Meade's Horse; Lieutenant Roome, 10th Bombay I have, &c., R. NAPIER, Brigadier-General, No. 51. Lieutenant-Colonel G. H. Robertson, Commanding Camp, near Beejapoor, I HAVE the honour to report that the pursuing column under my command, strength as per margin, marched fron Powree on the 27th ultimo, in pursuit of Maun Sing, said to have with him 1,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry. 2. On the 29th we came up with a small party of Maun's Sing's infantry, some of whom were killed, some taken prisoners, and the rest dispersed inthe jungle. From the prisoners I learnt that Maun Sing had told the Gwalior Contingent portion of his infantry to leave him, as he could not supply them with food. We continued closely to follow Maun Sing, coming daily upon the encamping ground vacated by him a few hours before. At a pass among the hills between Sanda and Bijrawun, some of his fires were burning when we arrived on the evening of the 30th. At this ground he 1 division 3rd troop Bombay Horse Artillery, 1 division 4-2 Bombay Foot Artillery, 1 squadron 8th Hussars, 250 Meade's Horse, 7 rank and file Royal Engineers, 93 rank and file 86th Regiment, 118 rank and file 95th Regiment, 392 rank and file 10th Regiment Bombay Native Infantry, and 250 rank and file 25th Regiment ditto. divided his party, sending his wounded and superfluous baggage towards Padone. At 3 miles before reaching Sangye on the 31st, I saw traces on the ground of foot-prints (chiefly men's) turning sharply to our left rear, while the impressions of horses' hoofs continued on to Sangye. Here had evidently been a further division of Maun Sing's force, reported to be now reduced to 500; of these 200 were said to have gone towards Shahabad with Pearee Lall, and 300 with Maun Sing and his uncle Ajit Sing towards Rye. On the evening of the 2nd instant we reached Rye, and there heard that three parties of infantry sepoys, had met at that village from different directions, and had left that morning. On the evening of the 3rd we arrived at Burrumpore. In view to at once closing up with the enemy, who had contrived hitherto to be always just 10 or 12 miles ahead of us, I made arrangements on the line of march for pushing on with a portion of the column as per margin," and at 2 o'clock next morning (4th instant) marched. At 10 A.M. we arrived at Jagur, marched again 5 P.M., bivouacked when it became dark, turned out at midnight, and reached within a short distance of Beejapoor on the Choupet river, a little before day-break today. 3. The village of Beejapoor lay between us and the enemy, who were encamped on the bank of the river. Day broke, and I sent tho Hussars and irregular cavalry round the village, by the right, to attack the enemy on their left flank, and took the infantry through the village straight at them. They were posted in great numbers on high ground with a smaller portion lower down. There were about 700 or 800 infantry and 150 * 47 of the Hussars, 150 Meade's Horse, 79 of the 86th Regiment, 95 of the 95th Regiment, 100 of the 10th Regi ment, and 100 of the 25th Regiment, cavalry. Their appearance was certainly very im posing for a few minutes, but it was only for a few minutes. Our infantry rushed forward, and shot down and drove before them those who were on the lower ground, while our cavalry charged across the higher ground, using their sabres most effectively, as shown on the 37 bodies which have since been counted on that spot. 4. The action commenced at a quarter-past 5 A.M., and by 7 o'clock we were masters of the field. The enemy were shot and bayoneted along both banks of the river, and while crossing the river, and in the thickly wooded ravines in its neighbourhood, the cavalry got among them wherever the ground admitted of their acting. The slaughter was immense; I am assured by every one who has examined the scene of conflict that I am within the mark in saying that at least 450 mutineers were destroyed. They belonged to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th regiments of the Gwalior Contingent, the Allijah Bahadoor regiment (Scindia's), 1st regiment of the Kotah Contingent, 40th, 50th, and 52nd Bengal Native Infantry. Of the wounded, I can express no opinion. The enemy attempted to fly in various directions; those small bodies that could not be overtaken by our fatigued soldiers and sepoys, were fired into, and I feel certain that the total killed and wounded greatly exceed the number of our men (571) brought into action. Of Maun Sing I have lost all clue in the last day or two. I do not believe he was present in the fight. 5. The casualties on our side are as follows:KILLED.-Lieutenant Fawcett, 95th Regiment. Private Smith, 8th Hussars. WOUNDED-Captain Poore, 8th Hussars, severely. Lieutenant Hanbury, Sth Hussars, severely. Troop Serjeant-Major Champion, 8th Hussars, severely. Private Parker, 8th Hussars, severely. Kelly, 29 Willis, 95th Regiment, dangerously. O'Keefe, dead). Parsons, mortally (since severely. Subadar Ramjee Sindah, 10th Regt. Bombay Private Oomrow Khan, 10th Regt. By. N. I. Nund Kussoor, mortally slightly Lieutenant Stewart, Meade's Horse, slightly. Page, slightly. severely. slightly. slightly. 10 horses of Meade's Horse. 5 horses of 8th Hussars. 6. I beg to be permitted to bring to the notice of Brigadier-General Sir Robert Napier, K.C.B., commanding the Gwalior Division, the splendid behaviour of every individual under my command. With one halt only, this column has since the 27th ultimo, made long and harassing marches, averaging 16 miles daily, and that in rainy weather, across ploughed and muddy fields of black soil, and dense forests, where frequently there was no track whatever, through rivers whose rough and stony beds and banks severely shook, and otherwise injured the gun carriages, and over rocky mountain passes. Great labour has been gone through, great fatigue has been endured, most satisfactory has been the result as experienced this morning. 7. Most of the country we have traversed, was at one time under Maun Sing's charge, and many villages belong to him; I have therefore had peculiar difficulty in obtaining information regarding him. Frequently our march has been delayed for want of a clue to his movements, so that the turning out of the column to proceed in pursuit of him has generally been at uncertain hours. From the day we left Powree I have been under the deepest obligation to Captain Bolton, Assistant-Quartermaster-General, Rajpootana Division. The duty of picking up intelligence I entirely committed to him, and most ably has he performed it. Frequently during the night, when we were only too happy to be allowed to take some rest after the day's fatigues, has Captain Bolton been again and again disturbed either to listen to the reports brought in, or to send out scouts. 8. The Commissariat arrangements have been most carefully attended to by Lieutenant Williams, Sub-Assistant Commissary-General, Rajpootana division. Few who are not behind the scenes can conceive what the difficulties of a commissariat officer's duties are in such a country as we are acting in, more especially while long marches are being daily made, thus affording very little time for procuring supplies from the neighbourhood. 9. I have the honour to submit, for the favourable consideration of the Brigadier-General, in addition to the two officers mentioned above, the names of the following officers who commanded detachments this day in the battle of Beejapoor :Captain Poore, 8th Hussars; Captain Foster, 95th |