_Dec. 20th._--We march back to-morrow, and shall be at Etah on the Grand Trunk Road on the 24th, when the convoy will come on to rejoin us. I have ascertained that the result of our affair here has been to drive the whole of the rebels out of the country between this and Futtehgurh.
From Etah we shall disperse the Mynpooree party, and then I think there will be no rebels left in the Doâb save at Futtehgurh, and those the Commander-in-Chief will dispose of.
KHASGUNGE, _23d_.--The more we move in this direction, the more do we realize of the satisfactory results of our expedition and our fight of the 17th. It really was a very complete affair, and had it been done under the eyes of the Commander-in-Chief, I should have been made a colonel. However, I can but admit that every disposition exists here to give me (perhaps more than) my due. To-day we have for the first time heard of the Commander-in-Chief's movements. He comes up in two columns, _viâ_ the Grand Trunk Road, and _viâ_ the Jumna towards Mynpooree. We shall be at the latter place on Christmas day, I hope, and clear out the remainder of the rebels who may still be lurking about the roads and villages. We caught yesterday one of the rebel leaders, an old Resaldar, covered with honors, pension, and dignity by our Government! These rascals are as impervious to gratitude as they are ignorant of truth. The neighborhood of Futtehgurh has brought vividly home to me the horrors committed, and the dreadful fate of poor Tudor Tucker, his wife, children, and the other victims, is ever before me; it often recalls a sterner judgment when we feel inclined to _spare_.
ETAH, _Dec. 24th_.--We got here after an eighteen miles' march, and hear that the Chief was to leave Cawnpore "in a few days" from the 14th, and would move up the Grand Trunk Road with one column, sending another to skirt the Jumna. General Windham is said to be coming up to take the divisional command at Umbâla.
MULLOWN, CHRISTMAS DAY.--There seems a fatality against our spending these anniversaries together; but my heart is full of deep and earnest prayer for you and all my loved ones, and I try to hope that our next Christmas may be spent _at home_.
We march to Kerowlee to-morrow, and shall be at Mynpooree on the 27th, there to halt for a few days, until the convoy is collected and we can hear from the Commander-in-Chief. We have just heard that Mayhew is the new Adjutant-General, and Norman, Deputy. This last is a splendid thing, and shows Sir Colin's determination to put the right man in the right place, in spite of all the red tape and seniority systems in the world! I can hear nothing of our dear friend Napier, but I suppose he is with Sir James Outram.