TANTIA TOPEE CAPTURED AND HANGED.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 174, 21 June 1859, Page 3

TANTIA TOPEE CAPTURED AND HANGED.

EIGHT HUNDRED REBELS DESTROYED IN CENTRAL INDIA. (From the Melbourne Herald, June 8) Our intelligence from Bombay, dating to the-26th of April, is very important. The far-famed leader Tantia Topee—the soul of the insurrection—had been betrayed and captured. A court-martial sentenced him to death." The insurgent leader was hanged at Seepree, on the evening of the 18th instant. , . The rebel army under the command of Tantia Topee, the Rao Sahib, Maun Sing, and-Ferozeshah, : had previously boen surprised in the Seronge jungles, by the British forces, and defeated with immense loss. Maun Sing subsequently surrendered himself to Major Meade, and to his information the British were indebted for the capture of the Tantia. • Our correspondent furnishes us with the following interesting details of the latest movements in India, including the particulars of the important events referred to above :— Bombay, 26th April, 1859. In my last I mentioned that intelligence had been received in Bombay by electric telegraph that the Central India rebels had been nearly destroyed in the Seronge jungles; that Maun Sing had surrendered, and that Tantia Topee had been captured.. The dawk has since brought us particulars which are exceedingly satisfactory, confirming, as they do, the agreeable intelligence contained in the official telegrams. For several days the rebels managed to conceal themselves in the Seronge jungles, and it was not until the 3rd instant that their hiding place was discovered by Captain Bolton, the indefatigable Quarter Master General. By means of his spies he ascertained that a large body of the enemy were concealed in the hills at a place called Goonjaree, about twelve miles distant from DeSalis' Camp, and it was accordingly resolved to attack them. Captain Bolton discovered a path through the jungle practicable for men and horses, and by this route it was resolved that the. main body of the brigade should inarch upon the enemy, the remainder with the baggage proceeding by the direct road. The force that took the jungle path had not proceeded far, when they descried the enemy in tlie distance, skirting the base of a range of hills; but they immediately disappeared in the intervening jungle, and executed a manoeuvere which had nearly proved destructive to our baggage-guard. A few hours after we had observed them at the foot of the hills, a body of three hundre.i .cavalry well mounted and well armed, supposed' to be Seinda's ex bodyguard, sprang suddenly out of some nullahs, which had served as a kind of bridie path through the jungle, and attacked, at once, the small detachment of soldiers and sepuys who were acting as the baggage guard. Few as they were in numbers, they were in no ways daunted, but presented a bold front to the enemy, and by their rapid tire, are said to have prevented the whole of the baggage from being carried off. They were, however, unable to save the bandmaster of tho 10th N. 1., who was hacked to pieces by the murderousS»war.s. While engaged in their work of pillage, the Gwalior, Guardsmen are stated to have indulged in a good deal of boasting at the exponsa of the brigade in front. They were continually demanding to know where the brigade was, so that they might have au opportunity of cutting up the whole force. They disdained, they said, to fight with a few scattered soldiers and camp followers, and would infinitely prefer cutting up otir'troops en masse. While indulging in such empty gasconading, and helping themselves to whatever they could lay their hands on, they suddenly perceived the rear-guard of the 10th N. I. pouring through the trees, and a squadron of the Bth Hussars debouching upon the Open. The Sowars were in their saddles in a moment, and were deep in the dens of the jungly before the reinforcement could reach the baggage. Captain Bolton having discovered the place where they had concealed themselves, a column was detached on the evening of the 6th instant to attack them. After a march of twenty-four miles, tire rebels were surprised, and at once attacked. Our troops committed .fearful havoc amongst them,remembering their cowardly conduct'the'-day previous. They were shot down and bayonetted in heaps, no quarter having been either asked or given. A considerable number managed to effect their escape, but it was only to fall into the hands of Rich's column, who was advancing tn the opposite direction. A number took refuge in a village, which they resolved to defend to the last. It was at once surrounded ; but, driven to desperation, they resisted every effort to drive them from the houses in which they had taken shelter. To prevent any unnecessary sacrifice of our soldiers' lives, it was resolved to fire the village, and in a short time the place was enveloped in flames. Those who tried to escape were either sabred by the dragoons or bayoneted by the infantry. Many, however, preferred remaining in the houses until' they were consumed, and met death with a stoicism worthy of a better cause. Those who had sought cover around the village were soon hunted up and cut down by^jfche cavalry. In the two actions of. the morningl'and the afternoon, upwards of six hundred of the rebels perished, including many officers and men of mark amongst them; Two days after" this engagement, Tantia Topee was captured by his treacherous old companion in arms, Maun Sing. He was surrounded while asleep, and so complete was the surprise that, no' resistance was offered. -He was brought into Seepree in irons, and on the-16th instant, was .brought to trial before a court martial. The charges upon, which he was arraigned were confined to rebellion l and opposing the British government by force of ; arms; The court did no long deliberate, and itsoon became known all over the camp that the j far-famed Tantia Topee was to perish on. the scaffold. While he was.in prison only Europeans were allowed to visit him. A respectably' dressed native, however, one day requested to have an interview with the caged Pinrtaree. The Baboo said he wished to see Tantia, as it would be all he would get for 900 rupees, which the rebel chief had some time ago made him disburse. Tantia looked glum, and the Babob shook his head. A glance of quiet contempt was noticed in his countenance when following the departure from his presence of mediocre superiors. Tantia had his charges read to him on the 14th and 15th instant, to which he made a statement, which was afterwards prepared and read to him by a moonshee, he listening attentively, now and then correcting the moonshee. He afterwards signed tho latter document, in good English writing, "Tantia Topee." He disclaimed all participation in the massacre at Cawnpore, or in the killing of Europeans, except in fair fight; and he also absolved from the same imputation the Nan& Saheb, who, Tantia said, was at one .time made a prisoner of by his own men, because he would not proceed with them to Delhi. Tantia attributed the massacre and subsequent murders to the unrestrained, infuriated soldiery. He stated that he himself put provisions, etc:, on board the boats at Cawnpore, andth^t no order* were given to commit the

atrocities that ultimately took place. Tantia said he wasTfoiirth in command at Cawnpore; and was afterwards in command at Calpee, where he was four months. At the battle of the Betwa he. had the greatest rebel army which had ever been under his command—22^ooo men, with 130 pieces of artillery, but afterwards at Kooneh it had dwindled down to 8000. When he was told to prepare for his trial, he replied that he knew for fighting against the British Government his punishment would be death; he wanted no court, and he therefore wished to be despatched (holding up his manacles) from his misery, either from a gun, or by the noose, as quickly as possible. He did not wish to see his family; but the only thing he asked the government was, that they would not punish them - for transactions in which they had no concern. Before mounting the scaffold, he again feelingly expressed a wish that as they were about to take his life, government would see to his baba (child) at Gwalior. At five p.m. on the evening of the 18th. instant, he was conveyed to the place of execution guarded by a company of the 3rd Bengal European Regiment of Infantry. After a delay of about twenty minutes, the charges, finding, and sentence of the Court-martial, were read in English ; a native' translation having, we presume, been previously read to the prisoner. When requested to mount the platform he did so without assistance, evincing neither hesitation nor apprehension. When tlie rope was being adjusted around his neck his features betrayed no emotion, his countenance remaining- calm and impassible to the last. He died without a struggle, and had it not been for his cruelties and his crimes his fortitude might.have been admired. His age has been variously estimated, but his i general appearance did not betoken it to be more than forty years. He was not a man of any dig- i nified or distinguished presence, but his bearing was martial and easy. His countenance was in- ; telligent, but offered no marked characteristics. His complexion, as is usual with men of his race, was olive; his stature about the medium standard, and his beard and moustache thickly besprinkled with grey. From the hour of his capture to that of his death he betrayed no symptoms of either trepidation or despondency. He seemed to feel that his end was come; and it was easy to perceive in his general demeanour that he was quite prepared to meet his fate. On the Ist of April, 1858, he first crossed swords with Sir Hugh Rose on the banks of the Eetwa. From that period "up to the evening of the 18th instant, when a short shrift and a strong cord terminated his existence, his life Avas one of ceaseless activity and incessant warfare. In the course of twelve months he fought twenty pitched battles, and had been personally opposed to more than a dozen general officers and Brigadiers. But the splendours of a fleeting royalty were soon dirnned, and he was compelled to relinquish the sovereignty he had usurped, and slunk from the palace in which he had reigned. From this time up to'the moment of his execution, his career was a downward one. He was repulsed wherever our troops encountered him, and, worn and wearied, probably death was as welcome to him as it was satisfactory to the soldiers he had kept in harness for such a length of time. ' "