ENEMY'S LOSSES ON THE 1ST. 173 to return to their homes on the plea that the English are threatening danger to their families; they say that people have come to warn them of this, and that they must go home. About six hundred Sowars have left, and in a day or two, two thousand more Horse and Foot will leave. Your fortune is such that the Nimukharams will disperse of themselves. Only one hundred and fifty are left of the Jhansi Rissalah. The report is that ten thousand English troops have arrived at Haupper and will be here in five days, and this has distressed the King. The regiments in the city do not muster more than four hundred each. A large number are skulking, and trying to save their money. Many are wounded, and all disheartened. Their faces are turned yellow, and they have no longer any hope of success. To-day the King caused a proclamation to be made that fourteen thousand fanatics and eight regiments are on their way from Peshawar and will arrive in two days, and it enjoins all who wish to take part in a holy war to join this body. The supply of powder is failing rapidly, and what is now manufactured cannot be dried, and materials are now not forthcoming; caps are also deficient. The Sowars who arrived from Cawnpore state that the Bithoor Nana fled to Lucknow, and returned with reinforcements and fought another action. There are reports of disasters at Furruckabad which distress me. The mutineers seem disposed to go to Lucknow and Nepaul. H. H. GREATHED. Colonel KEITH YOUNG to his wife. CAMP, DELHI Cantonments, Monday, 3rd August. We have been very quiet since the enemy retired yesterday, and they have hardly fired a gun, from which we augur that they are considerably down-hearted-and they can't well be otherwise; their loss is variously stated in the city at from five hundred to three thousand. The Sepoys themselves, I understand, fix it at the latter number, but probably a thousand or twelve hundred will be about the mark; and our loss now turns out to be four killed and twenty wounded, the greater part in Coke's corps of Sikhs. Altogether we have good reason to be satisfied; and I trust that if any future attack is made our men will see the advantage of remaining in cover instead of rushing out and following the Ꮓ 174 Murder of general WHEELER confirmed. wretched mutineers, and then getting themselves mowed down by grape from the walls of the city. Daly, who came over and paid us a long visit just now, says he thinks it is the very best fight for us there has been yet, as serving to show the enemy how utterly powerless they are to injure us if we only remain behind our defences, and what a terrible loss we can inflict upon them. Hodson was mentioning this morning at breakfast that Lord William Hay was not at all pleased at having been written to from Lahore about not disarming the bazaar people; but never mind, so long as he effectually disarms the scoundrels. News in at last direct from Havelock, who writes by one of the cossids who took a letter to him from here on the 16th of last month. * His letter is dated Nawaubgunge, 25th July. He had beaten the Nana on three several occasions, taking all his guns each time, and was then on his way to relieve Lucknow, where Sir Henry Lawrence was all safe.† Sir Hugh Wheeler was, as we have heard, treacherously murdered with all his little band; but nothing was said about the rumoured murder of the ladies, women, and children of the 32nd, so, as Havelock has not alluded to it, it may not be true. He has sent on a copy of the letter from here to the GovernorGeneral, and will be unable to move in this direction till he gets a reply and perhaps not then; but he says that large reinforcements will soon be on their way up the country-those for China and those direct from England-and that Sir Patrick Grant will soon be on his way, too. This is excellent news, and will have the best effect in our camp and everywhere else. I think I have given you pretty well the whole contents of the letter; he says nothing in it about Bithoor. I had heard before from some one that George Hall had applied for a Sikh corps. He is a good officer, and well deserves one; and I have said a good word in his favour to Chamberlain without being asked. George Hall is to do duty with Hodson's new corps; he is coming to dine with me at the Staff mess to-morrow night. * See page 175. +I do not think that any letter from Sir Henry Havelock at this time said that Sir Henry Lawrence was safe. We were surprised that Havelock did not refer at all to Sir Henry Lawrence.-H. W. NORMAN. LETTER FROM SIR HENRY HAVELOCK. 175 (Diary) 3rd August.-The result of the fighting on Saturday night and Sunday morning seems to have been very satisfactory: from five hundred to three thousand said to have been lost by the enemy-killed, wounded, and missing; and ours twenty-five altogether. It turns out to have been forty-six.* Very quiet all day, and nice cool weather; rode in the evening towards 75th lines. Copy of a Letter received at Meerut. CAWNPORE, 26th July. MY DEAR SIR,-General Havelock has crossed the river to relieve Lucknow, which will be effected four days hence. He has a strong force with him, and he has already thrashed the Nana and completely dispersed his force. We shall probably march to Delhi with four or five thousand Europeans and a heavy Artillery-in numbers, not in weight. The China force is in Calcutta, five thousand men ; more troops expected immediately. We shall soon be with you.-Yours truly, TYTLER (Lieutenant-Colonel), Acting Quartermaster-General, Movable Column. CAPTAIN EARLE, Assistant Quartermaster-General, Meerut. General HAVELOCK to Major-General REED, C.B. MY DEAR GENERAL,-Yesterday I received Captain Norman's letter of the 15th instant from Delhi, addressed to Sir Hugh Wheeler. That gallant officer and the whole of his force were destroyed, on the 27th June, by a base act of treachery. Sir H. Somerset is Commander-in-Chief in India, and Sir Patrick Grant in Bengal. Under the orders of the Supreme Government, I have been sent to retrieve affairs here. I have specific instructions, from which I cannot depart. I have sent a duplicate of your letter to Sir Patrick Grant. In truth, though most anxious to march on Delhi, I have peremptory orders to relieve Lucknow. I have, thank God, been very successful; I defeated the enemy at Futtehpore on the 12th, at Oung and Pandoo Nuddee on the * One officer and nine men were killed, and thirty-six men wounded.H. W. NORMAN. 176 DEATH OF GENERAL LAWRENCE ON 4TH JULY. 15th, and at this place, which I recaptured, on the 16th. occasion I took all the enemy's guns. On each Immense reinforcements are coming up from England and China. Sir Patrick Grant will soon be in the field himself. Lucknow holds out. Agra is free for the present. I am sorry to hear you are not well. I beg you will let me hear from you continually.-Believe me, yours very sincerely, H. HAVELOCK (Brigadier-General). MAJOR-GENERAL REED, C.B., Commanding before Delhi. Colonel KEITH YOUNG to his wife. CAMP, DELHI CANTONMENTS, Tuesday, 4th August. What strange stories you appear to hear at Simla about the movements of troops up here! Of course there is no truth whatever in the report of two European regiments being at Muttra, and Brigadier Wilson could never have written so to his wife. The only European regiments that we have positively heard of are those with Havelock, and I fear he had not, when he wrote on the 25th, more than two strong regiments with him, say sixteen hundred men, besides the Sikhs and Artillery; but there must be lots on their way up country, and probably some two or three regiments more have reached him ere this. The cossid-a Sikh in Daly's Corps of Guides, and a fine intelligent fellow-says that there was a steamer also at Cawnpore, with two guns in it. So perhaps they may send some of the new corps up the whole way to Cawnpore, or even farther, in steamers. After my letter was sent off yesterday, another cossid came in from Agra bringing a copy of a previous letter from Havelock, of the 16th, in which he speaks of his three victories, capturing twenty-three guns, and then mentions the sad news of the death of Sir Henry Lawrence, who, he says, died on the 4th July from the effects of a wound received by him on the 2nd. It is most strange Havelock's not mentioning this in his subsequent letter of the 25th, which is the first that has been received from him in this camp, and his only allusion in it to Lucknow was that all was well there. We are all strongly inclined to believe that his first announcement was premature, and we are the more inclined to think so |