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Leader (1850-1860), 26th December 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1227, Untitled Article

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      words of kindness and . friendliness , by examples of self-denial and' willing service . All honour and all good wishes-to lieh and poor who are fighting daily against" narrow-mindedness and self-love ; to all who long , and labour for the improvement , physical , moral , political , and spiritual , of the wliole race and family of man . !

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      LircKNOW is relieved ^ So we are informed- by the telegrams which were published in London-on . "Wednesday . evening . The same announcement-has been made before , ami has proved to be fallacious : ; but this time it seems aa if the great object of Outram and Haveloelc had really been effectually accomplished . A series of severe straggles terminated on the 19 th of ^ ove-mber by the capture of the principal strongholds of the rebels . Sir Colin Campbell had reached Lucknow on the 2 nd , and joined the force at Ahimbagh on tlie llth . On the 13 th , as it would appear ( for there is here a confusion in the dates > , active operations were commenced , and for the next

      six days there was a most severe and bloody struggle with the enerny , ending , as we have said , in the Sepoys being driven from all their positions of strength . According to one account , our loss consisted of only rive officers killed and thirty-one wounded ; but nothing is said of the privates . On the 20 tb , the sick and wounded , the women and the children , ¦ were sent back , under an escort to Cawnpore . The army under the Commander-in-Chief now amounts , according to one account , to 12 , 000 men ; according , to another ,- to 22 , 000—a force which is considered amply sufficient to reduce Oude to entire subjection , though this will probably occupy them som e months .

      " The Mai wa field force , under Brigadier Steuart , " say despatch from Alexandria , to the Foreiga Office , " has relieved Nupseerabad , dispersed the Meliidpore and Mnndesore rebels , and is now clearing Blalwa of the insurgents . The Hying columns under Brigadier Showers ,. Colonel Cotton , and Colonel Tid&el , are scour- ' ing Rohilcund , complete success attending their operations everyvvhere . Large masses of , European troops are reaching India -weekly , and we are relieved from all alarm for onr . garrisons and outposts , lately hi such imminent peril . The Governor-General and the Goveraors of Madras and Bombay are at the seats of Government . "

      Turther details have been received from the Bombay Government , under date December 4 th . We here read * . — . " Lucknow was taken on 17 th of November . Sir Colin Campbell reached Alumbagh on the 12 th of November , and began fighting the next day . On the 13 th , two gims were talcen from the rebels , and the fort of Jellabad was destroyed . On the loth , after two hours ' hard fighting , Sir . ' Colin . Campbell occupied Delkhosah and Blartiniere . Five hours afterwards , the enemy made a desperate atLompt to recover these positions , but

      were beaten back with heavy loss . Sir Colin Campbell crossed the canal on the lGth , and after an obstinate struggle took Secunder Uagli . A heavy artillery fire was opened ; on the Samuch , ami kept up for threo hours , at the end of which the place was carried . Early on the 17 th , a communication was opened with the barracks . A long cannonade -was commenced , and the place -was carried by assault at three i \ m . The troops pushed on , aud occupied the Motee Mathal before dark . Sir James Outram and Sir Henry llavelock then met Sir Colin Campbell . "

      The Commander-in-Chief , it appears , was slightly wounded during these engagements , but not in such away as would interfere with his performance of hie duty . The same despatch contains tho subjoined items of news from other parts of India : — " CAWSl'OUK . " The Gwalior rclicls advanced to within fifteen miles of Cawnpore , but hnvo njrain rotired to ( Julpeo . General Windkam is stated to have inarched to attack them .

      " DKT . III . "Twenty-four inlVrior members nf the royal family were executed by sentenca of a inilitriry commission on tho 20 th of Novembc . -. Ztuikeen Ahdooluh , an iulluential robel chief , was executed on the . next day . The force under Colonel Gerard proceeded to intercept the Jonxlnoro Legion , which , with many other rebels , bail appeared in ShiUawnttio . Tho force mot tlni enemy , on tho 25 th of INovcmlicr , near Namool , and defeated tlieni with great slaughter , ami Hie loss of all their guns , Our loss was fit'ieon killed « n-l forty-live - wounded ; but Colonel Gerard was among t . ho killol .

      " a < . ; ua . " Tho detachment * under (' ulnnel liiddcll and iWnjoi ' Old are employed hi cleariiii ; ' the Ull ^ our ( Ali ^ hurVj : : districts . ainjoY Old , on tin : l ! Hh of November , fell in . with and dispersed a body of llohilciind insurgents . All j . j h quiet in the Punjab ; tho Gogaria riding bus been , ] entirely put down . ;•)

      " Neejiucii ^ . &c . ¦ ' Neeoiuclikas beea besieged by the Hundiesore insurgents for : nearly a-fortnight . On November 21 st \ , an attempt , was made to take , the fort by escalade , but the enemy were repulsed with , great , lose , ; and the siege was raised on the 22 ml . " The Mhow- column , under Brigadier Steuarf , was attacked near Mundesore by the insurgents on . the . 21 st of November ; The insurgents were repulsed , " On the 23 rd , the column advanced to the noTth . of Mundesore , on the Neemuch road , and found the rebels

      m a strong position , with five guns . The position was immediately attacked , and the rebels defeated , with the loss of all their guns . " While . this battle was in progress , the Munde 3 ore garrison came out and attacked our rear . ; but they got well beaten also . The rebels , in the fights of the 21 st and 23 rd , lost , fifteen , hundred men , while our loss reas inconsiderable . Lieutenant Gedmayne , of her Majesty ' s 24 th , was killed , and Major Robinson , 24 : th ' Native Infantry , -wounded .. The ' column afterwards entered jVLundesore on the 25 th , the rebels having , evacuated it" on the night-of the 24 th .

      " The fort and town of Saugor remain untouohed , but large parties of rebels are in the surrounding . districts . A part of the Madras column defeated a body of the kir surgentsnear Scorah , on the Jubbulpore ¦ - > on tho 10 thof November and took two guns . Captain l < Weibani ( Tottenham ?) of the 4 th Madras Cavalry , was- killed , and Lieutenant Clarke , the Deputy Commissioner of Jabbulpore , severely wounded . " The Eh eel disturbances in Khandeiflh continue , but the Bheels are confined to the hills , and will be attacked in their strongholds when the jungle is cleared . The Minister of the Kolapore State was stabbed in his office on the 23 rd of . November by an Arab soldier . The wounds are slight , and the Arab was actuated by private motives only . . "SOUTHERN BEAHRA . TTA . - COUSTKV . '

      "Intelligence has just been received' of a rising of some Beruds near Moodhole . A force was advanced from Belg . aum to restore order . The state of things in that part of the country is not satisfactory . " The remaining part of the Bombay Presidency is quiet . : Reinforcements -have : arrived in the Warrior Queen and the Italian , but more are urgently required . All is quiet in Madras and the Nizam ' s ' country . " " . The Abeona ,-with the 94 th Regiment , arrived at Malta from Plymouth on the 20 th inst ., and left for Alexandria , on the . same diiy .

      OPINIONS OX THE JIUTINV . ( Extract from a Private Letter . ~ ) " . . . We must crush the high castes of India , if ever we hope to do any real good to the country . The thing is easy enough , for the low castes are ten to one the majority and they are all on our side . The low castes also are progressionable , we can Europeauize them , the high castes never . Caste leaves the Hindoo no individuality . If caste bids him murder , murder he must , though he be the gentlest of human beings . If caste bids him rebel , rebel he must , though personal interest , personal attachment , and personal fear , all unite to persuade him to the contrary . We have been very near losing India by dealing with the Hindoos too well ,

      by treating them as though they were rational , may , civilized beings , neither of which they are . A Hindoo can reason , and very acutely , but he is not a rational being . A rational being is one avIio is guided by reason , a Hindoo is not , ho is guided by caste . A civilized being is a man who calculates , -who looks back for examples , and forward to results ; the Hindoo does not calculate , he forgets his experiences , he never cares for records of tho past , there never was such a thing as a Hindoo history ; he can never look forward ; possible results a year hence never enter into his calculations at all ; ho is not a civilized man , he is the slave of caste . What caste ia to the Hindoo , fate is to the Alahomedan ;

      fate , Avhicli is practically another word for impulse . A man does what his passions prompt him and scl . s it down to fate . Moreover , the Mahomcdaus in India have well nigh adopted the caste theory in the same manner as the Hindoos themselves , especially tho lower orders . Now the . su are the . people whom wo have beea treating as rational beings , coaxing , arguing , persuading , instead of commanding to do what was right ; and this rebellion id the natural result . I do not look upon it so inucli in the light of a crime on the part of the rebels , as a necessary consequence of their system and our truckling to it . We must inflict tremendous vengeance to re-establish our moral uitluence , to show that our former forbearance

      was not , from weakness as they imagined , and having done so , we should at oneo and for ever ignore caste aa respecting fill publie duties . Caste must never again lie allowed to excuse a mini going <> u board . ship , working in the trendies , or any necessary duty whatever . This should In ; proclaimed before the new Bengal army i .-i raised , and then let . such an dislike the conditions keep out of the M'rviee . The populations of nil towns should l > o disunneil , they have no need of weapons . The country people , who are exposed to wild beasts , & <• ., should be allowed to haw n few under registry of the magistrate . Civilians and others sliuubl be forced to employ men of all enstes in their olliees , instead of allowing t lie Brahmins to monopolize everything . The competitive examination must bo done nwny with , or the Jirahnuiu :

      ¦ w -ill for , many-years to . some beat everybody , else . "YVedonot want the cleverest natives in office , but the most honest * the most faithful . A plain * praotical Soodra , just sufficiently qualified to carry oa his work and do as he -was ,-bid , would : be-a far more useful public servant than a , scheniing Brahmin . We desire a much more refined- vengeance than ; mere hanging and shooting ; we want revenge upon caste ; as . such , we want to see caste rendered au exclusion from . all . public employ , that is , that no-man who will . not abandon his caste prejudices : in- every case where they come-in collision with any possible public duty , should be incompetent to hold any public situation at all . Let such be the , avowed condition of all service , we shall get plenty of men ready enough to agree . The principle has already been acted upon ( virtually ) In the-Madias army , and certainly the result is very encouraging .

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      SPECIAL LETTERS FROM INDIA , ( From a Military Correspondent . ) Nagporc , November , 18571 " The truth is tliat the whole establishment of our Indian army must be remodelled , and , in my opinion , much reduced . It has far outgrown the . requirements and the financial endurance of the Indian . empire . Our sole strength and really reliable reserve lie hi the European troops . ' 'yet we have kept up an enormous regular army , with its costly machinery of staff and commissariat and European officers , whose pay ( mark this ) amounts to nearly half of the entire military expenditure of the-empire , and employ that army in duties of domestic security and ' police ,. - ' mounting -. guard over

      treasuries , escorting treasure , guarding gaols , escorting convicts , and the like , which could be equally welL done by armed police , at one quarter of the expense . - At the same time , while this pampered and pipe-clayed infantry was augmented beyond all . necessity , except that of . patronage , the peculiar martial . growth of the country , if I may call them so , the natural , -indigenous ^ ready-made warriors of India , who will spring forward in any numbers at the word of command ,-mounted and armed ,, aud who ' will- do tolerably good service without any drill or regimental system-whatever , who ask for no pensions , or tents , or commissariat , or -dry-nursing what-r ever , these invaluable troops , the Irregular Cavalry of India , have been neglected and starved ^—their , pay cut down to starvation point , and their old customs anil

      privileges so destroyed or modified as to discourage > as much as possible any native of -the rank of a nobleman or gentleman from serving in the Irregular Cavalry as an officer . : Notwithstanding- all these discouragements many native gentlemen do serve in this branch of the service ; and the in on of the Irregular Cavalry Corps have always been remarkable as tlie most willing and contented , and without having the servile manners of the ; Hindoo , the most respectful native soldiera in the army . Five hundred men of this sort in a districtwould be far more useful to the civil power in tho case of petty local disturbances than two battalions of the line , far more useful for escort purposeSj and requiring , but a small share of the expensive machinery of staflV commissariat , and inspecting and supervising authorities , which swells the bulk of the militarv budget .

      I have said that these irregular troopers will do tolerably good service without any drill or regimental , system whatever , —so they will , but it is not of course intended to advocate the Pindarree or Mahratta stylo of warfare . It is merely mentioned to show tlie facility , of recruiting ; but it is absolutely to bo remembered that no riding-school is required or would be advisable in training tho irregular troopers . They ride bent im their own way . But with good arms and careful attention to their drill aud discipline , they would form tlie

      very class of soldiers in which the British arm 3 " , and . every European : army except the Kussian , has always been deficient—good light cavalry , really light horsemen .. They are all , or with very few exceptions , Mtissuhnansy and havo no objection to foreign service of ' any deacri-ptiou . AVhy did we not employ a few thousands of , these men in the lute war with ltussia ? I verily beliovebecause , from the -wretched rate at which most of the regiments , are paid , we only hud six . or seven corps suili * citintly well mounted , clothed and armed to be of any service . The two regiments of Scinde horse and tlie

      tour , rugnnouts oi the Hyderabad contingent , are puid fairly , not handsomely—thirty vupeesamonth—and can afford to keep good serviceable horses , but tho ordinary pay of tho irregular trooper is only twenty rupees a mouth ,, which is buroly suiliuient to keep him and hia home alive . Those troops ought to be augmented ,, bettor paid , and incusuru : i taken to induce tho gontlunmii and nobles of the country to cut in : tho swrvieo as oilicers ; und they would then bo by far tho inosL useful for ordinary duties in time of peace , and by fur the most , usoftd auxiliaries to a Ih'itish army in timo of war . They will l > e found brave and dashing li ^ hl divnlry ; Mini after n il light cavalry nr <) not expected to bo deuth-aud- ^ lory heroes , to perform linlnUm : i charges , or demulbh liiistjian squares . Thi' natives of India are brave , and -when properly handled and troaUid are capable of u lints military spirit , bill , they never will l »« found equal in energy and stern determination to European woldicra . Infantry

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      3 Sfo . 405 , December 26 y 1857 : ] THE LEADEE . 1227

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      the uoiAN revolt : ;

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 26, 1857, page 1227, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2223/page/3/