N.B.-Killed and wounded of light company, Her Majesty's 82nd Regiment not included, that Company having been taken on by Captain McCrea, and engaged in the right attack with Her Majesty's 64th Regiment. I have, &c., M. CARTHEW, Brigadier, Comdg. Madras Troops. No. 76. Memorandum by the Chief of the Staff, upon Brigadier Carthew's retreat from his post, on the 28th November, 1857. Head-Quarters Camp, Cawnpore, THE Commander-in-Chief has had under consideration, Brigadier Carthew's despatch, dated Cawnpore, 3rd December, 1857, addressed to the Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, Cawnpore Division. Although his Excellency fully admits the arduous nature of the service on which Brigadier Carthew had been engaged during the 28th November, he cannot record his approval of that officer's retreat, on the evening of that day. Under the instructions of Major-General Windham, his commanding officer, Brigadier Carthew had been placed in position. No discretion of retiring was allowed to him. When he was pressed hard, he sent for re-inforcements, which, as the Commander-in-Chief happened to be present when the request arrived, his Excellency is aware were immediately conducted to his relief by Major-General Windham in person. It would appear from Brigadier Carthew's letter of explanation, that he did not wait to see the effect of the re-inforcements which had been brought to him; but to the great astonishment of Major-General Windham and his Excellency, retired almost immediately after. With respect to these occurrences his Excellency feels it necessary to make two remarks: In the first place, no subordinate officer, when possessing easy means of communication with his immediate superior, is permitted, according to the principles and usages of war, to give up a post which has been entrusted to his charge, without a previous request for orders, after representation might have been made that the post had become no longer tenable. It might have occurred to Brigadier Carthew that when Major-General Windham proceeded to reinforce the post according to his first request, instead of ordering the garrison to retire, it was the opinion of the Major-General, that to hold it was an absolute necessity. His Excellency refrains from remarking on the very serious consequences which ensued on the abandonment of the post in question. The night which had arrived was more favorable to the Brigadier for the purpose of strengthening his position than it was to an enemy advancing on him in the dark; at all events there were many hours during which a decision could have been taken by the highest authority in the entrenchment whether the post should be abandoned or not, without much other inconvenience than the mere fatigue of the garrison. The Commander-in-Chief must make one more remark. Brigadier Carthew, in the last paragraph of his letter, talks about his men firing into one another in the dark. His Excellency does not see how this could occur if the men were properly posted, and the officers in command of them duly instructed as to their respective positions. No. 77. The Deputy Adjutant-General of the Army to the Secretary to the Government of India, Military Department. SIR. Head-Quarters Camp, Cawnpore, No. 34 A. WITH reference to my despatch of the 10th instant, No. 20 A. and its enclosures, relative to Brigadier M, Carthew's defence of the bridge and Bithoor road at Cawnpore, on the 28th ultimo, I have now the honor, by direction of the Commander-in-Chief, to forward, for submission to the Right Honorable the Governor-General in Council, copies of letters as per margin,* marked A, B, and C. 2. When the memorandum, dated 9th instant, was written, copy of which was transmitted in my letter No. 20 A, and in which the conduct of Brigadier Carthew was commented on by his Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief was under the strongest impression, that Brigadier Carthew had retired from his post, on the 28th November, without orders, and that no discretionary power had been given to him. Sir Colin Campbell conceived it to be an imperative duty to mark what he considered to be a violation of one of the first principles of war. 3. It appears now, however, that his Excellency's impression was erroneous, and it is a matter of the sincerest regret to him, that his having acted under such erroneous impression should have been detrimental to Brigadier Carthew, and give pain to that meritorious officer. 4. The Commander-in-Chief directs me to request that you will solicit the permission of his Lordship in Council, that his memorandum of the 9th instant, may be considered null and void, and, if it should have been sent forward to the Government of Madras, he begs that this further correspondence may be despatched to the destination in justice to Brigadier Carthew. I have, &c. H. W. NORMAN, Major,, Deputy Adjutant-General of the Army." * A-From Brigadier M. Carthew to the Chief of the Staff, dated 15th December, 1857. B-From the Chief of the Staff, to Major-General C. Windham, C.B., dated 19th December, 1857. C-From Major-General C. Windham, C.B., to the Chief of the Staff, dated 19th December, 1857. No. 78. A. Brigadier M. Carthew, commanding Madras Troops, to Major-General Mansfield, Chief of the Staff. SIR, Cawnpore, December 15, 1857. WITH reference to your communication to me of the 9th December, conveying the remarks of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, regarding my retreat from the position I had been directed to defend by Major-General Windham, commanding the force, on the evening of the 28th November, I beg I may be permitted most respectfully to state, that I was under the full impression, that I had due authority from the Major-General to retire when the post became no longer tenable. I received a verbal message during that day, either from the late Captain McCrea, or Lieutenant Budgeon (I cannot recollect which), that, when I could hold out no longer, I was to retire to the entrenchment, where Her Majesty's 64th Regiment was located. I cannot call to mind receiving any express instructions to that effect from Major-General Windham himself, but I am under the impression that the Major-General, on the previous evening, made some such remark as, 66 'Well, gentlemen, when we can hold out no longer, we must retire to the entrenchment." Under that impression I acted during the day, and made my retrograde movement into the entrenchment in the evening, and I trust his Excellency will be able on this explanation, to exonerate me from blame and censure in that particular respect. I have, &c., M. CARTHEW, Brigadier, Commanding Madras Troops. |