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    Baehwas a document superscribed , « Instructions fo the officer commanding the relieving column . Wo time was to be lost , the signal-post at the Alum Baeh was soon rattling about its gaunt and uncouth SSs ; in the Besidency at Lucknow the telegraphers Si the roof were all attentive . Slowly ; the following words were deciphered , " The Chief will follow — - - " Will he ? Then he is expected , and they are waitinff for him before making an advance . Stay , here is something more . " And then word by word the whole sentence was revealed- " The Chief will follow Sir James Outram ' s plan . " There was no mistaking the bell Ou

    meaning of this : the Camp was corning . - tranks plan proposed the route via the Dilkhoosha , Martiniere , Shah Nujeef , Secunder Bagh , and H . M . s . 32 nd Mess House . A reference to the despatcli of the Commander-in-Chief will show that this was exactly the route pursued . By the time the Highlanders who led the advance had gained the Mess House , Sir Colin ' s force had suffered terribly , ana the co-operation of Havelock and Outram , the storming by their men of the ' Hern Khana , ' the « Engine-house , ' and the King ' s stables , contributed most essentially to the triumph of the day . This sortie from the liesidency , which was at first

    supposed to have been almost a promenade , was in reality a movement of the greatest daring and difficulty , and cleared the road just as the relieving force , faint with toil , exposure , and fighting , was almost brought to a stand-still . The annals of the mutiny are becoming monotonous—a sure proof that our own side is steadily successful . It is only rapid alternations of fortune , of victory and defeat , that , excite strong interest . The movements of the Commander-iu-Chief still form the principal object of public attention . Following up his successes at Cawnpore , where he swept the board clear of the Gwalior mutineers , he lost not a day ' s time , although he saw that another . advance into Oude must be delayed until an adequate

    force could be assembled ; he marched up to 1 < urruckabad , one of the principal centres of rebellion , a large city , the residence of a Nabob who received a stipend of about 20 , 000 / . per annum from our Government , which his ancestor had accepted in exchange for ceded territory . The rebels attempted to contest his passage at a bridge , but in vain . They , with the Nabob at their head , were driven out of the city on the night of the 2 nd January , leaving their . guns in position . It has now become easy to open communications throughout the country between Cawnpore and Delhi . This lias been further facilitated by the operations of Colonel Seaton ' s column , ¦ which inflicted heavy loss on the rebels above Futtehghur . Portions of Rohileund have been brought into order by the flying columns detached from Delhi .

    The Goruekpore district lias now been reconquered by the Nepaulese army under Jung Bahadoor and a force under Colonel ltowcroft . Jung Bahadoor with his twelve thousand Ghoorkas will soon be joined by Brigadier-General Franks , « nd when Sir Colin Campbell closes in his communications and passes round the word for a simultaneous advance , this united force will operate on Oude from the east , while Brigadier-General Clmmberlain with the Punjab levies , about seven thousand strong , descends through the Bareilly district from the north , and the Commander-in-Chief , with ¦ a force of at least twenty thousand men , inarches nrtraight on Lucknow from Cawnpore . Thus will the Oude rebels be completely hemmed in , for there

    ¦ is no escape on the Nepal side to the north , and they must surrender to the tender mercies of the ^ avenging army , or be cut to pieces . No quarter to the Bengal Sopoys , but let us have some consideration for the old landholders and hereditary subjects > df the King of Oude . They enn hardly be considered as rebels , and wo have heard of no treacherous atrocities having been committed on the Oudo aide of the Ganges since the rebellion began . Central India is rapidly being subdued , and ; resrtored to tranquillity . The Brigade under Colonel -Stuart is now at Sohore , the capital town » of the native state of Bhopnl , whi . se female ruler , the Begum , in spite of her ambitious mule relatives and mutinous troops , has remained faithful to us throughout the troubles of 1837 . A severe example has been made

    of the Bhopul contingent , nearly two hundred of whom were tried in three days by drum-head courts-¦ martial , and shot to death by musketry . Another column from Mhow has dispersed tho largo body of Tebela— -chiefly Wiluyntco or llohilla freebooters , under a Shahzado , of the Delhi family , 111 Mundc-• aore—to the four winds . These armed mliians , descendants of Affghan settlers , infest the territories of Hol-• KaTauVScinafoiCselH ^ bidder , or plundering on thoir own account , During 'these Mundeaore atfuirs tho cavalry of tho Hyderabad Contingent ; , under Qaptain Orr , have especially distinguished themselves , ovor in good humour and -good order , and vying in dash and daring with tho 14 th Light Dragoons , with whom thoy have tho honour to be associated .

    Sir Robert Hamilton is now at Indore , the capital of Holkar ' s dominions , where he strengthens the hands of his former pupil . Three of Holkar ' s Regular Infantry regiments have been disarmed , and the ringleaders in the mutiny and attack on the Residency at Irnlore executed . Young Scindiah , the Rajah of Gwalior , is at Agra , where it is said he is to have a meeting with Sir Colin Campbell , and concert a plan for joining with all his available troops in the invasion of Oude . No one seeim exactly to know where Sir Colin is at present , but the best information states that he is pushing towards Bareilly , where Khan Bahadoor Khan , the rebel chieftain who has failed in gaining tlm confidence of the mutinous Sepoys or of the local

    swash-bucklers , most of whom are supposed to have moved off into Oude , is posted with a very small force of his own immediate adherents , prepared to die , for it is said he keeps an ounce of opium in his pocket to be swallowed the moment he is taken prisoner , if he fails to find a more honourable death in the field . It is impossible to predict whether Brigadier-General Chamberlain or Sir Colin Campben will have the easy task of disposing of this worthy . As soon as Bareilly is in our hands the Commander-in-Chief will , probably , as I have just stated , come down to Agra , have a few friendly words with Scindiah , and then commence the final combination which is to take the whole armed

    population of Oude like fishes 111 a net . The roads are being rapidly opened , papers arrive from Lahore at Calcutta as rapidly as before the rebellion ; the Agra journals reach Calcutta in six days ; in a few days telegraphic communication will be perfect between Calcutta and Peshawur . No one knows where the Nana Sahib is . The last report is that he still preserves . eight or ten thousand men round his standard , and that he is marching through the petty rajahs' states to the north of tlie

    Jubbulpore district towards Saugor . And it is true that the natural course of the Nana Sahib , the pretender to the musnudof the -Peishwas , is towards the Mahratta provinces , where if ho couUl arrive , surrounded by a sufficiently imposing force , he might raise a large tr . ict of country and give us infinite trouble . 13 ut even if the report of his progress bo true , he is not likely to advance very far unmolested . There are several forces in motion which could s c arcely fail to hear of his movements , and which could easily be brought to bear upon him . occasional

    Meanwhile there are not wanting symptoms to show how little was required , and how little is even now required , to raise the ( lame of revolt in the Dcccan , and to show that the rebellion , wherever it does break out , always assumes the same character , that of a war of extermination against the European strangers . The Nagpore Irregular force , governed by traditional influences , which I have endeavoured to explain in some of my former letters , has , from the commencement of the rebellion , done good and luyal service to the state . One corps alone , the Irregular Cavalry regiment , was tainted with a conspiracy in which nearly all of its native officers and at least fifty of the men were engaged . The conspiracy , in consequence of the

    regiment being ordered to march , exploded prematurely and failed signally . Tho native officers were hanged , and the troopers disarmed in Juno last . The rising of several of the wild jungle chieftains in the Surabhulpore district , on the eastern frontier of the Raeporo district of the Nagpore province , called imperatively for assistance from Nugpore , for the Raopore district belongs in groat part to wild zemindars of the samo character and habits as those of bumbhulpore , and a very short neglect to strengthen tin ? important central town of Haopore would have tempted them to follow the example of their neighbours and brethren . Ono of them , a notoriously turbulent diameter , Narrain Sing , of Sonakhan , trusting in the impenetrable character of hia little domain , which lies entirely amid hills and jungles , and maddened by the reports of the downfal of thp Company ' s Raj , did raise the standard of revolt early in tho month of October , began to collect into tho hills

    armed men , to stockade the pusses , and to distribute rebellious proclamations among the surrounding chieftains . Fortunately there was at liucporu an officer , Lioutenant Charles Elliot , but littlo known as yet , whoso storn and lofty dotorminatiou to support the dignity and authority of Government lias not been surpassed by any one during the past eventful year . Ho at once sent off a . party of fifty troopers under ono of his assistants , Lieutenant Lucie Smith , who proved quite equal to the charge . Marching by night and making forcod marches , ho pounced upon Narrain Sing in . his—lair ;—" tlTO ^ -miserableTaJbblo- ^ Nvhoin—he—had collected flod into tho jungles after firing half n dozen shots from their matchlocks ; Narrain Singwas tied on a horse buhind a trooper , and tho gallant littlo party was half way down tho pass from thu Sonakhan country before morning dawnod . Narrain Sing was brought into Raoporo , tried , and hanged . This prompt oxamplo had uu electrical effect ; the

    Zemindars began to see that the Company ' s Raj was " not quite extinct , and the waverers among them began to render assistance to Charles Tilliot by all the means in their power , giving him intelligence of the movements of the rebels and plunderers , and storing supplies for the troops who were now on their road from Nagpore . Ko Europeans , not even any Madras Sepoys , could be spared from Nagpore ; all that could be sent were the Irregular Cavalry regiment , weeded of the known conspirators , supplied with a completely new- set of native officers , and with their arms of course restored , and the native Horse Battery of the Irregular force with six guns .

    The result has shown that disaffected or suspected troops are always much more likely to behave well when sent out into active duty in the field than when left to brood over their discontent in cantonments , and exposed to hear all the false reports which circulate in large towns in a period of popular excitement . The cavalry have behaved uniformly well since they arrived at Riepore . A squadron of the regiment at Sumbhulpore has been engaged with the rebels , and cut up fifty-three of them . Their commandant , Captain W 00 J , sabred three men himself , and was wounded in the arm with an arrow . Another snuadron marched in November to the

    north of the Raepore district , and has been engaged with the enemy several times , always doing good service . Both of these detachments have , of course , been opposed only to a most despicable enemy—the wild jungle Gonds , armed with swords , bows and arrows , and a few matchlocks ; but the numbers whom they have on more than one occasion attacked and dispersed have been very great , and the great point of importance is the uniform good conduct and cheerful obedience of the Nagpore Irregulars . Bab there are black sheep in every flock , and the men of the 3 rd Nagpore Infantry Regiment stationed at Raepore had given many reasons for great anxiety to Lieutenant Charles Elliot , the Deputy Commissioner in charge of the district . It had come to his

    knowledge that some of the Sepoys had been in communication with some of the emissaries of Narrain Sing of Sonakhan ,. when that rebel ' s movements formed the great danger of the district , Evidence sufficient to convict any of them could not be obtained , but an inquiry was made into the conduct of a Naigue , or corporal , of the regiment , named Shumsher Bahadoor , and although he was released for want of direct proof of his guilt , the scoundrel thought himself no longer safe at Raepore , and deserted on the night of his release from confinement . He went off to Narrain Sing , but managed to keep out of the way when that rebel was captured . Ugly rumours were heard occasionally , but still the regiment behaved well . As soon as the Irregular

    Cavalry arrived , the infantry regiment was divided into three detachments , two of which were sent into the field , while one remained to perform the station duties of Raepore . All went on well , though Charles Elliot never ceased to implore and importune the authorities to strengthen his hands with a reliable force . He pointed out that the Irregular troops were doing good service and ought to be well supported ; that , on the other hand , they could not be implicitly trusted , and had on several occasions given grounds for suspicion , and that therefore they ought to be checked and balanced by troops of another description . Mis requisitions were not attended to ; there was a great scarcity of troops at Nagpore , it is true , especially of Europeans , but still his representations did not carry tlie weight whicli they deserved . No serious efforts were made to strengthen hia

    hands , no application was made to the Madras ) or to the Supreme Government for troops to render Ruepore secure . On tho contrary , Mr . Plowden , the Commissioner of Nagpore , declared to tlie Madras Government that ho had 110 anxiety for the safety of tho Nagporo province , anl requested that the province might not be included iu tho proposed field of operations of a strong division ordered to assemble at Nagporo under General Wliitlock " for service in the province of Nagporo and in the Saugor and Norbuddrt , territory . " The words " province of Nagpore" wore therefore officially , at Mr . I'lowden ' tt request , ordered by the Governor of Madras to ba struck out of General Wliitlock ' s programme . Did you ever hear of such frivolous trifling , in absolute contempt of tho earnest requisitions of 11 brave and high-spirited ollloial suuh us Lieutenant Charles Elliot was well known to bo ?

    At last tho storm broke which Elliot had foreseen and endeavoured to guard against . A party of fifteen men under a Ilavildar , of tho Homo Battery , had arrived from Nagpore at Raeporo on the 15 th Jaiiuaryr-Amoiig-i ) liein- 'Wore-tliroe-. n » en-wlipl 4 t-is-s » . i ( l ,. wjhad been on leave at Luclcnow ourly in lust year , and had from the first been suspected . On chu night of tlie ll ) th tho sergeant-major of the 3 rd Nagpora Infantry , nanioil Sldwoll , was attacked by tho men of tho Horse Battery , accompanied by two Sepoys of tho infantry and two Laacurs or pioneers attached to the regiment , and murdered . They out him to pieces

    Untitled Article

    No 417 , March 20 , 1858 . ] THE . IBABEB . 271

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1858, page 271, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2235/page/7/