SURRENDER OF THE CITADEL OF MOOLTAN.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 409, 4 July 1849, Page 3

SURRENDER OF THE CITADEL OF MOOLTAN.

On the 21st of January, General Whish received a message intimating that next morniug the f)ewaa and garrison would give up their arms. At daybreak the troops were drawn up in double line, formingalong Btreet, fifty feet in width. About ten the garrison, nearly 3500 strong, marched out and laid down their arras. Mooliaj followed in the rear ; he was richly dressed in yellow silk, and rode a superbly caparisoned Arab steed. He, with his brethren and chiefs, were taken to the Generate tent, where they gave up their swords. Preparations were now made for the upward march. The Bengal troops left bstwixt the 27th and 30th, and the Bomhay columu followed on the 2nd February. Moolraj accompanied the latter as a prisoner on his way to the camp of the Governor-Gene-ral, now established at Ferozepore. The fort was entered immediately on the surrender, .and disgraceful scenes of plundering ensued. The city has been since held to ransom for £200,000 ;, the property found in the, fort said to amount to above a million sterling,, will, it is believed, be made over to the Durbar, and be -by them of course made over to us in part payment of the expenses of the war. The bodies of Agnew and Anderson were found near the <place where they bad fallen — where Aflghan merchants gave them burial according to.the rites of their country. They did not appear to h ! *ye been decapitated, and I^oolraj is said-to be in possession of evidence of "Bis innocence of all connection with their murder. > they were borne through the the breach, by ihe/ men , of the Fusileers, — Arraersdn> own regimen t.—and buried with m n;»«, n M*X nnn re in the fort : theeallant corps

to which the brave young officer belonged, and which was at Kurrachee by the sea— 600 miles away — when the murders of April occurred, having been the first to enter the town on the mission of vengeance. The troops are expected to reach Lord Goughs camp about the 20th instant. The comraan-der-in-chief has remained in a state of profound inactivity since the bloody and bootless victory of the 13th Januiry. He was up to the 3rd instant engaged in throwing up fieldworks and fortifying his camp pending the arrival of reinforcements. Five additional European Tegiments with some 19,000 troops in all are on their way to join him, and he will speedily be at the head of 40,000 men, in the presence of an inferior enemy. One great battle may be looked for after the junction, when the "troops, it is said, will prepare to go into quarters. Peshawur, Attock, the Hazareh country, and Bunnoo can scarcely be reduced and garrisoned before next cold season. The Governor-General is now at Ferozepore, India everywhere is tranquil, and nowhere, save within the country of the Five Rivers, is anything stirring, deserving of especial notice. — Bombay Times 16t l i Feb.

As every thing: connected with this Indian intelligence possesses a deep and painful interest, we copy the following observations from the ex-Mifitary Editor of the Hobart 7oj'» Britannia; — We appropriate as much space as possible this week to British and Foreign intelligence. The extracts having referpnce to the war in India is especially distressing. We are told that Lord Gough, the commander-in- chief, has gained a victory over what are called the rebellious Sikhs, when the fact is, and it cannot be doubted, that the British have sustained one of the most disastrous defeats ever known in India. What other result could have been expected with Lord Oough in the chief command 1 A man well known to possess unquestionable courage, but unequal to any charge in the field beyond that of a brigade. Look at the last great battle on the Sutlej for an example of his ability as a General commanding an army, and it will be seen, that had it not been for the prompt aid of the Governor- General, Lord Hardinge, who vo'unteered to command under him, and leJ the left wing, the British forces under General Gough would have been totally annihilated. Eveiy soldier who has seen service will be able from past events to estimate the value of Lord Gough, and whilst they mourn for "the killed and sympathise with the wounded, will anxiously hope for his removal from the command of the British ; army in India, j Should he continue in it, the next accounts will bring still more disastrous proofs of his inability and of his reckless sacrifice of life. In the first battle he fought, unaided by Lord Hardinge, he attacked the entrenched artillery of the Sikhs with cavalry / Never did we hear of such unparalleled madness. What was the result 1 Destruction to all, the gallant Colonel Havelock amongst the rest. Indian affairs look gloom 1 ", we have lost in this victory (?) obtained by Lord Gough over the Sikhs, 80 officers and 2500 rank and file killed and wounded. Five royal and regimental colours have been taken by the enemy ! Call ye this a victory ? By the next mail we hope to hear that Lord Gough, whose incapacity to command an army in the field has been fully understood by military men for years, has been recalled. He is now very nearly eighty years of age ; his nerve and courage are represented as unquestionable, but, unfortunately, unlike Lord Haidinge, Sir Charles Napier, aid Sir Harry Smith, he is no tactician.