Olitt /^JOI-!i != OLIN ;> \§ LIBRARY^/ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 064 295 508 All books are subject to recall after two weeks. Olin/Kroch Library DATE DUE _*^MMMtf k WM IM- ^-M^f nsj* ! GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924064295508 Production Note Cornell University Library pro- duced this volume to replace the irreparably deteriorated original. It was scanned using Xerox soft- ware and equipment at 600 dots per inch resolution and com- pressed prior to storage using CCITT Group 4 compression. The digital data were used to create Cornell's replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Stand- ard Z39. 48-1984. The production of this volume was supported in part by the Commission on Pres- ervation and Access and the Xerox Corporation. Digital file copy- right by Cornell University Library 1991. MUTINY MEMOIRS 111111 [-jwwrtni SIM 8 W~*ti §2 '^M't^mSsL 'CSS Hh Mmm^% SECOND EDITION MUTINY MEMOIRS PERSONAL REMINISCENCES GREAT SEPOY REVOLT OF 1857 Colonel A. R. D. MACKENZIE, C. B., HONY. A.-D.-C. TO THE VICEROY Forsan it hac olim memenisse juvabil AT THE PIONEER PRESS : 1892 TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST HONORABLE Cbe Aacquees of Xana&owne, G.M.S.I., G.C.M.G., G.M I.E., VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA, THIS SHORT RECORD OF PERSONAL ADVEN'lURE DURING THE GREAT INDIAN MUTINY OF 1857 IS, BV PERMISSION, AND WITH PROFOUND RESPECT, DEDICATED BY C|k 3uf||or PREFACE ^THE reminiscences contained in the fol- lowing pages were originally published in the columns of the PIONEER; and it is with the kind permission of the Editor of that Journal that I am enabled to re- issue them in the form of this little book. They do not pretend to any merit but that of truth. In that respect they may claim to present a record of actual events, and thus to bring before the Reader, however imperfectly, a rough sketch of the great Indian Mutiny such as it appeared to the eyes of a young Subaltern Officer of Native Cavalry, who had the good fortune to be engaged in its suppression. I am indebted to the courtesy of the eminent Photographic Artists, Messrs. Bourne and Shepherd, for permission to copy the beautiful pictures which illus- trate the text. CONTENTS Page I.- -The Outbreak . . • i—3° II.- -Skirmishing . 31—61 III.- —Before Delhi . . . 62—86 IV.- - Storming the City . 87—108 V. —Capture of Jhujjur ■ I0 9— 133 VI. —En route for Lucknow . 134—163 VII. — DlLKHOOSHA . 164 — 187 VIII. — Lucknow . 188—204 IX. — A Hero's Death . 205 — 212 MUTINY MEMOIRS. THE OUTBREAK. In jotting down the reminiscences and sketches contained in the following pages, my aim is to record simply and truthfully certain episodes of a stirring period of Indian military history. Englishmen can never cease to be in- terested in the story of the great Sepoy Mutiny ; and I trust that even so modest a contribution as mine to the narrative of some of its details may not be consider- ed superfluous. Often have I been urged to give the semi-permanence of printer's ink to some story told over the walnuts and the wine ; and at last I am tempted to take advantage of the enforced leisure 2 MUTINY MEMOIRS. which has been imposed on me by the recent regulations limiting tenure of re- gimental command, and placing me, with many other better men. unwillingly en retraite, while still in the prime of life and energy. If I am compelled, in the course of these pages, to speak of myself and my own doings, I trust that I may be absolv- ed from the imputation of being prompted by vainglorious motives ; and that my excuse may be found in the evident impossibility of keeping the first per- sonal pronoun out of a personal narra- tive. My having been mixed up in the events which I propose to describe is clearly an accident for which, though I may apologise, I am not responsible ; and perhaps if I had not been engaged in them I should have known a good deal less about them. Whether that is an advantage, or the reverse, to a raconteur, is, of course, a matter of opi- nion. Certainly, a witness is much less hampered in his statements if he is not limited and bound down by the fact of MUTINY MEMOIRS. 3 his having been actually present at the scenes described in his evidence. His imaginative faculties are thereby quick- ened and enriched. Hitherto, though often sorely tempted, I have refrained from publishing any account of those details of events during the Mutiny at which I was myself pre- sent ; for, as will be seen, these details involve certain corrections in narratives which have been, for want of fuller infor- mation, accepted as complete. While perfectly true, in most points, so far as they have gone, they yet suffer from omissions which I am able to supply. The accuracy of my rectifications is, for- tunately, capable of ample proof, since several very distinguished officers still survive who can vouch for it ; and in most instances I am also in possession of conclusive contemporary documentary evidence. It is not my intention to inflict on the reader my own views as to the origin of the Mutiny. Whether the fans et orige 4 MUTINY MEMOIRS. mali was deep-seated and of slow growth — whether it was due to political discontent at the overthrow of the great Mogal Empire, the annexation of Oudh , and the reduction of the King of Delhi to the position of a puppet of John Company Bahadur — or whether it arose simply from the excessive and pampered growth of the sepoy army, which, like the ass Jeshuron, waxed fat and kicked, is a question which has been often dealt with by abler pens than mine. It is, however, a significant fact that many clear-sighted men had, from time to time, issued notes of warning as to the likeli- hood of such a catastrophe. When at length the threatened storm burst, my regiment, the late 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, was one of those which broke into revolt at Meerut. In its ranks were ninety men armed with muzzle- loading carbines ; and it was these cara- bineers who first set authority at defiance by refusing to use the cartridges supplied to them, on the ground that they suspect- ed the grease used in lubricating them to MUTINY MEMOIRS. 5 have been composed of hog's lard. This pretext was, on the face of it, absurd; since, as a matter of fact, the cartridges had been made regimentally; and all the men perfectly well knew that so innocent a compound as bees' wax and clarified butter had been applied as a lubricant. The word had, however, been passed throughout the Bengal native army to make the cartridge question the test as to which was stronger — the na- tive soldier or the Government. Every one remembers the mysterious " chuppat- ties " or flat wheaten cakes which, short- ly before the Mutiny, were circulated from regiment to regiment. The mess- age conveyed by them has never been fathomed by Englishmen ; but there can be no doubt that they were in some way a signal, understood by the sepoys, of warning to be in readiness for coming events. Colonel Carmichael Smith, Command- ing the 3rd Light Cavalry, with a view to test the willingness or otherwise of the carabineers of his regiment to use the 6 MUTINY MEMOIRS. cartridges, held a special parade for the purpose on the 24th of April 1857 ; and, after an explanatory speech, pointing out to the men the groundlessness of their fears, ordered them to use the car- tridges. Eighty-five of them refused to do so. A court of inquiry was subse- quently held on their conduct, followed by the inevitable court-martial. Only one finding was possible ; and the sen- tence pronounced on all the culprits was one of ten years' imprisonment. This, in the case of some of the younger sol- diers, was reduced to five years by the confirming officer, General Hewett, Com- manding the Meerut Division. On the morning of the 9th of May the whole garrison of Meerut paraded to hear the sentences read out; after which each convict was fitted with a pair of leg-irons, fitted there and then, on to his ankles by blacksmiths. In sullen silence the two native infan- try corps, the 1 ith and 20th, and my own regiment, which was dismounted on that occasion, witnessed the degrading punish- MUTINY MEMOIRS. 7 ment. It would have been madness for them then to have attempted a rescue ; for they would have been swept off the face of the earth by the guns of the artillery and the rifles of Her Majesty's 60th Foot, not to speak of the swords of the 6th Dragoon Guards, the Carabineers, all of whom were provided with service ammunition, and were so placed as to have the native regiments at their mercy. For more than an hour the troops stood motionless, their nerves at the highest tension, while the felon shackles were being methodically and of necessity slowly hammered on the ankles of the wretched criminals, each in turn loudly calling on his comrades for help, and abusing, in fierce language, now their Colonel, now the officers who composed the court-martial, now the Government. No response came from the ranks. The impressive ceremony was duly finished. The prisoners were taken charge of by the authorities of the jail and a guard of native infantry ; and the troops marched back to quarters. For a few hours all 8 MUTINY MEMOIRS. was quiet. The snake of insubordina- tion was, to all appearance, scotched, if not killed. Every one hoped that the stern lesson had been effectual ; but a rough disillusion was in store for us. On the evening of the next day, the memorable Sunday, ioth of May 1857, at the hour when better folk were on their way to church, I was quietly reading a book in my own bungalow when my bearer Sheodeen suddenly rushed into the room, exclaiming that a hulla-goolla (in our vernacular, a riot) was going on in the lines, that the sepoys had risen, and were murdering the Sahib logue. Not for an instant did I believe the latter part of his story, even though the rapid and frequent reports of fire-arms, which now broke the quiet of the Sabbath even- ing, made only too clear the truth of the first. The thought that flashed through my mind was that our men of the cavalry were attacking the native infantry in revenge for the sneers with which we all knew these others had freely, since the dunishment parade, lashed their sub- MUTINY MEMOIRS. g missive apathy in witnessing, without an attempt at rescue, the degradation of their comrades. Sooth to say — so strong is the tie of camaraderie — my sympathies were all in the wrong direction ; and I would secretly have rejoiced to have seen the insult avenged. Hurriedly putting on my uniform and sword, I jumped on a horse, and galloped towards the regimental lines; but I had scarcely got out of the gate of my compound when I met the English Quartermaster- Sergeant of my regiment flying for his life on foot from his house in the lines. "Oh God! Sir," he exclaimed, "the troopers are coming to cut us up." " Let us then stick together," I answered; " two are better than one." For a moment he hesitated. Then, looking back, the sight of a small cloud of dust rapidly approaching from the distance overcame his resolution, and he rushed through the gate into the grounds of my bungalow, and scaled the wall between them and those of the next house. Instantly a IO MUTINY MEMOIRS. small mob of budmashes,* prominent among whom I recognised my own night watchman, attacked him. The chowki- dar thrust at him with his spear as he was crossing the wall, and cut open his lips. To my joy he fired one barrel of a gun which he carried with him, and shot the brute dead. He then dropped on to the ground on the other side, and dis- appeared from view. Later on will be found his subsequent adventures : for I rejoice to say he escaped with his life. At this moment an infantry sepoy, armed with a sword, made a sudden swoop with it at my head I had not drawn my sword, and had only time to dig a spur into my horse's flank and force him almost on to my enemy. This spoilt his stroke, and his tulwar fortunately missed its aim, and only cut my right shoulder cord. By this time I had pull- ed my weapon out of its scabbard, but the sepoy declined any further sword- play, and promptly climbed over a wall * Rascals. MUTINY MEMOIRS. \ \ out of my reach. As I turned from him and looked down the road to the lines, I saw that it was full of cavalry troopers gal- loping towards me. Even then it did not occur to me that they could have any hos- tile intent towards myself. I shouted to them to halt. This they did, and sur- rounded me ; and, before I knew what was happening, I found myself warding off, as well as I could, a fierce onslaught from many blades. A few moments would have sealed my fate, when, provi- dentially, the late Lieutenant Craigie emerged from his gate a little further down the road and came straight to my help. This diversion saved me. The troopers scattered past us and made off towards the European lines. It was only too clear now that a mutiny, and that of the most serious kind, was in full swing. Our duty was plain, though very hard to perform, for at this moment Lieutenant Craigie's Wife and my Sister were on their way together in his carriage to the church, situated in the European lines, and our first natural impulse was to I2 MUTINY MEMOIRS. gallop after them. But they had started some little time previously, and we hoped that they had already reached their des- tination, and were in safety among the British troops. Military discipline some- times tries a soldier to the utmost ; and now we felt that Wife and Sister must be left in the hands of God, and that our place was among the mutineers on the parade-ground. Thither we went as fast as our horses could carry us, and found ourselves in a scene of the utmost uproar. Most of the men were already mounted, and were careering wildly about, shout- ing and brandishing their swords, firing carbines and pistols into the air, or form- ing themselves into excited groups. Others were hurriedly saddling their horses and joining their comrades in hot haste. Nearly every British officer of the Re- giment came to the ground, and used every effort of entreaty, and even menace, to restore order, but utterly without effect. To their credit be it said the men did not attack us, but warned us to be off, shout- MUTINY MEMOIRS. 13 ing that the Company's Raj was over for ever! Some even seemed to hesitate about joining the noisiest mutineers ; and Craigie, observing this, was led to hope that they might be won over to our side. He was an excellent linguist and had great influence among them, and he eventually managed to get some forty or fifty troopers to listen to him and keep apart in a group. Suddenly a rumour reached us that the jail was being attack- ed and the prisoners released. Calling to the late Lieutenant Melville Clarke and myself to come with him, Craigie persuaded the group which he had as- sembled to follow him, and away we went towards the jail. The roads were full of excited natives who actually roared ap- probation as we rode through them, for they' evidently did not distinguish in the dusk the British officers, and took the whole party for a band of mutineers. We three officers led, and as we neared the jail our pace increased, till from a smart trot we broke into a gallop. Already the sepoys and the mob had begun their des- 1 4 MUTIN Y MEMOIRS. tractive work. Clouds of smoke on all sides marked where houses had been set on fire. The telegraph lines were cut, and a slack wire, which I did not see as it swung across the road, caught me full on the chest, and bowled me over into the dust. Over my prostrate body poured the whole column of our followers, and I well remember my feelings as I looked up at the shining hoofs. Fortunately I was not hurt, and regaining my horse I remounted, and soon nearly overtook Craigie and Clarke, when I was horror- struck to see a palanquin gharry — a sort of box-shaped venetian-sided carriage — being dragged slowly onwards by its driverless horse, while beside it rode a trooper of the 3rd Cavalry, plunging his sword repeatedly through the open win- dow into the body of its already dead occupant — an unfortunate European wo- man. But Nemesis was upon the mur- derer. In a moment Craigie had dealt him a swinging cut across the back of the neck, and Clarke had run him through the body. The wretch fell dead— the MUTINY MEMOIRS. I5 first sepoy victim at Meerut to the sword of the avenger of blood. All this passed in a second, and it was out of the power of our men to prevent it ; but the fate of their comrade evidently greatly excited and angered them. Shouts of " maro ! maro!" ("kill! kill!") began to be heard among them, and we all thought the end was approaching. However, none of the men attacked us, and in a few minutes we reached the jail, only to find that we were too late. The prisoners were already swarming out of it ; their shackles were being knocked off by blacksmiths before our eyes; and the jail-guard of native infantry on our riding up to it answered our questions by firing at us, fortunately without hitting any of us. There was nothing to be done but to ride back to the cantonment. No sooner had we turned our horses' heads than the full horror of what was taking place burst upon us. The whole cantonments seemed one mass of flames. If before we rode fast, now we flew ; for the most urgent fears for the safety of 1 6 MUTINY MEMOIRS. those dear to us tortured us almost to madness. As we tore along Craigie al- lowed me to leave him and go in search of his Wife and my Sister, and to take any of the men who would go with me. I lifted my sword and shouted for volun- teers to come to save my Sister, and some dozen of them galloped after me. As hard as our horses could gallop we tore along. Every house we passed was in flames, my own included, and my heart sank within me. Craigie's house alone was not burning when we reached it — a large double-storeyed building, in very exten- sive grounds, surrounded, as was then usual, by a mud wall. Here I found Mrs. Craigie and my Sister. They had never reached the church. Their coach- man had turned back in terror of the mob. As they passed the bazar a soldier of the 6th Dragoon Guards rushed out of a bye-lane, pursued by a yelling crowd. The brave ladies, at the imminent risk of their own lives, stopped the carriage, took him in and drove off at full speed, followed for some distance by the blood- MUTINY MEMOIRS. 1 7 thirsty wretches who, being on foot, were soon left behind, not, however, till they had slashed with their tulwars in several places the hood of the carriage, in vain efforts to reach the inmates. It is impossible to realise what terrors these ladies must have suffered till the moment of my arrival. Every minute they despaired of surviving to the next. All round them flames of burning houses and mobs of yelling demons ! Not know- ing whether the Husband and Brother were alive or dead— deserted apparently by God and man — hopeless of help, — they yet never despaired, nor lost their cour- age or presence of mind. Their first thought had been to find Craigie's wea- pons and place them where they would be ready to hand if he or I did ever come. Nothing had they overlooked. Three double-barrelled guns stood against the wall, with powder-flask and bullets and caps. They were not loaded, for the ladies did not know how to load them ; and the unfortunate Carabineer was in a state of nervous collapse. Overjoyed, 1 8 MUTINY MEMOIRS. and thankful to Providence as I was to find them still alive and unhurt, I could not conceal from them that extreme dan- ger was by no means over, and that they would yet have need of all their courage. The greatest risk I instinctively felt was from the uncertain temper of my men ; and I determined on a desperate stroke. I therefore brought the ladies down to the door of the house, and calling to me the troopers commended their lives to their charge. It is impossible to understand the swift torrents of feeling that flood the hearts of Orientals in periods of intense excitement. Like madmen they threw themselves off their horses and prostrat- ed themselves before the ladies, seizing their feet and placing them on their heads, as they vowed with tears and sobs to protect their lives with their own. Greatly reassured by this burst of evi- dently genuine emotion, I now ordered the men to mount and patrol the grounds, while I took the ladies upstairs, and then loaded all the guns with ball. One of M UTIN Y MEMOIRS. x them I placed by itself against the wall. Long afterwards, in quiet England, my Sister, who still survives, told me that both she and Mrs. Craigie well under- stood the sacred use to which that gun was, in the last resort, devoted, and that the knowledge comforted and strength- ened them. Through the windows flashed brilliant light from the flaming houses on all sides. The hiss and crackle of the burning tim- bers — the yells of the mob — the frequent sharp reports of fire-arms — all formed a confused roar of sound, the horror of which might well have overpowered the nerves of the ladies ; but I learned during that awful night the quiet heroism of which our gentle countrywomen are cap- able in the hour of need. As I stepped out on to the upper verandah I was seen by some of the mob who were wrecking the opposite house. " There is a feringi," they cried ; " let us burn this big hothi " (house), and several of them ran forward with lighted brands to the boundary wall ; but on seeing my gun levelled at them 20 MUTINY MEMOIRS. they thought better of it and recoiled. More than once this happened. It seemed only a matter of time before our house should be set on fire at one point or another. Fortunately I remembered the existence in the grounds of a small Hindu shrine, strongly built of masonry, on a high plinth, and with only one entrance, approached by a flight of stone or brick steps. If I could only get my charges and the guns and ammunition safely across the open space between us and that building, I felt sure of being able to hold out till help should come : for sure- ly help would soon come ! Were not the 6th Dragoon Guards, the 6oth Rifles, _and the Horse Artillery Batteries within a couple of miles ? At this juncture we were cheered by the arrival of Lieutenant Craigie, who, after I left him, had gone back to the parade-ground where the uproar was still at its height, the heroic efforts of the British officers to bring the men to reason being quite futile. At length, MUTINY MEMOIRS. 2 1 seeing the hopelessness of further en- deavour, and finding the men getting more and more uncontrollable, they were compelled to retire and make for the European lines, carrying away with them the now for-ever disgraced standards of the regiment. One of them, the late Major Fairlie, also carried with him a bullet which was lodged in his saddle-tree. Craigie then made his way back to us at great risk of his life, accompanied by a few men who had never left him. He warmly approved of my plan ; and, hav- ing explained it to the ladies, they quickly gathered together a few neces- sary articles of apparel, &c. ; and each carrying her bundle, and concealed as far as possible' under a covering of dark blanket, while Craigie and the Cara- bineer and I carried the guns and am- munition, we seized a favourable mo- ment and ran rapidly across to our new stronghold. Once there, we were safe from being burnt out, and indeed from successful 22 MUTINY MEMOIRS. attack of any kind by the cowardly crew with which we had to deal. The interior space was very small, probably about ten feet square. In front was the narrow doorway ; and in the massive walls were slits like loopholes through which we could observe if any attempts were made to approach the place. Every now and then our troopers brought us news of what was going on. The night had not long closed in when they told us that apparently the whole body of mutineers, horse and foot, had marched away to Delhi. Their attack on the European lines, if they had made one, had clearly failed ; and the only marauders remaining in Meerut were the butchers and other scum of the city and bazars. Presently one of our men went over to the opposite house, which by this time was burnt nearly to the ground. He returned with awful news. He had found the dead body of its occupant, a lady, whose hus- band at the outbreak of the mutiny was absent in the European quarter. She had been most cruelly and brutally MUTINY MEMOIRS. 23 murdered, her unborn infant sharing her pitiable fate. He showed us, in confirma- tion of his story, a portion of her dress reeking with blood. Not far from us, an- other lady, while attempting to escape, disguised as an ayah, was recognised as a European, and murdered. Two veterinary-surgeons, attached to the re- giment, had been killed — one of them with his wife — under circumstances of ghastly horror. They were both sick in bed with small-pox when the uproar of the mob startled them ; and they came, in their night clothes, into the ver- andah, he carrying a gun loaded with shot, which he discharged at the crowd, only further enraging it. He was in- stantly shot dead. His wife met with a. worse fate. The cowardly demons, afraid to touch her because of the danger of in- fection, threw lighted brands at her. Her dress caught fire ; and she perished thus miserably. My own house-comrade, a fine young officer, had been mobbed on his way to church, and so hacked to pieces that but for his length — he was 24 MUTINY MEMOIRS. very tall — and the rags of his uniform which still clung to him, his remains would have been unrecognisable when they were subsequently recovered. A poor little girl, daughter of one of the British Non-Commissioned Officers of the regi- ment, had been slaughtered by a blow of a sword which cut her skull in two. Scenes like the above had been enacted all over Meerut; but I will spare the reader fur- ther details. If he is sickened by what I have already written, I can only say that mere generalities, however graphic, are insufficient to place before him a true picture of what English men, women, and children suffered at the hands of the mu- tineers, not only in Meerut, but almost everywhere through the North- West of India. In these days of agitation for the re- peal of the Arms Act, it is well to remind home-staying Englishmen of what once occurred, and what may again occur if a wave of political discontent or religi- ous fanaticism should unhappily once more sweep over the " land of regrets." MUTINY MEMOIRS, 25 Anxiously did we now listen for the rattle of horses' hoofs, the rumble of guns, or the tramp of feet coming to our help — but none came! Hour after hour passed — and still the mob were left undisturbed in their work of des- truction and murder. We heard after- wards that a strong mounted party had been sent to clear the cantonments and rescue any survivors of the mas- sacre; but— incredible to relate — it had been misled by the Staff Officer who was detailed to guide it, and never reached its intended destination. Among the troopers with us were one or two traitors, whose sole object in remaining was to undermine the loyalty of the rest. A young recuit who had, not long previous- ly, passed through riding school in the same squad with myself, presently came to me as I was standing among a group of the men outside our stronghold (for Craigie and I now toolc it in turns to try and re-assure them by mixing with them), and warned me to be beware of the Ha- vildar-Major, who had, he said, at that 26 MUTINY MEMOIRS. moment, been urging the others to kill me. It may be well imagined that I took very good care afterwards to keep a watchful eye on that Non-Commissioned Officer, and to let him see by a touch of my hand on the hilt of my sword that I was quite ready for any suspicious movement on his part. Soon afterwards he and a few others rode out of the gate, and we saw them no more. They had not long gone when a servant of Crai- gie's, a Hindu bearer, came up to us in great excitement with the news that a crowd of budmashes was coming in at the gate. He implored us to give him one of the guns, and let him go and fire at them. Whether wisely or not, we did so ; and almost immediately afterwards we heard a report, followed by yells and groans. In a few moments the bearer returned, and gave us back the gun, saying that he had fired into " the brown" of the advancing mob, and brought one of them down, and the rest had fled. It was now about midnight. The uproar was quieting down; and we determin- MUT1N Y MEMOIRS. 2 7 ' ed on making our escape, if possible. So, with our own hands— the syces (grooms) naving bolted — we harnessed Craigie's horses to his carriage ; placed the ladies and the Carabineer inside with the three guns ; made a native boy who usually rode postillion, and who fortunately had not gone off with the syces, mount one of the horses and set off, Craigie and I riding with drawn swords beside the carriage. This was a critical moment. A knot of the troop- ers, evidently wavering in their inten- tions, occupied the avenue before us, loud- ly talking and gesticulating. The postil- lion hesitated ; but, on our threatening to run him through the body if he did not at once gallop on, he took heart of grace, lashed his horses, and in a mo- ment we had charged through and scat- tered the impeding group, and were rac- ing along the avenue at full speed over the body of the man who had been killed by the faithful bearer, and who was after- wards identified as a Musalman butcher, a class of men who were among the most 28 MUTINY MEMOIRS. blood-thirsty actors on that night. Turn- ing out of the gate to our left we made along the road to the regimental parade- ground, from which a nearly unbroken plain stretched to the European lines. We found the plain deserted ; and rapid- ly made our way till we reached a short length of straight road which ran to the stables of the Carabineers. At the far end of it we saw a light, which we right- ly took to be a portfire. Making the postillion slacken speed, Craigie and I galloped forward, shouting "Friend ! Friend ! " at the utmost stretch of our lungs ; and well was it we did so ; for we found at a point where a bridge crossed a nullah a piquet with a gun trailed up the road ; and the subaltern in com- mand told us he was on the point of firing at our rapidly approaching group when our voices reached him. At last — with deep gratitude— we felt that our dear ones were once more safe among our own countrymen. The wife of a Sergeant of the Carabineers very kindly gave the ladies shelter for the rest of the night ; MUTINY MEMOIRS. 2 g and Craigie and I shifted for ourselves, al fresco. To revert to the adventures of the regimental Quartermaster-Sergeant after he left me. Covered with blood from the wound in his lip and carrying his gun in one hand and his sword in the other, he presented a sufficiently start- ling spectacle as he burst into a room of a neighbouring bungalow occupied by two young officers, and warned them — still unconscious — of what was taking place. Not a moment did they lose in buckling on their swords and rushing to the stables. As they did so they saw one of their own syces running away with a saddle on his head. They could only find two other saddles ; but fortunate- ly bridles for three horses were hang- ing on their usual pegs. Rapidly slip- ping them on, they mounted, giving the Sergeant a bare-backed animal, and they made for a gate. It was blocked by mu- tineers. They turned to the other : that also was blocked. Their lives seemed lost, when »ne of their servants, a sweep- 3ope of achieving an easy massacre was changed into fear of the awful retribution which they thought the European troops, now on the alert, would not fail speedily to exact. This fear altered all their plans, and hastened their flight to Delhi, so graphically described by Sir John Kaye ; but, alas ! no swift retribution followed. The European troops, 1,500 strong, were paralysed by the irresolution of their chief. Had the gallant Hearsey or Sidney Cotton occupied Hewett's place at Meerut, it* is safe to say that, in spite of the wings which fear lent to the mutineers on their flight to MUTINY MEMOIRS. 33 Delhi, few of them would ever have reached that haven of their hopes. The shrapnel of the artillery and the swords of the Carabineers would have annihilat- ed them. It is true that Generals Hewett and Archdale Wilson, late in the even- ing, moved the troops over the open plain of the infantry parade-ground and that they caused a few rounds to be fired, in the dark, at some belated stragglers of the cavalry, which said rounds, by the way, nearly killed an officer, Lieutenant Galloway, of my regiment, who had taken refuge in an out-house in the line of fire ; but General Hewett, instead of even then detaching the Carabineers and a battery Of horse artillery in pursuit of the flying mutineers, acted on the ill-starred advice of his Brigadier to withdraw the whole force to the European lines. No greater mistake from any point of view was ever committed. There can be no doubt that the offer of Captain Rosser, of the 6th Dragoon Guards, to take a squadron and a couple of guns in pursuit, was really made and 34 MUTINY MEMOIRS. declined ; for it was well known and much discussed at the time. It is true that intimation of this offer never reached the Colonel Commanding the Regiment ; but it is equally certain that somebody- blundered in not taking immediate steps to bring it to the notice of Colonel Cus- tance. The prompt punishment which even such a small body could have in- flicted would have been of the utmost value as a lesson both to the rebels and to the faint-hearted among ourselves; but the opportunity was wilfully thrown away; and the magnificent brigade of British troops of all arms, which after- wards covered itself with glory at the Hindun Nuddee, at Delhi, at Lucknow, and wherever its members met the enemy, was marched back to Meerut, and con- demned for a period to the humiliating role of passive inaction. Difficult as it is to understand, and impossible to excuse the motives which paralysed the nerves of General Hewett, it can only be hoped that all our officers have laid to heart the lesson MUTINY MEMOIRS. 35 so frequently learned in the great school of the Sepoy Mutiny that, in deal- ing with an Oriental enemy, I'audace! et toujours I'audace is not only the most soldierlike but the surest road to success. " Strike promptly and strike hard " should be their motto. Over and over again have small bodies of Englishmen, under the most desperate circumstances, and against the most fearful odds, by acting on this maxim, "plucked the flower safely from the nettle danger." When the day comes, as come it will, that we Englishmen will once more have to fight for the preservation of our Indian Empire, the issue will only be doubtful if timid and irresolute counsels prevent us from putting forth the whole of our strength at the first serious symptoms of internal disaffection or external menace. During the next few days the Meerut garrison lay inert. Far from undertaking any distant reconnaisances or making any active efforts to restore to quiet the surrounding districts, not even was pun- ishment inflicted on the city or the bazars, 36 MUTINY MEMOIRS. which had poured forth their swarms of murderers and robbers on the night of the ioth. A few individual marauders were, it is true, caught and hanged ; but there retributive measures ceased. Native houses* choked with plunder, were left unsearched, and their occupants were allowed unmolested to swagger about in the sight of all men, and to boast among themselves of the shame and havoc they had wrought on the " Feringhi." Our women and children and unarmed civilian refugees were given shelter in the "Dumdama," an often-described walled enclosure. The Generals and their staffs and many other officers took refuge in a barrack, over which a guard was duly mounted. Piquets, inlying and outlying, were told off; and every precaution was taken to prevent the can- tonments being rushed by the " bud- mashes " of the " Burra Bazar " or the Goojars of the neighbouring villages ! As a comic element is never absent from the most tragic events, I may inter- polate here a little story anent Colonel MUTINY MEMOIRS. 3 7 Blank. That gallant officer rejoiced in a long and scanty moustache, which up to the moment of the Mutiny had retained the glossy black of youth. A few days afterwards, an officer who met me asked me if I had observed the terrible effect which late events had evidently wrought on the Colonel. "Poor fellow!" said he, " his hair has turned perfectly white ! " My irreverent laughter amazed and shocked him. He little knew that the blanching of the old gentleman's mous- tache was due to his not having had the time or the presence of mind to bring with him in his hurried night from the mutineers his trusty bottle of hair-dye. A very few nights after the Generals and other officers had taken up their quarters in the barrack already mention- ed, they suffered from a scare which, if it did not whiten their hair, might easily have proved a very serious matter to its innocent cause. This was how it hap- pened. It must be premised that a row of beds lined each wall of the long barrack-room, each bed containing a 3 8 MUT1N Y MEMOIRS. General, a staff, or at the least a field officer, every one of whom reposed his head on a pillow under which lay a revolver, while his sword was either rest- ing on a chair beside him or hanging on the wall. Outside was a guard of British soldiers, and in the immediate vicinity were some fifteen or sixteen hundred more. Altogether as secure and well-guarded a dormitory as it is possible to conceive, and one in which the most timid and nerve-shaken crea- ture might placidly entrust himself to the arms of Morpheus. Not so, thought one of its warrior occupants. Were there not three Hindu punkah-coolies in the verandah, and were not all their lives at the mercy of these miscreants ? It behoved one at least to remain on the alert, and, with a watchful eye on the coolie toiling at the punkah rope at one end of the room, to safeguard the lives of all the careless sleepers. He should be that one ! So, ostentatiously snoring, and pretending to be wrapped in slum- ber, he devoted himself to his task. A MUTINY MEMOIRS. 39 couple of hours passed without incident; but at last his vigilance was justified and rewarded. The ruffian at the rope who, while there remained a chance that any of his proposed victims might be still awake, had pulled with steady cadence the heavy punkahs, now began to simu- late slumber, and at intervals to cease pulling. Evidently this was a deep and artful ruse to discover if the cessation of the fanning breeze might, peradventure, rouse any of the sleepers ; but none of them stirred. The moment for action had clearly arrived. So the blood-thirsty coolie coughed a smothered cough once or twice as a signal to his two confede- rates in the verandah ; but as no response came, he prepared to go and personally warn them. As a pecautionary measure, however, he noiselessly laid down the rope, and, approaching the nearest sleep- ers, bent over them to satisfy himself that they were really unconscious. As he re- peated this performance over our watch- ful friend, whose hair was now standing on end with horror, he found himself 4 o MUTINY MEMOIRS. suddenly clutched in the embrace of a pair of arms nerved with the strength of panic fear, while loud shouts of " I've got him ! I've got him !" echoed through the room. Breathless with excitement, the bold captor told his thrilling tale, and de- manded that the three villains should be led to instant execution. He laughed to scorn the plausible story of his captive, to the effect that he had been left at the punkah rope longer than his rightful turn, that he had coughed to attract the atten- tion of his " budlee " or relieving coolie, that on this signal failing he had then determined to go and fetch him ; but dur ki maree, " the fear of being beaten," had induced him to make sure, before doing so, that none of the " sahibs " was likely to jump up, and, more Anglo-Indico, chas- tise him. Fortunately for the wretched coolie his explanation was accepted, not without much laughter, and he escaped the gallows; but nothing could ever convince his gallant captor that he had not by his courage and presence of mind averted a dreadful massacre. MUTINY MEMOIRS. 4 1 It is really difficult to exaggerate the demoralisation which at that period seemed to overcome the nerves of certain of the more weak-kneed among us. Every native was to their excited imagin- ation a "Pandy." My own faithful bearer, Sheodeen, owed to the natty twist of his turban and the martial way in which he habitually curled up his moustaches, a very close interview with the hangman. He was, during my ab- sence, arrested, and would undoubtedly have been given a short shrift if an officer who knew him had not sent for me in hot haste. My earnest advice to him after that grim experience was to roll his " puggrie " anyhow, to take the curl out of his moustaches, to drop his jaunty swaggering gait, and generally to look as mean and dirty as possible. On the night of the nth an adventure happened to myself, which at the time I was rather shy of mentioning, but which I may now relate. I had taken it on myself to do a little patrolling on my own account; and as I was starting 42 MUTINY MEMOIRS. from near the main gate of the "Dum- dama," I came across a Eurasian Trum- peter named Murray, of my own regi- ment. As he was mounted I asked him to accompany me. This he did. We had not gone far before we saw, indistinctly, through the dusk, what appeared to be a small group of the rebels, cautiously creeping towards where a tree, growing close to the wall, gave them a fair chance of successfully scaling it. " Will you stick by me, Murray, and charge them ? " I whispered. " That I will, sir," replied he : " I will stand by you to the last drop of my blood." So, drawing our swords, and moving quietly forward for a few yards, we suddenly clapped spurs to our horses and charged — to the bewil- derment and complete demoralisation of a speckled cow, over whose body we narrowly escaped " coming to grief," and who, as soon as she could recover her senses, dashed off into the darkness. "Never mind, Murray," said I. "It might have been the Pandies, you know. We'll just say nothing about this — yet MUTINY MEMOIRS. 43 a while." Poor fellow ! he was killed not many days afterwards, bravely fighting, at the Hindun Nuddee. On the evening of the 15th May the native Sappers and Miners from Roorkee marched into Meerut. Next afternoon it so happened that a small party of the faithful remnant of the 3rd Light Caval- ry, which was about to proceed under my command to the support of the civil authorities in a neighbouring station, was paraded, mounted, for the General's inspection, close to the barrack where he had taken up his quarters, when I heard the report of a single shot, rapidly fol- lowed by two or three more, from the direction of the Sapper Camp ; and pre- sently saw that a scene of confusion and uproar was going on there. A rumour reached me — how I do not remember — that the Sappers had mutinied, had killed Alfred Light, the artillery officer who afterwards became so distinguished, and were about to fly into the jungle. Natur- ally I lost no time in dismounting and running in to the barrack to inform 44 MUTINY MEMOIRS. General Hewett, whom I found in the dishabille of shirt and pyjamas. While I was making my report to the bewildered General, Brigadier Archdale Wilson pushed up to us, buckling on his sword-belt, and ordered me to mount at once and follow the Sappers and keep them in sight till he could come up with some of the Carabineers and guns. By this time the Sappers, who, I firmly be- lieve, had at first no intention whatever of mutinying, but had been seized by sudden panic through groundless fear of an attack by the European troops, were swarming in flight over the plain, some in uniform, some in native clothes, but all armed with their muskets. The shot which I had heard had been fired, as I subsequently learnt, by an Afghan, and had killed the Commanding Officer, Major Fraser. The action of this one man compromised all his comrades. However loyally disposed they might have been, they must have felt that now appearances were so fatally against them that no quarter could be hoped for from MUTINY MEMOIRS. 45 the enraged European troops who sur- rounded them; and that instant flight offered the only slender chance of escape from destruction. As my little party galloped after them I was stopped by an artillery officer, evidently senior in rank to myself, who ordered me to halt and asked me where I was going. I told him that the Brigadier-General had ordered me to follow the Sappers who had mutinied and killed Alfred Light. "That is hardly possible," he said, " seeing that I am Alfred Light. These Sappers are not mutinying at all, but are going with permission to destroy a neighbouring village of budmashes. You stop where you are. I will take the responsibility." Taken quite aback by all this, I was still remonstrating with him when the Briga- dier-General rode up, furious with me for having halted, and ordered me on again. I was glad to leave Alfred Light to settle the question of my delay with him, and dashed on in pursuit. Soon we overtook about fifty men, who took 4 6 MUTINY MEMOIRS. refuge in a grove of trees surrounded by a wall ; and there I kept guard over them till the arrival of the Brigadier-General with a squadron of Carabineers and some guns. A few rounds were fired into the grove, but without much effect, and then dismounted Carabineers and a number of officers skirmished into it, and pursued the Sappers from tree to tree. The poor fellows fought with the energy of despair. No quarter was given, and all were des- troyed, except two who were made pri- soners by myself, and who, I believe, were afterwards retained in the service, and proved perfectly loyal. At the close of this affair I noticed a man who had retreated through the grove and had taken refuge behind a low wall on its further side, from which shel- ter he betrayed himself by firing at us. As I rode round the outside of the enclosure on its left and got in line with him, a Trooper of the Carabineers ap- peared at the opposite end of the wall, and we both came down on him at full gallop. The Sapper jumped to his feet MUTINY MEMOIRS. 47 and fixed his bayonet. We reached him almost at the same moment. As the Trooper lifted his sword to deliver a swinging cut the Sapper charged him with his bayonet and transfixed him through the breast, with a sickening rip- ping sound which still haunts my ears, while my straining sword arm failed by an inch to reach and lift the bayonet. Before he could withdraw the bayonet I had run him through the body. The uplifted arm of the Carabineer dropped, the sword slipped from his grasp, he reeled for a moment on his saddle, and then fell to the ground dead. A correspondent wrote to the Pioneer :- "The Carabineer who was killed just outside Meerut in the Sapper Affair was a Trooper, named Frederick Kingsford, - who rode an untrained horse, which be- came unsteady at the time of charging the rebel. He was the first man killed in action in the Mutiny, although many Europeans had fallen before that day." It was late in the evening when we returned to cantonments. The destina- 48 MUTINY MEMOIRS. tion of my small party, which was to have started next morning into the dis- trict, was unexpectedly changed. A message had been received by General Hewett from a party of fugitives from Delhi, who were wandering about in the jungles near that place, and who im- plored that help should be sent to them. When I heard of this I felt that women and children could not possibly be left to their fate among the rebels without atleast an effort being made to save them ; so I went to General Hewett and offered to attempt the rescue with twenty -five men of the remnant of my regiment. He asked if I was in earnest, and told me that the fugitives had not got far from Delhi, and that he had considered it hopeless to send a succouring party. The letter, which was written in the French language, had been thrown under a table, whence I saw it picked up. The GeneraL then gave me permission, and on the forenoon of the 1 7th my party started. On our way out of Meerut we met Lieutenant Hugh Gough of our regi- MUTINY MEMOIRS. 49 ment (now Sir H. Gough, V. C, K. C. B., commanding the Lahore Division). He told me that he had just heard of my having volunteered for this duty, and that he could not let me go alone. So he galloped back to get his arms, and thus, in this most gallant and self-sacri- ficing manner, came with me on an errand which both of us felt pretty sure was to be our last. We rode all day, expecting every moment our men to turn on us and bolt to Delhi. The temptation must have been very sore to them ; for they had witnessed the extreme demoralisation which the Mutiny had caused in Meerut ; butprovidentially they remained staunch. Only once did we meet with a show of opposition at a large village, but most fortunately we thought it probable that the inhabitants were alarmed at our French-grey uniforms, and took us for a party of mutineers on the prowl. So Gough and I halted the men and rode on alone. The sight of our white faces re-assured the villagers, and our ex- planations calmed them. 50 MUTINY MEMOIRS. Late in the evening we arrived at the village of Hirchinpore, where we had as- certained from people in the fields that the fugitives were to be found. Again our light-grey uniforms caused alarm and confusion. The gate of a walled enclosure was shut in our faces, and it was with great difficulty that we got those inside to believe that we were friends. At last, on our promising to leave the men outside, Gough and I were admitted; and we rode in, not without suspicion that we might ourselves have fallen into a trap. We found a very dark old gentleman called Cohen, the zemin- dar of the village, an Orientalised Jew I think, seated in the doorway with a gun in his hand, evidently determined in case of treachery to sell his life dearly. The fugitives of whom we were in search had in despair stowed themselves away in various hiding places, and when they appeared presented a pitiable spectacle from the effects of the hardships they had undergone. All that night we had to remain there while Cohen's people MUTINY MEMOIRS. 51 collected carts to convey the women and children. If one of our men or one of the villagers had bolted and carried to Delhi the news of what a haul could be made at Hirchinpore, two or three hours would have sealed our fate. But again Providence befriended us, and early next morning our little caravan started for Meerut, where we safely arrived that night, and I had the joy of once more seeing my Sister, of whom I could not bear to take leave when I started, and who had been in ignorance of my having gone till I was miles on my way. The following are the names of the ladies and gentlemen who composed the party of fugitives : — 1. Colonel Knyvett, 38th Regiment, N. I. 2. Lieutenant Salkeld, Bengal Engineers. (Died of wounds received at the assault of Delhi). 3. Lieutenant Wilson, Bengal Artillery. 4. » Montague M. Proctor, 38th N. I. 5. „ H. Gambier, 38th N. I. (Died of wounds received at the assault of Delhi). 6. Captain G. Forrest, V. C. (Died from the effects of injuries received in the defence of the Delhi Magazine on Iltfa May, 1857), 7. Lieutenant, Vibart, 54th N. I. 8. Mrs. Forrest. 12 9^ Mrs. Fraser, widow of Major Fraser, who had been killed at Meerut by the mutineer sap- pers. 10. Miss Forrest. ii. „ Annie Forrest. 12. „ Eliza Forrest. 13- Mr. Marshall (merchant). 14 & 15. Two European women whose names I do not know. Very glad was I to turn in that night with the prospect of a good rest, but I had not been asleep very long before the late Major Sanford, then a Lieutenant in my old regiment, and one of the most gallant gentlemen that ever buckled on a sword-belt, came and woke me up and told me that he had volunteered to carry despatches from General Hewett to the Commander-in-Chief at Umballa via Kurnal, and that he wanted me to escort him with my little faithful party. Of course I agreed, and went off to our lines, where the ^ljready tired men willingly consented to undertake the fresh and still more fatiguing and pos- sibly more dangerous journey. Their horses were, however, quite knocked up, so I asked and obtained permission MUTINY MEMOIRS. 53 to select for them twenty-five of the partially-broken remounts of the Cara- bineers. Early in the morning we paraded in the lightest of light marching order, the young horses vigorously resenting being so unceremoniously pressed into the ranks before passing through Riding School. For the first few miles there was not much order in our little column. The half-broken troopers rearing, buck- jumping and plunging about, had it pretty much their own way ; but before night they were quiet enough. All day we marched, and all night, and all next day, halting for an hour or so at a time, when a wayside well enabled us to water the horses. We requisitioned feeds of grain for them and of chuppatis for our- selves as we went along, duly giving receipts for them. En route we made a long detour off the road to a district where we had been ordered to go in search of baggage -camels, which we were to have seized if we had found them ; but they had departed. On the second day 54 MUTINY MEMOIRS. we met the late gallant Major (then Lieutenant) Hodson who, escorted by a party of the Jhind Horse, had started on his ride to Meerut with despatches from General Anson to General Hewett, and who was to return with despatches from the latter to Army Head-Quarters. So unexpected was this meeting that at first each party took the other for "moofsids," as we used in those days to designate the rebels ; but we soon discovered our mistake. Hodson was naturally much relieved to find that the road in front of him was open, though doubtless dis- appointed that his errand was forestalled. The reader, who has read of Hodson's famous ride to Meerut, and who has not to this moment ever heard that it was anticipated by others, will probably be surprised by this narration, but never- theless it is simply true. The credit of carrying the first despatches from Meerut to Umballa is due to the late Major San- ford, who, to me and to all who knew him, was a type of all that is most noble and brave and modest ; but alas ! his MUTINY MEMOIRS. 55 memory is buried in our hearts. The world has heard little of him. In the evening we arrived at Kurnal, having traversed in less than thirty-six hours more than ninety miles: for the straight road between Meerut and Kur- nal is seventy-six, and our fruitless de- tour after the camels took us many more miles. Sanford at once went on by dak to Umballa and delivered his despatches to General Anson. He eventually got command of the cavalry of the guide corps before Delhi, and retained it till the close of the siege. My small party was not then sent back to Meerut, but moved down towards Delhi with the advanced body of troops, making itself useful in collecting-sup- plies and scouting. On the road we succeeded in capturing several miscre- ants who had committed murderous out- rages on our unfortunate countrymen and women while trying to effect their escape from Delhi. They were given the benefit of a fair trial ; and those who were found guilty were duly hanged. 56 MVTlHY memoirs. One of these wretches who had been tried and sentenced one afternoon was subsequently confined till sunset — the usual hour for executions — in the guard tent of the i st Bengal Fusiliers, which happened on that occasion to contain another tenant, an Irish soldier who had been drinking, " not wisely but too well." When the Provost Marshal's party came in the evening for the condemned cri- minal they found him in a sorry plight. The half-sober Irishman begged that they would not take him away. " Be- dad," said he, " he has been the most divarting companion I iver had." The "divarsion" had been perhaps a little one-sided. One evening, shortly before the force reached Alipore, I was suddenly ordered to take my party back to Meerut via Bagput, for the General expected an engagement, and evidently felt uncertain as to whether my men were to be trusted under such trying circumstances as an actual fight against their old comrades. Previously to this poor General Anson MUTINY MEMOIRS. 5 y had died, worn out by anxiety and fati- gue, and General Barnard was in com- mand. Accompanied by the Adjutant- General, Colonel Chester, and by his Interpreter, Captain Howell, he inspect- ed my little party on parade, and after praising its conduct in the highest terms, informed us that he would give each native member of it a step of substan- tive rank for each of the two expeditions in which they had shared. He then told them that in a short time he expected to engage the rebels, and that, though he had no doubt of their loyalty, he was unwilling to take them into action against men who so lately had been their comrades, of their own race and religions, and that therefore he had decid- ed to send them back to Meerut. The whole of them implored to be allowed to remain and to prove their loyalty in the field ; but the General was not to be turned from his decision. He was evidently much moved, and for a moment I hoped that he was wavering ; but presently he turned away ; and with deep disappoint- 5 8 MbTJNY MEMOIRS. ment I felt that there was nothing for it but to turn our horses' heads to the east and make for the ferry at Bagput. Ber fore General Barnard could carry out his promise he fell a victim to cholera. Colonel Chester was killed in action, and Captain Howell also died — I think from that scourge of the camp — cholera. Thus was left on my shoulders the whole onus of securing to my men the fulfilment of the General's promise — a task in which, after much trouble and delay, I was hap- pily eventually successful. To march off the ground and out of camp no preparations were needed, for we were without camp equipage of any kind whatever. It must be remembered that all this took place in the middle of the hot weather, before the rains ; so that it was no hardship to sleep in the open air on the ground beside our horses, who also required no blankets. Except our horses, their saddles and bridles and our arms, and the clothes on our backs, we possessed literally nothing in the world. MUTINY MEMOIRS. jg It was not long, therefore, before we had put a good distance between our- selves and our late comrades. When dawn broke we found ourselves debouch- ing from a grove of trees on to a plain, at the further side of which was the river and the bridge-of-boats with the village of Bagput on the opposite bank ; but to our horror the bridge was occupied by a strong body of apparently rebel troops, whom our appearance threw into sudden commotion. We could see infantry rapidly falling in, troopers mounting in hot haste, and camels and elephants rushing to the bridge, flying from our expected onslaught. Scant time was there to decide on a course of action. With our tired horses escape from so strong a body of cavalry was hopeless. Nothing was left but to charge the bridge and trust to luck and the rapidity of our attack to disconcert the enemy, and enable some at least of us to get through with whole skins. These were the days of drilling by " threes ; " but as I judged that there would be room for four men 60 MUTINY MEMOIRS. abreast on the bridge, I formed my party as quickly as possible into what would now be called a column of sections of fours, and moved down the slope on to the plain at a gallop, increasing our pace as we approached the bridge. To my delight and surprise the enemy seemed quite demoralised and in confusion, and I was beginning to feel sure of a successful rush through them, when I was startled by the apparition of a white face peering at me from behind a mass of stones, and the shout of an English voice yelling at me to halt. Never was man more relieved and pleased to be out of a frightful scrape. In another second I had halted my party and had ridden across the bridge and was talking to , an officer who informed me that he had been sent with a strong body of the Raja of Jhind's troops to occupy the bridge and hold it till further orders; but he said that he was not going to stay any longer. The place was a great deal too near Delhi and too liable to sudden attack to please him, and the fright he MUTINY MEMOIRS. 6 1 had got from the sudden appearance of my small party had put the finishing touch to his resolution. He said that our French-grey uniforms and the swift- ness of our attack had convinced him that we were the advanced party of a large body of the enemy, and he had given himself up for lost. At any rate he had had enough of Bagput and meant to be off at once. In vain I im- plored him to defer his departure till the evening, pointing out that my horses were quite done up, and that we would be obliged to stop there for some hours to rest and feed. Nothing would move him, and there and then he marched off, bag and baggage, and left us to our own de- vices. We could plainly hear the guns of a fight, which must have been that at the Hindun Nuddee; and, tired as we were, rest was impossible. In the after- noon we moved on, and next morning marched into Meerut without further misadventure. 62 MUTINY MEMOIRS. III. BEFORE DELHI. For the next few weeks time passed quietly enough with me. The greater portion of the garrison of Meerut had gone to strengthen the besieging force at Delhi; and had, under Brigadier- General Archdale Wilson, at the hard fought battles at the Hindun Nuddee, gloriously wiped away the reproach of the supine inaction which had been im- posed on it by General Hewett on the ioth of May. We, who were left to kick our heels in idleness at Meerut, spent most of our time in moving Heaven and Earth to get transferred to the army at Delhi. At last the red-letter-day came for me. My friend and comrade, Cap- tain Sanford, had been appointed to officiate in the command of the Cavalry of the Guides Corps, and he lost no time in writing to me and promising that if MUTINY MEMOIRS. 63 I could get over to Delhi, he would man- age to have me attached to the regi- ment. At that moment I was laid up with a touch of fever, due probably to previous exposure ; but I was not long in presenting myself to the Staff Officer of the garrison and shewing him San- ford's letter, taking very good care not to remind him that I was on the sick list— a circumstance which he fortunately overlooked. That afternoon I joyfully took French leave of the Doctor, and started in company with some half- dozen other officers, who were also bound for the Delhi force, back again along the well-remembered track to Bagput. We marched at night, thinking that we were then, more likely than in the day time, to escape encounter with any prowl- ing bands of rebels or Goojars. The district between Meerut and Bagput was infested by the latter, a tribe of hereditary criminals whose chief amuse- ment during peaceful times seems to consist in effecting breaches of the Penal Code, while they invariably take advan* 64 MUTINY MEMOIRS. tage of periods of disturbance to indulge to the utmost their ingrained predatory propensities. Small as our party was, we were therefore careful to adopt all practical precautions. As I knew the road I was sent in advance as a scout, while on each flank rode another officer, the main body of three or four men detaching one more to the rear. In this order we rode all night, fortunately without adventure ; and in the gray dawn we reached Bagput. The bridge-of-boats had been removed, and we crossed the river in a large flat- bottomed ferry boat. Here we had the misfortune to lose one of our horses, be- longing to Captain Craigie of my regi- ment. His owner had neglected to un- fasten the rather tight standing-martin- gale which he always used; and this hampered the animal when it tried to jump into the boat, and caused it to fall into the deep water between it and the bank. Even now all would have been well but for that unlucky standing- martingale which entirely prevented MUTINY MEMOIRS. 65 the struggling horse from swimming, and held its nose hopelessly underwater till it was drowned, without any possi- bility of help being given it. In a few moments the poor horse sank, carrying with it Craigie's saddle and bridle and a revolver which was in one of the hols- ters. The efforts which some native divers made to recover the saddle, &c, were fruitless ; and we had to abandon the endeavour, borrow a " country " nag for Craigie, and cross the river. When we reached the opposite bank we heard shouts from the Bagput side, and saw men holding up the saddle and revolver which they had succeeded in fishing up. That was, however, the last that Craigie saw of his property. As we crossed the stretch of sand on the further bank we narrowly escaped another casualty; for one of our party got into a quicksand, and for some moments horse and man were in serious danger of being swallow- ed up. At last, however, we all got safely under way and continued the second half of our journey. 66 MUTINY MEMOIRS. Never shall I forget the moment when, from a rising ground, the frowning walls of Delhi and the white tents of the be- sieging force burst into view. So vast an extent of ground was covered by the huge city — so puny and diminutive in comparison was the encampment which nestled under the famous " Ridge ! " Truly a sight to fill the heart with exulting pride ; for we knew that the men in these tent were sure, some day before many weeks were over, to storm the formidable walls of the great fortress, and to carry the Bri- tish flag in triumph into its innermost citadel. No shadow of doubt of the ultimate success of our arms ever trou- bled any of our minds in those days. The insolent belief in the irresistibility of the furor Britamnicus had not then met any of the rude shocks which in latter days have somewhat shaken it, in spite of an army composed of short-service soldiers and of leaders trained to a pitch of theoretical perfection by the Profes- sors of the Staff College. MUTINY MEMOIRS. 67 Directly we arrived in camp I reported myself to Sir Henry Norman, then As- sistant Adjutant-General of the Force, and, I think, in rank a captain. In a few hours I was put in orders as attach- ed to the Cavalry of the Guides. The famous forced march of that splendid corps under Daly from Hoti Murdan to Delhi is matter of history, and can never be forgotten. The honourable roll of its losses in officers and men during the siege is recorded on a tablet on the wall of the memorial tower on. the Ridge. I do not propose to inflict on the read- er's patience the often-told story of the siege. That task has been performed by far abler pens than mine. It will be sufficient for me to endeavour to sketch two or three of the minor episodes at which I was present, and which seemed to me to be picturesque or interesting. As may be easily understood, much of our time in the Cavalry branch was occupied on picquet or outpost duty. One of these outposts, at a place called, I think, Azadpore, far away on the ex- 68 MUTINY MEMOIRS. treme right rear of our position, was peculiarly liable to attack, as it was pretty well " in the air," and offered a tempting object for a sudden swoop by a large body of the enemy. One after- noon when my commanding officer, Cap- tain Sanford, and myself, being off duty, were mounting to enjoy a quiet ride, we became aware of a great commotion in the Azadpore direction. Clouds of dust rapidly whirling in the air ! Camels and grass-cutters' ponies flying wildly to the camp \ Evidently something wrong! "Gallop to the lines. Sound the Boot-and-Saddle and the Mount" was the order Captain Sanford gave me, while he tore off into the clouds of dust to reconnoitre. Instantly was the quiet of our camp changed into a scene of the liveliest bustle. Horses being saddled — men tumbling out of their tents — buck- ling on their belts— jumping on their horses, and "falling in"— all this in frantic haste — when Sanford returned and shouted to me " Bring along as many men as have mounted. Never MUTINY MEMOIRS. 69 mind telling off. The Azadpore picquet is being driven in." By this time not more than 20 or 25 men were in their saddles, and away we went after San- ford as hard as we could tear, leaving the rest of the regiment to follow as soon as it could be got together. Through the flying animals and camp followers, many of them wounded, we galloped along, straining our eyes into the dis- tance; and presently we saw the pic- quet, surrounded by clouds of the rebel horse, being driven slowly back, stub- bornly fighting and disputing every inch of ground. As we hove into sight the enemy more or less disengaged itself from the picquet, and attempted to throw itself into formation to meet our attack. There must have been several hundred of them. The whole ground in front seemed thick with them ; and I must confess my heart sank within me when the gallant Sanford, instead of waiting for the reinforcements which must have been close behind us, simply increased the pace, and evidently meant to hurl yo MUTINY MEMOIRS. our small party straight into the over- whelming mass before us. "It is all up with you this time " was my ejacula- tion to myself, but " needs must " when — one's commanding officer leads ! So I set my teeth and determined to make the best of a bad job. Could I believe my eyes ? The dense body that had begun to advance against us slowed down to a walk — halted — wavered — and finally scattered ! With a roar we charged into them. Our pace was so great that it was impossible for them to put on the steam in time to escape our onslaught. The picquet joined in — our own reinforcements caught us up — and then was seen on that plain as pretty a bout of sword play as ever rejoiced the heart of a horseman. No attempt at keeping order was possible. As the " Pandies " scattered, so did we, each man singling out his victim. The slaughter of the enemy was consider- able, the losses on our iiide extremely trifling. As the fierce pursuit rolled on we became aware that the masses of MUTINY MEMOIRS. -j i the flying mutineers were thickening in our front, and were gradually concentrat- ing towards one point. Evidently some obstruction prevented their escape to the flanks. At last a huge living wedge of frantic, struggling, panic-stricken men and horses was crowded together, hem- med in between a deep canal and a masonry aqueduct which crossed it at right angles. Into this solid mass it was impossible to penetrate, but the outer fringe of it was mowed down by the tulwars of our men. No quarter was ever given or taken before Delhi. If the mutineers had been cruel as the most savage of wild beasts, fearful was the revenge which many and many a time was wreaked on them by our mad- dened troops. Where the aqueduct crossed the canal it had been partially destroyed, and on the masses of fallen masonry it was just possible for one horseman at a time to pick his way across; but where one escaped many were overthrown and trampled on by the struggling mob 7 2 MUTINY MEMOIRS. It had been comparatively easy for the enemy, intent on the surprise of the Azad- pore picquet, to steal across in single file ; but it was quite a different thing for a confused and terrified crowd to force its way across. At this point great slaughter took place, and many, in despair, turned round and charged their pursers, only to meet a certain and speedy death. One poor wretch, extricating himself from the crowd, jumped his. horse on to a detached fragment of the broken aqueduct on.the plain before it joined the canal, and there he stood, as on a pedestal six or eight feet high, in vain seeking a short respite from his inevit- able fate. Almost simultaneously one of our men sprung his horse alongside of him, and on that precarious platform, with barely footing for their horses, these two engaged in a savage fight for life. Like lightning their swords flashed as they cut at each other without any at- tempt at parrying. In a second or two pur man received a frightful slash on MUTINY MEMOIRS. 73 his arm, and it would have gone hard with him if at that moment one of his comrades who was armed with a long spear had not charged straight at the group, and, as he pulled his horse up on its haunches at the base of the ma- sonry, transfixed the Pandy through the body. At the same instant our man, maddened with pain and excitement, drove his horse against his antagonist and thrust him clean off the block of masonry, horses and men all rolling to- gether on the ground below. The survivors of the adventurous spirits who had attacked the outpost rode back into Delhi that night considerably crest- fallen. The picquet had been furnished by one of the Punjab cavalry regiments, and was commanded by a gentleman of a rather taciturn habit who is still well remembered under his nickname of " Fowls." Never shall I forget the quaint but gallant spectacle which he presented, as with his faithful quizzing glass firmly glued on to one eye he faced his enemies 74 MUTINY MEMOIRS. and laid about him with his sword, grimly silent, while being slowly driven back by the force majeure of overwhelm- ing numbers. The story goes that he earned his petit nom as follows : — On some occasion, on the line of march, he had, for days and weeks, ridden solemn- ly and silently among his comrades. Not a word had ever escaped his lips till, on one memorable morning, as his detachment entered a village, our friend, who must have been gloomily pondering on the scantiness of the supplies in the camp larder of the mess, espied a family oimoorgis busily scratching up the dust on the road before him. The welcome sight was too much for him. Then and there he lifted up his voice and cried " Fowls !" and straightway relapsed into pristine dumbness. Seldom if ever has so short a speech been greeted with such loud applause. His delighted comrades, now that the spell was broken, naturally hoped that the sudden ejaculation was but a preliminary to a permanent loosen- ing of the hitherto tied tongue ; but they MUTIN Y MEMOIRS. 7 5 were doomed to disappointment. From that time forth not a word escaped those lips. Neither fowls nor ducks nor geese nor turkeys, nor even sheep availed any more to draw forth the slightest oral token of appreciation — merely would the half sleepy eyes glisten into life at the sight of the welcome "find," and possibly a nod of the head would direct attention to it. Thus came it about that the sou- briquet of " Fowls" was by unanimous vote conferred on its possessor. That evening when we were all as-r sembled at dinner in the mess tent, an unfortunate "Pandy" who had been found skulking under a bush by some of our men was brought before the com- manding ofiicer. There was no mis- taking him for anything but a sepoy ; and there could be no doubt about his fate. Still I could not help thinking his luck was very hard ; and doubtless my face betrayed my feelings; for the un- fortunate man, with an appealing look at me, declared he was no sepoy, but had been my domestic servant ; and he im- 7 6 MUTINY MEMOIRS. plored me to bear witness to his truth and save his life. What could I do ! It was impossible to swear to a falsehood ; but I pleaded hard, though, I fear, un- successfully, that he might be allowed to escape. During one of the numerous encounters with the enemy which kept the camp before Delhi lively, an officer serving with the infantry of the Guides Corps was wounded in a manner sufficiently curious to deserve record. During a pause in the operations he was standing with his back to a tree when a bullet struck the ground close to him, and caused a fragment of stone to fly up against his forehead, on which it inflicted a slight flesh wound. As he threw his head back at the sudden shock, it came in contact with a sharp splinter of a bro- ken branch sticking out from the tree. Instinctively he put his right hand up to his forehead. It was covered with blood. Then he felt the back of his head with his left hand. That also was all bloody. " My God ! " He exclaimed, " I'm a MUTINY MEMOIRS. 77 • dead man! Shot right through the head ! " and he sought a soft place to lie down on and die. an event which he ex- pected to take place in a second or two. To his surprise, after fully a minute, he was as alive as ever. ■ So, again, he felt the two wounds. There was no mis- take about it. They were both bleeding freely. Once more he curled himself up ; but as death did not come, he pre- sently began to think that there must be something strange and abnormal about the hole right through his head, and his relief may be imagined, when a brother officer, after a hurried examination of it, explained matters to him. I am afraid he was flippant enough, as he jumped to his feet, to join in the laugh against himself. Wonderful recoveries from apparently mortal wounds were by no means uncommon. I have myself seen an officer hit full in the chest by a bullet which came out at his back. I jumped off my horse and wrung his hand for the last farewell, and rode on (for this oc- curred during a pursuit), leaving him to 78 MUTINY MEAfOJRS. the care of the surgeon who at that mo- ment came up. What was my surprise to find, many hours afterwards when we returned to camp, that the wounded officer was not only not dead, but not likely to die. The bullet had glanced off a rib and gone round his chest under the skin, and so out of his back. An- other officer had his jaw smashed by a bullet which did not apparently make its exit anywhere. The simple fact was tha^ he swallowed it, along with some of his teeth. On the Ridge stood a lofty building, the Observatory Tower, from the sum- mit of which, during the early part of the siege, a look-out used to be kept on the operations of the enemy. This fact becoming known, drew on the tower an altogether undesirable share of attention from the guns on the walls of Delhi ; and the upper parts of it soon got considerably knocked about by shot and shelL Long after this look- out post had faeen withdrawn occasional shells used still to be " loosed off" at MUTINY MEMOIRS. 79 the tower, making things rather hot for the small knot of officers off duty which used generally to be found up there enjoying the view when anything more interesting than usual was going on in front. On one occasion two or three other men and myself had found our way to the top of it, when we were joined by a gentleman connected with a mercan- tile firm, to whose enterprise the camp was indebted for its supplies of "tar bund " beer (a luxury for which we were glad to pay sixteen rupees a dozen), Exshaw's brandy and Harvey's sauce, and many varieties of tinned provisions, besides Holloway's pills and ointment, and such like patent nostrums. While we were all looking at the walls of the city, a puff of white smoke was sean to issue from a point known to us as " the hole in the wall " where dwelt a mortar of large calibre. In a few seconds the big shell vomited out from it burst high in the air, fully a quarter of a mile away from us, but in a very accurate align- ment for our position. " Down," shouted 8o MUTINY, MEMOIRS. one of our number, and we all, with the exception of our civilian friend, crouched behind a heavy mass of solid masonry. He, however, stood his ground, folded his arms across his chest, and for a moment surveyed us with a look of half contemptuous surprise. " Why have these stupid fellows sought shelter ? " thought he. " The shell has burst ever so far away. The danger is all over now. The pieces must be falling to the ground." Very speedily was he unde- ceived. Hurtling and hissing, the broken fragments of the shell came rushing onwards and crashed against the tower, fortunately without hitting him. As we stood up he threw himself down. He then learned a lesson, which I dare say he did not soon forget, concerning the momentum of projectiles, and the general advisability of taking a hint from per- sons presumably likely to know what they were about. All this time the siege, if so it could be described, " dragged its slow length along ; " but in reality, neither was the MUTINY MEMOIRS. 8 1 City invested by us, nor was our force besieged, as has been so often asserted, by the rebel troops. Both forces lay facing each other. Both were in con- tact along a comparatively short front. Both were entirely open to their respec- tive rear, with practically unmenaced communications in those directions. Nei- ther could prevent reinforcements or supplies reaching the other. We on our part could not even attempt to intercept the various contingents of mutineers which, during the early part of the siege, poured into Delhi from the south; and were hurled, in almost monotonous suc- cession, against our position, while still fresh and undemoralised by defeat, only to be driven back, time after time, with immense slaughter, by the invincible little phalanx of Britons, Sikhs and Gurkhas, which sturdily clung, bull-dog fashion, to the ground it had taken up. For a time the numbers of the enemy continued to increase, as almost daily fresh bodies by regiments and brigades marched into the already crowded city, 82 MUTINY MEMOIRS. their arrival noisily saluted by heavy ar- tillery. Our muster roll, on the other hand, far from augmenting, actually dwindled away ; for incessant losses from casualties in action were heavily sup- plemented by deaths from fever and cho- lera ; and our much-needed reinforce- ments were long in coming. But we rested secure in the firm assurance that sooner or later they would certainly come. We all knew that John Lawrence and his lieutenants were straining every nerve to secure the safety of the Punjab in our rear, by disarming the disaffected Hin- dustani regiments in that province, and by raising fresh ones, both of cavalry and infantry, from the staunch fighting men of the Khalsa. We knew that as swiftly as could possibly be compassed by human forethought and human ener- gy, these trustworthy and brave levies, and every British regiment that could be spared, and every heavy gun and mortar in the Ferozepore Arsenal, and, almost better than all, the heroic Nichol- son would come to our aid ; and that MUTINY MEMOIRS. 83 then the real siege would begin in earnest, and the fate of Delhi would be sealed. Early in August took place the only serious effort on the part of the enemy to cut off our communications. To quote from a letter written by General Wilson to Nicholson and received by the latter on . the 3rd of August * : — " The enemy have re-established the bridge over the Najufgurh Canal (which we had destroyed) and have established them- selves in force there, with the intention of moving on Alipore and our communi- cations with the rear. I therefore earn- estly beg you to push forward with the utmost expedition in your power, both to drive these fellows from my rear, and to aid me in holding my position." How promptly and effectually Nicholson carried out these instructions is graphi- cally described in the pages of Sir John Kaye's work. On the 14th of August he led into the Delhi Camp the moveable * Kaye's Sepoy War, Vol, II, p. 645. 84 MUTINY MEMOIRS. column which had already done yeoman's service by disarming the mutinous regi- ments at Phillour and Umritsar, and destroying the Sealkote Brigade of re- bels at Trimmoo Ghat. On the 25th of August he marched out again at the head of a small force of all arms ; and before nightfall he had swept from Na- jufgurh the " Neemuch Brigade" which was lying in wait to intercept the siege train on its slow approach from Feroze- pore Arsenal. There are some men whose personal appearance harmonises so perfectly with their intellectual and moral characteris- tics that any one on seeing them for the first time would be almost certain intui- tively to guess their identity. Nicholson was one of these. Tall, dark, and stem, he looked every inch what he was, a fearless, self-reliant, fierce and masterful man, born for stormy times and stirring events. It was impossible to associate him with anything commonplace, or otherwise than heroic or great. On me, as on every one else, he produced a vivid MUTINY MEMOIRS. 85 impression, which can never become dim. When I first saw him it was only for a moment. He said something in low tones to an acquaintance, and passed on ; but instinctively I felt that 1 had come into contact with one who stood apart from and overtopped other men. " That is Nicholson " I said, knowing that it could be no one else. On the 4th of September the huge guns and mortars of the siege train, fitly drawn by still more colossal elephants, slowly and solemnly rolled through the camp on to the Ridge. On the 6th the very last batch of reinforcements, a de- tachment of the 60th Rifles from Meerut, arrived, marching " in their usual jaunty way" as described by Hervey Greathead in a letter to his wife written on that day. The Royal Engineers had already filled a vast " Engineers ' park " with fas- cines, gabions, sand bags, and every con- ceivable appliance for the bombardment and storm. Nothing had been overlooked. Nothing remained but to begin the real and final siege and deliver the assault. 86 MUTINY MEMOIRS. That no time was lost is evidenced by the fact that one breaching battery of six heavy guns, within seven hundred yards of the Moree Bastion, was finished and armed on the evening of the 6th, and began its work of destruction on the 7th. MUTINY MEMOIRS. 87 iv: STORMING THE CITY. From that time till the morning of the nth, when the last of the four batteries was completed, our gallant Engineers and working parties and Gunners worked as men have never worked before or since. All night long picks and spades and shovels were busily plied, under a heavy- fire, in constructing the batteries ; on which, so soon as finished, the heavy guns and mortars were mounted ; and as successively they were placed in posi- tion they joined in swelling the furious storm of shot and shell which never ceas- ed tearing down the masonry of the city defences till the moment of the assault in the grey dawn of the 14th. The last battery was built under the shelter of the ruined walls of the Custom-house, at a distance of 180 yards from the water bastion, under a terrific and incessant fire from the Kashmir and Water bastions 88 MUTINY MEMOIRS. and the curtain between them. Let the reader try to realise this ; and he will admit that no more desperate or daring enterprise was ever achieved in front of a besieged fortress. On the 13th it was my hard fate to be on outpost duty at Azadpore, where ru- mours reached me that the assault was likely to be delivered before dawn on the 14th. My picquet should in ordinary course have been relieved that morning, but no relief came ; and as the day wore on, it seemed that I was destined to be left out there kicking my heels, forlorn and forgotten, till all should be over. This was more than could be borne ; so I despatched messenger after messenger into camp with imploring letters, begging for the recall of my picquet. My entrea- ties were successful, and I had the intense, if selfish, gratification of at length seeing in the distance the small column of dust which heralded the approach of the party that had been sent to take my place. Very grumpy and sulky was the officer in command ; but, after all, it was his MUTINY MEMOIRS. 89 turn for the duty. Every one must take his luck as it comes. Consoling him with this crusted old apothegm, I lost no time in clearing out of the post and taking my detachment back to camp ; but even then I was destined to grievous disappointment. The troops intended to form the Cavalry Brigade under Sir Hope Grant had been told off, and my party had to content itself with forming part of the reserve which remained in camp. So I lost the chance of being one of the glorious six hundred, whose heroic endurance that day under a fierce hur- ricane of grape and musketry " prevent- ed the enemy, who had driven back the 4th Column, from advancing along the open ground between the Ridge and the City, and taking the whole of our left attack in flank."* When the attempt of the column under the gallant Colonel Reid to force an entrance into the City by the Lahore Gate failed, partly owing to the want of artillery, and partly to * Kayc's Sepoy War. 0o MUTINY MEMOIRS. the defeat of the auxiliary Kashmir con- tingent, the whole brunt of keeping the victorious rebels, many thousands in numbers, from pouring out of Kissen- gunge and pursuing our retreating in- fantry, fell on the Cavalry Brigade. Be- fore, however, the enemy could dare to trust themselves on the plain beyond the shelter of their walls, it was necessary to drive the horsemen from it ; and fierce was the effort to do so. From the walls of the City, from the suburbs of Kissen- gunge, a fiery hail of lead unceasingly swept. Saddle after saddle was emptied ; horse after horse fell, but not for a mo- ment was there the slightest watering or unsteadiness. Quietly and without confusion the ranks continued to close together and fill ever-recurring gaps, grimly determined to hold their ground to the last man. Utterly unable to re- turn the fire, or to do anything but remain immoveable as passive living targets, they seemed doomed to even- tual annihilation — when Tomb's famous troop of horse artillery galloped to the MUTINY MEMOIRS. ^ rescue.. Taking up a position at the closest of close quarters, not more than two hundred yards from the enemy, it was not long after our guns came into action that they drove the hitherto trumphant rebels back from the external walls into the labyrinth of houses in their rear, and materially reduced their fire. But from the Lahore Gate an unsilenced 24-poun- der still continued to pour grape into the ranks, and to tear many a ghastly gap in them. Not till the rebel fire, drawn off by the success of our attack on the Kashmiri Gate, had dwindled away to harmlessness, and all danger of a sortie was effectually extinguished, was the sorely crippled Cavalry Brigade with- drawn from its post of honour. Though this deed of the six'hundred be- fore the walls of Delhi has not been sung by the Poet Laureate, and is not so world- famous as that of the other six hundred at Balaclava, it fully deserves to be bracket- ed with it as an example of heroism an d self-sacrificing devotion. Each is a bril- liant instance of the perfect union of dis- 9 2 MUTINY MEMOIRS! cipline and courage. If the charge of the Light Brigade was a blunder, so much the greater is the glory of the brave men who rode to death without questioning their orders. Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. There was no blunder in the order which devoted the six hundred of the Delhi Cavalry to face a. feu d'enfer for the salvation of their Infantry comrades. Every soldier who knows what it is to " sit still to be shot at" will appreciate with pride the feat of arms performed on that morning of the 14th September 1857 by the British and Native Cavalry Bri- gade under the command of the fearless and gentle Sir Hope Grant. So vivid is the description of this epi- sode in the glowing pages of Sir John Kaye that I find it difficult to resist the temptation of transcribing it ; but most of my military readers are doubtless familiar with it; and if any have not yet read his History of the Sepoy War in India, I would recommend them to lose a 2 o hi ?! MUTINY MEMOIRS. j no time in studying that deeply interest- ing work. It is an imperishable tribute to the glory of our arms, and no one who reads its narrative of the brave deeds done by Englishmen, civilians as well as soldiers, aided by Sikhs and Gurkhas and the few other loyal races of India during that time of supreme stress and trial, can help feeling his heart fill with honest and patriotic pride, and with con- fident hope that if ever again so fierce a struggle should be forced on ourselves or our descendants, the old spirit of the Anglo-Saxon race will prove true to itself. I will not attempt to describe the various fortunes of the four columns of assault. That story has been told once for all by Sir John Kaye ; and it is not likely that any more full or clear or cor- rect narrative will ever be written. Full of triumph as we who remained outside were at the knowledge that the Kashmiri Gate and curtain had been successfully stormed, and that our flag was flying on the ramparts which had so 94 MUTINY MEMOIRS. long defied us, it was yet inexpressibly mournful to witness the long procession of "doolies" bearing the dead and wounded which streamed slowly back into camp. Many a gallant soldier that day gave his life for the honour of his Queen and country ; but the loss that overshadowed all others was that of the valiant Nicholson, struck down with a mortal wound in the hour of victory while nobly exposing himself to almost certain death in the act of cheering forward his men, who were for a moment checked by a torrent of lead that swept the nar- row lane up which they were advancing. His memory and his example will never be lost to the British Army, long and brilliant as is the roll of its heroes. The strength of the four columns of assault was 3,660 men ; of the Reserve column 1,500; or a total of 5,160. Op- posed to us was a fortress " seven miles in circumference, filled with an immense fanatical Mussalman population, garri- soned by full 40,000 soldiers armed and disciplined by ourselves, with 114 heavy MUTINY MEMOIRS. g 5 pieces of artillery mounted on the walls, with the largest magazine of shot, shell, and ammunition in the Upper Provinces at their disposal, besides some 60 pieces of field artillery, all of our' own manu- facture, and manned by artillerymen drilled and taught by ourselves."* The casualties on our side that morn- ing were 1,145 killed and wounded. The result of the day's fighting was that we had forced our way into a small corner of the City, and there " hung on by our teeth." Slight and precarious as was the grip which we had thus obtained on the throat of the enemy, it yet proved sufficient for eventual success ; but there can be no dispute that for the next forty- eight hours the position was critical. The great City with its intricate network of narrow lanes crookedly piercing through masses of lofty brick-built houses —with its strong places such as the Maga- zine, the King's Palace, Selimgurh, and * Colonel Wilson's letter to Colonel Baud Smith, dated 30th August, 1857. 9 6 MUTINY MEMOIRS. the Jumma Musjid — was yet unconquered and defiant ; the roar of combat continu- ed without ceasing. The General, Sir Archdale Wilson, worn out with illness and want of rest, and with the strain of long-continued anxiety, seemed to those around him to be losing heart and to be half inclined to abandon our dearly-earn- ed footing within the walls, and to with- draw the troops once more to the old position outside. Worse than all, great stores of brandy and wine which had been cunningly left by the rebels expos- ed to the sight of our soldiers, fell into their hands, and the inevitable result followed. Numbers of our men eagerly swallowed the fiery poison ; and those who had hitherto proved themselves heroes now wallowed in the gutters, helpless and imbecile. Most providen- tially the enemy did not seize upon that moment for a vigorous onslaught. If they had done so it would probably have been successful, and the British Empire in India would have staggered under a crushing and shameful blow from the MUTINY MEMOIRS. 97 worst and most persistent foe of its army, strong drink. Vigorous measures were, however, promptly taken. Working parties, strongly officered, were told oif to destroy the bottles and empty the casks ; and very soon all danger from this source was averted. On the 1 6th an important step in advance was achieved. The magazine was taken with trifling loss ; and though the small arms portion of it had suffered seriously from the gallant exploit ot Willoughby, who had blown it up on the 1 ith of May, great stores of artillery munitions were found in it. Very prompt- ly were mortars set in position within it to shell the Palace, which was not more than a quarter of a mile distant. Most interesting and beautiful was it to see the big shells, propelled by a mere spoonful of powder, issuing from their wide throats ; and, after performing a slow and graceful curve, easily followed by the naked eye, fall within the dull red walls of the Palace. Then would be heard a deep roar and a crash as of fall- 9 8 MUTINY MEMOIRS. ing masonry, often followed by loud yells of hurt or dismay. The next important forward move was accomplished on the night of the 18th and early morning of the 19th, when our troops, steadily working their way from house to house and enclosure to enclo- sure, succeeded in seizing the Lahore bastion. From this moment the game was all up for the enemy. The old King and his people had cleared out of the Palace on the 1 8th, doubtless finding the place inconveniently lively, and on the 1 qth a general exodus from the City must have been accomplished. Early on the morning of the 20th my Commanding Officer, Captain Sanford, was nowhere to be found. I was told that he had last been seen riding, followed by a single orderly, in the direction of the City. In a moment flashed on me, with the confidence of certainty, the thought that he must have gone on a scouting expedition into the City, to as- certain how far the enemy had evacuated it, and that he had not taken me, usual- MUTINY MEMOIRS. gg ly his inseparable companion, because he did not wish to expose me to the risks of a certainly hare-brained exploit. No sooner had I formed this idea than I summoned my personal orderly and went off in search of him. When we arrived at the City my surmise was confirmed. Sanford and his orderly had been seen riding in to the deserted streets beyond our sentries. So we followed his exam- ple, and, keeping an uncommonly bright look-out, started on the route which he was said to have taken. Truly the town was abandoned. Not a living creature did we see ; but we had not gone many hundred yards before we met Sanford, briskly trotting back, his face radiant with joy. He had penetrated right through the City to the Delhi and Turkman gates on the south, and had chalked " Guide Cavalry " on them. With him I rode to the quarters of Sir Archdale Wilson, to whom he reported the fact that the whole place was evacuated by the enemy. Whether others had anticipated San- ford I know not; but I do not think IOO MUTINY MEMOIRS. that whatever news may have been brought in to our Intelligence Depart- ment by native spies, any Englishman had, before him, with his own eyes, witnessed the fact that Delhi was at last entirely in our power. At any rate his daring exploit was performed exactly as I have related it. Not many months subsequently he lost his life, as will be hereafter told, while undertaking, single- handed, a not dissimilar reconnaisance. During the day our troops entered into full possession of the City. All the strong points, the Palace, Selimgurh, the Jumma Musjid, the bastions and the gates were occupied by them ; and the latest, and, let us trust, the last, siege of Delhi came to an end. All is well that ends well. It is always easy and not always unprofitable after an event to speculate as to what might have been the result if a different course of action had been adopted with the view of bringing it about. It is well known that General Barnard, yielding to the arguments of the ardent young ofli- hi § ^ hi MUTINY MEMOIRS. IO i cers of Royal Engineers, Greathead, Chesney, and Maunsell, aided by Hodson, had sanctioned an attempt to take Delhi by a coup de main on the morning of the 1 2th of June; and that if Brigadier Graves, the field officer of the day, had understood, or, understanding, had obey- ed his instructions to reinforce the at- tacking column with the ist Fusiliers, the assault would actually have come off. It is also known that about three weeks afterwards the General had again all but made up his mind to risk "the gambler's throw," when he first hesita- ted, and then decided to delay a little longer ; that then he died of cholera ; and that General Reed, who succeeded him, was compelled by broken health, after a few days, to resign the command into the hands of General Archdale Wilson ; and that the latter never for a moment dreamed of doing more than holding his own position, far less of storming Delhi, till he had been reinforced by every available soldier that could be sent to him from the Punjab, and by the heavy IQ 2 MUTINY MEMOIRS. guns and mortars of the siege train from Ferozepore. It is certainly possible that if the in- tended assault had been delivered on the 1 2th of June it would have been success- ful. For my own part I have very little doubt on the subject. The battles of the Hindun Nuddee and of Badle-ka-Serai had severely shaken the morale of the enemy ; and the very audacity of so dar- ing and so prompt an attack by the unit- ed forces from Umballa and Meerut, each of which had, unsupported by the other, won so signal a victory, would have struck terror into the rebels and proba- bly insured their defeat. On the other hand, the prospects of success three weeks later were not so hopeful. In the interval our numbers had not augment- ed, while those of the enemy had received considerable accessions. They had ma- terially strengthened their defences ; and had probably regained confidence in themselves. Granting, however, that we would have succeeded in storming the walls, and MUTINY MEMOIRS. 103 even — far harder task— in driving the enemy out of the City with our handful of troops, would our position then have been better and stronger than the one we held on the Ridge ? Would our two thousand bayonets have been adequate to occupy a circle of walls seven miles in length against an army of at least forty thou- sand men ? For it may be presumed that as brigade after brigade and contingent after contingent mutinied they would have rolled together and attempted the recapture of the seat of the Moghul Em- pire. On the other hand, would the early fall of Delhi have prevented the further spread of revolt, and, if so, would that have been an unmixed good ; or was it better that the full measure of the la- tent disaffection should be allowed to reveal itself and be once for all effectually stamped out? Such are the problems which will occur to a thoughtful mind and which cannot with certainty be solved. The story of the capture of the old King and of the slaughter of the Princes 104 MUTINY MEMOIRS. by Hodson is too well-known to need repetition. During the next few weeks nothing more eventful occurred within the walls of Delhi than the doings of the prize agents — from the point of view, at any rate, of a needy subaltern who looked to them for the replenishment of a purse which had been well nigh emptied by the incendiary fires at Meerut. The first column to be detached on external operations was the one under Colonel Greathead of the 8th King's, which moved southwards with the view of attacking and breaking up any re- treating bodies of the enemy which it might overtake ; and which, early in Oc- tober, so opportunely effected the relief of Agra, and gained so glorious a victory over the Indore contingent and the other rebel troops which were moving to the assault of that place. Another column under Brigadier-General Showers was subsequently sent into the districts to the west and north-west, and to this the Guide Cavalry was attached. Our chief MUTINY MEMOIRS. I0 5 object was to punish, and, if possible, capture the Nawab of Jhujjur ; but before effecting this we moved about the coun- try, " showing our muscle," to use a slang phrase, and thereby dispersing stray bands of marauders, and instilling confi- dence into the quietly disposed people of the agricultural classes. During the suppression of the Mutiny, a campaign which was unique and unlike any other, the iron bands of discipline were, in some respects, not so tightly drawn as usual, and many things hap- pened which would now be impossible. For instance, it was not at all unheard of for an enterprising officer, with no other sanction than that of his commanding officer, to take a small party of mounted men and start off on the prowl in search of adventures. Very frequently he found them, and took good care, in view of the irregularity of his proceedings, that no report of them reached the General. On some such occasion, a captain who was doing duty with us, and who was well- known for his eccentricity, almost verg- 106 MUTINY MEMOIRS. ing on insanity, his fearlessness, and his unsparing thirst for vengeance against the mutineers, found himself, with a squad of sixteen or twenty men, many miles from camp, in front of the gateway of a walled enclosure, inside which were about forty rebel sepoys who, relying on their distance from danger, had taken no precautions against surprise, and were quietly cooking their dinner. H took in the situation at once. " Halt ! " he shouted in a stentorian voice, to his men, adding in Hindustani "Only twenty men follow me into the gate. Let the rest of the regiment remain outside." " Throw down your arms in that corner," he roar- ed to the terror-stricken sepoys. " Gather together in the opposite corner, and be quick about it, or I will slay you all." He was immediately obeyed. " Now," said he, " I see among you a number of men older than the others, whom they have probably led astray. Drive them out from among you, that I may destroy them." The miserable cowards of young men instantly thrust out the older ones, MUTINY MEMOIRS. i j struggling and fighting for dear life : and H and his party fell on them and killed them. Then turning to the traitorous remnant, " What dirt have you eaten ! Oh children of owls ! " and he " smote them also, hip and thigh." Before utterly and unreservedly con- demning this undoubtedly savage action, I would beg the reader to remember that in this Mutiny war no quarter was given on either side. We looked, and rightly looked, upon the mutineers, not as honest enemies, but as foul and cruel murderers for whom to die by the sword was too good a fate, and whose only fit end was on the gallows. If they had confined themselves to a revolt against the Go- vernment, and in attempting it had slaughtered their officers and all men who tried to suppress it, they would not have placed themselves outside the pale of mercy ; but since they had butchered our defenceless women and children, we would have been more than human, we would have been less than men, if we had I0 8 MUTINY MEMOIRS. not exterminated them as men kill snakes whenever we met them. H well knew that if he did not destroy these sepoys they would destroy him. The slightest hesitation on his part, and they would have sprung to arms, and being caught like rats in a trap, would have fought with the energy of despair. Their mus- kets against our men's swords would have given their superior numbers a decisive advantage. We should undoubtedly have lost several men, and would probably have been driven back. From this noth- ing but the prompt and clever strategy adopted by H saved his party. With all this, it is impossible to avoid a feeling of regret that this incident should have occurred. MUTINY MEMOIRS. IO g V. CAPTURE OF JHUJJUR. One evening, as my Commanding Officer, Captain Sanford, and I, after din- ing at mess, returned to the tent which we shared between us, he told me that I need not expect to enjoy that night a very long rest ; for he had planned a little expedition on which I was to ac- company him. He had got information from a spy of the whereabouts of a small body of the enemy at a village about twelve miles from our camp. He had already given orders for fifty of our men who had been separately and secret- ly told off to arm themselves and mount their horses as quietly as possible soon after midnight, and sneak out of camp, one by one, through a picquet which had been warned to let them pass. He had taken none of the officers except myself and the Adjutant into his confidence, partly to escape their importunities to 1 10 MUTINY MEMOIRS. be allowed to accompany us, and partly because there was no certainty that we might not be going on a wild goose chase. At the stroke of midnight we arose, dress- ed and armed ourselves, fortified our stomachs with a cup of hot tea, crammed into our holsters a cold roast fowl apiece and some chapatties, mounted our horses and stole out of camp to the rendezvous, where we found our party and a guide waiting for us. Placing the guide in front under the escort of a couple of sow- ars, and whispering to the men on the right flank to follow in single file, San- ford noiselessly led the way. Not till we had placed a couple of miles between ourselves and camp did we halt, form up, and " tell off," after which necessary proceeding we continued our journey, stumbling along in the dark over fields and by foot-paths till our guide intimat- ed that we were within a mile of our destination. As it was still an hour or so before dawn we now halted, dismount- ed, looked to our girths, and loosened our swords in their scabbards. When MUTINY MEMOIRS. 1 1 1 we again moved on, preceded by a few scouts, with whom was the guide, the very faintest flush of light was beginning to suffuse the sky in the east. In a few minutes more the darkness of night had partially rolled away ; and we could see, not far to our front, a group of thatched roofs, and a few tiny curls of blue smoke where some early risers had begun their preparations for breakfast. Almost at the same moment we came across two or three sepoys who had thus early come out into the field. Short shrift had they. We pressed on ; and then a carbine shot broke the stillness, followed by the clat- tering of horses' hoofs, as a small pic- quet, which — strange to say — had actual- ly been posted on the look-out, took the alarm and galloped away. After them we went, ventre a terre, and drove them right into the village, which turned out to be a small one, and not in any way protected by earthworks. From the complete absence of any attempt at checking us by musketry fire, coupled with the uproar within the hamlet, it was 1 1 2 MUTINY MEMOIRS. evident that our sudden attack had smit- ten its defenders with panic ; so Sanford with his usual boldness promptly decid- ed to strike while the iron was hot. De- taching two small squads to sweep round the place and join us on the opposite side, he led the main party at a gallop straight up the main street, and through the village, into the fields beyond, which were already full of fugitives. They were all mounted, but many of them had been in such a hurry to bolt that they had not had time to saddle their horses. Though they were two or three times our number, and — if they had kept a really efficient look-out, could easily have beaten us off — they were so completely demoralised by terror that they did not make the slight- est effort to rally, but fled in all direc- tions, each man for himself, and each trying to make the fastest time on record. It may be imagined what a holiday this was for our fierce " Guides." Soon was the plain strewn with the bodies of their victims ; and though many of the rebels when overtaken used their tulwars as MUTINY MEMOIRS. u 3 well as they could, they only succeeded in slightly wounding a few of our men. One unfortunate fellow, who fell to my lot, threw himself off his horse when I had nearly overtaken him, and boldly facing me on foot, tried to draw his tul- war ; but the more he tugged the less would it leave the scabbard. For a mo- ment I thought fear had paralysed his arm ; but I discovered afterwards that he had tied his hilt to the scabbard, and in his hurry and very natural agitation had forgotten all about the fastening. It was not at all an unusual practice with native swordsmen to thus fasten up their tulwars, with the view of preventing their keen edges from getting blunted by friction. For three or four miles we kept up the pursuit, when Sanford sounded the " halt " and " rally " and our scat- tered men gradually obeyed the sum- mons, and assembled, many of them leading captured horses, and laden with loot in the shape of arms and odds and ends, among which were doubtless many gold mohurs and rupees extracted from I ! 4 MUT1N Y MEMOIRS. the cummerbunds of the fallen sowars. Very unobtrusive was our return into camp that evening. Not till after dusk did we sneak in as we had sneaked out, by ones and twos ; for we were by no means anxious that the General should come to hear of our unsanctioned esca- pade, till, at any rate, Sanford had found time to think over the most judicious ex- cuse for it. As we stretched our tired legs under the table in the mess tent, and refreshed our dry throats with a welcome draught of " tarbund " beer, we looked forward to a good night's rest after our day's adventures, for the force was not to re- sume its march till daylight next morn- ing. At this juncture an official letter was brought by an orderly and handed to the commanding officer, whose face while he read it presented an interesting study. He ended its perusal with a low whistle clearly indicative of puzzled em- barrassment ; and then communicated its contents to the table. The staff offi- cer of the column had, it seemed, the MD TINY MEMOIRS. x ^ 5 honour to inform him that the General had received information that a certain village — the very one we had paid our morning call at — was occupied by a strong outpost of the enemy's cavalry. Cap- tain Sanford was desired to take all the available sabres of his regiment and beat up that outpost, timing his march so as, if possible, to effect a surprise about the break of day. In the event of the enemy proving too strong to be dis- lodged Captain Sanford was to commu- nicate with the General, who would be found on the line of march previously notified in Orders. Here was a pretty dilemma ; what was to be done now ? It would never do at this stage of the affair to report that we had anticipated the General both in information and in act- ing on it. He would have been furious, so our commanding officer contented himself with acknowledging the receipt of the order. Once more, soon after midnight, we turned out, this time the whole Regiment, some 250 strong ; and marched away in the same direction as 1 1 6 MUTIN Y MEMOIRS. on the previous night. Our spirits were not quite so lively as on that occasion, and Sanford was not so gay as usual; for he did not quite see his way out of the scrape he had got into. At daylight we reached the village, now apparently deserted ; and here we met with a wonderful stroke of luck : for in one of the houses we captured a foolish fellow, who, after escaping us the day before, had, thinking the coast was clear, come back in the night to recover some things which he had not had the leisure to pack up before taking his leave. The poor fellow's surprise was painful to wit- ness ; but he soon brightened up when he was promised his life on condition that he conducted us to the place where his comrades had taken refuge. This he undertook to do ; and, to ensure his fide- lity, his hands were securely tied toge- ther, and he was mounted on a stray pony, the leading rope of which was given in charge to a couple of men who had orders to shoot him if he attempted to escape. MUTINY MEMOIRS. \ 1 7 He said that about six miles further we would find most of his comrades, who had established a bivouac in the open, for they had apparently had enough of village enclosures. His information prov- ed perfectly correct. Directly the enemy saw our scouts they made off in an even greater hurry, if possible, than before. During the pursuit we, as usual, got a good deal scattered. Presently I observ- ed two figures, far away to the left, dis- appearing into the distance, while behind them, at a long interval, was riding Cap- tain Sanford, followed by a few men. After him I galloped as hard as I could go. When at last I overtook him I found him and his party halted at the gate of a " serai," inside which were about fifty sowars of the Jhujjur troops, with their horses picketed to pegs, and — best prize of all — two light brass guns. The two figures I had first seen were one of the enemy pursued by a non-com- missioned officer of ours who was gene- rally known as the " Shahzada," and who was suspected of not being gifted 1 1 8 MUT1N Y MEMOIRS. with an excess of courage. The reader will judge, however, whether the suspi- cion was well founded. In the pursuit he had singled out one of the enemy, who, being nearly as well mounted as himself, had led him a long chase across country ; but he had stuck to him till he ran him to earth in the serai, at the gate of which the Shahzada had to pull up, for it was full of " moofsids." Nothing daunted, he had produced from his belt an enormous horse pistol, covered the lot with it in a general sort of way, in- formed them that the " Guide Rissala" — name of terror to the rebels — was close at his heels, and threatened to drill a hole into the first man who stirred. The cowardly crew, who had doubtless heard all about the previous day's surprise and slaughter, were too frightened to move. In a few moments Sanford and his men reinforced the Shahzada ; and when I rode up were all keeping guard at the gate. Before long wewere joined by the main body of the regiment ; and then the prisoners were, secured ; their horses MUTINY MEMOIRS. i 1 q seized ; and Sanford, with a light heart, sat down to indite a short despatch to the General, informing him that we had captured fifty prisoners and two brass guns. This was sent off without loss of time ; and we commenced our march to rejoin the column; but we were met by an order to stay where we were, as the column would come to us. So we retraced our steps to the serai. Whether Captain Sanford, on the General's arri- val, made a clean breast of it, and told him the whole story of the previous day's affair or not, I know not. At any rate, we never heard anything more about it. A capture of horses was always wel- come, for that was the only way in which we could replace casualties among our own mounts ; and casualties were pretty frequent in those days from wounds and hard work. We used to select the best of the captives and pass them into the ranks ; and sell by auction in camp the others and those whom we rejected from among our own animals. Hitherto we had always considered such prize of war 1 20 MUTINY MEMOIRS. our own perquisites ; and no one had in- terfered with us. It now happened, how- ever, that a levy of mounted police was being raised ; and this batch of horses was requisitioned for them. We were, much to our disgust, obliged to part with some of them ; but I have a shrewd idea that many of the best remained picketed in our lines. For my own part I was determined to stick to a very handsome roan mare of which I had relieved her former owner, after putting it out of his power to ride her or any other mare any more. Whether the officer to whom the captured animals were to have been made over suspected that some were kept back or exchanged for " screws," I cannot say ; but we heard that one of the prison- ers was to be sent round our lines to identify them. Before he came the roan mare had been carefully groomed, her mane and tail dressed, my military sad- dle and bridle fitted on her, and a blan- ket thrown carelessly over the saddle and her loins. Very charger-like she look- ed, and very unlike what she had been MUTINY MEMOIRS. 1 2 1 an hour before. The prisoner when he came on his visit of inspection did not even look at her, but fixed his eyes on a grey Arab, for which I had given a long price some months previously, and after pretending to eye him critically all over, confidently declared that he was one of the captured horses. Such a transparent mistake effectually discredited his evi- dence ; and he was turned out of our lines with ignominy. Many a hard day's work did that roan mare do afterwards ; and I daresay she served the State as well when carrying an officer of Irregu- lar Cavalry as she would have done if she had joined the new levy. That mare was the only " loot " that I allowed myself to take during the Mu- tiny campaign ; and as she was literally the " captive of my bow and spear," in so far as these weapons were represented by a Wilkinson blade, I cannot feel that I was very much to blame for keeping her. On at least one occasion, however, I was sorely tempted. We had taken pos- session of a deserted town ; and our men 1 2 2 MUT1N Y MEMOIRS. were busily " searching for arms," a eu- phemism which covered the quest for many more valuable articles, when I rode into a courtyard under a gate so low that I had to cling to my horse's neck to avoid breaking my own. As I crossed the yard to where a group of my brother officers was standing, one of my horse's feet sunk deep into the ground, which was else- where as hard as a stone pavement. This was a sufficient hint to us to dig : and dig we did without delay. Imagine our excitement when, at a depth of two or three feet, we came upon the lid of a large iron chest. Some of our men had been helping us with native spades and hoes which had been left lying abont in the huts ; and we now placed a couple of them on sentry at the gate to warn off intruders, while we re- doubled our labours, and before long had lifted the heavy chest out of its hole. It was locked, and for a time defied all our efforts to break it open. While this was being done, the ever vigilant Father of Evil took advantage of his opportunity. MUTINY MEMOIRS. 1 23 There could be no doubt that the chest, so carefully hidden, must be full of bar- baric gold and gems. Why should we hand all this wealth over to the prize agents? Their operations were confined to Delhi. This village was clearly outside their sphere. They and their employes would never come near it. But for us the chest would never have been disco- vered. While thoughts such as these were being freely expressed and eagerly discussed the lid of the box was some- how or other forced open ; and then was revealed — a mass of documents, quanti- ties of papers bearing revenue stamps, numbers of unused stamps, and absolute- ly nothing else. These papers, though worthless to us, were yet of great impor- tance and value, as we were informed by the political officers to whom they were made over. After all " auld Clootie" had not wasted his time. He had succeeded in making some of us feel the power of a good solid temptation ; and I daresay had a quiet laugh in his sleeve at our disappointment I2 4 MUTINY MEMOIRS. in not being permitted to succumb to it. In this same deserted town a certain "Chobdar," a kind of Oriental "gold stick " of the old King's was suspected to be in hiding ; and as he was particularly " wanted " by Sir John Metcalfe, the officer in political charge of Delhi, we instituted a very vigorous search for him. A young native lad had been won over by the blandishments of H to conduct us to a group of huts in one of which he asserted we should surely find the object of our quest. For an hour or more we hunted without success, when, in a small dark room, I noticed one of the large mud-built jars in which natives store their grain. This is, to describe it rough- ly, a section of a tube closed at both ends, about three feet in diameter and five or six feet high, and stands upright on one end. Near the top a circular hole is cut in the side, into which the grain is poured, and a lid is fitted on to this hole. Possi- bly Morgiana and the forty thieves flashed across my mind. At any rate I removed MUTINY MEMOIRS, t25 the lid, and shoving the muzzle of my revolver into the reservoir, requested its possible occupant to come out. The pistol certainly struck against some- thing which yielded. So I thrust in my arm and caught hold of — a thick beard. A long pull and a strong pull — and out came the Chobdar at full length ! I made him over to my commanding officer, who delivered him up to the poli- tical authorities, who, for doubtless suffi- cient reasons, hanged him on a branch of a tree. At length came the time when we were to try conclusions with the Nawab of Jhujjur. That rebel Chief was waiting for us at home in his capital, where he had collected a considerable force. One day, after along march which had brought our column within a few miles of Jhujjur, we, the Guides Cavalry and a body of Irregular Horse under Captain Pearse, were not a little disgusted by the receipt of orders to retrace our steps at once to a point not far from whence we had just come. To the subaltern j 2 6 MVTIN Y MEMOIRS. mind there seemed no sense in this ar- rangement ; and as our commanding officer did not enlighten us as to the reason for it, we grumbled a good deal as we hurriedly watered and fed our horses, and then started on the weary return march. Late in the afternoon we had arrived at our destination, and were then warn- ed to be in readiness to march again soon after midnight. Just before dark I had strolled a few hundred yards from camp by myself and was returning, when I was suddenly confronted among some low rolling sandhills by a " sowari " camel carrying two native riders. To present my revolver at them and call on them to halt took about a second ; and so taken aback were they that they obey- ed at once. I then made them dismount and lead their camel before me to camp. Far better would it have been for them if they had risked my fire and tried to escape ; for on them was found a letter which they were carrying to the Jhujjur Nawab, and which contained the news of MUTINY MEMOIRS. j , 7 our movements and a guess at our strength . They paid the penalty which in all wars is exacted from spies. As things turned out their capture were a most fortunate accident ; for when, in the darkness of the night, our small force of sabres parad- ed for the march, we were for the first time informed of the reason for our eccen- tric movements. It seemed that General Showers intended to attack Jhujjur that morning from the opposite site to that where we were now posted. His having taken us with him and then sent us back was a ruse de guerre, the object of which the reader will easily divine. He thought it more than probable that the Nawab and his troops when they were driven out of Jhujjur would — thinking the coast was clear in our direction — take that route to another strong place which lay behind us, and that they would fall into our hands. We were warned to make as little noise as possible, and were strictly for- bidden to smoke. We had a good many miles to cover before getting near Jhuj- 1 2 8 MVT1N Y MEMOIRS. jur, so we moved off in column of route. Shortly before dawn we heard a distant voice gaily singing and gradually becom- ing louder as it approached us. The minstrel proved to be one of a small party of sowars who must have been the most egregious cowards of the Jhujjur garrison, for they had evidently fled long before any one else; and were doubtless congratulating themselves on their timely escape from the fierce" Fer- inghis" when to their horror they found themselves in our midst. A few swift flashes of steel and their songs were over for ever. The day began gradually to break as we pushed eagerly on, meeting at inter- vals other small parties, of whom not one escaped, though some made a desperate fight for life. At length, just before the sun rose, as we neared the summit of some rising ground which we were as- cending, our scouts galloped back with news that the main body of the fugitives was within sight. We at once formed line to the front in rank entire, a forma- MUTINY MEMOIRS. \ 29 tion which I may explain for the benefit of civilian readers, is composed of only one rank instead of two, and which, of course, doubles the extent of front ; for our leader wished to frighten the enemy by an imposing show of force, rightly judging that at a distance they would not see that we had no rear rank. Our line advanced to the crest of the high ground, and then burst on our view a sight which can never be forgotten. A gentle slope stretched away from us, ending in a wide plain which was covered with a huge crowd moving to- wards us in a disorderly mob. Fighting men on horse-back and on foot — on camels —on a stray elephant or two — in bullock carts and " ekkas" — without any show of discipline or regular formation, min- gled with hundreds of non-combatants all pressing tumultuously onwards. For a moment our long line halted full in view of the enemy. Then rang out the commands " Prepare to draw swords." — " Draw swords." Our sabres flashed into light, gleaming in the rays of the rising I3 o MUTINY MEMOIRS. sun. " Forward at a walk ;" " March ;" " Trot ; " " Gallop ; " Charge." Down the slope we thundered. Like the sands on a dry plain struck by a sudden squall the dense mob before us with a wild cry of despair, broke into fragments and fled — in vain ! Our impetus carried us into the midst of them. For miles we pursued them, and heavy was the loss we inflicted on those who bore arms. Theoretically, cavalry should at all times be kept well in hand and under perfect control. Practically, it would be quite as easy to bind the winds after they had burst out of the bag of ^Eolus, as to control cavalry once launched in pursuit. What else could possibly be expected ? The enemy, if mounted, scatters in flight in all directions, and at racing pace. If they are to be overtaken and destroyed the pursuers also must scatter, and at still greater speed. A very few minutes will cover miles of country with a rapidly extending fan of more or less isolated swiftly-moving groups. Such, at any rate, was our frequent experience during the MUTW Y MEMOIRS. 1 3 1 Mutiny campaigns. The only remedy would have been to have invariably kept a strong reserve ; but this precaution was, with such contemptible antagonists, hardly necessary. After the first few trials of strength the rebels had thorough- ly learned the lesson that an encounter with our troops in the open field invariably meant defeat, and that the consequences of defeat were terrible. Having no real discipline or organisation, and no con- fidence in their leaders, they always met us with what may be best described as nervous hesitation ; and their promp- titude in bolting was often astonishing. Frequently would individuals and small knots of men turn to bay and fight man- fully ; but usually not till they also had yielded to the general impulse of panic, and had joined for a time in the stam- pede. In this pursuit I had the good fortune to kill a mutineer who must undoubtedly have been concerned in the murder of some European, for I found on him a gold mourning ring bearing on the cir- j 3 2 MUTINY MEMOIRS. clet, in black enamelled letters, the words " In memory of." The stone, which evidently must have been inscribed with some name, was missing. The wretch made no fight, but died like a cur, with my blade through his back. Observing that his cummur bund hulged considerably, I unrolled it ; and out of its folds fell a quantity of rupees and other things, among which was the ring, which I took, leaving the rest of the loot for any one who might be inclined to pick it up. I placed the ring on one of my fingers, resolving, when the opportunity should offer, to have a bloodstone inserted in it, with the. date 1857. To my great regret, later in the day, I found that the ring, which was rather loose for my finger, had slipped off it, and was lost. It will be admitted that when we join- ed the rendezvous at Jhujjur we had, during the past forty-eight hours, done a fair share of work ; but more was in store for us. The Nawab was a pri- soner in the hands of the General, who MUTINY MEMOIRS. 133 decided to send him without delay to head-quarters at Delhi; and we were ordered to escort him. Accordingly in the afternoon the Nawab, who was a heavy, corpulent man, was placed in a doolie provided with a large number of bearers ; and once more our tired horses were on the move. I forget what was the distance between Jhujjur and Delhi ; but I well remember that the march was a very long and fatiguing one ; and that it was not before the dawn of next day that we had finished it, and were able to hand our prisoner over to other custo- dians. He was duly tried, found guilty, and hanged in the Chandni Chowk, the prin- cipal street of Delhi. I 3 4 MUTINY MEMOIRS. VI. EN ROUTE FOR LUCKNOW. About this time I seized an opportuni- ty of getting a few days' leave to run over to Meerut. Soon after my return the Corps of Guides which, since its arrival in the camp before Delhi after its fam- ous forced march from the far frontier, had continuously rendered services not eclipsed by any other troops which had the honour to take part in the siege, re- ceived orders to return to Hoti Murdan. Its losses, both in the cavalry and infan- try branches of the regiment, had been so numerous that it became absolutely necessary to fill their places with recruits. To my deep sorrow my connection with this distinguished regiment then came to an end ; but while I live it will always be a source of pride to me to have been privileged to serve with it, even for so short a time, during the memorable siege of Delhi. MUTINY MEMOIRS. I35 Though Delhi had fallen and the Punjab was secure, the revolt was yet far from having been suppressed in the Provinces of the North-West and Oudh. There was still plenty of service to be seen in those parts ; and I was naturally anxious to find my way down to them. In those days it was fortunately not very difficult to get to the front when any fighting was to be done. There was work for every one, and plenty of it. Since then, many a keen soldier not possessed of influential friends at head- quarters, has had to be content to find himself shut out from the series of " little wars," so prolific of medals and decora- tions and brevet promotion, which seem providentially provided for the swift ad- vancement in the service of his more fortunate comrades who are equipped with that best of military qualifications — " interest." Not to digress, however, the opportu- nity was afforded me of getting transfer- red to the ist Sikh Irregular Cavalry, a corps which had been newly raised in 136 MUTINY MEMOIRS. the Punjab by the late Captain "Wale, and was commanded by him ; and which about this time arrived at Delhi en route to join Sir Colin Campbell's forces in the south. That regiment began, under Wale, a distinguished career which it continued under Probyn in China. It is now the nth Prince of Wales's Own Bengal Lancers, and still maintains its high reputation among the many splen- did regiments which compose the Bengal and Punjab Cavalry ; a force of horse- men which, it is safe to say, is not excel- led, as regards all the best qualities of light cavalry, by any troops in the world. If the smart nth Bengal Lancers could see themselves as they appeared when, as the ist Sikh Irregulars, they marched down the grand trunk road from Delhi in the winter of 1857, they would be not a little amused and astonish- ed. Every variety of bit, bridle, saddle tulwar — every variety of horse, entire, mare, and gelding,— of all heights, from 1 5 hands to animals little bigger than ponies. Such were the equipment and MUTINY MEMOIRS. 137 the mounting of the regiment ; and our notions of drill were at first equally pri- mitive. It was all we could do to " form threes right" or " left." The men, how- ever —if no two of them rode alike, and none of them had a " cavalry seat"— were undeniable horsemen; and there was never any difficulty in getting them, when an enemy was before them, to form some sort of a line to the front, and to ride as hard and as straight, if not with quite as good " dressing, " as the better drill'ed troops of the present day. On our first march from Delhi a comi- cal incident, which, however, might easily have turned out rather a serious one, occurred. I was riding with the advanced files, when a young native woman, wielding with both hands a very long straight double-edged sword, such as is frequently used by acrobats at Indian festivities, suddenly appeared in the middle of the road and barred our way. The creature must have been mad or under the influence of " bhang" or some other intoxicant; for she deluged I 3 8 MUTINY MEMOIRS. us with a torrent of abuse as she vigor- ously brandished the long thin blade. For a moment I was nonplussed : the situation was so entirely novel ! Mad or sane, the virago evidently meant busi- ness. There was clearly no getting past her without a fight ; and that was quite out of the question. " Shoot her, sahib," said one of the sowars with me, little troubled with the polite consideration for the sex which the obligations of an effete civilisation imposed upon his British officer. At that moment, as if by inspiration, a " happy thought " flashed on my mind. " Give her galee" (abuse) I said to the sowar ; " and give it her hot and strong, and plenty of it." Instantly grasping the idea, the grinning sowar opened such a battery of abuse of the vilest and most comprehensive nature upon the unfortu- nate young person and her female rela- tives to the remotest degree that her own fire was promptly silenced. Encour- aged by this success, the sowar redoubled his efforts ; and slung such awful and MUTINY MEMOIRS. 139 shameful language with such force and precision that the rout of the enemy spee- dily became complete. Dropping her long sword and stuffing her fingers into her ears, she fled with a horrified shriek ; and we marched triumphantly on, chuck- ling at the success of our tactics. Nothing very exciting occurred during the long, dusty march to Cawnpore. For a considerable part of the way we had to escort an immense train of empty bul- lock carts, destined for the use of Sir Colin' s army ; and our duties were mono- tonous in the extreme. Heartily would we have welcomed an attack on our con- voy ; but none was ever made. At Cawnpore I was left in command of a detachment of fifty sabres, while the head-quarters of the regiment went on to Alumbagh, near Lucknow. This was a grievous disappointment to me ; but as things turned out, nothing more lucky could have happened. After having marched here and there about the country with a column under Brigadier-General Cardew, during which 140 MUTINY MEMOIRS. time nothing worth record occurred, we returned to Cawnpore and remained there for a while. My comrade and fellow-subaltern at that time was Lieu- tenant now (Colonel) Sir Robert Sande- man, K. C. S. I., to whose wisdom and tact and perseverance India owes her present impregnable frontier on the North-West, and the gradual conversion of the wild tribes of Baluchistan into friendly and peaceful communities. He and lone day rode out to visit our friends, the 3rd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, at Unao, on the Lucknow road, where they were encamped under the command of Colonel Macdonell. While there the Colonel took me aside and informed me that a messenger had just come in with an urgent request for help from a village some few miles to the north, which was held by a small detachment of police. The village which, like most others in Oudh at that date, was fortunately pro- tected by a strong and lofty mud-built wall, was attacked by a force of some hundreds of rebels ; and unless speedily MUTINY MEMOIRS. I4I relieved its defenders were in danger of running short of ammunition. It was promptly arranged that Sandeman and I should gallop back to Cawnpore, report the state of affairs to General Sir John Inglis, and obtain his permission to bring our detachment as quickly as possible across country to a point about three miles from the threatened post, where we were to join a couple of companies of the Rifle Brigade and proceed to its relief. Off we set as fast as our horses could carry us. It was late in the evening when we arrived; Sandeman going straight to our lines to turn out our men, while I went to the Fort and obtained an interview witb Sir John Inglis. He was at first apparently disinclined to let so young an officer take a detach- ment at night so far from support into the wilds ; but at last he listened to my arguments, and after impressing on me that I was to act under the orders of Colonel Macdonell, allowed me to go. When I got to the lines I found the men already mounted and "told off," 1 42 MUTINY MEMOIRS. and fresh horses ready for Sandeman and myself : so that we got under way at once. After crossing the bridge of boats we struck across country in a slant- ing direction to the left of the road. Night had fallen, but we had the advan- tage of a certain amount of moonlight, and were able to move pretty rapidly. When we arrived at the rendezvous there were no signs of Colonel Macdonell or his rifles ; but a letter from him was put into my hands by a native messenger, who said that the Colonel, after starting from Unao, had gone back there on hearing that at nightfall the rebels had raised the siege of the village, and had retired to another some miles away. This after our long journey to Cawnpore and back was a terrible disappointment. Possibly, however, the Colonel might have thought it undesirable to follow the enemy so great a distance with infantry, and might wish me to do so with my troop. The thought no sooner struck me than its " sweet reasonableness" began to grow on me ; and I had very soon MUTINY MEMOIRS. I4