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CORNELL UNIVEBSITY L BHJJY 
 
 3 1924 064 186 434 
 
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diatntll Unitteraiti} Siibracy 
 
 Jtl^ani, Netn fork 
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 LEWIS BINGLEY WYNNE 
 
 A.B.,A.M., COLUMBIAN COLLEGE. '71, '73 
 WASHINGTON. D. C. 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 MRS. MARY A. WYNNE 
 
 AND 
 
 JOHN H. WYNNE 
 
 CORNELL -98 
 1922 
 
TWELVE TEABS 
 
 OF A. 
 
 SOLDIER'S LIFE IN INDIA. 
 
If a soldier, 
 Chase brave employments with a naked sword 
 Throughout the world. Fool not; for aU may have, 
 If they dare try, a glorious life or grave. 
 
 Geoboe Herbert. 
 
TWELYE YEARS 
 
 SOLDIER'S LIFE H INDIA: 
 
 BEING EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 MAJOE W. S. R HODSON, B. A. 
 
 TEmiTT COLLSm, OAKBErDGS; 
 FIBST BSNOAL £TJBOP£AN mSILEKKS, COMUANSANT OF BODSON'S HOBSK. 
 
 INCLTmHG 
 
 A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF THE SIEGE OF DELHI 
 AND CAPTURE OF THE KING AND PRINCES. 
 
 EDITED BY HIS BROTHER, 
 
 THE REV. GEORGE H. HODSON, M. A. 
 
 SEKIOB FELLOW OF TaiKITT COLLZOE, OAHBOIDOX. 
 
 FROM THE THIRD AND ENLARGED ENOUSH EDITION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 TICKNOR AND FIELDS. 
 
 M DCCC LX. 
 
BJTEESIDE, CAHBEIDOE: 
 
 STEEEOTTPED AND PRINTED BT 
 
 H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 
 
[The following paper, by the author of " Tom Brown's 
 School Days at Eugby,'' appeared in " Fraser's Maga- 
 zine:"—] 
 
 The heart of England has not, within the memory of living 
 men, been so deeply moved as by the Indian rebellion of 1857. 
 It w£ts a time of real agony, — the waiting, week after week, 
 for those scanty despatches, which, when they came, and lay 
 before us in the morning papers, with huge capitals at the top 
 of the column, we scarcely dared take up, we could not read 
 without a strong effort of the will. What it must have been 
 to those of us whose sisters, brothers, sons, were then in the 
 Northwest Provinces, they alone can tell ; but of the rest we 
 do believe there was scarce a man who did not every now 
 and then feel a cold sinking of heart, a sense of shame at his 
 inability to help, a longing to make some sacrifice of money, 
 ease, or what not, whereby to lift, if it might be, a portion of 
 the dead weight from off his own soul. By degrees came the 
 light. As the trial had been, so had been the strength. The 
 white squall was past; and though that great and terrible 
 deluge still heaved and tossed, we began to catch sight of 
 one and another brave ship riding it out. Our pulses beat 
 quick and our eyes dimmed as we heard and read how the 
 little band of our kindred had turned to bay, in tale after tale 
 of heroic daring and self-sacrificing and saintly endurance 
 and martyrdom. The traces here and there of weakness and 
 indecision only brought out more clearly the soundness and 
 strength of the race which was on its trial ; and from amongst 
 the thousands who were nobly doing their duty, one man after 
 another stood out and drew to himself the praise, the grati- 
 
6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 tude, and the love of the whole nation. In all her long and 
 stern history, England can point to no nobler sons than these, 
 the heroes of India in 1857. Thank God, many of them are left 
 to us ; but the contest was for the life itself, the full price had 
 to be paid, and one after another the heroes paid it. Some 
 fell, full of years and honors, whom the mutiny found with 
 names already famous ; others in their glorious mid-day 
 strength ; others fresh from England, in the first daring years 
 of early youth ; of all ranks and professions, — generals, gov- 
 ernors, cadets, missionaries, civilians, private soldiers ; but 
 each heard the call and obeyed it faithfully, loving not his own 
 life ; and we believe that even in this hurrying, bewildering, 
 forgetful age, England and Englishmen will not let the name 
 of one of them die. 
 
 At any rate, there is Uttle chance that the subject of this 
 paper will be forgotten by his countrymen, for not only has he 
 carved out with his sword a name for himself which knows 
 few equals even in Indian story, but he has left materials which 
 have enabled his brother to put together one of the best biog- 
 raphies in our language. 
 
 Twelve Years of a Soldier's Life in India is the history of 
 the career of Hodson of Hodson's Horse, the captor of the 
 King of Delhi, compiled from private letters written to differ- 
 ent members of his family. 
 
 To the book itself, as a literary work, high praise may be 
 awarded. There are four pages only which we could wish 
 omitted ; we mean those (from p. 354 to p. 358) which con- 
 tain the extracts from newspapers. Able leading article 
 writers and special correspondents, who as soon as the firing 
 is over, bustle up to battle-fields where their country's noblest 
 are dying, and sit down to catch the tale of every claqueur, 
 and spin the whole into thrilling periods, doubtless have their 
 use, and their productions are highly valued, — or, at any rate, 
 are highly paid for, — by the British public. The extracts in 
 question are favorable specimens, on the whole, of such com- 
 modities. But Hodson has no need of them, and they jar on 
 one's soul at the end of such a book. With this exception, 
 
SCHOOL DAYS AT RUGBY. 7 
 
 the book is a model of its kind. There is not a word too 
 much of the letters ; in fact, we long for more of them, while 
 confessing that no additional number could bring the man or 
 his career more livingly before us ; and the editor has, with 
 rare tact, given us just what was needed of supplementary, 
 narrative, and no more, and has shown himself a high-minded 
 gentleman and Christian by his forbearance in suppressing the 
 names of the men who enviously and wickedly persecuted his 
 brother. In a charming little preface he compares that brother 
 to Fernando Perez, the hero of the later Spanish ballads, and 
 then seems to doubt whether affection may not have biassed 
 his judgment. We think we may reassure him on this point. 
 The career of the Indian Captain of Irregulars may fairly 
 challenge comparison with that of Fernando Perez or any 
 other hero of romance, and we may well apply to the English- 
 man, lying in the death chamber at Lucknow, the poet's touch- 
 ing farewell to the peerless knight Durandarte, stretched on 
 the bloody sward at Roncesvalles, — 
 
 ' Kind in manners, fair in favor, 
 Mild in temper, fierce in fight ; 
 Warrior nobler, gentler, braver, 
 Never shall behold the light." 
 
 But it is time for us to turn from the book to the man, and 
 we think our readers will thank us for giving them the best 
 picture which our space will allow of him and his work, as 
 nearly as may be in bis own words ; only begging them to 
 bear in mind that these letters were written in the strictest 
 confidence to his nearest relations, and that so far from wish- 
 ing to make his own deeds known during his life, he resolutely 
 refused to allow his letters to be made public. 
 
 William Stephen Raikes Hodson, third son of the Arch- 
 deacon of Stafford, was bom in March, 1821, and went, when 
 fourteen years old, to Rugby, where he stayed for more than 
 four years, two of which were spent in the sixth form under 
 Arnold. At school he was a bright, pleasant boy, fond of fun, 
 and with abilities decidedly above the average, but of no very 
 
8 CHOOSING A PROFESSION. 
 
 marked distinction, except as a runner ; in which exercise, 
 however, he was almost unequalled, and showed great powers 
 of endurance. None of his old schoolfellows have been sur- 
 prised to hear of his success as the head of the Intelligence 
 Department of an army, or of his marvellous marches and 
 appearances in impossible places as Captain of Irregular 
 Hoi-se. Such performances only carry us back to first calling 
 over, when we used to see him come in splashed and hot, and 
 to hear his cheery " Old fellow ! I've been to Brinklow since 
 dinner." But, as a boy, he was not remarkable for physical 
 strength or courage, and none of us would have foretold that 
 he would become one of the most daring and successful swords- 
 men in the Indian army. We only mention the fact, because 
 it is of great importance that the truth in this matter, which 
 the lives of Hodson and others have established, should be as 
 widely acknowledged as possible. A man born without any 
 natural defect can, in this as in other respects, make his own 
 character ; no man need be a coward who will not be one ; 
 and a high purpose steadfastly kept in view will, in the end, 
 help a man to the doing of nobler deeds of daring than any 
 amount of natural combativeness. 
 
 From Rugby he went to Trinity, Cambridge, where he took 
 his degree in 1844 ; but, fortunately for his country, and (let 
 us own it, hard as it is as yet to do so) for himself also, a con- 
 stitutional tendency to headache led him to choose the army 
 rather than a learned profession. After a short service in the 
 Guernsey militia, which he entered to escape superannuation, 
 he got a cadetship, and embarked for India. Sir William 
 Napier, then Governor of Guernsey, gave him a letter to his 
 brother, Sir Charles, and himself wrote of him, " I think he 
 will be an acquisition to any service. His education, his abil- 
 ity, his zeal to make himself acquainted with military matters, 
 gave me the greatest satisfaction during his service with the 
 militia." His brother's letter never was presented to Sir 
 Charles Napier, as we infer from the passage at p. 156, where 
 it is mentioned again, " I didn't show him his brother's letter,'' 
 writes Hodson in 1850, " that he might judge for himself first. 
 
FIRST ENGAGEMENTS IN INDIA. 9 
 
 and know me ' per se,' or rather ' per me.' I will, however, 
 if ever I see him again." He never saw Sir Charles again ; 
 but what a glimpse of the man's character we get from these 
 few lines. 
 
 On the 13th of September, 1845, Hodson landed in India, 
 and went up country at once to Agra. Here he found the 
 Hon. James Thomason, Lieutenant-Governor of the North- 
 west Provinces, a family friend and connection, with whom he 
 stayed till November 2d, when he was appointed to do duty 
 with the 2d Grenadiers, and began his military career as 
 part of the escort of the Governor-General, who was on his 
 way to the Punjab. In that quarter a black cloud ha'l gath- 
 ered, which it was high time should be looked after. 
 
 Hodson, however, marches on, all unconscious, and his first 
 letters give no hint of coming battle, but contain a charmingly 
 graphic description of the life of an Indian army on march. 
 Here, too, in the very outset, we find that rare virtue of mak- 
 ing the best of everything peeping out, which so strongly 
 characterized him. 
 
 " It is a sudden change of temperature, truly, — from near freezing 
 at starting, to 90° or 100° at arriving. /( souiub hot, but a tent at 84° 
 is tolerably endurable, especially if there is a breeze." 
 
 At Umbala, he attends a grsind muster of troops, and sees 
 the Irregulars for the first time. 
 
 " The quiet-looking and English-dressed Hindoo troopers strangely 
 contrasted with the wild Irregulars in all the fanciful ununiformity of 
 their native costume : yet these Ia.st are the men /fancy for service." 
 
 This was on the 2d of December. On Christmas-day he 
 writes : — 
 
 " I have been in four general engagements of the most formidable 
 kind ever known in India. On the 10th, on our usual quiet march we 
 were surprised by being joined by an additional regiment, and by an 
 order for all non-soldiers to return to Umbala." 
 
 Then comes the description of forced marches, and battles 
 which one feels were won, — and that was all. The same 
 story everywhere as to the Sepoys ; at Moodkee, 
 1 * 
 
10 FIGHT AT MOODKEE AND SOBRAON. 
 
 " Our Sepoys could not be got to face the tremendous fire of the 
 Sikh artillery, and as usnal, the more they quailed the more the Eng- 
 lish ofScers exposed themselves in vain efforts to bring them on. . . . 
 At Ferozeshah on the evening of the 21st, as we rushed towards the 
 guns in the most dense dust and smoke, and under an unprecedented 
 fire of grape, our Sepoys again gave way and broke. It was a fear- 
 ful crisis, but the bravery of the English regiments saved us. A ball 
 struck my leg below the knee, but happily spared the boue. I was 
 also knocked down twice, — once by a sheU bursting so close to me as 
 to kill the men behind me, and once by the explosion of a magazine. 
 The wound in my leg is nothing, as you may judge when I tell you 
 that I was on foot or horseback the whole of the two following days. . . 
 No efforts could bring the Sepoys forward, or half the loss might 
 have been spared, had they rushed on with the bayonet. . . Just as 
 we were going into-action, I stumbled on poor Carey, whom you may 
 remember to have heard of at Price's at Rugby. On going over the 
 field on the 30th, I found the body actually cut to pieces by the keen 
 swords of the Sikhs, and but for his clothes could not have recognized 
 him. I had him carried into camp for burial, poor fellow, extremely 
 shocked at the sudden termination of our renewed acquaintance. . . I 
 enjoyed all, and entered into it with great zest, tili we came to actual 
 blows, or rather, I am (now) half ashamed to say, till the blows were 
 over, and I saw the horrible scenes which ensue on war. I have had 
 quite enough of such sights now, and hope it may not be my lot to be 
 exposed to them again. . We are resting comfortably in our tents, 
 and had a turkey for our Christmas dinner." (pp. 11, 12, 13, 14.) 
 
 In the next letter the fight at Sobraon is described : — 
 
 " On we went as usual in the teeth of a dreadful fire of guns and 
 musketry, and after a desperate struggle we got within their triple 
 and quadruple intrenchments; and then their day of reckoning came 
 indeed. Driven from trench to trench, and surrounded on all sides, 
 they retired, fighting most bravely, to the river, into which they were 
 driven pellmell, a tremendous fire of musketry pouring on them from 
 our bank, and the Horse Artillery finishing their destruction with 
 grape. I had the pleasure myself of spiking two guns which were 
 turned on us." 
 
 A rough baptism of war, this, for a young soldier 1 No 
 wonder that when the excitement is over, for the moment he 
 thinks he " has had enough of such sights.'' But the poetrj' 
 of battle has entered into him, witness this glorious sketch of 
 a deed done by the 80th Queen's (Staffordshire). 
 
OPINION OF SEPOY EEGIMENTS. 11 
 
 " I lay between them and my present regiment (1st E. B. Fusiliers) 
 on the night of the 21st of December, at Ferozeshah, when Lord 
 Hardinge called out ' 80th ! that gun must be silenced.' They 
 jumped up, formed into line, and advanced through the black dark- 
 ness silently and firmly ; gradually we lost the sound of their tread, 
 and anxiously listened for the slightest intimation of their progress ; 
 — all was still for five minutes, while they gradually gained the front 
 of the battery whose fire had caused us so much loss. Suddenly 
 we heard a dropping fire, — a blaze of the Sikh cannon followed, 
 then a thrilling cheer from the 80th, accompanied by a rattling and 
 murderous voUey as they sprang upon the battery and spiked the 
 monster gun. In a few more minutes they moved back quietly, and 
 lay down as before on the cold sand ; but they had left forty-fire of 
 their number and two captains to mark the scene of their exploit by 
 their graves." 
 
 And so in another month, when the war is over and the 
 army on its return, he " catches himself wishing and asking for 
 more." 
 
 "Is it not marvellous, as if one had not had a surfeit of killing? 
 But the truth is that is not the motive, but a sort of undefined ambi- 
 tion. . . I remember bursting into tears in sheer rage in the midst of 
 the fight at Sobraon at seeing our soldiers lying killed and wounded." 
 
 His first campaign is over, and he goes into cantonments. 
 The chief impression lefl on his mind is extreme disappoint- 
 ment with the state of the Sepoy regiments, which he ex- 
 presses to Mr. Thomason : — 
 
 " In discipline and subordination they seem to be lamentably de- 
 ficient, especially towards the native commissioned and non-commis- 
 sioned officers. On the march, I have found these last give me more 
 trouble than the men even. My brother officers say that I see an 
 unfavorable specimen in the 2d, as regards discipline, owing to their 
 frequent service of late, and the number of recruits ; but I fear the 
 evil is very wide-spread. It may no doubt be traced mainly to the 
 want of European officers. This, however, is an evil not likely to be 
 removed on any large scale. Meantime, unless some vigorous and 
 radical Improvements take place, I think our position will be very 
 nncertain and even alarming in the event of extended hostilities. 
 You must really forgive my speaking so plainly, and writing my own 
 opinions so freely. You encouraged me to do so when I was at Agra, 
 if yon remember, and I value the privilege too highly as connected 
 
12 FRIENDSHIP OF SIR HENRY LAWRENCE. 
 
 with the greater one of receiving advice and counsel from you, not to 
 exercise it, even at the risk of your thinking me presumptuous and 
 hasty in my opinions." 
 
 Acting upon these impressions, he applies for and obtains 
 an exchange into the Ist Bengal Europeans, in which he is 
 eighth second-lieutenant at the age of twenty-fiye, the junior 
 in rank of boys of eighteen and nineteen. He feels that he 
 has difficult cards to play, but resolves to make the best of 
 everything, and regrets only " that the men who are to support 
 the name and power of England in Asia are sent out here at 
 an age when, neither by education nor reflection can they 
 have learnt all, or even a fraction of what those words mean. 
 It would be a happy thing for India and for themselves, if all 
 came out here at a more advanced age than now, but one 
 alone breaking through the custom in that respect made and 
 provided, must not expect to escape the usual fate, or at least 
 the usual annoyances, of innovators.'' 
 
 At this point an opening, of which he was just the man to 
 make the most, occurs. Mr. Thomason writes to Colonel, 
 afterwards Sir Henry, Lawrence, the new political agent at 
 Lahore, introducing Hodson ; and at once a friendship, 
 founded on mutual appreciation, springs up between the two, 
 to end only with their lives. The agent manages to have the 
 young soldier constantly in his office, and to get all sorts of 
 work out of him. As a reward, he takes him on an expedi- 
 tion into Cashmere, in the autumn of 1846, whither they 
 accompany the forces of Gholab Singh, to whom the country 
 had been ceded by treaty. The letters from Cashmere on 
 this occasion, and again in 1860, when he accompanied Sir 
 Henry on a second trip to Cashmere and Thibet, are like 
 nothing in the world but an Arabian Night which we feel to 
 be true. The chiefs, the priests, the monasteries, the troops, 
 the glorious country so misused by man, the wretched people, 
 an English lady, young and pretty, travelling all alone in the 
 wildest part on pony-back, all pass before us in a series of 
 Uving photographs. We have room, however, for one quota- 
 tion only : — 
 
SUPERIKTENDS BUILDING AN ASYLUM. 13 
 
 " The women are atrociously ugly, and screech like the witches in 
 Macbeth, — so much so, that when the agent asked me to give them a 
 rupee or two, I felt it my duty to refuse, firmly but respectfully, on 
 the ground that it would be encouraging ugliness. 
 
 " I am the luckiest dog unhung (he concludes) to have got into Cash- 
 mere. I fancy I am the first officer of our army who has been here 
 save the few who have come officially." 
 
 Colonel Lawrence was not the man to let his young friend's 
 powers of work rust, so on their return we find Hodson set to 
 build the famous Hill Asylum for white children at Subathoo. 
 
 We may as well notice at once, in this early stjige of his 
 career, the man's honest training of himself in all ways, great 
 and small, to take his place, and do his work in his world-bat- 
 tle ; how he faces all tasks, however unwonted, ill-paid, or 
 humble, which seem to be helpful ; how he casts oif all habits, 
 however pleasant or harmless, which may prove hindrances. 
 And this he does with no parade or fine sentiment, but simply, 
 almost unconsciously, often with a sort of apology which is 
 humorously pathetic. For example, when set to work on the 
 Asylum, he writes : — 
 
 " Colonel Lawrence seems determined 1 shall have nothing to stop 
 me, for his invariable reply to every question is, ' Act on your own 
 judgment,' * Do what you think right,* ' X give you carte blanche to 
 act in my name, and draw on my funds,* and so forth." 
 
 Which confidence is worthily bestowed. Hodson sets to 
 work, forgetting all professional etiquette, and giving up soci- 
 ety for the time. 
 
 " Cutting trees down, getting lime burnt, bricks made, planks sawn 
 up, the ground got ready, and then watching the work foot by foot; 
 showing this "nigger" how to lay his bricks, another the proper pro- 
 portions of a beam, another the construction of a door, and to the 
 several artisans the mysteries of a screw, a nail, a hinge. You can- 
 not say to a man, *Make me a wall or a door,' but you must, with 
 your own hands, measure out his work, teach him to saw away here, 
 to plane there, or drive such a nail, or insinuate such a suspicion of 
 glue. And when it comes to be considered that this is altogether new 
 work to me, and has to be excuded by cogitation on the spot, so as to 
 give an answer to every inquirer, you may understand the amount of 
 personal exertion and attention required for the work." 
 
14 ABJURES TOBACCO AND BEER. 
 
 Again, a few months later, November, 1847, — 
 
 " 1 flm in a high queer-looking native house among the ruins of this 
 old stronghold of the Pathans, with orders ' to make a good road from 
 Lahore to the Satlej, distance forty miles,' in as brief a space as pos- 
 sible. On tlie willing-to-be-generally-useful principle, this is all very 
 well, and one gets used to turning one's hand to everything, but cer- 
 tainly (but for circumstances over which I had no control) I always 
 labored under the impression that I knew nothing at all about the 
 matter. However, Colonel Lawrence walked into my room promis- 
 cuously one morning, and said, ' Oh, Hodson, we have agreed that 
 you must take in hand the road to Ferozepore. You can start in a 
 day or two; ' and here 1 am.'^ 
 
 Again, in January, 1848, he has been sent out surveying. 
 
 " My present role is to survey a part of the country lying along the 
 left bank of the Kavee and below the hills, and I am daily and all 
 day at work with compasses and chain, pen and pencil, following 
 streams, diving into valleys, burrowing into hills, to complete my work. 
 I need hardly remark, that, having never attempted anything of the 
 kind hitherto, it is bothering at first." 
 
 Again, in April, 1848, he has been set to hear all manner 
 of cases, civil, criminal, and revenue, in the Lahore Court. 
 
 "The duty is of vast importance, and I sometimes feel a half sensa- 
 tion of modesty at being set down to administer justice in such mat- 
 ters so early, and without previous training. A little practice, pa- 
 tience, and reflection, settle most cases to one's satisfaction however; 
 and one must be content with substantial justice as distinguished 
 from technical law." 
 
 Again, in a letter to his brother, — 
 
 " Did I tell you, by-fhe-bye, that I abjured tobacco when I left Eng- 
 land, and that 1 have never been tempted by even a night's al fresco 
 to resume the delusive habit 'i" Nor have I told you (because I de- 
 spaired of your believing it) that I have declined from the paths of 
 virtue in respect of beer also, these two years past, seldom or never 
 tasting that once idolized stimulant! " 
 
 We have no space to comment ; and can only hope that any 
 gallant young oarsman or cricketer bound for India who may 
 read this, -wiW have the courage to follow Hodson's example, 
 if he finds himself the better for abstinence, notwithstanding 
 the fascination of the drink itself, and the cherished associa- 
 
"THE GUIDES." 15 
 
 tions which twine round the pewter. My dear boys, remem- 
 ber, as Hodson did, that if you are to get on well in India it 
 will be owing, physically speaking, to your digestions. 
 
 These glimpses will enable the reader to picture to himself 
 how Hodson, now Assistant to the Resident at Lahore, as well 
 as second in command of the Guides, was spending his time 
 between the first and the final Sikh war. Let him throw in 
 this description of the duties of " The Guides " : — 
 
 " The grand object of the corps is to train a body of men in peace to 
 be efficient in war ; to be not only acquainted with localities, roads, 
 rivers, hills, ferries, and passes, but have a good idea of the produce 
 and supplies available in any part of the country; to give accurate 
 information, not running open-mouthed to say that 10,000 horsemen 
 and a thousand guns are coming, (in true native style,) but to stop to 
 see whether it may not really be only a common cart and a few wild 
 horsemen who are kicking up all the dust ; to call twenty-five by its 
 right name, and not say Jifty for short, as most natives do. This of 
 course wants a great deal of careful instruction and attention. Be- 
 yond this, the officers should give a tolerably connect sketch and re- 
 port of any countrj' through which they may pass, be au fait at 
 routes and means of feeding troops, and above all {and here you come 
 close upon political duties) keep an eye on the doings of the neigh- 
 bors, and the state of the country, so as to be able to give such infor- 
 mation as may lead to any outbreak being nipped in the bud.*' 
 
 The reader will probably now be of opinion that the young 
 lieutenant, willing to make himself generally useful, and given 
 to locomotion, will be not unlikely to turn out a very tough 
 nut for the Sikhs to crack when they have quite made up their 
 minds to risk another fight ; and that time is rapidly drawing 
 near. All through the spring and early summer months there 
 are tumults and risings, which tell of a wide conspiracy. 
 Hodson, after a narrow escape of accompanying Agnew to 
 Mooltan, is scouring the country backwards and forwards, 
 catching rebels and picking up news. In September, the 
 Sikhs openly join the rebel Moolraj. General Whish is 
 obliged to raise the siege of Mooltan ; the grand struggle be- 
 tween the cow-killers and cow-worshippers on the banks of 
 the Chenab has begun. 
 
16 DARING EXPLOITS. 
 
 We wish we had space to follow Hodson and his Guides 
 through the series of daring exploits by which the Doab was 
 cleared, and which so enraged the Sikhs that " party after 
 party were sent to polish me off, and at one time I couldn't 
 stir about the country without having bullets sent at my head 
 from every bush and wall." He was attached to Wheeler's 
 brigade during the greater part of the struggle, but joined the 
 army of the Punjaub in time for the battle of Gujerat, which 
 finished the war, and at which he and Lumsden his com- 
 mander, and Lake of the Engineers, are mentioned in Lord 
 Gough's despatch as most active in conveying orders through- 
 out the action. We cannot however resist one story. The 
 old Brigadier, making all haste to join the grand army, where 
 he expects to get a division, leaves two forts at Kulallwala and 
 4000 unbeaten rebels in his rear. He is ordered back to ac- 
 count for them, whereupon Brigadier turns sulky. Hodson 
 urges him to move on like lightning and crush them, but " he 
 would not, and began to make short marches, so I was com- 
 pelled to outmanoeuvre him by a bold stroke." Accordingly 
 he starts with 100 of his Guides, when twenty-five miles from 
 Kulallwala, and fairly frightens a doubtful sirdar, " preparing 
 munitions of war, mounting guns, and looking saucy,'' out of 
 his fort. Whereupon the Sikhs abandon a neighboring fort, 
 and the road to Kulallwala is open without a shot fired. 
 
 " In the moming I marched with my little party towards the enemy, 
 sending back a messenger to the Brigadier to say that I was close to 
 the place, and that if he did not come on sharp they would run away 
 or overwhelm me. He was dreadfully angry, but came on Hke a good 
 boy ! When within a mile or so of the fort, I halted my party to 
 allow his column to get up nearer, and as soon as I could see it, moved 
 on quietly. The ruse told to perfection: thinking they had only 100 
 men and myself to deal with, the Sikhs advanced in strength, thirty 
 to one, to meet me, with colors flying and drums beating. Just then 
 a breeze sprung up, the dust blew aside, and the long line of horsemen 
 coming on rapidly behind my party burst upon their senses. They 
 turned instantly, and made for the fort ; so, leaving my men to advance 
 quietly after them, I galloped up to the Brigadier, pointed out the 
 flying Sikhs, explained their position, and begged him to charge 
 them. He melted from his wrath, and told two regiments of Irreg- 
 
SECOND SIKH WAR, 1849. 17 
 
 ulars to follow my gaidance. On we went at the gallop, cut in 
 amongst the fugitives, and punished them fearfully." 
 
 " The Brigadier has grown quite active, and very fond of 
 me since that day at EulaHwala^ though he had the wit to 
 see how brown I had done him by making him march two 
 marches in one." It is certainly to the Brigadier's credit that 
 he does seem to have appreciated his provoking " Guide," for 
 he mentions him in the highest terms in despatch after de- 
 spatch, and at the close of the war comforts him thus : " Had 
 your name been Hay or Ramsay, no honors, no appointments, 
 no distinctions would have been considered too great to mark 
 the services you have rendered to Government." 
 
 The war ended, the Punjaub is annexed, and Hodson with 
 it, who loses all his appointments and returns to " the Guides.'' 
 
 He feels sore of course at the loss of his occupation and 
 position, but sticks to his drill-sergeant's work now that there 
 is nothing higher to do, and pities from his heart the dozens 
 of regimental officers at Peshawur who have not an hour's 
 work in two days. It is a recentlj' formed station, with a fly- 
 ing column of 1 0,000 tnen there for the hot months, and no 
 books or society ; " people are pitched headlong on to their 
 own resources, and find them very hard falling indeed." 
 
 The first Sikh war had opened Hodson's eyes as to the 
 merits of the Sepoys ; the second makes him moralize much 
 about the system of promotion. 
 
 He concludes that for war, especially in India, "your leaders 
 must be young to be effective," in which sentiment we heartily 
 agree ; — but how to get them V " There are men of iron, like 
 Napier and Radetzky, aged men whom nothing affects; but 
 they are just in sufficient numbers to prove the rule by estab- 
 lishing exceptions." And would not the following be ludi- 
 crous, but that men's lives are in the balance ? 
 
 " A brigadier of infantry, under whom I served during the three 
 most critical days of the Inte war, could not see his regiment when I 
 led his horse by the bridle until its nose touched the bayonets; and 
 even then he said faintly, ' I'ray which way are the men facing, Mr. 
 Hodson'?' This is no exiigperation, I assure you. Can you wonder 
 
18 APPOINTED ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER. 
 
 that our troops have to recover by desperate fighting, and with heavy 
 loss, the advantages thrown away by the want of heads and eyes to 
 lead them ? 
 
 " A seniority service, like that of the Company, is all very well for 
 poor men; better still for fools, for they must rise equally with wise 
 men ; but for maintaining the discipline and efficiency of the army in 
 time of peace, and hurling it on the enemy in war, there never was a 
 system which carried so many evils on its front and face." 
 
 His fast friend, Sir Henry Lawrence, again intervenes, and 
 he is appointed an Assistant Commissioner, leaving the Guides 
 for a time. In this capacity, in April, 1850, he comes across 
 the new Commander-in-Chief : — 
 
 *' I have just spent three days in Sir Charles Napier's camp, it being 
 my duty to accompany him through such parts of the civil district as 
 he may have occasion to visit. He was most kind and cordial; 
 vastly amusing and interesting, and gave me even a higher opinion of 
 him than before. To be sure, his language and mode of expressing 
 himself savor more of the last than of this century — of the camp 
 than' of the court; but barring these eccentricities, he is a wonderful 
 man ; his heart is as thoroughly in his work, and he takes as high a 
 tone in all that concerns it, as Arnold did in his; that is to say, the 
 highest the subject is capable of. I only trust he will remain with us 
 as long as his health lasts, and endeavor to rouse the army from the 
 state of slack discipline into which it has fallen. On my parting with 
 him he said, ' Now, remember, Hodson, if there is any way in which 
 I can be of use to j'on, pray don't scruple to write to me. ' " 
 
 After working in the Civil Service, chiefly in the Cis-Sutlej 
 Provinces, for nearly two years, under Mr. Edmonstone, he is 
 promoted to the command of the Guides on Lumsden's return 
 to England. The wild frontier district of Euzofzai is handed 
 over to him, where 
 
 " I am military as well as civil chief; and the natural taste of the 
 Euzofzai Patbans for broken heads, murder, and violence, as well as 
 their litigiousness about then: lands, keeps me very hard at work from 
 day to day." 
 
 Here he settles with his newly married wife, " the most for- 
 tunate man in the service ; and have I not a right to call 
 myself the happiest also, with such a wile and such a home ? " 
 
EPISODE OF HOME. 19 
 
 For nearly three years he rules this province, building a large 
 fort for his regiment, fighting all marauders from the hills, 
 training his men in all ways, even to practising their own 
 sports with them. 
 
 " William is very clever " his wife writes " at this," cutting an orange, 
 placed on a bamboo, in two, at full speed, " rarely failing. He is 
 grievously overworked; still his health is wonderfully good, and his 
 spirits as wild as if he were a boy again. He is never so well pleased 
 as when he has the baby in his arms." 
 
 Yes, the baby, — for now comes in a little episode of home 
 and family, a gentle and bright gem in the rough setting of 
 the soldier's life ; and the tender and loving father and hus- 
 band stands before us as vividly as the daring border-leader. 
 
 " You would so delight in her baby tricks," he writes to his father. 
 " The young lady already begins to show a singularity of taste — refus- 
 ing to go to the arms of any native women, and decidedly preferring 
 the male population, some of whom are distinguished by her special 
 favor. Her own orderly, save the mark, never tires of looking at her 
 * beautiful white fingers,' nor she of twisting them into his black 
 beard, — an insult to an Oriental, which be bears with an equanimity 
 equal to his fondness for her. The cunning fellows have began to 
 make use of her too, and when they want anything, ask the favor in 
 the name of Lilli Baba (they cannot manage ' Olivia' at all). They 
 know the spell is potent." 
 
 But for the particulars of life in the wilderness, we must 
 refer our readers to Mrs. Hodson's letters (pp. 146-9). This 
 happiness was not destined to last. In July, 1854, the child 
 dies. 
 
 " The deep agony of this bereavement I have no words to describe," 
 the father writes. " She had wound her little being round our hearts 
 to an extent which we neither of us knew until we awoke from the 
 brief dream of beauty, and found ourselves childless." 
 
 Another trial too is at hand. In the autumn of 1854, Sir 
 H. Lawrence is removed from the Punjaub, and in October, 
 charges are trumped up (there is no other word for it, looking 
 to the result) against Hodson, in both his civil and military 
 capacity. A court of inquiry b appointed ; and be/ore that 
 
20 TBUMPED-UP CHARGES. 
 
 court has reported, he is suspended from all civil and military 
 duty. 
 
 Into the details of the charges against him we will not 
 enter, lest we should be tempted into the use of hard words, 
 which his brother has nobly refrained from. All that need be 
 stated is, that the sting lay in the alleged confusion of his regi- 
 mental accounts. The Court of Inquiry appointed Major 
 Taylor to examine these, and report on them. This was in 
 January, 1855 ; in February, 1856, Taylor presented an elab- 
 orate report, wholly exculpating Hodson. Mr. Montgomery, 
 (then Commissioner for the Punjaub, now Chief Commissioner 
 in Oude,) to whom it was submitted, calls it the most satisfac- 
 tory report he ever read, and most triumphant. This report, 
 however, though made public on the spot, had not, even in 
 May, 1857, been communicated to the Government of India ; 
 whether suppressed on purpose, or not, there is no evidence. 
 But when at last fairly brought to their notice by a remon- 
 strance from the accused, the satisfactory nature of the docu- 
 ment may be gathered from the fact that the answer is, " his 
 remonstrance will be placed on record for preservation, not 
 for justification, which it is fully admitted was not required, — 
 no higher testimonials were ever produced." 
 
 It is with the man himself that we are concerned. We 
 have seen him in action, and in prosperity ; how wU he face 
 disgrace and disaster ? — 
 
 " I must endeavor to face the wrong, the grievous, foul wrong, with 
 a constant and unshaken heart, and to endure humiliation and disgrace 
 witli as mucli equanimity as I may ; and with the same soldierlilce 
 fortitude with which I ought to face danger, suffering, and death in 
 the path of duty. . . . Our darling babe was taken from us on the 
 day my public misfortunes began, and death has robbed us of our 
 father before their end. The brain-pressure was almost too much for 
 me. . . I strive to look the worst boldly in the face as I would an 
 enemy in the field, and to do my appointed work resolutely and to the 
 best of my ability, satisfied that there is a. reason for all; and that 
 even irksome duties well done bring their own reward, and that if not, 
 still they are duties. 
 
 " It is pleasant to find that not a man who knows me has any belief 
 that there has been anything wrong. . . Not one of them all (and. 
 
FACING MISFORTUNE. 21 
 
 indeed, I believe I might include my worst foes and accusers in the 
 category) believes that I have committed any more than errors of 
 judgment." 
 
 Thus he writes to brother and sister ; and, for the rest, goes 
 back resolutely to his old regiment, and begins again the com- 
 mon routine of a subaltern's duties, congratulating himself 
 that the colonel wishes to give him the adjutancy, in which 
 post 
 
 " I shall have the opportunity of learning a good deal of work which 
 will be useful to me, and of doing, I hope, a good deal of good amongst 
 the men. It will be the first step up the ladder again, after tumbling 
 to the bottom." 
 
 The colonel gets him to take the office of quartermaster, 
 however, not the adjutancy, the former office " having fallen 
 into great disorder;" and in January, 1857, the honest old 
 officer, of his own accord, writes a letter to the Adjutant- 
 General, requesting him to submit to the Commander-in- 
 Chief " that, his public record and acknowledgment of the 
 essential service Lieutenant Hodson has done the regiment 
 at his special request ; " and urging on his Excellency to 
 find some worthier employment for the said lieutenant. In 
 the same tone writes Brigadier Johnstone, commanding at 
 TJmbala, through whom the colonel's letter had to be foi^ 
 warded ; and who " trusts his Excellency will allow of his 
 submitting it in a more special and marked manner than by 
 merely countersigning ; for," goes on the General, " Lieutenant 
 Hodson has, with patience, perseverance, and zeal, undertaken 
 and carried out the laborious minor duties of the regimental 
 staff, as well as those of a company; and with a diligence, 
 method, and accuracy, such as the best trained regimental 
 officers have never surpassed." 
 
 We sympathize entirely with the editor, when he bursts out, 
 "I know nothing in my brother's whole career more truly 
 admirable, or showing more real heroism, than his conduct at 
 this period, while battling with adverse fates." 
 
 But there was now no need of letters from generals or 
 
22 INTERVIEW WITH GEN. ANSON. 
 
 colonels (however acceptable such testimonies might be in 
 themselves) to restore Hodson to his proper position, for the 
 mutterings of the great eruption are already beginning to be 
 heard, and the ground is heaving under the feet of the 
 English in India. 
 
 *' We are in a state of some anxiety, owing to the spread of a very 
 serious spirit of disaffection among the Sepoy army. It is our great 
 danger in India, and Lord Hardinge's prophecy, that our biggest tight 
 in India would be with our own army, seems not unliliely to be real- 
 ized, and that before long. Native papers, education, and progress, 
 are against keeping 200,000 native mercenaries in hand." 
 
 This is not the exact time a sane Commander-in-Chief, 
 looking about for helpful persons, should choose for letting a 
 certain Lieutenant Hodson, lately under a cloud, but, we hear, 
 a smart officer, and of great knowledge concerning, and 
 influence with natives, out of our reach. So thinks General 
 Anson about the 5th of May, 1857, when Hodson, out of all 
 patience at finding that Taylor's report has never reached the 
 authorities at Calcutta, applies to him for leave to go to Cal- 
 cutta to clear himself. However, by this time the ill-used 
 lieutenant can aflTord to joke about his own misfortunes, and 
 writes, — 
 
 " There were clearly three courses open to me, ' ii la Sir Robert 
 Peel.' 
 
 " 1st. Suicide. 
 
 " 2d. To resign the service in disgust, and join the enemy. 
 
 " 3d. To make the Governor-General eat his words, and apologize. 
 
 "I chose the last. 
 
 " The first was too melodramatic and foreign ; the second would 
 have been a triumph to my foes in the Punjaub ; besides, the enemy 
 might have been beaten ! 
 
 " I have determined, therefore, on a trip to Calcutta." 
 
 Wherefore General Anson has interviews with this out- 
 rageous lieutenant ; is " most polite, even cordial," and "while 
 approving of my idea of going down to Calcutta, and thinking 
 it plucky to undertake a journey of two thousand five hundre<) 
 miles in such weather," thinks " I had better wait till I hear 
 
ASSISTANT QUAETERMASTEK-GENERAL. 23 
 
 again from him, for he will himself write to Lord Canning, 
 and try to get justice done me." 
 
 In six days from this time India is in a blaze. 
 
 With the news of the outbreak come orders to the 1st 
 European Fusileers to move down to Umbala, on the route to 
 Delhi. They march the sixty miles in less than two days, but, 
 on their arrival, find an unsatisfactory state of things : 
 
 " Here," writes Hodson, " alarm is the prevalent feeling, and con- 
 ciliation, of men with arms in their hands and in a state of absolute 
 rebellion, the order of the day. This system, if pursued, is far more 
 dangerous than anything the Sepoys can do to us. I do trust the 
 authorities will act with vigor, else there is no knowing where the 
 affair will end. Oh, for Sir Charles now ! The times are critical, but 
 I have no fear of aught save the alarm and indecision of our rulers." 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief arrives, and now, to Hodson's 
 most naive astonishment, which breaks out in the comicalest 
 way in his letters, he regains all he has ever lost by one leap. 
 
 " JUay ITth. — Yesterday, I was sent for by the Commander-in-Chief, 
 and appointed Assistant Quartermaster-General on his personal staff, 
 to be under the immediate orders of his Excellency, and with com- 
 mand to raise one hundred horse and fifty foot, for service in the Intel- 
 ligence Department, and as personal escort. All this was done, more- 
 over, in a most complimentary way, and it is quite in my line." 
 
 We can see clearly enough, from our own point of view, 
 what has been at work for a lieutenant lately under a cloud. 
 The plot thickens apace. 
 
 But who, at this juncture, will open the road to Meerut, 
 from the general in command of which place we want papers 
 and intelligence ? The following extract from the letter of 
 an oflScer stationed at that place will, perhaps, explain : — 
 
 " When the mutiny broke out, our communications were completely 
 cut off. One night, on outlying picket at Meerut, this subject being 
 discussed, I said, ' Hodson is at Umbala, I know; and I'll bet he will 
 force his way through, and open communications with the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief and ourselves.' At about three that night I heard 
 my advanced sentries firing. I rode off to see what was the matter, 
 and they told me that a party of the enemy's cavalry had approached 
 their post. When day broke, in galloped Hodson. He had left 
 
24 MARCH ON DELHI, 1857. 
 
 Kumal (eevCDty-six miles off) at nine the night before, "with one led 
 horse and an escort of Sikh cavalry, and, as I had anticipated, here he 
 was with despatches for Wilson. How I quizzed him for approaching 
 an armed post at night without knowing the parole. Hodson rode 
 straight to Wilson, had his interview, a bath, breakfast, and two 
 hours' sleep, and then rode back the seventy-six miles, and had to 
 fight his way for about thirty miles of the distance." 
 
 The pace pleased the general, Hodson supposes, for " he 
 ordered me to raise a corps of Irregular Horse, and appointed 
 me Commandant," but " still no tidings from the hills," (where 
 his wife is ; ) " this is a terrible additional pull upon one's 
 nerves at a time like this, and is a phase of war I never 
 calculated on." 
 
 On the 27th of May the march towards Delhi begins, and 
 Hodson accompanies, acting as Assistant Quartermaster-Gen- 
 eral attached to the Commander-in-Chief, " with free access to 
 him at any time, and to other people in authority, which gives 
 me power for good. The Intelligence Department is mine ex- 
 clusively, and I have for this line Sir Henry's old friend, the 
 one-eyed Moulvie, Rujub Alee, so I shall get the best news in 
 the country." He starts, too, happy about his wife from whom 
 he has heard ; the hiU stations all safe, and likely to remain so. 
 
 (Jeneral Anson dies of cholera, and General Barnard suc- 
 ceeds ; still, oddly enough, no change takes place in our lieu- 
 tenant's appointments. And so the little army marches, all too 
 slowly, as the lieutenant thinks and remonstrates, upon Delhi. 
 Other men are answering to the pressure of the times : — 
 
 " Colonel T. Seaton and the other officers have gone to Rohtuck with 
 the 60th Native Infantry, who, I have no doubt, will desert to a man as 
 soon as they get there. It is very plucky of him and the other officers 
 to go; and very hard of the authorities to send them; a half-hearted 
 measure, and very discreditable, in my opinion, to all concerned; 
 affording a painful contrast to Sir John Lawrence's bold and decided 
 conduct in this crisis. This regiment (1st Fusileers) is a credit to any 
 army, and the fellows are in as high spirits and heart, and as plucky 
 and free from croaking as possible, and really do good to the whole 
 force. 
 
 " Alfred Light doing his work manfully and well. . . . Montgomery 
 has come out very, very strong indeed ; but many are beginning to 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 25 
 
 knock up already, and this is but the beginning of this work, I fear; 
 and before this business ends, we who are, thank God, still young and 
 strong, shall alone be left in camp ; all the elderly gentlemen will 
 sink under the fatigue and exposure." 
 
 June 5th. — Head-quarters arrive at Aleepore, nearly at the 
 end of our march, in fact one may say at the end, for on that day 
 I rode right up to the Delhi parade-ground to reconnoitre, and 
 the few sowars whom I met galloped away like mjid at the sight 
 of one white face. " Had I had a hundred Guides with me I 
 would have gone up to the very walls ; " and on June the 8th 
 we occupy our position before Delhi, having driven the enemy 
 out of their position ; not without loss, for Colonel Chester is 
 killed, Alfred Light (who won the admiration of all) wounded. 
 . . . No one else of the staff party killed or wounded ; but 
 our general returns will, I fear, tell a sad tale. I am merci- 
 fully unhurt, and write this line in pencil on the top of a drum 
 to assure you thereof. 
 
 We must break the narrative here for a moment, now that 
 we have got the combatants face to face, in the place of decis- 
 ion, to submit to our readers our own conviction that this same 
 siege of Delhi, beginning on June 9th and ending trium- 
 phantly on September 22d, 1857, is the feat of arms of 
 which England has most cause to be proud. From Cressy to 
 Sebastopol it has never been equalled. A mere handful of 
 Englishmen, for half the time numbering less than three thou- 
 sand, sat down in the open field, in the worst days of an Indian 
 summer, without regular communications, (for the daks were 
 only got carried by bribery, stage by stage,) without proper 
 artillery, and last and worst of all, without able leading, before 
 and took a city larger than Glasgow, garrisoned by an army 
 trained by Englishmen, and numbering at first 20,000, in 
 another ten days 37,000, and at last 75,000 men, supplied with 
 all but exhaustless munitions of war, and in the midst of a na- 
 tion in arms. " I venture to aver," writes Hodson, " that no 
 other nation in the world would liave remained here, or have 
 avoided defeat, had they attempted to do so." We agree with 
 2 
 
26 SIEGE OF DELHI. 
 
 him ; and we do trust that the nation will come to look at the 
 siege of Delhi in the right light, and properly to acknowledge 
 and reward the few who remain of that band of heroes who 
 saved British India. 
 
 Our readers must also remember that we are not giving the 
 story of the siege, but the story of Hodson's part therein, and 
 must therefore not think we are unduly putting him forward to 
 the depreciation of other as glorious names. We would that 
 we had the same means of following the life day by day of 
 Nicholson and Chamberlain, Tombs and Light, Welchnian, 
 Showers, Ilome, Salkeld, or a hundred others etjually gallant. 
 But what we have is Hodson's life compiled from his daily let- 
 ters to his wife. No doubt the work of the regulars was as 
 important, perhaps even more trying, than that of the Captain 
 of Irregular Cavalry, Assistant Quartermaster-General, and 
 head of the Intelligence Department ; but these were his duties, 
 and not the others', and we shall now see how he fulfilled 
 them. 
 
 On the first day of the siege " the (Juides " march into 
 camp : 
 
 " It would have done 3-our heart good to see the welcome they gave 
 me — cheering and shoutinfj and crowding round me like frantic crea- 
 tures. They seized my bridle, dress, hands, and feet, and literally 
 threw themselves down before the horse with the tears streaming 
 down their faces. Many officers who were present hardly knew what 
 to make of it, and thought the creatures were mobbing me; and so 
 they were — but for joy, not for mischief." 
 
 " Burrah Serai-wallah," they shouted, (" groat in battle " in 
 the vulgar tongue,) making the stafi" and others open their eyes, 
 who do not much believe, for their part, in the power of any 
 Englishman really to attach to himself any native rascals. 
 
 Next day, June 10th, the ball opens. The mutineers march 
 out in force and attack our position : 
 
 " I had command of all the troops on our right, tlie gallant Guides 
 among the rest. They follow ed me, with a cheer for their old com- 
 niiinder, and behaved with their usual pluck, and finally we drove 
 the enemy in with loss. . . . Indeed, I did 7Wt expose myself unneces- 
 
PLAN FOR TAKING DELHI. 27 
 
 sariJy ; for having to direct the movements of three or four regiments, 
 I could not be in the front as much as I wished." 
 
 But wives will be anxious, my lieutenant, and making all 
 just allowances, it must be confessed that you give her fair 
 cause : 
 
 " The warmth of the reception again given me by the Guides was 
 quite affecting, and has produced a great sensation in camp, and had 
 a good effect on our native troops, insomuch that they are more will- 
 ing to obey their European officers when they see their own country- 
 men's enthusiasm, 
 
 " My position is Assistant Quartermaster-General on the Command- 
 er-in-Cliief 's personal staff. I am responsible for the Intelligence De- 
 partment, and in the field, or when anything is going on for directing 
 the movements of the troops in action, under the immediate orders of 
 the general." 
 
 Again, on June 12th, we are at it : — 
 
 " A sharp fight for four hours, ending as usual. They have never 
 yet been so punished as to-day. The Guides behaved admirably, so 
 did the Fusileers as usual. I am vexed much at the Lahore Chronicle 
 butter^ and wish people would leave me alone in the newspapers. The 
 best butter I get is the deference and respect I meet with from all 
 whose respect I care for, and the affectionate enthusiasm of the 
 Guides, which increases instead of lessening." 
 
 But this daily repulsing attacks cannot be allowed to go on ; 
 cannot we have something to say to attacking them ? So the 
 general thinks, and sets Greathed, assisted by me and two 
 more engineers, to submit a plan for taking Delhi. 
 
 " We drew up our scheme and gave it to the general, who highly 
 approved, and will, I trust, carry it out; but how times must be 
 changed, when four subalterns are called upon to suggest a means of 
 carrving out so vitally important an enterprise as this, oiie on which 
 the safety of the empire depends ! " 
 
 Simple but " perfectly feasible " plan of four subalterns : 
 blow open gates with powder, and go in with bayonet, and that 
 there may be no mistake about it, I volunteer to lead the assault 
 (wholly unmindful of that assurance given to a loving heart in 
 the hills that I am not exposing myself) and li.x on a. small 
 
28 EARLY TROUBLES. 
 
 building in front of the gate as the rendezvous, which is now 
 called " Hodson's Mosque." 
 
 General approves, and orders assault for the morning of 
 June 13th. Alas for our " perfectly feasible " plan ! 
 
 " We were to have taken Delhi by assault last night, but »t * mis- 
 take of orders ' { ?) as to the right time of bringing the troops to the 
 rendezvous prevented its execution. 1 am much annoyed and disap- 
 pointed at our plan not having been carried out, because I am confi- 
 dent it would have been successful. The rebels were cowed, and 
 perfectly ignorant of any intention of so bold a stroke on our part as 
 an assault; the surprise would have done everything." 
 
 Next day there is another fight. A council of war. Our 
 plan is still approved, but put off from day to day. Aban- 
 doned at last, we are to wait for reinforcements. Poor " feasible 
 plan ! " 
 
 " It was frustrated the first night by the fears and absolute disobe- 
 dience of orders of , the man who first lost Delhi, and has now 
 
 by folly prevented its being recaptured. The general has twice since 
 wished and even ordered it, but has always been thwarted by some 
 
 one or other; latterly by that old woman , who has come here for 
 
 nothing app.irently but as an obstacle; is also a crying evil to 
 
 us. The general knows this and wants to get rid of him, but has not 
 the nerve to supersede him. The whole state of affairs here is bad to 
 a degree." 
 
 And here I am (June 19th), with fights going on every day, 
 knocked down with bronchitis and inflammation of the chest, 
 " really very ill for some hours." " The general nurses me as 
 if I were his son. I woke in .the night and found the kind 
 old man by m}' bedside covering me carefully up from the 
 draught." But on June 20tli (bronchitis notwithstanding) I 
 am up and at work again, for the Sepoys have attacked our 
 rear to-daj', and though beaten as usual, Colonel Becher 
 (Quartermaster-General) is shot through right arm, and Daly 
 (commanding Guides) hit through the shoulder. So the whole 
 work of the Quartermaster-General's office is on me, and the 
 general begs me as a personal favor to take command of 
 Guides in adjlition." I at first refused, but the general was 
 most urgent, putting it on the ground that the service was at 
 
ACCEPTS COMMAND OF "THE GUIDES." 29 
 
 stake, and none was so fit, &c. &c. I do feel that we are 
 bound to do our best just now to put things on a proper foot- 
 ing ; and after consulting Seaton and Norman, I accepted the 
 
 command. How will gnash his teeth to see me leading 
 
 my dear old Guides again in the field. 
 
 And so we fight on, literally day by day, for now "our artil- 
 lery ofiicers themselves say they are outmatched by these 
 rascals in accuracy and rapidity of fire ; and as they have 
 unlimited supplies of guns, &c., they are quite beyond us in 
 many respects. We are, in point of fact, reduced to merely 
 holding our own ground till we get more men." Still we don't 
 feel at all like giving in. 
 
 " The wounded generally are doing well, poor fellows, considering 
 the heat, dirt, and want of any bed but the dry ground. Their pluck 
 is wonderful, and it is not in the field alone that you see what an 
 English soldier is made of. One poor fellow who was smolting his 
 pipe and laughing with the comrade by his side, wns asked, what was 
 the matter with him, and he answered in a lively voice, ' Oh, not 
 much. Sir, only a little knock on the back ; I shall be up and at the 
 rascals again in a day or two.' He had been shot in the spine, and 
 all his lower limbs were paralyzed. He died next day. Colonel 
 Welchman is about again; too soon, I fear, but there is no keeping 
 the brave old man quiet. Poor Peter Brown is very badly wounded, 
 but he is cheerful, and bears up bravely. Jacob has ' come out ' 
 wonderfully. He is cool, active, and bold, keeps his wits about him 
 under fire, and does altogether well. We are fortunate in having him 
 with the force. Good field-officers are very scarce indeed ; I do not 
 wonder at people et a distance bewailing the delay in the taking of 
 Delhi. No one not on the spot can appreciate the difficulties in the 
 way, or the painful truth, that those difficulties increase upon us." 
 
 I am rather out of sorts still myself, also. It is a burden to 
 me to stand or walk, and the excessive heat makes it diflBcult 
 for me to recover from that sharp attack of illness. " The 
 doctors urge me to go away for a little, to get strength — as if 
 I could leave just now, or as if I would if I could." ... So I 
 am in the saddle all day, (June 24th,) though obliged occasion- 
 ally to rest a bit where I can find shelter, and one halt is 
 by Alfred Light. 
 "It does me good to see the ' Light of the ball-room' working away 
 
30 EXPENDITURE OF LIFE. 
 
 at his guns, begrimed with dust and heat, ever cheery and cool, 
 though dead beat from futigue and exposure. How our men fought 
 to-day; liquid fire was no name for the fervent heat; but nothing less 
 than a knock-down blow from sun, sword, or bullet, stops a British 
 soldier." 
 
 My glorious old regiment ! how they have suffered in this 
 short three weeks ; Colonel Welchman badly hit in the arm, 
 Greville down with fever, Wriford with dysentery, Dennis 
 with sunstroke, Brown with wounds. 
 
 "Jacob and the 'boys' have all the work to themselves, and well 
 indeed do the boys behave — with a courage and coolness which 
 would not disgrace veterans. Little Tommy Butler, Owen, Warner, 
 all behave like heroes, albeit with sadly dimuiishing numbers to lead. 
 Neville Chamberlain is come in, who ought to be worth a thousand 
 men to us." 
 
 Those rascals actually came out to-day (June 25th), in their 
 
 red coats and medals ! 
 
 " We are not very well off, quant a la cuisine. I never had so much 
 trouble in getting anything fit to eat, except when I dine with the 
 general. Colonel Seaton lives in my tent, and is a great companion; 
 his joyous disposition is a perpetual rebuke to the croakers." 
 
 And so too was your own, my Lieutenant, for we have for- 
 tunately a letter from a distinguished officer, in which he 
 
 says, — 
 
 " Affairs at times looked very queer, from the frightful expenditure 
 of life. Hodson's face was then like sunshine breaking through the 
 dark clouds of despondency and gloom that would settle down occa- 
 sionally on all but a few brave hearts, England's worthiest sons, who 
 were determined to conquer." 
 
 But this siege does set one reall}' thinking in earnest about 
 several things, and this is the conclusion at which our Lieu- 
 tenant arrives : — 
 
 " There is but one rule of action for a soldier in the field, as for a 
 man at all times, to do that which is best for the public good; to 
 make that your sole aim, resting assured that the result will in the 
 end be best for individual interest also. I am quite indifferent not to 
 see my name appear in newspaper paragraphs and despatches; only 
 
DEATH OF GENERAL BARNARD. 31 
 
 content if I can perform my duty truly and honestly, and too thank- 
 ful to the Almighty if I am daily spared for future labors or future 
 repose." 
 
 But here is another coil this June 27th : — 
 
 " There has been an outcry throughout the camp at 's having 
 
 fled from Bhagput, the bridge which caused me so much hard riding 
 and hard work to get, some time ago." 
 
 He has actually bolted, on a report of mutineers coming, 
 leaving boats, bridge, and all. By this conduct he has lost our 
 communication with Meerut, and that too when our reinforce- 
 ments were actually in sight. The consequence is that I have to 
 go down to Bhagput to recover boats, bridge, &c., and reopen 
 communication, which is done at once and satisfactorily; and 
 by July 2d we are quite comfortable, for I have set myself up 
 with plates, &c., for one rupee, and Colonel Seaton's traps and 
 servants will be here to-day . . . except that we are some- 
 what vexed in our spirits, for 
 
 " has been shelved and allowed to get sick, to save him from 
 
 supersession. I do not like euphuisms. In these days men and 
 things should be called by their right names, that we might know 
 how far either should be trusted. 
 
 " Juhj bth. — General Barnard dies of cholera after a few hours' ill- 
 ness. Personally I am much grieved, for no kinder or more considei^ 
 ate or gentlemanly man ever lived. I am so sorry for his son, a fine 
 brave fellow, whose attention to his father won the love of us all. It 
 was quite beautiful to see them together." 
 
 And so we plunge on day after day, the rain nearly flood- 
 ing us out of camp. Will the ladies in the hills make us some 
 flannel shirts ? 
 
 " The soldiers bear up like men, but the constant state of wet is no 
 small addition to what they have to endure from heat, hard work, and 
 fighting. I know by experience what a comfort a dry flannel shirt 
 is. 
 
 " July 12tfi. — Three hundred of my new regiment arrive ; very fine- 
 looking fellows, most of them. I am getting quite a little army under 
 me, what with the Guides and my own men. Would to Heaven they 
 would give us something more to do than this desultory warfare, 
 
32 BEFORE DELHI. 
 
 which destroys our best men, and brings us no whit nearer Delhi, and 
 removes the end of the campaign to an indefinite period." 
 
 Another fight this 14th July, one of the sharpest we have 
 yet had, and we who have to lead were obliged to expose our- 
 sehes, but really not more than we could help ; and how the 
 papers can have got hold of this wound story I can't think, for 
 I didn't tell it even to you. The facts are thus : — 
 
 "A rascally Pandy made a thrust at my horse, which I parried, 
 when he seized his ' tulwar ' in both hands, bringing it down like a 
 sledge-hammer ; it caught on the iron of my antigropelos legging, 
 which it broke into the skin, cut through the stirrup-leather, and took 
 a slice off my boot and stocking; and yet, wonderful to say, the sword 
 did not penetrate the skin. Both my horse and myself were staggered 
 by the force of the blow, but I recovered myself quickly, and I don't 
 think that Pandy will ever raise his ' tulwar ' again." 
 
 But, to show you that I did no more than was necessary, I 
 must tell you what Chamberlain had to do, who led in another 
 part. 
 
 " Seeing a hesitation among the troops he led, who did not like the 
 look of a wall lined with Pandies, and stopped short, instead of going 
 up to it, he leaped his horse clean over the wall into the midst of 
 them, and dared the men to follow, which they did, but he got a ball 
 in the shoulder." 
 
 I must positively give up the Quartermaster-General's work ; 
 head-quarters' staif seems breaking down altogether. Gen- 
 eral Reed goes to the hills to-night ; Congreve and Curzon 
 have been sent off, too ; Chamberlain and Becher on their 
 backs with wounds. 
 
 " Colonel Young, Norman, and myself, are therefore the only repre- 
 sentatives of the head-quarters' staff, except the doctors and com- 
 missaries. I am wonderfully well, thank God ! and able to get 
 through a9 much work as any man; but commanding two regiments, 
 and being eyes and ears to the whole army, too, is really too much." 
 
 Again, to-day (July 19) a sharp fight ; Pandies in great 
 force — driven pellmell up to the walls ; but how about get- 
 ting back. 
 
 " We were commanded by a fine old gentleman, who might sit for 
 
COLONEL JONES. 33 
 
 a portrait of Falstaff, so fat and jolly is he, Colonel Jones, of 60th 
 Rifles." 
 
 Jolly old Briton, with the clearest possible notion of going 
 on, but as for retiring, little enough idea of that sort of work 
 in Colonel Jones. 
 
 " The instant we began to draw off, they followed us, their immense 
 numbers giving them a great power of annoyance at very slight cost 
 to themselves. The brave old colonel was going to retire ' all of a 
 heap,' infantry, guns, and all in a helpless mass, and we should have 
 suffered cruel loss in those narrow roads, with walls and buildings on 
 both sides. I rode up to him and pointed this out, and in reply re- 
 ceived carte blanche to act as I saw best. This was soon done, with 
 the assistance of Henry Vicars (Adjutant 61st) and Coghill (Adju- 
 tant 2d Bengal European Fusileers), both cool soldiers under fire, 
 though so young, and we got off in good order and with trifling loss, 
 drawing the men back slowly, and in regular order, covered by Dix- 
 on's and Money's guns." 
 
 This colonel, too, with no notion of retreating, is a candid 
 man ; goes straight to the general on his return, and begs to 
 thank our Lieutenant, and to say he hopes for no better aid 
 whenever he has to lead ; unlike some persons under whom 
 we have served. 
 
 " The general has begged me to give up the Guides, and not the 
 quartermaster-general's ofBce. You, at least, will rejoice that it 
 greatly diminishes the risk to life and limb, which, I confess, lately 
 has been excessive in my case." 
 
 News of Wheeler's surrender — of the massacre four days 
 later (July 26), and our blood is running fire. " There will 
 be a day of reckoning for these things, and a fierce one, or I 
 have been a soldier in vain." Another fight on the 24th, and 
 Seaton down with chest-wound, but doing well ; " he is pa- 
 tient and gentle in suffering as a woman, and this helps his 
 recovery wonderfully." . . . Thanks for the flannel waistcoats ; 
 but as for you and Mrs. coming to Ceunp as nurses, no. 
 
 " Unless any unforeseen emergency should arise, I would strongly 
 
 dissuade any lady from coming to camp. They would all very 
 
 speedily become patients in the very hospitals which they came to 
 
 serve, and would so willingly support. The flannel garments are 
 
 2* 
 
34 NANA SAHIB. 
 
 inTaluable, and this is all that can be done for us by female hands nt 
 present. . You say there is a great difference between doing one's 
 duty and running unnecessary risks, and you say truly; the only 
 question, what is one's duty. Now, I might, as I have more than 
 once, see things going wrong at a time and place when I might be 
 merely a spectator, and not ' on duty,' or ordered to be there, and I 
 might feel that by exposing myself to danger for a time 1 might rec- 
 tify matters, and I might therefore think it right to incur that danger ; 
 and yet, if I were to get hit, it would be said * he had no business 
 there ; ' nor should 1, as far as the rules of the service go, though, in 
 my own mind, I should have been satisfied that I was right. These 
 are times when every man should do his best, his utmost, and not say, 
 ' No ; though I see I can do good there, yet, as I have not been or- 
 dered and am not on duty, I will not do it.' This is not my idea of 
 a soldier's duty, and hitherto the results have proved me right." 
 
 August 3d. — Kumor that Sir Henry is desid at Lucknow. 
 The news has quite unnerved me. 5th. — Nana Sahib, the 
 murderer (you remember the man at the artillery review, a 
 " swell " looking native gentleman, who spoke French, and 
 was talking a good deal to Alfred Light), has been beaten by 
 Havelock, they say has drowned himself. 
 
 "I hope it is not true; for it is one of my aims to have the catch- 
 ing of the said Nana myself. The hanging him would be a positive 
 pleasure to me. . . . Nicholson has come on ahead of our reinforce- 
 ments from the Punjaub; a host in himself, if he does not go and get 
 knocked over as Chamberlain did. 
 
 " General Wilson has been down for some days, but is now better, 
 but nervous and over-anxious about trifles. . . Tliese men are, 
 personally, as brave as lions, but they have not big hearts or beads 
 enough for circumstances of serious responsibility. . 
 
 August llth, — Talking of jealousies, one day, under a heavy fire. 
 
 Captain came up to me, and begged me to forget and forgive 
 
 what had passed, and only to remember that we were soldiers fight- 
 ing together in a common cause. As I was the injured party, I could 
 afford to do this. The time and place, as well as his manner, ap- 
 pealed to my better feelings, so I held out my hand at once. Nowa- 
 days, we must stand by and help each other, forget all injuries, and 
 rise superior to them, or God help us! we should be in terrible 
 plight." 
 
 August 12th. — A brilliant affair under Showers; four guns 
 
BOLD STROKE AT KOHTUCK. 35 
 
 taken. Brave young Owen wounded, " riding astride one 
 gun, and a soldier with musket and fixed bayonet riding each 
 horse, the rest cheering like mad things. I was in the thick 
 of it, hy accident." 
 
 By this time, Pandy, having been beaten severely in twenty- 
 three fights, has had nearly enough of it, and is very chary of 
 doing more than firing long shots, so there is no longer so 
 much need of our Lieutenant in camp. He may surely be 
 useful in clearing the neighborhood and restoring British rule 
 and order ; so we find him starting for Rohtuck, on 1 7th Au- 
 gust, with three hundred men and five officers, — all his own 
 men, and first-rate, — and Macdowell, two Goughs, Ward, and 
 Wise. On the 18th the inhabitants send supplies and fair 
 words, but there is a body of a thousand infantry and three 
 hundred horse close by, who must be handled. Accordingly, 
 they are drawn into the open by a feigned retreat, and come 
 on firing and yelling in crowds. 
 
 " Threes about and at them ; " five parties, each headed 
 by an officer, are upon them. " Never was such a scatter ; 
 they fled as if not the Guides and Hodson's Horse, but death 
 and the devil, were at their heels." Only eight of my men 
 touched. This will encourage my new hands, utterly un- 
 trained. 
 
 Another skirmish, and now — 
 
 " In three days we have frightened away and demwalized a force 
 of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, some two thousand strong, beat 
 those who stood or returned to fight us, twice, in spite of numbers, 
 and got fed and furnished forth by the rascally town itself. More- 
 over, we have thoroughly cowed the whole neighborhood, and given 
 them a taste of what more they will get unless they keep quiet in 
 future. . . . This is a terribly egotistical detail, and I am thoroughly 
 ashamed of saying so much of myself; but you insisted on having a 
 full, true, and particular account, so do not think me vainglorious.'- 
 
 Next come orders, but sadly indefinite ones, to look out for 
 and destroy the 10th Light Cavalry, who are out in the Jheend 
 district : — 
 
 " He must either say distinctly ' do this or that,' and I will do it ; 
 
36 IN DELHI. 
 
 or he nrast give me carte blanche to do what he wants in the most 
 practicable way, of wliich I, knowing the country, can best judge. 
 I am not going to fag my njen and liorses to death, and then be told I 
 have exceeded my instructions. He gives me immense credit for 
 what I have done, but ' almost wishes I had not ventured so far.' The 
 old gentleman means well, but does not understand either the country 
 or the position I was in, nor does he appreciate a tenth part of the 
 effects which our bold stroke at Eohtuck, forty-five miles from camp, 
 has produced. 'N'imjmrte,' they will find it out sooner or later. I 
 hear both Chamberlain and Nicholson took my view of the case, and 
 supported me warmly. ... I foresee that I shall remain » subal- 
 tern, and the easy-going majors of brigade, aides-de-camp, and staflT- 
 ofEcers will all get brevets." 
 
 Too true, my Lieutenant. 
 
 ' The Victoria Cross, I confess, is the highest object of ray ambi- 
 tion, and had I been one of Fortune's favorites, I should have had it 
 ere now." 
 
 True again. 
 
 " But, whether a lieutenant or lieutenant-general, I trust I shall con- 
 tinue to do my duty to the best of my judgment and ability, as long 
 as strength and sense are vouchsafed to me." 
 
 We trust, and are on the whole by this time prepared to 
 hazard a prophecy, that you will so continue, whether lieuten- 
 ant or general. 
 
 August i&Oi. — A glorious yictorj- at Nujjufghur, by Nichol- 
 son. I was not there. Ill in camp ; worse luck. . . . Scour- 
 ing the country again till August 30th, when I have to receive 
 an emissary from Delhi to treat. 
 
 Sir Colin Campbell is, they say, at Calcutta, and Mansfield, 
 as chief of the staff; so now we may get some leading. 
 
 We are in Delhi at last (September 15th), but with grievous 
 loss. My dear old regiment (1st Fusileers) suffered out of all 
 proportion. 
 
 " Of the officers engaged only Wriford, Wallace, and I are un- 
 touched. My preservation (I don't like the word escape) was mirac- 
 ulous." . . . 
 
CAPTURE OF THE KING. 37 
 
 Nicholson dangerously hit; ten out of seventeen engineer 
 officers killed or wounded. 
 
 . . . " ' You may count our real ofRcers on your finjjers now.' 
 
 "Sept. 16(/i. — I grieve much for poor .Tacob; we buried him and 
 three sergeants of the regiment, last night; he was a noble soldier. 
 His death has made me captain, the long wi.shed-for goal; but I 
 would rather have served on as a subaltern than gained promotion thus. 
 
 " Sept. l^tk. — We are making slow progress in tlie city. The fact 
 is, the troops are utterly demoralized by hard work and hard drink, I 
 grieve to say. For the first time in my life, I have had to see English 
 soldiers refuse, repeatedly, to follow their officers. Greville, Jacob, 
 Nicholson, and Speke were all sacrificed to this. 
 
 " Sept. 22d. — In the Royal Palace, Delhi. — I was quite unable to 
 write yesterday, having had a hard day's work. I was fortunate 
 enough to capture the King and his favorite wife. To-day, more 
 fortunate still, I have seized and destroyed the King's two sons and a 
 grandson (the famous, or rather infamous, Abu Bukt), the villains 
 who ordered the massacre of our women and children, and stood by 
 and witnessed the foul barbarity ; their bodies are now lying on the 
 spot where those of the unfortunate ladies were exposed. I am very 
 tired, hut very much satisfied with my day's work, and so seem all 
 hands." 
 
 This is Hodson's account of the two most remarkable ex- 
 ploits in even his career. We have no space to give his own 
 full narrative, which he writes later, upon being pressed to do 
 so ; or. the graphic account of Macdowell, his lieutenant, which 
 will be found in the book, and it would be literary murder to 
 mutilate such gems. As to defending the shooting of the two 
 princes, let those do it who feel that a defence is needed, for 
 we believe that no Englishman, worth convincing, now doubts 
 as to the righteousness and policy of the act, and probably the 
 old Radical general-officer and M. P., who thought it his duty 
 to call Hodson hard names at the time, has reconsidered his 
 opinion. Whether he has or not, however, matters little. He 
 who did the deed, and is gone, cared not for hasty or false 
 tonjiues, — why should we ? 
 
 " Strange," he says, " that some of those who are loudest against 
 me for sparing the King, are also crying out at my destroying his sons. 
 ' Quousque tandem? ' I may well exclaim. But, in point of fact, J 
 
38 GOES TO UMBALA. 
 
 am quite indifferent to clamor either way. I made up my mind, at 
 the time, to be abused. 1 was convinced I was right, and when I 
 prepared to run the great physical risk of the attempt, I was equally 
 game for the moral risk of praise or blame. These have not been, 
 and are not times when a man who would serve his country dare hes- 
 itate, as to the personal consequences to himself, of what he thinks his 
 duty." 
 
 " By Jove, Hodson, they ought to make you Commander-in- 
 Chief for this," shouts the enthusiast to whom the prisoners 
 were handed over. " Well, I'm glad you have got him, but I 
 never expected to see either him or you again," says the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and sits down and writes the following des- 
 patch : — 
 
 " The King, who accompanied the troops for some short distance 
 lost night, gave himself up to a party of Irregular Cavalry, whom I 
 sent out in the direction of the fugitives, and he is now a prisoner 
 under a guard of European soldiers." 
 
 Delhi is ours ; but at what a cost in officers and men ! and 
 Nicholson is dead. 
 
 " With the single exception of my ever revered friend, Sir Henry 
 Lawrence, and Colonel Mackeson, I have never met his equal in field 
 or council; he was preeminently our best and bravest, and his loss is 
 not to be atoned for in these days. 
 
 " The troops have behaved with singular moderation towards 
 women and children, considering their provocation. I do not believe, 
 and I have some means of knowing, that a single woman or child has 
 been purposely injured by our troops, and the story on which your 
 righteous indignation is grounded is quite false; the troops have been 
 demoralized by drink, but nothing more." 
 
 In November he gets a few weeks' leave, and is off to 
 Umbala to meet his wife for the last time, safe after all, and no 
 longer a lieutenant under a cloud. What a meeting must that 
 have been. 
 
 With the taking of Delhi our narrative, already too long, 
 must close, though a grand five months of heroic action 
 still remained. Nothing in the book exceeds in interest 
 the ride of ninety-four miles from Seaton's column, with 
 young Macdowell, to carry a despatch to Sir Colin, on De- 
 
ANECDOTES. 39 
 
 cember 30th. The tale of the early morning summons, the 
 rumors of enemies on the road, the suspense as to the Chief's 
 whereabouts, the leaving all escort behind, their flattering and 
 cordial reception by Sir Colin, (who gets them " chops and 
 ale in a quiet friendly way,") the fifty-four miles' ride home, 
 the midnight alarm and escape, and the safe run in, take away 
 our breath. And the finish is inimitable. 
 
 " All Hodson said," writes Macdowell, " when we were at Bewar, 
 and safe, was ' By George ! Mac, I'd give a good deal for a cup of 
 tea,' and immediately went to sleep. He is the coolest hand 1 have 
 ever yet met. We rode ninety-four miles. Hodson rode seventy-two 
 on one horse, the little dun, and I rode Alma seventy-two miles also." 
 
 One more anecdote, however, we cannot resist. On the 
 6lh of January, 1858, Beaton's column joins the Commander- 
 in-Chief; on the 27th, at Shumshabad, poor young Macdowell 
 (whose letters make one love him) is killed, and Hodson badly 
 wounded. They were in advance, as usual, with guns, and 
 had to charge a superior body of cavalry : — 
 
 " But there was nothing for it but fighting, as, had we not attacked 
 them, they would have got in amongst our guns. We were only three 
 officers, and about one hundred and eighty horsemen, — my poor 
 friend and second in command, Macdowell, having received a mortal 
 wound a few minutes Iwfore we charged. It was a terrible melee for 
 some time, and we were most wonderfully preserved. However, we 
 gave them a very proper thrashing, and killed their leaders. Two 
 out of the three of us were wounded, and five of my men killed and 
 eleven wounded, besides eleven horses. My horse had three sabre- 
 cuts, and I got two, which I consider a rather unfair share. The 
 Commander-in-Chief is very well satisfied, 1 hear, with the day's 
 work, and is profusely civil and kind to me." 
 
 In another letter he writes : — 
 
 " They were very superior in number, and individually so as horse- 
 men and swordsmen, but we managed to ' whop ' them all the same, 
 and drive them clean off the field; not, howevei-, until they had made 
 two very pretty dashes at us, which cost us some trouble and very 
 hard fighting. It was the hardest thing of the kind in which I ever 
 was engaged in point of regular ' in fighting,' as they say in the 
 P. R.; only Bell's Life could describe it properly. I got a cut. 
 
40 MORTALLY WOXretDED. 
 
 which laid my thumb open, from a fellow after my sword was through 
 him, and ubout lm!f an liour later this caused me to get a second se- 
 vere cut, which divided the muscles of the right arm, and put me 
 hoi's de combat ; lor my grip on tlie swoid-hiuidle was weakened, and 
 a demon on foot succeeded in striking down my guard, or rather his 
 tulwar glanced off my guard on to my arm. Sly horse, also, got tliree 
 cuts. I have got well most vapiilly, despite an attack of erysipelas, 
 which looked very nasty for three days, and some slight fever; and I 
 have every reason to be thankful." 
 
 He is able, notwithstanding wounds, to accompany the 
 forces, Colonel Burn kindly driving him in his dog-cart. 
 Nothing could exceed Sir Colin's kind attentions. Here is a 
 chief, at last, who can appreciate a certain captain, late lieu- 
 tenant under a cloud. The old chief drinks his health as 
 colonel, and, on Hodson's doubting, says : — 
 
 " / will see that it is all arranged; just make a memorandum of 
 your services during the Punjaub war, and I venture to prophecy that 
 it will not be long before I shake hands with you as Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Hodson, C.B., with a Victoria Cross to boot." 
 
 By the end of February he is well, and in command of his 
 regiment again, and in his last fight saves the life of his adju- 
 tant, Lieut. Gough, by cutting down a rebel trooper in the very 
 act of spearing him. 
 
 And now conies the end. For a week the siege had gone 
 on, and work after work of the enemy had fallen. On the 
 11th of March the Begum's Palace was to be assaulted. Hod- 
 son had orders to move his regiment nearer to the walls, and 
 while choosing a spot for his camp heard firing, rode on, and 
 found his friend Brigadier Napier directing the assault. He 
 joined him, saying, " I am come to take care of you ; you 
 have no business to go to work without me to look after you." 
 Thoy entered the breach together, were separated in the melee, 
 and in a few minutes Hodson was shot through the chest. The 
 next morning the wound was declared to be mortal, and he 
 sent for Napier to give his last instructions. 
 
 " He lay on his bed of mortal agony," says this friend, " and met 
 death with the same calm composure which so much distinguished 
 him on the field of battle. He was quite conscious and peaceful, oc- 
 
DEATH AT LUCKNOW. 41 
 
 casionally uttering a sentence, ' My poor wife,' ' My poor sisters.' ' I 
 should have lilced to have seen the end of the campnign and gone 
 home to the dear ones once more, but it was so ordered.' ' It is liard 
 to leave the world just now, when success is so near, but God's will 
 be done.' ' Bear witness for me that I have tried to do ray duty to 
 man. May God forgive my sins, for Christ's sake.' 'I go to my 
 Father.' 'My love to my wife, — tell her my last thoughts wer» of 
 her.' ' Lord receive my soul.' These were his last words, and with- 
 out a sigh or struggle his pure and noble spirit took its flight." 
 
 " It was so ordered." They were his own words ; and now 
 that the first anguish of his loss is over, will not even those 
 nearest and dearest to him acknowledge " it was ordered for 
 the best ? " For is there not something painful to us in calcu- 
 lating the petty rewards which we can bestow upon a man who 
 has done any work of deliverance for his country ? Do we 
 not almost dread — eagerly as we may desire his return — to 
 hear the vulgar, formal phrjises which are all we can devise to 
 commemorate the toils and su£ferings that we think of with 
 most gratitude and affection ? There is somewhat calming 
 and soothing in the sadness which follows a brave man to his 
 grave in the very place where his work was done, just when it 
 was done. Alas, but it is a bitter lesson to learn, even to us 
 his old schoolfellows, who have never seen him since we parted 
 at his " leaving breakfast." May God make us all braver and 
 truer workers at our own small tasks, and worthy to join him, 
 the hard fighter, the glorious Christian soldier and Englishman, 
 when our time shall come. 
 
 On the next day, March 13th, he was carried to a soldier's 
 grave, in the presence of the head-quarters, staff, and of Sir 
 Colin, his last chief, who writes thus to his widow : — 
 
 " I followed your noble husband to the grave myself, in order to 
 mark, in the most public manner, my regret and esteem for the most 
 brilliant soldier under my command, and one whom I was proud to 
 call my friend." 
 
 What living Englishman can add one iota to such praise 
 from such lips ? The man of whom the greatest of English 
 soldiers could thus speak, needs no mark of official approba- 
 tion, though it is a burning disgrace to the authorities that 
 
42 monum?;nts. 
 
 none such has been given. But the family which mourns its 
 noblest son may be content with the rewards which his gallant 
 life and glorious death have won for him and them, — wc be- 
 lieve that he himself would desire no others. For his brothers- 
 in-arms are erecting a monument to him in Lichfield Cathedral; 
 his schoolfellows are putting up a window to him, and the other 
 Kugbaeans who have fallen with him, in Rugby Chapel ; and 
 the three regiments of Hodson's Horse will hand down his 
 njime on the scene of his work and of his death as long as 
 Englishmen bear rule in India. And long Eifter that rule has 
 ceased, while England can honor brave deeds and be grateful 
 to brave men, the heroes of the Indian mutiny will never be 
 forgotten, and the hearts of our children's children will leap 
 up at the names of Lawrence, Havelock, and Hodson. 
 
 Thomas Hughes. 
 
Ko ttft JMcmors 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR HENRY LAWRENCE, K.C.B. 
 
 THE TKUE CHRISTIAN, THE BRAVE SOLDIER, 
 
 THE FAITHFnL FRIEND, 
 
 THESE EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS OF 
 
 ONE WHOM HE TRAINED 
 
 TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, AND WHO NOW 
 
 RESTS NEAR HIM AT LHCKNOW, 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
 And in their deaths they were not divided. 
 
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 I HAVE now been able to complete the series of 
 extracts from my brother's letters, down to the 
 morning of the fatal 11th March. The greater 
 portion of the Fourth Chapter of Part II. will be 
 found to have been added since the first edition. 
 
 I have to apologize for an inaccuracy in the 
 quotation which I gave from Sir Colin Campbell's 
 letter on the occasion of my brother's death. A 
 correct copy of the letter in full will be found at 
 page 398. I have not found it necessary to make 
 any other corrections of importance. Cases have 
 been pointed out to me, in which officers who 
 took part in different operations described, and 
 did good service, are not mentioned by name ; 
 but I felt that I could not supply any such omis- 
 sions, without taking upon myself a responsibility 
 which I have disclaimed. 
 
 It was very natural that my brother, in writing 
 to his wife, should make especial mention of those 
 in whom she was interested. It is probable, too, 
 that in some cases, subsequent information would 
 have modified views expressed at the moment, but 
 
46 PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 I have adhered to the principle of giving his let- 
 ters as they were written day by day. 
 
 The favorable reception given to the former 
 editions of this work, has quite satisfied me that 
 I was not wrong in supposing that my brother's 
 character only required to be known, in order to 
 be estimated as it deserved, by Englishmen of 
 every class and profession. 
 
 CooKHAM Deake, July, 1669. 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 It can scarcely be needful to make any apology 
 for offering to the public this record of one who 
 has attracted to himself so large a measure of 
 attention and admiration. Many, both in this 
 country and in India, have expressed, and I doubt 
 not many others have felt, a desire to know more 
 of the commander of Hodson's Horse, and captor 
 of the King of Delhi and his sons. 
 
 My original intention was to have compiled 
 from my brother's letters merely an account of the 
 part he bore in the late unhappy "war. I very 
 soon, however, determined to extend the work, so 
 as to embrace the whole of his life in India. 
 
 I felt that the public would naturally inquire 
 by what previous process of training he had ac- 
 quired, not merely his consummate skill in the 
 great game of war, but his experience of Asiatics 
 and marvellous influence over their minds. 
 
 The earlier portions of this book will serve to 
 answer such inquiries ; they will show the gradual 
 development of my brother's character and pow- 
 ers, and that those exploits which astonished the 
 
48 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 world by their skill and daring, were but the natu- 
 ral results of the high idea of the soldier's profes- 
 sion which he proposed to himself, honestly and 
 consistently worked out during ten years of train- 
 ing, in perhaps the finest school that ever existed 
 for soldiers and administrators. They will explain 
 how it was that, in the midst of a struggle for the 
 very existence of our empire, he was able to call 
 into being and bring into the field around Delhi 
 an " invincible and all but ubiquitous " body of 
 cavalry. 
 
 The dragon's teeth which came up armed men, 
 had been sown by him long before in his earlier 
 career in the Punjaub. There, by many a deed of 
 daring and activity, by many a successful strata- 
 gem and midnight surprise, by many a desperate 
 contest, he had taught the Sikhs, first to dread him 
 as an enemy, and then to idolize him as a leader. 
 Already in 1849 the Governor- General had had 
 " frequent occasions of noticing not only his per- 
 sonal gallantry but the activity, energy, and in- 
 telligence with which he discharged whatever du- 
 ties were intrusted to him." Even then the name 
 of Hodson, although unknown in England, except 
 to the few who watched his course with the eyes 
 of affection, was a sound of terror to the Sikhs, and 
 a bugbear to their children. In 1852 he earned 
 this high praise from one best qualified to judge : 
 " Lieutenant Hodson, marvellously attaching the 
 Guides to himself by the ties of mutual honor, 
 mutual daring, and mutual devotion, has on every 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 49 
 
 opportunity proved that the discipline of a public 
 school and subsequent University training are no 
 disqualification for hazardous warfare, or for the 
 difficult task of keeping wild tribes in check." 
 
 The title given to this book will sufficiently in- 
 dicate the principle on which, particularly in the 
 first part, I have made selections from my broth- 
 er's letters. My object has been to show what a 
 soldier's life in India may be, and what in his case 
 it was ; how wide and varied is the field which it 
 opens for the exercise of the highest and noblest 
 qualities, intellectual and moral, of our nature ; 
 and how magnificently he realized and grasped 
 the conception. 
 
 His letters, written in all the freedom of unre- 
 served intercourse, will give a truer notion of his 
 character than the most labored description ; they 
 exhibit the undercurrent of deep feelings that ran 
 through even his most playful moods, the yearn- 
 ing after home that mingled with the dreams of 
 ambition and the thirst for the excitement of war, 
 the almost womanly tenderness that coexisted 
 with the stern determination of the soldier. They 
 show that though his lot was cast in camps, he 
 was not a mere soldier ; though a hanger-on on 
 the outskirts of civilization amidst wild tribes, he 
 had a keen appreciation of the refinement and 
 elegancies of civilized life ; that though in India, 
 he remembered that he was an Englishman ; that 
 though living amongst the heathen, he did not 
 forget that he was a Christian. 
 
 3 
 
60 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 I have not attempted to write a biography, 
 but have allowed my brother to speak for him- 
 self, merely supplying such connecting links as 
 seemed absolutely necessary. 
 
 Indeed, I could do no otherwise ; for unhappily, 
 during the twelve years of his soldier's life, — those 
 years in which his character received its mature 
 development, — I knew him only by his letters, 
 or by the reports of others ; when we parted on 
 board the ship that carried him from England, in 
 1845, we parted to meet no more in this world. 
 My recollections of him, vivid as they are, are not 
 of the leader of men in council and the battle- 
 field, but of the bright and joyous boy, the life 
 of the home circle, the tender and affectionate 
 son, the loving brother, the valued friend, the 
 popular companion. 
 
 Of what he became afterwards my readers will 
 have the same means of judging as myself. He 
 seems to me to have been one of whom not only 
 his family, but his country may well be proud, — 
 a worthy representative of the English name and 
 nation amongst the tribes of India, an imperson- 
 ation of manly straightforwardness, and unhesi- 
 tating daring, and irresistible power. 
 
 I cannot doubt but that the verdict of his 
 countrymen will confirm my judgment. 
 
 Many too, I believe, will agree with me in 
 thinking that these pages prove that the poetry 
 and romance of war are not yet extinct, that even 
 the Enfield rifle has not reduced all men to a 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 51 
 
 dead level, but that there is stiU a place to be 
 found for individual prowess, for the lion heart, 
 and the eagle eye, and the iron will. One seems 
 transported back from the prosaic nineteenth cen- 
 tury to the ages of romance and chivalry, and to 
 catch a glimpse, now of a Paladin of old, now of 
 a knightly hero sans peur et sans reproche ; now, 
 of a northern chieftain, " riding on border foray," 
 now of a captain of free-lances ; yet all dissolving 
 into a Christian soldier of our own day. 
 
 Most striking of aU, it has appeared to me, is 
 the resemblance to the romantic career of that 
 hero of the Spanish baUads, who, by his many 
 deeds of heroic daring, gained for himself the dis- 
 tinguished title of " El de las Hazanas," — " He 
 of the exploits." Those who are acquainted with 
 the chronicles of the Conquest of Granada, will 
 almost fancy in reading these pages that they are 
 hearing again the story of Fernando Perez del 
 Pulgar ; how at one time by a bold dash he rode 
 with a handful of followers across a country 
 swarming with the enemy, and managed to force 
 his way into a beleaguered fortress ; how at another 
 he galloped alone up the streets of Granada, then 
 in possession of the enemy, to the gates of the 
 principal mosque, and nailed a paper to the door 
 with his dagger ; how again he turned the tide of 
 battle by the mere charm of his eagle eye and 
 thrilling voice, inspiring the most timid with a 
 courage equal to his own ; how he made the 
 enemy lay down their arms at his word of com- 
 
52 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 mand ; how the Moorish mothers frightened their 
 children with the sound of his name ; how he 
 was not only the harebrained adventurer, delight- 
 ing in peril and thirsting for the excitement of the 
 fight, but also the courteous gentleman, the ac- 
 complished scholar ; as profound and sagacious in 
 the council as he was reckless in the field, and 
 frequently selected by the wUy Ferdinand to con- 
 duct affairs requiring the greatest prudence and 
 judgment.* 
 
 It may be, however, that affection has biassed 
 my judgment, and that I shall be thought to have 
 formed an exaggerated estimate of the grandeur 
 and nobleness of the subject of this memoir. 
 Even if this be so, I shall not take much to heart 
 the charge of having loved such a brother too 
 w^ell, and I shall console myself with the thought 
 that I have endeavored to do something to perpet- 
 uate his memory. 
 
 If, however, any young soldier be induced, by 
 reading these pages, to take a higher view of his 
 profession, to think of it as one of the noblest 
 fields in which he can serve his God and his 
 country, and enter on it in a spirit of self-sacri- 
 fice, with " duty " as his guiding principle, and a 
 determination never to forget that he is a Chris- 
 tian soldier and an Englishman, I shall be abun- 
 dantly rewarded ; my main object will be attained. 
 CoOKHAM Deane, December, 1858. 
 
 * See Washington Irving, &c. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EAItLT LIFE — RUGBY — TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE — 
 GUERNSEY MILITIA pp.57 — 61 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — CAMPAIGN ON THE SUTLEJ, BATTLES 
 OF MOODKEE, FEKOZESHAH, SOBRAON — OCCUPATION 
 OF LAHORE — 1845-6 62—81 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 FIRST BENGAL EUROPEAN FUSILEERS — CASHMERE WITH 
 SIKH ARMY — LAWRENCE ASYLUM APPOINTMENT 
 
 TO GUIDE CORPS — Tune, 1846 — Oc<. 1847 . 82— 102 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT IN THE PUNJAUB AS SECOND IN COMMAND 
 OP THE CORPS OF GUIDES, AND ALSO AS ASSISTANT 
 TO THE RESIDENT AT LAHORE — ROAD-MAKING AND 
 SURVEYING — CAMPAIGN OF 1848-9 — CAPTURE OF 
 FORTS — BATTLE OF GUJERAT — ANNEXATION OF 
 
 PUNJAUB— OcZ. 1847 — itfarcA, 1849 . . 103 — 141 
 
64 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ANNEXATION OF PDNJAUB — INCREASE OF CORPS OF 
 GUIDES AT PESHAWUR — TRANSFER TO CIVIL DF.PART- 
 MENT AS ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER — April, 1849 
 — April, 1850 . . . pp. 142 — 156 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TOUB IN CASHMERE AND THIBET WITH SIR HENRY LAW- 
 RENCE — TRANSFER TO CIS-SUTLEJ PROVINCES — June, 
 1850 — Oc<. 1851 157 — 177 
 
 CHAPTER "VTI. 
 
 MARRIAGE — COMMAND OF THE GUIDES — PE.SHAWTJR — 
 EUZOFZAI — FRONTIER WARFARE — MURDAN — Jan. 
 1852— iVbt). 1854 178 — 204 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 REVERSES — UNJUST TREATMENT — OFFICIAL ENMITY — 
 LOSS OF COMMAND — SUPPRESSION OF REPORT — 
 RETURN TO REGIMENTAL DUTIES — BETTER PROS- 
 PECTS — MA.JOR TAYLOR'S REPORT — TESTIMONY OF 
 SIR R. NAPIER — MR. MONTGOMERY — ]Vov. 1854 — 
 May, 1857 205 — 226 
 
 PART 11. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF THE DELHI CAMPAIGN, 1857, 1858. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OUTBREAK OF REBELLION — MARCH DOWN TO DELHI 
 FROM DUGSHAI WITH FIRST EUROPEAN BENGAL FU- 
 SILEERS — APPOINTMENT TO INTELLIGENCE DEPART- 
 
CONTENTS. 00 
 
 MENT — RIDE FROM KURNAL TO MEERrT TO OPEN 
 COMMUNICATION — ORDER TO RAISE REGIMENT — 
 DEATH or GENERAL ANSON — May lOtk — June Slk, 
 
 pp. 227 — 245 
 
 CHAPTER n 
 
 SIEGE OP i>Bl,si — June — August .... 246 — 306 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 SIEGE OP DELHI, CONTINUED — ROHTUCK EXPEDITION 
 
 ASSAULT DELHI TAKEN CAPTURE OP KING — 
 
 CAPTURE AND EXECUTION OP SHAHZADAH8 — August 
 nth — Sept. 25th 307 — 359 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OPERATIONS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OP DELHI — SHOW- 
 ERS'S COLUMN — BEATON'S COLUMN — ACTIONS AT 
 GUNGEREE, PUTIALEE, MTNPOOREE — RIDE TO COM- 
 MANDER-IN-CHIEP'S CAMP — JUNCTION OF FORCES — 
 8HUMSHABAD — Oct. Jan 360 — 418 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ALUMBAGH, LUCKNOW — THE BEGUM'S PALACE — BANKS's 
 HOUSE — THE soldier's DEATH — NOTICES — CON- 
 CLUDING REMARKS — Feb. — March 12th . 419 — 444 
 
TWELVE YEARS 
 
 SOLDIER'S LIFE IN INDIA. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE. RUGBT. CAMBRIDGE. GUERNSEY. 
 
 William Stephen Raikes Hodson, third 
 son of Rev. George Hodson, afterwards Arch- 
 deacon of Stafford and Canon of Lichfield, was 
 born at Maisemore Court, near Gloucester, on 
 19th March, 1821. 
 
 As a boy, his affectionate disposition and bright 
 and joyous character endeared him greatly to his 
 family, and made him a general favorite with all 
 around him, old and young, rich and poor. That 
 which characterized him most was his quickness 
 of observation and his interest in everything going 
 on about him. By living with his eyes and ears 
 open, and never suffering anything to escape his 
 notice, he acquired a stock of practical knowledge 
 which he turned to good account in his after-life. 
 With the exception of a short time spent with a 
 
 3* 
 
58 RUGBY. 
 
 private tutor, the Rev. E. Harland, he was edu- 
 cated at home till he went to Rugby, in his fif- 
 teenth year. Home life, however, had not pre- 
 vented him from growing up an active, high- 
 spirited boy, full of life and energy. 
 
 His feats of activity at Rugby still live in the 
 remembrance of his contemporaries and the tradi- 
 tions of the school. The following is an extract 
 from a paper in the Book of Rugby School, pub- 
 lished in 1856: — 
 
 Who does not remember the fair-haired, light-complex- 
 ioned active man whose running feats, whether in the 
 open fields or on the gravel walks of the Close, created 
 such marvel among his contemporaries. He has carried 
 his hare and hounds into his country's service, and as 
 commandant of the gallant corps of Guides, has displayed 
 an activity and courage on the wild frontier of the Pun- 
 jaub, the natural development of his early prowess at 
 Crick and Brownsover. 
 
 A very similar notice appeared in a periodical 
 during the recent campaign : — 
 
 The Rugboeans have had their Crick run. Six miles 
 over heavy country, there and back, to the school gates 
 by the road, is no mean distance to be done in one hour 
 twenty-nine minutes. 
 
 There was a day when the gallant leader of Hodson's 
 Horse always led in this run. We think we see " larky 
 Pritchard," as he was familiarly designated, in his blue 
 cloth jacket, white trousers, his well-known belt, and his 
 " golden hair," going in front with his nice easy stride, (for 
 
EUGBY. 59 
 
 he never had any very great pace, though he could last 
 forever,) and getting back coolly and comfortably to 
 " Eons " when the rear hounds were toiling a mile behind. 
 There never was such a boy to run over, after second 
 lesson, to Dunchurch to see the North Warwickshire, or 
 to give himself a " pipe-opener " to Lutterworth and back 
 between callings over, till the doctor vowed he would 
 injure his heart. How true it is that men who have 
 distinguished themselves most in school sports come out 
 the best at last. 
 
 It was not, however, only in active sports that 
 he showed ability. As head of a house, during 
 the later portion of his Rugby life, he gave equal 
 indications of " administrative capacity." 
 
 His tutor, (the present Bishop of Calcutta,) 
 speaking of his having been transferred to his 
 house, in which there were then no praepostors, 
 " because, from his energetic character and nat- 
 ural ability, he seemed to Dr. Arnold likely to 
 give me efficient help," continues : " He gave 
 abundant proof that Arnold's choice had been a 
 wise one. Though he immediately reestablished 
 the shattered prestige of praepositorial power, he 
 contrived to make himself very popular with 
 various classes of boys. The younger ones 
 found in him an efficient protector against bul- 
 lying. Those of a more literary turn found in 
 him an agreeable and intelligent companion, and 
 were fond of being admitted to sit in his study 
 and talk on matters of intellectual interest. The 
 democrats had got their master, and submitted 
 
60 CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 with a good grace to power which they could not 
 resist, and which was judiciously and moderately 
 exercised. The rSgime was wise, firm, and kind, 
 and the house was happy and prosperous. 
 
 " From aU that I knew of him, both at Rugby 
 and afterwards, I was not surprised at the cour- 
 age and coolness which the Times compared 
 ' to the spirit of a Paladin of old.' I cannot say 
 how much I regret that I shall not be welcomed 
 in India by the first head of my dear old house 
 at Rugby." 
 
 From Rugby my brother went, in October, 
 1840, to Trinity College, Cambridge. Here, as 
 might have been expected from his previous 
 habits, he took an active interest in boating and 
 other athletic amusements, while at the same 
 time he by no means neglected the more serious 
 and intellectual pursuits of the University. He 
 had a very considerable acquaintance with, and 
 taste for, both classical and general literature, 
 but a constitutional tendency to headache very 
 much stood in the way of any close application 
 to books ; and, after he had taken his degree in 
 1844, was one strong reason for his deciding on 
 an active rather than a studious life. The Indian 
 army seemed to offer the best opening, but while 
 waiting for a cadetship, in order to prevent super- 
 annuation he obtained, through the kind intro- 
 duction of Lord de Saumarez, a commission in 
 the Guernsey Militia from Major-General W. 
 Napier, the Lieutenant-Governor, and there com- 
 
GUERNSEY MILITIA. 61 
 
 menced his military life. From the first he felt 
 that the profession of a soldier was one that 
 required to be studied, and took every opportu- 
 nity of mastering its principles. 
 
 On his leaving Guernsey to enter the Hon. 
 East India Company's service, Major-General 
 W. Napier bore this testimony to his character : 
 " I think he will be an acquisition to any service. 
 His education, his ability, his zeal to make him- 
 self acquainted with military matters, gave me 
 the greatest satisfaction during his service with 
 the militia." 
 
CHAPTER n. 
 
 ARRIVAL IN INDIA. CAMPAIGN ON THE SUTLEJ, 
 
 1845-46. 
 
 My brother landed at Calcutta on the 13th of 
 September, 1845, and, with as little delay as pos- 
 sible, proceeded up the country to Agra, where he 
 found a hearty welcome beneath the hospitable 
 roof of the Hon. James Thomason, Lieutenant- 
 Governor of the Northwest Provinces, an old 
 family friend and connection, who, from that time 
 to his death, treated him with as much affection, 
 and took as deep an interest in his career, as if 
 he had been his own son. 
 
 He was appointed to do duty with the 2d 
 Grenadiers, then forming a part of the Governor- 
 General's escort, and, accordingly, left Agra on 
 November 2d. In the following letter he de- 
 scribes his first impressions of camp life in an 
 Indian army. 
 
 After mentioning a delay caused by an attack 
 of fever and dysentery, on his way to the camp, 
 he proceeds : — 
 
 I was able, however, to join the Grenadiers at four 
 o'clock on the morning of the 7th, and share their dusty 
 
CAMP. 63 
 
 inarch of ten miles to the village near which the Govern- 
 or-General's camp was pitched. Since that day we have 
 been denizens of a canvas city of a really astonishing ex- 
 tent, seeing that it is the creation of a few hours, and 
 shifts with its enormous population, some ten or fifteen 
 mUes a day. I wonder more every day at the ease and 
 magnitude of the arrangements, and the varied and inter- 
 esting pictures continually before our eyes. Soon after 
 four A. M., a bugle sounds the reveille, and the whole mass 
 is astir at once. The smoke of the evening fires has by 
 this time blown away, and everything stands out clear 
 and defined in the bright moonlight. The Sepoys, too, 
 bring the straw from their tents, and make fires to warm 
 their black faces on all sides, and the groups of swarthy 
 redcoats stooping over the blaze, with a white background 
 of canvas, and the dark clear sky behind all, produce a 
 most picturesque effect as one turns out into the cold. 
 Then the multitudes of camels, horses, and elephants, in 
 all imaginable groups and positions, — the groans and 
 criea of the former as they stoop and kneel for their bur- 
 dens, the 'neighing of hundreds of horses mingling with 
 the shouts of the innumerable servants and their masters' 
 calls, the bleating of sheep and goats, and louder than all, 
 the shrill screams of the Hindoo women, almost bewilder 
 one's senses as one treads one's way through the canvas 
 streets and squares to the place where the regiment as- 
 sembles outside the camp. 
 
 A second bugle sounds " the assembly." There is a 
 blaze of torches from the Governor's tents ; his palan- 
 quin carriage, drawn by four mules, and escorted by jin- 
 gling troopers, trots to the front. The artillery thunder 
 forth the morning gun, as a signal that the great man is 
 gone, — the guns rattle by, — the cavalry push on after 
 
64 CAMP. 
 
 them, — and then at length our band strikes up. " For- 
 ward" is the word, and the red (and black) column moves 
 along, by this time as completely obscured by the dense 
 clouds of dust as though they were in London during a 
 November fog. We are not expected to remain with our 
 men, but mount at once, and ride in a cluster before the 
 band, or ride on a quarter of a mile or so, in twos and 
 threes, complaining of the laziness of the great man's 
 people, and of the dust and cold, as if we were the most 
 ill-used of her Majesty's subjects. As soon as we're off 
 the ground, and the road pretty clear, I dismount, and 
 walk the first eight miles or so, this being the time to 
 recover one's powers of locomotion. The cold is really 
 very great, especially in the hour before sunrise, — gener- 
 ally about one and a half or two hours after we start. It 
 soon gets warm enough to make one glad to ride again, 
 and by the time the march is over, and the white city is 
 in sight, the heat is very great, though now diminishing 
 daily. It is a sudden change of temperature, truly, — 
 from near freezing at starting, to 90° or 100° at arriving; 
 and it is this, I think, which makes us feel the heat so 
 much in this climate. In the daytime we get on very 
 well ; the heat seldom exceeding 86°, and often not more 
 than 84° and 82° in tents. It sounds hot, but a house or 
 tent at 84° is tolerably endurable, especially if there is a 
 breeze. My tent is twelve feet square inside, and con- 
 tains a low pallet bed, a table, chair, two camel trunks, 
 and brass basin for washing. I will get a sketch of the 
 camp to send you. 
 
 Nov. l^th. — This nomad life is agreeable in many 
 respects, and very healthy, and one sees a great deal 
 of the country, but it destroys time rather, as the 
 march is not over, generally, till half-past nine or ten. 
 
CAMP. 65 
 
 and then breakfast, a most eagerly desired composition, 
 and dressing afterwards, do not leave much of the day 
 before the cool evening comes for exercise, or sight- 
 seeing and dining, and by nine most of us are in bed, 
 or near it. 
 
 Dec. 2. — Umbfila. — We had a short march of six milea 
 into Umbala this morning, and I got leave from our colo- 
 nel to ride on and see the troops assemble to greet the Gov- 
 ernor-General. I never saw so splendid a sight: 12,000 
 of the finest troops were drawn up in one line, and as I 
 rode slowly along the whole front, I had an excellent op- 
 portunity of examining the varied materials of an Indian 
 army. First were the English Horse Artillery ; then the 
 dashing dragoons of the 3d Queen's, most splendidly 
 mounted and appointed ; then came the stern, determined- 
 looking British footmen, side by side with their tall and 
 swarthy brethren from the Ganges and Jumna, — the 
 Hindoo, the Mussulman, and the white man, all obeying 
 the same word, and acknowledging the same common tie ; 
 next to these a large brigade of guns, with a mixture of 
 all colors and creeds ; then more regiments of foot, the 
 whole closed up by the regiments of native cavalry : 
 the quiet-looking and English-dressed Hindoo troopers 
 strangely contrasted with the wild Irregulars in all the fan- 
 ciful Mwuniformity of their native costume ; yet these last 
 are the men / fancy for service. Altogether, it was a 
 most interesting sight, either to the historian or soldier, 
 especially as one remembered that these were no men of 
 parade, but assembled here to be poured across the Sutlej 
 at a word. 
 
 The "pomp and circumstance" of war were 
 soon to be exchanged for its stern realities, as will 
 
66 SUTLEJ CAMPAKiN. 
 
 be seen in the following letter to his father, dated 
 Christmas Day, 1845 : — 
 
 Camp, Soltanpook. 
 I take the first day of rest we have had, to write a few 
 hurried lines to relieve you from any anxiety you may 
 have felt at not hearing from me by the last mails, or 
 from newspaper accounts, which will, I fear, reach you 
 before this letter can. I am most thankful to be able to 
 sit down once more to write to you all but unhai'med. 
 Since I wrote, I have been in four general engagements 
 of the most formidable kind ever known in India. For 
 the first time we had to contend with a brave and uncon- 
 quered people, disciplined, and led on like our own troops 
 by European skill ; and the result, though successful to 
 our arms, has been fearful indeed as to carnage. You will 
 see accounts in the papers giving details more accurate 
 than I can possibly furnish, both of our wonderfully rapid 
 and fatiguing marches, and of the obstinate and bloody 
 resistance we met with. On the 10th of this month, on 
 our usual quiet march to Sirhind with the Governor-Gen- 
 eral's camp, we were surprised by being joined by an ad- 
 ditional regiment, and by an order for all non-soldiers to 
 return to Umbala. From that day we have had the 
 fatigues and exertions of actual warfare in their broadest 
 forms, — marching day and night unprecedented distances, 
 scarcity of sleep and food, and all the varieties of cold 
 and heat. I enjoyed all, and entered into it with great 
 zest, till we came to actual blows, or rather, I am (now) 
 half ashamed to say, till the blows were over, and I saw 
 the horrible scenes which ensue on war. I have had 
 quite enough of such sights now, and hope it may not be 
 my lot to be exposed to them again. Our loss has been 
 most severe, especially in officers. Our Sepoys could not 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 67 
 
 be got to face the tremendous fire of the Sikh artilleiy, 
 and, as usual, the more they quailed, the more the Eng- 
 lish officers exposed themselves in vain efforts to bring 
 them on. The greatest destruction was, however, among 
 the Governor- General's staff, — only two (his own son 
 and Colonel Benson) escaped death or severe wounds. 
 They seemed marked for destruction, and certainly met it 
 most gallantly. On the 15th we joined the Commander- 
 in-Chief, with his troops from Umbala, were put off escort 
 duty, and joined General Gilbert's division. On the 17th 
 we had a march of thirty miles, (in the daytime, too,) 
 with scanty food ; on the 18th, after a fasting march of 
 twenty-five miles, we -were summoned, at half-past four in 
 the afternoon, to battle, which lasted till long after dark. 
 Almost the first shot which greeted our regiment killed 
 the man standing by my side, and instantly afterwards I 
 was staggered by a ball from a frightened Sepoy behind 
 me grazing my cheek and blackening my face with the 
 powder, — so close was it to my head ! We were within 
 twenty, and at times ten, yards of three guns blazing 
 grape into us, and worse than all, the bushes with which 
 the whole ground was covered were filled with marksmen 
 who, unseen by us, could pick us off at pleasure. No 
 efforts could bring the Sepoys forward, or half the loss 
 might have been spared, had they rushed on with the 
 bayonet. We had three oflicers wounded out of our 
 small party, and lost many of the men. We were biv- 
 ouacked on the cold ground that night, and remained un- 
 der arms the whole of the following day. Just as we 
 were going into action, I stumbled upon poor Carey, 
 whom you may remember to have heard of at Price's, at 
 Rugby. On going over the field on the 30th, I found the 
 body actually cut to pieces by the keen swords of the 
 
68 SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 
 
 Sikhs, and but for his clothes could not have recognized 
 him. I had him carried into camp for burial, poor fellow, 
 extremely shocked at the sudden termination of our re- 
 newed acquaintance. On Sunday, the 21st, we marched 
 before daybreak in force to attack the enemy, who had 
 intrenched themselves behind their formidable artillery. 
 The action began in the afternoon, lasted the whole night, 
 and was renewed with daybreak. They returned again 
 to the charge as often as we gained any advantage, and 
 it was evening before they were finally disposed of by 
 a charge of our dragoons, and our ammunition was ex- 
 hausted ! — so near are we in our most triumphant suc- 
 cesses to a destruction as complete ! The results are, I 
 suppose, in a pohtical point of view, immense indeed. 
 We took from them nearly one hundred large guns, and 
 routed their vast army, prepared, had they succeeded in 
 beating us, to. overrun Hindostan ; and it must be owned 
 they had nearly succeeded ! It will scarcely be believed, 
 but they had actually purchased and prepared supplies as 
 far into the interior of our country as Delhi, and unknown 
 to our authorities ; and the whole of Northern India was, 
 as usual, ready to rise upon us at an hour's notice. On 
 the evening of the 21st, as we rushed towards the guns, 
 in the most dense dust and smoke, and under an unprece- 
 dented fire of grape, our Sepoys again gave way and 
 broke. It was a fearful crisis, but the bravery of the 
 English regiments saved us. The Colonel (Hamilton), 
 the greater part of my brother officers, and myself, were 
 left with the colors and about thirty men immediately in 
 front of the batteries ! Our escape was most providen- 
 tial, and is, I trust, thankfully acknowledged by us. A 
 ball (from a shell, I fancy) struck my leg below the 
 knee, but happily spared the bone, and only inflicted a 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 69 
 
 flesh wound. I was also knocked down twice, — once by 
 a shell bursting so close to me as to kill the men behind 
 me, and once by the explosion of a magazine or mine. 
 I am most thankful indeed for my escape from death or 
 maiming. The wound in my leg is nothing, as you may 
 judge when I tell you that I was on foot or horseback 
 the whole of the two following days. Last night we 
 moved on here about five miles from the scene of action, 
 and got some food, and into our beds, after four days and 
 nights on the ground, alternately tried with heat and cold 
 (now most severe at night), and nothing but an occasional 
 mouthful of black native bread. I think, during the four 
 days, all I had to eat would not compose half a home 
 breakfast-loaf, and for a day and night we had not even 
 water ; when we did get water, after driving the enemy 
 from their camp, it was found to have been spoiled with 
 gunpowder ! It was like eating Leamingtop water, but 
 our thirst was too great to stick at trifles. 
 
 Dec. 26<A. — We are resting here comfortably again in 
 our tents, and had a turkey for our Christmas dinner last 
 night. The rest is most grateful. We had only nine 
 hours in bed out of five nights, and then the next four 
 were on the ground. So you see I have come in for the 
 realities of a soldier's life pretty early in my career ; and 
 since I am spared, it is doubtless a great thing for me in 
 every way. There never has been anything like it in 
 India, and it is not often that an action anywhere has 
 lasted thirty-six hours as ours did. It is called a succes- 
 sion of three engagements, but the firing never ceased for 
 a quarter of an hour. Infantry attacking guns was the 
 order of the day, and the loss occasioned by such a des- 
 perate resort was fearful. How different your Christmas 
 week wUl have been from mine ! This time last year I 
 
70 SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 
 
 was quietly staying at Bisham, and now sleeping on the 
 banks of the Sutlej, with a sea of tents around me for 
 miles and miles ! The last few days seem a year, and I 
 can scarcely believe that I have only been four months in 
 India, and only two with my regiment. 
 
 To the Hon. James Thomason, Lieutenant-Governor of 
 Northwest Provinces. 
 
 Camp, Bootawallah, January lid, 1846. 
 There is very much in the state of things in this army 
 both discouraging and deeply disappointing to one who 
 like myself comes into the service with a strong predilec- 
 tion for the profession, and a wish to enter into its duties 
 thoroughly and earnestly. I do not like to enter into par- 
 ticulars, for I hold it very unmilitary, especially in so 
 young a soldier, to attempt to criticize the acts and mo- 
 tives of one's superior, but I may in private again ex- 
 press my extreme disappointment at the state in which 
 the Sepoys are at present, and as far as I can judge from 
 what is said in conversation, there are but few officers in 
 the army who do not deplore it. In discipline and sub- 
 ordination they seem to be lamentably deficient, especially 
 towards the native commissioned and non-commissioned 
 officers. On the march, I have found these last give me 
 more trouble than the men even. My brother officers 
 say that I see an unfavorable specimen in the 2d, as re- 
 gards discipline, owing to their frequent service of late, 
 and the number of recruits ; but I fear the evil is very 
 wide-spread. It may no doubt be traced mainly to the 
 want of European officers. This, however, is an evil not 
 likely to be removed on any large scale. Meantime, un- 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 71 
 
 less some vigorous and radical improvements take place, 
 I think our position will be very uncertain and even 
 alarming in the event of extended hostilities. You must 
 really forgive my speaking so plainly, and writing my 
 own opinions so freely. You encouraged me to do so 
 when I was at Agra, if you remember, and I value the 
 privilege too highly as connected with the greater one of 
 receiving advice and counsel from you, not to exercise it, 
 even at the risk of your thinking me presumptuous and 
 hasty in my opinions. I imagine (in my own defence be 
 it said) that three months of marching and of service give 
 you more insight into the real efficiency or evils of an 
 army, than a much longer time spent in cantonments. It 
 is, of course, a deeply interesting subject to me, and one 
 of deep and anxious reflection. I think the period of 
 " doing duty," which I shall have passed ere joining my 
 future regiment, of the greatest consequence and benefit, 
 as enabling me to form a judgment, to the best of my 
 abilities, of the course to be steered in the difficult voy- 
 age. It seems to me that the great problem to be solved 
 is how " to do your own business," at the same time that 
 " 1/ou study to be quiet," i. e., how unostentatiously to do 
 your appointed duty thoroughly, without being deten'ed 
 by the fear of being thought over-zealous or ostentatious. 
 
 At a later period, when it was proposed to erect 
 a monument in Lichfield Cathedral to the 80th 
 Queen's, he wrote with reference to their conduct 
 in this action : — 
 
 It is, you know, a Staffordshire regiment, having been 
 raised originally by the Marquis of Anglesey, and has 
 still a great number of Staffiardshire men in its ranks. It 
 is a splendid corps, well-behaved in cantonments, and first- 
 
72 SOBRAON. 
 
 rate in action. I lay between them and my present regi- 
 ment (1st E. B. Fusileers) on the night of the 21st of 
 December, at Ferozeshah, when Lord Hardinge called 
 out " 80th ! that gun must be silenced." They jumped 
 up, formed into line, and advanced through the black 
 darkness silently and firmly ; gradually we lost the sound 
 of their tread, and anxiously listened for the slightest inti- 
 mation of their progress, — all was still for five minutes, 
 while they gradually gained the front of the battery whose 
 fire had caused us so much loss. Suddenly we heard a 
 dro{)ping fire, — a blaze of the Sikh cannon followed, 
 then a thrilling cheer from the 80th, accompanied by a 
 rattling and murderous volley as they sprang upon the 
 battery and spiked the monster gun. In a few more 
 minutes they moved back quietly, and lay down as before 
 in the cold sand : but they had left forty-five of their 
 number and two captains to mark the scene of their 
 exploit by their graves. 
 
 Camp, Aemt of the Sutlej, Fdi. 12th, 1846. 
 The fortune of war has again interfered between me 
 and my good intentions of answering all my correspond- 
 ence by this mail. "We have been knocked about for 
 some days so incessantly that there has been no chance 
 of writing anything ; and even this scrawl, I fear, will 
 hardly reach you. You will hear publicly of our great 
 victory of the 10th,* and of the total and final rout of the 
 Sikh force. But first, I must tell you that the 2d Gren- 
 adiers were sent back about a week ago to the villages 
 and posts in our rear, to keep open the communication. 
 * At Sobraon. 
 
SOBRAON. 73 
 
 Not liking the notion of returning to the rear while an 
 enemy was in front, I applied immediately to do duty 
 with another regiment ; my petition was granted ; and I 
 joined the 16th Grenadiers on the evening of the 9th 
 inst. About three in the morning we advanced towards 
 the Sikh intrenchments along the river's bank. Our 
 guns and ammunition had all come up a day or two be- 
 fore, and during the night were placed in position to shell 
 their camp. At daybreak, seventeen heavy mortars and 
 howitzers, rockets, and heavy guns commenced a mag- 
 nificent fire on their position ; at half-past eight the in- 
 fantry advanced, — Sir R. Dick's division on the right, 
 and ours (Gilbert's) in front, — covered by our fire from 
 the batteries. On we went as usual in the teeth of a 
 dreadful fire of guns and musketry, and after a desperate 
 struggle we got within their triple and quadruple intrench- 
 ments ; and then their day of reckoning came indeed. 
 Driven from trench to trench, and surrounded on all 
 sides, they retired, fighting most bravely, to the river, 
 into which they were driven pell-mell, a tremendous fire 
 of musketry pouring on them from our bank, and the 
 Horse Artillery finishing their destruction with grape. 
 The river is literally choked with corpses, and their camp 
 fuU of dead and dying. An intercepted letter of theirs 
 shows that they have lost 20,000 in killed, wounded, and 
 missing ; all their guns remaining in our hands. I had 
 the pleasure myself of spiking two guns which were 
 turned on us. Once more I have escaped, I am thankful 
 to say, unhurt, except that a bullet took a fancy to my 
 little finger and cut the skin oflf the top of it, — a mere pin 
 scratch, though it spoiled a buckskin glove. I am per- 
 fectly well ; we cross in a day or two, but I fancy have 
 done with fighting. 
 
74 SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Lahore, Feb. 27ih, 1846. 
 In honor of your birthday, I suppose, we crossed the 
 Sutlej on the 17th, and are now encamped close to old 
 RuDJeet Singh's capital, without a shot having been fired 
 on this side the river ! The war is over : sixty days 
 have seen the overthrow of the Sikh army, which, when 
 that period commenced, marched from the spot on which 
 the victors are now encamped, with no fewer than 100,000 
 fighting men, now 
 
 A broken and a routed host. 
 
 Their standards gone, their leaders lost. 
 
 So ends the tale of the mightiest army, and the best or- 
 ganized, which India has seen. 
 
 I hope you will have got a scrap I wrote after the fight 
 at Sobraon in hopes it would reach you before the news- 
 papers, as I have no doubt you were all anxious enough 
 on my account, and indeed you well might be, for I can 
 hardly imagine (humanly speaking) how it was possible 
 to go through that storm of bullets and shot unhurt. I 
 have indeed much to be thankful for, and I hope I shall 
 not forget the lesson. A campaign is a wonderful dis- 
 peller of false notions and young imaginations, and seems 
 too stern a hint to be soon forgotten. 
 
 About this time Mr. Thomason says, in a letter 
 to my father : — 
 
 " I hear of William constantly from friends in 
 camp, and am glad to find that he is a great fa- 
 vorite in his regiment. I had some little fear that 
 his great superiority in age and attainments to 
 those of his own standing in the army might 
 
LAHORE. 75 
 
 make him the object of envy and disparagement. 
 I felt that he had no easy task before him, and 
 that it would be diificult to conduct himself with 
 discretion and becoming humility in such a posi- 
 tion. He was quite aware of the difficulty when 
 we talked the matter over at Agra, and I am 
 much pleased to see the success which has at- 
 tended his prudent exertions." 
 
 Lahokb, March ith, 1846. 
 The army breaks up now very soon, but I shall be 
 posted before that. I am trying to get into the 1st Euro- 
 pean regiment, now stationed at TJmb&la, who have just 
 been styled Fusileers for their distinguished service. It 
 is the finest regiment in India, with white faces, too, and 
 a very nice set of oflBcers. I have been brigaded with 
 them all along. 
 
 It seems an age since the campaign opened. One day 
 of fighting such as we have had fastens itself on the 
 memory more than a year of peaceful life. We must 
 really have a natural taste -for fighting highly developed, 
 for I catch myself wishing and " asking for more," and 
 grumbling at the speedy settlement of things, and the 
 prospect of cantonments instead of field service. Is it not 
 marvellous, as if one had not had a surfeit of killing ? 
 But the truth is, thai is not the motive, but a sort of unde- 
 fined ambition I remember bursting into tears in 
 
 sheer rage in the midst of the fight at Sobraon at seeing 
 our soldiers lying killed and wounded. Don't let any of my 
 friends forget me yet. I have found a new one, I think, 
 in Major Lawrence,* the new President at this Court, 
 thanks to the unwearying kindness of Mr. Thomason. 
 * Sir H. Lawrence, K.C. B. 
 
76 SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 
 
 In a letter of the same date to Hon. J. Thoma- 
 son, the following sentence occurs : — 
 
 I must thank you very much for making me known 
 to Major Lawrence, from whom I have received every 
 sort of attention and kindness. I have been very much 
 struck with his superiority, and freedom from diplomatic 
 solemnity and mystery, which is rather affected by the 
 politicals and officials. 
 
 Camp, Nuggor Ghat, ok the Sutlej, 
 March tith, 1846. 
 
 The last returning regiment of the army of the Sutlej 
 crossed that river yesterday morning, and by to-morrow 
 every man will have left its banks, on their way to their 
 stations. It was a most interesting and picturesque sight 
 to see the army filing across the splendid bridge of boats 
 constructed by our engineers at this place. So many of 
 the native corps have been required for the new province 
 and for the Lahore garrison, that we had hardly any but 
 Europeans homeward-bound, which gave an additional 
 and home interest to the passage of the river. Dusty, 
 travel-stained, and tired, but with that cool, firm air of 
 determination which is the most marked characteristic of 
 English soldiers, regiment after regiment passed on, cav- 
 alry, artillery, and infantry in succession, their bands 
 playing quicksteps and national tunes, as each stepped 
 upon the bridge. To you the sight would have been 
 only interesting'; but to those of us who had seen the 
 same corps three months ago, their reduced numbers and 
 fearfully thinned ranks told a sadder tale. Regiments 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 77 
 
 cut down to a third, individual companies to a fourth or 
 fifth of their former strength, gave a silent but eloquent 
 reply to the boastful strains of martial music, and to the 
 stirring influence of the pageant. As each regiment 
 moved up on this side the river, our fine old chief ad- 
 dressed a few words of congratulation and praise to each ; 
 they pushed on to their tents, and a genuine English 
 cheer, caught up and repeated from corps to corps, and a 
 thundering salute from the artillery, proclaimed the final 
 dispersion, and bid an appropriate farewell to the army 
 of the Sutlej. 
 
 Thus ends my first campaign ! To-morrow I march 
 with the 26th Native Infantry to Umbala, where I hope 
 to be transferred to the 1st Europeans. I was posted to 
 the 26th a few days ago, but have not joined yet, as I 
 applied at once for an exchange. Marching and living 
 in tents is becoming unpleasantly hot now, and in another 
 fortnight will be very bad. Yesterday we had a regular 
 storm of wind and dust, filling everything with sand, and 
 darkening the air most effectually; one's mouth, eyes, 
 ears, and pockets get filled with dust ; you sit down to 
 breakfast, and your plate is ready loaded with sand, your 
 coflfee is excellently thickened, and your milk would pass 
 for clotted cream, — but for the color. Then 3'ou get a 
 sheet of paper, and vainly imagine you 're writing, but 
 the sand conceals the last word you write ere the ink can 
 dry, and your pens split of themselves with the dryness 
 of the air. In truth, it is next to impossible to do any- 
 thing while the storm lasts, for one's eyes smart and cry 
 with the plenitude of grit ; and if you talk, you are set 
 coughing with eating small stones ! Yet all this is far 
 better than the damp-exhaling heat of Bengal. Here the 
 ground and air are as dry by night as by day, and no 
 
78 UMBALA. 
 
 exhalation poisons the freshness of any wind that may be 
 stirring. 
 
 Umbala, April ISth, 1846. 
 
 Here I am once more. I am writing in a comfortable 
 house, and actually slept in one last night, — the first time 
 I have eaten or slept under a roof since the 3d of No- 
 vember ; and on the 10th I saw a lady again ! 
 
 I find General Napier has written to his brother about 
 me. Scindh has been given over to the Bombay army, 
 so that Sir Charles can't do anything for me, but still the 
 kindness is all the same. Unfortunately, the note reached 
 me three days after Sir Charles left the army to return 
 to Scindh, or I might have had the pleasure of seeing 
 him and speaking to him. 
 
 Camp, Mokadabad, RoHiLCtJND, April 29th, 1846. 
 It is time indeed to be getting under cover, for we 
 have been in the thick of the " hot winds." This sounds 
 a very mild word, but you should only just try it ! Do 
 you remember ever holding your face over a stove 
 when it was full of fire ? and the rush of hot air which 
 choked you ? Well, something of that sort, of vast 
 volume and momentum, blowing what they call at sea 
 " half a gale of wind," comes quietly up, at first behind 
 a wall of dust, and then with a roar bursts upon you, 
 scorching you, and shrivelling you up as if you were " a 
 rose that was plucked." It feels as if an invisible, color- 
 less flame was playing over your face and limbs, scorch- 
 ing without burning you, and making your skin and hair 
 
CAMP LIFE. 79 
 
 crackle and stiffen until you are covered with "crack- 
 ling " like a hot roast pig. This goes on day after day, 
 from ahout eight or nine o'clock in the morning till sun- 
 set ; and, accompanied with the full power of the blazing 
 sun of India, produces an amount of heat and dryness 
 almost inconceivable. The only resource is to get be- 
 hind a tatta (or wet grass mat) hung up at one of the 
 doors of the tent, and to lie on the ground with as little 
 motion as possible, and endeavor to sleep or read it out. 
 Nunc veterum lihris, nunc somno et inertibus horis, — I 
 cannot go on, for the " sweet forgetfulness " of the past is 
 too much to expect ! To-day we have a new nuisance in 
 the shape of a plague of wood-lice ; our camp is pitched in 
 an old grove of mango-trees, and is literally swarming 
 with huge pale lice, in numbers numberless. You cannot 
 make a step without slaying them, and they have already 
 (noon) covered the whole sides of the tents, chairs, beds, 
 tables, and everything. But one is really getting used to 
 everything, and I hardly expect to be proud again. Our 
 rest has been terribly destroyed by this last month's 
 marching, the usual hour for the reveille being two a. m., 
 and this morning a quarter to one ! ! and no power of 
 quizzing can move our worthy major to let us take it 
 easily, though I don't scruple to tell him that he has sold 
 his shadow or his soul to the evil powers, and forfeited 
 the power of sleep, he is such a restless animal ! We 
 breakfast at seven, or even a quarter past six, constantly, 
 and dine at seven p. m. ; so one has a fair opportunity of 
 practising abstinence, as 1 rigidly abstain from eating in 
 the mean time, or drinking. After all, it is very healthy 
 weather, and I imagine there is less harm done to the 
 health in the hot winds than even in the cold weather. I 
 have never been so well in India. 
 
80 HILL SCENERY. 
 
 Nthek Tal, May Uih, 1846. 
 
 I am writing from the last new Hill Station, discov- 
 ered about three years ago by an adventurous traveller, 
 and now containing forty houses and a bazaar. It is a 
 " tal," or lake, of about a mile in length, lying in a basin 
 of the mountains, about 6,200 feet above the sea ; the 
 hills rising about 1,800 feet on all sides of it, and beauti- 
 fully wooded from their very summits down to the water's 
 brink. How I got here remains to be told. You will 
 remember that I had applied, some time ago, to be trans- 
 ferred to the 1st Bengal European Fusileers. Well, after 
 keeping me in suspense some seven weeks, and sending 
 me the whole way from Lahore to Bareilly in April and 
 May, I received notice that my application was grant- 
 ed, and a civil request to go back again. I had had 
 enough of marching in the plains, and travelling dak 
 would have been madness for me, so I determined on 
 going up into the hills, and making my way across the 
 mountain ranges to Subathoo, where my regiment is 
 stationed. A good-natured civilian at Bareilly offered 
 to take me with him to this place, from whence I could 
 make a good start. We started on the morning of the 
 11th, and drove to Rampoor, stayed there till midnight, 
 and then set off for the hills. By daylight we got to the 
 edge of the " Terai," the far-famed hotbed of fever and 
 tigers, swamps and timber, along the whole ridge of the 
 Himalayas, stretching along the plains at their feet in a 
 belt of about twenty miles from the Indus to the Bur- 
 hampooter. Here we found horses awaiting us, and, 
 mounting at once, started for a ride of twenty-seven 
 miles before breakfast. The first part of the " Terai " is 
 merely a genuine Irish bog, and the oily, watery ditches 
 
HILL SCENERY. 81 
 
 and starved-looking cows shout out " Fever," on all sides 
 of you. The last ten miles, to the foot of the hills, is 
 through a dense mass of ragged trees in all stages of 
 growth and decay, " horrida, inculta, hirsuta,'' — moist, 
 unpleasant, and ugly. At length we reached the first 
 low woody ranges of the hills, and following the dry bed 
 of a mountain stream, by noon we doubled the last ridge, 
 and descended upon, our lake. None of these hills are 
 to be compared in beauty with Scotland and Wales, 
 though very fine, and inexpressibly refreshing, almost 
 affecting, after the dead flat we have lived in so long. 
 As soon as my servants arrive, I start hence by myself, 
 through an unfrequented sea of vast mountains, by way 
 of Landour, for Mussoorie, to Simla and Subathoo. It 
 is about 340 miles, and will take me thirty-two or thirty- 
 four days to accomplish. I mean to take no pony, but 
 trust that my old powers of walking and endurance will 
 revive in the mountain air. 
 
 4* 
 
CHAPTER in. 
 
 FIRST BENGAL EUROPEAN FUSILEERS. LAWEENCE 
 
 ASTLUM. APPOINTMENT TO GUIDE CORPS. 
 
 SuBATHOO, June IGth, 1846. 
 When I wrote to you last from Sireenuggur, I hoped 
 to have been able to reach this place by way of the hills 
 and Simla; but, before I got to Mussoorie, the early 
 setting in of the rains made it so difficult and unpleasant 
 (and likely to be dangerous) to get on, that, after spend- 
 ing two days there, I rode down to Deyra Dhoon, and 
 came dak through Saharunpoor and Umbala to Kalka, 
 at the foot of these hills, where I found my beast await- 
 ing my arrival, and mounted the seventeen miles of hill 
 at once. Here I am, at last, with my own regiment, and 
 with the prospect of being quiet for four months. I am 
 eighth Second Lieutenant ; a distinguished position (is it 
 not ?) at the age of five-and-twenty. The campaign, I 
 am sorry to say, did me no good in the way of promotion, 
 owing to my not having been " posted " permanently 
 before it commenced. 
 
 SuBATHOO, July 3d, 1846. 
 I hope you will congratulate me on getting into my 
 present splendid corps, the 1st Fusileers, now, alas, a 
 
FIRST FUSILEERS. 83 
 
 mere shadow of what it was six months ago. We could 
 only muster 256 men under arms when we were in- 
 spected by Sir R. Gilbert on the 1st; but, then, there 
 was a most picturesque body of convalescents present 
 with their empty sleeves, pale faces, and crutches, but 
 looking proudly conscious of their good conduct, and 
 ready " to do it again.'' We are under much stricter 
 discipline in this corps, both officers and men, and obliged 
 to be orderly and submissive. No bad thing for us either. 
 I hold there is more real liberty in being under a decent 
 restraint than in absolute freedom from any check. I 
 have been much more reconciled to India since I joined 
 this regiment. It is pleasant to have white faces about 
 one, and hear one's own tongue spoken ; and then, besides, 
 there is a home-loving feeling in this corps which I have 
 never met with in India. I believe we would each and 
 all migrate to England, if we had our own way. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 Simla, Sept. 2d, 1846. 
 
 I came here on the 31st for a week, to stay with Major 
 Lawrence (now a Colonel and C. B.), who dined and slept 
 with me at Subathoo last week, and pressed me to come 
 here. I am nothing loth, as I like him amazingly, and 
 value hia friendship very much, and pick up a great deal 
 of information as to India, and Indians black and white. 
 He has kindly offered to take me with him for a tour 
 through JuUunder Doab, and up to Jummoo, Eajah 
 Gholab Singh's camp and court. He says he can give 
 or get me leave to accompany him. My colonel says he 
 won't give any one leave after the 14th of this month. 
 
84 VISIT TO SIMLA. 
 
 Which is right remains to be seen, but I think you may 
 calculate that the " Agent to the Governor-General " 
 will prevail, and I shall see Jummoo. 
 
 I am now wi'iting in his room with the incessant en- 
 trances and exits of natives, — rajahs, princes, vakeels, 
 &c. &c., and officers civil and military ; and the buzz of 
 business and confusion of tongues, black and white, 
 learned and unlearned, on all subjects, political, religious 
 (at this minute they are disputing what " the Church " 
 means), and military, so that I am tolerably puzzled. I 
 have been taking a tremendously long walk this morning 
 about the hills and valleys, with Mr. and Mrs. Currie, 
 and enjoying the beauties of Simla. 
 
 Simla, Sept. lith, 1846. 
 My original week at Simla has grown into a month, 
 thanks to Colonel Lawrence's pressing, and Colonel Or- 
 chard's (my colonel's) kindness. I should hardly like 
 staying so long with Colonel Lawrence, (especially as I 
 live day and night in the same room with him and his 
 papers, regularly camp fashion,) but that he wishes it, 
 and I manage to give him a slight helping hand by mak- 
 ing precis of his letters, and copying confidential papers. 
 He is amazingly kind, and tells me all that is going on, 
 jqitiating me into the mysteries of " political " business, 
 and thus giviijg me more knowledge of things and persons 
 ^ndiat) than J shoulij learr) in a year of ordinary life, aye ! 
 pr in three years either, This is f^ grpat advantage to 
 ray ultimi^te prospects, of course independently of thi" 
 powftr he possesses of giving me a lift in the world when 
 I am of sufficient startling to hold any appointrnent, 
 
COLONEL LAWRENCE. 85 
 
 He makes me work at Hindostanee, and has given me 
 a lesson or two in the use of the theodolite, and other 
 surveying instruments, to the end that I may get em- 
 ployed in the Surveying Department, after two years of 
 which he says " I shall be fit for a Political." 
 
 I have been very fortunate in many ways, more so than 
 I had any right to expect. If I were only nearer to you 
 all, and had any old friends about me, I should have 
 nothing to regret or wish for. It is there that the shoe 
 especially pinches. All minor annoyances are easily got 
 rid of, but one does find a wonderful lack of one's old 
 friends and old associations. Society is very different 
 here from ours at home, and different as it is I have seen 
 very little of it. Nor am I, with my previous habits, age, 
 and education, the person to feel this an indifferent mat- 
 ter ; but on the contrary, all the drawbacks of Indian 
 existence come with redoubled force from the greatness 
 of the contrast. Still I do not let these things annoy me, 
 or weigh down my spirits, but strive, by keeping up Eng- 
 lish habits, tastes, and feelings, and looking forward to a 
 run home, (thus having a motive always in view,) to 
 make the best of everything as it occurs, and to act upon 
 the principle, that mere outward circumstances don't 
 make a man's happiness. If I have one feeling stronger 
 than another, it is contempt for a " regular Indian,'' a man 
 who thinks it fine to adopt a totally different set of habits 
 and morals and fashions, until, in forgetting that he is an 
 Englishman, he usually forgets also that he is a Christian 
 and a gentleman. Such characters are happily rare now, 
 but there are many fragments of it on a small scale, and 
 always must be so, so long as the men who are to support 
 the name and power of England in Asia are sent out 
 here at an age when neither by education nor reflection 
 
86 COLONEL LAWRENCE. 
 
 can they have learnt all or even a fraction of what those 
 words imply. It would be a happy thing for India and 
 for themselves if all came out here at a more advanced 
 age than now, but one alone breaking through the custom 
 in that respect made and provided, must not expect to 
 escape the usual fate, or at least the usual annoyances, 
 of innovators. 
 
 I have enjoyed my visit here very much, and though I 
 have not sought them, have made one or two very pleas- 
 ant acquaintances, or improved them. I have been very 
 Uttle out, and passed my time almost entirely with Colo- 
 nel Lawrence and his family, i. e., his brother and the 
 two sisters-in-law. Things are not looking well on the 
 frontier. Cashmere and the hill country wont submit to 
 Gholab Singh, to whom we gave them over, and have 
 been thrashing his troops and killing his ministers ; and I 
 expect October will see an army assembled to frighten 
 them into submission, or interfere with a strong arm, as 
 the case may be. 
 
 We seem bound to see him established on the throne 
 we carved out for him, and it is our only chance of keep- 
 ing peace and order ; though at the best he is such a 
 villain, and so detested, that I imagine it will be but a 
 sorry state of quietness : — 
 
 The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below. 
 
 In a letter to his wife, written during this visit, 
 Sir H. Lawrence says : — 
 
 Sept. \st. — " I brought up with me from Su- 
 bathoo a fine young fellow, by name Hodson, son 
 of the Archdeacon of Stafford. He is now (10 
 p. M.) sleeping in my little office-room, where I 
 
COLONEL LAWRENCE. 87 
 
 am writing. Thomason recommended him to 
 me, and I have seldom met so promising a young 
 fellow. He left the native branch of the army 
 at the expense of some steps, because he did not 
 like the conduct of the Sepoys. He was for four 
 years with Dr. Arnold, and two in the sixth form 
 under his eye. He speaks most affectionately of 
 him. I will try to get leave for him for a month 
 to accompany me to Lahore and Jummoo in Oc- 
 tober I get a good deal of help from Hod- 
 son, who works willingly and sensibly. Perhaps 
 you may meet the family at Lichfield." 
 
 Lahore, October Ulh, 1846. 
 
 As I hoped when I wrote last, I am again writing 
 from the capital of the " Singhs," but, alas for the " lions," 
 their tails are very much down in the world since this 
 time last year, when the " fierce and formidable army " 
 assembled to invade our tempting provinces. Nearly 
 half the garrison has marched across the Ravee, and 
 not more than 5,000 or 6,000 British troops now hold the 
 far-famed capital of Runjeet Singh. 
 
 You must not be alarmed by the accounts you will see 
 in the papers by this mail of the advance of two forces 
 from Lahore and JuUunder towards Jummoo. They are 
 not to take any active part in the operations of Gholab 
 Singh for the recovery of Cashmere from the rebellious 
 Sheikh Imaumoodeen; our troops are to hold the Ma- 
 haraja's country for him while he advances with his 
 whole disposable force, augmented by a Sikh auxiliary 
 army. 
 
 It is probable that the Sheikh will give in without 
 
88 JOURNEY TO CASHMERE. 
 
 fighting as soon as he hears the preparations made by 
 both powers for his coercion. Indeed, a letter has arrived 
 from Cashmere to say he has given in ; but he is a wily 
 fellow, and I mightily distrust him. I only know if / 
 was in Cashmere with my army at my baeli, / would not 
 give in as long as a man was left to pull a trigger ! The 
 Agent (Colonel Lawrence) and I start to-morrow evening, 
 going seventy miles the first day, and hope to reach 
 Bhimbur, at the foot of the hills, on the 17th, thence to 
 go up and join the Maharaja, and accompany his army to 
 Cashmere. If he fights we shall see the fun ; if not, we 
 are to accompany him and keep him from excesses and 
 injustice in the valley, and return here, I fancy, in about 
 a month or six weeks. Of course, in event of the two 
 armies coming to blows, it will probably be some time 
 longer ere we return. I am delighted at the thoughts of 
 seeing Cashmere, and am gaining great advantage from 
 being with these " politicals " in the way of learning the 
 languages, and method of governing the natives. I have 
 been hard at work day and night for some time now, 
 writing for Colonel Lawrence. I left Subathoo on the 
 1st, and after a ride of some twenty miles through the 
 bills, joined Colonel Lawrence and Mr. Christian, and 
 after a shake-down in a little mud bungalow, and an 
 amusing dinner, (served up in two brass basins, standing 
 on a bed,) and a breakfast to match, we rode down to 
 Roopur, on the Sutlej. Here we took boat, and floated 
 down the river to Ferozepoor, and came across to La- 
 hore during the night in a capital barouche belonging 
 to the Ranee, with relays of horses and an escort of 
 cavalry. 
 
CASHMERE. 89 
 
 Thamna, at the foot of the pass into Cashmere, 
 Oct. 26(/i, 1846. 
 
 Our tent is pitched on the top of a little spur from the 
 mountain side, and beneath us lie, in quaint picturesque 
 confusion, scattered over the valley and the little staircase- 
 like rice-fields, the mingled hosts of Lahore and Jummoo. 
 The spare stalwart Sikh, with his grizzled beard and blue 
 turban of the scantest dimensions, side by side with the 
 huge-limbed Aflfghan, with voluminous headgear and 
 many-colored garments. The proud Brahmin in the 
 same ranks with the fierce " Children of the Faithful ; " 
 the little active Hillman ; the diminutive, sturdy, platter- 
 faced Ghoorka, and the slight-made Hindostanee, col- 
 lected in the same tents, and all alike clothed in a carica- 
 ture of the British uniform. I have been very much 
 interested and amused by this march with a native army, 
 so diflferent from our own proceedings and our own mili- 
 tary power, — albeit the British army will soon be as 
 varied in its composition. 
 
 I have seen a great deal of the native Sirdars or chiefs, 
 especially Tej Singh who commanded the Sikh forces 
 in the war, and of the Maharaja. The former a small, 
 spare little man, marked with the smallpox, and with a 
 thin and scanty beard, but sharp and intelligent, and by 
 his own account a hero. The Maharaja is a fine, tall, 
 portly man, with a splendid expressive face, and most 
 gentlemanly, pleasing manner, and fine-toned voice, — al- 
 together the most pleasing Asiatic I have seen, — to all 
 appearance the gentlest of the gentle, and the most sin- 
 cere and truthful character in the world ; and in his 
 habits he is certainly exemplary ; but he is the cleverest 
 hypocrite in the world ; as sharp and acute as possible, 
 
90 CASHMERE. 
 
 devoured by avarice and ambition, and when roused, hor- 
 ribly cruel. This latter accusation he rebuts, by alleging 
 the necessity of the case and the ferocity of those he has 
 to deal with. To us, however, his fondness for flaying 
 men alive, cutting off their noses and ears and hands, &c, 
 savors rather of the inexcusable. He was accused of 
 having flayed 12,000 men, which he indignantly asserted 
 was a monstrous calumny, as he only skinned three ; 
 afterwards he confessed to three hundred/ Tet he is not 
 a bit worse, and in many ways infinitely better, than most 
 native princes. Lawrence doubts whether one could be 
 found with fewer faults, if placed in similar circumstances. 
 Avitabile, to the disgrace of his European blood, was far 
 more cruel. The stories current in the Punjaub of his 
 abominations are horrible. The costumes of these chiefs 
 would delight you : they never make a mistake in col- 
 ors, and the effect is always good, however bright they 
 may be. This force is (as I told you) moving up to turn 
 the Sheikh Iraaumoodeen, the rebellious vassal of the 
 Lahore Government, out of Cashmere, in virtue of the 
 treaty ceding it to Gholab Singh. Up to yesterday, I 
 expected it would be a fight, but yesterday the Sheikh 
 sent letters to say he was sorry and repentful, and was on 
 his way to tender his submission. So we wait here to 
 receive him. This will not, however, prevent my visit to 
 the valley, as Colonel Lawrence intends to accompany 
 the Maharaja to pacify and take possession. 
 
 It is very cold here, though not much above 5,000 feet 
 above the sea. 
 
CASHMERE. 91 
 
 To his Father. 
 Shdptkn, in Cashhebe, Nim. 6ft, 1846. 
 
 I write a hurried line to announce my safe arrival in 
 the valley. On the 1st instant we got hold of the rebel- 
 lious Sheikh, and sent him down to the plains ; and yes- 
 terday, Colonel Lawrence, Captain Browne, and myself, 
 rode into the valley, amid the acclamations of an admir- 
 ing population — of beggars ! I am writing at sunrise in 
 a little tent, and in spite of two coats and waistcoats, I am 
 nearly " friz." We crossed the Pir Punjal Pass on the 
 4th, 12,000 feet above the sea, with snow all around us, 
 and slept on this side in an old serai ; I say slept, because 
 we went to bed ; but sleeping was out of the question, 
 from the cold and uproar of all our followers and their 
 horses, crowded into a court-yard thirty feet square, horses 
 and men quarrelling and yelling all night long. The 
 view from the top of the Pass was very fine, but the 
 wind far too high to take more than a peep of it without 
 losing one's eyes ; but the road from Thanna to the sum- 
 mit was most lovely the whole way, winding up a glen 
 wooded magnificently, and the rocks towering above us on 
 all sides ; the trees were all in their varied autumn dress, 
 surmounted by forests of pine ; altogether, I never saw 
 so grand a scene. As the Sheikh's submission has cut 
 the Gordian knot of politics here, we shall only stay a 
 few days to see the valley, and install the Maharaja, (who 
 is following us with his force by slow stages,) and then 
 rush back to Lahore and Subathoo. 
 
 This is said to be the largest town but three in the val- 
 ley. It is a poverty-stricken, scattered hamlet of mud 
 houses with wooden roofs, the upper half being generally 
 rough open lattice-work or railing, with alternate supports 
 
92 CASHMKRE. 
 
 of unbaked bricks ; low mud inclosures, and open waste 
 spaces between, dedicated to dogs and dunghills. The 
 whole is thickly grown over with fine apple and walnut 
 trees, the staple fruits (with the grape) of the valley, and 
 the food of the people. They are a poor wretched set, 
 only good for beasts of burden, — and certainly they can 
 carry a vast load, — their dress, both men and women, 
 being a loose, wide-sleeved smock-frock of dirty sackcloth- 
 looking woollen. The men wear a dirty skullcap on 
 their shaven " nobs," and the women a crimson machine, 
 like a flower-pot saucer inverted, from which depends a 
 veil or cloth of the same texture as the frock ; legs and 
 feet clothed in their native dirt. The women are atro- 
 ciously ugly, and screech like the witches in Macbeth, — 
 so much so, that when the Agent asked me to give them 
 a rupee or two, I felt it my duty to refuse, firmly but 
 respectfully, on the ground that it would be encouraging 
 ugliness ! I fancy the climate and the soil are unrivalled, 
 but years of poverty and oppression have reduced to a 
 nation of beggars what ought to be a Paradise. We go 
 hence after breakfast to Islumabad, at the eastern end of 
 the valley ; and spend a day or two in looking about us, 
 and floating down the river to Cashmere itself, by which 
 time our " prince " will have arrived. I am the luckiest 
 dog unhung to have actually got into Cashmere. I fancy 
 lam the first officer of our army who has been here, save 
 the few who have come officially. These delightful breezes 
 are most invigorating. I only wish you could all enjoy 
 these travels with me. I expect to be back at Subathoo 
 by the 1st of December. 
 
 In a letter to my father about this time, Mr. 
 Thomason says: — 
 
LAWRENCE ASYLUM. '.>3 
 
 " I am very glad to observe that such an inti- 
 macy has sprung up between Colonel Lawrence 
 and your William. He could not be under better 
 direction. 
 
 " Colonel Lawrence has evidently taken him 
 entirely into his confidence, which cannot but be 
 of the greatest use to him in his future career. 
 He will have opportunities of observation and 
 instruction now, which very few possess after a 
 long period of service. To be selected, too, as 
 his confidant by a man of Colonel LawTcnce's 
 stamp, is no small feather in the cap of any 
 young man. He stands deservedly high also in 
 the esteem of all who know him ; and if it 
 please God to spare his life and give him health, 
 his prospects are as good as any man's can be in 
 this country." 
 
 Colonel Lawrence having discovered that my 
 brother could work, was by no means disposed to 
 let him remain without full occupation, as his 
 next letter will show : — 
 
 Sdbathoo, April 1st, 1847. 
 
 I am wonderfully well and flourishing, and have lots to 
 do. Lawrence has made me undertake the secretaryship 
 of the new Asylum for European Children, building some 
 ten miles hence, which will give me volumes of corre- 
 spondence, and leagues, nay latitudes of riding. Never- 
 theless, it is well, and it is a good work. The responsi- 
 bility will be great, as a committee of management, on an 
 average three hundred miles apart, are rather nominal in 
 their supervision of things. 
 
94 LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 
 
 SOBATHOO, j^fril lit, 1847. 
 
 If my locomotive instinct has been brought into play 
 in India, as you suggest, my constructive organs are likely 
 to have their share of exercise. I have the entire direc- 
 tion and arrangement of the new Hill Asylum on my 
 hands just now. It is seven miles hence, of mountain 
 roads, and what with going and coming, planning, in- 
 structing, and supervising, my time is pretty well occu- 
 pied, to say nothing of my regiment, and private affairs. 
 Building a house in India is a different affair from one's 
 previous experiences. You begin from the forest and 
 the quarry, have to get lime burnt, trees cut down, bricks 
 made, planks sawn up, the ground got ready, and then 
 watch the work foot by foot, — showing this " nigger " 
 how to lay his bricks, another the proper proportions of a 
 beam, another the construction of a door, and to the sev- 
 eral artisans the mysteries of a screw, a nail, and a hinge. 
 You cannot say to a man, " Make me a wall or a door,'' 
 but you must with your own hands measure out his work, 
 teach him to saw away here, to plane there, or drive such 
 a nail, or insinuate such another suspicion of glue. And 
 when it comes to be considered that this is altogether new 
 work to me, and has to be excuded by cogitation on the 
 spot, so as to give an answer to every inquirer, you may 
 understand the amount of personal exertion and attention 
 required for the work. 
 
 I have the sole direction and control of nearly four 
 hundred and fifty workmen, including paying them, keep- 
 ing accounts, drawing plans, and everything. I have to 
 get earth dug for bricks, see the moulds made and watch 
 the progress of them till the kiln is full, get wood for the 
 kiln, and direct the lighting of the same, and finally pro- 
 
LAW8ENCE ASYLUM. 95 
 
 vide a goat to sacrifice to the demon who is supposed to 
 turn the bricks red ! Then I must get bamboos and 
 grass cut for thatching, and string made for the purpose ; 
 send about the hills for sand for mortar, and limestone to 
 bum, see it mixed and prepared, and then show the nig- 
 gers how to use it. Then the whole of the wood-work must 
 be set out and made under one's own eye, and a lump of 
 iron brought from the mine to be wrought (also under 
 one's direction) into nails and screws, before a single door 
 can be set up ; and when to all this is added the difficulty 
 of getting hands (I mean in the hills), and the bother of 
 watching the idlest and most cunning race on earth, you 
 may suppose my " unpaid magistracy " is no sinecure. I 
 am not exaggerating or indeed telling half the difficulty, 
 for fear you should think the whole a romance. You will 
 naturally ask how I learnt all these trades. I can only 
 say that you can't be more astonished than I am myself, 
 and can only satisfy you by the theory that " necessity is 
 the mother of invention.'' I am seldom able to sit down 
 from sunrise to sunset, when I get a hasty dinner, and 
 am then only too glad to sleep off the effects of the day. 
 How I have escaped fever during the last month I cannot 
 think, as it has been terribly hot in the sun, even in the 
 hUls, and I have lived in the blaze of it pretty constantly. 
 Colonel Lawrence seems determined I shall have noth- 
 ing to stop me, for his invariable reply to every question 
 is, "Act on your own judgment ; " " Do what you think 
 right ; " " I give you carte blanche to act in my name, and 
 draw on my funds," and so forth. 
 
 Are you aware of the nature of the institution ? It 
 was started, in idea, by Colonel Lawrence some two or 
 three years ago, and a sufficient sum of money for a 
 commencement having been raised, he charged me with 
 
96 LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 
 
 the erection of the necessary buildings, and the organiza- 
 tion and setting in motion of the great machine which is 
 to regenerate and save from moral and physical degrada- 
 tion, sickness, and death, the children of the British 
 soldiers serving in India. The object is to teach them 
 all things useful, while you give them the advantage of 
 a healthy climate, removed from the evil influeoce of a 
 barrack-room. The children are to remain in the Asy- 
 lum until their parents return to England, or tiU old 
 enough to join the ranks, or be otherwise provided for. 
 
 Another drag upon my hands is the care of a small 
 European boy, who was lately found up in Cabul, and is 
 supposed to be the son of some soldier of the destroyed 
 army. He has been brought up as a Mussulman, and 
 made to believe his father was such, and is a very bigot. 
 Colonel Lawrence sent him to me from Lahore, but forgot 
 to write about him, so I know no more of him than I have 
 seen in the newspapers, and have no idea what to do with 
 him, or where he. is to go. He is rather a nuisance, and 
 I shall be glad when he goes, as there is little but his odd 
 fate to interest one in him ; and I have considerable 
 doubts as to his genuine origin. He is more like a half- 
 caste than an " European." Our communication is brief, 
 as he speaks but little Hindostanee, and I less Persian. 
 The Asylum is a much more interesting occupation, as, 
 independently of its object, there is a pleasure in covering 
 a fine mountain with buildings of one's own designing. 
 
 A few days later he -writes : — 
 
 My last few days at the Asylum were enlivened by the 
 arrival of Mrs. George Lawrence, whose tent was pitched 
 close to mine, on the hill-top. She is a great acquisition 
 in a forest life, and a very nice person, — the wife of the 
 
LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 97 
 
 Captain Lawrence who was one of the Cabul prisoners. 
 She is to be superintendress until the arrival of the 
 future man from England. I have fourteen little girls to 
 take care of, by the same token, and listen to the grum- 
 blings of their nurses. In short, I don't know myself, 
 and that is the long and short of it I am going to Simla 
 for a day or two, to see Mr. Thomason. 
 
 And again, to his brother : — 
 
 The state of things is so provokingly quiet and placid, 
 that there seems but small chance of our being called upon 
 for another rush across country (called a " forced march "), 
 like the one of December, 1845 ; and one is obliged 
 to take to anything that offers, to avoid the "taedium 
 vitae " which the want of employment engenders in this 
 " lovely country," in those, at least, who have not learnt 
 to exist in the philosophical medium of brandy and 
 cheroots. Did I tell you, by-the-bye, that I abjured 
 tobacco when I lefl England, and that I have never 
 been tempted, by even a night "al fresco,'' to resume the 
 delusive habit ? Nor have I told you (because I de- 
 spaired of your believing it) that I have declined from 
 the paths of virtue in respect to beer also, these two years 
 past, seldom or never even tasting that once idolized 
 stimulant ! ! It has not been caused alone by a love of 
 eccentricity, but by the very sensitive state of my inner 
 man, (achieved in India,) which obliges me to live by 
 rule. This is all very edifying, no doubt, to you ; to me 
 it is especially so, for I believe if I get on well in India, 
 it will be owing, physically speaking, to my digestion. 
 
98 LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 
 
 SuDATiioo, June nth, 1847. 
 
 I am getting on famously at the Asylum just now, and 
 have succeeded in getting the children under cover before 
 the rains. I have narrowly escaped a bad fever through 
 overwork in the sun, but, by taking it in time, I got right 
 again. The weather has since taken a turn, and become 
 much cooler, besides which my principal anxiety is over 
 for the season. I have certainly had a benefit of work, 
 both civil and literary, for the Institution, and since 
 Colonel Lawrence put an advertisement in the papers, 
 desiring all anxious persons to apply to me, I have had 
 enough on my hands. It is all very well, but interferes 
 with my reading no little ; and I am sure to get more 
 kicks than thanks for my pains from an ungrateful and 
 undiscerning pubhc. However, as long as Colonel Law- 
 rence leaves everything so completely in my hand?, and 
 trusts so implicitly to my skill and honesty, it would be a 
 shame not to work " M«-like a nigger." 
 
 It is intended that the children should remain in the 
 Institution until they are eighteen years of age, if their 
 fathers be alive, and until somehow or other provided for, 
 should they be orphans. The majority of the boys will, 
 of course, become soldiers ; but my belief ii^, that having 
 been brought up in the delightful climate of the Hima- 
 laya, they will, after ten or fifteen years, settle down in 
 the various stations and slightly elevated valle3'3 in these 
 hills, as traders and cultivators, and form the nucleus of 
 the first British colony in India. My object i> to give 
 them English habits from the first, which the}' have in 
 most cases to learn, from being brought up by native 
 nurses from infancy. Tiirt of the scheme is to make the 
 Institution support itself, and I am very shortly goiijg to 
 
NEW APPOINTIJEKT. 'J'J 
 
 start a farm-yard. I have already got a fine large garden 
 in full swing ; and here you may see French beans, cab- 
 bages, strawberry plants, and fine potatoes (free from 
 disease). I steadfastly refuse the slightest dash of color 
 in admitting children. People may call this illiberal, if 
 they please ; the answer is obvious. Half-castes stand 
 the climate of the plains too well to need a hill sanito- 
 rium, and by mixing them with English children you 
 corrupt those whom you wish to benefit. The httle boy 
 who was lately redeemed from Cabul, and whom Colonel 
 Lawrence consigned to my care, is the plague of my 
 existence. He has the thoroughly lying, deceitful habits, 
 and all the dirt, of the Affghan races, and not a single 
 point of interest to counterbalance them. 
 
 SuBATHOo, August, 1847. 
 I have some hopes, though but faint ones, of being 
 relieved from the necessity of a move to Cawnpore, 
 [whither his regiment had been ordered,] by obtaining 
 a berth under Colonel Lawrence. I know that he has 
 asked for me, and, I believe, for an appointment which 
 would please me more than any other he could find, as 
 being one of the most confidential nature, and involving 
 constant locomotion, and plenty of work both for head, 
 nerve, and body. But I must not be sanguine, as we 
 have already a large proportion of oflScers away from 
 the regiment, and I am a young soldier, though, alas ! 
 growing grievously old in years. 
 
 The appointment alluded to was to the 
 " Corps of Guides," then recently organized by 
 
100 LETTER FROM COL. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Colonel Lawrence for service in the Punjaub. 
 While this question, however, was still pending, 
 there seemed a prospect of Lieut. Hodson's suc- 
 ceeding to the adjutancy of his regiment, and 
 Colonel Lawrence, as will be seen from the 
 subjoined letter, recommended his accepting it, 
 if offered : — 
 
 " Simla, Sept. lllk. 
 "Mt dear Hodson, — I have spoken to the Gov- 
 ernor-General about you, who at once replied, ' Let him 
 take the adjutancy.' He wishes you well, but is puzzled 
 by the absentee question. We are all, moreover, agreed 
 on the usefulness to yourself of being employed for a 
 time as adjutant to a regiment. There are always slips, 
 but I know of no man of double or treble your standing 
 who has so good a prospect before him. Favor and par- 
 tiality do occasionally give a man a lift, but depend upon 
 it that his is the best chance in the long run who helps 
 himself. So far you have done this manfully, and you 
 have reason to be proud of being selected at one time 
 for three different appointments by three different men.* 
 Don't however, be too proud. Learn your duties thor- 
 oughly. Continue to study two or three hours a day ; 
 not to pass in a hurry, but that you may do so two 
 or three years hence with eclat. Take advantage of 
 Becher's being at Kussowlee to learn something of sur- 
 veying. All knowledge is useful ; but to a soldier, or 
 official of any sort in India, I know no branch of knowl- 
 edge which so well repays the student. 
 
 * At this very juncture, the Adjutant-General of the army had 
 also applied for Lieut. Hodson. 
 
GUIDE CORPS. 101 
 
 " In Oriental phrase, pray consider that much is said in 
 this hurried scrawl, and believe that I shall watch your 
 career with warm interest. 
 
 " I am, very sincerely yours, 
 
 " H. M. Lawrence." 
 
 The expected vacancy, however, did not occur, 
 and Colonel Lawrence accordingly renewed his 
 application for my brother's services in the Pun- 
 jaub, and, as will be seen, with success. In the 
 beginning of October he writes : — 
 
 I have every reason to expect that before many days 
 I shall be gazetted as attached to the Guide Corps. The 
 immediate result of my appointment will be a speedy 
 departure to Lahore with Colonel Lawrence, who returns 
 there to arrange matters before going home. 
 
 And on the 16th : — 
 
 Tou will, I am sure, rejoice with me at my unprece- 
 dented good fortune in being appointed to a responsible 
 and honorable post, almost before, by the rules of the 
 service, I am entitled to take charge of a company of 
 Sepoys. I shall even be better off than I thought ; 
 instead of merely " doing duty " with the Guide Corps, 
 I am to be the second in command. 
 
 The next chapter will show how well Lieut. 
 Hodson justified Colonel Lawrence's selection of 
 him for so responsible a^ommand, one which the 
 course of events made far more important than 
 
102 GUIDE CORPS. 
 
 could then have been foreseen. It was in this 
 that he laid the foundations of his reputation as 
 an "unequalled partisan leader," and acquired his 
 experience of the Sikhs, and extraordinary influ- 
 ence over them. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT IN THE PUNJAUB AS SECOND IN COM- 
 MAND OF THE CORPS OF GUIDES, AND ALSO AS 
 ASSISTANT TO THE RESIDENT AT LAHORE. 
 
 From October, 1847, during the Campaign of 1848-9, to 
 the Annexation of the Punjaub in March, 1849. 
 
 Camp, Kossooe, Nov. 15(A, 1847. 
 I ALMOST forget the many events that have happened 
 since I wrote last. I believe I was " at liome " in my 
 snug little cottage in Subathoo, and now I am in a high 
 queer-looking native house among the ruins of this old 
 stronghold of the Pathans ; with orders " to make a good 
 road from Lahore to the Sutlej, distance forty miles," in 
 as brief a space as possible. On the willing-to-be-gener- 
 ally-useful principle this is all very well, and one gets 
 used to turning one's hand to everything, but certainly 
 (but for " circumstances over which I had no control ") I 
 always labored under the impression that I knew noth- 
 ing at all about the matter. However, Colonel Lawrence 
 walked into my room promiscuously one morning, and 
 said, " Oh, Hodson, we have agreed that you must take 
 in hand the road to Ferozepoor, — you can start in a day 
 or two ; " and here I am. Well, I have galloped across 
 the country hither and thither, and peered into distances 
 with telescopes, and inquired curiously into abstruse (and 
 
104 PUNJAUB. 
 
 obtuse) angles, rattled Gunter's chains, and consulted 
 compasses and theodolites, till I have an idea of a road 
 that will astonish the natives not a little. Last night I 
 was up half the night, looking out for fires which I had 
 ordered to be lighted in sundry places along the line of 
 the Sutlej at a fixed hour, that I might find the nearest 
 point. This morning, I had a grand assembly of village 
 " punches," to discuss with them the propriety of furnish- 
 ing able-bodied men for the work. By a little artful 
 persuasion, I succeeded in raising 700 from a small dis- 
 trict, and am going onwards to hold another such " county 
 meeting" to-morrow. The mode and fashion that has 
 always obtained in public works under native govern- 
 ments, has been to give an order to seize all the inhabi- 
 tants, and make them work, — and not pay them then. 
 These gentry, therefore, have been so bullied by their 
 Sikh masters, that they hardly believe my offers of ready- 
 money payments. My predecessor, an artillery officer, 
 who came here on the same errand, was turned off for 
 resorting to violent measures in his anxiety to get hold 
 of workmen, having hung some of the head men up by 
 the heels to trees till they were convinced. He got no 
 good (nor hands either) by his dodge. So I was sent 
 here on the other persuasion, and you will be glad to 
 hear, for the credit of the family, that I am gammoning 
 the dear old punches most deliciously. They'd give me 
 anything, bless their innocent hearts ! when I get under 
 the village tree with them, or by the village well, and 
 discourse eloquently on the blessing to society of having 
 destroyed the Sikhs, and on the lightness of their land- 
 tax. I hope to be relieved in a month, and go up to 
 Peshawur to join " the Guides," for this is cruelly hard 
 work, and I have had enough for one year of native 
 
ROAD-MAKING. 105 
 
 work-people. Besides, I am not strong yet, and have a 
 hoi-rid cold. I would give anything to be able to sit 
 down and read a book quietly, a luxury I have not en- 
 joyed for many a long day. Colonel Lawrence starts for 
 England on the 30th for two years. I hope you will 
 contrive to see him, and make his acquaintance. Sir F. 
 Currie is to be his successor during his absence. 
 
 Deceviber 1st. 
 I have been at Lahore to receive Colonel Lawrence's 
 parting instructions, and say good-bye to him, poor fellow. 
 He is a genuinely kind-hearted mortal, and has been a 
 brother to me ever since I knew him. I hope to see him 
 back in two years, invigorated and renewed, to carry out 
 the good work which he has so nobly begun. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Camp, Kussook, Dec. l&ih, 1847. 
 Your letter met me on my road two days ago, and 
 emerged from the folds of a Sikh horseman's turban, to 
 my great delight. I got off my horse, and walked along, 
 driving him before me till I had read the packet. You 
 must' not conclude, because I am writing to you a second 
 time from this place, that I have been here ever since I 
 first commenced operations in these parts. I have been 
 twice to Lahore, and several times to various intermedi- 
 ate and more distant places, since then. In short, you 
 may give up all idea of being able to imagine where I 
 may be at any given time. My work has progressed 
 considerably. In three weeks I have collected and got 
 into working order upwards of a thousand most unwilling 
 
 5* 
 
106 PUNJAUB. 
 
 laborers, surveyed and mai-ked out some twenty miles of 
 road through a desert and forest, and made a very large 
 piece of it. I am happj- to say I am to be relieved in a 
 day or two, and sent to survey another district. I have 
 had one or two visitors the last few days, and therefore 
 not been so lonely as usual ; but my time has been even 
 more than ever occupied. My duties are nearly as vari- 
 ous as there are hours in the day ; at one time digging 
 a trench, at another time investigating breaches of the 
 peace. I am a sort of justice of the peace for general 
 purposes, and have to listen to and inquire into complaints, 
 and send cases which I think worthy of it for trial to 
 Lahore. I caught as neat a case of robbing and mui-der 
 the other day as ever graced Stafford Assizes ; to say 
 nothing of endless modes of theft, more or less open, ac- 
 cording to the wealth or power of the stealer. This is 
 the most remarkable scene of ruin I have met with for 
 many a long day ; erst, a nest of the abodes of wealthy 
 Pathan nobles, and now a desert tract, of many miles in 
 extent, covered with ruins, with here and there a dome, 
 or cupola, or minaret, to mark what has once been. 
 
 I am happy to say that I have succeeded in obtaining 
 a respite on Sundays. Hitherto, all the works I have 
 had in hand have gone on the same every day, and con- 
 sequently one's annoyance and responsibility continued 
 equally on Sundays. This is happily put an end to, and 
 I shall have one day's rest a week at least, to say nothing 
 of higher considerations. An order on the subject was 
 issued six months ago, but great difficulties were in the 
 way of its execution. 
 
SURVEYING. 107 
 
 Camp, Deenanuggcr, Jan. IBA, 1848. 
 Here I am off again like a steam-engine, calling at a 
 .«;eries of stations, puffing and panting, hither and thither, 
 never resting, ever starting ; now in a cutting, now in a 
 tunnel ; first in a field, next on a hill : thus passes day 
 after day, week after week, a great deal of work going 
 through one's hands, and yet one can give very little ac- 
 count of one's self at the end of it. At present I am mov- 
 ing rapidly along the banks of a small canal which trav- 
 erses the Doab, between the Ravee and Beas rivers, for 
 purposes of irrigation ; accompanying Major Napier,* 
 to whom the prosecution of all public improvements 
 throughout the Land of the Five Rivers belongs. We 
 (the " Woods and Forests " of the day) have nearly 
 reached the point where the river debouches from the 
 hills, and have put up for the day in a little garden-house 
 of Runjeet Singh's, in the midst of a lovely grove of 
 great extent, through whose dark-green boughs we have 
 a splendid panorama of the snowy range to back our 
 horizon. We have great projects of extending the canal 
 by various branches to feed and fertilize the whole extent 
 of the Dofl.b, which wants nothing but water to make it a 
 garden, so fertile is the soil. We have come along a 
 strip of beautiful country, richly cultivated, lying along 
 the banks of this life-giving little watercourse, and the 
 weather is perfect, so I am as happy as mere externals 
 can make one. Certainly we whose lot has fallen on this 
 side of India, are much to be envied. Here, all day 
 long, one rides about, clothed as warmly, and. even more 
 so, than in England at this season, enjoying the bright 
 clear sunshine, and never troubled with thinking of the 
 « Now Sir Robert Napier, K. C- B, 
 
108 PUNJAUB. 
 
 sun ; whilst at Calcutta they are running into their houses 
 at nine o'clock to avoid the heat of the day ! I imagine 
 two years in Calcutta would be more wearing than ten up 
 here ; by the same token, I have achieved the respecta- 
 ble weight of eleven stone ten pounds, being an increase 
 of seventeen pounds since July. May my shadow never 
 be Ics. ! 
 
 I live from the arrival of one mail in expectation of 
 the next. I had meant to have written a long series of 
 despatches for this opportunity, and have asked you to do 
 some commissions for me, but I must postpone it now to 
 another time, as Major Napier has lots of work for 
 me. I want a pair of thick blankets ; mine were 
 plundered at Ferozeshah, and I have always mourned 
 over them since, when cold nights and long marches 
 come together. In these far countries it is next to im- 
 possible to get anything decent. 
 
 Camp, Raja Ke Bagh, Jan. 29(A, 1848. 
 
 For some days I was staying in, and intend returning 
 again to, a fine picturesque old castle or fort built by the 
 Emperor Shahjehan. Its lofty walls, with their turrets 
 and battlements, inclose a quadrangle of the size of the 
 great court of Trinity, while from the centre rises a dark 
 mass of buildings three stories high, forming the keep ; 
 presenting externally four blank walls pierced with loop- 
 holes, but within, arches and pillars and galleries, with an 
 open space- in the centre, in which they all face. The 
 summit rises sixty-four feet, which, in addition to the 
 great elevation of the mound on which the castle stands, 
 gives a noble view of mountain, river, and plain, covered 
 
SURVEYING. 109 
 
 with the finest timber and green with young corn ; the 
 whole backed by range on range, peak after peak, of daz- 
 zling snow. Another, nearly siniiliir, lie-i about ten miles 
 to the north, and I am now " pitched " at the foot of a 
 third to the west ; all monuments of the taste and gran- 
 deur of the Mogul Emperors. That Groth, Runjeet Singh, 
 and his followers have as much to answer for in their way, 
 as Cromwell and his crop-eared scoundrels in England 
 and Ireland. They seem only to have conquered to de- 
 stroy, — every public work, every castle, road, serai, or 
 avenue, has been destroyed ; the finest mosques turned 
 into powder magazines and stables, the gardens into can- 
 tonments, and the fields into deserts. I had a pretty 
 specimen the other day of the way in which things have 
 been managed here. I was desired to examine into, and 
 report on, the accounts of revenue collected hitherto in 
 180 villages along the " Shah Nahr," or Royal Canal. 
 By a convenient mixture of coaxing and threats, compli- 
 ment and invective, a return was at last effected, by which 
 it appeared that in ordinary cases about one half the rev- 
 enue reached the treasury, in some one third, and in one 
 district nothing ! To my great amusement, when I came 
 to this point, the gallant collector (a long-bearded old 
 Sikh) quietly remarked, — " Yes, Sahib, this was indeed 
 a great place for us entirely." I said, " Yes, you villain, 
 you gentry grew fat on robbing your master." " Don't 
 call it robbing," he said ; '• I assure you I wouldn't be 
 dishonest for the world. I never took more than my pred- 
 ecessors did before me." About the most naive defini- 
 tion of honesty I have had the luck to meet with. I 
 fancy our visit to these nooks and corners of the Punjaub 
 has added some 50,000/. a year to the revenue. My 
 present role is to survey a part of the country lying along 
 
110 PUNJAUB. 
 
 the left bank of the Ravee and below the hills, and I am 
 daily and all day at work with compasses and chain, pen 
 and pencil, following streams, diving into valleys, burrow- 
 ing into hills, to complete my work. I need hardly 
 remark, that having never attempted anything of the kind 
 hitherto, it is bothering at first. But one is compelled to 
 be patient under this sort of insult, and I should not be 
 surprised any day to be told to build a ship, compose a 
 code of laws, or hold assizes ; — in fact, 'tis the way in In- 
 dia ; every one has to teach himself his work, and do 
 it at the same timp ; if I go on learning new trades as 
 fast during the remainder of my career as I have done at 
 its commencement, I shall have to retire as a Jacksonian 
 professor at least, when " my dog has had his day." 
 Well ! I have fairly beaten the cold this time, — I turned 
 back one side of the tent, and had a big fire lighted out- 
 side, protected from draughts by a canvas screen, and the 
 whole tent is now in a jolly glow ; a gypsy light reflected 
 on the trees around, and on the two tall picturesque Aff- 
 ghans who, seated crosa-legged on each side of the fire, 
 either replenish it with sticks, fan it into a flame, or watch 
 my pen with the large, black, inquisitive eye of a dog 
 looking out for a crust. 
 
 They make much better servants for wandering folks 
 like myself than the Hindostanee servant-tribe, have 
 fewer or no prejudices, (save against clean water,) and 
 trudge along the livelong day as merrily as if life was a 
 joke to them, instead of the dull heavy reality it is.* 
 
 * Lieutenant (now Col.) Herbert Edwardes wrote as follows to his 
 family in England: — 
 
 " Young Hodson has been appointed to do duty with our Punjaub 
 Guide Corps, commanded by Lieutenant Lumsden. The duties of a 
 Commandant or Adjutant of Guides are at once important and delight- 
 
GUIDE CORPS. in 
 
 Feb. 27ih, 1848. 
 I really have very little to tell you of my new Guide 
 Corps duties from the somewhat strange fact that I have 
 never yet actually entered upon them ; this will soon 
 come to an end, however, as I have directions to proceed 
 to Peshawur as soon as the survey I have been at work 
 on is completed. The grand object of the corps is to train 
 a body of men in peace to be eflScient in war ; to be not 
 only acquainted with localities, roads, rivers, hills, ferries, 
 and passes, but have a good idea of the produce and 
 supplies available in any part of the country ; to give 
 accurate information, not running open-mouthed to say 
 that 10,000 horsemen and a thousand guns are coming, 
 (in true native style,) but to stop to see whether it may 
 not be really only a common cart and a few wild horse- 
 men who are kicking up all the dust ; to call twenty-five 
 by its right name, and not saj fifty for short, as most na- 
 tives do. This of course wants a great deal of careful 
 instruction and attention. Beyond this, the officers should 
 give a tolerably correct sketch and report of any country 
 through which they may pass, be au fait at routes and 
 means of feeding troops, and above all (and here you 
 come close upon practical duties) keep an eye on the 
 doings " of the neighbors " and the state of the country, 
 .so as to be able to give such information as may lead to 
 any outbreak being nipped in the bud. This is the theory, 
 
 ful. It is his duty in time of peace to fit himself for leading armies 
 daring war. This necessitates his being constantly on the move, and 
 making himself and his men acquainted with the country in every 
 quarter. In short, it is a roving commission, and to a man of spirit 
 and ability one of the finest appointments imaginable. 
 
 " I think Hodson will do it justice. He is one of the finest young 
 fellows I know, and a thorough soldier in his heart." 
 
112 FLOOD. 
 
 what the practice may be I'll tell you some day or other 
 when I know. Hitherto I have been making myself gen- 
 erally useful under the chief engineer, and learning to 
 survey. One has to turn one's hand to everything if one 
 wishes to get on. 
 
 Meanwhile, I am busily collecting every species of 
 information about the people and the land they live in. 
 Hard work and fatigue, of course, but a splendid opening 
 and opportunity for making one's self known and neces- 
 sary. 
 
 Deenakuggur, March UOi, 1848. 
 The night your letter reached me, Napier (our chief 
 engineer) and I were encamped on a spur of grass land 
 separating two streams of the river " Chukkir," and had 
 been so for some days. That evening it began to rain, 
 (if a sluice of water, apparently struck down from the 
 heavens by a flood of the fiercest lightning, can be called 
 so,) and for thirty-six hours the torrent descended with- 
 out intermission, as only Asiatic storms can descend. At 
 length a pause ensued, and the sky was visible, and we 
 emerged from our sodden tents only to be threatened 
 with water in a worse form. The hills, valleys, and 
 mountains began to send down to us what they had so 
 plentifully received from above, and the hitherto quiet 
 stream, whose wide stony channel surrounded us, was in 
 a single hour a powerful torrent, tearing over the country 
 as if to prove what it could do. By one of the singular 
 freaks common to all tropical rivers, it dammed up one 
 of its own widest outlets by the quantity of stones which 
 it brought along with it, and came tearing down the one 
 
ROBBER-HUNT. 113 
 
 nearest to us. Across this, not a hundred yards from 
 our tent?, we had just built a powerful breakwater some 
 sixteen feet wide, but the water quietly walked over, 
 under, and round it ; roared, groaned, stormed, and 
 swelled angrily for two hours, and our breakwater was a 
 " thing of history ; " meantime, we were gradually get- 
 ting more and more surrounded with water, it rose and 
 rose until only four inches were wanting to set us well 
 afloat. The pegs of my tent-ropes were undermined, 
 and a notice to quit was as plainly written on the face of 
 the water as ever on a legal process. There was but 
 one way of escape, so mustering the whole of a neigh- 
 boring village, we loaded all our valuables and movables 
 on their backs, and made a dash at the hamlet. Once 
 having succeeded in turning us out, the valiant Chukkir 
 was content, and we slept in our tents as usual, but not 
 without, as it turned out, considerable risk of finding 
 ourselves landed in some unknown field on waking. 
 
 When this flood subsided, it appeared that the scene 
 of our unfortunate dam had become the deepest part of 
 the channel, and the old course choked with stones and 
 bowlders which you and I couldn't lift in a week of 
 Sundays. Is not this an incident? 
 
 Since I wrote last, in consequence of representations 
 I sent to head-quarters as to the amount of plundering 
 going on, a large party of horse, with one of the princi- 
 pal chiefs, was sent out here, with directions to act on the 
 information I gave them. We have, accordingly, had a 
 robber-hunt on a large and tolerably successful scale. 
 Numbers have been caught. One shot pour encourager 
 ks autres, and we have traces of others, so that my quiet 
 practice (originally for my own amusement and informa- 
 tion) has been very useful to the State. I found out the 
 
114 PUN.JAUB. 
 
 greatest part of it by sending clever fellows disguised as 
 "fequeers" (you know what tliey are, I think; — relig- 
 ious beggars) to the different villages to talk to the 
 people and learn their doings. Some of the stories of 
 Sikh violence, cruelty, and treachery which I have picked 
 up are almost beyond belief. The indifference of these 
 people to human life is something appalling. I could 
 hardly get them to give a thought or attempt an inquiry 
 as to the identity of a man whom I found dead, evidently 
 by violence, by the roadside yesterday morning ; and 
 they were horrified at the thought of tying up or confin- 
 ing a sacred ox, who had gored his thirteenth man the 
 evening before last ! They told me plainly that no one 
 had a right to complain of being hurt by so venerable a 
 beast. 
 
 In such pursuits, combined with surveying, my time 
 passes away tolerably well. I am alone again, Napier 
 having gone to Lahore ; but this is a sweet place, and 
 I am staying in a pleasant summer-house of Runjeet 
 Singh's, in the midst of a fine garden, or grove of mango 
 and orange trees. 
 
 Camp on Ravee, March 19th, 1848. 
 Just as I had completed ray somewhat lengthy reply to 
 your question, I was interrupted by a camel-rider, who 
 had come in hot haste with a letter from Sir F. Currie, 
 at Lahore, with the most agreeable intelligence in the 
 world, — voild. 
 
 " My dear Mr. Hodson, — Pray knock off your 
 present work, and come into Lahore as quickly as you 
 
MOOLTAN. 115 
 
 " I want to send you with Mr. Agnew to Mooltan. 
 Mr. Agnew starts immediately with your acquaintance, 
 Sirdah Sumshere Singh, to assume the government of 
 that province, Moolraj having sent in his resignation of 
 the Nizdmut. Lieutenant Becher is to be Agnew's per- 
 manent assistant, but he cannot join just now, and I wish 
 you to go with Agnew. It is an important mission, and 
 one that, I think, you will like to be employed in. When 
 relieved by Becher, you will join the Guides at Lahore, 
 and be employed also as assistant to the Resident. The 
 sooner you come the better. 
 
 " Yours, sincerely, 
 
 " F. CUKRIE." 
 
 The last line of Sir Frederick's letter was not lost on 
 me, and to keep up my character for locomotion, I started 
 at daybreak for Deenanuggur, finishing off my work en 
 route, remained there the rest of the day to wind up 
 matters, and add my surveying sketch to the large plan 
 I had ' commenced beforehand, and hurried onwards this 
 morning. You will perceive that I have crossed the 
 Doab, and am now writing on the banks of the Ravee, 
 some sixty miles above Lahore. I marched twenty-four 
 and a half miles with tent and baggage this morning, 
 and hope to continue at that pace, with the difference of 
 marching by night, the weather having suddenly become 
 very hot indeed. 
 
 I am much interested in the thought of going to so new 
 a place as Mooltan — new, that is to say, to Europeans, 
 yet so important from position and commerce. The only 
 drawback is the heat, which is notorious throughout 
 Western India. I am not aware, however, that it is oth- 
 erwise unhealthy. 
 
1 1 6 PUNJAUB. 
 
 As you may suppose, I am much gratified by the ap- 
 pointment, both for its own sake and also as evincing so 
 very favorable and kindly a disposition toward myself on 
 the part of the new potentate. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Camp, March 29<A, 1848. 
 
 Of incidents to amuse you I have not many to narrate, 
 save the usual " moving " ones by " flood and field." On 
 the 18th I was very nearly becoming a damp unpleasant 
 corpse to celebrate my birthday. In attempting a ford, 
 my horse sank up to the girths in a quicksand. I man- 
 aged to extricate myself and, dry land being near, he got 
 up without damage. Sending a man ahead, I tried again 
 in another place. Here it was fair to the eye but false 
 to the foot. Down he went again, this time in deeper 
 water, and got me under him by struggling. However, I 
 realized the old proverb, and escaped with a good duck- 
 ing and a mouthful of my native element, rather gritty. 
 Next I tried a camel, but the brute went down at the 
 first stride. So giving it up in despair, I put on dry 
 clothes, and then waded through the river. 
 
 Kot content with one attempt on my existence, the 
 horse gave me a violent kick the same evening when I 
 went up to him to ask " How d'ye do.'' So I completed 
 my year, in spite of myself, as it were. 
 
 Lahoke, April 2d. 
 
 Since the above was written, I have succeeded in 
 reaching the metropolis, as you see, at a greater expendi- 
 ture of animal heat and fatigue than I have gone through 
 
LAHORE. 117 
 
 for some time. I was very friendlily and pleasantly 
 greeted by Sir F. and Lady Currie, and tumbled at once 
 again into the tide of civilization — loaf bread, arm-chairs, 
 hats, and ladies — as philosophically as if I had been for 
 months in the calm and unrestrained enjoyment of such 
 luxuries. 
 
 On my arrival, I found that the arrangement proposed 
 in Sir F. Currie's note had already become matter of his- 
 tory, not of fact. The new one is still better for me. I 
 am to remain at Lahore, and be an assistant to the Resi- 
 dent, having my Guide duties to discharge also, when 
 Lumsden arrives from Peshawur with the Corps. He is 
 expected in twenty days. Nothing could possibly have 
 been better for me. I shall have the advantage of learn- 
 ing in the best school, head-quarters, and have many 
 more opportunities of making myself " generally useful." 
 I am most rejoiced at the plan, and Sir F. Currie's con- 
 siderate kindness in devising it. We wont say anything 
 of the regularity or consistency of making a man of two 
 and a half year's service, and who has passed no examina- 
 tion, a political officer, nor will we be ungrateful enough 
 to say that he is unfit for the appointment, but that he 
 should do his utmost to show that the rule is more hon- 
 ored " in the breach than in the observance." 
 
 Eesidenct, Lahore, April 16th, 1848. 
 I shall not have the same variety to chronicle now that 
 I seem to be fixed here, but more interest and a higher 
 style of work. Since I wrote last I have been six hours 
 a day employed in court, hearing petitions and appeals in 
 all manner of cases, civil and criminal, and in matters of 
 
118 LAHORE. 
 
 revenue, as there are but two officers so employed. You, 
 perhaps, will comprehend that the duty is no sinecure. 
 It is of vast importance, and I sometimes feel a half sen- 
 sation of modesty coming over me at being set down to 
 administer justice in such matters so early, and without 
 previous training. A little practice, patience, and reflec- 
 tion settle most cases to one's satisfaction, however ; and 
 one must be content with substantial justice as distin- 
 guished from technical law. In any point of difficulty one 
 has always an older head to refer to, and meantime, one 
 has the satisfaction of knowing that one is independent 
 and untrammelled save by a very simple code. Some 
 things, such as sentencing a man to imprisonment for 
 seven years for killing a cow, are rather startling to one's 
 ideas of right and wrong ; but then to kill a cow is to 
 break a law, and to disturb the public peace — perhaps 
 cause bloodshed ; so the law is vindicated, and one's con- 
 science saved. I have many other duties, such as finish- 
 ing my map, for which I was surveying at Deenanuggur; 
 occasionally translating an official document ; going to 
 Durbars, &c. ; and when the Guides arrive (on the 20th) 
 I shall have to assist in drilling and instructing them ; 
 to say nothing of seeing that their quarters are prepared, 
 and everything ready for them. I am not, therefore, 
 idle, and only wish I had time to read. 
 
 On the 26th he writes from Lahore : — 
 
 I mentioned to you that Sir F. Currie's plan of send- 
 ing me to assist Agnew at Mooltan had been altered, and 
 that Anderson had gone with him in my stead. At the 
 time I was disposed to be disappointed ; but we never 
 know what is for our good. In this case I should doubt- 
 less have incurred the horrible fate of poor Anderson and 
 
MOOLTAN. 119 
 
 Agnew. Both these j)oor fellows have been barbarously 
 murdered by the Mooltan troops. 
 
 He then gives a detailed account of their tragi- 
 cal fate, and the treachery of the villain Moolraj, 
 and adds : — 
 
 The Sikh Durbar profess their inability to coerce their 
 rebel subject, who is rapidly collecting a large army, and 
 strengthening himself in the proverbially strong fort of 
 Mooltan. 
 
 One cannot say how it will end. The necessary delay 
 of five months, till after the rains, will give time for all 
 the disaffected to gather together, and no one can say how 
 far the infection may extend. The Sikhs were right in 
 saying, " We shall have one more fight for it yet." 
 
 Lahore, May 1th. 
 
 I expect to be busy in catching a party of rascals who 
 have been trying to pervert our Sepoys by bribes and 
 promises. We have a clue to them, and hope to take 
 them in the act. We are surrounded here with treach- 
 ery. No man can say who is implicated, or how far the 
 treason has spread. The life of no British officer, away 
 from Lahore, is worth a week's purchase. It is a pleas- 
 ant sort of government to prop up, when their head-men 
 conspire against you and their troops desert you on the 
 slightest temptation. 
 
 Lumsden, the commandant of the Guides, and I want 
 something sensible for the protection of our heads from 
 sun and blows, from coups de soleil equally witli coups 
 d'epee. There is a kind of leathern helmet in the Prus- 
 
120 GmDE UNIKORM. 
 
 sian service which is light, serviceable, and neat. Will 
 you try what you can do in the man-millinery line, and 
 send me a brace of good helmets ? We don't want orna- 
 ment ; in fact, the plainer the better, as we should always 
 wear a turban over them, but strong, and light as a hat. 
 I have no doubt your taste will be approved. I hope this 
 wont be a bore to you, but one's head wants protecting in 
 these stormy days. 
 
 The helmets on their arrival were pronounced 
 " maddening." This was the first of a series of 
 commissions connected with the clothing and 
 arming of the Guide Corps, which was left main- 
 ly, if not entirely, in my brother's hands, and was 
 a matter of much interest to him. The color 
 selected for their uniform was " drab," as most 
 likely to make them invisible in a land of dust. 
 Even a member of the Society of Friends could 
 scarcely have objected to send out drab clothing 
 for 900 men, but to this succeeded directions to 
 select the pattern of, and send out, 300 rifle car- 
 bines, which seemed scarcely a clerical business. 
 The result, however, was satisfactory, and in the 
 following year my brother wrote : — 
 
 Many thanks for the trouble you have taken about the 
 clothing for the Guides. Sir C. Napier says they are 
 the only properly dressed light troops he has seen in 
 India. 
 
THE RANEE. 121 
 
 Camp, Deenasuogue, June bth, 1848. 
 
 You will hardly have been prepared to hear that I am 
 once more on the move, rushing about the country, des- 
 pite climate, heat, and rumors (the most alarming). 
 
 I wrote last the day after our successful capture of the 
 conspirators, whom I had the satisfaction of seeing hung 
 three days later. I then tried a slight fever as a variety 
 for two days; and on the 14th started to "bag" the 
 Ranee in her abode beyond the Ravee, she having been 
 convicted of complicity in the designs of the conspirators. 
 Lurasden and myself were deputed by the Resident to 
 call on her, and intimate that her presence was urgently 
 required. A detachment was ordered out to support us, 
 in case any resistance should be oflFered. Fortunately it 
 was not required, as the Ranee complied at once with our 
 " polite " request to come along with us. Instead of be- 
 ing taken to Lahore, as she expected, we carried her off 
 to Kana Kutch, on the Ferozepoor road, where a party 
 of Wheeler's Irregulars had been sent to receive her. It 
 was very hard work — a long night march to the fort, 
 and a fourteen hours' ride across to Kana Kutch, whence 
 I had two hours' gallop into Lahore to report progress, 
 making sixteen hours in the saddle, in May, when the 
 nights are hot. On the next Sunday night I was off 
 again, to try and seize or disperse a party of horse and 
 foot collected by a would-be holy man, Maharaja Singh, 
 said to amount to four or five hundred. I made a tre- 
 mendous march round by Umritsur, Byrowal-Ghat, on 
 the Beas, and up that river's bank to Mokeria, in the 
 Jullundur Doab, whence I was prepared to cross during 
 the night with a party of cavalry, and attack the rascals 
 unawares. Everything succeeded admirably up to the 
 
122 SIKH CONSPIRACY. 
 
 last, when I found that he had received notice fi-om a 
 rogue of a native magistrate that there would be attempts 
 made to seize him, when he fairly bolted across the Ravee, 
 and is now infesting the Doab between that river and the 
 Chenab. I have scoured this part of the country (which 
 my late surveys enabled nie to traverse with perfect ease) 
 got possession of every boat on the Ravee from Lahore 
 to the Hills, placed horsemen at every ferry, and been 
 bullying the people who supplied the Saint with pro- 
 visions and arms. I have a regiment of Irregular Horse 
 (Siiinner's) with me, and full powers to summon more, if 
 necessary, from the JuUundur Doab. Meantime, a party 
 from Lahore are sweeping round to intercept the fellow, 
 who is getting strong by degrees ; and I am going to 
 dash across at midnight with a handful of cavalry, and 
 see if I cannot beat up the country between this and 
 Wuzeerabad. I am verj' well, hard at work, and enjoy- 
 ing the thing very much. I imagine this will be the sort 
 of life we shall lead about once a week till the Punjaub is 
 annexed. Every native official has fraternized with the 
 rebels he was ordered to catch. 
 
 Lahore, Juhj bth, 1848. 
 I wrote last from Deenanuggur, on the eve of crossin"' 
 the Ravee to look after the Gooroo, Maharaja Singh. I 
 remained in the Rechnab Doab some days, hunting up 
 evidence and punisliing transgressors. 
 
 I was very fairly successful in obtaining information of 
 
 the extent of the conspiracy, which has been keeping the 
 
 whole country in a ferment these two months past. All 
 
 Hhat has occurred is clearly traceable to the Ranee (now 
 
NIGHT MARCHES. 123 
 
 happily deported) and her friends, and has been carried 
 out with a fearful amount of the blackest treachery and 
 baseness. There have been stirring events since I wrote 
 last. Twice within a fortnight has Herbert Edwardes 
 fought and defeated the Mooltan rebels in pitched battles, 
 and has succeeded, despite of treacherous foes and doubt- 
 ful friends, in driving them into the fort of Mooltan. His 
 success has been only less splendid than the energy and 
 courage which he has shown throughout, especially that 
 high moral courage which defies responsibility, risks, self- 
 interest, and all else, for the good of the State, and which, 
 if well directed, seems to command fortune and ensure 
 success. I have been longing to be with him, though 
 after my wonderfully narrow escape of being murdered 
 with poor Agnew at Mooltan, I may well be content to 
 leave my movements in other hands. I was summoned 
 into Lahore suddenly (as usual ! ) to take command of 
 the Guides and charge of Lumsden's duties for him, as he 
 had been sent down the river towards Bhawulpoor. I came 
 in the whole distance (one hundred miles), with bag and 
 baggage, in sixty hours, which, considering that one can't 
 travel at all by day, and not more than four miles an hour 
 by night, required a great amount of exertion and perse- 
 verance. It is strange that the natives always knock up 
 sooner than we do on a march like this. The cavalry 
 were nine days on the road, and grumbled then ! I know 
 few things more fatiguing than when exhausted by the 
 heat of the day, to have to mount at nightfall, and ride 
 slowly throughout the night, and for the two most dis- 
 agreeable hours of a tropical day, viz : those after sunrise. 
 One night, on which I was making a longer march than 
 usual, had a fearful effect on a European regiment mov- 
 ing upon Ferozepoor, the same hot night-wind, which had 
 
1-24 PUNJAUB. 
 
 completely prostrated me for the time, fell upon the men 
 as they halted at a well to drink ; they were fairly beaten, 
 and lay down for a few minutes to pant. When they 
 arose to continue their march, a captain and nine or ten 
 men were left dead on the ground ! It was the simoom 
 of Africa in miniature. I have happilj* escaped fever or 
 sickness of any kind, and have nothing to complain of 
 but excessive weakness. Quinine will, 1 trust, soon set 
 rae up again. 
 
 Lahohe, Sept. Sd, 1848. 
 
 We have had stirring times lately, though I personally 
 have had little share in them. Mooltan is at last invented, 
 and we expect daily to hear of its fall. Meanwhile, a 
 new outbreak has occurred in Huzara, a wild hilly region 
 on the left bank of the Indus, above Attok, where one 
 of the powerful Sirdars has raised the standard of 
 revolt. 
 
 I suppose I may say to you at so great a distance, what 
 I must not breathe here, that it is now morally certain 
 that we have only escaped, by what men call chance and 
 accidents, the effects of a general and well-organized con- 
 spiracy against British supremacy in Upper India. Our 
 " ally " Gholab Singh, the creature of the treaty of 1848, 
 the hill tribes, the whole Punjaub, the chiefs of Rajpoo- 
 tana, and the states round Umbala and Kurnal, and even 
 the King of Cabul, I believe, have been for months and 
 months securely plotting, without our having more than 
 the merest hints of local disturbances, against the suprem- 
 acy of the British Government. They were to unite 
 for one vast effort, and drive us back upon the Jumna. 
 This was to be again the boundary of British India. The 
 
SIKH CONSPIKACY. 125 
 
 rising in Mooltan was to be the signal. All was prepared, 
 when a quarrel between Moolraj and the treacherous 
 khan, Singh Man, who was sent to commence the war, 
 spoilt their whole scheme. The proud Rajpoot, Gholab 
 Singh, refused to follow in the wake of a Mooltan mer- 
 chant, and the merchant would not yield to the soldier. 
 We have seen the mere ebullitions of the storm, the bub- 
 bles which float at the surface. I believe that now we 
 are safe from a general rising, and that the fall of Mool- 
 tan will put a stop to mischief. If, however, our rulers 
 resort again to half measures, if a mutinous army is re- 
 tained in existence, the evil day will return again. Ab- 
 solute supremacy has been, I think, long demonstrated to 
 be our only safety among wild and treacherous races. 
 Moderation, in the modern sense, is the greatest of all 
 weakness. 
 
 Sept. ISth, 1848. 
 
 You will have seen that our troops have been hard at 
 it in Mooltan, and now I have to tell you that it has all 
 been in vain ; Rajah Shere Singh, and the whole of our 
 wortliy Sikh allies, have joined the rebel Moolraj, and 
 General Whish lias been compelled to raise the siege and 
 retire. 
 
 I have just dispatched every available Guide to try 
 and get quietly into the far-famed fort of Govindghur, 
 and hope in a few hours to hear of their success. They 
 have forty friends inside, and only a few score wavering 
 enemies. I have not a moment which I can call my own, 
 and have put oflf this (which is merely an assurance that 
 I am alive and very well) to the last moment, so as to 
 give you the latest tidings. I am all agog at the prospect 
 
126 GOVINDGHUR. 
 
 of stirring times, and the only single drawback is the fear 
 that you all will be very anxious. I shall not, however, 
 run my head unnecessarily into a scrape, and see no cause 
 for your frightening yourselves. 
 
 One comfort is, that the farce of native government 
 has been played out. It was an experiment honestly 
 tried, and as honestly a failure. 
 
 A few days later he says : — 
 
 My Guides have covered themselves with glory (and 
 dust) by the way in which they got into, and got posses- 
 sion of, the famed fort of Govindghur. A hundred of 
 my men, under a native officer — a fine lad of about 
 twenty, whom I have petted a good deal — went up 
 quietly to the gates, on pretence of escorting four State 
 prisoners, (whom I had put in irons for the occasion,) 
 were allowed to get in, and then threw up their caps, and 
 took possession of the gateway, despite the scowls, and 
 threats, and all but open resistance of the Sikh garrison. 
 A day afterwards a regiment marched from Lahore, and 
 went into garrison there, and so Eunjeet Singh's treasure- 
 fort is fairly in our hands. 
 
 Nm. 1st, 1848. 
 I left Lahore — but stay, I must get there first. Well, 
 I wrote from Ramnuggur, on the Chenab, last ; whence, 
 after a fruitless sejour of six days, in the vain hope of 
 meeting Mrs. George Lawrence, I returned suddenly to 
 Lahore by an order which reached me the evening of the 
 5th. I started at sunset, and pushing my way on various 
 borrowed steeds across that dreary region during the 
 
RUNGDR NUGGUL. 127 
 
 night, accompanied by a single camel-rider, I reached 
 Lahore, a distance of seventy miles, by nine the follow- 
 ing morning. 
 
 On the 8th I was off again at daybreak on a longer 
 journey still, having to cross the country to Brigadier 
 Wheeler's camp in the JuUundur Doab, to convey orders 
 to him relative to the reduction of two rebellious forts in 
 the Doab, between the Ravee and Beas. A " grind " of 
 some twenty-six hours on camel-back, with the necessary 
 stoppages, took me to the camp, whence (because 1 had 
 not had enough) I recrossed the Beas the same night, 
 after examining and reporting on the state of the ferries 
 by which the troops were to follow me. This time I was 
 escorted by a troop of Irregular HorSe, and being thereby, 
 according to my estimation of Sikh prowess, rendered tol- 
 erably independent, I marched the next morning for the 
 fort of Rungur Nuggul, some fourteen miles from the 
 right bank of the Beas. 
 
 On approaching it, and the village which covered one 
 side of it, I was welcomed by a discharge of matchlocks, 
 &c., as a sort of bravado, which served to point out ex- 
 actly the range of my friends' pieces. I lost no time 
 in getting the horsemen into a secure position (which 
 means, one equally good for fighting or running away), 
 and advanced under shelter of the trees and sugar-canes 
 to within easy distance of the fort. Hence I dispatched 
 a message to the rebels, to say that if they did not come 
 to reason within an hour, they should have no choice but 
 that between cold steel or the gallows. The hour elapsed 
 without result, so mentally consigning the garrison to an- 
 nihilation, I set to work to reconnoitre the ground round 
 the fort. This accomplished — with no further interrup- 
 tion than a shower of unpleasant bullets when I ventured 
 
128 CAPTURE OF FORT. 
 
 too near — I sat down, and drew a little pencil plan of 
 the ground and fort, dispatched a trooper with it to the 
 Brigadier, and then retired to a little village about a mile 
 ofif for the night. Another day and night passed in this 
 precarious fashion, without (as is my usual fate), servants, 
 clothes, or traps, until at length my own men (Guides) 
 arrived from Lahore with my baggage and horses. I 
 could now muster a hundred rifles, and eighty horsemen, 
 so we set to work to invest the place, being -the only way 
 to render the escape of the rebels difficult or impossible. 
 The fort, though very small, was immensely strong, and 
 well garrisoned with desperadoes, and we had sharp work 
 of it during the two nights and day which elapsed before 
 the Brigadier * appeared with his troops. By keeping 
 my men scattered about in parties, under cover, the supe- 
 riority of their weapons enabled them to gall the defend- 
 ers of the fort whenever they showed thtyr heads, day or 
 night; and whenever they made a sally they got driven 
 back with the loss of one or two of their companions. At 
 last the Brigadier appeared, pounded the place with his 
 guns during the day, and let the garrison escape at night. 
 Then came the bore of destroying the empty fort, a work 
 which consumed a week of incessant labor, and forty-one 
 mines loaded with an aggregate of 8,000 pounds of pow- 
 der. Having destroyed house, fort, stables, and every- 
 thing, and removed the grain and property, we at length 
 moved on to a second fort, called " Morara," about a mile 
 
 * Extract from Despatch of Brigadier Wheeler to the Adjutant- 
 General. 
 
 Camp, Kungur Nuggul, Oct. loft, 1848. 
 " Lieut. W. S. Hodson, with his detachment of Corps of Guides, has 
 done most excellent service, and by his daring boldness, and that of 
 his men, gained the admiration of all.'' 
 
MORARA. 129 
 
 from the left bank of the Ravee, near this place. I can- 
 not now go into details of the second failure of the Briga- 
 dier in attempting to punish the rebels, for they bolted 
 before he fired a shot, nor of my attempts to prevent their 
 escape. I have had loads of work, what with soldiering, 
 providing supplies for the force, and all the multifarious 
 duties which come on the shoulders of a " political " out 
 here. I am quite well, and the weather is lovely, so 
 work is easy comparatively, and an active life like this is, 
 as you know, my particular weakness. I hope to cross 
 the Ravee in a few days with the troops collecting to pun- 
 ish the rebel (or patriot) Sikh army. We want Sir C. 
 Napier sadly. What with the incapacity shown at Mool- 
 tan, and the dilatory proceedings at head-quarters, our 
 reputation is suffering cruelly, and every one knows that 
 that is a stain only to be dyed out in blood. Every 
 week's delay adds thousands to our present foes and 
 future victims. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Deenanuggub, Dec. iOi, 1848. 
 You must not suppose that because I have written 
 twice from this place that therefore I have been here all 
 the time. On the contrary, I have been incessantly on 
 the move. So much so as to have pretty nearly estab- 
 lished a claim to the medal for discovering perpetual mo- 
 tion. I have been moving in an orbit whose gyrations 
 have been confined to a space bounded by the Chenab 
 and the Beas, and a line drawn E. and W. through Um- 
 ritsur and Lahore. Nearly the whole of this vast " track " 
 of country has been under my sole charge. I have had 
 also to feed an army daily of 3,000 odd fighting men, 
 
 6* 
 
130 •' I'OLirioALs.-- 
 
 2,000 odd horses, and 14,000 to 15,000 camp followers. 
 Also to take care of and work my Guides ; to point out 
 the haunts and obtain information of the strength of " the 
 enemy," and give him o\er to the tender mercies of fire 
 and sword ; item, to fight liim personally ; item, to destroy 
 six forts, and sell by auction the property therein found ; 
 item, to be civil to all comers ; item, to report all the said 
 doings daily to Government ; item, to march ten to 
 twenty miles a day at a slow pace ; item,' to eat, drink, 
 dress, and sleep, to rest one's self from all these labors. In 
 the above compendious epitome of the work of that much- 
 abused and ill-used class called " politicals " in India, you 
 will, I trust, observe no vacant places or " hiati " in which 
 you would expect to see inscribed, " item, to write to one's 
 friends.'' No ; one is a white slave, and no mistake ; day 
 and night, early or late, week-day or Sunday, one is the 
 slave of the public, or rather of the Government, to a 
 degree which cannot be credited until it is experienced. 
 The departure of Brigadier Wheeler across the Beas, 
 and therefore out of my beat, has made a slight break in 
 the work, but there is still more than I can get through 
 in the day. I am grinding my teeth all the time at being 
 kept away from the scene of what must be the grand 
 struggle between the cow-killers and cow-worshippers on 
 the banks of the Chenab. 
 
 On the 8th of last month I marched hence to overtake 
 Brigadier Wheeler and his troops, and accompany them 
 across the Ravee. On reaching the river, I represented to 
 the Brigadier " who of course does not know friend from 
 foe until he is told," the urgent necessity of attacking 
 a party of insurgents who were within fourteen miles of 
 us, but could not persuade him to do so. The old gentle- 
 man was intent on pushing on to the main army, flatter- 
 
INSURGENTS. 131 
 
 ing himself he was going to command a division of it. 
 When within twenty-five or thirty miles of the head- 
 quarter camp at Ramnuggur, I rode over to Lahore, and 
 talked to Sir F. Currie, who was just dispatching an ex- 
 press to me about these very people we had left unat- 
 tacked two days before. He sent me off there and then 
 to see the Commander-in-Chief, who was very polite ; 
 asked my opinion " and acted on it too ! " ; told me all his 
 plans for carrying on the war ; and on my telling him the 
 facts of the case, sent an order to the Brigadier to re- 
 trace his steps, and attack the party he had passed by at 
 once, with something very like a rap over the knuckles. 
 After a delay of some days, caused by a sudden counter 
 summons to move to reinforce Campbell,* who was 
 vainly expecting that the Singhs would fight, we at 
 length turned back for Kulallwala, the name of the fort 
 occupied by my friends. We got within twenty-five 
 miles of it on the 20th, and I urged the Brigadier to 
 move on like lightning, and crush them. He would not, 
 and began to make short marches, so I was compelled to 
 out-manoeuvre him by a bold stroke. On the morning 
 of the 21st I left his camp, and pushed on some ten 
 miles to a place on the straight road for Kulallwdla. 
 Here was a fort belonging to a doubtful Sirdar, and I 
 determined to get possession of it if possible. I had with 
 me only 100 men, and the enemy was only eight miles 
 oflf with 4,000 — rabble, to be sure, and fellows who have 
 no heart for fighting ; but the odds were great, and it 
 was necessary to put a bold face on matters. I therefore 
 " boned " the Chief's two confidential servants, who were 
 in his dwelhng-house outside the fort, and taking one on 
 each side of me, walked up to the gateway, and de- 
 
 * Sir Colin, 
 
132 CAPTUKE OF FORTS. 
 
 manded admission ; they hesitated, and made excuses. I 
 significantly hinted that my two companions should be 
 responsible if a shot was fired ; the stout Sikh heart 
 failed, and I was admitted. My proceeding was justi- 
 fied, and rendered most opportune by the discovery that 
 the garrison wert' preparing munitions of war, mount- 
 ing guns, and looking saucy. I turned them out by the 
 same means as I had gained admittance, viz : by hinting 
 that if any resistance was made the headmen by my side 
 were doomed. Putting in sixteen of my Guides to hold 
 it until further orders, I took up my quarters outside for 
 the night, and prepared to attack another small mud fort 
 near at hand in the morning. 
 
 However, my friends ran away in the night in a fright, 
 and thus I had opened the road to Kulallwala without 
 firing a shot. In the morning I marched with my little 
 party towards the enemy, sending back a messenger to 
 the Brigadier to say that I was close to the place, and 
 that if he did not come on sharp they would run away or 
 overwhelm me. He was dreadfully angry, but came on 
 like a good boy ! When within a mile or so of the fort, 
 I halted my party to allow his column to get up nearer, 
 and as soon as I could see it, moved on quietly. The 
 ruse told to perfection: thinking they had only 100 men 
 and myself to deal with, the Sikhs advanced in strength, 
 thirty to one, to meet me, with colors flying and drums 
 beating. Just then a breeze sprung up, the dust blew 
 aside, and the long line of horsemen coming on rapidly 
 behind my party burst upon their senses. They turned 
 instantly, and made for the fort, so leaving my men to 
 advance quietly after them, I galloped up to the Briga- 
 dier, pointed out the flying Sikhs, explained their posi- 
 tion, and begged him to charge them. He melted from 
 
kulAllwala. 133 
 
 his wrath, and told two regiments of Irregulars to follow 
 my guidance. On we went at the gallop, cut in amongst 
 the fugitives, and punished them fearfully. The unfortu- 
 nate wretches had cause to rue the day they turned reb- 
 els, for we left them thickly on the ground as we swept 
 along. I had never charged with Cavalry before, or come 
 so directly into hand to hand conflict with the Sikh, save 
 of course in the trenches at Sobraon. About 300 to 400 
 escaped into the fort, while the remainder threw down 
 their arms and dispersed over the country. The garrison 
 ran away during the night, unfortunately, and we had 
 only to take peaceful possession in the morning. We 
 had killed some 250 to 300 of them, which will be a les- 
 son to them, I hope. My men got into the village contig- 
 uous to the fort early, while we pitched into those of the 
 enemy who remained behind, to a great extent. Since 
 then we have been pursuing other parties, but only came 
 into collision with them to a very trifling extent once. 
 They had learnt how to run away beautifully. The Brig- 
 adier has grown quite active, and very fond of me since 
 that day at Kulallwala, though he had the wit to see how 
 very " brown I had done him " by making him march 
 two marches in one.* 
 
 * Extract from an Order issued by Bkigadier-General Wheeler. 
 
 " Camp Kui-allwala, JVot. 23rf, 1848. 
 
 "The detarbment of the Corps of Guides moved in the morning 
 direct on the village, whilst the other troops were moving on the 
 fort. It was occupied in force by the enemy, who were dislodged iu 
 a most spirited maimer, and the place afterwards retained as com- 
 manding the works of the fort, the men keeping up a sharp fire on all 
 who showed themselves. The thanks of the Brigadier-General are 
 due to Lieut. Hodson, not only for his services in the field, but for the 
 information with which he furnished him, and he offers them to him 
 and to his men." 
 
134 GUMROLAH. 
 
 Jan. 1849. 
 
 I have just completed the first series of my duties in 
 this Doab, by driving the last party of the insurgents 
 across the Chenab. 
 
 As soon as I had settled matters a little at Deenanug- 
 gur, and made some arrangements to prevent further 
 troubles if possible, I crossed the Ravee again, and got 
 upon the track of the rebel party who had given us so 
 much trouble. On the 15tli, I heard that a large party 
 had collected at a village called Gumrolah (near Duffer- 
 wal), but they had so many spies in my camp, that it was 
 difiBcult to avoid their ken ; at the same time their ten- 
 dency to run away made a surprise the only feasible 
 mode of reaching them. We therefore turned in as usual 
 at night, but soon after midnight I aroused my men, and 
 got them under arms and off before any one was aware 
 of our move. I had with me one hundred of my Guides 
 and fifteen sowars. 
 
 We marched quietly but swiftly, all night, and came 
 upon the insurgents just at daybreak. I had ridden 
 forward about half a mile, with a couple of sowars, to 
 reconnoitre, and got unobserved within 250 yards of the 
 insurgents, numbering at least 150 horse and foot. 
 
 They looked at me, and hesitated whether to come at 
 me or not, apparently, while I beckoned to the remaining 
 sowars to come up. 1 was in great hopes that they would 
 have waited for ten minutes, by which time my men 
 would have been up, with their rifles, and we should have 
 given a good account of them. However, before five 
 minutes had elapsed, they moved off sulkily like a herd 
 of frightened deer, half alarmed, half in doubt. I saw 
 at once that there was but one chance left, and deter- 
 
DESPERATE FIGHT. 135 
 
 mined to go at them as I was, — though 15 to 150 is an 
 imprudent attempt. 
 
 The instant we were in motion they fled, and had gone 
 half a mile before we could overtake them ; the mounted 
 men got off, but a party of Akhalees * on foot stopped 
 and fought us, in some instances very fiercely. One fine 
 bold " Nihung " beat off four sowars one after another, 
 and kept them all at bay. I then went at him myself, 
 fearing that he would kill one of them. He instantly 
 rushed to meet me like a tiger, closed with me, yelling, 
 " Wah Gooroo ji," and accompanying each shout with a 
 terrific blow of his tulwar. I guarded the three or four 
 first, but he pressed so closely to my horse's rein that I 
 could not get a fair cut in return. At length I pressed 
 in my turn upon him so sharply that he missed his blow, 
 and I caught his tulwar backhanded with my bridle hand, 
 wrenched it from him, and cut him down with the right, 
 having received no further injury than a severe cut across 
 the fingers ; I never beheld such desperation and fury in 
 my life. It was not human scarcely. By this time the 
 rest of the party had gone a long way, and as we had 
 already pursued farther than was prudent, where the 
 spectators even were armed, and awaiting the result, I 
 was obliged to halt, not without a growl at General 
 Wheeler for having left me without any men. We had 
 killed one more than our own number, however, and five 
 more were so severely wounded that they were removed 
 on " charpoys." 
 
 I insert here a portion of Sir F. Carrie's de- 
 spatch to the Govern or- General with reference to 
 this affair, with the Governor- General's reply. 
 
 * Fanatics. 
 
136 THANKS OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 They will show the high opinion entertained at 
 the time of my brother's services by his superiors. 
 
 " Lahore Phesidency, Jan. 6(h, 1849. 
 
 " The affair at Baddee Pind was a most gal- 
 lant one, — far more so than Lieutenant Hod- 
 son's modest statement in his letter would lead 
 me to suppose. I have accounts from parties 
 who were eye-witnesses to the personal gallantry 
 and energy of Lieutenant Hodson, by whose 
 hand, in single conflict, the Akhalee, mentioned 
 in paragraph 5, fell, after he had beaten off four 
 horsemen of the 15th Native Cavalry, and to 
 whose bold activity and indefatigable exertions, 
 and the admirable arrangements made by him, 
 with the small means at his disposal, the success- 
 ful issue of this expedition is to be attributed." 
 
 To this his Lordship replied as follows, through 
 his secretary. 
 
 From the Secketaey to Govermmknt to Sir F. Currie, Bart. 
 
 "Jan. Uth, 1849. 
 
 " I am directed to request that you will convey 
 to Lieutenant Hodson the strong expression of 
 the Governor-General's satisfaction with his con- 
 duct, and with the mode in which he discharges 
 whatever duty is intrusted to him. The Gov- 
 ernor-General has had frequent occasions of no- 
 ticing the activity, energy, and intelligence of his 
 proceedings, and he has added to the exercise of 
 the same qualities on this occasion an exhibition 
 
HUNTING RAM SINGH. 137 
 
 of personal gallantry which the Governor-General 
 has much pleasure in recording and applauding, 
 although Lieutenant Hodson has modestly re- 
 frained from bringing it to notice himself. The 
 Governor-General offers to Lieutenant Hodson 
 his best thanks for these services. 
 
 (Signed) " H. M. Elliott, 
 
 " Secretary to the Government of India 
 with the Govemor-Generaly 
 
 Camp under the Hills on the Kavee, 
 Jan. ISlh, 1849. 
 
 ... A few days afterwards, Lumsden having joined me 
 with our mounted men, we surprised and cut to pieces 
 another party of rebels, for which we have again been 
 thanked by Government. Since then I have been with 
 Brigadier-General Wheeler's foi-ce again, employed in 
 hunting after one Bam Singh and his followers, and have 
 been day and night at work, — examining the hills and 
 rivers, trying fords, leading columns, and doing all the 
 multifarious duties thrust on that unhappy combination 
 of hard work, a " Guide " and " Political " in one. 
 Ram Singh's position was stormed on the 16th, and I had 
 been chosen to lead one of the principal columns of 
 attack ; but we had to march by a circuitous route across 
 the hills, darkness came on, accompanied by dreadful 
 rain, the rivers rose and were impassable, and after 
 twenty-four hours of the most trying work I ever experi- 
 enced, in which cold, hunger, and wet were our enemies, 
 we succeeded in reaching our ground just in time to be 
 too late; however, I had done all that human nature 
 
138 HEIGHTS OF DULLAH. 
 
 could effect under the circumstances, and one cannot 
 always be successful. Two poor fellows, one a nephew 
 of Sir R. Peel's, were killed ; otherwise the loss was 
 trifling on our side.* 
 
 We have just received intelligence of another great 
 fight between the army under Lord Gough and the 
 Sikhs, t in which the latter, though beaten, seem to have 
 had every advantage given away to them. Our loss has 
 been severe, and the mismanagement very disgraceful, yet 
 it will be called a victory and lauded accordingly. Oh 
 for one month of Sir Charles Napier ! 
 
 DEENANUGGnR, Feb. ith, 1849. 
 I had one of my narrowest escapes two days ago : I went 
 into Lahore for a few days to see Sir H. Lawrence (who 
 is again the Resident), and laid relays of horses along the 
 road to this place, so as to ride in at once. I left Lahore 
 on the morning of the 31st, and stopping at Umritsur to 
 breakfast, reached my camp at nightfall, having ridden 
 one hundred miles in ten hours and a half. A party of 
 
 * Extract from an Order issued by Brioadier-Gekesal Wheelek, 
 C. B., dated 
 
 " Camp below Dullah, Jan. Ilth, 1849. 
 
 " This order cannot be closed without the expression of the Briga- 
 dier-General's high opinion of the services of Lieutenants Lnmsden 
 and Hodson, who have spared no labor to obtain for him an accurate 
 knowledge of the mountain of Dullah and its approaches ; and Lieu- 
 tenant Hodson has entitled himself to the sincere thanks of tlie Brig- 
 adier-General for his endeavors to lead n column to turn the enemy's 
 position, which failed only from causes which rendered success im- 
 practicable." 
 
 t Chillianwalla, Jan. 13th, 1849. 
 
NARROW ESCAPE. 139 
 
 Sikhs had collected at a village by the roadside to attack 
 me and " polish " me off, but not calculating upon the 
 rapidity of my movements, did not expect me until tlie 
 morning. I am sorry to say that they surrounded my 
 horses which were coming on quietly in the morning, 
 asked for me, and finding I had escaped, stole my best 
 horse (a valuable Arab, who had carried me in three 
 fights), and bolted, not, however, without resistance, for 
 two horsemen (Guides) of mine who were with the horse 
 tried to save it. One got four wounds and the other es- 
 caped unliurt. Had I ridden like any other Christian 
 instead of like a sceptre horseman, and been the usual 
 time on the road, I should have been " a body." We 
 gave chase from hence as soon as we heard, and rode for 
 eleven hours and a half in pursuit ! which was pretty 
 well after a hundred miles' ride the day before. 
 
 But my horse it is aoother's, 
 And it never can be mine ! 
 
 Camp, Wuzeerabad, Feb. 19th, 1849. 
 I have at length reached the " army of the Punjaub,'' 
 almost by accident, as it were, though I was most anxious 
 to be present at the final grand struggle between the 
 Khalsa and the British armies. I am at present with 
 my men, attached to a brigade encamped on this (the 
 left) bank of the Chenab, to prevent the enemy crossing 
 until Lord Gough is ready to attack them on the right 
 bank, where he is now encamped with his whole force 
 minus our brigade. The Sikhs quietly walked away 
 from him the other day, and instead of having their 
 backs to the Jhelum, passed round his f ank, and made 
 
140 BATTLE OF GOOJERAT. 
 
 Steadily for this place, intending, boldly enough, to march 
 upon Lahore. I came across the Doab with a handful 
 of men, and reached this |)lace just as they took up a 
 position on the opposite bank of the river. At the same 
 moment a brigade arrived by a forced night-march from 
 Ramnuggur, and, for the present, the Sikhs have been 
 sold. Yet I should not be surprised at their evading us 
 again, and going off to a higher ford. The game is get- 
 ting very exciting, and I am quite enjoying the stir and 
 bustle of two large armies in the field. The grand finale 
 must, one would think, come off in a day or two. It is 
 possible however that, as I say, the Sikhs may out-ma- 
 noeuvi-e us and prolong the campaign. The Affghans 
 have joined the Sikhs, contrary to the expectations of 
 every one (but mj'self), and there is now no saying where 
 the struggle will end. 
 
 The Affghans are contemptible in the plains, generally 
 speaking ; but numbers become formidable, even if armed 
 with bi-oomsticks. 
 
 This was written two days before the decisive 
 engagement of Goojerat, at which he was present, 
 attached to the personal staff of the Commander- 
 in-Chief. His letter, giving an account of the 
 action, was unfortunately lost, but I subjoin a 
 despatch from the Commander-in-Chief to the 
 Governor- General : — 
 
 " Camp, Kui.lala, March 15fl, 1849. 
 
 " On the re-perusal of my despatch relative to 
 the operations of February 21st at Goojerat, I re- 
 gret to find that I omitted to mention the names 
 of Lieutenants Lumsden and Hodson of the 
 
LORD GOUGH'S DESPATCH. 141 
 
 corps of Guides, and Lieutenant Lake of the 
 Engineers, attached to the Political Department. 
 These oflBcers were most active in conveying 
 orders throughout the action, and I now beg to 
 bring their names to the favorable notice of your 
 Lordship." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ANNEXATION OF PUNJAUB. INCREASE OF CORPS OP 
 
 GUIDES AT PESHAWUR. TRANSFER TO CIVIL DE- 
 PARTMENT AS ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER. 
 
 Jpril nth, 1849. 
 
 You will have heard of the great events of the last 
 month ; how on the 26th March, the Punjaub became 
 " forever " a British Province, governed by a Trium- 
 virate ; and how the Koh-i-noor was appropriated as a 
 present to the Queen, — and all the rest of it ; you may 
 imagine the turmoil and unrest of this eventful time ; but 
 I defy you to imagine the confusion of the process which 
 converts a wild native kingdom into a police-ridden and 
 civilian-governed country. 
 
 I had anticipated and wished for this measure. I did 
 not, however, expect that it would be carried out so sud- 
 denly and so sweepingly as it has been 
 
 I have been annexed as well as the Punjaub ! my '• oc- 
 cupation 's gone," and although efforts have been and are 
 making for my restoration to " the department," yet at 
 present I am shelved. I shall know more next month. 
 Meanwhile, I am off with the new Commissioner to in- 
 struct him in the details of his province, which I had 
 governed and won from the rebels during the last six 
 months, but in wliich I am not now accounted worthy to 
 
ANNEXATION OF PUNJAUB. 143 
 
 be a humble assistant. There 's fame ! Well, something 
 will turn up, I suppose. I hope to remain here, however, 
 under the Commissioner, for a time, that I may get ac- 
 quainted with this wonderful civil system. It is as well 
 to know how the mill works. 
 
 I got quite fond of Lord Gough. I was his guest at 
 Lahore for a month, and his noble character and fire 
 made one condone his mistakes. 
 
 We are now on the " qui vive " for his successor. I 
 long for Sir C. Napier, but the Court of Directors seem 
 determined to hold out. 
 
 The Guides are at Peshawur, where I shall probably 
 join them. 
 
 Lieutenant Hodson's descent in position, upon 
 the annexation of the Punjaub, was, perhaps, un- 
 avoidable, though it was very natural that he 
 should feel it. So soon as the country was placed 
 under the government of the East India Com- 
 pany, the regulations of the service with regard 
 to seniority of course took effect, and it was not 
 to be expected that a subaltern of less than'five 
 years' standing should be continued in so impor- 
 tant a charge, however well qualified he might 
 have proved himself for it in the most trying 
 times. His position altogether had been a pecu- 
 liar and exceptional one. 
 
 We shall see, however, that his disappointment 
 did not prevent his throwing himself with his 
 usual energy into whatever duties were assigned 
 to him. 
 
144 PESHAWUR. 
 
 To his Brother. 
 
 Peshawur, May lith, 1849. 
 
 My stay here is very uncertain. I merely came to 
 settle affairs with Lumsden relative to the increase of 
 the Guides. Meantime, I have been much interested 
 with my first visit to this Affghan province and to the 
 Indus. You will see at once that though it gives us a 
 very strong military frontier, only passable to armies in 
 half a dozen points, and therefore infinitely less diflScult 
 to hold than a long line of river, which is ever " a silent 
 highway for nations," yet at the same time we have once 
 more established a footing in Atfghanistan from which 
 there is no receding, as we did when we went as allies 
 to the puppet Shah Soojah. Our next stride must be to 
 Herat, I fancy ; when the day will come no man can say, 
 but " the uncontrollable principle," which, according to 
 Sir R. Peel, took us there before, will not be the less ac- 
 tive in its operation now that we have no longer the court 
 and camp of Runjeet Singh between us and these wild 
 tribes. It is to be hoped that " the uncontrollable princi- 
 ple " will not appear so very like an wncontroUable want 
 of it as it did in days gone by ! However, go we must, 
 and shall some day, — so hurrah for Cabul ! 
 
 I wish you would hit upon some plan for keeping me 
 more " au fait " with the events of your home world. 
 My time has been occupied so constantly since I came to 
 India, that, though I may have made some progress in 
 the knowledge of men, I have made but little in that of 
 books. We are sadly off for military works in English, 
 and few sciences require more study than the art of war. 
 You might get me a list of good works from the " United 
 
DRILLING GUIDES. 145 
 
 Service Institution " at Charing Cross. I want the best 
 edition of Caesar procurable ; also Xenophon and Arrian. 
 I fancy the last has been very well edited. 
 
 Peshawue, June Sih, 1849. 
 This is the first time I have written to you from 
 Affghanistan. Who shall say whence my letters may be 
 directed within a few months. Are we to advance on 
 Cabul and Candahar, and plant the Union Jack once 
 more on the towers of Ghuznee? or are we to lie peace- 
 fully slumbering on the banks of the Indus? Are our 
 conquests at an end ? or will it be said of Lord Dal- 
 housie — 
 
 Ultra et Garamantas et Indos 
 Proferet imperium '/ 
 
 My own belief is, that I shall live to see both the places 
 I have mentioned, and Herat, occupied by British troops ; 
 at least, I hope so. 
 
 I think I told you how it had pleased the Grovernor- 
 General to reward "my distinguished services," toils, 
 troubles, and dangers, by kicking me out of the coach 
 altogether. Did I not ? Well, after that close to my 
 civil duties, after having " initiated " the new Commis- 
 sioner into his duties, I was sent up hither to augment 
 recruits and train the Guides. And now daily, morning 
 and evening, I may be seen standing on one leg to con- 
 vince their Affghan mind of the plausibility and elegance 
 of the goose step. I am quite a sergeant-major just now, 
 and you will well believe that your wandering brother is 
 suflSciently cosmopolized to drop with a certain " aplomb " 
 
 7 
 
146 DEARTH OF BOOKS. 
 
 into any line of life which may turn up in the course 
 of his career. I was always fond of " soldiering," and 
 there is a species of absurdity in dropping from the 
 minister of a province into a drill-sergeant, which is 
 enlivening. By the next mail I may have to report my 
 transformation into some new animal. So " vive la 
 gloire." 
 
 Peshawub, July 19th, 1849. 
 I hope that you got my letter about sending me books. 
 There is a remarkable dearth of them here just now. 
 You know it was a flying column which came on here 
 after Goojerat, composed of regiments hurried up to the 
 field from Bombay, Scinde, and Hindostan. They came in 
 light marching order. Books are not a part of that style 
 of equipment. Suddenly a Government older consigned 
 them to Peshawur, for seven months at least, — 10,000 
 men, with an unusually large number of Europeans and 
 officers, and no books ! Pleasant during the confinement 
 caused by the hot season. I was better off, because, be- 
 ing a nomad by profession, I carry a few books as a part 
 even of the lightest equipment, but I have read them all 
 till I am tired, except Shakspeare. My time is pretty 
 fully occupied, but there are dozens of regimental officers 
 who have not an hour's work in two days, and I do pity 
 them from my heart. Then of course there are no ladies 
 here, and consequently no society, or reunions, (as they 
 are called when people live together,) and people are 
 pitched headlong on to their own resources, and find them 
 very hard falling indeed ! I have nothing personal to 
 tell you, except that when the last mail went out I was in 
 bed with a sharp attack of fever, which left me without 
 
NEWS OF SISTER'S DEATH. 147 
 
 strength, flesh, or appetite, — a regular blazing eastern 
 fever, the sort of thing which burns so fast, that if it don't 
 stop quickly, it burns you well down into the socket, 
 and leaves you there without strength to splutter or 
 flicker, and you go out without the satisfaction of a last 
 flare-up at expiring. I am thankful to say I am well 
 again now, and picking up strength fast. 
 
 They are increasing our corps of Guides to 1,000 men, 
 so that I shall have enough on my hands, especially as 
 our Commandant leaves almost everything to me. Sir H. 
 Lawrence writes from Simla that I am to be appointed 
 an Assistant Commissioner under the new Board of Ad- 
 ministration. I was the only one of the late Assistants 
 to the Resident who v/aa not included at first in the new 
 regime. 
 
 Lahore, Sept. 3d, 1849. 
 On my arrival here I found your note of 18th June. 
 You may imagine how wild I was with pleasure at 
 seeing your handwriting again, as I had been deeply 
 anxious since the arrival of my father's and George's 
 letters of the 4th June. These brought me tlie first 
 tidings of our darling's death. Happily I saw no news- 
 paper by that mail, and the black edges first startled me 
 from the belief that you were all well and happy. The 
 blow was a bitter one indeed, and its utter suddenness 
 was appalling. Indeed, the prevailing impression on my 
 mind for days was simple unbelief of the reality of that 
 sweet child's actual death. I have been so long alone, — 
 home has been for so long a time more a pleasant dream 
 than a reality, — I have been for so many a weary day, 
 as it were, dead to you all, and the sense of separation has 
 
148 SIR H. LAWBENCE. 
 
 grown SO completely into one's being, that I find it diffi- 
 cult to separate that which it is possible to see again from 
 that which is impossible. Thus it seems to me incredible 
 that any greater barrier can sever me from this darling 
 child than that ever-present one which divides me from 
 all of you. Can you understand this ? I know it to be 
 a delusion, and yet I cannot shake it off. Yet 'tis a 
 good delusion in one way. It deadens the sense of grief 
 which the full realization of her death would overwhelm 
 me with. 
 
 I have been unfortunate again, and had a second sharp 
 attack of fever since my arrival. I am about again, but 
 not able to work. Sir H. Lawrence is very unwell ; I 
 fear that his constitution is utterly broken down, and that 
 he will either have to go away from India for two yeai's 
 or more, or that another hot season will kill him. He is 
 ten years older in every respect than he was during our 
 Cashmere trip in 1846. This is a hard, wearing, dry 
 chmate, which, though preferable to Hindostan, is destruc- 
 tive to the weak and sickly. It is quite sad to feel how, 
 little by little, one's strength and muscle and energy fade, 
 and how one can perceive age creeping in upon one so 
 early. 
 
 Lahore, Sept. 2ith, 1849. 
 You know that I have left the Guides (alas !) and have 
 been transformed into a complete civilian, doomed to pass 
 the rest of my career in the administrative and executive 
 duties of the Government of this last acquisition of the 
 English in India. To tell the truth, I had much rather 
 have remained with the Guides ; a more independent, 
 and very far pleasanter life, and I think one that will in 
 
COMMISSIONER'S DUTIES. 149 
 
 the end be more distinguished. However, T was guided 
 by Mr. Thomason's and Sir H. Lawrence's advice, and 
 must take the consequences. It would be difficult to de- 
 fine or explain the exact nature of my new calling, but 
 in brief, you will comprehend that in their respective dis- 
 tricts the Deputy Assistant Commissioners perform the 
 whole of the judicial, fiscal, and magisterial duties which 
 devolve upon the Government of a country in Europe, 
 with the addition of collecting from the cultivators and 
 landholders the rent of all lands under cultivation and 
 pasture, and the duties which in Europe devolve on an 
 owner of landed property. Police, jails, quarter-sessions, 
 committals to prison, jury, judge, excise, stamps, taxes, 
 roads, bridges, ferries, woods and forests, and finally rent ! 
 think what these imply, and you will form some idea of 
 the employment of an official in the Punjaub under the 
 " Board of Administration." I have not yet dipped very 
 deep into this turbid stream of ever-recurring work, since 
 the great amount of arrears consequent on the break-up 
 of one Government, and the establishment of another, 
 including the paying-up and discharge of vast civil and 
 military establishments, have rendered it necessary to em- 
 ploy any available head and pair of hands for some 
 months at head-quarters. The army has fallen to my 
 share, and I have to examine into the claims of innumer- 
 able fine old hangers-on of the Lahore State to grants or 
 pensions, to record their rights, and report on them for 
 the decision of Government. Then there are upwards of 
 2,000 old women, wives and mothers of soldiers killed in 
 war, whom I have to see and pay the pittance decreed by 
 their masters. Lord Dalhousie, and his secretaries and 
 officials, are stem and hard taskmasters, and are not un- 
 worthily represented by the new Board, the only merciful 
 
150 UMRITSUR. 
 
 member of which (Sir H. Lawrence) is left in a minority, 
 and is, moreover, too ill to do much. 
 
 Camp, Pataskote, Jan. 21s(, 1850. 
 I at length got away from Lahore on the 7th. I had 
 been ordered merely to seek change of air, but Sir H. 
 Lawrence was starting on a long tour of inspection, and 
 offered me the option of accompanying him, and doing a 
 little work by the way, which 1 very much preferred ; so 
 here we are, after visiting the sacred city of Umritsur, 
 and the scenes of my last year's adventures in Butala, 
 Deenanuggur, and Shahpoor, all between the Ravee and 
 Beas ; and are now on our way to the mountain stations 
 of Kangra, &c. We then go to the westward again, and 
 I hope to see 
 
 Our coursers graze at ease, 
 Beyond the blue Borysthenes, 
 
 as I have dubbed the Indus, ere we again return to civil 
 life, which does not suit my temperament or taste half as 
 well as this more nomad life. I am able to ride again, 
 though not quite with the same firmness, in the saddle as 
 of yore. I have no doubt, however, that ere we do see 
 the " Borysthenes," I shall be as " game '' for a gallop of 
 one hundred miles on end, as I was last year at this sea- 
 son. 
 
 Umeitsub, March ith, 1850. 
 I am at last in a fair way of being stationary for a time 
 at Umritsur, the sacred city of the Sikhs, and a creation 
 entirely of their genius. Lahore, as of course you know, 
 
GETTING "ACCLIMATIZED." 151 
 
 was the old Mussulman capital, and was not built by the 
 Siklis, though used by them as the seat of government 
 and head-quarters of the army. Umritsur is larger than 
 Lahore by a third or more of people, and half as much 
 again of space. It is five miles in circumference, very 
 strongly fortified, and covered by the fortress of Govind- 
 ghur on the west, and by a large fortified garden on the 
 north. I am Assistant Commissioner under the Deputy 
 Commissioner in charge of the district, Mr. Saunders, a 
 civilian, a very nice sort of fellow, with an exceedingly 
 pretty and nice wife. Mr. Montgomery is our Commis- 
 sioner. I like all 1 have seen of him very much indeed. 
 He is a very able man, and at the head of his service in 
 many respects. Lahore is only about thirty-five miles 
 hence, — quite within visiting distance in India. 
 
 You must not talk of getting " acclimatized." There 
 is no way of becoming so but by avoiding the climate as 
 much as possible. I have had a bad time of it since I 
 left Peshawur, three and a half months almost entirely 
 on my back, which- reduced me terribly. Then just as I 
 was getting well, the other day I had a fit of jaundice, 
 which has only just left me ; altogether, in health and in 
 prospects I have come " down in my luck " to a consid- 
 erable extent ; not that, per se, I ought, as a subaltern of 
 not quite five years' service, to grumble at my present 
 jwsition, if I was now starting in the line for the first 
 time ; but I can't forget that I came into the Punjaub two 
 years and a half ago, and have had no little of the " bur- 
 den and heat of the day " to bear, when to do so required 
 utter disregard of comfort and personal safety and of rest. 
 It is now two years since I was made an Assistant to the 
 Resident, and witliin a few months of that time I took 
 absolute charge of a tract of country (in a state of war, 
 
152 SERVICES IN PUNJAUB. 
 
 too) comprisiDg three modern districts, in one of which 1 
 am now playing third fiddle. Surely annexation was a 
 " heavy blow and a great discouragement " to me, at 
 least. In the military line, too, I have been equally un- 
 lucky, from the fact of my services having been with de- 
 tachments instead of with the main army. I held my 
 ground (and cleared it of the enemy, too) for weeks, with 
 only 120 men at my back, and when every officer, from 
 General Wheeler downwards, entreated me to withdraw 
 and give it up ; I fed 5,000 men and horses for six 
 months by personal and unremitting exertion ; collected 
 the revenues of the disturbed districts, and paid 15,000Z. 
 over and above, into the treasury, from the proceeds of 
 property taken from the rebels. Besides this, I worked 
 for General Wheeler so satisfactorily, that he has declared 
 publicly that he could have done nothing without me. So 
 much were the Sikhs enraged * at my proceedings, that 
 party after party were sent to "polish " me off, and at one 
 time I couldn't stir about the country without having bul- 
 lets sent at my head from every bush and wall. How- 
 ever, I need not go on with the catalogue, I have been 
 egotistical enough as it is. The " reward " for these ser- 
 vices was losing my civil appointment, and being reduced 
 to half pay or little more for three months, and the dis- 
 tinction of being the only subaltern mentioned in de- 
 spatches for whom nothing has been done either "in 
 praesenti " or " in prospectu." " Had your name been 
 Hay or Ramsay," said General Wheeler to me the other 
 
 * Such an impression had my brother's daring and activity pro- 
 duced upon the minds of the Sikhs, that several years afterwards it 
 was found that the Sikh mothers still used his name as a threat of ter- 
 ror to their children, reminding one of the border ballad, — 
 
 Hark ye, hark ye, do not fret ye, 
 The black Douglas shall not get ye. 
 
SYSTEM OF PROMOTION. 153 
 
 day, " no honors, no appointments, no distinctions would 
 have been considered too great to mark the services you 
 have rendered to Government." Well, we shall live to 
 see more wars, or I am sadly mistaken, and then — I 
 leave you to finish the sentence. 
 
 Speaking of the system of the Indian army : — 
 
 March \8th, 1860. 
 
 At the age at which officers become colonels and ma- 
 jors, not one in fifty is able to stand the wear and tear 
 of Indian service. They become still more worn in mind 
 than in body. All elasticity is gone ; all energy and en- 
 terprise worn out ; they become, after a fortnight's cam- 
 paign, a burden to themselves, an annoyance to those 
 under them, and a terror to every one but the enemy ! 
 The officer who commanded the cavalry brigade which 
 so disgraced the service at Chillianwalla, was not able to 
 mount a horse without the assistance of two men. A 
 brigadier of infantry, under whom I served during the 
 three most critical days of the late war, could not see his 
 regiment when I led his horse by the bridle until its nose 
 touched the bayonets ; and even then he said faintly, 
 " Pray which way are the men facing, Mr. Hodson ? " 
 This is no exaggeration, I assure you. Can you wonder 
 that our troops have to recover by desperate fighting, and 
 with heavy loss, the advantages thrown away by the want 
 of heads and eyes to lead them ? 
 
 A seniority service, li^e that of the Company, is all 
 very well for poor men ; better still for fools, for they 
 must rise equally with wise men ; but for maintaining 
 the disciphne and efficiency of the army in time of peace, 
 and hurling it on the enemy in war, there never was a 
 system which carried so many evils on its front and face. 
 
 7* 
 
154 DR. ARNOLD. 
 
 I speak strongly, you will say, for I feel acutely ; 
 though I am so young a soldier, yet the whole of my 
 brief career has been spent in camps, and a year such as 
 the last, spent in almost constant strife, and a great part 
 of it on detached and independent command, teaches one 
 lessons which thirty years of peaceful life, of parades and 
 cantonments, would never impart. 
 
 There are men of iron, like Napier and Radetzky, 
 aged men, whom nothing affects ; but they are just in 
 sufficient numbers to prove the rule by establishing ex- 
 ceptions. Depend upon it, that for the rough work of 
 war, especially in India, your leaders must be young to 
 be effective. 
 
 If you could but see my beautiful rough and ready 
 boys, with their dirt colored clothes and swarthy faces, 
 lying in wait for a Sikh, I think it would amuse you not 
 a little. I must try and send you a picture of them. 
 Alas ! I am no longer a " Guide," but only a big- 
 wig, administering justice, deciding disputes, imprisoning 
 thieves, and assisting to hang highwaymen, like any other 
 poor old, fat, respectable, humdrum justice of the peace 
 in Old England. 
 
 Umeitsur, April bth, 1860. 
 
 I quite agree with all you say about Arnold. His loss 
 was a national misfortune. Had he lived, he would have 
 produced an impression on men's minds whose effects 
 would have been felt for ages. As it is, the influence 
 which he did produce has been most lasting and striking 
 in its effects. It is felt even in India ; I cannot say more 
 than that. 
 
 You should come and live in India for five years if you 
 wished to feel (supposing you ever doubted it) the benefit 
 
INFLUENCE OF OUTWAKD FORMS. 155 
 
 of our " established " forms of Christianity. Even the 
 outward signs and tokens of its profession — cathedrals, 
 churches, colleges, tombs, hospitals, almshouses — have, 
 I am now more than ever convinced, an influence on 
 men's minds and principles and actions which none but 
 those who have been removed from their influence for 
 years can feel or appreciate thoroughly. The more I 
 think of this, the more strongly I feel the effect of mere 
 external sights and sounds on the inner and better man. 
 Our Gothic buildings, our religious-looking churches, have, 
 I am sure, a more restraining and pacifying influence than 
 is generally believed by those who are habituated to them, 
 and have never felt the want of them. A few cathedrals 
 and venerable-looking edifices would do wonders in our 
 colonies. Here we have nothing physical to remind us 
 of any creed but Islamism and Hindooism. The com- 
 parative purity of the Moslem's creed is shown admirably 
 in the - superiority in taste and form of their places of 
 prayer. Christianity alone is thrust out of sight ! A 
 barrack-room, a ball-room, a dining-room, perhaps a court 
 of justice, serve the purpose for which the " wisdom and 
 piety of our ancestors " constructed such noble and stately 
 temples ; feeling, justly, that the human mind in its weak- 
 ness required to be called to the exercise of devotion by 
 the senses as well as by reason and will ; that separation 
 from the ordinary scenes of every-day life, its cares, itg 
 toils, its amusements, is necessary to train the feelings 
 and thoughts to that state in which religious impressions 
 are conveyed. I have not seen a church for three years 
 and more, nor heard the service of the Church read, save 
 at intervals, in a room in which, perhaps, the night before, 
 I had been crushed by a great dinner party, or worn out 
 by the bustle and turmoil of suitors. The building in 
 which one toils becomes intimately associated with the 
 
156 SIR C. NAPIER. 
 
 toil itself. That in which one prays should at least have 
 some attribute to remind one of prayer. Human nature 
 shrinks for long from the thought of being buried in any 
 but consecrated ground ; the certainty of lying dead some 
 day or other on a field of battle, or by a roadside, has, I 
 have remarked, the most strange effect on the soldier's 
 mind. Depend upon it the same feeling holds good with 
 regard to consecrated places of worship. You may think 
 this fanciful, but I am sure you would feel it more strongly 
 than I do, were you to live for a time in a country where 
 everything hat religion has its living and existent memo- 
 rials and evidences. 
 
 But to return to reality : I have just spent three days 
 in Sir Charles Napier's camp, it being my duty to accom- 
 pany him through such parts of the civil district as he 
 may have occasion to visit. He was most kind and cor- 
 dial, vastly amusing and interesting, and gave me even a 
 higher opinion of him than before. To be sure his lan- 
 guage and mode of expressing himself savor more of 
 the last than of this century, — of the camp than of the 
 court ; but barring these eccentricities, he is a wonderful 
 man ; his heart is as thoroughly in his work, and he takes 
 as high a tone in all that concerns it, as Arnold did in his ; 
 that is to say, the highest the subject is capable of. I only 
 trust he will remain with us as long as his health lasts, 
 and endeavor to rouse the army from the state of slack 
 discipUne into which it has fallen. On my parting with 
 him he said, " Now, remember, Hodson, if there is any 
 way in which I can be of use to you, pray don't scruple to 
 write to me." I didn't show him his brother's * letter, — 
 that he might judge for himself first, and know me " per 
 se," or rather " per me ; " I will, however, if ever I see 
 him again. 
 
 * Sir W. Napier. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TOUE IN CASHMERE AND THIBET WITH SIR HENUr 
 
 LAWRENCE. PROMOTION AND TRANSFER TO CIS- 
 
 STJTLEJ PROVINCES. 
 
 Camp, en route to Cashmeke, June Wth, 1860. 
 Tour letter from Paris reached me just as I was 
 preparing to start from Umritsur to join Sir Henry 
 Lawrence, and accompany him to Cashmere. I fought 
 against the necessity of leave as long as possible, but I 
 was getting worse and worse daily, and so much weak- 
 ened from the effects of heat and hard work acting on a 
 frame already reduced by sickness, that I was compelled 
 to be off ere worse came. We yesterday arrived at the 
 summit of the first high ridge southward of the snowy 
 range, and have now only some sixty miles to traverse 
 before entering the valley. To me, travelling is life, and 
 in a country where one has no home, no local attractions, 
 and DO special sympathies, it is the greatest comfort in 
 the world. I get terribly ennuye if I am in one place 
 for three months at a time ; yet I think I should be just 
 as tame as ever in England, quite domestic again. 
 
 Cashmere, July 8th, 1850. 
 You would enjoy this lovely valley extremely. I did 
 not know it was so beautiful, having only seen it before 
 
158 CASHMERE. 
 
 in its winter dress. Nothing can exceed the luxuriant 
 beauty of the vegetation, the plane-trees and walnuts espe- 
 cially, except the squalor, dirt, and poverty of the wretch- 
 ed Cashmerians. The King is avaricious, and is old. 
 The disease grows on him, and he wont look beyond his 
 money-bags. There is a capitation tax on every individ- 
 ual practising any labor, trade, profession, or employ- 
 ment, collected daily. Fancy the Londoners having to 
 go and pay a fourpenny and a sixpenny bit each, per 
 diem, for the pleasure of living in the town. Then the 
 tax on all shawls, goods, and fabrics, is about seventy-five 
 per cent., including custom duty ; and this the one soli- 
 tary staple of the valley. The chief crops are rice, and 
 of this, what with one half taken at a slap as " revenue," 
 or rent, and sundry other pulls for dues, taxes, and ofiFer- 
 ings, so little remains to the farmer, that in practice he 
 pays all, or within a few bushels of all, his produce to 
 the King, and secures in return his food, and that not of 
 the best. Thus the farmer class, or " Zemindars,'' are 
 reduced pretty well to the state of day-laborers ; yet the 
 people are all well clothed, and fuel is to be had for the 
 asking. What a garden it might be made. Not an acre 
 to which the finest water might not be conveyed without 
 expense worth naming, and a climate where all produce 
 comes to perfection, from wheat and barley to grapes and 
 silk. We go northwards on the 20th, first to Ladakh 
 and Thibet, thence to Iskardo, and then aci^ss the Indus 
 to Gilghit, a terra incognita to which, I believe, only one 
 European now living has penetrated. Sir Henry Law- 
 rence is not well, and certainly not up to this trip, but he 
 has made up his mind to go. I do not gain strength as 
 fast as I could wish, but I fancy when once thoroughly 
 unstrung, it takes a long time to recover the wonted tone. 
 
THIBET. 159 
 
 We shall have another frontier war in the cold weather 
 evidently, and I fancy a more prolonged and complete 
 afiair than the last. The cause of the only loss sustained 
 in the last scrimmage was the panic of the Sepoys. 
 They are as children in the hands of these Affghans and 
 hill tribes. Our new Punjaub levies fought " like bricks," 
 but the Hindostanee is not a hardy enough animal, phys- 
 ically or morally, to contend with the sturdier races west 
 of the Sutlej, or the active and fighting " Pathans." The 
 very name sticks in John Sepoy's throat. I must try and 
 see the next contest, but I do not quite see my way to 
 it at present. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Cahp, hear Ladaeh, August 4lh, 1860. 
 Who would have thought of my writing to you from 
 Thibet. I am sitting in a little tent about eight feet long, 
 which just takes a narrow cot, a table, and chair of camp 
 dimensions, and my sac-de-nuit, gun, &c., and a tin box 
 containing books, papers, and the materials for this pres- 
 ent epistle. Under the same tree (a veritable chestnut) 
 is Sir Henry Lawrence's tent, a ditto of mine, in which 
 he is comfortably sleeping, as I ought to be ; outside are 
 my pets, — that is, a string of mules who accompany me 
 in all my travels, and have also in the mountains the 
 honor of carrying me as well as my baggage. The 
 kitchen is under a neighboring tree ; and round a fire are 
 squatting our gallant guards, a party of Maharaja Gholab 
 Singh's household brigade. Some of his people accom- 
 pany us, and what with followers, a Moonshee or two for 
 business, and their followers, I dare say we are a party 
 of two or three hundred souls, of all colors and creeds, — 
 
160 STKANGE MEETING. 
 
 Christians, Mussulmans, Hindoos, Buddhists, Sikhs, and 
 varieties of each. The creeds of the party are as varied 
 as their colors ; and that's saying a good deal, when you 
 contrast my white face and yellow hair with Sir Henry's 
 nut-brown, the pale white parchmenty-color of the Kash- 
 raeree, the honesf> brunette tinge of the UtU Sikh, the clear 
 olive-brown of the Rajpoot, down through all shades of 
 dinginess to the deep black of the low-caste Hindoo. I 
 am one of the whitest men in India, I fancy, as, instead 
 of burning in the sun, I get blanched like endive or 
 celery. How you would stare at my long beard, mous- 
 tache, and whiskers. However, to return from such per- 
 sonalities to facts. The Indus is brawling along five 
 hundred feet below us, as if in a hurry to get " out of 
 that ; " and above, one's neck aches with trying to see to 
 the top of the vast craggy mountains which confine the 
 stream in its rocky channel. So wild, so heaven-forsaken 
 a scene I never beheld; living nature there is none. 
 In a week's journey, I have seen three marmots, two 
 wag-tails, and three jackdaws ; and we have averaged 
 twenty miles a day. 
 
 We met a lady the other day, in the most romantic 
 way possible, in the midst of the very wildest of glens, 
 and almost as wild weather. She is a young and very 
 pretty creature, gifted with the most indomitable energy 
 and endurance (except as regards her husband, whom she 
 can't endure, and therefore travels alone). But conceive, 
 that for the last three months she has been making her 
 way on pony-back across a country which few men would 
 like to traverse, over the most formidable passes, the 
 deepest and rapidest rivers, and wildest deserts in Asia. 
 For twenty days she was in the extreme wilds of Thibet, 
 without ever seeing a human habitation ; making such 
 
THIBET. 161 
 
 long day's journeys as often to be without food or bed- 
 ding, traversing passes from sixteen to eighteen thousand 
 feet above the sea, where you can hardly breathe without 
 pain ; enduring pain, sickness, and every other mortal ill, 
 yet persevering still ! Poor creature, she is dying, I fear. 
 It is evident that she is in a deep consumption, created 
 by a terrible faU she had down a precipice, at the com- 
 mencement of her journey. Well, one day we met her 
 between this place and Cashmere. She was sixteen or 
 twenty miles from her tents, and the rain and darkness 
 were coming on apace ; the thermometer down below 
 fifty degrees. So we persuaded her to stop at our en- 
 campment. I gave her my tent and cot, acted lady's 
 maid, supplied her with warm stockings and shoes, 
 water, towels, brushes, &c., and made her comfortable, 
 and then we sat down to dinner ; and a pleasanter 
 evening I never spent. She was as gay as a lark, and 
 poured out stores of information and anecdotes, and 
 recounted her adventures in the " spiritedest " manner. 
 After an early breakfast the next morning, I put her on 
 her pony, and she went on her way, and we saw her no 
 more. I hope she will live to reach the end of her 
 journey, and not die in some wild mountain-side unat- 
 tended and alone. 
 
 Another letter of same date : — 
 
 Camf, Kulbee in Ladakh, August ith, 1850. 
 • • • • Until you cross the mountain chain which sep- 
 arates Cashmere from Tibet (or Thibet), all is green and 
 beautiful. It is impossible to imagine a finer combination 
 of vast peaks and masses of mountain, with green sloping 
 lawns, luxuriant foliage, and fine clustering woods, than 
 
162 LLAMA MONASTERIES. 
 
 is displayed on the sides of the great chain which we 
 usually call the Himalaya, but which is better described 
 as the ridge which separates the waters of the Jhelum, 
 Chenab, Ravee, and Beas from those of the Indus. 
 When once, however, you have crossed this vast barrier, 
 the scene changes as if by magic, and you have nothing 
 but huge convulsive-looking masses of rock, tremendous 
 mountains, glaciers, snow, and valleys which are more 
 vast watercourses than anything else. On the more open 
 and less elevated spots along these various feeders of the 
 Indus, one comes to little patches of cultivation, rising 
 from the banks of the rivers in tiers of carefully pre- 
 pared terraces, and irrigated by channels carried along 
 the sides of the hill from a point higher up the stream. 
 Here, in scattered villages ten and twenty miles apart, 
 live the ugliest race on earth, I should imagine, whom 
 we call Thibetians, but who style themselves " Bhots " or 
 " Bhods," and unite the characteristic features, or rather 
 want of them, of both Goorkhas and Chinese. I went 
 yesterday to see a monastery of their Llamas, the most 
 curious sight, as well as site, I ever beheld. Perched on 
 the summit of a mass of sandstone-grit, conglomerate 
 pudding-stone, worn by the melting snows (for there is 
 no rain in Tibet) into miraculous cones, steeples, and pin- 
 nacles rising abruptly from the valley to the height of 
 600 feet, are a collection of queer little huts, connected 
 together by bridges, passages, and staircases. In these 
 dwell the worthies who have betaken themselves to the 
 life of religious mendicants and priests. They seem to 
 correspond exactly with the travelling friars of olden 
 times. Half stay at liome to perform chants and services 
 in their convent chapel, and half go a-begging about the 
 country. They are not a distinct race like the Brahmins 
 
LLAMA MONASTERIES. 163 
 
 of India, but each Bhot peasant devotes one of two or 
 three .sons to the church, and he is thenceforward devoted 
 to a life of celibacy, of shaven crown, of crimson apparel, 
 of mendicancy, of idleness, and of comfort. They all 
 acknowledge spiritual allegiance to the great Llama at 
 Llassa (some two months' journey from Ladakh), by 
 whom the abbot of each convent is appointed on a va- 
 cancy occurring, and to wliom all their proceedings are 
 reported. Nunneries also exist on precisely the same 
 footing. I saw a few of the nuns, and their hideous ap- 
 pearance fully justified their adoption of celibacy and 
 seclusion. From their connection with almost every 
 family, as I have said, they are universally looked up to 
 and supported as a class by the people. Even Hindoos 
 reverence them ; and their power is not only feared, but 
 I fancy tolerably freely exercised. Their chapel (a flat- 
 roofed square building supported on pillars) is furnished 
 with parallel rows of low benches to receive the squatting 
 fathers. Their services consist of chants and recitative, 
 accompanied by the discord of musical (?) instruments and 
 drums, while perpetual lamps burn on the altars before 
 their idols, and a sickly perfume fills the air. Round the 
 room are rude shelves containing numberless volumes of 
 religious books ; not bound, but in separate leaves secured 
 between two painted boards. I will try and send you 
 one, if I can corrupt the mind of some worthy Llama 
 with profane silver. They are genuine block books, 
 strange to say, apparently carved on wood, and then 
 stamped on a Chinese paper. The figures of their im 
 ages, and their costume and head-dress (i. e., of the im- 
 ages), are Chinese entirely, not at all resembling the 
 Bhot dress, or scarcely so, and though fashioned by 
 Thibetian hands, you might fancy yourself gazing on the 
 
164 JOURNEY TO ISKARDO. 
 
 figures in the Chinese Exhibition at Hyde- Park Comer. 
 Their language is a sealed book to me, of course, and 
 though they all read and write well, yet they were un- 
 able to explain the meaning of the words they were 
 repeating. The exterior appearance and sites of their 
 conventual buildings reminded me very strongly of the 
 drawings I saw in a copy of Curzon's " Monasteries of the 
 Levant," which fell in my wa^ for five minutes one day. 
 I need hardly say that, in a country composed of moun- 
 tains ranging from 14,000 feet upwards, the scenery is 
 magnificent in the extreme, though very barren and 
 savage. Apricots and wheat are ripening in the valley 
 whence I now write (on the right bank of the Indus, 
 some fifty miles below the town of Ladakh), and snow is 
 glistening on the summits above me; the roads have 
 been very easy indeed, and enabled us to make long 
 day's marches, from sixteen to twenty-five miles. This 
 is more than you could do in two days in the ranges 
 south of the Himalaya, with due regard for your own 
 bones, and the cattle or porters which carry your traps 
 and tents. I am very seedy, and twenty miles is more 
 than I can ride with comfort (that I should live to say 
 it). I have not as yet derived much, if any, benefit from 
 change of climate. 
 
 From Ladakh we go to Iskardo, some" twelve marches 
 lower down the Indus, where it has been joined by the 
 water of Yarkund ; and thence to Gilghit, a valley run- 
 ning up from that of the Indus, still lower down, and 
 bordering on Budakhstan. We (Sir Henry Lawrence 
 and I) then return to Cashmere ; I expect it will be two 
 more months' journey. We have already been out a 
 fortnight, and it is very fatiguing. I am not sure that I 
 was wise in undertaking it, but he (Lawrence) is a 
 
ladAkh. 165 
 
 greater invalid than I am, and two or three men fought 
 shy of the task of accompanying him. 
 
 Camp, Ibeardo (in Little Thibet,) 
 August, 26(7i, 1850. 
 
 Only think of my sitting down peaceably to write to 
 you from this outside world. Had I lived a hundred 
 years ago, I should have been deemed a great traveller, 
 and considered to have explored unknown countries, and 
 unknown they are, only the principal danger of visiting 
 them is past, seeing that they have been subdued by a 
 power (Gholab Singh) with whom we have " relations." 
 Yet if I were to cross the mountains which stare me in 
 the face a few miles oflF, I should be carried off and sold 
 for a slave. It were vain to try to compress the scenes 
 of a two months' journey into a sheet of note-paper. We 
 have travelled very rapidly. Few men go the pace Sir 
 Henry Lawrence does. So we have covered a great ex- 
 tent of country in the past month ; and seeing that the 
 valleys are the only inhabited parts of the country, the 
 rest being huge masses of mountains, one really sees in 
 these rapid flights all that is to be seen of the abodes of 
 man. We have collected a good deal of information too, 
 which, if I had time to arrange it, might be of value. 
 We were eleven long days' journey from Cashmere to 
 Ladakh, besides halts on the way at Ladakh itself, or, as 
 the people call it, Leh. We remained a week, and saw 
 all the " foreigners " who came there to sell furs and silk. 
 It is called the " Great Emporium " of trade between 
 Yarkund and Kashgar and Llassa, and Hindostan. Fine 
 words look well on paper, but to my unsophisticated mind 
 
166 LADAKH. 
 
 the " leading merchants " seemed peddlers, and the " Em- 
 porium " to be a brace of hucksters' shops. However, 'tis 
 curious, that's a fact, to see (and talk to) a set of men 
 who have got their goods from the yellow-haired Russians 
 at the Nishni-Novogorod fair, and brought them across 
 Asia to sell at Ladakh. It is forty days' journey, of al- 
 most a continuous desert, for these caravans from Yarkund 
 to Leh ; and there is no small danger to life and limb by 
 the way. The current coin is lumps of Chinese sycee 
 silver of two pounds' weight each. I bought a Persian 
 hoi-se for the journey, and paid for it in solid silver four 
 pounds' weight : 166 rupees, or about 16/. I shall sell it 
 for double the money when the journey is over. Leh is 
 a small town, of not more than 400 houses, on a project- 
 ing promontory of rock stretching out into the valley 
 formed by one of the small feeders of the Indus. For 
 the people, they are Bodhs, and wear tails, and have flat 
 features like the Chinese, and black garments. The 
 women, unlike other Asiatics whom I have seen, go about 
 the streets openly, as in civilized countries ; but they are 
 an ugly race, and withal dirty to an absolutely unparal- 
 leled extent. They wear no head-dress, but plait their 
 masses of black hair into sundry tails half way down 
 their backs. Covering the division of the hair from the 
 forehead back and down the shoulders, is a narrow 
 leathern strap, universally adorned with rough turquoises 
 and bits of gold or silver. The old Ranee whom we 
 called upon had on this strap (in her case a broader one, 
 about three fingers wide) 156 large turquoises, worth 
 some hundreds of pounds. Over their ears they wear 
 flaps of fur which project forward with precisely the 
 effect of blinkers on a horse. 
 
 The climate is delightful ; it never rains ; the sky is 
 
ISKARDO. 167 
 
 blue to a fault, and snow only falls sparingly in winter, 
 ihough the climate is cold, being 10,000 feet (they say) 
 above the sea. In boiling water the thermometer was 
 only 188°. I never felt a more exhilarating air. That 
 one week quite set me up, and I have been better ever 
 since. Tlie Llamas or monks, with their red cardinal's 
 hats and crimson robes, look very imposing and monastic, 
 quite a travesty of the regular clergy, and they blow just 
 such trumpets as Fame does on monuments in country 
 churches. Jolly friars they are, and fat to a man. From 
 Leh we crossed the mountain ridge which separates the 
 two streams of the Indus, and descended the northern (or 
 right) stream to this place, the capital of Bultistan or 
 Little Thibet. It is a genuine humbug. In the middle 
 of a fine valley, some 6,000 feet above the sea, surround- 
 ed by sudden rising perpendicular mountains 6,000 feet 
 higher, stands an isolated rock washed by the Indus, 
 some two miles by three quarters : a little Gibraltar. 
 The valley may be ten miles by three, partially culti- 
 vated, and inhabited by some 200 scattered houses. 
 There's Iskardo. There was a fort on the rock, but that 
 is gone, and all, as usual in the East, bespeaks havoc ; 
 only nature is grand here. The people are Mussulmans, 
 and not Bodhs, and are more human-looking, but not so 
 well clad. It is warmer by far, much more so than it 
 ought to be. The thermometer was at 92° in our tents 
 to-day, a thing for which I cannot possibly account, since 
 there is snow now on all sides of us. We go hence 
 across the Steppe of Deo Sole towards Cashmere for four 
 days' journey, and then strike westward to cross the In- 
 dus into Gilghit, whence we return to Cashmere by the 
 end of September. We have been making very fast 
 marches, varying from sixteen to thirty-two miles a day. 
 
168 SIK HENRY'S SUGGESTION 
 
 — hard work in a country with such roads, and where 
 you must take things with you. I enjoy it very much, 
 however, and after a year's sickness, the feeling of return- 
 ing health is refreshing. I shall return to work again by 
 the 1st of December ; but I propose paying a flying visit 
 to Mr. Thomason in October, if possible ; but the dis- 
 tances are so vast, and the means of locomotion so absent, 
 that these things are difiicult to achieve. I suppose I 
 have seen more of the hill country now than ninety-nine 
 men out of a hundred in India. Indeed, not above four 
 Europeans have been here before. But travelling suits 
 my restless spirit. Sir Henry and I get on famously 
 together. 
 
 On October 7th, 1850, he writes from Simla to 
 
 his father : ^- 
 
 I have had a long and fatiguing march from Cashmere 
 across the mountains and the valleys of the " five rivers," 
 nearly four hundred miles, which I accomplished in fifteen 
 days. I left Sir Henry Lawrence in Cashmere. I have 
 since heard from him, urging me to use all the influence I 
 can muster up here to procure a brevet majority in posse 
 (i. e. on attaining my regimental captaincy), and a heal 
 majority in esse for " my services in the late war ; " and 
 adding, that if I did not find civil employment to suit me, 
 he would, when I had given it a fair trial, try £uid get me 
 the command of one of the regiments in the Punjaub. I 
 am going to consult Mr. Thomason on the subject, and 
 will let you know the result. I hate the least suspicion 
 of toadyism, and dislike asking favors, or I should have 
 been better off ere now ; but on Sir Henry Lawrence's 
 suggestion, I will certainly use any opportunity which 
 
LNKLUENCK OVER GUIDES. 169 
 
 may offer. I thought, however, you would be gratified 
 with the opinion which must have dictated so perfectly 
 spontaneous an offer. I confess that I very much prefer 
 the military line myself, although I like civil work much, 
 and it is the road to competence. Nevertheless, military 
 rank and distinctions have more charm for me than 
 rupees ; and I would rather cut my way to a name and 
 poverty with the sword, than write it to wealth with the 
 pen. 
 
 There is something to me peculiarly interesting in the 
 forming and training soldiers, and in acquiring that ex- 
 traordinary influence over their minds, both by personal 
 volition and the aid of discipline, which leads them on 
 through danger, even to death, at your bidding. I felt 
 the enthusiasm of this power successfully exerted with 
 the Guides during the late war ; and having felt it, am 
 naturally inclined to take advantage of it on future occa- 
 sions. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Simla, Oct. 21a(, 1860. 
 
 It is rather too late to tell you " all about Cashmere,'' 
 as you desire ; but I can say that I saw some beauties 
 this time who were really so to no common extent ; and 
 that I was much more pleased with the valley than on 
 my first visit, which was a winter one. If you see what 
 wonderfully out-of-the-way places we got into, I think 
 you will marvel that I managed to write at all. We 
 traversed upwards of fifteen hundred miles of wild moun- 
 tainous countries, innocent of roads, and often, for days 
 together, of inhabitants, and carrying our houses on our 
 backs. The change to the utter comfort and civilization 
 
170 MR. THOMASON. 
 
 of this house was something " stunning ; " and I have not 
 yet become quite reconciled to dressing three times a day, 
 black hat, and patent leather boots. I need hardly say, 
 however, that I have very much enjoyed my visit and my 
 " big talks " with Mr. Thomason. He is very gray, and 
 looks older than when I saw him in 1847, but otherwise 
 he is just the same, working magnificently, and doing 
 wonders for his province. Already the Northwest Prov- 
 inces are a century in advance of the Bengal Proper 
 ones. As a Governor he has not his equal ; and in hon- 
 esty, high-mindedness, and indefatigable devotion to the 
 public good, he is facile princeps of the whole Indian ser- 
 vice. Nor is there a household in India to match his, 
 indeed, it is about the only " big-wig '' house to which 
 people go with pleasure rather than as a duty. I saw 
 Sir Charles Napier, too, and dined with him last week. 
 He is very kind and pleasant, and I am very sorry on 
 pubhc grounds that he is going away. 
 
 KUSSOWLEE, Nov. itil, 1850. 
 
 I had a most pleasant home-like visit to Mr. Thomason, 
 and was most affectionately entertained. He will have 
 told you of the power of civility I met with at Simla fiom 
 the " big-wigs," and that even Lord Dalhousie waxed 
 complimentary, and said that " Lumsden and Hodson 
 were about the best men he had," (that I write it that 
 shouldn't !) and that he promised to do his best to get me 
 a brevet majority as soon as I became, in the course of 
 time, a regimental captain. And Sir Charles Napier 
 (the best abused man of his day) was anxious to get for 
 me the Staff appointment of Brigade-Major to the Pun- 
 
APPOINTMKNT TO CIS-SUTLEJ STATES. 171 
 
 jaub Irregular Force, — i. e., of the six newly raised cav- 
 alry and infantry regiments for frontier service. He did 
 not succeed, for the berth had been previously filled up 
 unknown to him ; but he tried to do so, and that's a com- 
 pliment from such a man. I hope I need not say that 
 this good deed of his vras as spontaneous as a mush- 
 room's birth. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 Knssowi.EE, Noil. 6(h. 
 
 I am to be here next year, I find, by tidings just re- 
 ceived, which will be a splendid thing for my constitution. 
 My connection with Uraritsur is dissolved by my having 
 been appointed to act as personal assistant to the Com- 
 missioner of the Cis-Sutlej States, which is, I believe, a 
 piece of promotion. The great advantages are, first, the 
 capital opportunity it affords of experience in every kind 
 of civil work, and of being under a very able man, — 
 Mr. Edmonstone ; and secondly, that the Commissioner's 
 head-quarters are " peripatetic " in the cold weather, 
 and in the hills during the remainder of the year. But 
 I confess that I hanker after the " Guides " as much as 
 ever, and would catch at a good opportunity of returning to 
 them with honor. I fear I have been remiss in explana- 
 tions on this subject. The matter lies in this wise, — I 
 left the Corps and took to civil employment at the advice 
 of Sir Henry Lawrence, Mr. Thomason, and others, 
 though against my own feelings on the subject. The 
 man or men who succeeded me are senior to me in army 
 rank. When one of tliem resigned six months ago, I 
 was strongly disposed and urged to try and succeed to 
 the vacanc\-. There was a hitch, however, from the 
 
172 UMRITSUR. 
 
 cause I have mentioned, and Lurasden was anxious that 
 his lieutenants should not be disgusted by supersession. 
 I might have had the appointment, but withdrew to avoid 
 annoying Lumsden. Now, both Sir Henry Lawrence 
 and Mr. Thomason are very sorry that I ever left the 
 Corps, and that they advised the step. Things have 
 taken a different turn since then, and it is confessedly the 
 best thing a young soldier can aspire to. I know that my 
 present hne is one which leads to more pecuniary advan- 
 tages ; but the other is the finer field, and is far more 
 independent. I shall work away, however, cheerfully in 
 the civil line until I see a good opening in the other ; and 
 then, I fear you will hardly persuade me that sitting at a 
 desk with the thermometer at 98° is better than soldier- 
 ing, — i. e., than commanding soldiers made and taught by 
 yourself! I will give you the earliest warning of the 
 change. 
 
 Umeitsue, Ifov. 2ith, 1850. 
 
 I returned here on the 16th, and have been up to the 
 neck in work ever since, having the whole work, civil, 
 criminal, police, &c. &c., on my shoulders, Saunders, the 
 Deputy Commissioner, my superior, being engaged danc- 
 ing attendance on the Governor-General, who is here on 
 his annual tour of inspection ; and Macleod, my co-assist- 
 ant, dead. Directly the Governor-General has gone on- 
 wards I shall be relieved here, and join my new appoint- 
 ment with Mr. Edmonstone. 
 
LAHORE. 173 
 
 Laiioke, Jan. 2d, 1851. 
 
 I broke up from Umritsur early in December, and 
 came into Lahore to join my new chief. He did not 
 arrive till the 18th, so I had a comparative holiday. I 
 have got into harness, however, again now, and am up to 
 the elbows in work and papers. The work is much more 
 pleasant than that I had at Umritsur, and more free from 
 mere routine. 
 
 Lahore, Feb. 2lat. 
 This is an interesting anniversary to many of us, and 
 an overwhelming one to this country, — that of the day 
 on which " the bright star of the Punjaub " set forever. It 
 has been curiously marked by the announcement, that the 
 net balance of receipts over expenditure for the past year, 
 for the newly acquired provinces, has reached upwards of 
 a million sterling. Lord Dalhousie's star is in the ascend- 
 ant. His financial measures are apparently all good, 
 when tried by the only standard admissible in the nine- 
 teenth century, — their success. 
 
 KossowLEE, March 22rf, 1861. 
 
 I broke down again most completely as soon as the 
 hot weather began, but my flight to this beautiful climate 
 has wonderfully refreshed me. Talk of Indian luxuries ! 
 There are but two, cold water and cool air ! I get on 
 very comfortably with my new " Chief." He is a first- 
 rate man, and has a most uncommon appetite for work, of 
 which there is plenty for both of us. We cover a good 
 
174 SOLDIEE'S PROFESSION. 
 
 stretch of country — comprising five British districts and 
 nine sovereign states ; and as the whole has been in 
 grievous disorder for many years, and a peculiarly diffi- 
 cult population to deal with, you may imagine that the 
 work is not slight. My principal duty is hearing appeals 
 from orders and decisions by the district officers in these 
 five districts. It is of course not " per se," but as the 
 Commissioner's personal assistant, that I do this. I pre- 
 pare a short abstract, with my opinion on each case, and 
 he issues his orders accordingly. I was at work a whole 
 day lately over one case, which, after all, involved only a 
 claim to about a quarter of an acre of land ! You will 
 give rae credit for ingenuity in discovering that the result 
 of some half dozen quires of written evidence was to 
 prove that neither of the contending parties had any right 
 at all! If that's not "justice to Ireland," I don't know 
 what is ! I have been staying with Captain Douglas, and 
 I hope I shall see a great deal of him. There is not a 
 better man or more genuine soldier going. This may 
 appear faint praise, but rightly understood, and conscien- 
 tiously and boldly worked out, I doubt whether any other 
 profession calls forth the higher qualities of our nature 
 more strongly than does that of a soldier in times of 
 war and tumults. Certain it is that it requires the high- 
 est order of man to be a good general, and in the lower 
 ranks, (in this country especially,) even with all the 
 frightful drawbacks and evils, I doubt whether the 
 Saxon race is ever so preeminent, or its good points 
 so strongly developed, as in the " European " soldier 
 serving in India, or on service anywhere. 
 
KUSSOWLEE. 175 
 
 KussowLEE, April Tth, 1861. 
 I bave the nicest house here on a level spot on the 
 very summit of the mountain ridge, from which a most 
 splendid view is obtainable for six months in the year. 
 In the immediate foreground rises a round-backed ridge, 
 on which stands the former work of my hands, the " Law- 
 rence Asylum ; " while to the westward, and down, down 
 far off in the interminable south, the wide glistening 
 plains of the Punjaub, streaked with the faint ribbon-like 
 lines of the Sutlej and its tributaries, and the wider sea- 
 like expanse of Hindostan, stretch away in unbroken 
 evenness beyond the limits of vision, and almost beyond 
 those of faith and imagination. On the other side you 
 look over a mass of mountains up to the topmost peaks 
 of Himalaya. So narrow is the ridge, that it seems as 
 though you could toss a pebble from one window into the 
 Sutlej, and from the other into the valley below Simla. I 
 like the place very much. I have seven or eight hours' 
 work every day, and the rest is spent (as this one) in the 
 society of the 60th Rifles, the very nicest and most gentle- 
 manly regiment I ever met with. 
 
 KussowLEE, ^fay ith, 1861. 
 
 Your budget of letters reached me on the 2d. It is 
 very pleasant to receive these warm greetings, and it re- 
 freshes me when bothered, or overworked, or feverish, or 
 disgusted. I look forward to a visit to England and home 
 with a pleasure which nothing but six years of exile can 
 give. 
 
 The Governor-General has at last advanced me to the 
 
176 KUSSOWLEE. 
 
 higher grade of " Assistants " to Commissioners. The 
 immediate advantage is an increase of pay, — the real 
 benefit, that it brings me nearer the main step of a 
 Deputy Commissioner in charge of a district. It is satis- 
 factory, not the less so that it was extorted from him by 
 the unanimity of my official superiors in pressing the 
 point upon him, Mr. Edmonstone having commenced at- 
 tacking him in my favor before I had been under him 
 four months. I am not in love vrith the kind of employ- 
 ment, — I long with no common earnestness for the more 
 military duties of my old friends the "Guides;" but I 
 am not therefore insensible to the advantages of doing 
 well in this line of work. Ambition alone would dictate 
 this, for my success in this civil business (which is con- 
 sidered the highest and most arduous branch of the pub- 
 lic service) almost insures my getting on in any otlier 
 hereafter. 
 
 To Rev. E. Harland. 
 
 KussowLEE, June, IKA, 1851. 
 I fancy the change is as great in myself as in either. 
 The old visions of boyhood have given place to the vehe- 
 ment aspirations of a military career and the interests of 
 a larger ambition. I thirst now not for the calm pleasures 
 of a country life, the charms of society, or a career of 
 ease and comfort, but for the maddening excitement of 
 war, the keen contest of wits involved in dealing with 
 wilder men, and the exercise of power over the many by 
 force of the will of the individual. Nor am I, I hope, 
 insensible to the vast field for good and for usefulness 
 which these vast provinces offer to our energies, and to 
 the high importance of the trust committed to our charge. 
 
COLONEL BRADSHAW. 177 
 
 To Ms Father. 
 
 KussowLEE, Oct. 20th, 1661. 
 
 I am much stronger now, and improving rapidly. By 
 the end of next summer I hope to be as strong as I ever 
 hope to be again. That I shall ever again be able to 
 row from Cambridge to Ely in two hours and ten min- 
 utes, to run a mile in five minutes, or to walk from Skye 
 (or Kyle Hatren Ferry) to Inverness in thirty hours, is 
 not to be expected, or perhaps desired. But I have 
 every hope that in the event of another war I may be 
 able to endure fatigue and exposure as freely as in 1848. 
 One is oftener called upon to ride than to walk long dis- 
 tances in India. In 1848, I could ride one hundred 
 miles in ten hours, fuUy accoutred, and I don't care how 
 soon (saving your presence !) the necessity aiises again ! 
 I have no doubt that matrimony will do me a power of 
 good, and that I shall be not only better, but happier and 
 more care-less than hitherto. 
 
 1 have been deeply grieved and affected by the death, 
 two days ago, of Colonel Bradshaw, of the 60th Rifles. 
 He will be a sad loss, not only to his regiment, but to the 
 army and the country. He was the beau ideal of an 
 English soldier and gentleman, and would have earned 
 himself a name as a General had he been spared. A 
 finer and nobler spirit there was not in the army. I feel 
 it as a deep personal loss, for he won my esteem and re- 
 gard in no common degree. 
 
 8* 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARRIAGE. COMMAND OP THE GUIDES. FRONTIER 
 
 WARFARE. MURDAN. 
 
 On the 5th of January, 1852, Lieut. Hodson 
 was married, at the Cathedral, Calcutta, to Su- 
 san, daughter of Capt. C. Henry, R. N., and 
 widow of John Mitford, Esq., of Exbury, Hants. 
 By the first week in March he had resumed his 
 duties at Kussowlee as Assistant Commissioner. 
 On the breaking out of the war with Burmah he 
 expected to rejoin his regiment, (the First Bengal 
 European Fusileers,) which had been ordered for 
 service there, but in August he writes from Kus- 
 sowlee : — 
 
 My regiment is on its way down the Ganges to Cal- 
 cutta, to take part in the war, but the Burmese have 
 proved so very unformidable an enemy this time, that 
 only half the intended force is to be sent on from Cal- 
 cutta ; the rest being held in reserve. Under these 
 circumstances, and in the expectation that the war will 
 very speedily be brought to a close, the Governor-Gen- 
 eral has determined not to allow officers on civil employ- 
 ment to join their regiments in the usual manner. I 
 am thus spared what would have been a very fatiguing 
 
COMMAND OF GUIDE CORPS. 179 
 
 and expensive trip, with Tery little hope of seeing any 
 fighting. 
 
 It was not long, however, before an opportu- 
 nity of seeing active service presented itself, and 
 in a way, of all others, most to his taste. His 
 heart had all along been with his old corps, " the 
 Guides," as his letters show. He had taken an 
 active share in raising and training them origi- 
 nally, and, as second in command during the 
 Punjaub campaign of 1848-9, had contributed in 
 no small degree to gain for the Corps that repu- 
 tation which it has recently so nobly sustained 
 before Delhi. 
 
 The command was now vacant, and was of- 
 fered to him ; but I must let him speak for him- 
 self:— 
 
 KussowLEE, Sept. 23d, 1852. 
 
 Lumsden, my old Commandant in the Guides, goes 
 to England next month, and the Governor- Greneral has 
 given me the command which I have coveted so long. 
 It is immense good fortune in every vray, both as regards 
 income and distinction. It is accounted the most honor- 
 able and arduous command on the frontier, and fills the 
 public eye, as the papers say, more than any other. 
 
 This at the end of seven years' service is a great 
 thing, especially on such a frontier as Peshawur, at the 
 mouth of the Kyber Pass. You will agree with me in 
 rejoicing at the opportunities for distinction thus offered 
 to me. 
 
 Mr. Thomason writes thus : " I congratulate you very 
 sincerely on the fine prospect that is open to you, and 
 
180 KUSSOWLEE. 
 
 trust that you will have many opportunities of showing 
 what the Guides can do under your leadership. I have 
 never ceased to reproach myself for advising you to leuve 
 the Corps, but now that you have the command, you will 
 be all the better for the dose of civilianism that has been 
 intermediately ii^lministered to you." 
 
 KussowLEE, Od. 7th, 1852. 
 
 Here I am, still, but hoping to take wing for Peshawur 
 in a few days. It is only 500 miles ; and, as there are 
 no railways, and only nominal roads, and five va^t riveri 
 to cross, you may suppose that the journey is not one of 
 a few hours' lounge. 
 
 I am most gratified by the appointment to the command 
 of the Guides, and more so by the way in which it was 
 given me, and the manner of my selection from amidst a 
 crowd of aspirants. It is no small thing for a subaltern 
 to be raised to the command of a battalion of infantry 
 and a squadron and a half of cavalry, with four English 
 officers under him ! I am supposed to be the luckiest 
 man of my time. I have already had an offer from the 
 Military Secretary to the Board of Administration to 
 exchange appointments with him, although I should gain, 
 and he would lose 200Z. a year by the " swop ; " but 
 I would not listen to him ; I prefer the saddle to the 
 desk, the frontier to a respectable, wheel-going, dinner- 
 giving, dressy life at the capital ; and ambition to 
 
 money ! 
 
 But though his " instincts were so entirely mil- 
 itary," (to use his own words,) this did not pre- 
 
LETTER FROM MR. EDMONSTONE. 181 
 
 vent his discharging his civil duties in a manner 
 that called forth the highest eulogium from his 
 superiors, as the subjoined letter from ^L•. Ed- 
 monstone, now Secretary to Government at Cal- 
 cutta, wiU testify : — 
 
 " KuasowLEE, Oct: 12rt, 1832. 
 " Mt dear Hodson, — I am a bad hand at talking, 
 and could not say what I wished, but I would not have 
 you go away without thanking you heartily for the sup- 
 port and assistance which you have always given me in 
 all matters, whether big or little, since you joined me, 
 now twenty months and more ago. I have in my civil 
 and criminal reports for the past year recorded my sense 
 of your services, and your official raei-its, but our con- 
 nection has been peculiar, and your position has been one 
 which few would have filled either so efficiently or so 
 agreeably to all parties. You have affisrded me the 
 greatest aid in the most irksome part of my duty, and 
 have always with the utmost readiness undertaken any- 
 thing, no matter what, that I asked you to dispose of, and 
 I owe you more on this account than a mere official ac- 
 knowledgment can repay adequately. I hope that though 
 your present appointment will give you more congenial 
 duties and better pay, you will never have occasion to 
 look back to the time you have passed here with regret ; 
 and I hope too that all your anticipations of pleasure and 
 pride, in commanding the Corps which you had a chief 
 hand in forming, may be realized. 
 
 " Believe me to be, with much regard, 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 " G. F. Edmonstone." 
 
182 huzAra. 
 
 Camp in HuzXba, Dec. 16(A, 1852. 
 
 I took command of the Guides on the 1st November, 
 and twenty-four hours afterwards marched " on service " 
 to this country, which is on the eastern or left bank of 
 the Indus, above the parallel of Attok. We are now in 
 an elevated valley, surrounded by snowy mountains, and 
 mighty cold it is, too, at night. We have come about 125 
 miles from Peshawur, and having marched up the hill, 
 are patiently expecting the order to march down again. 
 We have everything necessary for a pretty little moun- 
 tain campaign but an enemy. This is usually a sine qua 
 non in warfare, but not so now. Then we have to take 
 a fort, only it has ceased to exist months ago ; and to 
 reinstate an Indian ally in territories from which he was 
 expelled by some neighbors, only he wont be reinstated 
 at any price. 
 
 My regiment consists of five English officers, including 
 a surgeon. Dr. Lyell, a very clever man. Then I have 
 300 horse, including native officers, and 550 foot, or 850 
 men in all, divided into three troops and six companies, * 
 the latter armed as riflemen. My power is somewhat 
 despotic, as I have authority to enlist or dismiss from the 
 service, flog or imprison, degrade or promote any one, 
 from the native officers downwards, always remembering 
 that an abuse of power might lose me the whole. This 
 sort of chiefdom is necessary with a wild sort of gentry 
 of various races and speeches, gathered from the snows 
 of the Hindoo Koosh and the Himalaya, to the plains of 
 
 * No two troops or companies were of the same race, in order to 
 prevent the possibility of combination. One company was composed 
 of Sikhs, another of Affreedees, other's of Pathans, Goorkhas, Punjau- 
 bee Mahomedans, &c., with native officers, in each case, of a different 
 race from the men. 
 
HUZARA. 183 
 
 Scinde and Hindostan, all of whom are more quick at 
 blovps thaa at words, and more careless of human life 
 than you could possibly understand in England by any 
 description. I am likely to have civil charge as well as 
 military command of the Euzofzai district, comprising 
 that portion of the great Peshawnr valley which lies be- 
 tween the Cabul River and the Indus. So you see I am 
 not likely to eat the bread of idleness at least. I will 
 tell you more of my peculiar duties when I have more 
 experience of their scope and bent. ... I am, I should 
 say, the most fortunate man in the service, considering 
 my standing. The other candidates were all field-officers 
 of some standing. 
 
 Our good friend and guest, Captain Powys, of the 
 60th, who has spent the first six months of our married 
 life under our roof, is on the way to England. He will 
 see you very soon, and give you a better account of us 
 than you could hope for from any one else. 
 
 Notwithstanding all appearance to the contrary 
 at its opening, the campaign lasted seven weeks, 
 and supplied plenty of fighting. It was after- 
 wards characterized by my brother as the hardest 
 piece of service he had yet seen. One engage- 
 ment lasted from sunrise to sunset. He had thus 
 an opportunity of displaying his usual gallantry 
 and coolness, and showing how well he could 
 handle his " Guides " in mountain warfare. They 
 sufTered much from cold, as the ground was cov- 
 ered with snow for a part of the time, and from 
 want of supplies. 
 
 Colonel (now Sir R.) Napier, speaking after- 
 wards of this expedition, said : — 
 
184 HUZARA. 
 
 " Your brother's unfailing fun and spirits, which 
 seemed only raised by what we had to go through, 
 kept us all alive and merry, so that we looked 
 back upon it afterwards as a party of pleasure, 
 and thought we had never enjoyed anything 
 more." 
 
 In reply to congratulations on his appointment, 
 my brother wrote from — 
 
 Peshawue, March 130i, 1863. 
 I have certainly been very fortunate indeed, and only 
 hope that I may be enabled to acquit myself of the trust 
 well and honorably, both in the field and in the more 
 political portion of my duties. It was a good thing that 
 I had the opportunity of leading the regiment into action 
 so soon after getting the command, and that the brunt of 
 the whole should have fallen upon us, as it placed the 
 older men and myself once more on our old footing of 
 confidence in one another, and introduced me to the 
 younger hands as their leader when they needed one. 
 Susie says she told you all about it ; I need therefore 
 only add that it was the hardest piece of service, while it 
 la-ted, I have 3'et seen with the Guides, both as regards 
 the actual fighting, the difficulties of the ground, (a rugged 
 mountain, 7,000 feet high, and densely wooded,) and the 
 exposure. You will see little or no mention of it pub- 
 liclj', it being the policy of Government to make every- 
 thing appear as quiet as possible on this frontier, and to 
 blazon the war on the eastern side of tiie empire (some 
 2,000 miles away) as much as thej' can. I am, as you 
 justly imagined, to be employed both civilly and in a 
 military capacity, — at least, it is under discussion. I 
 
PKSHAWUR. 185 
 
 was asked to take charge of the wild district of " Euzof- 
 zai," (forming a large portion of the Peshawur province,) 
 where the Guides will ordinarily be stationed. I refused 
 to do so unless I had the exclusive civil charge in all 
 departments, magisterial, financial, and judicial, instead 
 of in the former only, as proposed, and I fancy they will 
 give in to my reasons. I shall then be military chief, 
 and civil governoi-, too, as far as that part of the valley 
 is concerned, and shall have enough on my hands, as you 
 may suppose. In the mean time, I shall have the super- 
 intendence of the building of a fort to contain us all, — 
 not such a fortress as Coblentz, or those on the Belgian 
 frontier, but a mud structure, which answers all the pur- 
 poses we require at a very, very small cost. 
 
 Peshawur, April SOth, 1853. 
 
 I am sorry to say my wife is ordered to the hills, and 
 
 we shall again be separated for five or six months. My 
 
 own destination for the hot season is uncertain, but I 
 
 expect to be either here, or on the banks of the Indus. 
 
 Camp, mear Peshawur, June 4th, 1863. 
 .... I hope to get away from -work and heat in 
 August or September for a month, if all things remain 
 quiet. But for this sad separation, there would be much 
 charm for me in this gypsy life. To avoid the great heats 
 of the next three months in tents, we are building huts 
 for ourselves of thatch, and mine is assuming the dignity 
 of mud walls. We are encamped on a lovely spot, on 
 
186 LIFE IN CAMP. 
 
 the banks of the swift and bright river, at the foot of the 
 hills, on the watch for incursions or forays, and to guard 
 the riclily cultivated plain of the Peshawur valley from 
 depredations from the hills. We are ready, of course, to 
 boot and saddle at all hours ; our rifles and carabines are 
 loaded, and our swords keen and bright ; and woe to the 
 luckless chief who, trusting to his horses, descends u|)on 
 the plain too near our pickets ! Meanwhile, I am civil 
 as well as military chief, and the natural taste of the 
 Euzofzai Pathans for broken heads, murder, and violence, 
 as well as their litigiousness about their lands, keeps me 
 very hard at work from day to day. Perhaps the life 
 may be more suited to a careless bachelor, than to a 
 husband with such a wife as mine ; but even still it has 
 its charms for an active mind and body. A daybreak 
 parade or inspection, a gallop across the plain to some 
 outpost, a plunge in the river, and then an early break- 
 fast, occupy your time until 9 a. m. Then come a couple 
 of corpses whose owners (late) had their heads broken 
 overnight, and consequent investigations and examina- 
 tions ; next a batcli of villagers to say their crops are 
 destroyed by a storm, and no rents forthcoming. Then 
 a scream of woe from a plundered fai-m on the frontier, 
 and next a grain-dealer, to saj' his camels have been car- 
 ried off to the hills. " Is not this a dainty dish to set 
 before — your brother." Then each of my nine hundred 
 men considers mc bound to listen to any amount of sto- 
 ries he may please to invent or remember of his own 
 private griefs and troubles ; and last, not least, there are 
 four young gentlemen who have each his fancy, and who 
 often give more trouble in transacting business than 
 assistance in doing it. However, I have no right to 
 complain, for I am about, yes, quite, the most fortunate 
 
COMPETITIVE SYSTEM. 187 
 
 man in the service ; and have I not the right to call 
 myself the happiest also, with such a wife and such a 
 home ? 
 
 Camp, kear Peshawl'I!, August ilk, 1653. 
 I hear that the new system for India is to throw open 
 Addiscombe and Haileybury to public competition ; tliat 
 this pubhc competition will be fair and open, and free 
 from jobbery and patronage, I suppose no sane per.~on 
 in the 19th century, acquainted with public morals and 
 public bodies, would believe for an instant. The change 
 may, however, facihtate admission into the service to 
 well-crammed boys. There are, I doubt not, many 
 clever and able men who would in a year put any boy 
 with tolerable abilities into a state of intellectual coma, 
 which would enable him to write out examination papers 
 by the dozen, and pass a triumphant examination in 
 paper-military affairs. I am not called upon to state how 
 much of it would avail in the hour of strife and danger. 
 India is, par excellence, the country for poor men who 
 have hard constitutions and strong stomachs. I fear you 
 will add, when you have read thus far, that it is not 
 favorable to charity, or to the goodness which, under the 
 pious wish to think no evil, gives every one credit for 
 everything, and believes that words mean what they 
 appear to express, and that language conveys some idea 
 of the thoughts of the speaker ! ... It is very trying 
 that 1 cannot be with Susie at Murree ; but with a people 
 such as these it is not safe to be absent, lest the volcano 
 should break out afresh. Since I began this sheet a dust- 
 storm has covered everything on my table completely 
 with sand. My pen is clogged, and my inkstand choked, 
 
188 GEOGRAPHY OF PUNJAUB. 
 
 and my eyes full of dust ! What am I to do ? Oh, the 
 pleasures of the tented field in August in the valley of 
 Peshawur ! It has been very hot indeed, lately. We 
 have barely in our huts had the thermometer under 100°, 
 and a very steamy, stewy heat it is, into the bargain. 
 
 MuKBEE, Sept. nth, 18B3. 
 I am enjoying a little holiday from arms and cutchery 
 up in the cool here with Susie. Murree is not more than 
 140 miles from Peshawur. You say that you do not 
 know " what I mean by hills in my part of India." This 
 is owing to the badness of the maps. The fact is, that 
 the whole of the upper part of the country watered by 
 the five rivers is mountainous. The Himalaya extends 
 from the eastern frontiers of India to AiTghanistan, where 
 it joins the " Hindoo Koosh," or Caucasus. If you draw 
 a line from Peshawur, through Rawul Pindee, to Simla 
 or Subathoo, or any place marked on the maps there- 
 abouts, you may assume that all to the north of that Mne 
 is mountain country. Another chain runs from Peshawur, 
 down the right bank of the Indus to the sea. At Attok 
 the mountains close in upon the river, or more correctly 
 speaking, the river emerges from the mountains, and the 
 higher ranges end there. The Peshawur valley is a wide 
 open plain, lying on the banks of the Cabul River, about 
 sixty miles long by forty broad, encircled by mountains, 
 some of them covered with snow for eight or nine months 
 of the year. Euzofzai is the northeastein portion of this 
 valley, embraced between the Cabul River and the Indus. 
 Half of Euzofzai (the " abode of the children of Joseph ") 
 is mountain, but we only hold the level or plain part of it. 
 
EUZOFZAI. 189 
 
 Nevertheless, a large part of my little province is very- 
 hilly. In the northeast corner of Euzofzai, hanging 
 over the Indus, is a vast lump of a hill, called " Maha- 
 bun " (or the " great forest "), thickly peopled on its slopes, 
 and giving shelter to some 12,000 armed men, the bitter- 
 est bigots which even Islam can produce. The hill is 
 about 7,800 feet above the level of the sea. This has 
 been identified by the wise men with tlie Aornos of Ar- 
 rian, and Alexander is supposed to have crossed the Indus 
 at its foot. Whether he did so or not I am not " at lib- 
 erty to mention," but it is certain that Nadir Shah, in one 
 of his incursions into India, marched his host to the top 
 of it, and encamped there. This gives color to the story 
 that the Macedonian did the same. As in all ages, there 
 are dominating points which are seized on by men of 
 genius when engaged in the great game of war. The 
 great principles of war seem to change as little as the 
 natural features of the country. Well, you will see how 
 a mountain range running " slantingdicularly " across the 
 Upper Punjaub contains many nice mountain tops suited 
 to Anglo-Saxon adventurers. If you can find Rawul 
 Pindee on the maps, you may put your finger on Murree, 
 about twenty-five miles, as the crow flies, to the north- 
 east. You should get a map of the Punjaub, Cashmere, 
 and Iskardo, published by Arrowsmith in 1847. George 
 sent me two of them. They are the best published maps 
 I have seen. As to the Euzofzai fever, that is, I am 
 happy to say, now over. It was terrible while it lasted. 
 Between the 1st March and the loth June, 1853, 8,352 
 persons died out of a population of 53,500. It was very 
 similar to typhus, but had some symptoms of yellow fever. 
 It was confined to natives. It appeared to be contagious 
 or infectious, but I am so entirely skeptical as to the ex- 
 
190 DEATH OF MR. THOMASOX. 
 
 istence of either contagion or infection in these Indian 
 comphiints, that I cannot bring myself to believe that the 
 appearances were real. 
 
 Poor Colonel Mackison, the Commissioner at Peshawur, 
 (the chief civil and political officer for the frontier), was 
 stabbed, a few days ago, by a fanatic, while sitting in his 
 veranda reading. The fellow was from Swat, and said 
 he had heard that we were going to invade his country, 
 and that he would try to stop it, and go to heaven as a 
 martyr for the faith. Poor Mackison is still alive, but in 
 a very precarious state, I fear. I hope this may induce 
 Government to take strong measures with the hill-tribes. 
 
 He had soon to mourn the loss of a still more 
 valued friend : — 
 
 Oct. 15th, 1853. 
 
 You will have been much shocked at hearing of poor 
 dear Mr. Thomason's death. 
 
 It is an ii-reparable loss to his family and friends, but 
 it will be even more felt in his public capacity. He had 
 not been ill, but died from sheer debUity and exhaustion, 
 produced by overwork and application in the trying sea- 
 son just over. Had he gone to the hills, all would have 
 been right. I cannot but think that he sacrificed himself 
 as an example to others. You may imagine how much I 
 have felt the loss of my earliest and best friend in India, 
 to whom I was accustomed to detail all my proceedings, 
 and whom I was wont to consult in every difficulty and 
 doubt. 
 
 On the 2d November he wrote from Rawul Pin- 
 dee to announce the birth of a daughter. He had 
 been obliged previously to return to his duties ; 
 
BOEEE CAMPAIGN. 191 
 
 but, by riding hard all night, had been able to be 
 with his wife at the time, and, after greeting the 
 little stranger, had immediately to hasten back to 
 his Guides on the frontier. 
 
 The Government, with a view to secure the 
 Kohat Pass, were now preparing an expedition 
 against the refractory tribe of the Borees, one of 
 the bravest and wildest of the AfTghan race, in 
 order to prove that their hills and valleys were 
 accessible to our troops. 
 
 Accordingly, a force consisting of 400 men of 
 her Majesty's 22d, 450 Goorkhas, 450 Guides, 
 and the mountain train, marched at 4 a. m. on the 
 morning of the 29th November, under the com- 
 mand of Brigadier Boileau, to attack the villages 
 in the Boree valley. 
 
 I must supply the loss of my brother's own 
 account by a letter from an officer with the ex- 
 pedition : — 
 
 " Our party, after crossing the hills between 
 Kundao and the main Affreedee range at two 
 points, reunited in the valley at 10.30 a. m., and 
 with the villages of the Borees before us at the 
 foot of some precipitous crags. These it at once 
 became apparent must be carried before the vil- 
 lages could be attacked and destroyed. The ser- 
 vice devolved on two detachments of the Goorkhas 
 and Guides, commanded by Lieutenants Hodson 
 and Turner, and the style in which these gallant 
 fellows did their work, and drove the enemy from 
 crag to rock and rock to crag, and finally kept 
 
192 BOREE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 them at bay from 11 a. m. to 3 p. m., was the 
 admiration of the whole force. We could plainly 
 see the onslaught, especially a fierce struggle that 
 lasted a whole hour, for the possession of a breast- 
 work, which appeared inaccessible from below, 
 but was ultimately carried by the Guides, in the 
 face of the determined opposition of the Affree- 
 dees, who fought for every inch of ground. 
 
 " Depend upon it, this crowning of the Boree 
 heights was one of the finest pieces of light in- 
 fantry performance on record. It was, moreover, 
 one which Avitabile, with 10,000 Sikhs, was una- 
 ble to accomplish. During these operations on 
 the hill, the vUlages were burnt, and it was only 
 the want of powder which prevented the succes- 
 sion of towers which flanked them being blown 
 into the air. The object of the expedition having 
 been thus fuUy achieved, the skirmishers were 
 recalled at about three, and then the difficulties 
 of the detachment commenced ; for, as is well 
 known, the Affghans are familiar with the art of 
 following, though they will rarely meet an enemy. 
 The withdrawal of the Guides and Goorkhas 
 from the heights was most exciting, and none but 
 the best officers and the best men could have 
 achieved this duty with such complete success. 
 Lieutenant Hodson's tactics were of the most 
 brilliant description, and the whole force having 
 been once more reunited in the plain, they marched 
 out of the valley by the Turoonee Pass, which, 
 though farthest from the British camp, was the 
 
BOEEE CAMPAIGN. 193 
 
 shortest to the outer plains. The force did not 
 return to camp till between ten and eleven at 
 night, having been out nearly eighteen hours, 
 many of the men without food, and almost all 
 without water, the small supply which had been 
 carried out having soon been exhausted, and none 
 being procurable at Boree. 
 
 " Not an officer of the detachment was touched, 
 and only eight men killed and twenty-four wound- 
 ed. When the force first entered the valley, there 
 were not more than 200 Borees in arms to resist ; 
 but before they returned, the number had increased 
 to some 3,000, — tens and twenties pouring in all 
 the morning from all the villages and hamlets 
 within many miles, intelligence of the attack 
 being conveyed to them by the firing." 
 
 My brother's services on this occasion were thus 
 acknowledged by the Brigadier commanding. Col- 
 onel Boileau, her Majesty's 22d Regiment, in a 
 despatch dated Nov. 29th, 1853 : — 
 
 " To the admirable conduct of Lieutenant Hodson in 
 reconnoitring, in the skilful disposition of his men, and 
 the daring gallantry with which he led his fine Corps iu 
 every advance, most of our success is due ; for the safety 
 of the whole force while in the valley of the Tillah de- 
 pended on his holding his position, and I had justly every 
 confidence in his vigilance and valor. 
 
 (Signed) " J. B. Boileau, 
 
 " Brigadier Commanding the Force 
 at Boree." 
 
194 CAMP, MURDAN. 
 
 " To Lieutenant W. S. R. Hodson, I beg you will ex- 
 press my particular thanks for the great service he ren- 
 dered the force under your command, by his ever gallant 
 conduct, which has fully sustained the reputation he has 
 so justly acquired for courage, coolness, and determina- 
 tion. 
 
 (Signed) " W. M. Gomm, 
 
 " Commander-in- Chief." 
 
 Before Christmas, to bis great delight, he was 
 joined in camp by his wife and child. The fol- 
 lowing letters bring out still more prominently 
 the tender loving side of his character, both as a 
 father and a son : — 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 Camp, Murdan, Euzofzai, Jan. 2(f, 1854. 
 
 I have been sadly long in answering your last most 
 welcome letter, but I have been so terribly driven from 
 pillar to post, that I have always been unable to sit down 
 at the proper time. My long holiday with dear Susie, 
 and jouineyings to and fro to see her at Murree, and 
 our short campaign against the Affreedees in November, 
 threw me into a sea of arrears which was terrible to con- 
 template, and still worse to escape from. I am now 
 working all day and half the night, and cannot as yet 
 make much impres.^ion on them. 
 
 I wish you could see your little grand-daughter being 
 nursed by a rough-looking Affghan soldier or bearded 
 Sikh, and beginning life so early as a dweller in tents. 
 She was christened by Mr. Clarke, one of the Church 
 Missionaries who happened to be in Peshawur. The 
 
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 195 
 
 chaplain, who ought to have been there, was amusing 
 himself somewhere, and we could not catch a spare par- 
 son for a fortnight. 
 
 You evidently do not appreciate the state of things in 
 these provinces. There are but two churches in the 
 Punjaub ; and there will be an electric telegraph to Pe- 
 shawur before a church is commenced there, though the 
 station has been one for four years. In the first season, 
 a large Roman Catholic Chapel was built there, and an 
 Italian priest from the Propaganda busy in his vocation. 
 I offered Mr. C. all the aid in my power, though I told 
 him candidly that I thought he had not much chance of 
 success here. A large sum has been raised at Peshawur 
 for the Mission, but unfortunately they have gone wild 
 with theories about the lost tribes and fulfilment of proph- 
 ecies respecting the Jews, which has given a somewhat 
 visionary character to their plans. Mr. C. wanted me to 
 think that these Euzofzai Pathans were Ben-i-Israel, and 
 asked me whether I had heard them call themselves so ; 
 and he was aghast when I said they were as likely to 
 talk of Ben d'lsraeli. All 1 can say is, that if they be 
 " lost tribes," I only wish they would find out a home 
 somewhere else among their cousins, and give me less 
 trouble. . . . My second in command was stabbed in the 
 back by a fanatic the other day while on parade, and has 
 had a wonderful escape for his life. 
 
 You would so delight in your little grand-daughter. 
 She is a lovely good little darling ; as happy as possible, 
 and wonderfully quick and intelligent for her months. I 
 would give worlds to be able to run home and see you, 
 and show you my child, but I fear much that, unless I 
 find a " nugget," it is vain to hope for so much pleasure 
 just now. Meantime, I have every blessing a man can 
 
196 BUILDING FORT. 
 
 hope tor, and not the least is that of your fond and much 
 prized affection. 
 
 A few months later, again apologizing for long 
 silence, he says : — 
 
 May 1st. 
 
 In addition to the very onerous command of 876 wild 
 men and 300 wild horses, and the charge of the civil ad- 
 ministration of a district almost as lawless as Tipperary, 
 I have had to build, and superintend the building of, a 
 fort to give cover to the said men and horses, including 
 also within its walls three houses for English officers, a 
 police station, and a native collector's office. He who 
 builds in India builds not in the comfortable acceptation 
 of the term which obtains at home. He sends not for his 
 Barry or his Basevi ; calls not for a design and specifica- 
 tions, and then beholds his house, and pays his bill ; but 
 he builds as Noah may have built the Ark. 
 
 Down to the minutest detail of carpentry, smithery, 
 and masonry, and of " muddery," too, for that matter, he 
 must know what he is about, and show others what to do, 
 or good-bye to his hopes for a house. 
 
 Altogether, I am often fourteen hours a day at hard 
 work, and obliged to listen for a still longer period. 
 
 Our poor little darling had a very severe attack of 
 fever the other day, but is now well again, and getting 
 strong. I never see her without wishing that she was in 
 her grandfather's arms. You would so delight in her 
 little baby tricks and ways. She is the very delight 
 of our lives, and we look forward with intense interest 
 to her beginning to talk and crawl about. Both she 
 and her dear mother will have to leave for the hills very 
 soon, I am sorry to say. We try to put off the evil day, 
 
LIFE IN WILDERNESS. 197 
 
 but I dare not expose either of my treasures to the heat 
 of Euzofzai or Peshawur for the next three months. . . . 
 The young ladj' already begins to show a singularity of 
 taste, — refusing to go to the arms of any native women, 
 and decidedly preferring the male population, some of 
 whom are distinguished by her special favor. Her own 
 orderly, save the mark, never tires of looking at her 
 " beautiful white fingers," nor she of twisting them into 
 his black beard, — an insult to an Oriental, which he 
 bears with an equanimity equal to his fondness for her. 
 The cunning fellows have begun to make use of her too, 
 and when they want anything, ask the favor in the name 
 of Lilli Baba (they cannot manage "Olivia" at all). 
 They know the spell is potent. 
 
 The following letters from his wife's pen give a 
 lively picture of " domestic " life in the wilder- 
 ness, and of the wilderness itself : — 
 
 " January, 1854. 
 
 " Picture to yourself an immense plain, flat as a bill- 
 iard table, but not as green, with here and there a dotting 
 of camel thorn about eighteen inches high, by way of 
 vegetation. This far as the eye can reach on the east, 
 west, and south of us, but on the north the lasting snows 
 of the mighty Himalaya glitter and sparkle like a rosj' 
 diadem above the lower range, which is close to our 
 camp. What would j'ou say to life in such a wilderness? 
 or how would you stare to see the officers sit down to 
 table with sword and pistol ? The baby never goes for 
 an airing without a guard of armed horsemen ; what a 
 sensation such a cortege would create in Hyde Pai-k ! " 
 
198 EUZOFZAI. 
 
 " April 15lh. 
 
 " You ask for some detail of our life out here, and the 
 history of one day wiU be a picture of every one, with 
 little variation. 
 
 " At the first bugle, soon after dayhght, W. gets up 
 and goes to parade, and from thence to superintend the 
 proceedings at the fort. 
 
 " By nine o'clock we are both ready for breakfast, 
 after which W. disappears into his business tent, where 
 he receives regimental reports, examines recruits, whether 
 men or horses, superintends stores and equipments, hears 
 complaints, and settles disputes, &c. &c. The regimental 
 business first dispatched, then comes ' kutcherry,' or civil 
 court matters, receiving petitions, adjusting claims, with a 
 still longer &c. You may have some small idea of the 
 amount of this work, when I tell you that during the 
 month of Marcli he disposed of twenty-one serious crim- 
 inal cases, such as murder, and ' wounding with intent,' 
 and nearly 300 charges of felony, larceny, &c. At two 
 o'clock he comes in for a look at his bairn, and a glass of 
 wine. Soon after five a cup of tea, and then we order 
 the horses, and in the saddle till nearly eight, when I go 
 with him again to the fort, the garden, and the roads, 
 diverging occasionally to fix the site of a new village, a 
 well, or a watercourse. 
 
 "You can understand something of the delight of gal- 
 loping over the almost boundless plain in the cool, fresh 
 air, (lor the mornings and evenings are still lovely,) with 
 the ground now enamelled with sweet-scented flowers, 
 and the magnificent mountains nearest us assuming every 
 possible hue which light and shadow can bestow. On 
 our return to camp, W. hears more reports till dinner, 
 
NATIVE SPORTS. 199 
 
 which is sometimes shared by the other oflScers, or chance 
 guests. 
 
 " WTien we are alone, as soon as dinner is over, the 
 letters which have arrived in the evening are examined, 
 classified, and descanted on, sometimes answered ; and I 
 receive my instructions for next day's work in copying 
 papers, answering letters, &c. And now do you not 
 think that prayers and bed are the fitting and well-earned 
 ending to the labors of the day ? 
 
 " When you remember, too, that, in building the fort, 
 roads, and bridges, W. has to make his bricks and burn 
 them, to search for his timber and fell it, you will not 
 deny that his hands are full enough ; but in addition, he 
 has to search for workmen, and when brought here, to 
 procure them food and means of cooking it. Some are 
 Mussulmans and eat meat, which must be killed and 
 cooked by their own people. Some are Hindoos, who 
 only feed on grain and vegetables, but every single man 
 must have his own chula or fireplace, with an inclosure 
 for him and his utensils, and if by chance any foot but 
 his own overstep his little mud wall, he will neither eat 
 nor work till another sun has arisen. Then some smoke, 
 while others hold it in abhorrence ; some only drink 
 water, others must have spirits ; so that it is no easy mat- 
 ter to ari'ange the conflicting wants of some 1,100 laborers. 
 I shall be very thankful when this Murdan Kote is fin- 
 ished, for it will relieve my poor husband of half his 
 labor and anxiety. 
 
 " By way of variety, we have native sports on great 
 holidays, — such as throwing the spear at a mark, or 
 ' Nazabaze,' which is, fixing a stake of twelve or eighteen 
 inches into the ground, which must be taken up on the 
 spear's point while passing it at full gallop, or putting an 
 
200 NATIVE SPORTS. 
 
 orange on the top of a bamboo a yard high, and cutting 
 it through with a sword at full speed. W. is very clever 
 at this, rarely failing, but the spears are too long for any 
 but a lithe native to wield without risking a broken arm. 
 The scene is most picturesque ; — the flying horsemen in 
 their flowing many-colored garments, and the grouping of 
 the lookers-on, make me more than ever regret not hav- 
 ing a ready pencil-power to put them on paper. 
 
 " The weather has been particularly unfavorable to the 
 progress of the fort, so that we are still in our temporary 
 hut and tents. Of course we feel the heat much more, so 
 domiciled. W. is grievously overworked, still his health 
 is wonderfully good, and his spirits as wild as if he were 
 a boy again. He is never so well pleased as when he 
 has the baby in his arms." 
 
 Attok, June 9iA, 1864. 
 . . . We are so far on the way to Murree, and here, I 
 grieve to say, we part for the next three months. I hope 
 to rejoin them for a month in September, and accompany 
 them back to our new home, for by that time I trust that 
 my fortified cantonment will be ready, and our house too. 
 This said fort has been a burden and a stumbling-block to 
 me for months, and added grievously to my work, as I am 
 sole architect. It is built regularly, but of earthworks 
 and mud, and as it covers an area of twelve acres, you 
 may believe that it has been no slight task to superintend 
 its construction. It is a sad necessity, and the curse of 
 Indian life, this repeatedly recurring separation, but any- 
 thing is better than to see the dear ones suffer. I am for- 
 tunately very well, and as yet untouched by the unusual 
 
LOSS OF CHILD. 201 
 
 virulence with which the hot weather has commenced 
 this year. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 MuRKEE, 3vXy nth, 1854. 
 
 I was summoned from Euzofzai to these hills, on the 
 26th June, by the tidings of the dangerous illness of our 
 sweet baby. I found her in a sinking state, and though 
 she was spared to us for another fortnight of deep anxi- 
 ety and great wretchedness, there was, from the time I 
 arrived, scarcely a hope of her recovery. Slowly and 
 by imperceptible degrees her little life wasted away until, 
 early on the morning of the 10th, she breathed her soul 
 away, so gently that those watching her intently were 
 conscious of no change. The deep agony of this be- 
 reavement I have no words to describe. We had watched 
 her growth, and prided ourselves on her development 
 with such absorbing interest and joy ; and she had so won 
 our hearts by her extreme sweetness and most unusual 
 intelligence, that she had become the very centre and 
 light of our home life, and in losing her we seem to have 
 lost everything. Her poor mother is sadly bowed down 
 by this great grief, and has suffered terribly both in health 
 and spirits. 
 
 I have get permission to remain with her a few days, 
 but I must return to my duty before the end of the 
 month. 
 
 We had the best and kindest of medical advice, and 
 everything, I believe, which skill could do was tried, but 
 in vain. She was lent to us to be our joy and comfort 
 for a time, and was taken from us again, and the blank 
 she has left behind is great indeed. 
 
 9* 
 
202 LOSS OF CHILD. 
 
 I dare not take Susie down with me, much as she 
 wishes it, at this season, and in her state of health. I 
 must therefore leave her here till October. It is very 
 sad work to part again under these circumstances, but in 
 this wretched country there is no help for us. Your 
 kind and affectionate expressions about our little darling, 
 and your keen appreciation of the " unfailing source of 
 comfort and refreshment she was to my wearied spirit," 
 came to me just as I had ceased to hope for the precious 
 babe's life. 
 
 ... It has been a very, very bitter blow to us. She 
 had wound her little being round our hearts to an extent 
 which we neither of us knew until we woke from the 
 brief dream of beauty, and found ourselves childless. 
 
 Camp, Mubdak, Sept. nth, 1854. 
 I am alone now, having none of my officers here save 
 the doctor. But the border is quiet, and except a great 
 deal of crime and villany, I have not any great difficul- 
 ties to contend with. My new fort to hold the regiment 
 and protect the frontier is nearly finished, and my new 
 house therein will be habitable before my wife comes 
 down from Murree. So after two years and a quarter 
 of camp and hutting, I shall enjoy the luxury of a room 
 and the dignity of a house. 
 
 Fort, Mdrdan, Oct. 31s(, 1854. 
 I can give better accounts of our own state than for 
 many a long day. Dear Susie is much better than for a 
 
COMPLETION OF FORT. 203 
 
 year past, and gaining strength daily, and I am as well as 
 possible. We are now in our new house in this fort, which 
 has caused me so much labor and anxiety ; and I assure 
 you, a most comfortable dwelling we find it. Our houses 
 (I mean the European oflScers') project from the general 
 front of the works at the angles of the bastions, and are 
 quite private, and away from the noisy soldiers ; and we 
 have, for India, a very pretty view of the hills and plains 
 around us. Above all, the place seems a very healthy 
 one. To your eye, fresh from England, it would appear 
 desolate from its solitude and oppressive from the vastness 
 of the scale of scene. A wide plain, without a break or 
 a tree, thirty miles long, by fifteen to twenty miles wide, 
 forms our immediate foreground on one side, and an end- 
 less mass of mountains on the other. 
 
 We have just heard by telegraph of the engagement at 
 Alma, but only a brief electric shock of a message, with- 
 out details. We are in an age of wonders. Ten months 
 ago, there was not a telegraph in Hindostan, yet the 
 news which reached Bombay on the 27th of this month, 
 was printed at Lahore, 1,200 miles from the coast, that 
 same afternoon. 
 
 MxjRDAir, Nov. 16ft, 1864. 
 As yet, we have only felt the surging of the storm 
 which convulses Eastern Europe. The only palpable 
 sign of the effects of Russian intrigue which we have 
 had, has been the commencement of negotiation with the 
 Dost Mahomed Khan, of Cabul, who, under the pressure 
 from without, has been fain to seek for alliance and aid 
 from us. Nothing is yet known of his demands, or the 
 intentions of Government, but one thing is certain, that 
 
204 NATIVE ALLIANCES. 
 
 the commencement of negotiations with us, is the begin- 
 ning of evil days for Affghanistan. 
 
 In India, we must either keep altogether aloof or ab- 
 sorb. All our history shows that sooner or later con- 
 nection with us is political death. The sunshine is not 
 more fatal to a dew-drop than our friendship or alliance 
 to an Asiatic Kingdom. 
 
CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 KETERSES. UNJUST TREATMENT. LOSS OP COM- 
 MAND. RETURN TO REGIMENTAL DUTIES. 
 
 Up to this time my brother's career in India 
 had been one of almost uninterrupted prosperity. 
 He had attained a position unprecedented for a 
 man of his standing in the service, and enjoyed 
 a reputation for daring, enterprise, and ability, only 
 equalled by the estimation in which he was held 
 by all who knew him, for high principle and ster- 
 ling worth. He was, as he described himself, the 
 most fortunate and the happiest man in India. 
 But now the tide of fortune turned. 
 
 A storm had for some time been gathering, the 
 indications of which he had either overlooked or 
 despised, till it burst with its full force upon him, 
 and seemed for the moment to carry all before it, 
 blasting his fair fame and sweeping away his for- 
 tunes. Many circumstances had conspired to 
 bring about this result, some of which will only 
 be fully appreciated by those who are acquainted 
 with the internal politics of the Punjaub at that 
 period. His appointment to the command of the 
 Guides, over the heads of many of his seniors, 
 had from the first excited much jealousy and ill- 
 
20(1 JEALOUSY. 
 
 will among the numerous aspirants to so distin- 
 guished a post. In India, more than in any other 
 country, a man cannot be prosperous or fortunate 
 without making many enemies ; and every ascent 
 above the level of your contemporaries secures so 
 many additional " good haters ; " nor is there any 
 country where enmity is more unscrupulous in the 
 means to which it has recourse. This mattered 
 comparatively little to my brother, so long as Sir 
 Henry Lawrence, to whose firm and discriminat- 
 ing friendship he owed his appointment, remained 
 in power. He, however, had been removed from 
 the Administration of the Punjaub, and those 
 who had effected his removal, and now reigned 
 supreme, were not likely to look with very favor- 
 able eyes upon one who, like my brother, was 
 known as his protigi and confidant, and had not 
 perhaps been as guarded, as in prudence he ought 
 to have been, in the expressions of his opinion on 
 various transactions. More recently still. Colonel 
 Mackeson, the Resident at Peshawur, his imme- 
 diate superior, for whom he entertained the high- 
 est regard and affection, which was, I believe, 
 reciprocated, had fallen a victim to the dagger of 
 the assassin. This had, if possible, a still more 
 injurious influence on my brother's position, as 
 the new Resident was, both on public and private 
 grounds, opposed to him, and made no secret of 
 his wish to get rid of him from the charge of the 
 frontier. 
 
 With a prospect of such support, my brother's 
 
CALUMNIES. 207 
 
 enemies were not likely to be idle. He had been 
 warned more than once of their undermining op- 
 erations ; but strong in conscious integrity, and 
 unwilling to suspect others of conduct which he 
 would have scorned himself, he "held straight 
 on " upon his usual course, till he found himself 
 overwhelmed by a mass of charges affecting his 
 conduct, both in his military and civil capacity. 
 
 All that malice could invent or ingenuity dis- 
 tort, was brought forward to give importance to 
 the accusations laid against him. Every trifling 
 irregularity or error of judgment was so magni- 
 fied, that a mighty fabric was raised on a single 
 grain of truth ; and the result was, that towards 
 the close of the year he was summoned before a 
 court of inquiry at Peshawur. 
 
 That which seemed principally to give color to 
 the charges against him was, that there was un- 
 deniably confusion and irregularity in the regi- 
 mental accounts ; but this confusion, far from 
 having originated with him, had been very mate- 
 rially rectified. He had succeeded to the com- 
 mand in October, 1852, and within twenty-four 
 hours started on a campaign which lasted be- 
 tween seven and eight weeks, without any audit 
 of accounts between himself and his predecessor, 
 who had, immediately on making over the com- 
 mand, left for England ; so that he found a mass 
 of unexplained confusion, which he had been en- 
 deavoring, during his period of command, grad- 
 ually to reduce to some order. This he had to a 
 
208 LETTER FROM SIR B. NAPIER. 
 
 certain extent accomplished when summoned un- 
 expectedly to undergo an investigation and meet 
 the gravest accusations. 
 
 I will, however, in preference to any statements 
 of my own, which might not unnaturally be sus- 
 pected of partiality, insert here, though it was 
 written at a later period, a letter, giving an ac- 
 count of the whole affair, from one whose opinion 
 must carry the greatest weight with all who know 
 him, either personally or by reputation, Sir R. 
 Napier. It has somewhat of an official charac- 
 ter, as it was addressed to the colonel of the 1st 
 Bengal European Fusileers, when my brother 
 subsequently rejoined that regiment. 
 
 And I may here observe, with regard to any- 
 thing which I may now or hereafter say reflecting 
 on the conduct and motives of those concerned 
 in this attempt to ruin my brother's prospects, 
 that I should not have ventured to make these 
 remarks simply on his authority, unless I had had 
 them confirmed, and more than confirmed, by 
 men of the highest character, both civil and mil- 
 itary, who were cognizant of all the transactions, 
 and did not scruple to express their indignation 
 at what they characterized as a most cruel and 
 unjust persecution. 
 
 From Colonel (now Sir R.) Napier, Chief Engineer, Punjavb, to 
 Colonel Welchman, l5( Bengal Fvsileers- 
 
 " Umbala, March, 1866. 
 
 "Mtdear Col. Welchman, — I have great pleas- 
 ure in meeting your request, to state in writing my 
 
LETTER FROM SIR R. NAPIKR. 2(»9 
 
 opinion regarding my friend Lieutenant Hodson's ease. 
 Having been on intimate terms of friendship with him 
 since 1846, I was quite unprepared for the reports to his 
 disadvantage which were circulated, and had no hesita- 
 tion in pronouncing my utter disbelief in, and repudiation 
 of them, as being at variance with everything 1 had ever 
 known of his character. On arriving at Peshawur in 
 March, 1855, I found that Lieutenant Hodson had been 
 undergoing a course of inquiry before a Special Military 
 Court, and on reading a copy of the proceedings, I per- 
 ceived at once that the whole case lay in the correctness 
 of his regimental accounts ; that his being summoned 
 before a Court, after suspension from civil and military 
 duty, and after an open invitation (under regimental 
 authority) to all complainants in his regiment, was a 
 most unusual ordeal, such as no man could be subjected 
 to without the ' greatest disadvantage ; and notwithstand- 
 ing this, the proceedings' did not contain a single sub- 
 stantial case against him, provided he could establish the 
 validity of his regimental accounts ; and that he could 
 do this I felt more than confident. The result of Major 
 Taylor's laborious and patient investigation of Lieutenant 
 Hodson's regimental accounts has fuHy justified, but has 
 not at all added to, the confidence that I have throughout 
 maintained in the honor and uprightness of his conduct. 
 It has, however, shown (what I believed, but had not the 
 same means of judging of) how much labor Lieutenant 
 Hodson bestowed in putting the affairs of his regiment 
 in order. Having seen a great deal of the manner in 
 which the Guide Corps has been employed, I can well 
 understand how difficult it has been to maintain anything 
 like regularity of office ; and how impossible it may be 
 for those who remain quietly in stations with efficient 
 
210 MR. MONTGOMERY. 
 
 establishments, to understand or make allowance for the 
 difficulties and irregularities entailed by rapid movements 
 on service, and want of proper office means in adjusting 
 accounts for which no organized system had been estab- 
 lished. The manner in which Lieutenant Hodson has 
 elucidated his accounts since he had access to the neces- 
 sary sources of information, appears to be highly credit- 
 able. I have twice had the good fortune to have been 
 associated with him on military service, when his high 
 qualities commanded admiration. I heartily rejoice, 
 therefore, both as a friend and as a member of the ser- 
 vice, ' at his vindication from most grievous and unjust 
 imputations.' And while I congratulate the regiment on 
 his return to it, I regret that one of the best swords 
 should be withdrawn from the frontier service. — I re- 
 main, yours very sincerely, " R. Napier." 
 
 On the receipt of Major Reynell Taylor's re- 
 port, to which reference is here made, Mr. Mont- 
 gomery, (then one of the Commissioners for the 
 Punjaub, now the Chief Commissioner in Oude,) 
 one of the men who, under God, have saved In- 
 dia, wrote as follows : — 
 
 " To me the whole report seemed more satis- 
 factory than any one I had ever read ; and con- 
 sidering Major Taylor's high character, patience, 
 and discernment, and the lengthened period he 
 took to investigate every detail, most triumphant. 
 This I have expressed to all with whom I have 
 conversed on the subject." 
 
 All this, however, is an anticipation of the due 
 
SUPPRESSION OF REPORT. 211 
 
 order of events. I must go back again to the 
 Court of Inquiry, in order to show more clearly 
 the injustice to which Lieutenant Hodson was 
 exposed. The proceedings of the Court termi- 
 nated on the 15th January, 1855. Till they were 
 submitted to the Governor- General, no decision 
 could be given, nor any report published, though 
 every publicity had been given to the accusations 
 made. Up to the last week in July, the papers 
 had not been forwarded from Lahore to be laid 
 before him. Meanwhile, not merely had my 
 brother been suspended from civil and military 
 duty during the inquiry, but without waiting for 
 the result, he had been superseded in his com- 
 mand, on the ground that his continuing in Eu- 
 zofzai, where his corps was stationed, was incon- 
 sistent with the public interest. This will appear 
 scarcely credible, but worse remains behind. 
 
 Ten months after the conclusion of the inquiry, 
 in consequence of repeated applications from my 
 brother for a minute investigation of his accounts, 
 Major Taylor, as has been mentioned, was ap- 
 pointed to examine them, and on the 13th Febru- 
 ary, 1856, made his report. The document itself 
 is too long and technical for publication, but the 
 written opinions I have already quoted, of Sir R. 
 Napier and Mr. Montgomery, are sufficient to 
 show that it completely established Lieutenant 
 Hodson's innocence, and cleared him from the 
 grievous and unjust imputations cast upon him. 
 Yet in March, 1857, he discovered that this report 
 
212 OFFICIAL ENMITY. 
 
 had never been communicated to the Commander- 
 in-Chief, or Secretary to Government. It had 
 been quietly laid aside in some office, and no 
 more notice taken. Lord Dalhousie left India, 
 having heard all that could be said against him, 
 and nothing in his vindication. I might give 
 many other details illustrative of the manner in 
 which, even in the nineteenth century, official en- 
 mity can succeed in crushing one who is so un- 
 fortunate as to be its victim, and of the small 
 chance which exists of redress, but I will not 
 weary my readers with them. 
 
 I give a few extracts from my brother's letters 
 at different times in the course of these proceed- 
 ings, to show the spirit in which he bore this 
 trial, bitter though it was, peculiarly grievous to 
 one of his sensitive feelings on all points of 
 honor. 
 
 In August, 1855, he wrote to me : — 
 
 They have not been able, with all their efforts, to fix 
 anything whatever upon me ; all their allegations (and 
 they were wide enough in their range) have fallen to the 
 ground ; and the more serious ones have been utterly dis- 
 proved by the mere production of documents and books. 
 The most vicious assertion was, that I had been so care- 
 less of the public money passing through my hands, that 
 I had not only kept no proper accounts, but that paper 
 had never been inked on the subject, and consequently it 
 would be impossible to ascertain whether or not any de- 
 ficiency existed in my regimental treasure chest ; and this 
 after I had laid my books on the table of the Court, and 
 
OFFICIAL ENMITY. 213 
 
 begged that they might be examined, and after I had 
 subi^equently officially applied for their examination by 
 proper accountants. Well, after seven months' delay, I 
 was offered the opportunity of producing them ; and thus 
 I hare now at last a chance of bringing out the real state 
 of the case. Up to the present time, the most critical and 
 hostile examination, lasting a month, has only served to 
 prove my earliest assertion, and my only one, that I could 
 give an ample account of every farthing of money in- 
 trusted to me, whenever it might please the powers that 
 be to inquire into it. The sum total of money repre- 
 sented by my account amounts to about 120,000^., pass- 
 ing through my hands in small fractional sums of receipt 
 and expenditure. 
 
 Not only do they find that I have regular connected 
 accounts of everything, but that these are supported by 
 vouchers and receipts. It has been a severe trial, and 
 the prolonged anxiety and distress of the past nine months 
 have been nearly insupportable. 
 
 I almost despair of making you, or any one not on the 
 spot, understand the ins and outs of the whole affair ; and 
 I can only trust to the result, and to the eventual produc- 
 tion of all the papers, to put things in their proper light. 
 In the mean time I must endeavor to face the wrong, the 
 grievous, foul wrong, with a constant and unshaken heart, 
 and to endure humiliation and disgrace with as much 
 equanimity as I may, and with the same soldierlike 
 fortitude with which I ought to face danger, suffering, 
 and death in the path of duty. 
 
214 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE TROUBLES. 
 
 Naoshesa, Nm. iih, 18B5. 
 Your two sad letters came close upon one another, but 
 I could not write then. The blow * was overwhelming ; 
 coming, too, at a time of unprecedented suffering and 
 trial, it was hard to bear up against. What a year this 
 has been ! What ages of trial and of sorrow seem to 
 have been crowded into a few short months. Our dar- 
 ling babe was taken from us on the day my public mis- 
 fortunes began, and death has robbed us of our father 
 before their end. The brain-pressure was almost too 
 much for me, coming as the tidings did at a time of pecu- 
 liar distress. . . . The whole, indeed, is so peculiarly 
 sad that one's heart seems chilled and dulled by the very 
 horror of the calamity. ... I look with deep anx- 
 iety for your next letters, but the mail seems exclusively 
 occupied with Sebastopol, and to have left letters be- 
 hind. 
 
 Again, to his sister, some months later : — 
 
 I trust fondly that better days are coming ; but really 
 the weary watching and waiting for a gleam of daylight 
 through the clouds, and never to see it, is more harassing 
 and harder to bear up against than I could have supposed 
 possible. I have been tried to the utmost, I do think. A 
 greater weight of public and private calamity and sorrow 
 surely never fell at once on any individual. But it has 
 to be borne, and I try to face it manfully and patiently, 
 and to believe that it is for some good and wise end. 
 
 By the way, I was much gratified and surprised at see- 
 ing, in an article in the Calcutta Revieio written and 
 signed by Sir Henry Lawrence, a most flattering testi- 
 
 * The news of his father's death. 
 
PRESSURE OF WORK. 215 
 
 mony * to my military character. Coming at such a time 
 it is doubly valuable. 
 
 In another letter, he says : — 
 
 It is pleasant indeed to find that not a man who knows 
 me has any belief that there has been anything wrong. 
 They think I have been politically wrong in not consult- 
 ing my own interests by propitiating the powers that be, 
 and they know that I am the victim of oiRcial enmity in 
 high places ; but I am proud to say, that not one of them 
 all (and indeed I believe I might include my worst foes 
 and accusers in the category) believes that I have com- 
 mitted any more than errors of judgment, and that, owing 
 to the pressure of work which came upon me all at once, 
 and which was more than one man could manage at once, 
 without leaving something to be done at a more conven- 
 ient season. 
 
 1 can honestly say, that for months before I was sum- 
 moned into Peshawur for the inquiry, I had never known 
 what a half hour's respite from toil and anxiety was ; in 
 fact, ever since I first traced the lines of the fort at Mur- 
 dan, in December, 1853, I was literally weighed down 
 by incessant calls on my time and attention, and went to 
 bed at night thoroughly exhausted and worn out, to rise 
 before daylight to a renewed round of toil and worry. 
 
 I remember telling John Lawrence, that, if they got rid 
 of me, he would require three men to do the work which 
 I had been doing for Government ; and it has already 
 proved literally true. They have had to appoint three 
 
 * " Lieutenant Hodson, who has succeeded to the command of the 
 Guides, is an accomplished soldier, cool in council, daring in action, 
 with great natural ability improved by education. There are few 
 abler men in any service." 
 
216 REJOINING REGIMENT. 
 
 different officers to the work I had done single-handed, 
 and that, too, after the worst was over ! 
 
 TJmbala, March 25(4, 1856. 
 
 Of myself I have little to tell you ; things have been 
 much in statu quo. Major Taylor's report, of which I 
 am going to send you a copy, is most satisfactory. There 
 is much which you will probably not understand in the 
 way of technicalities, but the general purport will be clear 
 to you. 
 
 I expect to join my regiment in about three weeks. 
 They are marching up from Bengal to Dugshai, a hill 
 station sixty miles from hence, and ten from Kussowlee 
 and Subathoo respectively, so I shall be close to old 
 haunts. I am very glad we shall be in a good climate, 
 for though I have not given in or failed, I am thankful 
 to say, still the last eighteen months have told a good 
 deal upon me, and I am not up to heat or work. If the 
 colonel (Welchman) can, he is going to give me the ad- 
 jutancy of the regiment, which will be a gain in every 
 way, not only as showing to the world that, in spite of all 
 which has happened, there is nothing against my charac- 
 ter, but as increasing my income, and giving me the op- 
 portunity of learning a good deal of work which will be 
 useful to me, and of doing, I hope, a good deal of good 
 amongst the men. It will be the first step up the ladder 
 again, after tumbling to the bottom. 
 
 Soon afterwards, Lieutenant Hodson rejoined 
 the Ist Fusileers at Dugshai. It may be neces- 
 sary for the sake of unprofessional readers, to ex- 
 
MR. C. KAIKES. 217 
 
 plain that during the whole time that he had been 
 Assistant Commissioner in the Punjaub, or in 
 command of the Guides, he had continued to be- 
 long to this regiment, as political or staff appoint- 
 ments in India do not dissolve an officer's con- 
 nection with his own regiment. 
 
 On April 8th he writes from Dugshai : — 
 
 I have but little to tell you to cheer you on 
 
 my account. My health, which had stood the trial won- 
 derfully, was beginning to fail, but I shall soon be strong 
 again in this healthy mountain air 7,000 feet above the 
 sea. 
 
 This is a great thing, but it is very hard to begin again 
 as a regimental subaltern after nearly eleven years' hard 
 work. However, I am very fond of the profession, and 
 there is much to be done, and much learnt, and, under 
 any other circumstances, I should not regret being with 
 Enghsh soldiers again for a time. Every one believes 
 that I shall soon be righted, but the " soon " is a long 
 time coming. I was much gratified the other day by an 
 unexpected visit from Mr. Charles Raikes, one of the 
 Punjaub Commissioners, who was passing through Um- 
 bala, on his way to take a high appointment at Agra. I 
 had no personal knowledge of him, but he came out of 
 his way to call upon me, and express his sympathy and 
 his appreciation of (what he was pleased to call) my high 
 character. 
 
 He said much that was encouraging and pleasing, which 
 I need not repeat. It served pleasantly, however, to show 
 that the tide was turning, and that in good men's minds 
 my character stood as high as ever. 
 
 In addition to his other troubles, my brother 
 
 10 
 
218 DUGSHAI. 
 
 was suffering all this time from a dislocated ankle. 
 He says in June : — 
 
 I have nothing to tell you of myself, save that I have 
 to-day, for the first time for eight weeks, put my foot to 
 the ground ; I cannot, however, yet walk a yard without 
 crutches. 
 
 Ddgshai, SejA. 2ith, 1856. 
 
 I Strive to look the worst boldly in the face as I would 
 an enemy in the field, and to do my appointed work reso- 
 lutely and to the best of my ability, satisfied that there is 
 a reason for all ; and that even irksome duties well done 
 bring their own reward, and that if not, still they are 
 duties. 
 
 But it is sometimes hard to put up with the change ! 
 I am getting a little stronger on my ankle, but am still 
 unable, at the end of five months, to do moie than walk 
 about the house. Fancy my not being able to walk 200 
 yards for half a yeai-. 
 
 DUGSHAI, Nov. 6th. 
 
 I yearn to be at home again and see you all, but I am 
 obliged to check all such repinings and longings, and 
 keep down all canker cares and bitternesses, and set my 
 teeth hard, and will earnestly to struggle on and do my 
 allotted work as well and cheerfully as may be, satisfied 
 that in the end a brighter time will come. 
 
 1 know nothing in my brother's whole career 
 more truly admirable, or showing more real hero- 
 
REGIMENTAL DUTIES. 219 
 
 ism, than his conduct at this period while battling 
 with adverse fates. 
 
 Deeply as he felt the change in his position, he 
 accommodated himself to it in a manner that 
 won the admiration and esteem of Eill. Instead 
 of despising his regimental duties, irksome and 
 uninteresting, comparatively speaking, as they 
 were, he discharged them with a zeal and energy, 
 as well as cheerfulness, which called forth the fol- 
 lowing strong expressions of commendation from 
 the colonel of his regiment. They are taken from 
 a letter addressed to the Adjutant- General of the 
 army : — 
 
 " Umbala, Jan. 18th, 1857. 
 
 . . - " I consider it a duty, and at the same time feel a 
 great pleasure, in requesting you to submit, for the con- 
 sideration of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, 
 this my public record and acknowledgment of the very 
 essential service Lieutenant Hodson has done the regi- 
 ment at my especial request. On the arrival of the regi- 
 ment at Dugshai, I asked Lieutenant Hodson to act as 
 quartermaster. 1 pointed out to him that, mainly owing 
 to a rapid succession of quartermasters when the regi- 
 ment was on field-service, the office had fallen into very 
 great disorder ; . . and that he would have to restore 
 order out of complicated disorder, and to organize a more 
 efficient working system for future guidance and observ- 
 ance. To my great relief and satisfaction, Lieutenant 
 Hodson most cheerfully undertook the onerous duties ; 
 he was suffiiring at the same time severe bodily pain, 
 consequent on a serious accident, yet this did not in any 
 way damp his energy, or prevent his most successfully 
 
220 TESTIMONY OF COLONEL WELCHMAN. 
 
 carrying out the object in view. . . It is iraposMble to do 
 otherwise than believe that this officer's numerous quali- 
 fications are virtually lost to the State by his being em- 
 ployed as a regimental subaltern, as he is fitted for, and 
 capable of doing great justice to, any staflf situation ; and 
 I am convinced, that should his Excellency receive with 
 approval this solicitation to confer on him some appoint- 
 ment suited to the high ability, energy, and zeal which I 
 fear I have but imperfectly brought to notice, it would be 
 as highly advantageous to the service as gratifying to 
 myself An officer whose superior mental acquirements 
 are fully acknowledged by all who know him; who has 
 ably performed the duties of a civil magistrate in a dis- 
 turbed district ; whose knowledge of engineering has 
 been piactically brought into play in the construction of a 
 fort on the Northwestern frontier ; whose gallant conduct 
 in command of a regiment in many a smart engagement 
 has been so highly commended, and by such competent 
 authorities, is one whom I have confidence in recom- 
 mending for advancement ; and in earnestly, yet most 
 respectfully, pressing the recommendation, I plead this 
 officer's high qualifications as ray best apology. . . . 
 " I have, &c. 
 (Signed) " J. Welchman, 
 
 " Lieut- Col. Commanding Isi Bengal 
 Fusihers. " 
 
 Quite as strong was the testimony borne by 
 Brigadier- General Johnstone : — 
 
 " To the Adjutant-General of the Army. 
 
 " SiRHiND Division, Head-Quaktebs, Umbala. 
 Jan. 30lh, 1857. 
 
 " Sir, — BIy mere counter-signature to Colonel Welch- 
 
GENERAL JOHNSTONE. 221 
 
 man's letter in favor of Lieutenant Hodson seems so 
 much less than the occasion demands, that I trust his 
 Excellency will allow of my submitting it in a more 
 special and marked manner. I beg to accompany Col- 
 onel Welchman's letter with a testimony of my own to 
 the high character of the officer in question. 
 
 " Rejoining his regiment as a lieutenant, from the ex- 
 ercise of an impoi'tant command calling daily for the 
 display of his energy, activity, and self-reliance, and fre- 
 quently for the manifestation of the highest qualities of 
 the partisan leader, or of the regular soldier. Lieutenant 
 Hodson, with patience, perseverance, and zeal, undertook 
 and carried out the laborious minor duties of the regi- 
 mental staff as well as those of a company ; and, with a 
 diligence, method, and accuracy such as the best trained 
 regimental officers have never surpassed, succeeded, in a 
 manner fully justifying the high commendation bestowed 
 on him by his commanding officer. As a soldier in the 
 field. Lieutenant Hodson has gained the applause of 
 officers of the highest reputation, eye-witnesses of his 
 abilitj' and courage. On the testimony of others, I refer 
 to these, and that testimony so honorable to his name I 
 beg herewith to submit to his Excellency. 
 
 " On my own observation, I am enabled to speak to 
 Lieutenant Hodson's character and qualities in quarters, 
 and I do so in terms of well-earned commendation, and 
 at the same time in the earnest hope that his merits and 
 qualifications will obtain for him such favor and prefer- 
 ment at the hands of his Excellency as he may deem fit 
 to bestow on this deserving officer. 
 " I have, &c. 
 (Signed) " M. C. Johnstone, 
 
 " Brigadier- Getieral, ^c."' 
 
222 WINTER CAMP. 
 
 I must add a few more extracts from Lieuten- 
 ant Hodson's letters to myself and others, to 
 complete this part of his history : — 
 
 Ddgshai, April 7th, 1857. 
 Your letter written this day three months reached me 
 at Dmbala, at our mildest of " Chobhanis " in the middle 
 of February, and deserved an earlier reply, but I have 
 been taken quite out of the private correspondence line 
 lately, by incessant calls on my time. Regimental work 
 in camp in India, with European regiments, no less than 
 in quarters, is contrived to cut up one's time into infinites- 
 imal quantities, and keep one waiting for every other 
 half hour through the day. I had more time for writing 
 when I commanded a frontier regiment, and governed a 
 province ! These winter camps are very profitable, how- 
 ever, and not by any means unpleasant; and as Umbala 
 was very full, we had an unusual amount of society for 
 India, and some very pleasant meetings. I was too lame 
 to dance, but not to dine, and take part in charades or 
 tableaux, and so forth, and so contrived to keep alive 
 after the day's work was over. I got some kv6o; and vast 
 kindness for performing the more strictly professional 
 role of brigade-major to one of the infantry brigades, 
 and had excellent opportunities of learning the essential, 
 but so seldom taught or learned art, of manoeuvring 
 bodies of troops. My service has been so much on the 
 frontier and with detached corps, that I had previously 
 had but small opportunities for the study. I had an 
 interview with General Anson the other day, and I hope 
 a satisfactory one. He is a very pleasant mannered and 
 gentlemanly man, open and frank in speech, and quick to 
 a proverb in apprehension, taking in the pith of a matter 
 
HOPES OF REDRESS. 223 
 
 at a glance. As I always thought, it turned out tliat 
 Major Taylor's report had never reached the Cc:ti- 
 mander-in-Chief, and they had only the old one-sided 
 story to go upon. I explained the whole to him, and as 
 he had already very kindly read the papers relating to 
 the matter, he quite comprehended it, and begged me to 
 give him a copy of Taylor's report, when he would, if 
 satisfied, try and see justice done me. I trust, therefore, 
 that at last something will be done to clear me from all 
 stigma in the matter. As soon as that is done he will 
 give me some appointment or other, unless Government 
 do it themselves. Sir Henry Lawrence writes to me 
 most kindly, and is only waiting a favorable opportunity 
 to help me. 
 
 We are in a state of some anxiety, owing to the spread 
 of a very serious spirit of disaflFection among the Sepoy 
 army. One regiment (the 19th of the line) has already 
 been disbanded, and, if all have their dues, more yet will 
 be so before long. It is our great danger in India, and 
 Lord Hardinge's prophecy, that our biggest fight in India 
 would be with our own army, seems not unlikely to be 
 realized, and that before long. Native papers, education, 
 and progress are against keeping 200,000 native merce- 
 naries in hand. 
 
 To a Friend in Calcutta. 
 
 DuosHAi, May &th, 1857. 
 
 Unless I hear of something to my advantage mean- 
 while, I propose starting for Calcutta about the middle of 
 this merry month of May, with the object of endeavoring 
 to eflfect, by personal appeal and explanations, the self- 
 vindication which no mere paper warfare seems likely to 
 
224 PROPOSED JOURNEY TO CALCUTTA. 
 
 extort from Government. I had waited patiently for 
 nearly two years, " striving to be quiet and do my own 
 business," in the hope that justice, however tardy, would 
 certainly overtake me, when an incident occun-ed which 
 showed that I must adopt a more active mode of proce- 
 dure if I wished for success. On applying for employ- 
 ment with the force in Persia, I met with a refusal, on 
 the ground of what had occurred when in command of 
 the Guides. This, you will allow, was calculated to drive 
 a man to extremities who had been under the impression 
 all along that his conduct, whensoever and howsoever 
 called in question, had been amply vindicated. 
 
 It appeared that while everything to my disadvantage 
 had been carefully communicated by the Punjaub author- 
 ities to army head-quarters, they had, with true liberality 
 and generosity, suppressed " in toto " the results of the 
 subsequent inquiry which had, in the opinion of all good 
 men, amply cleared my good name from the dirt lavished 
 on it. Even the Secretaries to Government had never 
 heard of this vindication, and were going on believing 
 all manner of things to my discredit ; Lord Canning, 
 also, being utterly ignorant of the fact that, subsequently 
 to Lord Dalhousie's departure, the results of the second 
 investigation had been communicated to Government. 
 
 There were clearly three courses open to me, " a la 
 Sir Eobert Peel." 
 
 1st. Suicide. 
 
 2d. To resign the service in disgust, and join the 
 enemy. 
 
 3d. To make the Governor-General eat his words, and 
 apologize. 
 
 I chose the last. 
 
 The first was too melodramatic and foreign ; the second 
 
INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL ANSON. 225 
 
 would have been a triumph to my foes in the Punjaub ; 
 besides, the enemy might have been beaten ! 
 
 I have determined therefore, on a trip to Calcutta. 
 
 Tou will, I have no doubt, agree with me that I am 
 perfectly right in taking the field against the enemy, and 
 not allowing the Government to rest until I have carried 
 my point. 
 
 In another letter of the same date : — 
 
 I have had another interview with General Anson at 
 Simla, and nothing could have been more satisfactory. 
 He was most polite, even cordial, and while he approved 
 of my suggestion of going down to Calcutta to have per- 
 sonal explanations with the people there, and evidently 
 thought it a pluiiky idea to undertake a journey of 2,500 
 miles in such weather (May and June), yet he said that 
 I had better wait till I heard again from him, for he 
 would write himself to Lord Canning, and try to get 
 justice done me. 
 
 I do trust the light is breaking through the darkness, 
 and that before long I may have good news to send you, 
 in which I am sure you will rejoice. 
 
 It did break from a most unexpected quarter. 
 
 This was the last letter received in England 
 from my brother for some months. Six days 
 after it was written, the outbreak at Meerut oc- 
 curred, and almost immediately India was in a 
 blaze. 
 
 " Fortunate was it," my brother afterwards 
 said, " that I was delayed by General Anson till 
 he received an answer from Lord Canning, or I 
 
 10* 
 
226 TUKN OF rORTUNE. 
 
 should undoubtedly have been murdered at some 
 station on the road. The answer never came. It 
 must have been between Calcutta and Allygurh 
 when disturbances broke out, and was, with all 
 the daks for many days, destroyed or plundered." 
 
 Most fortunate, too, was it, (if we may use 
 such an expression,) that in the hour of India's 
 extremity, Lieutenant Hodson was within reach 
 of the Commander-in-Chief, and available for 
 service. It was no longer a time to stand on 
 official etiquette. In that crisis, which tried the 
 bravest to the utmost, when a strong will and 
 cool head and brave heart were needed, he at 
 once rose again to his proper place in counsel 
 and in action. 
 
 But I must not anticipate what belongs to the 
 next chapter. One fact, however, I cannot re- 
 frain from stating here, as an appropriate conclu- 
 sion of this narrative, that within six weeks of 
 the date of the last letter, Lieutenant Hodson 
 was actually commanding in the field, before the 
 walls of Delhi, by General Barnard's special re- 
 quest, the very corps of Guides from which he 
 had been so unjustly ousted two years before. 
 
 " Was there ever," he says in reference to it, " a 
 stranger turn on the wheel of fortune? I have 
 much cause to be grateful, and I hope I shall not 
 forget the bitter lessons of adversity." 
 
PAET II. 
 
 NAERATIVE OF THE DELHI CAMPAIGN, 
 
 1857. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MARCH DOWN TO DELHI. 
 
 On the 10th May occurred the outbreak at 
 Meerut, closely followed by the massacre at 
 Delhi. 
 
 On the 13th, orders were received at Dugshai, 
 from the Commander-in-Chief, for the Ist Bengal 
 European Fusi leers to march without delay to 
 Umbala, where all the regiments from the hiU 
 stations were to concentrate. They set out that 
 afternoon, and reached Umbala, a distance of 
 sixty miles, on the morning of the second day. 
 From this point Lieutenant Hodson's narrative 
 commences. It is compiled from the letters or 
 bulletins which he sent day by day to his wife, 
 written as best they might, in any moments 
 which he could snatch from the overwhelming 
 press of work, sometimes on the field, sometimes 
 on horseback. It is almost unnecessary to ob- 
 serve, that they were not intended for the public 
 
228 DELHI CAMPAIGN. 
 
 eye, and would never have been published had 
 my lamented brother been alive, as he had the 
 greatest horror of any of his letters appearing in 
 print. Now, unhappily, the case is different, and 
 I feel, in common with many of his friends, that 
 in justice both to himself and to the gallant band 
 who formed the " army before Delhi," this record 
 of heroic fortitude and endurance ought not to be 
 withheld. It does not profess to be a history of 
 the siege, or military operations connected with 
 it ; though it is a most valuable contribution to 
 any history, as Lieutenant Hodson, from his po- 
 sition as head of the Intelligence Department, 
 knew better, probably, than any other man what 
 was going on both amongst the enemy and in 
 our own force ; and his incidental notices will 
 tell, better, perhaps, than the most labored de- 
 scription, what our men did and what they suf- 
 fered. FuU justice wiU probably never be done 
 them, nor their trying position appreciated as it 
 ought to be ; besiegers in name, though more 
 truly besieged ; exposed to incessant attacks night 
 and day ; continually thinned in numbers by the 
 sword, the bullet, the sunstroke, and cholera, and 
 for many weeks receiving no reinforcements ; 
 feeling sometimes as if they were forgotten by 
 their countrymen, and yet holding their ground 
 against a nation in arms, without murmuring or 
 complaining, and with unshaken determination. 
 AH accounts agree in speaking of the cheerful 
 and " plucky " spirit that prevailed, both amongst 
 
CHEERFUL SPIRIT. 22!) 
 
 officers and men, notwithstanding fatigue, pri- 
 vation, and sickness, as something quite remark- 
 able even amongst British soldiers. And if there 
 was one more than another who contributed to 
 inspire and keep tip this spirit, if there was one 
 more than another who merited that which a 
 Roman would have considered the highest praise, 
 that he never despaired of his country, it was 
 Lieutenant Hodson. I have seen a letter from a 
 distinguished officer, in which he says : — 
 
 " Affairs at times looked very queer, from the 
 frightful expenditure of life. Hodson's face was 
 then like sunshine breaking through the dark 
 clouds of despondency and gloom that would 
 settle down occasionally on all but a few brave 
 hearts, England's worthiest sons, who were deter- 
 mined to conquer." 
 
 If any should be disposed to think that my 
 brother, in these letters, speaks too exclusively of 
 his own doings, they must remember, in the first 
 place, to whom they were addressed ; and second- 
 ly, that in describing events — quorum pars magna 
 fuit — it would be almost impossible not to speak 
 of himself. 
 
 He himself, even in writing to his wife, thinks 
 it necessary to apologize for being " egotistical." 
 I believe, on the other hand, that the highest in- 
 terest of the following narrative will be found to 
 consist in its being a personal narrative, a history 
 of the man, an unreserved outspeaking of his 
 
230 DELHI CAMPAIGN. 
 
 mind and feelings ; nor am I afraid of others 
 thinking apology called for. Nor, however much 
 they may disagree from his criticisms on men and 
 measures, will they deny that he was well quali- 
 fied, both by his opportunities of observation at 
 the time, and his past experience of Asiatic char- 
 acter, to form a judgment and express an opinion 
 without exposing himself to the charge of pre- 
 sumption. 
 
 Umbala, May IbOi, 1857. 
 We got here after two nights of very harassing march- 
 ing. We started badly, the men having been drinking 
 before they came to parade, and they were hurried too 
 much in going down hill, consequently there was much 
 straggling ; but, thanks to tattoos (ponies) and carts and 
 elephants, sent out to meet us, we got in to-day in toler- 
 able completeness. Affairs are very serious, and unless 
 very prompt and vigorous measures are taken, the whole 
 army, and perhaps a large portion of India, will be lost 
 to us. Delhi is in the hands of the mutineers, — no Eu- 
 ropean that we can hear of being left alive there, — men, 
 women, and children, all who were caught, have been 
 butchered ! Brigadier Graves, Abbott, and some others 
 have escaped. Willoughby, the Ordnance Commissary in 
 charge of the magazine and ar^■enal, is said to have fired 
 it himself to prevent the mutineers having possession of 
 the contents to arm themselves with, — of course sacri- 
 ficing his own life to such a duty. A lac and a half 
 of mu.skets would otherwise have been in the hands of 
 the insurgents. The Commander-in-Cliief came in this 
 morning. Here alarm is the prevalent feeling, and 
 conciliation, of men with arms in their hands and in 
 
ALARM AND INDECISION. 231 
 
 a state of absolute rebellion, the order of the day. .This 
 system, if pursued, is far more dangerous than anything 
 the Sepoys can do to us. There is an outbreak at 
 Ferozepoor, but the Europeans have the fort in their 
 possession ; if not, we should be without arms, for the 
 regiments here have no ammunition, and Philour, our 
 nearest source of supply, was nearly falling into the hands 
 of the Sepoys. Even now, some say it is at their mercy. 
 Fortunately the Maharaja of Puttiala is stanch, and so 
 are other Sikh chiefs hereabouts. We shall go on to 
 Delhi in a few days. That city is in the hands of tlie 
 insurgents, and the King proclaimed Emperor of Hindos- 
 tan ! I do trust tliat the authorities will act with vigor, 
 else there is no knowing where the affair will end. Oil 
 for Sir Charles Napier now ! 
 
 l&th. — Little is known for certain of what is going on, 
 as there is no communication with, or from, below. At 
 present, the native troops have all gone off bodily ; none 
 remain in cantonments. We march, I believe, on Mon- 
 day, — 9th Lancers, 75th Queen's, 1st Fusileers, and nine 
 guns, taking the 5th, 60th Native Infantry, and 4th Cav- 
 alry with us, — nice companions ! However, they can do 
 us no harm, and they might do great mischief if left here. 
 There has been an outbreak at Ferozepoor and Philour, 
 but the magazine and bridge at the first place are safe in 
 the hands of her Majesty's 60th, and the authorities at 
 JuUundur sent off a party of Europeans and Horse Ar- 
 tillery at once, who secured the fort at Philour ; other- 
 wise we should have had no ammunition but what the sol- 
 diers carried iu their pouches. The times are critical, 
 but I have no fear of aught save the alarm and indeci- 
 sion of our rulers. All here is sheer confusion, and there 
 is a tendency to treat these rebellious Sepoys with a ten- 
 
232 MASSACRE AT DELHI. 
 
 demess as misplaced as it would be pernicious. There is 
 actually a talk of concentrating troops, and waiting to be 
 joined by others before marching on Delhi; and they 
 utterly refuse to detach even a party on Kurnal to pro- 
 tect the officers and treasury there. This is all very sad, 
 and sometimes makes one disposed to question whether 
 we are not suffering from the " dementia " which Provi- 
 dence sends as the forerunner of ruin. However, our 
 course is not yet run, and whatever clouds may gather 
 over us, there are good results in store. The Punjaub is 
 quiet. The native troops at Mean-Meer were quietly 
 disarmed, and do their guards with bayonets only. This 
 excellent arrangement is Sir John Lawrence's doing. 
 Nothing is known of Lucknow, or indeed of any place 
 below Meerut. AUygurh is supposed to have gone. 
 Some details of the massacre at Delhi, which I have just 
 heard from one of the escapees, are awful beyond belief. 
 Charlie Thomason is said to have escaped ; Mr. Jennings, 
 the chaplain, and his daughter were among the victims. 
 Mr. Beresford, his wife, and five daughters all massacred. 
 Poor Colonel Ripley lived long enough to say he was 
 killed by his own men. De Teissier's native artillery- 
 men joined the rebels with their guns ; — he escaped, 
 though severely wounded. 
 
 nth. — We are all terribly anxious about the hill sta- 
 tions, reports having reached us that the Goorkhas have 
 mutinied and attacked Simla. 100 men, with ammunition, 
 have gone off this morning to Kussowlee. Dugshai is 
 
 easily defended. Simla is most to be feared 
 
 All this has put out of my head for the time the good 
 news for us. Yesterday I was sent for by the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and appointed Assistant Quartermaster- 
 General on his personal staff, to be under the immediate 
 
MOVABLE FORCE. 233 
 
 orders of his Excellency, and with command to raise 
 100 horse and 50 foot, for service in the Intelligence 
 Department, and as personal escort. All this was done, 
 moreover, in a most complimentary way, and it is quite 
 in my line. I am prepared to set to work vigorously ; 
 but I confess my anxiety on account of the reports we 
 hear respecting the hill stations makes me cruelly anx- 
 ious General Anson, it seems, wrote about 
 
 me to Talbot, but could get no answer before the out- 
 break occurred, which makes this act of his, on his own 
 responsibility, the more complimentary. It is very un- 
 certain now when we move on. All is quiet in the Pun- 
 jaub, I am thankful to say, and the rebels have had 
 a lesson read them at Ferozepoor which will do good. 
 The 45th Native Infantry were nearly cut to pieces by 
 the 10th Light Cavalry,* who pursued them for twelve 
 miles, and cut them to pieces. This last is a great fact. 
 One regiment at least has stood by us, and the moral 
 effect will be great ; nothing known yet from below. 
 Poor Macdonald, of the 20th Native Infantry, his wife, 
 and their three babes, murdered, with adjuncts not to 
 be mentioned. John Lawrence is acting with great 
 vigor, and they have organized a movable force at 
 Jhelum, composed of her Majesty's 24th and 27th, the 
 Guides, Kumkon Battalion, and other Irregulars, to move 
 in any required direction. Montgomery writes in great 
 spirits and confidence from Lahore. I am just sent for 
 by tlie chief. 
 
 KuEJTAL, May Viih. — According to orders, I left 
 
 Umbala at 8.30 p. m., and reached here at 4.30 a. m., 
 
 having prepared everything at Peeplee en route. I had 
 
 only " Bux " t with me, and did not apprehend any dan- 
 
 * They afterwards mutinied. t His bearer. 
 
234 NEW REGIMENT. 
 
 ger until within a few miles of Kurnal, but nothing 
 whatever happened ; the road was deserted, and not a 
 soul to be seen. I am sheltered in a house occupied by 
 the refugees from Delhi and the civil officers of Kurnal, 
 about fifteen in all, with Mrs. Wagentrieber, her hus- 
 band, and sundry sergeants, &c. The European troops 
 will be here to-night. What would I not give for a 
 couple of hundred of my old Guides ! I flatter myself 
 I could do something then. As it is, I must bide my 
 time until I can get a few good men together on whom 
 I can depend. I have been so busy all day, writing let- 
 ters on my knee, sending off electric messages, cum miUtis 
 aliis. I can but rejoice that I am employed again ; cer- 
 tain, too, as I am, that the star of Old England will 
 shine the brighter in the end, and we shall hold a prouder 
 position than ever. But the crisis is an awful one ! 
 
 May I'ith. — This morning the Commander-in-Chief 
 ordered me to raise and command an entire new regi- 
 ment of Irregular Horse. I do not know who or what 
 has been at work for me, but he seems willing enough to 
 give me work to do, and I am willing enough to do it. 
 The European troops arrived this morning (I sent a tele- 
 graphic message to say so) ; and the Rajah of Jheend, 
 with his men, last night. I have offered to clear the 
 road and open the communication to Meerut and Delhi 
 with the Rajah's Horse. If the Chief will consent, I 
 think I am sure of success. It is believed that nothing 
 has occurred at Agra. The Punjaub all quiet up to last 
 night; as long as that is the case we shall do. With 
 God and our Saxon arms to aid us, I have firm faith in 
 the result. 
 
 20/A. — Deep anxiety about the safety of the hill sta- 
 tions continues unabated; no letters, — no certainty, — 
 
EXPEDITIO>J TO MEERUT. 235 
 
 only rumors. Were it not for this, I should enter with 
 full zest into the work before me, and the fresh field 
 which I owe to General Anson's kindness. He has at 
 last consented to my trying to open communication with 
 Meerut, so I start this afternoon to try to make my way 
 across with a party of the Jheend Horse ; and I have, 
 under Providence, little doubt of success, though I would 
 rather have a party of my dear old Guides. There has 
 been an outbreak at Agra, but all the Europeans are 
 shut up in the fort ; Allygurh and Moradabad have mu- 
 tinied, but by God's help we shall get safely through. 
 
 20th, 2 p. M. — Just one line to say I am starting, and 
 shall not be able to write to-morrow or next day. Still 
 no tidings from the hills ! This is a terrible additional 
 pull upon one's nerves at a time like this, and is a phase 
 of war I never calculated on. 
 
 May 24th. — I returned from my expedition to Mee- 
 rut late last night. It was eminently successful, and I 
 am off immediately to Umbaia to report progress to the 
 Chief. Much relieved by a letter from you. 
 
 2oth. — A hurried line only to say I am safe and well, 
 but dead beat. I went yesterday to Umbala by mail- 
 cart to report to the Commander-in-Chief. Got there at 
 6 P.M., and started back again at 11 P. m. As I have 
 only had one night in bed out of five, I am tolerably 
 weary. The Commander-in-Chief arrived this morning. 
 I will give you more particulars when I have slept. 
 
 From a letter written from camp before Delhi, 
 in August, to Colonel D. Seaton : — 
 
 . . . "As soon as the Commander-in-Chief reached 
 Umbala he sent for me, and put me in charge of the In- 
 telligence Department, as an Assistant Quartermaster- 
 
236 RIDE TO MEERUT. 
 
 General under his personal orders. I left Umbala by 
 mail-cart that night for Kurnal, ascertained the state of 
 things, made arrangements for the protection and shelter 
 of the advanced party, and offered to open the road to 
 Meerut, from Kurnal. He replied by telegraph. Sev- 
 enty-two hours afterwards, I was back in Kurnal. and 
 telegraphed to him that I had forced my way to IMeerut,* 
 and obtained all the papers he wanted from the General 
 there. These I gave him four hours later in Umbala. 
 The pace pleased him, I fancy, for he ordered me to 
 raise a Corps of Irregular Horse, and appointed me 
 Commandant." 
 
 May 2bth, Evening. — I wrote this morning a few 
 
 * Letter from, an Oj^cer. 
 " When the mutiny broke out, our communications were completely 
 cut off. One night, on outlying picket at Meerut, this subject being 
 discussed, I said, ' Hodson is at Umbala, I know; and I'll bet he will 
 force his way through, and open communications with the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief and ourselves.' At about three that night I heard 
 my advanced sentries firing. I rode off to see what was the matter, 
 and tliey told me that a party of enemy's cavalry had approached 
 their post. When day broke, in galloped Hodson. He had left Kurnal 
 (seventy-six miles off) at nine the night before, with one led horse 
 and an escort of Sikh cavalry, and, as I had anticipated, here he was 
 with despatches for Wilson! How I quizzed him for approaching an 
 armed post at night without knowing the parole. Hodson rode 
 straight to Wilson, had his interview, a bath, breakfast, and two 
 hours' sleep, and then rode back the seventy-six miles, and had to 
 figlit his way for about thirty miles of the distance." 
 Another officer, writing to his wife at this time, says: — 
 " Hodson's gallant deeds more resemble a chapter from the life of 
 Bayard or Amadis ^e Gaul, than the doings of a subaltern of the 
 nineteenth century. The only feeling mixed with my admiration for 
 him is envv." 
 
PANIC AT MEERUT. 237 
 
 hurried lines to keep you from anxiety. I was too tired 
 to do more, the continued night-work had wearied me out, 
 and when I got back here at half-past six this morning I 
 was fairly dead beat. Poor Charlie Thomason is with 
 me. I am happy to have been in some measure instru- 
 mental in getting him in in safety, by offering a heavy 
 sum to the villagers. He had been wandering about in 
 the jungles, with several other refugees, for days, without 
 food or shelter. I am deeply grieved for him, poor fel- 
 low ! The state of panic at Meerut was shocking ; all 
 the ladies shut up in an inclosed barrack, and their hus- 
 bands sleeping in the men's barracks for safety, and never 
 going beyond the sentries. 
 
 General Hewitt is in a state of helpless imbecility. 
 The best and boldest spirit there was our friend Alfred 
 Light, doing his work manfully and well. He had had 
 some miraculous escapes. My commission is to raise a 
 body of Irregular Horse on the usual rates of pay and 
 the regular complement of native officers, but the num- 
 ber of troops to be unlimited, — i. e., I am to raise as 
 many men as I please ; 2,000, if I can get them. The 
 worst of it is, the being in a part of the country I do 
 not know, and the necessity of finding men who can be 
 trusted. Mr. Montgomery is aiding me wonderfully. He 
 called upon some of my old friends among the Sirdars 
 to raise men for me. Shumshere Singh is raising one 
 troop ; Tej Singh ditto ; Emaumoodeen ditto ; Mr. Mont- 
 gomery himself one or two ditto. All these will be ready 
 in about three weeks. I am to remain Assistant Quar- 
 termaster-General, attached to the Commander-in-Chief. ' 
 Tills allows me free access to him at any time, and to 
 other people in authority, which gives me power for 
 good. The Intelligence Department is mine exclusively, 
 
238 DEATH OF GENERAL ANSON. 
 
 and I have fin- this line Sir Henry's old friend, the one- 
 eyed Moulvie, Rujub Alee, so I shall get the best news 
 in the country. Montgomery has come out very, very 
 strong indeed, and behaved admirably. The native regi- 
 ments at Peshawur have been disarmed. One at Nao- 
 shera (the 55th) was sent over to occupy Murdan in the 
 absence of the Guides. They have mutinied, and seized 
 the fort, and confined the Assistant Commissioner. Gen- 
 eral Cotton is going against them, and the Euzofzai folks 
 will do their best to prevent a man escaping. As yet the 
 Punjaub is quiet, and the Irregulars true. The Guides 
 are coming down here by forced marches. 
 
 Camp, Paneeput, ilik. — I wrote to you this morn- 
 ing, but as I shall not probably be in the way of daks 
 to-morrow, I write a few lines to be sent after I start 
 onwards. You will have heard of the sad death of Gen- 
 eral Anson. He was taken with cholera yesterday, and 
 died without pain from collapse this morning. He made 
 over command to General Barnard with his last breath. 
 Sir Henry only arrived from Umbala just in time. His 
 death is politically a vast misfortune just at this crisis, 
 and personally I am deeply grieved, and the natives will 
 be highly elated. I am even now hard at work, raising 
 my men, or taking means to do so, and have already had 
 applications for officers ; but I shall not settle on officers 
 till the men begin to collect, and this time I will take care 
 to have none but gentlemen, if I can help it. I am going 
 downwards to-night to look after the bridge * on this side 
 of Delhi, about thirty miles hence, by which the Meerut 
 troops will move to join us. I take the Jheend Horse ; 
 Colonel T. Seaton is commanding the 60th Native In- 
 fantry, and will be here to-night with them. I don't envy 
 
 * At Bhagput. 
 
SIXTIETH NATIVE INFANTRY. 239 
 
 him his new command, but he is a good man, and a brave 
 soldier, and if any man can get them over the mess, he 
 will do it. Sir H. Barnard is a fine gentlemanly old 
 man, but hardly up to his work. However, we must all 
 put our shoulders to the wheel, and help him over the 
 ci'isis. I trust he will act with vigor, for we have de- 
 layed far too long already. 
 
 29th. — There is nothing new. I travelled eighty 
 miles between 2 p. m. yesterday, and ten this morning, 
 besides heaps of business. I am tired, I confess, for the 
 heat is awful. The treasuries are empty, and no drafts 
 are to be cashed, so how we are to get money I cannot 
 imagine. We hear that a request has gone to Lord 
 Canning to send for Pat Grant as Commander-in- 
 Chief, pending instructions. I grieve for poor General 
 Anson, and I ought to do so, for he was a good friend 
 to me. 
 
 Sttmalka, 30th. — My earnest representations and re- 
 monstrances seem at last to have produced some effect, 
 for at 7 p. M. yesterday we got an order to move on. The 
 head-quarters follow us to-night from Kurnal. The " we " 
 means three squadrons of 9th Lancers, Money's troop of 
 Horse Artillery, and 1st Fusileers. Brigadier Hallifax is 
 in command, but so ill from heat and anxiety, that I be- 
 gin to be anxious about him, and whether he will be able 
 to remain with the force is doubtful. Colonel T. Seaton 
 has gone on to Rohtuck with the 60th Native Infantry, 
 who, I have no doubt, will desert to a man as soon as 
 they get there. It is very plucky of him and the other 
 oflScers to go ; and very hard of the authorities to send 
 them ; a half-hearted measure, and very discreditable, in 
 my opinion, to all concerned ; affording a painful conti'ast 
 to Sir John Lawrence's bold and decided conduct in this 
 
240 MARCH TO DELHI. 
 
 crisis. The old Guides are to be here on the 8th or 10th 
 to join us. The heat here is a caution, and writing in 
 this melting climate anything but easy, especially as 
 chairs and tables are not common. This regiment (1st 
 Fusileers) is a credit to any army, and the fellows are in 
 as high spirits and heart, and as plucky and free from 
 croaking as possible, and really do good to the whole 
 force. 
 
 KussowLEE, May 31s<. — Here we are one more 
 stage on our road to Delhi ; we are, however, to halt a 
 couple of days or so at the next stage (Race), to await 
 the arrival of General Barnard. Poor Brigadier Halli- 
 fax was so ill that be would clearly have died had he 
 remained here, so we had a medical committee, put him 
 into my shigram (a travelling wagon), and sent him off 
 to Kurnal for Umbala and the hills. I sent a telegraphic 
 message for Mrs. Hallifax to meet him at Umbala. 
 This is but the beginning of this work, I fear ; and before 
 this business ends, we who are, thank God ! still young 
 and strong shall alone be left in camp ; all the elderly 
 gentlemen will sink under the fatigue and exposure. I 
 think of asking for Mr. Macdowell as my second in com- 
 mand ; he is a gentleman, and only wants opportunity to 
 become a gallant soldier. The whole onus of work here 
 is on my shoulders ; ^ytvy one comes to me for advice 
 and assistance, which is purely absurd. I shall do all 
 the work and others get the credit, as usual ; but in these 
 days we cannot afford to spare ourselves. The Empire is 
 at stake, and all we love and reverence is in the balance. 
 I tried to persuade them to send General Johnstone to 
 M(Hiut to supcinede Hewitt. I wish he had been there 
 ami was here ; wc have few as good. 
 
 Ka i;f., ./!««(» \sl. — T h:ive just been roused up from 
 
DEATH OF BKIGADIEE HALLIFAX. 241 
 
 the first sleep I have had, for I don't know how long, 
 (lying under a peepul-tree, with a fine breeze like liquid 
 fire blowing over me,) by the news that the dak is going, 
 so I can only say that all is well, and that we are here, 
 about twenty miles from Delhi, and I hope ere night to 
 capture some of the rascals who stripped and ill-treated 
 two ladies near this the other day on their flight to the 
 hills. 
 
 Colonel Hope Grant has arrived to command the 
 force until General Barnard comes, which will be on the 
 4th, and the Meerut people also. The Delhi mutineers 
 marched out ten miles, and attacked Brigadier Wilson 
 on the night of the 30th, at Ghazeenuggur, on his way 
 to this place. He drove them back, and captured all 
 their guns. Some 8,000 or 10,000 of them came out, 
 and he had only about 1,000 men. Long odds, this ; but 
 of course all his men were Europeans. I fear the 14th 
 Irregulars have joined the mutineers. If they would 
 only make haste and get to Delhi, we might do some- 
 thing. 
 
 Raee, 2d. — You will have been as much shocked as 
 I was by the tidings of poor Brigadier Hallifax's death 
 at Kurnal, only a few hours after I had put him into the 
 carriage, with the comfortable assurance that his wife 
 would meet him at Umbala. He died from congestion 
 of the brain. I have been much affected by this, for I 
 had a warm regard for him, and his very helplessness 
 the last few days seemed to strengthen the tie. I feel 
 deeply for his poor wife and children. Colonel Mowat 
 of the artillery is dead too, of cholera. The weather is 
 undoubtedly very trying for old and infirm men ; but we 
 are all well here, and there is no sickness to speak of 
 among the troops. All will be here to-morrow. Head- 
 11 
 
242 EAGER TO FIGHT. 
 
 quarters, 75th, Queen's, and remainder of 9th Lancers ; 
 the heavy guns and 2d Fusileers are only a short way 
 behind. Colonel Hope Grant commands. The Meerut 
 folks have had another fight (on the 31st) with the Delhi 
 mutineers, and again beaten them ; but this constant ex- 
 posure is very trying to Europeans. I wish we were 
 moving nearer Delhi more rapidly, as all now depends 
 on our quickly disposing of this mighty sore. I wish 
 from my heart we had Sir Henry Lawrence here ; he is 
 the man for the crisis. We are all in high spirits ; only 
 eager to get at the villains who have committed atrocities 
 which make the blood run cold but to think of. I trust 
 the retribution will be short, sharp, and decisive. 
 
 Another batch of half-starved, half-naked Europeans, 
 men, women, and children (a deputy collector and his 
 family), were brought into camp to-day, after wandering 
 twenty-three days in the jungle. 
 
 Raee, 3rf. — Things are so quiet in the Punjaub that 
 I begin to hope that, if we do but make haste in disposing 
 of Delhi, the campaign may not be so long, after all. 
 Everything depends on that ; we dare not, however, cal- 
 culate on such good fortune either to our arms or our- 
 selves. The head-quarters' people joined this morning ; 
 they seem to stand it better than I expected. Congreve 
 complains a good deal, but Keith Young and Arthur 
 Becher are well. I have not yet seen Sir H. Barnard. 
 I was kept up and out half the night, and then out again 
 at daybreak, so I am too tired and busy to pay visits. 
 There has been no further fight that we know of. Char- 
 lie Thomason rejoined us this morning ; he has picked 
 up a little since his starvation time ended, and does not 
 look so like a wild beast as he did. Still good news 
 from Agra ; there are, however, reports which tend to 
 
RECONNOITRING. 243 
 
 show disturbances in the AUyghur and Bolundshur dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 Aleepore, bth. — You must not be anxious on my 
 account ; I am in as good a position as possible for a 
 subaltern to be, unless, indeed, I had my regiment ready 
 for service. I am second only to Becher in the Quarter- 
 master-General Department, and the Intelligence De- 
 partment is entirely my own. I feel deeply for poor 
 Mrs. Hallifax and her large family, and am delighted 
 that you are able to aid them. I have tried everywhere 
 to get a bearer, but the natives will not serve us now, 
 and I could get no one even on double pay. Only two 
 days ago I succeeded in getting a Bheestie. If we 
 could but get all the seventy-four native infantry regi- 
 ments in one lump we could manage them, but they will 
 never stand after we get our guns to work. I rode right 
 up to the Delhi parade-ground this morning to recon- 
 noitre, and the few Sowars, whom I met, galloped away 
 like mad at the sight of one white face. Had I had a 
 hundred Guides with me I would have gone up to the 
 very walls. 
 
 Aleepore, &th. — All the force is assembled to-day 
 save the Meerut portion, and they will be up to-night ; 
 the heat is severe, but not unhealthy. The siege guns 
 came in this morning, and the 2d European Bengal Fusi- 
 leers, and we are all ready to move on. About 2,000 of 
 the rebels have come out of Delhi, and put themselves 
 in position to bar our road. Even your pride would be 
 satisfied at the cry when I ride to the front or start on 
 any little excursion. I think I am more than appreciated 
 by the head-quarters' people. I had barely finished the 
 word when I was sent for by the General, and had a 
 pretty strong proof of the estimation I am held in. He 
 
2 14 DELHI. 
 
 had been urged to one particular point of attack ; and 
 when I went into the tent, he immediately turned to the 
 assembled council, and said, "I have always trusted to 
 Hodson's intelligence, and have the greatest confidence 
 in his judgment. I wiU be guided by what he can tell 
 me now." So the croakers, who had been groaning, 
 were discomfited. This is of course for your own eye 
 and ear alone, but it is pleasant, as the General has only 
 known me since he has now joined the force.* 
 
 Aleepore, June 1th. — I have little to do with the 
 "Jheend Rajah's troops," further than that I am em- 
 powered to demand as many as I want, and whenever 
 I want them. I have twenty-five men on constant duty 
 with me, and to-day have asked for double that number 
 for extra duty ; beyond this, I have not, and do not wish 
 to have, further to do with them. All Rohilcund is in 
 mutiny. In fact, the district of Agra is the only one in 
 the Northwest Provinces now under our control. What 
 a terrible lesson on the evils of delay ! It will be long 
 yet, I fear, ere this business is over. Oh for Sir Henry 
 Lawrence ! Yet personally I have no reason to com- 
 plain. 
 
 Camp, Delhi, June ^th, 1857. — Here we are safe 
 and sound, after having driven the enemy out of their 
 position in the cantonments up to and into the walls of 
 Delhi ! I write a line in pencil on the top of a drum to 
 say that I am mercifully untouched, and none the worse 
 for a very hard morning's work. Our loss has been con- 
 siderable, the rebels having been driven from their guns 
 al the point of the bayonet. Poor Colonel Chester killed 
 
 * I am told that, one day about this time, General Barnard said at 
 the council table, " We must have our best man to lead that column ; 
 — Hodson, will you take it? " — Ed. 
 
KILLED AND WOUNDED. 245 
 
 at the first fire. Alfred Light (who won the admiration 
 of all) wounded, but not severely. No one else of the 
 staflF party killed or wounded ; but our general returns 
 will, I fear, tell a sad tale. Greville slightly hurt. The 
 enemy's guns captured, and their dispersion and rout 
 very complete. God has been very good to me. May 
 His gracious protection still be shown ! 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SIEGE OF DELHI. 
 
 Camp before Delhi, June 9th. 
 I WROTE you a few hurried lines on the field of battle 
 yesterday, to say that we had beaten the enemy, and 
 driven them back five miles into Delhi. How grateful 
 rest was after such a morning ! The Guides came in to- 
 day, and it would have done your heart good to see the 
 welcome they gave me — cheering and shouting and 
 crowding round me like frantic creatures. They seized 
 my bridle, dress, hands, and feet, and literally threw 
 themselves down before the horse with the tears stream- 
 ing down their faces. Many officers who were present 
 hardly knew what to make of it, and thought the crea- 
 tures were mobbing me; and so they wei-e, — but for joy, 
 not for mischief.* All the staff were witnesses of this, 
 and Colonel Becher says their reception of me was quite 
 enough to contradict all the reports of my unpopularity f 
 with the regiment. There is terrible confusion all along 
 the road, and we can only get the daks carried at all by 
 bribery, stage by stage. 
 
 * One of the officers who witnessed this scene told me that the ex- 
 clamation of the men on meeting him was, " Burra Lerai-wallah," or 
 Great in battle. — Ed. 
 
 t This had been one of the unfounded charges against him two 
 vears before. 
 
ENTHUSIASM OF GUIDES. 247 
 
 June 10</i. — When I hastily closed my letter yester- 
 day, I hoped to be able to write a long one for to-day's 
 dak, and to have had some hours' quiet to myself; but 
 before the post had well started, our troops were again 
 under arms, the mutineers having thought proper to at- 
 tack our position ; consequently I was on horseback the 
 whole day, and thankful to get at night a mouthful of 
 food and a little rest. I had command of all the troops 
 on our right, the gallant Guides among the rest. They 
 followed me with a cheer for their old commander, and 
 behaved with their usual pluck ; but I grieve deeply to 
 say that poor Quintin Battye was mortally wounded. 
 He behaved most nobly, Daly tells me, leading his men 
 like a hero. Poor Khan Singh Rosah, who had come 
 down from the Punjaub to join me only the same morn- 
 ing, was badly shot through the shoulder. Indeed, I did 
 not expose myself unnecessarily, for, having to direct the 
 movements of three or four regiments, I could not be in 
 the front as much as I wished. God has mercifully pre- 
 served me, and I humbly pray will continue His gracious 
 care. The warmth of the reception again given me by 
 the Guides was quite affecting, and has produced a great 
 sensation in camp, and had a good effect on our native 
 troops, insomuch that they are more willing to obey their 
 European officers when they see their own countrymen's 
 enthusiasm. Numbers of the men want to come and 
 join my new regiment, — in fact, the largest proportion 
 of the cavalry ; but of course I cannot take them now, 
 nor until this business is over. I am wonderfully well, 
 and only a little anxious about the hill stations, though I 
 have full confidence in Lord William Hay's management. 
 There is not much sickness in camp, though many 
 wounded, and there will be many more, I fear, before 
 
248 ENCOURAGEMENT OF SOLDIERS. 
 
 we get into Delhi. We have been fortunate in the 
 weather hitherto. 
 
 The enemy are at least four or five times our strength, 
 and their numbers tell when we come near them, despite 
 their want of discipline. They are splendid artillery-men, 
 however, and actually beat ours in accuracy of fire. 
 
 Light works on magnificently, despite a severe and 
 painful wound in the head. I was very nearly coming 
 to grief once this morning, for the sabre I thought such 
 a good one went the first blow, and the blade flew out of 
 the handle the second, the handle itself breaking in two. 
 I had to borrow a sword from a horse artillery-man for 
 the remainder of the day. 
 
 The Jheend men with me fought like excellent soldiers. 
 The good General came up when it was over and shook 
 hands with me, and then with the men nearest. Their 
 Rajah has given the native ofiicer a pair of gold bangles, 
 and doubled his pay. This is the way to encourage sol- 
 diers, European as well as native : reward them, if but 
 with thanks, on the spot. 
 
 Colonel Thomas Seaton is at Rohtuck, in command of 
 the 60th Native Infantry. How much longer they will 
 refrain from mutiny one cannot say ; certainly not long ; 
 though if any man can keep them steady, Seaton will. I 
 hear some 300 or 400 men are ready for me ; a few have 
 already arrived with Khan Singh. Meantime my posi- 
 tion is Assistant Quartermaster-General on the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief's personal staff. I am responsible for 
 the Intelligence Department, and in the field, or when 
 anything is going on, for directing the movements of the 
 troops in action, under the immediate orders of the Gen- 
 eral; I have no other master, and he listens to my sug- 
 gestions most readily. Charlie Thomason is here, work- 
 
ATTACK ON OUR OUTPOSTS. 249 
 
 ing away as an engineer. Macdowell is well and merry, 
 and much gratified at my having asked for him. 
 
 June 14<A. — We were roused up three times during 
 the night, and I have been deep in business with the 
 General all the morning. I was also interrupted by the 
 mournful task of carrying poor Battye to his grave ; the 
 brave boy died last night, with a smile on his lip, and a 
 Latin quotation on his tongue, " Dulce et decorum est 
 pro patria mori." Poor fellow ! he had quite won my 
 heart by his courage and amiable qualities, and it is very, 
 very sad, his early death. It was a noble one, however, 
 and worthy of a soldier. We have just been excited in 
 camp by the hasty arrival of Colonel Seaton and the offi- 
 cers of the late 60th Native Infantry, which mutinied 
 yesterday, and, spite of all Seaton could do, they fired on 
 their officers, who, however, all escaped and came into 
 camp safe, after a ride of fifty miles. Seaton is with me, 
 looking terribly worn and harassed, but he says quite well 
 in health, though disgusted enough. Dr. Coghlan (75th 
 Regiment) died of cholera last night, but, thank God ! 
 there are no other cases in camp. I am much vexed at 
 the Lahore Chronicle " butter," and wish people would 
 leave me alone in the newspapers. The best " butter " I 
 get is the deference and respect I meet with from all 
 whose respect I care for, and the affectionate enthusiasm 
 of the Guides, which increases instead of lessening. 
 
 June lith. — We were turned out early this morning 
 by an attack on our outposts and position generally by 
 the rebel army. A sharp fight ensued, which lasted some 
 four hours. The enemy came on very boldly, and had 
 got close to us, under cover of the trees and gardens, 
 before they were seen ; however, the troops turned out 
 sharp, and drove them back quickly from our immediate 
 11 * 
 
250 PROJECT OF ATTACK. 
 
 vicinity ; they were then followed up, and got most heart- 
 ily thrashed. They have never yet been so punished as 
 to-day. I estimate their loss in killed alone at 400, while 
 our loss was comparatively trifling. The Guides behaved 
 admirably, so did the Fusileers, as usual. Jacob's wing 
 was the admiration of all ; one officer (Captain Knox, 
 75th) was killed, and one or two wounded, I do not know 
 how many European soldiers ; but on the whole the affair 
 was a very creditable one. I am safe and sound still, 
 and again have to thank the Almighty for my preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 Yesterday, I was ordered by the General to assist 
 Greathed, and one or two more engineers, in forming 
 a project of attack, and how we would do to take Delhi. 
 We drew up our scheme and gave it to the General, who 
 highly approved, and will, I trust, carry it out ; but how 
 times must be changed, when four subalterns are called 
 upon to suggest a means of carrying out so vitally im- 
 portant an enterprise as this, one on which the safety of 
 the Empire depends ! Wilberforce Greathed is next 
 senior engineer to Laughton. Chesney is Major of the 
 Engineer Brigade, and Maunsell commands the Sappers, 
 so they had official claims to be consulted. 
 
 I was added, because the General complimentarily told 
 me he had the utmost value for my opinion, and though 
 I am known to counsel vigorous measures, it is equally 
 well known I do not urge others to do what I would not 
 be the first to do myself. It is a much more serious busi- 
 ness than was at first anticipated. Delhi is a very strong 
 place, and the vast resources which the possession of our 
 arsenal has given the mutineers, has made the matter a 
 difficult one to deal with, except by the boldest measures ; 
 the city should be carried by a coup-de-main, and that at 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 251 
 
 once, or we may be many weeks before Delhi, instead of 
 within it. All is safe at Agra, and the 3d Europeans 
 are quietly under cover. A large party of us have just 
 been listening to a letter from Lord W. Hay, in which he 
 speaks in the highest terms of the conduct of some of 
 the ladies at Simla, and says that the sense and courage 
 exhibited by one or two of them hds given a severe les- 
 son to those who ought to know better than to require it 
 from the weaker sex. 
 
 June \ith. — We were to have taken Delhi by assault 
 last night, but a " mistake of orders," (?) as to the right 
 time of bringing the troops to the rendezvous, prevented 
 its execution. I am much annoyed and disappointed at 
 our plan not having been carried out, because I am con- 
 fident it would have been successful. The rebels were 
 cowed, and perfectly ignorant of any intention of so bold 
 a stroke on our part as an assault: the surprise would 
 have done everything. I am very vexed, though the 
 General is most kind and considerate in trying to soothe 
 my disappointment, — too kind, indeed, or he would not 
 so readily have pardoned those whose fault it is that we 
 are still outside Delhi. 
 
 June \^th. — There was another smart engagement last 
 night, the 60th Native Infantry having thought fit to sig- 
 nalize their arrival at Delhi by an attack upon our posi- 
 tion ; they sufifered for it, as usual, but also, as usual, we 
 lost several good men whom, God knows, we can ill spare. 
 Mr. Kennedy was wounded, and a Subadar and some men 
 of the Guides killed. I was not very much under fire, 
 though I had to run the gantlet now and then of a rain 
 of shot and shells with which the rebels belabored us. 
 Our artillery ofiicers themselves say that they are out- 
 matched by these rascals in accuracy and rapidity of fire ; 
 
2.32 ANXIETY ABOUT SIMLA. 
 
 and as they have unlimited supplies of guns and ammu- 
 nition from our own greatest arsenal, they are quite be- 
 yond us in many respects. I am just returned from a 
 long ride to look after a party of plunderers from the 
 city, who had gone round our flank ; I disposed of a few. 
 
 June 15th. — I have had a night and day of great 
 anxiety, owing to fresh rumors of an outbreak at Simla. 
 I have much confidence in Lord W. Hay's judgment 
 and management of the natives, but this would not be 
 sufficient, were the station once attacked. The dak, 
 however, has arrived, and quieted our apprehensions. 
 There was a sharp fight again this morning, which lasted 
 some hours ; our loss was not great, but every man is a 
 loss. Our project for the assault is still approved of and 
 entertained, but put off from day to day, till it will be too 
 late. It is now noon, and I have been out since day- 
 break, and must get breakfast. 
 
 June IQth. — Everybody here is infinitely disgusted at 
 learning the truth about the report of a riot at Simla, 
 and the opinion is universal that ought to be re- 
 moved. Neville Chamberlain is Adjutant- General of 
 the army, and Pat Grant Commander-in-Chief. I do 
 not think either of them will approve of any " soldier " 
 showing his prowess in fighting helpless women and chil- 
 dren, or of one whose only courage is exhibited on a 
 peaceful parade, or when an unfortunate subaltern is to 
 be bullied. The weather is intense to-day, and I am 
 uncomfortable from having caught a heavy cold, but it 
 will soon go oflf", I dare say. I mentioned that four of us 
 had been ordered to prepare a project of attack, and that 
 we had suggested and arranged a bold but perfectly feasi- 
 ble coup-de-main ; it was approved and ordered, but in 
 consequence of — — — 's not bringing up his troops, was 
 
PLAN ABANDONED. 253 
 
 forced to be abandoned ; it has again been ordered, coun- 
 termanded, and finally abandoned. A council of war sat 
 yesterday, and resolved to wait for reinforcements ! ! our 
 scheme, howe-ver, is on record, and our names attached. 
 General Barnard told me yesterday he wished I was a 
 captain, for he would pledge himself to get me a major- 
 ity for what I had already done ; he thought he " might 
 safely promise that at least." But, alas ! I am not a 
 caj.tain. 
 
 June 18<A. — I was not able to write yesterday, for the 
 cold I mentioned as having caught in common with many 
 others in camp, turned into a sharp attack of bronchitis, 
 or inflammation on the chest, and I was really verj' ill 
 for some hours. To-day I am thankful to say I am much 
 better, though very weak ; the inflammation has disap- 
 peared, and I hope to be on my horse again to-morrow, in 
 spite of all the doctor says. Every one is very kind, the 
 General particularly so ; he insists on having me in his 
 own tent, as being so much larger than my own, and he 
 takes the most fatherly care of me. I can see no reason 
 strong enough to induce me to consent to any ladies com- 
 ing to camp ; it is true that a Captain , who with his 
 
 wife escaped from Delhi to Umbala, has dragged the un- 
 fortunate woman back here again, though expecting her 
 confinement, and with not a shadow of comfort or shelter, 
 
 except a tent. Even Mrs. ,* and all the others of 
 
 her sex, have been sent back to Meerut; they never 
 ought to have been allowed to come with us ; the greatest 
 consolation to us here is the thought that those dearest to 
 us are in safety, and free from the heat and dangers and 
 annoyances of our life here. Poor Brown was badly 
 wounded last night in the shoulder. I much fear that 
 * A Persian ladv. 
 
254 GENERAL BARNARD'S KINDNESS. 
 
 Dr. Hay has been murdered at Bareilly ; his name is 
 among the missing, and scarcely a hope remains. 
 
 June \Siih. — I am up and dressed, and crawling about 
 a little to-day, but much weaker than I fancied, and dizzy 
 with quinine, and vexed at being useless at such a time. 
 The General nurses me as if I were his son. I woke in 
 the night, and found the kind old man by my bedside, 
 covering me carefully up fi-om the draught. The delay 
 and absolute want of progress here is very disheartening. 
 There have been repeated attacks upon us ; all of course 
 with the same result, (but, for that matter, we are as 
 nearly besieged as the rebels themselves are,) and we 
 lose valuable lives in every encounter, the sum total of 
 which would swell the catalogue to the dimensions of that 
 of a general engagement. Our plan of carrying the city 
 by a coup-de-main was frustrated the first night by the 
 
 fears and absolute disobedience of orders of , the 
 
 man who first lost Delhi, and has now by folly prevent- 
 ed its being recaptured. The General has twice since 
 wished and even ordered it, but has always been thwart- 
 ed by some one or other ; latterly by that old woman 
 
 , who has come here for nothing, apparently, but as 
 
 an obstacle ; is also a crying evil to us. The Gen- 
 eral knows this, and wants to get rid of him, but has not 
 the nerve to supersede him ; the whole state of affairs 
 here is bad to a degree ; it is true we always thrash the 
 fellows when we can get at them, for they are contempti- 
 ble as an enemy in the open field, being formidable in 
 numbers only ; but the immense resources placed in their 
 hands, by the possession of our magazine and arsenal, in- 
 side a walled and fortified town, make it very difficult for 
 an army, unless provided with a proper siege equipment 
 and engineer park, to drive them out in orthodox fashion : 
 
MURDER OF EUROPEANS IN CHURCH. 255 
 
 we have certainly plenty of guns, but we have not men to 
 
 work them ; and of the latter, thanks to , we have 
 
 absolutely nothing, so we do nothing but fire away long 
 shots at the distance of a mile, and repel the enemy's 
 attacks ; instead of which we ought to have had our bat- 
 teries close up to the walls, and been through them, days 
 ago. It was from the conviction that we had no regular 
 means of reducing the place by the fire of our artillery, 
 and at the distance we now are from the walls, and that 
 it was vain to expect our commandant of artillery to 
 attempt any bolder stroke than ordinary with the few 
 guns for which he had hands, which induced me to press 
 the capture of the place by assault, blowing open the 
 gates with powder bags, and rushing in witli the bayonet. 
 All was arranged, and under Providence I venture to 
 believe success was certain, but as I say, all was frus- 
 trated by terror and disobedience. I fear now nothing 
 can be done for many days, and until other troops arrive ; 
 meanwhile the evil is spreading, and disaffection, to use a 
 mild term, increasing. I fear there is no room to doubt 
 that Dr. Hay is dead ; he was actually hung, with other 
 civilians, in the market-place at Bareilly, after going 
 through a mock form of trial. All the Europeans at 
 Shahjehanpoor have, we hear, been murdered while they 
 were in church, at the same moment, as nearly as possible, 
 that the Bareilly tragedy was going on. 
 
 June IQth. — I am much better to-day, but still very 
 weak, yet work I must. There was a sharp fight again 
 last evening. The enemy came down and attacked our 
 rear, and a sharp conflict ensued between some 2,000 
 Sepoys with six guns, and 300 Europeans with one 
 gun. The result was as usual, but two events occurred 
 which were important for me. Colonel Becher was 
 
256 COMMAND OF GITIDES RESUMED. 
 
 shot through the right arm, and Captain Daly badly hit 
 through the shoulder. 
 
 The consequence is, that I have in effect to see to the 
 whole work of the Quartermaster- General of the army ; 
 and in addition, the General has begged me as a personal 
 favor to fake command of the Guides until Daly has 
 recovered. I at first refused, but the General was most 
 urgent, putting it on the ground that the service was at 
 stake, and none was so fit, &c. &c. I do feel that we are 
 bound to do our best just now to put things on a proper 
 footing, and after consulting Seaton and Norman, I ac- 
 cepted the command. How will gnash his teeth to 
 
 see me leading my dear old Guides again in the field. 
 If I can but keep it till Delhi is taken I shall be satisfied, 
 for I think I shall be able to do something towards so 
 favorable a result. Shebbeare was appointed second in 
 command at my request He is an excellent soldier. 
 General Barnard * has written most strongly in my 
 favor, and has voluntarily pledged himself to get me my 
 majority as soon as ever I am a captain. I confess I feel 
 a little proud at being earnestly requested to take again 
 
 * From Ma.tor-General Sir H. Barnard, Commanding Field Force, 
 to the Adjutant-General of the Army. 
 
 " Camp, Delhi, June 16ft, 1857. 
 " Sir. — While inclosing for the information of the Commander-in- 
 Chief the reports of the late attack made by the enemy on the force 
 under my command, I would wish to bring to his notice the assistance 
 I have received in every way from the services of Lieut. \V. S. Hod- 
 son, 1st Bengal European Fusileer'*. 
 
 *' Since the arrival of his regiment at Umbala, up to the present 
 date, his untiring energy and perpetual anxiety to assist me in any 
 way in which his services might be found useful, have distinguished 
 him tliroughout, and are now my reasons for bringing this officer thns 
 specially to the notice of the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 (Signed) " H. M. Barnard, 
 
 " Major- GeneraL^^ 
 
RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS. 257 
 
 the command of which the machinations of my enemies 
 had deprived me. Our loss altogether last night was not 
 more than 50 killed and wounded ; we took two guns ; — 
 enemy's loss about 500. 
 
 June 1\st. — I have been on horseback to-day for the 
 first time since this attack of illness, so I may be consid- 
 ered finally recovered, only I still feel considerable weak- 
 ness. It is very annoying not to be quite up to the mark 
 in these stirring times, especially when so much work has 
 fallen to my lot. I am fortunate, however, in not being, 
 like many of our poor fellows, laid up with wounds and 
 serious ailments. God has been very good to me, and in 
 nothing more so than in preserving what is most precious 
 to me from the horrible danger and suffering of so many 
 of our poor countrywomen and children. How thankful 
 I am now that Reginald exchanged into an European 
 corps. I never see any of these unhappy refugees, as we 
 call the poor officers whose regiments have mutinied, 
 wandering about the camp, without uttering a mental 
 thanksgiving that he is safe from that at least. I feel 
 more strongly every hour that I should not have been 
 justified in refusing the command of the Guides under 
 present circumstances. We are, in point of fact, reduced 
 to merely holding our own ground till we get more men. 
 The drain on our resources has been enormous, while 
 those of the enemy have proved so much greater, both 
 in men, ammunition, and strength of position, than we 
 expected, and they have fought us so much more perse- 
 veringly than was deemed possible, that it has become 
 imperatively necessary to be stronger before striking the 
 final blow. The plan for carrying the city * by assault, 
 
 * Extract of a Private Letter from Camp to Lord W. Hat. 
 " Hodson volunteered to lead the assault on the night of the 11th, 
 
258 RISING IN ROHILCUND. 
 
 which I feel convinced would then have been successful, 
 has now become impracticable. The enemy are stronger, 
 we are weaker ; besides that, they would be prepared for 
 any coup-de-main now. General Johnstone is to be here 
 by the 23d, we hope with considerable reinforcements, 
 and more will follow. I trust that a few days then will 
 end this business, as far as Delhi is concerned, and so 
 enable a part, at least, of the force to move on towards 
 AUygurh, and reopen the roads and daks, and restore 
 order for the time ; but when the end will be, who can 
 say ? 
 
 The rising in Rohilcund will, I fear, assume formidable 
 proportions and give us much trouble, as I think we 
 shall scarcely be able to do anything there before the 
 cold weather. There is, in fact, every prospect of a long 
 and tedious campaign. May God's wisdom direct and 
 His mercy defend us ! 
 
 June 22d. — The hottest day we have had jet ; but 
 while I know that the hill stations are quiet, I can bear 
 anything with equanimity. The rumors down here, of 
 all that has been doing and feared at Simla, have been 
 enough to unnerve any one who does not know the truth. 
 Lord W. Hay's judgment and energy deserve every 
 praise. Personally, I cannot but feel gratified at the 
 marked pleasure all hands, high and low, have shown at 
 my renewed command of the Guides. All congratulate 
 
 but the plan unfortunately was not adopted; a small building in front 
 of the gate, which he had fixed on as the rendezvous, is called ' Hod- 
 son's Mosque.' It would probably have been his tornb, for few of the 
 devoted band would have escaped, though the city would have been 
 ours." 
 
 A private letter from Camp of the 10th June, says, " Hodson, of the 
 Ist Fusileers, and old Showers are admitted to be the best officers in 
 the field." 
 
ENGLISH SOLDIERS' PLUCK. 259 
 
 me as if they were personally interested ; and as to the 
 men themselves, their vociferous, and I really believe 
 honest, delight is quite overpowering. The wounded 
 generally are doing well, poor fellows, considering the 
 heat, dirt, and want of any bed but the dry ground. 
 Their pluck is wonderful, and it is not in the field alone 
 that you. see what an English soldier is made of. One 
 poor fellow who was smoking his pipe and laughing with 
 the comrade by his side, was asked, what was the matter 
 with him, and he answered in a lively voice, " Oh, not 
 much, sir, only a little knock on the back ; I shall be up 
 and at the rascals again in a day or two.'' He had been 
 shot in the spine, and all his lower limbs were paralyzed. 
 He died next day. Colonel Welchman * is about again ; 
 too soon, I fear, but there is no keeping the brave old 
 man quiet. Poor Peter Brown * is very badly wounded, 
 but he is cheerful, and bears up bravely. Jacob * has 
 " come out " wonderfully. He is cool, active, and bold, 
 keeps his wits about him under fire, and does altogether 
 well. We are fortunate in having him with the force. 
 Good field-officers are very scarce indeed ; I do not won- 
 der at people at a distance bewaihng the delay in the 
 taking of Delhi. No one not on the spot can appreciate 
 the difficulties in the way, or the painful truth that those 
 difficulties increase upon us. The very large reinforce- 
 ments which the enemy are receiving, (the whole Bareilly 
 and Rohilcund force, some 6,000 men, are on their way 
 to join,) more than counterbalance the aid which can 
 reach us, so that when the last party arrives the odds 
 will still be immensely against us. It would not so much 
 signify if we could but get them into the open field, but 
 for every gun we can bring to bear upon them they can 
 * 1st European Bengal Fusileers. 
 
260 CONFIDENT OF SUCCESS. 
 
 bring four heavier ones against us. We drive them be- 
 fore us like chaff in the field, but they can and do attack 
 us in two or three quarters at once, and our unfortunate 
 soldiers are worked off their legs. I do not say this to 
 make matters look gloomy, for I am as confident as ever 
 of the result ; but we may be a long while yet, and a 
 weary while too, before that result is arrived at. Baird 
 Smith will be here as Chief Engineer in a day or two, 
 and if we can manage to get some batteries made sud- 
 denly, we may carry the city shortly ; but there are great 
 obstacles. I regret more than ever that the assault was 
 not made on the night of the 11th, when they were un- 
 prepared for us, and so much fewer in numbers. Now 
 they increase daily, and the city is so overflowing, that 
 the rascals are encamped outside the gates under cover 
 of their formidable batteries, and in the glacis ; so much 
 for giving our arsenal into native keeping. All is well at 
 Agra ; beyond that, we know nothing. 
 
 June 2Sd. — The rebels came out again this morning 
 in considerable force, with the avowed intention of attack- 
 ing us on all sides. They have been frustrated, however, 
 save on one point, and firing is still going on. They do 
 little more than annoy us, and the only great evil they 
 cause, is the keeping our men out for hours in this scorch- 
 ing heat. The worst of all is, that we can do but little 
 harm to them, as they are well under cover. The rascals 
 most forward to-day are the Jullundur troops, who ought 
 never to have been allowed to join the king of the rebels 
 here at Delhi ; why they were not pursued and cut up, is 
 at present a mystery, but indignation is strong in camp 
 against those who suffered their escape. 
 
 General Johnstone has met with a serious accident at 
 Paneeput, I hear ; most unfortunate indeed. 
 
SUBJECT FOB A SKETCH. 261 
 
 June 23rf. — An amusing story is told o propos of the 
 fight this morning. A rascally Pandy, thinking all was 
 over, put his head out of the window of one of the houses, 
 in the shade of which a few Europeans and Goorkhas 
 were resting. One of the latter jumped up, laid hold of 
 the rebel by his hair, and with one chop of his " kookrie " 
 took off his head. Atkinson should make a sketch of 
 this for the Illustrated News. Sarel, of the 9 th Lancers, 
 came in this morning, in an incredibly short space of 
 time, from his shooting expedition in the interior, ten 
 days' journey beyond Simla. He reports all quiet there, 
 thank God ! I am sadly weak, I find, and have been 
 obliged to change my work from the saddle to the pen 
 more than once to-day. This want of physical strength 
 depresses me. It is a burden to me to stand or walk, and 
 the excessive heat makes it difficult for me to recover 
 from that sharp attack of illness. The doctors urge me 
 to go away for a little to get strength, — as if I could 
 leave just now, or as if I would if I could. 
 
 June 24:th. — I have been in the saddle nearly all day, 
 thougli obliged occasionally to rest a bit when I could 
 find shelter. One of my halts was by the side of Alfred 
 Light, who has behaved magnificently under trial and 
 diflBculty. It does me good to see the " Light of the ball- 
 room " working away at his guns, begrimed with dust and 
 heat, ever cheery and cool, though dead beat from fatigue 
 and exposure. He is one of a thousand, and a host in 
 himself. 
 
 The enemy turned us out very early, and the firing 
 continued without intermission till dark, and such a day ; 
 liquid fire was no name for the fervent heat. Colonel 
 Welchman got an ugly wound in the arm, and Dennis 
 was knocked down by the sun, and numbers of the men ; 
 
262 NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN. 
 
 but nothing less than a knock-down blow from sun, sword, 
 or bullet, stops a British soldier. How well they fought 
 to-day ; and to do them justice, so did my old Guides and 
 my new Sikhs, while the little Goorkhas vied with any in 
 endurance and courage ; but the mismanagement of mat- 
 ters is perfectly sickening. Nothing the rebels can do 
 will equal the evils arising from incapacity and inde- 
 cision. 
 
 Fortunately, Neville Chamberlain has arrived, and he 
 ought to be worth a thousand men to us. I can but re- 
 member when Lord Dalhousie gave me the command 
 of the Guides, how anxious he was for me to exchange 
 it with him for the Military Secretaryship at Lahore. 
 Spite of all, I can never regret not having yielded, for I 
 feel that these two years of persecution and suffering 
 have been of service to me. I can truly say, it is good 
 for me to have been afflicted, and I am conscious of be- 
 ing more fitted either for the Victoria Cross or the sol- 
 dier's grave ! I do not think either that Chamberlain 
 bears me any ill-will, rather the contrary ; but did he do 
 so, I would lose anything personally, for the sake of hav- 
 ing his influence predominant at head-quarters. I am 
 neither downhearted nor desponding when I say that 
 with our present chiefs I see no chance of taking Delhi. 
 It might have been done many days ago, (certes, it was 
 not for want of a distinct plan being before them or a 
 willing leader,) but they have not the nerve nor the heart 
 for a bold stroke requiring the smallest assumption of re- 
 sponsibility. Horses are very scarce here, and I have the 
 greatest difficulty in getting ray own men mounted. Mr. 
 Montgomfry is helping me wonderfully with men, and I 
 receive offers for service daily, but in these mutinous 
 times it is necessary to be cautious. A telegraph from 
 
LOSS OF OFFICERS AND MEN. 263 
 
 Agra says, " Heavy firing at Cawnpore : result not 
 known." 
 
 June 2bth. — There is little doing to-day, save a vain 
 fire of long shots, and I fear nothing effective will be 
 done till the 8th and 61st arrive. I hope much from 
 Chamberlain. The General, though one of the kindest 
 and best of men, has neither health nor nerve enough for 
 so responsible, and really very difficult, a position as that 
 he is now in. Our loss in officers and men bears a sadly 
 large proportion to our successes. In the 1st Fusileers it 
 is, too, melancholy : Colonel Welchman with a very bad 
 hit in the arm, in addition to his sickness when he came 
 to Delhi from Dugshai ; Greville down with fever ; Wri- 
 ford with dysentery ; Dennis with sunstroke ; Brown 
 with wounds. Jacob and the " boys " have all the work 
 to themselves, and well indeed do the boys behave, with 
 a courage and coolness that would not disgrace veterans. 
 Little Tommy Butler, Owen, Warner, all behave like 
 heroes, albeit with sadly diminishing numbers to lead. I 
 am vexed at the mistakes or falsehoods of the newspaper 
 reports. So far from having been wounded in the fight 
 of the 19th, I was not even present, but ill in bed. When 
 Colonel Becher came into camp wounded, I got up and 
 struggled into the saddle, and tried to get far enough to 
 send up fresh troops ; but I had not got ten yards before 
 I fell from my horse, and was all but carried back to my 
 tent again. 
 
 I am more and more convinced that I was right not to 
 persist in my refusal to take again the command of the 
 Guides. It was so pressed on me, and surely the best 
 eradication of the reproach of removal was the being 
 asked to reassume it in times of difficulty and danger 
 like these. 
 
264 REPORT OF A SPY. 
 
 That this is the general view of the case is shown by 
 the warm and hearty congratulations I meet with on all 
 sides. There is but one rule of action for a soldier in 
 the field, as for a man at all times : to do that which is 
 best for the public good ; to make that your sole aim, 
 resting assured that the result will in the end be best 
 for individual interest also. I am quite indifferent not to 
 see my .name appear in newspaper paragraphs and de- 
 spatches ; only content if I can perform my duty truly 
 and honestly, and too thankful to the Almighty if I am 
 daily spared for future labors or future repose. 
 
 The story prevalent in the hills, that 7,000 of the 
 enemy are pitched in the open plain, is a mere magnifi- 
 cation of the simple fact, that a surplus portion of the 
 rebels have encamped under cover of their guns, and 
 close up under the wall of the city, and remain there all 
 night, but this is on the side opposite us. We are not 
 very well off, quant a la cuisine. I never had so much 
 trouble in getting anything fit to eat, except when I dine 
 with the General. Colonel Seaton * lives in my tent, 
 and is a great companion ; his joyous disposition is a per- 
 petual rebuke to the croakers. Don't believe what is 
 said about our batteries doing no harm. The same was 
 said of Muttra, yet, when we entered, scarcely a square 
 yard was unploughed by our shot One of the native 
 officers of the Guides (you know how ingenious they are 
 at disguise) got into the city as a spy, and remained 
 there four days. He reports great dissension and quar- 
 relling among themselves. Robbery and fighting and 
 everything that is bad, between the newly arrived rebels 
 and the city people. This account my own native newb- 
 letters confirm. The 9th Native Infantry had already 
 * Sir Thomas Seaton, K. C. B. 
 
ANOTHER ATTACK. 265 
 
 decamped, and thousands would follow if they dared. 
 This last, I doubt ; the spirit of bravado, if not of bra- 
 very, is as yet too strong. The rascals in the last en- 
 gagement c&me out in their red coats and medals ! 
 
 June 'i&th. — I have been so hard at work the whole 
 day, that I can only find time to say the enemy has made 
 no sortie to-day, but Pandy amuses himself with firing 
 long shots incessantly ; all well, however. 
 
 27<A. — We were turned out before I had hardly 
 turned in, by another attack of the rebels. This time a 
 faint one, which has been already repulsed with trifling 
 loss on our side. For a short time, however, the can- 
 nonade was very heavy, and I have seldom been under a 
 hotter fire than for about three quarters of an hour al our 
 most advanced battery, covered every moment with show- 
 ers, or rather clouds, of dust, stones, and splinters ; but 
 we kept close, and no one was hurt. There has been an 
 
 outcry throughout camp at 's having fled from Bhdg- 
 
 put, the bridge which caused me so much hard riding 
 and hard work to get, some time ago. A report came 
 that a portion of the mutineers were moving in that direc- 
 tion, and he fairly bolted, leaving boats, bridge, and all ! 
 Yet he had with him all the Rajah of Jheend's men, 
 horse, foot, and guns, and never even saw the twinkle of 
 a musket. In fact, it is not at all sure that an enemy 
 was ever near him. By this conduct he has not only cut 
 us off frpm all communication with Meerut, but actually 
 left the boats to be used or destroyed by the enemy. 
 Our reinforcements are in sight, at least the camp of the 
 8th, and I do trust no further delay will take place in our 
 getting possession of Delhi. The insurgents are dis- 
 heartened, and I have no doubt but that the moment we 
 get possession of a single gate the greater portion of them 
 
 12 
 
266 RIDE TO BHAGPUT. 
 
 will run out through the opposite ones. The only for- 
 midable part of the enemy is their artillery, which is 
 amazingly well-served, and in prodigious abundance, as 
 my experience this morning abundantly proved. Har- 
 ris, of the 2d European Bengal Fusileers, was wounded 
 this morning, but not dangerously. All quiet at Agra, 
 we believe, but no particulars known. 
 
 June 28th. — I have just got orders to proceed to 
 Bhagput, some twenty-five miles off, on the Jumna, and 
 see what the real state of afiFairs is, and try to save the 
 boats, so I have only time to say I am much better and 
 stronger, which is a great comfort, for I could not have 
 ridden the distance, a few days ago. The rains have be- 
 gun, and the air is colder and more refreshing, though 
 not exactly what one could wish. Certainly the hot sea- 
 son in India is not the pleasantest time in the year for 
 campaigning, and this the rascally mutineers were fully 
 aware of before they began. Colonel Greathed and the 
 8th came in this morning, and the 61st will be here to- 
 morrow. 
 
 June 29t.h. — I was thirteen hours and a half in the 
 saddle without intermission yesterday, and got back to 
 camp after midnight, very tired, but none the worse; 
 fortunately, I had a cloudy day and a tolerably cool 
 breeze for my work. I recovered the boats and found 
 
 all quiet, in spite of 's disgraceful flight. He had 
 
 not even the sense or courage to draw the boats over to 
 our side of the river, consequently, three were burnt and 
 the whole place plundered. So much for acting on 
 native reports, without at least attempting to ascertain 
 their accuracy. The consequences are bad and discredit- 
 able to a degree. 
 
 I doubt whether General BarnsH-d used the exact ex- 
 
REPORTS UNRELIABLE. 267 
 
 pression reported regarding Tombs, but he did say, and 
 well he might, that he was as gallant and good a soldier 
 as any in camp, and so indeed he is. 
 
 The fight of the 23d was a much more severe one than 
 was reported. It was not over till dark, and our loss 
 was the heaviest we have yet had to deplore, since we 
 got here on the 8th. 
 
 Reports must not be depended on. The fact was. 
 Major Olpherts arrived early in the morning. I myself 
 galloped out to meet him, and as he passed, when the 
 fight had just commenced, he fired once at the enemy, and 
 then came into camp to rest his men after their long 
 march. We were out the whole day until dark, and half 
 dead with fatigue. Colonel "Welchman sufiers severely 
 from his wound, but bears it bravely, as does Peter 
 Brown. 
 
 Everything quiet to-day, no firing on either side. I 
 do hope this part of the business will soon be over, and 
 that they will only wait for the 61st and Coke's regiment, 
 both of which will be here to-morrow or next day. Col- 
 ooel Seaton himself recommended the disarming of his 
 old Corps, the 35th Native Infantry. To-day we hear it 
 has been done. All was safe at Cawnpore and Lucknow 
 up to our last news. 
 
 Jidy 2d. — I have been quite unable to write since the 
 29th, on the night of which I was ordered off again to 
 Bhagput, to try to bring the boats down to camp, either 
 to make a bridge here or a " stop " for the enemy. The 
 order was given with the complimentary addenda from 
 the General, " because I can trust your judgment quite as 
 much as your energy." I expected to be back in good 
 time on the 30th, but the winds and waves were against 
 me, and I could not ge^ my fleet of boats down the river. 
 
268 PROGRESS OF REGIMENT. 
 
 Shebbeare was with me, and we worked like a couple 
 of " navvies,'' passing the two days and one night on the 
 banks of the river, without shelter, and almost without 
 food, for we had nothing but a couple of " chupatlies." 
 each, and a small tin of soup and a little tea, which I 
 fortunately took with me. Poor Shebbeare would soon 
 lose the graceful rotund of his figure if he were long on 
 such short commons, but I do not think any amount of 
 starvation could reduce my horizontal dimensions. 
 
 All's well that ends well, however, and I succeeded in 
 getting every boat safe into camp last night. I missed 
 the skirmish of the 30th by being at Bhagput. The Gist 
 have arrived, rich in twenty ofBcers. We are getting 
 more supplies now, and I have set myself up with plates 
 and dishes for the small charge of one rupee. Colonel 
 Seaton's traps and servants will be here to-day, and then 
 we shall be comfortable, for hitherto a very limited allow- 
 ance for one has been but small accommodation for two. 
 For my new regiment two complete troops are on their 
 way from Lahore and will be here on the 8th, and an- 
 other troop from Jugraon should be here in a week. Two 
 more troops are preparing at Lahore. 
 
 Montgomery takes the most kind interest in my new 
 Corps, and I am rejoiced and comforted to find that he 
 cordially approves of my having accepted the Guides. I 
 have as much confidence in his judgment as in his kind- 
 ness. has been shelved, and allowed to get " sick " 
 
 to save him from supersession. I do not like euphuisms. 
 In these days men and things should be called by their 
 right names, that we might know how far either should be 
 trusted. 
 
 Sir E. Campbell arrived here to-day by mail-cart, and 
 will be a valuable addition to the 60th, or he will belie 
 
LOSS AMONG GUIDES. 2G9 
 
 his descent from the Bourbons and Fitzgeralds. He is a 
 man you can always trust, which is saying something in 
 these hard times. 
 
 July 3d. — Whatever I may have sacrificed of pride 
 and personal feeling to a sense of duty, I shall be fully 
 rewarded by entering Delhi at the head of the Guides. 
 Here at least there is but one opinion on the subject. 
 My poor gallant Guides ! they have suffered severely for 
 their fidelity to our cause, above a fourth of the whole 
 having been killed or wounded, including some of our 
 best men. Koor Singh, the little Goorkha Subadar who 
 won the Order of Merit in that stiflf affair at Boree in 
 '53, is gone, and others whom we could ill afford to lose, 
 now that so much depends on the fidelity of the native 
 officers, — the Guides more than all. Surely, then, I am 
 right, knowing and feeling that my influence with them is 
 so great, to sink every personal consideration before the 
 one great end of public safety, which implies that of our- 
 selves and those dear to us. If we fail here at Delhi, 
 not a soul in the Punjaub or Upper Provinces would be 
 safe for a day. 
 
 July 5th. — It was impossible for me to write by yes- 
 terday's dak, for the rebels got into our rear during the 
 night of the 3d, and attacked Alipoor, the first stage from 
 hence on the Kurnal road. I was out reconnoitring, and 
 saw them moving out some five miles on our right. I 
 reported their position at 7 p. m. on the 3d, but not until 
 3 A. M. of the 4th were any measures taken, by which 
 time, of course, they had attained their end, and were 
 in full march back to Delhi. At daybreak yesterday I 
 pointed out their exact whereabouts to Coke, (who com- 
 manded the party sent to attack them,) and I did not get 
 back to camp till 8 p. m. ; a hard day's work, especially 
 
270 CLOSE WORK. 
 
 as I had no breakfast, nor indeed food of any kind, and 
 hunger makes the heat tell. 
 
 We beat 5,000 of the rebels in the morning, and were 
 twice attacked by upwards of 3,000 in the course of the 
 day. I took the Guides in pursuit (as soon as our guns 
 had driven the enemy from their position), and drove 
 them into a village. Unfortunately we did not do half as 
 well as we ought, for though Coke is a good commandant 
 of a regiment, and a good man for the frontiers, he is no 
 general, and did not manage well, or we should have cut 
 up numbers of the enemy and taken their guns. 
 
 Our loss was about thirty or forty Europeans, and three 
 of my native officers temporarily disabled. Both men 
 and horses were terribly knocked up towards the end of 
 the day, and could hardly crawl back to camp, and no 
 wonder. I was mercifully preserved, though I am sorry 
 to say my gallant "Feroza" was badly wounded twice 
 with sabre cuts, and part of his bridle cut through, and 
 a piece of my glove shaved off, so it was rather close 
 work. My men, who were most engaged of all, escaped 
 with the loss of one killed and six wounded, and six 
 horses put hors de combat. I am dissatisfied with the 
 day's work, inasmuch as more might have been done, and 
 what was done is only satisfactory as a proof of the ease 
 with which Anglo-Saxons can thrash Asiatics at any odds. 
 Yesterday they were at least from ten to fifteen to one 
 against us. To-day General Barnard has be'en attacked 
 with cholera, I grieve to say ; and Colonel "Welchman is 
 very ill indeed. The doctors dread erysipelas, which at 
 his age would be serious ; beyond this, the wounded are 
 generally doing well. 
 
 July 6th. — Poor General Barnard died last night, and 
 was buried this morning. He sank rapidly, for anxiety. 
 
WANT OF DECISION. 27 \ 
 
 worry, over-exertion, and heat had prepared his system, 
 and it was impossible for him to bear up against the viru- 
 lence of cholera. Personally, I am much grieved, for no 
 kinder or more considerate or more gentlemanly man 
 ever lived. I am so sorry for his son, a fine brave fellow, 
 whose attention to his father won the love of us all. It 
 was quite beautiful to see them together. 
 
 I have just seen a copy of a very strong minute anent 
 the Bhagput affair, which shows the General was not dis- 
 posed to pass it over lightly. The civil authorities, how- 
 ever, are determined to support , though in camp 
 
 there is but one opinion of his conduct. The present 
 state of things is terrible, enough to fret one to death, — 
 no head, no brains, no decision. Neville Chamberlain, 
 though of decided excellence as a man of action, is, I 
 begin to fear, but a poor man of business. Prompt decis- 
 ion in council is \?hat we want ; there is no lack of 
 vigorous action. There are plenty to obey ; but we want 
 some one to command. We have seen nothing of the 
 enemy outside the walls since the 4th. I am worked off 
 my legs all the same, and the day is not half long enough 
 for what I have to do. To make matters worse, too, poor 
 Macdowell is down with fever : a sad loss just now to 
 " Hodson's Horse,'' as they call my growing corps. I 
 am sadly off for clothes, as we of course are only too 
 glad to help the poor refugees who come into camp with 
 none. 
 
 July 8th. — We left camp at 2 a. m. with a considera- 
 ble force, and marched to a bridge some ten miles off, 
 which we blew up to prevent the enemy annoying us, 
 and then marched back again. I tried hard to induce 
 Chamberlain, who commanded, to march back by another 
 road, which I had reconnoitred, and which would have 
 
272 RAINS. 
 
 brought us close along the rear and flank of the enemy, 
 but he would not do so, though admitting that I was right. 
 We have had eleven hours in the saddle and in the sun, 
 merely for this trifling gain. My face is like '• General 
 Gascoigne's," and my hands perfectly skinless. I must 
 get some dogskin gloves, for it is as much as I can do 
 to hold a sword, much less a pen. There has been no 
 fighting since the 4th, and my news- writers from the 
 city speak of much disheartenment, and symptoms of a 
 break-up ; but I doubt this latter being more than a 
 report, while the enemy are so well provided both with 
 " materiel " and " personnel." 
 
 I have just returned from a long chase after a party 
 of the enemy's horse, safe and unhurt, but drenched to 
 the skin by a cataract of rain. There has been some 
 hard fighting to-day. The 8th Irregulars from Eareilly 
 came into our camp, thanks to the defection of a party 
 of the 9th Irregular Cavalry, who were on picket duty. 
 The rascals consequently were enabled to get into our 
 very lines, and cut down one officer at his guns. There 
 was a tremendous row and confusion for a short time, but 
 we soon put it to rights. I had warned the authorities 
 repeatedly, that the Irregulars were not to be trusted, but 
 they were too fainthearted or " merciful " (Heaven for- 
 give me for using such a word about such villains) to dis- 
 arm them, and both the regiments, about which I reported, 
 have since gone wrong. 
 
 Jidy 10th. — We are nearly flooded out of camp by 
 the rain, and everything is wet and wretched but our- 
 selves. I have no respite from work, howevei-, and have 
 only time to say that the ladies in the hills could not em- 
 ploy themselves better or in a greater work of charity 
 than in making flannel shirts for the soldiers, for our 
 
SAD JOKE. 273 
 
 Stores are either in the enemy's hands or not come-at- 
 able. The soldiers bear up like men, but the constant 
 state of wet is no small addition to what they have to 
 endure from heat, hard work, and hard fighting. I 
 know by experience what a comfort a dry flannel shirt 
 is. 
 
 There is a sad joke against me in camp, and I cannot 
 help joining in the laugh against myself, though enraged 
 at haying been the victim of such a sell. Fancy my 
 riding up to a party of horse, and asking who they were, 
 being told they were our own men, 9th Irregulars, and 
 then marching parallel to them for three miles, and not 
 three quarters of a mile apart, when, had I known who 
 they were, I could have destroyed every man.* Mr. 
 Saunders arrived in camp to-day, looking as fat and well 
 as possible, though he and his pretty wife had a narrow 
 escape and hard day's riding from Moradabad. 
 
 July 1 \ih. — Pen-work again all day, as the enemy 
 seem to prefer keeping under cover from the rain. 
 
 Mr. 's story is so far true, that I did earnestly 
 
 urge the construction of a bridge with the boats I brought 
 down from Bhdgput, but without success. There are 
 difficulties, I admit, and great ones, but I humbly think 
 they might be overcome now, as they certainly could 
 three weeks ago, when our plan of assault was suggested, 
 and adopted by Grcneral Barnard. There is a sad outcry 
 in camp against Chamberlain for having used his influ- 
 ence to prevent the disarming of what remains of the 
 9th Irregulars. Numbers of them had deserted, and one 
 native officer, and those who were on picket duty, actually 
 
 * " They went into the city, and reported that they had defeated 
 the great Lall Bahadoor ( Red Warrior) and a large party of his horse, 
 and were rewarded accordingly." — Letter from Camp. [Ed.] 
 12- 
 
274 HODSON'S HOKSE. 
 
 admitted a party of the enemy into our camp ; and yet, 
 forsooth, because they were Chamberlain's regiment once 
 on a time, the order to disarm them, which the General 
 had actually issued, was cancelled. I confess I expected 
 better things than this weakness, when our very lives de- 
 pend on firmness and decision. Light has just come in 
 off duty, so begrimed with smoke and powder as scarcely 
 to be distinguished even by his own men. He is admitted 
 to be one of the best of our officers, and certainly one 
 of the hardest working. Tombs always distinguishes 
 himself. 
 
 July 12th. — 300 of my new regiment have just 
 arrived. 100 more left Lahore on the 7th, and 100 will 
 be here very soon from the Sutlej. Mr. Montgomery 
 has done me most essential service, as I could never by 
 myself (with another regiment to command, and so much 
 pen-work to do) have got so many men together ; and 
 everything he does is so complete. He sends figured 
 statements giving all details regarding men and horses, 
 (these last are very difficult to get,) which will save me 
 much time and labor hereafter. He has been really 
 most kind, and has, moreover, during this troublous time, 
 evinced an energy, decision, and vigor for which I believe 
 the world hardly gave him credit. For officers, I hope to 
 have permanently, Macdowell, Shebbeare, (now acting as 
 my 2d in command of the Guides, and a most excellent 
 officer,) and Hugh Gough of the 3d Cavalry. Saunders 
 
 made 's removal a "sine qua non" before he would 
 
 take charge of the district. He came to me to recom- 
 mend a good officer to command the Jheend troops. I 
 Darned that merry grig, George Hall, who is, I believe, 
 available, and a real!}' good soldier. I have got a very 
 nice lad " pro tern." in the Guides, young Craigie, who 
 
TREACHERY OF THE KOTAH CONTINGENT. 275 
 
 promises very well indeed. I have seven officers at- 
 tached to the Guides, but two are wounded, and Chal- 
 mers is very ill. Young Ellis of the 1st Fusileers is 
 down with cholera, poor boy ; and Colonel Welchman 
 dangerously ill and in great agony. I grieve deeply for 
 the brave old man, for I fear we shall lose him. 
 
 July \Zth. — We have had news from Agra to-day up 
 to the 7tli. The Neemuch rebels and others approached 
 Agra from the south. The 3d Europeans and D'Oyley's 
 Battery went out to meet them with the Kotah Contin- 
 gent. The Contingent turned against us as soon as they 
 came in sight of the enemy. A fight ensued, in which 
 the mutineers got well beaten, despite the treachery and 
 great disparity of numbers ; two of their guns were 
 taken. On our side we lost one gun, the tumbrels having 
 been blown up and the horses killed. All our men's 
 ammunition was expended, and they had to retire in good 
 order into the fort. D'Oyley was killed and two officers 
 wounded. Thirty casualties in all. The mutineers then 
 rushed into cantonments, which they burnt and pillaged ; 
 then broke open the great jail and released the prisoners. 
 They did not venture near the fort, but marched off 
 towards Muttra, and will, I suppose, come here. The 
 delay here is sickening ; if it continues much longer, we 
 shall be too weak-handed to attempt to take the place 
 until fresh regiments arrive. 
 
 I inspected my three new troops this morning ; very 
 fine-looking fellows, most of them. I am getting quite a 
 little army under me, what with the Guides and my own 
 men. Would to Heaven they would give us something 
 more to do than this desultory warfare, which destroys 
 our best men, and brings us no whit nearer Delhi, and 
 removes the end of the campaign to an indefinite period. 
 
276 SHARP ENCOUNTER. 
 
 July l^h. — Only time • to say I am again mercifiiUy 
 preserved, safe and unhurt, after one of the sharpest 
 encounters we have yet had. Shebbeare got wounded 
 early in the fight, so I led the Guide Infantry myself in 
 the skirmish of the villages and suburbs. I charged 
 the guns with some eight horsemen, a party of the Guide 
 Infantry and 1st Fusileers. We got within thirty yards, 
 but the enemy's grape was too much for our small party. 
 Three of my ofiicers, Shebbeare, Hawes, and De Brett, 
 slightly wounded, and several men ; but though well to 
 the front, my party suffered proportionably least. 
 
 Of the Fusileers, who were with us, some sixty men 
 were wounded ; Daniell's arm broken by a shot, Jacob's 
 horse shot dead under him. Chamberlain shot through the 
 arm, little Roberts wounded, and several more. 
 
 Everybody wonders I was not hit ; none more than 
 myself. God has been very merciful to me. Colonel 
 Welchman better ; Brown also. More particulars here- 
 after. 
 
 July Ibth. — I could only write a few words last night 
 on my return from the fight, worn out as I was with a 
 severe day's work. It is pretty much the same now, 
 and while I write I am obliged to have two men to keep 
 the candle alight with their hands, for the breeze gets up 
 at night, and we have all the '' Kanats " of the tents 
 down to enable us to breathe ; and having no shades to 
 the candlesticks, it is rather difficult to write even that I 
 am safe. 
 
 * Extract from Letter of Colonel (now Sir T.) Seaton, from Camp, 
 at this time : — 
 
 " Hodson's courage and conduct are the admiration of all, and how 
 he gets through the immense amount of work and fatigue he does is 
 marvellous. 
 
 " He has the soundest heart and clearest head of any man in camp." 
 
SICK AND WOUNDED. — NARROW ESCAPE. 277 
 
 July 16<A. — I have just bade good-bye to Colonel 
 Welchman. The poor old man is better, but sadly pulled 
 down and aged. The doctors now think his arm may be 
 saved, that it may remain on, but it will never be of the 
 slightest use to him again, the elbow-joint is so much 
 injured. He and Captain Brown start to-morrow night, 
 with a convoy of sick and wounded men and officers, for 
 Umbala and the hills. Of these, the 1st Fusileers form 
 a sad proportion. With one or two exceptions, nothing 
 could be better or more gallant than the conduct of this 
 regiment. Jacob, Greville, Wriford, all admirable in the 
 field, and the younger officers beyond all praise ; Butler, 
 F. Brown, Owen, and Warner, markedly so. In all the 
 worst of the awful heat, dust, fatigue, work, and privation, 
 — and all have been beyond description, — our plucky 
 fellows have not only kept up their own spirits, but been 
 an example and pattern to the camp. If any one was 
 down in his luck, he had only to go to the Fusileers' 
 mess and be jolly. 
 
 The story in the papers about the boot was essentially 
 correct for once, though how they should have got hold 
 of it I do not know, for I never mentioned it even to 
 you, since it certainly could not be called a wound, though 
 a very narrow escape from one. A rascally Pandy 
 made a thrust at my horse, which I parried, when he 
 seized his " tulwar " in both hands, bringing it down like 
 a sledge-hammer ; it caught on the iron of my antigrope- 
 los legging, which it broke into the skin, cut through the 
 stirrup-leather, and took a slice off my boot and stocking ; 
 and yet, wonderful to say, the sword did not penetrate 
 the skin. Both my horse and myself were staggered 
 by the force of the blow, but I recovered myself quickly, 
 and I don't think that Pandy will ever raise his "tulwar" 
 
278 ANOTHEK ATTACK. 
 
 again. I should not have entered into all these details 
 about self but for those tiresome papers having made so 
 much of it. The fight on that day (the 14th) was the 
 old story. An attack in force on the right of our posi- 
 tion ; tlie enemy were allowed to blaze away, expending 
 powder, and doing us no harm, until 4 p. m., when a col- 
 umn was sent down to turn them out of the gardens and 
 villages they had occupied, and drive them back to the 
 city. I had just returned from a long day's work with 
 the cavalry, miles away in the rear, and had come back 
 as far as Light's advanced battery. I was chatting with 
 him for a few minutes en passant, when I saw the column 
 pass down. I joined it, and sent for a few horsemen to 
 accompany me, and when we got under fire, I found the 
 Guide Infantry, under Shebbeare, had been sent to join 
 in the attack. I accompanied them, and while the Fusi- 
 leers and Coke's men were driving the mass of the enemy 
 helter-skelter through the gardens to our right, I went, 
 with the Guides, Goorkhas, and part of the Fusileers, 
 along the Grand Trunk Road leading right into the gates 
 of Delhi. We were exposed to a heavy fire of grape 
 from the walls, and musketry from behind trees and 
 rocks ; but pushing on, we drove them right up to the 
 very walls, killing uncounted numbers, and then were 
 ordered to retire. This was done too quickly by the 
 artillery, and some confusion ensued, the troops hurrying 
 back too fast. The consequence was, the enemy rallied, 
 bringing up infantry, then a large body of cavalry, and 
 behind them again two guns to bear on us. There were 
 very few of our men, but I managed to get eight horse- 
 men to the front. Shebbeare, though wounded, aided 
 rae in rallying some Guide Infantry, and Greville and 
 Jacob (whose horse had just been shot) coming up, 
 
GALLANTRY OF GUIDES. 279 
 
 brought a few scattered Fusileers forward. I called on 
 the men to fire, assuring them that the body of cavalry 
 coming down would never stand. I got a few men to 
 open fire ; my gallant Guides stood their ground like 
 men ; Shebbeare, Jacob, Greville, and little Butler, came 
 to the front, and the mass of the enemy's cavalry, just as 
 I said, stopped, reeled, turned, and fled in confusion ; the 
 guns behind them were for the moment deserted, and I 
 tried hard to get up a charge to capture them ; we were 
 within thirty paces ; twenty-five resolute men would 
 have been enough ; but the soldiers were blown, and 
 could not push on in the face of such odds, unsupported 
 as we were, for the whole of the rest of the troops had 
 retired. My eight horsemen stood their ground, and the 
 little knot of oflBcers used every exertion to aid us, when 
 suddenly two rascals rushed forward with lighted port-fires 
 in their hands, fired the guns, loaded with grape, in our 
 faces, and when the smoke cleared away, we found, to 
 our infinite disgust and chagrin, that they had hmbered 
 up the guns and were off at a gallop. We had then to 
 effect our retreat to rejoin the column, under a heavy fire 
 of grape and musketry, and many men and oflScers were 
 hit in doing it. I managed to get the Guides to retire 
 quietly, fighting as they went, and fairly checking the 
 enemy, on which I galloped back and brought up two 
 guns, when we soon stopped all opposition, and drove the 
 last living rebel into his Pandemonium. My Guides 
 stood firm, and, as well as my new men, behaved admira- 
 bly ; not so all who were engaged, and it was in conse- 
 quence of that poor Chamberlain got wounded ; for see- 
 ing a hesitation among the troops he led, who did not like 
 the look of a wall lined with Pandies, and stopped short 
 instead of going up to it, he leaped his horse clean over 
 
280 CRITICAL SITUATION. 
 
 the wall into the raidst of them, and dared the men to 
 follow, which they did, but he got a ball in the shoulder. 
 There is not a braver heart or cooler head in camp ; his 
 fault is too great hardihood and exposure in the field and 
 a sometimes too injudicious indiflFerence to his own life, 
 or that of his men. We are in a nice fix here ; General 
 Reed is so ill he is ordered away at once ; Chamberlain 
 is on his back for six weeks at least ; Norman, however, 
 is safe and doing admirably ; were he to be hit, the 
 " head-quarters " would break down altogether. There 
 will be no assault on Delhi yet ; our rulers will now less 
 than ever decide on a bold course ; and truth to tell, the 
 numbers of the enemy have so rapidly increased, and 
 ours have been so little replenished in proportion, and 
 our losses, for a small army, have been so severe, that it 
 becomes a question, whether now we have numbers suffi- 
 cient to risk an assault. Would to Heaven it had been 
 tried when I first pressed it. How many brave hearts 
 have been sacrificed in consequence. Coke's men suffered 
 severely on the 14th from getting too close, yet not close 
 enough, to the city walls. 
 
 July nth. — But little private writing for me to-day, 
 as I have only just come back from Brigadier Hope 
 Grant's tent, whither I went on business, and I have 
 been fully occupied with news-writers cum tnuUis aliis. I 
 begin to think of giving up this Quartermaster-General's 
 work, now that times are so changed. I began with poor 
 General Anson, " under his Excellency's personal or- 
 ders ; " I continued this work under General Barnard at 
 his request, and now for these last days under General 
 Reed ; but he too is incapacitated by sickness, age, and 
 anxiety, and goes off to the hills to-night. Colonel Cur- 
 zon left for Simla yesterday. Colonel Congreve also 
 
CHAMBERLAIN' AND BECHER WOUNDED. 281 
 
 goes, so the head-quarters of the army are finally break- 
 ing up. The Adjutant- General (Chamberlain) is badly 
 wounded, the Quartermaster-General (Colonel Becher) 
 ditto, though he does work a little in-doors, if one may 
 use such an expression of a tent, but he ought not to do 
 even that much, so badly hurt as he is. Colonel Young, 
 Norman, and myself are therefore the only representa- 
 tives of the head-quarter staff, except the doctors and 
 commissaries. The head-quarters of the army are now 
 at Calcutta, General Pat Grant's arrival having been 
 announced, and this army has dropped into merely a field 
 force, commanded by Brigadier Wilson as senior, with 
 the rank of Brigadier-General. I can hardly reconcile 
 myself to throw up the Intelligence Department now that 
 I have had the trouble of getting it into working order ; 
 but for my own sake I must do so, for it is a terrible drag 
 on me, and ties me down too much. I am wonderfully 
 well, thank God ! and able to get through as much work 
 as any man ; but commanding two regiments, and being 
 eyes and ears of the army too, is really too much ! Sheb- 
 beare and Macdowell are appointed to my regiment in 
 general orders — the former as second in command, but 
 to continue for the present with the Guides ; the latter as 
 adjutant, but to act as second in command also, for the 
 present. I hope to have another officer or two in a few 
 days, as more now devolves on poor Mac than his fragile 
 fi-ame can well stand. I wish his bodily strength was 
 equal to his will and courage. It is hot, oh, how hot ! 
 and we can have nothing but a hand punkah occasionally ; 
 if our servants were to make off, we should indeed be in 
 a pretty predicament, but hitherto they have been faith- 
 ful and unmurmuring. 
 
 July I'dth. — I was quite unable to write yesterday, as 
 
282 SMART FIGHTING. 
 
 I went out long before daylight ; so with the exception of 
 a few minutes at 8 a. m. I was in the saddle until dark ! 
 We had a smart engagement in the afternoon. I was 
 sent for to take the Guide cavalry down into the suburbs 
 to support some guns, and assist in driving the enemy 
 back into the city. We were commanded by a fine old 
 gentleman, who might sit for a portrait of FalstafF, so fat 
 and jolly is he : Colonel Jones, of the 60th Rifles. We 
 got down to our point, close to the walls of Delhi, easily 
 enough, the rascally enemy being ready enough to turn 
 and fly for shelter ; but to return was the diflBculty ; the 
 instant we began to draw off, they followed us, their im- 
 mense numbers giving them a great power of annoyance 
 at very slight cost to themselves. The brave old colonel 
 was going to retire " all of a heap," infantry, guns, and 
 all in a helpless mass, and we should have suffered cruel 
 loss in those narrow roads, with walls and buildings on 
 both sides. I rode up to him and pointed this out, and in 
 reply received carte blanche to act as I saw best. This 
 was soon done, with the assistance of Henry Vicars 
 (Adjutant 61st) and Coghill, (Adjutant 2d Bengal Euro- 
 pean Fusileers,) both cool soldiers under fire, though so 
 young, and we got off in good order and with trifling loss, 
 drawing the men back slowly and in regulai- order, 
 covered by Dixon's and Money's guns. My own men, 
 whose duty was the difficult one of enduring a very hot 
 fire without acting, behaved admirably, and I had the 
 satisfaction of losing only one killed and two wounded, 
 besides a few horses, who generally come off second best 
 where bullets are flying about. My poor " Feroza " was 
 hit by one, but not dangerously, and I was again most mer- 
 cifully preserved unharmed. I was out again early this 
 morning reconnoitring, and have only just returned in 
 
NUMBERS OF ENEMY. 283 
 
 time to write even so much, too much of myself as usual 
 for my own feeling, but you will have it so.* 
 
 July 20<A. — I had a very fatiguing, because sunshiny, 
 ride yesterday, and a troublesome species of reconnais- 
 sanie, to prevent the enemy getting into our rear. Their 
 name is indeed " legion " compared with us. I should 
 say, from all I can ascertain by the news-letters, that 
 there cannot be less than 36,000t fighting men in Delhi, 
 while we are barely a fifth of that number, including cav- 
 alry and all ! Our position, however, is much strength- 
 ened, and we now beat them with half the trouble we had 
 at first, their appetite for fighting being considerably les- 
 sened by having been so repeatedly driven back ; but 
 alas ! we only drive them back, while we do not advance 
 an inch. The odds have, moreover, fearfully increased 
 against us by their continued accessions, and I confess I 
 now see less and less hope of success in an assault ; when 
 I first urged it, the enemy had not more than 7,000 
 Sepoys in the city, while we had 2,000 infantry alone. 
 Now, as I said before, the case is very different ; for even 
 were we to undertake an assault with a reasonable pros- 
 pect of success, if they should, in despair, determine to de- 
 fend the city inch by inch, or street by street, we should 
 not have men enough to secure our hold upon it. In that 
 case, the city people (all of whom are armed) would join 
 in the fray, and, considering what the consequences of 
 failure would be, and further, that to do this much we 
 should be obliged to use up every man available, leaving 
 
 * " On the return of the detachment from the fight of the ] 8th, Col- 
 onel Jones, who commanded, went to the General and begged to thank 
 Captain Hodson for his most gallant and efficient assistance, adding 
 his hope for no better aid wlienever he had to lead for the future." — 
 Jijctraci from a Letter from Camp. 
 
 t It was ultimately ascertained that there were 70,000 or 75,000. 
 
284 MASSACRE. 
 
 no one, or next to none, to protect our camp, sick, and 
 wounded, from any attempt of the enemy, or of our ques- 
 tionable friends, the country people, it becomes a matter 
 of serious and painful consideration. A want of success, 
 moreover, would now be productive of infinite mischief. 
 From hence to Allahabad, the fort of Agra and the 
 Residency of Lucknow are the only spots where the 
 British flag still flies. We are more to be considered now 
 as an isolated band, fighting for our very name and exist- 
 ence in the midst of an enemy's country, than as an aveng- 
 ing army about to punish a rebel force. Sir H. Law- 
 rence is holding out at Lucknow, but Cawnpore has fallen 
 into the hands of the rebels. Sir Hugh Wheeler, after 
 three weeks' contest, with, we hear, only 150 Europeans, 
 in an evil hour capitulated, on condition of being pro- 
 vided with boats and a free passage to Allahabad ; as 
 soon as they were on board the boats, the whole were 
 massacred ! What became of the women and children 
 we know not ; it is hoped they might have been sent away 
 earlier and escaped ; otherwise it is horrible to think of 
 what may have been their fate. Troops are collecting 
 fast at Allahabad, and I hope moving on towards Cawn- 
 pore ; some think we shall be forced to await their ar- 
 rival at or near Delhi, before we can do anything effective. 
 I trust earnestly that the city will not hold out so long. 
 The people within it are immensely disheartened, and 
 dissensions are rife among them. A split between the 
 Hindoos and fanatic Mahommedans is almost inevitable, 
 and, above all, money is getting scarce. Meantime, this 
 " waiting race " is very wearying to heart and body. 
 
 .... I have determined on giving up the Assistant 
 Quartermaster-Generalship. It gives me more work 
 than I reaOy can manage in such weather, in addition 
 
FACING DANGER. 285 
 
 to the command of two regiments. Macdowell promises 
 admirably, and I trust there is every hope of our having 
 a nice body of officers with " Hodson's Horse.'' Nothing 
 further from Agra, beyond the assurance that all was 
 well there. 
 
 My list. — Just returned from a long reconnaissance, 
 and the post going out, so I have time but for little. Do 
 not believe what the idle gossips say, of my " doing the 
 work of two or three men." I strive to do my duty, but 
 I cannot consider I do more. I do not run wanton risks, 
 but I cannot stand by and see what ought to be done, 
 without risking something to do it. Had I not attempted 
 what I did on the 14th, even with the insufficient means 
 at my command, we should have been exposed to a dis- 
 astrous loss of life, and to the discredit of a reverse. 
 That we cannot affijrd. It is not only the possession of 
 India which is at stake, not only our name and fame as 
 • Englishmen, but the safety, life, and honor of those near- 
 est and dearest to us ; were we to fail here, the horrible 
 scenes of Meerut, Delhi, Rohilcund, Jhansee, and others, 
 would be repeated in the Punjaub and hill stations. Who, 
 then, as husband, brother, father, son, would hesitate to 
 face any danger, any risk, which tended to secure vic- 
 tory? 1 saw that our men were retiring (by order) in 
 great confusion, that five minutes more and the whole 
 party would be destroyed, and the fate of the column 
 sealed, for the enemy's cavalry and guns were opening 
 on us at speed. It was a natural impulse to rush for- 
 ward, and nobly was I aided by Jacob and Greville, and 
 my handful of gallant Guides ; the tide was turned by 
 the suddenness of the act ; the enemy were driven bacli, 
 and our men had time to breathe. This was not much 
 to do, but it was a great deal to gain. 
 
286 THE GUIDES AND THEIR LEADER. 
 
 July lid. — Again but a few lines, for I have been 
 regularly hunted all day. I told you that Sir H. 
 Wheeler had capitulated, and been treacherously de- 
 stroyed with his party ; we have since heard that a force 
 from Allahabad had reached Cawnpore under Colonel 
 Neill of the Madras Fusileers, that Sir H. Lawrence has 
 been succored, and that, in point of fact, our power up 
 to Agra had been reestablished. God grant this be true. 
 Agra is safe, and all well ; the troops which attacked it 
 are afraid to come on here, and have halted at Muttra. 
 The force in Delhi is much disheartened, and fights with 
 gradually decaying energy. Already we have beaten 
 them back in twenty-three fights, besides a few such af- 
 fairs on ray own private account, and though with con- 
 siderable loss to us, yet with comparative ease, when you 
 consider their overwhelming numbers. We had an en- 
 gagement on the evening of the 20th, in which Colonel 
 Seaton commanded our column, the 1st Fusileers, 61st 
 Foot, and Guides as usual. I had command of the 
 Guide infantry, and led the advance as well as covered 
 the retreat ; and though we pushed close up to Delhi, 
 we never had a shot fired from the walls until we had 
 set out on our return to camp some way. They then 
 came howling after us hke jackals, but the Guides were 
 mindful of their old leader's voice, and steadily kept 
 them in check during the whole distance, so completely, 
 that not a European soldier was under fire, and I only lost 
 four men slightly wounded, while the enemy returned in 
 utter discomfiture. Poor Light has been very ill, and 
 Thompson has a bullet through his leg. Bishop also is 
 wounded ; he retains the same calm composure of man- 
 ner under the hottest fire and hardest work, as he habitu- 
 ally exhibited on the Mall. These are excellent officers. 
 
COLONEL SEATON. 287 
 
 but Tombs and Light are really splendid. I hope Cham- 
 berlain's arm will be saved ; he is a noble fellow, but of 
 course has his weaknesses. 
 
 July 24:th. — I was quite unable to write yesterday. 
 Pandy chose an unusually inconvenient hour for his at- 
 tack, and kept us out until the afternoon, and then I was 
 busied in attending to our poor friend Colonel Seaton, 
 who, I grieve to say, was badly wounded, a musket^ball 
 having entered his left breast and come out at his back, 
 providentially passing outside the ribs instead of through 
 his body ; his lungs are, however, slightly injured, either 
 by a broken rib or the concussion, and until it is ascer- 
 tained to what extent this has gone, he is considered in 
 danger. I do not myself think there is danger, as no 
 unfavorable symptom has yet appeared, except a slight 
 spitting of blood ; but he is so patient and quiet that all 
 is in his favor. I am deeply sorry for him, dear fellow ! 
 and fervently pray that he may be spared to us. There 
 was little actual fighting ; the rascals ran, the instant tiiey 
 came in contact with our men ; the only firing being be- 
 hind banks and garden-walls. Colonel Drought, late 
 60tli Native Infantry, was wounded ; Captain Money of 
 the Artillery got a bad knock on the knee-joint, and Law 
 of the 10th Native Infantry killed ; two killed and five 
 wounded in the 1st Fusileers, who, as usual, bore the 
 brunt. After many discussions pro and con, it has been 
 arranged that I retain the Intelligence Department and 
 give up the Guides. My own men require great atten- 
 tion, as they are now in considerable numbers ; so the 
 General has begged me to relinquish the Guides instead 
 of the Assistant Quartermaster-Generalship ; the com- 
 mand of two regiments being an anomaly. I am very 
 ready to do this, though I regret the separation from the 
 
288 FAVORABLE REPORTS. 
 
 men, and should have liked to have led my old corps into 
 Delhi ; but it is best as it is. You at least will rejoice 
 that it greatly diminishes the risk to life and limb, which, 
 I confess, lately has been excessive in my case. The 
 Genera) was very complimentary on my doings while 
 commanding the Guides, and " trusted to receive equally 
 invaluable services from my new regiment." I have 
 little doubt of this, if I am spared. I find General Bar- 
 nard reported no less than four times on my doings in the 
 highest terms ; and the last public letter he ever wrote 
 was a special despatch to Government in my favor. It 
 was, in fact, the only letter of the kind he ever wrote, 
 for death intervened just as he was setting to work to 
 bring those who had done well to the notice of Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 They tell me I shall get pay for the Assistant Quarter- 
 master-General's Department,* as well as my command 
 allowance. For the Guides, of course I shall get noth- 
 ing ;• but, I must say, I work, not like a " nigger," con- 
 sidering their work usually amounts to nil, but like a 
 slave, in the Intelligence Department. I have been 
 deeply shocked to hear that poor Christian, his young 
 wife, and babes were among the murdered in Oudh. 
 Also Colonel Goldney. . . . All is well at Agra ; there 
 are about 6,000 individuals in the fort, with provisions for 
 six months ; they are probably relieved by now, for we 
 hear that six English regiments were at Cawnpore on 
 the 11th instant. This cheers up the men, and makes 
 them think that Government has some thought for the 
 gallant fellows here and elsewhere. I sent by Martin, 
 
 « It was, however, refused by the Government, though asked for in 
 the strongest terms of praise by Colonel A. Becher, Quartennaster- 
 General, and recommended by the General ! — Ed. 
 
"TOUJOURS L'AUDACE." 289 
 
 of the 75th, a parcel for Mrs. Hallifax, containing, with 
 other things, the old pistol her poor husband gave me. 
 I should have liked to have kept it as a memorial of him, 
 but as she wished for it, of course I resign it ; the other 
 arms, except the revolver, which Dr. Stewart says he 
 lost, were packed up and sent to Umbala with other 
 things. 
 
 July 25fh. — Well, yes, I did offer to go down the 
 Doab towards Agra and Cawnpore, to open the com- 
 munication, and ascertain exactly where the reinforce- 
 ments were, and assist them with cavalry in coming up 
 towards Delhi. It would have been of real use, and not 
 so dangerous as this eternal potting work here. I pro- 
 posed to take 600 of my Horse, 250 infantry of the 
 Guides, and four guns ; could I not have made my way 
 with these ? I humbly opine I could. I do not mean 
 to say it was not a bold stroke, but in Indian warfare I 
 have always found " toujours I'audace " not a bad motto. 
 I can never forget how much we have at stake, that we 
 have a continent in arms against us ; and I do think (and 
 certainly shall always act so) that every man should do 
 not only his duty but his utmost in a crisis like the 
 present. 
 
 July 2&h. — A parcel with flannel shirts, &c., arrived 
 last night. Those for the men I sent off to the hospital 
 at once, to the doctors' great delight. Macdowell de- 
 clares that the cap, his "jumpers,"' and the "baccy" 
 Lord W. Hay was to send, must be in the box, and de- 
 mands them imperiously. He is doing admirably, and 
 promises to be a first-rate oflSicer of light horse. He 
 rides well, which is one good thing, and is brave as a 
 lion's whelp, which is another. I only fear whether he 
 has physical strength for such work in such weather. 
 13 
 
290 ENGLISH NATION. 
 
 The whole country is a steaming bog. I keep my health 
 wonderfully, thank God ! in spite of heat, liard work, 
 and exposure ; and the men bear up like Britons. We 
 all feel that Government ought to allow every officer and 
 man before Delhi to count every month spent here as -a 
 year of service in India. There is much that is disap- 
 pointing and disgusting to a man who feels that more 
 might have been done, but I comfort myself with the 
 thought, that history (if Russell, not Macaulay, writes 
 it) will do justice to the constancy and fortitude of the 
 handful of Englishmen who have for so many weeks — 
 months, 1 may say — of desperate weather, amid the 
 greatest toil and hardship, resisted and finally defeated 
 the worst and most strenuous exertions of an entire 
 army and a whole nation in arms, — an army trained by 
 ourselves, and supplied with all but exhaustle.ss muni- 
 tions of war, laid up by ourselves for the maintenance 
 of our Empire. I venture to aver that no other nation 
 in the world would have remained here, or have avoided 
 defeat had they attempted to do so. The delay as yet 
 has been both morally and politically bad in many ways, 
 and the results are already beginning to be manifest, but 
 in the end it will increase our prestige and the moral 
 effects of our power. A nation which could conquer a 
 country like the Punjaub so recently with an Hindos- 
 tanee army, and then turn the energies of the conquered 
 Sikhs to subdue the very army by which they were 
 tamed ; which could fight out a position like Peshawur 
 for years in the very teeth of the Afighan tribes ; and 
 then, when suddenly deprived of the regiments which 
 effected this, could unhesitatingly employ those very 
 tribes to disarm and quell those regiments when in mu- 
 tiny, — a nation which could do this is destined indeed 
 
NANA SAHIB. 291 
 
 to rule the world ; and the races of Asia must succumb. 
 This is a proud feeling, and nerves one's arm in many a 
 time of difficulty and danger, as much almost as the con- 
 viction that we must conquer, or worse than death awaits 
 us. The intelligence of Sir H. Wheeler's destruction 
 came to us from too true a source to be doubted, — it was 
 in dear Sir Henry Lawrence's own handwriting; and 
 has been confirmed, alas, too surely. All we do not 
 know is whether the women and children were massa- 
 cred with the men, or whether they escaped, or were 
 reserved for a worse fate. 
 
 One of my news-letters reports that eighteen women 
 are in prison under the care (?) of Nana Sahib (Bajee 
 Rao Peishwar's adopted fon), who attacked Cawnpore. 
 You must remember at the artillery review a very "swell" 
 looking native gentleman, accompanied by another edu- 
 cated native, who spoke French and other European lan- 
 guages, and was talking a good deal to Alfred Light. 
 Well, this was the identical Nana Sahib who has done 
 all this, and who must even at that very time have been 
 meditating the treachery, if not the murders. 
 
 There is not a word of truth in the report of "the 
 King of Delhi coming out for a final struggle." Ru- 
 mor has been saying so for weeks, with no foundation ; 
 the truth is, the King is a mere puppet, a " ruse." He is 
 old, and well-nigh impotent, and is only used as authority 
 for all the acts of rebellion and barbarity enacted by his 
 sons. The rascals talk (in the city) of coming round on 
 our rear, and attacking us in the field. I only wish 
 they would, for in the open plain we should hunt them 
 down like jackals. They escape us now by flying back 
 into the city, or under cover of the heavy batteries from 
 its walls. When (if ever) they do come out, the Gren- 
 
292 EUROPEAN FORCE. 
 
 ei-al has proposed to put tlie wliole of the Irregular Cav- 
 alry under my command, and I trust to give a tolerable 
 account of the enemy, and show that " Hodson's Horse " 
 are capable of something, even already. 
 
 Colonel Seaton is doing admirably, I am thankful to 
 say. He is patient and gentle in suffering as a woman, 
 and this helps his recovery wonderfully. 
 
 July 'ilth. — Since the 23d, hardly a shot has been 
 fired here. The news-letters from the city mention 
 meetings in the market-place, and talkings at the cor- 
 ners of the streets, with big. words of what they intend 
 to do ; but they (the people) are actually cowed and 
 dispirited, while their rulers issue orders which are never 
 obeyed. 
 
 I fear our movements wait upon theirs. We have no 
 one in power with a bead to devise or a heart to dare 
 any enterprise which might result in the capture of 
 Delhi ; and alas ! one cannot but admit that it would 
 require both a wise head and a very great heart to run 
 the risk with so reduced a force as we have here now. 
 2,200 Europeans* and 1,500 Native Infantry are all that 
 we now can muster. We have reliable news from be- 
 low, that, on or about the 14th, General Havelock, with 
 the first portion of the European force, met and attacked 
 the villain Nana, near Futteypore (between Allahabad 
 and Cawnpore), and beat him thoroughly, capturing his 
 camp, twelve guns, and seven lac of rupees. The China 
 
 * European force before Delhi, August 1 : — 
 
 Infantry, 2,000 
 
 Cavalry, . . . 600 
 
 ArtiUer)', .... 550 
 
 3,060 
 On actual daily duty, 2,007. 
 
GOOD AND BAD NEWS. 293 
 
 troops had arrived : Lord Elgin having consented to the 
 employment of the whole. 
 
 Sir P. Grant is coming up with these troops, " on dit," 
 so that in six weeks from the date of the Meerut mas- 
 sacre, 11,000 European troops will have landed in India; 
 what a providential arrival, and what a lesson to Asiatics 
 that they can never contend with England. 
 
 This news has put the whole camp, even the croakers, 
 of whom there are not a few, in high spirits. I only 
 hope it is not too good to be true. 
 
 As a set-off against this, news has arrived that Tudor 
 Tucker, his wife, and Sam Fisher, are among the victims 
 of this horrible insurrection, also, poor James Thomason ; 
 and of his brother-in-law's. Dr. Hay's, execution, there 
 can be no longer a doubt. How many hecatombs of Se- 
 poys would it require to atone for their deaths alone. 
 When shall we see the last ; when know the full extent 
 of these horrible atrocities ? The accounts make one's 
 blood run fire. Our dear Douglas Seaton has arrived in 
 England, much restored by the voyage, but not, I fiear, 
 sufficiently recovered to return, as soon as he would hear 
 of the outbreak. A sad blow for him, poor fellow, for 
 had he been here to command the regiment, he would 
 probably have been a full Colonel and C. B. at the end. 
 I am seriously uneasy at receiving no letters from Eng- 
 land, though mail after mail must have arrived, and some 
 people get their letters ! therefore why not I mine ? We 
 get none even from Agra, and of course not below it, ex- 
 cept by " Kossid," and they but little scraps, written half 
 in Greek characters, to mislead or deceive, if the unfor- 
 tunate bearer is stopped. They conceal them very in- 
 geniously between the leather of their shoes, or tied up 
 in their hair. I inclose one that came in even a more 
 
294 LADIES IN CAMP. 
 
 singular letter-bag than either, rolled up in a piece of 
 wax and packed into a hollow tooth. 
 
 tells me that was furious at my having the 
 
 Guides, but was compelled to acquiesce in it " as it was 
 undoubtedly the best thing for the public service.'' How 
 he must have winced when he was forced to confess that. 
 
 July 28th. — I have no news. The Pandies have not 
 attacked us since the 23d, and are much dispirited. In 
 
 reply to your and Mrs. 's wish to come to Delhi as 
 
 nurses, I must say honestly that there is no necessity for 
 such a sacrifice. Our position here is very diflferent from 
 that in the Crimea and at Scutari. There the men died 
 from want of care and of the ordinary necessaries of life. 
 Here there is no absolute want of anything, except a 
 genial climate and well-built hospitals, neither of which 
 you could supply. The men are attended to immediately 
 they are sick or wounded ; and within an hour, some- 
 times half that time, of his being wounded, a soldier is 
 in his bed, with everything actually necessary, and the 
 greatest medical attention. Unless any unforeseen emer- 
 gency should arise, I would strongly dissuade any lady 
 from coming to camp. 
 
 I have always urged the authorities to send away, as 
 fast as possible, those who have arrived as refugees. We 
 have a vast camp, or rather position, five miles in cir- 
 cumference, and we are constantly obliged to take every 
 man into the field. The guard for our sick is trifling 
 enough, and our diflBculties would be increased were there 
 women also to be thought of; and God forbid that any 
 more lives should be risked in this dreadful servile war. 
 There is also another consideration of much weight 
 against the tender sympathy which prompts the oflFer. 
 How is a delicate woman's constitution to bear up against 
 
MASSACRE AT CAWNPOEE. 295 
 
 the evils of a tented field in the rains, or render efficient 
 service in such a climate as this is now ? They would 
 all very speedily become patients in the very hospitals 
 which they came to serve and would so willingly support. 
 The flannel garments are invaluable, and this is all that 
 can be done for us by female hands at present. 
 
 July 29tA. — I have been so occupied with business all 
 day that I have only time to say we have had no more 
 fighting, and the whole atmosphere is still, but hot, oh, so 
 hot ! Greneral Wilson is unwell, and will probably break 
 down, like the rest. These sexagenarians are unfit for 
 work in July. I expect Napier will be with the advanc- 
 ing troops. I sincerely hope so. He is the man to do 
 something, if they will but let him. 
 
 Jvly 31s<. — I intended writing more fully to make up 
 for my late short-comings, but the Pandies permit it not. 
 They made an attempt on our position this morning ; 
 nothing more, however, than a distant cannonade. A 
 large party have moved round in our rear, and this has 
 kept me in the saddle all day. I have just returned, 
 after some hours of the heaviest rain I was ever out in, 
 drenched to the skin, of course, and somewhat tired, so 
 judge what a comfort a dry fiannel shirt must be. There 
 was no actual fighting, so with the exception of keeping 
 us out so long, and a great expenditure of powder and 
 shot, no harm was done. 
 
 Augv^t \st. — The continued heavy rain promises to 
 give me more time for pen-work to-day, if no more takes 
 place on this side of Pandy-moniura. The box has 
 arrived safely with the new "jumpers," &c. Lord Wil- 
 liam's additions are invaluable. We have fresh accounts 
 from below that every European woman and child have 
 been ruthlessly murdered at Cawnpore. The details are 
 
296 IDEA OF "DUTY." 
 
 too revolting to put on paper, and make one's blood boil. 
 Mothers with infants in their arms murdered with fiendish 
 cruelty, and worse than all, two young girls just arrived 
 from England are said to have been only saved to meet a 
 worse fate in some Mussulman's zenana. There will be 
 a day of reckoning for these things, and a fierce one, or I 
 have been a soldier in vain. You say there is a great 
 difierence between doing one's duty and running unneces- 
 sary risks, and you say truly ; the only question is, what 
 is one's duty. Now, I might, as I have more than once, 
 see things going wrong at a time and place when I might 
 be merely a spectator, and not " on duty," or ordered to 
 be there, and I might feel that by exposing myself to 
 danger for a time I might rectify matters, and I might 
 therefore think it right to incur that danger ; and yet if I 
 were to get hit, it would be said " he had no business 
 there ; " nor should I, as far as the rules of the service 
 go, though in my own mind I should have been satisfied 
 that I was right. These are times when every man 
 should do his best, his utmost, and not say, " No ; though 
 I see I can do good there, yet, as I have not been ordered 
 and am not on duty, I will not do it.". This is not my 
 idea of a soldier's duty, and hitherto the results have 
 proved me right. Poor Eaton Travers, of Coke's regi- 
 ment, was killed this morning. He had just come from 
 England via Bombay, with a young wife, whom he left 
 at Lahore. Poor young thing, a sad beginning and end for 
 her. We send off convoys of the sick and wounded to 
 Umbala, where we hear they are well tended and are 
 doing well. Even here everything possible is done for 
 them ; Dr. Brougham is an excellent man, and first-rate 
 surgeon, quite the man of the camp in his line, clever, 
 indefatigable, and humane. 
 
SICKNESS ON THE INCREASE. 297 
 
 2d. — The rebels attacked us about 5 p. m. yesterday, 
 and kept us at it till seven or eight this morning. Our 
 people kept steadily at their posts and behind intrench- 
 ments, and drove them back with steady volleys every 
 time they came near. The result was, that they were 
 punished severely, while our loss was a very trifling one, 
 not more than half a dozen Europeans killed and wound- 
 ed; it is next to impossible ever to ascertain accurately 
 what the enemy's loss is. 
 
 Colonel Seaton is doing well ; in three weeks' time I 
 hope he will be about again. Before this surely our 
 rulers will consent to take Delhi. Sickness is on the 
 increase, and we have been nearly losing another Gen- 
 eral. General Wilson was very ill for a few days, but 
 is now better. He is older, however, by ten years than 
 he was. The responsibility and anxiety of what is cer- 
 tainly a very difficult position, have been too much for 
 him, and he has got into the way of being nervous and 
 alarmed, and overanxious even about trifles, which shakes 
 one's dependence on his judgment. These men are per- 
 sonally as brave as lions, but they have not big heaits or 
 heads enough for circumstances of serious responsibility. 
 This word is the bugbear which hampers all our proceed- 
 ings. Would we could have had Sir Henry Lawrence 
 as our leader ; we should have been in Delhi weeks ago. 
 I hope Colonel Napier is coming up with the force. He 
 has head, and heart, and nerve, and the moral courage to 
 act as if he had ; we hear that the crisis is passing ; all 
 below Cawnpore is safe, and all above Kurnal to Pe- 
 shawur ; while Lord W. Hay keeps the more important 
 hill stations steady. When all is over, our power will be 
 stronger than ever, principally because we shall have got 
 rid of our great sore, a native army. 
 
 13 * 
 
298 REPORT OF SIR H. LAWRENCE'S DEATH. 
 
 Sd. — 4 P. M. and I have only just got out of the sad- 
 dle, and found on my arrival in camp the heaviest news 
 that has yet reached us. Report says that Sir Henry is 
 dead ! The news wants confirmation, and God grant that 
 it may he untrue. I should lose one of my best friends, 
 and the country (in Lord Dalhousie's words on poor 
 Mackeson) " one whose loss would dim a victory." I 
 cannot write more to-day ; the news has quite unnerved 
 me. 
 
 4ih. — Two letters have just arrived from General 
 Havelock at Cawnpore. They were written at an inter- 
 val of ten days, and mentioned his having had three suc- 
 cessful fights, on the 12th, loth, and 16th of July, and 
 the reoccupation of Cawnpore. The first of these let- 
 ters mentions a report that Sir Henry had died on the 
 4th July, of wounds received on the 2d ; but the second 
 letter, written ten days later, does not even allude to a 
 circumstance of such importance, and the Sikh who 
 brought it, and who left Havelock near Lucknow, on his 
 way to its relief, maintains that it is not true, and that 
 Sir Henry Lawrence was alive when he left, as letters 
 were constantly passing from Havelock's camp to the 
 " Burra Sahib." God grant, for his country's sake and 
 for mine, that it be not true. To the country his death 
 would be worse than the loss of a province ; to me it 
 would be the loss of my truest and most valued friend. 
 I hope, yet fear to hope, that it may be a false report ; 
 yet what soldier would wish a more noble, a more bril- 
 liant end to such a career ? Havelock has captured all 
 the enemy's guns, and inflicted severe punishment. The 
 destruction of Sir Hugh Wheeler and his party is fully 
 confirmed, and Havelock was too late to save the unfor- 
 tunate women and children, who were massacred in their 
 
FUKY OF EUROPEAN SOLDIERS. 299 
 
 prison, before his arrival, by their guards. Such fiends 
 as these our arms have never met with in any part of the 
 world. May our vengeance be as speedy as it will un- 
 questionably be sure ! 
 
 We (Hodson's Horse) are getting on very comfortably, 
 and are going to start a mess on our own account, so as 
 to be ready to march without difficulty when required. 
 
 5th. — To-day the accounts received from a native 
 Commissariat Agent, arrived at Meerut from Lucknow, 
 are positive as to Sir H. Lawrence being alive a fort- 
 night after he was said to have died. This, if reliable, 
 is good indeed. The letter I annex * from Colonel Tytler 
 gives good news, and the man who brought the letter, 
 says there were fourteen steamers and flats at Cawnpore 
 when he left. The troops had taken Bithoor, the Nana's 
 place, and at first it was uninjured, but the bodies of some 
 English women were found inside the Nana's house, on 
 which the European soldiers, excited to irresistible fury, 
 destroyed every human being in the place, and then de- 
 molished the building, not leaving one stone upon another. 
 The Nana himself, with his family, took refuge in a boat 
 on the river, and the native accounts add that he sunk 
 it, and all were drowned. This I strongly doubt ; such 
 Spartan heroism could scarcely exist in the mind of 
 
 * " Cawnpore, July 26(A. 
 
 " General Havelock has crossed the river to relieve Lucknow, which 
 will he effected four daj-s hence. 
 
 " We shall probably march to Delhi to-morrow, with 4,000 or 6,000 
 Europeans, and a heavy artillery, in number, 7Wt weight. 
 
 " The China force is in Calcutta, 5,000 men. More troops expected 
 immediately. We shall soon be with you. — Yours truly, 
 
 " B. A. Tyti.ek, 
 " Lieut.- Colj Quartermaster-General^ 
 " Movable Ciilumn" 
 
300 RECONNOITRING EXPEDITION. 
 
 one who could violate and massacre helpless women and 
 children. Indeed, I hope it is not true ; for it is one of 
 my aims to have the catching of the said Nana myself. 
 The hanging him would be a positive pleasure to me. I 
 trust the day of retribution is not far distant. 
 
 6th. — Small chance of much writing to-day, for just 
 as I have got into camp, afler some hours' attendance on 
 the pleasure of the Pandies, who came out in force and 
 threatened an attack, I find that I have to start on a long 
 reconnoitring expedition, from which I cannot return till 
 late at night. This is unfortunate, as I have much pen- 
 work on hand, my necessary official writing being very 
 onerous. I was obliged to write as long a letter as I 
 could to Lord W. Hay, if but to thank him, in my own 
 and others' name, for the comforts he so thoughtfully 
 sent us. 
 
 I have a very complimentary letter from G. Barnes, 
 the Commissioner, as well as some others, enough to turn 
 one's head with vanity ; but I have had bitter experience 
 of its rottenness, and take the flattery at its full value, 
 namely, "nil." I fear, from fresh reports arrived, that 
 Havelock will not come and help us after all. They say 
 he has the strictest orders to relieve Lucknow only, and 
 that however much he may desire to march on to Delhi, 
 it is out of his power to do so. It is true we do not want 
 him. Delhi surely must be taken as soon as ever the 
 reinforcements get down here from the Punjaub. Our 
 rulers must then see the necessity for action. 
 
 7th. — I returned at three o'clock this morning from a 
 forty miles' ride over the worst and wettest country I 
 was ever in, and I am thoroughly exhausted, though 
 everybody is wanting something, and I must attend to 
 business first, and then to rest. 
 
DOCTOR LYELL'S DEATH. 301 
 
 8th. — I could write nothing but official papers all the 
 sedentary part of yesterday. I did not get in till 9 p. m. 
 The news from below mentions good dear old Dr. Lyell 
 as among the killed at Fatna. Brave, noble fellow, his 
 gallant spirit has led him to the front once too often. He 
 had always as much of the warrior as of the surgeon in 
 him. The report has again gained ground of dear Sir 
 Henry's death, but my heart refuses credence to so great, 
 a misfortune. I do trust that when the 52d arrive, we 
 may be allowed to do something better than this pot-shot 
 work. Nicholson has come on ahead, and is a host in 
 himself, if he does not go and get knocked over as Cham- 
 berlain did. The camp is all alive at the notion of some- 
 thing decisive taking place soon, but I cannot rally from 
 the fear of dear Sir Henry's fate. How many of my 
 friends are gone. My heart is divided between grief for 
 those precious victims, and deep gratitude to God for my 
 own safety and that of those dearest to me. May He in 
 His mercy preserve me for further exertion and an ulti- 
 mate reunion, and if not. His will be done. I have a 
 letter from an unfortunate woman, a Mrs. Leeson, who 
 was saved from the slaughter at Delhi, on May 11th, by 
 an Affghan lad, after she had been wounded, and her 
 child slaughtered in her arms. She is still concealed in 
 the Affghan's house. I heard that there was a woman 
 there, and managed to effect a communication with her, 
 through one of the Guides, and to send her money, &c., 
 and so I think the poor creature may be preserved till 
 we enter Delhi, if we fail in getting her free before. I 
 fear she is the only European, or rather the only Chris- 
 tian (for she herself is hardly European), left alive from 
 the massacre. Her husband was the son of Major Lee- 
 son, and a clerk in a Grovemment office in Delhi. I have 
 
302 "MAID OF DELHI." 
 
 sent one of our few prisoners up to Forsyth at Umbala, 
 whom we ironically call the " Maid of Delhi," though 
 her age and character are questionable, and her ugliness 
 undoubted. She actually came out on horseback, and fought 
 against us like a fiend. The General at first released her, 
 but knowing how mischievous she would be among those 
 superstitious Mahommedans, I persuaded him to let her 
 be recaptured, and made over for safe custody. It is a 
 moot point whether any assault will be made as soon as 
 the 52d arrive. I can only go on hoping, but I confess 
 I am not very sanguine about anything being done now. 
 
 Our General, since his illness, has got a still weaker 
 di'ead of responsibility, and ceased to be nearly as vigor- 
 ous even as heretofore. Would indeed that we had had 
 Sir H. Lawrence here ; that he may have been, and still 
 be spared to us, is my prayer ! The consequences of 
 longer delay will be more and more disastrous to the 
 health of the troops. Captain Daly has not formally 
 reassumed command of the Guides, though he virtually 
 does all the sedentary work. By an arrangement which 
 I cannot but think unwise, and which deprives the corps 
 of two thirds of its value, they have separated the regi- 
 ment into two, putting the cavalry into the Cavalry Bri- 
 gade under Hope Grant, and the infantry at the other 
 end of the camp under Shebbeare, and Major Reid of 
 the Goorkhas, who commands all the posts and pickets 
 on our right. 
 
 The Guides should not be separated, and should be 
 kept as much apart as may be from other corps. No 
 regiment in the world have done or will do better than 
 they, with a little prudence, and under an officer whom 
 they like and can trust. My own regiment is also in the 
 Cavalry Brigade, and is very hard-worked. It is bad 
 
DISAFFECTION IN CITY. 303 
 
 for a young and unformed corps, but there is such a 
 scarcity of cavalry here, that I cannot even remonstrate, 
 and I get no small amount of ictjdof for having so large a 
 number of men fit to be put on duty within two months 
 of receiving the order to raise a regiment. I shall have 
 two more troops in with the 52d, and Nicholson has given 
 me fifty AfFghans, just joined him from Peshawur, which, 
 added to thirty coming with Alee Reza Khan from La- 
 hore, will complete an Afighan troop as a counterpoise to 
 my Punjaubees.* 
 
 We expect the movable column on the 12th or 13th, 
 weather permitting, and some other troops a day or two 
 after. Sir P. Grant is supposed to be at Cawnpore, but 
 we have no tidings later than Colonel Tytler's letter. 
 There is no actual fighting going on here, nothing except 
 the usual cannonade. The rebels bring out guns on all 
 sides, and fire away day and night, but bring no troops 
 forward, and as we act strictly on the defensive, we merely 
 reply to their guns with ours. The whole affair is re- 
 duced to a combat of artillery, our leader's favorite arm, 
 excellent when combined with the other two, but if he 
 expects to get into Delhi with that alone, I guess he will 
 find himself mistaken. The news of disaffection in the 
 city is daily confirmed. On the 7th a powder manufac- 
 tory exploded, and they suspended the minister, Hakeem 
 Ahsanoolah, and searched his house ; there they found a 
 letter which had been sent him, concocted by Moulvie 
 Rujub Alee, which confirmed their suspicions, so they 
 plundered and burnt his house, while he himself was only 
 saved by taking refuge in the palace with the King, his 
 
 * The uniform of "Hodson's Horse" was a dust-colored tunic, 
 with a scarlet sash worn over the shoulder, and scarlet turban, which 
 gained them the name of " the Flamingoes." 
 
304 SHOWEES'S ATTACK ON THE ENEMY. 
 
 master, who it seems is kept close prisoner there, bis sons 
 giving all orders, and ruling with a rod of iron. They 
 say, however, that the King has got leave to send his 
 wives and women out of the Ajmere gate to the Kootub. 
 I trust it may be so, for we do not war with women, and 
 should be sadly puzzled to know what to do with them 
 as prisoners. 
 
 August Wth. — The bridge over the Jumna resists all 
 efforts for its destruction. Our engineers have tried 
 their worst, and failed. I have tried aU that money 
 could do, to the extent of 6,000 rupees, but equally in 
 vain. So there it remains for the benefit of the enemy, 
 whose principal reinforcements come from that side of 
 the city. Two messengers of my own, arrived from 
 Lucknow, leave little hope of dear Sir Henry's life hav- 
 ing been spared. I grieve as for a brother 
 
 Talking of jealousies, one day, under a heavy fire, Cap- 
 tain came up to me, and begged me to forget and 
 
 forgive what had passed, and only to remember that we 
 were soldiers fighting together in a common cause. As I 
 was the injured party, I could afford to do this. The 
 time and place, as well as his manner, appealed to my 
 better feelings, so I held out my hand at once. Now-a- 
 days, we must stand by and help each other, forget all 
 injuries, and rise superior to them, or, Grod help us ! we 
 should be in terrible plight. 
 
 August \2th. — This morning a force under Colonel 
 Showers moved down before daybreak towards the city, 
 or rather the gardens outside the city gates, and gave the 
 enemy, wlio had been ensconced behind the garden walls 
 for a couple of days, and given our pickets annoyance, a 
 good thrashing, taking four of their guns, and inflicting a 
 heavy loss. AU were back in camp by 7 p. m., so it was 
 
BRINGING IN CAPTURED GUNS. 305 
 
 a very comfortable little affair. Our fellows did admira- 
 bly. Captain Greville captured one gun with a handful 
 of men, getting slightly wounded in the act. Showers 
 himself, Coke, and young Owen, were also wounded, and 
 poor young Sheriff of the 2d mortally so ; the loss among 
 the men was small in proportion to the success. The re- 
 turn to camp was a scene worth witnessing, the soldiers 
 bringing home in triumph the guns they had captured, a 
 soldier, with musket and bayonet fixed, riding each horse, 
 and brave young Owen astride one gun, and dozens cling- 
 ing to and pushing it, or rather them, along with might 
 and main, and cheering like mad things. I was in the 
 thick of it by accident, for I was looking on as weU as I 
 could through the gloom, when Coke asked me to find 
 Brigadier Showers and say he was wounded, and that 
 the guns were taken. I found Showers himself wounded, 
 and then had to find a field-officer to take command, 
 after which, I assisted generally in drawing off the men 
 — the withdrawal or retirement being the most difiicult 
 matter always, and requiring as much steadiness as an 
 attack. 
 
 August ISth. — I wish I could get some pay, but money 
 is terribly scarce and living dear ; my favorite beverage, 
 tea, particularly so. I have therefore sent to Umbala for 
 some. 
 
 Ghoolab Singh's death is unfortunate at this juncture, 
 but I fancy we have too much to do just now to interfere 
 with the succession ; we ought not to do so according to 
 treaty, and if Jowahir Singh tries to recover the country 
 from his cousin, Kunbeer Singh, the King's son, why that 
 is his affair, not ours — though we should never be con- 
 tented to let them fight it out and settle it themselves. 
 Poor Light has been brought very low by dysentery, and 
 
306 WELCOME LETTERS. 
 
 can hardly crawl about, but about he persists in going, 
 
 brave fellow as he is. What a contrast to , who has 
 
 got away, sick or pretending to be so, to the hills, — any- 
 thing to escape work. Greville is, I am thankful to say, 
 not badly wounded, and as plucky as ever. All well at 
 Agra ; no news from below. 
 
 August \4ih. — On returning from a rather dishearten- 
 ing reconnaissance to-day, I found letters which soothed 
 and comforted my weary spirit, just as a sudden gleam of 
 sunlight brightens a gloomy landscape, and brings all sur- 
 rounding objects into light and distinctness. 
 
 I am no croaker, but I confess sometimes it requires 
 all one's trust in the God of battles, and all the comfort- 
 ing and sustaining words of those nearest and dearest to 
 us, to bear up boldly and bravely through these weary 
 days. A letter from good Douglas Seaton was among 
 them. He little thought that so soon after his departure 
 we should all be moving downwards, and that I should 
 receive his letter in his brother's tent in " Camp before 
 Delhi ; " his own dearly loved regiment • " next door " to 
 us. How wonderfully uncertain everything is in India. 
 I am interrupted by orders to start to-night for Eohtuck, 
 and must go and make arrangements. 
 
 * 1st European Bengal Fusileers. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SIEGE OF DELHI, CONTINUED. BOHTUCK EXPEDI- 
 TION. ASSAULT. DELHI TAKEN. CAPTURE OP 
 
 KING. CAPTURE AND EXECUTION OF SHAHZA- 
 
 DAHS. 
 
 BoHCK, NEAR RoHTUCK, August Vlth. 
 
 I HAVE been unable to write since we left Delhi, as we 
 have been incessantly marching, and had no means of 
 communicating with any one. Even now I am doubtful 
 whether this will reach camp. We left Delhi during the 
 night of the 14th-15th, and marched to Khurkuudah, a 
 large village, in which I had heard that a great number of 
 the rascally Irregulars had taken refuge. We surprised 
 and attacked the village. A number of the enemy got into 
 a house, and fought like devils ; but we mastered them and 
 slew the whole. Yesterday we marched on here, intending 
 to reconnoitre and harass " a la Cosaque '' a large party of 
 horsemen and foot, with two guns, who have been moving 
 along from Delhi, plundering the wretched villagers en 
 route, and threatening to attack Hansie. They, however, 
 thought discretion the better part of valor, and, hearing 
 of our approach, started ofi" at a tangent before we got 
 near enough to stop them. 
 
 We have been drenched with rain, so I am halting to 
 drj' and feed both men and horses, and then we go on to 
 Bohtuck. I have nearly 300 men and five ofiBcers, — 
 
308 LETTER TO COL. BECHER. 
 
 Ward, Wise, the two Goughs, and Macdowell, — all first- 
 rate soldiers. I have eighty Guides, and the rest my 
 own men, who do wonderfully, considering how sadly un- 
 trained and undisciplined they are. We are roughing it 
 in more ways than one, and the sun is terribly hot ; but 
 we are all well and in high spirits, for though it is a bold 
 game to play, I am too careful to run unnecessary risks, 
 or get into a fix. I have done a good deal already, and 
 shall, I hope, recover Rohtuck to-day, when I do trust the 
 authorities will consent to keep it, and not let us have the 
 work to do twice over, as at Bhdgput. 
 
 To Colonel Becher, Quartermaster- General. 
 
 My dear Colonel, — We are getting on very well. 
 I hope to take Rohtuck to-day, and I trust arrangements 
 will be made for keeping it. The country will then be 
 quiet from Hansie to Delhi. The Jheend Rajah should 
 be told to take care of the district. I believe Greathed 
 did make this arrangement, but Barnes put some spoke 
 in the way, so that the Rajah is uncertain how to act. 
 Please tell Greathed from me that there is nothing now 
 to prevent the restoration of order here. I wish I had 
 a stronger party, for though I feel quite comfortable my- 
 self, yet I should like more troops, for the sake of the 
 men, who are not quite so easy in their minds. The 
 road by Alipore, Boanah, and Khurkundah is the best. 
 The canal is easily fordable at Boanah, and just below 
 that place (at the escape) it is quite dry, the banks hav- 
 ing given way. We polished oflf the Khurkundah gentry 
 in style, though they showed fight to a great extent. It 
 has had a wonderfully calming effect on the neighborhood. 
 
ROHTUCK EXPEDITION. 309 
 
 I hope the Jheend troops, or some troops, may be sent 
 here. The Jheend men would more than suffice. 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 W. S. E. HoDSON. 
 
 Camp, Dusseeah, near Eohtuck, 19(A August. 
 This is the first rest since Bohur ; we have had very 
 hard work, great heat, and long exposure ; but, thank 
 Grod, are all well and safe, and have done some business. 
 I marched from Bohur on the evening of the 17th. On 
 reaching Rohtuck, we found the Mussulman portion of 
 the people, and a crowd of Irregulars drawn up on the 
 walls, while a considerable party were on a mound out- 
 side. I had ridden forward with Captain Ward and a 
 few orderlies to see how the land lay, when the rascals 
 fired, and ran towards us. I sent word for my cavalry to 
 come up, and rode slowly back myself, in order to tempt 
 them out, which had partly the desired effect, and as soon as 
 my leading troop came up, we dashed at them and drove 
 them helter-skelter into the town, killing all we overtook. 
 We then encamped in what was the Kutcherry compound, 
 and had a grateful rest and a quiet night. The represent- 
 atives of the better-disposed part of the population came out 
 to me, and amply provided us with supplies for both man 
 and beast. The rest were to have made their " amende " 
 in the morning ; but a disaffected Rangur went off early, 
 and brought up 300 Irregular horsemen of the muti- 
 neers, — 1st, 13th, 14th, and other rebels, — and having 
 collected about 1,000 armed rascals on foot, came out to 
 attack my little party of barely 300 sabres and six officers. 
 The Sowars dashed at a gallop up the road, and came 
 boldly enough up to our camp. I had, a few minutes 
 
310 DECEIVING THE ENEMY. 
 
 before, fortunately received notice of their intentions, and 
 as I had kept the horses ready saddled, we were out and 
 at them in a few seconds. To drive them scattering back 
 to the town was the work of only as many more, and I 
 then, seeing their numbers, and the quantity of match- 
 locks brought against us from gardens and embrasures, 
 determined to draw them out into the open country ; and 
 the " ruse " was eminently successful. 1 had quietly sent 
 oiF our little baggage unperceived, half an hour before, 
 so that I was, as I intended, perfectly free and unfettered 
 by impedimenta of any sort. I then quietly and gradually 
 drew off troop after troop into the open plain about a mile 
 to the rear, covering the movement with skirmishers. 
 My men, new as well as old, behaved coolly and admira- 
 bly throughout, though the fire was very annoying, and a 
 retreat is always discouraging, even when you have an 
 object in view. My officers, fortunately first-rate ones, 
 behaved like veterans, and everything went on to my 
 complete satisfaction. Exactly what I had anticipated 
 happened. The enemy thought we were bolting, and 
 came on in crowds, firing and yelling, and the Sowars 
 brandishing their swords as if we were already in their 
 hands, when suddenly I gave the order, "Threes about, 
 and at them." The men obeyed with a cheer ; the effect 
 was electrical ; never was such a scatter. I launched 
 five parties at them, each under an officer, and in they 
 went, cutting and firing into the very thick of them. 
 The ground was very wet, and a ditch favored them, but 
 we cut down upwards of fifty in as many seconds. The 
 remainder flew back to the town, as if, not the Guides 
 and Hodson's Horse, but death and the devil were at 
 their heels. Their very numbers encumbered them, and 
 the rout was most complete. Unfortunately I had no 
 
THREE DAYS WORK. 311 
 
 ammunition left, and therefore could not without impru- 
 dence remain so close to a town filled with matchlock men, 
 so we marched quietly round to the north of the town, 
 and encamped near the first friendly village we came to, 
 which we reached in the early afternoon. Our success was 
 so far complete, and I am most thankful to say with very 
 trifling loss, only two men rather severely wounded, eight 
 in all touched, and a few horses hit. Maedowell did 
 admirably, as indeed did all. My new men, utterly un- 
 trained as they are, many unable to ride or even load 
 their carabines properly, yet behaved beyond my most 
 sanguine expectations for a first field, and this success, 
 without loss, will encourage them greatly. 
 
 This morning I was joined by a party of Jheend 
 horse, whom my good friend the Rajah sent as soon as 
 he heard I was coming Rohtuck-ward?, so I have now 
 400 horsemen, more or less, fresh ammunition having 
 come in this morning, and am quite independent. I hear 
 also that the General has at my recommendation sent out 
 some troops in this direction ; if so. order will be per- 
 manently restored in this district. In three days we 
 have frightened away and demoralized a force of artil- 
 lery, cavalry, and infantry some 2,000 strong, beat those 
 who stood or returned to fight us, twice, in spite of num- 
 bers, and got fed and furnished forth by the rascally town 
 itself.* Moreover, we have thoroughly cowed the whole 
 
 * Extract from Letter of Major-Genebal Wilson. 
 " The Major-General commanding the force having received from 
 Lieut. Hodson a report of his proceedings and^ operations from the 
 14th, when he left camp, till his return on the 24th, has much pleas- 
 ure in expressing to that oflScer his thanks for the able manner in 
 which he carried out the instructions given him. The Major-Gen- 
 eraPs thanks are also due to the European and native officers and 
 men composing the detachment, for their steady and gallant behavior 
 
312 INDEFINITE INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 neighborhood, and given them a taste of what more they 
 will get unless they keep quiet in future. "We count 
 eighty-live killed, and numbers wounded, since we left 
 Delhi, which is one good result, even if there were no 
 other. One of them was a brute of the lith Irregular 
 Cavalry, who committed such butchery at Jhansi. No 
 letters have reached me since I left camp, and I am not 
 sure that this will reach there safely. It is a terribly 
 egotistical detail, and I am thoroughly ashamed of saying 
 so much of myself, but you insisted on having a fuU, 
 true, and particular account, so do not think me vainglo- 
 rious. 
 
 LuRSOVTLiE, Aiigust 22d. — I rode over to this place 
 from our httle camp at Sonput, eight miles oflF, to see 
 Saunders and Colonel Durnsford. I find that two of 
 my new troops have been detained on the road, but will 
 reach Delhi in a day or two, and others from Lahore 
 will soon arrive. I think the business at Eohtuck has 
 been very creditable to us, but I can write no more than 
 the assurance of our safety and well-being. 
 
 Camp, Sonput, Auffust 2Sd. — I could only write a 
 few hurried lines yesterday. Late in the evening I got 
 a note from General Wilson, desiring me to look out for 
 and destroy the 10th Light Cavalry mutineers from 
 Ferozepoor. He authorized my proceeding to Jheend, 
 but without going through the Rohtuck district. Now, 
 as to do this would involve an immense detour, and in- 
 sure my being too late, and consequently having a long 
 and fatiguing march for my pains, I wrote back to ex- 
 plain this, and requested more definite instructions. He 
 
 throughout the operations, particularly on the 17th and 18th inst., at 
 Rohtuck. when they ch.arged and dispersed large parties of horse and 
 foot." 
 
GENERAL JOHNSTON. 313 
 
 must either say distinctly " do this or that," and I will do 
 it ; or he must give me carte hlanche to do what he wants 
 in the most practicable way, of which I, knowing the 
 country, can best judge. I am not going to fag my men 
 and horses to death, and then be told I have exceeded 
 my instructions. He gives me immense credit for what 
 I have done, but " almost wishes I had not ventured so 
 far." The old gentleman means well, but does not un- 
 derstand either the country or the position I was in, nor 
 does he appreciate a tenth part of the effects which our 
 bold stroke at Kohtuck, forty-five miles from camp, has 
 produced. " N'importe" they will find it out sooner or 
 later. I hear both Chamberlain and Nicholson took my 
 view of the case, and supported me warmly. 
 
 I am much gratified by General Johnstone's exertions 
 in my favor, though I have not the slightest idea that 
 they will eventuate in anything ; but the motive is the 
 same. Let me do what I will, I have made up my mind 
 to gain nothing but the approval of my own conscience. 
 I foresee that I shall remain a subaltern, and the easy- 
 going majors of brigade, aides-de-camp, and staff-officers 
 will all get brevets, C. B.'s, &c, for simply living in 
 camp, and doing their simple duties mildly and without 
 exertion. The Victoria Cross, I confess, is the highest 
 object of my ambition, and had I been one of fortune's 
 favorites I should have had it ere now even, but I have 
 learnt experience in a rough school and am prepared for 
 the worst ; but whether a lieutenant or lieutenant-gen- 
 eral, I trust I shall continue to do my duty, to the best 
 of my judgment and ability, as long as strength and 
 sense are vouchsafed to me. 
 
 Camp, Delhi, August 'iUh. — I returned here this 
 morning at 2 f. m., very tired and unwell, and not able 
 
314 DOCTOR CHARLES. 
 
 to write much, for I have been obliged to have recourse 
 to the doctor. 
 
 People have got an absurd story about my being shut 
 up in a fort, without food or chance of escape ! The 
 General's aide-de-camp tells me the old man believed 
 this ridiculous report and was fairly frightened, getting 
 no sleep for two nights. However, he fully admits the 
 good service we have rendered, and every one is making 
 a talk and fuss about it, — as if success were uncommon ! 
 I find strong hopes of our making an assault on the city 
 as soon as the siege train arrives, which will be in about 
 thirteen days. Havelock seems unable or unwilling to 
 move on, but we can hardly want him, for surely we 
 shall have ample means for taking the city shortly. 
 
 I am to have a surgeon attached to my regiment at 
 once, as I represented how cruel it was to send us out 
 on an expedition without a doctor or a grain of medicine. 
 We had eight wounded men, and two officers had fever 
 on the road, and nothing but the most primitive means 
 of relieving them. I asked for Dr. Charles, but there 
 are so many senior to him waiting for a turn, that I 
 must be content for the present with what I can get. I 
 hope, however, to have Charles ultimately, for he is skil- 
 ful, clever, a gentleman, and a Christian. 
 
 Nicholson has just gone out to look after a party of 
 the enemy with twelve guns, who had moved out yester- 
 day towards Nujjufghur, threatening to get into our rear. 
 I wanted to have gone with him, but I was laughingly 
 told to stay at home and nurse myself, and let some one 
 else have a chance of doing good service. This was too 
 bad, especially as Nicholson wished me to go. 
 
 •26M. — It is 4 p. M., and I am only just free from 
 people and papers, but good news must make up for 
 
BATTLE OF NUJJUFGHUR. 315 
 
 brevity. General Nicbolson has beaten the enemy glo- 
 riously at Nujjufghur, whither he pushed on last evening. 
 He has taken thirteen guns, and all the camp equipage 
 and property. Our loss was small for the gain, but two 
 of the killed were oflScers, — young Lumsden of Coke's 
 Corps, a most promising fellow, and Dr. Ireland. The 
 victory is a great one, and will shake the Pandies' nerves, 
 I calculate. All their shot and ammunition were also 
 captured. The 1st Fusileers were as usual " to the 
 fore," and did well equally as usual. I am much disap- 
 pointed at not having been there, but Mactier would not 
 hear of it, as the weather was bad, and I should have run 
 the risk of another attack of dysentery, from which I 
 had been suffering. I am half annoyed, half amused at 
 the absurd stories about the Eohtuck business. We were 
 never in any extremity whatever, nor did I ever feel 
 the slightest anxiety, or cease to feel that I was master 
 of the situation. Danger there must always be in war, 
 but none of our own creating, as the fools and fearful 
 said, ever existed ; would that folks would be contented 
 with the truth and reality of our position, and not add to 
 its desagremens by idle fears and false inventions. 
 
 2Tth. — I have been up to my eyes in work all day 
 again, and not had the pen out of my hand all day, 
 except when on horseback with the men. Two troops 
 arrived yesterday, and I have 250 spare horses to mount 
 them, so that we are getting on by degrees. Such an 
 experiment as raising a regiment actually in camp on 
 active (and very active) service, was never tried before. 
 
 I most decidedly object and refuse to allow Mr. 
 
 to publish any extracts whatever from my letters. I say 
 nothing that I am ashamed of, nothing'that is not strictly 
 true, but my remarks on men and measures, however 
 
316 TERMS REFUSED. 
 
 just, would make me many enemies, and my misfortunea 
 have taught me, though I may not condescend to concil- 
 iate, at least to do nothing to offend. If, however, it will 
 be any amusement to the loved ones at home to have 
 some true sketches of this lamentable siege, and the 
 progress in it of one dear to them, that is quite another 
 affair, and 1 confess I should like to have some such 
 references myself to look over hereafter. 
 
 28th. — I am somewhat surprised at not hearing from 
 Agra, but I cannot be sure that my letter reached there, 
 as several of the " Kossids " have been " scragged " on the 
 road. Sir P. Grant will not have a long course to run, 
 as Sir C. Campbell has been sent out to command, and is 
 in India, I fancy, by this time. Havelock, we hear, has 
 retreated, leaving Lucknow stiU unrelieved. I cannot 
 understand this, but we have not sufficient information to 
 enable us to judge. After all, Nicholson is the General 
 after my heart. 
 
 29th. — I have just returned from a ride of twelve 
 hours, leaving camp at three a. m., on a reconnoitring 
 expedition, and have only time before the dak closes to 
 say that I am safe and well. 1 found no enemy, and 
 everything quiet in the direction of Nujjufghur, where 
 I was to-day, over and beyond Nicholson's field of battle 
 of the 25th. 
 
 30th. — I have been writing and listening all this 
 morning till I am tired, a man having come in from 
 Delhi, with much assurance and great promises ; but he 
 was sent back rather humbler than he came, for he fan- 
 cied he should make terms, and could not get a single 
 promise of even bare life for any one, from the King 
 downwards. If I get into the palace, the house of Timur 
 will not be worth five minutes' purchase, I ween; but 
 
INSURGENTS COLLECTING. 317 
 
 what my share in this work will be, no one can say, as 
 there will be little work for horsemen, and I do not now 
 command any infantry to give me an excuse. I hope 
 Sir C. Campbell will be here to lead us into the city, 
 which seems probable at our present rate of no-progress. 
 He is a very good man for the post of Commander-in- 
 Chief, as he has had great experience in India and else- 
 where, and that, recent experience. Mansfield comes out 
 with him as chief of the staff, with the rank of Major- 
 General. 
 
 31st. — I have little public news for you ; all is ex- 
 pected here. The siege train will be in by the 3d or 
 4th, I fancy, and then I trust there will be no more 
 waiting. 
 
 The letters from Agra show that a much greater and 
 more formidable amount of insurrection exists than we 
 were prepared to believe. Large bodies of insurgents 
 have collected in different places all over the country, all 
 well supplied with arms and guns. These are under the 
 orders of different Nawabs, Rajahs, and big men, who 
 think that now is their time for rule. None of these will 
 be formidable as soon as the army is disposed of, but for 
 a long time to come we shall have marching and fighting, 
 punishing and dispersing, and it is to be expected that 
 bodies of the fugitives from Delhi will joip the standards 
 of these insurgent leaders, and give us trouble here and ■ 
 there. The fall of Delhi will not be the end, but rather 
 the beginning of a new campaign in the field ; but the 
 very day the active portion of the work is over, I shall 
 ask to go to some good station, and organize and disci- 
 pline my regiment, and get it properly equipped, and fit 
 for service. At present it is merely an aggregation 
 of untutored horsemen, ill-equipped, half clothed, badly 
 
318 RAISING REGIMENT FOR SERVICE. 
 
 provided with everything, quite unfit for service in the 
 usual sense of the term, and only forced into the field 
 because I liave willed that it shaU be so ; but it would 
 take six months' constant work to fit it properly for ser- 
 vice. Generally when a regiment is raised, it is left 
 quietly at one station until the commanding officer reports 
 it " fit for service," and it has been inspected and re- 
 ported upon by a general officer, when it is brought " on 
 duty " by order of the Commander-in-Chief. My idea 
 of being able to raise a regiment when in the field, and 
 on actual, and very active service, was ridiculed and 
 pooh-poohed, but I stuck to it that it could be done, and 
 General Anson was only too willing I should try, hitherto 
 with success, and with the considerable gain, to an army 
 deficient in cavalry, of having a good body of horsemen 
 brought at once on duty in the field. How long it may 
 be before I am able to get to a quiet station for the pur- 
 pose required, it is impossible to foresee. I shall try to 
 get sent to Umbala, or as near the Punjaub as possible, 
 because my men are all drawn from thence, and it will 
 be easier to recruit, than at a greater distance from Sikh- 
 land. I have got six full troops, and another is on its 
 way down. 
 
 September \st. — This is muster-day, and a very busy 
 one to me, but I have written a minute letter to go by 
 Kossid to Agra once more. The poor wretch who took 
 my last was murdered on the road, so of course, the letter 
 never reached Agra. The dak by Meerut is again sus- 
 pended, so we can only send by Kossid. I have to-day 
 got a new subaltern, a Mr. Baker, of the late 60th Native 
 Infantry, and a doctor, so we are seven in all. I could 
 not succeed in getting Dr. Charles just yet, but hope to 
 do so eventually. Little Nusrut Jung has been allowed 
 
" HODSON'S HORSE." 319 
 
 to come to me from the Guides, and I have made him a 
 joinadar at once. It is astonishing how well he reads and 
 remembers English. The Testament you gave him is his 
 constant companion, he tells me, and he is as interested 
 as ever in the history of " our wonderful prophet." The 
 Persians are certainly a very intelligent race, this one 
 particularly so, and the seeds you have sown will surely 
 bring forth fruit to his eternal benefit hereafter. More 
 than half the Guides want to come to my new corps, but 
 this is of course out of the question. I am sending for 
 Heratees and Candaharees, the farther from Hindostan 
 the better. Mr. Ricketts, too, is collecting men from his 
 district. I have at present 200 spare horses, but as I am 
 to raise 1,200 or 1,400 men, I fear mounting them will be 
 a diflSculty ; it is very diiBcult to work in a camp on ser- 
 vice where so little can be got or bought. Here come 
 more news-letters from the city, and myriads of notes, 
 besides post-time and parade, all at once ! I shall be 
 glad when Delhi falls, and I cease to be Times, Morning 
 Ghronick, and Post, all in one ! * 
 
 2rf. — ..." Hodson's Horse " made a very respectable 
 show indeed last evening, when paraded all together for 
 the first time, and I was much complimented on my suc- 
 cess ; there are some in the last batch from Lahore whom 
 I shall ultimately get rid of, wild low-caste fellows, and 
 they did not behave very well the other day at the Ravee 
 with Nicholson ; but, taken altogether, I am very well 
 satisfied, and trust they will eventually turn out well, and 
 do credit to the hard work I have with them. Colonel 
 Seaton is better, — i. e., his wound is healed, — but he 
 suffers much pain from the tender state of the scarce 
 
 * Referring to his charge of the Intelligence Department. 
 
320 SICKNESS IN CAMP. 
 
 united muscles when he moves. The weather is very 
 trying just now, and very unhealthy. Poor Macdowell 
 is unwell, and I fear he will have to go away sick ; he is 
 far from strong, which is his only fault, poor boy. I like 
 him increasingly, he is a thorough gentleman. For my- 
 self, I am wonderfully well, that is, as well as most in 
 camp, though somewhat pulled down by heat, fatigue, 
 and dysentery, and I am literally one of the " lean kine." 
 All is quite quiet here ; only a few occasional shots from 
 the batteries. The Pandias are quarrelling among them- 
 selves, and are without money ; they cannot hold together 
 much longer, and I fear will break up if we do not speed- 
 ily take the place. Only a chosen band (!) will rally 
 round the King, who, after all, is but a name, for his vil- 
 lanous sons are the real leaders. The train is to be here 
 to-morrow or next day, and 56 guns are to open on the 
 walls at once. We hear that Captain Peel, of Crimean 
 celebrity, is on his way up to Allahabad, with a naval 
 brigade and some sixty-eight pounders from his ship The 
 Shannon. Glorious, this. Surely with the brave little 
 army which has withstood all (and none but ourselves 
 can know what that " all " comprises) the trials of these 
 last months, and our own brave " tars," we shall speedily 
 conquer this rebellious city, and make the last of the 
 house of Timur " eat dirt." 
 
 September 3d. — Nothing is going on here of public 
 importance, and everything is stagnant, save the hand of 
 the destroying angel of sickness ; we have at this moment 
 2,500 in hospital, of whom 1,100 are Europeans, out of 
 a total of 5,000 men (Europeans), and yet our General 
 waits and waits for this and that arrival, forgetful that 
 each succeeding day diminishes his force by more than 
 the strength of the expected driblets. He talks now of 
 
OBJECTIONS TO PUBLISHING. 321 
 
 awaiting the arrival of three weak regiments of Ghoo- 
 lab Singh's force under Richard Lawrence, who are 
 marching from UmbS.la. Before they arrive, if the Gen- 
 eral really does wait for them, we shall have an equiva- 
 lent to their numbers sickened and dying from the delay 
 in this plague spot. " Delhi in September " is proverbial, 
 and this year we seem likely to realize its full horrors. 
 The train will be here to-morrow or next day, and I hope 
 our General will not lose a day after that. He is a good 
 artillery officer, with an undue estimate of his own arm 
 of the service. He seems to realize the old saying, that 
 officers of a " special arm," such as artillery and engi- 
 neers, do not make generals. Wilson, for instance, looks 
 upon guns as engines capable mathematically of perform- 
 ing perfect results, and acts as cautiously as if in practice 
 such results were ever attained by Asiatic gunners, for- 
 getting all our glorious Indian annals, all the experience 
 of a British army, and hesitating before an Indian foe ! 
 I never hear these old gentlemen talk without thinking 
 of Sir Charles Napier's remarks on the Duke's comments 
 on " Colonel Monson's retreat," and the heroic way in 
 which he had read and profited by the lesson. 
 
 As to the extracts from my letters which Mr. B 
 
 has asked for, I must decidedly refuse ; even supposing 
 them to be of the importance which he professes to con- 
 sider them, there is a vast distinction between my pub- 
 lishing, or allowing to be published, my letters, and 
 letting my friends read or make use of them. I am per- 
 fectly at liberty to write and speak freely to my friends, 
 and they may show such parts of my letters as they think 
 fit, to men in power and in Parliament; and these may 
 again make use, in debate or in council, of knowledge 
 thus gained, and details thus imparted, which would be 
 
 14* 
 
322 HARD-WORKED. 
 
 otherwise beyond their reach. All this is right, fair, and 
 of every-day occurrence ; but I myself, as a military offi- 
 cer, have no right to publish, or permit to be published, 
 comments written, in the freedom of private correspond- 
 ence, on my superiors, their acts, and proceedings. 
 
 I have not the smallest objection to any of our friends 
 seeing my written opinions, provided they know them to 
 be extracted from private letters, and never intended for 
 publication. I have no objection to Lord William Hay 
 sending a copy, if he chooses, to Lord Dalhousie, or Lord 
 Ellenborough himself even ; but I cannot give permission 
 to any one to publish what would be so injurious to my 
 interests. Tou will think I have grown strangely worldly- 
 wise ; but have I not had bitter experience ? 
 
 September 4th. — There is nothing to tell of public 
 news, and even if there were I have no time to tell it, 
 for I am very busy and hard-worked, and only too thank- 
 ful to get a few minutes to say I am cafe and well. I 
 have never written of public matters except as regarded 
 myself As to the stories about me at Rohtuck, the 
 papers have repeatedly published the true as well as the 
 false version of the tale, — even the Lahore Chronicle 
 got it pretty correctly ; and after all, it is of very little 
 consequence what the papers say as long as the correct 
 version goes to Government and my friends. I sincerely 
 trust we shall be in Delh' before the 15th. 
 
 September 5th. — Poor Macdowell has had a bad attack 
 of fever, which has brought him very low. He will have 
 to go to the hills, I very much fear. The amount of 
 sickness is terrible ; we have 2,500 men in hospital, and 
 numbers of officers besides. Another of the 61st, Mr. 
 Tyler, died of cholera to-day. I would give a great deal 
 to get away, if but for a week, but I must go where I 
 
HOME. 323 
 
 can do most towards avenging the past, and securing our 
 common safety for the future. No arrangements are 
 making for any movements after the capture of Delhi ; 
 we sadly want a head over us. 
 
 September 6th. — To-night I believe the engineers are 
 really to begin work constructing batteries, so that in two 
 or three days Delhi ought to be taken. If General Wil- 
 son delays now, he will have nothing left to take ; aU the 
 Sepoys will be off to their homes, or into Rohilcund, or 
 into Gwalior. News from Cawnpore to 25th August has 
 been received. Up to that date Lucknow was safe, but 
 with only fifteen days' provisions left ; and apparently no 
 vigorous measures being taken to relieve the place. 
 Havelock has not enough men, he says ; and report adds 
 that the Governor- General has forbidden other regiments 
 to move on, wishing to keep them at Benares to cover 
 Calcutta. This appears incredible. The Sepoys in 
 Delhi are in hourly expectation of our attack, and the 
 cavalry keep their horses saddled night and day, ready to 
 bolt at a moment's notice, — so say the news-letters. I 
 suspect that, the moment we make an attack in earnest-, 
 the rebel force will disappear. Of public news I have 
 none beyond this, and I am still, like every one else, in 
 the dark as to what we do after Delhi is taken, or where 
 and when we go. If the campaign lasts very long I shaU 
 be forced to go home next year, for even my health will 
 not stand against many more months of wear and tear 
 like the last. Yet who can say what even a day may 
 bring forth, or can venture to make plans for a future 
 year, after the experiences of the last ? God's merciful 
 providence has hitherto preserved me most wonderfully 
 from myriads of no common dangers, and I humbly pray 
 that I may be spared to see my home, and those who 
 
324 ATTACK ON LUCKNOW. 
 
 make home so dear, once more. Home, altered and 
 bereaved as it is since I left it, still holds the precious 
 sisters and brothers of the past, and the bright new gen- 
 eration with whom I long to make acquaintance. 
 
 September 1th. — News has just been received up to 
 the 27th from Cawnpore : the garrison in Lucknow had 
 been attacked by the enemy in vast numbers, headed by 
 a lot of " Ghazees." They were repulsed with such 
 severe loss that the enemy would not venture to try that 
 game again, were the siege to be protracted for two 
 years ; they say 150 Ghazees, and between 400 and 500 
 Sepoys were killed. Colonel Otter was appointed com- 
 mandant of Allahabad, at which I rejoice, for he will 
 " come out strong " whenever he has a chance. One of 
 our batteries was armed (i. e., guns put into it) last 
 night, and the bigger one will be made to-night ; so that 
 by the 9th I trust Delhi will be ours. 
 
 September 8th. — To-day two new batteries, constructed 
 during the night for the heavy guns, opened on the walls 
 and bastions of the city, and the cannonade on both sides 
 tas been very heavy ; to-morrow other batteries will be 
 ready, and on the following day fifty guns, I trust, will 
 be at work on the doomed city. Very little loss was 
 experienced during the night, only two men being hit ; 
 and the casualties to-day have been surprisingly few. 
 I cannot believe there will be any serious resistance 
 when once the enemy's guns are silenced. There is at 
 present nothing to lead one to suppose that the enemy 
 have any intention of fighting it out in the city, after we 
 have entered the breach. All, I fancy, who can, will be 
 off as soon as we are within the walls. The General has 
 not decided yet on the operations which are to succeed 
 Delhi ; he says he shall send a strong column in pursuit. 
 
SIR COLIN CAMPBELL IN CALCUTTA. 325 
 
 which I hope will be under Nicholson, but he has not 
 settled who is to go, or who to stay. I trust I may be 
 among the pursuers. I am constantly interrupted by 
 business, and the necessity of watching the enemy, lest 
 any attempt should be made to turn our flank while we 
 are busied with the batteries in front. For myself, I am 
 not necessarily much exposed to fire, except every now 
 and then ; I never run into danger unless obliged to do 
 so for some rightful purpose, and where duty and honor 
 call. 
 
 Sept. 9th. — ... To descend to life's hard struggle ; 
 our guns are blazing away, but only in partial numbers 
 as yet, the work having been necessarily distributed over 
 two nights instead of one. The garrison at Lucknow is 
 all well, and likely to continue so, for they have plenty 
 of wheat, though no European supplies. However, 
 British soldiers have worked and fought on bread and 
 water ere now, and will do it again ; and I have no doubt 
 the gallant 32d will keep up their spirit and their fame. 
 Reinforcements were reaching Cawnpore, and Sir J. 
 Outrara was on his way up with 1,500 more soldiers and 
 some artillery. Cholera, their worst enemy, had disap- 
 peared, and their communication with Calcutta was quite 
 open. Sir Colin had reached Calcutta, and taken com- 
 mand of the army. I do hope he will come up country 
 at once, and Colonel Napier with him. Poor Alfred 
 Light, after five weeks' severe illness, leaves to-night for 
 the hills, to save his life. Hay has been written to, to 
 take him in ; if he cannot, I am sure you will do so. 
 Poor fellow ! I have a real regard for him, and it is a 
 terrible disappointment that he cannot be at the actual 
 taking of Delhi, having been so long before the walls. 
 Sickness is terribly on the increase, and Wilson talks of 
 
326 TRENCHES. 
 
 getting into Delhi on the 2l8t. If the sickness does in- 
 crease he wont have a sound man left by the 21st. 
 
 I was up till 2 A. M. in the trenches, examining the 
 work, and helping what little I could,* and almost ever 
 since I have been on horseback, and a terrible hot day it 
 has been in all ways. Some of the enemy's horse came 
 out and began to poach on our preserves, and I had to go 
 after them ; they are such essential cowards that it is im- 
 possible to bring them to a regular fight ; they will not 
 come from within reach of their shelter, running off at 
 once to cover, where it would be madness to go after 
 them. The new batteries did not begin to-day, after all ; 
 they were not quite ready, and the engineers would not 
 let them open fire. ... I am very much pleased 
 with 's letter, and rejoice that he is out on an ex- 
 pedition; the change of air will do him good after that 
 frightful cholera. His story t of the soldier might be 
 matched by many a rough compliment I get from the 
 men of the 1st Fusileers ; the most genuine perhaps, cer- 
 tainly the most grateful to my feelings, of any I receive ; 
 a soldier is generally the best and shrewdest judge of an 
 officer's qualifications. 
 
 September Wth. — There is no public news, except that 
 the batteries are working away at the walls ; but our en- 
 
 * An artillery officer told me of ray brother, that even when he 
 might have taken rest he would not : but instead, wotild go and help 
 work at the batteries, and exposed himself constantly in order to re- 
 lieve some fainting gunner or wounded man. — Ed. 
 
 t The story referred to was told by an officer : visiting the sick in 
 hospital in the fort at Agra, he asked a man, severely wounded, whether 
 he could do anything for him. " Oh yes, sir," was the answer, " if yon 
 would be so good as to read us anything in the papers about that Cap- 
 tain Hodson; he's always doing something to make us proud of our 
 country, and of belonging to the same service as that noble fellow ; it 
 makes one forget the pain." 
 
UNHEALTHY SPOT. 327 
 
 gineers have failed terribly in their estimate of the time 
 required for the works, and all the batteries are even yet 
 not finished. It is now, however, only a question of days, 
 one or two more or less, and Delhi must be ours. I shall 
 be very thankful to get away from here. I look upon 
 this as the very worst climate I liave ever been in, and 
 another month would make us all ill. Another of my 
 officers, Captain Ward, is very ill, and two more are ail- 
 ing. Macdowell, I am thankful to say, is a little better. 
 The natives, too, are very sick, and a large number are 
 in hospital ; in short, we want to be in Delhi. 
 
 September 12M. — I was interrupted in the midst of my 
 pen-work this morning by an alarm (which proved to be 
 a false one) of an attack of cavalry on our rear ; it turned 
 us all out, and kept me in the saddle till now, 5 p. m., so 
 I can only say I am safe and unhurt. I trust in three 
 days Delhi will be ours. I fancy my share in the assault 
 will be one of duty rather than of danger. The cavalry 
 have but small work on these occasions. I cannot yet 
 tell what will occur after the capture. I fancy a column 
 under Nicholson will be pushed on to Agra or Cawnpore, 
 and I hope my regiment will be of the party. 
 
 September \ith. — I find I am to accompany Nichol- 
 son's column at his own request, but where we are to go 
 is unknown ; whether in pursuit of the rebels who are 
 fast evacuating Delhi, or towards Agra, we know not ; 
 Nicholson strongly urges the former. I am very glad for 
 my own sake that I am to go on, for this place is dread- 
 fully unhealthy, and I feel that I shall certainly be ill if I 
 remain here much longer. In fact, I had made up my 
 mind not to remain if possible, and when Nicholson urged 
 my going on with him I was only too ready to second the 
 motion, for I am able to work and to fight, and I must do 
 
328 THE ASSAULT. 
 
 SO as long as I can. Some of the Gwalior troops have 
 crossed the Churabul River, and are supposed to b(^ 
 threatening Agra. However, the fall of Delhi will make 
 every difference in their proceedings, and show them that 
 we can do something, though so late ; we are looking for- 
 ward to a little " active service " to-morrow ; may God 
 grant success to our arms, and safety to our brave band 
 as much as may be. 
 
 September 15th. — I was totally unable to leave the 
 field yesterday until dark, and long after post-time, but I 
 ascertained that a telegraphic message was sent to Simla, 
 I sent one up as soon as possible, for transmission to you 
 through Lord W. Hay, but Colonel Becher had fore- 
 stalled me. . . . The breaches made by our artillery 
 were successfiilly stormed early in the morning, with but 
 little loss then ; our loss, subsequently, however, I grieve 
 to say, was most distressing," and that, in attempting un- 
 successfully the capture of the Puhareepore and Kishen- 
 gunge suburbs. The whole extent of our loss is not 
 yet known, but that already ascertained is grievous to a 
 degree. First, poor Nicholson most dangerously wound- 
 ed, at a time, too, when his services were beyond expres- 
 sion valuable.* The 1st European Bengal Fusileers was 
 
 * The following account of the assault, by an oflBcer of the 1st 
 European Bengal Fusileers, will supply many particulars of inter- 
 est; — 
 
 " At 2 o'clock A. M. we formed in front of our camp 250 strong, and 
 marched down to Ludlow Castle, which we reached about daybreak. 
 There we paused some time to receive our ladders, and advanced at 
 sunrise to the assault. Every man felt this day would repay him for 
 four months of liard knocks, and that we should give the murderous 
 ruffians a wholesome lesson, and teach them that a hand-to-hand 
 strugde with armed men was quite another aifair to one with defence- 
 less women and children. We cross the glacis, the fire is hot; de- 
 scend and reascend the ditch, mount the berme and escalade. Hark ! 
 
ACCOUNT OF THE ASSAULT. 329 
 
 the most tried, and suffered out of all proportion, save in 
 the especial case of the Engineers, of whom ten, out 
 of the seventeen engaged, have been killed or wounded. 
 
 what noise is that ? not the Sepoy's war-cry ' Bum, Bum ram, ram, 
 Oh King' for which yon are intently listening; but the wild, thrilling 
 cheer of the British, which announces to friend and foe that the ram- 
 parts are won. We descend and meet in the Cashmere Bastion, and 
 are astonished at our rapid success. A general shaking of hands 
 takes place. ' Oh, General, is that you ? ' ' Paddy, my boy, how are 
 you ? ' these and such like greetings take place, whilst the different 
 regiments form. We moved out rapidly and stormed the church and 
 adjacent buildings, and killed a number of Sepoys as they retreated 
 from the Water Bastion. After this, we proceeded round the ram- 
 parts to our right without very much opposition, and halted at the 
 Cabul Gate for some time ; again the word was forward, and in lead- 
 ing on the men, my glorious friend George Jacob was mortally wound- 
 ed J he, poor fellow, was shot in the thigh, and died that night. As 
 he lay writhing in his agony on the ground, unable to stand, two or 
 three men went tfi take him to the rear, but a sense of duty was supe- 
 rior to bodily pain, and he refused their aid, desiring them to go on 
 and take the guns. Twice did the enemy repulse us from this strong 
 position, our third attempt was successful, but two guns hardly repaid 
 as for our loss. ' Sergeant .Jordan,' I said, ' spike that gun on the 
 rampart.' ' I can't, sir, I've no spikes.' ' Then take a ramrod, break 
 it in, and throw it down to me ; ' and I spiked the other gun in the 
 same way. The enemy eventually retook this position, but found 
 only useless guns. A little in advance, the enemy had a gun and 
 bullet-proof breastwork, behind which they fired on us with impunity. 
 This was on the rampart, and we were in a narrow lane about twelve 
 feet below, where not more than four men could go abreast. In one 
 charge, Nicholson, our best and bravest, was struck down. Speke, 
 gentle everywhere but in the field, was mortally wounded, and I, in 
 re-forming the regiment for a renewed attempt, was shot through the 
 right shoulder, which will prevent my being bumptious for some 
 time; out of our small party, seven officers and many, very many 
 men had fallen. It was felt to be madness to continue the struggle 
 where the enemy had all the advantage, and the troops were with- 
 drawn to the Cabul Gate, but the British and Sikh soldiers had done 
 their work, they had opened the road for our unrivalled artillery to 
 bring in their guns, and in six days they cleared the city with very 
 trifling loss on our side." 
 
330 KILLED AND WOUNDED. 
 
 Chesney and Hovenden among the latter, though not 
 badly. Of the Fusileers, poor Jacob was mortally wound- 
 ed, since dead, I grieve to say ; Greville, badly ; Owen, se- 
 verely; Wemyss and Lambert, slightly; Butler, knocked 
 down and stunned ; F. Brown and Wamer, both grazed. 
 Of oflScers attached to the regiment, Captain Mac Bamett 
 was killed ; Stafford, wounded ; Speke, mortally so ; what 
 a frightful list! Besides this. Captain Boisragon was 
 wounded badly, with the Kumaon battalion ; so that, of 
 the officers of the 1st Fusileers engaged yesterday, only 
 Wriford, Wallace, and myself, escaped untouched. My 
 preservation (I do not like the word escape) was mirac- 
 ulous. For more than two hours we had to sit on our 
 horses under the heaviest fire troops are often exposed to, 
 and that, too, without the chance of doing anything but 
 preventing the enemy coming on. Brigadier Hope Grant 
 commanded, and while I doubt his judgment in taking 
 cavalry into such a position, I admit that it was impossi- 
 ble for any man to take troops under a hotter fire, keep 
 them there more steadily, or exhibit a more cool and 
 determined bravery than he did. My young regiment 
 behaved admirably, as did all hands. The loss of the 
 party was of course very severe. Of Tombs's troop 
 alone, twenty-five men (out of fifty) and seventeen horses 
 were hit. The brigadier and four officers composing his 
 staiF all had their horses killed, and two of the five were 
 wounded. The brigadier himself was hit by a spent shot ; 
 Tombs escaped, 1 am delighted to say, from a similar 
 spent ball. Our success on the whole was hardly what it 
 should have been, considering the sacrifice, but the great 
 end of getting into Delhi was attained. About one third 
 of the city is in our power, and the remainder will shortly 
 follow, but that third has cost us between 600 and 700 
 
MACDOWELL'S LETTER. 331 
 
 killed and wounded.* I am most humbly and heartily 
 grateful to a merciful Providence that I was spared. 
 May the Grod of battles continue His gracious protection 
 to the end, and enable me once more to be reunited to all 
 most precious to me on earth. 
 
 Letter from Lieutenant Macdowell, 2d in command 
 Hodson's Horse. 
 
 " Delhi. 
 
 " On the night of the 13th September, final prepara- 
 tions were made for the assault on the city. Brigadiers 
 and commanding officers (our little army boasts of no 
 generals of divisions) were summoned to the General's 
 tent, and then received their instructions. At 1 o'clock 
 A. M. on the 14th, the men all turned out silently, no 
 bugles or trumpets sounding, and moved down in silence 
 to the trenches. The batteries all this time kept up an 
 unceasing fire on the city, which responded to it as usual. 
 On arriving at the trenches the troops lay down, awaiting 
 the signal, which was to be given at daybreak, and which 
 was to be the blowing in of the Cashmere Gate, towards 
 which a party of Engineers and Sappers moved off at 
 about 3 A. M. The assault was to be made in three col- 
 umns : the first was to blow open the Cashmere Gate, the 
 second to escalade the Water Bastion, and the third to 
 escalade the Moree Bastion, both of which had been pro- 
 nounced practicable. As I was with the cavalry all the 
 time, I saw nothing of the storming, but it is sufficient to 
 say it succeeded on every point, and by 8 a. m. we were 
 inside the walls, and held all their outworks. 
 
 " Now began the difficulty, as from the small force we 
 * 66 officers, 1,104 men, was the official return. 
 
332 DETAILS OF THE FALL OF DELHI. 
 
 had, it was very hard work to drive a large body of men 
 out of such a city as Delhi. It took four days to accom- 
 plish, but at length, on the morning of the 20th, the flag 
 of Old England floated gracefully out over the palace of 
 the Great Mogul. And now for what we (the cavalry) 
 did. At 3 A. M.* we moved down in column of squad- 
 rons to the rear of our batteries, and waited there till 
 about 5 A. M., when the enemy advanced from the Lahore 
 Gate with two troops of artillery, no end of cavalry, and 
 a lot of infantry, apparently to our front. I think they 
 intended to try and take our old position now that we had 
 got theirs. In an instant horse artillery and cavalry 
 were ordered to the front, and we went there at the gal- 
 lop, bang through our own batteries, the gunners cheering 
 us as we leapt over the sand-bags, &c., and halted under 
 the Moree Bastion, under as heavy a fire of round shot, 
 grape, and canister, as I have ever been under in my 
 life. Our artillery dashed to the front, unlimbered, and 
 opened upon the enemy, and at it they both went ' ham- 
 mer and tongs.' Now you must understand we had no 
 infantry with us. All the infantry were fighting in the 
 city. They sent out large bodies of infantry and cavalry 
 against us, and then began the fire of musketry. It was 
 tremendous. There we were (9th Lancers, 1st, 2d, 4th 
 Sikhs, Guide Cavalry, and Hodson's Horse) protecting 
 the Artillery, who were threatened by their infantry and 
 cavalry. And fancy what a pleasant position we were 
 in, under this infernal fire, and never returning a shot. 
 Our artillery blazed away, of course, but we had to sit 
 in our saddles and be knocked over. However, I am 
 happy to say we saved the guns. The front we kept was 
 so steady as to keep them back until some of the Guide 
 * On the 16th. 
 
CAVALRY UNDER FIRE. 333 
 
 infantry came down and went at them. I have been in a 
 good many fights now, but always under such a heavy 
 fire as this with my own regiment, and then there is al- 
 ways excitement, cheering on your men, who are replying 
 to the enemy's fire ; but here we were in front of a lot of 
 gardens perfectly impracticable for cavalry, under a fire 
 of musketry which I have seldom seen equalled, the 
 enemy quite concealed, and here we had to sit for three 
 hours. Had we retired, they would at once have taken 
 our guns. Had the guns retired with us, we should have 
 lost the position. No infantry could be spared to assist 
 us, so we had to sit there. Men and horses were knocked 
 over every minute. We suffered terribly. With my usual 
 good luck I was never touched. Well, all things must 
 have an end. Some infantry came down and cleared the 
 gardens in our front, and as their cavalry never showed, 
 and we had no opportunity of charging, we fell back, and 
 (the fire being over in that quarter) halted and dis- 
 mounted.* AU this time hard fighting was going on in 
 the city. The next day, and up to the morning of the 
 19th, we did nothing (I am now speaking exclusively of 
 the cavalry brigade) but form in line on the top of the 
 ridge, ready to pursue the enemy should they turn out of 
 the city in force." t 
 
 * One of the officers present on this occasion, speaking of it in a 
 letter to his wife, says, " I found time, however, for admiration of 
 Hodson, who sat like a man carved in stone, and as calm and appar- 
 ently as unconcerned as the sentries at the Horse Guards, and only by 
 his eyes and his ready hand, whenever occasion offered, could you 
 have told that he was in deadly peril, and the balls flying amongst us 
 as thick as hail." 
 
 t Extract from (he Despatch of Brigadier Hope Gkakt, Commanding 
 Cavalry DivisuM. 
 " Head-Quarters, Delhi, Sept. 17th, 1857. 
 
 " The behavior of the Native Cavalry was also admirable. Noth- 
 
334 HEAVY LOSS. 
 
 September \&th. — I have just returned from a very 
 long and terribly hot ride of some hours to ascertain the 
 movements, position, and line of retreat of the enemy, 
 and I can do no more than report my safety. I grieve 
 much for poor Major Jacob, we buried him and three 
 sergeants of the regiment last night ; he was a noble 
 soldier. His death has made me a captain, the long 
 wished-for goal ; but I would rather have served on as 
 a subaltern than gained promotion thus. Greville and 
 Owen are doing well, but I much fear there is no hope 
 for poor Nicholson ; his is a cruel wound, and his loss 
 would be a material calamity. You may count our real 
 officers on your fingers now — men, I mean, really worthy 
 the name. General Wilson is fairly broken down by 
 fatigue and anxiety, he cannot stand on his legs to-day ; 
 fortunately. Chamberlain is well enough to go down and 
 keep him straight ; and Colonel Seaton also, — two good 
 men, if he will be led by them. All is going on well ; 
 the magazine was carried by storm this morning, with 
 nominal loss, and our guns are knocking the fort and 
 palace about. All the suburbs have been evacuated or 
 taken. I have just ridden through them, and all the 
 enemy's heavy guns have been brought into camp. In 
 forty-eight hours the whole city, I think, with its seven 
 miles of enceinte, will be ours ; our loss has been very 
 heavy : 46 officers killed and wounded, 200 men killed, 
 and 700 or 800 wounded. 
 
 September \lth. — All is going on well, though slowly ; 
 the Sepoys still occupy a portion of the city, and are 
 being gradually driven backwards, while the palace and 
 
 ing could be steadier, nothing more soldierlike, than their bearing. 
 Lieutenant Hodson commanded a corps raised by himself, and he is a 
 first-rate officer, brave, determined, and clear-headed." 
 
SLOW PROGRESS IN THE CITY. 335 
 
 fort are continually played upon by shell and shot ; not 
 above 3,000 or 4,000 of the rebel troops remain in the 
 city. Head-quarters are there, and I am going down 
 immediately to take up my quarters with the staff. I 
 expect to-morrow will see the last of it, but there is no 
 calculating with anything like certainty on the proceedings 
 of these unreasoning wretches. I am thankful to say 
 Nicholson is a little better to-day, and there appears some 
 hope of his recovery, though a very slight one. Mr. 
 Colvin is dead : another celebrity taken away in this 
 time of trial. The home mail of the 10th of August 
 has arrived, but brought no letters for me as yet, but very 
 few have arrived in all. The Government at home seem 
 at last awaking to a sense of the importance of this crisis 
 in Indian affairs. 
 
 September 18<A. — There is nothing worth speaking of 
 doing here. We are still shelling the fort and palace, 
 but as slowly, alas, as possible. I am writing in great 
 haste, in order to go down and see my " intelligence " 
 people. Some of the enemy are trying negotiation. I 
 only hope they may find it is too late, and that we may 
 pursue and destroy the wretches whom we have to thank 
 for so much barbarity and bloodshed. 
 
 September 19M. — We are making slow progress in 
 the city. TTie fact is, the troops are utterly demoralized 
 by hard work and hard drink, I grieve to say. For the 
 first time in my life I have had to see English soldiers 
 refuse repeatedly to follow their officers. Greville, Jacob, 
 Nicholson, and Speke were all sacrificed to this. We 
 were out with all the cavalry this morning on a recon- 
 naissance, or rather demonstration, for some miles, and 
 got a wetting for our pains ; however, rain at this season 
 is too grateful to be complained of. 
 
336 CAPTURE OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. 
 
 September 20th. — I have been much shocked (even fa- 
 miliar as I have become with death)' by poor Greathed's * 
 sudden death yesterday from cholera ; the strongest and 
 healthiest man in camp snatched away after a few hours' 
 illness. Sir T. Metcalfe also is very iU with the same 
 cruel disease ; what a harvest of death there has been 
 during the past four months, as if war was not sufficiently 
 full of horrors. The rebels have fled from the city in 
 thousands, and it is all but empty ; only the palace is still 
 occupied, and that we hope to get hold of immediately, 
 and so this horribly protracted siege wiU be at an end at 
 last, thank God. None but those who fought through the 
 first six weeks of the campaign know on what a thread 
 our lives and the safety of the Empire hung, or can ap- 
 preciate the sufferings and exertions of those days of 
 watchfulness and combat, of fearful heat and exhaustion, 
 of trial and danger. I look back on them with a feeling 
 of almost doubt whether they were real or only a foul 
 dream. This day will be a memorable one in the annals 
 of the Empire ; the restoration of British rule in the East 
 dates from the 20th September, 1857. 
 
 In the Rotal Palace Delhi, September 22d. — 
 I was quite unable to write yesterday, having had a hard 
 day's work. I was fortunate enough to capture the King 
 and his favorite wife. To-day, more fortunate still, I 
 have seized and destroyed the Bang's two sons and a 
 grandson (the famous, or rather infamous, Abu Bukr), 
 the villains who ordered the massacre of our women and 
 children, and stood by and witnessed the foul barbarity ; 
 their bodies are now lying on the spot where those of the 
 unfortunate ladies were exposed. I am very tired, but 
 very much satisfied with my day's work, and so seem all 
 * flervey H. Greathed, Commissioner and Political Agent. 
 
GENERAL WILSON'S DESPATCH. 337 
 
 hands. We were to have accompanied the movable 
 column, but to-day it is counter-ordered, and we remain 
 here.* 
 
 September 23d. — When shall I have time to write 
 really a letter ? It seems as if I were each day doomed 
 to fresh labor and worry, and I long to shake off the 
 whole coil, and go where I can find repose and peace. 
 Fortunately, my health stands the wear and tear, and 
 as my success has been great I must not grumble. . . . 
 I came to camp this morning to see after the march of a 
 detachment of my regiment which is ordered, after half 
 a dozen changes, to accompany a movable column which 
 is ordered to proceed towards Agra to-morrow. I am to 
 remain here, and to tell the truth, the business is so mis- 
 managed that I have ceased to care whether I go or stay. 
 I fancy they find me too useful here. We move down 
 bodily to or near the town to-morrow, and everything is 
 in confusion and bustle. 
 
 September 24th. — Brigadier Grant, like dear Sir 
 Henry Lawrence, (though both married men themselves,) 
 says that soldiers have no business to marry ; under the 
 idea that anxiety for their wives' welfare and safety often 
 induces men to hesitate to run risks which they would 
 otherwise cheerfully undergo. I, on a less selfish princi- 
 ple, question very much whether men have any right to 
 
 * Extract from the Despatches of General Wilsos on the Fall of 
 Delhi. 
 
 " Delhi, Sept. i2d, 1857. 
 
 " I beg also to bring very favorably to notice the officers of the 
 Quartermaster-General's Department, . . . and Captain Hodson, 
 who has performed such good and gallant service with his newly 
 raised regiment of Irregular Horse, and at the same time conducted 
 the duties of the Intelligence Depnrtment, under the orders of the 
 Quartermaster-General, with rare ability and success." 
 15 
 
338 CAVALRY '■ DEMONSTEATION." 
 
 expose their wives to such misery and anxiety as daring 
 the last few months have fallen to the lot of so many ; 
 and yet it seems hard to say that soldiers, who have so 
 much to endui-e at times for the sake of others and of 
 their common country, should be denied the happiness of 
 married life, because times of danger will sometimes oc- 
 cur, and certain I am that the love of a noble-hearted 
 woman nerves one's arm to daring and to honor. Happy, 
 however, is the woman whose husband is not a soldier. 
 Really the rumors which travel about are too 
 ludicrous, though hardly more so than those which take 
 rise and are actually believed in camp. 
 
 The true account of the cavalry " demonstration " is 
 this : on the morning on which the city and palace were 
 finally evacuated (19th), the whole of the available caval- 
 ry (not otherwise employed) moved out through the sub- 
 urbs in the direction of, though not on the road to, the 
 Kootub, but with strict orders not to go under fire ! Well, 
 we all marched out to the top of the hill on which stands 
 the " Eedgah," and thence, from a safe and respectful 
 distance, overlooked the camp of the Bareilly and Nus- 
 seerabad force, under " General " Bukt Khan, quondam 
 Subadar of artillery. While minutely examining the 
 camp through my glass (I was with Brigadier Hope 
 Grant, to show the way), I perceived, by unmistakable 
 signs, that it was being evacuated. Shortly after a loud 
 explosion showed that they were blowing up their ammu- 
 nition i)revious to a flight ; these signs were on the mo- 
 ment confirmed by the arrival of my " Hurkaras " (mes- 
 sengers), and I immediately got leave to go and tell the 
 General. I did so, galloping down along the front of the 
 city to see if that was quite clear. I then asked leave to 
 go down through the camp, and see what was really the 
 
PURSUIT OF THE PRINCES. 339 
 
 State of the case ; and Macdowell and I started with 
 seventy-five men, and rode at a gallop right round the 
 city to the Delhi gate, clearing the roads of plunderers 
 and suspicious-looking objects as we went. We found the 
 camp as I had been told, empty, and the Delhi gate open ; 
 we were there at 11a. m. at latest, and it was not until 
 2 p. M. that the order was given for the cavalry to move 
 out, and they were so long about it, that when at sunset 
 Macdowell and I were returning, (bringing away three 
 guns left by the enemy, and having made arrangements 
 and collected camels for bringing in the empty tents. &c.,) 
 we met the advance-guard coming slowly forward in 
 grand array ! We had been on to the jail and old fort, 
 two or three miles beyond Delhi, and executed many a 
 straggler. I brought in the mess plate of the 60th Na- 
 tive Infantry, their standards, drums, and other things. 
 Macdowell and I had been for five hours inside the Delhi 
 gate, hunting about, before a guard was sent to take 
 charge of it. 
 
 The next day I got permission, after much argument 
 and entreaty, to go and bring in the King, for which 
 (though negotiations for his life had been entertained) no 
 provision had been made and no steps taken, and his 
 favorite wife also, and the young imp (her son) whom he 
 had destined to succeed him on the throne. This was 
 successfully accomplished, at the expense of vast fatigue 
 and no trifling risk.* I then set to work to get hold of 
 the villain princes. It was with the greatest difiiculty 
 that the General was persuaded to allow them to be 
 interfered with, till even poor Nicholson roused himself 
 to urge that the pursuit should be attempted. The Gen- 
 eral at length yielded a reluctant consent, adding " but 
 
 * Vide p. 342 for more detailed account. 
 
340 CAPTURE. 
 
 don't let me be bothered with tbem." I assured him it 
 was nothing but his own order which " bothered " him 
 with the King, as I would much rather have brought him 
 into Delhi dead than living. Glad- to have at length 
 obtained even this consent, I prepared for my dangerous 
 expedition. Macdowell accompanied me, and taking one 
 hundred picked men, I started early for the tomb of 
 the Emperor Huraayoon, where the villains had taken 
 sanctuary. I laid my plans so as to cut off access to 
 the tomb or escape from it, and then sent in one of the 
 inferior scions of the royal family (purchased for the 
 purpose by the promise of his life) and my one-eyed 
 Moulvie Rujub Alee, to say that I had come to seize the 
 Shahzadahs for punishment, and intended to do so, dead 
 or alive. After two hours of wordy strife and very anx- 
 ious suspense, they appeared, and asked if their lives had 
 been promised by the Government, to which I answered 
 " most certainly not," and sent them away from the tomb 
 towards the city, under a guard. I then went with the 
 rest of the sowars to the tomb, and found it crowded with, 
 I should think, some 6,000 or 7,000 of the servants, hang- 
 ers-on, and scum of the palace and city, taking refuge in 
 the cloisters which lined the walls of the tomb. I saw at 
 a glance that there was nothing for it but determination 
 and a bold front, so I demanded in a voice of authority 
 the instant surrender of their arms, &c. They immedi- 
 ately obeyed, with an alacrity I scarcely dared to hope 
 for, and in less than two hours they brought forth from 
 innumerable hiding-places some 500 swords, and more 
 tlian that number of fire-arms, besides horses, bullocks, 
 and covered carts called " Ruths," used by the women 
 and eunuchs of the palace. I then arranged the arms 
 and animals in the centre, and left an armed guard with 
 
SHOOTING OF THE KING'S SONS. 341 
 
 them, while I went to look after my prisoners, who, with 
 their guard, had moved on towards Delhi. I came up 
 just in time, as a large mob had collected, and were turn- 
 ing on the guard. I rode in among them at a gallop, and 
 in a few words I appealed to the crowd, saying that these 
 were the butchers who had murdered and brutally used 
 helpless women and children, and that the Government 
 had now sent their punishment : seizing a carabine from 
 one of my men, I deliberately shot them one after an- 
 other. I then ordered the bodies to be taken into the 
 city, and thrown out on the " Chiboutra," in front of the 
 Kotwalie,* w^here the blood of their innocent victims still 
 could be distinctl}' traced. The bodies remained before 
 the Kotwalie until this morning, when, for sanitary rea- 
 sons, they were removed. In twenty-four hours, there- 
 fore, I disposed of the principal members of the house 
 of Timur the Tartar. I am not cruel, but I confess I 
 did rejoice at the opportunity of ridding the earth of these 
 wretches. I intended to have had them hung, but when 
 it came to a question of "they " or " us," I had no time 
 for deliberation. 
 
 September 2ith. — The picture drawn from the usu- 
 ally mendacious reports at Simla, is not even founded on 
 fact. The women of the palace had all escaped before 
 the troops entered. 
 
 The troops have behaved with singular moderation 
 
 * It was on this spot that the head of Gooroo Teg Bahadoor had 
 been exposed by order of Anrungzebe, the Great Mogul, nearly 200 
 years before. The Sikhs considered that in attacking Delhi they 
 were " paying off an old score." A prophecy had long been currenf 
 among them, that by the help of the white man they should reconquer 
 Delhi. After this they looked on Captain Hodson as the " avenger of 
 their martyred Gooroo," and were even more ready than before to 
 follow him anywhere. 
 
342 NICHOLSON. 
 
 towards women and children, considering their provoca- 
 tion. I do not believe, and I have some means of know- 
 ing, that a single woman or child has been purposely 
 injured by our troops, and the story on which your right- 
 eous indignation is grounded is quite false ; the troops 
 have been demoralized by drink, but nothing more. 
 
 September 2oth. — ... I miss Colonel Seaton terribly, 
 we have lived in the same tent for months, and had be- 
 come brothers in affection as well as in arms. I mourn 
 deeply for poor Nicholson ; with the single exceptions 
 of my ever-revered Sir Henry Lawrence, and Colonel 
 Mackeson, I have never seen his equal in field or coun- 
 cil ; he was preeminently our " best and bravest," and 
 his loss is not to be atoned for in these days. I cannot 
 help being pleased with the warm congratulations I re- 
 ceive on all sides for my success in destroying the ene- 
 mies of our race ; the whole nation will rejoice, but I am 
 pretty sure that however glad will be at their de- 
 struction, he will take exception to my having been the 
 instrument, in God's hands, of their punishment. That 
 will not signify, however ; I am too conscious of the 
 rectitude of my own motives to care what the few may 
 say while my own conscience and the voice of the many 
 pronounce me right. 
 
 A fuller account of the capture of the King will 
 be found in a letter addressed to me shortly after- 
 wards, and published by me in the Times, which 
 I now reprint : — 
 
 " I have before explained to you what your brother's 
 (Captain Hodson's) position officially was, — namely, that 
 he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster-General and 
 Intelligence Officer on the Commander-in-Chief's own 
 
HODSON'S POSITION. 343 
 
 Staff. His reports were to be made to him direct, with- 
 out the intervention of the Quartermaster-General or any- 
 other person. 
 
 " For this appointment, which was then a most respon- 
 sible one, as intelligence of the enemy's movements and 
 intentions was of the utmost importance, his long acquaint- 
 ance with Sikhs and AfFghans, and his having been simi- 
 larly employed in the Punjaub war, had peculiarly fitted 
 him. Of course, there were always plenty of traitors in 
 the enemy's camp ready to sell their own fathers for gain, 
 or to avoid punishment, and he was invested with fuU 
 power to promise reward or punishment, in proportion to 
 the deserts of those who assisted him. 
 
 " On our taking possession of the city gate, reports 
 came in that thousands of the enemy were evacuating 
 the city by the other gates, and that the King also had 
 left his palace. We fought our way inch by inch to the 
 palace walls, and then found truly enough that its vast 
 arena was void. The very day after we took possession 
 of the palace, (the 20th,) Captain Hodsoii received in- 
 formation that the King and his family had gone with a 
 large force out of the Ajmere Gate to the Kootub. He 
 immediately reported this to the General commanding, 
 and asked whether he did not intend to send a detach- 
 ment in pursuit, as with the King at liberty and heading 
 so large a force, our victory was next to useless, and we 
 might be besieged instead of besiegers. General Wilson 
 replied that he could not spare a single European. He 
 then volunteered to lead a party of the Irregulars, but 
 this offer was also refused, though backed up by Neville 
 Chamberlain. 
 
 " During this time messengers were coming in con- 
 stantly, and among the rest one from Zeenat Mahal, (the 
 
344 NEGOTIATIONS FOK SUREENDEK OF KING. 
 
 favorite Begum,) with an oflfer to use her influence with 
 the King to surrender on certain conditions. These con- 
 ditions at first were ludicrous enough — viz : that the King 
 and the whole of the males of his family should be 
 restored to his palace and honors ; that not only should 
 his pension be continued, but the arrears since May be 
 paid up, with several other equally modest demands. I 
 need not say these were treated with contemptuous denial. 
 Negotiations, however, were vigorously carried on, and 
 care was taken to spread reports of an advance in force 
 to the Kootub. Every report as it came in was taken to 
 General Wilson, who at last gave orders to Captain Hod- 
 son to promise the King's life and freedom from personal 
 indignity, and make what other terms he could. Captain 
 Hodson then started with only fifty of his own men for 
 Humayoon's Tomb, three miles from the Kootub, where 
 the King had come during the day. The risk was such as 
 no one can judge of, who has not seen the road,* amid 
 the old ruins scattered about of what was once the real 
 city of Delhi. 
 
 " He concealed himself and men in some old buildings 
 close by the gateway of the Tomb, and sent in his two 
 emissaries to Zeenat Mahal with the ultimatum, — the 
 King's life and that of her son and father (the latter has 
 since died) . After two hours passed by Captain Hodson 
 in most trying suspense, such as (he says) he never spent 
 before, while waiting the decision, his emissaries (one an 
 
 * " At a short distance, about a mile before reaching the tomb, the 
 road passes under the Old Fort, — a strong tower, commanding the 
 road on two sides, in which the King and his party first took refuge 
 on their escape from Delhi. This was filled with his adherents, 
 and it was a moment of no small danger to Hodson and his little 
 troop, when passing under it on his way out to the tomb, any stray 
 shot from the walls might have laid him low." — Note by a Friend. 
 
SURRENDER OF THE KING. 345 
 
 old favorite of poor Sir Henry Lawrence,) came out with 
 the last oiFer — that the King would deliver himself up 
 to Captain Hodson only, and on condition that he repeated 
 with his own lips the promise of the Government for his 
 safety. 
 
 " Captain Hodson then went out into the middle of the 
 road in front of the gateway, and said that he was ready 
 to receive his captives and renew the promise. 
 
 " You may picture to yourself the scene before that 
 magnificent gateway, with the milk-white domes of the 
 Tomb towering up from within, one white man among a 
 host of natives, yet determined to secure his prisoner or 
 perish in the attempt. 
 
 " Soon a procession began to come slowly out, first 
 Zeenat Mahal, in one of the close native conveyances 
 used for women. Her name was announced as she 
 passed by the Moulvie. Then came the King in a palkee, 
 on which Captain Hodson rode forward and demanded 
 his arms. Before giving them up, the King asked 
 whether he was ' Hodson Bahadoor,' and if he would 
 repeat the promise made by the herald.' Captain Hod- 
 son answered that he would, and repeated that the Gov- 
 ernment had been graciously pleased to promise him his 
 life, and that of Zeenat Mahal's son, on condition of his 
 yielding himself prisoner quietly, adding very emphati- 
 cally, that if any attempt was made at a rescue he would 
 shoot the King down on the spot like a dog. The old 
 man then gave up his arms, which Captain Hodson 
 handed to his orderly, still keeping his own sword drawn 
 in his hand. The same ceremony was then gone through 
 with the boy (Jumma Bukh) ; and the march towards 
 the city began, the longest five miles, as Captain Hodson 
 said, that he ever rode, for of course the palkees only 
 
 15 * 
 
346 SELECTION OF SWORDS. 
 
 went at a foot pace, with his handful of men around them, 
 followed by thousands, any one of whom could have shot 
 him down in a moment. His orderly told me that it was 
 wonderful to see the influence which his calm and un- 
 daunted look had on the crowd. They seemed perfectly 
 paralyzed at the fact of one white man (for they thought 
 nothing of his fifty black sowars) carrying off their King 
 alone. Gradually as they approached the city the crowd 
 slunk away, and very few followed up to the Lahore gate. 
 Then Captain Hodson rode on a few paces and ordered 
 the gate to be opened. The officer on duty asked simply 
 as he passed what he had got in his palkees. ' Only the 
 King of Delhi,' was the answer, on which the ofiicer's 
 enthusiastic exclamation was more emphatic than be- 
 comes ears polite. The guard were for turning out to 
 greet him with a cheer, and could only be repressed, on 
 being told that the King would take the honor to himself. 
 They passed up that magnificent deserted street to the 
 palace gate, where Capt. Hodson met the civil officer (Mr. 
 Saunders), and formally delivered over his Royal prison- 
 ers to him. His remark was amusing, ' By Jove ! Hodson, 
 they ought to make you Commander-in-Chief for this.' 
 
 " On proceeding to the General's quarters to report his 
 successful return, and hand over the Royal arms, he was 
 received with the characteristic speech, ' Well, I'm glad 
 you have got him, but I never expected to see either him 
 or you again ! ' while the other officers in the room were 
 loud in their congratulations and applause. He was re- 
 quested to select for himself from the Royal arms what 
 he chose, and has therefore two magnificent swords, one 
 with the name of ' Nadir Shah,' and the other the seal 
 of Jehan Giro engraved upon it, which he intends to 
 present to the Queen. 
 
LETTER OF MACDOWELL. 347 
 
 " On the following day, as you already know, he cap- 
 tured three of the Princes ; but of this more hereafter. 
 I am anxious now that you should fully understand that 
 your brother was bound by orders from the General to 
 spare the King's life, much against his own will ; that the 
 capture alone was on his own risk and responsibility, and 
 not the pledge." * 
 
 I am allowed to insert here a most graphic let- 
 ter, written by Lieut. Macdowell, 2d in command 
 of Hodson's Horse : — 
 
 " On the morning of the 19th we formed up and saw 
 the townspeople coming in thousands out of the Delhi 
 gate (still in the enemy's possession), and passing through 
 their camp, taking the high road to the Kootub. Too 
 far oflF to do any damage, we waited (the ground a mass 
 of hard rocks, impracticable for cavalry) till 9 A. m., and 
 then retired. Hodson, my commanding officer, then 
 went to the General, and at ten I received a note from 
 him, ' Gallop down with fifty men and meet me at the 
 Cashmere gate as sharp as possible.' Down I went, and 
 he told me he had volunteered to ride through the ene- 
 my's camp and reconnoitre ; that no one knew if they 
 were there in force or not, and he asked me if I would 
 accompany him. Of course I was only too glad, and off 
 we went. They fired at us as we approached, from gar- 
 
 * All the notice taken of this remarkable exploit in MajoivGeneral 
 Wilson's despatch of September 22d, was, — 
 
 " The King, who accompanied the troops for some short distance 
 last night, gave himself up to a party of Irregular Cavalry whom I 
 sent out in the direction of the fugitives, and he is now a prisoner 
 under a guard of European soldiers." 
 
 We may well remark on this anonymom version, " id maxime for- 
 midolosum, privati hominis nomen supra principis attolli." — Ed. 
 
348 DRINKING THE QUEEN'S HEALTH. 
 
 dens and places all round, but I imagine they thought 
 more men were coming, and bolted, we (only fifty of us) 
 cutting up all their stragglers to the tune of some fifty or 
 sixty. As we came back we intercepted a whole lot of 
 townspeople escaping. Well, I must not linger on this. 
 Having done our work (and it wasn't a bad thing to do, 
 to gallop through their camp with fifty men, not knowing 
 whether they were there or not), we cautiously ap- 
 proached the Delhi gate. It was open, but all was silent. 
 Our troops had not as yet ventured so far. Afar off we 
 heard the firing in the city in other quarters ; leaving 
 our men outside, with four Sowars behind us with cocked 
 carabines, we rode in, holding our revolvers ready for a 
 row. Not a soul was there ; all still as death. I looked 
 round, and close to where I was sitting were two bottles 
 of beer amidst a heap of plate, silver, clothes, &c. Per- 
 haps I didn't jump off sharp ! It was all right ; real 
 beer ! madam ; we uncorked, and drank the Queen's 
 health at once. After a little time, as the firing ap- 
 proached, and we found all was right, we rode away, and 
 reported what we had done. The General was very 
 pleased. 
 
 " And now for ray great adventure. On the 20th the 
 King gave himself up, and was lodged securely in Delhi 
 under a guard. On this day all had evacuated the place, 
 of which we were complete masters. On the 21st a note 
 from Hodson, ' Come sharp, bring one hundred men.' 
 Off I went, time 6 o'clock a. m. To explain why he 
 wrote to me, I must tell you that although he commanded 
 the regiment, he was also the head of the Intelligence 
 Department, and lived in the General's quarters, while I 
 lived with the regiment, commanding it in his absence, 
 as being second in command. Well, down I went. He 
 
SURRENDER OF THE PRINCES. 349 
 
 told me he had heard that the three Princes * (the heads 
 of the rebellion and sons of the King) were in a tomb 
 six miles off, and he intended going to bring them, and 
 offered me the chance of accompanying him. Wasn't it 
 handsome on his part ! Of course I went ; we started 
 at about eight o'clock, and proceeded slowly towards the 
 tomb. It is called Humayoon's Tomb, and is an immense 
 building. In it were the princes and about 3,000 Mus- 
 sulman followers. In the suburb close by about 3,000 
 more, all armed, so it was rather a ticklish bit of work. 
 "We halted half a mile from the place, and sent in to say 
 the princes must give themselves up unconditionally, or 
 take the consequences. A long half hour elapsed, when 
 a messenger came out to say the princes wished to know 
 if their lives would be promised them, if they came out. 
 ' Unconditional surrender,' was the answer. Again we 
 waited. It was a most anxious time. We dared not 
 take them by force, or all would have been lost, and 
 we doubted their coming. We heard the shouts of the 
 fanatics (as we found out afterwards) begging the princes 
 to lead them on against us. And we had only one hun- 
 dred men, and were six miles from Delhi. At length, 
 I suppose, imagining that sooner or later they must be 
 taken, they resolved to give themselves up uncondition- 
 ally, fancying, I suppose, as we had spared the King, we 
 would spare them. So the messenger was sent to say 
 they were coming. We sent ten men to meet them, and 
 by Hodson's order I drew the troop up across the road, 
 ready to receive them, and shoot them at once if there 
 was any attempt at a rescue. Soon they appeared in a 
 small ' Ruth ' or Hindostanee cart drawn by bullocks, 
 five troopers on each side. Behind them thronged about 
 * Called Shabzadahs. 
 
3J0 HUMAYOON'S TOMB. 
 
 2,000 or 3,000 (I am not exaggerating) Mussulmans 
 We met them, and at once Hodson and I rode up, leav 
 ing the men a httle in the rear. They bowed as we 
 came up, and Hodson, bowing, ordered the driver to 
 move on. This was the minute. The crowd behind 
 made a movement. Hodson waved them back ; I bec- 
 koned to the troop, which came up, and in an instant 
 formed them up between the crowd and the cart. By 
 Hodson's order I advanced at a walk on the people, who 
 fell back sullenly and slowly at our approach. It was 
 touch and go. Meanwhile Hodson galloped back, and 
 told the sowars (10) to hurry the princes on along the 
 road, while we showed a front and kept back the mob. 
 They retired on Humayoon's Tomb, and step by step 
 we followed them. Inside they went up the steps, and 
 formed up in the immense garden inside. The entrance 
 to this was through an arch, up steps. Leaving the men 
 outside, Hodson and myself (I stuck to him throughout), 
 with four men, rode up the steps into the arch,* when he 
 called out to them to lay down their arms. There was a 
 murmur. He reiterated the command, and (God knows 
 why, I never can understand it) they commenced doing 
 so. Now you see we didn't want their arms, and under 
 ordinary circumstances would not have risked our lives 
 in so rash a way, but what we wanted was to gain time 
 to get the princes away, for we could have done nothing, 
 
 * " When within the inclosure, Hodson observed the balcony rest- 
 ing on the Archway of Ingress filled with the followers of the royal 
 party, many with arms. Facing it, he looked up calmly, pointed his 
 carabine, and said, ' The first man that moves is a- dead man.' The 
 efiect was instantaneous. Not a hand was raised, and by the glance 
 of that eye, and effect of that voice, every disposition to interfere by 
 word or deed was quelled." — Note by a friend, who afterwards visited 
 Bumayoon^s Tomb in company with Lieut. Macdmoell. 
 
IDENTIFICATION OF THE PRINCES. 351 
 
 had they attacked us, but cut our way back, and very 
 little chance of doing even this successfully. Well, there 
 we stayed for two hours, collecting their arms, and I 
 assure you I thought every moment they would rush 
 upon us. I said nothing, but smoked all the time, to 
 show I was unconcerned ; but at last, when it was all 
 done, and all the arms collected, put in a cart, and start- 
 ed, Hodson turned to me and said, ' We'll go, now.' Very 
 slowly we mounted, formed up the troop, and cautiously 
 departed, followed by the crowd. We rode along quietly. 
 You will say, why did we not charge them .' I merely 
 say, we were one hundred men, and they were fully 
 6,000. I am not exaggerating ; the official reports will 
 show you it is all true. As we got about a mile oflF, Hod- 
 son turned to me and said, ' Well, Mac, we've got them 
 at last ; ' and we both gave a sigh of relief. Never in 
 my life, under the heaviest fire, have I been in such im- 
 minent danger. Everybody says it is the most dashing 
 and daring thing that has been done for years (not on 
 my part, for I merely obeyed orders, but on Hodson's, 
 who planned and carried it out). Well, I must finish my 
 story. We came up to the princes, now about five miles 
 fi-om where we had taken them, and close to Delhi. The 
 increasing crowd pressed close on the horses of the sowars, 
 and assumed every moment a more hostile appearance. 
 ' What shall we do with them ? ' said Hodson to me. ' I 
 think we had better shoot them here ; we shall never get 
 them in.' 
 
 " We had identified them by means of a nephew of the 
 King's whom we had with us, and who turned King's evi- 
 dence. Besides, they acknowledged themselves to be the 
 men. Their names were Mirza Mogul, the King's nephew 
 and head of the whole business ; Mirza Kishere Sulta- 
 
352 EXECUTION OF SHAHZADAHS. 
 
 met, who was also one of the principal rebels, and had 
 made himself notorious by murdering women and chil- 
 dren ; and Abu Bukt, the commander-in-chief nominally, 
 and heir-apparent to the throne. This was the young 
 fiend who had stripped our women in the open street, and 
 cutting off little children's arms and legs, poured the,' 
 blood into their mothers' mouths ; this is literally the 
 case. There was no time to be lost; we halted the 
 troop, put five troopers across the road behind and in 
 front. Hodson ordered the Princes to strip and get again 
 into the cart ; he then shot them with his own hand. So 
 ended the career of the chiefs of the revolt, and of the 
 greatest villains that ever shamed humanity. Before 
 they were shot, Hodson addressed our men, explaining 
 who they were, and why they were to suffer death ; the 
 effect was marvellous, the Mussulmans seemed struck 
 with a wholesome idea of retribution, and the Sikhs 
 shouted with delight, while the mass moved off slowly 
 and silently. One of the sowars pointed out to me a 
 man running rapidly across a piece of cultivated ground, 
 with arms gleaming in the sunlight. I and the sowar 
 rode after him, when I discovered it was the King's favor- 
 ite eunuch, of whose atrocities we had heard so much. 
 The sowar cut him down instantly, and we returned, well 
 satisfied that we had rid the world of such a monster. 
 It was now four o'clock ; Hodson rode into the city with 
 the cart containing the bodies, and had them placed in 
 the most public street, where all might see them. Side 
 by side they lay where, four months before, on the same 
 spot, they had outraged and murdered our women. I 
 went quietly home with the troop, nearly dead, having 
 had nothing (except water) since six o'clock the previous 
 night. I have not time to write you of my subsequent 
 
CAPTIVE KING. 353 
 
 adventures, but will next mail. We have gained a great 
 deal of icvioi for this business, and I hear are to be re- 
 warded in some way or other." 
 
 Some months later my brother wrote with ref- 
 erence to this matter : — 
 
 Gamp, on the left bank of the Ganges, 
 
 OPPOSITE CaWNPORE, 
 
 Fei. 12(A, 1858. 
 
 ... I see that many people suppose that I had prom- 
 ised the old King his life after he was caught. Pray 
 contradict this. The promise was given two days before, 
 to induce him to leave the rebel troops and return to 
 the near neighborhood of Delhi within reach. General 
 Wilson refused to send troops in pursuit of him, and to 
 avoid greater calamities I then, and not till then, asked 
 and obtained permission to offer him his wretched life, on 
 the ground, and solely on the ground, that there was 
 no other way of getting him into our possession. The 
 people were gathering round him. His name would 
 have been a tocsin which would have raised the whole of 
 Hindostan, and the Rajahs and Rajpootana in the south 
 would have been forced to have joined in the rising, 
 which would then have been universal. Was it not 
 better to get rid of all this, and secure ourselves from 
 further mischief at the simple cost of sparing the life of 
 an old man of ninety ? It must be remembered, too, that 
 we had no troops left to meet any further augmentation 
 of our enemies. A small force under Colonel Greathed 
 was with difficulty found, some days later, to go towards 
 Agra ; and it was clear to me then (as experience has 
 since shown) that we had still months to wait for rein- 
 forcements from home. Here is February ; the King 
 
3a4 BLAMKD FOR SPARING THE KING. 
 
 was caught in September, and yet up to this present day 
 the Commander-in-Chief has not been able to send a 
 single soldier of all that have arrived from England up 
 as far as Delhi; and all Rohilcund, all Oude, a great 
 part of Central India, all Bundelcund, and most of 
 Behar, are still in the hands of the enemy. Would it 
 have been wise to have given, in addition to all this, so 
 strong an incentive to combination, to the warlike men of 
 the northwest, as they would have had in the person of 
 a sacred and " heaven-born " monarch, dethroned, wan- 
 dering, and homeless, but backed by a whole army in 
 rebellion ? I am blamed for it now ; but knowing that 
 there was no other way of getting him into our power, I 
 am quite content to take the obloquy. It will hereafter 
 be admitted that one of the greatest blows was struck at 
 the root of the rebelUon when the old King was led a 
 captive into his own palace on the 21st of September, 
 1857.* Strange, that some of those who are loudest 
 against me for sparing the King, are also crying out at 
 my destroying his sons. " Quousque tandem ? " I may 
 well exclaim. But in point of fact, I am quite indifferent 
 to clamor either way. I made up my mind at the time 
 to be abused. I was convinced I was right, and when I 
 prepared to run the great physical risk of the attempt, I 
 was equally game for the moral risk of praise or blame. 
 These have not been, and are not times when a man who 
 
 * Frcnn Mr. Montgomery, now Chief OymmissUmer of Oude. 
 
 " Sept. iSth. 
 
 "My dear Hodson, — All honor to you (and to your 'Horse') 
 for catcMny the King and slaying his sons. I hope you will bag many 
 more ! In haste, 
 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 " R. MONTGOMERT." 
 
DEFENCE OF PRINCES' EXECUTION. 355 
 
 would serve his country dare hesitate as to the personal 
 consequences to himself of what he thinks his duty. 
 
 I am indebted to Sir T. Seaton for an answer 
 to inquiries addressed to my brother, which never 
 reached hira : — 
 
 "I see you are anxious to clear up the two 'vexed 
 questions : ' — Why did he guarantee the life of the King ? 
 Why did he strip the princes ? He guaranteed the life 
 of the King, because he was ordered to do so by General 
 Wilson ; and I think that under the circumstances it was 
 wise and prudent (though highly distasteful to the Gen- 
 eral), for it enabled us to get hold of the nominal head of 
 the great rebellion, and to secure the capture of those 
 greater scoundrels, the princes. No one ever thought 
 out here of asking why he stripped the princes, or rather 
 *hy he made them take off their upper garments. It 
 certainly was not as the French stupidly assert, ' pour ne 
 pas gater le butin,' for if the upper corresponded with 
 the nether clothes in which the bodies were laid out, they 
 would have been dear at a shilling the lot. He made 
 them strip off their upper garments, to render their death 
 and subsequent exposure at the Kotwalla more impres- 
 sive and terrible. Some people ask, ' Why did he shoot 
 them himself?' To this I will reply by another ques- 
 tion, ' What would have been the effect on that vast 
 crowd of a single moment's hesitation or appearance of 
 hesitation ? ' " 
 
 Before this chapter closes, I will insert one or 
 two anecdotes and descriptions of my brother, 
 from letters written at this time by officers before 
 Delhi, which have been kindly placed at my dis- 
 
356 DESCRIPTION OF CAPTAIN HODSON. 
 
 posal. They will help to fill up the picture of 
 him, which may be drawn from his own diary. 
 
 One says : — 
 
 " The way Hodson used to work was quite miraculous. 
 He was a slighter man and lighter weight than I am. 
 Then he had that most valuable gift, of being able to get 
 refi'eshing sleep on horseback. I have been out with him 
 all night following and watching the enemy, when he has 
 gone off dead asleep, waking up after an hour as fresh 
 as a lark ; whereas, if I went to sleep in the saddle, the 
 odds were I fell oflf on my nose. 
 
 " He was the very perfection of a ' free-lance,' and 
 such an Intelligence Officer ! He used to know what the 
 rebels had for dinner in Delhi. 
 
 " In a i]ght he was glorious. If there was only a good 
 hard skrimmage he was as happy as a king. A beautiful 
 swordsman, he never failed to kill his man ; and the way 
 he used to play with the most brave and furious of these 
 rebels was perfect. I fancy I see him now, smiling, 
 laughing, parrying most fearful blows, as calmly as if he 
 were brushing off flies, calling out all the time, ' Why, 
 try again, now,' ' What's that ? ' ' Do you call yourself a 
 swordsman ? ' &c. 
 
 " The way that in a pursuit he used to manage his hog- 
 spear was miraculous. It always seemed to me that he 
 bore a charmed life, and so the enemy thought. 
 
 " His judgment was as great as his courage, and the 
 heavier the fire or the greater the difficulty, the more 
 calm and reflecting he became." 
 
 Another (Sir T. Seaton) : — 
 
 " You know that, during the whole of the terrible siege 
 
HIS AFFECTION FOB HIS WIFE. 357 
 
 of Delhi, we lived together in the same tent, and, except- 
 ing while on duty, we were never separate. It was there 
 I saw, in all their splendor, his noble soldierly qualities ; 
 never fatigued, never downcast, always cool and calm, 
 with a cheerful countenance and a word of encourage- 
 ment for every one. 
 
 " I used often to say, ' Here, Hodson, is somebody 
 else coming for comfort.' 
 
 " It was there I learned the depth and intensity of his 
 affection for his wife ; like the man, it was out of the 
 common. You know how he nursed me when I was 
 wounded. I am indebted for my rapid recovery, in a 
 very great measure, to his care and forethought ; and it 
 was whilst lying helpless and feeble I saw that the brave 
 and stern soldier had also the tenderness of a woman in 
 his noble heart. His constant care was to prevent Mrs. 
 Hodson from feeling any anxiety that he could save her ; 
 so that, whenever he went out on any expedition that 
 would detain him beyond twenty-four hours, he invaria- 
 bly asked me, and I used to make it my duty, to write to 
 Mrs. Hodson daily, accounting for his absence and giving 
 such details as I could of his doings. 
 
 " He was ever ready to carry out my wishes and aid 
 me with his best knowledge, skill, and courage. He sup- 
 ported me with the devotion of a brother ; never, never 
 shall I see his like again." 
 
 Another says : — 
 
 " He has wonderful tact in getting information out of 
 the natives, and divining the movements of the enemy. 
 He is scarcely out of the saddle day or night, for not only 
 has he to lead his regiment and keep the country clear, 
 but being Intelligence OflBcer, he is always on the move 
 
358 NOTICES OF CAPTAIN HODSON. 
 
 to gain news of the progress of affairs, and acts and 
 intentions of the enemy. 
 
 " Even when he might take rest he will not, but will 
 go and help work at the batteries, and expose himself 
 constantly, in order to relieve some fainting gunner or 
 wounded man." 
 
 I have this anecdote irom another : — 
 
 '' In the camp at Delhi, when the incessant fatigue to 
 which the soldiers were exposed forbade the strict en- 
 forcement of the continual salute, it was remarked that 
 Ilodson never passed down the lines without every man 
 rendering to him that mark of respect. The soldiers 
 loved him as their own. ' There goes that 'ere Hodson,' 
 said a drunken soldier as he cantered down the lines ; 
 ' he's sure to be in everything ; he'll get shot, I know he 
 will, and I'd a deal rather be shot myself; we can't do 
 without him.' " 
 
 I venture to quote from Mr. H. Greathed's Let- 
 ters (published by his widow) some further notices 
 of my brother : — 
 
 " Hodson keeps an Argus eye on the rear and left 
 fank, and is always ready for an adventurous ride. I 
 am not surprised at Gouf^h liking him ; he has a rare gift 
 of brains as well as of pluck ! The uniform of his men, 
 'khakee' tunics, with a scarlet sash and turban, is very 
 picturesque. 
 
 " Hodson certainly the most wide-awake soldier in 
 camp. 
 
 " A charge of cavah-y was turned by a few musket shots 
 from a party under Hodson, who always turns up in mo- 
 ments of ditficulty." 
 
NOTICES OF CAVTAIN HODSON. 359 
 
 Again, speaking of him while absent at Roh- 
 tuck, August 19th : — 
 
 " We have no further intelligence from Hodson. He 
 is employed on just the wild work he likes, and will be 
 loth to return. The public still amuses itself with giving 
 his regiment new names, ' the Aloobokharas ' and ' Ring- 
 tailed Roarers ' are the last I have heard of. 
 
 . . . . " There was some alarm yesterday about Hod- 
 son's safety. I cannot say I shared the feeling, I have 
 such confidence in his audacity and resource. 
 
 . . . . " Hodson is quite safe, he will now return to 
 camp, and after being in for an hour, he will be seen 
 looking as fresh, clean-shaved, and spruce, as if he had 
 never left it." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OPERATIONS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF DELHI. 
 
 SHOWERS'S COLUMN. — SEATOn's COLUMN. GUNGE- 
 
 eee. putialee. mynpooree. ride to com- 
 
 mander-in-chief's camp. — junction of forces. 
 shumshabad. 
 
 Camp, Delhi, Sept. 26th. 
 Mt letters are of necessity short and newsless, for I am 
 scarcely ever able to sit down to write what can be prop- 
 erly called a letter. Anything so mismanaged as the 
 prize property has been, or so wasted, I never saw ; so 
 much so, that I look upon the appointment of prize agents 
 at all as a simple injustice to the army, i. e., to the oflScers. 
 Colonel Seaton has given up the prize agency in disgust, 
 and I refused it altogether ; he is taking you a real trophy 
 from Delhi, no less than the turquoise armlet and signet 
 rings of the rascally princes whom I shot ; not actually 
 worth twenty shillings, but I know they will be prized by 
 you and the dear ones at home. Tombs declares I shall 
 get a C. B. for capturing the King, &c., and, between 
 ourselves, I oiight to have anything they can give me, for 
 it was a fearful risk, and, I must say, the " General's " 
 share in it was about as meritorious as his recognition of 
 the service was gracious ! but you will see he will get the 
 reward ; but never mind, I did my duty, perhaps some- 
 
CAPTURE AND ESCAPE OF ROYAL FAMILY. 361 
 
 thing more, and have got the reward of my own con- 
 science, and certainly the voice of the army, as the hero 
 of this " crowning mercy," as they call it. 
 
 We march to-morrow instead of on the 20th, as we 
 ought to have done, to clear out some of the hordes at 
 Humayoon's Tomb. I disarmed them when I took the 
 princes, and collected all the arms, &c., into one spot, 
 leaving as large a guard as I could spare, and yet the 
 " General " has actually never sent until to-day to relieve 
 the one or secure the other, and now only at my urgent 
 representation ! We shall be back from our expedition 
 in four or five days. Colonel Showers commands. 
 
 Camp, Humayoon's Tomb, Sept. 2%th. — I have been 
 out all day and at work, varied by divers summonses 
 from the Brigadier, and by such very amusing duties 
 as packing off the royal family's lower branches into 
 Delhi. 
 
 Poor Greathed ! he was, indeed, a loss to every one ! 
 With the column sent out here (to complete with 1,500 
 men the work of which I had overcome all the difficul- 
 ties with 100), a young civilian was sent to carry on 
 political duties, and take charge of the different mem- 
 bers and hangers-on of the Royal family. In an hour I 
 had got possession of the persons of seven of the remain- 
 ing sons and grandsons of the King who were " wanted ; " 
 they were made over, according to orders, to this civilian, 
 and, two hours afterwards, all had escaped ! In conse- 
 quence of this we are halted here, and parties sent out in 
 all directions to recapture the fugitives. 
 
 I shall try to get down in the Oudh direction to join 
 Napier and his chief. 
 
 I confess I am much gratified by the congratulations I 
 receive on all sides regarding the capture of the King 
 
 16 
 
362 REWARD. 
 
 and the retribution on the Shahzadahs ; but I expect no 
 reward, perhaps not even thanks. The Government will 
 be delighted at the fact, but will perhaps pretend a reluc- 
 tance to the judgment having been eiFected, which they 
 certainly do not feel, and will probably throw all the onus 
 on me. To tell the truth (in spite of all the praises and 
 prophecies of the army), I expect nothing by this cam- 
 paign but my brevet majority, and that was due to me for 
 the Punjaub war. 
 
 The execution of the princes could be hardly called 
 one of " unresisting " enemies, since they were surrounded 
 by an armed host, to whom we should have been most 
 unquestionably sacrificed if I had hesitated for an instant. 
 It was they or we, and I recommend those who might 
 cavil at my choice to go and catch the next rebels them- 
 selves ! The King was very old and infirm, and had 
 long been a mere tool, a name in the ha^d^ of the Shah- 
 zadahs, Mirza Mogul in particular ; moreover, the orders 
 I received were such that I did not dare to act on the 
 dictates of ray own judgment to the extent of killing him 
 when he had given himself up ; but had he attempted 
 either a flight or a rescue, I should have shot him down 
 like a dog ; as it is, he is the lion without his claws, now 
 his villanous heir-apparent is disposed of. I must be 
 prepared to have all kinds of bad motives attributed to 
 me, for no man ever yet went out of the beaten track 
 without being wondered at and abused ; and so marked a 
 success will make me more enemies than friends, so be 
 pi'epared for abuse rather than reward ; for myself I 
 do not care, and I am proud to say that those whose opin- 
 ion I value most highly think I did well and boldly. 
 
 Cajip near the Kootub, Sept. '2dlh. — We got here 
 so late to-day, that, before our tents were pitched and 
 
RESIGNATION OF INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. 363 
 
 washing and breakfast over, the time to close our dak has 
 arrived. Thanks for letters, which are balm to ray 
 wounded spirit, vexed as I am to find that even here, 
 in the field, working as I have done, and successful as I 
 have been, I am not safe from the malignant influence of 
 
 and his myrmidons. From the day that he put 
 
 into power at Delhi, I experienced a difiiculty never 
 found before in carrying on my duties, and a system of 
 backbiting and insinuation which could never have ex- 
 isted, if it had not been encouraged, if not engendered, 
 by listening to. This meanness ei id genus omne has 
 commenced, and has decided me on the course you have 
 so long urged, namely, to give up the Intelligence De- 
 partment. 
 
 I have done quite enough to establish my name in the 
 array, and as much as one man can do. We return to 
 Delhi, I hope, to-morrow, for we have done little enough 
 by leaving it. The other column, which went out across 
 the Jurana, has had an engagement with the eneray at 
 Bolundshur, and thrashed them soundly. This will open 
 the road to Cawnpore. I shall write to Napier to-day, 
 to see if he can get my regiment sent towards Oudh, or 
 anywhere near him. 
 
 Camp, Delhi, Oct. \st. — I was quite unable to write 
 yesterday, as we did not return here and get under cover 
 till after dark. I have to march again to-morrow towards 
 Rewarree with another column under Brigadier Showers, 
 a most gentlemanly person and gallant soldier, but sadly 
 prolix and formal in all his arrangements, thereby spin- 
 ning out an ordinary march to the dimensions of a day's 
 journey. I am sorry to say my unlucky ankle gives me 
 more pain and annoyance than before, and the doctors 
 tell me it will never be better until I give it perfect rest ; 
 
364 YEARNINGS FOR HOME. 
 
 and as this said rest is perfectly impossible, I must bear 
 it as patiently as I can ; but it is a sad drawback to my 
 comfort and activity. 
 
 You will rejoice with me that the detachment (of Hod- 
 son's Horse) under Hugh Gough, who were sent with 
 the column across the Jumna, behaved extremely well in 
 that action at Bolundshur, and have been much praised. 
 I am very glad, indeed, of this ; it is a great thing for a 
 new regiment to be successful at a cheap rate in its first 
 few encounters ; it gives a prestige which it is long in 
 losing, and gives the men confidence in themselves and 
 their leaders. In this affair our loss was trifling, though 
 the cavalry were principally employed. Poor Sarel, 9th 
 Lancers, wounded severely, I am sorry to say. I fancy 
 toe go to Goorgaon and Rewarree. Whether we see the 
 enemy is doubtful, and it may be merely a " military 
 promenade," to settle the minds of the inhabitants. I 
 long to get down towards Outram, and Oudh, and Napier. 
 
 I am so glad you have written home, for I was out of 
 the way when the " Overland mail " left, and we none of 
 us knew of its being dispatched. It was a sad fatality 
 which attended the two last, both from and to England. 
 England ! How the writing the very name even fills me 
 with sweet home memories and home longings ; and 
 though, during the last five years and three quarters, my 
 life has been more blessed than I ever dreamed it possi- 
 ble that life could be, still there are times, and they in- 
 crease in frequency, when my heart yearns for all its 
 dear earlier ties. Yes, we must get home next year, 
 somehow, even if we have to live on barley bannocks. 
 
 I, and most other people, considered that I and my 
 party had a right to all we found on the King and 
 princes ; but the General, to whom I referred the ques- 
 
EOYAL ARMS. 365 
 
 tion, thought otherwise ; so I gave up all except some of 
 the personal arms of the princes (those of the King were 
 taken by the General). The swords which I secured, 
 thanks to the oflScers assembled when the arms were 
 made over, are historically most valuable. One was 
 worn by, and bears the name of, Jehangire, and the other 
 is stamped with the seal of Nadir Shah ! They are sin- 
 gular and interesting trophies, or rather relics, of the 
 bouse of Timour the Tartar. 
 
 Delhi, Oct. 2d. — I have remained behind the force 
 for a day, in order to settle the business and pay up and 
 discharge my Intelligence Establishment. I am so busy 
 that my letter will of necessity be a short one. My hav- 
 ing been out in camp has prevented my getting at the 
 people and officers, who are all in the city and palace. 
 We, that is, the cavalry, artillery, and some infantry, are 
 outside on the glacis of the city, and much pleasanter it 
 is, I think ; especially as I have good shelter under the 
 roof of an old mosque in a serai, where we can -all put up 
 together without jostling. I feel quite a free man now. 
 I have no work to do but my regiment ; though, truth to 
 tell, that is quite enough for one man, even with so able 
 and willing an assistant as Macdowell. I do not reckon 
 on much fighting where we are going, and the weather is 
 now getting very tolerable. The country we are going 
 into is also much healthier than Delhi, and I expect 
 much benefit from the change of air and quiet marching. 
 After our return I shall get away, if but for a week ; 
 and then my anxiety is to join Napier, wherever he 
 may be. 
 
 Delhi District, Oct. 3d. — I was yesterday four cosa 
 from BuUnagurh, and the Rajah actually came out in his 
 carriage ; yet I had strict orders not to interfere with 
 
366 GOORGAON. 
 
 him, so the force marched off in another direction this 
 rooming without striking a blow, though the place was 
 full of the Rajah's armed retainers and fugitive Pandies 
 from Delhi, and they ought all to have been extermi- 
 nated. The consequence is, he will give us trouble here- 
 after.* To-day we struck off to the right to this place 
 (marching at Brigadier Showers's favorite pace of six 
 miles in five hours), and go on to-morrow through Goor- 
 gaon to a place called Rewarree, where one Toli Ram, a 
 farmer of Government revenue in better times, but who 
 now " affectionates " independent authority, has collected 
 a force round his fortlet of some 4,000 to 5,000 men, and 
 shows fight ; but again I opine we shall have a tedious 
 march for our pains. I grieve daily in all bitterness for 
 poor Nicholson's death. He was a man such as one 
 rarely sees ; next to dear Sir Henry, our greatest loss. 
 
 Camp, Goorgaon, Oct. 4:th. — Even the camp before 
 Delhi (so long our abode that I write it mechanically) 
 was more favorable for letter-writing than our present 
 more peaceful but more moving life. We started at 
 three a. m. and arrived here about nine. I had then to 
 go through the village or town with the Brigadier, and 
 it was noon before we got a tent pitched and breakfast 
 ready ; before I had finished I was summoned by Show- 
 ers to give him some information as to some " Moofsids ;" 
 and now at two p. m., though I am still unwashed and un- 
 shorn, I am ordered to be ready at three with a party to 
 proceed to punish some refractory villages a few miles off. 
 I shall be back, I trust, at dark, to dinner and bed, for 
 
 we march again at midnight. Tell the swords I 
 
 have kept are beautiful, and historically most valuable. 
 
 * So he did, but ultimately gave himself up, and was hanged by 
 the authorities in Delhi. — £d 
 
PATHONDHEE. 367 
 
 It was like parting with my teeth to give up those to the 
 General ; I should not have cared so much if he had 
 done anything towards the winning them. It will be 
 something hereafter to wear a sword taken from the last 
 of the House of Timour, which had been girt round the 
 waists of the greatest of his predecessors ; if I ever part 
 with it, it shall be " in a present," as mine O. would say, 
 to our good Queen ! She ought to give me her own 
 Cross for it ; and that's a fact, though I say it ! 
 
 Oct. 5th, 3 A. M. — We got back last night at dark, from 
 our visit of retribution to Dholkote, having " polished off" 
 a goodly number of rebels from Irregular Cavalry Regi- 
 ments, and others who came out armed to the teeth, and 
 making great demonstration of attack, but turned of 
 course when we charged. Had we not absurdly been 
 sent out in the afternoon, instead of morning, so that it 
 got too dark for work, we should have cleared the place 
 entirely. I had a most kind letter of congratulation from 
 
 yesterday. He seems very ill, poor fellow ! How 
 
 thankful I am that my health stands work so well ; not 
 that I do not feel it ; and it will tell more still some day. 
 I question whether there is a single one of us, however 
 strong or unwounded, whose constitution does not pay for 
 the Siege of Delhi. The weather is getting very pleas- 
 ant, except in the -middle of the day ; but what a contrast 
 to the climate of the Punjaub ! Many thanks to Lord 
 William for his offer of horses. I only wish I had the 
 power of using them, but there is no chance, I fear, of my 
 getting to Simla, though I may to Umbala. I hear Gen- 
 eral Wilson has gone to Meerut, and General Penny 
 come to Delhi in his stead. 
 
 Pathondhee, Oct. 5th, noon. — I add a few lines to 
 my letter of this morning to say that all is safe and well. 
 
368 TOLI KAM. 
 
 Nothing has occurred but a skirmish with our advanced 
 guard and some Sowars of Toli Rani's, who came, I 
 honestly believe, in all good faith, to bring an offer of 
 submission ; but the business was bothered by mutual 
 distrust, so they turned, fired at our advance, and bolted 
 at speed, my men after them as hard as they could go. 
 They brought back about a dozen horses whose riders 
 they had disposed of; very acceptable they are too, for 
 " mounting " my men is my greatest difficulty. We have 
 made a good bag of the Irregular Cavalry rascals during 
 the last few days, — among them a native officer of the 
 9th Irregular Cavalry, who deserted at Delhi, (selling 
 Chamberlain a pretty considerable bargain too,) was 
 caught and shot. Seaton will rejoice at this. General 
 Penny reigns at Delhi. 
 
 There is no chance of my regiment being stationary 
 this cold weather, I imagine, for the country is still in 
 a very unsettled state, and will be so for a long time to 
 come. 
 
 Camp, Rewarree, Oct. 6th. — We arrived here, after 
 a tediously protracted march, at eleven this morning, only 
 to find my prediction verified, that the birds would be 
 flown and the nest empty. Mr. Toli Ram bolted yester- 
 day, and left only an empty fort and his guns behind him ; 
 in good hands it would have given us considerable trou- 
 ble, and he was evidently a clever fellow, and had adroitly 
 and proinptly contrived so as to be first in the field, should 
 our power have ceased. We found extensive prepara- 
 tions, and large workshops for the completion of military 
 equipments of all kinds, guns, gun-carriages, gunpowder, 
 accoutrements, and material of all kinds. He had al- 
 ready done much, and in a couple of months his position 
 would have been so strong as to have given him the com- 
 
TOLI RAM. 369 
 
 mand of all the surrounding country, as well as the rich 
 town and entrepot of Rewarree, close to the walls of his 
 fort. Had our empire fallen, he would have mastered all 
 the surrounding villages and districts, and probably ex- 
 tended his power on all sides, and founded a " Raj " like 
 that of Puttiala or Jheend, to fall in its turn before the 
 (then) newly aroused energies of the Sikhs. At the same 
 time he was prepared, if we won the day, to profess that 
 he had done all this solely in our interests, and to preserve 
 the district for us from the Groojur population. This is 
 now his line of defence. Showers yesterday sent to teU 
 him that if he would come in and give himself up, as 
 well as his guns and arms, he should be treated on his 
 merits. This he would not do, and has eventually sealed 
 his fate by bolting. The extent of his warlike prepara- 
 tions is too obviously the result of his really hostile, than 
 of his professedly friendly, intentions. I do not know 
 where we go next ; back to Delhi, I trust, when I hope 
 to find General Penny willing to forward my wishes by 
 sending me on to join the army. It will spoil my new 
 regiment to keep it on mere police duty. 
 
 Camp, Rewarree, Oct. 7tA. — We have been all day 
 in the saddle, wandering about distant villages, but we 
 did not see an enemy, and the inhabitants seemed very 
 glad to see us, for the runaway rebels had plundered 
 every place they passed through. The whole body of 
 horsemen who were here up to two days before, fled in 
 all directions when they heard of our approach, (though 
 their numbers were immense, they say 7,000 to 8,000,) 
 and now, ride where we will, in any direction for fifteen 
 miles round Rewarree, not an armed man is to be seen. 
 
 Only this morning we heard of the capture of Luck- 
 now, dimmed by the death of General Neill. Are all 
 
 16 * 
 
370 DEATH OF NEILL. 
 
 our victories to be purchased at the costly price of her 
 best and bravest ? Even I, loving my profession as I do, 
 a " soldier to the backbone," as Sir C. Napier used to say, 
 sicken at the remembrance of the good and brave and 
 noble who have fallen. Poor Neill ! he is a loss indeed. 
 I trust our dear friend has escaped. I looked tremblingly 
 through the list, and rejoiced to find the name of Napier 
 not there. And now for matters of the lower (surely the 
 lowest) world. I have drawn no pay either for the A. 
 Q. M. Generalship or my regiment, except an advance of 
 500i for current expenditure. I have as yet been able 
 to get no pay abstracts passed ; and, indeed, such is the 
 confusion of all things, from the want of some central 
 authority, that no one knows where, or by whom, we are 
 to be paid ; so I have to draw money for my men " on 
 account," to be settled hereafter ; as yet, however, I take 
 care that it shall not exceed a third, or at utmost half 
 their pay, to be safely within the mark. Men and horses 
 cannot live on " nothing a day and find themselves," and 
 any regular, office-work is utterly impossible while we are 
 kept so perpetually in the saddle. It is rather hard on a 
 new regiment, " raised on service," — and a little hard on 
 their commandant too, — but all will come straight in the 
 end, I doubt not I thought I mentioned that when we 
 went to the Kootub the first time with Cblonel Showers, 
 I secured the rest of the King's sons and grandsons at 
 Humayoon's Tomb ; but the whole were most discredita- 
 bly allowed to escape by the young civilian sent out with 
 the force; or, as he says, by the Brigadier; but it was 
 his business, and not the Brigadier's. I also found out a 
 lot of silver and money, worth, I should think, 20,000 or 
 30,000 rupees, and 20 or 30 elephants ; all which goes 
 to swell the prize money. We ought to have a good pro- 
 
PRIZE MONEY. 371 
 
 portionate sum each, for there has been an immense deal 
 of property taken altogether, I should think ; but the 
 want of care and management will lessen it considerably, 
 As a specimen, — when Seaton was prize agent, (and 
 they could not have found a better or more upright,) a 
 quantity of property of all 'descriptions was brought in 
 and put on the '" chiboutra " in front of the house he was 
 in. He immediately sent to ask the General either to 
 appoint a place to stow it in, or for a guard to put over 
 it. The answer was in General Wilson's usually brusque 
 style. " He had no guard to spare, and Colonel Seaton 
 must secure the property as he could." Colonel Seaton's 
 reply was to resign the prize agency. He could not well 
 do otherwise after this and other specimens. 
 
 Oct. 8ih. — I go on an expedition early to-morrow 
 morning to some villages, and shall be too late back 
 for writing. 
 
 Oct. 11th. — Only three words to say that I am safe 
 and well. I cannot ascertain whether we go back direct 
 to Delhi, or by Jhujjur, to annex the Nawab's country. 
 Everything is perfectly quiet here, and the weather is 
 really colid in the mornings : we shall all improve by 
 the change, though fever is very prevalent amongst the 
 natives. The Europeans are gaining strength daily. 
 
 Camp, JItoo Sana, Oct. ISth. — We shall be at 
 Jhujjur, I believe, in a couple of days ; where part of 
 General Cortland's force and the Jummoo troops will 
 meet us, and they will, I fancy, be left in occupation, 
 and we return to Delhi, where I hear a force under 
 General Penny is to be formed to go towards Rohilcund. 
 It is more than probable that we shall accompany him. 
 If I am allowed to go to a station to form my regiment, 
 I shall certainly try for Umbala. The bazaars at Mee- 
 
372 DADREE. 
 
 rut, Cawnpore, &c., ai-e all destroyed, and I could get 
 nothing I wanted. Here I am interrupted by an order 
 to start on a " dour," which will keep us out till mid- 
 night, if not longer. 
 
 Oct. 14<A. — My expectations of yesterday were ful- 
 filled, and we did not return till midnight to dinner, 
 having been in the saddle, without a halt, since 3 p. m. 
 Some rascals had chosen to go and make free with the 
 grain, &c., left behind in Toli Ram's fort at Bampoora, 
 outside Rewarree, as soon as our last detachment had 
 come away ; so I was sent back to disturb their opera- 
 tions. Unfortunately Colonel Showers was too long in 
 making up his mind to send us, and though we marched 
 at the rate of more than seven miles in an hour, it was 
 dark before we came up with the tail of the party, just 
 as they were decamping with their booty; so we only 
 accounted for about thirty or forty. I was very weary, 
 so stayed behind for a few hours' rest, the column having 
 marched at 2 a. m. to Nahur, on the road to Dadree, 
 where we are to be joined by a portion of General Cort- 
 land's force, and the Dick Lawrence Invincibles from 
 Rohtuck. We then move on Jhujjur, but not the small- 
 est prospect of opposition, — all the masses of Raughur 
 and other horsemen melting away at our approach. I 
 have written to Chamberlain, as Adjutant- General, to get 
 me a couple of months to collect, complete, Mid clothe 
 the regiment. At all events, if we cannot be spared, 
 I have begged that the whole regiment may be kept 
 together, and not scattered piecemeal over the country, 
 as it is now. 
 
 Camp, Dadbee, Oct. l&th. — The Jhujjur Nawab 
 has, or will give himself up ; so not a shot will be fired, 
 for all the swarms of Irregular Cavalry have dispersed 
 
"DIAMOND RINGS." 373 
 
 to their homes, or rather to the hills and jungles, for 
 shelter and security. Colonel Greathed's column has 
 reached Agra, and there had a fight ; a regular surprise, 
 — our people being attacked while at breakfast ! How- 
 ever, the enemy were thoroughly thrashed eventually, 
 and lost camp and guns. Poor French, of the Lancers, 
 is the only officer whose name I have heard as killed. 
 A report has reached me from Simla that you have 
 got some magnificent diamond rings, &c., taken at Delhi. 
 This is rather good, considering the only rings I sent you 
 were the princes', and not worth twenty rupees altogether, 
 and the only "diamonds" were in that little broach I 
 bought from a sowar more than a month before Delhi 
 was taken, — so much for the veracity of your good- 
 natured friends at Simla ! It is too rich. I like Mac- 
 doweU increasingly, — he is so thoroughly honest and 
 gentlemanly, and brave as a lion. In "Wise, too, I am 
 fortunate ; and Wells is a fat, good-tempered, willing-to- 
 work school-boy. We do very well indeed together, and 
 I have profited by past experience, (and perhaps the 
 natural result of increased age and knowledge of the 
 world,) but things are very diflferent now and then. 
 
 We were waked up at midnight, and got to our camp- 
 ing ground at 11 a. m., and there found neither tents nor 
 breakfast. We march on to Jhujjur early to-morrow. 
 The Nawab has made his submission, and we have 
 nothing to do but receive it and move on. 
 
 Camp, Kunound, Oct. 19<A. — We left Dadree at 
 1 A. M. yesterday, and marched ten miles to Jhujjur, 
 found the force dispersed and fled, and took possession 
 of the (very nice) fort, with heaps of guns and ammu- 
 nition. My men were out after the fugitives till half- 
 past ten. At noon we marched again (the 6th Dragoon 
 
374 PROSPECT OF JUSTICE. 
 
 Guards and my regiment), under Colonel Custance, to 
 Nahur, twenty-four miles, which we reached at sunset. 
 At 3 A.. M. this morning we came on here, seventeen 
 miles, and took one of the strongest forts I have seen, 
 with fourteen guns, some very heavy ones, and five lacs 
 of rupees, which, alas ! is to be considered Government, 
 not prize property. I was only out of my saddle for one 
 hour yesterday, from one in the morning till sunset, and 
 then only to get some cold food under a tree ! But I 
 am quite weU and strong, much better than I was at 
 Delhi ; and as Colonel Custance and his officers are 
 remarkably agreeable gentlemanlike people, we have 
 had the most really pleasant days since leaving Delhi. 
 The worst of this raid is that it takes me from all chance 
 of getting away for a few days until our return. 
 
 Kdnound, Oct. 20<A. -:-! have just had a very nice 
 and welcome letter from , dated Calcutta, 5th Sep- 
 tember. He had had a long talk about me with Mr. 
 Talbot, who told him that General Anson's representa- 
 tions had done much good, and that it was admitted on 
 all hands that my exculpation in re the Guides was com- 
 plete, and that no higher or more flattering testimonials 
 were ever seen ; so that, please God, I shall be righted at 
 last ; and jiistice is all I want. I leave those who in- 
 jured me to the punishment of their own conscience, and 
 have no desire that their sins should be visited upon them 
 more than that. God saw that I was too proud and 
 happy at having gained the highest object of my worldly 
 ambition, and so chastened me, that now mere earthly 
 honors or success are becoming gradually of less impor- 
 tance to me. To go home with an untarnished name, 
 and to get the repose both of body and mind which 
 home alone can give, is now the climax of my desires. 
 
SICK MEN AND HORSES. 375 
 
 This is a very healthy country, but sandy, and, no 
 doubt, at times fearfully hot ; even to-day there is a hot 
 wind blowing, and yet by midnight it will be freezing ! 
 
 Camp, Kunound, Oct. 2\st. — Another long day with- 
 out a dak. I have "betwitted" Captain Trench, who 
 ha.s charge of the Post-office, for taking more care of 
 him.self than he does of us ; "but of course he denies the 
 soft impeachment in toto. I begin to despair of getting 
 back to Delhi, as we do not march hence till the 23d, and 
 even then it is uncertain in what direction we go. Au 
 reste, I am not sorry as it is, for my men and horses were 
 beginning to suffer. I had this morning thirty-eight men 
 and forty-three horses sick ! If Captain Fenwick is still 
 at Simla, will you ask him if he can get me one of the 
 new pattern saddles he introduced into the 9th Irregular 
 Cavalry ? I will gladly pay the cost and carriage, and 
 thank him into the bargain. Saddles are my greatest 
 difficulty in getting my regiment into order. I am doing 
 tolerably in the way of horses, and gradually remounting 
 the men, who came down badly horsed, with captured 
 cattle. The swords also are better than they were, from 
 the same source. My ankle gives me so much pain that 
 I have been forced to take to a small pony to ride even 
 about camp, so as to avoid walking even for fifty yards. 
 
 Oct. 22d. — We march to-night towards Rewarree, 
 and shall get there on the 24th ; from thence a part goes 
 to Gioorgaon, and waits the arrival of the larger portion 
 of the troops which are to go into the Mewattee country, 
 and punish some rascals who have plundered the large 
 town of Sonah. The Brigadier is planning a series of 
 manoeuvres, by which he intends to surround and capture 
 4,000 Mewattees. I shall be very much surprised if we 
 gee one of that interesting race ! 
 
376 SEPARATION OF REGIMENT. 
 
 I fear that if my men form part of the manceuvring 
 party, we shall not get to Goorgaon for six or seven days, 
 or perhaps ten, but I hope for the direct route. In either 
 case, as we shall do nothing, I would rather do it with as 
 little fatigue to man and horse as possible. The detached 
 state of this regiment is enough to ruin it. Three troops 
 are at Agra, or thereabouts, under Hugh Grough ; the 
 sick and depot at Delhi, and portions of five troops here ; 
 but it seriously increases the difficulty of managing a 
 totally new regiment', and it is hardly fair either to the 
 men or to the commanding officer. I have remonstrated, 
 but, I suppose, with very little effect, as I have had no 
 answer. I trust, indeed, I may get all together and go 
 towards Oudh. 
 
 Oct. 23d. — To-day we still halt, and I hear a rumor 
 that on our return we go on to Agra. My other troops 
 are on their way to Cawnpore, so that, I think, there is 
 every chance of my getting that way too. However 
 personally I might wish to be quiet at Umbala for a 
 time, I cannot ask not to be sent on one of two expedi- 
 tions with the same end, and unquestionably for our best 
 interests. Oudh, where Napier is in power, is the best 
 
 field open. Tell he may unhesitatingly contradict 
 
 the story about the rupees. It was bom in Delhi, and 
 was partly the cause of General Wilson's bad behavior 
 to me ; the money, 60,000/., was brought to me late one 
 night by the men, who had been desired (as Colonel 
 Seaton will corroborate) to secure prize property for him 
 and the other agents. We marched at daybreak next 
 morning, and I had only time to make it over to Mac- 
 dowell to see it locked up in the regimental chest for 
 safety before we started. When I returned, three or 
 four days afterwards, a story had been circulated by the 
 
SLANDEROUS STOKIES. 377 
 
 native who had disgorged the coin, that I bad kept the 
 money for myself! Of course the very day I returned it 
 was, with heaps of other things, made over to the agents. 
 And so stories go in this world. The amount of petty 
 jealousy excited by what my friends call my " successes " 
 is beyond belief. The capture of the King and his sons, 
 however ultimately creditable, has caused me more envy 
 and ill-will than you would believe possible, but I have 
 had too much experience of humanity, during the last 
 few years, to care for envy now ; and, conscious as I am 
 of my own rectitude of purpose at least, however I may 
 err in judgment, I go on my way rejoicing. 
 
 Camp, Patondhee, Oct. Ilth. — I am indeed most 
 humbly and earnestly grateful to the good God who has 
 so mercifully spared * what was so infinitely more pre- 
 cious to me than life itself; and I do feel how entirely 
 our hearts should be filled with gratitude to Him for the 
 bountiful mercies which we mutually and individually 
 have experienced at His hands during the past year: 
 the preservation of us both from such perils ; my reem- 
 ployment in an honorable position ; my ability to do such 
 good service to the country at such a crisis ; the preser- 
 vation of health in such a time of exposure ; my beloved 
 wife's power and will to tend the wounded, and succor 
 the distressed ; my complete, though tardy, vindication 
 from unjust charges ; my almost assured freedom from 
 debt; — all these mercies are almost more than my full 
 heart can bear, and I sink on my knees in humble grati- 
 tude at the foot of His throne who has done such wonder- 
 ful things for us. May He crown all other blessings by 
 granting us a safe reunion. 
 
 * Eefeiring to his wife's almost miracnlons escape, when the horee 
 on which she was riding fell over a precipice and was killed. — Ei. 
 
378 BUYING CATTLK. 
 
 It will be seen by the foregoing letters that 
 Hodson's Horse had, by this time, acquired such 
 proportions that they admitted of being divided. 
 One detachment, under Lieut. Gough, had been 
 sent with Colonel Greathed's column towards 
 Agra, and afterwards joined Sir Colin Camp- 
 bell's force, and took part, with much distinc- 
 tion, in the final relief of Lucknow by Sir Colin 
 and Sir James Outram. 
 
 The main body, with their commandant, ac- 
 companied Brigadier Showers, and were of great 
 service in anticipating the movements and cut- 
 ting off the retreat of the flying enemy, as well 
 as in scouring the country and bringing in sup- 
 plies. Their rapidity of movement and dashing 
 courage made them a terror to the rebel forces, 
 who had, on more than one occasion, painful 
 experience of the keenness of their sabres. 
 
 In the course of the expedition, the forces of 
 several rebel rajahs were defeated, their strong- 
 holds captured, with many guns, and treasure 
 amounting to 70,000^. taken, besides large quan- 
 tities of cattle. 
 
 On one occasion upwards of 1,700 head of 
 cattle had been taken. When they were brought 
 in. Brigadier Showers exclaimed, " Hang me ! 
 what in the world am I to do with them ? It 
 would take half my force to convoy them back 
 to Delhi. I can't take them." On this Captain 
 Hodson said, " Well, sir, will you sell them to 
 me, and let me take my chance ? " " Willingly," 
 
" COW-HOUSE." 379 
 
 said the Brigadier ; so the bargain was struck for 
 two rupees a head. Captain Hodson sent them 
 off, under charge of their drivers and two or 
 three of his own sowars, to Delhi, where they 
 arrived safely, and were of course sold at a large 
 profit. 
 
 The speculation turned out a good one, but 
 the chances were against it. No one else, prob- 
 ably, under the circumstances, would have run 
 the risk, and the cattle would have been left 
 behind. 
 
 I mention this anecdote as showing that in 
 small things as well as great my brother refused 
 to acknowledge difficulties, and deserved the 
 character given him of being the most " wide- 
 awake " man in the army. Shortly afterwards 
 he invested part of the proceeds in a house at 
 Umbala, which happened to be then put up for 
 a forced sale at a great depreciation. This con- 
 sequently went among his friends by the name 
 of the " cow-house." 
 
 A short time before the return of the column 
 to Delhi, he applied for a few weeks' leave, in 
 order to join his wife, who had come down from 
 Simla to Umbala. 
 
 On November 3d he wrote to his sister from 
 Umbala : — 
 
 Afler nearly six months of separation, I was happy 
 enough to get back here yesterday night, and find my 
 wife well, and all but recovered from the eflFects of her 
 frightful accident, the most wonderful escape, perhaps, 
 
380 PROGRESS OF HIS REGIMENT. 
 
 from imminent peril ever recorded. I take the first 
 holiday I have had since the 15th May, to write a few 
 lines to you, my dearest sister, to say what deep and 
 real pleasure and comfort your letters bring to me, 
 amidst danger and toil and fatigue ; and how cheering 
 it is to feel that, come what may, I am sure of your 
 loving sympathy and constant affection. I received 
 yesterday your letter of the 4th May, and could not but 
 be most forcibly struck with the contrast between my 
 circumstances individually, and those of the country, 
 then and now. No one will rejoice more than your- 
 self at the sudden change, and at the tolerable success 
 which has been permitted to my labors 
 
 Nov. 15th. — Here my pen was arrested by the news 
 that the mail was gone. In these days all regularity 
 is set at defiance, and again we have been startled by 
 a notice to send our letters within half an hour, and 
 that, too, in the midst of preparation for a hurried re- 
 turn to Delhi and Meerut, to rejoin my regiment We 
 march at once to join Sir Colin Campbell and the 
 army assembling at Cawnpore for the reconquest of 
 Lucknow. 
 
 I am getting on famously with my regiment ; men 
 of good family and fighting repute are really flocking to 
 my standard, * and before the end of the year I hope 
 to have 1,000 horsemen under my command. 
 
 * A letter from Delhi, in October, says: — 
 
 " The corps raised by that very gallant officer, Captain Hodson, is 
 composed, more thau anything we have hitherto had, of the old sirdars 
 and soldiers of Ruiijeet Singh's time, in consequence of which, and 
 the skill of their commander, they are already an extremely efficient 
 corps. 
 
 " I was talking this morning to a very independent looking Resal- 
 dar, who seemed to be treated by his men much more as they do a 
 European officer than is ever seen in our service, and who bore him- 
 
SEATON'S COLUMN. 381 
 
 I had a letter the other day from , at Calcutta, 
 
 from which I learn that at last the truth is beginning 
 to dawn on the minds of men in power regarding me. 
 They now say that my remonstrance will be placed on 
 record for preservation, " not for justification, which it is 
 fully admitted was not required," and that " no higher 
 testimonials were ever produced." 
 
 How much I have to be thankful for, not only for 
 restored position and means for future distinction, but 
 for safety and preservation during this terrible war, and 
 for my dear wife's escape. 
 
 You must not misunderstand my silence. I was com- 
 pelled to leave the task of writing letters to Susie ; I had 
 barely time to keep her assured of my safety from day 
 to day. 
 
 On the 2d December, " Hodson's Horse " were 
 ordered to join a movable column under Colonel 
 Thomas Seaton, C. B., proceeding down the 
 country towards Cawnpore, in charge of an im- 
 mense convoy of supplies of all kinds for the 
 Commander-in-Chief's army. The convoy was 
 calculated to extend over fifteen mUes of road, — 
 hackeries of grain, camels, elephants, horses, — 
 and but 1,500 men and four guns to protect them 
 all. At Allygurh the forces, marching respective- 
 ly from Delhi and Meerut, united on the 11th. 
 On the following day Colonel Seaton, leaving 
 the convoy under the protection of the guns of 
 
 self 'as the inferior of no one, and 1 found that he had been long a 
 colonel of artillery in Runjeet Singh's service, and very openly went 
 through the part he had taken against us in the revolt of 1849.*' 
 
382 FORCED MARCHES. 
 
 the fort, proceeded by forced marches to look 
 after some large parties of the rebel army who 
 were encamped in the Doab. 
 
 On the 10th, my brother wrote to his wife 
 from 
 
 Camp Somna, 14 miles Jrom AUygurh^ Dec. \(iih. 
 
 After four days of forced marches we joined the col- 
 umn this morning, and march on to AUygurh to-morrow. 
 We have been quite out of the way of letters, both going 
 and coming, until to-day. The " enemy," who were sup- 
 posed to have been in our front at Khasgunge, have al' 
 disappeared, and there seems to be no immediate pros- 
 pect of our finding another. Alfred Light marched down 
 with me from Meerut to this place, and now goes on with 
 Colonel Seaton as orderly officer, I am glad to say. We 
 have a frightful convoy and crowd, but I hope not for 
 long. The head-quarter people. Colonels Keith, Young, 
 Becher, and Congreve, are with us. It is said that our 
 friend Napier is to be Adjutant-General of the army, — 
 delightful, if true. I have only just got my tent up, and 
 it is nearly dark, so I can only say that I am safe and 
 well. 
 
 AlltOtDKH, Dec. llth. — We arrived here early this 
 morning, and I found Major Eld commanding and Arthur 
 Cocks doing Commissioner. Everything perfectly quiet 
 in the neighborhood, and no large gathering of Pandies 
 anywhere near. There is a small party at Khasgunge, 
 and I hope we may be lucky enough to find them, but I 
 doubt their waiting for us. Meantime we are to march 
 down the Trunk Road, halting here to-morrow. I can- 
 not get over our pariing, each separation seems a greater 
 wrench than the last. 
 
ALLYGURH. 383 
 
 Of public news there ia none, but one broad fact, that 
 since the 12th ultimo no news have been received from 
 Lucknow, and not a word even from Cawnpore since the 
 2oth. This necessarily excites alarm, but still my im- 
 pression is, that though our people may be surrounded 
 with a close cordon of disaffected and rebellious men, 
 who cut off all communication, yet that any serious harm 
 can happen to a force of 8,000 or 9,000 Europeans I will 
 not readily believe. I have 596 sabres with me now, 50 
 more coming from Delhi, besides the 140 with Gtough, — 
 not so bad that. 
 
 Dec. 12th. — We hear to-day from Agra that the ladies 
 and sick and wounded from Lucknow and Cawnpore 
 have been sent down to Allahabad, and the Gwalior Con- 
 tingent beaten. The Commander-in-Chief is at Cawn- 
 pore, and troops will be assembling there enough to put 
 down all opposition, and open the road to Calcutta. We 
 march to-morrow morning from hence, leaving the " im- 
 pedimenta " behind here until we can ascertain that the 
 road is clear ; when it is so, all will move on. We have 
 fifteen guns, mostly 9-pounders, with our small but com- 
 pact force. Major Eld joins us with a part of his garri- 
 son, and Colonel Farquhar bi-ings 300 Belooches, 200- 
 Affghans, and two guns to our aid. We shall be 2,500 
 fighting men, and the " fathers of rebels " will hardly 
 stomach so much as that ! Colonel Seaton is doing ad- 
 mirably, very firm and very wide awake ; so all will, I 
 doubt not, go well. 
 
 JuLALEE, Dec. 13th. — Tour letter, inclosing our dar- 
 ling sister's, found us lying in the dust, with a pea-soup 
 atmosphere of fine sand all around, discussing hot tea and 
 eggs, just as I had returned from a reconnaissance to the 
 front, in virtue of my being the big eye and ear of the 
 
384 ENGAGEMENT AT GUNGEREE. 
 
 camp The paragraph in the Lahore Chronicle was 
 
 too absurd, and beneath my notice ; but to please you 
 and Macdowell I consented' to his saying anything he 
 pleased on the subject. Naturally, I must err sometimes 
 in judgment, even with prayer for my aid ; but I never 
 swerve from my one and only aim, to do my duty as well 
 and strictly as I can ; so the praise or blame of men 
 affect me less than if I took public opinion and not con- 
 science for my guide. But apropos of the newspapers, 
 Arthur Cocks tells me that the Friend of India has apol- 
 ogized for its strictures on my conduct in re the Shahza- 
 dahs ; so let that satisfy you, for nothing I could write, or 
 my friends for me, could ever be half so effectual as the 
 
 Friend's voluntary amende I intended to have 
 
 written much to-day, but I was waked at 3 a. m., marched 
 soon after, and with the exception of the dusty breakfast 
 (cheered by my letters), I was in the saddle till half-past 
 2 p. M. Then regimental business, washed and dressed, 
 then threw myself on my bed for half an hour till din- 
 ner, after which we get to bed as soon as we can, and up 
 again at 3 a. m., so there is not much time for what I 
 want to do of private matters. There's a history of a 
 day in camp. 
 
 Camp, G-ungeree, Dec. lith. — I have only time to 
 say that I am safe and well, though we have had a hard 
 fight. The enemy's cavalry, with three guns and some 
 infantry, came on from Bilaram to meet us this morning 
 after breakfast, — about 800 horsemen and a mob of 
 foot, — but our guns soon stopped their progress, and 
 then the Carabineers and Lancers charged straight down 
 on them in the most magnificent style, capturing all three 
 of their guns at a dash ! I grieve to say, however, that 
 they paid most dearly for their splendid courage. All 
 
PUTTIALEE. 385 
 
 their officers went down. Captain Wardlaw, Mr. Hud- 
 son, and Mr. Vyse, all killed, and Head, of the Lancers, 
 badly wounded. The infantry were not engaged at all. 
 We attacked their flying cavalry and footmen on the left, 
 and made very short work of all we could catch. I lost 
 a fine old Resaldar, our dear old friend Mohammed Beza 
 Khan's brother. None of my officers hurt; but my 
 horse (Rufus this time) got a cut.* 
 
 Camp neak Puttialee, 17th. — I have but time for 
 one line again to say that " all's well." We have been 
 on our horses for eleven hours ! The enemy had the 
 boldness to await our arrival here in great force and 
 partly intrenched. We attacked them soon after 8 a. m., 
 they firing aimlessly at us as we advanced, our guns com- 
 ing into play with fine effect. I then dashed into their 
 camp with my re^ment. Bishop's troop of Artillery 
 actually charging with us like cavalry fairly into their 
 camp ! We drove them through camp and town, and 
 through gardens, fields, and lanes, capturing every gun 
 and aU their ammunition and baggage. We pushed on 
 for six or seven miles, and read them a terrible lesson. 
 The Carabineers and my men alone must have killed some 
 500 or 600 at least, all sowars and fanatics. We wound 
 up by killing the Nawab, who led them on his elephant, 
 
 * From Despatch from Colonel T. Seaton, C. B., to Majob- 
 General Penny, Commancling at Delhi. 
 
 " Khasgukge, Dec. Ihth, 1867. 
 " The General will see by the list of casualties, that Captain Hod- 
 son's newly raised body of Horse was not backward, and rendered 
 excellent service. It could not do less under its distinguished com- 
 mander, whom I beg particularly to mention to the Major-General, as 
 having on every possible occasion rendered me the most efficient ser- 
 vice, whether in gaining information, reconnoitring the country, or 
 leading his regiment." 
 
 17 
 
386 RECONNOITRING AFTER ACTION. 
 
 after a long chase and an ingenious struggle, in which he 
 was fairly pulled out of his houdah. I am very tired, 
 but delighted with our day's work on Seaton's account. 
 AVe have captured thirteen guns and entirely dispersed 
 the enemy. He ought to be made a K. C. B. for this.* 
 
 PuTTiALEE, Idih. — I have just returned from a twen- 
 ty-five miles' ride reconnoitring towards the ghats of the 
 Ganges, and breakfasted al fresco at 1 J p. m. ; so I am 
 not too fresh, as you may imagine, after the last few days 
 of hard work and hard galloping. Colonel Seaton tells 
 me that he wrote to you after our very successful action 
 here. He does all his work so well and pleasantly that 
 it is a pleasure to work under him. We have a very 
 compact force and capital officers, so everything goes on 
 smoothly and comfortably. The remnant of the gentry 
 we thrashed here seem never to have stopped running 
 since. Another party have, however, crossed over from 
 Rohilcund, and are said to be coming our way. I only 
 wish they may. 
 
 Dec. 20th. — We march back to-morrow, and shall be 
 at Etah on the Grand Trunk Koad on the 24th, when the 
 convoy will come on to rejoin us. I have ascertained 
 that the result of our affiair here has been to drive the 
 whole of the rebels out of the country between this and 
 Futtehgurh. 
 
 From Etah we shall disperse the Mynpooree party, 
 
 * Extract from a Despatch from Lieutenant- Colonel T. Seaton, 
 dated 
 
 " Puttialee, Dec. \ith, 1857. 
 " After the action at Gungeree I specially mentioned Captain Hod- 
 eon and his regiment. I can but repeat what I then said, and beg 
 that the Major-General will be good enough to bring this officer, and 
 his great and important services, to the special notice of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief." 
 
KHASGUNGE. 387 
 
 and then I think there will be no rebels left in the DoS,b 
 save at Futtehgurh, and those the Commander-in-Chief 
 will dispose of 
 
 Khasgunge, 23rf. — The more we move in this direc- 
 tion, the more do we realize of the satisfactory results of 
 our expedition and our fight of the 17th. It really was 
 a very complete affair, and had it been done under the 
 eyes of the Commander-in-Chief, I should have been 
 made a colonel. However, I can but admit that every 
 disposition exists here to give me (perhaps more than) 
 my due. To-day we have for the first time heard of the 
 Commander-in-Chief's movements. He comes up in two 
 columns, via the Grand Trunk Boad, and via the Jumna 
 towards Mynpooree. We shall be at the latter place on 
 Christmas day, I hope, and clear out the remainder of the 
 rebels who may still be lurking about the roads and vil- 
 lages. We caught yesterday one of the rebel leaders, an 
 old Resaldar, covered with honors, pension, and dignity 
 by our Government ! These rascals are as impervious to 
 gratitude as they are ignorant of truth. The neighbor- 
 hood of Futtehgurh has brought vividly home to me the 
 horrors committed, and the dreadful fate of poor Tudor 
 Tucker, his wife, children, and the other victims, is ever 
 before me ; it often recalls a sterner judgment when we 
 feel inclined to spare. 
 
 Etah, Dec. mh. — We got here after an eighteen 
 miles' march, and hear that the Chief was to leave Cawn- 
 pore "in a few days" from the 14th, and would move up 
 the Grand Trunk Road with one column, sending anotlier 
 to skirt the Jumna. General Windham is said to be 
 coming up to take the divisional command at Umbala. 
 
 M0LLOWN, Christmas Dat. — There seems a fatal- 
 ity against our spending these anniversaries together ; but 
 
388 CAPTAIN WARDLAW. 
 
 my heart is full of deep and earnest prayer for you and 
 all my loved ones, and I try to hope that our next Christ- 
 mas may be spent at home. 
 
 We march to Kerowlee to-morrow, and shall be at 
 Mynpooree on the 27th, there to halt for a few days, 
 until the convoy is collected and we can hear from the 
 Commander-in-Chief. We have just heard that Mayhew 
 is the new Adjutant-General, and Norman, Deputy. This 
 last is a splendid thing, and shows Sir Colin's determina- 
 tion to pbt the right man in the right place, in spite of all 
 the red tape and seniority systems in the world ! I can 
 hear nothing of our dear friend Napier, but I suppose he 
 is with Sir James Outram. 
 
 Mtnpooree, December 27th. — We have just returned 
 from a sixteen miles' pursuit of the rebel force posted in 
 front of this place. They only waited until the Horse 
 Artillery guns opened on them, and then fled precipi- 
 tately, so we had to ride hard to overtake them. They 
 flung away their arms, and became simple villagers with 
 astonishing rapidity ; it would have done credit to the 
 stage. No one hurt but two of my sowars. We have 
 got all their guns (six in number), and the Doab is clear 
 now to Futtehgurh. 
 
 Mtnpoobee, December 28th. — The Commander-in- 
 Chief had not left Cawnpore on the 16th, but was to do 
 so very soon ; we hope to hear of him. Please send the 
 inclosed notes to the ladies to whom they are addressed, 
 and if they like to inclose me any miniature replies, I 
 will take care they are safely forwarded to their hus- 
 bands. 
 
 Mtnpooree, December 29th. — I have spoken about 
 
 poor Wardlaw's effects, and Mrs. 's kind offer was 
 
 accepted gladly ; but a reference to Meerut was neces- 
 
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S CAMP. 389 
 
 sary, and I have not yet had a final answer. Poor fel- 
 low ! never was a more gallant charge than the last he 
 led, and I agree with his brother officers that " a kinder 
 friend, a more gallant soldier, and a better comrade, 
 never stepped than George Wardlaw.'' Both his death 
 and that of his comrade, Mr. Hudson, were perhaps un- 
 necessary, — by which I mean that a better acquaintance 
 with their enemy might have saved both. The former, 
 after the charge, dashed single-handed — with a cheer — 
 into a knot of matchlock-men waiting to receive him, and 
 was shot dead instantly. Had he gathered together only 
 half a dozen dragoons, he might have ridden over them. 
 The other (Hudson) was shot by a wretched fugitive 
 lying prostrate in a field. Not understanding their tac- 
 tics, he rode up to him and halted, thus offering a fair 
 mark for the villain's ready musket. He was a son of 
 the ex-Railway King. 
 
 Mtnpooree, December ZQ>ih, 6 a. m. — I am just 
 starting for the Chief's camp, which is at or near 
 Groorsahaigunge, some forty miles from hence. I am 
 taking despatches from Colonel Seaton, and to see that 
 the road is clear. I hope to be back to dinner. Mac 
 goes with me. 
 
 Bewar, Grand Trunk Road, December 31s<. — 
 Yesterday, I rode with Mac to the Commander-in-Chief's 
 camp. It was farther off than I had been led to believe, 
 and I had to go fifty-four miles to reach him. I found 
 him wonderfully fresh and well, and met with a most 
 cordial and hearty welcome from him. General Mansfield, 
 and, in fact, from all. Gough, Bruce, and Mackinnon, all 
 fat and well, I was much pleased with all I heard and 
 saw ; the sight of the sailors and the Highlanders did my 
 eyes and heart good. Such dear, wild-looking fellows as 
 
390 OPENING COMMUNICATION. 
 
 these Jack-tars are. but so respectful and proper in con- 
 duct and manner. Our dear Napier is wounded, I grieve 
 to say, though, thank God ! not badly, and is left behind 
 at Cawnpore. So I am gazetted a Captain at last ! All 
 the letters, papers, and despatches relative to Delhi have 
 been published, and I am again thanked in despatches by 
 the Governor-General. . . . Sir Colin was very com- 
 plimentary, and my men, under Gough, have won gi-eat 
 distinction and universal praise. I rejoiced to see my 
 old friend Norman in his proper place, the de facto Ad- 
 jutant-General of the army ; and Hope Grant has done 
 everything admirably. We Punjaubee cavalry folks are 
 quite " the thing " just now .... We had a narrow 
 escape yesterday from a party of the enemy crossing the 
 road en route from the southward to Futtehgurh ; they 
 attacked my sowars after we (Mac and I) had ridden on, 
 and killed one of them, and wounded several. Coming 
 back at night, we passed quite close to tlie enemy's 
 bivouac, hearing their voices distinctly ; but by taking it 
 quietly, and riding on soft ground, we got past unmolested 
 and into Bewar (to which place Seaton moved up this 
 morning) by 3 A. M., having dined with the Commander- 
 in-Chief last evening. We had ridden ninety-four miles 
 since six in the morning. I, seventy-two on one horse, 
 my gallant Rufus. We astonished the head-quarter 
 people not a little. 
 
 I am again indebted to the pen of Lieutenant 
 Macdowell, for a fuller account of the hairbreadth 
 escape which he and my brother had in the course 
 of this ride, in which they so gallantly and suc- 
 cessfully opened communication between the two 
 forces. 
 
DANGEROUS RIDE. 391 
 
 " Camp, Bewak, Jan. lai, 1858. 
 
 " You know we took Mynpooree on the 27th. We 
 halted that day and the two following. On the night of 
 the 29th, Hodson came into my tent, about nine o'clock, 
 and told me a report had come in that the Commander- 
 in-Chief had arrived with his forces at Goorsahaigunge, 
 about thirty-eight miles from Mynpooree, and that he had 
 volunteered to ride over to him with despatches, asking 
 me at the same time if I would accompany him. Of 
 course I consented at once, and was very much gratified 
 by his selecting me as his companion. At 6 A. M. the 
 next morning we started, with seventy-five sowars of 
 our own regiment. I do not wish to enhance the danger 
 of the undertaking, but shall merely tell you that since 
 Brigadier Grant's column moved down this road towards 
 Lucknow, it had been closed against all Europeans ; that 
 we were not certain if the Commander-in-Chief's camp 
 was at Goorsahaigunge (which uncertainty was verified, 
 as you will see) ; and that, to say the least of it, there 
 was a chance of our falling in with roving bands of the 
 enemy.* 
 
 " We started at 6 a. m., and reached Bewar all safe, 
 
 * The following extract from a private letter of an artillery officer, 
 describing the state of the roads, -will give some notion of the danger 
 of this ride: — 
 
 " Mynpooree, December 29th. 
 
 " Since the 20th of October, no letters have passed this road. 
 The ' Kossids,' whose trade it is to carry letters through an enemy's 
 country, would not and could not do it, and no wonder. At one 
 place we saw a poor brute who had gone from us with a letter to the 
 Chief, and had been caught by the rebels. He was banging by the 
 heels, had his nose cut off, had been made a target of, and roasted 
 alive. 
 
 " Pleasant fellows, these rebels, and worthy of all consideration." 
 
392 COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S CAMP. 
 
 fourteen miles from our camp. Here we halted, and ate 
 sandwiches, and then, leaving fifty men to stay till our 
 return, pushed on to Chibberamow, fourteen miles farther 
 on. Here we made another halt, and then, leaving the 
 remaining twenty-five men behind, we pushed on by our- 
 selves, unaccompanied, for Goorsahaigunge, where we 
 hoped to find the Commander-in-Chief. On arriving 
 there (a fourteen miles' stage), we found the Commander- 
 in-Chief was at Meerun-ke-Serai, fifteen miles fartlier 
 on. This was very annoying ; but there was no help for 
 it, so we struck out for it as fast as we could, the more so 
 as we heard that the enemy, 700 strong, with four guns, 
 was within two miles of us. We arrived at Meerun-ke- 
 Serai at 4 A. M., and found the camp there all right. We 
 were received most cordially by all, and not a little sur- 
 prised were they to hear where we had come from. 
 Hodson was most warmly received by Sir Colin Camp- 
 bell, and was closeted with him till dinner-time. Mean- 
 while, I sought out some old friends, and amused myself 
 with looking at the novel sight of English sailors em- 
 ployed with heavy guns. I also went to see the High- 
 landers, and magnificent fellows they are, with their bon- 
 nets and kilts, looking as if they could eat up all the 
 Pandies in India. A summons to the Commander-in- 
 Chief's table called me away, and oiF I went to dinner, 
 when I found Hodson seated by Sir Colin, and carrying 
 on a most animated conversation with him. We had a 
 very pleasant dinner, and at 8 p. m. started on our long 
 ride (fifty-four miles) back. We arrived at Goorsahai- 
 gunge all safe, and pushed on at once for the next stage, 
 Chibberamow. When we had got half way, we were 
 stopped by a native, who had been waiting in expectation 
 of our return. God bless him ! I say, and I am sure you 
 
HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE. 393 
 
 will say so too when you have read all. He told us 
 that a party of the enemy had attacked our twenty-five 
 sowars at Chibberamow, cut up some, and beaten back 
 the rest, and that there was a great probability some of 
 them (the enemy) were lurking about the road to our 
 front. This was pleasant news, was it not ? — twenty 
 miles from the Commander-in Chiers camp, thirty from 
 our own ; time, midnight ; scene, an open road ; dramatis 
 persona, two officers armed with swords and revolvers, 
 and a howling enemy supposed to be close at hand. We 
 deliberated what we should do, and Hodson decided we 
 should ride on at all risks. ' At the worst,' he said, ' we 
 can gallop back ; but we'll try and push through.' The 
 native came with us, and we started. I have seen a few 
 adventures in my time, but must confess this was the 
 most trying one I had ever engaged in. It was a pierc- 
 ingly cold night, with a bright moon and a wintry sky, 
 and a cold wind every now and then sweeping by and 
 chilling us to the very maiTow. Taking our horses off 
 the hard road on to the side where it was soft, so that the 
 noise of their footfalls could be less distinctly heard, we 
 silently went on our way, anxiously listening for every 
 sound that fell upon our ears, and straining our sight to 
 see if, behind the dark trees dotted along the road, we 
 could discern the forms of the enemy waiting in ambush 
 to seize us. It was indeed an anxious time. We pro- 
 ceeded till close to Chibberamow. ' They are there,' 
 said our guide in a whisper, pointing to a garden in a 
 clump of trees to our right front. Distinctly we heard 
 a faint hum in the distance ; — whether it was the enemy, 
 or whether our imagination conjured up the sound, I 
 know not. We slowly and silently passed through the 
 village, in the main street of which we saw the dead body 
 
 17* 
 
394 HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE. 
 
 of one of our men lying stark and stiff and ghastly in 
 the moonlight ; and on emerging from the other side, dis- 
 missed our faithful guide, with directions to come to our 
 camp, — and then, putting spurs to our horses, we gal- 
 loped for the dear life to Bewar, breathing more freely 
 as every stride bore us away from the danger now hap- 
 pily past. We reached Bewar at about two o'clock a. m., 
 and found a party of our men sent out to look for us. 
 Our troopers had ridden in to say they had been attacked 
 and driven back, and that we had gone on alone, and all 
 concluded we must fall into the hands of the enemy. 
 We flung ourselves down on charpoys and slept till da3'- 
 light, when our column marched in, and we received the 
 hearty congratulations of all on our escape. What do 
 you think of it ? The man whose infoi-mation gave us 
 such timely warning, and thereby prevented our galloping 
 on, by which we should certainly have excited the atten- 
 tion of the enemy, has been very handsomely rewarded, 
 and obtained employment. 
 
 " It appears from the reports afterwards received, that 
 the party that cut up our men were fugitives from Eta- 
 wah, where a column of ours, under General Walpole, 
 had arrived. They consisted of about 1,500 men, with 
 seven guns, and were proceeding to Futtypore. We rode 
 in at one end of Chibberamow in the morning ; — they 
 rode in at the other. They saw us, but we did not see 
 them, as we were on unfavorable ground. Thinking we 
 were the advanced guard of our column, they retired 
 hastily to a village some two coss off. Meanwhile, Hodson 
 and I, unconscious of their vicinity, rode on. They sent 
 out scouts, and ascertained that only twenty-five of our 
 sowars were in the village, upon which they resumed 
 their march, sending a party to cut up our men, and, I 
 
SEATON'S LETTER. 395 
 
 suppose, to wait for our return. All Hodson said when 
 we were at Bewar, and safe, was ' By George ! Mac, I'd 
 give a good deal for a cup of tea,' and immediately went 
 to sleep. He is the coolest hand I have ever yet met. 
 We rode ninety-four miles. Hodson rode seventy-two on 
 one horse, the little dun, and I rode Alma seventy-two 
 miles also." 
 
 Colonel Seaton, in a letter written shortly after- 
 wards to Mrs. Hodson, thus describes the anxiety 
 he felt: — 
 
 " Mahomed ABAD, Jan. bth. 
 
 " Oh, what a fright I was in the night before we 
 marched from Mynpooree. Your husband knew that I 
 was most anxious to communicate with the Commander- 
 in-Chief, and volunteered to ride across, and as Mr. Cocks 
 said that he had most positive information that the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief was at Goorsahaigunge, I consented. 
 He started at daybreak, taking a strong party of his own 
 regiment. 
 
 " At sunset, one of his men returned, saying that he 
 and Macdowell had left a party at Chibberamow, and 
 ridden forward ; that the party had subsequently been 
 surprised by the enemy, and cut up. 
 
 " At first, this seemed most alarming, yet I had the 
 greatest faith in his consummate prudence and skill. I 
 knew Macdowell was with him, and I said to myself, ' If 
 those two are not sharp enough to dodge the black fel- 
 lows, why the d is in it.' But still I could not help 
 
 feeling most uneasy, and saying, ' Oh, dear ! what should 
 I say to his poor wife ! ' I did not sleep one wink all 
 night. In the morning a sowar galloped in with a note 
 from him. Oh, what a relief to my mind ! 
 
396 CAPTAIN HODSON. 
 
 " The day before yesterday, we rode over together to 
 the Commander-in-Chief's camp at Goorsahaigunge, and 
 found he had moved on four miles beyond the Kalee 
 Nuddee. We followed, and came in for the tail of a 
 fight, as there were still some dropping shots. I was 
 received with great cordiality by the Commander-in- 
 Chief, and warmly congratulated on our successes. 
 
 " Tour gallant husband has now left me, and I find it 
 most painful to part, for he is a warm friend and true 
 soldier ; always ready with his pen, his sword, or his 
 counsel at my slightest wish ; indeed, he often anticipated 
 my wishes, as if he could divine what I wanted. I 
 missed his cheerful manly face at my breakfast this morn- 
 ing, and am not in a good-humor at aU to-day." 
 
 In a letter to England of the same date, my 
 brother says : — 
 
 At last, after twelve years' service, I am a Captain 
 regimentally from the 14th September last ; poor Major 
 Jacobs' death after the assault having given me my pro- 
 motion, — dearly purchased by the death of such a man ! 
 I have much to be thankful for, not only for the most 
 unhoped-for escapes from wounds and death, but for the 
 position I now occupy, and for the appreciation my work 
 has received from those in power. My new regiment 
 has done good service, and got much Kido^. 
 
 On January 1, 1858, he writes to his wife from 
 
 Camp, Bewae. — I must write a few lines on this 
 jour de ran, though they will be but few, as we start 
 shortly for the Commander-in-Chief's camp at Goorsa- 
 haigunge, twenty-eight miles off, — the "we" means 
 Colonel Seaton, Light, and myself I do hope it will 
 
NIGHT MARCH. 397 
 
 then be decided when we are to join the Chief, which, for 
 many reasons, I am most anxious to do. Macdowell 
 wrote you a capital account of our expedition to Meerun- 
 ke-Serai, which you will get before this reaches you. He 
 is game to the backbone, but he has not the physical 
 stamina for such an adventure as that. I am sorry to 
 say I lost three of my men killed and four wounded, and 
 my horse, saddle and bridle (English), were lost. I wish 
 
 you could coax out of that horse he got of Genei-al 
 
 Anson ; life and more than life sometimes depends on 
 being well mounted. 
 
 January Sd. — We did not get back from Goorsahai- 
 gunge till two this morning, very weary and tired, and 
 now comes an order, just as I am sitting down to write, 
 for my regiment to march at once to join the Chief's 
 camp near Futtehgurh ; so I am again reduced to the 
 mere announcement that I am safe and well. I have just 
 heard that the rebels have bolted from Futtehgurh. 
 
 Futtehgurh, 4th January. — A night-march of 
 twenty-five miles, tents up at 1 p. m., after which break- 
 fast, and two interviews with the Chief and his staflf", 
 have not left me much daylight or time for the post. 
 Futtehgurh was abandoned as I foretold, and our troops 
 are all concentrating here, not a shot having been fired. 
 We remain here a few days, but a few inglorious but 
 needful burning expeditions will probably be all we shall 
 have to do. Our dear friend Napier is recovered, or 
 nearly so, from his wound. I hope he will join the 
 Chief, who appreciates him as he deserves. 
 
 January 5th. — The anniversary of the most blessed 
 event in my life again to be spent in absence. ... I see 
 no chance just yet of any vigorous action by which the 
 war might be concluded, and we released from this toil- 
 
398 BRIGADIER A. HOPE. 
 
 some campaign. The Commander-in-Chief is tied by 
 red tape, and obliged to wait the orders of Government 
 as to where he is to go ! Are our rulers stiU infatuated ? 
 You complain of the shortness of my letters, and with 
 justice ; but the most important business, often the safety 
 of the force, depends on my doing my duty unflinchingly. 
 Colonel Seaton dines with me to-day to drink your health 
 on this our day. 1 have spoken for Reginald * to come 
 and do duty with him ; but I fear that " Seaton's fighting 
 column " has sunk in the sea of this great camp, but I 
 will do my best to get the dear boy down here. 
 
 6th. — We march to-day, with a brigade under Colonel 
 Adrian Hope, on some punishing expeditions. I hope to, 
 return in three or four days, and where we go next is 
 not known. Seaton has subsided for the present into 
 the simple Colonel of Fusiliers, which seems hard enough 
 after all he has done. I hope they will soon give him a 
 brigade. 
 
 Camp, Shdmshabad, January 1th. — Here we are on 
 the move again ! Colonel Hope's brigade, consisting of 
 the 42d and 73d Highlanders, 2d Punjaub Infantry, a 
 Royal Artillery battery, two guns Bengal H. A., a squad- 
 ron of Lancers, and half my men — a splendid little 
 force with nothing to do I fear but pull down houses, the 
 owners of which have all escaped. We are only a few 
 miles from the place to which we pursued the enemy 
 from Puttialee, and had Colonel Seaton been allowed to 
 push on then, we should have caught and punished these 
 rascals as they deserved. Brigadier Hope is a very fine 
 fellow and a pleasant ; about my age, or younger if any- 
 thing, though, of course, longer in the army. When he 
 
 * Lieutenant R. Mitford, 3d Bengal Fusileers, now Adjutant of 
 Hodson's Horse and V. C. 
 
MULES. 399 
 
 knows more of India he will do very well indeed, I 
 should think. "Wise, Macdowell, Gough the younger, 
 and a Mr. Cockerell, are with me. I can make out 
 nothing of our probable plans, or rather of the Chief's. 
 " Waiting for orders " seems to be the order of the day. 
 If something is not speedily decided, the hot weather will 
 be on us before our work is over, and this would tell ter- 
 ribly on us all. 
 
 Camp, Kaimgunge, January 8th. — We remain here 
 to-morrow, and then return, I fancy, to head-quarters. I 
 can bear up manfully against absence and separation 
 when we are actually doing anything ; but when I see 
 nothing doing towards an end, I confess mj heart sinks, 
 and my spirit hungei-s after rest. I should be very, very 
 glad if dear Maynard would make up her mind to join 
 you. It would be a real comfort to me to think that we 
 had been able to do anything towards contributing to her 
 peace or comfort. Independently of my sincere regard 
 for her, she is her father's daughter, and I owe him too 
 much gratitude and reverence not to desire to show it in 
 every way to all of the name and blood of Thomason. 
 
 Kaihgitsge, January 10th. — Our time has been taken 
 up with riding about the country after WhippoorwiUs, 
 which elude our search and grasp, the only consolation 
 being fine exercise in a fine country. Will you ask 
 Lord W. Hay whether, if the report of his going home 
 be true, he will resell me the mules ? I should be most 
 thankful to get them again, and twice the number ; they 
 are much better for baggage than ponies, carry larger 
 loads, and do not knock up so soon. 
 
 Camp, Futtehgcrh, January 12th. — We returned 
 from our brief expedition this morning, not having effected 
 much, though we frightened many, I have no doubt. I 
 
400 LONGING FOR HOME. 
 
 was just talking to Colonel Hope (himself an old 60th 
 man), about my dear good friend Douglas, when I got 
 your letter inclosing his most welcome one. How re- 
 joiced I shall be if he returns to India with his battalion ! 
 I quite long to see him once more. Indeed, as time goes 
 on, old ties of affection and friendship seem to unite them- 
 selves more intimately with newer and dearer ones, and 
 my heart pines more and more for home and all which 
 nought but home can give. 
 
 Fdttehgcrh, January 14th. — I was unhappily so 
 much delayed by a tedious review yesterday morning, 
 and an interview with the Chief afterwards, that I did 
 not get to my tent till after post-time, though I am thank- 
 ful to say I found some very precious missives, — the 
 dear girls' letters were a treat indeed, and gave me very 
 real pleasure. I am beginning to hope that I shall have 
 my previous services recognized ; for although I do not 
 know that any record of the promise of a majority was 
 down in Leadenhall Street, still Lord Dalhousie's prom- 
 ise was distinct, and there is evidently every desire on 
 our present Chief's part to do me justice. You ask 
 about my position here, and do not quite understand how 
 the safety of the camp can depend on my vigilance. 
 This referred not to this camp, but to Colonel Seaton's 
 (now at last a Brigadier), where I not only was Assist- 
 ant Quartermaster-General, but had all the outposts to 
 furnish. Here I am desired to continue my intelligence 
 business ; but there is another officer (Captain Bruce) 
 actually in charge of the department. I suppose it is 
 intended rather to employ me when detached from the 
 main force, as the other day under Brigadier Hope. 
 However, I am at present in charge of all in Captain 
 Bruce's absence, and my continuing it or not depends 
 
BRIGADIEK WALPOLE. 401 
 
 very much on circumstances. Nothing can be kinder or 
 more cordial than the Commander-in-Chief and General 
 Mansfield. We seem destined to halt here at present ; 
 half the day has been occupied in changing ground. So 
 when one can't get one's tent pitched till 1 or 2 p. m., 
 there is little time for writing for a post closing at 5, con- 
 sidering that business and eating and washing have to be 
 performed. I must try and write more to-night. 
 
 Camp on the Ramgunga, January \bih. — I left off 
 my last letter with a promised intention of writing more 
 last night, but the result of dining with the Chief was, 
 that I was kept up so late and had to rise so early that I 
 was fain to carry my weary limbs to bed at once. We 
 have been occupied all day in getting down here from the 
 big camp at Futtehgurh some ten miles off, so that I am 
 again perforce obliged to renew instead of fulfilling my 
 promise. You will hear of me before this reaches you ; 
 General Grant and Majors Norman and Turner having 
 taken wing to Umbala for a few days. They have had 
 no holiday since May, and heartily deserved one, though 
 I must confess I did feel a little envious when I saw 
 them off. What would not I give for home once more ! 
 
 We are here to force a passage across the Ramgunga, 
 a confluent of the Ganges on the road to Bareilly ; but 
 it does not follow that we shall go there when the passage 
 is open. Brigadier Walpole commands, and we have 
 enough troops to eat up Rohilcund ; whether we (i. e., 
 my regiment) partake of the " finish " in Oude or not, no 
 one can pretend to foretell. 
 
 Colonel Becher will be at Umbala soon, on his way 
 home. You will be kind to him I am sure, both be- 
 cause you like him personally, and because he has been 
 most kind and considerate to me. It was very ungra- 
 
412 HOME MEMORIES. 
 
 has prevented me doing anything. I shall be very thank- 
 ful when it is well, if but to use it for writing, — this left- 
 handed calligraphy is sad slow work. 
 
 Camp on the left bank of the Ganges, Feb- 
 ruary l\th. — I came across the river late in the evening, 
 and am very glad I did so, as the air is much purer, and 
 there is no dust. My arm is already better for the rest, 
 and I hope soon to be able to begin to use it. Do not 
 buoy yourself up with hope of honors for me. I shall 
 be a Brevet-Major, and nothing more I expect. It seems 
 the authorities here never sent home a list of men rec- 
 ommended for honors ; and the home authorities have 
 been waiting until they get one. " Hinc illae lacrymae ! " 
 And we shall all suffer by the delay in more ways than 
 one. But we are certainly to have prize money, and this, 
 with the batta, will take us home this time next year if 
 not sooner. Dear, dear home, sadly changed and con- 
 tracted since I left it, but home still, and dearer than ever 
 since the dearest part of myself will accompany me. . . . 
 All old home memories were so vividly revived yester- 
 day by Charles Harland's visit, and an extract he read 
 me from a letter from his brother, describing the enthu- 
 siasm of the old people at Colwich,* when the news 
 arrived that the King of Delhi was our prisoner, and 
 how they came to inquire whether it was really their 
 " Master William " who had done it ? Bless their inno- 
 cent hearts, where was they riz ? as would say. I 
 
 am sadly at a loss for a second in command, and do not 
 know whom to ask for, as officers are so scarce. I have 
 twice made an attempt to ask for Reginald to join me to 
 do duty, but my fears for you have made me hesitate ; 
 and the lesson of the other day has taught me the fearful 
 * His father's old parish. 
 
CAPTAIN PEEL. 413 
 
 risk the dear boy would run in an irregular cavalry regi- 
 ment, with such work as mine. Still, if you and he wish 
 it, I will ask for him. 
 
 Fehmary 12th. — Here I am, you see, writing (such 
 as it is) with my right hand once more. I am, indeed, 
 wonderfully better, and hope to be on horseback in a few 
 days. The scar on my arm is a very ugly one, and will 
 mark me for life ; but then, as I am not a lady to wear 
 short sleeves, it does not signify. I was much disap- 
 pointed this morning to hear from Colonel Bevin, who 
 came out to see me, that Napier had been through our 
 camp this morning, not knowing I was here ! He is in 
 Cawnpore, and the doctor wont let me go and see him 
 to-day, and we march on towards Lucknow to-morrow. 
 It will be some days yet before the whole force is col- 
 lected at Alumbagh. Captain Peel has just gone by 
 with his sailors and their enormous ship-guns, 68-pound- 
 ers ! I have little doubt but that Lucknow will be in 
 our hands before another month is over ; and then I shall 
 do my utmost to get my regiment sent back to Umbala to 
 be formed and drilled, which it wants badly. I only 
 wonder it does as well as it is. I could hardly take any 
 other appointment, or even go home, until I had com- 
 pleted this task ; and I like my regiment, and what ia 
 even more to the purpose, the regiment likes me, and 
 would follow me any and everywhere, I do believe. 
 
 Camp, Oonao, February \Zth. — Only a short letter 
 to-day, as I have been writing a right-handed one to 
 " O.," to satisfy the dear anxious hearts at home. I am 
 able to use my arm, but very gently, and shall ride to- 
 morrow. Oh, the pleasure of feeling myself on the 
 outside of a horse again ! 
 
 February lAth. — Your telegram has been going the 
 
414 OONAO. 
 
 rounds of all the camps before it found me out. Indeed, 
 you must not be anxious on ray account, or listen to the 
 wild reports which are always rife. Be sure, if anything 
 were amiss, there are plenty of our friends here to send 
 you the truth. I could not dream of your coming to 
 Cawnpore. I would not hear of it even at Futtehgurh, 
 for, though your nursing and presence would be infinitely 
 precious to me, a camp is no fit place for you. I am, 
 indeed, going on wonderfully, and but for the attack of 
 inflammation I spoke of, and which turned out to be ery- 
 sipelas, I should have been quite well before this ; and as 
 it is, I am actually nearer to a total cure than the men 
 (Sikhs even) who were wounded the same day. My ab- 
 stinence from spirit-drinking has stood me in good stead. 
 
 Febraary 15tk. — No letters again to-day ! I wish the 
 Commander-in-Chief would come out from Cawnpore, 
 and there would be some chance of better postal duty. 
 He is said to be waiting until the convoy of ladies from 
 Agra has passed down, lest anything should occur to dis- 
 turb the road where he had crossed into Oude with the 
 army, — a not unlikely thing to happen. I have just seen 
 a notice of my birth, parentage, and education, and ser- 
 vices, in the lUustrcUed News, as also Seaton's account of 
 the capture of the Princes. Strange to say, the former 
 is not wrong or exaggerated in any principal point. The 
 latter is also in the Evening Mail, and I have the honor 
 of appearing in big print in the leading article. I see 
 also a letter signed " A Civilian ; " not a "bad resume in 
 its way. I can cock and fire a pistol with the right hand, 
 and am constantly working the arm about to prevent its 
 growing stiff; and I want to show how much the will has 
 to do with getting over these things. 
 
 OoNAO, February 16<A. — I have this morning sue- 
 
NAPIER AND SIR COLIN CAMPBELL. 415 
 
 ceeded in exhuming four letters from the bottom of about 
 a hundred-weight of correspondence addressed to all parts 
 of the world ; the bag was sent up here in the night for 
 people to find their letters as they could. Mine have 
 made me so happy. This has been a red-letter day too, 
 for I have at last seen our friend Napier. He rode out 
 here with Sir CoUn, and I need not say how thoroughly 
 delighted I was to see him once more. He is looking 
 better but older than when we parted, but his charming, 
 affectionate manner is as nice as ever. Grod bless him ! 
 I do love him dearly, as if he were indeed my bom 
 brother. A note from him arrived while he was here ; 
 it had been three days going ten miles ! Sir Colin was 
 most kind and cordial, and prophesies I shall soon be 
 Lieut.-Colonel. I told him I feared there was small hope 
 of that, unless my majority could be counted as for the 
 Punjaub campaign, as Lord Dalhousie promised, but that 
 it had not been put on record. He immediately said, 
 " Oh, I'll do that with the greatest pleasure ; let me have 
 a memorandum of your services, and I'll do all I can for 
 you, and I hope soon to shake hands with you as Lieut- 
 Colonel, C. B., and Victoria Cross to boot." I confess I 
 liked this, because it was spontaneous ; it is not the first 
 time I have heard a whisper about the Victoria Cross, 
 and I confess I do care most for this ; I would rather 
 have Jt than be made a duke. My arm is going on ad- 
 mirably, and you may be quite satisfied about me now 
 I am near our friend ; he will always do what is kind, 
 that we may be quite sure of, and all that is best and ten- 
 derest too, where you or I are concerned. I shall try to 
 get away immediately after Lucknow is taken, but I fear 
 every man may be needed for some time, even after that 
 much-desired event takes place. 
 
416 BRIGADIER LUGARD. 
 
 Camp, Oonao, February 17 tk. — I grieve deeply at 
 your anxiety, and can scarcely understand your " terror 
 at the very name of Cawnpore and Lucknow," except for 
 what has passed. I am not nearly so much exposed to 
 peril here as at Delhi ; the place, too, and time of year 
 are more healthy ; so continue to " hope on," bravely 
 now as ever, until the end, which must be very soon. 
 .... I am going to spend to-morrow in Cawnpore with 
 Napier, and have a big talk. The delay in the brevet 
 is an accident, not owing to the home authorities. It 
 has gone home now, and my name is in it. Sir Colin 
 told me. 
 
 Cawnpore, February 19th. — I shall ride back to 
 Oonao early to-morrow morning ; the temptation of Na- 
 pier's society was irresistible ; it is such a pleasure to 
 see him again. There will be no move hence until the 
 23d, I think, though it is getting rapidly hot in this hate- 
 ful place ; but on the other side the river it is cool, and 
 Lucknow is even more so, I hear. Osborn Wilkinson 
 has been here, and has gone on towards Alumbagh. I 
 shall try and get him for my regiment, if but to do duty ; 
 he is a fine fellow and thorough soldier. 
 
 Oor^AO, February 20th. — I rode out from Cawnpore 
 this morning ; Colonels Napier and Lugard accompany- 
 ing me for some miles, — the latter only arrived yester- 
 day ; he is to command a division as Brigadier-General, 
 I am glad to say. Our friend is nicer than ever, and 
 looking well. 
 
 February 21st. — As far as I can learn, we (t. e., my 
 Horse) shall have but little to do with the actual capture 
 or assault of Lucknow, and I fancy our duty will be pro- 
 tecting the flanks and rear of the army from incursions 
 of the enemy's cavalry, &c. General Lugard came out 
 
MARCH TO ALUMBAGH. 417 
 
 this morning to take the command. I hope Napier will 
 soon follow. I am very anxious to get on and get the 
 affair over. 
 
 February 22d. — There is not a particle of news of 
 any kind. I had an attack of fever last night, but it is 
 gone this morning, and I am all right again ; the wound 
 on my arm is quite closed, and the last bandage discarded ; 
 the thumb is still very stiflF, and the joint much enlarged. 
 My wounds have healed with unprecedented rapidity ; and 
 I cannot be sufficiently grateful that I am so soon enabled 
 to return to my duty. Dear Douglas Seaton has been 
 very ill again, and unable to leave England, as he in- 
 tended, poor feUow. I believe half his illness is caused 
 by fretting at being away from his regiment now it is in 
 the field ; but he never could have stood the trial of those 
 months before Delhi. The Commander-in-Chief tells me 
 that, despairing of getting the list of recommendations 
 for Delhi from India, the Duke of Cambridge is making 
 out a list himself from the despatches, to be corrected 
 hereafler if any omissions occur. The next mail may, 
 therefore, make me a Major, as I was mentioned even in 
 Wilson's despatches. God grant I may be able to get 
 home ; that is my great desire now. 
 
 February 23d. — It is midnight, and we march for 
 Alumbagh at 4 a. m. ; so I write a line at once to say I 
 am doing well, and will send a telegram if anything oc- 
 curs, which I do not expect yet. There has been a big 
 fight, within a few miles of us, between the force under 
 General Hope Grant and the rebels, and there was a 
 bigger on Sunday at Lucknow with Sir James Outram's 
 force. I have got hold of a strip of newspaper this 
 morning, with Brigadier Hope's Shumshabad despatch, in 
 which I figure so prominently that I am inclined to in- 
 
 18* 
 
418 SUBSCRIPTION TO THE ASYLUM. 
 
 dorse it " Hope told a flattering tale," and send it home 
 to the dear girls. The convoy arrived this morning 
 (i. e., the ladies, &c.) from Agra, so I hope the Chief 
 will move soon. I was out all the morning with General 
 Lugard, and was surprised to find how hot the weather is 
 getting (in the sun) even here ; but I am quite well — 
 quite. 
 
 In a letter of this date to the Chaplain of the 
 Lawrence Asylum, he says : — 
 
 ... I have only to add that in gratitude for the many 
 and unspeakable mercies which I have received during 
 the past year, and also as a token of most affectionate 
 regret for Sir H. Lawrence, I shall thank you to note the 
 increase of my subscription to the asylum to 100 rupees 
 per annum. 
 
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 
 
 AXUMBAGH, tUCKNOW. THE BEGUM'S PALACE. 
 
 BANKS'S HOUSE. THE SOLDIEE's DEATH. NO- 
 TICES. CONCLUDING REMABES. 
 
 To his Wife. 
 
 Camp, Alombaoh, near LncKubw, 
 February Uth. 
 
 "Wb arrived here last night at dnsk, after a terribly 
 dusty march of thirty-six miles. To-day we had a bit 
 of a fight. The Pandies, ignorant of the reinforcements 
 which had arrived, had as usual come round one flank 
 of the camp, so we moved out and caught them as they 
 were trying to get back again, and took two of their guns. 
 By " we," I mean my own men and the Military Train 
 men from home. Young Gough, my adjutant, was 
 wounded, and had his horse shot. I was luckily in the 
 way, or it would have gone worse with him ; • my own 
 horse too (pretty " Child of the Desert ") was wounded, 
 and I was obliged to mount a sowar's horse. Gough will 
 be laid up for a month, I fear; it is a flesh wound in 
 the thigh. I do not think Master Pandy will try the 
 same trick again. We have been out so long that there 
 is time for no more to-day than this assurance of my 
 safety. 
 
 * Lientenant Gongh says, that my brother saved his life by cutting 
 down a rebel trooper in the very act of spearing hira. 
 
420 SIR JAMES OUTEAM. 
 
 Alumbagh, February 25<A. — I have been calling on 
 Sir James Outram this morning, and had a most pleasant 
 interview ; the brave old warrior greeted me most cor- 
 dially, professing his satisfaction at having at last met one 
 of whom he had heard so much, &c. &c The pleasure 
 was certainly mutual, for I have long wished to meet him. 
 He made many inquiries about you also, and asked 
 whether you had not been in the hills during the panic, 
 and helped the refugees, &c. How proudly I could 
 answer all his praise in the aflfirmative. He also asked 
 my opinion of Lord William's administration, and I was 
 glad of the opportunity to testify in his favor. Altogether 
 this good old soldier's compliments were pleasing to me, 
 particularly as he was not one of those who in my time 
 of trouble passed me by on the other side. 
 
 The enemy is quite quiet to-day. I fancy we were too 
 much for his philosophy yesterday. Fancy the Queen 
 Regnant coming out on an elephant to meet us, to en- 
 courage her wavering followers ! I wish the Chief would 
 make haste and finish this business, it is getting cruelly 
 hot already. 
 
 21th. — All quiet still with the enemy. A packet of 
 letters has arrived, and brought me all the comfort I am 
 capable of receiving in this torturing absence ; would it 
 were over ! I hear the Chief has crossed the Ganges 
 and is coming on here. I believe we had some Kuioi for 
 the affair of the 25th, though beyond being exposed to 
 a very galling fire, I did not think much of it myself. 
 Gough's wound is a serious misfortune to me just now ; 
 a gallant, go-a-head boy like him is not to be easily re- 
 placed, any more than poor Mac is. I myself am laid 
 up with a sore leg ; I would not nurse it at first, and now 
 it is so painful I cannot mount my horse or even stand 
 
SOKE LEG. 421 
 
 without pain, so I shall go into the next scrimmage on an 
 elephant ! Dr. Brougham, however, says it will be well 
 in four or five days. I did not know Greville was going 
 home so soon, I hoped to have shaken him by the sain 
 hand once more before we parted for so long. 
 
 Aldmbaoh, \st March, — Nothing of public impor- 
 tance is occurring. I am still unable . to ride, so I do 
 regimental work. I dined with Sir J. Outram (he is the 
 General commanding here) and with Colonel Haggart, 
 7th Hussars, last night ; the former is quite affectionate 
 in his manner to me. He would quite charm you, and 
 were I not out of love with vanity, would spoil me ; but 
 I confess the respectful homage of the soldiers is pleas- 
 anter to my spirit than the praise of great men. I study 
 to be quiet and do my own business without elation and 
 pride, satisfied with the testimony of my own conscience 
 that I strive to do my duty. 
 
 March 2d. — The Commander-in-Chief arrived with a 
 large part of the force this morning, marched straight 
 through our camp, and at the enemy (who of course ran 
 away), and occupied the Dilkoosha, a large garden-house 
 and park near the city. My unfortunate leg prevented 
 my sharing in the fray, I grieve to say, and I am actually 
 in a fright lest he (the Chief) should take Lucknow 
 before I am able to ride ! 
 
 Alttmbagh, March 6th. — I had time for but the 
 merest line yesterday, written from Dilkoosha, where 
 the Commander-in-Chief is encamped, and whither we 
 were erroneously brought yesterday to return here to- 
 day. I had a long talk with Sir CoUn, who was even 
 more than commonly kind and cordial. I am not very 
 well, I am sorry to say ; this leg troubles me, and is the 
 effect of the erysipelas which attacked my arm in conse- 
 
422 NEAR LUCKNOW. 
 
 quence of the wounds closing too quickly. The truth is 
 that I lost about a pound and a half of blood when I was 
 wounded, and having had two slight bouts of fever since, 
 I am not so strong as I would be ; however, I am getting 
 on, and am dosed with steel, quinine, and port wine ad lib. 
 My arm is pretty well, but the wound opened again par- 
 tially after the 25th, and I have been obliged to submit to 
 bandages, && ; still I hope three or four days will set me 
 all right again, though I fear the arm will never be quite 
 straight again, or the thumb quite flexible. I shall have 
 to go home for rest to my body, if not for comfort to my 
 heart I have seen Osbom Wilkinson ; he is as nice as 
 possible, and he is now Deputy Assistant Quartermaster- 
 General to the Cavalry Brigade, to which my Horse is 
 attached, so I hope to see more of him than of late. I 
 breakfasted yesterday at head-quarters with Napier, and 
 grieved to see that he looked worn and troubled. I festf 
 his health is very precarious. 
 
 Camp, near Lucknow, March 6M. — .... I grieve 
 that you should be anxious on my account ; the same 
 merciful Providence which has so wonderfully preserved 
 us both through so many and great dangers, will, I ear- 
 nestly pray, continue the same gracious guardianship ; yet 
 I strive to be prepared for all ... . 
 
 I had to march again this morning ; a message from 
 Sir Colin last night to the Brigadier having directed him 
 to put me in charge of the line of communications with 
 Jellalabad, the Alumbagh, and his camp. So I had to 
 bring my men up here, half-way between the two camps, 
 and to make arrangements for insuring the safety of the 
 roads, and protecting the convoys on which the existence 
 of the army depends. The worst part of it is I cannot 
 ride, and have had, for the first time in my life, to do out- 
 
REGINALD. 423 
 
 post duty in a dog-cart ! driving across country to post 
 videttes and picquettes, &c. "What with this continued 
 movement and the rest which I am compelled to take re- 
 cumbent, I have had no time for writing as I fain would 
 do. I have heard irom Reginald ; he is so earnest in his 
 wish to do duty with my regiment, that I have asked for 
 him. May Glod preserve the dear boy from all evil ! I 
 shall never forgive myself if harm comes to him. There 
 is no decided move at present ; the net is gradually clos- 
 ing round the enemy, some of the Goorkhas and Briga- 
 dier Frank's column having already arrived. You must 
 not expect more than a Majority for me yet, though I 
 have good reason to believe that more will come. 
 
 March %ih. — I went up myself to-day to the head- 
 quarters' camp, to look for letters and see our friend, but 
 failed in both ; but I breakfasted and had a long chat with 
 that pleasantest of persons, Lugard, now Sir Edward, and 
 while there I had a letter from Norman to say that Regi- 
 nald had been appointed to do duty with my Horse. I 
 can but think he is too young ; but if he must see hard 
 service so early, better with me than elsewhere. Grod 
 grant it may be for his good. I am looking for the end 
 with an eager longing for rest which I cannot control. 
 Dear Sir Henry used to say I was ambitious, and I know 
 I was proud and thirsty of success ; but now all desires 
 for the future settle down into the one thought of home. 
 
 March 9th. — I grieve that report should cause you 
 fear and anxiety whenever there has been a fight, par- 
 ticularly as the chances are against my being in it. Tou 
 should remember that our force extends now round three 
 sides nearly of Lucknow. The extreme right of our po- 
 sition, or rather camps, being at least nine miles from the 
 lefl ; so that engagements occur at one part which those 
 
424 CHOICE OF OFFICERS. 
 
 at the other never perhaps hear of till next day ! This 
 was the case with the Dilkoosha affair. The Chief passed 
 our camp on the left, moved on some miles, and occupied 
 "Dilkoosha" (a fine palace, three stories high), and the 
 ground up to the hanks of the Groomtee, almost without 
 opposition. I was never within miles of him. Indeed, 
 I have not been on horseback since the 25th, as I am 
 forced to save myself for emergencies. If anything im- 
 portant occurs, be sure I will send a telegram somehow. 
 I have written to Reginald, and sent him a copy of the 
 General Order appointing him to do duty with ray regi- 
 ment I have also got a Lieutenant Meecham, of the 
 Madras army, — a great artist and good-looking fellow, 
 and, what is much more to my purpose, a fine soldier I 
 believe. I have also asked for young Blackbume, whom 
 you may remember in the 20th Native Infantry at Pe- 
 shawar, — a friend of Edward Loyd's. He is much 
 " come out " since then. I do hope Hugh Grough will 
 soon be well ; I do ill without such a dashing fine fellow. 
 In the affair of the 25th we were leading, and took the 
 guns, — t. e., we fairly captured one, and drove the enemy 
 away from the other, and kept them at bay until the 
 " train " came up and secured it. I was not altogether 
 satisfied with my men in this part of the affair. They 
 hesitated, and let me go ahead unsupported except by 
 Nihal Singh ; old Mahommed Reza Khan, and one or 
 two others, with Grough, being near. The consequence 
 was that the enemy concentrated their fire on our little 
 party. However, the Europeans of the Military Train 
 hesitated to do what I wanted my men to do, and they 
 behaved very well immediately afterwards. There has 
 been a great fuss about the matter ; Sir Colin having 
 taken great and very just offence at its being reported to 
 
PROMOTION. 425 
 
 bim that the cavalry were " led" by Colonel , a staff- 
 officer He got wounded, and then was officially 
 
 reported to have "led the cavalry," whereas we had 
 Brigadier Campbell (a capital officer), and Colonel Hag- 
 gart, of the 7th Hussars, present, besides the officers 
 commanding regiments, " quorum pars fui." Sir Colin 
 
 denounced Colonel 's " leading " as " an insufferable 
 
 impertinence," called me up, and asked me before them 
 all, " Were you present with your regiment on the 25th ?" 
 and on my saying, " Yes," he cried out, " Now, look here ; 
 look at my friend Hodson here, does he look like a man 
 that needs ' leading ? ' Is that a man likely to want 
 ' leading ? ' I should like to see the fellow who'd pre- 
 sume to talk of ' leading ' that man ! " pointing to me, and 
 so forth. I nearly went into convulsions ; it was sitch a 
 scene 
 
 The Martiniere was taken to-day without loss except 
 poor Captain Peel, who, I grieve to say, is wounded. 
 
 March VHh. — The mail is come with my Majority. 
 The brevet has given general dissatisfaction. Some of 
 the double honors are marvellous ; but it should be re- 
 membered that these promotions are given sponte sua by 
 the home authorities, no recommendations having gone 
 from hence till lately. I am content myself, having no 
 interest. It proves they perceive I have done something, 
 or I should not have this beginning ; and it is satisfactory 
 to find that it is universally considered that I have been 
 shabbily used. Better this by far than to have people 
 lifting up their eyes and saying I had got too much ! 
 Inglis is justly rewarded, and some others. I dare say 
 more will come with time. I hope devoutly that when 
 Lucknow falls I shall be released. We shall know in a 
 few days, — for even while I write Lucknow seems to be 
 
426 ATTACKS ON LUCKNOW. 
 
 " falling '' fast. Immense progress was made yesterday, 
 with not more loss than some 18 or 20 wounded, and I 
 hear to-day they are going ahead again. Pandy has 
 quite given up fighting, except pot-shots under cover, and 
 runs at the very sight of troops advancing. I stood on 
 the top of the Dilkoosha palace yesterday, and watched 
 the capture of as strong a position as men could wish for 
 (which at Delhi would have cost us hundreds) without 
 the enemy making a single struggle or firing a shot. At 
 this rate Lucknow will soon be in our hands. We (of 
 the cavalry) are kept on the qui vive watching the south- 
 em outlets from the town to prevent escape, and I expect 
 to see Lucknow taken without being under fire again. 
 Well, it must be confessed that I have had my share of 
 the dangers of the war, and whether I receive honors or 
 not, I have the testimony of my own conscience that I 
 have done one man's work towards the restoration of our 
 power in India. ... I have been occupied to-day 
 in trying to get the Victoria Cross for the two Goughs. 
 Hugh certainly ought to have it.* 
 
 March 11th. — Just as I sit down to write comes an 
 order to more our camp towards Alurabagh again ; Jung 
 Bahadoor having at last arrived with his army and taken 
 up ground between me and the enemy. ... If any- 
 thing occurs, I will get Colonel Napier or Norman to 
 send you a service telegram. . . . 
 
 This was the last letter which my brother wrote. 
 Having given directions to his Adjutant, Lieuten- 
 ant Gough, he said he would ride on and look out 
 a nice spot for their new camping-ground, and be 
 back in time to march with them. On his way 
 
 * It has been given. — Ed. 
 
ASSAULT ON BEGUM'S PALACE. 427 
 
 he heard firing, and riding forward, found that the 
 Begum's Palace was to be attacked. He imme- 
 diately rode to the place, and finding his friend 
 Brigadier Napier directing the attack, said laugh- 
 ingly, " I am come to take care of you ; you have 
 no business to go to work without me to look 
 after you." The assault was successful.* He 
 entered the breach with General Napier and sev- 
 eral others. In a few minutes they were sepa- 
 rated in the melee, and General Napier saw noth- 
 ing more of him till he was sent for to him 
 " dangerously wounded." The surgeon of his 
 regiment gives the following account: — 
 
 " We struck our tents and were saddled, waiting for 
 him till it became so dark that we were forced to go with- 
 out him, and reached our ground after sunset. I had 
 gone to the post-office and was five minutes behind the 
 regiment. When I came up, I found that Hodson's or- 
 derly had come in great haste, saying that his master had 
 sent for me, but with no other message. He said that 
 his master had been hit when advancing with the troops 
 on the Begum's Kotee on foot. 
 
 " I mounted and rode off with him at once. From the 
 darkness of the night and the difficulty of passing the 
 Goorkah sentries, I did not get to Dilkooshah till 9 p. m. 
 
 * At the Begum's Palace the defences were found, after the captnre 
 of the place, so much stronger than could be observed or bad been be- 
 lieved, that the General said, that, had he known what lay before the 
 assaulting column, he should have hesitated to give the order for ad- 
 vance. They went at it, however, with a rush, — the 93d Highlanders 
 and 4th Punjaub Bifles, old comrades at the Secnndrabagh, — and 
 carried it. 
 
428 MAJOR HODSON SHOT. 
 
 There no one knew where he was. I then went on to 
 the artillery mess and learnt that he was in Banks's 
 House which I reached about 10 p. m. I found him in a 
 dooly and Dr. Sutherland with him, whom I at once re- 
 lieved, and learnt the following particulars from him and 
 from the orderly who remained with Hodson, and who 
 had been by his side when hit. He had arrived at 
 Banks's House just as the party going to attack the 
 Begum's Palace were starting, and fell in with them. 
 The place had been taken before he was wounded. 
 When the soldiers were searching for concealed Sepoys 
 in the court-yard and buildings adjoining, he said to his 
 orderly, ' I wonder if any of the rascals are in there.' 
 He turned the angle of the passage ; looked into a dark 
 room, which was full of Sepoys ; a shot was fired from 
 inside. He staggered back some paces and then fell. A 
 party of Highlanders, hearing who had been hit, rushed 
 into the room and bayoneted every man there. 
 
 " The orderly, a large powerful Sikh, carried him in 
 his arms out of danger, and got a dooly and brought him 
 back to Banks's House, where his wound was looked to 
 and dressed. 
 
 " He was shot through the right side of the chest, in 
 the region of the liver, the ball entering in front and 
 going out behind. There had been profuse bleeding, and 
 I saw that the wound was most likely mortal. 
 
 " He was very glad to see me, and began talking of 
 his wound, which he thought himself was mortal. I lay 
 beside him on the ground all night, holding his hand, on 
 account of the great pain he suffered. He was very 
 weak when I arrived, but by means of stimulants rallied 
 wonderfully, and slept for an hour or two during the 
 night. At daylight he was much better, his hands were 
 
LAST HOURS. 429 
 
 warm and his pulse good, and I had hopes that, if the 
 bleeding, which had ceased, did not return, he might re- 
 cover. He drank two cups of tea, and said he felt very 
 well. His account of his being wounded agreed with the 
 orderly's. 
 
 " About 9 A. M. I had the dooly lifted into a room, 
 which I had had cleared out, where he was much quieter. 
 At 10 A. M., however, bleeding came on again profusely, 
 and he rapidly became worse. I told him that recovery 
 was impossible. He then sent for General Napier, to 
 whom he gave directions about his property and mes- 
 sages to his wife. After this he rapidly sank, though 
 he remained sensible and was able to speak till a quarter 
 past one, when he became too weak; and at twenty-five 
 minutes past one died. 
 
 " His orderly * actually cried over him, he was so at- 
 tached to him. 
 
 " He was buried that evening by the Rev. Dr. Smith. 
 The Commander-in-Chief and his staff were present." 
 
 General Napier says, in a letter to Mrs. Hod- 
 son : — 
 
 " I regret bitterly now, that I did not insist on your 
 dear husband going back, but you know how impossible 
 it was to check his dauntless spirit." 
 
 He and others who were present give the fol- 
 lowing particulars : — 
 
 " He lay on his bed of mortal agony and met 
 
 * This orderly, Nihal Singh, afterwards travelled to Simla at his 
 own expense to see Mrs. Hodson, and beg to be taken into her service 
 and go to England with her. The men of his regiment cried like 
 children when they heard the news of his death. 
 
430 CLOSING SCENE. 
 
 death with the same calm composure which so much dis- 
 tinguished him on the field of battle. He was quite con- 
 scious and peaceful, occasionally uttering a sentence : — 
 
 " ' My poor wife,' ' My poor sisters.' 
 
 " ' I should have liked to see the end of the campaign 
 and gone home to the dear ones once more, but it was so 
 ordered.' 
 
 " ' It is hard to leave the world just now, when success 
 is so near, but God's will be done.' 
 
 " ' Bear witness for me that I have tried to do my duty 
 to man. May God forgive my sins for Christ's sake.' ' I 
 go to my Father.' 
 
 " ' My love to my wife ; tell her my last thoughts were 
 of her.' ' Lord, receive my soul.' 
 
 " These were his last words, and, without a sigh or 
 struggle, his pure and noble spirit took its flight" 
 
 Thus, on the 12th of March, 1858, in his thirty- 
 seventh year, closed the earthly career of one of 
 the best and bravest of England's sons, one of 
 her truest heroes, of whom it may be said, — 
 " Quanquam medio in spatio integrse setatis erep- 
 tus, quantum ad gloriam longissimum aevum 
 peregit." 
 
 Great and irreparable as was his loss to his 
 family and his Mends, as a husband, a brother, 
 and a friend, I believe that, at the particular 
 juncture at which he was taken away, it was 
 still greater, as a soldier, to his country. It 
 would be difficult to overestimate the value of 
 the services which he might have rendered, if 
 spared, in the pacifying of Oude after the cap- 
 
TESTIMONY OF SIR COLIN CAMPBELL. 431 
 
 tare of Lucknow, or the influence which he 
 might have had on the fortunes of the war. One 
 of those best qualifled to judge declared, that 
 " Hodson with his regiment would have been 
 worth 10,000 men." His peculiar qualifications 
 for Asiatic warfare would have found an appro- 
 priate field for their display. 
 
 It is unnecessary, however, for me to attempt 
 to pronounce his eulogium. This has been done 
 by those more capable of forming an estimate of 
 his rare excellence as a soldier, and of doing it 
 justice by their words. 
 
 Sir Colin Campbell, in a letter of condolence 
 to his widow, thus expressed himself : — 
 
 " Mabtihiere, March 13, 1858. 
 
 " Madam, — It is with a sentiment of profound regret 
 that I am compelled to address you for the purpose of 
 communicating the sad news that your gallant and dis- 
 tinguished husband, Major Hodson, received a mortal 
 wound from a bullet on the 11th instant. He unfor- 
 tunately accompanied his friend Brigadier Napier, com- 
 manding Engineers in the successful attack on the Be- 
 gum's Palace. The whole army, which admired his 
 talents, his bravery, and his miUtary skill, deplores his 
 loss, and sympathizes with you in your irreparable be- 
 reavement. I attended your husband's funeral yester- 
 day evening, in order to show what respect I could to the 
 memory of one of the most briUiant officers under my 
 
 command. 
 
 (Signed) " C. Campbell, 
 
 " Oom.-in- Chief in East Indies.^* 
 
432 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 
 
 An officer who was present at the funeral 
 
 says : — 
 
 " When the part of the service came where the body 
 is lowered into the grave, all the old warrior's courage 
 and self-possession could no longer control the tears, — 
 undeniable evidence of what he felt. ' I have lost one of 
 the finest officers in the army,' was his remark to Greneral 
 Napier." 
 
 Even Sir John Lawrence, no friendly judge, 
 pronounced him in an official paper to be — 
 
 " One of the ablest, most active, and bravest soldiers 
 who have fallen in the present war." 
 
 Sir R. Montgomery says : — 
 
 " I look round and can find no one like him. Many 
 men are as brave, many possess as much talent, many are 
 as cool and accurate in judgment, but not one combines 
 all these qualifications as he did." 
 
 I shall best give an idea of the universal feeling 
 of regret awakened at the tidings of his death by 
 subjoining a few extracts from the public press 
 at home and abroad, and from private letters. 
 The Bombay correspondent of the Times, after 
 detailing the assault on the Begum's Palace, 
 wrote thus: — 
 
 "At this point fell, mortaUj wounded, Hodson of the 
 1st Bengal Fusileers; Hodson of Hodson's Horse ; Hod- 
 son, the captor of the King of Delhi and the princes of his 
 house. Few of the many losses that have occurred dur- 
 ing the operations consequent upon the mutinies, have 
 
EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS. 433 
 
 caused such universal regret throughout India as the 
 death of this excellent officer ; and among those in Eng- 
 land who have read of and admired his exploits, not only 
 his comrades of the Sikh battle-fields, but many an old 
 friend at Rugby or at Trinity will mourn that his career 
 has been thus early closed." 
 
 The Times, in a leading article, thus announced 
 his death : — 
 
 " 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 
 Faladin of old. His most remarkable exploit, the cap- 
 ture 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. We could better have 
 spared an older and more highly placed officer." 
 
 The following notice appeared in a Bombay 
 paper : — 
 
 " From a Lucknow letter which we pubhsh to-day our 
 readers will learn, with sorrow and regret, that that most 
 able and gallant officer. Captain Hodson, who has distin- 
 guished himself on so many occasions since the breaking 
 out of the rebellion, and whose services have been of so 
 brilliant and valuable a character, has been killed at 
 Lucknow. As a leader of Irregular Horse, or indeed as 
 a soldier of any of the non-scientific forces. Captain Hod- 
 
434 EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 son was almost without an equal. He was one of those 
 squadron leaders which the Indian army can alone rear 
 up. There are few men who would have managed the 
 capture of the ex-King of Delhi as this departed hero 
 did. On that occasion his force was small compared to 
 that he had to cope with ; but the determined daring of 
 the -man made up for the disparity, and the old King 
 came out of his fortification — for a strong fortification it 
 was — and surrendered. So also with the capture of the 
 King's sons, who also surrendered themselves, but whom 
 Hodson found rescued when he reached them, after 
 having completed the disarming of their band. That 
 was a moment to test a man. But he of whom we write 
 was equal to the emergency. The carts in which the 
 princes were, were retaken immediately. Still the aspect 
 of the armed Mahomedan crowd around — growing every 
 moment more numerous — was dark and threatening. It 
 was a situation which required prompt decision, and 
 promptly did the British leader decide. He saw that it 
 was necessary that his prisoners should die, and resolved 
 himself to become their executioner : a wise resolve, for, 
 probably, had he asked one of his own Mahomedan 
 troopers to kill the sons of the Mogul, a refusal would 
 have followed, and that refusal might have been acted up 
 to by all. He adopted the wiser course, harangued his 
 men, ordered the prisoners to take off their robes in the 
 cart, and shot them with his own hand. Had the prison- 
 ers been allowed to leave the cart, their bodies would 
 have been left behind ; for to touch them would, by the 
 troopers, have been considered defilement, and, left be- 
 hind, they might have been fanatically paraded through 
 the country as an incitement to a fresh rising. Besides, 
 it was necessary that their remains should be exposed at 
 
NOTICES OF DEATH. 435 
 
 the Kotwallie in Delhi with something of the indignity 
 they themselves had caused to be inflicted on the mur- 
 dered victims of the 11th of May." 
 
 Another published a letter with this sen- 
 tence : — 
 
 " Hodson, splendid fellow, died the following day, most 
 deeply regretted by all ranks in his regiment. He indeed 
 was a brave soldier, a clever and truly esteemed com- 
 mander. May we not say he was one of the flowers of 
 the ' old Europeans,' and an ornament to the Bengal 
 army ? " 
 
 The writer (in Blackwood's Magazine) of a 
 series of papers on the 1st FusUeers, says : — 
 
 " 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 in 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. Ask any soldier who was the 
 bravest man before Delhi, who most in the saddle, who 
 foremost ? and nine out of ten in the Infantry will tell 
 you Hodson, in the Artillery as many will name Tombs. 
 
 " I once heard one of the Fusileers say, ' Whenever 
 I sees Captain Hodson go out, I always prays for him, 
 for he is sure to be in danger.' Yet it was not only in 
 the field that Hodson was to be valued, his head was as 
 active as his hand was strong, and I feel sure, when we 
 who knew him heard of his death, not one but felt that 
 there was a vacancy indeed in our ranks.'' 
 
436 NOTICES OF DEATH. 
 
 The Times correspondent, (Mr. Russell,) in his 
 letter of March 13th, writes : — 
 
 " When I returned to head-quarters' camp this evening, 
 I found that poor Hodson had died the previous day, and 
 been buried the same evening. 
 
 " He was a zealous and accomphshed oflBcer, of great 
 bravery, abih'ty, and determination, an excellent judge of 
 the native character, of a humane and clement disposi- 
 tion, but firm in the infliction of deserved punishment. 
 
 " The last time I saw him alive he expressed a decided 
 opinion that Government must resort to an amnesty, or 
 be prepared for a long continuance of disturbances.'' 
 
 From the Delhi Gazette : — 
 
 " He was a perfect gentleman, an accomplished scholar, 
 and we need scarcely add, (what our columns have so 
 often recorded,) one of the most brilliant soldiers in this 
 or any other army. His death is not only a severe family 
 affliction, but a national calamity, and it will be long be- 
 fore the name of the capturer of the King and princes of 
 Delhi will cease to be mentioned with honor, and remem- 
 bered with regret." 
 
 From private letters of condolence, which would 
 fill a volume, I select a few passages, in which 
 the writers seem to have seized with great felicity 
 upon some of the more remarkable features in my 
 brother's character and actions. 
 
 "It is hard to lose one upon whom all eyes were fixed, 
 and whose noble qualities seemed so certain of recogni- 
 tion, and of speedy advancement to such employments as 
 his fine natural abilities well fitted him to discharge. 
 
PRIVATE LETTERS. 437 
 
 " The very presence of such a man in India was an 
 element of power apart from all official rank, and he 
 could ill be spared from among the very few who have 
 learnt to impersonate in themselves the power of the 
 English nation, and to let the natives of India feel the 
 irresistible character of that power. You must have 
 watched him so anxiously and so proudly that, though 
 thousands of us have done the same, none can approach 
 the measure of your sorrow or mourn as you that he can 
 confer no more honor on your name, but that the oppor- 
 tunities of the future must be reaped by other and less 
 capable hands. 
 
 " I cannot feel easy without expressing to you the 
 great grief and consternation with which I read the ac- 
 count of your brother's death. Certainly it would have 
 been httle less than miraculous if, being what he was, he 
 had lived out this war. And yet I, for one, had always 
 cherished a hope that I might have seen once more with 
 my own eyes so noble and gallant a soldier. 
 
 " There is, after all, something about skilful courage 
 which draws the heart to itself more than eloquence, or 
 learning, or anything else, and your brother seems to have 
 been endued with this almost more than any living Eng- 
 lishman, brave as our countrymen are." 
 
 " Closely have I watched, during these last few sad 
 months, the career of that brave brother of yours. I 
 could estimate his bold and self-sacrificing courage, and 
 knowing as I did the sort of people over whom he had 
 acquired such perfect sway, I knew how much a clear 
 and commanding intellect must have been called into ex- 
 ercise, to aid a strong and devoted heart. What victims 
 
 19* 
 
438 priVjME letters. 
 
 has Lucknow oflFered up to the fiendish treachery of those 
 ungrateful men — Lawrence ! Havelock ! and Hodson ! " 
 
 " My grief is not for him ; he had done his work in 
 that station of life in which God had placed him, nobly, 
 heartily, and as in the sight of God (would that we all 
 did our work in half such a Christian spirit) ; but for 
 you aU, who were looking forward to seeing him again, 
 crowned with the honors he had so hardly won. Well, it 
 has pleased God that this was not to be ; but there is a 
 good hope, more than a hope, that a reward of a higher 
 kind is his.'' 
 
 From one who had known him in India: — 
 
 " From the love and esteem I bore your brother, you 
 will, I feel sure, allow me to write and express, however 
 imperfectly words can do it, my deep and heartfelt sym- 
 pathy with you and your sisters under this heavy blow. 
 Our acquaintance was not of long standing, but had rap- 
 idly ripened into intimacy, and I look back to the days 
 spent in his society as amongst my happiest in India. His 
 very presence was sunshine. 
 
 " Of my admiration for his talents, and the service he 
 rendered his country, it would be impertinent to speak, — 
 they are of public note ; but of the tender sympathies, 
 the ready advice, the forgetfulness of self, and the ever- 
 mindfulness of others, I may testify. His was, indeed, 
 a rare and beautiful character, and the better he was 
 known the more he could not fail to be appreciated." 
 
 I will add one more letter from Greneral John- 
 stone, which will show that even to the last my 
 
KXPRESSIONS OF REGRET. 439 
 
 brother was pursued by the same jealousy and 
 malignity which had caused him so much suffer- 
 ing in former years : — 
 
 " He was too noble to pass through the world without 
 detractors. The ambitious and brave envied him, be- 
 cause the brilliancy of his acts put theirs in the shade ; 
 I mean, those not possessed of the disinterestedness of 
 Christians. 
 
 " The mean and despicable hated him, because they 
 quailed before the eagle eye that could endure neither 
 dishonesty nor cowardice. Their base slanders were in 
 whispers during his life ; now that his gallant spirit is 
 gone, they come forward in unblushing malignity. I 
 heard the whispers only ; my indignation at learning the 
 baseness with which this true hero has been treated is 
 beyond all ray powers of expression." 
 
 Some of my readers may be interested in a 
 description of Major Hodson's personal appear- 
 ance and manner, given in a letter describing a 
 visit which he paid the writer a few years previ- 
 ously at Calcutta : — 
 
 " He was remarkably well made, lithe, and agile ; in 
 height about five feet eleven inches. His hair had slightly 
 receded from a high and most intellectual forehead, and 
 was light and curly. His eyes were blue, but animated by 
 a peculiarly determined, and sometimes even fierce look, 
 which would change to one of mischievous merriment, 
 for he was keenly susceptible of the ridiculous, in whatever 
 shape it presented itself; but usually his look impressed 
 me at once with that idea of his determination and 
 firmness which have ever characterized his actions. His 
 
440 PERSONAL DESCRIPTION. 
 
 nose was inclining to thie aquiline, and the curved, thin 
 nostrils added a look of defiance in noways counteracted 
 by the compressed lips, which seemed to denote many an 
 inward struggle between duty and inclination. These 
 are my impressions of Hodson as I last saw him ; and if 
 you add to this an open, frank manner, that, hongre mal- 
 gre, impressed you favorably at first sight with the owner, 
 you will have the charming ensemble that presides over 
 my recollections of three as happy weeks as I ever 
 passed." 
 
 As a pendant to this portrait I give another 
 from a lady's pen, drawn more recently: — 
 
 " There was an indescribable charm of manner about 
 him, combining all the gentle playfulness of the boy, the 
 deep tenderness of the woman, and the vigorous decision 
 of the soldier. 
 
 " His powers of attraction extended even to animals ; 
 and it was touching to see his large white Persian cat 
 following him from room to room, escaping from the ca- 
 resses of others to nestle by him. I have often watched 
 the pretty creature as he threw himself, exhausted with 
 the day's work, on an easy chair or sofa, rubbing himself 
 against his master, whisking the long white tail against 
 his fair moustache, and courting the endearments liber- 
 ally bestowed. Restless with others, pussy was at rest if 
 established by him. 
 
 " At Delhi there was a wild, shy little kitten, which 
 fled from every one else, but mewed provokingly when- 
 ever he appeared, — would jump on his knee with all the 
 familiarity of an old friend. 
 
 " With his horses he had the same power of domes- 
 tication. They yielded to the sound of his voice with the 
 
MAGIC INFLUENCE. 441 
 
 instinct that seemed to convey to all that in him they had 
 found master and friend. 
 
 " Over the natives that influence seemed almost magic. 
 When at Umbala, on ten days' leave, in November last, 
 the wounded and convalescent Guides (his old corps) 
 were all day straying into the compound simply to ' sa- 
 laam ' the ' Sahib.' And if, when lingering on the steps, 
 or in front of the study door, they were questioned what 
 they wanted, their answer would be, ' Nothing ; they 
 liked to look at the Sahib.' And so they hung about his 
 steps, and watched like so many faithful dogs. Espe- 
 cially there was an AfFghan boy, (he had once been a 
 slave,) whose very soul seemed bound up in the ma.ster 
 who had rescued him from his degraded position, and for 
 whom every service seemed light. He would watch his 
 master's movements with a look of very worship, as if the 
 ground were not good enough for him to tread. 
 
 " His joyousness of nature made him the most charm- 
 ing companion. There was a certain quaintness of ex- 
 pression which gave zest to all he said ; and yet there 
 was a reverence, too, so that, were subjects graver than 
 usual introduced even by allusion, they at once com- 
 manded his earnest response." 
 
 It will doubtless excite surprise, perchance in- 
 dignation, that one whom the Commander-in- 
 Chief pronounced " one of the most brilliant 
 soldiers under his command," — one whom all 
 ranks of the army in India reckoned amongst 
 their bravest and most skilful leaders, — one 
 whom the popular voice has already enrolled 
 amongst the heroes of the nation, — one whose 
 name was " known, either in love or fear, by 
 
442 PROPOSED MONUMENT. 
 
 every native from Calcutta to Cabul," — should 
 have received, with the exception of a brevet 
 majority (to which he was entitled for services in 
 1849), no mark of his Sovereign's approbation, 
 no recognition of gallant services and deeds of 
 daring, one tenth part of which would have cov- 
 ered many of Fortune's favorites with decora- 
 tions. 
 
 That recognition, however, which was officially 
 withheld, has been given in a more marked form 
 by the spontaneous expression of the feelings of 
 his brothers-in-arms. A committee, composed of 
 officers of the highest eminence, has been formed 
 at Calcutta for the sake of recording, by some 
 permanent memorial, their admiration of his gal- 
 lantry and skill, and it has been determined that 
 it should take the form of a monument in Lich- 
 field Cathedral. 
 
 Nor will his name be forgotten in India, even 
 by men in office. The regiment which he raised 
 stUI is " Hodson's Horse ; " and by an order, pub- 
 lished in the Gazette of August 13th, is consti- 
 tuted a brigade, consisting of the 1st, 2d, and 3d 
 Regiments of " Hodson's Horse." 
 
 I do not know that his warmest friends could 
 desire any more distinguished testimony to his 
 services. 
 
 Since these remarks were written, my brother's 
 services have received a still more public ac- 
 
SPEECH OF LORD STANLEY. 443 
 
 knowledgment. On the occasion of the vote of 
 thanks to the Indian Army, on 14th April, 1859, 
 both Lord Derby in the Upper, and Lord Stanley 
 in the Lower House, mentioned his name in the 
 most honorable manner. 
 
 Lord Stanley spoke as follows : — 
 
 " And now, Sir, having paid the tribute that is due to 
 those who live, it is not fitting that we should pass away 
 entirely from this subject without recognizing the services 
 of the dead. (Hear, hear.) Operations like those which 
 have been carried on for the last eighteen months, could 
 not be conducted without a great and lamentable loss of 
 life, and their loss to the public service is not one which 
 can be measured by any numerical test, because it is 
 always the best and bravest officers who rush to the front, 
 — who volunteer for every service of danger or difficulty, 
 who expose themselves to every risk, and among whom, 
 therefore, there is necessarily the gi-eatest loss of life. 
 There are two names which are especially distinguished. 
 The first is that of Major Hodson, of the Guides, (hear, 
 hear,) who in his short but brilliant military career dis- 
 played every quality which an officer should possess. 
 (Hear.) Nothing is more remarkable, in glancing over 
 the biography of Major Hodson that has just appeared, 
 than the variety of services in which he was engaged. 
 At one time he displayed his great personal courage and 
 skill as a swordsman in conflict with Sikh fanatics ; was 
 then transferred to the civil service, in which he performed 
 his duties as though he had passed his whole life at the 
 desk, afterwards recruiting and commanding the corps of 
 Guides, and, lastly, taking part in the operations before 
 Delhi, volunteering for every enterprise in which life 
 
444 SPEECH OF LOBD STANLEY. 
 
 could be hazarded or glory could be won. He crowded 
 into the brief space of eleven eventful years the services 
 and adventures of a long life. He died when his reward- 
 was assured, obtaining only that reward which he most 
 coveted, — the consciousness of duty done, and the assur- 
 ance of enduring military renown. The other name to 
 which I shall refer is a name which will always be re- 
 ceived with feelings of special and individual interest by 
 this House. No words of mine can add to the glory 
 attaching to the short but noble career of Sir W. Peel. 
 (Cheers.) He bore a name which is inseparably con- 
 nected with the Parliamentary history of this country, 
 and it was with feeUngs of almost personal pride and 
 of personal grief that a great number of the members of 
 this House received the accounts of his glorious achieve- 
 ments and of his untimely end. (Hear, hear.) For his 
 own reputation he had lived long enough ; no future acts 
 could have enhanced his fame. It is England, it is his 
 country that deplores his loss." 
 
 I have also much pleasure in stating that " in 
 testimony of the high sense entertained of the 
 gallant and distinguished services of the late 
 Brevet-Major W. S. R. Hodson," the Secretary 
 of State for India in Council has granted a spe- 
 cial pension to his widow. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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