1857 letter with 'CODE'

[Kerry Langford]

I do realise this is a long shot but it would be interesting if someone could either recognise or point me in the right direction to be able to decifer what is written here.

The letter is from Cecil Beadon to Henry Carre Tucker during the Mutiny war.

[JBFloyd]

It looks like the writer is substituting Greek letters from some Latin letters.  With a little work, it should all come clear, but here's a very rough guess at the latter part:

Wilson is not  -----  ------ to attack the city (?), but 'e will keep his position till 'elp arrives, and he will prevent...

[Kerry Langford]

Nice work, thank you for the input. With all the information in the letter one wonders why he would put this small insert into this format. The minds of the 19th century, entertaining at least 

[JBFloyd]

Perhaps the missing words are "strong enough".

The use of Latin and Greek in British military messages goes back a long way. Probably the best known is Napier's message of "Peccavi" (I have sinned [Scinde]). The Royal Navy seemed to lean toward biblical passages. If intercepted by an enemy, such usage veils the meaning somewhat to those without a classical education and adds a bit of fun in writing otherwise boring message traffic.

[Kerry Langford]

'John Peter Grant went up on Thursday last to assume the functions of Gnl in the central provinces till communications are restored with Agra. Outram goes with him to command the troops in the Dinapur and Cawnpore Divisions, and Napier the chief of his staff is a first rate man of the Neill stamp – the effects of the removal of Gnl Lloyd from Dinapur are already visible and the substitution of Samuells for Mr Taylor at Patna is of the greatest promise. Taylors order for the abandonment of the outstations is perhaps the most mischievious thing that has been done yet, always excepting the military imbecility at Meermut and Dinapur'

Would that be the same Napier mentioned in the para above? Ironically in the same letter

[JBFloyd]

General Sir Charles J. Napier left India in 1851, so your Napier is probably a relative.

By the way, Napier's "message" may never have existed in reality, and may have been invented later for drama, but it goes to my point of the uses of a classical education.

[Kerry Langford]

' Field Marshal Robert Cornelius Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala GCB, GCSI, FRS (6 December 1810 – 14 January 1890)' This could be the one that was mentioned.

I'm enjoying the letters, both interesting as well as some lessons learned in how exquisite the correspondence between people should be put to paper. The respect is amazing to see.

[peter monahan]

I was going to mention the use of Greek letters during the Indian Mutiny as a primitive form of code as well.  I also recall reading, as a teen, so sooome time ago, of British officers in North Africa in early WWII using schoolboy slang and "multi-lingual"  phrases in an attempt to fool the Jerries. The example which has stuck in my head all these years was 'Bumbeaten'  for 'Asmara', Ethiopia, as the Hundi/Urdu word for 'hit' or 'beat' is 'maro'.  

Just re-rereading one of Patrick O'Brien's naval novels, of 'luck Jack Aubrey', and there are several signals which are simply Biblical references and clearly intended to be witty as opposed to secret.