INDIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 606, 28 August 1858, Page 3

INDIA.

(From the 'Argus,' Correspondent.) Point De Galle, June 26, ISSS. Lord Canning has been recalled. His proclamation to the people in Rohilound will not be received by the English nation with less astonishment than that of the Oude Proclamation. In this circular, all but the leaders are to be freely pardoned. The result of allowing the rebels to escape from every town we capture, will be anything but satisfactory. We have already had instances more than sufficient to warn us against acting on the principle of conciliation. Whilst the Legislature at home is squabbling for party purposes, as to how the rebels should be treated, the wild Hindoo is still murdering and ravaging right and left. The mail will convey you very little news of a cheering character. It will be observed our force in India is far from adequate to keep the country in subjection. We capture towns, completely disperse the enemy, and then march to other places, where the same feats are enacted, but generally with the same result—the re-occupation by the rebels of their old strongholds. There is no knowledge when the rebellion will be quelled, if the war continue to be carried on in the way it has hitherto been. What is the utility of "conquering a place and then allowing the enemy to re-occupy it almost immediately afterwards? We may continue to "conquer" in this way for a century without advancing a step towards the pacification of the country. It is rumoured that Sir Colin Campbell has demanded 20,000 more troops. Lucknow has again been threatened; the rebels from Bareilly and Shahjehanpore were reported to be concentrating near that place, with an intention of laying seige to it; succour has, j however, been sent, and the force there now, is more than sufficient to repel any attempt that may be made Upon it. Shahjehanpore, -which was captured by Sir Colin Campbell, was retaken by the rebels. From advices last received, the town was again, however, iv our possession. It appears that the attack by the enemy upon the forces of Sir Colin Campbell and .Brigadier Jones was most audacious, and the fighting has been extremely obstinate and severe. The rebels, in like manner, have resumed possession of Chundaree in Central India, which was captured by Brigadier Stuart. Brigadier Smith, however, took back the place ou the 27th May. It will be seen thut the rebels have taken advantage of the absence of Sir Hugh Rose to occupy many of the places from which that General had previously driven them. They arc becoming very troublesome in Central India. Estiughur is at present rc-occupicd by the insurgents, and the Rajahs of Buupove and Saughur arc reported to be within 40 miles of Saugor with considerable forces. Although we hold

some of the principal cities in Oude and elsewhere above Allahabad, the country all around is still in the posssession of the rebels, and disorganisation prevails to an extent scarcely conceivable. The rebels go about plundering villages, and infesting the road between Calcutta and Delhi in every direction, so as to make them very unsafe for unprotected travellers. Through most of the stations in Bengal a feeling of insecurity prevails. The mortality among the troops from exposure to the sun has been fearful; appoplexy and coup de soliel carry them off by hundreds whilst the bullets of the enemy scarcely do so by as many dozens. General Penny is dead. Through false intelligence he was led into an ambuscade. The death of Kooer Singh, which was reported to have happened is not yet positively ascertained.

Bareilly has been captured by, the Comman-der-in-Chief. His advance from Futteyghur to Bareilly was not opposed in a single instance. The plan of attack was, that Brigadier Walpole was to advance on the one side, while Brigadier Jones moved forward from Moradabad in a like direction. Major General Penny was to cross . the Ganges, advance through the Budaon district, and unite himself to the column under the Commander-in-chief's orders. The attack commence"d on the sth May. The enemy who had come out of the city, fought with great desperation. On the morning of the 6th the whole force advanced into the cantonment. Calpee was stormed on the 23rd May. The enemy, as at Bareilly, came out of the town to attack Sir Hugh Rose's camp; but in this engagement the reblels are said to have been so panic-stricken that after firing a few shots they fled with great precipitation. Sir Hugh Rose made his approach from the river side below Calpee, and entered into communication with Colonel Maxwell, whose Brigade held a position on the left bank of the Jumma, so as to shell the town and port. The city fell without loss on our side, the enemy offering no resistance. A rapid pursuit was made by cavalry, and the result was the capture of all the guns, ammunition and elephants belonging to the enemy. Prom last accounts it will be seen that the Calpee rebels were concentrating themselves at Gwalior, where they are making preparations for another stand. Sir Hugh Rose reported on the 4th inst. that our troops are marching as fast as they can to Gwalior. CAPTURE OF~CAI.PEE We have at length obtained information sufficient to enable us to trace the progress of Sir Hugh Rose from Poonah, where he rested on the 6th, to Calpee, which lie captured on the 23rd. Up to the present date we have seen no letters direct from the force later than the 21st, but to this there is a profusion of extracts, such as to permit a consistent narrative, to be prepared from them. It will be remembered that Koonch. was captured on the 7th, the bulk of the enemy's artillery having fallen into our hands, 700 of them having been killed. General Rose himself was three tunes knocked over by the sun, but on each occasion rallied, and was able to be remounted. Twelve men were killed by the enemy, thirteen were struck dead by the heat. The force halted on the Bth. On the 9th it marched to Hurdoee. Here four guns were taken in addition to the nine which had previously fallen into our hands. Intelligence was now received that the enemy were collecting- in great force to obstruct our advance, and it was resolved to bend our line of march slightly to the westward, so as to make the Jumna near Jaloon and a little to the north westward of Calpee. Colonel Riddell was now moving from the northward, while Brigadier Maxwell was advancing directly on the town, with the view of being in full communication with General Rose before the grand attack commenced. On the loth the first Brigade advanced within six miles of Calpee, and joined the second which had preceded them. A large mass of the enemy made a dash at the baggage and rear guard, when they managed to carry off a few empty carts, killing six sepoys of the 25th !N.L, and wounding some Europeans. The united force had now reached the Jumma, on which they had resolved to rest, iv a camp well supplied with water from the contiguity of the river, until Maxwell's troops came up. On the 16th a reconnoitering party, consisting of horse artillery, dragoons, detachments from H.M.s S6th and 36th 2f.1. under Colonel Gall, of the 14th Dragoons, proceeded along the Calpee road. On the same day the 2nd Brigade was attacked by the enemy, which was proved so pressed that assistance was required from the General. This was speedily provided, and the assailants dispersed. A second attack was made the following day, but this was repelled without difficulty. The insurgents had by this time thrown up heavy earthworks in front, when on the ISth they were shelled out by our mortars. On the 19 th Maxwell's troops appeared on the opposite side of the river, to the great astonishment of the insurgents, who had no wish to have more than the Central India Eield Force on their hands at a time. On the 20th the enemy appeared in great force on the hills and in the nullahs around. They attempted to turn | our flank, and exhibited a determination and perseverance they had not before manifested. On the 21st a portion of Maxwell's force crossed the river and joined the second brigade, while the heavy artillery and mortars were got into position, and on the 22nd the bombardment commenced with great vivacity from across the j Jumna. On the 23rd the enemy advanced in force ou Sir Hugh Rose's camp, and fought with such determination that our men found themselves hard pressed until the camel corps came | up. The infantry now charged with the bayonet, j when the enemy broke and fled. The whole line now advanced, when the flight became a rout—Calpee being sought as the last place of refuge, They were followed without a moment's loss of time, driven from the city, and pursued with heavy loss. The last of these events occurred on the 23rd, and as letters to the 21st have been received two days ago, we hope to have full particulars of the final capture , and pursuit in the course of to-day or tomorrow. Even with Calpee and Bareilly in our hands, we have still an enormous mass of desperate men scattered on every side of us to dispose of. Complaints are loud on the subject of Brigadier Smith having been detached' from General Roberts'force without heavy artillery. Chundarce requites to be retaken, and though

this will be a much less difficult task than formerly, the strongest of the works having been blown up by us, it is not to be attempted with six-pounders, and battering guns must accordingly be sent on from Saugor. It is clear that the enemy form an almost unbroken line for close on one hundred miles along the banks of the Ganges, and no sooner are they driven from one point than they reappear at another.

The Calcutta correspondent of the * Argus' indulges in some gloomy vaticinations with respect to the Indian mutiny. The worst, he says, war is not only prolonged, but lias taken such a shape, that I, in common with many very competent and experienced Indian residents, can see no immediate prospect of its close. Far from it, I fear; and a reverse every now and again gives the crowds of wavering and undecided natives a fresh but bootless impetus to drive us from their shores. Our army is split up into many small detachments, and is carrying on a guerilla warfare in the hot season, with the rains approaching, amidst the deadly marshes and jungles of India. The whole of our strength in Onde is estimated at about 9,000 British troops, and in Central India as 12,000. Nine thousand men, as you will see, are annoxmced in the last mail to be coming as a reinforcement, but they will not be nearly sufficient, 20,000 is the least number we can do with to carry us throught the hot and rainy season. The press and the public too have not been satisfied of late with the way in which the army has heen handled. The mysterious delays that have been made, the strange inactivity of the Kotah force, the uselessness of our Goorka allies, the occupation of a city, and presently its re-captuve, all demand explanation. There seems to be a want of energy and heartiness. When a district is re-occupied, but few and isolated efforts are made to re-establish our authority. No investigation is made as to the grievances of the inhabitants, whether indeed they have any, or whether they were prompted to submit passively to the rebels for the sake of plunder' and the mere love of change. Directly we leave a district in charge of only a small force (all we can spare), it again becomes disorganised. The correspondent distinctly states that the reports of the cruelties of the Sepoys are true and unexaggerated; and he finds fault with the distribution of the relief fund. He doubts the propriety of placing the munificent contribution from "Victoria, in the hands of a private committee, and quotes two instances in proof of his opinion, in one of which the -widow of a Mr. Hanlon being in great distress, could not obtain relief from the committee of the relief fund, while in the other case, a refugee from Xiucknow, who had been spending money extravagantly, had his passage paid for him, and free quarters in Calcutta found him and his family. Every body will regret to learn from the same source, that Mr. Russell, the renowned ' Times' correspondent, has met with misfortune. His first

letter was lost in the Ava, which steamer was wreckedat Trincomalee. His subsequent letters, although marked via Bombay, and enclosed in a bright red envelope, have been sent to Calcutta, and thus detained for the next mail. And last, though not least, from having received a kick from his horse, he was obliged to travel in a dholy, and whilst doing so was so nearly cut off' by the enemy as to be obliged, in spite of his lameness and suffering, to mount a horse and fly for life. He barely escaped, but unfortunately sustained a sun-stroke, which nearly proved fatal, and will oblige him to go home to England as soon as sufficiently recovered, for change of climate.