ENGLISH NEWS. THE WAR IN THE PUNJAUB. House of Lords, April 23.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 353, 11 September 1849, Page 3

ENGLISH NEWS. THE WAR IN THE PUNJAUB. House of Lords, April 23.

Speech of the Dukb of Welling ion on the motion that the thank a of the House of Lords be given to the Indian Army. The object for which your lorcUhips have been suraEGuredlierc to-day 15 to take into coiiaineialion rbeprojvietv of voting your ilhiiUb to ibe atmy which has brought so much huinur to this country by its late achievement?. My lords 1 entiiely concur in the appiobaHon expressed by the noble m..icj'ieBs in making tikis motion, and m that «>f my nobia friend near me who s-econded that motion. It lias (alien to my lot to have to consider the i^reat difiiruKies under which this war has lieen conducted; and, "{try loid«, I must say, that in all I have seen I h-'ve htrong reasons to approve of ton conduct of those who have been engaged in carrying on those operations, and upon which it is now your lordships' duty to pronounce your approbation. When, my lords, the extraordinary treachery and duplicity of those servant* of the government who hid provoked this war first appeared, the Gover- ] noi -General being Uiider the articles of a treity, the Governor of the infant Rajah of the t'unjaub was j bound by the terms of that tieaty to control the acts. ' of Ivs Government, and to his assistance in car- J rying on its operations. All the servants of the Gov emment betrayed their trust, as the noble marquess j has aiready statud. Moolraj, the governor of Moollan and tbe country >inder subjection to that fortiess, betrayed histru^t, and icfuscd to deliver lik* command of that fortress to th-j officers sent to relieve him, and murdered the t*o gentlemen who were sent by the British resident in order to superintend the delivery of the fortreis to the officers selected by the servants of the Rajah, under the superintendence ot the British resident, to take the command. This act of treachery and insubordination wai followed by the revolt of the whole country in the neighbourhood ; and, my lordi, it was followed, one after another, by tracherv, revolt, and insurrection, through all parts of the country—by the revolt of not less than three other piovijTcoi, all of which refused to obey the orders of the Government. The troops revolted, and were in a state of mutiny and insurrection. All of which was to be got the better of at the same moment, and that too, my lords, at a season of the year during which it was absolutely impossible to bring into the held any European troops, indeed, scarcely pos ible to keep eve" native troops in the field ; but European officers and troops could uot possibly take the field at that season of the year. However, my lords, by the «reat care and utiention of the Governor-General, thf other officers ot the Government, and of the Commander- inChiei and the militaiy officers under him, a hody of men were by degiees collided. A force, attended anil equipped by heavy amllrry, was sent. The tortress or Muultan was immediately invested, and another force was sent, intended to aid and suppoit the gar rison put in Lahore and in the other pluccs within the Sikh territory, under the teims of the tieaty. T e siege of Moultnn could not be commenced until the month of September, notwithstanding the ordinal atrocity of the murder of tke two gentlemen mentioned by the noble marquess occuned ou ihe 1 9th of April. The ground was broken on the 7th of September and after some little progiess had been made ou the field, and after a gallant attack had been made in orfl ir to diilodge the troops in a certain portion of the t>wn, it was tound necessary to fortify their positioa in order to carry on the field operations with advantage It was, therefore necessary to raise the siege, and to

withdraw the army to a certain distance, until they received the reinforcement of the regular Sikh army, under the command of Shera Singh, becmse the Sikh army would be sent down by the Governor to cooperate with the other troops in attacking the place. The Sikh army, however, revolted, and went over to the enemy. Tho siege was therefore raised on the 14tn of September, but in tbe mean time the care of the Goveitioi -General, and of the officers in command of the tu>O|)S in diifcient parts of the country, pro vided measures for bringing troojis from all pai ts to co-operate with the besieging army, and pi event insurrection throughout the country. A force was sent from Bombay to Moultin, and arrived there under the command of B'igndier-Generai Henry Dundas, on the 2()th of .September. On <he very ne*t day the citadel of Moultnn was attacked by Geneial Whish, with the assistance of tlw force from Bombiy, under Brigadier General Dundas ; and those Bombay troops carried lomeofthe works of Moultan, and took possession of parts of the town. (llo.tr, hear.) I mention this circumstance, my lords, in oider (o induce your lordships to vote to Bri°udiur* Geneial Dundab your thanks for the cap'ure of Mooltan, and also to vote your thanks to the troops under his command. (Heir, Ik'ri.) Those troops wpie marched to Moultnn nt the veiy wor^i period of the year, but still they arnved in such an effective state as> to be put into line to make the attack on the following morning. (Hear, hear ) I say, my lords, (hat this is creditable to Uri};d.lier-General Dundis, and to the lioop-, be c,>mrmiiid,;d during th >ss operations, fllenr. hear.) My lords, while the siege whs going on, the Govermr- General tind Commander-in Chief had formed i corps which w-ire to cover and protect the operations of the ficsieging army, and keep the country in tranquility, which was generally in a state of insurrection, and to observe the movement 1 ) of Mooiraj, and pi event him from disturbinu the operations of ihp^siege. The Ornm inder-in-Chief, Lord Gough, put hiuiaelfat the brad of ihis coveiing aimy, which hud occasion to ft, lit the two biiUiint actions to which the noble marquis Ind advei ted, and which he fought with uniform &ucce-s (hear, hear). The Io3S which we hftve sustained in thobe actions has been spoken of; but, my lords, when if is recollected that Moulun was taken without loss (hear, hear), tliat it whs surrendered upon capitulation when the bre iches were made, and the storming party was prepared to mount those breaches— when I tell .you that this phce fell into the hands of our army without logs— l think we mny set it down that, on the whole, our success s have been effected with as small a loss as could be expected under any circumstances (hear, hear). My lords, after the siege of Moultan, the at my engaged in it were put on march to join that pnit of that army that was under the command of my Lord Gough, and which army had been covering the operations of the siege. They made forced marches and joined at the very moment at which the junction became most important (hear, hear). The last troops had joined on the very clay previous to that on which the battle was to be fought (hear, hear) ; and, as has been stated by the noble marquis, on the very following morning they were agwn in a state to be able to take their station in line against the enemy (hear, hear), in the battle which was fought on the 21st of February (hear, hear). My lords, I cannot but think that General Whibli, and (he officers who assisted him on that occasion, are worthy of your lordships' commendation (hear, hear). I have already stated to you, that m the course of the operations that were carried on at Moultan, it was necessary to keep the country in a state of tranquillity. During the cour«e of those great operations at the sie^e of Moullin actions took place, and my noble fiiend has adverted to the ciicumstauces under winch some censure wa*> passed on a cavalry regiment (tho l4th Dragoons), in const q'icnce of its conduct in one of those actions. (Hear, hear.) My lord-,, it is impossible to de-cube to you the variety of circumstances (he^r, hear) that may oc-asion difficulty in the operations of a particular corps at a particular moment. (Hear, hear.) But inquiiy has been made into the tircumstaices.and I have ieceived a repoit from tiiotc who conducted that inquiry. (Hear, hear.) It happened that this corps of cavalry had been planted over the country which was much broken by ravines, ami by rouj(h jun» les, which rendered it impossible for the troops to move in their usual regular oider. (Hear, bear) It happened that the ollicer commanding the brigade of winch this corps formed part had been wounded in the head during the advance, and was obliged to quit (he field, and the next in command to him beixitj at a distance, was not awaie that his commanding officer hud been obliged to withdraw from the field, Under those cmumstances the word of com. mand was given by gome person not authorised, of whom no trace can be found, and some confusion oc curred, which, under the circumstances of the ground, could not be easily remedied, but was remedied at last, and the corps got into order, and lias since perfoimed its duly (hear, hear), as I have seen it peform its duty on other occasions. (Hear, hear.) My lords, those things may happen, and we whose fortune it has been to see such transactions, jud^c of them with that feeling which I am sure is felt by all your lordships— we think that the character of this corps is not to be tuken from scraps of newspapers, but is to be tak«n from the report of the Commander-m-Chief, and of the persons who m^de an inquiry into the transaction in consequence of the imputations cist upon this corpi by those very publishers of news (hear, hear). It happened that a movement in retreat was made instead of a movement in advance, and I imagine tbat it was owing to one of those accidents which must happsn occasionally ; but that corps is now perfectly worthy of confidence, and has been since worthy of it (hear, hear). I cordially concur in the approbation with which the noble marquis has spoken of the conduct of Mnjor Edwaidss, and other officers of that rank in the course of this tiansaction. Those officers were employee l at Lahore to assist the native ofikeis in the levying of certain inhabitants of the country, and of certain disbanded soldiers of the late Sikh arm), in order to aid in the defence of the Rajab'a Government, tind to preseive tianquillity, if possible, in the country. I must say this, that the duty was uot wholly . erformed wuh advantage t'j the public, and in u manner creditable to theni-elves, but they have linmoitahzed themselves by their conduct (hear, hear); and it ia im|^sible to speak too higl ly of Major Edw«rdeu and the other gentlemen who have Ken engaged in those transsictions (he.ii, Inai). My lords, I also Wls h to diavv your attention particularly to a co;p 3 which hid been men ioned by my noolc friend near in (L-> d Stanley) 1 relei lo the Scinde Horse (lioai) In brinde, and umlei the supeiintendence oi my gallant friend who has been lately sent by the East Indii Company to cjmmand itb army, that coipa was roinnd, it has been raised but a few yeats, and yet in t.iose gieat battles, when opposed to cavalry by no means to be despised, they distinguished themselves highly (heir, hear). These are the circumstances in winch your ofttcerb are placed in those countries. They aiet under the nei esiity of training- tbe natives to arms, and of cisciplining them in the European marnsr, contrary to their manners, their customs, and their prejudices. They have to bring them to thut pitch of discipline, and to make them ft^l tuch confidence ia them as

their officers, that they will follow them anywhere, even to the cannon's mouth (hear, hear). This Sciude Horse affords a remarkable instance of their auceesn. I was aware that that corps had performed mo»t important services under Sir Charles Napier in Scindc ; but I was not aware, until I saw the accounts oJ thos j transactions, that they could be ao confidently relied npjn in attacking such a formidable cavalry as the Sikhs and Anglian* (hear, lieur). My lords, lam deliirhtcd -\t calling your lordships' notice to the conduct of (he gentlemen to whom I have referred ; and I feel assured that their services will be rewaided by the ui> inunous vota of tlm hou<e (hear, hear). Such a vote will, no doubt, be gratefully received by tlinn ; and I trust, theiefore, that by jour conduct on this occis'.on, you will piove that you consider thpy arc highly (I. serving of your loi Jsliips' approbation. (Hear, liuar.)

AiTEMPT of Affgiiansio Caiturk Loud Gough. — Sii J, HobhoUsc, in the course of his speech in the House of Commons, whtn pioposiiife a vote of tlwnke to Lord Gough and tlie Indian army, related the following incident as having occurred during (he decisive b title of Goojerat: — '• I will hire men'ion a curious circumstance which took place in reference to Lord Gyuijh himself. Thirty Afghan hoi semen, armed in ' mail, were appointed with ordera to capture Lord Gou^h. Watching their opportunity, tlicy mnde a daih, and were met by the body £;uai<l, comnanded by Lieut. Slanims. Our men, finding their swords in.ide ni impression, shcui.h"d tin 1 no a ( id toolc to their fire-atms, aud a hand to hand combat ensued, which eud°d iv the destruction of the Affghans, one man excypted (hear, hear)." ! Tub Colours of the 24th Foot. — We rejoice to be able to announce that the n'giiuental colour of this distinguished regiment has been recovered. It was supposed, and genei-illy reported, that in ihf dicudful conflict with the Seiklis at Chilhanwalldh the colour had been taken by the enemy. It seems, however, th.it when the ensign who bore it in the fiont of the fight was slain, a gallant and devoted private of the icgimeui (ore the duuery from the staff und wound it round his bod}'. The mnn wvni killed. After the tight the body was found, and when preparing 1 for interment the valued colour was uncovered, and is nnw in possession ot the fragment of a once splendid corps. "We have not heard the nnrne of the soldier who thua spared liis gallant regi'neat a moitification, but we trust that a monumt.nt will be raised to his memory, for his was not an every-day deed.— Bristol Journal, Aft)il 14,