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"THE "TERRIFIC” HIGHLANDERS!'

manner besieged by the troops in the city, those in the Palace taking his side. I think it may turn out to be true.

We are still without any further news from Havelock or Cawnpore, but any day or hour now may bring us tidings of the advance of troops in this direction. We expect Nicholson's Column in the day after to-morrow; he (Nicholson) was in our tent just now, and said they ought to be at Lussowlie to-day, and he was going there to meet them and bring them in. It will be a grand thing having his Column here, and we shall soon know after their arrival whether it is intended to go in at Delhi at once or wait until Havelock or Grant come up with the terrific Highlanders, &c. The natives have received most fearful accounts of the appearance and doings of the Highlanders, and the following is an extract from a letter written by a baboo below to a baboo in camp: 'I give you another piece of intelligence, that from some place to some place a regiment of women have arrived, and play old Harry with everybody, and have an awful savage appearance, and no chance of escape for any one seems left. I only tell you this as I am your greatest friend.' I saw the original letter this morning, and I dare say the Natives, many of them, believe what is written.

I was amused to hear of Gowroo's story of there being three regiments of Sepoys at Bussee. There seems no prospect whatever of any of the mutineers that have left Sealkote or Lahore finding their way across the Sutlej, and I should doubt very much, notwithstanding what Arthur Butter writes, whether the men of the regiments still at Lahore will venture on a deserting expedition on hearing, as they must have done by this time, of the fate of the 26th; but, whatever may be their attempts and schemes, we understand by letters to this place from the authorities at Lahore that all possible precautions have been taken to guard against any rising and to provide for every possible emergency.

I had a letter from Major Goad this morning telling me of the things he sent down. The ladies' habiliments shall be packed up and kept for the present. Some women refugees may turn up after Delhi is taken, though I much doubt it; and, if not, the boxes can be sent up to Simla again.

I am amused at Colonel Congreve saying that Colonel Becher and I ought to return to Simla. There is no doubt that Colonel

LETTER TO LONDON.

189

Congreve himself ought not to have gone there, and I dare say he would like to get others to follow his example. I may not be of much use here, but it would never do for me or any other officer to leave unless compelled by ill-health.

3.30 P.M., and all quiet.

(Diary) 10th August.-Quiet to-day except cannonading, and principally down at the Metcalfe pickets. Rather hot and steamy. In the tent all day writing, and in the evening take a short ride across the bridge through the Garden. The story of the row with the Sepoys and the Prime-Minister gains ground.

Colonel KEITH YOUNG to Colonel H. B. HENDERSON.

CAMP BEFORE DELHI, 10th August.

My last letter will have led you to believe that we should be in Delhi long ere this; but time wears on, and we still occupy our old position, the same that we took up more than two months ago. But matters are certainly looking up now, and perhaps when Nicholson's Column joins we may be thought strong enough to move on to the attack, but if not, we must wait for Havelock or Pat Grant; and one or the other of them ought to be with us by the last week of this month at latest.

We have nothing whatever to fear from the enemy in the interim; they have tried again and again to force our position, and in some of their attacks they have come on with tolerable spirit, but they have latterly confined themselves very much to cannonading us as best they can, and sniping at our pickets behind cover, and they seem themselves now to have given up all hope of carrying our entrenchments. Their last grand attempt was on the evening and night of the 1st, at the Festival of the Eed, and it was fearful the yelling and firing that went on all night; they commenced, in fact, about five o'clock on the evening of Saturday the 1st August, and did not withdraw altogether till about twelve the next day. For the first time, I think, since these attacks have been made our men were induced to keep behind the breastworks, and the consequence was we had a very trifling loss, some thirty or forty only killed and wounded; while that of the enemy was said to be about five

190

ENEMY'S SUPERIORITY IN GUNS.

hundred killed and a thousand wounded, and the people in the city put it down as three thousand altogether. Many of the Sepoys who were engaged, instead of returning to the city, made off to their homes. This affair must have discouraged the mutineers a good deal, as ever since the 2nd we have had continual rumours from the city of disunion prevailing there and of the men leaving to go to their homes.

The explosion of their powder manufactory a few days ago has had a very good effect. It is not known how it occurred, whether from one of our shells or how, but the Sepoys took it into their head that it was the act of the Prime-Minister, Hakeem Hassen Oollah, who is suspected, and not without reason, of being in correspondence with us. They therefore plundered his house, murdered, I believe, some of his family, and made him a prisoner. The King is said to be in great distress at what has occurred, and wants to leave the city, but the Sepoys won't let him; and altogether matters are supposed not to be in at all a flourishing state. I dare say exaggerated rumours of the difficulties of the enemy are concocted to please us; but there can be no doubt that affairs must be somewhat in a fix with them.

We are told they are short of powder, and that their caps are running short. Most likely it is so, but judging from their firing they have not come to the end of either one or the other, and their stock of shot and shell must be inexhaustible; and they have lately found a store of rockets, which they have used with tolerably good effect. We have a few rockets, but, if one may judge from the practice, they are of inferior make to those in the city, which occasionally they throw right into our camp-at least into the Artillery camp, which is nearly as far from the city as the Head-Quarters Camp is.

Their Artillery practice on the whole is very good; but they have a great advantage over us in their command of heavy guns, having 24-pounders without number, and if one is damaged by our fire it can be immediately replaced by another. We have no 24's except what we took from the enemy on the 8th of June, and these are now very much the worse for wear; and the Artillery officers will be very glad to get some new ones that are with Nicholson's Column and are expected in to-morrow or next day. When Nicholson's Column arrives we shall have four

COMPOSITION OF OUR FORCE.

191

brigades of Infantry, numbering altogether, I should think, about three thousand Europeans and nearly the same number of Native Infantry (Sikhs and Goorkhas): say after deducting sick, of which there are a good number amongst the Europeans, five thousand bayonets. Our Cavalry is probably about fourteen hundred, half Native (reliable men) and half European; and our Artillery must number about six hundred, all Europeans. The besieged party outnumber us, perhaps, six to one; so, considering they have a well-stocked arsenal at their disposal, which no enemy we have ever yet had to deal with in India has had, our not walking into Delhi at once, as was anticipated, may not be considered so surprising after all.

Our present Commandant, Wilson of the Artillery, gets on wonderfully better than any of his predecessors, and seems to have gained the confidence of the army, which they never possessed. He knows what he is about, and though he may be over careful, he is evidently a good man for the occasion.

Nicholson I dare say you have heard of; he has a great reputation, and did well in the Punjab. His appointment to be Brigadier-General has given great umbrage in Her Majesty's service, and it is declared that it is unauthorised by the terms of the Queen's warrant. To avoid all heart-burning as much as possible, it has been decided that when his Column comes into camp Her Majesty's 52nd, now under his command, and in which there are two full Colonels senior to him, shall be removed to another brigade, and he is to have a brigade consisting of the 1st Fusiliers, Coke's corps, and Green's corps. The other brigades of Infantry are commanded by Colonel Longfield, Her Majesty's 8th; Jones, Her Majesty's 61st; and Showers, 2nd Fusiliers. Hope Grant commands the Cavalry, Colonel Garbett the Artillery, and Colonel Baird Smith is Chief Engineer.

If we have to wait for the assault on Delhi until Havelock comes, or Pat Grant joins us with the troops from below, we shall probably be here nearly another month. At least I reckon that it will be at least a fortnight from to-day before either of them can be with us; but you will have much later accounts of their movements from the public prints than I can give you. We have nothing later than the 26th of last month from Cawnpore. By the time their force reaches here we ought to have also a large

192 ARMY OFFICERS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MUTINY.

siege-train, which is on its way from Ferozepore to this place; we have now only a third-class one.

I can imagine the feverish anxiety with which the arrival of the Indian mail is looked for at home. What horrors after horrors you will have to read at home! We have become a little accustomed to them now, but it is truly dreadful to think of some of the atrocities that have been committed.

We are all very much disgusted in camp to read some of the late articles in the papers, and speeches made by arrogant civilians or purse-proud mercantile men, all totally ignorant of everything connected with the Army, and more particularly of the causes of the outbreak, who, without a show of reason, attribute the Mutiny to the misbehaviour and inattention to their duty of regimental officers. Nothing is further from the truth, and if the blame is to rest anywhere it must be on Government and on the home authorities who have supported them but assuredly there is none to be with justice attached to the regimental officers as a body, though of course there are individual instances of misconduct; but the way in which the European officers generally have behaved throughout the late mutinies ought to secure them from such attacks as have lately appeared in the public papers, either as editorials or as speeches made at public meetings. These fault-finding gentlemen would do much better to confine their reviews in future to the acts of the members of the Civil Service during the present trying time. With a few rare but bright exceptions, and the Lieutenant-Governor, is not one

of them, they have shown off most lamentably; and I begin to think that Lord Ellenborough was right when he talked of its being the correct thing to abolish the Civil Service and fill up all civil appointments from the Army, as was done in Sind in former days.

But I must think of drawing to a close or I shall be wearying you with my blotted writing; it is difficult to write at all on this thick paper with the punkah going, and besides the air is so very damp that it is with difficulty I can get the ink to dry. Although we have a punkah, the weather is tolerably cool for this season of the year, and there is not any very great amount of sickness considering the exposure the men are subject to.