We have heard from Luttabund to-day that none of the special messengers, conveying letters and telegrams, has reached there since the 15th. We are afraid after this to entrust important letters to the messengers, who may have taken them to the enemy, or been captured on the road to Luttabund. Beyond keeping a diary of events, such as I am now writing, nothing can be done; and it is hardly likely that beyond the mere fact of being invested and of stray shooting at the walls there will be anything left to chronicle for a few days.
Major Cook, V.C., as good a soldier as ever served, and a universal favourite in the force, died this evening. Lieutenant Montenaro still lives, but paralysis has declared itself, and his death must be a matter of a few hours. Our loss of officers is painfully great, and the total casualties of all ranks since December 10th must now be nearly 300. The 9th Lancers have been the worst sufferers: they have lost three officers killed and four wounded, and twenty-one men killed and seventeen wounded, or forty-eight casualties in their ranks. The 5th Punjab Cavalry is the only regiment whose officers have escaped scot-free during the five days’ fighting, from the 10th to the 14th.