proceeded up the river—the bombardment , which we could hear quite plainly , having commenced at daylight . We picked up various vessels' boats on our way , and about 11 . 30 came in sight of Canton . It was on fire in two places , and huge volumes of smoke rising from them quite obscured the view . " We saw to the westward immense numbers of boats crossing and recrossing the r iver from Canton to the opposite side , conveying the population out of the city . We rounded Howqua ' s tea stores on the north-west corner of Honan Island , and passed along the river front of the city , cheering and being cheered by the English and French ships , which

      were ranged along in line about two hundred yards apart , peppering into the devoted city . The fire was not so heavy as I expected , as orders were given to fire slowly , so as not to tiro the men out before the proper time . About 12 . 80 we passed tlie Dutch Folly , where the mortars were placed , and thence by the Mosquito fleet , until , about two o ' clock , we got into a labyrinth of gunboats laden witli troops , and in half an hour disembarked at a spot opposite the north end of Kupor's Island , and immediately marched inland about two miles , where we halted to form And got all straightthe French being thrown out to the front , skirmishing and clearing the ground . About 3 . 30 wo nil advanced ,

      the Naval Brigade on tho right supported by n battalion of Marines , French on the left , mid tliu soldiers in the centre—Colonel llollowny ' u Urigudo of Marines covering the communications and rear . Shortly after tho advance , I had to go buck with a dctuchmciit to bring up the' -Bparo'nmmnuitionv— -When-I-gob-bttek , —I-fomul- » tho brigade ho far in udvuncu that it was impossible to oatoh it up without talcing a shorter cut , so I started oil ' for a cruise on my own hook . Wliou I had gono a little way , I learned that the 60 th wore attacking Fort Liu , a amall redoubt within a mile of tho walla ; ho I thought I might as well go there as anywhere else , and when I got within a fow hundred yards oi' tho place , I loarnod that Lieutenant Haoket , of tho 60 th , had been surnriHcd

      while knocking about by himself and had his head taken off . By this time Fort Lin had fallen , and I thought 1 might as well go up there , as the shot and rockets were flying pretty thick about us , which was not comfortable , considering the slow pace we were obliged to move at , with our load . However , I succeeded in reaching a joss-house about a hundred yards from the said fort , where I found a company or two of Marines , who had just hung the fellow that killed poor Hacket to a tree outside this place ,

      where I passed him swinging about in the wind , with a Chinese placard attached to him stating his offence . I left my men under cover of this place and proceeded to Fort Lin to find some Big Wig for orders . As I went up the hill towards it , ' puff—bang ' and a cloud of smoke rises , head over heels go a lot of fellows , and the others run down the hill like maniacs . " Those treacherous scoundrels have blown the fort up , " thought I to myself . Not a bit of it ; the smoke clears away and there stands the fort intact ; it was only a quantity of powder collected outside the fort which some fellow had set fire to

      with his pipe or musket . Strange to say , no one was hurt , although numbers stood round it . On my arrival I found the Admiral had just come up , and having ascertained the position which it was intended we should occupy during the night , I started off with my load and crossed a bit of a valley for our intended bivouac , not more than half a mile off . One shot struck close to the Admiral , knocking the dirt in his flag-lieutenant ' s face . Nearly all the enemy ' s missiles went over , as they iire too high , so that in fact the rear is by far the most dangerous place . As I approached our position , I saw our brigade engaged with the enemy , a large party of whom had come out of the north-east gate , to drive us into the sea . I hastened on , and succeeded in reaching our ground just as our division took possession of . the hill .

      Fighting was still going on to the right , I therefore went to see the fun . As we went along the Cruisers came up ; thev had been delayed by carrying a 24-pound rocket tube , which now , however , became very useful . We halted on a small eminence and brought this article into play . Our fellows were on a range of hills parallel to the city walls , to the right of Fort Lin , and nearly opposite the north-east gate of the city , from which the enemy were pouring in bodies , one man in about every ten carrying a flag , and the others armed with jingals ( something between a gun and a musket , whicbTrequires two men to handle ; one supports it on his shoulder and the other aims and fires it ) , matchlocks ( a primitive kind of musket ) , and spear rockets ( which are something like large firework rockets with barbed spears attached to the

      points ) . As they came out of the gate they ran forward with most unearthly yells until they got within range of our rifles , when they dropped under cover , the coons with flags waving them to attract attention and draw the lire on them , then the firing party would run forward , dia charge their fire-arms , and get under cover again as quickly as possible ; however , we soon found out this dodge , and peppered them well . At length , finding we did not move with all these efforts , and I suppose not liking the life pills we sent them , they gathered up their traps and cut back to the city with remarkable agility . I understand this is the first time they ever advanced to attack us , always before acting on the defensive . We spent the night on the ground we then occupied , but without getting a wink of

      sleep , the bombardment continuing all night ; it was very pretty to watch the shells going up , up , up , then down whack into some house , and immediately afterwards exploding with a tremendous bang , and the rockets flying about in all directions . The enemy kept up a fire on our camp all night , but as usual all their shot and rockets passed a long way over . At four o ' clock next morning we ( tho 3 rd division only ) were on tho move ; wo marched out and formed very quietly in tho place below , and advanced silently towards a large josshouse within two hundred yards of the walls , and liulted close to it under cover of the ridge of a hill , so that they could not see us , and waited for daylight , when we threw out our skirmishers and opened fire on the place ) in a fow minutes we charged , and took the place , tho Chinamen running like wildfire . The thing was beautifully done , without the loss of a man . Wo put nil our packs , &c , in a room in this josshouue , and act to work about breakfast . About

      eight , the remainder of tho brigade arrived , with their Admiral and his staff , among whom was poor Captain Bate , who was scut down with a party of engineers to look out a plnco for placing tho scaling-ludders , and two or three companies of Marines were sent to keep up a iire on the walls . Presently the order camo for tho scaling-ladder party to go down to ttie front . I advanced with our party as close to tho walls n . 4 poHaiblu without exposing ourselves to their fire ( about one hundred yards ) . About this time a body of tlio- « inoi » yT- ( ulvnncod .. oa-oui '_ rlght _ J ( lanU , ^ aud _ tho _ ao « nmiudor of Marines ( our supporting battalion ) were dotnehed to drive thorn back , which they did in lino stylo . While wo were waiting witli tho ladders , poor Captain Unto wns knocked over . Ho was behind a small wall on tho counterscarp of tho ditch , reconnoitring , aud incautiously stood up to look over , whon immediately a ball hit him in tho chest . I believe ho diod in about half an hour . About twenty minutes to nine Captain

      Fellowes , of the Cruiser , who was in charge of all the ladders of our division , gave the order to advance , " Forward ! " and off we all started . I called out to our men to keep together , and ran on as hard as 1 could go , forgetting that the ladders could not go quite so fast . However , I found somebody else ' s ladder being shoved down the counterscarp of the ditch , so I immediately slid' down it to the bottom , picked myself up again , ran through a small moat there was at the bottom , and up the other side , where I found them just planting the second ladder . I was on to it in a second , shoving a great heavy Marine up with my head , and on to the walls , all hands cheering like bricks . I never had such exciting work . I believe if there had been twenty thousand Chinamen there we should have gone slap into the middle of them without caring a hang about being knocked on the head . In fact , if any of them

      bad made a stand , I should have had to punch them with my fists , as I had quite forgotten to draw either my sword or pistol , and I never looked before I got on the w alls to see whether any one was there or not . When I got a safe footing , I saw the beggars , about one hundred and fifty yards off , running like mad . I picked up some of our men and formed them , but as soon as I turned my back , they were all off , so I thought I had belter go too . You never saw such a lark . Frenchmen , blue-jackets , soldiers , marines , admirals , generals , and officers all running along the ramparts , some stopping to have a pop at a Chinaman and then running on again—the enemy going it ahead for their lives , and shot from the rear continually dropping plump in among them . In this way we took the whole of the heights inside the city in succession , and advanced as far as the north gate , where we were ordered to halt , our division of the brigade holding it with some trouble for the night . I will give you more details and finish the yarn next mail . The whole affair was very well planned , as you may judge , and well executed .

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      MR . DISRAELI ' S MANIFESTO . The re-election of the new Chancellor of the Exchequer took place at Aylesbury on Monday . Some amusement was created by a Dr . Lee stating that he was ready to propose as a candidate , in opposition to Mr . Disraeli , " a young man of excellent abilities and sound knowledge , and whose father had rendered great services to the country ; " but that he would refrain , and not disturb the peace of the assemblage , if Mr . Disraeli would satisfactorily answer certain questions ( ten in number ) , concerning the extension of the franchise , vote by ballot , the abolition of church-rates and other imposts for the maintenance of a state church , the admission of Jews to Parliament , the suppression of the traffic in intoxicating liquors , the appointment of a Minister of Justice , the admission of representatives from the colonies to the Imperial Parliament , the establishment of tribunals of justice and courts of reconciliation , the re-transfer of the Court of Probate from Westminster to Doctors'

      Commons , and the equalization of districts for the relief of the poor . The Doctor also quoted a speech made by Mr . Disraeli about five-and-twenty years ago , advocating triennial Parliaments and vote by ballot . Mr . Disraeli said his learned friend , Dr . Lee , evidently anticipated that the Derby Ministry would be in power for many years , since it would take a very long time indeed to settle , or even consider , all those questions . He was sure his learned friend would admit that he could not pledge himself-on questions of so much importance without taking time to investigate maturely all the circumstances connected with them . With respect to what he had said a quarter of a century ago , experience had taught him that it is better to confine oneself to a promise to consider measures than to give any pledge to pass

      them . He then adverted to the chief topics of the day , and spoke witli warm admiration of the French alliance . Tho old traditions about ' the bulaneo of power '— traditions belonging to a time when the great theatre of human actions was Europe , and Europe only—have passed away ; and that rivalry between France and England , which may liave had its uses formerly , has now disappeared . Thence arose a strong feeling in this country as to the necessity of an alliance with Franco—nn alliance which is the very corner stone of civilization . Our policy towards France is , and should be , totally irrespective of forms of Government , of dynasties , or even of the character of the rulor of that country . 13 ut it happens that the

      Emperor Napoleon ia a man eminently gifted—a statesman , and ono viio possesses an intimate knowledge , not only of human nature in genoral , but of English nature in particular . Wo have roaped the fruits of our alliance with him in finding a fuithful ally lit a great « inor | iroiidy —not an ally of inero courtly pliraecs or diplomatic 4 oviui ) o , n , ti 8 , JyU ^^ with blood And crowned with victory . The I'ldnoh people have fought , and are now lighting , by tho wide of tho English j and it therefore became probable that tlie alliance , being necessary to tho independence and liberty of Kuropo , would bo bo consolidated as to bo reckoned upon as a cardinal point in international politics . The greater number of Englishmen aro favourable to the alliance , aud have sot aside all tlicir old prejudices .

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      * To . 416 , MAT . QH 13 , 1858 . ] THE EBADBB , 245

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 13, 1858, page 245, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2234/page/5/