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diff --git a/33426-8.txt b/33426-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1865ba3 --- /dev/null +++ b/33426-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7961 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny 1857-59, by +William Forbes-Mitchell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny 1857-59 + Including the relief, siege, and capture of Lucknow, and + the campaigns in Rohilcund and Oude + +Author: William Forbes-Mitchell + +Release Date: August 13, 2010 [EBook #33426] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REMINISCENCES OF THE GREAT MUTINY *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker, Juliet Sutherland and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + REMINISCENCES + + OF THE + + GREAT MUTINY + + 1857-59 + + INCLUDING THE RELIEF, SIEGE, AND CAPTURE OF + LUCKNOW, AND THE CAMPAIGNS IN + ROHILCUND AND OUDE + + + + BY + WILLIAM FORBES-MITCHELL + LATE SERGEANT, NINETY-THIRD SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS + + + + + MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED + ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON + 1910 + + + + + _First Edition (Extra Crown 8vo) 1893. Reprinted 1894_ + _Reprinted (Crown 8vo) 1895, 1897, 1904_ + _Shilling Edition 1910_ + + + + + To the + + OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND MEN, + + STILL LIVING, + + OF THE OLD NINETY-THIRD SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, + + AND TO THE MEMORY OF + + THOSE WHO FELL DURING THE MUTINY + + OR HAVE SINCE PASSED AWAY, + + These Reminiscences + + ARE RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED + + BY THEIR OLD SERVANT AND COMRADE, + + + WILLIAM FORBES-MITCHELL, + + LATE NINETY-THIRD SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS. + + CALCUTTA, _April, 1893._ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +These Reminiscences are submitted to the public in the trust that they +will be welcomed alike by soldier and civilian. They are recorded by one +who was himself an actor in the scenes which he describes, and who +viewed them from a novel and most unusual position for a military +historian--the ranks. + +They have been carefully perused by an officer who was present at many +of the operations mentioned; and considerable pains have been taken to +verify, wherever possible, those incidents of which he was not +personally cognisant. + +The interest of Mr. Forbes-Mitchell's straightforward and soldierlike +story is enhanced by the coincidence that he takes up the pen where Lady +Inglis laid it down; and it is hoped that this volume may prove an +acceptable continuation of her touching narrative of the Defence of +Lucknow, and that, as a record of the Great Mutiny, it may furnish +another thrilling chapter in that unparalleled story of suffering and of +heroism,--of man's bravery and of woman's devotion. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I + PAGE + THE NINETY-THIRD HIGHLANDERS--SAIL FOR CHINA--COUNTER-ORDERED + TO CALCUTTA--ARRIVAL IN INDIA 1 + + + CHAPTER II + + THE MARCH UP COUNTRY--FUTTEHPORE--CAWNPORE 9 + + + CHAPTER III + + START FOR LUCKNOW--SIR COLIN--THE DILKOOSHÁ--MARTINIÈRE-- + SECUNDRABÂGH 26 + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE NINETY-THIRD--ANECDOTES OF THE SECUNDRABÂGH--GENERAL + EWART--THE SHÂH NUJEEF 51 + + + CHAPTER V + + PERSONAL ANECDOTES--CAPTURE OF THE SHÂH NUJEEF--A + FEARFUL EXPERIENCE 74 + + + CHAPTER VI + + BREAKFAST UNDER DIFFICULTIES--LONG SHOTS--THE LITTLE DRUMMER + --EVACUATION OF THE RESIDENCY BY THE GARRISON 94 + + + CHAPTER VII + + BAGPIPES AT LUCKNOW--A BEWILDERED BÂBOO--THE FORCED MARCH + TO CAWNPORE--OPIUM--WYNDHAM'S MISTAKE 114 + + + CHAPTER VIII + + ANECDOTES--ACTION WITH THE GWALIOR CONTINGENT--ITS DEFEAT + --PURSUIT OF THE NÂNÂ--BITHOOR--JOHN LANG AND JOTEE PERSHÂD 135 + + + CHAPTER IX + + HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE--ACTION AT THE KÂLEE + NUDDEE--FUTTEHGHUR 160 + + + CHAPTER X + + THE STRANGE STORY OF JAMIE GREEN 172 + CHAPTER XI + + + CHAPTER XI + + THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW--SIR COLIN APPOINTED COLONEL OF THE + NINETY-THIRD--ASSAULT OF THE MARTINIÈRE--A "RANK" JOKE 194 + + + CHAPTER XII + + ASSAULT ON THE BEGUM'S KOTHEE--DEATH OF CAPTAIN + M'DONALD--MAJOR HODSON WOUNDED--HIS DEATH 205 + + + CHAPTER XIII + + JUNG BAHÂDOOR--GUNPOWDER--THE MOHURRUM AT LUCKNOW--LOOT 219 + + + CHAPTER XIV + + AN UNGRATEFUL DUTY--CAPTAIN BURROUGHS--THE DILKOOSHÁ AGAIN + --GENERAL WALPOLE AT ROOYAH--THE RÂMGUNGA 231 + + + CHAPTER XV + + THE BATTLE OF BAREILLY--GHÂZIS--A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT--HALT AT + BAREILLY--ACTIONS OF POSGAON, RUSSOOLPORE, AND NOWRUNGABAD-- + REST AT LAST! 252 + + + APPENDIX A + + HISTORY OF THE MURDER OF MAJOR NEILL AT AUGUR 271 + + + APPENDIX B + + EUROPEANS AMONG THE REBELS 278 + + + APPENDIX C + + A FEW WORDS ON SWORD-BLADES 286 + + + APPENDIX D + + THE OPIUM QUESTION 292 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE NINETY-THIRD--SAIL FOR CHINA--COUNTER-ORDERED TO CALCUTTA--ARRIVAL +IN INDIA + + +I cannot truthfully commence these reminiscences with the usual formula +of the amateur author,--namely, by stating that, "At the solicitation of +numerous friends, the writer was most reluctantly prevailed upon to +publish his narrative," and so forth. No one has asked me to write my +recollections of the past and my impressions of the present. I do so to +please myself, because on revisiting the scenes of the Mutiny I have +been forcibly impressed with the fact that, like so many memories, the +soldiers and civilians who were personal actors in the great uprising +are fast passing away. + + They live but in time-stricken men, + Or else lie hushed in clay. + +Having served in the old Ninety-Third Sutherland Highlanders, and been +present at every action in which that famous regiment played a part from +the actual relief of Lucknow in November, 1857, till the final +operations in Oude ended in November, 1859, and being blessed with a +fairly retentive memory, I feel tempted to put on record the +recollections of the past and the impressions which my recent return to +those scenes has revived. + +In writing of the past I shall be careful to discriminate between what I +saw myself and what I heard from other eye-witnesses, whether native or +European; but when I come to write of the present I may be permitted to +make my own comparisons and to draw my own conclusions from present +facts, or appearances, as they have been impressed on my own +observation; and when recording my recollections of the many engagements +in which the Ninety-Third played a prominent part, I intend to skip much +that has already been recorded in the pages of history, and to more +particularly notice the action of individual soldiers, and other +incidents which came under my own notice, which have not, to my +knowledge, been recorded by any historian or author of the numerous +narratives, personal or other, which have been written about the Indian +Mutiny. + +Before entering on my reminiscences I may mention that I never +previously had an opportunity of revisiting any of the scenes of which I +am about to write since I had been an actor in them. My readers will, +therefore, understand that it was with strongly mixed feelings both of +pleasure and sorrow, not unmingled with gratitude, that I started by the +mail train from Howrah in August, 1892, to revisit Cawnpore and Lucknow +for the first time, with the terrible scenes of 1857 and 1858 still +vividly photographed, as it were, on my memory. In the course of +thirty-five years of the life of even the most commonplace individual +there are events which are never forgotten, and certain friends are lost +who are never replaced; so much so, that in thinking of the past one is +almost compelled to exclaim with Solomon,--"Vanity of vanities, all is +vanity! One generation passeth away and another generation cometh," and +the end of all is "vanity and vexation of spirit." But to the Christian, +in grand contrast to the vanity and changeableness of this life, stands +out like a rock the promise of the Eternal, the Self-existing, and +Unchangeable Jehovah. "The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are +the everlasting arms!" But I am no _padre_, and must not commence to +moralise or preach. What tempts me do so is the fact that there is a +class of writers in the present day who not only deny the truth of many +of the fondly-treasured recollections of the past, which have become +part of our national history, but who would, if it were possible, refine +even God Himself out of creation, and hand us all over to blind chance +for our existence! But enough; I must hark back to 1857. + +On the return of the Ninety-Third from the Crimea they were quartered at +Dover, and in April, 1857, the regiment was detailed for the expedition +forming for China under Lord Elgin, and all time-expired men and those +unfit for foreign service were carefully weeded from the service +companies and formed into a depôt. The ten service companies were +recruited by volunteers from the other Highland regiments, the +Forty-Second, Seventy-Second, Seventy-Ninth, and Ninety-Second, each +giving a certain number of men, bringing the Ninety-Third up to a corps +of eleven hundred bayonets. About the 20th of May the Ninety-Third left +Dover for Portsmouth, where we were reviewed by the Queen accompanied by +Sir Colin Campbell, who took final leave, as he then supposed, of the +regiment which had stood with him in the "thin red line" of Balaklava +against the terrible Cossacks. On the first of June three companies, of +which mine formed one, embarked in a coasting steamer for Plymouth, +where we joined the _Belleisle_, an old 84-gun two-decker, which had +been converted into a transport for the China expedition. This +detachment of the Ninety-Third was under the command of Colonel the +Honourable Adrian Hope, and the captains of the three companies were +Cornwall, Dawson, and Williams--my company being that of Captain E. S. +F. G. Dawson, an officer of great experience, who had served in another +regiment (I forget which) throughout the Kaffir war in the Cape, and was +adjutant of the Ninety-Third at the Alma, where he had his horse shot +under him. The remaining seven companies, forming headquarters under +Colonel A. S. Leith-Hay, sailed from Portsmouth in the steam transport +_Mauritius_ about ten days after us. + +Although an old wooden ship, the _Belleisle_ was a very comfortable +transport and a good sailer, and we sighted land at the Cape on the +morning of the 9th of August, having called and posted mails at both +Madeira and the Cape de Verde Islands on our way. We were at anchor in +Simon's Bay by the afternoon of the 9th of August, where we heard the +first news of the Indian Mutiny, and that our destination was changed +from China to Calcutta; and during the 10th and 11th all was bustle, +tightening up rigging, taking in fuel for cooking, and refilling our +empty water-tanks. On the evening of the 11th, just as it was becoming +dark, a steamer came up the bay, and anchored quite close to the +_Belleisle_; and on our bugler's sounding the regimental call, it turned +out to be the _Mauritius_ with headquarters on board. Most of our +officers immediately went on board, and many of the men in the three +companies were gratified by receiving letters from parents, sweethearts, +and friends, which had reached Portsmouth after our detachment had left. +On the forenoon of the 12th of August the _Belleisle_ left Simon's Bay, +making all sail day and night for Calcutta. The ship's crew numbered +nine hundred men, being made up of drafts for the ships of the China +squadron. Every yard of canvas that the masts or spars could carry was +crowded on day and night; and we reached the pilot station at the +Sandheads on the 19th of September, thirty-eight days from the Cape, +where we learned that the _Mauritius_, with our headquarters, had just +proceeded up the river. + +Early on the 20th, the anniversary of the Alma, we got tug steamers and +proceeded up the Hooghly, anchoring off the steps at Prinsep's _ghât_[1] +on the afternoon of the 21st of September. Our progress up the river was +all excitement. We had two tug steamers, the _Belleisle_ being +considered too large for a single tug of the horsepower of those days; +and the pilot and tug commanders all sent bundles of the latest Calcutta +papers on board, from which we learned the first news of the sieges of +Delhi and Lucknow, of the horrible massacre at Cawnpore, and of the +gallant advance of the small force under Generals Havelock, Neill, and +Outram for the relief of Lucknow. When passing Garden Reach, every +balcony, verandah, and housetop was crowded with ladies and gentlemen +waving their handkerchiefs and cheering us, all our men being in full +Highland dress and the pipers playing on the poop. In passing the +present No. 46 Garden Reach the flood-tide was still running up too +strong for the _Belleisle_ to come into harbour, and we anchored for +about an hour just opposite No. 46. The house and steps of the _ghât_ +were crowded with ladies and gentlemen cheering us; and one of my +comrades, a young man named Frank Henderson, said to me, "Forbes +Mitchell, how would you like to be owner of a palace like that?" when I, +on the spur of the moment, without any thought, replied, "I'll be master +of that house and garden yet before I leave India." Poor Henderson +replied: "I firmly believe you will, if you make up your mind for it; +but as for myself, I feel that I shall either die or be killed in this +war. I am convinced I shall never see the end of it. I have dreamed of +my dead father every night since we sighted the pilot-brig, and I know +my days are numbered. But as for you,--I have also dreamed of you, and I +am sure you will go safely through the war, and live for many years, +and become a prosperous man in India. Mark my words; I am convinced of +it." We had a Church of England chaplain on the _Belleisle_, and service +every morning, and Henderson and myself, with many others, formed part +of the chaplain's Sunday and Wednesday evening prayer-meeting class. +"Since ever we sighted the pilot-brig," Henderson went on to say, "and +my dead father has commenced to appear to me in my dreams, I have felt +every day at morning prayers that the words, 'That we may return in +safety to enjoy the blessings of the land, with the fruits of our +labours, and with a thankful remembrance of Thy mercies, to praise and +glorify Thy holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord,' had no reference +to me, and I cannot join in them. But when the chaplain read the prayers +this morning he looked straight at you when he pronounced that part of +the prayer, and I felt that the blessing prayed for rests on you. Mark +my words, and remember them when I am dead and buried." Strange to say, +on the 16th of November Henderson was severely wounded at the taking of +the Shâh Nujeef, died in the retreat from Lucknow on the evening of the +20th of November, and was buried on the banks of the Ganges, just +opposite the bridge of boats at Cawnpore. The Rev. Mr. Henderson of St. +Andrew's Church, Calcutta, who had accompanied the Seventy-Eighth +Highlanders to Lucknow, attended as chaplain to our wounded after we +relieved the Residency, and being of the same name, he took a particular +interest in poor Henderson. However, to return to Garden Reach. +Stranger still as it may appear, just thirty-two years after, I took +possession of the house No. 46, where I have established the Bon Accord +Rope Works. But enough of this; I am not writing my autobiography. + +The arrival of the Ninety-Third caused quite a sensation in Calcutta, +where but few Highland regiments had ever been seen before. To quote the +words of an eye-witness writing from Calcutta to friends at home, and +published in the Aberdeen _Herald_, describing a party of the +Ninety-Third which was sent ashore to store the heavy baggage which had +to be left in Calcutta, he stated:--"On hearing the Ninety-Third in the +streets, Scotchmen who had long been exiled from home rose from their +desks, rushed out, and stood at the doors of their offices, looking with +feelings of pride at their stalwart countrymen, and listening with +smiles of pleasure to the sounds of their own northern tongue, long +unfamiliar to their ears. Many brought out tankards of cool beer, and +invited the men as they passed along to drink, and the Highlanders +required but little pressing, for the sun was hot, and, to use their own +vernacular, the exercise made them _gey an drauthy_." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] A landing-place. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MARCH UP COUNTRY--FUTTEHPORE--CAWNPORE + + +By the 25th of September the whole of the Ninety-Third were once more +together in Chinsurah, and on the 28th the first company, the grenadiers +under Captain Middleton, started by rail for Râneegunge _en route_ for +Lucknow, and a company followed daily in regular rotation till the light +company left Chinsurah on the 7th of October. From Râneegunge to Benares +the old bullock-train was arranged with relays of bullocks from eight to +ten miles apart, according to the nature of the road, and six men were +told off to each cart to ride and march by relief. Thus we proceeded, +making an average advance of from twenty-five to thirty miles daily, +halting every day about ten o'clock for cooking, resuming our march +about four o'clock, and so on through the night for coolness; the +bullocks did not average more than two and a half miles per hour, and +there was always considerable delay at the different stations, changing +teams. In this way my company reached Benares on the 17th of October. +From Benares we proceeded by detachments of two or three companies to +Allahabad; the country between Benares and Allahabad, being overrun by +different bands of mutineers, was too dangerous for small detachments of +one company. My company reached Allahabad on the 19th of October. There +we were supplied with the usual Indian field equipment of tents, etc. By +this time the railway had been pushed on in the direction of Cawnpore to +a place called Lohunga, about forty-eight miles from Allahabad, but no +stations were built. On the 22nd of October my company, with three +others, left Allahabad, packed into open trucks or waggons used by the +railway contractors for the construction of the line. From Lohunga we +commenced our daily marches on foot, with our tents on elephants, _en +route_ for Cawnpore. + +By this time a considerable force had assembled at Allahabad, consisting +of artillery from the Cape, Peel's Naval Brigade, detachments of the +Fifth Fusiliers, the Fifty-Third, and Ninetieth Light Infantry. But the +only complete regiment was the Ninety-Third Highlanders, over a thousand +men, in splendid condition, armed with the Enfield rifle, and, what was +of more importance, well drilled to the use of it. + +After leaving Lohunga, the first place of note which we reached was +Futtehpore, seventy-two miles from Allahabad. At Futtehpore I met some +native Christians whom I had first seen in Allahabad, and who were, or +had been, connected with mission work, and could speak English. They had +returned from Allahabad to look after property which they had been +obliged to abandon when they fled from Futtehpore on the outbreak of the +Mutiny. These men all knew Dr. Duff, or had heard of him, and were most +anxious to talk to Dr. Duff's countrymen, as they called the +Highlanders. From one of them I heard of the brave defence made by a +solitary Englishman who refused to leave his post, and as I have never +seen this alluded to in any of the histories of the Mutiny, I shall +relate it. + +When the insurrection broke out, Mr. Robert Tucker was the judge of +Futtehpore, and like his namesake of Salvation Army fame, he combined +the missionary with the civil-servant, and used to preach to the +natives, who listened to him with seeming respect, but with concealed +hatred in their hearts. One of the most regular attendants at these +Christian meetings in the judge's house was a Mahommedan named Hikmut +Oollah Khân, the native head of the police in Futtehpore, and Mr. Tucker +had unbounded confidence in the friendship of this man and in the +loyalty of the police. On the first certain signs of disturbance in the +station Mr. Tucker despatched all the Christians, native and European, +to Allahabad, but refused to move himself. My informant told me that he +had stayed with the brave judge till the last, and had made his escape +to Allahabad after Mr. Tucker was killed; but I had no means of testing +the truth of that statement. He further stated that Mr. Tucker had sent +away all the Christians to Allahabad during the night, and next day +about noon he sent for Hikmut Oollah Khân, who had neglected to make his +usual morning report, with an intimation that the judge wished to see +him and his loyal police to make arrangements for the protection of the +Treasury and other Government property. The "loyal and friendly" Hikmut +Oollah Khân sent back a reply that it was then too hot for him to come +out, and that the judge _sâhib_ need not trouble himself about the +Treasury. Considering that the Government of the English was at an end, +the police would take care of the Treasury for the Bâdshâh of Delhi, to +whom it rightly belonged, and till the cool of the evening the judge +_sâhib_ might repeat his Kaffir prayers, when the "loyal and friendly" +Hikmut Oollah Khân, with a detachment of his loyal police, would come +and give his Kaffir soul a quick despatch to Jehunnum. Such was the +loyalty of Mr. Tucker's trusted and pampered friend! + +The message of Hikmut Oollah Khân opened the eyes of the too confiding +judge, but he did not flinch from his duty. Mr. Tucker had been a mighty +hunter in his day, and possessed a good assortment of offensive and +defensive arms, such as rifles, fowling-pieces, and hog-spears. He +carefully arranged his ammunition and loaded every rifle and +fowling-piece which he had, strongly barricaded the doors and windows of +his house, and then sat quietly down to read his Bible. At sunset he saw +a large body of the police, with the green banner of Islâm and Hikmut +Oollah Khân at their head, entering his compound. They advanced, and +called on Mr. Tucker to surrender in the name of the Bâdshâh of Delhi, +and if he wished his life to be spared, he could have it on condition +that he accepted the religion of Mahommed. This he resolutely refused +to do, and tried to reason with the police, to which they replied by a +volley. Mr. Tucker returned the fire, and before the doors of his house +could be forced he had killed sixteen and wounded many more, when he +fell pierced by both spears and bullets. So died the brave and +God-fearing Robert Tucker, the glory of the Bengal Civil Service, and +thus ended the defence of Futtehpore by one solitary Englishman against +hundreds of rebels. + +When the detachment of which my company formed part, marched through +Futtehpore, it was rumoured that the Banda and Dinapore mutineers, +joined by large bodies of _budmâshes_,[2] numbering over ten thousand +men, with three batteries of regular artillery, mustering eighteen guns, +had crossed the Jumna, and were threatening our communications with +Allahabad. Owing to this report, No. 2, or Captain Cornwallis's company +of the Ninety-Third, was left in the fort at Futtehpore to guard +provisions, etc., as that post had been greatly strengthened by a party +of sappers and was formed into a depôt for commissariat stores and +ammunition, which were being pushed on by every available mode of +conveyance from Allahabad. We left Futtehpore on the 25th of October, +and arrived at Cawnpore on the morning of the 27th, having marched the +forty-six miles in two days. + +When we reached Cawnpore we found everything quiet, and Brigadier +Wilson, of the Sixty-Fourth Regiment, in command. Wheeler's immortal +entrenchment was deserted, but a much stronger one had lately been +built, or rather was still under construction on the right (the +Cawnpore) bank of the Ganges, to protect the bridge of boats crossing +into Oude. This place was constructed of strong and well-planned +earthworks, and every available coolie in Cawnpore was at work, from +daylight till dark, strengthening the place. Bastions and ramparts were +being constructed of every conceivable material, besides the usual +gabions and fascines. Bales of cotton were built into the ramparts, bags +of every size and shape, soldiers' knapsacks, etc., were filled with +earth; in brief, everything that could possibly hold a few spadefuls of +earth, and could thereby assist in raising a defensive breast-work, had +been appropriated for building the parapet-walls, and a ditch of +considerable depth and width was being excavated. On my recent visit to +Cawnpore I looked for this fort in vain. Eventually I learned from +Colonel Baddeley that it was some time ago dismantled and converted into +the Government Harness and Saddlery Factory, the ramparts having been +levelled and the ditch filled in with earth. + +The day before we reached Cawnpore, a strong column from Delhi had +arrived under command of Sir Hope Grant, and was encamped on the plain +near the spot where the railway station now stands. The detachment of +the Ninety-Third did not pitch tents, but was accommodated in some +buildings, on which the roofs were still left, near General Wheeler's +entrenchment. My company occupied the _dâk_ bungalow, which, on my +revisit to Cawnpore, appeared to me to have given place to the present +Victoria Hotel. + +After a few hours' rest, we were allowed to go out in parties of ten or +twelve to visit the horrid scene of the recent treachery and massacre. +The first place my party reached was General Wheeler's so-called +entrenchment, the ramparts of which at the highest places did not exceed +four feet, and were so thin that at the top they could never have been +bullet-proof! The entrenchment and the barracks inside of it were +complete ruins, and the only wonder about it was how the small force +could have held out so long. In the rooms of the building were still +lying strewn about the remains of articles of women's and children's +clothing, broken toys, torn pictures, books, pieces of music, etc. Among +the books, I picked up a New Testament in Gaelic, but without any name +on it. All the blank leaves had been torn out, and at the time I formed +the opinion that they had been used for gun-waddings, because, close +beside the Testament, there was a broken single-barrelled duck gun, +which had evidently been smashed by a 9-pounder shot lying near. I +annexed the Testament as a relic, and still have it. The Psalms and +Paraphrases in Gaelic verses are complete, but the first chapter of +Matthew and up to the middle of the seventh verse of the second chapter +are wanting. The Testament must have belonged to some Scotch Highlander +in the garrison. I have more than once thought of sending it home to the +Highland Society as a relic of the Mutiny. + +From the entrenchment we went to the Suttee Chowrah _ghât_, where the +doomed garrison were permitted to embark in the boats in which they were +murdered, and traces of the treachery were still very plain, many +skeletons, etc., lying about unburied among the bushes. + +We then went to see the slaughter-house in which the unfortunate women +and children had been barbarously murdered, and the well into which +their mangled bodies were afterwards flung. Our guide was a native of +the ordinary camp-follower class, who could speak intelligible +barrack-room English. He told us that he had been born in a battery of +European artillery, in which his forefathers had been shoeblacks for +unknown generations, and his name, he stated, was "Peshawarie," because +he had been born in Peshawur, when the English occupied it during the +first advance to Caubul. His apparent age coincided with this statement. +He claimed to have been in Sir Hugh Wheeler's entrenchment with the +artillery all the time of the siege, and to have had a narrow escape of +his life at the last. He told us a story which I have never seen +mentioned elsewhere, that the Nânâ Sâhib, through a spy, tried to bribe +the commissariat bakers who had remained with the English to put arsenic +into the bread, which they refused to do, and that after the massacre of +the English at the _ghât_ the Nânâ had these bakers taken and put alive +into their own ovens, and there cooked and thrown to the pigs. These +bakers were Mahommedans. Of course, I had no means of testing the truth +of this statement.[3] Our guide showed no desire to minimise the horrors +of the massacre and the murders to which he said he had been an +eye-witness. However, from the traces, still too apparent, the bare +facts, without exaggeration, must have been horrible enough. But with +reference to the women and children, from the cross-questions I put to +our guide, I then formed the opinion, which I have never since altered, +that most of the European women had been most barbarously murdered, but +not dishonoured, with the exception of a few of the young and +good-looking ones, who, our guide stated, were forcibly carried off to +become Mahommedans. But I need not dwell on these points. These are the +opinions I formed in October, 1857, three months after the massacre, and +nothing which I have since learnt during my thirty-five years' residence +in India has led me to alter them. + +Most of the men of my company visited the slaughter-house and well, and +what we there saw was enough to fill our hearts with feelings which I +need not here dwell on; it was long before those feelings could be +controlled. On the date of my visit a great part of the house had not +been cleaned out; the floors of the rooms were still covered with +congealed blood, littered with trampled, torn dresses of women and +children, shoes, slippers, and locks of long hair, many of which had +evidently been severed from the living scalps by sword-cuts. But among +the traces of barbarous torture and cruelty which excited horror and a +desire for revenge, one stood out prominently beyond all others. It was +an iron hook fixed into the wall of one of the rooms in the house, about +six feet from the floor. I could not possibly say for what purpose this +hook had originally been fixed in the wall. I examined it carefully, and +it appeared to have been an old fixture, which had been seized on as a +diabolic and convenient instrument of torture by the inhuman wretches +engaged in murdering the women and children. This hook was covered with +dried blood, and from the marks on the whitewashed wall, it was evident +that a little child had been hung on to it by the neck with its face to +the wall, where the poor thing must have struggled for long, perhaps in +the sight of its helpless mother, because the wall all round the hook on +a level with it was covered with the hand-prints, and below the hook +with the foot-prints, in blood, of a little child. + +At the time of my visit the well was only about half-filled in, and the +bodies of the victims only partially covered with earth. A gallows, with +three or four ropes ready attached, stood facing the slaughter-house, +half-way between it and the well; and during my stay three wretches were +hanged, after having been flogged, and each made to clean about a square +foot of the blood from the floor of the house. Our guide told us that +these men had only been captured the day before, tried that morning, and +found guilty as having assisted at the massacre. + +During our visit a party of officers came to the slaughter-house, among +whom was Dr. Munro, Surgeon of the Ninety-Third, now Surgeon-General Sir +William Munro. When I saw him he was examining the hook covered with +dried blood and the hand and foot-prints of the child on the wall, with +the tears streaming down his cheeks. He was a most kind-hearted man, and +I remember, when he came out of the house, that he cast a look of pity +on the three wretches about to be hanged, and I overheard him say to +another officer who was with him: "This is horrible and unchristian to +look at; but I do hope those are the same wretches who tortured the +little child on the hook inside that room." At this time there was no +writing either in pencil or charcoal on the walls of the +slaughter-house. I am positive on this point, because I looked for any +writing. There was writing on the walls of the barracks inside General +Wheeler's entrenchment, but not on the walls of the slaughter-house, +though they were much splashed with blood and slashed with sword-cuts, +where blows aimed at the victims had evidently been dodged and the +swords had struck the walls. Such marks were most numerous in the +corners of the rooms. The number of victims butchered in the house, +counted and buried in the well by General Havelock's force, was one +hundred and eighteen women and ninety-two children. + +Up to the date of my visit, a brigade-order, issued by Brigadier-General +J. G. S. Neill, First Madras Fusiliers, was still in force. This order +bears date the 25th of July, 1857. I have not now an exact copy of it, +but its purport was to this effect:--That, after trial and condemnation, +all prisoners found guilty of having taken part in the murder of the +European women and children, were to be taken into the slaughter-house +by Major Brace's _méhter_[4] police, and there made to crouch down, and +with their mouths lick clean a square foot of the blood-soaked floor +before being taken to the gallows and hanged. This order was carried out +in my presence as regards the three wretches who were hanged that +morning. The dried blood on the floor was first moistened with water, +and the lash of the warder was applied till the wretches kneeled down +and cleaned their square foot of flooring. This order remained in force +till the arrival of Sir Colin Campbell in Cawnpore on the 3rd of +November, 1857, when he promptly put a stop to it as unworthy of the +English name and a Christian Government. General Neill has been much +blamed for this order; but in condemning the action we must not overlook +the provocation. The general saw more of the horrors of Cawnpore than I +did; but what I saw, and the stories which were told by natives who +claimed to have been eye-witnesses of the horrible scenes which they +described, were enough to make the words _mercy_ and _pardon_ appear a +mockery; and in passing judgment on him we must not forget the +proclamations of the Nânâ Sâhib. These have often been published, and I +will only give one extract bearing on the murder of the women and +children. The extract is as follows, and was part of a proclamation +placarded all over Cawnpore: "To extinguish a fire and leave a spark, to +kill a snake and preserve its young, is not the wisdom of men of sense." + +However, let General Neill speak for himself. The following is a copy of +one of his own letters, taken from Colonel White's _Reminiscences_. On +page 135 he writes: "_The Well and Slaughter-house, Cawnpore_.--My +object was to inflict a fearful punishment for a revolting, cowardly, +and barbarous deed, and to strike terror into the rebels. The first I +caught was a _subadar_ or native officer, a high-caste Brahmin, who +tried to resist my order of the 25th of July 1857, to clean the very +blood which he had helped to shed; but I made the provost-marshall do +his duty, and a few lashes compelled the miscreant to accomplish his +work. When done he was taken out and immediately hanged, and buried in a +ditch by the roadside. No one who has witnessed the scenes of murder, +mutilation, and massacre can ever listen to the word 'mercy' as +applicable to these fiends." + +As already said, before condemning General Neill's order we must give +due weight to the terrible provocation, the horrible scenes he saw, and +the still more horrible stories he heard related by natives who either +had or pretended to have been eye-witnesses of the facts they described. +Even after the lapse of thirty-five years such horrors cannot be calmly +contemplated; they can only be hinted at here. Such stories were common +in camp, and believed not only by the soldiers in the ranks, but by +officers of position; and in judging General Neill's order we must give +due weight to the passionate nature of the man, and recollect that +General Havelock, his senior, must have approved of the order, or he +would have cancelled it. + +But enough of massacre and revenge for the present; I shall return to +General Neill's order when I describe my revisit to Cawnpore. In the +meantime I should much like to know whether the late Major A. H. S. +Neill, who commanded the Central India Horse, and was shot on parade by +Sowar Mazar Ali, at Augur, Central India, on the 14th of March, 1887, +was a son of General Neill of Mutiny fame. Mazar Ali was sentenced to +death by Sir Lepel Griffin, as Governor-General's agent; but I did not +see a full account of the trial, and I ask for the above information to +corroborate a statement made to me, on my late visit to the scenes of +the Mutiny, by a native who admitted that he had been an armourer in the +rebel force at Cawnpore, but had joined the English after the defeat of +the Gwalior Contingent in December, 1857.[5] + +General Hope Grant's brigade and part of the Ninety-Third Highlanders +crossed the bridge of boats at Cawnpore, and entered Oude on the 30th of +October, with a convoy of provisions and ammunition _en route_ to +Lucknow. My company, with three others, remained in Cawnpore three days +longer, and crossed into Oude on the 2nd of November, encamping a short +distance from the bridge of boats. + +On the morning of the 3rd a salute was fired from the mud fort on the +Cawnpore side, from which we learned, to the great delight of the +Ninety-Third, that Sir Colin Campbell had come up from Calcutta. Shortly +after the salute some of our officers joined us from the Cawnpore side, +and gave us the news, which had been brought by the Commander-in-Chief, +that a few days before three companies of the Fifty-Third and Captain +Cornwallis's company, No. 2, of the Ninety-Third, which had been left at +Futtehpore, with part of the Naval Brigade under Captain William Peel, +had formed a force of about five hundred men under the command of +Colonel Powell of the Fifty-Third, marched out from Futtehpore to a +place called Khujwah, and attacked and beaten the Banda and Dinapore +mutineers, numbering over ten thousand, who had been threatening our +communications with Allahabad. The victory for some time had been +doubtful, as the mutineers were a well-equipped force, strongly posted +and numbering more than twenty to one of the attacking force, possessing +moreover, three well-drilled batteries of artillery, comprising eighteen +guns. Colonel Powell was killed early in the action, and the command +then devolved on Captain Peel of the Naval Brigade. Although hard +pressed at first, the force eventually gained a complete and glorious +victory, totally routing the rebels, capturing most of their guns, and +driving the remnant of them across the Jumna, whence they had come. The +company of the Ninety-Third lost heavily, having one officer wounded and +sixteen men killed or wounded. The officer, Lieutenant Cunyngham (now +Sir R. K. A. Dick-Cunyngham of Prestonfield, Edinburgh), was reported to +have lost a leg, which caused general sorrow and regret throughout the +regiment, as he was a most promising young officer and very popular with +the men. During the day when more correct and fuller reports came in, we +were all very glad to hear that, although severely wounded, the +lieutenant had not lost a limb, and that the surgeons considered they +would not only be able to save his leg, but that he might be fit to +return to duty in a few months, which he eventually did, and was present +at the siege of Lucknow. + +During the afternoon of the 3rd of November more stores of provisions +and ammunition crossed the river with some of Peel's 24-pounder guns, +and on the morning of the 4th, long before daylight, we were on the +march for Lucknow, under command of Colonel Leith-Hay, leaving Cawnpore +and its horrors behind us, but neither forgotten nor disregarded. Every +man in the regiment was determined to risk his life to save the women +and children in the Residency of Lucknow from a similar fate. None were +inclined to pay any heed to the French maxim that _les représailles sont +toujours inutiles_, nor inclined to ponder and moralise on the lesson +and warning given by the horrible catastrophe which had overtaken our +people at Cawnpore. Many too were inclined to blame the +Commander-in-Chief for having cancelled the brigade order of General +Neill. + +Before concluding this chapter I wish my readers to note that I merely +describe facts as they appeared to me in 1857. Nothing is further from +my intention than to revive the old race-hatreds. The real causes of the +Mutiny and its horrors have yet to be written. I merely mention facts to +show the incentive the troops had to make light of forced marches, under +short rations and a double load of ammunition for want of other means of +carriage, with an overwhelming enemy in front, and no means whatever of +obtaining reinforcements or recovering from a defeat. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Bad characters, scoundrels. + +[3] This story was current in Upper India at the time. + +[4] Sweeper, scavenger; one of the lowest castes. + +[5] See Appendix A. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +START FOR LUCKNOW--SIR COLIN--THE DILKOOSHÁ--MARTINIÈRE--SECUNDRABÂGH + + +When proceeding on our march to Lucknow it was clear as noonday to the +meanest capacity that we were now in an enemy's country. None of the +villages along the route were inhabited, the only visible signs of life +about them being a few mangy pariah dogs. The people had all fled on the +first advance of Havelock, and had not returned; and it needed no great +powers of observation to fully understand that the whole population of +Oude was against us. + +The deserted villages gave the country a miserable appearance. Not only +were they forsaken, but we found, on reaching our first halting-ground, +that the whole of the small bazaar of camp-followers, consisting of +goat-herds, bread, milk, and butter-sellers, etc., which had accompanied +us from Allahabad, had returned to Cawnpore, none daring to accompany +the force into Oude. This was most disappointing for young soldiers with +good appetites and sound digestions, who depended on bazaar +_chupatties_,[6] with a _chittack_[7] of butter and a pint of goat's +milk at the end of the march, to eke out the scanty commissariat +allowance of rations. What made the privation the more keenly felt, was +the custom of serving out at one time three days' biscuits, supposed to +run four to the pound, but which, I fear, were often short weight. +Speaking for myself, I did not control my appetite, but commenced to eat +from my haversack on the march, the whole of my three days' biscuits +usually disappearing before we reached the first halting-ground, and +believe me, I ran no danger of a fit of indigestion. To demolish twelve +ordinary-sized ship's biscuits, during a march of twenty to twenty-five +miles, was no great tax on a young and healthy stomach. + +I may here remark that my experience is that, after a forced march, it +would be far more beneficial to the men if the general commanding were +to serve out an extra ration of tea or coffee with a pound of bread or +biscuit instead of extra grog. The latter was often issued during the +forced marches of the Mutiny, but never an extra ration of food; and my +experience is that a pint of good tea is far more refreshing than a dram +of rum. Let me also note here most emphatically that regimental canteens +and the fixed ration of rum in the field are the bane of the army. At +the same time I am no teetotaller. In addition to the bazaar people, our +cooks and _dhobies_[8] had also deserted. This was not such a serious +matter for the Ninety-Third just fresh from the Crimea, as it was for +the old Indian regiments. Men for cooking were at once told off for +each of our tents; but the cooking-utensils had also gone with the +cooks, or not come on; the rear-guard had seen nothing of them. There +were, however, large copper water-cans attached to each tent, and these +were soon brought into use for cooking, and plenty of earthen pots were +to be found in the deserted houses of the villagers. Highlanders, and +especially Highlanders who are old campaigners, are not lacking in +resources where the preparation of food is concerned. + +I will relate a rather amusing incident which happened to the men of the +colour-sergeant's tent of my company,--Colour-Sergeant David Morton, a +Fifeshire man, an old soldier of close on twenty years' service, one of +the old "unlimited service" men, whose regimental number was 1100, if I +remember rightly. A soldier's approximate service, I may here state, can +almost always be told from his regimental number, as each man on +enlisting takes the next consecutive number in the regiment, and as +these numbers often range up to 8000 or even 10,000 before commencing +again at No. 1, it is obvious that the earlier numbers indicate the +oldest soldiers. The men in the Ninety-Third with numbers between 1000 +and 2000 had been with the regiment in Canada before the Crimean war, so +David Morton, it will be seen, was an old soldier; but he had never seen +tobacco growing in the field, and in the search for fuel to cook a +dinner, he had come across a small plot of luxuriant tobacco leaf. He +came back with an armful of it for Duncan Mackenzie, who was the +improvised cook for the men of his tent, and told us all that he had +secured a rare treat for our soup, having fallen on a plot of "real +Scotch curly kail!" The men were all hungry, and the tobacco leaves were +soon chopped fine, washed, and put into the soup. But when that soup was +cooked it was a "caution." I was the only non-smoker in the squad, and +was the first to detect that instead of "real Scotch curly kail" we had +got "death in the pot!" As before remarked we were all hungry, having +marched over twenty miles since we had last tasted food. Although +noticing that there was something wrong about the soup and the "curly +kail," I had swallowed enough to act as a powerful emetic before I was +aware of the full extent of the bitter taste. At first we feared it was +a deadly poison, and so we were all much relieved when the _bheestie_, +who picked up some of the rejected stalks, assured us that it was only +green tobacco which had been cooked in the soup. + +The desertion of our camp-followers was significant. An army in India is +followed by another army whose general or commander-in-chief is the +bazaar _kotwal_.[9] These people carry all their household goods and +families with them, their only houses being their little tents. The +elder men, at the time of which I write, could all talk of the victories +of Lords Lake and Combermere, and the Caubul war of 1840-42, and the +younger hands could tell us of the victories of Lords Gough and Hardinge +in the Punjâb. The younger generations took up the handicrafts of their +fathers, as barbers, cobblers, cooks, shoeblacks, and so forth, a motley +hive bred in camps but unwarlike, always in the rear of the army. Most +of these camp-followers were low-caste Hindoos, very few of them were +Mahommedans, except the _bheesties_. I may remark that the _bheesties_ +and the _dooly_-bearers (the latter were under the hospital guard) were +the only camp-followers who did not desert us when we crossed into +Oude.[10] The natives fully believed that our column was doomed to +extermination; there is no doubt that they knew of the powerful force +collecting in our rear, consisting of the Gwalior Contingent, which had +never yet been beaten and was supposed to be invincible; also of the +Central India mutineers who were gathering for a fresh attack on +Cawnpore under the leadership of Nânâ Sâhib, Kooer Sing, Tântia Topee, +and other commanders. But we learned all this afterwards, when this army +retook Cawnpore in our rear, which story I will relate in its proper +place. For the present, we must resume our advance into Oude. + +Every hour's march brought us three miles nearer Lucknow, and before we +made our first halt, we could distinctly hear the guns of the enemy +bombarding the Residency. Foot-sore and tired as they were, the report +of each salvo made the men step out with a firmer tread and a more +determined resolve to overcome all difficulties, and to carry relief to +the beleaguered garrison and the helpless women and children. I may +mention that the cowardly treachery of the enemy, and their barbarous +murders of women and children, had converted the war of the Mutiny into +a _guerre à la mort_,--a war of the most cruel and exterminating form, +in which no quarter was given on either side. Up to the final relief of +Lucknow and the second capture of Cawnpore, and the total rout of the +Gwalior Contingent on the 6th of December, 1857, it would have been +impossible for the Europeans to have guarded their prisoners, and, for +that reason, it was obvious that prisoners were not to be taken; while +on the part of the rebels, wherever they met a Christian or a white man, +he was at once slain without pity or remorse, and natives who attempted +to assist or conceal a distressed European did so at the risk of their +own lives and property. It was both horrible and demoralising for the +army to be engaged in such a war. Looking back to those days, over my +long experience of thirty-five years in India, I must admit that, with +few exceptions, the European soldiers went through the terrible scenes +of the Mutiny with great moderation, especially where women and +children, or even unarmed men, came into their power. + +On the 10th of November the total force that could be collected for the +final relief of Lucknow was encamped on the plain about five miles in +front of the Alumbâgh. The total strength was under five thousand of all +arms, and the only really complete regiment was the Ninety-Third +Highlanders. By this time the whole regiment, consisting of ten +companies, had reached the front, numbering over a thousand men in the +prime of manhood, about seven hundred of them having the Crimean medals +on their breasts. By the afternoon of the 11th of November, the whole +force had been told off into brigades. The Fifty-Third Shropshire Light +Infantry, the Ninety-Third, and the Fourth Punjâb Infantry, just come +down from Delhi with Sir Hope Grant, formed the fourth brigade, under +Colonel the Hon. Adrian Hope of the Ninety-Third as brigadier. If I am +not mistaken the whole of the Fifty-Third regiment were not present. I +think there were only six or seven companies, and there was no +field-officer, Captain Walton, late commandant of the Calcutta +Volunteers, being the senior captain present.[11] Under these +circumstances Colonel Gordon, of ours, was temporarily put in command of +the Fifty-Third. The whole force was formed up in a line of columns on +the afternoon of the 11th for the inspection of the Commander-in-Chief. +The Ninety-Third formed the extreme left of the line in quarter-distance +column, in full Highland costume, with feather bonnets and dark waving +plumes, a solid mass of brawny-limbed men. I have never seen a more +magnificent regiment than the Ninety-Third looked that day, and I was, +and still am, proud to have formed one of its units. + +The old Chief rode along the line, commencing from the right, halting +and addressing a short speech to each corps as he came along. The eyes +of the Ninety-Third were eagerly turned towards Sir Colin and his staff +as he advanced, the men remarking among themselves that none of the +other corps had given him a single cheer, but had taken whatever he had +said to them in solemn silence. At last he approached us; we were called +to attention, and formed close column, so that every man might hear what +was said. When Sir Colin rode up, he appeared to have a worn and haggard +expression on his face, but he was received with such a cheer, or rather +shout of welcome, as made the echoes ring from the Alumbâgh and the +surrounding woods. His wrinkled brow at once became smooth, and his +wearied-looking features broke into a smile, as he acknowledged the +cheer by a hearty salute, and addressed us almost exactly as follows. I +stood near him and heard every word. "Ninety-Third! when I took leave of +you in Portsmouth, I never thought I should see you again. I expected +the bugle, or maybe the bagpipes, to sound a call for me to go somewhere +else long before you would be likely to return to our dearly-loved home. +But another commander has decreed it otherwise, and here I am prepared +to lead you through another campaign. And I must tell you, my lads, +there is work of difficulty and danger before us,--harder work and +greater dangers than any we encountered in the Crimea. But I trust to +you to overcome the difficulties and to brave the dangers. The eyes of +the people at home,--I may say the eyes of Europe and of the whole of +Christendom are upon us, and we must relieve our countrymen, women, and +children, now shut up in the Residency of Lucknow. The lives at stake +are not merely those of soldiers, who might well be expected to cut +themselves out, or to die sword in hand. We have to rescue helpless +women and children from a fate worse than death. When you meet the +enemy, you must remember that he is well armed and well provided with +ammunition, and that he can play at long bowls as well as you can, +especially from behind loopholed walls. So when we make an attack you +must come to close quarters as quickly as possible; keep well together +and use the bayonet. Remember that the cowardly sepoys, who are eager to +murder women and children, cannot look a European soldier in the face +when it is accompanied with cold steel. Ninety-Third! you are my own +lads, I rely on you to do the work!" A voice from the ranks called out: +"Ay, ay, Sir Colin, ye ken us and we ken you; we'll bring the women and +children out o' Lucknow or die wi' you in the attempt!" and the whole +regiment burst into another ringing cheer, which was taken up by the +whole line. + +I may here mention the service rendered to the relieving force by Mr. +Kavanagh, an enterprise of consummate daring which won for him a +well-deserved Victoria Cross; only those who know the state of Lucknow +at the time can fully appreciate the perils he encountered, or the value +of the service he rendered. My own company, made up to one hundred men, +with a troop of the Ninth Lancers and a company of the Fourth Punjâb +Infantry, formed the advance piquet at which Mr. Kavanagh, who had made +his way from the Residency through the heart of the enemy, disguised as +a native scout, arrived. I will not give any account of his venturesome +march. He has already told his own story, and I need not repeat it. I +only allude to the value of the service rendered, and how it was +appraised in the force at the time. Oude had only been annexed in 1856, +and the Mutiny broke out in May, 1857. There had been no time to +complete a survey of Lucknow and its surroundings, and consequently the +Commander-in-Chief had no plan of the city, and there was no officer in +the force, or, for that matter, no European outside the Residency, who +knew the strong positions of the enemy or the intricacies of the +streets. When Generals Havelock and Outram forced their way into the +Residency, their advance was through miles of intricate and narrow +lanes. The sequel is well known. The relieving force got into the +Residency, but they had lost so many men in the attempt that they were +unable to come out again in charge of the women and children, and so +they were themselves besieged. In our force, among the ranks (I don't +know what the plans of the Commander-in-Chief were), it was understood +that we were to advance on the Residency by the same route as Generals +Havelock and Outram had done, and that the streets were all duly +prepared for giving us a warm reception. But after "Lucknow" Kavanagh, +who thoroughly knew the ground, came out to act as a guide to the +relieving force, the Commander-in-Chief was supposed to have altered the +plan of his line of advance. Instead of forcing his way through +loopholed and narrow lanes, he decided to avoid the city altogether, and +advance through the Dilkooshá park and by the right bank of the +Goomtee, having thus only six or seven posts to force, instead of +running the gauntlet of miles of fortified streets. The strongest +positions which we had to attack on this route were the Dilkooshá palace +and park, the Martinière college, the Thirty-Second mess-house, the +Secundrabâgh, the Shâh Nujeef, and the Moti Munzil. The force in the +Residency would thus be able to assist and to distract the enemy by +advancing from their side to meet us at the Chutter Munzil and other +positions. This was what was believed in the camp to be the intentions +of the Commander-in-Chief, and the supposed change of route was +attributed to the arrival of Mr. Kavanagh; and whatever history may say, +I believe this is the correct statement of the position. It will thus be +seen and understood by any one having a plan of Lucknow before him,--and +there is no want of plans now--that the services rendered by Mr. +Kavanagh were of the greatest value to the country and to the relieving +force, and were by no means over-paid. I mention this because on my +recent visit to Lucknow I met some gentlemen at the Royal Hotel who +appeared to think lightly of Mr. Kavanagh's gallant deed, and that fact +has made me, as a soldier of the relieving force, put on record my +impressions of the great value of the service he rendered at a most +critical juncture in the fortunes of the country.[12] + +By the afternoon of the 12th of November the total force under command +of Sir Colin Campbell for the final relief of Lucknow numbered only four +thousand five hundred and fifty men of all arms and thirty-two guns--the +heaviest being 24-pounders--and two 8-inch howitzers, manned by the +Naval Brigade under Captain William Peel of glorious memory. I have read +some accounts that mentioned 68-pounders, but this is a mistake; the +68-pounders had to be left at Allahabad when we started, for want of +cattle to drag them. There are four 68-pounders now in the Residency +grounds at Lucknow, which, during my recent visit, the guide pointed out +to me as the guns which breached the walls of the Secundrabâgh,[13] and +finally relieved the Residency; but this is an error. The 68-pounders +did not reach Lucknow till the 2nd of March, 1858. I am positive on this +point, because I myself assisted to drag the guns into position in the +assault on the Secundrabâgh, and I was on guard on the guns in Allahabad +when the 68-pounders had to be sent into the fort for want of bullocks, +and I next saw them when they crossed the river at Cawnpore and joined +the ordnance park at Oonâo in February, 1858. They were first used on +the works in defence of the Martinière, fired from the Dilkooshá park, +and were advanced as the out-works were carried till they breached the +defences around the Begum's palace on the 11th of March. This is a small +matter; I only wish to point out that the four 68-pounders now in the +Residency grounds are _not_ the guns which relieved the garrison in +November, 1857. + +On the 13th of November a strong force, of which the Ninety-Third formed +the infantry, was sent to attack the mud fort of Jellâlabâd, lying +between the Alumbâgh and the Dilkooshá, on the right of Sir Colin +Campbell's advance. As soon as the artillery opened fire on the fort the +enemy retired, and the force advanced and covered the engineers until +they had completed arrangements for blowing in the main gate and +breaching the ramparts so that it would be impossible for Jellâlabâd to +be occupied in our rear. This was finished before dark, and the force +returned to camp in front of the Alumbâgh, where we rested fully +accoutred. + +We commenced our advance on the Dilkooshá park and palace by daybreak +next morning, the 14th. The fourth brigade, composed of the Fifty-Third, +Ninety-Third, and Fourth Punjâb regiments, with a strong force of +artillery, reached the walls of the Dilkooshá park as the sun was +rising. Here we halted till a breach was made in the wall, sufficiently +wide to allow the Ninety-Third to march through in double column of +companies and to form line inside on the two centre companies. + +While we were halted my company and No. 8, Captain Williams' company, +were in a field of beautiful carrots, which the men were pulling up and +eating raw. I remember as if it were only yesterday a young lad not +turned twenty, Kenneth Mackenzie by name, of No. 8 company, making a +remark that these might be the last carrots many of us would eat, and +with that he asked the colour-sergeant of the company, who belonged to +the same place as himself, to write to his mother should anything happen +to him. The colour-sergeant of course promised to do so, telling young +Mackenzie not to let such gloomy thoughts enter his mind. Immediately +after this the order was passed for the regiment to advance by double +column of companies from the centre, and to form line on the two centre +companies inside the park. The enclosure swarmed with deer, both black +buck and spotted, but there were no signs of the enemy, and a +staff-officer of the artillery galloped to the front to reconnoitre. +This officer was none other than our present Commander-in-Chief, then +Lieutenant Roberts, Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General of Artillery, +who had joined our force at Cawnpore, and had been associated with the +Ninety-Third in several skirmishes which had taken place in the advance +on Alumbâgh. He was at that time familiarly known among us as "Plucky +wee Bobs." About half of the regiment had passed through the breach and +were forming into line right and left on the two centre companies, when +we noticed the staff-officer halt and wheel round to return, signalling +for the artillery to advance, and immediately a masked battery of six +guns opened fire on us from behind the Dilkooshá palace. The first round +shot passed through our column, between the right of No. 7 company and +the line, as the company was wheeling into line, but the second shot was +better aimed and struck the charger of Lieutenant Roberts just behind +the rider, apparently cutting the horse in two, both horse and rider +falling in a confused heap amidst the dust where the shot struck after +passing through the loins of the horse. Some of the men exclaimed, +"Plucky wee Bobs is done for!"[14] The same shot, a 9-pounder, +ricochetted at almost a right angle, and in its course struck poor young +Kenneth Mackenzie on the side of his head, taking the skull clean off +just level with his ears. He fell just in front of me, and I had to step +over his body before a single drop of blood had had time to flow. The +colour-sergeant of his company turned to me and said, "Poor lad! how can +I tell his poor mother. What would she think if she were to see him now! +He was her favourite laddie!" There was no leisure for moralising, +however; we were completely within the range of the enemy's guns, and +the next shot cut down seven or eight of the light company, and old +Colonel Leith-Hay was calling out, "Keep steady, men; close up the +ranks, and don't waver in face of a battery manned by cowardly +Asiatics." The shots were now coming thick, bounding along the hard +ground, and MacBean, the adjutant, was behind the line telling the men +in an undertone, "Don't mind the colonel; open out and let them [the +round-shot] through, keep plenty of room and watch the shot." By this +time the staff-officer, whose horse only had been killed under him, had +got clear of the carcase, and the Ninety-Third, seeing him on his feet +again, gave him a rousing cheer. He was soon in the saddle of a spare +horse, and the artillery dashed to the front under his direction, +taking the guns of the enemy in flank. The sepoys bolted down the hill +for shelter in the Martinière, while our little force took possession of +the Dilkooshá palace. The Ninety-Third had lost ten men killed and +wounded by the time we had driven the enemy and their guns through the +long grass into the entrenchments in front of the Martinière. I may note +here that there were very few trees on the Dilkooshá heights at this +time, and between the heights and the city there was a bare plain, so +that signals could be passed between us and the Residency. A semaphore +was erected on the top of the palace as soon as it was taken, and +messages, in accordance with a code of signals brought out by Kavanagh, +were interchanged with the Residency. The 15th was a Sunday; the force +did not advance till the afternoon, as it had been decided to wait for +the rear-guard and provisions and the spare ammunition, etc., to close +up. About two o'clock Peel's guns, covered by the Ninety-Third, +advanced, and we drove the enemy from the Martinière and occupied it, +the semaphore being then removed from the Dilkooshá to the Martinière. + +The Ninety-Third held the Martinière and the grounds to the left of it, +facing the city, till about two A.M. on Monday the 16th of November, +when Captain Peel's battery discharged several rockets as a signal to +the Residency that we were about to commence our march through the city. +We were then formed up and served with some rations, which had been +cooked in the rear, each man receiving what was supposed to be three +lbs. of beef, boiled in salt so that it would keep, and the usual dozen +of commissariat biscuits and a canteenful of tea cooked on the ground. +Just before we started I saw Sir Colin drinking his tea, the same kind +as that served out to the men, out of a Ninety-Third soldier's canteen. +Writing of the relief of Lucknow, Lady Inglis in her lately-published +journal states, under date the 18th of November, 1857, two days after +the time of which I write: "Sir Colin Campbell is much liked; he is +living now exactly as a private soldier, takes his rations and lies down +wherever he can to rest. This the men like, and he is a fine soldier. A +Commander-in-Chief just now has indeed no enviable position." That is +true; the Commander-in-Chief had only a staff-sergeant's tent (when he +_had_ a tent), and all his baggage was carried by one camel in a pair of +camel trunks, marked "His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief." I suppose +this was _pour encourager les autres_, some of whom required six or +seven camels and as many as four bullock-hackeries, if they could have +got them, to carry their stuff. + +After getting our three days' rations and tea, the Ninety-Third were +formed up, and the roll was called to see that none, except those known +to be wounded or sick, were missing. Sir Colin again addressed the men, +telling us that there was heavy work before us, and that we must hold +well together, and as much as possible keep in threes, and that as soon +as we stormed a position we were to use the bayonet. The centre man of +each group of three was to make the attack, and the other two to come +to his assistance with their bayonets right and left. We were not to +fire a single bullet after we got inside a position, unless we were +certain of hitting our enemy, for fear of wounding our own men. To use +the bayonet with effect we were ordered, as I say, to group in threes +and mutually assist each other, for by such action we would soon bayonet +the enemy down although they might be ten to one; which as a matter of +fact they were. It was by strictly following this advice and keeping +cool and mutually assisting each other that the bayonet was used with +such terrible effect inside the Secundrabâgh. It was exactly as Sir +Colin had foretold in his address in front of the Alumbâgh. He knew the +sepoys well, that when brought to the point of the bayonet they could +not look the Europeans in the face. For all that they fought like +devils. In addition to their muskets, all the men in the Secundrabâgh +were armed with swords from the King of Oude's magazines, and the native +_tulwârs_ were as sharp as razors. I have never seen another fact +noticed, that when they had fired their muskets, they hurled them +amongst us like javelins, bayonets first, and then drawing their +_tulwârs_, rushed madly on to their destruction, slashing in blind fury +with their swords and using them as one sees sticks used in the sham +fights on the last night of the _Mohurrum_.[15] As they rushed on us +shouting "_Deen! Deen!_ (The Faith! the Faith!)" they actually threw +themselves under the bayonets and slashed at our legs. It was owing to +this fact that more than half of our wounded were injured by sword-cuts. + +From the Martinière we slowly and silently commenced our advance across +the canal, the front of the column being directed by Mr. Kavanagh and +his native guide. Just as morning broke we had reached the outskirts of +a village on the east side of the Secundrabâgh. Here a halt was made for +the heavy guns to be brought to the front, three companies of the +Ninety-Third with some more artillery being diverted to the left under +command of Colonel Leith-Hay, to attack the old Thirty-Second barracks, +a large building in the form of a cross strongly flanked with +earthworks. The rest of the force advanced through the village by a +narrow lane, from which the enemy was driven by us into the +Secundrabâgh. + +About the centre of the village another short halt was made. Here we saw +a naked wretch, of a strong muscular build, with his head closely shaven +except for the tuft on his crown, and his face all streaked in a hideous +manner with white and red paint, his body smeared with ashes. He was +sitting on a leopard's skin counting a rosary of beads. A young +staff-officer, I think it was Captain A. O. Mayne, Deputy Assistant +Quartermaster-General, was making his way to the front, when a man of my +company, named James Wilson, pointed to this painted wretch saying, "I +would like to try my bayonet on the hide of that painted scoundrel, who +looks a murderer." Captain Mayne replied: "Oh don't touch him; these +fellows are harmless Hindoo _jogees_,[16] and won't hurt us. It is the +Mahommedans that are to blame for the horrors of this Mutiny." The words +had scarcely been uttered when the painted scoundrel stopped counting +the beads, slipped his hand under the leopard skin, and as quick as +lightning brought out a short, brass, bell-mouthed blunderbuss and fired +the contents of it into Captain Mayne's chest at a distance of only a +few feet. His action was as quick as it was unexpected, and Captain +Mayne was unable to avoid the shot, or the men to prevent it. +Immediately our men were upon the assassin; there was no means of escape +for him, and he was quickly bayoneted. Since then I have never seen a +painted Hindoo, but I involuntarily raise my hand to knock him down. +From that hour I formed the opinion (which I have never had cause to +alter since) that the pampered high-caste Hindoo sepoys had far more to +do with the Mutiny and the cowardly murders of women and children, than +the Mahommedans, although the latter still bear most of the blame. + +Immediately after this incident we advanced through the village and came +in front of the Secundrabâgh, when a murderous fire was opened on us +from the loopholed wall and from the windows and flat roof of a +two-storied building in the centre of the garden. I may note that this +building has long since been demolished; no trace of it now remains +except the small garden-house with the row of pillars where the wounded +and dead of the Ninety-Third were collected; the marble flooring has, +however, been removed. Having got through the village, our men and the +sailors manned the drag-ropes of the heavy guns, and these were run up +to within one hundred yards, or even less, of the wall. As soon as the +guns opened fire the Infantry Brigade was made to take shelter at the +back of a low mud wall behind the guns, the men taking steady aim at +every loophole from which we could see the musket-barrels of the enemy +protruding. The Commander-in-Chief and his staff were close beside the +guns, Sir Colin every now and again turning round when a man was hit, +calling out, "Lie down, Ninety-Third, lie down! Every man of you is +worth his weight in gold to England to-day!" + +The first shots from our guns passed through the wall, piercing it as +though it were a piece of cloth, and without knocking the surrounding +brickwork away. Accounts differ, but my impression has always been that +it was from half to three-quarters of an hour that the guns battered at +the walls. During this time the men, both artillery and sailors, working +the guns without any cover so close to the enemy's loopholes, were +falling fast, over two guns' crews having been disabled or killed before +the wall was breached. After holes had been pounded through the wall in +many places large blocks of brick-and-mortar commenced to fall out, and +then portions of the wall came down bodily, leaving wide gaps. Thereupon +a sergeant of the Fifty-Third, who had served under Sir Colin Campbell +in the Punjâb, presuming on old acquaintance, called out: "Sir Colin, +your Excellency, let the infantry storm; let the two 'Thirds' at them +[meaning the Fifty-Third and Ninety-Third], and we'll soon make short +work of the murdering villains!" The sergeant who called to Sir Colin +was a Welshman, and I recognised him thirty-five years afterwards as old +Joe Lee, the present proprietor of the Railway Hotel in Cawnpore. He was +always known as Dobbin in his regiment; and Sir Colin, who had a most +wonderful memory for names and faces, turning to General Sir William +Mansfield who had formerly served in the Fifty-Third, said, "Isn't that +Sergeant Dobbin?" General Mansfield replied in the affirmative; and Sir +Colin, turning to Lee, said, "Do you think the breach is wide enough, +Dobbin?" Lee replied, "Part of us can get through and hold it till the +pioneers widen it with their crowbars to allow the rest to get in." The +word was then passed to the Fourth Punjâbis to prepare to lead the +assault, and after a few more rounds were fired, the charge was ordered. +The Punjâbis dashed over the mud wall shouting the war-cry of the Sikhs, +"_Jai Khâlsa Jee_!"[17] led by their two European officers, who were +both shot down before they had gone a few yards. This staggered the +Sikhs, and they halted. As soon as Sir Colin saw them waver, he turned +to Colonel Ewart, who was in command of the seven companies of the +Ninety-Third (Colonel Leith-Hay being in command of the assault on the +Thirty-Second barracks), and said: "Colonel Ewart, bring on the +tartan--let my own lads at them." Before the command could be repeated +or the buglers had time to sound the advance, the whole seven companies, +like one man, leaped over the wall, with such a yell of pent-up rage as +I had never heard before nor since. It was not a cheer, but a +concentrated yell of rage and ferocity that made the echoes ring again; +and it must have struck terror into the defenders, for they actually +ceased firing, and we could see them through the breach rushing from the +outside wall to take shelter in the two-storied building in the centre +of the garden, the gate and doors of which they firmly barred. Here I +must not omit to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of Pipe-Major +John M'Leod, who, with seven pipers, the other three being with their +companies attacking the barracks, struck up the Highland Charge, called +by some _The Haughs of Cromdell_, and by others _On wi' the Tartan_--the +famous charge of the great Montrose when he led his Highlanders so often +to victory. When all was over, and Sir Colin complimented the pipe-major +on the way he had played, John said, "I thought the boys would fecht +better wi' the national music to cheer them." + +The storming of the Secundrabâgh has been so often described that I need +not dwell on the general action. Once inside, the Fifty-Third (who got +in by a window or small door in the wall to the right of the hole by +which we got through) and the Sikhs who followed us, joined the +Ninety-Third, and keeping together the bayonet did the work. As I before +remarked, I could write pages about the actions of individual men whose +names will never be known to history. Although pressed for space, I +must notice the behaviour of one or two. But I must leave this to +another chapter; the present one has already become too long. + + +NOTE. + + With regard to the incident mentioned on page 40 Captain W. + T. Furse, A.D.C. to his Excellency, wrote to me as follows: + "Dear Forbes-Mitchell--His Excellency has read your Mutiny + Reminiscences with great interest, and thinks they are a + very true description of the events of that time. He wishes + me, however, to draw your attention to a mistake you have + made in stating that 'the horse of Lieutenant Roberts was + shot down under him.' But the Chief remembers that though he + was in the position which you assign to him at that moment, + it was not his horse that was shot, but the horse of a + trooper of the squadron commanded by Lieut. J. Watson (now + Sir John Watson, V.C., K.C.B.), who happened to be near Lord + Roberts at the time." + + Now I could not understand this, because I had entered in my + note-book that Lieutenant Fred. Roberts, Deputy Assistant + Quartermaster-General of Artillery, was the first man to + enter the Dilkooshá park and ride to the front to + reconnoitre, that the enemy opened fire on him at + point-blank range from a masked battery of 9-pounder guns, + and that his horse was shot under him near the Yellow + Bungalow (the name by which we then knew the Dilkooshá + palace) on the morning of the 14th of November, 1857. And I + was confident that about half-a-dozen men with Captain + Dalziel ran out from the light company of the Ninety-Third + to go to the assistance of Lieutenant Roberts, when we all + saw him get on his feet and remount what we believed was a + spare horse. The men of the light company, seeing that their + assistance was not required, returned to the line, and + directly we saw Lieutenant Roberts in the saddle again, + unhurt, the whole regiment, officers and men, gave him a + hearty cheer. But here was the Commander-in-Chief, through + his aide-de-camp, telling me that I was incorrect! I could + not account for it till I obtained an interview with his + Excellency, when he explained to me that after he went past + the Ninety-Third through the breach in the wall of the + Dilkooshá park, Lieutenant Watson sent a trooper after him, + and that the trooper was close to him when the battery + unmasked and opened fire on them, the guns having been laid + for their horses; that the second shot struck the trooper's + horse as described by me, the horse and rider falling + together amidst the dust knocked up by the other round shot; + and that he, as a matter of course, dismounted and assisted + the trooper to get from under the dead horse, and as he + remounted after performing this humane and dangerous service + to the fallen trooper, the Ninety-Third set up their cheer + as I described. + + Now I must say the true facts of this incident rather add to + the bravery of the action. The young lieutenant, who could + thus coolly dismount and extricate a trooper from under a + dead horse within point-blank range of a well-served battery + of 9-pounder guns, was early qualifying for the + distinguished position which he has since reached. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] Unleavened griddle-cakes. + +[7] Rather less than two ounces. + +[8] Laundry-men. + +[9] The native official in charge of the bazaar; he possesses certain +magisterial powers. + +[10] The _bheesties_, or water-carriers, have been noted for bravery and +fidelity in every Indian campaign. + +[11] Now Colonel Bendyshe Walton, C.I.E. + +[12] Kavanagh was a European clerk in one of the newly-instituted +Government offices. + +[13] _Bâgh_ means a garden, usually surrounded by high walls. + +[14] See note at end of chapter. + +[15] The great Mussulman carnival. + +[16] Religious mendicants. + +[17] "Victory to the _Khâlsa_!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE NINETY-THIRD--ANECDOTES OF THE SECUNDRABÂGH--GENERAL EWART--THE SHÂH +NUJEEF + + +In the first chapter of these reminiscences I mentioned that, before +leaving Dover, the Ninety-Third obtained a number of volunteers from the +other Highland regiments serving in England. Ours was the only Highland +regiment told off for the China expedition, and it was currently +whispered that Lord Elgin had specially asked for us to form his guard +of honour at the court of China after he had administered a due +castigation to the Chinese. Whether the report was true or not, the +belief did the regiment no harm; it added to the _esprit de corps_ which +was already a prominent feeling in the regiment, and enabled the boys to +boast to the girls in Portsmouth that they were "a cut above" the other +corps of the army. In support of this, the fact is worthy of being put +on record that although the regiment was not (as is usually the case) +confined to barracks the night before embarking, but were allowed leave +till midnight, still, when the time to leave the barracks came, there +was not a single man absent nor a prisoner in the guard-room; and +General Britain put it in garrison orders that he had never been able +to say the same of any other corps during the time he had commanded the +Portsmouth garrison. But the Ninety-Third were no ordinary regiment. +They were then the most Scotch of all the Highland regiments; in brief, +they were a military Highland parish, minister and elders complete. The +elders were selected from among the men of all ranks,--two sergeants, +two corporals, and two privates; and I believe it was the only regiment +in the army which had a regular service of Communion plate; and in time +of peace the Holy Communion, according to the Church of Scotland, was +administered by the regimental chaplain twice a year. I hope the young +second battalion of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders are like the +old Ninety-Third in this respect. At the same time, I don't ask them +ever to pray for the men who took away the numbers from our regiments; +may their beards be defiled, is the only feeling I have for them. By +taking away the old numbers a great deal was lost, and as far as I can +see nothing has been gained except confusion and the utter effacement of +all the old traditions of the army. The old numbers could easily have +been retained along with the territorial designations. I hope at all +events that the present regiment will never forget they are the +descendants of the old Ninety-Third, the "Thin Red Line" which Sir Colin +Campbell disdained to form four deep to meet the Russian cavalry on the +morning of the memorable 25th of October, 1854:--"Steady, Ninety-Third, +keep steady! Damn all that eagerness!" were Sir Colin's memorable +words. But I am describing the relief of Lucknow, not the "Thin Red +Line" of Balaclava. + +Among the volunteers who came from the Seventy-Second was a man named +James Wallace. He and six others from the same regiment joined my +company. Wallace was not his real name, but he never took any one into +his confidence, nor was he ever known to have any correspondence. He +neither wrote nor received any letters, and he was usually so taciturn +in his manner that he was known in the company as the Quaker, a name +which had followed him from the Seventy-Second. He had evidently +received a superior education, for if asked for any information by a +more ignorant comrade, he would at once give it; or questioned as to the +translation of a Latin or French quotation in a book, he would give it +without the least hesitation. I have often seen him on the voyage out +walking up and down the deck of the _Belleisle_ during the watches of +the night, repeating the famous poem of Lamartine, _Le Chien du +Solitaire_, commencing: + + Hélas! rentrer tout seul dans sa maison déserte + Sans voir à votre approche une fenêtre ouverte. + +Taking him all in all Quaker Wallace was a strange enigma which no one +could solve. When pressed to take promotion, for which his superior +education well fitted him, he absolutely refused, always saying that he +had come to the Ninety-Third for a certain purpose, and when that +purpose was accomplished, he only wished to die + + With his back to the field, and his feet to the foe! + And leaving in battle no blot on his name, + Look proudly to Heaven from the death-bed of fame. + +During the march to Lucknow it was a common thing to hear the men in my +company say they would give a day's grog to see Quaker Wallace under +fire; and the time had now come for their gratification. + +There was another man in the company who had joined the regiment in +Turkey before embarking for the Crimea. He was also a man of superior +education, but in many respects the very antithesis of Wallace. He was +both wild and reckless, and used often to receive money sent to him from +some one, which he as regularly spent in drink. He went under the name +of Hope, but that was also known to be an assumed name, and when the +volunteers from the Seventy-Second joined the regiment in Dover, it was +remarked that Wallace had the address of Hope, and had asked to be +posted to the same company. Yet the two men never spoke to one another; +on the contrary they evidently hated each other with a mortal hatred. If +the history of these two men could be known it would without doubt form +material for a most sensational novel. + +Just about the time the men were tightening their belts and preparing +for the dash on the breach of the Secundrabâgh, this man Hope commenced +to curse and swear in such a manner that Captain Dawson, who commanded +the company, checked him, telling him that oaths and foul language were +no signs of bravery. Hope replied that he did not care a d---- what the +captain thought; that he would defy death; that the bullet was not yet +moulded that would kill him; and he commenced exposing himself above the +mud wall behind which we were lying. The captain was just on the point +of ordering a corporal and a file of men to take Hope to the rear-guard +as drunk and riotous in presence of the enemy, when Pipe-Major John +M'Leod, who was close to the captain, said: "Don't mind the puir lad, +sir; he's not drunk, he is fey! [meaning doomed]. It's not himself +that's speaking; he will never see the sun set." The words were barely +out of the pipe-major's mouth when Hope sprang up on the top of the mud +wall, and a bullet struck him on the right side, hitting the buckle of +his purse belt, which diverted its course, and instead of going right +through his body it cut him round the front of his belly below the +waist-belt, making a deep wound, and his bowels burst out falling down +to his knees. He sank down at once, gasping for breath, when a couple of +bullets went through his chest and he died without a groan. John M'Leod +turned and said to Captain Dawson, "I told you so, sir. The lad was fey! +I am never deceived in a fey man! It was not himself who spoke when +swearing in yon terrible manner." Just at this time Quaker Wallace, who +had evidently been a witness of Hope's tragic end, worked his way along +to where the dead man lay, and looking on the distorted features he +solemnly said, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. +Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. _I came to the +Ninety-Third to see that man die!_" All this happened only a few seconds +before the assault was ordered, and attracted but little attention +except from those who were immediate witnesses of the incident. The +gunners were falling fast, and almost all eyes were turned on them and +the breach. When the signal for the assault was given, Quaker Wallace +went into the Secundrabâgh like one of the Furies, if there are male +Furies, plainly seeking death but not meeting it, and quoting the 116th +Psalm, Scotch version in metre, beginning at the first verse: + + I love the Lord, because my voice + And prayers He did hear. + I, while I live, will call on Him, + Who bow'd to me His ear. + +And thus he plunged into the Secundrabâgh quoting the next verse at +every shot fired from his rifle and at each thrust given by his bayonet: + + I'll of salvation take the cup, + On God's name will I call; + I'll pay my vows now to the Lord + Before His people all. + +It was generally reported in the company that Quaker Wallace +single-handed killed twenty men, and one wonders at this, remembering +that he took no comrade with him and did not follow Sir Colin's rule of +"fighting in threes," but whenever he saw an enemy he "went for" him! I +may here remark that the case of Wallace proved that, in a fight like +the Secundrabâgh where the enemy is met hand to hand and foot to foot, +the way to escape death is to brave it. Of course Wallace might have +been shot from a distance, and in that respect he only ran an even +chance with the others; but wherever he rushed with his bayonet, the +enemy did their utmost to give him a wide berth. + +By the time the bayonet had done its work of retribution, the throats of +our men were hoarse with shouting "Cawnpore! you bloody murderers!" The +taste of the powder (those were the days when the muzzle-loading +cartridges had to be bitten with the teeth) made men almost mad with +thirst; and with the sun high over head, and being fresh from England, +with our feather bonnets, red coats, and heavy kilts, we felt the heat +intensely. + +In the centre of the inner court of the Secundrabâgh there was a large +_peepul_[18] tree with a very bushy top, round the foot of which were +set a number of jars full of cool water. When the slaughter was almost +over, many of our men went under the tree for the sake of its shade, and +to quench their burning thirst with a draught of the cool water from the +jars. A number however lay dead under this tree, both of the Fifty-Third +and Ninety-Third, and the many bodies lying in that particular spot +attracted the notice of Captain Dawson. After having carefully examined +the wounds, he noticed that in every case the men had evidently been +shot from above. He thereupon stepped out from beneath the tree, and +called to Quaker Wallace to look up if he could see any one in the top +of the tree, because all the dead under it had apparently been shot from +above. Wallace had his rifle loaded, and stepping back he carefully +scanned the top of the tree. He almost immediately called out, "I see +him, sir!" and cocking his rifle he repeated aloud, + + I'll pay my vows now to the Lord + Before His people all. + +He fired, and down fell a body dressed in a tight-fitting red jacket and +tight-fitting rose-coloured silk trousers; and the breast of the jacket +bursting open with the fall, showed that the wearer was a woman, She was +armed with a pair of heavy old-pattern cavalry pistols, one of which was +in her belt still loaded, and her pouch was still about half full of +ammunition, while from her perch in the tree, which had been carefully +prepared before the attack, she had killed more than half-a-dozen men. +When Wallace saw that the person whom he shot was a woman, he burst into +tears, exclaiming: "If I had known it was a woman, I would rather have +died a thousand deaths than have harmed her." + +I cannot now recall, although he belonged to my company, what became of +Quaker Wallace, whether he lived to go through the rest of the Mutiny or +not. I have long since lost my pocket company-roll, but I think Wallace +took sick and was sent to Allahabad from Cawnpore, and was either +invalided to England or died in the country. + +By this time all opposition had ceased, and over two thousand of the +enemy lay dead within the building and the centre court. The troops were +withdrawn, and the muster-roll of the Ninety-Third was called just +outside the gate, which is still standing, on the level spot between the +gate and the mound where the European dead are buried. + +When the roll was called it was found that the Ninety-Third had nine +officers and ninety-nine men, in all one hundred and eight, killed and +wounded. The roll of the Fifty-Third was called alongside of us, and Sir +Colin Campbell rode up and addressing the men, spoke out in a clear +voice: "Fifty-Third and Ninety-Third, you have bravely done your share +of this morning's work, and Cawnpore is avenged!" Whereupon one of the +Fifty-Third sang out, "Three cheers for the Commander-in-Chief, boys," +which was heartily responded to. + +All this time there was perfect silence around us, the enemy evidently +not being aware of how the tide of victory had rolled inside the +Secundrabâgh, for not a soul escaped from it to tell the tale. The +silence was so great that we could hear the pipers of the Seventy-Eighth +playing inside the Residency as a welcome to cheer us all. There were +lately, by the way, some writers who denied that the Seventy-Eighth had +their bagpipes and pipers with them at Lucknow. This is not true; they +had their pipes and played them too! But we had barely saluted the +Commander-in-Chief with a cheer when a perfect hail of round-shot +assailed us both from the Târa Kothi on our left and the Shâh Nujeef on +our right front. But I must leave the account of our storming the Shâh +Nujeef for a separate chapter. + +I may here remark that on revisiting Lucknow I did not see a single +tablet or grave to show that any of the Ninety-Third are buried there. +Surely Captains Dalzell and Lumsden and the men who lie in the mound to +the east of the gate of the Secundrabâgh are deserving of some memorial! +But it is the old, old story which was said to have been first written +on the walls of Badajoz: + + When war is rife and danger nigh, + God and the Soldier is all the cry; + When war is over, and wrongs are righted, + God is forgot and the Soldier slighted. + +I am surprised that the officers of the Ninety-Third Regiment have never +taken any steps to erect some monument to the memory of the brave men +who fell in Lucknow at its relief, and at the siege in March, 1858. +Neither is there a single tablet in the Memorial Church at Cawnpore in +memory of the Ninety-Third, although almost every one of the other +regiments have tablets somewhere in the church. If I were a millionaire +I would myself erect a statue to Sir Colin Campbell on the spot where +the muster-roll of the Ninety-Third was called on the east of the gate +of the Secundrabâgh, with a life-sized figure of a private of the +Fifty-Third and Ninety-Third, a sailor and a Sikh at each corner, with +the names of every man who fell in the assault on the 16th of November, +1857; and as the Royal Artillery were also there, Sir Colin should be +represented in the centre standing on a gun, with a royal artilleryman +holding a port-fire ready. + +Since commencing these reminiscences I met a gentleman in Calcutta who +told me that he had a cousin in the Ninety-Third, General J. A. Ewart, +who was with the regiment in the storming of the Secundrabâgh, and he +asked me if I remembered General Ewart. This leads me to believe that it +would not be out of place if I were to relate the following narrative. +General Ewart, now Sir John Alexander Ewart, I am informed, is still +alive, and some mention of the part played by him, so far as I saw it, +will form an appropriate conclusion to the story of the taking of the +Secundrabâgh. And should he ever read this narrative, I may inform him +that it is written by one who was present when he was adopted into the +Clan Forbes by our chief, the late Sir Charles Forbes, of Newe and +Edinglassie, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, and this fact alone will make the +general receive my remarks with the feelings of a clansman as well as of +my old commander. + +The reminiscence of Secundrabâgh which is here reproduced was called +forth, I should state, by a paragraph which appeared at the time in the +columns of _The Calcutta Statesman_ regarding General Ewart. The +paragraph was as follows: + + General Ewart, not having been employed since he gave over + the command of the Allahabad division on the 30th of + November, 1879, was placed on the retired list on the 30th + ultimo [Nov. 1884]. General Ewart is one of the few, if not + the only general, who refused a transfer from the Allahabad + Command to a more favourite division. He has served for over + forty-six years, but has only been employed once since + giving over the command of the Seventy-Eighth Highlanders in + 1864, and that was for two and a half years in this country. + He commanded the Ninety-Third for about eighteen months + before joining the Seventy-Eighth. He is in possession of + the Crimean medal with four clasps, a novelty rather + nowadays. He lost his left arm at the battle of Cawnpore. + +I accordingly wrote to _The Statesman_ desiring to correct a slight +inaccuracy in the statement that "General Ewart commanded the +Ninety-Third for about eighteen months before joining the +Seventy-Eighth." This is not, I remarked, strictly correct; General +Ewart never commanded the Ninety-Third in the sense implied. He joined +the regiment as captain in 1848, exchanging from the old Thirty-Fifth +Royal Sussex with Captain Buchanan of the Ninety-Third, and served in +the regiment till he received the regimental rank of lieutenant-colonel +on the death, at Fort Rooyah in April, 1858, of the Hon. Adrian Hope. +Colonel Ewart was then in England on sick-leave, suffering from the loss +of his arm and other wounds and exchanged into the Seventy-Eighth with +Colonel Stisted about the end of 1859, so that he never actually +commanded the Ninety-Third for more than a few days at most. I will now +give a few facts about him which may interest old soldiers at least. + +During the whole of his service in the Ninety-Third, both as captain +and field-officer, Colonel Ewart was singularly devoted to duty, while +careful, considerate, and attentive to the wants of his men in a way +that made him more beloved by those under his command than any officer I +ever met during my service in the army. To the best of my recollection, +he was the only officer of the Ninety-Third who received the clasp for +Inkerman. At that battle he was serving on the staff of Lord Raglan as +Deputy-Assistant-Quartermaster-General, and as such was on duty on the +morning of the battle, and I believe he was the first officer of the +British army who perceived the Russian advance. He was visiting the +outposts, as was his custom when on duty, in the early morning, and gave +the alarm to Sir George Brown's division, and then carried the news of +the attack to Lord Raglan. For his services at Inkerman he was promoted +brevet lieutenant-colonel, and on the termination of the war, besides +the Crimean medal with four clasps (Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, and +Sebastopol), he received the Cross of the Legion of Honour and the +Sardinian Medal, with the motto _Al valore Militare_, and also the +Turkish Order of the Medjidie. + +Early in the attack on the Secundrabâgh three companies of the +Ninety-Third were detached under Colonel Leith-Hay to clear the ground +to the left and carry the barracks, and Colonel Ewart was left in +command of the other seven companies. For some time we lay down +sheltered by a low mud wall not more than one hundred and fifty to two +hundred yards from the walls of the Secundrabâgh, to allow time for the +heavy guns to breach the garden wall. During this time Colonel Ewart had +dismounted and stood exposed on the bank, picking off the enemy on the +top of the building with one of the men's rifles which he took, making +the owner of the rifle lie down. + +It was an anxious moment. The artillerymen were falling fast, but, after +a few discharges, a hole,--it could not be called a breach--was made, +and the order was given to the Fourth Punjâb Rifles to storm. They +sprang out of cover, as I have already described, but before they were +half-way across the intervening distance, their commanding officer fell +mortally wounded, and I think two others of their European officers were +severely wounded. This caused a slight halt of the Punjâbis. Sir Colin +called to Colonel Ewart, "Ewart, bring on the tartan;" one of our +buglers who was in attendance on Sir Colin, sounded the _advance_, and +the whole of the Ninety-Third dashed from behind the bank. It has always +been a disputed point who got through the hole first. I believe the +first man in was Lance-Corporal Donnelly of the Ninety-Third, who was +killed inside; then Subadar Gokul Sing, followed by Sergeant-Major +Murray, of the Ninety-Third, also killed, and fourth, Captain Burroughs, +severely wounded. + +It was about this time I got through myself, pushed up by Colonel Ewart +who immediately followed. My feet had scarcely touched the ground +inside, when a sepoy fired point-blank at me from among the long grass +a few yards distant. The bullet struck the thick brass clasp of my +waist-belt, but with such force that it sent me spinning heels over +head. The man who fired was cut down by Captain Cooper, of the +Ninety-Third, who got through the hole abreast with myself. When struck +I felt just as one feels when tripped up at a football match. Before I +regained my feet, I heard Ewart say as he rushed past me, "Poor fellow, +he is done for." I was but stunned, and regaining my feet and my breath +too, which was completely knocked out of me, I rushed on to the inner +court of the building, where I saw Ewart bareheaded, his feather bonnet +having been shot off his head, engaged in fierce hand-to-hand fight with +several of the enemy. I believe he shot down five or six of them with +his revolver. By that time the whole of the Ninety-Third and the Sikhs +had got in either through the wall or by the principal gate which had +now been forced open; the Fifty-Third, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon +of the Ninety-Third, and Captain B. Walton (who was severely wounded), +had got in by a window in the right angle of the garden wall which they +forced open. The inner court was rapidly filled with dead, but two +officers of the mutineers were fiercely defending a regimental colour +inside a dark room. Ewart rushed on them to seize it, and although +severely wounded in his sword-arm, he not only captured the colour, but +killed both the officers who were defending it. + +By this time opposition had almost ceased. A few only of the defenders +of the Secundrabâgh were left alive, and those few were being hunted +out of dark corners, some of them from below heaps of slain. Colonel +Ewart, seeing that the fighting was over, started with his colour to +present it to Sir Colin Campbell; but whether it was that the old Chief +considered that it was _infra dig_. for a field-officer to expose +himself to needless danger, or whether it was that he was angry at some +other thing, I know not, but this much I remember: Colonel Ewart ran up +to him where he sat on his gray charger outside the gate of the +Secundrabâgh, and called out: "We are in possession of the bungalows, +sir. I have killed the last two of the enemy with my own hand, and here +is one of their colours," "D--n your colours, sir!" said Sir Colin. +"It's not your place to be taking colours; go back to your regiment this +instant, sir!" However, the officers of the staff who were with Sir +Colin gave a cheer for Colonel Ewart, and one of them presented him with +a cap to cover his head, which was still bare. He turned back, +apparently very much upset at the reception given to him by the old +Chief; but I afterwards heard that Sir Colin sent for him in the +afternoon, apologised for his rudeness, and thanked him for his +services. Before I conclude, I may remark that I have often thought over +this incident, and the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that, +from the wild and excited appearance of Colonel Ewart, who had been by +that time more than an hour without his hat in the fierce rays of the +sun, covered with blood and powder smoke, and his eyes still flashing +with the excitement of the fight, giving him the appearance of a man +under the influence of something more potent than "blue ribbon" +tipple--I feel pretty sure, I say, that, when Sir Colin first saw him, +he thought he was drunk. When he found out his mistake he was of course +sorry for his rudeness. + +After the capture of the Shâh Nujeef, a field officer was required to +hold the barracks, which was one of the most important posts on our left +advance, and although severely wounded, having several sabre-cuts and +many bruises on his body, Colonel Ewart volunteered for the post of +commandant of the force. This post he held until the night of the +evacuation of the Residency and the retreat from Lucknow, for the +purpose of relieving Cawnpore for the second time from the grasp of the +Nânâ Sâhib and the Gwalior Contingent. It was at the retaking of +Cawnpore that Colonel Ewart eventually had his arm carried off by a +cannon-shot; and the last time I saw him was when I assisted to lift him +into a _dooly_ on the plain of Cawnpore on the 1st of December, 1857. +But I must leave the retaking of Cawnpore to its proper place in these +reminiscences, and resume my narrative of the capture of the +Secundrabâgh. + +I mentioned previously that the muster-rolls had scarcely been called +outside the gateway, when the enemy evidently became aware that the +place was no longer held for them by living men, and a terrible fire was +opened on us from both our right and left, as well as from the Shâh +Nujeef in our direct front. + +Let me here mention, before I take leave of the Secundrabâgh, that I +have often been told that the hole in the wall by which the Ninety-Third +entered is still in existence. This I had heard from several sources, +and on Sunday morning, the 21st of August, 1892, when revisiting +Lucknow, I left the Royal Hotel with a guide who did not know that I had +ever seen Lucknow before, and who assured me that the breach had been +preserved just as it was left on the 16th of November, 1857, after the +Ninety-Third had passed through it; and I had made up my mind to +re-enter the Secundrabâgh once again by the same old hole. On reaching +the gate I therefore made the _gharry_ stop, and walked round the +outside of the wall to the hole; but as soon as I arrived at the spot I +saw that the gap pointed out to me as the one by which the Ninety-Third +entered was a fraud, and I astonished the guide by refusing to pass +through it. The hole now shown as the one by which we entered was made +through the wall by an 18-pounder gun, which was brought from Cawnpore +by Captain Blount's troop of Royal Horse-Artillery. This was about +twenty yards to the left of the real hole, and was made to enable a few +men to keep up a cross fire through it till the stormers could get +footing inside the actual breach. This post was held by Sergeant James +Morrison and several sharp-shooters from my company, who, by direction +of Sir Colin, made a rush on this hole before the order was given for +the Fourth Punjâb Infantry to storm. Any military man of the least +experience seeing the hole and its size now, thirty-five years after +the event, will know this to be a fact. The real breach was much bigger +and could admit three men abreast, and, as near as I can judge, was +about the centre of the road which now passes through the Secundrabâgh. +The guide, I may say, admitted such to be the case when he found that I +had seen the Secundrabâgh before his time. Although it was only a hole, +and not what is correctly called a breach, in the wall, it was so wide, +and the surrounding parts of the wall had been so shaken by round-shot, +that the upper portion forming the arch must have fallen down within a +few years after 1857, and this evidently formed a convenient breach in +the wall through which the present road has been constructed.[19] The +smaller hole meanwhile has been laid hold of by the guides as the +identical passage by which the Secundrabâgh was stormed. + +Having corrected the guide on this point, I will now give my +recollections of the assault on the Shâh Nujeef, and the Kuddum Russool +which stands on its right, advancing from the Secundrabâgh. + +The Kuddum Russool was a strongly-built domed mosque not nearly so large +as the Shâh Nujeef, but it had been surrounded by a strong wall and +converted into a powder magazine by the English between the annexation +of Lucknow and the outbreak of the Mutiny. I think this fact is +mentioned by Mr. Gubbins in his _Mutinies in Oude_. The Kuddum Russool +was still used by the mutineers as a powder-magazine, but the powder had +been conveyed from it into the tomb of the Shâh Nujeef, when the latter +was converted into a post of defence to bar our advance on the +Residency. + +Before the order was given for the attack on the Shâh Nujeef, I may +mention that the quartermaster-general's department had made an estimate +of the number of the enemy slain in the Secundrabâgh from their +appearance and from their parade-states of that morning. The mutineers, +let me say, had still kept up their English discipline and parade-forms, +and their parade-states and muster-rolls of the 16th of November were +discovered among other documents in a room of the Secundrabâgh which had +been their general's quarters and orderly-room. It was then found that +four separate regiments had occupied the Secundrabâgh, numbering about +two thousand five hundred men, and these had been augmented by a number +of _budmâshes_ from the city, bringing up the list of actual slain in +the house and garden to about three thousand. Of these, over two +thousand lay dead inside the rooms of the main building and the inner +court. The colours, drums, etc., of the Seventy-First Native Infantry +and the Eleventh Oude Irregular Infantry were captured. The mutineers +fought under their English colours, and there were several Mahommedan +standards of green silk captured besides the English colours. The +Seventy-First Native Infantry was one of the crack corps of the +Company's army, and many of the men were wearing the Punjâb medals on +their breasts. This regiment and the Eleventh Oude Irregulars were +simply annihilated. On examining the bodies of the dead, over fifty men +of the Seventy-First were found to have furloughs, or leave-certificates, +signed by their former commanding officer in their pockets, showing that +they had been on leave when their regiment mutinied and had rejoined +their colours to fight against us. It is a curious fact that after the +Mutiny was suppressed, many sepoys tendered these leave-certificates as +proof that they had _not_ taken part in the rebellion; and I believe all +such got enrolled either in the police or in the new regiments that were +being raised, and obtained their back pay. And doubtless if the +Ninety-Third and Fifty-Third bayonets had not cancelled those of the +Seventy-First Native Infantry all those _loyal_ men would afterwards +have presented their leave-certificates, and have claimed pay for the +time they were fighting against us! + +When the number of the slain was reported to Sir Colin, he turned to +Brigadier Hope, and said "This morning's work will strike terror into +the sepoys,--it will strike terror into them," and he repeated it +several times. Then turning to us again he said: "Ninety-Third, you have +bravely done your share of this morning's work, and Cawnpore is avenged! +There is more hard work to be done; but unless as a last resource, I +will not call on you to storm more positions to-day. Your duty will be +to cover the guns after they are dragged into position. But, my boys, +if need be, remember I depend on you to carry the next position in the +same daring manner in which you carried the Secundrabâgh." With that +some one from the ranks called out, "Will we get a medal for this, Sir +Colin?" To which he replied: "Well, my lads, I can't say what Her +Majesty's Government may do; but if you don't get a medal, all I can say +is you have deserved one better than any troops I have ever seen under +fire. I shall inform the Governor-General, and, through him, Her Majesty +the Queen, that I have never seen troops behave better." The order was +then given to man the drag-ropes of Peel's guns for the advance on the +Shâh Nujeef, and obeyed with a cheer; and, as it turned out, the +Ninety-Third had to storm that position also. + +The advance on the Shâh Nujeef has been so often described that I will +cut my recollections of it short. At the word of command Captain +Middleton's battery of Royal Artillery dashed forward with loud cheers, +the drivers waving their whips and the gunners their caps as they passed +us and Peel's guns at the gallop. The 24-pounder guns meanwhile were +dragged along by our men and the sailors in the teeth of a perfect hail +of lead and iron from the enemy's batteries. In the middle of the march +a poor sailor lad, just in front of me, had his leg carried clean off +above the knee by a round-shot, and, although knocked head over heels by +the force of the shot, he sat bolt upright on the grass, with the blood +spouting from the stump of his limb like water from the hose of a +fire-engine, and shouted, "Here goes a shilling a day, a shilling a day! +Pitch into them, boys, pitch into them! Remember Cawnpore, Ninety-Third, +remember Cawnpore! Go at them, my hearties!" and he fell back in a dead +faint, and on we went. I afterwards heard that the poor fellow was dead +before a doctor could reach the spot to bind up his limb. + +I will conclude this chapter with an extract from Sir Colin's despatch +on the advance on the Shâh Nujeef: + + The Ninety-Third and Captain Peel's guns rolled on in one + irresistible wave, the men falling fast, but the column + advanced till the heavy guns were within twenty yards of the + walls of the Shâh Nujeef, where they were unlimbered and + poured in round after round against the massive walls of the + building, the withering fire of the Highlanders covering the + Naval Brigade from great loss. But it was an action almost + unexampled in war. Captain Peel behaved very much as if he + had been laying the _Shannon_ alongside an enemy's frigate. + +But in this despatch Sir Colin does not mention that he was himself +wounded by a bullet after it had passed through the head of a +Ninety-Third grenadier. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] _Ficus Indica._ + +[19] The author is quite right in this surmise; the road was made +through the old breach in 1861. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PERSONAL ANECDOTES--CAPTURE OF THE SHÂH NUJEEF--A FEARFUL EXPERIENCE + + +I must now leave for a little the general struggle, and turn to the +actions of individual men as they fell under my own observation,--actions +which neither appear in despatches nor in history; and, by the way, I +may remark that one of the best accounts extant of the taking of the +Shâh Nujeef is that of Colonel Alison, in _Blackwood's Magazine_ for +October, 1858. Both the Alisons were severely wounded on that +occasion,--Colonel Archibald Alison, Military Secretary, and his +brother, Captain F. M. Alison, A.D.C. to Sir Colin Campbell. I will now +relate a service rendered by Sergeant M. W. Findlay, of my company, +which was never noticed nor rewarded. Sergeant Findlay, let me state, +merely considered that he had done his duty, but that is no reason why I +should not mention his name. I believe he is still in India, and a +distinguished officer of the Râjpootâna-Mâlwa Railway Volunteers at +Ajmere. However, after Captain Peel's guns were dragged into position, +the Ninety-Third took up whatever shelter they could get on the right +and left of the guns, and I, with several others, got behind the walls +of an unroofed mud hut, through which we made loopholes on the side next +to the Shâh Nujeef, and were thus able to keep up a destructive fire +on the enemy. Let me add here that the surgeons of the force were +overwhelmed with work, and attending to the wounded in the thick of the +fire. Some time after the attack had commenced we noticed Captain Alison +and his horse in a heap together a few yards behind where we were in +shelter. Sergeant Findlay rushed out, got the wounded officer clear of +his dead horse under a perfect hail of bullets and round-shot, and +carried him under the shelter of the walls where we were lying. He then +ran off in search of a surgeon to bandage his wounds, which were +bleeding very profusely; but the surgeons were all too busy, and Sir +Colin was most strict on the point of wounds being attended to. +Officers, no matter what their rank, had no precedence over the +rank-and-file in this respect; in fact, Sir Colin often expressed the +opinion that an officer could be far more easily replaced than a +well-drilled private. However, there was no surgeon available; so +Sergeant Findlay took his own bandage,--every soldier on going on active +service is supplied with lint and a bandage to have them handy in case +of wounds--set to work, stanched the bleeding, and bandaged up the +wounds of Captain Alison in such a surgeon-like manner that, when Dr. +Menzies of the Ninety-Third at length came to see him, he thought he had +been attended to by a doctor. When he did discover that it was Sergeant +Findlay who had put on the bandages, he expressed his surprise, and said +that in all probability this prompt action had saved Captain Alison's +life, who otherwise might have been weakened by loss of blood beyond +recovery before a doctor could have attended to him. Dr. Menzies there +and then applied to Captain Dawson to get Sergeant Findlay into the +field-hospital as an extra assistant to attend to the wounded. In +closing this incident I may remark that I have known men get the +Victoria Cross for incurring far less danger than Sergeant Findlay did +in exposing himself to bring Captain Alison under shelter. The bullets +were literally flying round him like hail; several passed through his +clothes, and his feather bonnet was shot off his head. When he had +finished putting on the bandages he coolly remarked: "I must go out and +get my bonnet for fear I get sunstruck;" so out he went for his hat, and +before he got back scores of bullets were fired at him from the walls of +the Shâh Nujeef. + +The next man I shall refer to was Sergeant Daniel White, one of the +coolest and most fearless men in the regiment. Sergeant White was a man +of superior education, an excellent vocalist and reciter, with a most +retentive memory, and one of the best amateur actors in the +Ninety-Third. Under fire he was just as cool and collected as if he had +been enacting the part of Bailie Nicol Jarvie in _Rob Roy_. + +In the force defending the Shâh Nujeef, in addition to the regular army, +there was a large body of archers on the walls, armed with bows and +arrows which they discharged with great force and precision, and on +White raising his head above the wall an arrow was shot right into his +feather bonnet. Inside of the wire cage of his bonnet, however, he had +placed his forage cap, folded up, and instead of passing right through, +the arrow stuck in the folds of the forage cap, and "Dan," as he was +called, coolly pulled out the arrow, paraphrasing a quotation from Sir +Walter Scott's _Legend of Montrose_, where Dugald Dalgetty and Ranald +MacEagh made their escape from the castle of McCallum More. Looking at +the arrow, "My conscience!" said White, "bows and arrows! bows and +arrows! Have we got Robin Hood and Little John back again? Bows and +arrows! My conscience, the sight has not been seen in civilised war for +nearly two hundred years. Bows and arrows! And why not weavers' beams as +in the days of Goliath? Ah! that Daniel White should be able to tell in +the Saut Market of Glasgow that he had seen men fight with bows and +arrows in the days of Enfield rifles! Well, well, Jack Pandy, since bows +and arrows are the words, here's at you!" and with that he raised his +feather bonnet on the point of his bayonet above the top of the wall, +and immediately another arrow pierced it through, while a dozen more +whizzed past a little wide of the mark. + +Just then one poor fellow of the Ninety-Third, named Penny, of No. 2 +company, raising his head for an instant a little above the wall, got an +arrow right through his brain, the shaft projecting more than a foot out +at the back of his head. As the poor lad fell dead at our feet, +Sergeant White remarked, "Boys, this is no joke; we must pay them off." +We all loaded and capped, and pushing up our feather bonnets again, a +whole shower of arrows went past or through them. Up we sprang and +returned a well-aimed volley from our rifles at point-blank distance, +and more than half-a-dozen of the enemy went down. But one unfortunate +man of the regiment, named Montgomery, of No. 6 company, exposed himself +a little too long to watch the effect of our volley, and before he could +get down into shelter again an arrow was sent right through his heart, +passing clean through his body and falling on the ground a few yards +behind him. He leaped about six feet straight up in the air, and fell +stone dead. White could not resist making another quotation, but this +time it was from the old English ballad of _Chevy Chase_. + + He had a bow bent in his hand + Made of a trusty tree, + An arrow of a cloth-yard long + Up to the head drew he. + + Against Sir Hugh Montgomerie + So right his shaft he set, + The grey goose wing that was thereon + In his heart's blood was wet. + +Readers who have never been under the excitement of a fight like this +which I describe, may think that such coolness is an exaggeration. It is +not so. Remember the men of whom I write had stood in the "Thin Red +Line" of Balaclava without wavering, and had made up their minds to die +where they stood, if need be; men who had been for days and nights +under shot and shell in the trenches of Sebastopol. If familiarity +breeds contempt, continual exposure to danger breeds coolness, and, I +may say, selfishness too; where all are exposed to equal danger little +sympathy is, for the time being at least, displayed for the unlucky ones +"knocked on the head," to use the common expression in the ranks for +those who are killed. Besides, Sergeant Daniel White was an +exceptionally cool man, and looked on every incident with the eye of an +actor. + +By this time the sun was getting low, a heavy cloud of smoke hung over +the field, and every flash of the guns and rifles could be clearly seen. +The enemy in hundreds were visible on the ramparts, yelling like demons, +brandishing their swords in one hand and burning torches in the other, +shouting at us to "Come on!" But little impression had been made on the +solid masonry walls. Brigadier Hope and his aide-de-camp were rolling on +the ground together, the horses of both shot dead; and the same shell +which had done this mischief exploded one of our ammunition waggons, +killing and wounding several men. Altogether the position looked black +and critical when Major Barnston and his battalion of detachments were +ordered to storm. This battalion of detachments was a body made up of +almost every corps in the service,--at least as far as the regiments +forming the expedition to China were concerned--and men belonging to the +different corps which had entered the Residency with Generals Havelock +and Outram. It also comprised some men who had been left (through +sickness or wounds) at Allahabad and Cawnpore, and some of the Ninetieth +Regiment which had been intercepted at Singapore on their way to China, +under Captain (now General Lord) Wolseley. However, although a made-up +battalion, they advanced bravely to the breach, and I think their +leader, Major Barnston, was killed, and the command devolved on Captain +Wolseley. He made a most determined attempt to get into the place, but +there were no scaling-ladders, and the wall was still almost twenty feet +high. During the heavy cannonade the masonry had fallen down in flakes +on the outside, but still leaving an inner wall standing almost +perpendicular, and in attempting to climb up this the men were raked +with a perfect hail of missiles--grenades and round-shot hurled from +wall-pieces, arrows and brickbats, burning torches of rags and cotton +saturated with oil--even boiling water was dashed on them! In the midst +of the smoke the breach would have made a very good representation of +Pandemonium. There were scores of men armed with great burning torches +just like what one may see in the sham fights of the _Mohurrum_, only +these men were in earnest, shouting "_Allah Akbar!_" "_Deen! Deen!_" and +"_Jai Kâli mâ ki!_"[20] + +The stormers were driven back, leaving many dead and wounded under the +wall. At this juncture Sir Colin called on Brigadier Hope to form up +the Ninety-Third for a final attempt. Sir Colin, again addressing us, +said that he had not intended to call on us to storm more positions that +day, but that the building in our front must be carried before dark, and +the Ninety-Third must do it, and he would lead us himself, saying again: +"Remember, men, the lives at stake inside the Residency are those of +women and children, and they must be rescued." A reply burst from the +ranks: "Ay, ay, Sir Colin! we stood by you at Balaklava, and will stand +by you here; but you must not expose yourself so much as you are doing. +We can be replaced, but you can't. You must remain behind; we can lead +ourselves." + +By that time the battalion of detachments had cleared the front, and the +enemy were still yelling to us to "Come on," and piling up missiles to +give us a warm reception. Captain Peel had meanwhile brought his +infernal machine, known as a rocket battery, to the front, and sent a +volley of rockets through the crowd on the ramparts around the breach. +Just at that moment Sergeant John Paton of my company came running down +the ravine that separated the Kuddum Russool from the Shâh Nujeef, +completely out of breath through exertion, but just able to tell +Brigadier Hope that he had gone up the ravine at the moment the +battalion of detachments had been ordered to storm, and had discovered a +breach in the north-east corner of the rampart next to the river +Goomtee. It appears that our shot and shell had gone over the first +breach, and had blown out the wall on the other side in this particular +spot. Paton told how he had climbed up to the top of the ramparts +without difficulty, and seen right inside the place as the whole +defending force had been called forward to repulse the assault in front. + +Captain Dawson and his company were at once called out, and while the +others opened fire on the breach in front of them, we dashed down the +ravine, Sergeant Paton showing the way. As soon as the enemy saw that +the breach behind had been discovered, and that their well-defended +position was no longer tenable, they fled like sheep through the back +gate next to the Goomtee and another in the direction of the Motee +Munzil.[21] If No. 7 company had got in behind them and cut off their +retreat by the back gate, it would have been Secundrabâgh over again! As +it was, by the time we got over the breach we were able to catch only +about a score of the fugitives, who were promptly bayoneted; the rest +fled pell-mell into the Goomtee, and it was then too dark to see to use +the rifle with effect on the flying masses. However, by the great pools +of blood inside, and the number of dead floating in the river, they had +plainly suffered heavily, and the well-contested position of the Shâh +Nujeef was ours. + +By this time Sir Colin and those of his staff remaining alive or +unwounded were inside the position, and the front gate thrown open. A +hearty cheer was given for the Commander-in-Chief, as he called the +officers round him to give instructions for the disposition of the +force for the night. As it was Captain Dawson and his company who had +scaled the breach, to them was assigned the honour of holding the Shâh +Nujeef, which was now one of the principal positions to protect the +retreat from the Residency. And thus ended the terrible 16th of +November, 1857. + +In the taking of the Secundrabâgh all the subaltern officers of my +company were wounded, namely, Lieutenants E. Welch and S. E. Wood, and +Ensign F. R. M'Namara. The only officer therefore with the company in +the Shâh Nujeef was Captain Dawson. Sergeant Findlay, as already +mentioned, had been taken over as hospital-assistant, and another +sergeant named Wood was either sick or wounded, I forget which, and +Corporals M'Kenzie and Mitchell (a namesake of mine, belonging to +Balmoral) were killed. It thus fell to my lot as the non-commissioned +officer on duty to go round with Captain Dawson to post the sentries. +Mr. Kavanagh, who was officiating as a volunteer staff-officer, +accompanied us to point out the direction of the strongest positions of +the enemy, and the likely points from which any attempts would be made +to recapture our position during the night. During the absence of the +captain the command of the company devolved on Colour-Sergeant David +Morton, of "Tobacco Soup" fame, and he was instructed to see that none +of the enemy were still lurking in the rooms surrounding the mosque of +the Shâh Nujeef, while the captain was going round the ramparts placing +the sentries for the protection of our position. + +As soon as the sentries were posted on the ramparts and regular reliefs +told off, arrangements were made among the sergeants and corporals to +patrol at regular intervals from sentry to sentry to see that all were +alert. This was the more necessary as the men were completely worn out +and fatigued by long marches and heavy fighting, and in fact had not +once had their belts off for a week previous, while all the time +carrying double ammunition on half-empty stomachs. Every precaution had +therefore to be taken that the sentries should not go to sleep, and it +fell to me as the corporal on duty to patrol the first two hours of the +night, from eight o'clock till ten. The remainder of the company +bivouacked around the piled arms, which were arranged carefully loaded +and capped with bayonets fixed, ready for instant action should an +attack be made on our position. After the great heat of the day the +nights by contrast felt bitterly cold. There was a stack of dry wood in +the centre of the grounds from which the men kindled a large fire near +the piled arms, and arranged themselves around it, rolled in their +greatcoats but fully accoutred, ready to stand to arms at the least +alarm. + +In writing these reminiscences it is far from my wish to make them an +autobiography. My intention is rather to relate the actions of others +than recount what I did myself; but an adventure happened to me in the +Shâh Nujeef which gave me such a nervous fright that to this day I often +dream of it. I have forgotten to state that when the force advanced +from the Alumbâgh each man carried his greatcoat rolled into what was +then known in our regiment as the "Crimean roll," with ends strapped +together across the right shoulder just over the ammunition pouch-belt, +so that it did not interfere with the free use of the rifle, but rather +formed a protection across the chest. As it turned out many men owed +their lives to the fact that bullets became spent in passing through the +rolled greatcoats before reaching a vital part. Now it happened that in +the heat of the fight in the Secundrabâgh my greatcoat was cut right +through where the two ends were fastened together, by the stroke of a +keen-edged _tulwâr_ which was intended to cut me across the shoulder, +and as it was very warm at the time from the heat of the mid-day sun +combined with the excitement of the fight, I was rather glad than +otherwise to be rid of the greatcoat; and when the fight was over, it +did not occur to me to appropriate another one in its place from one of +my dead comrades. But by ten o'clock at night there was a considerable +difference in the temperature from ten in the morning, and when it came +to my turn to be relieved from patrol duty and to lie down for a sleep, +I felt the cold wet grass anything but comfortable, and missed my +greatcoat to wrap round my knees; for the kilt is not the most suitable +dress imaginable for a bivouac, without greatcoat or plaid, on a cold, +dewy November night in Upper India; with a raw north wind the climate of +Lucknow feels uncommonly cold at night in November, especially when +contrasted with the heat of the day. I have already mentioned that the +sun had set before we entered the Shâh Nujeef, the surrounding enclosure +of which contained a number of small rooms round the inside of the +walls, arranged after the manner of the ordinary Indian native +travellers' _serais_. The Shâh Nujeef, it must be remembered, was the +tomb of Ghâzee-ood-deen Hyder, the first king of Oude, and consequently +a place of Mahommedan pilgrimage, and the small rooms round the four +walls of the square were for the accommodation of pilgrims. These rooms +had been turned into quarters by the enemy, and, in their hurry to +escape, many of them had left their lamps burning, consisting of the +ordinary _chirâgs_[22] placed in small niches in the walls, leaving also +their evening meal of _chupatties_ in small piles ready cooked, and the +curry and _dhâl_[23] boiling on the fires. Many of the lamps were still +burning when my turn of duty was over, and as I felt the want of a +greatcoat badly, I asked the colour-sergeant of the company (the captain +being fast asleep) for permission to go out of the gate to where our +dead were collected near the Secundrabâgh to get another one. This +Colour-Sergeant Morton refused, stating that before going to sleep the +captain had given strict orders that except those on sentry no man was +to leave his post on any pretence whatever. I had therefore to try to +make the best of my position, but although dead tired and wearied out I +felt too uncomfortable to go to sleep, and getting up it struck me that +some of the sepoys in their hurried departure might have left their +greatcoats or blankets behind them. With this hope I went into one of +the rooms where a lamp was burning, took it off its shelf, and shading +the flame with my hand walked to the door of the great domed tomb, or +mosque, which was only about twenty or thirty yards from where the arms +were piled and the men lying round the still burning fire. I peered into +the dark vault, not knowing that it was a king's tomb, but could see +nothing, so I advanced slowly, holding the _chirâg_ high over my head +and looking cautiously around for fear of surprise from a concealed +enemy, till I was near the centre of the great vault, where my progress +was obstructed by a big black heap about four or five feet high, which +felt to my feet as if I were walking among loose sand. I lowered the +lamp to see what it was, and immediately discovered that I was standing +up to the ankles in _loose gunpowder_! About forty cwt. of it lay in a +great heap in front of my nose, while a glance to my left showed me a +range of twenty to thirty barrels also full of powder, and on the right +over a hundred 8-inch shells, all loaded with the fuses fixed, while +spare fuses and slow matches and port-fires in profusion lay heaped +beside the shells. + +By this time my eyes had become accustomed to the darkness of the +mosque, and I took in my position and my danger at a glance. Here I was +up to my knees in powder,--in the very bowels of a magazine with a +naked light! My hair literally stood on end; I felt the skin of my head +lifting my feather bonnet off my scalp; my knees knocked together, and +despite the chilly night air the cold perspiration burst out all over me +and ran down my face and legs. I had neither cloth nor handkerchief in +my pocket, and there was not a moment to be lost, as already the +overhanging wick of the _chirâg_ was threatening to shed its smouldering +red tip into the live magazine at my feet with consequences too +frightful to contemplate. Quick as thought I put my left hand under the +down-dropping flame, and clasped it with a grasp of determination; +holding it firmly I slowly turned to the door, and walked out with my +knees knocking one against the other! Fear had so overcome all other +feeling that I am confident I never felt the least pain from grasping +the burning wick till after I was outside the building and once again in +the open air; but when I opened my hand I felt the smart acutely enough. +I poured the oil out of the lamp into the burnt hand, and kneeling down +thanked God for having saved myself and all the men lying around me from +horrible destruction. I then got up and, staggering rather than walking +to the place where Captain Dawson was sleeping, and shaking him by the +shoulder till he awoke, I told him of my discovery and the fright I had +got. + +At first he either did not believe me, or did not comprehend the danger. +"Bah! Corporal Mitchell," was all his answer, "you have woke up out of +your sleep, and have got frightened at a shadow," for my heart was +still thumping against my ribs worse than it was when I first discovered +my danger, and my voice was trembling. I turned my smarting hand to the +light of the fire and showed the captain how it was scorched; and then, +feeling my pride hurt at being told I had got frightened at a shadow, I +said: "Sir, you're not a Highlander or you would know the Gaelic proverb +'_The heart of one who can look death in the face will not start at a +shadow_,' and you, sir, can yourself bear witness that I have not +shirked to look death in the face more than once since daylight this +morning." He replied, "Pardon me, I did not mean that; but calm yourself +and explain what it is that has frightened you." I then told him that I +had gone into the mosque with a naked lamp burning, and had found it +half full of loose gunpowder piled in a great heap on the floor and a +large number of loaded shells. "Are you sure you're not dreaming from +the excitement of this terrible day?" said the captain. With that I +looked down to my feet and my gaiters, which were still covered with +blood from the slaughter in the Secundrabâgh; the wet grass had softened +it again, and on this the powder was sticking nearly an inch thick. I +scraped some of it off, throwing it into the fire, and said, "There is +positive proof for you that I'm not dreaming, nor my vision a shadow!" +On that the captain became almost as alarmed as I was, and a sentry was +posted near the door of the mosque to prevent any one from entering it. +The sleeping men were aroused, and the fire smothered out with as great +care as possible, using for the purpose several earthen _ghurrahs_, or +jars of water, which the enemy had left under the trees near where we +were lying. + +When all was over, Colour-Sergeant Morton coolly proposed to the captain +to place me under arrest for having left the pile of arms after he, the +colour-sergeant, had refused to give me leave. To this proposal Captain +Dawson replied: "If any one deserves to be put under arrest it is you +yourself, Sergeant Morton, for not having explored the mosque and +discovered the gunpowder while Corporal Mitchell and I were posting the +sentries; and if this neglect comes to the notice of either Colonel Hay +or the Commander-in-Chief, both you and I are likely to hear more about +it; so the less you say about the matter the better!" This ended the +discussion and my adventure, and at the time I was glad to hear nothing +more about it, but I have sometimes since thought that if the part I +acted in this crisis had come to the knowledge of either Colonel Hay or +Sir Colin Campbell, my burnt hand would have brought me something more +than a proposal to place me under arrest, and take my corporal's stripes +from me! Be that as it may, I got a fright that I have never forgotten, +and, as already mentioned, even to this day I often dream of it, and +wake up with a sudden start, the cold perspiration in great beads on my +face, as I think I see again the huge black heap of powder in front of +me. + +After a sentry had been posted on the mosque and the fire put out, a +glass lantern was discovered in one of the rooms, and Captain Dawson +and I, with an escort of three or four men, made the circuit of the +walls, searching every room. I remember one of the escort was James +Wilson, the same man who wished to bayonet the Hindoo _jogie_ in the +village who afterwards shot poor Captain Mayne as told in my fourth +chapter. As Wilson was peering into one of the rooms, a concealed sepoy +struck him over the head with his _tulwâr_, but the feather bonnet saved +his scalp as it had saved many more that day, and Captain Dawson being +armed with a pair of double-barrelled pistols, put a bullet through the +sepoy before he had time to make another cut at Wilson. In the same room +I found a good cotton quilt which I promptly annexed to replace my lost +greatcoat. + +After all was quiet, the men rolled off to sleep again, and wrapping +round my legs my newly-acquired quilt, which was lined with silk and had +evidently belonged to a rebel officer, I too lay down and tried to +sleep. My nerves were however too much shaken, and the pain of my burnt +hand kept me awake, so I lay and listened to the men sleeping around me; +and what a night that was! Had I the descriptive powers of a Tennyson or +a Scott I might draw a picture of it, but as it is I can only very +faintly attempt to make my readers imagine what it was like. The +horrible scenes through which the men had passed during the day had told +with terrible effect on their nervous systems, and the struggles,--eye +to eye, foot to foot, and steel to steel--with death in the +Secundrabâgh, were fought over again by most of the men in their sleep, +oaths and shouts of defiance often curiously intermingled with prayers. +One man would be lying calmly sleeping and commence muttering something +inaudible, and then break out into a fierce battle-cry of "Cawnpore, you +bloody murderer!"; another would shout "Charge! give them the bayonet!"; +and a third, "Keep together, boys, don't fire; forward, forward; if we +are to die, let us die like men!" Then I would hear one muttering, "Oh, +mother, forgive me, and I'll never leave you again!"; while his comrade +would half rise up, wave his hand, and call, "There they are! Fire low, +give them the bayonet! Remember Cawnpore!" And so it was throughout that +memorable night inside the Shâh Nujeef; and I have no doubt but it was +the same with the men holding the other posts. The pain of my burnt hand +and the terrible fright I had got kept me awake, and I lay and listened +till nearly daybreak; but at length completely worn out, I, too, dosed +off into a disturbed slumber, and I suppose I must have behaved in much +the same way as those I had been listening to, for I dreamed of blood +and battle, and then my mind would wander to scenes on Dee and Don side, +and to the Braemar and Lonach gathering, and from that the scene would +suddenly change, and I was a little boy again, kneeling beside my +mother, saying my evening-hymn. Verily that night convinced me that +Campbell's _Soldier's Dream_ is no mere fiction, but must have been +written or dictated from actual experience by one who had passed +through such another day of excitement and danger as that of the 16th +of November, 1857. + +My dreams were rudely broken into by the crash of a round-shot through +the top of the tree under which I was lying, and I jumped up repeating +aloud the seventh verse of the ninety-first Psalm, Scotch version: + + A thousand at thy side shall fall, + On thy right hand shall lie + Ten thousand dead; yet unto thee + It shall not once come nigh. + +Captain Dawson and the sergeants of the company had been astir long +before, and a party of ordnance-lascars from the ammunition park and +several warrant-officers of the Ordnance-Department were busy removing +the gunpowder from the tomb of the Shâh Nujeef. Over sixty _maunds_[24] +of loose powder were filled into bags and carted out, besides twenty +barrels of the ordinary size of powder-barrels, and more than one +hundred and fifty loaded 8-inch shells. The work of removal was scarcely +completed before the enemy commenced firing shell and red-hot round-shot +from their batteries in the Bâdshâhibâgh across the Goomtee, aimed +straight for the door of the tomb facing the river, showing that they +believed the powder was still there, and that they hoped they might +manage to blow us all up. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] "God is great!" "Religion! Religion!" "Victory to Mother Kâli!" The +first two are Mussulman war-cries; the last is Hindoo. + +[21] The Pearl Mosque. + +[22] Little clay saucers of oil, with a loosely twisted cotton wick. + +[23] Small pulse. + +[24] Nearly five thousand lbs. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +BREAKFAST UNDER DIFFICULTIES--LONG SHOTS--THE LITTLE DRUMMER--EVACUATION +OF THE RESIDENCY BY THE GARRISON + + +By this time several of the old campaigners had kindled a fire in one of +the small rooms, through the roof of which one of our shells had fallen +the day before, making a convenient chimney for the egress of the smoke. +They had found a large copper pot which had been left by the sepoys, and +had it on the fire filled with a stew of about a score or more of +pigeons which had been left shut up in a dovecot in a corner of the +compound. There were also plenty of pumpkins and other vegetables in the +rooms, and piles of _chupatties_ which had been cooked by the sepoys for +their evening meal before they fled. Everything in fact was there for +making a good breakfast for hungry men except salt, and there was no +salt to be found in any of the rooms; but as luck favoured us, I had one +of the old-fashioned round cylinder-shaped wooden match-boxes full of +salt in my haversack, which was more than sufficient to season the stew. +I had carried this salt from Cawnpore, and I did so by the advice of an +old veteran who had served in the Ninety-Second Gordon Highlanders all +through the Peninsular war, and finally at Waterloo. When as a boy I had +often listened to his stories and told him that I would also enlist for +a soldier, he had given me this piece of practical advice, which I in my +turn present to every young soldier and volunteer. It is this: "Always +carry a box of salt in your haversack when on active service; because +the commissariat department is usually in the rear, and as a rule when +an army is pressed for food the men have often the chance of getting +hold of a bullock or a sheep, or of fowls, etc., but it is more +difficult to find salt, and even good food without salt is very +unpalatable." I remembered the advice, and it proved of great service to +myself and comrades in many instances during the Mutiny. As it was, +thanks to my foresight the hungry men in the Shâh Nujeef made a good +breakfast on the morning of the 17th of November, 1857. I may here say +that my experience is that the soldiers who could best look after their +stomachs were also those who could make the best use of the bayonet, and +who were the least likely to fall behind in a forced march. If I had the +command of an army in the field my rule would be: "Cut the grog, and +give double grub when hard work has to be done!" + +After making a good breakfast the men were told off in sections, and we +discharged our rifles at the enemy across the Goomtee,[25] and then +spunged them out, which they sorely needed, because they had not been +cleaned from the day we advanced from the Alumbâgh. Our rifles had in +fact got so foul with four days' heavy work that it was almost +impossible to load them, and the recoil had become so great that the +shoulders of many of the men were perfectly black with bruises. As soon +as our rifles were cleaned, a number of the best shots in the company +were selected to try and silence the fire from the battery in the +Bâdshâhibâgh across the river, which was annoying us by endeavouring to +pitch hot shot and shell into the tomb, and to shorten the distance they +had brought their guns outside the gate on to the open ground. They +evidently as yet did not understand the range of the Enfield rifle, as +they now came within about a thousand to twelve hundred yards of the +wall of the Shâh Nujeef next the river. Some twenty of the best shots in +the company, with carefully cleaned and loaded rifles, watched till they +saw a good number of the enemy near their guns, then, raising sights to +the full height and carefully aiming high, they fired a volley by word +of command slowly given--_one, two, fire!_ and about half a dozen of the +enemy were knocked over. They at once withdrew their guns inside the +Bâdshâhibâgh and shut the gate, and did not molest us any more. + +During the early part of the forenoon we had several men struck by rifle +bullets fired from one of the minarets in the Motee Mahal, which was +said to be occupied by one of the ex-King of Oude's eunuchs who was a +first-rate marksman, and armed with an excellent rifle; from his +elevated position in the minaret he could see right into the square of +the Shâh Nujeef. We soon had several men wounded, and as there was no +surgeon with us Captain Dawson sent me back to where the field-hospital +was formed near the Secundrabâgh, to ask Dr. Munro if an +assistant-surgeon could be spared for our post. But Dr. Munro told me to +tell Captain Dawson that it was impossible to spare an assistant-surgeon +or even an apothecary, because he had just been informed that the +Mess-House and Motee Mahal were to be assaulted at two o'clock, and +every medical officer would be required on the spot; but he would try +and send a hospital-attendant with a supply of lint and bandages. By the +time I got back the assault on the Mess-House had begun, and Sergeant +Findlay, before mentioned, was sent with a _dooly_ and a supply of +bandages, lint, and dressing, to do the best he could for any of ours +who might be wounded. + +About half an hour after the assault on the Mess-House had commenced a +large body of the enemy, numbering at least six or seven hundred men, +whose retreat had evidently been cut off from the city, crossed from the +Mess-House into the Motee Mahal in our front, and forming up under cover +of some huts between the Shâh Munzil and Motee Mahal, they evidently +made up their minds to try and retake the Shâh Nujeef. They debouched on +the plain with a number of men in front carrying scaling-ladders, and +Captain Dawson being on the alert ordered all the men to kneel down +behind the loopholes with rifles sighted for five hundred yards, and +wait for the word of command. It was now our turn to know what it felt +like to be behind loopholed walls, and we calmly awaited the enemy, +watching them forming up for a dash on our position. The silence was +profound, when Sergeant Daniel White repeated aloud a passage from the +third canto of Scott's _Bridal of Triermain_: + + Bewcastle now must keep the Hold, + Speir-Adam's steeds must bide in stall, + Of Hartley-burn the bowmen bold + Must only shoot from battled wall; + And Liddesdale may buckle spur, + And Teviot now may belt the brand, + Taras and Ewes keep nightly stir, + And Eskdale foray Cumberland. + Of wasted fields and plunder'd flocks + The Borderers bootless may complain; + They lack the sword of brave De Vaux, + There comes no aid from Triermain. + +Captain Dawson, who had been steadily watching the advance of the enemy +and carefully calculating their distance, just then called "Attention, +five hundred yards, ready--_one, two, fire!_" when over eighty rifles +rang out, and almost as many of the enemy went down like ninepins on the +plain! Their leader was in front, mounted on a finely-accoutred charger, +and he and his horse were evidently both hit; he at once wheeled round +and made for the Goomtee, but horse and man both fell before they got +near the river. After the first volley every man loaded and fired +independently, and the plain was soon strewn with dead and wounded. + +The unfortunate assaulters were now between two fires, for the force +that had attacked the Shâh Munzil and Motee Mahal commenced to send +grape and canister into their rear, so the routed rebels threw away +their arms and scaling-ladders, and all that were able to do so bolted +pell-mell for the Goomtee. Only about a quarter of the original number, +however, reached the opposite bank, for when they were in the river our +men rushed to the corner nearest to them and kept peppering at every +head above water. One tall fellow, I well remember, acted as cunningly +as a jackal; whether struck or not he fell just as he got into shallow +water on the opposite side, and lay without moving, with his legs in the +water and his head on the land. He appeared to be stone dead, and every +rifle was turned on those that were running across the plain for the +gate of the Bâdshâhibâgh, while many others who were evidently severely +wounded were fired on as our fellows said, "_in mercy to put them out of +pain_." I have previously remarked that the war of the Mutiny was a +horrible, I may say a demoralising, war for civilised men to be engaged +in. The inhuman murders and foul treachery of the Nânâ Sâhib and others +put all feeling of humanity or mercy for the enemy out of the question, +and our men thus early spoke of putting a wounded Jack Pandy _out of +pain_, just as calmly as if he had been a wild beast; it was even +considered an act of mercy. It is now horrible to recall it all, but +what I state is true. The only excuse is that _we_ did not begin this +war of extermination; and no apologist for the mutineers can say that +they were actuated by patriotism to throw off the yoke of the oppressor. +The cold-blooded cruelty of the mutineers and their leaders from first +to last branded them in fact as traitors to humanity and cowardly +assassins of helpless women and children. But to return to the Pandy +whom I left lying half-covered with water on the further bank of the +Goomtee opposite the Shâh Nujeef. This particular man was ever after +spoken of as the "jackal," because jackals and foxes have often been +known to sham dead and wait for a chance of escape; and so it was with +Jack Pandy. After he had lain apparently dead for about an hour, some +one noticed that he had gradually dragged himself out of the water; till +all at once he sprang to his feet, and ran like a deer in the direction +of the gate of the Bâdshâhibâgh. He was still quite within easy range, +and several rifles were levelled at him; but Sergeant Findlay, who was +on the rampart, and was himself one of the best shots in the company, +called out, "Don't fire, men; give the poor devil a chance!" Instead of +a volley of bullets, the men's better feelings gained the day, and Jack +Pandy was reprieved, with a cheer to speed him on his way. As soon as he +heard it he realised his position, and like the Samaritan leper of old, +he halted, turned round, and putting up both his hands with the palms +together in front of his face, he salaamed profoundly, prostrating +himself three times on the ground by way of thanks, and then _walked_ +slowly towards the Bâdshâhibâgh, while we on the ramparts waved our +feather bonnets and clapped our hands to him in token of good-will. I +have often wondered if that particular Pandy ever after fought the +English, or if he returned to his village to relate his exceptional +experience of our clemency. + +Just at this time we noticed a great commotion in front, and heard our +fellows and even those in the Residency cheering like mad. The cause we +shortly after learned; that the generals, Sir Colin Campbell, Havelock, +and Outram had met. The Residency was relieved and the women and +children were saved, although not yet out of danger, and every man in +the force slept with a lighter heart that night. If the cost was heavy, +the gain was great. + +I may here mention that there is an entry in my note-book, dated 18th of +November 1857: "That Lieutenant Fred. Roberts planted the Union Jack +three times on the top of the Mess-House as a signal to the force in the +Residency that the Mess-House was in our possession, and it was as often +shot down." Some time ago there was, I remember, a dispute about who was +entitled to the credit of this action. Now I did not see it myself, but +I must have got the information from some of the men of the other +companies who witnessed the deed, as it was known that I was keeping a +rough diary of the leading events. + +Such was the glorious issue of the 17th of November. The meeting of the +Generals, Sir Colin Campbell, Outram, and Havelock, proved that Lucknow +was relieved and the women and children were safe; but to accomplish +this object our small force had lost no less than forty-five officers +and four hundred and ninety-six men--more than a tenth of our whole +number! The brunt of the loss fell on the Artillery and Naval Brigade, +and on the Fifty-Third, the Ninety-Third, and the Fourth Punjâb +Infantry. These losses were respectively as follows: + + Artillery and Naval Brigade 105 Men + Fifty-Third Regiment 76 " + Ninety-Third Highlanders 108 " + Fourth Punjâb Infantry 95 " + --- + Total 384 + +leaving one hundred and twelve to be divided among the other corps +engaged. + +In writing mostly from memory thirty-five years after the events +described, many incidents, though not entirely forgotten, escape being +noticed in their proper sequence, and that is the case with the +following, which I must here relate before I enter on the evacuation of +the Residency. + +Immediately after the powder left by the enemy had been removed from the +tomb of the Shâh Nujeef, and the sun had dispelled the fog which rested +over the Goomtee and the city, it was deemed necessary to signal to the +Residency to let them know our position, and for this purpose our +adjutant, Lieutenant William M'Bean, Sergeant Hutchinson, and Drummer +Ross, a boy of about twelve years of age but even small for his years, +climbed to the top of the dome of the Shâh Nujeef by means of a rude +rope-ladder which was fixed on it; thence with the regimental colour of +the Ninety-Third and a feather bonnet on the tip of the staff they +signalled to the Residency, and the little drummer sounded the +regimental call on his bugle from the top of the dome. The signal was +seen, and answered from the Residency by lowering their flag three +times. But the enemy on the Bâdshâhibâgh also saw the signalling and the +daring adventurers on the dome, and turned their guns on them, sending +several round-shots quite close to them. Their object being gained, +however, our men descended; but little Ross ran up the ladder again like +a monkey, and holding on to the spire of the dome with his left hand he +waved his feather bonnet and then sounded the regimental call a second +time, which he followed by the call known as _The Cock of the North_, +which he sounded as a blast of defiance to the enemy. When peremptorily +ordered to come down by Lieutenant M'Bean, he did so, but not before the +little monkey had tootled out-- + + There's not a man beneath the moon, + Nor lives in any land he, + That hasn't heard the pleasant tune + Of Yankee Doodle Dandy! + + In cooling drinks and clipper ships, + The Yankee has the way shown, + On land and sea 'tis he that whips + Old Bull, and all creation. + +When little Ross reached the parapet at the foot of the dome, he turned +to Lieutenant M'Bean and said: "Ye ken, sir, I was born when the +regiment was in Canada when my mother was on a visit to an aunt in the +States, and I could not come down till I had sung _Yankee Doodle_, to +make my American cousins envious when they hear of the deeds of the +Ninety-Third. Won't the Yankees feel jealous when they hear that the +littlest drummer-boy in the regiment sang _Yankee Doodle_ under a hail +of fire on the dome of the highest mosque in Lucknow!" + +As mentioned in the last chapter, the Residency was relieved on the +afternoon of the 17th of November, and the following day preparations +were made for the evacuation of the position and the withdrawal of the +women and children. To do this in safety however was no easy task, for +the mutineers and rebels showed but small regard for the laws of +chivalry; a man might pass an exposed position in comparative safety, +but if a helpless woman or little child were seen, they were made the +target for a hundred bullets. So far as we could see from the Shâh +Nujeef, the line of retreat was pretty well sheltered till the refugees +emerged from the Motee Mahal; but between that and the Shâh Nujeef there +was a long stretch of plain, exposed to the fire of the enemy's +artillery and sharp-shooters from the opposite side of the Goomtee. To +protect this part of their route a flying sap was constructed: a battery +of artillery and some of Peel's guns, with a covering force of infantry, +were posted in the north-east corner of the Motee Mahal; and all the +best shots in the Shâh Nujeef were placed on the north-west corner of +the ramparts next to the Goomtee. These men were under command of +Sergeant Findlay, who, although nominally our medical officer, stuck to +his post on the ramparts, and being one of the best shots in the company +was entrusted with the command of the sharp-shooters for the protection +of the retreating women and children. From these two points,--the +north-east corner of the Motee Mahal and the north-west of the Shâh +Nujeef--the enemy on the north bank of the Goomtee were brought under a +cross-fire, the accuracy of which made them keep a very respectful +distance from the river, with the result that the women and children +passed the exposed part of their route without a single casualty. I +remember one remarkably good shot made by Sergeant Findlay. He unhorsed +a rebel officer close to the east gate of the Bâdshâhibâgh, who came out +with a force of infantry and a couple of guns to open fire on the line +of retreat; but he was no sooner knocked over than the enemy retreated +into the _bâgh_, and did not show themselves any more that day. + +By midnight of the 22nd of November the Residency was entirely +evacuated, and the enemy completely deceived as to the movements; and +about two o'clock on the morning of the 23rd we withdrew from the Shâh +Nujeef and became the rear-guard of the retreating column, making our +way slowly past the Secundrabâgh, the stench from which, as can easily +be imagined, was something frightful. I have seen it stated in print +that the two thousand odd of the enemy killed in the Secundrabâgh were +dragged out and buried in deep trenches outside the enclosure. This is +not correct. The European slain were removed and buried in a deep +trench, where the mound is still visible, to the east of the gate, and +the Punjâbees recovered their slain and cremated them near the bank of +the Goomtee. But the rebel dead had to be left to rot where they lay, a +prey to the vulture by day and the jackal by night, for from the +smallness of the relieving force no other course was possible; in fact, +it was with the greatest difficulty that men could be spared from the +piquets,--for the whole force simply became a series of outlying +piquets--to bury our own dead, let alone those of the enemy. And when we +retired their friends did not take the trouble, as the skeletons were +still whitening in the rooms of the buildings when the Ninety-Third +returned to the siege of Lucknow in March, 1858. Their bones were +doubtless buried after the fall of Lucknow, but that would be at least +six months after their slaughter. By daylight on the 23rd of November +the whole of the women and children had arrived at the Dilkooshá, where +tents were pitched for them, and the rear-guard had reached the +Martinière. Here the rolls were called again to see if any were missing, +when it was discovered that Sergeant Alexander Macpherson, of No. 2 +company, who had formed one of Colonel Ewart's detachment in the +barracks, was not present. Shortly afterwards he was seen making his way +across the plain, and reported that he had been left asleep in the +barracks, and, on waking up after daylight and finding himself alone, +guessed what had happened, and knowing the direction in which the column +was to retire, he at once followed. Fortunately the enemy had not even +then discovered the evacuation of the Residency, for they were still +firing into our old positions. Sergeant Macpherson was ever after this +known in the regiment as "Sleepy Sandy." + +There was also an officer, Captain Waterman, left asleep in the +Residency. He, too, managed to join the rear-guard in safety; but he got +such a fright that I afterwards saw it stated in one of the Calcutta +papers that his mind was affected by the shock to his nervous system. +Some time later an Irishman in the Ninety-Third gave a good reason why +the fright did not turn the head of Sandy Macpherson. In those days +before the railway it took much longer than now for the mails to get +from Cawnpore to Calcutta, and for Calcutta papers to get back again; +and some time,--about a month or six weeks--after the events above +related, when the Calcutta papers got back to camp with the accounts of +the relief of Lucknow, I and Sergeant Macpherson were on outlying piquet +at Futtehghur (I think), and the captain of the piquet gave me a bundle +of the newspapers to read out to the men. In these papers there was an +account of Captain Waterman's being left behind in the Residency, in +which it was stated that the shock had affected his intellect. When I +read this out, the men made some remarks concerning the fright which it +must have given Sandy Macpherson when he found himself alone in the +barracks, and Sandy joining in the remarks, was inclined to boast that +the fright had not upset _his_ intellect, when an Irishman of the +piquet, named Andrew M'Onville, usually called "Handy Andy" in the +company, joining in the conversation, said: "Boys, if Sergeant +Macpherson will give me permission, I will tell you a story that will +show the reason why the fright did not upset his intellect." Permission +was of course granted for the story, and Handy Andy proceeded with his +illustration as follows, as nearly as I can remember it. + +"You have all heard of Mr. Gough, the great American Temperance +lecturer. Well, the year before I enlisted he came to Armagh, giving a +course of temperance lectures, and all the public-house keepers and +brewers were up in arms to raise as much opposition as possible against +Mr. Gough and his principles, and in one of his lectures he laid great +stress on the fact that he considered moderation the parent of +drunkenness. A brewer's drayman thereupon went on the platform to +disprove this assertion by actual facts from his own experience, and in +his argument in favour of _moderate_ drinking, he stated that for +upwards of twenty years he had habitually consumed over a gallon of beer +and about a pint of whisky daily, and solemnly asserted that he had +never been the worse for liquor in his life. To which Mr. Gough replied: +'My friends, there is no rule without its exception, and our friend here +is an exception to the general rule of moderate drinking; but I will +tell you a story that I think exactly illustrates his case. Some years +ago, when I was a boy, my father had two negro servants, named Uncle +Sambo and Snowball. Near our house there was a branch of one of the +large fresh-water lakes which swarmed with fish, and it was the duty of +Snowball to go every morning to catch sufficient for the breakfast of +the household. The way Snowball usually caught his fish was by making +them drunk by feeding them with Indian corn-meal mixed with strong +whisky and rolled into balls. When these whisky balls were thrown into +the water the fish came and ate them readily, but after they had +swallowed a few they became helplessly drunk, turning on their backs and +allowing themselves to be caught, so that in a very short time Snowball +would return with his basket full of fish. But as I said, there is no +rule without an exception, and one morning proved that there is also an +exception in the matter of fish becoming drunk. As usual Snowball went +to the lake with an allowance of whisky balls, and spying a fine big +fish with a large flat head, he dropped a ball in front of it, which it +at once ate and then another, and another, and so on till all the whisky +balls in Snowball's basket were in the stomach of this queer fish, and +still it showed no signs of becoming drunk, but kept wagging its tail +and looking for more whisky balls. On this Snowball returned home and +called old Uncle Sambo to come and see this wonderful fish which had +swallowed nearly a peck of whisky balls and still was not drunk. When +old Uncle Sambo set eyes on the fish, he exclaimed, "O Snowball, +Snowball! you foolish boy, you will never be able to make that fish +drunk with your whisky balls. That fish could live in a barrel of whisky +and not get drunk. That fish, my son, is called a mullet-head: it has +got no brains." And that accounts,' said Mr. Gough, turning to the +brewer's drayman, 'for our friend here being able for twenty years to +drink a gallon of beer and a pint of whisky daily and never become +drunk.' And so, my chums," said Handy Andy, "if you will apply the same +reasoning to the cases of Sergeant Macpherson and Captain Waterman I +think you will come to the correct conclusion why the fright did not +upset the intellect of Sergeant Macpherson." We all joined in the laugh +at Handy Andy's story, and none more heartily than the butt of it, Sandy +Macpherson himself. + +But enough of digression. Shortly after the roll was called at the +Martinière, a most unfortunate accident took place. Corporal Cooper and +four or five men went into one of the rooms of the Martinière in which +there was a quantity of loose powder which had been left by the enemy, +and somehow,--it was never known how--the powder got ignited and they +were all blown up, their bodies completely charred and their eyes +scorched out. The poor fellows all died in the greatest agony within an +hour or so of the accident, and none of them ever spoke to say how it +happened. The quantity of powder was not sufficient to shatter the +house, but it blew the doors and windows out, and burnt the poor fellows +as black as charcoal. This sad accident cast a gloom over the regiment, +and made me again very mindful of and thankful for my own narrow +escape, and that of my comrades in the Shâh Nujeef on that memorable +night of the 16th of November. + +Later in the day our sadness increased when it was found that +Colour-Sergeant Alexander Knox, of No. 2 company, was missing. He had +called the roll of his company at daylight, and had then gone to see a +friend in the Seventy-Eighth Highlanders. He had stayed some time with +his friend and left to return to his own regiment, but was never heard +of again. Poor Knox had two brothers in the regiment, and he was the +youngest of the three. He was a most deserving and popular +non-commissioned officer, decorated with the French war medal and the +Cross of the Legion of Honour for valour in the Crimea, and was about to +be promoted sergeant-major of the regiment, _vice_ Murray killed in the +Secundrabâgh. His fate was never known. + +About two o'clock in the afternoon, the regiment being all together +again, the following general order was read to us, and although this is +well-known history, still there must be many of the readers of these +reminiscences who have not ready access to histories. I will therefore +quote the general order in question for the information of young +soldiers. + + HEADQUARTERS, LA MARTINIÈRE, LUCKNOW, _23rd + November, 1857_. + + 1. The Commander-in-Chief has reason to be thankful to the + force he conducted for the relief of the garrison of + Lucknow. + + 2. Hastily assembled, fatigued by forced marches, but + animated by a common feeling of determination to accomplish + the duty before them, all ranks of this force have + compensated for their small number, in the execution of a + most difficult duty, by unceasing exertions. + + 3. From the morning of the 16th till last night the whole + force has been one outlying piquet, never out of fire, and + covering an immense extent of ground, to permit the garrison + to retire scatheless and in safety covered by the whole of + the relieving force. + + 4. That ground was won by fighting as hard as it ever fell + to the lot of the Commander-in-Chief to witness, it being + necessary to bring up the same men over and over again to + fresh attacks; and it is with the greatest gratification + that his Excellency declares he never saw men behave better. + + 5. The storming of the Secundrabâgh and the Shâh Nujeef has + never been surpassed in daring, and the success of it was + most brilliant and complete. + + 6. The movement of retreat of last night, by which the final + rescue of the garrison was effected, was a model of + discipline and exactness. The consequence was that the enemy + was completely deceived, and the force retired by a narrow, + tortuous lane, the only line of retreat open, in the face of + 50,000 enemies, without molestation. + + 7. The Commander-in-Chief offers his sincere thanks to + Major-General Sir James Outram, G.C.B., for the happy manner + in which he planned and carried out his arrangements for the + evacuation of the Residency of Lucknow. + + By order of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, + W. MAYHEW, _Major_, + _Deputy Adjutant-General of the Army_. + +Thus were achieved the relief and evacuation of the Residency of +Lucknow.[26] The enemy did not discover that the Residency was deserted +till noon on the 23rd, and about the time the above general order was +being read to us they fired a salute of one hundred and one guns, but +did not attempt to follow us or to cut off our retreat. That night we +bivouacked in the Dilkooshá park, and retired on the Alumbâgh on the +25th, the day on which the brave and gallant Havelock died. But that is +a well-known part of the history of the relief of Lucknow, and I will +turn to other matters. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[25] It may be necessary to remind civilians that the rifles of 1857 +were muzzle-loading. + +[26] It must always be recollected that this was the _second_ relief of +Lucknow. The first was effected by the force under Havelock and Outram +on the 25th September, 1857, and was in fact more of a reinforcement +than a relief. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +BAGPIPES AT LUCKNOW--A BEWILDERED BÂBOO--THE FORCED MARCH TO +CAWNPORE--OPIUM--WYNDHAM'S MISTAKE + + +Since commencing these reminiscences, and more particularly during my +late visit to Lucknow and Cawnpore, I have been asked by several people +about the truth of the story of the Scotch girl and the bagpipes at +Lucknow, and in reply to all such inquiries I can only make the +following answer. + +About the time of the anniversary dinner in celebration of the relief of +Lucknow, in September, 1891, some writers in the English papers went so +far as to deny that the Seventy-Eighth Highlanders had their bagpipes +with them at Lucknow, and in _The Calcutta Statesman_ of the 18th of +October, 1891, I wrote a letter contradicting this assertion, which with +the permission of the editor I propose to republish in this chapter. But +I may first mention that on my late visit to Lucknow a friend showed me +a copy of the original edition of _A Personal Narrative of the Siege of +Lucknow_, by L. E. R. Rees, one of the surviving defenders, which I had +never before seen, and on page 224 the following statement is given +regarding the entry of Havelock's force. After describing the prevailing +excitement the writer goes on to say: "The shrill tones of the +Highlanders' bagpipes now pierced our ears; not the most beautiful music +was ever more welcome or more joy-bringing," and so on. Further on, on +page 226: "The enemy found some of us dancing to the sounds of the +Highlanders' pipes. The remembrance of that happy evening will never be +effaced from my memory." While yet again, on page 237, he gives the +story related by me below about the Highland piper putting some of the +enemy's cavalry to flight by a blast from his pipes. So much in proof of +the fact that the Seventy-Eighth Highlanders had their bagpipes with +them, and played them too, at the first relief of Lucknow. + +I must now devote a few remarks to the incident of Jessie Brown, which +Grace Campbell has immortalised in the song known as _Jessie's Dream_. +In the _Indian Empire_, by R. Montgomery Martin, vol. ii. page 470, +after denying that this story had its origin in Lucknow, the author +gives the following foot-note: "It was originally a little romance, +written by a French governess at Jersey for the use of her pupils; which +found its way into a Paris paper, thence to the _Jersey Times_, thence +to the London _Times_, December 12th, 1857, and afterwards appeared in +nearly all the journals of the United Kingdom." With regard to this +remark, I am positive that I heard the story in Lucknow in November, +1857, at the same time as I heard the story about the piper frightening +the enemy's _sowars_ with his bagpipes; and it appears a rather +far-fetched theory about a French governess inventing the story in +Jersey. What was the name of this governess, and, above all, why go for +its origin to such an out-of-the-way place as Jersey? I doubt very much +if it was possible for the news of the relief of Lucknow to have reached +Jersey, and for the said French governess to have composed and printed +such a romance in time for its roundabout publication in _The Times_ of +the 12th of December, 1857. This version of the origin of _Jessie's +Dream_ therefore to my thinking carries its own refutation on the face +of it, and I should much like to see the story in its original French +form before I believe it. + +Be that as it may, in the letters published in the home papers, and +quoted in _The Calcutta Statesman_ in October, 1891, one lady gave the +positive statement of a certain Mrs. Gaffney, then living in London, who +asserted that she was, if I remember rightly, in the same compartment of +the Residency with Jessie Brown at the very time the latter said that +she heard the bagpipes when dull English ears could detect nothing +besides the accustomed roar of the cannon. Now, I knew Mrs. Gaffney very +well. Her husband, Sergeant Gaffney, served with me in the Commissariat +Department in Peshawur just after the Mutiny, and I was present as his +best man when he married Mrs. Gaffney. I forget now what was the name of +her first husband, but she was a widow when Sergeant Gaffney married +her. I think her first husband was a sergeant of the Company's +Artillery, who was either killed in the defence of the Residency or +died shortly after. However, she became Mrs. Gaffney either in the end +of 1860 or beginning of 1861, and I have often heard her relate the +incident of Jessie Brown's hearing the bagpipes in the underground +cellar, or _tykhâna_, of the Residency, hours before any one would +believe that a force was coming to their relief, when in the words of +J. B. S. Boyle, the garrison were repeating in dull despair the lines so +descriptive of their state: + + No news from the outer world! + Days, weeks, and months have sped; + Pent up within our battlements, + We seem as living dead. + + No news from the outer world! + Have British soldiers quailed + Before the rebel mutineers?-- + Has British valour failed? + +If the foregoing facts do not convince my readers of the truth of the +origin of _Jessie's Dream_ I cannot give them any more. I am positive on +the point that the Seventy-Eighth Highlanders _had_ their bagpipes and +pipers with them in Lucknow, and that I first heard the story of +_Jessie's Dream_ on the 23rd of November, 1857, on the Dilkooshá heights +before Lucknow. The following is my letter of the 18th of October, 1891, +on the subject, addressed to the editor of _The Calcutta Statesman_. + + SIR,--In an issue of the _Statesman_ of last week + there was a letter from Deputy-Inspector-General Joseph Jee, + V.C., C.B., late of the Seventy-Eighth Highlanders + (Ross-shire Buffs), recopied from an English paper, + contradicting a report that had been published to the + effect that the bagpipes of the Seventy-Eighth had been left + behind at Cawnpore when the regiment went with General + Havelock to the first relief of Lucknow; and I write to + support the assertion of Deputy-Inspector-General Jee that + if any late pipe-major or piper of the old Seventy-Eighth + has ever made such an assertion, he must be mad! I was not + in the Seventy-Eighth myself, but in the Ninety-Third, the + regiment which saved the "Saviours of India" (as the + Seventy-Eighth were then called), and rescued them from the + Residency, and I am positive that the Seventy-Eighth had + their bagpipes and pipers too inside the Residency; for I + well remember they struck up the same tunes as the pipers of + the Ninety-Third, on the memorable 16th of November, 1857. I + recollect the fact as if it were only yesterday. When the + din of battle had ceased for a time, and the roll of the + Ninety-Third was being called outside the Secundrabâgh to + ascertain how many had fallen in that memorable combat, + which Sir Colin Campbell said had "never been surpassed and + rarely equalled," Pipe-Major John McLeod called me aside to + listen to the pipers of the Seventy-Eighth, inside the + Residency, playing _On wi' the Tartan_, and I could hear the + pipes quite distinctly, although, except for the practised + _lug_ of John McLeod, I could not have told the tune. + However, I don't suppose there are many now living fitter to + give evidence on the subject than Doctor Jee; but I may + mention another incident. The morning after the Residency + was evacuated, I visited the bivouac of the Seventy-Eighth + near Dilkooshá, to make inquiries about an old school chum + who had enlisted in the regiment. I found him still alive, + and he related to me how he had been one of the men who were + with Dr. Jee collecting the wounded in the streets of + Lucknow on the 26th of September, and how they had been cut + off from the main body and besieged in a house the whole + night, and Dr. Jee was the only officer with the party, and + that he had been recommended for the Victoria Cross for his + bravery in defending the place and saving a large number of + the wounded. I may mention another incident which my friend + told me, and which has not been so much noticed as the + Jessie Brown story. It was told to me as a fact at the time, + and it afterwards appeared in a Glasgow newspaper. It was as + follows: When Dr. Jee's detachment and the wounded were + fighting their way to the Residency, a wounded piper and + three others who had fired their last round of ammunition + were charged by half-a-dozen rebel _sowars_[27] in a side + street, and the three men with rifles prepared to defend + themselves with the bayonet; but as soon as the _sowars_ + were within about twenty paces of the party, the piper + pointed the drones of his bagpipes straight at them and blew + such a wild blast that they turned tail and fled like the + wind, mistaking the bagpipes for some infernal machine! But + enough of Lucknow. Let us turn to more ancient history. Who + ever heard of a Highland regiment going into action without + their bagpipes and pipers, unless the latter were all + "kilt"? No officer who ever commanded Highlanders knew the + worth of a good piper better than Colonel John Cameron, "the + grandson of Lochiel, the valiant Fassifern." And is there a + Highland soldier worthy of the name who has not heard of his + famous favourite piper who was shot at Cameron's side when + playing the charge, while crossing the Nive in face of the + French? The historian of the Peninsula war relates: "When + the Ninety-Second Highlanders were in the middle of the + stream, Colonel Cameron's favourite piper was shot by his + side. Stooping from his saddle, Fassifern tried to rescue + the body of the man who had so often cheered the regiment to + victory, but in vain: the lifeless corpse was swept away by + the torrent. 'Alas!' cried the brave Cameron, dashing the + tears from his eyes, 'I would rather have lost twenty + grenadiers than you.'" Let us next turn to McDonald's + _Martial Music of Scotland_, and we read: "The bagpipes are + sacred to Scotland and speak a language which Scotchmen only + know, and inspire feelings which Scotchmen only feel. Need + it be told to how many fields of danger and victory the + warlike strains of the bagpipes have led? There is not a + battlefield that is honourable to Britain where their + war-blast has not sounded! When every other instrument has + been silenced by the confusion and the carnage of the scene, + the bagpipes have been borne into the thick of battle, and + many a devoted piper has sounded at once encouragement to + his clansmen and his own _coronach_!" + + In the garb of old Gaul, with the fire of old Rome, + From the heath-covered mountains of Scotia we come; + Our loud-sounding pipe breathes the true martial strain, + And our hearts still the old Scottish valour retain. + +We rested at the Alumbâgh on the 26th of November, but early on the 27th +we understood something had gone wrong in our rear, because, as usual +with Sir Colin when he contemplated a forced march, we were served out +with three days' rations and double ammunition,--sixty rounds in our +pouches and sixty in our haversacks; and by two o'clock in the afternoon +the whole of the women and children, all the sick and wounded, in every +conceivable kind of conveyance, were in full retreat towards Cawnpore. +General Outram's Division being made up to four thousand men was left in +the Alumbâgh to hold the enemy in check, and to show them that Lucknow +was not abandoned, while three thousand fighting men, to guard over two +thousand women and children, sick and wounded, commenced their march +southwards. So far as I can remember the Third and Fifth Punjâb Infantry +formed the infantry of the advance-guard; the Ninth Lancers and Horse +Artillery supplied the flanking parties; while the rear guard, being the +post of honour, was given to the Ninety-Third, a troop of the Ninth +Lancers and Bourchier's light field-battery, No. 17 of the Honourable +East India Company's artillery. We started from the Alumbâgh late in the +afternoon, and reached Bunnee Bridge, seventeen miles from Lucknow, +about 11 P.M. Here the regiment halted till daylight on the +morning of the 28th of November, but the advance-guard with the women +and children, sick and wounded, had been moving since 2 A.M. + +As already mentioned, all the subaltern officers in my company were +wounded, and I was told off, with a guard of about twenty men, to see +all the baggage-carts across Bunnee Bridge and on their way to Cawnpore. +While I was on this duty an amusing incident happened. A commissariat +cart, a common country hackery, loaded with biscuits, got upset, and its +wheel broke just as we were moving it on to the road. The only person +near it belonging to the Commissariat Department was a young _bâboo_ +named Hera Lâll Chatterjee, a boy of about seventeen or eighteen years +of age, who defended his charge as long as he could, but he was soon put +on one side, the biscuits-bags were ripped open, and the men commenced +filling their haversacks from them. Just at this time, an escort of the +Ninth Lancers, with some staff-officers, rode up from the rear. It was +the Commander-in-Chief and his staff. Hera Lâll seeing him rushed up and +called out: "O my Lord, you are my father and my mother! what shall I +tell you! These wild Highlanders will not hear me, but are stealing +commissariat biscuits like fine fun." Sir Colin pulled up, and asked the +_bâboo_ if there was no officer present; to which Hera Lâll replied, "No +officer, sir, only one corporal, and he tell me, 'Shut up, or I'll shoot +you, same like rebel mutineer!'" Hearing this I stepped out of the crowd +and saluting Sir Colin, told him that all the officers of my company +were wounded except Captain Dawson, who was in front; that I and a party +of men had been left to see the last of the carts on to the road; that +this cart had broken down, and as there was no other means of carrying +the biscuits, the men had filled their haversacks with them rather than +leave them on the ground. On hearing that, Hera Lâll again came to the +front with clasped hands, saying: "O my Lord, if one cart of biscuits +short, Major Fitzgerald not listen to me, but will order thirty lashes +with provost-marshal's cat! What can a poor _bâboo_ do with such wild +Highlanders?" Sir Colin replied: "Yes, _bâboo_, I know these Highlanders +are very wild fellows when hungry; let them have the biscuits;" and +turning to one of the staff, he directed him to give a voucher to the +_bâboo_ that a cart loaded with biscuits had broken down and the +contents had been divided among the rear-guard by order of the +Commander-in-Chief. Sir Colin then turned to us and said: "Men, I give +you the biscuits; divide them with your comrades in front; but you must +promise me should a cart loaded with rum break down, you will not +interfere with it." We all replied: "No, no, Sir Colin, if rum breaks +down we'll not touch it." "All right," said Sir Colin, "remember I trust +you," and looking round he said, "I know every one of you," and rode on. +We very soon found room for the biscuits, until we got up to the rest of +the company, when we honestly shared them. I may add that _bâboo_ Hera +Lâll Chatterjee is still living, and is the only native employé I know +who served through the second relief of Lucknow. He now holds the post +of cashier in the offices of Messrs. McNeill and Co., of Clive Ghât +Street, Calcutta, which doubtless he finds more congenial employment +than defending commissariat stores from hungry wild Highlanders, with +the prospect of the provost-marshal's cat as the only reward for doing +his best to defend his charge. + +About five miles farther on a general halt was made for a short rest and +for all stragglers to come up. Sir Colin himself, being still with the +column, ordered the Ninety-Third to form up, and, calling the officers +to the front, he made the first announcement to the regiment that +General Wyndham had been attacked by the Nânâ Sâhib and the Gwalior +Contingent in Cawnpore; that his force had been obliged to retire within +the fort at the head of the bridge of boats, and that we must reach +Cawnpore that night, because, if the bridge of boats should be captured +before we got there, we would be cut off in Oude with fifty thousand of +our enemies in our rear, a well-equipped army of forty thousand men, +with a powerful train of artillery numbering over forty siege guns, in +our front, and with all the women and children, sick and wounded, to +guard. "So, Ninety-Third," said the grand old Chief, "I don't ask you to +undertake this forced march, in your present tired condition, without +good reason. You must reach Cawnpore to-night at all costs." And, as +usual, when he took the men into his confidence, he was answered from +the ranks, "All right, Sir Colin, we'll do it." To which he replied, +"Very well, Ninety-Third, remember I depend on you." And he and his +staff and escort rode on. + +By this time we could plainly hear the guns of the Gwalior Contingent +bombarding General Wyndham's position in Cawnpore; and although terribly +footsore and tired, not having had our clothes off, nor a change of +socks, since the 10th of the month (now eighteen days) we trudged on our +weary march, every mile making the roar of the guns in front more +audible. I may remark here that there is nothing to rouse tired soldiers +like a good cannonade in front; it is the best tonic out! Even the +youngest soldier who has once been under fire, and can distinguish the +sound of a shotted gun from blank, pricks up his ears at the sound and +steps out with a firmer tread and a more erect bearing. + +I shall never forget the misery of that march! However, we reached the +sands on the banks of the Ganges, on the Oude side of the river opposite +Cawnpore, just as the sun was setting, having covered the forty-seven +miles under thirty hours. Of course the great hardship of the march was +caused by our worn-out state after eighteen days' continual duty, +without a change of clothes or our accoutrements off. And when we got in +sight of Cawnpore, the first thing we saw was the enemy on the opposite +side of the river from us, making bonfires of our spare kits and baggage +which had been left at Cawnpore when we advanced for the relief of +Lucknow! Tired as we were, we assisted to drag Peel's heavy guns into +position on the banks of the river, whence the Blue-jackets opened fire +on the left flank of the enemy, the bonfires of our spare baggage being +a fine mark for them. + +Just as the Nânâ Sâhib had got his first gun to bear on the bridge of +boats, that gun was struck on the side by one of Peel's 24-pounders and +upset, and an 8-inch shell from one of his howitzers bursting in the +midst of a crowd of them, we could see them bolting helter-skelter. +This put a stop to their game for the night, and we lay down and rested +on the sands till daybreak next morning, the 29th of November. + +I must mention here an experience of my own which I always recall to +mind when I read some of the insane ravings of the Anti-Opium Society +against the use of that drug. I was so completely tired out by that +terrible march that after I had lain down for about half an hour I +positively could not stand up, I was so stiff and worn out. Having been +on duty as orderly corporal before leaving the Alumbâgh, I had been much +longer on my feet than the rest of the men; in fact, I was tired out +before we started on our march on the afternoon of the 27th, and now, +after having covered forty-seven miles under thirty hours, my condition +can be better imagined than described. After I became cold, I grew so +stiff that I positively could not use my legs. Now Captain Dawson had a +native servant, an old man named Hyder Khân, who had been an officers' +servant all his life, and had been through many campaigns. I had made a +friend of old Hyder before we left Chinsurah, and he did not forget me. +Having ridden the greater part of the march on the camel carrying his +master's baggage, Hyder was comparatively fresh when he got into camp, +and about the time our canteen-sergeant got up and was calling for +orderly-corporals to draw grog for the men, old Hyder came looking for +me, and when he saw my tired state, he said, in his camp English: +"Corporal _sâhib_, you God-damn tired; don't drink grog. Old Hyder give +you something damn much better than grog for tired mans." With that he +went away, but shortly after returned, and gave me a small pill, which +he told me was opium, and about half a pint of hot tea, which he had +prepared for himself and his master. I swallowed the pill and drank the +tea, and _in less than ten minutes_ I felt myself so much refreshed as +to be able to get up and draw the grog for the men of the company and to +serve it out to them while the colour-sergeant called the roll. I then +lay down, rolled up in my sepoy officer's quilt, which I had carried +from the Shâh Nujeef, and had a sound refreshing sleep till next +morning, and then got up so much restored that, except for the sores on +my feet from broken blisters, I could have undertaken another forty-mile +march. I always recall this experience when I read many of the ignorant +arguments of the Anti-Opium Society, who would, if they had the power, +compel the Government to deprive every hard-worked _coolie_ of the only +solace in his life of toil. I am certainly not an opium-eater, and the +abuse of opium may be injurious, as is the abuse of anything; but I am +so convinced in my own mind of the beneficial effects of the temperate +use of the drug, that if I were the general of an army after a forced +march like that of the retreat from Lucknow to the relief of Cawnpore, I +would make the Medical Department give every man a pill of opium and +half a pint of hot tea, instead of rum or liquor of any sort! I hate +drunkenness as much as anybody, but I have no sympathy with what I may +call the intemperate temperance of most of our teetotallers and the +Anti-Opium Society. My experience has been as great and as varied as +that of most Europeans in India, and that experience has led me to the +conviction that the members of the Anti-Opium Society are either +culpably ignorant of facts, or dishonest in the way they represent what +they wish others to believe to be facts. Most of the assertions made +about the Government connection with opium being a hindrance to +mission-work and the spread of Christianity, are gross exaggerations not +borne out by experience, and the opium slave and the opium den, as +depicted in much of the literature on this subject, have no existence +except in the distorted imagination of the writers. But I shall have +some more observations to make on this score elsewhere, and some +evidence to bring forward in support of them.[28] + +Early on the morning of the 29th of November the Ninety-Third crossed +the bridge of boats, and it was well that Sir Colin had returned so +promptly from Lucknow to the relief of Cawnpore, for General Wyndham's +troops were not only beaten and cowed,--they were utterly demoralised. + +When the Commander-in-Chief left Cawnpore for Lucknow, General Wyndham, +known as the "Hero of the Redan," was left in command at Cawnpore with +instructions to strengthen his position by every means, and to detain +all detachments arriving from Calcutta after the 10th of November, +because it was known that the Gwalior Contingent were in great force +somewhere across the Jumna, and there was every probability that they +would either attack Cawnpore, or cross into Oude to fall on the rear of +the Commander-in-Chief's force to prevent the relief of Lucknow. But +strict orders were given to General Wyndham that he was _on no account_ +to move out of Cawnpore, should the Gwalior Contingent advance on his +position, but to act on the defensive, and to hold his entrenchments and +guard the bridge of boats at all hazards. By that time the entrenchment +or mud fort at the Cawnpore end of the bridge, where the Government +Harness and Saddlery Factory now stands, had become a place of +considerable strength under the able direction of Captain Mowbray +Thomson, one of the four survivors of General Wheeler's force. Captain +Thomson had over four thousand _coolies_ daily employed on the defences +from daybreak till dark, and he was a most energetic officer himself, so +that by the time we passed through Cawnpore for the relief of Lucknow +this position had become quite a strong fortification, especially when +compared with the miserable apology for an entrenchment so gallantly +defended by General Wheeler's small force and won from him by such black +treachery. When we advanced for the relief of Lucknow, all our spare +baggage, five hundred new tents, and a great quantity of clothing for +the troops coming down from Delhi, were shut up in Cawnpore, with a +large quantity of spare ammunition, harness, and saddlery; in brief, +property to the value of over five _lakhs_ of rupees was left stored in +the church and in the houses which were still standing near the church +between the town and the river, a short distance from the house in which +the women and children were murdered. All this property, as already +mentioned, fell into the hands of the Gwalior Contingent, and we +returned just in time to see them making bonfires of what they could not +use. Colonel Sir Robert Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala) lost +all the records of his long service, and many valuable engineering +papers which could never be replaced. As for us of the Ninety-Third, we +lost all our spare kits, and were now without a chance of a change of +underclothing or socks. Let all who may read this consider what it meant +to us, who had not changed our clothes from the 10th of the month, and +how, on the morning of the 29th, the sight of the enemy making bonfires +of our kits, just as we were within reach of them, could hardly have +been soothing to contemplate. + +But to return to General Wyndham's force. By the 26th of November it +numbered two thousand four hundred men, according to Colonel Adye's +_Defence of Cawnpore_; and when he heard of the advance of the Nânâ +Sâhib at the head of the Gwalior Contingent, Wyndham considered himself +strong enough to disobey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, and moved +out of his entrenchment to give them battle, encountering their advance +guard at Pândoo Nuddee about seven miles from Cawnpore. He at once +attacked and drove it back through a village in its rear; but behind +the village he found himself confronted by an army of over forty +thousand men, twenty-five thousand of them being the famous Gwalior +Contingent, the best disciplined troops in India, which had never been +beaten and considered themselves invincible, and which, in addition to a +siege train of thirty heavy guns, 24 and 32-pounders, had a +well-appointed and well-drilled field-artillery. General Wyndham now saw +his mistake, and gave the order for retreat. His small force retired in +good order, and encamped on the plain outside Cawnpore on the Bithoor +road for the night, to find itself outflanked and almost surrounded by +Tântia Topee and his Mahrattas on the morning of the 27th; and at the +end of five hours' fighting a general retreat into the fort had again to +be ordered. + +The retiring force was overwhelmed by a murderous cannonade, and, being +largely composed of young soldiers, a panic ensued. The men got out of +hand, and fled for the fort with a loss of over three hundred,--mostly +killed, because the wounded who fell into the hands of the enemy were +cut to pieces,--and several guns. The Rev. Mr. Moore, Church of England +Chaplain with General Wyndham's force, gave a very sad picture of the +panic in which the men fled for the fort, and his description was borne +out by what I saw myself when we passed through the fort on the morning +of the 29th. Mr. Moore said: "The men got quite out of hand and fled +pell-mell for the fort. An old Sikh _sirdâr_ at the gate tried to stop +them, and to form them up in some order, and when they pushed him aside +and rushed past him, he lifted up his hands and said, 'You are not the +brothers of the men who beat the Khâlsa army and conquered the Punjâb!'" +Mr. Moore went on to say that, "The old Sikh followed the flying men +through the Fort Gate, and patting some of them on the back said, 'Don't +run, don't be afraid, there is nothing to hurt you!'" The fact is the +men were mostly young soldiers, belonging to many different regiments, +simply battalions of detachments. They were crushed by the heavy and +well-served artillery of the enemy, and if the truth must be told, they +had no confidence in their commander, who was a brave soldier, but no +general; so when the men were once seized with panic, there was no +stopping them. The only regiment, or rather part of a regiment, for they +only numbered fourteen officers of all ranks and a hundred and sixty +men, which behaved well, was the old Sixty-Fourth, and two companies of +the Thirty-Fourth and Eighty-Second, making up a weak battalion of +barely three hundred. This was led by brave old Brigadier Wilson, who +held them in hand until he brought them forward to cover the retreat, +which he did with a loss of seven officers killed and two wounded, +eighteen men of the Sixty-Fourth killed and twenty-five wounded, with +equally heavy proportions killed and wounded from the companies of the +Thirty-Fourth and Eighty-Second. Brigadier Wilson first had his horse +shot, and was then himself killed, while urging the men to maintain the +honour of the regiment. The command then devolved on Major Stirling, +one of the Sixty-Fourth, who was cut down in the act of spiking one of +the enemy's guns, and Captain M'Crea of the same regiment was also cut +down just as he had spiked his fourth gun. This charge, and these +individual acts of bravery, retarded the advance of the enemy till some +sort of order had been re-established inside the fort. The Sixty-Fourth +were then driven back, and obliged to leave their dead. + +This then was the state of matters when we reached Cawnpore from +Lucknow. The whole of our spare baggage was captured: the city of +Cawnpore and the whole of the river-side up to the house where the Nânâ +had slaughtered the women and children were in the hands of the enemy; +but they had not yet injured the bridge of boats, nor crossed the canal, +and the road to Allahabad still remained open. + +We marched through the fort, and took up ground near where the jute mill +of Messrs. Beer Brothers and Co. and Joe Lee's hotel now stand. We +crossed the bridge without any loss except one officer, who was slightly +wounded by being struck on the shin by a spent bullet from a charge of +grape. He was a long slender youth of about sixteen or seventeen years +of age, whom the men had named "Jack Straw." He was knocked down just as +we cleared the bridge of boats, among the blood of some camp-followers +who had been killed by the bursting of a shell just in front of us. +Sergeant Paton, of my company, picked him up, and put him into an empty +_dooly_ which was passing. + +During the day a piquet of one sergeant, one corporal, and about twenty +men, under command of Lieutenant Stirling, who was afterwards killed on +the 5th of December, was sent out to bring in the body of Brigadier +Wilson, and a man named Doran, of the Sixty-Fourth, who had gone up to +Lucknow in the Volunteer Cavalry, and had there done good service and +returned with our force, volunteered to go out with them to identify the +brigadier's body, because there were many more killed near the same +place, and their corpses having been stripped, they could not be +identified by their uniform, and it would have been impossible to have +brought in all without serious loss. The party reached the brigadier's +body without apparently attracting the attention of the enemy; but just +as two men, Rule of my regiment and Patrick Doran, were lifting it into +the _dooly_ they were seen, and the enemy opened fire on them. A bullet +struck Doran and went right through his body from side to side, without +touching any of the vital organs, just as he was bending down to lift +the brigadier--a most extraordinary wound! If the bullet had deviated a +hair's-breadth to either side, the wound must have been mortal, but +Doran was able to walk back to the fort, and lived for many years after +taking his discharge from the regiment. + +During the time that this piquet was engaged the Blue-jackets of Peel's +Brigade and our heavy artillery had taken up positions in front of the +fort, and showed the gunners of the Gwalior Contingent that they were no +longer confronted by raw inexperienced troops. By the afternoon of the +29th of November, the whole of the women and children and sick and +wounded from Lucknow had crossed the Ganges, and encamped behind the +Ninety-Third on the Allahabad road, and here I will leave them and close +this chapter. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[27] Native cavalry troopers. + +[28] See Appendix D. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ANECDOTES--ACTION WITH THE GWALIOR CONTINGENT--ITS DEFEAT--PURSUIT OF +THE NÂNÂ--BITHOOR--JOHN LANG AND JOTEE PERSHÂD + + +So far as I now remember, the 30th of November, 1857, passed without any +movement on the part of the enemy, and the Commander-in-Chief, in his +letter describing the state of affairs to the Governor-General, said, "I +am obliged to submit to the hostile occupation of Cawnpore until the +actual despatch of all my incumbrances towards Allahabad is effected." +As stated in the last chapter, when our tents came up our camp was +pitched (as near as I can now make out from the altered state of +Cawnpore), about the spot where Joe Lee's hotel and the jute mill of +Messrs. Beer Brothers and Co. now stand. St. Andrew's day and evening +passed without molestation, except that strong piquets lined the canal +and guarded our left and rear from surprise, and the men in camp slept +accoutred, ready to turn out at the least alarm. But during the night, +or early on the morning of the 1st of December, the enemy had quietly +advanced some guns, unseen by our piquets, right up to the Cawnpore side +of the canal, and suddenly opened fire on the Ninety-Third just as we +were falling in for muster-parade, sending round-shot and shell right +through our tents. One shrapnel shell burst right in the centre of +Captain Cornwall's company severely wounding the captain, +Colour-Sergeant M'Intyre, and five men, but not killing any one. + +Captain Cornwall was the oldest officer in the regiment, even an older +soldier than Colonel Leith-Hay who had then commanded it for over three +years, and for long he had been named by the men "Old Daddy Cornwall." +He was poor, and had been unable to purchase promotion, and in +consequence was still a captain with over thirty-five years' service. +The bursting of the shell right over his head stunned the old gentleman, +and a bullet from it went through his shoulder breaking his collar-bone +and cutting a deep furrow down his back. The old man was rather stout +and very short-sighted; the shock of the fall stunned him for some time, +and before he regained his senses Dr. Munro had cut the bullet out of +his back and bandaged up his wound as well as possible. Daddy came to +himself just as the men were lifting him into a _dooly_. Seeing Dr. +Munro standing by with the bullet in his hand, about to present it to +him as a memento of Cawnpore, Daddy gasped out, "Munro, is my wound +dangerous?" "No, Cornwall," was the answer, "not if you don't excite +yourself into a fever; you will get over it all right." The next +question put was, "Is the road clear to Allahabad?" To which Munro +replied that it was, and that he hoped to have all the sick and wounded +sent down country within a day or two. "Then by----" said Daddy, with +considerable emphasis, "I'm off." The poor old fellow had through long +disappointment become like our soldiers in Flanders,--he sometimes +swore; but considering how promotion had passed over him, that was +perhaps excusable. All this occupied far less time than it takes to +write it, and I may as well here finish the history of Daddy Cornwall +before I leave him. He went home in the same vessel as a rich widow, +whom he married on arrival in Dublin, his native place, the corporation +of which presented him with a valuable sword and the freedom of the +city. The death of Brigadier-General Hope in the following April gave +Captain Cornwall his majority without purchase, and he returned to India +in the end of 1859 to command the regiment for about nine months, +retiring from the army in 1860, when we lay at Rawul Pindee. + +But I must return to my story. Being shelled out of our tents, the +regiment was advanced to the side of the canal under cover of the mud +walls of what had formerly been the sepoy lines, in which we took +shelter from the fire of the enemy. Later in the day Colonel Ewart lost +his left arm by a round-shot striking him on the elbow just as he had +dismounted from his charger on his return from visiting the piquets on +the left and rear of our position, he being the field-officer for the +day. This caused universal regret in the regiment, Ewart being the most +popular officer in it. + +By the evening of the 3rd of December the whole of the women and +children, and as many of the wounded as could bear to be moved, were on +their way to Allahabad; and during the 4th and 5th reinforcements +reached Cawnpore from England, among them our old comrades of the +Forty-Second whom we had left at Dover in May. We were right glad to see +them, on the morning of the 5th December, marching in with bagpipes +playing, which was the first intimation we had of another Highland +regiment being near us. These reinforcements raised the force under Sir +Colin Campbell to five thousand infantry, six hundred cavalry, and +thirty-five guns. + +Early on the morning of the 6th of December we struck our tents, which +were loaded on elephants, and marched to a place of safety behind the +fort on the river bank, whilst we formed up in rear of the unroofed +barracks--the Forty-Second, Fifty-Third, Ninety-Third, and Fourth Punjâb +Infantry, with Peel's Brigade and several batteries of artillery, among +them Colonel Bourchier's light field-battery (No. 17 of the old +Company's European artillery), a most daring lot of fellows, the Ninth +Lancers, and one squadron of Hodson's Horse under command of Lieutenant +Gough,[29] a worthy pupil of a famous master. This detachment of +Hodson's Horse had come down with Sir Hope Grant from Delhi, and served +at the final relief of Lucknow and the retreat to the succour of +Cawnpore. The headquarters of the regiment under its famous commander +had been left with Brigadier Showers. + +As this force was formed up in columns, masked from the view of the +enemy by the barracks on the plain of Cawnpore, the Commander-in-Chief +rode up, and told us that he had just got a telegram informing him of +the safe arrival of the women and children, sick and wounded, at +Allahabad, and that now we were to give battle to the famous Gwalior +Contingent, consisting of twenty-five thousand well-disciplined troops, +with about ten thousand of the Nânâ Sâhib's Mahrattas and all the +_budmâshes_ of Cawnpore, Calpee, and Gwalior, under command of the Nânâ +in person, who had proclaimed himself Peishwa and Chief of the Mahratta +power, with Tântia Topee, Bâlâ Sâhib (the Nânâ's brother), and Râja Koor +Sing, the Râjpoot Chief of Judgdespore, as divisional commanders, and +with all the native officers of the Gwalior Contingent as brigade and +regimental commanders. Sir Colin also warned us that there was a large +quantity of rum in the enemy's camp, which we must carefully avoid, +because it was reported to have been drugged. "But, Ninety-Third," he +continued, "I trust you. The supernumerary rank will see that no man +breaks the ranks, and I have ordered the rum to be destroyed as soon as +the camp is taken." + +The Chief then rode on to the other regiments and as soon as he had +addressed a short speech to each, a signal was sent up from Peel's +rocket battery, and General Wyndham opened the ball on his side with +every gun at his disposal, attacking the enemy's left between the city +and the river. Sir Colin himself led the advance, the Fifty-Third and +Fourth Punjâb Infantry in skirmishing order, with the Ninety-Third in +line, the cavalry on our left, and Peel's guns and the horse-artillery +at intervals, with the Forty-Second in the second line for our support. + +Directly we emerged from the shelter of the buildings which had masked +our formation, the piquets fell back, the skirmishers advanced at the +double, and the enemy opened a tremendous cannonade on us with +round-shot, shell, and grape. But, nothing daunted, our skirmishers soon +lined the canal, and our line advanced, with the pipers playing and the +colours in front of the centre company, without the least +wavering,--except now and then opening out to let through the round-shot +which were falling in front, and rebounding along the hard +ground-determined to show the Gwalior Contingent that they had different +men to meet from those whom they had encountered under Wyndham a week +before. By the time we reached the canal, Peel's Blue-jackets were +calling out--"Damn these cow horses," meaning the gun-bullocks, "they're +too slow! Come, you Ninety-Third, give us a hand with the drag-ropes as +you did at Lucknow!" We were then well under the range of the enemy's +guns, and the excitement was at its height. A company of the +Ninety-Third slung their rifles, and dashed to the assistance of the +Blue-jackets. The bullocks were cast adrift, and the native drivers were +not slow in going to the rear. The drag-ropes were manned, and the +24-pounders wheeled abreast of the first line of skirmishers just as if +they had been light field-pieces. + +When we reached the bank the infantry paused for a moment to see if the +canal could be forded or if we should have to cross by the bridge over +which the light field-battery were passing at the gallop, and +unlimbering and opening fire, as soon as they cleared the head of the +bridge, to protect our advance. At this juncture the enemy opened on us +with grape and canister shot, but they fired high and did us but little +damage. As the peculiar _whish_ (a sound when once heard never to be +forgotten) of the grape was going over our heads, the Blue-jackets gave +a ringing cheer for the "Red, white, and blue!" While the Ninety-Third, +led off by Sergeant Daniel White, struck up _The Battle of the Alma_, a +song composed in the Crimea by Corporal John Brown of the Grenadier +Guards, and often sung round the camp-fires in front of Sebastopol. I +here give the words, not for their literary merit, but to show the +spirit of the men who could thus sing going into action in the teeth of +the fire of thirty well-served, although not very correctly-aimed guns, +to encounter a force of more than ten to one. Just as the Blue-jackets +gave their hurrah for the "Red, white, and blue," Dan White struck up +the song, and the whole line, including the skirmishers of the +Fifty-Third and the sailors, joined in the stirring patriotic tune, +which is a first-rate quick march: + + Come, all you gallant British hearts + Who love the Red and Blue,[30] + Come, drink a health to those brave lads + Who made the Russians rue. + Fill up your glass and let it pass, + Three cheers, and one cheer more, + For the fourteenth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + We sailed from Kalimita Bay, + And soon we made the coast, + Determined we would do our best + In spite of brag and boast. + We sprang to land upon the strand, + And slept on Russian shore, + On the fourteenth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + We marched along until we came + Upon the Alma's banks, + We halted just beneath their guns + To breathe and close our ranks. + "Advance!" we heard, and at the word + Right through the brook we bore, + On the twentieth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + We scrambled through the clustering vines, + Then came the battle's brunt; + Our officers, they cheered us on, + Our colours waved in front; + And fighting well full many fell, + Alas! to rise no more, + On the twentieth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + The French were on the right that day, + And flanked the Russian line, + While full upon their left they saw + The British bayonets shine. + With hearty cheers we stunned their ears, + Amidst the cannon's roar, + On the twentieth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + A picnic party Menschikoff + Had asked to see the fun; + The ladies came at twelve o'clock + To see the battle won. + They found the day too hot to stay, + The Prince felt rather sore, + On the twentieth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + For when he called his carriage up, + The French came up likewise; + And so he took French leave at once + And left to them the prize. + The Chasseurs took his pocket-book, + They even sacked his store, + On the twentieth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + A letter to Old Nick they found, + And this was what it said: + "To meet their bravest men, my liege, + Your soldiers do not dread; + But devils they, not mortal men," + The Russian General swore, + "That drove us off the Alma's heights + In September, fifty-four." + + Long life to Royal Cambridge, + To Peel and Camperdown, + And all the gallant British Tars + Who shared the great renown, + Who stunned Russian ears with British cheers, + Amidst the cannon's roar, + On the twentieth of September, + Eighteen hundred and fifty-four. + + Here's a health to noble Raglan, + To Campbell and to Brown, + And all the gallant Frenchmen + Who shared that day's renown. + Whilst we displayed the black cockade, + They the tricolour bore; + The Russian crew wore gray and blue + In September, fifty-four. + + Come, let us drink a toast to-night, + Our glasses take in hand, + And all around this festive board + In solemn silence stand. + Before we part let each true heart + Drink once to those no more, + Who fought their last fight on Alma's height + In September, fifty-four! + +Around our bivouac fires that night as _The Battle of the Alma_ was sung +again, Daniel White told us that when the Blue-jackets commenced +cheering under the hail of grape-shot, he remembered that the Scots +Greys and Ninety-Second Highlanders had charged at Waterloo singing +_Bruce's Address at Bannockburn_, "Scots wha hae," and trying to think +of something equally appropriate in which Peel's Brigade might join, he +could not at the moment recall anything better than the old Crimean song +aforesaid. + +After clearing the canal and re-forming our ranks, we came under shelter +of a range of brick kilns behind which stood the camp of the enemy, and +behind the camp their infantry were drawn up in columns, not deployed in +line. The rum against which Sir Colin had warned us was in front of the +camp, casks standing on end with the heads knocked out for convenience; +and there is no doubt but the enemy expected the Europeans would break +their ranks when they saw the rum, and had formed up their columns to +fall on us in the event of such a contingency. But the Ninety-Third +marched right on past the rum barrels, and the supernumerary rank soon +upset the casks, leaving the contents to soak into the dry ground. + +As soon as we cleared the camp, our line of infantry was halted. Up to +that time, except the skirmishers, we had not fired a shot, and we could +not understand the reason of the halt till we saw the Ninth Lancers and +the detachment of Hodson's Horse galloping round some fields of tall +sugar-cane on the left, masking the light field-battery. When the enemy +saw the tips of the lances (they evidently did not see the guns) they +quickly formed squares of brigades. They were armed with the old musket, +"Brown Bess," and did not open fire till the cavalry were within about +three hundred yards. Just as they commenced to fire, we could hear Sir +Hope Grant, in a voice as loud as a trumpet, give the command to the +cavalry, "Squadrons, outwards!" while Bourchier gave the order to his +gunners, "Action, front!" The cavalry wheeled as if they had been at a +review on the Calcutta parade-ground; the guns, having previously been +charged with grape, were swung round, unlimbered as quick as lightning +within about two hundred and fifty yards of the squares, and round after +round of grape was poured into the enemy with murderous effect, every +charge going right through, leaving a lane of dead from four to five +yards wide. By this time our line was advanced close up behind the +battery, and we could see the mounted officers of the enemy, as soon as +they caught sight of the guns, dash out of the squares and fly like +lightning across the plain. Directly the squares were broken, our +cavalry charged, while the infantry advanced at the double with the +bayonet. The battle was won, and the famous Gwalior Contingent was a +flying rabble, although the struggle was protracted in a series of +hand-to-hand fights all over the plain, no quarter being given. Peel's +guns were wheeled up, as already mentioned, as if they had been +6-pounders, and the left wing of the enemy taken in rear and their +retreat on the Calpee road cut off. What escaped of their right wing +fled along this road. The cavalry and horse-artillery led by Sir Colin +Campbell in person, the whole of the Fifty-Third, the Fourth Punjâb +Infantry, and two companies of the Ninety-Third, pursued the flying mass +for fourteen miles. The rebels, being cut down by hundreds wherever they +attempted to rally for a stand, at length threw away their arms and +accoutrements to expedite their flight, for none were spared,--"neither +the sick man in his weakness, nor the strong man in his strength," to +quote the words of Colonel Alison. The evening closed with the total +rout of the enemy, and the capture of his camp, the whole of his +ordnance-park, containing a large quantity of ammunition and thirty-two +guns of sizes, siege-train, and field-artillery, with a loss of only +ninety-nine killed and wounded on our side. + +As night fell, large bodies of the left wing of the enemy were seen +retreating from the city between our piquets and the Ganges, but we were +too weary and too few in number to intercept them, and they retired +along the Bithoor road. About midnight the force which had followed the +enemy along the Calpee road returned, bringing in a large number of +ammunition-waggons and baggage-carts, the bullocks driven by our men, +and those not engaged in driving sitting on the waggons or carts, too +tired and footsore to walk. We rested hungry and exhausted, but a man of +my company, named Bill Summers, captured a little pack-bullock loaded +with two bales of stuff which turned out to be fine soft woollen socks +of Loodiana manufacture, sufficient to give every man in the company +three pairs,--a real godsend for us, since at that moment there was +nothing we stood more in need of than socks; and as no commissariat had +come up from the rear, we slaughtered the bullock and cut it into +steaks, which we broiled on the tips of our ramrods around the bivouac +fires. Thus we passed the night of the 6th of December, 1857. + +Early on the morning of the 7th a force was sent into the city of +Cawnpore, and patrolled it from end to end, east, west, north, and +south. Not only did we meet no enemy, but many of the townspeople +brought out food and water to our men, appearing very glad to see us. + +During the afternoon our tents came up from the rear, and were pitched +by the side of the Grand Trunk road, and the Forty-Second being put on +duty that night, we of the Fifty-Third and Ninety-Third were allowed to +take our accoutrements off for the first night's sleep without them +since the 10th of November--seven and twenty days! Our spare kits +having all vanished with the enemy, as told in the last chapter, our +quarter-master collected from the captured baggage all the underclothing +and socks he could lay hands on. Thanks to Bill Summers and the little +pack-bullock, my company got a change of socks; but there was more work +before us before we got a bath or a change of shirts. + +About noon on the 8th the Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by Sir Hope +Grant and Brigadier Adrian Hope, had our brigade turned out, and as soon +as Sir Colin rode in among us we knew there was work to be done. He +called the officers to the front, and addressing them in the hearing of +the men, told them that the Nânâ Sâhib had passed through Bithoor with a +large number of men and seventeen guns, and that we must all prepare for +another forced march to overtake him and capture these guns before he +could either reach Futtehghur or cross into Oude with them. After +stating that the camp would be struck as soon as we had got our dinners, +the Commander-in-Chief and Sir Hope Grant held a short but animated +conversation, which I have always thought was a prearranged matter +between them for our encouragement. In the full hearing of the men, Sir +Hope Grant turned to the Commander-in-Chief, and said, in rather a loud +tone: "I'm afraid, your Excellency, this march will prove a wild-goose +chase, because the infantry, in their present tired state, will never be +able to keep up with the cavalry." On this, Sir Colin turned round in +his saddle, and looking straight at us, replied in a tone equally loud, +so as to be heard by all the men: "I tell you, General Grant, you are +wrong. You don't know these men; these Highlanders will march your +cavalry blind." And turning to the men, as if expecting to be +corroborated by them, he was answered by over a dozen voices, "Ay, ay, +Sir Colin, we'll show them what we can do!" + +As soon as dinner was over we struck tents, loaded them on the +elephants, and by two o'clock P.M. were on the march along the Grand +Trunk road. By sunset we had covered fifteen miles from Cawnpore. Here +we halted, lit fires, cooked tea, served out grog, and after a rest of +three hours, to feed and water the horses as much as to rest the men, we +were off again. By five A.M. on the 9th of December we had +reached the thirtieth mile from the place where we started, and the +scouts brought word to the general that we were ahead of the flying +enemy. We then turned off the road to our right in the direction of the +Ganges, and by eight o'clock came in sight of the enemy at Serai _ghât_, +a ferry twenty-five miles above Cawnpore, preparing to embark the guns +of which we were in pursuit. + +Our cavalry and horse-artillery at once galloped to the front through +ploughed fields, and opened fire on the boats. The enemy returned the +fire, and some Mahratta cavalry made a dash at the guns, but their +charge was met by the Ninth Lancers and the detachment of Hodson's +Horse, and a number of them cut down. Seeing the infantry advancing in +line, the enemy broke and fled for the boats, leaving all their fifteen +guns, a large number of ordnance waggons loaded with ammunition, and a +hundred carts filled with their baggage and the plunder of Cawnpore. Our +horse-artillery and infantry advanced right up to the banks of the river +and kept up a hot fire on the retreating boats, swamping a great number +of them. The Nânâ Sâhib was among this lot; but the spies reported that +his boat was the first to put off, and he gained the Oude side in +safety, though some thousands of his Mahratta rebels must have been +drowned or killed. This was some return we felt for his treachery at +Suttee Chowrah _ghât_ six months before. It was now our turn to be +peppering the flying boats! There were a number of women and children +left by the routed rebels among their baggage-carts; they evidently +expected to be killed, but were escorted to a village in our rear, and +left there. We showed them that we had come to war with men--not to +butcher women! By the afternoon we had dragged the whole of the captured +guns back from the river, and our tents coming up under the rear-guard, +we encamped for the night, glad enough to get a rest. + +On the morning of the 10th our quarter-master divided among us a lot of +shirts and underclothing, mostly what the enemy had captured at +Cawnpore, a great part of which we had now recovered; and we were +allowed to go by wings to undress and have a bath in the sacred Ganges, +and to change our underclothing, which we very much needed to do. The +condition of our flannel shirts is best left undescribed, while our +bodies round our waists, where held tight by our belts, were eaten to +raw flesh. We sent our shirts afloat on the sacred waters of Mother +Gunga, glad to be rid of them, and that night we slept in comfort. Even +now, thirty-five years after, the recollection of the state of my own +flannel when I took it off makes me shiver. This is not a pleasant +subject, but I am writing these reminiscences for the information of our +soldiers of to-day, and merely stating facts, to let them understand +something of what the soldiers of the Mutiny had to go through. + +Up to this time, the columns of the British had been mostly acting, as +it were, on the defensive; but from the date of the defeat of the +Gwalior Contingent, our star was in the ascendant, and the attitude of +the country people showed that they understood which was the winning +side. Provisions, such as butter, milk, eggs, and fruit, were brought +into our camp by the villagers for sale the next morning, sparingly at +first, but as soon as the people found that they were well received and +honestly paid for their supplies, they came in by scores, and from that +time there was no scarcity of provisions in our bazaars. + +We halted at Serai _ghât_ for the 11th and 12th December, and on the +13th marched back in triumph to Bithoor with our captured guns. The +reason of our return to Bithoor was because spies had reported that the +Nânâ Sâhib had concealed a large amount of treasure in a well there near +the palace of the ex-Peishwa of Poona. Rupees to the amount of thirty +_lakhs_[31] were recovered, which had been packed in ammunition-boxes +and sunk in a well; also a very large amount of gold and silver plate +and other valuables, among other articles a silver howdah which had been +the state howdah of the ex-Peishwa. Besides the rupees, the plate and +other valuables recovered were said to be worth more than a million +sterling, and it was circulated in the force that each private soldier +would receive over a thousand rupees in prize-money. But we never got a +_pie_![32] All we did get was hard work. The well was large. Four strong +frames were erected on the top of it by the sappers, and large leathern +buckets with strong iron frames, with ropes attached, were brought from +Cawnpore; then a squad of twenty-five men was put on to each rope, and +relieved every three hours, two buckets keeping the water down and two +drawing up treasure. Thus we worked day and night from the 15th to the +26th of December, the Forty-Second, Fifty-Third, and Ninety-Third +supplying the working-parties for pulling, and the Bengal Sappers +furnishing the men to work in the well; these last, having to stand in +the water all the time, were relieved every hour. It was no light work +to keep the water down, so as to allow the sappers to sling the boxes +containing the rupees, and to lift three million rupees, or thirty +_lakhs_, out from a deep well required considerable labour. But the +men, believing that the whole would be divided as prize-money, worked +with a will. A paternal Government, however, ignored our general's +assurance on this head, on the plea that we had merely recovered the +treasure carried off by the Nânâ from Cawnpore. The plate and jewellery +belonging to the ex-Peishwa were also claimed by the Government as State +property, and the troops got--nothing! We had even to pay from our own +pockets for the replacement of our kits which were taken by the Gwalior +Contingent when they captured Wyndham's camp. + +About this time _The Illustrated London News_ reached India with a +picture purporting to be that of the Nânâ Sâhib. I forget the date of +the number which contained this picture; but I first saw it in Bithoor +some time between the 15th and 25th December 1857. I will now give the +history of that picture, and show how Ajoodia Pershâd, commonly known as +Jotee Pershâd, the commissariat contractor, came to figure as the Nânâ +Sâhib in the pages of _The Illustrated London News_. It is a well-known +fact that there is no authentic portrait of the Nânâ in existence; it is +even asserted that he was never painted by any artist, and photography +had not extended to Upper India before 1857. I believe this is the first +time that the history of the picture published as that of the Nânâ Sâhib +by _The Illustrated London News_ has been given. I learnt the facts +which I am about to relate some years after the Mutiny, under a promise +of secrecy so long as my informant, the late John Lang, +barrister-at-law and editor and proprietor of _The Mofussilite_, should +be alive. As both he and Ajoodia Pershâd have been many years dead, I +commit no breach of confidence in now telling the story. The picture +purporting to be that of the Nânâ having been published in 1857, it +rightly forms a reminiscence of the Mutiny, although much of the +following tale occurred several years earlier; but to make the history +of the picture complete, the facts which led to it must be noticed. + +There are but few Europeans now in India who remember the scandal +connected with the trial of Ajoodia Pershâd, the commissariat +contractor, for payment for the supplies and carriage of the army +throughout the second Sikh war. When it came to a final settlement of +his accounts with the Commissariat Department, Ajoodia Pershâd claimed +three and a half _crores_ of rupees (equal to three and a half millions +sterling), in excess of what the auditor would pass as justly due to +him; and the Commissariat Department, backed by the Government of India, +not only repudiated the claim, but put Ajoodia Pershâd on his trial for +falsification of accounts and attempting to defraud the Government. +There being no high courts in those days, nor trial by jury, corrupt or +otherwise, for natives in the Upper Provinces, an order of the +Governor-General in Council was passed for the trial of Ajoodia Pershâd +by special commission, with the judge-advocate-general as prosecutor. +The trial was ordered to be held at Meerut, and the commission +assembled there, commencing its sittings in the Artillery mess-house +during the cold weather of 1851-52. There were no barristers or pleaders +in India in those days--at least in the Mofussil, and but few in the +presidency towns; but Ajoodia Pershâd, being a very wealthy man, sent an +agent to England, and engaged the services of Mr. John Lang, +barrister-at-law, to come out and defend him. John Lang left England in +May, 1851, and came out round the Cape in one of Green's celebrated +liners, the _Nile_, and he reached Meerut about December, when the trial +commenced. + +Everything went swimmingly with the prosecution till Mr. Lang began his +cross-examination of the witnesses, he having reserved his privilege +till he heard the whole case for the prosecution. Directly the +cross-examination commenced, the weakness of the Government case became +apparent. I need not now recall how the commissary-general, the deputy +commissary-general, and their assistants were made to contradict each +other, and to contradict themselves out of their own mouths. Mr. Lang, +who appeared in court every day in his wig and gown, soon became a noted +character in Meerut, and the night before he was to sum up the case for +the defence, some officers in the Artillery mess asked him his opinion +of the members of the commission. Not being a teetotaller, Mr. Lang may +have been at the time somewhat under the influence of "John Exshaw," who +was the ruling spirit in those days, and he replied that the whole +batch, president and members, including the judge-advocate-general, were +a parcel of "d--d _soors_."[33] Immediately several officers present +offered to lay a bet of a thousand rupees with Mr. Lang that he was not +game to tell them so to their faces in open court the following day. +Lang accepted the bet, the stakes were deposited, and an umpire +appointed to decide who should pocket the money. When the court +re-assembled next morning, the excitement was intense. Mr. Lang opened +his address by pulling the evidence for the prosecution to shreds, and +warming to his work, he went at it somewhat as follows--I can only give +the purport:--"Gentlemen of the commission forming this court, I now +place the dead carcass of this shameful case before you in all its naked +deformity, and the more we stir it up the more it stinks! The only stink +in my long experience that I can compare it to is the experience gained +in the saloon of the _Nile_ on my passage out to India the day after a +pig was slaughtered. We had a pig's cheek at the head of the table +[indicating the president of the commission]; we had a roast leg of pork +on the right [pointing to another member]; we had a boiled leg, also +pork, on the left [indicating a third member]"; and so on he went till +he had apportioned out the whole carcass of the supposed pig amongst the +members of the commission. Then, turning to the judge-advocate-general, +who was a little man dressed in an elaborately frilled shirt, and his +assistant, who was tall and thin, pointing to each in turn, Mr. Lang +proceeded,--"And for side-dishes we had chitterlings on one side, and +sausages on the other. In brief, the whole saloon smelt of nothing but +pork: and so it is, gentlemen, with this case. It is the Government of +India who has ordered this trial. It is for the interest of that +Government that my client should be convicted; therefore every member on +this commission is a servant of Government. The officers representing +the prosecution are servants of Government, and every witness for the +prosecution is also a servant of Government. In brief, the whole case +against my client is nothing but pork, and a disgrace to the Government +of India, and to the Honourable East India Company, who have sanctioned +this trial, and who put every obstacle in my way to prevent my coming +out to defend my client. I repeat my assertion that the case is a +disgrace to the Honourable Company and the Government of India, and to +every servant of that Government who has had any finger in the +manufacture of this pork-pie." And so Mr. Lang continued, showing how +Ajoodia Pershâd had come forward to the assistance of the State in its +hour of need, by supplying carriage for the materials of the army and +rations for the troops, and so forth, till the judge-advocate-general +declared that he felt ashamed to be connected with the case. The result +was that Ajoodia Pershâd was acquitted on all counts, and decreed to be +entitled to his claims in full, and the umpire decided that Mr. Lang had +won the bet of a thousand rupees. + +But my readers may ask--What has all this to do with the portrait of the +Nânâ Sâhib? I am just coming to that. After his honourable acquittal, +Ajoodia Pershâd was so grateful to Mr. Lang that he presented him with +an honorarium of three _lakhs_ of rupees, equal in those days to over +£30,000, in addition to the fees on his brief; and Mr. Lang happening to +say that he would very much like to have a portrait of his generous +client, Ajoodia Pershâd presented him with one painted by a famous +native artist of those days, and the portrait was enshrined in a +jewelled frame worth another twenty-five thousand rupees. To the day of +his death Mr. Lang used to carry this portrait with him wherever he +went. When the Mutiny broke out he was in London, and the artists of +_The Illustrated London News_ were calling on every old Indian of +position known to be in England, to try and get a portrait of the Nânâ. +One of them was informed that Mr. Lang possessed a picture of an Indian +prince--then, as now, all Indians were princes to the British +public--which might be that of the arch-assassin of Cawnpore. The artist +lost no time in calling on Mr. Lang to see the picture, and when he saw +it he declared it was just the thing he wanted. Mr. Lang protested, +pointing out that the picture no more resembled the Nânâ of Bithoor than +it did her Gracious Majesty the Queen of England; that neither the dress +nor the position of the person represented in the picture could pass in +India for a Mahratta chief. The artist declared he did not care for +people in India: he required the picture for the people of England. So +he carried it off to the engraver, and in the next issue of _The +Illustrated London News_ the picture of Ajoodia Pershâd, the +commissariat contractor, appeared as that of the Nânâ Sâhib. When those +in India who had known the Nânâ saw it, they declared it had no +resemblance to him whatever, and those who had seen Ajoodia Pershâd +declared that the Nânâ was very like Ajoodia Pershâd. But no one could +understand how the Nânâ could ever have allowed himself to be painted in +the dress of a Mârwâree banker. To the day of his death John Lang was in +mortal fear lest Ajoodia Pershâd should ever come to hear how his +picture had been allowed to figure as that of the arch-assassin of the +Indian Mutiny. + +So much for the Nânâ's picture. By Christmas Day, 1857, we had recovered +all the gold and silver plate of the ex-Peishwa and the thirty _lakhs_ +of treasure from the well in Bithoor, and on the morning of the 27th we +marched for the recapture of Futtehghur, which was held by a strong +force under the Nawâb of Furruckabad. But I must leave the re-occupation +of Futtehghur for another chapter. + + +NOTE + + Jotee Pershâd was the native banker who, during the height + of the Mutiny, victualled the Fort of Agra and saved the + credit, if not the lives, of the members of the Government + of the North-West Provinces. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[29] Now Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Gough, V.C., K.C.B. + +[30] "Red and Blue "--the Army and Navy. The tune is _The British +Grenadiers_. + +[31] A _lakh_ is 100,000, so that, at the exchange of the day, the +amount of cash captured was £306,250. + +[32] One _pie_ is half a farthing. + +[33] Pigs. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE--ACTION AT THE KÂLEE NUDDEE--FUTTEHGHUR + + +As a further proof that the British star was now in the ascendant, +before we had been many days in Bithoor each company had got its full +complement of native establishment, such as cooks, water-carriers, +washer-men, etc. We left Bithoor on the 27th of December _en route_ for +Futtehghur, and on the 28th we made a forced march of twenty-five miles, +joining the Commander-in-Chief on the 29th. Early on the 30th we reached +a place named Meerun-ke-serai, and our tents had barely been pitched +when word went through the camp like wildfire that Hodson, of Hodson's +Horse, and another officer[34] had arrived in camp with despatches from +Brigadier Seaton to the Commander-in-Chief, having ridden from +Mynpooree, about seventy miles from where we were. + +We of the Ninety-Third were eager to see Hodson, having heard so much +about him from the men of the Ninth Lancers. There was nothing, however +daring or difficult, that Hodson was not believed capable of doing, and +a ride of seventy miles more or less through a country swarming with +enemies, where every European who ventured beyond the range of British +guns literally carried his life in his hand, was not considered anything +extraordinary for him. Personally, I was most anxious to see this famous +fellow, but as yet there was no chance; Hodson was in the tent of the +Commander-in-Chief, and no one knew when he might come out. However, the +hours passed, and during the afternoon a man of my company rushed into +the tent, calling, "Come, boys, and see Hodson! He and Sir Colin are in +front of the camp; Sir Colin is showing him round, and the smile on the +old Chief's face shows how he appreciates his companion." I hastened to +the front of the camp, and was rewarded by having a good look at Hodson; +and, as the man who had called us had said, I could see that he had made +a favourable impression on Sir Colin. Little did I then think that in +less than three short months I should see Hodson receive his +death-wound, and that thirty-five years after I should be one of the few +spared to give evidence to save his fair fame from undeserved slander. +My memory always turns back to that afternoon at Meerunke-serai when I +read any attack on the good name of Hodson of Hodson's Horse. And +whatever prejudiced writers of the present day may say, the name of +Hodson will be a name to conjure with among the Sikhs of the Punjâb for +generations yet unborn. + +On the 1st of January, 1858, our force reached the Kâlee Nuddee +suspension bridge near Khoodâgunj, about fifteen miles from Futtehghur, +just in time to prevent the total destruction of the bridge by the +enemy, who had removed a good part of the planking from the roadway, and +had commenced to cut the iron-work when we arrived. We halted on the +Cawnpore side of the Kâlee Nuddee on New Year's Day, while the +engineers, under cover of strong piquets, were busy replacing the +planking of the roadway on the suspension bridge. Early on the morning +of the 2nd of January the enemy from Futtehghur, under cover of a thick +fog along the valley of the Kâlee Nuddee, came down in great force to +dispute the passage of the river. The first intimation of their approach +was a shell fired on our advance piquet; but our camp was close to the +bridge, and the whole force was under arms in an instant. As soon as the +fog lifted the enemy were seen to have occupied the village of +Khoodâgunj in great force, and to have advanced one gun, a 24-pounder, +planting it in the toll-house which commanded the passage of the bridge, +so as to fire it out of the front window just as if from the porthole of +a ship. + +As soon as the position of the enemy was seen, the cavalry brigade of +our force was detached to the left, under cover of the dense jungle +along the river, to cross by a ford which was discovered about five +miles up stream to our left, the intention of the movement being to get +in behind the enemy and cut off his retreat to Futtehghur. + +The Fifty-Third were pushed across the bridge to reinforce the piquets, +with orders not to advance, but to act on the defensive, so as to allow +time for the cavalry to get behind the enemy. The right wing of the +Ninety-Third was also detached with some horse-artillery guns to the +right, to cross by another ford about three miles below the bridge, to +attack the enemy on his left flank. The left wing was held in reserve +with the remainder of the force behind the bridge, to be in readiness to +reinforce the Fifty-Third in case of need. + +By the time these dispositions were made, the enemy's gun from the +toll-house had begun to do considerable damage. Peel's heavy guns were +accordingly brought to bear on it, and, after a round or two to feel +their distance, they were able to pitch an 8-inch shell right through +the window, which burst under the gun, upsetting it, and killing or +disabling most of the enemy in the house. + +Immediately after this the Fifty-Third, being well in advance, noticed +the enemy attempting to withdraw some of his heavy guns from the +village, and disregarding the order of the Commander-in-Chief not to +precipitate the attack, they charged these guns and captured two or +three of them. This check caused the enemy's line to retire, and Sir +Colin himself rode up to the Fifty-Third to bring to book the officer +commanding them for prematurely commencing the action. This officer +threw the blame on the men, stating that they had made the charge +against his orders, and that the officers had been unable to keep them +back. Sir Colin then turned on the men, threatening to send them to the +rear, and to make them do fatigue-duty and baggage-guard for the rest of +the campaign. On this an old Irishman from the ranks called out: "Shure, +Sir Colin, you don't mean it! You'll never send us on fatigue-duty +because we captured those guns that the Pandies were carrying off?"; +Hearing this, Sir Colin asked what guns he meant. "Shure, them's the +guns," was the answer, "that Sergeant Dobbin [now Joe Lee of Cawnpore] +and his section are dragging on to the road." Sir Colin seeing the guns, +his stern countenance relaxed and broke into a smile, and he made some +remark to the officer commanding that he did not know about the guns +having been withdrawn before the regiment had made the rush on the +enemy. On this the Irish spokesman from the ranks called out: "Three +cheers for the Commander-in-Chief, boys! I told you he did not mean us +to let the Pandies carry off those guns." + +By this time our right wing and the horse-artillery had crossed the ford +on our right and were well advanced on the enemy's left flank. But we of +the main line, composed of the Eighth (the old "King's"--now called the +Liverpool Regiment, I think), the Forty-Second, Fifty-Third, and left +wing of the Ninety-Third under Adrian Hope, were allowed to advance +slowly, just keeping them in sight. The enemy retired in an orderly +manner for about three or four miles, when they formed up to make a +stand, evidently thinking we were afraid to press them too closely. As +soon as they faced round again, our line was halted only about seven +hundred yards from them, and just then we could see our cavalry +debouching on to the Grand Trunk road about a mile from where we were. +My company was in the centre of the road, and I could see the tips of +the lances of the Ninth wheeling into line for a charge right in the +enemy's rear. He was completely out-generalled, and his retreat cut off. + +The excitement was just then intense, as we dared not fire for fear of +hitting our men in the rear. The Forty-First Native Infantry was the +principal regiment of the enemy's line on the Grand Trunk road. Directly +they saw the Lancers in their rear they formed square while the enemy's +cavalry charged our men, but were met in fine style by Hodson's Horse +and sent flying across the fields in all directions. The Ninth came down +on the square of the Native Infantry, who stood their ground and opened +fire. The Lancers charged well up to within about thirty yards, when the +horses turned off right and left from the solid square. We were just +preparing to charge it with the bayonet, when at that moment the +squadrons were brought round again, just as a hawk takes a circle for a +swoop on its prey, and we saw Sergeant-Major May, who was mounted on a +powerful untrained horse, dash on the square and leap right into it, +followed by the squadron on that side. The square being thus broken, the +other troops of the Ninth rode into the flying mass, and in less than +five minutes the Forty-First regiment of Native Infantry was wiped out +of the ranks of the mutineers. The enemy's line of retreat became a +total rout, and the plain for miles was strewn with corpses speared down +by the Lancers or hewn down by the keen-edged sabres of Hodson's Horse. + +Our infantry line now advanced, but there was nothing for us to do but +collect the ammunition-carts and baggage of the enemy. Just about sunset +we halted and saw the Lancers and Sikhs returning with the captured +standards and every gun which the enemy had brought into the field in +the morning. The infantry formed up along the side of the Grand Trunk +road to cheer the cavalry as they returned. It was a sight never to be +forgotten,--the infantry and sailors cheering the Lancers and Sikhs, and +the latter returning our cheers and waving the captured standards and +their lances and sabres over their heads! Sir Colin Campbell rode up, +and lifting his hat, thanked the Ninth Lancers and Sikhs for their day's +work. It was reported in the camp that Sir Hope Grant had recommended +Sergeant-Major May for the Victoria Cross, but that May had modestly +remonstrated against the honour, saying that every man in the Ninth was +as much entitled to the Cross as he was, and that he was only able to +break the square by the accident of being mounted on an untrained horse +which charged into the square instead of turning off from it. This is of +course hearsay, but I believe it is fact. + +I may here remark that this charge of the Lancers forcibly impressed me +with the absurdity of our cavalry-drill for the purpose of breaking an +infantry square. On field-days in time of peace our cavalry were made +to charge squares of infantry, and directly the horses came within +thirty or forty yards the squadrons opened out right and left, galloping +clear of the square under the blank fire of the infantry. The horses +were thus drilled to turn off and gallop clear of the squares, instead +of charging home right through the infantry. When it came to actual war +the horses, not being reasoning animals, naturally acted just as on a +field-day; instead of charging straight into the square, they galloped +right past it, simply because they were drilled to do so. Of course, I +do not propose that several battalions of infantry should be slaughtered +every field-day for the purpose of training cavalry. But I would have +the formation altered, and instead of having the infantry in solid +squares, I would form them into quarter distance columns, with lanes +between the companies wide enough for the cavalry to gallop through +under the blank fire of the infantry. The horses would thus be trained +to gallop straight on, and no square of infantry would be able to resist +a charge of well-trained cavalry when it came to actual war. I am +convinced, in my own mind, that this was the reason that the untrained +remount ridden by Sergeant-Major May charged into the square of the +Forty-First, and broke it, while the well-drilled horses galloped round +the flanks in spite of their riders. But the square once being broken, +the other horses followed as a matter of course. However, we are now in +the age of breech-loaders and magazine rifles, and I fear the days of +cavalry charging squares of infantry are over. But we are still a long +way from the millennium, and the experience of the past may yet be +turned to account for the wars of the future. + +We reached Futtehghur on the morning of the 3rd of January to find it +deserted, the enemy having got such a "drubbing" that it had struck +terror into their reserves, which had bolted across the Ganges, leaving +large quantities of Government property behind them, consisting of tents +and all the ordnance stores of the Gun-carriage Agency. The enemy had +also established a gun and shot and shell foundry here, and a +powder-factory, all of which they had abandoned, leaving a number of +brass guns in the lathes, half turned, with many more just cast, and +large quantities of metal and material for the manufacture of both +powder and shot. + +During the afternoon of the day of our arrival the whole force was +turned out, owing to a report that the Nawâb of Furruckabad was still in +the town; and it was said that the civil officer with the force had sent +a proclamation through the city that it would be given over to plunder +if the Nawâb was not surrendered. Whether this was true or not, I cannot +say. The district was no longer under martial law, as from the date of +the defeat of the Gwalior Contingent the civil power had resumed +authority on the right bank of the Ganges. But so far as the country was +concerned, around Futtehghur at least, this merely meant that the +hangmen's noose was to be substituted for rifle-bullet and bayonet. +However, our force had scarcely been turned out to threaten the town of +Furruckabad when the Nawâb was brought out, bound hand and foot, and +carried by _coolies_ on a common country _charpoy_.[35] I don't know +what process of trial he underwent; but I fear he had neither jury nor +counsel, and I know that he was first smeared over with pig's fat, +flogged by sweepers, and then hanged. This was by the orders of the +civil commissioner. Both Sir Colin Campbell and Sir William Peel were +said to have protested against the barbarity, but this I don't know for +certain. + +We halted in Futtehghur till the 6th, on which date a brigade, composed +of the Forty-Second, Ninety-Third, a regiment of Punjâb infantry, a +battery of artillery, a squadron of the Ninth Lancers, and Hodson's +Horse, marched to Pâlamhow in the Shumshabad district. This town had +been a hot-bed of rebellion under the leadership of a former native +collector of revenue, who had proclaimed himself Râja of the district, +and all the bad characters in it had flocked to his standard. However, +the place was occupied without opposition. We encamped outside the town, +and the civil police, along with the commissioner, arrested great +numbers, among them being the man who had proclaimed himself the Râja or +Nawâb for the Emperor of Delhi. My company, with some of Hodson's Horse +and two artillery guns, formed a guard for the civil commissioner in the +_chowk_ or principal square of the town. The commissioner held his court +in what had formerly been the _kotwâiee_ or police station. I cannot say +what form of trial the prisoners underwent, or what evidence was +recorded against them. I merely know that they were marched up in +batches, and shortly after marched back again to a large tree of the +banian species, which stood in the centre of the square, and hanged +thereon. This went on from about three o'clock in the afternoon till +daylight the following morning, when it was reported that there was no +more room on the tree, and by that time there were one hundred and +thirty men hanging from its branches. A grim spectacle indeed! + +Many charges of cruelty and want of pity have been made against the +character of Hodson. This makes me here mention a fact that certainly +does not tend to prove these charges. During the afternoon of the day of +which I write, Hodson visited the squadron of his regiment forming the +cavalry of the civil commissioner's guard. Just at the time of his visit +the commissioner wanted a hangman, and asked if any man of the +Ninety-Third would volunteer for the job, stating as an inducement that +all valuables in the way of rings or money found on the persons of the +condemned would become the property of the executioner. No one +volunteering for the job, the commissioner asked Jack Brian, a big tall +fellow who was the right-hand man of the company, if he would act as +executioner. Jack Brian turned round with a look of disgust, saying: +"Wha do ye tak' us for? We of the Ninety-Third enlisted to fight men +with arms in their hands. I widna' become yer hangman for all the loot +in India!" Captain Hodson was standing close by, and hearing the answer, +said, "Well answered, my brave fellow. I wish to shake hands with you," +which he did. Then turning to Captain Dawson, Hodson said: "I'm sick of +work of this kind. I'm glad I'm not on duty;" and he mounted his horse, +and rode off. However, some _domes_[36] or sweeper-police were found to +act as hangmen, and the trials and executions proceeded. + +We returned to Futtehghur on the 12th of January and remained in camp +there till the 26th, when another expedition was sent out in the same +direction. But this time only the right wing of the Ninety-Third and a +wing of the Forty-Second formed the infantry, so my company remained in +camp. This second force met with more opposition than the first one. +Lieutenant Macdowell, Hodson's second in command, and several troopers +were killed, and Hodson himself and some of his men were badly wounded, +Hodson having two severe cuts on his sword arm; while the infantry had +several men killed who were blown up with gunpowder. This force returned +on the 28th of January, and either on the 2nd or 3rd of February we left +Futtehghur _en route_ again for Lucknow _via_ Cawnpore. + +We reached Cawnpore by ordinary marches, crossed into Oude, and encamped +at Oonâo till the whole of the siege-train was passed on to Lucknow. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[34] Lieutenant Macdowell, second in command of Hodson's Horse. + +[35] Bedstead. + +[36] The lowest Hindoo caste. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE STRANGE STORY OF JAMIE GREEN + + +When we returned to Cawnpore, although we had been barely two months +away, we found it much altered. Many of the burnt-down bungalows were +being rebuilt, and the fort at the end of the bridge of boats had become +quite a strong place. The well where the murdered women and children +were buried was now completely filled up, and a wooden cross erected +over it. I visited the slaughter-house again, and found the walls of the +several rooms all scribbled over both in pencil and charcoal. This had +been done since my first visit in October; I am positive on this point. +The unfortunate women who were murdered in the house left no writing on +the walls whatever. There was writing on the walls of the barrack-rooms +of Wheeler's entrenchment, mostly notes that had been made during the +siege, but none on the walls of the slaughter-house. As mentioned in my +last chapter, we only halted one day in Cawnpore before crossing into +Oude, and marching to Oonâo about the 10th of February, we encamped +there as a guard for the siege-train and ordnance-park which was being +pushed on to Lucknow. + +While at Oonâo a strange thing happened, which I shall here set down. +Men live such busy lives in India that many who may have heard the story +at the time have possibly forgotten all about it, while to most of my +home-staying readers it will be quite fresh. + +Towards the end of February, 1858, the army for the siege of Lucknow was +gradually being massed in front of the doomed city, and lay, like a huge +boa-constrictor coiled and ready for its spring, all along the road from +Cawnpore to the Alumbâgh. A strong division, consisting of the +Forty-Second and Ninety-Third Highlanders, the Fifty-Third, the Ninth +Lancers, Peel's Naval Brigade, the siege-train, and several batteries of +field-artillery, with the Fourth Punjâb Infantry and other Punjâbee +corps, lay at Oonâo under the command of General Sir Edward Lugard and +Brigadier Adrian Hope. We had been encamped in that place for about ten +days,--the monotony of our lives being only occasionally broken by the +sound of distant cannonading in front--when we heard that General +Outram's position at the Alumbâgh had been vigorously attacked by a +force from Lucknow, sometimes led by the Moulvie, and at others by the +Begum in person. Now and then somewhat duller sounds came from the rear, +which, we understood, arose from the operations of Sir Robert Napier and +his engineers, who were engaged in blowing up the temples of Siva and +Kâlee overlooking the _ghâts_ at Cawnpore; not, as some have asserted, +out of revenge, but for military considerations connected with the +safety of the bridge of boats across the Ganges. + +During one of these days of comparative inaction, I was lying in my tent +reading some home papers which had just arrived by the mail, when I +heard a man passing through the camp, calling out, "Plum-cakes! +plum-cakes! Very good plum-cakes! Taste and try before you buy!" The +advent of a plum-cake _wallah_ was an agreeable change from ration-beef +and biscuit, and he was soon called into the tent, and his own maxim of +"taste and try before you buy" freely put into practice. This plum-cake +vendor was a very good-looking, light-coloured native in the prime of +life, dressed in scrupulously clean white clothes, with dark, curly +whiskers and mustachios, carefully trimmed after the fashion of the +Mahommedan native officers of John Company's army. He had a +well-developed forehead, a slightly aquiline nose, and intelligent eyes. +Altogether his appearance was something quite different from that of the +usual camp-follower. But his companion, or rather the man employed as +_coolie_ to carry his basket, was one of the most villainous-looking +specimens of humanity I ever set eyes on. As was the custom in those +days, seeing that he did not belong to our own bazaar, and being the +non-commissioned officer in charge of the tent, I asked the plum-cake +man if he was provided with a pass for visiting the camp? "Oh yes, +Sergeant _sâhib_," he replied, "there's my pass all in order, not from +the Brigade-Major, but from the Brigadier himself, the Honourable Adrian +Hope. I'm Jamie Green, mess-_khânsama_[37] of the late (I forget the +regiment he mentioned), and I have just come to Oonâo with a letter of +introduction to General Hope from Sherer _sâhib_, the magistrate and +collector of Cawnpore. You will doubtless know General Hope's +handwriting." And there it was, all in order, authorising the bearer, by +name Jamie Green, etc. etc., to visit both the camp and outpost for the +sale of his plum-cakes, in the handwriting of the brigadier, which was +well known to all the non-commissioned officers of the Ninety-Third, +Hope having been colonel of the regiment. + +Next to his appearance what struck me as the most remarkable thing about +Jamie Green was the purity and easy flow of his English, for he at once +sat down beside me, and asked to see the newspapers, and seemed anxious +to know what the English press said about the mutiny, and to talk of all +subjects connected with the strength, etc., of the army, the +preparations going forward for the siege of Lucknow, and how the +newly-arrived regiments were likely to stand the hot weather. In course +of conversation I made some remarks about the fluency of his English, +and he accounted for it by stating that his father had been the +mess-_khânsama_ of a European regiment, and that he had been brought up +to speak English from his childhood, that he had learned to read and +write in the regimental school, and for many years had filled the post +of mess-writer, keeping all the accounts of the mess in English. During +this time the men in the tent had been freely trying the plum-cakes, and +a squabble arose between one of them and Jamie Green's servant about +payment. When I made some remark about the villainous look of the +latter Green replied: "Oh, never mind him; he is an Irishman, and his +name is Micky. His mother belongs to the regimental bazaar of the +Eighty-Seventh Royal Irish, and he lays claim to the whole regiment, +including the sergeant-major's cook, for his father. He has just come +down from the Punjâb with the Agra convoy, but the commanding officer +dismissed him at Cawnpore, because he had a young wife of his own, and +was jealous of the good looks of Micky. But," continued Jamie Green, "a +joke is a joke, but to eat a man's plum-cakes and then refuse to pay for +them must be a Highland joke!" On this every man in the tent, +appreciating the good humour of Jamie Green, turned on the man who had +refused payment, and he was obliged to fork out the amount demanded. +Jamie Green and Micky passed on to another tent, after the former had +borrowed a few of the latest of my newspapers. Thus ended my first +interview with the plum-cake vendor. + +The second one was more interesting, and with a sadder termination. On +the evening of the day after the events just described, I was on duty as +sergeant in charge of our camp rear-guard, and at sunset when the +orderly-corporal came round with the evening grog, he told us the +strange news that Jamie Green, the plum-cake _wallah_, had been +discovered to be a spy from Lucknow, had been arrested, and was then +undergoing examination at the brigade-major's tent; and that it being +too late to hang him that night, he was to be made over to my guard for +safe custody, and that men had been warned for extra sentry on the +guard-tent. I need not say that I was very sorry to hear the +information, for, although a spy is at all times detested in the army, +and no mercy is ever shown to one, yet I had formed a strong regard for +this man, and a high opinion of his abilities in the short conversation +I had held with him the previous day; and during the interval I had been +thinking over how a man of his appearance and undoubted education could +hold so low a position as that of a common camp-follower. But now the +news that he had been discovered to be a spy accounted for the anomaly. + +It would be needless for me to describe the bitter feeling of all +classes against the mutineers, or rebels, and for any one to be +denounced as a spy simply added fuel to the flames of hatred. Asiatic +campaigns have always been conducted in a more remorseless spirit than +those between European nations, but the war of the Mutiny, as I have +before remarked in these reminiscences, was far worse than the usual +type of even Asiatic fighting. It was something horrible and downright +brutalising for an English army to be engaged in such a struggle, in +which no quarter was ever given or asked. It was a war of downright +butchery. Wherever the rebels met a Christian or a white man he was +killed without pity or remorse, and every native who had assisted any +such to escape, or was known to have concealed them, was as +remorselessly put to death wherever the rebels had the ascendant. And +wherever a European in power, either civil or military, met a rebel in +arms, or any native whatever on whom suspicion rested, his shrift was as +short and his fate as sure. The farce of putting an accused native on +his trial before any of the civil officers attached to the different +army-columns, after the civil power commenced to reassert its authority, +was simply a parody on justice and a protraction of cruelty. Under +martial law, punishment, whether deserved or not, was stern but sharp. +But the civilian officers attached to the different movable columns for +the trial of rebels, as far as they came under my notice, were even more +relentless. No doubt these men excused themselves by the consideration +that they were engaged in suppressing rebellion and mutiny, and that the +actors on the other side had perpetrated great crimes.[38] So far as the +Commander-in-Chief was concerned, Sir Colin Campbell was utterly opposed +to extreme measures, and deeply deplored the wholesale executions by the +civil power. Although as a soldier he would have been the last man in +the country to spare rebels caught with arms in their hands, or those +whose guilt was well known (and I know for certain that he held the +action of Major Hodson with regard to the Delhi princes to have been +justifiable), I well remember how emphatically I once heard him express +his disgust when, on the march back from Futtehghur to Cawnpore, he +entered a mango-tope full of rotting corpses, where one of those special +commissioners had passed through with a movable column a few days +before. + +But I must return to my story. I had barely heard the news that Green +had been arrested as a spy, when he was brought to my guard by some of +the provost-marshal's staff, and handed over to me with instructions to +keep him safe till he should be called for next morning. He was +accompanied by the man who had carried his basket, who had also been +denounced as one of the butchers at Cawnpore in July, 1857. And here I +may state that the appearance of this man certainly did tally with the +description afterwards given of one of these butchers by Fitchett, an +Eurasian drummer attached to the Sixth Native Infantry which mutinied at +Cawnpore, who embraced the Mahommedan religion to save his life, and was +enrolled in the rebel force, but afterwards made his escape and +presented himself at Meerut for enlistment in the police levy raised in +October, 1858. What I am relating took place in February, 1858, about +eight months before the existence of Fitchett was known to the +authorities. However, when it was discovered that Fitchett had been +serving in one of the mutineers' regiments, he was called on to say what +he knew about the Cawnpore massacre, and I remember his statement was +considered the most consistent of any of the numerous narratives +published about it. Fitchett alleged that the sepoys of the Sixth +Native Infantry and other regiments, including the Nânâ Sâhib's own +guard, had refused to kill the European women and children in the +_bibi-ghur_,[39] and that five men were then brought by a slave-girl or +mistress of the Nânâ to do it. Of the five men employed, two were +butchers and two were villagers, and the fifth man was "a stout +_bilâitee_[40] with very hairy hands." Fitchett further described one of +the butchers as a tall, ugly man, very dark, and very much disfigured by +smallpox, all points that tallied exactly with the appearance of this +_coolie_. I don't suppose that Fitchett could have known that a man +answering to his description had been hanged, as being one of the actors +in the Cawnpore tragedy, some eight months before, for I don't recollect +ever having seen the matter which I am relating mentioned in any +newspaper. + +But to proceed with my own story. My prisoners had no sooner been made +over to me, than several of the guard, as was usual in those days, +proposed to bring some pork from the bazaar to break their castes, as a +sort of preparation for their execution. This I at once denounced as a +proceeding which I certainly would not tolerate so long as I held charge +of the guard, and I warned the men that if any one attempted to molest +the prisoners, I should at once strip them of their belts, and place +them in arrest for disobedience of orders and conduct unworthy of a +British soldier, and the better-disposed portion of the guard at once +applauded my resolution. I shall never forget the look of gratitude +which came over the face of the unfortunate man who had called himself +Jamie Green, when he heard me give these orders. He at once said it was +an act of kindness which he had never expected, and for which he was +truly grateful; and he unhesitatingly pronounced his belief that Allah +and his Prophet would requite my kindness by bringing me safely through +the remainder of the war. I thanked my prisoner for his good wishes and +his prayers, and made him the only return in my power, viz., to cause +his hands to be unfastened to allow him to perform his evening's +devotions, and permitted him as much freedom as I possibly could, +consistent with safe custody. His fellow-prisoner merely received my +kindness with a scowl of sullen hatred, and when reproved by his master, +I understood him to say that he wished for no favour from infidel dogs; +but he admitted that the sergeant _sâhib_, deserved a Mussulman's +gratitude for saving him from an application of pig's fat. + +After allowing my prisoners to perform their evening devotions, and +giving them such freedom as I could, I made up my mind to go without +sleep that night, for it would have been a serious matter for me if +either of these men had escaped. I also knew that by remaining on watch +myself I could allow them more freedom, and I determined they should +enjoy every privilege in my power for what would certainly be their last +night on earth, since it was doubtful if they would be spared to see +the sun rise. With this view, I sent for one of the Mahommedan +shopkeepers from the regimental bazaar, and told him to prepare at my +expense whatever food the prisoners would eat. To this the man replied +that since I, a Christian, had shown so much kindness to a Mussulman in +distress, the Mahommedan shopkeepers in the bazaar would certainly be +untrue to their faith if they should allow me to spend a single _pie_, +from my own pocket. + +After being supplied with a savoury meal from the bazaar, followed by a +fragrant hookah, to both of which he did ample justice, Jamie Green +settled himself on a rug which had been lent to him, and said "_Shook'r +Khooda!_, (Thanks be to God)," for having placed him under the charge of +such a merciful _sâhib_, for this the last night of his life! "Such," he +continued, "has been my _kismut_, and doubtless Allah will reward you, +Sergeant _sâhib_, in his own good time for your kindness to his +oppressed and afflicted servant. You have asked me to give you some +account of my life, and if it is really true that I am a spy. With +regard to being a spy in the ordinary meaning of the term, I most +emphatically deny the accusation. I am no spy; but I am an officer of +the Begum's army, come out from Lucknow to gain reliable information of +the strength of the army and siege-train being brought against us. I am +the chief engineer of the army of Lucknow, and came out on a +reconnoitring expedition, but Allah has not blessed my enterprise. I +intended to have left on my return to Lucknow this evening, and if fate +had been propitious, I would have reached it before sunrise to-morrow, +for I had got all the information which was wanted; but I was tempted to +visit Oonâo once more, being on the direct road to Lucknow, because I +was anxious to see whether the siege-train and ammunition-park had +commenced to move, and it was my misfortune to encounter that son of a +defiled mother who denounced me as a spy. A contemptible wretch who, to +save his own neck from the gallows (for he first sold the English), now +wishes to divert attention from his former rascality by selling the +lives of his own countrymen and co-religionists; but Allah is just, he +will yet reap the reward of his treachery in the fires of Jehunnum.[41] + +"You ask me," continued the man, "what my name is, and state that you +intend to write an account of my misfortune to your friends in Scotland. +Well, I have no objection. The people of England,--and by England I mean +Scotland as well--are just, and some of them may pity the fate of this +servant of Allah. I have friends both in London and in Edinburgh, for I +have twice visited both places. My name is Mahomed Ali Khân. I belong to +one of the best families of Rohilcund, and was educated in the Bareilly +College, and took the senior place in all English subjects. From +Bareilly College I passed to the Government Engineering College at +Roorkee, and studied engineering for the Company's service, and passed +out the senior student of my year, having gained many marks in excess of +all the European pupils, both civil and military. But what was the +result? I was nominated to the rank of _jemadâr_, of the Company's +engineers, and sent to serve with a company on detached duty on the hill +roads as a native commissioned officer, but actually subordinate to a +European sergeant, a man who was my inferior in every way, except, +perhaps, in mere brute strength, a man of little or no education, who +would never have risen above the grade of a working-joiner in England. +Like most ignorant men in authority, he exhibited all the faults of the +Europeans which most irritate and disgust us, arrogance, insolence, and +selfishness. Unless you learn the language of my countrymen, and mix +with the better-educated people of this country, you will never +understand nor estimate at its full extent the mischief which one such +man does to your national reputation. One such example is enough to +confirm all that your worst enemies can say about your national +selfishness and arrogance, and makes the people treat your pretensions +to liberality and sympathy as mere hypocrisy. I had not joined the +Company's service from any desire for wealth, but from the hope of +gaining honourable service; yet on the very threshold of that service I +met with nothing but disgrace and dishonour, having to serve under a man +whom I hated, yea, worse than hated, whom I despised. I wrote to my +father, and requested his permission to resign, and he agreed with me +that I the descendant of princes, could not serve the Company under +conditions such as I have described. I resigned the service and returned +home, intending to offer my services to his late Majesty +Nussir-ood-Deen, King of Oude; but just when I reached Lucknow I was +informed that his Highness Jung Bahâdoor of Nepâl, who is now at +Goruckpore with an army of Goorkhas coming to assist in the loot of +Lucknow, was about to visit England, and required a secretary well +acquainted with the English language. I at once applied for the post, +and being well backed by recommendations both from native princes and +English officials, I secured the appointment, and in the suite of the +Mâharâja I landed in England for the first time, and, among other +places, we visited Edinburgh, where your regiment, the Ninety-Third +Highlanders, formed the guard of honour for the reception of his +Highness. Little did I think when I saw a kilted regiment for the first +time, that I should ever be a prisoner in their tents in the plains of +Hindustan; but who can predict or avoid his fate? + +"Well, I returned to India, and filled several posts at different native +courts till 1854, when I was again asked to visit England in the suite +of Azeemoolla Khân, whose name you must have often heard in connection +with this mutiny and rebellion. On the death of the Peishwa, the Nânâ +had appointed Azeemoolla Khân to be his agent. He, like myself, had +received a good education in English, under Gunga Deen, head-master of +the Government school at Cawnpore. Azeemoolla was confident that, if he +could visit England, he would be able to have the decrees of Lord +Dalhousie against his master reversed, and when I joined him he was +about to start for England, well supplied with money to engage the best +lawyers, and also to bribe high officials, if necessary. But I need not +give you any account of our mission. You already know that, so far as +London drawing-rooms went, it proved a social success, but as far as +gaining our end a political failure; and we left England after spending +over £50,000, to return to India _via_ Constantinople in 1855. From +Constantinople we visited the Crimea, where we witnessed the assault and +defeat of the English on the 18th of June, and were much struck by the +wretched state of both armies in front of Sebastopol. Thence we returned +to Constantinople, and there met certain real or pretended Russian +agents, who made large promises of material support if Azeemoolla could +stir up a rebellion in India. It was then that I and Azeemoolla formed +the resolution of attempting to overthrow the Company's Government, and, +_Shook'r Khooda!_ we have succeeded in doing that; for from the +newspapers which you lent me, I see that the Company's _râj_ has gone, +and that their charter for robbery and confiscation will not be renewed. +Although we have failed to wrest the country from the English, I hope we +have done some good, and that our lives will not be sacrificed in vain; +for I believe direct government under the English parliament will be +more just than was that of the Company, and that there is yet a future +before my oppressed and downtrodden countrymen, although I shall not +live to see it. + +"I do not speak, _sâhib_, to flatter you or to gain your favour. I have +already gained that, and I know that you cannot help me any farther than +you are doing, and that if you could, your sense of duty would not let +you. I know I must die; but the unexpected kindness which you have shown +to me has caused me to speak my mind. I came to this tent with hatred in +my heart, and curses on my lips; but your kindness to me, unfortunate, +has made me, for the second time since I left Lucknow, ashamed of the +atrocities committed during this rebellion. The first time was at +Cawnpore a few days ago, when Colonel Napier of the Engineers was +directing the blowing up of the Hindoo temples on the Cawnpore _ghât_, +and a deputation of Hindoo priests came to him to beg that the temples +might not be destroyed. 'Now, listen to me,' said Colonel Napier in +reply to them; 'you were all here when our women and children were +murdered, and you also well know that we are not destroying these +temples for vengeance, but for military considerations connected with +the safety of the bridge of boats. But if any man among you can prove to +me that he did a single act of kindness to any Christian man, woman, or +child, nay, if he can even prove that he uttered one word of +intercession for the life of any one of them, I pledge myself to spare +the temple where he worships.' I was standing in the crowd close to +Colonel Napier at the time, and I thought it was bravely spoken. There +was no reply, and the cowardly Brahmins slunk away. Napier gave the +signal and the temples leaped into the air; and I was so impressed with +the justness of Napier's remarks that I too turned away, ashamed." + +On this I asked him, "Were you in Cawnpore when the Mutiny broke out?" +To which he replied: "No, thank God! I was in my home in Rohilcund; and +my hands are unstained by the blood of any one, excepting those who have +fallen in the field of battle. I knew that the storm was about to burst, +and had gone to place my wife and children in safety, and I was in my +village when I heard the news of the mutinies at Meerut and Bareilly. I +immediately hastened to join the Bareilly brigade, and marched with them +for Delhi. There I was appointed engineer-in-chief, and set about +strengthening the defences by the aid of a party of the Company's +engineers which had mutinied on the march from Roorkee to Meerut. I +remained in Delhi till it was taken by the English in September. I then +made my way to Lucknow with as many men as I could collect of the +scattered forces. We first marched to Muttra, where we were obliged to +halt till I threw a bridge of boats across the Jumna for the retreat of +the army. We had still a force of over thirty thousand men under the +command of Prince Feroz Shâh and General Bukht Khân. As soon as I +reached Lucknow I was honoured with the post of chief-engineer. I was in +Lucknow in November when your regiment assisted to relieve the +Residency. I saw the horrible slaughter in the Secundrabâgh. I had +directed the defences of that place the night before, and was looking +on from the Shâh Nujeef when you assaulted it. I had posted over three +thousand of the best troops in Lucknow in the Secundrabâgh, as it was +the key to the position, and not a man escaped. I nearly fainted; my +liver turned to water when I saw the green flag pulled down, and a +Highland bonnet set up on the flag-staff which I had erected the night +before. I knew then that all was over, and directed the guns of the Shâh +Nujeef to open fire on the Secundrabâgh. Since then I have planned and +superintended the construction of all the defensive works in and around +Lucknow. You will see them when you return, and if the sepoys and +artillerymen stand firmly behind them, many of the English army will +lose the number of their mess, as you call it, before you again become +masters of Lucknow." + +I then asked him if it was true that the man he had called Micky on our +first acquaintance had been one of the men employed by the Nânâ to +butcher the women and children at Cawnpore in July? To this he replied: +"I believe it is true, but I did not know this when I employed him; he +was merely recommended to me as a man on whom I could depend. If I had +known then that he was a murderer of women and children, I should have +had nothing to do with him, for it is he who has brought bad luck on me; +it is my _kismut_, and I must suffer. Your English proverb says, 'You +cannot touch pitch and escape defilement,' and I must suffer; Allah is +just. It is the conduct of wretches such as these that has brought the +anger of Allah on our cause." On this I asked him if he knew whether +there was any truth in the report of the European women having been +dishonoured before being murdered. "_Sâhib_," he replied, "you are a +stranger to this country or you would not ask such a question. Any one +who knows anything of the customs of this country and the strict rules +of caste, knows that all such stories are lies, invented to stir up +race-hatred, as if we had not enough of that on both sides already. That +the women and children were cruelly murdered I admit, but not one of +them was dishonoured; and all the sentences written on the walls of the +houses in Cawnpore, such as, 'We are at the mercy of savages, who have +ravished young and old,' and such like, which have appeared in the +Indian papers and been copied from them into the English ones, are +malicious forgeries, and were written on the walls after the +re-occupation of Cawnpore by General Outram's and Havelock's forces. +Although I was not there myself, I have spoken with many who were there, +and I know that what I tell you is true." + +I then asked him if he could give me any idea of the reason that had led +the Nânâ to order the commission of such a cold-blooded, cowardly crime. +"Asiatics," he said, "are weak, and their promises are not to be relied +on, but that springs more from indifference to obligations than from +prearranged treachery. When they make promises, they intend to keep +them; but when they find them inconvenient, they choose to forget them. +And so it was, I believe, with the Nânâ Sâhib. He intended to have +spared the women and children, but they had an enemy in his _zenâna_ in +the person of a female fiend who had formerly been a slave-girl, and +there were many about the Nânâ (Azeemoolla Khân for one) who wished to +see him so irretrievably implicated in rebellion that there would be no +possibility for him to draw back. So this woman was powerfully supported +in her evil counsel, and obtained permission to have the English ladies +killed; and after the sepoys of the Sixth Native Infantry and the Nânâ's +own guard had refused to do the horrible work, this woman went and +procured the wretches who did it. This information I have from General +Tântia Topee, who quarrelled with the Nânâ on this same matter. What I +tell you is true: the murder of the European women and children at +Cawnpore was a woman's crime, for there is no fiend equal to a female +fiend; but what cause she had for enmity against the unfortunate ladies +I don't know--I never inquired." + +Those of my readers who were in India at the time may remember that +something about this slave-girl was said in all the native evidence +collected at the time on the subject of the Cawnpore massacre. + +I next asked Mahomed Ali Khân if he knew whether there was any truth in +the stories about General Wheeler's daughter having shot four or five +men with a revolver, and then leaped into the well at Cawnpore. "All +these stories," was his answer, "are pure inventions with no foundation +of truth. General Wheeler's daughter is still alive, and is now in +Lucknow; she has become a Mussulmânee, and has married according to +Mahommedan law the man who protected her; whether she may ever return to +her own people I know not." + +In such conversation I passed the night with my prisoner, and towards +daybreak I permitted him to perform his ablutions and morning devotions, +after which he once more thanked me, and prayed that Allah might reward +me for my kindness to His oppressed servant. Once, and only once, did he +show any weakness, in alluding to his wife and two boys in their faraway +home in Rohilcund, when he remarked that they would never know the fate +of their unfortunate father. But he at once checked himself, saying, "I +have read French history as well as English; I must remember Danton, and +show no weakness." He then produced a gold ring which was concealed +among his hair, and asked me if I would accept it and keep it in +remembrance of him, in token of his gratitude. It was, he said, the only +thing he could give me, as everything of value had been taken from him +when he was arrested. He went on to say that the ring in question was +only a common one, not worth more than ten rupees, but that it had been +given to him by a holy man in Constantinople as a talisman, though the +charm had been broken when he had joined the unlucky man who was his +fellow-prisoner. I accepted the ring, which he placed on my finger with +a blessing and a prayer for my preservation, and he told me to look on +it and remember Mahomed Khân when I was in front of the fortifications +of Lucknow, and no evil would befall me. He had hardly finished speaking +when a guard from the provost-marshal came with an order to take over +the prisoners, and I handed this man over with a sincere feeling of pity +for his fate. + +Immediately after, I received orders that the division would march at +sunrise for Lucknow, and that my party was to join the rear-guard, after +the ammunition-park and siege-train had moved on. The sun was high in +the heavens before we left the encamping-ground, and in passing under a +tree on the side of the Cawnpore and Lucknow road, I looked up, and was +horrified to see my late prisoner and his companion hanging stark and +stiffened corpses! I could hardly repress a tear as I passed. But on the +11th of March, in the assault on the Begum's Kothee, I remembered +Mahomed Ali Khân and looked on the ring. I am thankful to say that I +went through the rest of the campaign without a scratch, and the +thoughts of my kindness to this unfortunate man certainly did not +inspire me with any desire to shirk danger. I still have the ring, the +only piece of Mutiny plunder I ever possessed, and shall hand it down to +my children together with the history of Mahomed Ali Khân. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[37] Butler. + +[38] It must also be remembered that these officials knew much more of +the terrible facts attending the Mutiny--of the wholesale murder (and +even worse) of English women and the slaughter of English children--than +the rank and file were permitted to hear; and that they were also, both +from their station and their experience, far better able to decide the +measures best calculated to crush the imminent danger threatening our +dominion in India. + +[39] Lit. Lady-house. + +[40] Foreigner. Among the sepoys the word usually signified an Afghân or +Caubuli. + +[41] This very man who denounced Jamie Green as a spy was actually +hanged in Bareilly in the following May for having murdered his master +in that station when the Mutiny first broke out. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW--SIR COLIN APPOINTED COLONEL OF THE NINETY-THIRD +--ASSAULT ON THE MARTINIÈRE--A "RANK" JOKE. + + +After leaving Oonâo our division under Sir Edward Lugard reached +Buntera, six miles from the Alumbâgh, on the 27th of February, and +halted there till the 2nd of March, when we marched to the Dilkooshá, +encamping a short distance from the palace barely beyond reach of the +enemy's guns, for they were able at times to throw round-shot into our +camp. We then settled down for the siege and capture of Lucknow; but the +work before us was considered tame and unimportant when compared with +that of the relief of the previous November. Every soldier in the camp +clearly recognised that the capture of the doomed city was simply a +matter of time,--a few days more or less--and the task before us a mere +matter of routine, nothing to be compared to the exciting exertions +which we had to put forth for the relief of our countrywomen and their +children. + +At the time of the annexation of Oude Lucknow was estimated to contain +from eight to nine hundred thousand inhabitants, or as many as Delhi and +Benares put together. The camp and bazaars of our force were full of +reports of the great strength and determination of the enemy, and +certainly all the chiefs of Oude, Mahommedan and Hindoo, had joined the +standard of the Begum and had sworn to fight for their young king Brijis +Kuddur. All Oude was therefore still against us, and we held only the +ground covered by the British guns. Bazaar reports estimated the enemy's +strength at from two hundred and fifty to three hundred thousand +fighting men, with five hundred guns in position; but in the +Commander-in-Chief's camp the strength of the enemy was computed at +sixty thousand regulars, mutineers who had lately served the Company, +and about seventy thousand irregulars, matchlock-men, armed police, +dacoits, etc., making a total of one hundred and thirty thousand +fighting men. To fight this large army, sheltered behind entrenchments +and loophooled walls, the British force, even after being joined by Jung +Bahâdoor's Goorkhas, mustered only about thirty-one thousand men of all +arms, and one hundred and sixty-four guns. + +From the heights of the Dilkooshá in the cool of the early morning, +Lucknow, with its numerous domed mosques, minarets, and palaces, looked +very picturesque. I don't think I ever saw a prettier scene than that +presented on the morning of the 3rd of March, 1858, when the sun rose, +and Captain Peel and his Blue-jackets were getting their heavy guns, +68-pounders, into position. From the Dilkooshá, even without the aid of +telescopes, we could see that the defences had been greatly +strengthened since we retired from Lucknow in November, and I called to +mind the warning of Jamie Green, that if the enemy stood to their guns +like men behind those extensive earthworks, many of the British force +would lose the number of their mess before we could take the city; and +although the Indian papers which reached our camp affected to sneer at +the Begum, Huzrut Mahal, and the legitimacy of her son Brijis Kuddur, +whom the mutineers had proclaimed King of Oude, they had evidently the +support of the whole country, for every chief and _zemindar_ of any +importance had joined them. + +On the morning after we had pitched our camp in the Dilkooshá park, I +went out with Sergeant Peter Gillespie, our deputy provost-marshal, to +take a look round the bazaars, and just as we turned a corner on our way +back to camp, we met some gentlemen in civilian dress, one of whom +turned out to be Mr. Russell, the _Times'_ correspondent, whom we never +expected to have seen in India. "Save us, sir!" said Peter Gillespie. +"Is that you, Maister Russell? I never did think of meeting you here, +but I am right glad to see you, and so will all our boys be!" After a +short chat and a few inquiries about the regiment, Mr. Russell asked +when we expected to be in Lucknow, to which Peter Gillespie replied: +"Well, I dinna ken, sir, but when Sir Colin likes to give the order, +we'll just advance and take it." I may here mention that Sergeant +Gillespie lived to go through the Mutiny, and the cholera epidemic in +Peshawar in 1862, only to die of hydrophobia from the bite of a pet dog +in Sialkote years after, when he was about to retire on his sergeant's +pension. I mention this because Peter Gillespie was a well-known +character in the old regiment; he had served on the staff of the +provost-marshal throughout the Crimean war, and, so far as I now +remember, Colonel Ewart and Sergeant Gillespie were the only two men in +the regiment who gained the Crimean medal with the four clasps, for +Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, and Sebastopol. + +On the 4th of March the Ninety-Third, a squadron of the Ninth Lancers, +and a battery of artillery, were marched to the banks of the Goomtee +opposite Beebeepore House, to form a guard for the engineers engaged in +throwing a pontoon bridge across the Goomtee. The weather was now very +hot in the day-time, and as we were well beyond the range of the enemy's +guns, we were allowed to undress by companies and bathe in the river. As +far as I can remember, we were two days on this duty. During the +forenoon of the second day the Commander-in-Chief visited us, and the +regiment fell in to receive him, because, he said, he had something of +importance to communicate. When formed up, Sir Colin told us that he had +just received despatches from home, and among them a letter from the +Queen in which the Ninety-Third was specially mentioned. He then pulled +the letter out of his pocket, and read the paragraph alluded to, which +ran as follows, as nearly as I remembered to note it down after it was +read: "The Queen wishes Sir Colin to convey the expression of her great +admiration and gratitude to all European as well as native troops who +have fought so nobly and so gallantly for the relief of Lucknow, amongst +whom the Queen is rejoiced to see the Ninety-Third Highlanders." Colonel +Leith-Hay at once called for three cheers for her Majesty the Queen, +which were given with hearty good-will, followed by three more for the +Commander-in-Chief. The colonel then requested Sir Colin to return the +thanks of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the +regiment to her Majesty the Queen for her most gracious message, and for +her special mention of the Ninety-Third, an honour which no one serving +in the regiment would ever forget. To this Sir Colin replied that +nothing would give him greater pleasure than to comply with this +request; but he had still more news to communicate. He had also a letter +from his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge to read to us, which he +proceeded to do as follows: "One line in addition to my letter addressed +to you this morning, to say that, in consequence of the Colonelcy of the +Ninety-Third Highlanders having become vacant by the death of General +Parkinson, I have recommended the Queen to remove you to the command of +that distinguished and gallant corps, with which you have been so much +associated, not alone at the present moment in India, but also during +the whole of the campaign in the Crimea. I thought such an arrangement +would be agreeable to yourself, and I know that it is the highest +compliment that her Majesty could pay to the Ninety-Third Highlanders to +see their dear old chief at their head." As soon as Sir Colin had read +this letter, the whole regiment cheered till we were hoarse; and when +Sir Colin's voice could again be heard, he called for the master-tailor +to go to the headquarters camp to take his measure to send home for a +uniform of the regiment for him, feather bonnet and all complete; and +about eighteen months afterwards Sir Colin visited us in Subâthoo, +dressed in the regimental uniform then ordered. + +Early on the 7th of March General Outram's division crossed the Goomtee +by the bridge of boats, and we returned to our tents at the Dilkooshá. +About mid-day we could see Outram's division, of which the Seventy-Ninth +Cameron Highlanders formed one of the infantry corps, driving the enemy +before them in beautiful style. We saw also the Queen's Bays, in their +bright scarlet uniform and brass helmets, make a splendid charge, +scattering the enemy like sheep, somewhere about the place where the +buildings of the Upper India Paper Mills now stand. In this charge Major +Percy Smith and several men galloped right through the enemy's lines, +and were surrounded and killed. Spies reported that Major Smith's head +was cut off, and, with his helmet, plume, and uniform, paraded through +the streets of Lucknow as the head of the Commander-in-Chief. But the +triumph of the enemy was short. On the 8th General Outram was firmly +established on the north bank of the Goomtee, with a siege-train of +twenty-two heavy guns, with which he completely turned and enfiladed the +enemy's strong position. + +On the 9th of March we were ordered to take our dinners at twelve +o'clock, and shortly after that hour our division, consisting of the +Thirty-Eighth, Forty-Second, Fifty-Third, Ninetieth, Ninety-Third, and +Fourth Punjâb Infantry, was under arms, screened by the Dilkooshá palace +and the garden walls round it, and Peel's Blue-jackets were pouring shot +and shell, with now and again a rocket, into the Martinière as fast as +ever they could load. About two o'clock the order was given for the +advance--the Forty-Second to lead and the Ninety-Third to support; but +we no sooner emerged from the shelter of the palace and garden-walls +than the orderly advance became a rushing torrent. Both regiments dashed +down the slope abreast, and the earthworks, trenches, and rifle-pits in +front of the Martinière were cleared, the enemy flying before us as fast +as their legs could carry them. We pursued them right through the +gardens, capturing their first line of works along the canal in front of +Banks's bungalow and the Begum's palace. There we halted for the night, +our heavy guns and mortar-batteries being advanced from the Dilkooshá; +and I, with some men from my company, was sent on piquet to a line of +unroofed huts in front of one of our mortar-batteries, for fear the +enemy from the Begum's palace might make a rush on the mortars. This +piquet was not relieved till the morning of the 11th, when I learned +that my company had been sent back as camp-guards, the captains of +companies having drawn lots for this service, as all were equally +anxious to take part in the assault on the Begum's palace, and it was +known the Ninety-Third were to form the storming-party. As soon as the +works should be breached, I and the men who were with me on the +advance-piquet were to be sent to join Captain M'Donald's company, +instead of going back to our own in camp. After being relieved from +piquet, our little party set about preparing some food. Our own company +having gone back to camp, no rations had been drawn for us, and our +haversacks were almost empty; so I will here relate a mild case of +cannibalism. Of the men of my own company who were with me on this +piquet one was Andrew M'Onvill,--Handy Andy, as he was called in the +regiment--a good-hearted, jolly fellow, and as full of fun and practical +jokes as his namesake, Lever's hero,--a thorough Paddy from Armagh, a +soldier as true as the steel of a Damascus blade or a Scotch Andrea +Ferrara. When last I heard of him, I may add, he was sergeant-major of a +New Zealand militia regiment. Others were Sandy Proctor, soldier-servant +to Dr. Munro, and George Patterson, the son of the carrier of Ballater +in Aberdeenshire. I forget who the rest were, but we were joined by John +M'Leod, the pipe-major, and one or two more. We got into an empty hut, +well sheltered from the bullets of the enemy, and Handy Andy sallied out +on a foraging expedition for something in the way of food. He had a +friend in the Fifty-Third who was connected in some way with the +quarter-master's department, and always well supplied with extra +provender. The Fifty-Third were on our right, and there Handy Andy found +his friend, and returned with a good big steak, cut from an artillery +gun-bullock which had been killed by a round-shot; also some sheep's +liver and a haversack full of biscuits, with plenty of pumpkin to make +a good stew. There was no lack of cooking-pots in the huts around, and +plenty of wood for fuel, so we kindled a fire, and very soon had an +excellent stew in preparation. But the enemy pitched some shells into +our position, and one burst close to a man named Tim Drury, a big stout +fellow, killing him on the spot. I forget now which company he belonged +to, but his body lay where he fell, just outside our hut, with one thigh +nearly torn away. My readers must not for a moment think that such a +picture in the foreground took away our appetites in the least. There is +nothing like a campaign for making one callous and selfish, and +developing the qualities of the wild beast in one's nature; and the +thought which rises uppermost is--Well, it is his turn now, and it may +be mine next, and there is no use in being down-hearted! Our steak had +been broiled to a turn, and our stew almost cooked, when we noticed +tiffin and breakfast combined arrive for the European officers of the +Fourth Punjâb Regiment, and some others who were waiting sheltered by +the walls of a roofless hut near where we were. Among them was a young +fellow, Lieutenant Fitzgerald Cologan, attached to some native regiment, +a great favourite with the Ninety-Third for his pluck. John M'Leod at +once proposed that Handy Andy should go and offer him half of our +broiled steak, and ask him for a couple of bottles of beer for our +dinner, as it might be the last time we should have the chance of +drinking his health. He and the other officers with him accepted the +steak with thanks, and Andy returned, to our no small joy, with two +quart bottles of Bass's beer. But, unfortunately he had attracted the +attention of Charley F., the greatest glutton in the Ninety-Third, who +was so well known for his greediness that no one would chum with him. +Charley was a long-legged, humpbacked, cadaverous-faced, bald-headed +fellow, who had joined the regiment as a volunteer from the +Seventy-Second before we left Dover in the spring of 1857, and on +account of his long legs and humpback, combined with the inordinate +capacity of his stomach and an incurable habit of grumbling, he had been +re-christened the "Camel," before we had proceeded many marches with +that useful animal in India. Our mutual congratulations were barely over +on the acquisition of the two bottles of beer, when, to our +consternation, we saw the Camel dodging from cover to cover, as the +enemy were keeping up a heavy fire on our position, and if any one +exposed himself in the least, a shower of bullets was sent whistling +round him. However, the Camel, with a due regard to the wholeness of his +skin, steadily made way towards our hut. We all knew that if he were +admitted to a share of our stew, very little would be left for +ourselves. John M'Leod and I suggested that we should, at the risk of +quarrelling with him, refuse to allow him any share, but Handy Andy +said, "Leave him to me, and if a bullet doesn't knock him over as he +comes round the next corner, I'll put him off asking for a share of the +stew." By that time we had finished our beer. Well, the Camel took good +care to dodge the bullets of Jack Pandy, and he no sooner reached a +sheltered place in front of the hut, than Andy called out: "Come along, +Charley, you are just in time; we got a slice of a nice steak from an +artillery-bullock this morning, and because it was too small alone for a +dinner for the four of us, we have just stewed it with a slice from Tim +Drury, and bedad it's first-rate! Tim tastes for all the world like +fresh pork"; and with that Andy picked out a piece of the sheep's liver +on the prongs of his fork, and offered it to Charley as part of Tim +Drury, at the same time requesting him not to mention the circumstance +to any one. This was too much for the Camel's stomach. He plainly +believed Andy, and turned away, as if he would be sick. However, he +recovered himself, and replied: "No, thank you; hungry as I am, it shall +never be in the power of any one to tell my auld mither in the Grass +Market o' Edinboro' that her Charley had become a cannibal! But if you +can spare me a drop of the beer I'll be thankful for it, for the sight +of your stew has made me feel unco' queer." We expressed our sorrow that +the beer was all drunk before we had seen Charley performing his oblique +advance, and Andy again pressed him to partake of a little of the stew; +but Charley refused to join, and sitting down in a sheltered spot in the +corner of our roofless mud-hut, made wry faces at the relish evinced by +the rest of us over our savoury stew. The Camel eventually discovered +that he had been made a fool of, and he never forgave us for cheating +him out of a share of the savoury mess. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ASSAULT ON THE BEGUM'S KOTHEE--DEATH OF CAPTAIN M'DONALD--MAJOR HODSON +WOUNDED--HIS DEATH + + +We had barely finished our meal when we noticed a stir among the +staff-officers, and a consultation taking place between General Sir +Edward Lugard, Brigadier Adrian Hope, and Colonel Napier. Suddenly the +order was given to the Ninety-Third to fall in. This was quietly done, +the officers taking their places, the men tightening their belts and +pressing their bonnets firmly on their heads, loosening the ammunition +in their pouches, and seeing that the springs of their bayonets held +tight. Thus we stood for a few seconds, when Brigadier Hope passed the +signal for the assault on the Begum's Kothee. Just before the signal was +given two men from the Fifty-Third rushed up to us with a soda-water +bottle full of grog. One of them was Lance-Corporal Robert Clary, who is +at present, I believe, police-sergeant in the Municipal Market, +Calcutta; the other was the friend of Andrew M'Onvill, who had supplied +us with the steaks for our "cannibal feast." I may mention that +Lance-Corporal Clary was the same man who led the party of the +Fifty-Third to capture the guns at the Kâlee Nuddee bridge, and who +called out: "Three cheers for the Commander-in-Chief, boys," when Sir +Colin Campbell was threatening to send the regiment to the rear for +breach of orders. Clary was a County Limerick boy of the right sort, +such as filled the ranks of our Irish regiments of the old days. No +Fenian nor Home Ruler; but ever ready to uphold the honour of the +British Army by land or by sea, and to share the contents of his +haversack or his glass of grog with a comrade; one of those whom Scott +immortalises in _The Vision of Don Roderick_. + + Hark! from yon stately ranks what laughter rings, + Mingling wild mirth with war's stern minstrelsy, + His jest while each blithe comrade round him flings, + And moves to death with military glee! + Boast, Erin, boast them! tameless, frank, and free, + In kindness warm, and fierce in danger known, + Rough Nature's children, humorous as she. + +When Captain M'Donald, whose company we had joined, saw the two +Fifty-Third boys, he told them that they had better rejoin their own +regiment. Clary replied, "Sure, Captain, you don't mean it;" and seeing +Dr. Munro, our surgeon, busy giving directions to his assistants and +arranging bandages, etc., in a _dooly_, Clary went on:--"We have been +sent by Lieutenant Munro of our company to take care of his namesake +your doctor, who never thinks of himself, but is sure to be in the thick +of the fight, looking out for wounded men. You of the Ninety-Third don't +appreciate his worth. There's not another doctor in the army to equal +him or to replace him should he get knocked over in this scrimmage, and +we of the Fifty-Third have come to take care of him." "If that is the +case," said Captain M'Donald, "I'll allow you to remain; but you must +take care that no harm befalls our doctor, for he is a great friend of +mine." And with that Captain M'Donald stepped aside and plucked a rose +from a bush close by, (we were then formed up in what had been a +beautiful garden), and going up to Munro he gave him the flower saying, +"Good-bye, old friend, keep this for my sake." I have often recalled +this incident and wondered if poor Captain M'Donald had any presentiment +that he would be killed! Although he had been a captain for some years, +he was still almost a boy. He was a son of General Sir John M'Donald, +K.C.B., of Dalchosnie, Perthshire, and was wounded in his right arm +early in the day by a splinter from a shell, but he refused to go to the +rear, and remained at the head of his company, led it through the +breach, and was shot down just inside, two bullets striking him almost +at once, one right in his throat just over the breast-bone, as he was +waving his claymore and cheering on his company. After the fight was +over I made my way to where the dead were collected and cut off a lock +of his hair and sent it to a young lady, Miss M. E. Ainsworth, of +Inverighty House, Forfar, who, I knew, was acquainted with Captain +M'Donald's family. I intended the lock of hair for his mother, and I did +not know if his brother officers would think of sending any memento of +him. I don't know if ever the lock of hair reached his mother or not. +When I went to do this I found Captain M'Donald's soldier-servant +crying beside the lifeless body of his late master, wringing his hands +and saying, "Oh! but it was a shame to kill him." And so it was! I never +saw a more girlish-looking face than his was in death; his features were +so regular, and looked strangely like those of a wax doll, which was, I +think, partly the effect of the wound in the throat. But to return to +the assault. + +When Captain McDonald fell the company was led by the senior lieutenant, +and about twenty yards inside the breach in the outer rampart we were +stopped by a ditch nearly eighteen feet wide and at least twelve to +fourteen feet deep. It was easy enough to slide down to the bottom; the +difficulty was to get up on the other side! However, there was no +hesitation; the stormers dashed into the ditch, and running along to the +right in search of some place where we could get up on the inside, we +met part of the grenadier company headed by Lieutenant E. S. Wood, an +active and daring young officer. I may here mention that there were two +lieutenants of the name of Wood at this time in the Ninety-Third. One +belonged to my company; his name was S. E. Wood and he was severely +wounded at the relief of Lucknow and was, at the time of which I am +writing, absent from the regiment. The one to whom I now refer was +Lieutenant E. S. Wood of the grenadier company. When the two parties in +the ditch met, both in search of a place to get out, Mr. Wood got on the +shoulders of another grenadier and somehow scrambled up claymore in +hand. He was certainly the first man inside the inner works of the +Begum's palace, and when the enemy saw him emerge from the ditch they +fled to barricade doors and windows to prevent us getting into the +buildings. His action saved us, for the whole of us might have been shot +like rats in the ditch if they had attacked Mr. Wood, instead of flying +when they saw the tall grenadier claymore in hand. As soon as he saw the +coast clear the lieutenant lay down on the top of the ditch, and was +thus able to reach down and catch hold of the men's rifles by the bends +of the bayonets; and with the aid of the men below pushing up behind, we +were all soon pulled out of the ditch. When all were up, one of the men +turned to Mr. Wood and said: "If any officer in the regiment deserves to +get the Victoria Cross, sir, you do; for besides the risk you have run +from the bullets of the enemy, it's more than a miracle that you're not +shot by our own rifles; they're all on full-cock." And so it was! +Seizing loaded rifles on full-cock by the muzzles, and pulling more than +a score of men out of a deep ditch, was a dangerous thing to do; but no +one thought of the danger, nor did anyone think of even easing the +spring to half-cock, much less of firing his rifle off before being +pulled up. However, Mr. Wood escaped, and after getting his captaincy he +left the regiment and became Conservator of Forests in Oude. I may +mention that Mr. Wood was a younger brother of Mr. H. W. I. Wood, for +many years the well-known secretary to the Bengal Chamber of Commerce. +He has just lately retired on his pension; I wonder if he ever recalls +the danger he incurred from pulling his men out of the ditch of the +Begum's palace by the muzzles of their loaded rifles on full-cock! + +By the time we got out of the ditch we found every door and window of +the palace buildings barricaded, and every loophole defended by an +invisible enemy. But one barrier after another was forced, and men in +small parties, headed by the officers, got possession of the inner +square, where the enemy in large numbers stood ready for the struggle. +But no thought of unequal numbers held us back. The command was given: +"Keep well together, men, and use the bayonet; give them the +Secundrabâgh and the sixteenth of November over again." I need not +describe the fight. It raged for about two hours from court to court, +and from room to room; the pipe-major, John M'Leod, playing the pipes +inside as calmly as if he had been walking round the officers' mess-tent +at a regimental festival. When all was over, General Sir Edward Lugard, +who commanded the division, complimented the pipe-major on his coolness +and bravery: "Ah, sir," said John, "I knew our boys would fight all the +better when cheered by the bagpipes." + +"Within about two hours from the time the signal for the assault was +given, over eight hundred and sixty of the enemy lay dead within the +inner court, and no quarter was sought or given. By this time we were +broken up in small parties in a series of separate fights, all over the +different detached buildings of the palace. Captain M'Donald being dead, +the men who had been on piquet with me joined a party under Lieutenant +Sergison, and while breaking in the door of a room, Mr. Sergison was +shot dead at my side with several men. When we had partly broken in the +door, I saw that there was a large number of the enemy inside the room, +well armed with swords and spears, in addition to fire-arms of all +sorts, and, not wishing to be either killed myself or have more of the +men who were with me killed, I divided my party, placing some at each +side of the door to shoot every man who showed himself, or attempted to +rush out. I then sent two men back to the breach, where I knew Colonel +Napier with his engineers were to be found, to get a few bags of +gunpowder with slow-matches fixed, to light and pitch into the room. +Instead of finding Napier, the two men sent by me found the redoubtable +Major Hodson who had accompanied Napier as a volunteer in the storming +of the palace. Hodson did not wait for the powder-bags, but, after +showing the men where to go for them, came running up himself, sabre in +hand. 'Where are the rebels?' he said. I pointed to the door of the +room, and Hodson, shouting 'Come on!' was about to rush in. I implored +him not to do so, saying, 'It's certain death; wait for the powder; I've +sent men for powder-bags,' Hodson made a step forward, and I put out my +hand to seize him by the shoulder to pull him out of the line of the +doorway, when he fell back shot through the chest. He gasped out a few +words, either 'Oh, my wife!' or, 'Oh, my mother!'--I cannot now rightly +remember--but was immediately choked by blood. At the time I thought the +bullet had passed through his lungs, but since then I have seen the +memoir written by his brother, the Rev. George H. Hodson, Vicar of +Enfield, in which it is stated that the bullet passed through his liver. +However, I assisted to get him lifted into a _dooly_ (by that time the +bearers had got in and were collecting the wounded who were unable to +walk), and I sent him back to where the surgeons were, fully expecting +that he would be dead before anything could be done for him. It will +thus be seen that the assertion that Major Hodson was looting when he +was killed is untrue. No looting had been commenced, not even by Jung +Bahâdoor's Goorkhas. That Major Hodson was killed through his own +rashness cannot be denied; but for any one to say that he was looting is +a cruel slander on one of the bravest of Englishmen." + +Shortly after I had lifted poor Hodson into the _dooly_ and sent him +away in charge of his orderly, the two men who had gone for the powder +came up with several bags, with slow-matches fixed in them. These we +ignited, and then pitched the bags in through the door. Two or three +bags very soon brought the enemy out, and they were bayoneted down +without mercy. One of the men who were with me was, I think, Mr. Rule, +who is now _sans_ a leg, and employed by the G.I.P. Railway in Bombay, +but was then a powerful young man of the light company. Rule rushed in +among the rebels, using both bayonet and butt of his rifle, shouting, +"Revenge for the death of Hodson!" and he killed more than half the men +single-handed. By this time we had been over two hours inside the +breach, and almost all opposition had ceased. Lieutenant and Adjutant +"Willie" MacBean, as he was known to the officers, and "Paddy" MacBean +to the men, encountered a _havildâr_, a _nâik_, and nine sepoys at one +gate, and killed the whole eleven, one after the other. The _havildâr_ +was the last; and by the time he got out through the narrow gate, +several men came to the assistance of MacBean, but he called to them not +to interfere, and the _havildâr_ and he went at it with their swords. At +length MacBean made a feint cut, but instead gave the point, and put his +sword through the chest of his opponent. For this MacBean got the +Victoria Cross, mainly, I believe, because Sir Edward Lugard, the +general in command of the division, was looking down from the ramparts +above and saw the whole affair. I don't think that MacBean himself +thought he had done anything extraordinary. He was an Inverness-shire +ploughman before he enlisted, and rose from the ranks to command the +regiment, and died a major-general. There were still a number of old +soldiers in the regiment who had been privates with MacBean when I +enlisted, and many anecdotes were related about him. One of these was +that when MacBean first joined, he walked with a rolling gait, and the +drill-corporal was rather abusive with him when learning his drill. At +last he became so offensive that another recruit proposed to MacBean, +who was a very powerful man, that they should call the corporal behind +the canteen in the barrack-yard and give him a good thrashing, to which +proposal MacBean replied: "Toots, toots, man, that would never do. I am +going to command this regiment before I leave it, and it would be an ill +beginning to be brought before the colonel for thrashing the +drill-corporal!" MacBean kept to his purpose, and _did_ live to command +the regiment, going through every rank from private to major-general. I +have seen it stated that he was a drummer-boy in the regiment, but that +is not correct. He was kept seven years lance-corporal, partly because +promotion went slow in the Ninety-Third, but several were promoted over +him because, at the time of the disruption in the Church of Scotland, +MacBean joined the Free Kirk party. This fact may appear strange to +military readers of the present day with our short service and +territorial regiments; but in the times of which I am writing, as I have +before mentioned, the Ninety-Third was constituted as much after the +arrangements of a Highland parish as those of a regiment in the army; +and, to use the words of old Colonel Sparks who commanded, MacBean was +passed over four promotions because "He was a d--d Free Kirker." + +But I must hark back to my story and to the Begum's palace on the +evening of the 11th of March, 1858. By the time darkness set in all +opposition had ceased, but there were still numbers of the mutineers +hiding in the rooms. Our loss was small compared with that inflicted on +the enemy. Our regiment had one captain, one lieutenant, and thirteen +rank and file killed; Lieutenant Grimston, Ensign Hastie, and +forty-five men wounded. Many of the wounded died afterwards; but eight +hundred and sixty of the enemy lay dead in the centre court alone, and +many hundreds more were killed in the different enclosures and +buildings. That night we bivouacked in the courts of the palace, placing +strong guards all round. When daylight broke on the morning of the 12th +of March, the sights around were horrible. I have already mentioned that +many sepoys had to be dislodged from the close rooms around the palace +by exploding bags of gunpowder among them, and this set fire to their +clothing and to whatever furniture there was in the rooms; and when day +broke on the 12th, there were hundreds of bodies all round, some still +burning and others half-burnt, and the stench was sickening. However, +the Begum's palace was the key to the enemy's position. During the day +large parties of camp-followers were brought in to drag out the dead of +the enemy, and throw them into the ditch which had given us so much +trouble to cross, and our batteries were advanced to bombard the +Imâmbâra and Kaiserbâgh. + +During the forenoon of the 12th, I remember seeing Mr. Russell of _The +Times_ going round making notes, and General Lugard telling him to take +care and not to attempt to go into any dark room for fear of being +"potted" by concealed Pandies. Many such were hunted out during the day, +and as there was no quarter for them they fought desperately. We had +one sergeant killed at this work and several men wounded. During the +afternoon a divisional order by General Sir Edward Lugard was read to +us, as follows:-- + +"Major-General Sir Edward Lugard begs to thank Brigadier the Honourable +Adrian Hope, Colonel Leith-Hay, and the officers and men of the +Ninety-Third who exclusively carried the position known as the Begum's +Kothee. No words are sufficient to express the gallantry, devotion, and +fearless intrepidity displayed by every officer and man in the regiment. +The Major-General will not fail to bring their conduct prominently to +the notice of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief." + +During the day Sir Colin himself visited the position, and told us that +arrangements would be made for our relief the following day, and on +Saturday, the 13th, we returned to camp and rested all the following +Sunday. So far as I remember, the two men of the Fifty-Third, +Lance-Corporal Clary and his comrade, remained with us till after the +place was taken, and then returned to their own regiment when the +fighting was over, reporting to Lieutenant Munro that they had gone to +take care of his brother, Doctor Munro of the Ninety-Third. + +There were many individual acts of bravery performed during the assault, +and it is difficult to single them out. But before closing this chapter +I may relate a rather laughable incident that happened to a man of my +company named Johnny Ross. He was a little fellow, and there were two +of the same name in the company, one tall and the other short, so they +were named respectively John and Johnny. Before falling in for the +assault on the Begum's palace, Johnny Ross and George Puller, with some +others, had been playing cards in a sheltered corner, and in some way +quarrelled over the game. When the signal was given for the "fall in," +Puller and Ross were still arguing the point in dispute, and Puller told +Ross to "shut up." Just at that very moment a spent bullet struck Ross +in the mouth, knocking in four of his front teeth. Johnny thought it was +Puller who had struck him, and at once returned the blow; when Puller +quietly replied, "You d--d fool, it was not I who struck you; you've got +a bullet in your mouth." And so it was: Johnny Ross put up his hand to +his mouth, and spat out four front teeth and a leaden bullet. He at once +apologised to Puller for having struck him, and added, "How will I +manage to bite my cartridges the noo?" Those were the days of +muzzle-loading cartridges, which had to be torn open with the teeth when +loading. + +We returned to our tents at the Dilkooshá on Saturday, the 13th, and the +whole regiment formed a funeral party for our killed near the palace; +but I could not find the place on my late visit to Lucknow, nor do I +think any monument marks it. When going round the Dilkooshá heights I +found no trace of the graves of the Ninety-Third, nor was there any one +who could point them out to me. The guide took me to see the grave of +Major Hodson. I found it in excellent preservation, with a wall round +it, and an iron gate to it near the entrance to the Martinière College. +This care had been taken of Hodson's last resting-place by his friend, +Lord Napier of Magdala, and I cut a branch from the cypress-tree planted +at his head, and posted half of it to the address of his brother in +England. + + +NOTE + +HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE + + Sir Colin Campbell wrote thus at the time of Major Hodson's + death: "The whole army, which admired his talents, his + bravery, and his military skill, deplores his loss.... I + attended his funeral yesterday evening, in order to show + what respect I could to the memory of one of the most + brilliant officers under my command.--(Signed) C. + CAMPBELL, Commander-in-Chief in East Indies." + + The following tributes were also paid to Hodson's memory at + the time. From a leading article in _The Times_: "The + country will receive with lively regret the news that the + gallant Major Hodson, who has given his name to an + invincible and almost ubiquitous body of cavalry, was killed + in the attack on Lucknow. Major Hodson has been from the + very beginning of this war fighting everywhere and against + any odds with all the spirit of a Paladin of old. His most + remarkable exploit, the capture of the King of Delhi and his + two sons, astonished the world by its courage and coolness. + Hodson was indeed a man who, from his romantic daring and + his knowledge of the Asiatic character, was able to beat the + natives at their own weapons." + + From _Blackwood's Magazine_: "Then fell one of the bravest + in the Indian Army, an officer whose name has been brought + too often before the public by those in high command to need + my humble word of praise. There was not a man before Delhi + who did not know Hodson; always active, always cheery, it + did one's heart good to look at his face when all felt how + critical was our position." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +JUNG BAHÂDOOR--GUNPOWDER--THE MOHURRUM AT LUCKNOW--LOOT + + +On the return of the regiment to camp at the Dilkooshá on the 13th of +March I was glad to get back to my own company. The men were mortified +because they had not shared in the honour of the assault on the Begum's +palace; but as some compensation the company had formed the +guard-of-honour for the reception of the Mâharâja Jung Bahâdoor, +Commander-in-Chief of the Nepaulese Army, who had just reached Lucknow +and been received in state by Sir Colin Campbell on the afternoon of the +11th, at the moment when the regiment was engaged in the assault on the +palace. The _durbar_ had at first proved a rather stiff ceremonial +affair, but Jung Bahâdoor and his officers had hardly been presented and +taken their seats, when a commotion was heard outside, and Captain Hope +Johnstone, aide-de-camp to General Sir William Mansfield, covered with +powder-smoke and the dust of battle, strode up the centre of the +guard-of-honour with a message to the Commander-in-Chief from Mansfield, +informing him that the Ninety-Third had taken the Begum's palace, the +key of the enemy's position, with slight loss to themselves, but that +they had killed over a thousand of the enemy. This announcement put an +end to all ceremony on the part of Sir Colin, who jumped to his feet, +rubbing his hands, and calling out, "I knew they would do it! I knew my +boys of the Ninety-Third would do it!" Then telling Captain Metcalfe to +interpret the news to the Mâharâja, and pointing to the guard-of-honour, +Sir Colin said: "Tell him that these men are part of the regiment that +has done this daring feat. Tell him also that they are _my_ regiment; +I'm their colonel!" The Mâharâja looked pleased, and replied that he +remembered having seen the regiment when he visited England in 1852. As +I have already said, the Ninety-Third had formed a guard-of-honour for +him when in Edinburgh, and there were still many men in the regiment who +remembered seeing Jung Bahâdoor. There was an oft-repeated story among +the old soldiers that the Mâharâja was so pleased at the sight of them +that he had proposed to buy the whole regiment, and was somewhat +surprised to learn that British soldiers were volunteers and could not +be sold, even to gratify the Mâharâja of Nepaul. + +After returning to camp on the 13th of March, the regiment was allowed +to rest till the 17th, but returned to the city on the morning of the +18th, taking up a position near the Imâmbâra and the Kaiserbâgh, both of +which had been captured when we were in camp. We relieved the +Forty-Second, and the sights that then met our eyes in the streets of +Lucknow defy description. The city was in the hands of plunderers; +Europeans and Sikhs, Goorkhas, and camp-followers of every class, aided +by the scum of the native population. Every man in fact was doing what +was right in his own eyes, and "Hell broke loose" is the only phrase in +the English language that can give one who has never seen such a sight +any idea of the scenes in and around the Imâmbâra, the Kaiserbâgh, and +adjacent streets. The Sikhs and Goorkhas were by far the most proficient +plunderers, because they instinctively knew where to look for the most +valuable loot. The European soldiers did not understand the business, +and articles that might have proved a fortune to many were readily +parted with for a few rupees in cash and a bottle of grog. But the +gratuitous destruction of valuable property that could not be carried +off was appalling. Colour-Sergeant Graham, of Captain Burroughs' +company, rescued from the fire a bundle of Government-of-India +promissory notes to the value of over a _lakh_ of rupees,[42] and Mr. +Kavanagh, afterwards discovering the rightful owner, secured for +Sergeant Graham a reward of five per cent on the amount. But with few +exceptions the men of the Ninety-Third got very little. I could fill a +volume on the plunder of Lucknow, and the sights which are still vividly +impressed on my memory; but others have written at length on this theme, +so I will leave it. + +Before I proceed to other subjects, and to make my recollections as +instructive as possible for young soldiers, I may mention some serious +accidents that happened through the explosions of gunpowder left behind +by the enemy. One most appalling accident occurred in the house of a +nobleman named Ushruf-ood-dowlah, in which a large quantity of gunpowder +had been left; this was accidentally exploded, killing two officers and +forty men of the Engineers, and a great number of camp-followers, of +whom no account was taken. The poor men who were not killed outright +were so horribly scorched that they all died in the greatest agony +within a few hours of the accident, and for days explosions with more or +less loss of life occurred all over the city. From the deplorable +accidents that happened, which reasonable care might have prevented, I +could enumerate the loss of over a hundred men, and I cannot too +strongly impress on young soldiers the caution required in entering +places where there is the least chance of coming across concealed +gunpowder. By the accident in the house of Ushruf-ood-dowlah, two of our +most distinguished and promising Engineer officers,--Captains Brownlow +and Clarke--lost their lives, with forty of the most valuable branch of +the service. All through the Mutiny I never forgot my own experience in +the Shâh Nujeef (as related in the fifth chapter of these +reminiscences); and wherever I could prevent it, I never allowed men to +go into unexplored rooms with lighted pipes, or to force open locked +doors by the usual method of firing a loaded rifle into the lock. I +think there ought to be a chapter of instructions on this head in every +drill-book and soldiers' pocket-book. After the assault on a city like +Lucknow some license and plundering is inevitable, and where discipline +is relaxed accidents are sure to happen; but a judicious use of the +provost-marshal's cat would soon restore discipline and order. Whatever +opponents of the lash may say, my own firm opinion is that the +provost-marshal's cat is the only general to restore order in times like +those I am describing. I would have no courts-martial, drum-head or +otherwise; but simply give the provost-marshal a strong guard of picked +men and several sets of triangles, with full power to tie up every man, +no matter what his rank, caught plundering, and give him from one to +four dozen, not across the shoulders, but across the breech, as judicial +floggings are administered in our jails; and if these were combined with +roll-calls at short intervals, plundering, which is a most dangerous +pastime, would soon be put down. In time of war soldiers ought to be +taught to treat every house or room of an assaulted position as a +powder-magazine until explored. I am surprised that cautions on this +head have been so long overlooked. + +As before stated, the Ninety-Third did not get much plunder, but in +expelling the enemy from some mosques and other strong buildings near +the Imâmbâra on the 21st of March, one company came across the +tomb-model or royal _tâzia_, and the Mohurrum paraphernalia which had +been made at enormous expense for the celebration of the last Mohurrum +in Lucknow in 1857. The royal family and court of Lucknow were +_Sheeâhs_: and to enable European readers to understand the value of +the plunder to which I allude, before entering on the actual details, I +will quote from the chapter on the celebration of the Mohurrum in +Lucknow in _The Private Life of an Eastern King_, by William Knighton, a +member of the household of his late Majesty Nussir-ood-Deen King of +Oude, a book which, I believe, is now out of print. Few people seem to +know the meaning of those symbols, the star and crescent or half-moon, +on Mahommedan standards or banners and on the domes of mosques or tombs +of deceased persons of importance, as also on the tomb-models, or +_tâzias_ used in the celebration of the Mohurrum. For the explanation of +these symbols we must turn to the science of heraldry, which was well +known in the sixth century A.D., when Mahommed established his +religion. The star is meant to represent Mahommed himself, as the +prophet of God, and the crescent represents the Mahommedan religion, +which every sincere follower of the Prophet believes will eventually +become a full moon and cover the whole earth. + + The fanatical rites of the Mohurrum are celebrated on the + anniversary of the death of two leaders of the faithful, + near relatives of Mahommed himself, Hussun and Hoosein, and + are observed by more than one-half the population of India + as a period of deep humiliation and sorrow. The Mussulman + faithful are divided into two sects, Sheeâhs and the + Soonies, who feel towards each other much as fanatical + Protestants and Roman Catholics mutually do. The Sheeâhs + regard the deaths of Hussun and Hoosein as barbarous + murders; the Soonies look on them as lawful executions of + pretenders to supreme power by the reigning Caliph, the true + head of the faithful. On the first day of the Mohurrum the + vast population of Lucknow appears to be suddenly snatched + away from all interests and employments in the affairs of + this world; the streets are deserted; every one is shut up + in his house, mourning with his family. On the second day + the streets are crowded, but with people in mourning attire, + parading the thoroughfares in funeral procession to the + tomb-models set up here and there as tributes of respect to + the memory of Hussun and Hoosein. These models, called + _tâzias_, are representations of the mausoleum at Kerbela + where the two chiefs are buried. The _tâzias_ are placed in + an _imâmbâra_ belonging to a chief, or in the house of some + wealthy Mussulman. The _tâzia_ belonging to the king of Oude + was made for his Majesty's father, and was composed of + panels of green glass fixed in gold mouldings, and was + regarded as peculiarly holy. [I only take extracts from the + chapter on the Mohurrum from the work I have named. The + _tâzia_ belonging to the king accompanied him from Lucknow + on the annexation of Oude.] It is on record at Lucknow that + the celebration of the Mohurrum often cost a reigning Nawâb + upwards of £300,000 or Rs. 3,000,000. In Lucknow, before the + Mutiny, it was believed that they had the true metal crest + of the banner of Hoosein, a relic regarded as peculiarly + sacred, and enshrined in a building called the Doorgâh. The + name of the charger which Hoosein rode when he was killed + was Dhulldhull, represented in the procession of the + Mohurrum by a spotless white Arab of elegant proportions. + The trappings of Dhulldhull are all of solid gold, and a + golden bow and quiver of arrows are fixed on the saddle. + +These extracts from a history of Lucknow before the Mutiny will enable +my readers to form some idea of the splendour of the Mohurrum of 1857, +and the value of the _tâzia_ and paraphernalia found, as I said, by a +company of the Ninety-Third. I learned from native troopers that the +golden _tâzia_ belonging to the crown jewels of Lucknow having +accompanied the king to Calcutta, a new one was made, for which the +Mahommedan population of Lucknow subscribed _lakhs_ of rupees. In the +eleventh chapter of his _Defence of the Residency_, Mr. L. E. R. Rees +states that the Mohurrum was celebrated with unusual splendour and +fanaticism, commencing that year on the 25th of August, and that on the +_kutal-ka-râth_, or night of slaughter, a certain Mr. Jones, with ten +other Christians, deserted to the enemy by undoing a barricaded door +when one of their own number was on sentry over it. But, instead of a +favourable reception as they anticipated, the deserters received the +fitting reward of their treachery from the insurgents; for they were all +immediately killed as a sacrifice, and their blood sprinkled on the +different _tâzias_ throughout the city. To return to my own story; I was +told by a native jeweller, who was in Lucknow in 1857, that the crescent +and star alone of the new _tâzia_ made for the young king, Brijis +Kuddur, cost five _lakhs_ of rupees. Be that as it may, it fell to a +company of the Ninety-Third to assault the Doorgâh, where all this +consecrated paraphernalia was stored, and there they found this golden +_tâzia_, with all the gold-embroidered standards, saddle, and +saddle-cloth, the gold quiver and arrows of Dhulldhull. There was at the +time I write, a certain lieutenant in the company whom I shall call +Jamie Blank. He was known to be very poor, and it was reported in the +regiment that he used to regularly remit half of his lieutenant's pay to +support a widowed mother and a sister, and this fact made the men of the +company consider Jamie Blank entitled to a share in the loot. So when +the _tâzia_ was discovered, not being very sure whether the diamonds in +the crescent and star on the dome were real or imitation, they settled +to cut off the whole dome, and give it to Jamie; which they did. I don't +know where Jamie Blank disposed of this particular piece of loot, but I +was informed that it eventually found its way to London, and was sold +for £80,000. The best part of the story is, however, to come. There was +a certain newspaper correspondent in the camp (not Mr. Russell), who +depended on his native servant to translate Hindoostânee names into +English. When he heard that a company of the Ninety-Third had found a +gold _tâzia_ of great value, and that they had presented the senior +lieutenant with the lid of it to enable him to deposit money to purchase +his captaincy, the correspondent asked his Madrassi servant the English +equivalent for _tâzia_. Samuel, perhaps not knowing the English word +_tomb_, but knowing that the _tâzia_ referred to a funeral, told his +master that the English for _tâzia_ was _coffin_; so it went the round +of the English papers that among the plunder of Lucknow a certain +company of the Ninety-Third had found a gold coffin, and that they had +generously presented the senior lieutenant with the lid of it, which was +studded with diamonds and other precious stones. So far as I am aware, +this is the first time that the true explanation of Jamie Blank's golden +coffin-lid has been given to the world. + +As already mentioned, with the exception of the company which captured +the golden _tâzia_ and the Mohurrum paraphernalia, the Ninety-Third got +very little loot; and by the time we returned to the city order was in +some measure restored, prize-agents appointed, and guards placed at the +different thoroughfares to intercept camp-followers and other plunderers +on their way back to camp, who were thus made to disgorge their +plunder, nominally for the public good or the benefit of the army. But +it was shrewdly suspected by the troops that certain small caskets in +battered cases, which contained the redemption of mortgaged estates in +Scotland, England, and Ireland, and snug fishing and shooting-boxes in +every game-haunted and salmon-frequented angle of the world, found their +way inside the uniform-cases of even the prize-agents. I could myself +name one deeply-encumbered estate which was cleared of mortgage to the +tune of £180,000 within two years of the plunder of Lucknow. But to what +good? I only wish I had to go through a similar campaign with the +experience I have now. But that is all very fine thirty-five years +after! "There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the +flood"--my readers know the rest. I missed the flood, and the tide is +not likely to turn my way again. Before we left Lucknow the plunder +accumulated by the prize-agents was estimated at over £600,000 +(according to _The Times_ of 31st of May, 1858), and within a week it +had reached a million and a quarter sterling. What became of it all? +Each private soldier who served throughout the relief and capture of +Lucknow got prize-money to the value of Rs. 17.8; but the thirty _lakhs_ +of treasure which were found in the well at Bithoor, leaving the plunder +of the Nânâ Sâhib's palace out of the calculation, much more than +covered that amount. Yet I could myself name over a dozen men who served +throughout every engagement, two of whom gained the Victoria Cross, who +have died in the almshouse of their native parishes, and several in the +almshouse of the Calcutta District Charitable Society! But enough of +moralising; I must get back to 1858. + +Many camp-followers and others managed to evade the guards, and +cavalry-patrols were put on duty along the different routes on both +banks of the Goomtee and in the wider thoroughfares of Lucknow. + +In my last chapter I gave it as my opinion that the provost-marshal's +cat is the only general which can put a stop to plundering and restore +order in times like those I describe, or rather I should say, _which I +cannot_ describe, because it is impossible to find words to depict the +scenes which met one's eyes at every turn in the streets of Lucknow. In +and around Huzrutgunge, the Imâmbâra, and Kaiserbâgh mad riot and chaos +reigned,--sights fit only for the Inferno. I had heard the phrase "drunk +with plunder"; I then saw it illustrated in real earnest. Soldiers mad +with pillage and wild with excitement, followed by crowds of +camp-followers too cowardly to go to the front, but as ravenous as the +vultures which followed the army and preyed on the carcases of the +slain. I have already said that many of the enemy had to be dislodged +from close rooms by throwing in bags of gunpowder with slow matches +fixed to them. "When these exploded they set fire to clothing, +cotton-padded quilts, and other furniture in the rooms; and the +consequence was that in the inner apartments of the palaces there were +hundreds of dead bodies half burnt; many wounded were burnt alive with +the dead, and the stench from such rooms was horrible! Historians tell +us that Charles the Ninth of France asserted that the smell of a dead +enemy was always sweet. If he had experienced the streets of Lucknow in +March, 1858, he might have had cause to modify his opinion." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[42] £10,000. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN UNGRATEFUL DUTY--CAPTAIN BURROUGHS--THE DILKOOSHÁ AGAIN--GENERAL +WALPOLE AT ROOYAH--THE RÂMGUNGA. + + +After the Mutiny some meddling philanthropists in England tried to get +up an agitation about such stories as wounded sepoys being burnt alive; +but owing to the nature of the war it was morally impossible to have +prevented such accidents. As to cases of real wanton cruelty or outrage +committed by European soldiers, none came under my own notice, and I may +be permitted to relate here a story which goes far to disprove any +accusations of the sort. + +My company had been posted in a large building and garden near the Mint. +Shortly after our arrival an order came for a non-commissioned officer +and a guard of selected men to take charge of a house with a harem, or +_zenâna_, of about eighty women who had been rescued from different +harems about the Kaiserbâgh,--begums of rank and of no rank, dancing +girls and household female slaves, some young and others of very +doubtful age. Mr. MacBean, our adjutant, selected me for the duty, first +because he said he knew I would not get drunk and thus overlook my +sense of responsibility; and, secondly, because by that time I had +picked up a considerable knowledge of colloquial Hindoostânee, and was +thus able to understand natives who could not speak English, and to make +myself understood by them. I got about a dozen old soldiers with me, +several of whom had been named for the duty by Sir Colin Campbell +himself, mostly married men of about twenty years' service. Owing to the +vicissitudes of my chequered life I have lost my pocket roll-book, and +do not now recollect the whole of the names of the men who formed this +guard. However, John Ellis, whose wife had acted as laundress for Sir +Colin in the Crimea, was one of them, and James Strachan, who was +nicknamed "the Bishop," was another; John M'Donald, the fourth of the +name in my company, was a third; I cannot now name more of them. If any +of that guard are alive now, they must be from threescore and ten to +fourscore years of age, because they were then all old men, tried and +true, and, as our adjutant said, Sir Colin had told him that no other +corps except the Ninety-Third could be trusted to supply a guard for +such a duty. MacBean, along with a staff or civil officer, accompanied +the guard to the house, and was very particular in impressing on my +attention the fact that the guard was on no pretence whatever to attempt +to hold any communication with the begums, except through a shrivelled, +parchment-faced, wicked-looking old woman (as I supposed), who, the +staff-officer told me, could speak English, and who had been directed +to report any shortcomings of the guard, should we not behave ourselves +circumspectly. But I must say I had little to fear on that head, for I +knew every one of my men could be trusted to be proof against the +temptation of begums, gold, or grog, and as for myself, I was then a +young non-commissioned officer with a very keen sense of my +responsibility. + +Shortly after we were installed in our position of trust, and the +officers had left us, we discovered several pairs of bright eyes peeping +out at us through the partly shattered venetians forming the doors and +windows of the house; and the person whom I had taken for a shrivelled +old woman came out and entered into conversation with me, at first in +Hindoostânee, but afterwards in very good and grammatical English. I +then discovered that what I had mistaken for a crack-voiced old woman, a +second edition of "the mother of the maids," was no other than a +confidential eunuch of the palace, who told me he had been over thirty +years about the court of Lucknow, employed as a sort of private +secretary under successive kings, as he was able to read and write +English, and could translate the English newspapers, etc., and could +also, judging from his villainous appearance, be trusted to strangle a +refractory begum or cut the throat of any one prying too closely into +court secrets. He was almost European in complexion, and appeared to me +to be more than seventy years of age, but he may have been much younger. +He also told me that most of his early life had been spent at the court +of Constantinople, and that he had there learned English, and had found +this of great use to him at the court of Lucknow, where he had not only +kept up the knowledge, but had improved it by reading. + +By this time one of the younger begums, or nautch girls (I don't know +which), came out to see the guard, and did not appear by any means too +bashful. She evidently wished for a closer acquaintance, and I asked my +friend to request her to go back to her companions; but this she +declined to do, and wanted particularly to know why we were dressed in +petticoats, and if we were not part of the Queen of England's regiment +of eunuchs, and chaffed me a good deal about my fair hair and youthful +appearance. I was twenty-four hours on that guard before the begums were +removed by Major Bruce to a house somewhere near the Martinière, and +during that twenty-four hours I learned more, through the assistance of +the English-speaking eunuch, about the virtues of polygamy and the +domestic slavery, intrigues, and crimes of the harem than I have learned +in all my other thirty-five years in India. If I dared, I could write a +few pages that would give the Government of India and the public of +England ten times more light on those cherished institutions than they +now possess. The authorities professed to take charge of those caged +begums for their own safety, but I don't think many of them were +over-thankful for the protection. Major Bruce, with an escort, removed +the ladies the next day, and I took leave of my communicative friend and +the begums without reluctance, and rejoined my company, glad to be rid +of such a dangerous charge. + +Except the company which stormed the Doorgâh, the rest of the +Ninety-Third were employed more as guards on our return to the city; but +about the 23rd of the month Captain Burroughs and his company were +detailed, with some of Brazier's Sikhs, to drive a lot of rebels from +some mosques and large buildings which were the last positions held by +the enemy. If I remember rightly, Burroughs was then fourth on the list +of captains, and he got command of the regiment five years after, +through deaths by cholera, in Peshâwar in 1862. The Ninety-Third had +three commanding officers in one day! Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald and +Major Middleton both died within a few hours of each other, and +Burroughs at once became senior major and succeeded to the command, the +senior colonel, Sir H. Stisted, being in command of a brigade in Bengal. +Burroughs was born in India and was sent to France early for his +education, at least for the military part of it, and was a cadet of the +_Ecole Polytechnique_ of Paris. This accounted for his excellent +swordsmanship, his thorough knowledge of French, and his foreign accent. +Burroughs was an accomplished _maître d'armes_. When he joined the +Ninety-Third as an ensign in 1850 he was known as "Wee Frenchie." I +don't exactly remember his height, I think it was under five feet; but +what he wanted in size he made up in pluck and endurance. He served +throughout the Crimean war, and was never a day absent. It was he who +volunteered to lead the forlorn hope when it was thought the Highland +Brigade were to storm the Redan, before it was known that the Russians +had evacuated the position. At the relief of Lucknow he was not the +first man through the hole in the Secundrabâgh; that was Lance-Corporal +Dunley of Burroughs' company; Sergeant-Major Murray was the second, and +was killed inside; the third was a Sikh _sirdâr_, Gokul Sing, of the +Fourth Punjâb Infantry, and Burroughs was either the fourth or fifth. He +was certainly the first _officer_ of the regiment inside, and was +immediately attacked by an Oude Irregular _sowâr_ armed with _tulwâr_ +and shield, who nearly slashed Burroughs' right ear off before he got +properly on his feet. It was the wire frame of his feather bonnet that +saved him; the _sowâr_ got a straight cut at his head, but the sword +glanced off the feather bonnet and nearly cut off his right ear. +However, Burroughs soon gathered himself together (there was so little +of him!) and showed his tall opponent that he had for once met his match +in the art of fencing; before many seconds Burroughs' sword had passed +through his opponent's throat and out at the back of his neck. +Notwithstanding his severe wound, Burroughs fought throughout the +capture of the Secundrabâgh, with his right ear nearly severed from his +head, and the blood running down over his shoulder to his gaiters; nor +did he go to have his wound dressed till after he had mustered his +company, and reported to the colonel how many of No. 6 had fallen that +morning. Although his men disliked many of his ways, they were proud of +their little captain for his pluck and good heart. I will relate two +instances of this:--When promoted, Captain Burroughs had the misfortune +to succeed the most popular officer in the regiment in the command of +his company, namely, Captain Ewart (now Lieutenant-General Sir John +Alexander Ewart, K.C.B., etc.), and, among other innovations, Burroughs +tried to introduce certain _Polytechnique_ ideas new to the +Ninety-Third. At the first morning parade after assuming command of the +company, he wished to satisfy himself that the ears of the men were +clean inside, but being so short, he could not, even on tiptoe, raise +himself high enough to see; he therefore made them come to the kneeling +position, and went along the front rank from left to right, minutely +inspecting the inside of every man's ears! The Ninety-Third were all +tall men in those days, none being under five feet six inches even in +the centre of the rear rank of the battalion companies; and the right +hand man of Burroughs' company was a stalwart Highlander named Donald +MacLean, who could scarcely speak English and stood about six feet three +inches. When Burroughs examined Donald's ears he considered them dirty, +and told the colour-sergeant to put Donald down for three days' extra +drill. Donald, hearing this, at once sprang to his feet from the +kneeling position and, looking down on the little captain with a look of +withering scorn, deliberately said, "She will take three days' drill +from a man, but not from a monkey!" Of course Donald was at once marched +to the rear-guard a prisoner, and a charge lodged against him for +"insubordination and insolence to Captain Burroughs at the time of +inspection on morning parade." When the prisoner was brought before the +colonel he read over the charge, and, turning to Captain Burroughs, +said: "This is a most serious charge, Captain Burroughs, and against an +old soldier like Donald MacLean who has never been brought up for +punishment before. How did it happen?" Burroughs was ashamed to state +the exact words, but beat about the bush, saying that he had ordered +MacLean three days' drill, and that he refused to submit to the +sentence, making use of most insolent and insubordinate language; but +the colonel could not get him to state the exact words used, and the +colour-sergeant was called as second witness. The colour-sergeant gave a +plain, straightforward account of the ear-inspection; and when he stated +how MacLean had sprung to his feet on hearing the sentence of three +days' drill, and had told the captain, "She will take three days' drill +from a man, but not from a monkey," the whole of the officers present +burst into fits of laughter, and even the colonel had to hold his hand +to his mouth. As soon as he could speak he turned on MacLean, and told +him that he deserved to be tried by a court-martial and so forth, but +ended by sentencing him to "three days' grog stopped." The orderly-room +hut was then cleared of all except the colonel, Captain Burroughs, and +the adjutant, and no one ever knew exactly what passed; but there was no +repetition of the kneeling position for ear-inspection on morning +parade. I have already said that Burroughs had a most kindly heart, and +for the next three days after this incident, when the grog bugle +sounded, Donald MacLean was as regularly called to the captain's tent, +and always returned smacking his lips, and emphatically stating that +"The captain was a Highland gentleman after all, and not a French +monkey." From that day forward, the little captain and the tall +grenadier became the best of friends, and years after, on the evening of +the 11th of March, 1858, when the killed and wounded were collected +after the capture of the Begum's Kothee in Lucknow, I saw Captain +Burroughs crying like a tender-hearted woman by the side of a _dooly_ in +which was stretched the dead body of Donald MacLean, who, it was said, +received his death-wound defending his captain. I have the authority of +the late colour-sergeant of No. 6 company for the statement that from +the date of the death of MacLean, Captain Burroughs regularly remitted +thirty shillings a month, through the minister of her parish, to +Donald's widowed mother, till the day of her death seven years after. +When an action of this kind became generally known in the regiment, it +caused many to look with kindly feelings on most of the peculiarities of +Burroughs. + +The other anecdote goes back to Camp Kamara and the spring of 1856, when +the Highland Brigade were lying there half-way between Balaclava and +Sebastopol. As before noticed, Burroughs was more like a Frenchman than +a Highlander; there were many of his old _Polytechnique_ chums in the +French army in the Crimea, and almost every day he had some visitors +from the French camp, especially after the armistice was proclaimed. + +Some time in the spring of 1856 Burroughs had picked up a Tartar pony +and had got a saddle, etc., for it, but he could get no regular groom. +Not being a field-officer he was not entitled to a regulation groom, and +not being well liked, none of his company would volunteer for the +billet, especially as it formed no excuse for getting off other duties. +One of the company had accordingly to be detailed on fatigue duty every +day to groom the captain's pony. On a particular day this duty had +fallen to a young recruit who had lately joined by draft, a man named +Patrick Doolan, a real Paddy of the true Handy Andy type, who had made +his way somehow to Glasgow and had there enlisted into the Ninety-Third. +This day, as usual, Burroughs had visitors from the French camp, and it +was proposed that all should go for a ride, so Patrick Doolan was called +to saddle the captain's pony. Doolan had never saddled a pony in his +life before, and he put the saddle on with the pommel to the tail and +the crupper to the front, and brought the pony thus accoutred to the +captain's hut. Every one commenced to laugh, and Burroughs, getting into +a white heat, turned on Patrick, saying, "You fool, you have put the +saddle on with the back to the front!" Patrick at once saluted, and, +without the least hesitation, replied, "Shure, sir, you never told me +whether you were to ride to Balaclava or the front." Burroughs was so +tickled with the ready wit of the reply that from that day he took +Doolan into his service as soldier-servant, taught him his work, and +retained him till March, 1858, when Burroughs had to go on sick leave +on account of wounds. Burroughs was one of the last men wounded in the +taking of Lucknow. Some days after the Begum's Kothee was stormed, he +and his company were sent to drive a lot of rebels out of a house near +the Kaiserbâgh, and, as usual, Burroughs was well in advance of his men. +Just as they were entering the place the enemy fired a mine, and the +captain was sent about a hundred feet in the air; but being like a cat +(in the matter of being difficult to kill, I mean), he fell on his feet +on the roof of a thatched hut, and escaped, with his life indeed, but +with one of his legs broken in two places below the knee. It was only +the skill of our good doctor Munro that saved his leg; but he was sent +to England on sick leave, and before he returned I had left the regiment +and joined the Commissariat Department. This ends my reminiscences of +Captain Burroughs. May he long enjoy the rank he has attained in the +peace of his island home in Orkney! Notwithstanding his peculiarities, +he was a brave and plucky soldier and a most kind-hearted gentleman. + +By the end of March the Ninety-Third returned to camp at the Dilkooshá, +glad to get out of the city, where we were suffocated by the stench of +rotting corpses, and almost devoured with flies by day and mosquitoes by +night. The weather was now very hot and altogether uncomfortable, more +especially since we were without any means of bathing and could obtain +no regular changes of clothing. + +By this time numbers of the townspeople had returned to the city and +were putting their houses in order, while thousands of _coolies_ and +low-caste natives were employed clearing dead bodies out of houses and +hidden corners, and generally cleaning up the city. + +When we repassed the scene of our hard-contested struggle, the Begum's +palace,--which, I may here remark, was actually a much stronger position +than the famous Redan at Sebastopol,--we found the inner ditch, that had +given us so much trouble to get across, converted into a vast grave, in +which the dead had been collected in thousands and then covered by the +earth which the enemy had piled up as ramparts. All round Lucknow for +miles the country was covered with dead carcases of every kind,--human +beings, horses, camels, bullocks, and donkeys,--and for miles the +atmosphere was tainted and the swarms of flies were horrible, a positive +torment and a nuisance. The only comfort was that they roosted at night; +but at meal-times they were indescribable, and it was impossible to keep +them out of our food; our plates of rice would be perfectly black with +flies, and it was surprising how we kept such good health, for we had +little or no sickness during the siege of Lucknow. + +During the few days we remained in camp at the Dilkooshá the army was +broken up into movable columns, to take the field after the different +parties of rebels and to restore order throughout Oude; for although +Lucknow had fallen, the rebellion was not by any means over; the whole +of Oude was still against us, and had to be reconquered. The +Forty-Second, Seventy-Ninth, and Ninety-Third (the regiments which +composed the famous old Highland Brigade of the Crimea) were once more +formed into one brigade, and with a regiment of Punjâb Infantry and a +strong force of engineers, the Ninth Lancers, a regiment of native +cavalry, a strong force of artillery, both light and heavy,--in brief, +as fine a little army as ever took the field, under the command of +General Walpole, with Adrian Hope as brigadier,--was detailed for the +advance into Rohilcund for the recapture of Bareilly, where a large army +still held together under Khân Bahâdoor Khân. Every one in the camp +expressed surprise that Sir Colin should entrust his favourite +Highlanders to Walpole. + +On the morning of the 7th of April, 1858, the time had at last arrived +when we were to leave Lucknow, and the change was hailed by us with +delight. We were glad to get away from the captured city, with its +horrible smells and still more horrible sights, and looked forward with +positive pleasure to a hot-weather campaign in Rohilcund. We were to +advance on Bareilly by a route parallel with the course of the Ganges, +so striking our tents at 2 A.M. we marched through the city +along the right bank of the Goomtee, past the Moosabâgh, where our first +halt was made, about five miles out of Lucknow, in the midst of fresh +fields, away from all the offensive odours and the myriads of flies. One +instance will suffice to give my readers some idea of the torment we +suffered from these pests. When we struck tents all the flies were +roosting in the roofs; when the tents were rolled up the flies got +crushed and killed by bushels, and no one who has not seen such a sight +would credit the state of the inside of our tents when opened out to be +repitched on the new ground. After the tents were pitched and the roofs +swept down, the sweepers of each company were called to collect the dead +flies and carry them out of the camp. I noted down the quantity of flies +carried out of my own tent. The ordinary kitchen-baskets served out to +the regimental cooks by the commissariat for carrying bread, rice, etc., +will hold about an imperial bushel, and from one tent there were carried +out five basketfuls of dead flies. The sight gave one a practical idea +of one of the ten plagues of Egypt! Being now rid of the flies we could +lie down during the heat of the day, and have a sleep without being +tormented. + +The defeated army of Lucknow had flocked into Rohilcund, and a large +force was reported to be collected in Bareilly under Khân Bahâdoor Khân +and Prince Feroze Shâh. The following is a copy of one of Khân Bahâdoor +Khân's proclamations for the harassment of our advance: "Do not attempt +to meet the regular columns of the infidels, because they are superior +to you in discipline and have more guns; but watch their movements; +guard all the _ghâts_ on the rivers, intercept their communications; +stop their supplies; cut up their piquets and _dâks_; keep constantly +hanging about their camps; give them no rest!" These were, no doubt, +the correct tactics; it was the old Mahratta policy revived. However, +nothing came of it, and our advance was unopposed till we reached the +jungle fort of Nirput Singh, the Rajpoot chief of Rooyah, near the +village of Rhodamow. I remember the morning well. I was in the +advance-guard under command of a young officer who had just come out +from home as a cadet in the H.E.I. Company's service, and there being no +Company's regiments for him, he was attached to the Ninety-Third before +we left Lucknow. His name was Wace, a tall young lad of, I suppose, +sixteen or seventeen years of age. I don't remember him before that +morning, but he was most anxious for a fight, and I recollect that +before we marched off our camping-ground, Brigadier Hope called up young +Mr. Wace, and gave him instructions about moving along with great +caution with about a dozen picked men for the leading section of the +advance-guard. + +We advanced without opposition till sunrise, and then we came in sight +of an outpost of the enemy about three miles from the fort; but as soon +as they saw us they retired, and word was passed back to the column. +Shortly afterwards instructions came for the advance-guard to wait for +the main column, and I remember young Mr. Wace going up to the +brigadier, and asking to be permitted to lead the assault on the fort, +should it come to a fight. At this time a summons to surrender had been +sent to the Râja, but he vouchsafed no reply, and, as we advanced, a +9-pounder shot was fired at the head of the column, killing a drummer +of the Forty-Second. The attack on the fort then commenced, without any +attempt being made to reconnoitre the position, and ended in a most +severe loss, Brigadier Hope being among the killed. Lieutenant +Willoughby, who commanded the Sikhs,--a brother of the officer who blew +up the powder-magazine at Delhi, rather than let it fall into the hands +of the enemy,--was also killed; as were Lieutenants Douglas and Bramley +of the Forty-Second, with nearly one hundred men, Highlanders and Sikhs. +Hope was shot from a high tree inside the fort, and, at the time, it was +believed that the man who shot him was a European.[43] After we retired +from the fort the excitement was so great among the men of the +Forty-Second and Ninety-Third, owing to the sacrifice of so many +officers and men through sheer mismanagement, that if the officers had +given the men the least encouragement, I am convinced they would have +turned out in a body and hanged General Walpole. The officers who were +killed were all most popular men; but the great loss sustained by the +death of Adrian Hope positively excited the men to fury. So heated was +the feeling on the night the dead were buried, that if any +non-commissioned officer had dared to take the lead, the life of General +Walpole would not have been worth half an hour's purchase. + +After the force retired,--for we actually retired!--from Rooyah on the +evening of the 15th of April, we encamped about two miles from the +place, and a number of our dead were left in the ditch, mostly +Forty-Second and Sikhs; and, so far as I am aware, no attempt was made +to invest the fort or to keep the enemy in. They took advantage of this +to retreat during the night; but this they did leisurely, burning their +own dead, and stripping and mutilating those of our force that were +abandoned in the ditch. It was reported in the camp that Colonel Haggard +of the Ninth Lancers, commanding the cavalry brigade, had proposed to +invest the place, but was not allowed to do so by General Walpole, who +was said to have acted in such a pig-headed manner that the officers +considered him insane. Rumour added that when Colonel Haggard and a +squadron of the Lancers went to reconnoitre the place on the morning of +the 16th, it was found empty; and that when Colonel Haggard sent an +aide-de-camp to report this fact to the general, he had replied, "Thank +God!" appearing glad that Râja Nirput Singh and his force had slipped +through his fingers after beating back the best-equipped movable column +in India. These reports gaining currency in the camp made the general +still more unpopular, because, in addition to his incapability as an +officer, the men put him down as a coward. + +During the day the mutilated bodies of our men were recovered from the +ditch. The Sikhs burnt theirs, while a large fatigue party of the +Forty-Second and Ninety-Third was employed digging one long grave in a +_tope_ of trees not far from the camp. About four o'clock in the +afternoon the funeral took place, Brigadier Hope and the officers on +the right, wrapped in their tartan plaids, the non-commissioned officers +and the privates on their left, each sewn up in a blanket. The Rev. Mr. +Cowie, whom we of the Ninety-Third had nicknamed "the Fighting Padre," +afterwards Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand, and the Rev. Mr. Ross, +chaplain of the Forty-Second, conducted the service, Mr. Ross reading +the ninetieth Psalm and Mr. Cowie the rest of the service. The pipers of +the Forty-Second and Ninety-Third, with muffled drums, played _The +Flowers of the Forest_ as a dead march. In all my experience in the army +or out of it I never witnessed such intense grief, both among officers +and men, as was expressed at this funeral. Many of all ranks sobbed like +tender-hearted women. I especially remember our surgeon, "kind-hearted +Billy Munro" as the men called him; also Lieutenants Archie Butter and +Dick Cunningham, who were aides-de-camp to Adrian Hope. Cunningham had +rejoined the regiment after recovery from his wounds at Kudjwa in +October, 1857, but they had left him too lame to march, and he was a +supernumerary aide-de-camp to Brigadier Hope; he and Butter were both +alongside the brigadier, I believe, when he was struck down by the +renegade ruffian. + +We halted during the 17th, and strong fatigue-parties were employed with +the engineers destroying the fort by blowing up the gateways. The place +was ever after known in the Ninety-Third as "Walpole's Castle." On the +18th we marched, and on the 22nd we came upon the retreating rebels at +a place called Sirsa, on the Râmgunga. The Ninth Lancers and +Horse-Artillery and two companies of the Ninety-Third (I forget their +numbers) crossed the Râmgunga by a ford and intercepted the retreat of a +large number of the enemy, who were escaping by a bridge of boats, the +material for which the country people had collected for them. But their +retreat was now completely cut off, and about three hundred of them were +reported either killed or drowned in the Râmgunga. + +About 3 P.M. a tremendous sandstorm, with thunder, and rain in +torrents, came on. The Râmgunga became so swollen that it was impossible +for the detachment of the Ninety-Third to recross, and they bivouacked +in a deserted village on the opposite side, without tents, the officers +hailing across that they could make themselves very comfortable for the +night if they could only get some tea and sugar, as the men had +biscuits, and they had secured a quantity of flour and some goats in the +village. But the boats which the enemy had collected had all broken +adrift, and there was apparently no possibility of sending anything +across to our comrades. This dilemma evoked an act of real cool pluck on +the part of our commissariat _gomâshta_,[44] _bâboo_ Hera Lâll +Chatterjee, whom I have before mentioned in my seventh chapter in +reference to the plunder of a cartload of biscuits at Bunnee bridge on +the retreat from Lucknow. By this time Hera Lâll had become better +acquainted with the "wild Highlanders," and was even ready to risk his +life to carry a ration of tea and sugar to them. This he made into a +bundle, which he tied on the crown of his head, and although several of +the officers tried to dissuade him from the attempt, he tightened his +_chudder_[45] round his waist, and declaring that he had often swum the +Hooghly, and that the Râmgunga should not deprive the officers and men +of a detachment of his regiment of their tea, he plunged into the river, +and safely reached the other side with his precious freight on his head! +This little incident was never forgotten in the regiment so long as Hera +Lâll remained the commissariat _gomâshta_ of the Ninety-Third. He was +then a young man, certainly not more than twenty. Although thirty-five +more years of rough-and-tumble life have now considerably grizzled his +appearance, he must often look back with pride to that stormy April +evening in 1858, when he risked his life in the Râmgunga to carry a +tin-pot of tea to the British soldiers. + +Among the enemy killed that day were several wearing the uniforms +stripped from the dead of the Forty-Second in the ditch of Rooyah; so, +of course, we concluded that this was Nirput Singh's force, and the +defeat and capture of its guns in some measure, I have no doubt, +re-established General Walpole in the good opinion of the authorities, +but not much in that of the force under his command. + +Nothing else of consequence occurred till about the 27th of April, when +our force rejoined the Commander-in-Chief's column, which had advanced +_via_ Futtehghur, and we heard that Sir William Peel had died of +smallpox at Cawnpore on his way to Calcutta. The news went through the +camp from regiment to regiment, and caused almost as much sorrow in the +Ninety-Third as the death of poor Adrian Hope. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[43] See Appendix B. + +[44] Native assistant in charge of stores. + +[45] A wrapper worn by Bengalee men and up-country women. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BATTLE OF BAREILLY--GHÂZIS--A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT--HALT AT BAREILLY +--ACTIONS OF POSGAON, RUSSOOLPORE, AND NOWRUNGABAD--REST AT LAST! + + +The heat was now very oppressive, and we had many men struck down by the +sun every day. We reached Shâhjehânpore on the 30th of April, and found +that every building in the cantonments fit for sheltering European +troops had been destroyed by order of the Nânâ Sâhib, who, however, did +not himself wait for our arrival. Strange to say, the bridge of boats +across the Râmgunga was not destroyed, and some of the buildings in the +jail, and the wall round it, were still standing. Colonel Hale and a +wing of the Eighty-Second were left here with some guns, to make the +best of their position in the jail, which partly dominated the city. The +Shâhjehânpore distillery was mostly destroyed, but the native distillers +had been working it, and there was a large quantity of rum still in the +vats, which was found to be good and was consequently annexed by the +commissariat. + +On the 2nd of May we left Shâhjehânpore _en route_ for Bareilly, and on +the next day reached Futtehgunge Every village was totally deserted, +but no plundering was allowed, and any camp-followers found marauding +were soon tied up by the provost-marshal's staff. Proclamations were +sent everywhere for the people to remain in their villages, but without +any effect. Two days later we reached Furreedpore, which we also found +deserted, but with evident signs that the enemy were near; and our +bazaars were full of reports of the great strength of the army of Khân +Bahâdoor Khân and Feroze Shâh. The usual estimate was thirty thousand +infantry, twenty-five thousand cavalry, and about three hundred guns, +among which was said to be a famous black battery that had beaten the +European artillery at ball-practice a few months before they mutinied at +Meerut. The left wing of the Ninety-Third was thrown out, with a +squadron of the Lancers and Tombs' battery, as the advance piquet. As +darkness set in we could see the fires of the enemy's outposts, their +patrol advancing quite close to our sentries during the night, but +making no attack. + +About 2 A.M. on the 5th of May, according to Sir Colin's usual +plan, three days' rations were served out, and the whole force was under +arms and slowly advancing before daylight. By sunrise we could see the +enemy drawn up on the plain some five miles from Bareilly, in front of +what had been the native lines; but as we advanced, they retired. By +noon we had crossed the nullah in front of the old cantonments, and, +except by sending round-shot among us at long distances, which did not +do much harm, the enemy did not dispute our advance. We were halted in +the middle of a bare, sandy plain, and we of the rank and file then got +to understand why the enemy were apparently in some confusion; we could +hear the guns of Brigadier Jones ("Jones the Avenger" as he was called) +hammering at them on the other side. The Ninety-Third formed the extreme +right of the front line of infantry with a squadron of the Lancers and +Tombs' battery of horse-artillery. The heat was intense, and when about +two o'clock a movement in the mango _topes_ in our front caused the +order to stand to our arms, it attained such a pitch that the barrels of +our rifles could not be touched by our bare hands! + +The Sikhs and our light company advanced in skirmishing order, when some +seven to eight hundred matchlock-men opened fire on them, and all at +once a most furious charge was made by a body of about three hundred and +sixty Rohilla Ghâzis, who rushed out, shouting "_Bismillâh! Allâh! +Allâh! Deen! Deen!_" Sir Colin was close by, and called out, "Ghâzis, +Ghâzis! Close up the ranks! Bayonet them as they come on." However, they +inclined to our left, and only a few came on to the Ninety-Third, and +these were mostly bayoneted by the light company which was extended in +front of the line. The main body rushed on the centre of the +Forty-Second; but as soon as he saw them change their direction Sir +Colin galloped on, shouting out, "Close up, Forty-Second! Bayonet them +as they come on!" But that was not so easily done; the Ghâzis charged in +blind fury, with their round shields on their left arms, their bodies +bent low, waving their _tulwârs_ over their heads, throwing themselves +under the bayonets, and cutting at the men's legs. Colonel Cameron, of +the Forty-Second, was pulled from his horse by a Ghâzi, who leaped up +and seized him by the collar while he was engaged with another on the +opposite side; but his life was saved by Colour-Sergeant Gardener, who +seized one of the enemy's _tulwârs_, and rushing to the colonel's +assistance cut off the Ghâzi's head. General Walpole was also pulled off +his horse and received two sword-cuts, but was rescued by the bayonets +of the Forty-Second. The struggle was short, but every one of the Ghâzis +was killed. None attempted to escape; they had evidently come on to kill +or be killed, and a hundred and thirty-three lay in one circle right in +front of the colours of the Forty-Second. + +The Commander-in-Chief himself saw one of the Ghâzis, who had broken +through the line, lying down, shamming dead. Sir Colin caught the glance +of his eye, saw through the ruse, and called to one of the Forty-Second, +"Bayonet that man!" But the Ghâzi was enveloped in a thick quilted tunic +of green silk, through which the blunt Enfield bayonet would not pass, +and the Highlander was in danger of being cut down, when a Sikh +_sirdâr_[46] of the Fourth Punjâbis rushed to his assistance, and took +the Ghâzi's head clean off with one sweep of his keen _tulwâr_. These +Ghâzis, with a very few exceptions, were gray-bearded men of the Rohilla +race, clad in green, with green turbans and _kummerbunds_,[47] round +shields on the left arm, and curved _tulwârs_ that would split a hair. +They only succeeded in wounding about twenty men--they threw themselves +so wildly on the bayonets of the Forty-Second! One of them, an exception +to the majority, was quite a youth, and having got separated from the +rest challenged the whole of the line to come out and fight him. He then +rushed at Mr. Joiner, the quartermaster of the Ninety-Third, firing his +carbine, but missing. Mr. Joiner returned the fire with his revolver, +and the Ghâzi then threw away his carbine and rushed at Joiner with his +_tulwâr_. Some of the light company tried to take the youngster +prisoner, but it was no use; he cut at every one so madly, that they had +to bayonet him. + +The commotion caused by this attack was barely over, when word was +passed that the enemy were concentrating in front for another rush, and +the order was given for the spare ammunition to be brought to the front. +I was detached with about a dozen men of No. 7 company to find the +ammunition-guard, and bring our ammunition in rear of the line. Just as +I reached the ammunition-camels, a large force of the rebel cavalry, led +by Feroze Shâh in person, swept round the flank and among the baggage, +cutting down camels, camel-drivers, and camp-followers in all +directions. My detachment united with the ammunition-guard and defended +ourselves, shooting down a number of the enemy's _sowârs_. I remember +the Rev. Mr. Ross, chaplain of the Forty-Second, running for his life, +dodging round camels and bullocks with a rebel _sowâr_ after him, till, +seeing our detachment, he rushed to us for protection, calling out, +"Ninety-Third, shoot that impertinent fellow!" Bob Johnston, of my +company, shot the _sowâr_ down. Mr. Ross had no sword nor revolver, and +not even a stick with which to defend himself. Moral--When in the field, +_padres_, carry a good revolver! About the same time as Mr. Ross gained +our protection, we saw Mr. Russell, of _The Times_, who was ill and +unable to walk from the kick of a horse, trying to escape on horseback. +He had got out of his _dooly_, undressed and bareheaded as he was, and +leaped into the saddle, as the _syce_ had been leading his horse near +him. Several of the enemy's _sowârs_ were dodging through the camels to +get at him. We turned our rifles on them, and I shot down the one +nearest to Mr. Russell, just as he had cut down an intervening +camel-driver and was making for "Our Special"; in fact, his _tulwâr_ was +actually lifted to swoop down on Mr. Russell's bare head when my bullet +put a stop to his proceedings. I saw Mr. Russell tumble from his saddle +at the same instant as the _sowâr_ fell, and I got a rare fright, for I +thought my bullet must have struck both. However, I rushed to where Mr. +Russell had fallen, and I then saw from the position of the slain +_sowâr_ that my bullet had found its proper billet, and that Mr. Russell +was down with sunstroke, the blood flowing freely from his nose. There +was no time to lose. Our Mooltânee Irregulars were after the enemy, and +I had to hasten to the line with the spare ammunition; but before I left +Mr. Russell to his fate, I called some of the Forty-Second +baggage-guards to put him into his _dooly_ and take him to their doctor, +while I hastened back to the line and reported the occurrence to Captain +Dawson. Next morning I was glad to hear that Mr. Russell was still +alive, and likely to get over his stroke. + +After this charge of the rebel cavalry we were advanced; but the thunder +of Jones' attack on the other side of the city evidently disconcerted +the enemy, and they made off to the right of our line, while large +numbers of Ghâzis concentrated themselves in the main buildings of the +city. We suffered more from the sun than from the enemy; and after we +advanced into the shelter of a large mango _tope_ we were nearly eaten +alive by swarms of small green insects, which invaded our bare legs in +thousands, till we were glad to leave the shelter of the mango trees and +take to the open plain again. As night drew on the cantonments were +secured, the baggage was collected, and we bivouacked on the plain, +strong piquets being thrown out. My company was posted in a small field +of onions near a _pucca_[48] well with a Persian wheel for lifting the +water. We supped off the biscuits in our haversacks, raw onions, and the +cool water drawn from well, and then went off to sleep. I wish I might +always sleep as soundly as I did that night after my supper of raw +onions and dry biscuits! + +On the 6th of May the troops were under arms, and advanced on the city +of Bareilly. But little opposition was offered, except from one large +house on the outskirts of the town, in which a body of about fifty +Rohilla Ghâzis had barricaded themselves, and a company (I think it was +No. 6 of the Ninety-Third) was sent to storm the house, after several +shells had been pitched into it. This was done without much loss, except +that of one man; I now forget his name, but think it was William +MacDonald. He rushed into a room full of Ghâzis, who, before his +comrades could get to his assistance, had cut him into sixteen pieces +with their sharp _tulwârs_! As the natives said, he was cut into +annas.[49] But the house was taken, and the whole of the Ghâzis slain, +with only the loss of this one man killed and about half a dozen +wounded. + +While this house was being stormed the townspeople sent a deputation of +submission to the Commander-in-Chief, and by ten o'clock we had pitched +our camp near the ruins of the church which had been destroyed twelve +months before. Khân Bahâdoor Khân and the Nânâ Sâhib were reported to +have fled in the direction of the Nepâl Terâi, while Feroze Shâh, with a +force of cavalry and guns, had gone back to attack Shâhjehânpore. + +About mid-day on the 6th a frightful accident happened, by which a large +number of camp-followers and cattle belonging to the ordnance-park were +killed. Whether for concealment or by design (it was never known which) +the enemy had left a very large quantity of gunpowder and loaded shells +in a dry well under a huge tree in the centre of the old cantonment. The +well had been filled to the very mouth with powder and shells, and then +covered with a thin layer of dry sand. A large number of ordnance +_khalâsies_,[50] bullock-drivers, and _dooly_-bearers had congregated +under the tree to cook their mid-day meal, lighting their fires right on +the top of this powder-magazine, when it suddenly exploded with a most +terrific report, shaking the ground for miles, making the tent-pegs fly +out of the hard earth, and throwing down tents more than a mile from the +spot. I was lying down in a tent at the time, and the concussion was so +great that I felt as if lifted clear off the ground. The tent-pegs flew +out all round, and down came the tents, before the men, many of whom +were asleep, had time to get clear of the canvas. By the time we got our +arms free of the tents, bugles were sounding the assembly in all +directions, and staff-officers galloping over the plain to ascertain +what had happened. The spot where the accident had occurred was easily +found. The powder having been in a deep well, it acted like a huge +mortar, fired perpendicularly; an immense cloud of black smoke was sent +up in a vertical column at least a thousand yards high, and thousands of +shells were bursting in it, the fragments flying all round in a circle +of several hundred yards. As the place was not far from the +ammunition-park, the first idea was that the enemy had succeeded in +blowing up the ammunition; but those who had ever witnessed a similar +accident could see that, whatever had happened, the concussion was too +great to be caused by only one or two waggon-loads of powder. From the +appearance of the column of smoke and the shells bursting in it, as if +shot out of a huge mortar, it was evident that the accident was confined +to one small spot, and the belief became general that the enemy had +exploded an enormous mine. But after some time the truth became known, +the troops were dispersed, and the tents repitched. This explosion was +followed in the afternoon by a most terrific thunderstorm and heavy +rain, which nearly washed away the camp. The storm came on as the +non-commissioned officers of the Ninety-Third and No. 2 company were +falling in to bury Colour-Sergeant Mackie, who had been knocked down by +the sun the day before and had died that forenoon. Just when we were +lowering the body into the grave, there was a crash of thunder almost as +loud as the explosion of the powder-mine. The ground becoming soaked +with rain, the tent-pegs drew and many tents were again thrown down by +the force of the hurricane; and as everything we had became soaked, we +passed a most uncomfortable night. + +On the morning of the 7th of May we heard that Colonel Hale and the wing +of the Eighty-Second left in the jail at Shâhjehânpore had been attacked +by Feroze Shâh and the Nânâ Sâhib, and were sore pushed to defend +themselves. A brigade, consisting of the Sixtieth Rifles, Seventy-Ninth +Highlanders, several native regiments, the Ninth Lancers, and some +batteries of artillery, under Brigadier John Jones ("the Avenger") was +at once started back for the relief of Shâhjehânpore--rather a gloomy +outlook for the hot weather of 1858! While this brigade was starting, +the remainder of the force which was to hold Bareilly for the hot +season, consisting of the Forty-Second, Seventy-Eighth, and +Ninety-Third, shifted camp to the sandy plain near where Bareilly +railway station now stands, hard by the little fort in the centre of the +plain. There we remained in tents during the whole of May, large working +parties being formed every morning to assist the engineers to get what +shelter was possible ready for the hottest months. The district jail was +arranged as barracks for the Ninety-Third, and we moved into them on the +1st of June. The Forty-Second got the old _cutchery_[51] buildings with +a new thatch roof; and the Seventy-Eighth had the Bareilly College. +There we remained till October, 1858. + +I omitted to mention in its proper place that on the death of Adrian +Hope, Colonel A. S. Leith-Hay, of the Ninety-Third, succeeded to the +command of the brigade, and Major W. G. A. Middleton got command of the +regiment till we rejoined the Commander-in-Chief, when it was found that +Lieutenant-Colonel Ross, who had exchanged with Lieutenant-Colonel C. +Gordon, had arrived from England and taken command before we retook +Bareilly. + +We remained in Bareilly from May till October in comparative peace. We +had one or two false alarms, and a wing of the Forty-Second, with some +cavalry and artillery, went out about the beginning of June to disperse +a body of rebels who were threatening an attack on Morâdabâd. + +These reminiscences do not, as I have before remarked, profess to be a +history of the Mutiny except in so far as I saw it from the ranks of the +Ninety-Third. But I may correct historical mistakes when I find them, +and in vol. ii., p. 500, of _The Indian Empire_, by R. Montgomery +Martin, the following statement occurs: "Khân Bahâdoor Khân, of +Bareilly, held out in the Terâi until the close of 1859; and then, +hemmed in by the Goorkhas on one side and the British forces on the +other, was captured by Jung Bahâdoor. The Khân is described as an old +man, with a long white beard, bent almost double with rheumatic fever. +His life is considered forfeited by his alleged complicity in the +Bareilly murders, but his sentence is not yet pronounced." This is not +historically correct. Khân Bahâdoor Khân was captured by the Bareilly +police-levy early in July, 1858, and was hanged in my presence in front +of the _kotwâlee_ in Bareilly a few days after his capture. He was an +old man with a long white beard, but not at all bent with age, and there +was certainly no want of proof of his complicity in the Bareilly +murders. Next to the Nânâ Sâhib he was one of the most active +instigators of murder in the rebel ranks. He was a retired judge of the +Company's service, claiming descent from the ancient rulers of +Rohilcund, whom the English, in the time of Warren Hastings, had +assisted the Nawâb of Lucknow to put down in the Rohilla war. His +capture was effected in the following manner:--Colonel W. C. M'Donald, +of the Ninety-Third, was on the staff in the Crimea, and he had in his +employ a man named Tâhir Beg who was a sort of confidential interpreter. +Whether this man was Turkish, Armenian, or Bulgarian I don't know, but +this much I do know; among Mahommedans Tâhir Beg was a strict Mussulman, +among Bulgarians he was a Roman Catholic, and in the Ninety-Third he had +no objections to be a Presbyterian. He was a good linguist, speaking +English, French, and Turkish, as well as most of the vernaculars of Asia +Minor; and when the Crimean war was over, he accompanied Major M'Donald +to England in the capacity of an ordinary servant. In 1857, when the +expedition under Lord Elgin was being got ready for China, Colonel +M'Donald was appointed quarter-master-general, and started for Canton +taking Tâhir Beg with him as a servant; but, the expedition to China +having been diverted for the suppression of the Mutiny, M'Donald +rejoined the regiment with Tâhir Beg still with him in the same +capacity. From his knowledge of Turkish and Persian Tâhir Beg soon made +himself master of Hindoostânee, and he lived in the regimental bazaar +with the Mahommedan shopkeepers, among whom he professed himself a +strict follower of the Prophet. After he became pretty well conversant +with the language, it was reported that he gained much valuable +information for the authorities. When Bareilly was recaptured +arrangements were made for the enlistment of a police-levy, and Tâhir +Beg got the appointment of city _kotwâl_[52] and did valuable service by +hunting out a great number of leading rebels. It was Tâhir Beg who heard +that Khân Bahâdoor Khân had returned to the vicinity of Bareilly with +only a small body of followers; and he arranged for his capture, and +brought him in a prisoner to the guard-room of the Ninety-Third. Khân +Bahâdoor Khân was put through a brief form of trial by the civil power, +and was found guilty of rebellion and murder upon both native and +European evidence. By that time several Europeans who had managed to +escape to Naini Tâl on the outbreak of the Mutiny through the favour of +the late Râja of Râmpore, had returned; so there was no doubt of the +prisoner's guilt. + +I must mention another incident that happened in Bareilly. Among the +gentlemen who returned from Naini Tâl, was one whose brother had been +shot by his bearer, his most trusted servant. This ruffian turned out to +be no other than the very man who had denounced Jamie Green as a spy. It +was either early in August or at the end of July that a strange European +gentleman, while passing through the regimental bazaar of the +Ninety-Third, noticed an officer's servant, who was a most devout +Christian, could speak English, and was a regular attendant at all +soldiers' evening services with the regimental chaplain. The gentleman +(I now forget his name) laid hold of our devout Christian brother in the +bazaar, and made him over to the nearest European guard, when he was +tried and found guilty of the murder of a whole family of +Europeans--husband, wife, and children--in May, 1857. There was no want +of evidence, both European and native, against him. Thus was the death +of the unfortunate Jamie Green avenged. I may add a rather amusing +incident about this man. His master evidently believed that this was a +case of mistaken identity, and went to see the brigadier, Colonel A. S. +Leith-Hay, on behalf of his servant. But it turned out that the man had +joined the British camp at Futtehghur in the preceding January, and +Colonel Leith-Hay was the first with whom he had taken service and +consequently knew the fellow. However, the brigadier listened to what +the accused's master had to urge until he mentioned that the man was a +most devout Christian, and read the Bible morning and evening. On this +Colonel Leith-Hay could listen to the argument no longer, but shouted +out:--"He a Christian! that be d--d for a statement! He's no more a +Christian than I am! He served me for one month, and robbed me of more +than ten times his pay. Let him be hanged." So he was made over to the +civil commissioner, tried, found guilty, and hanged. + +We rested in Bareilly till October. About the end of September the +weather was comparatively cool. Many people had returned from Naini Tâl +to look after their wrecked property. General Colin Troup with the +Sixty-Sixth Regiment of Goorkhas had come down from Kumâon, and +soldiers' sports were got up for the amusement of the troops and +visitors. Among the latter was the loyal Râja of Râmpore, who presented +a thousand rupees for prizes for the games and five thousand for a +dinner to all the troops in the garrison. At these games the +Ninety-Third carried off all the first prizes for putting the shot, +throwing the hammer, and tossing the caber. Our best athlete was a man +named George Bell, of the grenadier company, the most powerful man in +the British army. Before the regiment left England Bell had beaten all +comers at all the athletic games throughout Scotland. He stood about six +feet four inches, and was built in proportion, most remarkably active +for his size both in running and leaping, and also renowned for feats of +strength. There was a young lad of the band named Murdoch MacKay, the +smallest boy in the regiment, but a splendid dancer; and the two, "the +giant and the pigmy," as they were called, attended all the athletic +games throughout Scotland from Edinburgh to Inverness, always returning +covered with medals. I mention all this because the Bareilly sports +proved the last to poor George Bell. An enormous caber having been cut, +and all the leading men (among them some very powerful artillerymen) of +the brigade had tried to toss it and failed. The brigadier then ordered +three feet to be cut from it, expressing his opinion that there was not +a man in the British army who could toss it. On this George Bell stepped +into the arena, and said he would take a turn at it before it was cut; +he put the huge caber on his shoulders, balanced it, and tossed it clean +over. While the caber was being cut for the others, Bell ran in a +hundred yards' race, which he also won; but he came in with his mouth +full of blood. He had, through over-exertion, burst a blood-vessel in +his lungs. He slowly bled to death and died about a fortnight after we +left Bareilly, and lies buried under a large tree in the jungles of Oude +between Fort Mithowlie and the banks of the Gogra. Bell was considered +an ornament to, and the pride of, the regiment, and his death was +mourned by every officer and man in it, and by none more than by our +popular doctor, Billy Munro, who did everything that a physician could +do to try and stop the bleeding; but without success. Bell gradually +sank till he died. + +We left Bareilly on the 10th of October, and marched to Shâhjehânpore, +where we were joined by a battalion of the Sixtieth Rifles, the +Sixty-Sixth Goorkhas, some of the Sixth Carabineers, Tomb's troop of +horse-artillery, and a small train of heavy guns and mortars. On the +17th of October we had our first brush with the enemy at the village of +Posgaon, about twenty miles from Shâhjehânpore. Here they were strong in +cavalry, and tried the Bareilly game of getting round the flanks and +cutting up our camp-followers. But a number of them got hemmed in +between the ammunition-guard and the main line, and Cureton's Mooltânee +cavalry, coming round on them from both flanks, cut down about fifty of +them, capturing their horses. In the midst of this scrimmage two of the +enemy, getting among the baggage-guard, were taken for two of our native +cavalry, till at length they separated from the main body and got +alongside of a man who was some distance away. One of them called to the +poor fellow to look in another direction, when the second one cut his +head clean off, leaped from his horse, and, lifting the head, sprang +into his saddle and was off like the wind! Many rifle-bullets were sent +after him, but he got clear away, carrying the head with him. + +The next encounter we had was at Russoolpore, and then at Nowrungabad, +where the Queen's proclamation, transferring the government from the +Company to the Crown, was read. After this all our tents were sent into +Mahomdee, and we took to the jungles without tents or baggage, merely a +greatcoat and a blanket; and thus we remained till after the taking of +Mithowlie. We then returned to Sitapore, where we got our tents again +the day before Christmas, 1858; and by the new year we were on the banks +of the Gogra, miles from any village. The river swarmed with alligators +of enormous size, and the jungles with wild pig and every variety of +game, and scarcely a day passed without our seeing tigers, wolves, and +hyænas. But by this time fighting was over. We remained in those jungles +across the Gogra, in sight of the Nepaul hills, till about the end of +February, by which time thousands of the rebels had tendered their +submission and returned to their homes. The Ninety-Third then got the +route for Subâthoo, in the Himalayas near Simla. Leaving the jungles of +Oude, we marched _via_ Shâhjehânpore, Bareilly, Morâdabâd, and thence by +the foot of the hills till we came into civilised regions at +Sahârunpore; thence to Umballa, reaching Subâthoo about the middle of +April with our clothes completely in rags. We had received no new +clothing since we had arrived in India, and our kilts were torn into +ribbons. But the men were in splendid condition, and could have marched +thirty miles a day without feeling fatigued, if our baggage-animals +could have kept up with us. On our march out from Kalka, the +Commander-in-Chief passed us on his way to Simla. + +This ended the work of the old Ninety-Third Sutherland Highlanders in +the Mutiny, and here, for the present, I will end my reminiscences. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[46] Native officer. + +[47] Sashes. + +[48] In this instance this word of many meanings implies "masonry." + +[49] Is it necessary to explain that sixteen annas go to the rupee? + +[50] Tent-pitchers. + +[51] Court-house. + +[52] Magistrate. + + + + +APPENDIX A + +THE HISTORY OF THE MURDER OF MAJOR NEILL AT AUGUR IN 1887 + + +I will relate an incident of an unusual kind, told to me by a man whom I +met in Jhânsi, which has reference to the executions ordered by General +Neill at Cawnpore in July and August, 1857. But before I do so I may +mention that in Cawnpore, Jhânsi, and Lucknow I found the natives very +unwilling to enter into conversation or to give any information about +the events of that year. In this statement I don't include the natives +of the class who acted as guides, etc., or those who were in the service +of Government at the time. _They_ were ready enough to talk; but as a +rule I knew as much myself as they could tell me. Those whom I found +suspicious of my motives and unwilling to talk, were men who must have +been on the side of the rebels against us. I looked out for such, and +met many who had evidently served as soldiers, and who admitted that +they had been in the army before 1857; but when I tried to get them to +speak about the Mutiny, as a rule they pretended to have been so young +that they had forgotten all about it,--generally a palpable falsehood, +judging from their personal appearance,--or they professed to have been +absent in their villages and to know nothing about the events happening +in the great centres of the rebellion. The impression left on my mind +was that they were either afraid or ashamed to talk about the Mutiny. + +In the second chapter of these reminiscences it may be remembered I +asked if any reader could let me know whether Major A. H. S. Neill, +commanding the Second Regiment Central India Horse, who was shot on +parade by Sowar Mazar Ali at Augur, Central India, on the 14th March, +1887, was a son of General Neill of Cawnpore fame. The information has +not been forthcoming[53]; and for want of it I cannot corroborate the +following statement in a very strange story. + +In 1892 I passed two days at Jhânsi, having been obliged to wait because +the gentleman whom I had gone to see on business was absent from the +station; and I went all over the city to try and pick up information +regarding the Mutiny. I eventually came across a man who, by his +military salute, I could see had served in the army, and I entered into +conversation with him. + +At first he pretended that his connection with the army had merely been +that of an armourer-_mistree_[54] of several European regiments; and he +told me that he had served in the armourer's shop of the Ninety-Third +when they were in Jhânsi twenty-four years ago, in 1868 and 1869. After +I had informed him that the Ninety-Third was my regiment, he appeared to +be less reticent; and at length he admitted that he had been an armourer +in the service of Scindia before the Mutiny, and that he was in Cawnpore +when the Mutiny broke out, and also when the city was retaken by +Generals Havelock and Neill. + +After a long conversation he appeared to be convinced that I had no evil +intentions, but was merely anxious to collect reliable evidence +regarding events which, even now, are but slightly known. Amongst other +matters he told me that the (late) Mâharâja Scindia was not by any means +so loyal as the Government believed him to be; that he himself (my +informant) had formed one of a deputation that was sent to Cawnpore from +Gwalior to the Nânâ Sâhib before the outbreak; and that although keeping +in the background, the Mâharâja Scindia incited his army to rebellion +and to murder their officers, and himself fled as a pretended fugitive +to Agra to devise means to betray the fort of Agra, should the Gwalior +army, as he anticipated would be the case, prove victorious over the +British. He also told me that the farce played by Scindia about 1874, +viz. the giving up a spurious Nânâ Sâhib, was a prearranged affair +between Scindia and the _fakeer_ who represented the Nânâ. But, as I +expressed my doubts about the truth of all this, my friend came down to +more recent times, and asked me if I remembered about the murder of +Major Neill at Augur in Central India in 1887, thirty years after the +Mutiny? I told him that I very well remembered reading of the case in +the newspapers of the time. He then asked me if I knew why Major Neill +was murdered? I replied that the published accounts of the murder and +trial were so brief that I had formed the conclusion that something was +concealed from the public, and that I myself was of opinion that a woman +must have been the cause of the murder,--that Major Neill possibly had +been found in some intrigue with one of Mazar Ali's womenkind. To which +he replied that I was quite wrong. He then told me that Major Neill was +a son of General Neill of Cawnpore fame, and that Sowâr Mazar Ali, who +shot him, was a son of Suffur Ali, _duffadâr_ of the Second Regiment +Light Cavalry, who was unjustly accused of having murdered Sir Hugh +Wheeler at the Suttee Chowrah _ghât_, and was hanged for the murder by +order of General Neill, after having been flogged by sweepers and made +to lick clean a portion of the blood-stained floor of the +slaughter-house. + +After the recapture of Cawnpore, Suffur Ali was arrested in the city, +and accused of having cut off General Wheeler's head as he alighted from +his palkee at the Suttee Chowrah _ghât_ on the 27th of June, 1857. This +he stoutly denied, pleading that he was a loyal servant of the Company +who had been compelled to join in the Mutiny against his will. General +Neill, however, would not believe him, so he was taken to the +slaughter-house and flogged by Major Bruce's sweeper-police till he +cleaned up his spot of blood from the floor of the house where the women +and children were murdered. When about to be hanged Suffur Ali adjured +every Mahommedan in the crowd to have a message sent to Rohtuck, to his +infant son, by name Mazar Ali, to inform him that his father had been +unjustly denied and flogged by sweepers by order of General Neill before +being hanged, and that his dying message to him was that he prayed God +and the Prophet to spare him and strengthen his arm to avenge the death +of his father on General Neill or any of his descendants. + +My informant went on to tell me that Mazar Ali had served under Major +Neill for years, and had been treated by him with special kindness +before he came to know that the Major was the son of the man who had +ordered his father's execution; that while he was lying ill in hospital +a _fakeer_ one day arrived in the station from some remote quarter of +India, and told him of his father's dying imprecation, and that Major +Neill being the son of General Neill, it was the decree of fate that +Mazar Ali should shoot Major Neill on parade the following day; which he +did, without any apparent motive whatever. + +I expressed my doubts about the truth of all this, when my informant +told me he could give me a copy of a circular, printed in Oordoo and +English, given to the descendants of Suffur Ali, directing them, as a +message from the other world, to avenge the death and defilement of +their father. The man eventually brought the leaflet to me in the _dâk_ +bungalow in Jhânsi. The circular is in both Oordoo and English, and +printed in clean, clear type; but so far as I can read it, the English +translation, which is printed on the leaflet beneath the Oordoo, and a +copy of which I reproduce below, does not strike me as a literal +translation of the Oordoo. The latter seems to me to be couched in +language calculated to prove a much stronger incitement to murder than +the English version would imply. However, the following is the English +version _verbatim_, as it appears on the leaflet, word for word and +point for point, italics and all. + + _The imprecation, vociferated by_ SUFFUR ALI, + _Duffadâr 2nd Regiment Light Cavalry, who was executed at + the Slaughter-house, on the 25th July, 1857, for killing_ + SIR HUGH WHEELER, _at the Suttechoura Ghât_. + + + Oh Mahomed Prophet! be pleased to receive into Paradise the + soul of your humble servant, whose body Major Bruce's Mehtur + police are now defiling by lashes, forced to lick a space of + the blood-stained floor of the Slaughter-house, and + hereafter to be hanged, by the order of General Neill. And, + oh Prophet! in due time inspire my infant son Mazar Ali of + Rohtuck, that he may revenge this desecration on the General + and his descendants. + + _Take notice!_--Mazar Ali, Sowar, 2nd Regiment, Central + India Horse, who under divine mission, shot Major A. H. S. + Neill, Commanding the Corps, at Augur, Central India, on the + 14th March 1887, was sentenced to death by Sir Lepel + Griffin, Governor-General's Agent. + +The Oordoo in the circular is printed in the Persian character without +the vowel-points, and as I have not read much Oordoo since I passed my +Hindoostânee examination thirty-three years ago, I have had some +difficulty in translating the leaflet, especially as it is without the +vowel-points. The man who gave it to me asked if I knew anything about +the family of General Neill, and I replied that I did not, which was the +truth. When I asked why he wanted to know, he said that if any more of +his sons were still in India, their lives would soon be taken by the +descendants of men who were defiled and hanged at Cawnpore under the +brigade-order of General Neill, dated Cawnpore, 25th of July, 1857. This +is the order to which I have alluded in the second chapter of my +reminiscences, and which remained in force till the arrival of Sir Colin +Campbell at Cawnpore in the following November. As I had never seen a +copy of it, having only heard of it, I asked my informant how he knew +about it. He told me that thousands of copies, in English, Oordoo, and +Hindee, were in circulation in the bazaars of Upper India. I told my +friend that I should very much like to see a copy, and he promised to +bring me one. Shortly after he left me in the _dâk_ bungalow, +undertaking to return with a copy of the order, as also numerous +proclamations from the English Government, and the counter-proclamations +on the part of the leaders of the rebellion. I thought that here I had +struck a rich historical mine; but my friend did not turn up again! I +sat up waiting for him till long after midnight, and as he did not +return I went into the city again the following day to the place where I +had met him; but all the people around pretended to know nothing +whatever about the man, and I saw no more of him. However, I was glad to +have got the leaflet _re_ the assassination of Major Neill, because +several gentlemen have remarked, since I commenced my reminiscences, +that I mention so many incidents not generally known, that many are +inclined to believe that I am inventing history rather than relating +facts. But that is not so; and, besides what I have related, I could +give hundreds of most interesting incidents that are not generally known +nor ever will be known.[55] + +Now, in my humble opinion, is the time that a history of the real facts +and causes of the Mutiny should be written, if a competent man could +devote the time to do so, and to visit the centres of the rebellion and +get those who took part in the great uprising against the rule of the +Feringhee to come forward, with full confidence of safety, and relate +all they know about the affair. Thousands of facts would come to light +which would be of immense historical importance, as also of great +political value to Government, facts that in a few years will become +lost to the world, or be remembered only as traditions of 1857. But the +man who is to undertake the work must be one with a thorough knowledge +of the native character and languages, a man of broad views, and, above +all, one who would, to a certain extent, sympathise with the natives, +and inspire them with confidence and enlist their assistance. As a rule, +the Englishman, the Government official, the _Sâhib Bahâdoor_, although +respected, is at the same time too much feared, and the truth would be +more or less concealed from him. I formed this opinion when I heard of +the circumstances which are supposed to have led to the assassination of +Major Neill. If true, we have here secret incitement to murder handed +down for generations, and our Government, with its extensive police and +its Thuggee Department, knowing nothing about it![56] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[53] Major Neill _was_ a son of Brigadier-General Neill commanding at +Cawnpore during the first relief of Lucknow. General Neill went to the +front as colonel commanding the First Madras Fusiliers. + +[54] Workman; in this case a blacksmith. + +[55] "Some of the incidents related by Mr. Forbes-Mitchell, and now for +the first time brought to light in his most interesting series of +Reminiscences, are of so sensational an order that we are not surprised +that many persons to whom the narrator is a stranger should regard them +with a certain incredulity. We may take this opportunity therefore of +stating that, so far as it is possible at this date to corroborate +incidents that occurred thirty-five years ago, Mr. Forbes-Mitchell has +afforded us ample proof of the accuracy of his memory and the general +correctness of his facts. In the case under notice, we have been shown +the leaflet in which Mazar Ali's cold-blooded murder of his commanding +officer is vindicated, and of which the English translation above given +is an exact reproduction. The leaflet bears no evidence whatever to +disclose its origin, but we see no reason to doubt that, as Mr. +Forbes-Mitchell's informant declared, it was widely circulated in the +bazaars of Upper India shortly after Mazar Ali paid the penalty of his +crime with his own life."--ED. _Calcutta Statesman._ + +[56] The _vendetta_ is such a well-known institution among the Pathâns, +that no further explanation of Major Neill's murder by the son of a man +who was executed by the Major's father's orders is necessary. + + + + +APPENDIX B + +EUROPEANS AMONG THE REBELS + + +Although recollections of the Mutiny are fast being obliterated by the +kindly hand of time, there must still be many readers who will remember +the reports current in the newspapers of the time, and elsewhere in 1857 +and 1858, of Europeans being seen in the ranks of the rebels. In a +history of _The Siege of Delhi, by an Officer who served there_ (name +not given), published by Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh, 1861, the +following passages occur. After describing the battle of +Budlee-ke-Serai, the writer goes on to say: "The brave old Afghân chief, +Jân Fishân Khân,[57] who with some horsemen had followed our star from +Meerut, was heard crying out, his stout heart big with the enthusiasm of +the moment: 'Another such day, and I shall become a Christian!'" And in +his comments on this the writer says: "And sad to tell, a European +deserter from Meerut had been struck down fighting in the sepoy ranks, +and was recognised by his former comrades." After describing the opening +of the siege and the general contempt which the Europeans had for the +enemy's artillery, the writer states that the tone of conversation in +the camp was soon changed, and "From being an object of contempt, their +skill became one of wonder and admiration, perhaps too great. Some +artillery officers protested that their practice was better than our +own. Many believed that their fire was under the superintendence of +Europeans. Two men with solar helmets could be seen, by the help of our +best glasses, in their batteries, but no one who knew how much of the +work in India was really done by natives, wondered at the practical +skill they now showed." Turning from Delhi to Lucknow, many will +remember the account of the disastrous action at Chinhut by Mr. Rees. He +says: "The masses of the rebel cavalry by which the British were +outflanked near the Kookrail bridge, were apparently commanded by some +European who was seen waving his sword and attempting to make his men +follow him and dash at ours. He was a handsome-looking man, well-built, +fair, about twenty-five years of age, with light moustaches, wearing the +undress uniform of a European cavalry officer, with a blue, gold-laced +cap on his head." Mr. Rees suggests the possibility of this person +having been either a Russian or a renegade Christian. + +The only other case to which I will allude came under my own +observation. I have told in my fourteenth chapter how Brigadier Adrian +Hope was killed in the abortive attack on the fort of Rooyah, by a shot +fired from a high tree inside the fort, and how it was commonly believed +that the man who fired the shot was a European. I myself thought at the +time that such was the case, and now I am convinced of it. I was the +non-commissioned officer of a party of the Ninety-Third sent to cover an +engineer-officer who had either volunteered or been ordered to take a +sketch of one of the fort gates and its approaches, in the hope of being +able to blow it in, and thus gain an entrance to the fort, which was +surrounded by a deep ditch, and inside the ditch an almost impenetrable +belt of prickly bamboos about ten yards in breadth, so interwoven and +full of thorns that a cat could scarcely have passed through it. Under +the guidance of a native of the Intelligence Department, we managed to +advance unseen, and got under cover of a thick clump of bamboos near the +gate. Strict orders had been given that no one on any account whatever +was to speak, much less to fire a shot, unless we should be attacked, +for fear of drawing attention to our proceedings, till the engineer had +had time to make a rough sketch of the position of the gate and its +approaches. During this time we were so close to the fort that we could +hear the enemy talking inside; and the man who was on the tree could be +seen and heard by us quite plainly, calling to the stormers on the other +face in unmistakable barrack-room English: "Come on, you ---- +Highlanders! Come on, Scotty! you have a harder nut to crack than eating +oatmeal porridge. If you can come through these bamboos we'll warm your +---- for you, if you come in here!" etc., etc. In short, the person +talking showed such a command of English slang and barrack-room abuse +that it was clear he was no native. Every one of my party was convinced +that the speaker was a European, and if we had been aware at the time +that this man had just killed Brigadier Hope he would certainly have +paid the penalty with his own life; but we knew nothing of this till we +retired, and found that the stormers had been recalled, with the +butcher's bill already given. + +The events above related had almost passed from my recollection, till +they were recalled by the following circumstance. A vacancy having +occurred among the _durwâns_[58] in the factory under my charge, among +several candidates brought by the _jemadâr_[59] for the vacant post was +a fine-looking old man, who gave me an unmistakable military salute in +the old style, square from the shoulder--quite different from the +present mongrel German salute, which the English army has taken to +imitating since the Germans beat their old conquerors, the French; I +mean the present mode of saluting with the palm of the hand turned to +the front. As soon as I saw this old man I knew he had been a soldier; +my heart warmed to him at once, and I determined to give him the vacant +appointment. So turning to him I said: "You have served in the army; are +you one of the sepoys of 1857?" He at once admitted that he had formerly +belonged to the Ninth Native Infantry, and that he was present with the +regiment when it mutinied at Allyghur on the 20th of May, 1857. He had +accompanied the regiment to Delhi, and had fought against the English +throughout the siege, and afterwards at Lucknow and throughout the Oude +campaigns. "But, _Sâhib_" said he, "the Ninth Regiment were almost the +only regiment which did not murder their officers. We gave each of them +three months' pay in advance from the treasury, and escorted them and +their families within a safe distance of Agra before we went to Delhi, +and all of us who lived to come through the Mutiny were pardoned by the +Government." I knew this to be the truth, and ordered the _jemadâr_ to +enrol the applicant, by name Doorga, or Doorga Sing, late sepoy of the +Ninth Native Infantry, as one of the factory _durwâns_, determining to +have many a talk with him on his experiences of the Mutiny. + +Many of my readers may recollect that, after escorting their European +officers to the vicinity of Agra, the Ninth Regiment went to Delhi, and +throughout the siege the men of this regiment proved the most daring +opponents of the British Army. According to Mead's _Sepoy Revolt_, "The +dead bodies of men bearing the regimental number of the Ninth Regiment +were found in the front line of every severe engagement around Delhi and +at the deadly Cashmere Gate when it was finally stormed." After engaging +Doorga Sing it was not long before I made him relate his experiences of +the siege of Delhi, and afterwards at Lucknow and in Oude, and one day I +happened to ask him if it was true that there were several Europeans in +the rebel army. He told me that he had heard of several, but that he +personally knew of two only, one of whom accompanied the mutineers from +Meerut and was killed at the battle of Budlee-ke-Serai,--evidently the +deserter alluded to above. The other European was a man of superior +stamp, who came to Delhi from Rohilcund with the Bareilly Brigade, and +the King gave him rank in the rebel army next to General Bukht Khân, the +titular Commander-in-Chief, This European commanded the artillery +throughout the siege of Delhi, as he had formerly been in the Company's +artillery and knew the drill better than any man in the rebel army. I +asked Doorga Sing if he had ever heard his name or what rank he held +before the Mutiny, and he said he had heard his name at the time, but +had forgotten it, and that before the Mutiny he had held the rank of +sergeant-major, but whether in the native artillery or in one of the +native infantry regiments at Bareilly he did not now recollect. But the +Bâdshâh promoted him to be general of artillery immediately on the +arrival of the Bareilly Brigade, and he was by far the bravest and most +energetic commander that the rebels had, and the most esteemed by the +revolted sepoys, whose respect he retained to the last. Even after they +had ceased saluting their native officers they continued to turn out +guards and present arms to the European _sâhib_. Throughout the siege of +Delhi there was never a day passed that this man did not visit every +battery, and personally correct the elevation of the guns. He fixed the +sites and superintended the erection of all new batteries to counteract +the fire of the English as the siege advanced. On the day of the +assault, the 14th of September, he fought like _shâitân_,[60] fighting +himself and riding from post to post, trying to rally defeated sepoys, +and bringing up fresh troops to the support of assailed points. Doorga +Sing's company had formed the guard at the Cashmere Gate, and he vividly +described the attack and defence of that post, and how completely the +sepoys were surprised and the powder-bags fixed to the gate before the +sentries of the guard were aware of the advance of the English. + +After the assault Doorga Sing did not see the European till the beaten +army reached Muttra, when he again found him superintending the +arrangements for crossing the Jumna. About thirty thousand sepoys had +collected there in their retreat from Delhi, a common danger holding +them together, under the command of Bukht Khân and Feroze Shâh. But they +paid more respect to the European, and obeyed his orders with far more +alacrity than they did those of Bukht Khân or any other of their nominal +leaders. After crossing the Jumna the European remained with the rebels +till they reached a safe retreat on the Oude side of the Ganges, when he +left the force in company with the Râja of Surâjpore, a petty state on +the Oude side about twenty or twenty-five miles above Cawnpore. About +this time my informant, Doorga Sing, having been wounded at Delhi, left +the rebel army _en route_ to Lucknow, and returned to his village near +Onâo in Oude; but hearing of the advance of the English, and expecting +no mercy, he and several others repaired to Lucknow, and rejoined their +old comrades. + +He did not again see the European till after the fall of Lucknow, when +he met him at Fort Rooyah, where he commanded the sepoys, and was the +principal adviser of the Râja Nirput Singh, whom he prevented from +accepting the terms offered by the English through General Walpole. I am +fully convinced that this was the man whom we saw in the tree, and who +was reported to have killed Brigadier Hope. + +After their retreat from Rooyah the sepoys, under this European, +remained in the jungles till the English army had passed on to Bareilly, +when they reattacked Shâhjehânpore, and would have retaken it, if a +brigade had not arrived from Bareilly to its relief. After being driven +back from Shâhjehânpore the sepoys held together in Mahomdee, Sitapore, +and elsewhere, throughout the hot season of 1858, mostly under the +guidance of the European and Bukht Khân. The last time Doorga Sing saw +the renegade was after the battle of Nawâbgunge in Oude, where Bukht +Khân was killed and a large number of the sepoys were driven across the +Raptee into Nepaul territory, upon which they held a council among +themselves and determined to follow their leaders no longer, but to give +themselves up to the nearest English post under the terms of the Queen's +proclamation. The European tried to dissuade them from doing this, +telling them that if they gave themselves up they would all be hanged +like dogs or sent in chains across the _Kâlâ Pâni_.[61] But they had +already suffered too much to be further imposed upon, and one of their +number, who had gone to get information about other parties who were +known to have given themselves up to the English, returned at this time +with information that all sepoys who had not taken part in murdering +their officers were, after giving up their arms, provided with a pass +and paid two rupees each, and allowed to return to their villages. On +this the greater part of the sepoys, including all left alive of the +Ninth Regiment, told the European that they had resolved to listen to +him no longer, but to return to their villages and their families, after +giving themselves up at the nearest English post. Thereupon the _sâhib_ +sat down and commenced to shed tears, saying _he_ had neither home nor +country to return to. There he was left, with a few more whose crimes +had placed them beyond the hope of pardon; and that was the last which +Doorga Sing saw or heard of the European general of the mutineer +artillery. + +Before writing this, I have often cross-questioned Doorga Sing about +this European, and his statements never vary. He says that the time is +now so long past that he could not be sure of the _sâhib's_ name even if +he heard it; but he is positive he came from Bareilly, and that his rank +before the Mutiny was sergeant-major, and that he had formerly been in +the Company's artillery. He thinks, however, that at the time of the +Mutiny this sergeant was serving with one of the native infantry +regiments in Bareilly; and he further recollects that it was commonly +reported in the sepoy ranks that when the Mutiny broke out this +sergeant-major had advised the murder of all the European officers, +himself shooting the adjutant of the regiment with his own hand to prove +his loyalty to the rebel cause. + +The whole narrative is so extraordinary that I publish it with a view to +discovering if there are any still living who can give facts bearing on +this strange, but, I am convinced, true story. Doorga Sing promised to +find for me one or two other mutineer sepoys who knew more about this +European and his antecedents than he himself did. I have no detailed +statement of the Mutiny at Bareilly, and the short account which I +possess merely says that, "As soon as the artillery fired the signal gun +in their lines, Brigadier Sibbald mounted his horse and galloped off to +the cavalry lines, but was met on the way by a party of infantry, who +fired on him. He received a bullet in his chest, and then turned his +horse and galloped to the appointed rendezvous for the Europeans, and, +on arriving there, dropped dead from his horse." The account then goes +on to say: "The European sergeant-major had remained in the lines, and +Adjutant Tucker perished while endeavouring to save the life of the +sergeant-major." The question arises--Is it possible that this +sergeant-major can have been the same man whom Doorga Sing afterwards +met in command of the rebel ranks in Delhi, and who was said to have +killed his adjutant? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[57] Two of his sons joined Hodson's Horse, and one of them, Atâoollah +Khân, was our representative at Caubul after the last Afghân war. + +[58] Doorkeepers. + +[59] Head-man. + +[60] Satan. + +[61] "The Black Water," _i.e._ the sea, which no orthodox Hindoo can +cross without loss of caste. + + + + +APPENDIX C + +A FEW WORDS ON SWORD-BLADES + + +A short time back I read an article on sword-blades, reprinted I believe +from some English paper. Now, in a war like the Mutiny sword-blades are +of the utmost importance to men who depend on them either for taking or +preserving life; I will therefore state my own experience, and give +opinions on the swords which came under my observation, and I may at +once say that I think there is great room for improvement in our blades +of Birmingham manufacture. I consider that the swords supplied to our +officers, cavalry and artillery, are far inferior as weapons of offence +to a really good Oriental _tulwâr_. Although an infantry man I saw a +good deal of sword-practice, because all the men who held the +Secundrabâgh and the Begum's Kothee were armed with native _tulwârs_ +from the King of Oude's armoury, in addition to their muskets and +bayonets, and a large proportion of our men were killed and wounded by +sword-cuts. + +In the first place, then, for cutting our English regulation swords are +too straight; the Eastern curved blade is far more effective as a +cutting weapon. Secondly, our English swords are far too blunt, whereas +the native swords are as keen in edge as a well-stropped razor. Our +steel scabbards again are a mistake for carrying sharp blades; and, in +addition to this, I don't think our mounted branches who are armed with +swords have proper appliances given to them for sharpening their edges. +Even in time of peace, but especially in time of war, more attention +ought to be given to this point, and every soldier armed with a sword +ought to be supplied with the means of sharpening it, and made to keep +it with an edge like a razor. I may mention that this fact was noticed +in the wars of the Punjâb, notably at Râmnugger, where our English +cavalry with their blunt swords were most unequally matched against the +Sikhs with _tulwârs_ so keen of edge that they would split a hair. + +I remember reading of a regiment of British cavalry charging a regiment +of Sikh cavalry. The latter wore voluminous thick _puggries_ round their +heads, which our blunt swords were powerless to cut through, and each +horseman had also a buffalo-hide shield slung on his back. They +evidently knew that the British swords were blunt and useless, so they +kept their horses still and met the British charge by lying flat on +their horses' necks,[62] with their heads protected by the thick turban +and their backs by the shields; and immediately the British soldiers +passed through their ranks the Sikhs swooped round on them and struck +them back-handed with their sharp, curved swords, in several instances +cutting our cavalry men in two. In one case a British officer, who was +killed in the charge I describe, was hewn in two by a back-handed stroke +which cut right through an ammunition-pouch, cleaving the pistol-bullets +right through the pouch and belt, severing the officer's backbone and +cutting his heart in two from behind. It was the same in the Balaclava +charge, both with the Heavy and the Light Brigade. Their swords were too +straight, and so blunt that they would not cut through the thick coats +and sheep-skin caps of the Russians; so that many of our men struck with +the hilts at the faces of the enemy, as more effective than attempting +to cut with their blunt blades. + +In the article on English sword-blades to which I have referred, stress +is laid on the superiority of blades of spring steel, tempered so that +the tip can be bent round to the hilt without breaking or preventing the +blade assuming the straight immediately it is released. Now my +observations lead me to consider spring steel to be totally unfitted for +a sword-blade. The real Damascus blade that we have all read about, but +so few have seen, is as rigid as cast-iron, without any spring +whatever,--as rigid as the blade of a razor. The sword-blade which bends +is neither good for cut nor thrust, even in the hands of the most expert +and powerful swordsman. A blade of spring steel will not cut through the +bone; directly it encounters a hard substance, it quivers in the hand +and will not cut through. Let any sword-maker in Birmingham try +different blades in the hands of an expert swordsman on a green tree of +soft wood, and the rigid blade of well-tempered steel will cut four +times as deep as the blade of highly tempered spring steel which you can +bend into a circle, tip to hilt. My opinion is that the motto of a +sword-blade ought to be the same as the Duke of Sutherland's--"_Frangas +non flectes_, Thou mayest break but not bend"; and if blades could be +made that would neither break nor bend, so much the better. + +I believe that the manufacture of real Damascus steel blades is a lost +art. When serving in the Punjâb about thirty years ago, I was well +acquainted with an old man in Lahore who had been chief armourer to +Runjeet Sing, and he has often told me that the real Damascus blades +contained a large percentage of arsenic amalgamated with the steel while +the blades were being forged, which greatly added to their hardness, +toughness, and strength, preserved the steel from rust, and enabled the +blades to be sharpened to a very fine edge. This old man's test for a +sword-blade was to get a good-sized fish, newly caught from the river, +lay it on a soft, yielding bed,--cotton quilt folded up, or any soft +yielding substance,--and the blade that did not cut the fish in two +across the thickest part behind the gills, cutting against the scales, +at one stroke, was considered of no account whatever. From what I have +seen no sword-blade that bends, however sharp it may be, will do that, +because the spring in the steel causes the blade to glance off the fish, +and the impetus of the cut is lost by the blade quivering in the hand. +Nor will any of our straight sword-blades cut a large fish through in +this manner; whereas the curved Oriental blade, with a drawing cut, +severs it at once, because the curved blade presents much more cutting +surface. One revolution of a circular saw cuts much deeper into wood +than one stroke of a straight saw, although the length of the straight +saw may be equal to the circumference of the circular one. So it is with +sword-blades. A stroke from a curved blade, drawn through, cuts far +deeper than the stroke from a straight blade.[63] + +I will mention one instance at Lucknow that came under my own notice of +the force of a sword-cut from a curved sword of rigid steel. There were +three brothers of the name of Ready in the Ninety-Third called David, +James, and John. They were all powerful, tall men, in the prime of life, +and all three had served through the Crimea. David was a sergeant, and +his two brothers were privates. When falling in for the assault on the +Begum's palace, John Ready took off his Crimean medal and gave it to his +brother David, telling him that he felt a presentiment that he would be +killed in that attack, and that David had better keep his medal, and +send it home to their mother. David tried to reason him out of his +fears, but to no purpose. John Ready replied that he had no fear, and +his mother might know that he had died doing his duty. Well, the assault +took place, and in the inner courts of the palace there was one division +held by a regiment of dismounted cavalry, armed with swords as keen as +razors, and circular shields, and the party of the Ninety-Third who got +into that court were far out-numbered on this occasion, as in fact we +were everywhere else. On entering James Ready was attacked by a _sowâr_ +armed with sword and shield. Ready's feather bonnet was knocked off, and +the _sowâr_ got one cut at him, right over his head, which severed his +skull clean in two, the sword cutting right through his neck and +half-way down through the breast-bone. John Ready sprang to the +assistance of his brother, but too late; and although his bayonet +reached the side of his opponent and was driven home with a fatal +thrust, in doing so he came within the swoop of the same terrible sword, +wielded by the powerful arm of a tall man, and he also was cut right +through the left shoulder diagonally across the chest, and his head and +right arm were clean severed from the body. The _sowâr_ delivered his +stroke of the sword at the same moment that he received the bayonet of +John Ready through his heart, and both men fell dead together. David +Ready, the sergeant, seized the _tulwâr_ that had killed both his +brothers, and used it with terrible effect, cutting off heads of men as +if they had been mere heads of cabbage. When the fight was over I +examined that sword. It was of ordinary weight, well-balanced, curved +about a quarter-circle, as sharp as the sharpest razor, and the blade as +rigid as cast-iron. Now, my experience is that none of our very best +English swords could have cut like this one. A sword of that quality +would cut through a man's skull or thigh-bone without the least quiver, +as easily as an ordinary Birmingham blade would cut through a willow. + +I may also mention the case of a young officer named Banks, of the +Seventh Hussars, who was terribly cut up in charging through a band of +Ghâzis. One leg was clean lopped off above the knee, the right arm cut +off, the left thigh and left arm both cut through the bone, each wound +produced by a single cut from a sharp, curved _tulwâr_. I don't know if +the young fellow got over it;[64] but he was reported to be still alive, +and even cheerful when we marched from Lucknow. + +In this matter of sword-blades, I have no wish to dogmatise or to pose +as an authority; I merely state my observations and opinion, in the +hopes that they may lead to experiments being made. But on one point I +am positive. The sharpening of our cavalry swords, if still the same as +in 1857, receives far too little attention. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[62] In which case they would have been simply ridden over. + +[63] These remarks of Mr. Mitchell's are quite true as regards curved +swords; but he forgets that the _point_ is the most effective attack +against Eastern swordsmen. + +[64] He did not. + + + + +APPENDIX D + +THE OPIUM QUESTION + + +On the afternoon of the 19th August, 1892, I left Cawnpore for Lucknow. +As I was a few minutes before time, I walked along the railway-platform +to see the engine, and, strange to relate, the engine attached to the +train which was to take me into Lucknow (under circumstances very +different from those of 1857) was No. 93! In 1857 I had crossed the +Ganges in the ranks of the Ninety-Third Highlanders, with the figures 93 +on the front of my cap, and here I was, under very different +circumstances, revisiting Lucknow for the first time thirty-five years +after, and the engine to the train was No. 93! I need not say that I +lifted my hat to that engine. As a matter of fact, I never do pass the +old number without giving it a salute; but in this instance I looked +upon it as a happy omen for the success of my journey. + +I took my seat in the carriage, and shortly after was joined by a +gentleman whom I took to be a Mahommedan; but to my surprise he told me +that he was a Christian employed in the Educational Department, and that +he was going to Lucknow for a month's holiday. He appeared to be a man +of over sixty years of age, but said he was only fifty-four, and that he +would retire from Government service next year. Of course I introduced +the subject of the Mutiny, and asked him where he had been at the time. +He stated that when the Mutiny broke out he was at school in Bareilly, +and that he was then a Mahommedan, but did not join in the rebellion; +that on the outbreak of the Mutiny, when all the Europeans were either +killed or fled from Bareilly, he had retired to his village near +Shâhjehânpore, and remained there till order was re-established on the +advance of the English into Rohilcund in May, 1858, after Khân Bahâdoor +Khân had reigned in Bareilly twelve months. + +In course of conversation I asked my companion if he could give any +reason why it was that the whole rural population of Oude had joined the +urban population against the British in 1857, whereas on the south side +of the Ganges the villagers were in favour of the British, where they +were not overawed by the mutineers? He told me a strange thing, and that +was that he was fully convinced that the main reason why the village +population of Oude joined the city population of Lucknow was owing to +the oppression caused by our introduction of the opium-tax among the +people. + +At first I misunderstood him, and thought I had come across an agent of +the Anti-Opium Society. "So you are against Government control of the +opium-cultivation and sale of the drug," I said. "By no means," he +answered. "I consider the tax on opium a most legitimate source of +revenue. What I mean is that although a just tax, it was a highly +obnoxious one to the citizens of Lucknow and the rural population of +Oude at the time of the Mutiny." He went on to state that although a +Christian convert from Mahommedanism and a strictly temperate man, he +had no sympathy with the anti-opium party; that he considered them a +most dangerous set of fanatics, who would set the whole country in +rebellion again before a twelve-month if they could get the Government +to adopt their narrow-minded views. Regarding 1857, he continued, and I +quote his exact words, as I noted them down immediately after I got to +the hotel: + +"Under the rule of the Nawâbs of Lucknow many taxes were imposed, which +were abolished by the British; but in their stead the opium-tax was +introduced, which was the most unpopular tax that could have been +devised, because it touched every one, from the _coolie_ in the bazaar +to the noble in his palace. Before the annexation of Oude opium was +untaxed, and was largely consumed by all classes of the people, both in +the capital and in the villages. Though the mass of the people were +well-affected to British rule in general, disloyal agitators had merely +to cite the opium-tax as a most obnoxious and oppressive impost, to +raise the whole population against the British Government, and the same +would be the case again, if ever the British Government were weak enough +to be led by the Anti-Opium Society." + +"Then," said I, "since you are so much against the Anti-Opium Society, I +suppose you are also against Christian missionaries." "That by no means +follows," was the answer. "Many of our most Christian and able +missionaries have as little sympathy with the anti-opium propagandists +as I have. The true missionary aims at reforming the people through the +people, not by compelling moral reformation through the Government, +which would be merely a return to the Inquisition of Rome in another +form. I would encourage missionaries by every possible means; but they +must be broad-minded, earnest, pious men, who mind their own business, +and on no pretence whatever attempt to dictate to Government, or to +control its action either in the matter of taxation or in any other way. +I would never encourage men who go about the country railing against the +Government for collecting revenue from one of the most just sources that +can be named. Missionaries of experience know that the mass of the +population are miserably poor, and a pill of opium is almost the only +stimulant in which they indulge. Then, why attempt to deprive them of +it, merely to please a score or so of sentimental faddists? Let the +missionaries mind their own business, and render to Cæsar the things +which are Cæsar's, and unto God the things which are God's. Let them +confine themselves to proclaiming the Gospel to the heathen, and teach +the Bible in their schools; but don't allow them to mix in politics, or +in any way interfere with the government or taxation of the country. I +would throw the English education of the people more into the hands of +the missionaries. Our Government schools are antichristian, and are +making infidels of the people." + +THE END + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. + + + + + +-----------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 16 Chowra changed to Chowrah | + | Page 26 girdle changed to griddle | + | Page 86 chupâties changed to chupatties | + | Page 94 chupâties changed to chupatties | + +-----------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny +1857-59, by William Forbes-Mitchell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REMINISCENCES OF THE GREAT MUTINY *** + +***** This file should be named 33426-8.txt or 33426-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/2/33426/ + +Produced by Barbara Kosker, Juliet Sutherland and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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