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iii

The crisis in the Punjab :from

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THE CRISIS IN THE PUNJAB.
 

2. Attock,
3.Anballa,

7 Digshac .

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1 Aboot Frontier Lort. Statun ob 11NL when désarmed:

Ah. Bal theaet. Scene of tapture ot 08 NL.
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19. Mecan Meer: Scene dt the original disarming. IS? AGENT,
20. Mackeson Fort: Frontiar Fort: (4 3°L Cav?

LL. Murdan: Scene of the Mutiny & destruction of the SSANL,

22. Murrece. fill Staton:

23. Ahh Fart: Frontier Fort.

24. Nombhes 1. Scone of the commencement of the Mating;

25. LAudbar. Scene of the Mutiny of the 3 NT. (BS PME:
26.P0snnnis: Scene of the disarnung of & Native Regiments &

0. Googatra: Scene of msurrection.
lL. Govindghur: Fart. cose to Unritsir: Scene of dusurming of the

V), Hurreekec: (8SONT. Cning of the Il lat

BB. Shelium. Scene of the Action between HM, 4 &-the MPN.

lA Ahang.

1b. Aalundhis Scene & the outbroak & Mntiny of the 1k IOUNL.
16. Aussowlee. Scene of the Mutiny the boorkhas. ' ff OOD iGavt
W, Lahore.

18. Mooltan. Scene of the disarming of the 694 & 62° NT. 27. Ravel Pindee: scene of the disarniting

(a
(of the 5SONL.

Poblished by Srmth,Elden &C° London ,1858

ts

destruction of the SFNT. 26

Outline May
THE PUNJAB,

FOR REFERENCE IN READING
“The Crisis im the Punjab °

Sunda’
30

7 pa

ce SUNAWUT

Amballu’
a

ee.

28. Scalkote. Scene of the Outbreak L Mutiny of hed ?NL EGIL, tare
29. Sobraon

30. Semla. Scene of the Panic &- disorderly conduct of the Goorlehas.

3l. danawur Site of the Lawrence Asylum

32. Saubkidr Lort. Frontier Fort:

33. Lumoo Chau. Nichalson’s Actiov with the Sealkote Mulineors.
3h. Cnrvtsa:

30. /ymalla. Stare of the execution of the LNT.
Kazcecrabad.

 

 

 
THE

CRISIS IN THE PUNJAB,

FROM

THE 10TH OF MAY

UNTIL THE

FALL OF DELHI.

BY

FREDERIC COOPER, Exse., GS.,

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF UMRITSUR.

WITH A MAP.

LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL,

1858.
Le ee
joe

He
Dedication.

DEEPEST MOURNED AMONG THE VICTIMS OF THE
LAMENTABLE AND GIGANTIC CRISIS SHINES THE NAME OF
THE PATRIOT, THE SOLDIER, THE STATESMAN,

THE CHRISTIAN,

THE VICTIM OF HIS OWN MORAL CHIVALRY,

SIR HENRY MONTGOMERY LAWRENCE,

HIS LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN CHEAPLY PURCHASED
BY
THE TEMPORARY LOSS OF A PROVINCE.
TO THE MEMORY OF HIM,
OF WHOM THE WRITER KNEW NOTHING MORE

THAN WAS PATENT TO THE WORLD—THE EXAMPLE HE SET,
THESE PAGES

ARE SIMPLY AND REYERENTLY DEDICATED,
DISPOSITION OF TROOPS PRIOR TO
OUTBREAK.

PesHawor.—H. M.’s 79th and 87th.

Artillery.—2 Troops Horse Artillery, 2 Light Field Batteries, and 4
Reserve Companies, Europeans.

5th Light Cavalry, disarmed, 7th Irregular Cavalry, and 18th
Irregulars.

21st Native Infantry, staunch ; 24th N. L., disarmed ; 27th N. L, dis-
armed; 51st N. I., disarmed, since mutinied and destroyed; 64th
N. I., and Khilat-i-Ghilzie Regiment, staunch.

Nowsnera. — Artillery Mountain Train Battery, Punjabees,
staunch; H. M.’s 27th Foot; 55th Native Infantry, mutinied and
destroyed; and 10th Irregular Cavalry disarmed and disbanded.

Artock.—1 Company Reserve Artillery, natives, disarmed ; 1 Com-
pany Sappers and Miners,'do.; and Detachment 58th N. I.

SHuMSHABAD, near Attock.—17th Irregular Cavalry.

Mourpay, in Evsourzye.—Corps of Guides.

Rawvt Prixpeek.—1 Troop Horse Artillery, natives, disarmed;
H.M.’s 24th Foot; 58th N. 1, disarmed; Kumaon Battalion,
Goorkhas; and 16th Irregular Cavalry.

JueLum.—1 Light Field Battery, natives, disarmed; 14th N. I.
mutinied on attempt to disarm them, destroyed after a severe fight ;
and 39th N. I., ordered to Dhera Ismael Khan, and there disarmed.

SEALKOTE.—1 Troop Horse Artillery Europeans; 1 Light Field
Battery do., H. M.’s 52nd Foot, 35th Light Infantry, natives, dis-
armed at Phillour; 46th N. I., mutinied and destroyed at Trimmoo
Ghat; and 9th Light Cavalry, 1 wing mutinied and destroyed,
and other wing disarmed.

JvuLLuNDuUR.—1 Troop Horse Artillery, Europeans; H. M.’s 8th
Foot; 6th Light Cavalry; 36th Native Infantry; and 61st Native
Infantry. The three corps last mentioned mutinied and marched to
Delhi.

Puittovur.—3rd N. I., mutinied and joined Jullundur mutineers,

Hosu1arpore.—1 Troop Native Horse Artillery 4 guns with British
force at Delhi, remainder of troop disarmed; 33rd N.I., disarmed at
Phillour; 9th Irregular Cavalry, served with British force at Delhi;
1 troop deserted, regiment ordered back.

b 2
Vill DISPOSITION OF TROOPS.

Noorrorr.—Half Company Native Foot Artillery, and Right Wing
4th N. L, laid down their arms at order of commanding officer,
without the presence of the troops.

Kaners.—Half Company] Native Foot Artillery, and Left Wing
4th N. L, disarmed.

Goorpasporr.—2nd Irregular Cavalry.

Frrozrerore.—l Company European Foot Artillery; 1 European
Light Field Battery; H. M.’s 61st Foot; 10th Light Cavalry, dis-
armed, subsequently mutinied, portion escaped to Delhi; 45th N, I.
and 57th N. L., the first mutinied, and disbanded.

Moo.tran.—1 Troop Native Horse Artillery, disarmed; 62nd N.I.,
disarmed; 69th N. I., disarmed; and Ist Irregular Cavalry.

UmBatian.—2 Troops European Horse Artillery ; H. M.’s 9th Light
Dragoons; 4th Lancers, natives, portion disarmed, and portion em-
ployed on service; 5th N. I., disarmed; and 60th N. I, mutinied en
route to Rohtuck; marched into Delhi.

JuTTOGH, NEAR SiMLA, Him aLAyas.—Nusserce Battalion, temporary
disaffection—order restored—regiment employed on service.

Ducsnair HrmaLay.s.—lst Brigade Bengal Fusiliers.

Kussow1ig Himatayas.—H. M.’s 75th Foot.

SusatHoo HimaLayas.—2nd European Bengal Fusiliers.

Tue Pungas Frontier guarded by four local regiments of Sikh
Infantry, besides the Guide Corps at Murdan. Punjab Irregular
force consisted of 4 Light Field Batteries, 5 Regiments of Cavalry,
and 6 Regiments of Infantry.

Lavorre.—2 Troops Horse Artillery, Europeans ; 4 Companics
Reserve Artillery, Europeans; H. M.’s 81st Foot; 8th Light Cavalry,
disarmed; 16th N. IL, disarmed; and 26th Light Infantry, disarmed
—subsequently mutinied—and destroyed at Ball Ghat; and 49th,
disarmed.

Umritsur.—1 Light Field Battery, natives, disarmed; 59th N. I1.,
disarmed; 1 Company European Reserve Artillery in the fort of
Govindgurh.
DISPOSITION OF TROOPS SUBSEQUENT
TO OUTBREAK.

APppROXIMATED Statement of Poorbeah Soldiery and reliable
Troops to watch them in the Punjab.

 

 

 

Stations. Details. /Arm’d ies Watched by Eur. |Native
Peshawur & | 5th Cav. 3,000 | 4,000 | 2 troops Horse Artillery 340
Attock 24th N. I. 2 Batteries Artillery =
27th ,, Peshawur Mountain Train | — 100
2ist ,, Peshawur Light Horse . 160 | —
64th ,, 2 European Regts . 1,480 | —
Khelat-i- 2 New Punjab Corps ./| — | 1,200
Ghilzie And at Attock and
7th and 15th Noushera.
Irr. Cay. 1 European Regt. . 590 | —
500 Art. 1 New Punjab Corps _— 600
Murdan 2nd P. C. 150 } — | 2 Punjab Cavalry ae 150
5 Punjab Infantry = 600
Kohat 3 Cos. 58th | 250 | 250 | 3and6 Punjab Infantry | — | 1,000
N.I 1 Battery Punjab Art. _ 100
Men of 3rd 1 New Punjab Corps _— 600
& 6ths.I.
Bunnoo 9th I. C. 350 | 100 | 1 Punjab Battery ae 100
3rd Sikhs 3 Sikh Infantry a 700
Dera Ismail | 39th N. I. 250 | 800 | 1 Punjab Battery — 100
Khan 5th P. C. 1 Punjab Cavalry — 100
1 New Punjab Corps _— 600
Dera Ghazee | 4th P. C. 300 | — | 2gunsP.I Force . — 40
Khan Ast Sikhs 1 Sikh Infantry — 700
Mooltan 62nd N.I. 500 |1,700 | 1 troop Horse Art., new | 100} —
69th N. I. 1 Bombay Fus., wing 350) —
Ist I. C. 1 new Punjab corps _ 600
Rawul Pin- |58th N.1.,7] 200 550 | 1 Battery Artillery . . 100 | —
dee. «| Cos. H. M.’s 24th Regt., part. 240 | —
17th I.C. pt. 1 New Punjab Corps _ 600
Murree _ _ — | Convalescent Depot =] 150)
rs Detach. 2nd Sikhs and of
New Punjab Corps _ 500
Pow = _— — | Hazarah Mountain Train | — 80
ey Detach. 2nd Sikhs and of
New Punjab Corps .| — 500

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x DISPOSITION OF TROOPS.
Stations. Details. |Arm’a ue a Watched by Eur. |Native
Meean Meer | 16th N. I. | — |2,300 } 1 troop Horse Artillery } 200 | —
includes | 49th N.I. 1 Battery Artillery
Lahore 8th L. C. H. M.’s 81st Regt., part 350 | —
9th L. C., 1 New Punjab Corps _~ 600
part And at Annarkullic
and Lahore Fort
Lahore Light Horse 80} —
European Inf. and Art. . 200 | —
New Punjab Corps = 600
Uniritsur 59th N. I. — |1,700 | Moveable Column . 50 | 150
includes 35th N. I. Detail—Art. and Inf. 150 | —
Fort Govind-| 5 Co. 8 Batt.
gurh Art.
Jullundur 33rd N. I. 400 | 1,200 | Detach. 24th Reet. 200 | —
and 16th I. C. 3 guns Horse Art. . 50; —
Hooshiar- 4th N.1., 1 New Punjab Corps = 600
poor wing
Kangra 4th N.L, — 400 | Convalescents _— —
wing
Goordaspore } 2nd I. C. 400 | — _ _ _
Ferozepoor | 10thh.c.,| — 120 ; 1 Bombay Fus., wing 350; —
part. Detail—Art., 6 guns 100 | —
1 New Corps _ 600
Umballah . _— In Prison. | Detach. 8th Queen’s Regt.} 250 | —
1 New Punjab Corps _— 600
Phillour and _ _ — | 1 New Punjab Corps,
Loordianah and Detach. of Inf. and
NTE, if 2 130 800
5,800 113,120 5,620 {13,320
18,920 18,940
I

 

 

 

 
PREFACE.

Tue following pages pretend to nothing more am-
bitious than a faithful description of the events which
occurred in the Punjab during four of the most
memorable months which have ever ran their course
in India.

They were penned in spare half-hours of leisure
snatched from time occupied in heavy official duties,
and their only merit lies in the various facts which
have been most obligingly placed at the disposal of
the writer.

It is not presumed to enter into any discussion of
the multitudinous causes of the mutiny of the Bengal
army, or to expatiate on theories for its re-organi-
zation; much less is it attempted to criticise the
conduct of individual regiments: the desire of the
writer is to show how the emergencies, as they

affected the Punjab, were grappled with.
xi PREFACE.

The metamorphosis effected in the military arrange-
ments of the Punjab, within four months, will
perhaps carry conviction to the mind of the statis-
tician; even if a perusal of the volume should fall
short of depicting adequately the bold measures
which completed so astounding a change, and the
nature of the circumstances which rendered them
imperative. In the first list prefixed to this chapter
will be observed the enormous force of 30,000 men
of Infantry, Cavalry, and Company’s Foot Artillery,
chiefly composed of the “ Poorbeah” element, which,
at the commencement of the outbreak, was in a
ferment over the whole valley of the Ganges. He
will observe in the next statement the altered arrange-
ment.

On the morning of the 11th of May, the first
intelligence of the revolt at Meerut and the massacre
at Delhi was flashed to the seat of the Punjab
Government at the ancient capital of Lahore. Not-
withstanding the vague foreshadowings of disaster
with which the events at Berhampore and at Bar-
rackpore, the successive fires at various military
stations, and other rapid and unmistakeable symptoms

of wide-spread disaffection had clouded the public
PREFACE. xii

mind, there can be no doubt that the seizure of
Delhi and its concomitant tragedies burst upon Anglo-
Indian Society like a thunder clap.

Under the full force of the first shock of so
stupendous a crisis, something akin to a panic was
produced. The least reflecting required no Daniel
to interpret the dread symbols. The hot weather
had set in. Territorial expansion and aggrandize-
ment had reached its extreme limits, while the force
of European troops had dwindled to its extreme
minimum. India was weaker by two cavalry and
four infantry European regiments. Cholera had
decimated European troops last year, and their
vacancies had not been filled up. In Bombay, the
European force was not nearly up to the ordinary
peace establishment. The first layer of civilization
had hardly been spread over Oude; in the capital
of which was but one single European regiment.
The Bombay army was half composed of Poorbeahs.
The Persian treaty had scarcely been ratified, while
the inflammatory proclamation of the Shah, calling
on all the faithful to oust the treacherous tribe of the
British, was fresh in the memory of every Mahomedan

in India. Delicate negociations were still pending
XIV PREFACE.

with Dost Mahomed at Kabul; and the lives of the
gallant Lumsden and his party seemed hanging upon
a straw. From Delhi to Calcutta lay a clear field
for mutiny and insurrection. The sepoy army had
become intoxicated with their sense of power. Every
heart prayed, though few dared hope, for the
Christians scattered over that boundless area. Every
one anticipated the enormities that might occur.
The silence which followed from the abrupt stoppage
of electric telegraph communication, was even more
oppressive than the after budgets of dismal tidings,
and added to the gloomy forebodings. The vague-
ness, the immensity, the closeness of the peril,
exaggerated alarm. Such were the feelings at Lahore.

The actual incidents of those days are generally
familiar in the dread outline. Had all Hindoostan

been lapped in repose, as in England was fondly
hoped, these incidents in the land of the five rivers
would have marked an era in a century. In the
presence of Hindoostan convulsed, and anarchy
raging, the calamities of the Punjab, though indi-
vidually terrible, its trials though almost preter-
human, seem absolutely dwarfed. Looking around

brought scanty solace.
PREFACE. xv

The people of the Punjab are composed of what
were once the most chivalrous, the fiercest, and the
most inveterate of our enemies. What impression
even, supposing no previous concert, would passing
events create in their minds? The old Sikh nobility
were rapidly, though gently, sinking into decay ; and
though cadets of families, once pillars of Runjeet’s
throne, survived (hereditary mementos of times
almost traditionary, so swift had been the obliteration)
there were still some few of influence, wealth, and
note remaining. What attitude would they assume?
What, in short, was the extent, the core, the nature
of the crisis? Was there or was there not a general
concert of all peoples, tribes, religions, and dialects
for the expulsion of the British? Were the forty-
three independent potentates all linked in the hideous
confederacy? Was it a national and continental
rebellion? Was an angry and suffering people
struggling for liberty ?

The predicament was one in which the greatest
boldness was the greatest prudence. The time for
action, not inquiry, had come. ‘There was a violent
public and political reaction to apprehend, a. certain

failure of revenue to contend against, a commercial
xvi PREFACE.

paralysis to avert, mutiny at home to look to, a
future famine in Hindoostan almost inevitable, rein-
forcements before Delhi to be provided. All com-
munication with Calcutta had been totally and
completely cut off.

The following pages will show how just was the
confidence placed in the loyalty and honour of the
chieftains of Puttiala, of Jheend, and of Bikaneer.
The aim with which they have been written is to
depict how the Punjab Government, fortified by the
moral and physical support of its noble and loyal
allies, and assured of the attachment of its people,
embarked on a series of operations based on one
broad grand line of policy; which, whether for the
almost desperate nerve that maintained it through
four toiling months, or the success which triumphantly
crowned it, must for ever remain to the world a
monument of wisdom and self-denying heroism: but
that wisdom and that heroism are still but mere dross
before the manifest and wondrous interposition of

Almighty God in the cause of Christianity.
CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Disarming N.I. Regiment at Meean Meer—Mode adopted—
Success of the measure—Correspondence intercepted—
Plots between Meean Meer and Ferozepore Regiments—
Mutiny of the 45th N. I. at Ferozepore—Disbandment of
the 57th N. I. at Ferozepore—Reorganization of Hansi,
Hissar, and Sirsa—Defeat of the rebel Bhuttees by Cort-
landt—Destruction of rebel villages of Bitoul, &c —
Tranquillity completely restored * F ! : ace Call

CHAPTER II.

Measures adopted at Lahore and Umritsur—Circular of Mr.
Montgomery—Stoppage of trade—Police espionage—
Loyalty of Punjab villagers—Succour of Govindgurh
Fort—Native correspondence intercepted—<Agitation of
the question of insurrection—Fidelity of native chiefs—
Conduct of the 60th N. I—First battle before Delhi—
Disorganization of districts—Conduct of the 5th N. I. at
Roopur—The Punjab Moveable Column—Extraordinary
march of the Guides—Remarkable prophecy—Recruiting
in the Punjab—Proclamation of the Chief Commissioner—
Major Crawford Chamberlain—Conduct of the troops at
Mooltan—Measures adopted at Mooltan—Disarming of
the 62nd N. I. at Mooltan—Consequences thereof—Dis-
turbances in Googairah put down . z : p . 20
XVII CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IU.
PAGE

Importance of the locality—Mutiny of the the 55th N.I. at
Hote Murdan—Mutiny at Naoshera—Suicide of Colonel
Spottiswoode—Disarming of the Troops at Peshawur—
Threatening aspect around—Lunishment of the 10th
Irregular’ Cavalry—Ditto of the mutineers of the 55th
N. L—First mutineer shot—Recruiting from among Hill
tribes—Triumph of the policy—Curious anecdotes—
Loyalty of Khelat-i-Ghilzie Regiment—Popularity of the
Government in the valley—Enlistment of Afreedies—
Conduct of Dost Mahomed—Chivalrous sympathy of the
Affghans—Punishment of the village of Narinzai—
Secure disposal and location of disarmed troops ‘ Pee!

CHAPTER IV.

Outbreak of the troops at Jullundur—Gallantry of individual
officers—Death of Lieutenant Bagshaw—Extraordinary
conduct of Brigadier Johnstone—Extraordinary delay in
the pursuit—Activity of Mr. Ricketts at Loodianah—
Release of prisoners and pillage of mission premises—
Consequences of Brigadier Johnstone’s conduct—Briga-
dier Johnstone’s defence—The same continued—Panic
at Simlah—Extraordinary hallucinations—Flight to
Dugshai and Kussowlie—Tact and address of the authori-
ties at Kussowlie—The same continued—Suspicions of
the Goorkhas—Captain Briggs appointed to negotiate—
Pacification resolved on—Result of the negotiations—
The Fort of Phillour—Preservation of Phillour—Junction
of the 3rd N. I. with mutineers from Jullundur—Report
of the principal of the Lawrence Asylum—Measares
adopted at Sunawur—Conduct of the Hill men 3 . 80

CHAPTER V.

Symptoms at Jhelum—Removal of the 39th N. I.—Agitation
in the ranks of the 14th N. I.—March of a detachment
to disarm them—Struggle at Jhelum—Defeat of the
mutineers—Demi-official correspondence—Loyalty of the
Jhelum population—Events at Sealkote—Policy adopted
CONTENTS. xIx

PAGE
by Brigadier Brind—Treacherous calm at Sealkote—The
outbreak at Sealkote—Death of Brigadier Brind—Pre-
servation of Colonel Campbell—Death of the Reverend
Mr. Hunter and family—Abandonment of Sealkote by
the mutineers—Disarming of the 33rd and 69th N. I. and
9th L. C. belonging to the Moveable Column—March of
the Moveable Column to Goordaspore—Action at
Trimmoo Ghit—Destruction of the mutineers—Punish-
ment of disloyal officials . ¥ : A 5 . . 119

CHAPTER VI.

Murder of Major Spencer—Arrest of mutineers on the left
bank of the Ravee—Capture of the mutineers—The
rebels sent off to Ujnala—Incarceration at Ujnala—Execu-
tion of the mutineers—Punishment of others at Lahore—
Reasons for the destruction of the regiment—Gallantry of
Major Jackson, Messrs Garbett and Hanna—Demi-official
correspondence on the subject . . : . 7 . 151

CHAPTER VII.

Mutiny of the loth L. C. at Ferozepore—Murder of
Mr. Nelson, Veterinary Surgeon—Outbreak of the 51st
N. I. at Peshawur—Destruction of the regiment—Divi-
sional order by General Cotton - : a . 171

CHAPTER VIII.

Difficulties of the siege—Despatch of re-inforcements from the
Punjab—Cashmere Contingent—Addressed’ at Jullundur
by Chief Commissioner—Character of the crisis—Battle
of Nujjuffghur—Treachery before Delhi—Onur intelligence
department—View of the interior of Delhi—Disorganiza-
tion of the city—Arrangements of the mutineers—Our
system of espionage—Disunion among the rebels—Dis-
content in the city—Royal poesy—Moulvee Rujjub Alli—
Divisions in the city—The rebels disheartened—Over-
tures proposed—Distress in the city—Description of
Delhi—Gallantry of the Artillery, Lancers, &c—The
destruction of the Cashmere Gate—Conduct of Bugler
xx CONTENTS.

Hawthorne—First despatch of General Wilson—The
same continued—The same continued—Second des-
patch of General Wilson . . . ‘ : . 180

CHAPTER IX.

Plans of the conspirators—Collapse of districts—The Punjab
system—Influence of first tidings from Delhi—Result of
the struggle 4 : ‘ ‘ 5 . ; 7 « 234

APPENDICES. ‘ ‘ 3 ¥ * ‘ 2 . 247
THE CRISIS IN THE PUNJAB.

CHAPTER I.

DISARMING OF THE NATIVE TROOPS AT MEEAN MEER ON THE
THIRTEENTH OF MAY, AND MUTINY ON THE SAME DAY AT
FEROZEPORE.

Merran Merris the large military cantonment’situated
five or six miles from Lahore. On the 13th of
_ May, the European, or reliable, troops consisted of
-H. M.’s 81st, about 850 strong, and two troops of
horse artillery, H.E.LC.S., also European. The
doubtful were composed of the 16th Grenadier
N. I., famous for service in Mysore, Seringapatam,
Afghanistan, Guznee, Candahar, Cabool, Maharaj-
poor, Moodkee, Ferozshuhur, Subraon, with em-
broidered Star for Seringapatam on its colours, and
a Royal Tiger under Banian Tree for Mysore. The
26th (Light) N. I. (since annihilated), which had
served with distinction in Arracan, Cabul (1842)
Moodkee, Ferozshuhur, Subraon; and the 49th,
Pa B
2 A CONFERENCE CALLED.

which had served at Arracan, Punjab, and Mooltan.
Also the 8th Regiment Light Cavalry, with “ Bhurt-
poor,” “ Puniar,” “ Maharajpoor,” “ Ferozshuhur,”
“ Punjab,” “ Chillianwallah,” “Goojerat,” as evi-
dence of its former achievements.

On the 12th May, the shadow of coming events
had not cast its gloom over society: a ball and
supper was to be given on that evening. While the
ordinary preparations for this festivity were in
process, extraordinary measures for a very different
spectacle for the morning were being matured.

Intelligence of the Meerut outbreak reached
Lahore on the 11th; on the morning of the 12th
of May a hurried telegram told the deeds at Delhi.
The Chief Commissioner was in the north at Rawul
Pindee. His mantle was on the shoulders of Robert
Montgomery, the Judicial Commissioner, who at a
glance saw that the imminency admitted of no delay.
He accordingly summoned forthwith a conference of
the leading officers of the civil station at Anarkullee,
viz., Mr. Donald Mc Leod, Financial Commissioner ;
Mr. A. A. Roberts, Commissioner; Major Ommanney,
Chief Engineer; Col. Macpherson, Military Secre-
tary; Capt. Lawrence, and Capt.‘ Hutchinson,

The proposition of the Judicial Commissioner,
that Brigadier Stuart Corbett, commanding at
PROMPT MEASURES TAKEN, 3

Meean Meer, should be moved to deprive the
native corps of their ammunition, was unanimously
acquiesced in,

Accordingly, accompanied by Colonel Macpherson,
Mr. Montgomery proceeded to Meean Meer, and
suggested the plan to Brigadier Corbett, who agreed.
Subsequently, in the afternoon, further disaster was
telegraphed from Delhi, and the Brigadier resolved
on the grand and original move of depriving the
sepoy of his arms altogether.

The ball was permitted to proceed; but it soon
languished: strange rumours got about the room
concerning the morning parade of all troops, which
had been announced for daybreak. .

Scarcely before the dancers had departed, three
Companies of H. M.’s 81st fell in and marched off to
the fort at Lahore under Colonol Smith. Ten men
per company had been also ordered to sleep in their
barrack-rooms with “their clothes on.” At four
o’clock in the morning, the remainder of the regiment
fell in, and were ordered “ to loosen their ammuni-

” a proceeding which aroused the curiosity of

tion ;”
the honest soldiers to the highest pitch. Knowing
looks began to be exchanged, and queries to the
purport of “ What’s in the wind” were freely passed,
but not responded to, as none could divine.

B 2
4 MODE ADOPTED.

Leaving the barrack guards doubled, six com-
panies, twenty-four files each, started for the parade
ground, and were formed up in contiguous columns.
The position of the troops at this sunrise parade was
as follows :—

PRELIMINARY FORMATION.
8th Cavalry, A9th 26th 16th HM’s H. ELT. C.

Native. NI NA NI. 8st. H. A.
Petetosen i a cs aw = $ttttt
sarees: xi es ass we Oo EThETT

As the enormous mass of Indian soldiery swept
past the small but deeply interested band of
spectators from Anarkullee, one absorbing thought
occupied all bosoms—* Are their muskets already
loaded?” The suspense though short was painful.

The Brigadier having directed to be read out,
at the head of each regiment, the Governor-General’s
order on the disbanding of the 34th N.J. at
Barrackpore, he himself, a Colonel of the 16th
Grenadiers, commenced by addressing the senior
regiment: he complimented all, seriatim, on the dis-

tinguished reputation they had borne hitherto, and
SUCCESS OF THE MEASURE. 5

intimated dimly the step which it was his painful
duty now to adopt. Quick as thought the word
passed. The native regiments changed front to the.
rear, by the wheel of sub-divisions round the centre,
while at the same time the artillery (quietly loading
as they moved, unobserved by the sepoys), and her
Majesty’s 81st, about three hundred altogether,
formed line facing the native regiments. A ringing
rattle at the same time announced that the Queen’s
corps had also loaded. Nothing could be more
soldierly than their tramp—more menacing than
their front.

For the benefit of the unmilitary reader, a sup-
plementary sketch is now offered, and his imagi-
nation may conceive the countenances of the sepoys
when they received the order to pile arms. The
artillery port-fires were also lighted, and the guns
ready to belch forth grape into every regiment.

SECOND FORMATION.

8th Cavalry. oe = a ed

a eeecsese =—«§«-_ ene ee tees tee
eoeesesee =§«_- ss waeeee = wettest tee
Ooeeeeeee «eee ee etek ww tee
Oc eneneee = = ee ee wate weer
eeeenesee = =—« were tte ee weet ee

eoneesece «ss tneeee et teen

HM’ s 81st Regiment.
6 THE SEPOYS DISCOMFITED.

Hesitation was useless. The sepoys confronted
immediate death: in which, by the way, the officers
would have been sacrificed. Some say their
demeanour varied, and that the 16th Grenadiers
made a clutch at their arms when they appre-
ciated their utter discomfiture. Be this as it
may, the regiments, shorn of their arms, marched
back; the bands playing and colours flying. A
company of her Majesty’s 81st fell out, in ordinary
course; and with the cool complacency of the
European who summed up the whole crisis with
the question to his commanding officer— I suppose,
sir, it’s them niggers again,” they, in an orderly
and business-like way, packed the weapons of the
dishonoured soldiery in carts, and escorted them to
barracks.

This refreshing spectacle thus concluded; and it
was the first of the sort. Simple as was the affair,
common-place apparently as was the manceuvre, the
transaction of that morning hour was the turning
point in the destiny of the Punjab. The Asiatic
mind, “unstable as water,” had been dealt with in
the mode that has ever insured success. The
“initiative” had been taken, and the tables turned
on him: trumps were led while he was finessing.
Some 3,500 men, with treachery and rebellion at
INTERCEPTED CORRESPONDENCE. 7

their hearts, their plans concerted, but their aim
uncertain, quietly laid down their arms in the
presence of a dozen guns and three hundred rank
and file of H.M.’s 81st Regiment. It was, in a
military point of view, a simple, peaceful, and,
politically speaking, a fateful piece of business.
All honour to those who carried out the opera-
tion.

The momentous value of the step was not long
coming to light. Expresses had been despatched to
all stations announcing the measures. Tremblers
stood aghast at its boldness; some military men
questioned the sanity of the originators; but ere
three days were over all admitted the foresight and
wisdom displayed. No man now looked into the
countenance of a sepoy without scanning it. The
non-observance of ordinary salutation began to be
noticed. The mist gradually fell from before men’s
eyes.

God put it into the hearts of our rulers to act
with such energy and resolution. It came to their
knowledge, from intercepted correspondence, that the
whole mine of revolt had been laid with deep and
wary cunning. On the very morning of the 13th,
the fort at Lahore was to have been relieved. The

. relief on its arrival would have doubled the ordinary
8 MUTINY OF THE 45TH N. 1

strength of the native garrison; making it about
1,000 or, 1,200 men. The scheme they had in
contemplation was to rush upon and overcome
the small party of Europeans; seize the fort, the
extensive magazines, the armoury, the vast treasure ;
whilst the remaining regiments were to rise and
massacre all the Europeans of Meean Meer and
Anarkullee, and release the prisoners incarcerated
in the central gaol, some two thousand in number !

™ That the capital was saved is due (under God)
to the promptitude of the measures adopted; and
events at Ferozepore six hours after, vindicated the
wisdom of the acts of Government.

The coup de grace had scarcely been given at
Lahore, when, on the same day, the 45th N. L,
which had served at Moodkee, Ferozshubur.
Punjab, Chillianwalla, and Goojerat, showed their
true colours.

A deep-set plot must have been laid between the
regiments of Meean Meer and Ferozepore. At this
latter place the magazine contained enormous
military stores; and had these gone, the British flag
would not now have been waving over the walls of
Delhi. Brigadier Innes was fully aware of the
immense value of the arsenal. Notwithstanding the
confidence professed, perhaps naturally, by officers
THE MUTINEERS REPULSED. 9

commanding the N. I. corps, a haughty manner
was evident among the native soldiery on the parade
of the morning of the 13th. Czsar’s wife, as usual,
was to be above ‘suspicion, and from this reasoning
it was “hoped” the 45th and 57th N. I. would be
found “ satisfactory.”

Again the initiative was adopted; though perhaps:
hardly to a sufficient extent. On receipt of the Delhi
news the native troops were quietly moved out of
cantonments, and the entrenchments occupied by
a detachment of H.M.’s 61st under Major Redmond.
Twelve guns also proceeded thither. The 45th
at once broke out into open mutiny; and, filled
with the hope of yet carrying out the design in-
which they now felt they had been frustrated, they
rushed with escalading ladders to the entrenchments.
These ladders must have been provided by them
long before. Major Redmond’s company repulsed
the whole regiment; unfortunately he was badly
wounded. The magazine was saved; but the 45th
roamed: about in bodies, and burned some ten
or sixteen buildings, including the church and
the Roman Catholic chapel. H. M.’s 61st lost.
the messhouse and all their property. Again
‘and again fruitless attempts were made on the
entrenchments by the mutineers. To ensure safety,
10 THE 57TH N. L DISARMED.

the magazines of the N. I. regiments had been
blown up.

Foiled in their concerted plan, when disunited, the
45th, like the unstrung bundle of faggots, became
separately frangible. Some two hundred and more
broke away into small parties. They flung arms and
colours into a well, and were hunted up, exhausted
and ‘famished, in the various independent states.
About one half remained. The pursuit was so sharp
that] had they remained in a body, and had the
10th Light Cavalry proved staunch, as they seemed
to be then, the 45th must have been annihilated.
The 57th N.I. laid down their arms at request; but
with a defiant air, significant of the feelings with
which they had been animated, and the disappoint-
ment they felt. The want of that perfect sympathy
and} cordial co-operation, which mark the attitude
of those who have some great common cause at heart,
was never more shown than in the demeanour of
the 10th Light Cavalry, who have all mutinied since.
When lukewarmness, not to say opposition, might
have been dangerous, they remained steady under
the moral hold of their officers.

Some accounts state that shades of guilt were
attempted to be drawn between the 57th and 45th
N. I. All that is certain is that the disbandment of
ORDER OF DISBANDMENT. 11

the former regiment came too late. The regiment
had anticipated their fate. The following order was
read out to some half-dozen remnants.

* Sepoys of the ‘Lord Moira-ke-pultun’, (57th N.1.)
listen to the order of the Commander-in-Chief Sahib
Bahadoor: he has ordered you to be disbanded ;
the reasons are these :—Before a Court of Inquiry it
has been proved that you would not receive the new
Enfield rifles ; your replies to the Court were evasive.
Now, these rifles differ very little from the muskets
which you have hitherto been using, and your fore-
fathers for the last century before you. This refusal
to receive the new weapon on the alleged plea that
you would lose your caste, is but an artifice to con-
ceal your real intentions, which are nothing else than
to revolt against the Government, which feeds you
now, and pensions you when you become superan-
nuated. On the 13th May, when the Murreeroo-ke-
pultun (45th N.I.) mutinied, and attempted to seize
the entrenched magazine, a company of your regi-
ment was on duty there, and, instead of firing on the
mutineers, they loaded their muskets to destroy the
European soldiers, whom the Brigadier Commanding
had then sent to protect the magazine. Subse-
quently some 300 sepoys deserted, and the guard of
your regiment on duty in the district, excited the
12 TIMELY PRECAUTIONS.

people there to jo with them in making a religious
war against the British. Such has been the conduct
of the Lord Moira-ke-pultun. Now, hear your
punishment—your colours shall be furled—your
number effaced out of the army list, and yourselves
deported under proper escort to your homes.”

Before the final desertion, even of men selected
for their previous good character, the Judicial
Commissioner, on his own responsibility, had urged
that the remainder should be marched to gaol,
and shot to a man, in case of the slightest oppo-
sition.

And yet so contradictory and anomalous were
appearances, that the demeanour of the 45th N.I.,
perhaps greater adepts in duplicity, inspired the
greater confidence.

The 57th were never allowed to be in a position
in which they could, on the day and night of the
13th, be called upon to act either with or against the
45th N.I. Hence when the 45th openly mutinied,
expecting aid from the 57th, the latter did all that
was required—they remained quiet. The outbreak
of the 45th was as sudden and as little expected as
the outbreak at Meerut; but timely precaution
saved the station from the tragedies of Meerut. No
murders darkened the homes of Ferozepore; though
GREAT STORE OF GUNPOWDER. 13

the havoc and riot for a time was scarcely inferior to
that of the last-mentioned station.

Had there not been some twenty thousand barrels
of gunpowder to care for in the arsenal, the churches
and the houses would not, perhaps, have been sacri-
ficed. The safety of the former was not dearly
purchased by the ignominious discomfiture of the
mutinous corps. Had the two corps been in a
position at any moment to unite, the 10th Light
Cavalry would, as events have proved, have been
unable to resist temptation; and the thatched bar-
racks would have had to be defended, and the
magazine left. The fort, so called, could be
entered at all points: a spark would have ignited
the magazine, and blown all living into eternity. It
was no fault of the mutineers that this did not occur.
Three hundred of the 57th N. I. deserted in the hour
of trial, and the rest remained with their officers,
who could not but distrust them.

On the 28th of May, the remainder of the 45th
were turned ingloriously out of cantonments, and
escorted to the boundaries of the district. They
probably combated with no diminished acrimony
against us at Delhi from having been allowed to
reach it alive without money and without food.

Nothing in the shape of vile or insidious reports, here
14 GENERAL VAN CORTLANDT. =

or elsewhere, had been omitted that could inflame the
bazaar people. Slaughtered cows and pigs, it was
confidently affirmed, had been thrown into wells so
as to khardb kur, or ruin the faiths of all sects,
whether Hindoo, Sikh, or Mahomedan. Moulvies
preached insurrection in the streets and the mosques.
But their ministry was of short duration, under the
vigilant Major Marsden.

General Van Cortlandt, of Mooltan and Bunnoo
celebrity, had been wisely selected by the Chief
Commissioner to raise and organize irregulars.
Under his influence the work proceeded apace,
and he was soon in a position to enter upon his
work, and to take formal command. The services
rendered by this well-known and veteran officer,
in conjunction with those of Captain Pearse,
Messrs. Oliver and Macdonald, do not properly find
scope in the present work, which professes only
to notice the events of the Punjab. But a
short summary of them may not be uninterest-
ing :—

On the principle ne quid detrimenti capiat the
Punjab Government undertook immediately the re-
organization of the North-Western provinces of Sirsa,
Hansi, and Hissar, although a month previous they
had been as little under their control as Oudh itself.
VAN CORTLANDT’S TROOPS. 15

A force was arranged and despatched, the only
Europeans being the officers! The success was
gradual, but complete; a sufficient proof of the im--
pression existing on the general mind of the invinci-
bility of the British Government, and the security
and the stability of its institutions. The almost
instantaneous occupation of these provinces in such
dangerous proximity to the focus of rebellion,
was fraught with value to our cause. The
blow was struck before delay had sapped our
prestige.

The troops of Brigadier-General Van Cortlandt
were all Irregulars. About 300 Dogras were at first
the nucleus of his force, belonging to Rajah Jowahir
Singh; whose troops, in the midst of the city of
Lahore, were thus adroitly made use of. Since then
the Dogras (a short built, sturdy race) have amounted
to about one thousand men in rank and file. Two
hundred disciplined “ Kutar Mookhies” of Tronson’s
Mooltan Regiment were added, also about one
hundred of the police sowars belonging to the same
gallant officer. They accompanied Captain Pearse
from Googaira. Add to this a couple of guns and a
regiment of raw levies raised by himself, some few
Peshawuree sowars, and a small detachment of
Patiala horse and foot, and the reader has the sum
16 DEFEAT OF THE REBEL BHUTTEES.

of the whole force, which was the first to throw
down the gauntlet in the cause of law and order.
Some aid also arrived from the Bikaneer Rajah; but,
as the composition of it seemed “of questionable
material,” the services of this contingent were
courteously dispensed with.

Nerved by the stimulating hope of being the
instruments of wreaking just vengeance on the
authors of the massacres, the officers were prepared
to view mournful relics of harrowing fates, and they
felt at least a mournful solace to their bitter feelings
in performing the last rites to such few remnants of
human English remains as wild dogs and decomposi-
tion had permitted to remain above ground to bleach
in the scorching sun. The bodies of Captain Hil-
liard and Mr. Fell, which, after their base murder,
had been flung into a well, were taken reverently out
and interred with honour within sacred precincts.
Other dreadful evidences of massacre were dis-
covered.

When force was necessary, or when concili-
ation and pacification were expedient, Van Cort-
landt employed both, and invariably with effect.
Almost immediately on his arrival he gained a
decisive victory over the rebel Bhuttees, with the
slightest possible loss, on the 19th of June, when
MR. OLIVER AT SIRSA. 17

he routed the enemy from a strong position. They
numbered some two thousand, of whom two hundred
fell on the field of action.

Sirsa, depopulated, half sacked and half burnt,
the tombs of the Christians and the little cemetery
half despoiled, owes its regeneration to the strong
courage and fortitude of Mr. Oliver; who had never
left his post, and never lost his self-possession, though
within sight and earshot of death and the sounds
of death. His perfect reliance in the immediate
succour he so effectually received was rewarded, and
he was soon engaged in restoring that confidence
which overpowering numbers only for a time had
been enabled to shake, and in establishing the power
of the British Government on a surer and firmer
basis than before.

We have not space for details of the various
measures adopted; and, therefore, only proceed to
record a brilliant achievement, early in September,
of Lieutenant Pearse, who commanded the cavalry
attached to the Bhuttianah Field Force under Briga-
dier Van Cortlandt.

A pensioned subadar, one of the chief instigators
of the mutiny in the Hurrianah Light Infantry
Battalion, had found refuge in a rebel Ranghur
village called Bitoul. Lieutenant Pearse, accom-

PB c
18 DESTRUCTION OF REBEL VILLAGES.

panied by Mr: Ford, C.S., and Mr. Kitchen, his
clerk, with 280 horse, and some few Peshawurees
and Bikaneers, marched to the village through a
country inundated with rain, and found its position
strong, and the garrison strong. The eastern gate
was thought weak, but on a rush at it being made,
it proved much stronger than expected. The wood
work could not be fired from the wet. Lieutenant
Pearse dismounted; battered it down with his gallant
Peshawurees, killed the miscreant Goor Buksh, the
pensioner, with many others, and sacked the entire
place. Not a woman, however, was allowed to be
touched. No such stain has yet dimmed the lustre
of British triumphs.

Again on the 11th of September, General Van
Cortlandt, with Lieutenants Sadlier and Hunt,
attacked and destroyed another rebel village of
Mungolee. The slaughter of the rebels and muti-
neers spread terror among the disaffected throughout
the whole district. Such was the consternation
among the insurgents, that on the 13th they fled on
the approach of Van Cortlandt’s force, after firing
half a day ineffectual shots at a most cautious dis-
tance.

A few more villages have been thus condignly
punished, and tranquillity completely restored. The
CO-OPERATION OF AMATEURS. 19

army was entirely Asiatic, but commanded by a few
officers of established repute, and aided by the
presence of amateurs of all classes, who have been
repeatedly thanked for their aid in meting out swift
and merited retribution.
20

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL MEASURES ADOPTED AT LAHORE AND UMRITSUR—
MARCH OF THE ARMY TO DELHI,

Tue immediate crisis having been averted by the
proceedings sketched in the foregoing Chapter,
Mr. Montgomery promptly turned his attention
to internal politics. Public confidence was to be
maintained, excitement was to be appeased, and mes-
sages flashed incessantly to and fro, directing,
warning, and counselling. All day and all night
express horsemen galloped from one station to
another. The city of Lahore, filled with Maho-
medans, was fully alive to the state of things.
Every look and gesture of those in authority was
keenly eyed. Death had removed in Rajah Deena
Nath a palpable thorn in our side. But there were
still enough left to elicit the utmost diplomatic
address. The urgency of the situation had to be
explained frankly, while the hope of the eventual
triumph, under Providence, had to take the garb of
human certainty. The present contingency was
STATE OF UMRITSUR. 21

admitted to be unforeseen, unmerited, and such has
as yet beset no ordinary throne since empires were.
It was one marked by such baseness and ingratitude
that the fidelity of honourable men could safely be cal-
culated upon in actively expressing their abhorrence.

Equally dangerous would have been any show
of disaffection in the sister and neighbouring capital
of Umritsur. Vast commercial interests were in-
volved in its safety; within its walls, too, are
enshrined the essence of the mystery, and the relics
of the traditionary epochs of the Sikh national
faith. The population, swelled by the sudden stop-
page of the current of traffic from the north, must
have increased to nearly one hundred and fifty
thousand souls. Every class, creed, grade, and
clime of Asia, were represented. The trade opera-
tions were intimately mixed up with Delhi; and the
great commission brokers and capitalists, who never
thought of politics beyond how it affected the money
market, and who had always steadily backed the
irresistible “ ekbal” of the Government, experienced
a rude shock when it was announced that the Grand
Trunk Road was (for the first time since the British
rule) impassable. The temporary suspension of trade
afforded. leisure for surmise, and the discussion of
polities became the order of the day. It is impos-
22 TRANQUILLITY IN THE PUNJAB.

sible to say to what pitch the agitation amongst the
burghers might not have arisen, but for the won-
derful peace kept throughout those troublous days in
Bombay and Scinde, the roads through which were
always safe. Not only was physical support and
reinforcement afforded to the Punjab by the inde-
fatigable efforts of Lord Elphinstone and Mr. Frere,
but the most advantageous moral impression was
kept up, by the entire tranquillity and freedom of
intercourse which they contrived, in the teeth of
stupendous difficulties, to preserve intact.

It remained to be seen whether the poisonous
matter, which had for the first time produced tem-
porary cohesion and unity of action among Hindoos
and Mahomedans, would be absorbed into the Sikh
system. But notwithstanding the thriving mission
school and church close abutting on the holy tank
and temple, so marked had been the principle of
religious toleration, and so perfectly appreciated, that
from first to last no symptom of wavering has betrayed
itself, Much to the contrary, even; for the conduct
of the mutinous traitors has evoked national con-
demnation, while the atrocities upon the helpless
evoked national commiseration. The steadiness of
the atmosphere at Umritsur, lent almost unhoped for
weight to the public cause.
MR. MONTGOMERY’S MEASURES. 23

To return to the immediate measures adopted.
All conventional formalism was banished by Mr.
Montgomery. His instructions sped swiftly through-
out the country, and before the sepoys had time to
recover from the blows at Meean Meer and Feroze-
pore, and ten days after at Peshawur, all outlying
treasure had been brought under proper custody and
temptation thereby removed. All letters had been
way-laid; the Hindoostanee element in the executive
and detective force gradually fell into disuse; the
cupidity of the villagers was excited by rich rewards
for the capture of mutinous sepoys dead or alive;
the great forts of Lahore and Govindghur had been
abundantly stored; measures in all directions had been
adopted against surprise, and the gaol guards were
added to. Meanwhile the ordinary courts suspended
not their functions, but the civil and criminal busi-
ness was carried on with as much apparent calmness
as if the most common-place occurrences of tranquil
government existence were taking place, and the
flames of rebellion were not lapping up province
after province in Hindoostan.

Emissaries of every garb and hue had been de-
spatched by the indefatigable machinators to under-
mine the Sikhs and upset the tottering loyalty of the
Native Infantry corps in the Punjab—the latter but
24 CALM ENERGY OF GOVERNMENT.

too successfully. A vast accession of Byragee
faqueers, it was remarked, had cropped out. Political
arrests became rapid. The haunts of old Sikh
fanatics were looked up, and their inmates cared
for. Curiously-bedizened men affected to walk
about Suddur stations with an unusual partiality
for swords and matchlocks. They were all arrested,
their arms seized, and securities taken from them if
their answers were satisfactory; otherwise they were
imprisoned sine die, i. e., pending the upshot of events.

Offers of aid and service poured in immediately
on the Government; but it was not politic to appear
as if we threw ourselves upon the people; so with
expressions of thanks, and promises to indent upon
their active allegiance should necessity arise, the
sirdars and chiefs were deceived as to the magnitude
of the crisis, and the extent of their own power.
Impassible as the countenance of Louis Napoleon,
was the aspect worn by the local Government.
Such calmness was the more necessary as the alarm
among the Eurcpean residents deepened in intensity.

Thus no half-measures were adopted. Moreover,
the principle that he who is not for us is against us
was strictly followed. There was no pause. Treason
and sedition were dogged into the very privacy of

the harem, and up to the sacred sanctuaries of
POLICE ESPIONAGE. 25

mosques and shrines. Learned moulvies were seized
in the midst of a crowd of fanatic worshippers, and
men of distinction and note were “ wanted” at dead
of night. Like sleugh-hounds, the district police,
on the first scent of treason, and egged on by the
certainty of reward, fastened on the track, and left
it not until the astonished intriguer was grounded in
his lair. As with the detectives of Vidocq, there
were spies in the market-place, at the festival, in the
places of worship, in the gaols, in the hospitals, in
the regimental bazaars, among the casual knot of
gossippers on the bridge, among the bathers at the
tanks, among the village circle round the well under
the big tree, among the pettifogging hangers-on of
the courts, among the stone-breakers of the high-
ways, among the dusty travellers at the serais. No
man’s tongue was his own property. Asiatic chicane
was paralysed before the newly-aroused volition of
the Anglo-Saxon.

The determination and unflagging activity of the
authorities incited the Sikhs to emulation. At the
Mustee Gate of Lahore one day, a man said to be a
Hindoostanee, entered, wearing a sword; he was
challenged, and, replying vaguely, was stopped. He
cut down the sentry, and made off; he was pursued,
fired at, and dropped on the banks of the Ravee: the
26 PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES.

ball had divided an artery. He died and made no
sign, and was never recognised. Swift his doom.
But what was the errand of this desperate wretch?
That must lie hidden until the secrets of all hearts
are open.

Gradually, as the rivers rose, all ferries were
closely watched, and breast-works erected at the
ghats, by order of Sir John Lawrence.

Intelligence was received express from Lahore, at
seven o’clock in the evening of the 14th May, at
Umritsur, that the disarmed regiments of Meean
Meer were meditating flight, possibly towards Feroze-
pore; but it was thought more likely that they would
attempt to swarm into Govindghur, once the asylum
of the far-famed Koh-i-noor; as at that time it con-
tained but a weak company of artillery, under Cap-
tain H. B. Macleod, the majority of the garrison
being composed of no less than 216 armed Poorbeah
soldiery.

Within one hour from the receipt of the intel-
ligence, the battery of artillery from the canton-
ment, under Captain Waddy, was moved for safety
into the fort—horses and all,—the manceuyre keing
as steadily and swiftly performed as if on ordinary
inspection parade; a portion of the 59th N. IL.
(since disarmed) were picquetted out in various
LOYALTY OF THE VILLAGERS. 27

directions, as if they were the most staunch and
trusty followers, to stop the entry of the mutineers;
and a picquet of sowars and Sikhs, under the
Deputy-Commissioner, were located just opposite the
fort gates, in order to charge in upon a preconcerted
signal. It was an anxious and sleepless night for all;
but it passed off quietly, as the alarm was a false
one, and the opportunity was lost never to return.
An agreeable instance of the sort of reception
which the Poorbeah sepoy was likely to meet with
at the hands of the sturdy Punjabee Jats was shown
on that day. Mr. Macnaghten, Assistant-Commis-
sioner, volunteered to go out half-way to Lahore and
raise a human barrier of villagers across the road to
intercept the rebels. The enthusiasm displayed by
the country people sufficiently proved that they were
“ non-conductors ” of rebellion. One valiant rustic,
armed only with a spade, brought in a tall man,
whom he swore was a Hindoostanee, and requested
orders as to. his disposal, with the implement in his
hand. Providence had blessed the Punjab with a
golden harvest, such as had not been known for
many long years, and the country was too happy
and prosperous to join in any emeute, out of pure
friendship to their hereditary enemies. Dewan
Narain Singh and Sirdar Khan Singh, of Ataree,
28 A DOUBLE MISTAKE,

were eager to aid, and their conduct contrasted with
that of a Sirdar Nahr Singh, who was asleep, “ and
could not be disturbed” when sent for by the
Assistant-Commissioner, and who became suddenly
afflicted with a “boil” of an alarming nature on a
distressing segment of his person!

About midnight, Mr. Macnaghten, hearing a great
tramp, as of the coming rebels, mustered all his
villagers, drew carts across the road (some villagers
suggesting that the oxen and bullocks should remain,
as the Hindoos wouldn’t cut through them), and
awaited the attack, The noise was that of forty
“ekkas,” containing about eighty gallant soldiers,
under Lieut. Chichester, of H. M.’s 81st, who, see-
ing the barrier dimly through the darkness, drew
his revolver. The denouement of the anticipated
drama was gratifying on both sides. Next morning
the rustic soldiery returned to their homes.

As yet this fine population, composing the Manjha,
the nursery of the Khalsa soldiery, have not only
escaped contagion, but have contributed their glo-
rious old artillerymen who did such execution at
Ferozshuhur and Moodkee, in a cause which was
honourable because national.*

* The solicitude of the Judicial Commissioner for the safety
and welfare of Govindghur and Umritsur may be gathered
LETTER FROM MR. MONTGOMERY. 29

A new vein of cases was opened out in the
criminal courts as soon as the correspondence from

Hindoostan came to be intercepted. The extent and

from the accompanying appalling letter, dated the 12th of
May. It was received the very morning of the arrival of the
news of the outbreak. It was the first intimation which
arrived, and was written the day before the disarming at
Lahore.
“ Lahore, May 12th, 1857.

“My Dear Coorer,—You may not have heard, as you
have no electric telegraph station, that the troops at Meerut and
Delhi have risen, and the Europeans are defending their lives
as well as they can—as yet it is not known with what results.
But the city of Delhi is in a very excited state, and the com-
munication between Delhi and Meerut is cut off. It is expected
that the troops at Umballah, who have shown great disaffection,
will rise, and we must expect the rebellion to spread. The
native troops here are not well affected, and we may have to
fight for our lives. My object is to write and put you on your
guard. Communicate with the commanding officer. Care for
Govindghur, and it may be necessary to remove the sepoys from
there. It would be the place of general resort should un-
happily such a necessity arise. I would advise every precaution
being adopted beforehand, so as to be ready in case of a row.
You shall have the best information of all that is going on,
and the more quietly we move the better. Do not alarm the
sepoys by any previous acts, but keep the strictest watch on
them, and the feelings of the city should be ascertained by
every source at your command. Open communication with
Jullundur, and find out what is going on there. My advice,
then, is to be fully alive, and awake and prepared for the
worst, without creating any alarm by any open act. If the
troops should rise, you have the fort to go to, and can defend
yourselves. Let me or Roberts hear constantly as to the
feeling of all troops, people, &e., &c.

“Believe me, yours truly,
“Fred. Cooper, Esq. Rozert MontGomery.”
. 30 NATIVE CORRESPONDENCE.

intricacy of the web woven for the entanglement of
the Government soon appeared. To undermine the
Sikh loyalty, a buniah wrote from Jugadaree that
the price of wheat was unprecedently low, and all
were in excellent spirits, until it was found that
Government had mixed pulverised bones with the
jlour. A Sikh sepoy, moreover, in an intercepted
note, confided his views of the politics of the day to
a friend, saying that personally he was indifferent
under the circumstances, but there was a great
uproar; the Feringhees, he feared, could not last
long: they were being beaten over and over again
before Delhi. But he didn’t know what monarchy
would supplant them exactly. At Jhelum, the
Deputy-Commissioner opened a letter containing a
plot for the massacre of the whole of a British
family at Julundur. At Peshawur, a naick of the
64th N. I. was hanged for receiving a letter (ob-
viously a reply to a query as to the disposal of the
Europeans.) “ They were to be all massacred, without
respect to age, sex, or person.” An intercepted
letter, however, from an old subahdar of the 21st
N. I. (still armed), also obviously in reply, urged
the sepoys to stand by their salt, as, though the
mutineers might have their way for three months,
after that the British would be supreme again. And
SYMBOLIC COMMERCE. 31

this fine corps possessed the proud but melancholy
distinction of being the only regiment of the line
wholly armed.

Allegoric and symbolic commerce also commenced.
“ Pearls,” that is white faces, were quoted low in the
market; and “red wheat,” Hindoostan, looking up.
A letter from Monghyr, of the 26th of May, con-
tained the following passage literally translated :—
* The state of affairs is this:—Dost Mahomed Khan,
Ghazee, has marched from Cabul and come to see
Sir John Lawrence. He declares that the Emperor
of Russia and the Shah of Herat have met, with the
intention of invading Hindoostan. Dost Mahomed
Khan has come to Sir John Lawrence for this
reason, that the army of the empire is very numerous,
though the number is not yet known. But if any one
could count the number of the soldiers having seen
an ant hill, what could be more numerous?”

Another intercepted letter early in the crisis
intimated to a brother in the native artillery that
the Government army was assembling at Kurnaul,
and requested a reply as to the exact date of the
recipients’ mutiny and march for co-operation with
the rebels. An old subahdar of artillery also had
been so prepossessed with the notion of the frailty
of the tenure of the Government, that though nearly
32 SIKH PROPHECY ABOUT DELHI.

blind and deaf, and unfit for active service, he was
ready to do anything to secure an appointment under
the new ‘ Raj.’” There was no lack of gobemouches
throughout the army.

The Sikhs generally were most eager to aid in the
capture of Delhi, from the existence of a most
remarkable prophecy, —that they, in conjunction
with “ topee wallahs” (hat wearers, or the British),
who should come over the sea, would reconquer
Delhi, and place the head of the king’s son on the
very spot where the head of Gooroo Teg Bahadoor
had been exposed, one hundred and eighty years
before, by order of Aurungzehe, the Great Mogul.
This vaticination was almost literally carried out, for
when the gallant Hodson had captured the old king
and shot the two sons, his Sikh ressaldar, diligently
remembering the oracle, secured its fulfilment; and
for three days, on the spot foretold, the bodies of the
king’s sons lay a spectacle to men; the glazed eyes
of these miscreants staring sternly out of their dead
heads on the very scene where they had ordered
and witnessed the massacre of the English women
and children. But to resume.

Soon after the outbreak, a Hindoostanee walked
into the Government school at Umritsur, and men-

tioned casually, in conversation to the moulyvies, that
INSURRECTION AGITATED. 33

the King of Delhi had intimated, in writing, to Mr.
Montgomery, at Lahore, that he was indebted to him
for his excellent arrangements hitherto on his behalf
for the affairs of India; but that he could now
dispense with his services, as he himself was
prepared to undertake the necessary arrangements
for the future government of India; and that he
now accorded his royal permission to that gentleman
to retire, vid Bombay. A Mussulman city watchman
tried the mettle of the local authorities by wounding
a cow in the streets. He was at once publicly
flogged with the utmost severity, and imprisoned for
a year, with labour and irons. Nothing of the
kind has occurred since. Native Christians had been
threatened in the streets: Paulus, a convert, was
informed that “ his ears would shortly be pulled.”
The shops of the Hlahee and Nubbee Bukshes, as
familiar in India as Moses and Son in England, who
had battened and thrived upon the Europeans’ addic-
tion to the “ secondary wants,”—beer, brandy, pickles,
hams, wines, cigars, &c., not produceable in India—
became the arenas of political discussion. The Delhi,
Bareilly, and Shajehanpore massacres were freely
canvassed, and the necessity of imitation became a
matter of common-place talk. The admixture of
cows-bones was accepted as a fact, and the Sikhs
P D
34 MUSSULMAN REBELS.

were instigated to make it a casus belli. But the
Reverend “ Daood,” David, an ordained (Sikh) cler-
gyman, would never leave his post in the city from
first to last, and always gave out that hereafter for
tens there would be thousands of converts. A man,
Noor Mahomed Khan, had absolutely ridden from
Delhi, since the massacre, to inaugurate the “ Cru-
sade.” He was lately Serishtadar of the Canals, and
in his bundle were seen suits of fakeers’ clothes, and
disguises for future emergencies! He was all but
speechless on being arrested, and his physiognomy a
picture of what imagination gives to the butchers of
Delhi. All these well-wishers have died a hundred
deaths since; for from that day until this they have
been in solitary confinement, waiting, perhaps, to hear
the joyful sound of a riot in the gaol, such as in Hin-
doostan greeted the ears of almost every prisoner.

Thus the character of the insurrection had soon
developed itself. Had all the suspected been pursued,
the number of Mussulmen involved would have
become embarrassing to Government. So this new
danger had to be avoided; and until power is again
physically as well as morally substantial (as it ought
to be) instead of too shadowy, as it was when the
insurrection broke out, Islamism will not feel its
degradation in India.
FIDELITY OF NATIVE CHIEFS. 35

But even larger matters were absorbing the atten-
tion of Government. The state of affairs close upon
the borders of these Provinces, that would arise after
the outbreak of the Hurrianah Local Battalion and
the dismal tragedies of Hansi and Hissar, with the
inevitable disorganization consequent thereon, was a
source of peculiar anxiety. The native princes were
called upon to aid in the preservation of law and
order, and, with the exception of the Jhujjur Chief
(since hanged for high treason), who was at least
lukewarm, the demand was cordially responded to.
The efforts of their Highnesses of Patiala, and Bika-
neer, and Kuppoorthullah, will ever stand forth in
history as noble instances of Asiatic honour under
circumstances of unparalleled temptation. Conside-
rations of common-sense and pride; the first, inas-
much as possession of Company’s paper dictated
prudence; the second, because they could, at the
utmost, but play second and third fiddle to the Great
Mogul (he being then actually a dependent pensioner,
while they were virtually independent rulers), no
doubt had their share in the process of ratiocination.
Still all had their own fancied or real wrongs to urge;
and be it said in vindication of their delicacy, they
did not select the season of embarrassment either to
expatiate on them, or to extract promises.

D2
36 STATE OF UMBALLA.

The Umballa district in the months of May and
June attracted all eyes. The late Commander-in-
Chief was there awaiting the arrival of indispensable
equipments in the siege train from Philour. Fire
after fire was occurring continually, and no punish-
ment was meted out. The native regiments continued
doggedly sulky. The Judicial Commissioner had
telegraphed as follows to the Commander-in-Chief,
but without effect* :—

“ Jntelligence from Ferozepoor.— About 400 of
the 45th with arms have got off to Fureedkote.
Sirdars called in to capture them. The disarmed
mutineers at Ferozepoor sulky. Brigadier Innes has
been asked to march them to the Civil Gaol, and
destroy them if they resist. Unless you think that
the 60th, 25th, and 5th have so far committed them-
selves as to justify condign punishment, I earnestly
suggest that you at least disarm and confine them in
the Civil Gaol, which Mr. Barnes will empty on your
showing this. The civil authorities will take charge
of the men, and you will be relieved from anxiety.”

The advice was not followed. But the Commander-

* From the first, Montgomery had felt that timely severity
was the greatest humanity in the end; and that to prevent
bloodshed, the sword must be wrested from the murderer’s hands
at all present sacrifice.
INSUBORDINATION OF THE 60TH N. I. 37

in-Chief telegraphed to Lahore to learn how the dis-
arming had been effected there!

Meanwhile all available Europeans were streaming
down from the hill stations of Kussowlie and Dug-
shai; their departure, as will be seen hereafter, not
adding to the restoration of comfort among the
numerous residents. To add to the unexampled
embarrassments of a Commander-in-Chief, a wing of
the 60th N. I. was warned to be ready to march, but
with infamous insolence the regiment refused, unless
all were ordered to go! Perhaps General Anson
then began to regret his unpopularity with the Native
army, and in the humiliating concessions he had now
to make, almost under coercion, bethought himself of
having given out a few short months previously, when
the cartridge agitation was rife and menacing, that he
‘would never give in to their beastly prejudices!”

Two companies of the 5th N. L, on duty at
Thanusur (the neighbouring station), had shown
signs of open mutiny; but the ever ready Patiala
chieftain detached a force to keep the main line open
from thence to Kurnaul. In the language of his own
vakeel he seemed to sleep with one eye open to the
interests of the British army. Nay, more, he shel-
tered and entertained with princely hospitality the
famished and scorched fugitives who escaped the
38 FIRST BATTLE BEFORE DELHI.

massacres of Hansi and Hissar. Altogether the phy-
sical contingent this noble ally supplied must have
been about what Sardinia afforded the allies in the
Crimea; but the moral influence of the aid furnished
cannot be measured in the same way. The British
Parliament will know how to requite such generous
and gratuitous service.

An immediate advance would have been imperative
had adequate force been present; and much captious
and hasty criticism was elicited by the delay.
Meanwhile, the mutineers at Delhi were erecting a
series of most formidable entrenchments, behind
which they determinately gave, but soon lost, the first
and gloriously decisive battle before its walls. No
Commander-in-Chief was ever placed in such a pre-
dicament before. If the policy was Fabian, it was
Fabian on compulsion. Until the Punjab reinforce-
ments arrived, the head of the army had absolutely
no force reliable but the Europeans.

The actual advance will be seen from the annexed
extract from the Lahore Chronicle, dated the 26th of
May, or fifteen days after the outbreak :—

“ We arrived here yesterday morning, 3 a.m. Six
companies lst Bengal Fusiliers, and one squadron
H. M.’s 9th Lancers. The Chief and Staff arrived

during the day. We march again this evening to
DEATH OF SIR H. BARNARD. 39

Paneeput, 20 miles. The force that marched from
this on our arrival are ordered forward, consisting of
two guns, four companies European Bengal Fusiliers,
and a squadron 9th Lancers, to try and cut off a
strong mustering of sepoys, who have two guns with
them, and who have carried off the treasure from
Rohtuck, and are now moving on Hansi. ’Tis said
taey are 2,000 strong. H. M.’s 75th and 60th N. L
arrived this morning.”

Carriage was procured with incredible difficulty, in
corsequence of the dismissal of the Umballa estab-
lishment. Cholera, the Moloch of the East, now
broke out, and society was shocked to learn that one
of the first victims was the Commander-in-Chief
himself. The native mind is given to fatalism, and
many were the omens drawn, but not fated to be
realized. Since then the amiable and gallant Sir H.
Barnard succumbed, and was buried on the crest of
the ridge; his feet before the doomed city, which it
was not his fate to conquer. The European soldiery,
however, were too eager to be at Delhi to sink under
the scourge.

The state of the countries around began to exhibit
a gloomy change of aspect. Everywhere the veneer
of European civilization was peeling off. Crime

began to become rife. “ Budmashes” swarmed at
40 DISORGANIZED DISTRICTS.

Thanesur. The disorganization at Mozuffernuggur
and Saharunpore was contagious. District after dis-
trict in the N. W. Provinces broke up, and, excepting
in Saharunpore, where Mr. Robert Spankie mar-
tialized law on his own authority, and vindicated the
British name by his Avitabile-like determination,
scarcely a semblance of authority was left. Bands
of ruffians ruled the country. It may be imagined,
therefore, that the position of the Divisional Con-
missioner of the Cis-Sutlej States must have been
critical, and one demanding all his talents end
energy. Nobly was he seconded by his district
authorities. Through them he had to provide the
whole of the carriage for the army, and for the siege
train from Philour. He had to keep the peace in
five large and complicated districts, interspersed with
petty chieftaincies, while bands of mutineers were
roaming abroad, spreading treason, proclaiming the
downfall of British supremacy, and the sovereignty
of the army of Hindoostan.

To such a pitch was audacity carried, that a sepoy
of the 5th N. I. had the insolence to tear down at
Roopur, whither he and others had been despatched
ostensibly to keep the peace, a Government procla-
mation, and urged on the Hindoo citizens the neces-

sity of interdicting the slaughter of kine. A citizen,
ENERGY OF MR. G. RICKETTS. Al

who lent his support to these views, was at once
hanged. In short, there was highway robbery and
mutiny at Thanesur; open mutiny at Ferozepoor;
outrageous disloyalty at Umballa; panic at Simla.
Loodianah was more north; but probably the disre-
putable inhabitants of this ill-famed and troublesome
city had felt the first stroke of the iron rod with which
Mr. G. Ricketts quelled disturbances in his district,
and won for himself well-deserved reputation. In-
deed soon after, so great was the terror of his name,
that some inhabitants petitioned the King of Delhi to

have him “ disposed of,” otherwise their lives were
not of an hour’s value.

In all this extremity of confusion it was casually
ascertained that while the Europeans had only ten
rounds of ammunition per man, the faithful sepoys
were abundantly furnished with sixty! Of the two
companies of the 5th despatched to Roopur, to be
kept out of harm’s way, half melted away on their
march. Some, it is said, having well weighed the
subject, made up their minds to decamp; and with a
proper solicitude for their chattels, had despatched
them to various villages; but thinking better of it,
albeit some had actually started, they had the
effrontery to ask for their property to be re-collected
for them by the civil authorities, who were solicited
42 PUNJAB MOVEABLE COLUMN.

to do so, but declined. This regiment, on the day of
the Meerut mutiny of the 10th of May, violently
broke open their bells-of-arms, and temained under
arms for a whole day; but were pacified, interceded
for, and forgiven. The Umballa N. I. corps had also
added perjury to their crimes, having actually been
re-sworn on their colours. Had they been disarmed
or destroyed, much less annoyance would have been
occasioned.

To revert to matters previous to the start of the
army. Daily telegraph messages continued to prove
the vigour of the measures adopted in the Punjab.
One came from Peshawur to the effect that a Council
of War, consisting of General Reed, Brigadier-
General Cotton, Brigadier Neville Chamberlain,
Colonel Herbert Edwardes, and Colonel (the late
deeply-lamented) Nicholson, all names of repute, had
been formed.

A moveable column to quell mutiny at all
points was organized at Jhelum, consisting of
H. M.’s 27th Foot, from Nowshera; H. M.’s 24th,
from Rawul Pindee; an European troop of H. A.,
from Peshawur; one Light Field Battery, from
Jhelum; the Guide Corps, from Murdan; 16th Irre-
gular Cavalry, from Rawul Pindee; and 1st Punjab

Infantry, from Bunnoo; Kumaon Battalion, from
ACTIVITY OF THE TROOPS. 43

Rawul Pindee; wing of the 2nd Punjab Cavalry,
from Kohat; half company of Sappers, from Attock.

Events crowded so thickly that its composition was
vastly changed, and the above is only given to show
how immediate were the preparations. The atmo-
sphere of war had been fully breathed on the frontier
year by year; and to be in marching order was an
every-day business. For instance, the 27th, H. M.’s,
were soon re-called; for their presence was urgent at
Peshawur. H. M.’s 24th has since been in constant
march and service, but was detained at first at Rawul
Pindee. The European troop of H. A. has done
service all the way down, and is now within Delhi.
The Guide Corps and the Kumaon Battalion both
succoured the band of heroes before Delhi. The Ist
Punjab, “ Coke’s,” went to Delhi; perhaps fortu-
nately, Coke had been a little disabled before he got
there, or else, from his determined gallantry, we could
hardly have hoped to count this fine commandant
amongst the living. Rothney’s 4th Sikhs almost
emulated the Guides in the rapidity of their march.
Green’s Punjab Infantry since went to Delhi. The
4th (Wilde’s) was also there by the storm. The
march of the Guide Corps* was one of the most rapid
on record; some thirty miles a day from Murdan to
Delhi, and the force charged up to its walls in the

* For the constitution of this famous corps, vide Appendix.
44 FORT OF KANGRA SECURE.

battle. Alas! that the gallant and well-loved
young Quintin Battye, who, too early stricken, died
on the field of battle murmuring in the ear of a
friend —* Well, old fellow, ’tis the old saying, ‘ dulce
et decorum est pro patria mort’”—alas! that such
youth and promise had not lived to win the ever
fresh renown reaped in each fresh contest by his
heroic corps.

Gratifying intelligence had been received on the
17th of May of the quiet extrusion of the 4th N. I.
from the important hill fortress of Kangra by Young-
husband’s “ Sheredil.” None knew of it beforehand.
The sepoys looked what they felt, but said nothing.
Subsequently they expressed themselves satisfied, on
an explanation by Major Lake, the Commissioner ;
and recently they have distinguished themselves at
Noorpoor, when the order for disarming came out, and
when no coercion could be employed, by collecting
the arms, and conveying them, of their own accord,
to the house of Major Wilkie, a mile from the fort.
Thus early were all the great military positions
rapidly secured one after the other.

Also on the same date the accompanying bulletin
was issued:—“ Orders have been received from the
Chief Commissioner to add 400 men to 18 Punjab
and Police Corps—recruiting has commenced. Re-

cruits are pouring into Lahore. The country through-
RECRUITING IN THE PUNJAB. 45

out the Punjab perfectly peaceable ‘and tranquil.”
It was now manifest who was ruler in Israel. In a
totally opposite direction, at Jhelum, the 39th N. I.
(since disarmed) were removed from dangerous pro-
pinquity to the 14th N.I. (since mutinied, but of
whom more anon), and marched quietly to the Siberia
of the Poorbeah; the, to him, cheerless unsocial regions
of the Derajat. They were amused into the idea that
they were going on service. Further mention of this
will appear in a future chapter.

Internal precautionary measures having thus far
advanced satisfactorily, the telegraph of the Chief
Commissioner, himself well cognizant of Delhi, next
* urges the Commander-in-Chief to unite the Umballa
and Meerut forces, and advance on Delhi, stating
east of the Sutlej we can hold our own.” In another
telegram from Sir J. Lawrence, in answer to a mes-
sage from the Commander-in-Chief as to what course
to pursue, the Chief Commissioner (who was at whist)
replied shortly, “ When in dowbt, win the trick.
Clubs are trumps, not spades.” General Anson had
entertained the project of fortifying his camp at
Umballa. At the same time the Commander-in-
Chief penned a most elaborate minute for the late
Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Colvin, specifying exactly,

from his own intimate knowledge of the notabilities
46 SIR JOHN LAWRENCE’S PROCLAMATION.

of the Imperial city, who were loyally disposed and
who not, with various valuable suggestions. In reply,
Sir John received a cold telegraphic message to the
effect that “ Mr. Colvin had made his arrangements,
and that Mr. Greathed, the Commissioner with the
army, was apprised of them.” De mortuis nil nisi
bonum.”

On the Ist of June the annexed proclamation was
not without effect as a stay; and it might have rung in
the ears of many with prophetic solemnity, for the
day of the sepoy army has gone by never to return.
The true colours under which they fought have now
long since been shown; they were simply armed tools
of a Mahomedan insurrection. More than a gene-
ration may pass before their folly, as much as their
infamy, can be fairly appreciated by their posterity.

From rue Curer ComMIssIoNER oF THE PuNJAB TO THE
HinpoostaneE SoLpiers or THE Beneit ARMY.
Dated 1st June, 1857.

Srroys,—You will have heard that many sepoys and sowars
of the Bengal Army have proved faithless to their salt at
Meerut, at Delhi, and at Ferozepore. Many at the latter place
have been already punished. An army has assembled, and is
now close to Delhi, prepared to punish the mutineers and
insurgents who have collected there.

Sepoys, I warn and advise you to prove faithful to your salt,
faithful to the Government who have given your forefathers
and you service for the last hundred years. Faithful to that
Government who, both in cantonments and in the field, has
been careful of your welfare and interests; and who, in your
SIR JOHN LAWRENCE’S PROCLAMATION. 47

old age, has given you the means of living comfortably in your
homes. Those who have studied history know well that no
army has ever been more kindly treated than that of India.

Those regiments which now remain faithful will receive the
rewards due to their constancy. Those soldiers who fall away
now will lose their service for ever. It will be too late to
lament hereafter, when the time has passed by ;—now is the
opportunity of proving your loyalty and good faith. The
British Government will never want for native soldiers. Ina
month it might raise 50,000 soldiers in the Punjab alone.
If the “ Poorbea” sepoy neglects the present day, it will never
return. There is ample force in the Punjab to crush all
mutineers. ‘The chiefs and people are loyal and obedient, and
the latter only long to take your place in the army. All will
unite to crush you. Moreover, the sepoy can have no con-
ception of the power of England. Already from every quarter
English soldiers are pouring into India.

You know well enough that the British Government have
never interfered with your religion. Those who tell you the
contrary say it for their own base purposes. The Hindoo
temple and the Mahomedan mosque have both been respected
by the English Government. It was but the other day that
the Jumma Mosque at Lahore, which had cost lakhs of rupees,
and which the Sikhs had converted into a magazine, was
restored to the Mahomedans.

Sepoys,—My advice is that you obey your officers. Seize all
those among yourselves who endeavour to mislead you. Let
not a few bad men be the cause of your disgrace. If you have
the will, you can easily do this; and Government will consider
it a test of your fidelity. Prove by your conduct that the
loyalty of the sepoy of Hindustan has not degenerated from
that of his ancestors.

(Signed)

Joun Lawrence, Chief Commissioner.
In the passage here italicised, the wish was father
to the thought. Ten thousand overland, then, was
worth one hundred thousand round the Cape.
48 MAJOR CRAWFORD CHAMBERLAIN.

Thus mutiny in embryo was being stifled at almost
every station. Perhaps the disarming, par excellence,
was that conducted under Major Crawford Cham-
berlain at the important post of Mooltan. There
was no imposing European force present ; there
was possibly not sixty available European soldiers.
The brigade, of which Chamberlain had to assume the
command over the heads of senior officers, consisted
of an European company of artillery under Lieut.
Smallpage; a troop of native Horse Artillery, under
Lieut. DeBude; the 6th N. I., under Captain Denniss;
the 69th N. I., under Colonel Hicks; the 1st Irregular
Cavalry, under Captain Hickey; the Ist Punjab
Trregular Cavalry, under Captain Hughes; and
Punjab Infantry, under Captain Greene.

Various sources of information combined in
proving that the lives of the European residents
were not safer here than elsewhere, so long as
the native infantry regiments remained armed.
The defences of the fort were not in good repair;
and circumstances of the highest suspicion had been
elicited.

Sir John Lawrence directed that Major Crawford
Chamberlain should take command, and perform that
most delicate operation of disarming. The arrange-

ments were perfect, and the highest credit is due to
IMPORTANCE OF MOOLTAN. 49

Major Crawford Chamberlain and his coadjutor,
Captain Tronson, of the Katar Mookee Police. Let
the critical importance of Mooltan be remembered,
containing munitions of war to the amount of 15 lakhs
of rupees, commanding the river communication with
Bombay, from whence alone reinforcements could
arrive to replace the vast exodus of troops from the
Punjab, and its position of the last importance, as a
check on the Bahawulpoor Chieftain, will be evident.
No European aid, even if to be spared, could possibly
come 206 miles all the way from Lahore. The
Scinde Government was crippled for want of steamers
in consequence of the Persian war. The Bombay
troops were at Sukkur, 500 miles away.

Here, then, when the first shock of the mutiny
was felt, and its extent and character at once com-
prehended by those in command, eleven-twelfths of
the garrison of Mooltan were of Hindoostanee origin!
In fact, one European Company of Artillery was at
first sight the whole counterpoise to two full regi-
ments N, I., the 62nd and the 69th, the 1st Irregular
Cavalry, and the 4th Troop, 3rd Brigade of Horse
Artillery. Here, as elsewhere, the cartridge question
had been freely canvassed. The Post Office was
thronged in an unusual manner every morning by
inquisitive sepoys, soon after the disbanding of the

P. E
50 MOOLTAN STRENGTHENED.

34th N. I. at Barrackpore, which shows a keen
anticipation of impending events. Gold mohurs,
which can be easily carried in purses of fine cord,
were at a premium among them, and family remit-
tances began to be diverted from the usual Govern-
ment channel to private money-dealers.

These manifestations did not escape the watchful
eyes of Major Hamilton, the Commissioner, and
Major Crawford Chamberlain. The confidence of
the latter in his fine regiment, the 1st Irregulars,
was confirmed by information received from a native
officer of rank, that the infantry were trying to
tamper with his men. The 69th N. I. were most
suspected, the 62nd were less so. As to the native
troop of artillery (in which favourite service, even
before Delhi, few could be drawn from their allegi-
ance), there was every hope of their proving staunch.
Captain Spencer, however, did not allow the golden
moments of sepoy hesitation to glide by profitless,
but set to work, improved the defences of the fort,
mounted several pieces of ordnance, organized a
battery of two field pieces, and quietly stored pro-
visions for six month’s consumption, which had been
collected with the utmost despatch by Majors Voyle
Hamilton.

The ferries were now more carefully guarded, and
DISAFFECTION OF THE TROOPS. 51

the native correspondence more strictly scrutinized.
The contents of one letter led to the execution of the
addressee. Suspicious parties were arrested, and
the officers in command of the frontier posts of Derah
Ghazee Khan and Asnee warned to be in readiness.
Captain Hughes, commanding at the latter, seeing
the imminent posture of affairs, on his own respon-
sibility at once set out for Mooltan.

By the 9th of June there arrived the 1st Regiment
Punjab Cavalry, and a wing of the 2nd Regiment.
The disaffection of the 69th, at least, was increasing
in intensity, and admitted not the shadow of a doubt.
The hour for the disarming was ripe, and on the 10th
of June the orders came from the Chief Commissioner;
who, as above narrated, exercising his usual sagacious
discrimination of character, had selected Chamber-
lain for the delicate and critical operation. The
night was occupied in anxious and secret consultation
as to the plan. At morning dawn, the Colonel of
the 69th was apprised of the momentous step to be
taken, and was directed to parade all the troops in
garrison. The admirable operations which ensued,
and which called forth the eulogium of Government,
cannot be better described than by an eye-witness.

The parade being organized, “'The Punjab Cavalry
and Infantry marched to cantonments by two sepa-

E 2
52 MOVEMENTS FOR DISARMING.

rate roads. The cavalry on the road to the right,
debouching on to the grand parade, so as to cut off
fugitives should the troops about to be disarmed
have dispersed before the whole force had assembled;
whilst the infantry moved direct on to the parade
from the city, and remained concealed until it made
its appearance from the rear of the irregular cavalry
lines. The troops arrived at their destination most
opportunely, and took up their position at the proper
moment in the order shown in the annexed plan.
(See p. 53.)

“ The Horse Artillery were masked by a position
of the 1st Punjab Cavalry, and supported by the
Eurcpean company of artillery, the Punjab infantry
being on the left flank. The 62nd Regiment N. I.,
in quarter-distance column, originally occupied the
ground to the left of the Ist Irregular Cavalry, but
were advanced to the front, the Punjab cavalry
taking their place. At the same time, the 69th
Regiment Native Infantry, also in quarter-distance
column, were marched from their own parade to the
grand parade, and halted in contiguous close columns,
with the 62nd in front of the masked battery. The
whole of these movements were executed without
the slightest confusion or hesitation.”

So much for the military details, which seem to
POSITION OF THE TROOPS. 53

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54 THE DISARMING.

defy criticism. After perusal of a general order to
the native infantry, Chamberlain rode forward and
demanded immediate surrender of their arms, under
penalty of consequences. As these words were
pronounced, by preconcerted signal, the 1st Punjab
Cavalry, by a flank movement to the left, unmasked
the Horse Artillery, and six field pieces, loaded with
grape, their port-fires lighted, were seen. Each
piece, though manned by natives, was supported by
eight sturdy Europeans with loaded fuzils. The 62nd
piled arms at once. The 69th wavered; the guns
menaced; they yielded. The day was won. The
disarming of detached bodies, search of the bells-of-
arms, and other supplementary acts followed in
ordinary course.

The same success attended Captain Tronson, who,
with a party of mounted police and some Kuttar
Mookhi Police, disarmed a strong party of the 69th
at the Treasury.

The self-reliance of the English officer and soldier
was never exhibited on a more critical or more
bloodless occasion. Though satisfactory, it is nothing
to the point, that it was discovered afterwards that
the native artillery had without orders laid their
pieces with unerring precision full upon the devoted

regiments. With such a preponderance of uncertain
TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. 55

materials as he had to work with, and such a mere
handful of Europeans, this operation managed with
consummate tact and resolution by Chamberlain and
his gallant coadjutors, stands unique among similar
events in the crisis. The inhabitants, who had left
the city, at once took heart and returned; their
buried treasures were exhumed, and their ordinary
occupation recommenced; deputations of the princi-
pal inhabitants waited on the Commissioner to express
their gratification at the renewal of security and
peace.

The general political management of the Mooltan
Division, with its varied hosts of warlike clans and
tribes, was secure in the grasp of Major Hamil-
ton; and the apparent willingness shown by the
chieftains to furnish levies and horses, testify at all
events to his own influence, and the general respect
for the British power which his administration in-
spired. In the wild district of Googaira, nothing,
up to the date to which this work extends, had
occurred. With infinite coolness and determination,
at the commencement of the outbreak Lieutenant
Elphinstone had promptly disarmed the company
of the 49th N. I, who acted as treasury guard, by
the aid of the ordinary disciplined police. Subse-
quently, in July, a daring attempt at outbreak in
56 DISTURBANCES PUT DOWN.

the Googaira gaol was as sternly suppressed by the
same officer.

Strange enough also, since the fall of Delhi, a
fierce insurrection broke out in this district, almost
as it were in the hour of victory and success, and as
if to tax the mental and physical resources of the
Chief Commissioner to the utmost. Even this has
been extensively, though not without some hard work,
quelled and crushed, and the country once more
resumed its attitude of sustained activity in prepa-
ration for the armies of England, and of stern
vigilance against the faintest indicative movement in

the chequered drama of Punjab politics.
57

CHAPTER III.

THE FRONTIER—DOINGS THERE.

Very early in the crisis, Rajah Sahib Dyal, an old
and faithful adherent of the Government, asked the
writer how matters looked at Peshawur? The reply

 

was satisfactory. ‘ Otherwise ” said the ques-
tionist, and he took up the skirt of his muslin robe,
and rolled it significantly up. The mines, however,
had been carefully laid. All that was wanting in the
infernal machine, was success in the simultaneous
explosion. A rise at Peshawur, and the arrival
of some fourteen thousand fanatics, with pillage
and murder in their van, was counted upon luckily
“‘ without the host.” At Lahore, the cry has always
been Peshawur is up, and vice verséd. With men
like Nicholson, and Cotton, and Edwardes on the
frontier, small dread could be entertained. Diffi-
culties, however, are apt to be under-estimated, or
forgotten, where the victories are those of talents and
influence, and the peace and security around are
58 FRONTIER TRIBES.

derived from the maturest precautions having been
taken against disturbance. For eight hundred miles,
thirty or more savage intractable tribes cluster among
the wilds and hilly fastnesses from north to south
along the frontier. In the hands of Nicholson and
Edwardes their political management was safe.
Separate interests, separate dialects, and often sepa-
rate habits and customs, formed elements of political
capital, which they were well versed in moulding
and wielding. Had the capabilities of these tribes
for combination been at all equal to the results which
might have accrued from a simultaneous demon-
stration of one hundred thousand armed and fighting
men arrayed, the valley could never have been held.
But so stern a retribution had ever been visited on
the priest-ridden fanatics by Chamberlain and Cotton,
Coke and Nicholson, that they were completely
overawed. Moreover, amalgamation between Hindoo
sepoys, who formed the majority, with the tribes was
(as it turned out to be) full as impossible as the
mingling of oil and vinegar. The cartridge question
was nothing to the Hill Mussulman. Notwith-
standing these favourable dispositions, a critical con-
juncture was approaching, and the first note of what
had been passing was sounded at the capital, Lahore,

as follows :—
MUTINY OF THE 55TH N. I. 59

“The 55th N. I. have been attacked at Hote
Murdan (about 40 miles from Peshawur), officers all
safe. One hundred of the men remained true;
artillery and cavalry gone in pursuit of the rest,
who went away with their colours. Lieut. Law,
10th Irregulars, wounded in the neck. Colonel
Spottiswoode committed suicide.”

It appears that the first symptoms of disaffection
in the valley were exhibited by the 55th N. I. at
the bridge guard at Attock; and a portion of the
regiment, together with two troops of the 10th Irre-
gular Cavalry, were sent over to Murdan to replace
the Guide Corps, which had already marched to
Delhi. The reasons for this move are sufficiently
clear by the light of recent events. They were
utterly in the dark as to the real object; so much
so, that when crossing the bridge of boats at Now-
shera, they gave vent to their delight in loud cries.
Whether this was mere affectation or not, it is
impossible to say, but the next morning the regiment
taunted the Colonel with having brought them to the
fort, as a prison. Colonel Spottiswoode, whose belief
in the loyalty of his corps was dearer than life itself,
assured them to the contrary, and promised to forward
to General Anson any petition they might draw up.
The petition was drawn up, and ‘by far the most
60 FATE OF A MUTINEER.

prominent of all the grievances was the breaking
up in practice, though not in name, of the Invalid
Establishment. The recent abolition of the European
establishment gave c»lour to the supposition that the
native one would meet the same fate.

Meanwhile, the bridge guard under a subadar
came into Nowshera in a mutinous state, having
refused to obey the orders of Lieutenant Lind, and
even threatened to shoot him. It is worthy of
record that this very subadar, by name Soodeen
Doobey, was a cousin of the subadar-major of the
3rd Light Cavalry, at Meerut, the first appointed
generalissimo of the rebel army of Delhi. The
cousin had doubtless been selected as prime mover and
leader of the hoped-for insurrection in the Peshawur
valley. His fate was worthy of his deserts. After
heading the mutiny of his corps, he fled to the
great Valley, and so wretched an existence did he
drag on, that he was fain to give himself up to
Major Becher, Deputy-Commissioner of Huzara,
with abject supplications for mercy. He was blown
away from a gun forthwith.

Major Verner, with a portion of the 10th Irregular
Cavalry, went out to meet the bridge-guard, and
after disarming, brought them into cantonments. He
found the depot of the 55th “skirmishing” all over
THE 64TH N. I. DEPORTED. 61

the place and firing. They had broken into the
magazine, and had their havresacks full of ammu-
nition. He ordered his men to charge, instead of
which they adopted a retrograde movement. Matters
remained thus until the next day, when the remainder
of the 55th went off to Murdan, and joined the rest
of the regiment there. A sullen disrespectful manner
had been detected among the sepoys previously, and
reported. The 22nd of May was the day fixed upon
for the general rise. In preparation for which, they
had sent their wives and children out of the lines.

A suspicious circumstance also had occurred in
the 64th N. I., a regiment that had before shown an
insubordinate spirit in reference to pay; and the
officer commanding the artillery put a picket over
his guns, which lay contiguous to it. This regiment,
the worst dispositioned of all, on the requisition of
Colonel Nicholson (then Deputy Commissioner), was
deported (ostensibly) to reinforce the frontier posts
of Peshawur. They were marched out, divided into
detachments, and stationed under the guns of the
three forts held by the Khelat-i-Ghilzies at Michnee,
Abozaie, and Shubkudr. Twenty-five lakhs of
rupees were in the Treasury, and Nicholson quietly,
on the 18th of May, removed them to the fort.
This sum, originally destined as a subsidy for Dost
62 DISARMING AT PESHAWUR.

Mohammed, had most opportunely arrived; otherwise,
in the financial paralysis which succeeded, it would
have been impossible to pay the commissariat ex-
penses.

On the 20th, a letter was intercepted from the
51st at Peshawur (since entirely destroyed), in-
viting the 64th to come in. The 24th and 27th had
had a midnight meeting. Nicholson, bravest of the
brave, “ bold, resolute, determined,” then strenuously
urged General Cotton to disarm. The 27th was
Nicholson’s own corps. The General was not at
first convinced of the expediency, until Col. Edwardes
arrived at Peshawur from Calcutta, and added his
voice to the counsel. Once decided upon, the dis-
arming was carried out with masterly address.

The force was divided into two brigades, each
comprising one European regiment, one battery of
artillery, and half the troops to be disarmed. The
want of English cavalry was so much felt, that
Major Barr’s trocp of Horse Artillery had to
be employed as dragoons. At four o’clock in the
morning, orders were sent to commanding officers of
the native regiments to be disarmed, to hold a parade
each on his ground, and while ordinary parade was
being held, the Europeans and artillery of each bri-
gade marched down. The order was given, © Pile
GATHERING OF AFFGHANS, ETC. 63

arms,” and they were at once taken possession of and
carried off by the Europeans. Colonel Nicholson had
opportunely called in the chiefs of the valley, and as
the disarming was being carried on, clouds of
Affghan horsemen darkened the horizon. So also
the peach-gardens around swarmed with armed
men, Peshawurrees and hill-tribes, all eager to take
either side as the issue might be. The environs of
the station, from the cantonment to the city, were
literally black with the raffish multitude, on the alert
for pillage and murder on the first untoward sign.
They were disappointed; though the cause of the
disappointment manifestly increased their respect for
the British Government. The measure at once
relieved a large proportion of the Europeans, who
could now without danger be detached to meet the
mutinous 55th and the 64th N. I, supposed to be
in mutiny. To leave disaffected regiments armed
behind at Peshawur was out of the question. On
intelligence, therefore, of the state of the 55th N. L,
Colonel Chute, of the 70th, marched thither on the
day after the disarming. On arrival, perceiving an
armed party forming outside, as if intending to
attack, he formed into position; when the adjutant
of the 55th N. I. rode up and informed him that
it consisted of the loyal remnants of the regiment,
accompanied by their officers, about one hundred and
64 SIGNAL DEFEAT OF MUTINEERS.

twenty in all. The peril of the officers had been
imminent. In the night a conclave had been held,
and a very small majority had decided in favour of
not murdering their officers, who were totally in the
power of the sepoys. The remainder of the corps
had broken tumultuously and fled towards Sound-
khour.

Colonel Nicholson, accompanied by a troop of
Horse Artillery, the 18th Irregular Cavalry, one
hundred Punjab Infantry, and forty of his personal
escort, dashed to the pursuit, slaughtered one hun-
dred and twenty mutineers, captured one hundred
and fifty, with the colours, and upwards of two hun-
dred stand of arms. The zemindars behaved won-
derfwlly, and brought in fugitives with their money
all safe, and with their heads on their shoulders also,
to the embarrassment of the authorities. The sus-
taining spirit of the chase, Nicholson, was in the
saddle twenty hours, having gone over some seventy
miles. The mutineers fought desperately when at
bay, so that the numbers killed represent the upshot
of so many hand-to-hand combats. The terror of his
name spread throughout the valley, and gave addi-
tional emphasis to the moral effect of the disarming
policy.

The |conduct of the Punjab Infantry, the 5th
(Vaughan’s), on this their first trial, was keenly
FIDELITY OF THE 5TH P. I. 65

watched. It had a large admixture of the Poorbeah
element. It passed the ordeal triumphantly. Shaping
their course after the cue thus given by the 5th
P. I., the whole Punjab Irregular Force stood com-
mitted to deadly hostilities with the Hindoostanee
soldiery. The 5th P. I. had the honour of slaying
the first mutineer in the black year of 1857. They
had the opportunity from local position, and they used
it; and their brilliant example set aside all question
as to the unsullied fealty of this valuable arm.

After the pursuit of the 55th N. I, Colonel Chute’s
column moved up to Fort Abozaie, in the hills sur-
rounding which some of the 55th N. I. had found tem-
porary asylum. Here, almost simultaneously with a
similar operation conducted by Captain Bingham at the
forts of Shubkudr and Michnee successively, Colonel
Chute dispossessed the party of the 64th N. I. of their
arms. Nothing could have been easier than for the
64th N. I. to have murdered their officers, and to
have given up Fort Michnee to the hill-tribes; and
considerable discomposure in Peshawur politics would
have been the result of such a catastrophe.

The Mooltanee Horse now began to pour in. It
has been observed that the 10th Irregular Cavalry
behaved disgracefully. Their punishment was adapted
to the character of their proceedings. Half the

Pp. F
’

66 PUNISHMENT OF THE 10TH IRREG. CAY.

regiment were ordered to Peshawur; the other half
remained at Nowshera. The trap was of so masterly
a device that escape was impossible. Five hundred
fiery and true Mooltanee Horse had left Peshawur
for Delhi; while a detachment of H. M.’s 27th were
coming back to Peshawur from Rawul Pindee.
Each had its cue. They met, and at early dawn
fell on the wing of the 10th Regiment, and despoiled
them of everything: horse, accoutrements, ammu-
nition, weapons, all but the clothes on their backs!
The wing at Peshawur were similarly flayed of all
external evidences of the profession they had dis-
graced. They were then marched down to the Kabul
river, eight miles from Peshawur, put into boats, and
started off to Attock, where they met their discon-
solate brethren. Four rupees a piece were adminis-
tered, and under escort of the fearless Mooltanees,
who required no “orders” what to do in case of |
attempt to escape, they were deported.

In a previous chapter we have depicted the
position of 300 of H. M.’s 81st and 12 Europeans,
Hi. E. I. C. 8. guns, as they disarmed four regiments
N. I. at Meean Meer. The annexed diagram will
show another imposing spectacle. The first terrible
evidence of the British Government “ asserting itself”

to the death, was about to be given. A Subadar
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68 EXECUTION OF MUTINEERS.

Major of the 51st had been captured and hanged,
boasting that he had been a rebel for more than a
year, and that the English rule was at an end.
On this man’s person was found 900 rupees. He
inquired what was to be done with his money ;
having, no doubt, in his mind some testamentary
disposition to make, and revolving therein the ques-
tion as to residuary legatees. He was informed that
after deducting 84 rupees, the price of the gallows
on which he was to swing, the balance would be
credited to the State. Twelve men of his regiment
were hanged two days after him in a row,on full
parade of all troops; and subsequently the awful
punishment of blowing away from guns was inflicted
upon forty of the 55th mutineers. The pacific
English mind will observe the position of the gallows,
(See p. 67,) and will comprehend the feelings of the
forty doomed men; the last batch of whom had to
be dragged up almost senseless to their merited fate.
The impossibility of a rescue would, owing to this
snug disposition, appear at a glance to the most in-
terested spectators. A Mr. Rich, M.P., moved for a
return of mutineers blown away from guns, but the
motion was not seconded. General Cotton, who
knows no squeamishness, will no doubt be happy

to supply him with every information as to the
ADHESION OF THE VALLEY CHIEFS. 69

draconic code in force, and which he was the first
to execute.

The moral effect of the disarming, on the 21st,
was instantaneous and marked. On the 20th of May,
Nicholson had despaired of raising recruits; on the
22nd, he was overwhelmed with applicants. As in
Lahore, so in Peshawur, the one act formed the
political pivot. The people of the country at once
decided on their course of policy. The fierce but
pliable Asiatic always yields before determined will.
Decision pierces him as he shifts. The best-inten-
tioned resident of the Peshawur valley might naturally
play the waiting game, in the neighbourhood of an
armed Hindoostanee force consisting of a regiment
of Light Cavalry, three of Irregular Cavalry, and
seven of Infantry. In fact, the mullicks or chiefs of
the valley when first summoned by Colonel Nicholson,
declined to peril the lives of their followers and
furnish aid in the face of such a force. They openly
said, “ Show us that you are the stronger, and there
shall be no lack of support.” Within three hours
after the disarming-time, to their word, the chiefs of
the valley ‘crowded in. upon General Cotton, flung
their swords on the ground at his feet, and tendered
the services of themselves and their vassals.

. A. suspicious-looking faqueer was arrested about
70 THE TABLES TURNED.

this time, and a letter, hidden in a small bag, from
some one in cantonments to some one outside, was
found on him. The contents were that “this was a
time of opportunity ; not to fear, but to come in on the
day of Eed, for the work was easy.” He was hanged.
Similarly no misplaced leniency was extended to any
captures. The offence was mutiny, or the design
treason, and, in either, the punishment, death.

The Hindoostanee, formerly sentinel of the Afreedie
populace, was now watched by them. The tables,
as if by magic, were completely turned. Various
threatened confederacies among the tribes were
prudently dissipated. A part of the 55th N. I. had
been received by the inhabitants of the Swat country;
but the Swatees, tired of their new acquaintances,
and gradually, for the sake of the reward, the latter
have almost all been delivered over and executed.
One Subadar, it was narrated, after passing through
the process of circumcision, could only fetch four
annas two pice as a slave in the hills. Considerable
pains had been taken by one of the unscrupulous
hillmen to salve his conscience by making a true
Mussulman of a Hindoo sepoy he had captured,
previous to handing him over to condign punishment
before a British tribunal; and he expressed the
highest indignation when the convert, in reply to
RECRUITING AMONG HILL TRIBES. 71

the question of the Brigade-Major, gave his old
Hindoo name instead of the new flaming Mahomedan
cognomen he had been newly endowed with. The
mountaineer shook his fist, and denounced loudly the
shocking ingratitude of the apostate, after the disin-
terested trouble he had taken to secure the salvation
of his soul.

It will be remembered that the tenets and practice
of the Sikh faith were sedulously framed so as to
shock the prejudices of the frontier Mahomedans ;
and to insure perpetual antagonism between them.
This antagonism, even in the same corps of Punjab
regiments, has been counted upon, discounted upon,
and as yet has always been found solvent. All the
Sikhs and Punjabees were taken out of the disarmed
regiments, and re-enrolled into a new regiment. Capt.
Wilde, on his own responsibility, at once eliminated
from his corps the Poorbeahs ; an example afterwards
imitated in the other Punjabee corps. <A regiment
of Putthans was also raised. Ten men out of every
European company were at once instructed in gun-
drill, and the Peshawur Light Horse sprang into
existence, mounted on horses from the 5th Light
Cavalry, and the disbanded 10th Irregulars.

Intercepted letters revealed nothing by which the
loyalty of the 21st N. I. and the Khelat-i-Ghilzies
72 LOYALTY OF KHELAT-I-GHILZIES.

could be impeached, and they were honourably occu-
pied in manning the three frontier forts of Abozaie,
Michnee, and Shubkudr. The 21st N. I. subse-
quently joined in all expeditions into Euzof-zaie. The
Khelat-i-Ghilzies filled posts of no mean honour.
The mnoral preponderance of the well-affected in the
regiment trampled out the few seeds of disaffection
which had been flung among them. This preponder-
ance was not impulsive and momentary, but had all
along been deliberate as it was now sustained. No
interruption in the usual remittances to their homes
in the N. W. Provinces took place. When the muti-
nous 55th N. I. broke away near the fort of Abozaie,
the Khelat-i-Ghilzies were most active in hunting
them up. Even the last test was not wanting to
prove, beyond a shadow of a question, the discipline
and loyalty of the corps. A wretch, named Pahar
Singh, seized his musket, and called out that the
Europeans were marching to disarm them. The
commanding officer and his adjutant made for the
magazine, but they were held back by their faithful
men. The order was given to load, and unhesi-
tatingly obeyed. A jemadar shouted to the villain
to lay down his arms, but in reply was shot dead by
him. The murderer was almost instantly despatched

by one of the regiment. The assembly was sounded ;
CONTENTMENT IN PESHAWUR. 73

not a desertion had occurred: all expressed abhorrence
of Pahar Singh’s crime. Subsequently, also, when
some forty of the remnant of the 51st mutinied and
sought protection under a fanatic Syud of Khyber, a
body of the hillmen assembled and came down to the
attack, but was immediately repulsed.

The total destruction of the 51st N. I. at Peshawur,
which occurred in August, will be mentioned here-
after; so that in some measure a sort of chrono-
logical order in the narration of events may be pre-
served.

Certain great causes have doubtless operated in
keeping the Swatees, the Peshawurees, and the
Kabulees well affected. The assessment of the
valley is of lightness to them formerly unknown.
The Dooranees ground the people to dust: they do
so at Kabul to this day. The Sikhs levied annually
twelve lakhs from the valley, and as much more in
plunder. The British Government’ contents itself,
and makes the people content, by taking six lakhs
per annum, and spending as much monthly! Never,
therefore, were the people so prosperous. The
ownership of land is eagerly sought for. During the
Sikh and Dooranee dynasties every one shrunk from
the risk: each tried to prove he was not a land-
owner. Now every rood is contested. Deeds and
74 CALM ON THE FRONTIER.

bonds of fifty years back are hunted up and eagerly
produced. Old claimants from Bokhara and Kabul
descend, and try to revive their possessions in the
valley. The large expenditure, and the vast number
of troops, have opened out a market for cereal pro-
duce, as well as for wood and the fruits of the hills:
so much so, that the greatest punishment to a
fractious tribe is to shut them out from the Peshawur
and cantonment markets. It is called “ blockading :”
every member of the tribe seized in the valley is
put into gaol, and 10 rs. awarded to the informer or
apprehender.

Another indirect cause of the calm pervading the
dreaded frontier may be traced in the fact that at
the outset of the crisis the Afreedies had betaken
themselves to their mountain fastnesses and cool
retreats to escape the hot months. Before they
could have been fully alive to the thorough disaf-
fection of the native troops, the regiments had been
disarmed and coerced, and Mooltanee horsemen, to
whom they have neither liking nor affinity, were
coming in daily, together with troops from Bunnoo
and the lower portion of the frontier. The astonished
Afreedic, instead of receiving his usual intimation of
a disturbance, and the when, and the how, and the
where he was to take his share, was met by entreaties
COLONEL NICHOLSON’S POLICY. 75

from relations already snugly enlisted in British
employ, to come and take service; for there “were
lots of rewards, regular payments, a month’s pay in
advance, little to do, and that little in accordance
with their instincts and prospects of plunder.”

The policy of Colonel Nicholson cannot be too
much admired. Wild spirits of the valley had become
our “ right well-beloved and trusty friends.” That
very populace, in entire and cordial co-operation with
which lay the only chance of successful mutiny to the
Hindoostanee sepoy, furnished sentinels over them,
but too anxious to exhibit their devotion. Richard
the Second putting himself at the head of the insur-
gents, is the only parallel we can call to mind.

Thus all waverers felt that the “ Feringhees” had
“ asserted” themselves. The dak was intercepted,
and then ignorance was 4s good as a reserve of ten
thousand Europeans. They saw Government were
utterly fearless and independent of the sepoy army.
Many an Afreedie, who had been fighting for us at
Delhi, remits the unaccustomed “family remittances”
to be realized through friendly agency, and the coin
is conveyed to some wild fastness, where an Euro-
pean’s life would not be worth a rush. The stimulus
of individual prudence acted no doubt quite as well
as love for us, and urged adherence to our rule.
76 CHARACTER OF THE AFFGHANS.

Avarice and bigotry are the ruling principles of the
Affghan. The former, however, fortunately predo-
minates—the union of the two produces not fusion,
but a neutralization of force. They have also an
instinctive horror of regular warfare and disciplined
enemies. Added to these, the more northern Maho-
medans are not so soft and susceptible as the
Hindoostanees ; and hence their superior intelligence
and sagacity rendered them impervious to the idle
stories, absurd rumours, and diligent calumnies,
which have befooled, excited, and maddened the
latter. Moreover, there is no want of generous im-
pulse and lofty chivalrous honour in the Affghan.

As a type of the general feeling which prevailed on
hearing of the frantic defilement and execrable out-
rages on the helpless women, one Affghan, during an
interview at Peshawur, spat upon the ground, shut
his ears in deep disgust, and congratulated himself
that he belonged to a country which had once been
the asylum of British captives, but which knew how
to treat female honour with courtesy and respect.
This unlooked-for sympathy was not confined to mere
expressions, but extended to fervent wishes that the
British rule might not thus be extinguished amid

nsult and degradation, but that it might survive to

avenge.
CONDUCT OF DOST MAHOMED. 77

Specifically speaking, perhaps, Dost Mohammed is
as averse, from motives of sound policy, to meddle
with us as Runjeet Singh formerly, or Runbeer Singh
now. He had been also receiving a golden subsidy,
in the shape of a lakh per month, for the Kandahar
Mission ostensibly ; and it has not been discontinued.
Thus, notwithstanding the entreaties and protesta-
tions of his villanous and treacherous family, and
Sultan Mahomed his elder brother, “ that now is the
time to take the Peshawur valley,” the old Dost has
kept quiet, when one sign from him to the hill tribes
would have engendered inconceivable complications ;
and the people of Affghanistan have acquiesced in his
quietude, probably for the reasons above mentioned,
possibly because they have not yet forgotten Pollock’s
avenging army. In Swat a faqueer resides of saintly
repute. He, too, is wisé in his generation. When
Sultan Mahomed played treacherously with Colonel
George Lawrence, the Swat faqueer rejected his
solicitation to stir up a religious crusade against
“infidels.” He replied, that, without doubt, infidels
they were, but better rulers for the people of the
country than the Dooranees either had been or would
be. In pursuance of these views of policy, the
faqueer allowed but short respite to the 55th N. I. in

the domain within his influence, but “‘ moved them on.”
78 VIGOROUS MEASURES,

Few and far between, at this period even, were
instances of bad feeling among the inhabitants. In
Eusufzaie the village of Narinjaie has always
been troublesome, and its position is difficult of
access. There the revenue had seldom been collected
without coercion, or show of coercion. They refused
to pay the educational cess, on the plea that they did
not require education! Then they paid a modicum,
and held out for the remainder. Some stragglers of
the 55th, and a few “ Ghazees,” worked them up to
open rebellion. A detachment, commanded by Major
Vaughan, started from Murdan with the 5th Punjaub
Infantry, the 4th Punjab Rifles (Wylde’s), 2nd
Punjab Cavalry (Browne’s), and four guns of the
Peshawur No. 7, under Captain Polman. They
attacked the village at daybreak, which was despe-
rately defended. After four hours’ hard fighting, the
whole of the lower villages were taken and burnt.
After inflicting this severe lesson, the column retired.

A second expedition soon followed, and another cas-
tigation was administered. Thus, even with impending
convulsion in Hindoostan, and possibly the lower
Punjab, the vigour of the frontier policy knew no
abatement, but, if possible, was more stern and inex-
orable than ever. Even the tribes concerned in the

melancholy assassination of Lieutenant Hand have
HINDOO TROOPS AT PESHAWUR. 79

knuckled down: they have been heavily mulcted,
and have tendered submission. Lately a rebellious
“Syud,” with some fugitive sepoys of the 55th and
51st, ran the gauntlet down the frontier of each suc-
cessive tribe, trying to incite insurrection; but they
were “ passed on!”

The care of the Hindoostanee troops at Peshawur
gives the least cause of anxiety, for they are in a
cage. There is a fortress on the Rawul Pindee side
of the ferry of the Indus, and no one can cross
without permission. The disaffected know well that
they are hedged in, and if they move they must fight
it out to their inevitable destruction.
80

CHAPTER IV.

JULLUNDUR.

Far different from the vigour, skill, and promptitude
displayed first at Lahore, and afterwards at Peshawur
and Mooltan, was the character of the proceedings in
the Jullunder Doab. Since the outbreak at Meerut,
the 36th N. I. the 61st N. L, and the 6th Light
Cavalry, had showed open disaffection; incendiary
fires were of almost nightly occurrence. Every
device had been tried by the sepoy to try the temper
of those in authority, and the result fully justified the
conclusion to which they had come, viz., that they
could act almost with impunity. It had been whis-
pered that they intended to break out, if Delhi did
not fall within a month from the Meerut insurrection.
To such a pitch had the disloyalty arisen, that
seditious notices, threatening certain native officers
who were well disposed towards Government, had
one day been found posted up at the Pay Office Trea-
sury, where the guards were relieved daily. The
DISARMING DELAYED. 81

officers alluded to had been specially commended the
day before by General Johnstone on parade!

Notwithstanding the urgent advice of the Govern-
ment that they should be disarmed, the advice was
not taken. Infatuated intercessions of the command-
ing officers were listened to, on behalf of the trea-
cherous regiments. A short period before the
mutiny, which will be described in this chapter, a
6th Cavalry trooper had taunted a comrade and the
non-commissioned officer with being Christians. At
the earnest solicitation of the native officers, who ex-
pressed themselves “anxious to maintain the credit
of their corps,” it was conceded that the man should
be tried by a regimental court-martial. THe was so,
and acquitted! The trooper since signalized himself
by firing on his own commanding officer.

On the night of the 4th, the hospital of the 61st
N. I. was burnt to the ground. Still, measures for
disarming were not adopted, notwithstanding the
presence of her Majesty’s 8th.

On the night of the 7th of June, a fire broke out
in the lines of the 36th N. I. The officer of the day,
on going to the spot, found his men loading their
muskets, and was shot at by way of reply to his
remonstrances. Fires had been of late such ordinary
occurrences, that use had become second nature, and

P G
82 GALLANTRY OF OFFICERS.

some officers did not apprehend any disturbance. A
sharp rattling of musketry soon undeceived them.
All the Christian population fled for safety to the
rear of the guns, which Major Olpherts had judi-
ciously disposed so as to command every avenue ;
but, on asking permission of Brigadier Johnstone to
fire on some mutineers who were coming from the
direction of the 36th N. I. lines, he was refused. No
want of gallantry was shown by the officers of the
regiments in risking their lives in the vain attempt to
quell open mutiny by persuasion; and, alas! there
was no want of melancholy sacrifices.

The cavalry sowars were the chief instigators of
the rebellion here, as at Meerut. They galloped in
frantically amongst the men of the 61st N.I., firing
pistols in all directions, sounding the double, and yell-
ing that the Europeans and artillery were upon them.
The Major, with Lieutenants Tyndall and Kemp, were
mobbed; but a faithful few stood by them, and ma-
naged to convey them to the quarter-guard, round
which a perfect sea of heads was waving. Wonderful
was the escape of these officers. Others also were
saved through the devotion and presence of mind of a
havildar, who feigned severe sickness from rheuma-
tism, and abused the mutineers for disturbing him ;

Major Innis and others being concealed close by him.
GALLANTRY OF OFFICERS. 83

If found, they would inevitably have been murdered.
The night did not pass without atrocities. Ensign
Durnford has since died from a wound received from
a trooper. While the sepoys were busy pillaging the
treasure-chest, the havildar alluded to and a drill
naick seized the above officers and conveyed them
aloft to the top of the quarter-guard, through a trap-
door which they shut and sat upon.

Three times had Major Innis, by sheer force of
command, stemmed the tide that was rushing to the
bells-of-arms. Bungalows were seen in flames in
various directions; and a dust-storm added to the
uproar and confusion. The Sergeant-Major and his
wife had previously got on to the roof of the same
quarter-guard. Ever and anon mutineers were heard
beneath inquiring for Major Innis, and all the while
the unhappy Durnford lay on a charpoy, wounded,
concealed by a sheet.

While these occurrences were taking place at
the right wing, Captain Basden, with Lieutenant
Hawkins, was less fortunate at the left wing.
The former was attacked by the sowars, cut at by
one, thrust in the arm by another, struck at by a
sepoy with his musket, and assailed by a coolie with
a bamboo. He rode away only when resistance was
hopeless. Lieutenant Hawkins proved himself no

G 2
84 OFFICERS FIRED AT.

mean champion; for, on a sepoy hurling a ghurra at
him, this officer charged him, and cut him over the
head and neck with a sharp sword. Bethinking him
of his revolver, Hawkins went for it, and again came
down to the post of danger. He found his regiment
drawn up in close columns of companies surrounded
by sowars, and when he got within thirty yards, a
sentry took aim. Swinging himself low down to the
right of his horse, and having the satisfaction of
hearing the ball of his assailant pass over his right
shoulder, Lieutenant Hawkins administered the con-
tents of a barrel of Colt, and experienced a second
satisfaction in seeing his enemy drop. He then rode
off to the lines of H. M.’s 8th, charged by troopers
and fired at; one bullet grazing his back.

Similar scenes were being enacted in the 36th lines.
Young Lieutenant Bates was treacherously shot in the
arm, in reply to his vain efforts to appease and control
the men. A mournful fate awaited poor Lieutenant
Bagshaw, the adjutant, who, while apparently (as he
said before he died) almost successful in restoring
order, was mortally wounded by a 6th Cavalry
trooper. They basely fired on their commanding
officer, Major Faddy; previously informing him that
“ they didn’t want him any more.”

Similar also was the scene in the Cavalry, and
PRECONCERTED MUTINY. 85

vain the efforts of the late gallant Willock, the
Adjutant, to allay the excitement. Major Mac
Mullen was shot in the hand. The general impres-
sion at the time was, that the arrival of a troop
of Horse Artillery the previous morning from
Hosheiarpore had caused a panic, which was fos-
tered by the designing. Reviewing the matter now
by the light of subsequent events, there can be no
question that it was as base, as deliberate, and as
preconcerted mutiny as any which has disgraced the
Bengal army ; without a single black feature—whe-
ther treachery, pillage, incendiarism, or assassination
—wanting.

And while the ladies, women, children, and all
non-combatants, with the terrors of what had passed
in Delhi and Meerut at their hearts, were wild with
fear, and the wounded Adjutant Bagshaw was
brought in to confirm their worst apprehensions,
where was the Brigadier? And what were H. M.’s
gallant 8th about, who had been long bursting to
avenge their slaughtered countrymen and women?
The following facts will serve to point a moral, if
they do not adorn the tale :—

It has been previously mentioned that to Major
Olpherts’ earnest entreaty, to be allowed to open fire
upon the miscreants a refusal was sent: a refusal
86 EXTRAORDINARY INFATUATION.

which the native troop did not choose to under-
stand; for on some sowars coming within what they
deemed undesirable propinquity, they discharged two
rounds of grape with success, but without orders.
All night H. M.’s 8th were kept straining on the
leash “on the defensive.” Plans of attacks and
operations preconcerted for emergencies like the
present had been laid down, but nothing could elicit
the order for them to be carried out. The fate of
all around was uncertain, and yet no movement was
made. It was even reported to the head military
authority that the guns on the left flank had been
actually drawn out, with the express object of
advancing against the 36th Regiment, so as to unite
with a detachment of H. M.’s 8th Regiment on its
coming round, and approval was solicited, without
avail. The impression seemed to be entertained by
the Brigadier that the outbreak was being adequately
quelled by the loyal members of the corps! and
orders were issued to act solely “on the defen-
sive.” The 6th Cavalry, under the disguise of
orderlies, actually crowded in upon the guns,
and the lives of the Brigadier and others were
threatened; but still, no offensive movement. The
mutineers, unmolested, had full leisure (in the

vicinity of artillery, and of a Queen’s regiment) to
LEISURELY CHASE OF FUGITIVES. 87

squabble about the distribution of the booty, before
taking their departure. Such solicitude for the
welfare of the gallant 8th, who were eager to be at
work, appeared to govern the counsels, that it was
with the utmost difficulty Lieutenant Sankey, of the
artillery, could, some two hours after the rise, get
tardy sanction to reconnoitre with two guns. When
they did so, they found the mutineers gone! Grape
might have been poured into them. At half-past
five o’clock nobody knew what was going to be
done. At half-past seven o’clock leisurely chase
was given to the fugitives, and Phugwara, a distance
of nine or ten miles, was reached by 11 a.m, or
twelve hours after the outbreak.

The delay in starting was not occupied in com-
missariat arrangements probably, as on arrival at
the abovementioned spot no rations were forth-
coming. The Brigadier observed in regard to the
weather that it was hot, and that he should wait
until it was cooler. A halt of five and a half hours
took place. The mutineers were pushing on fast,
and intent on crossing. Exceeding apprehensions
were entertained by Captain Farrington, lest the fort
of Phillour, an invaluable and strategic point, and
containing a large magazine, might have been sur-
prised. But fortunately the fugitives anticipated the
88 PROMPTITUDE OF MR. RICKETTS.

keenest pursuit by the dreaded “ gora logue,”* and
contented themselves by inducing the 3rd N. I. to
mutiny, which they did, and joined company! The
mutineers accomplished twenty-four miles, while
their pursuers made seven miles. Instead of stand-
ing upon guard idle all night of the 7th, H. M.’s 8th
ought to have been started in the cool of the morning
at two o'clock. As it was, the pursuing party
reached Phillour about nine on the evening of the 8th,
and no further advance was attempted until 2 p.m.
on the 9th, the next day. All night the European
troops were dinnerless, supperless. The whole of the
force had not arrived at Loodiana until 11 p.m.
Meanwhile a very opposite line of action had
been struck out by the authorities of the Loodianah
district; and the contrast only renders the Jul-
lundur operations more conspicuous. Information
of the mutiny reached Mr. G. H. Ricketts, C. 8.,
the Deputy Commissioner, by electric telegraph
from Umballa: none had reached him from Jul-
lundur itself! He immediately cut down the
bridge over the Suéledge; and but just in time,
for the mutineers had arrived in force on the
parade ground at Phillour. The officers of the
3rd N.J. had been warned by some of their men,

* Europeans.
AUDACITY IN RECONNOITRING. 89

and fled the fort: the regiment, to a man almost,
joined the rebels. They seemed to have mutinied
as a matter of course and made no attempt to harm
their officers. Captain Rothney’s regiment, the gal-
lant 4th Sikhs, at once furnished Mr. Ricketts with
three companies, to take possession of the Phillour
ghaut, under Williams, second in command. Mr.
Ricketts also called for two guns from the Nabha
Rajah, 100 matchlocks and fifty sowars to guard the
ghaut. He then got himself ferried across the river
and walked from the opposite bank to Phillour; a
cool instance of reconnoitring audacity. There he
found that the mutineers, baulked by the opportune
destruction of the bridge, had left in a body, and
had gone to a ferry about four miles higher up.
Confident that there must be surely hot pursuit, he
recrossed, so as to catch the rebels between two fires,
and complete, under these circumstances, their ine-
vitable destruction. Sinister intelligence awaited
him. The portion of the 3rd N. I. in the fort of
Locdianah and treasury had defied Rothney’s Sikhs,
had drawn up the bridge of the fort, and levelled
their muskets through the cutcherry loopholes. The
concerted nature of the whole movement flashed at
once on the mind.

Both the fort and city of Loodianah were in
90 ATTACK ON THE MUTINEERS.

danger. All speedy relief from Jullundur, even
under the supposition that any anxiety on the part
of the General to close with the fugitives had been
manifested, was hopeless, after the destruction of the
bridge. The only chance, therefore, was to obstruct
the passage at all risks. With this view, Mr. Ricketts
and Lieutenant Williams, with the three companies
of Sikhs and the two guns, advanced to the attack.

Every moment was of value. It was possible to
disperse those who had crossed and prevent their
marching compactly on Loodianah, and had General
Johnstone moved up, a second Sobraon might have
been the issue. One of the Nabha guns was drawn
by camels. Twice one of the camels fell, but not-
withstanding these obstructions, the brave little party
came upon the rebels at about half-past ten at night.
They were in a body on the bank among some short
jungle grass. Again and again they challenged and
met no answer, and finding a body of men steadily
advancing on them, they opened a smart fire. Wil-
hams arranged his men behind the guns, while
Ricketts with his own hands unlimbered one of
them. But what with the noise, the flashing of the
musketry, and the novelty of their position, the
horses got maddened, and either bolted with their

riders and limber, or (what is just as’ probable in
PILLAGE AT LOODIANAH. 91

those days of treachery) the riders themselves bolted.
Still, there was the other gun, a 9-pounder, and
Ricketts unlimbered it, and administering a round
of grape at the spot where the firing was sharpest,
at once dispersed them. Advancing the gun, they
blazed away, the mutineers spreading fast, until from
a compact body they had thinned out into a large
semi-circle. The fight now got sharp, and Williams
and eleven of his men were hit. Not relishing too
close a contact, all Rickett’s matchlockmen and
sowars turned tail and fled. The loss of Williams
was fatal to further offensive operations, and the
ammunition was now expended. There was nothing
for it but to retire decently with the gun; which, with
incredible labour, and almost entirely alone, was
managed. Repeatedly was assistance called for from
the Jullundur party, without avail.

Next morning the mutineers advanced on Loo-
dianah, released the prisoners, aroused the Cash-
meree population, pillaged the mission premises,
burnt the press, and took every horse and pony
they could find. But they did not attempt to
attack the treasury and the cutcherry; probably
having a keen recollection of the previous night’s
reception. Never was the value of vigorous action
more conspicuous than from the single fact that
the mutineers, although in the midst of a city
92 ESCAPE OF THE MUTINEERS.

favourable to insurrection and uproar and pillage,
were so terrified by the attack of Mr. Ricketts,
that they dared not measure their strength again, but
fled. Had they made a stand at Loodianah and held
the fort, their expulsion would have been a most
embarrassing task, and the operations before Delhi
fatally retarded. But while at Loodianah even, had
the Horse Artillery come up, the mutineers could
have been annihilated.

As soon as the enemy were gone, Ricketts with
a party of horse charged through the city and swept
away the rabble; and some twenty Cashmerees, who
had joined in the temporary confusion and began
to pillage, were summarily hanged. When at last
the pursuing force did arrive, the advance was
not less languid than before. Everything seemed
to go wrong; and with the exception of the check at
Loodianah, in which the resolution and conspicuous
gallantry of Ricketts and his party probably saved
the treasure, fort, and city of Loodianah, all was
mismanagement. Three times the mutineers might
have been grappled with. At first, in cantonments
in Jullundur, when they were permitted to exercise
full discretion as to their movements; secondly, at
the river, which it took them nearly thirty hours to
cross, having only three boats ; and again, on leaving
Loodianah city.
CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE. 93

Thus the energies of fine troops were wasted, the
zeal of every subordinate officer was rendered of
no avail, the peace of a whole tract of country
jeopardized, and the prestige of the British name
damaged by —— But we have told the tale.

And so the pursuit ended, and the mortified people
of Jullundur returned.

After swaggering, threatening, and trying every
experiment to test the metal they had to deal with ;
unobstructed, except at the river, by the Loodianah
authorities, the mutineers marched off in triumph,
with colours, arms, ammunition, and plunder, from a
cantonment guarded by a European regiment strain-
ing to attack them with twelve guns, which opened
fire without permission and were stopped thereafter ;
and by some some six or eight hundred allies belong-
ing to the Kupoorthullah chief. The month that
had passed will never be effaced from the memory of
the residents of Jullundur. The bare and blackened
walls of hospitals and houses of the 61st lines, the
silent and deserted streets and over-grown gardens of
the once fair station of Jullundur, betrayed evi-
dences enough of audacious disloyalty unchecked ;
and the disastrous occurrences that rapidly suc-
ceeded at other stations, were thereby doubtless
accelerated, though they were by no means attended
by the unparalleled impunity of Jullundur.
94 BRIGADIER JOHNSTONE’S LETTER.

The occurrences we have endeavoured to detail in
this chapter excited much newspaper criticism; and
it is but fair that the following letter should be
republished, in justice to the gallant officer it con-
cerns. High authority, after complimenting in warm
terms the gallantry of Ricketts, has pronounced the

pursuit a miserable failure :—

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ‘‘ LAHORE CHRONICLE.”
Simiah, July 20th.

Srn,—IIness, consequent ona severe accident which befel me
on the 21st of June, prevented my reading or hearing read your
papers for more than a month past. Within the last few days
I have, however, had the pain to learn that they have contained
some severe strictures upon my proceedings, when in pursuit
of the Jullundur mutineers.

I will not further notice these at present, than by de-
nouncing them as unjust, and in mentioning that, as a full
explanation of my proceedings is before his Excellency the
Commander-in-Chief, it would be manifestly improper to enter
into further explanation in the public papers regarding them.

I will not, however, deny myself the satisfaction of showing,
by reference to circumstances of time and place, that the accu-
sation of delay in my pursuit of the mutineers, and on which
accusation probably the whole animadversion rests, is utterly
unfounded. The pursuit of the mutineers commenced before
seven o'clock of the morning following the night of the out-
break. It could not have been undertaken earlier. The
direction taken by the rebels was not ascertained till half-past
three o'clock. Preparations had'to be made in obtaining car-
riage for the infantry, providing rations, &c., perfecting the
equipment for guns, horses, &c., and these, after the utmost
despatch of officers, as ready and zealous as men could be, were
found impossible to be completed at an early hour.

The complaint of one writer is, I understand, that the haste
of departure in pursuit was so great, that the infantry had to
march without rations and cther comforts, assertions which are
BRIGADIER JOHNSTONE’S LETTER. 95

true, but which under the emergency are unwarranted, espe-
cially as the supply of these deficiencies was left with so able
and active a commissary as Captain Sibley. As there was no
delay in starting, so there was none that could be avoided in
justice to the infantry soldier in the pursuit. From Jullundur
to the Sutlej is thirty miles; many of the infantry were on;foot,
all under an ‘intensely hot sun. By nine o’clock that evening,
at the very latest, every man of the mutineers had crossed the
Sutlej; by eight o’clock probably the last man had left the
right bank.

I ask, is it possible for Europeans to have accomplished
thirty miles in thirteen hours (that is, an average of fifty-
six miles in twenty-four hours), especially when we consider
that they had been under arms the whole of the previous
night, and had been much harassed with night duties before
that. As it was, they accomplished twenty-six miles in four-
teen hours, which appeared to me as much as they were
capable of enduring without breaking down. Four miles
further would have taken them to the ferry, but I should have
had to bivouac ‘them, much broken down, on the banks of
a river noted for its unhealthy influences. On the other hand,
as much pressed to do (and, I understand, much condemned for
not doing), I might have proceeded, but by roads which I have
reason to think were almost impracticable for artillery, a
distance of nearly six miles to the ghaut where the mutineers
had crossed, arriving there not less than five hours after every
one of them had crossed, and without the possibility of crossing
a single soldier of my own in continuance of my pursuit. Had
I, therefore, compassed the whole distance without a halt, a
thing utterly impossible, I should only then have arrived in
time to see the last boats approaching the opposite bank; but
as this contingency involves an impossibility, it need not be
dwelt upon. Presuming two hours’ rest to have been given to
the men, it would be evident from the foregoing that even if
their pace under the mid-day sun had been equal to what it
was under its mitigated violence, they could not have arrived
in time to have overtaken the mutineers, and the result would
have left me, after making a false movement, at a great distance
from Loodianah. That I halted at Phillour, and prepared for a
96 PANIC AT SIMLAH,.

passage of the river at three the next morning, will not be con-
sidered either a delay or a wrong movement. J need not refer
to circumstances that delayed the passage, they are explained
elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the very appearance of Major
Olpherts, with the advance of my force, caused the flight of the
mutineers from Loodianah and its neighbourhood, and saved,
as I believe, the station from destruction. You will oblige me
by inserting this letter in your next publication.

I am, your obedient servant,
M. C. Jounstone, Brigadier.

This letter’ being dated Simlah,* leads me, though
not exactly in chronological order, to hark back to
the excitement there, and to give a short account of
that most indescribable of all circumstances —a
panic.

In England the name of Simlah is associated with
the notion of a gay mountain retreat, abounding
alternately in the charming and majestic, far away
from the heat of the plains, and the rumours of
disturbances. But it has up to this moment hardly
recovered from that grievous social epidemic—a

* While this edition was passing through the press, Lord
Panmure, in the House of Lords, adverted to the subject; he
stated that Brigadier Johnstone had asked for an inquiry into
his conduct, and that the accusations against him had been
fully inquired into, and he appealed to the Under Secretary of
War for information as to the result. Lord Hardinge replied
that the result of the inquiry had been the expression of a
strong and decided opinion by Sir Colin Campbell, the Com-
mander-in-Chief, that Brigadier Johnstone had been most
fully and honourably acquitted of all the accusations brought
against him.
MUTINY OF GOORKHAS. 97

panic. The local journals teemed with acrimonious
and recriminatory letters, which we commend to the
perusal of those fond of the amenities of literature.

Truth demands the announcement, in justice to
much maligned individuals who formed what was
facetiously termed the “ flying squadron,” that there
was cause for fear; and the presence of so large a
body of non-combatants, not all of equal nerve and
heroism, did not tend to diminish it. Harrowed by
the recent account of almost simultaneous outbreaks
at Meerut and Delhi, their minds were fairly upset
by the intelligence that the Nusseree Battalion of
Goorkhas, stationed at Jutog, seven miles off, were in
open mutiny, and had refused to march when ordered
down by the Commander-in-Chief !

Let it be remembered that when his blood is up,
the Goorkha is a savage demon; that it is written
of this race when the havoc of a Goorkha invasion
swept like a hurricane over the hilly regions of the
Kangra valley “blades of long grass sprang up,
and tigresses whelped in the streets of Nadown;”
let it be remembered that the regiment was dis-
tinctly disaffected on the cartridge question, and the
anxiety of the residents to learn how negociations
were being carried on at Jutog may be justified.
Now, they heard that an advance of pay had been

P. H
98 RUMOURS AND ALARMS.

peremptorily demanded, and as submissively ac-
corded; now, that they had coerced their officers,
whose lives were despaired of, and had gone so far as
to mob the Commanding Officer; now, that the
doctor had taken command; again, that seeing
they were masters of the situation, they were invent-
ing the most trivial and preposterous pretexts against
marching, pretending that the removal of their guard
from the Government Treasury indicated (as it cer-
tainly did) a want of confidence, and that the loan of
some of their arms for the defence of Simlah signified
(and unmistakeably) that it was themselves that were
feared and against themselves they were to be used.
« About twelve armed European soldiery and civi-
lians,” wrote a correspondent to the Lahore Chronicle,
“were collected to defend the Bank and the help-
less ladies and children of Simlah, of whom not
less than one hundred were congregated before
nightfall. The scene of distress and confusion that
ensued is almost beyond description.” “The church
bell was rung, signal guns were fired, and scouts were
galloping to and from Jutog all night. Three dif-
ferent times did the mutineers commence their march
on Simlah, but a merciful God restrained them.”
Subsequent to this, on the residents learning that
one of the terms acceded to by the contracting parties
PANIC-STRICKEN FUGITIVES. 99

was, that the arms lent to them should be returned,
and the Government Treasury replaced under their
charge—all heart and presence of mind were lost,
the panic reached its climax, and general and preci-
pitate flight commenced. Officers in high employ
rushed into ladies’ houses shouting, “Fly for your
lives: the Goorkhas are upon us.” Simlah was in a
state of consternation: shoals of half-crazed fugitives,
timid ladies, hopeless invalids, sickly children, hardly
able to totter, whole families burst forth, and poured
helter-skelter down on Dughshai and Kussowlie.
Some ran down steep khuds and places marked only
by the footprints of the mountain herds, and re-
mained all night.

The mental hallucination of one gentleman, who
possessed a telescope, was remarkable, since he
actually saw the Simlah bank on fire, and depicted
to his agonized auditors, after the manner of Rebecca
in “Ivanhoe,” the Goorkhas charging up the hill.
Another returned from Subathoo and informed
Captain Blackall that there had been heavy firing
at Simlah, and he had seen the smoke of several
houses burning.

Never had those stately pines looked down upon,
or those sullen glens and mossy retreats echoed with
such a tumult and hubbub. Ladies who are now

H 2
100 EFFECTS OF THE PANIC.

placidly pursuing ordinary domestic duties, wrote off
“ perhaps for the last time” to their distracted hus-
bands in the plains; then, snatching up their little
ones fled away, “anywhere” out of the Simlah
“world.” Extraordinary feats were performed:
some walked thirty miles! Some, alas, died from
the effects of exhaustion and fear.

A bhistee, suffering also from an optical illusion,
declared that he had seen the first European
murdered in the bazaar. But it is perfectly true
that one gentleman, an officer, met a drunken
Goorkha who drew his “kookree” (a weapon as
crooked and ugly as its name), upon him in the
bazaar. The effects of the panic are not yet
obliterated in the minds of domestic servants; who,
fortified by the doubtful aspect of affairs in the
plains, soon acquired the most insolent demeanour.
Anecdotes became rife and significant of what was
passing in their minds. One little boy was told
that his mamma would soon be grinding gram for
the King of Delhi!

It may be remembered as an instance of the
prevalent impression among Mahomedan domestic
servants particularly, as to the inevitable and complete
overthrow of the English, that the khansamah of
General Hewitt, who had been in his service for
SUSPICIONS OF THE GOORKHAS. 101

twenty years, the instant the outbreak commenced,
started confusion on his own account by flinging all
the plates from the dining-room into the air, dancing
with joy, and pocketing the silver; when the aide-de-
camp, Captain Hogg, entering the room at the un-
usual uproar, suddenly allayed his transports for
ever by killing him on the spot!

This, however, is a digression, and we must return
to Simlah and the Goorkhas. Four months have
elapsed since the above turmoil, and this very
regiment having done effective service in the plains,
it is due to those interested in the welfare of the
corps to exhibit one or two features in the case
by the light of their present good conduct. There
are extenuating circumstances, and now-a-days one
cannot afford to be chary of trifles: the telescope
must be knowingly put up to the blind eye upon
occasions, and the behaviour of all Goorkhas has
been but slightly if anything inferior to Europeans.

The present, then, was the first instance in which
the Goorkhas had been ordered down en masse to
service in the plains: a company had always been
Jeft to protect their families during their absence.
Constitutionally jealous and sensitive, as all hill
tribes, to the honour of their wives (notwithstanding

the palpable security derived in the peculiarly ill-
102 EFFECTS OF SUSPICION.

favoured physiognomies of these gentlewomen), the
Goorkhas hesitated. The proceedings of the resi-
dents, distinctly pointing out the former custodians
of the place as the present enemies to be feared,
was aggravating enough. A chest of arms, so it
is said, had been clandestinely deported from Jutog,
and powder also had been as furtively abstracted at
Simlah. Picquets had been posted; and an advanced
picquet stationed at Boilleaugunge with videttes up
to Jutog. Guns were pointed also up the Jutog
road. A mistrusted man is inclined, if in power,
to pay people off for their want of confidence. The
Goorkhas, no more than “ Lady Teazle,” affected to
relish suspicion without a cause. General Penny
had actually assumed command on the night previous
to the exodus. The Simlah Bank was fortified,
and was all but impregnable, with stout hearts and
steady rifles, even against two regiments.

But General Penny’s command was soon at an end.
Conciliating policy prevailed. The Goorkhas, as an
evidence of full confidence, demanded that they
should be put in guard over and in the bank, in
which lay some 80,000 Co.’s rupees. The critical
and uncertain aspect of affairs may be imagined
not only from the audacity of their demands, but
the undisguised audacity of their bearing. They
CHANGE OF POLICY. 103

demanded to be shown the actual treasure, and their
swarthy features lit up with glee unpleasant to the
eye of the bystander, when they saw the shining
pieces. One sepoy tossed back the flap of the coat
of a gentleman present, and made a queer remark
on the revolver he saw worn underneath.*

The late Commander-in-Chief now took the matter
in hand. The time for coercing and disbanding regi-
ments he thought had gone by. The Goorkha Corps
had always been a great stand-by to the Government ;
and in a crisis like this some stretch might be allowed
to retain men who had no more affinities with the

Poorbeah than the European—perhaps less. The

*“The Goorkhas,” wrote an excellent authority, “ helped
themselves to 16,000 rs. from the Government Treasury, which
was afterwards conceded to them on the pretext that it was an
advance. They took possession, or had possession given to
them, of the Government Treasury, and for some time would
not let a rupee out of it.” At Kussowlie, the Hill station just
above Umballa, affairs were equally, if not more critical. The
Deputy-Commissioner of Simlah inquired of the Assistant-
Commissioner of Kussowlie (Mr. Taylor), whether it would
not be better to move, with all European officers, soldiers, &c.,
to Simlah. To this policy, as likely to create unneces-
sary alarm, Mr. Taylor was strenuously opposed ; deprecated
the ignoble effect it would produce. Simlah being forty miles
off, Kussowlie became the especial prey to distressing rumours
as to the behaviour of the Nusseeree Battalion. The com-
manding officer at Dugshai wrote “ emergently” to Captain
Blackall, H. M’s 75th, for troops. Three officers passed
through Kussowlie armed to the teeth, and scared the public
104 CAPT. BRIGGS APPOINTED MEDIATOR.

Jutog men were on the point, if not in the act,
of open mutiny, and their examples might be fatal
to the Kumaon and Sirmoor Battalions and the 66th,
from which good service was expected, and has been
obtained. In this strait the Commander-in-Chief
selected Captain Briges, the Superintendent of Hill
Roads, who possessed an intimate knowledge of the
habits, customs, and feelings of the inhabitants, and
much influence therefrom, to act as mediator and
plenipotentiary.

He was empowered to hold communication with
the Goorkhas, to endeavour to conciliate, and assure
them that any expressed grievance or apprehension
would be redressed and allayed; to appeal to their
characters as soldiers, and to do “anything” to

by stories of their having nearly to fight their way down. The
Goorkhas at Kussowlie were in open mutiny, and there might
have been bloodshed, if Mr. Taylor had not stopped Captain
Blackall from ordering in a party of H. M.'s 75th, reminding
him that the safety of the residents of Simlah depended on not
a drop of blood being shed. Captain Blackall acknowledged
the wisdom and judgment of the advice, and contented himself
witb being prepared for the defensive. The safety of the inha-
bitants of the station was admirably cared for at Kussowlie by
this officer; who kept his temper, and acted with great presence
of mind, though surrounded and taunted by the Goorkhas with
such expressions as “‘ Shot for shot!” “ Life for life!” Almost
directly, in short, to the address and temper in parley of
Captain Blackall, and to the wise counsel of Mr. Taylor, do
the residents owe their escape from horrors, in which, in
enormities perhaps, Cawnpore would have been outdone.
CONCESSION TO THE GOORKHAS. 105

suppress their excitement. He had thus full con-
fidence placed in him. ‘This officer must have had
to encounter enormous difficulties, and a state of
feeling bordering on frenzy; and it is fortunate that
the end justified the means so amply in the present
instance for the retention of any regiment of any
sort at the price of wholesale condonation of mutiny.

The concessions extorted involved a sacrifice of the
dignity of the Government, which the speciality of
the crisis alone can atone for. Even on riding up
the hill on his pacific mission, Captain Briggs fell
in with the Kussowlie party of Goorkhas. One of
them put a musket to his head; on which he talked
argumentatively on the ignoble success of slaughter-
ing a single man. Disarmed by his sangfroid, the
‘Goorkha solaced himself and Captain Briggs with
the remark, that in the morning he and his brethren
would do as he hinted, and slaughter every
European. To change the subject he asked them
for water, which they gave him, and while partaking
themselves he rode on ahead.

On mature reflection, Captain Briggs decided that
pacification at all risks was necessary; the lives
of the officers of the corps, those of the crowds of
non-combatants, and even of the whole hill popula-

tion, he deemed at stake. Suspicion and mistrust he
106 THE GOORKHAS PACIFIED.

considered had been instilled into them by those
adverse to the British power, and fostered all over
India by a concurrence of accidental causes ; by
which probably was meant the want of confidence,
not unnatural, shown by the Simlah residents.
Among the most remarkable “concessions” was the
dismissal of one Chunderbun, whose offence consisted.
in having compromised his corps by stating that
they had no objection to use the cartridges! Major
Bagot was of opinion that Chunderbun was the best
soldier in the regiment, and was, moreover, absent
from Jutog on the day of the mutiny. He was
recommended to mercy as one willing to “serve in
any regiment in India, and undoubtedly a first-rate
soldier.” Suffice it to say, with this exception, a
free pardon was given to the regiment generally, and
belief in the “loyalty and soldier-like qualities, for
which the corps had ever been distinguished,” was
accorded. The cartridges were then and there
destroyed, and the fresh ones hereafter always made
up on the parade-ground. Two men “ dismissed by
order of court-martial, for taunting the school of
musketry,” were restored to the service. The con-
duct of the native officers in not bringing to notice
the dissatisfaction which existed, was pardoned; but
Subadar Chunderbun, who had said his regiment
EULOGY OF THE GOORKHAS. 107

had no objection to the cartridges, was removed, as
above mentioned.

In order to show that the end has possibly ex-
cused the means, the accompanying quotation of
Charles W. Chester, Adjutant, is reprinted, exclaim-
ing “against the malicious falsehood of those who
(at Simlah) insulted the regiment by displaying a
quixotic amount of courage, and then made off so
gallantly, and now seek to justify their want of
judgment and pluck by the grossest misrepresenta-
tions.” Further, on June the 17th, the following
extracts will show that the position of Captain
Briggs was delicate, and that the remarkable be-
haviour of the Goorkha, in weather as abhorred by
him as by Europeans, only adds to the series of
anomalous events which chequer the page of 1857
in India. It is from the Lahore Chronicle :—

“Previous to the 15th of May (says Captain
Chester), the regiment had never shown the slightest
symptom of disaffection. They have never shown
it since. The men have marched double marches ;
from their small numbers, every man in addition has
been on daily duty. They have suffered severely
from fever and cholera without a murmur. They
have captured the men who robbed the Kussowlie

Treasury, and expressed their indignation that any
108 THE FORT OF PIIILLOUR.

one should escape without severe punishment. They
have reported the men of the 5th N. I., who instigated
them to mutiny, and on their report that regiment
was disarmed. And now they are encamped at
Saharunpore” (then almost totally disorganised),
“the safeguard of the district; relied on by every
European; feared by every turbulent native.”
Mention has been made of the fort of Phillour and
its timely salvation. It was orignally a serai, and
is situated on the Grank Trunk Road. Runjeet
Singh converted it into a fort in his days; the posi-
tion commanded the river Sutlej by the addition of
a fausse braie and ditch all round, and bastions at the
four corners of the enceinte. The northern gateway
was protected by a continuation of the ditch in front,
in a demi-lune form, with a drawbridge. Shortly
after the fort was acquired by the British, in 1846
(at the time the Jullundur Doab became ours), it
was converted into a magazine of ordnance; chiefly
guns, mortars, shot, shell, &c., the powder being
stored in the fort of Loodianah on the left bank
of the river. When the mutiny broke out there
were within its precincts some sixty or elghty heavy
guns and mortars of sizes, in addition to several

light guns; also immense quantities of shot and
shell.
PRESERVATION OF PHILLOUR. 109

Let it be remembered that the first siege train, a
third class one, had to be furnished for the operations
against Delhi; and the complication that would have
ensued, but for the almost providential safety of the
fort of Phillour, will be conceived. It was garrisoned
at this critical conjuncture by a strong guard of the
3rd N. I. Facts subsequently elicited showed that
the 3rd N. I. designed to seize the fort at the pre-
concerted signal. But the providential precipitation
of the affair at Meerut disconcerted all such treacher-
ous designs, defeated some, baulked others, and led
to checkmate in detail of all! The Jullundur troops
were to have seized the station of Phillour, and there
was nothing to operate against such a position but
H. M.’s 8th Regiment.

On the 12th of May, Brigadier Hartly, command-
ing at Yalund-kai, resolved to occupy the fort.
Accordingly at dusk on the date mentioned, he
despatched a small detachment of H. M.’s 8th and
a couple of H. A. guns off from Jullundur, which
reached Phillour just at daybreak, twenty-four miles.
The gate was open! Unconscious grass-cutters
quietly going in with their loads were followed in
closely by the Europeans and guns. So dumb-
foundered were the native guard that they could
not collect sufficient presence of mind to turn out
110 NEED OF EUROPEAN GARRISONS.

and give the ordinary salute. To Major Baynes,
commanding the detachment (after Brigadier Hartly),
is due the safety of this most important fortress.
It is to be hoped the warning of having such strong-
holds as Lahore, Govindghur, Phillour, Delhi, Allah-
abad, without overwhelming proportions of Euro-
pean troops, may never have to be repeated. Had
Major Baynes not at once comprehended the pre-
ciousness of time, and arrived so opportunely and
swiftly as he did, there is every chance that the
move would have got wind; the troops in the station
would have mutinied, rushed into the fort, and
murdered every European conductor in it. No time
was lost in ordering off the detachment of 3rd N. I.
It is credibly reported that the seizure of the fort
had been planned for the very day on which they
were ousted by Major Baynes. When the Jullundur
mutineers, as previously narrated, reached Phillour
on the 9th of June at gun-fire, the officers of the 3rd
N. I. were in cantonments, and tried every endeavour
to get their men to turn out of their lines, to oppose
the advance of the 6th Light Cavalry; but in vain.
Lieutenant Tayler, on hearing some reports of the
mutiny from the Thannadar, had galloped out about
a mile and a half from the station, and returned
post-haste to arouse Colonel Buller and his men to
THE JULLUNDUR MUTINEERS. 111

the fact. But the men refused to obey any orders,
and at last the cavalry advance had actually reached
the butts. At this juncture a celebrated athlete and
champion in the regiment roared out to the men
to advance and welcome their comrades. They did
so: a few remained and cautioned the officers to be
off, as all was over. Anticipating seemingly a hot
pursuit, the mutineers made little attempt to damage
the station, and none to attack the fort; nor, with
the exception of a few cavalry troopers, did they
attempt to cross the river at this point, but marched
leisurely higher up: their subsequent movements, the
supineness of the pursuing column on the right bank,
the gallantry of the attacking party on the left, have
been detailed sufficiently.

Phillour Fort having been thus saved, and the
Talundhur Doab evacuated, the Commissary of
Ordnance, Lieutenant Dobbin, was busy up to the
end of August in supplying all sorts of material—
heavy guns, enormous supplies of shot and shell,
musketry and rifle ammunition, entrenching tools,
in addition to every sort of weapon of warfare—
to the continued stream of Irregular Horse and
Foot, which kept issuing from the Punjab on
their route to Delhi. When the gallant Neville
Chamberlain (at this period the predecessor of his
112 FORT OF PHILLOUR STRENGTHENED.

lamented friend Nicholson, as Brigadier-General
commanding the moveable column) reached Phillour,
he found the fort in a dilapidated state.

Accordingly, on the 20th of June, Lieutenant
Oliphant, of the Engineers, commenced work, and
notwithstanding the extreme scarcity of labour, he
continued to strengthen all the parapets for guns,
opening the embrasures and widening and defending
them by massive logs and trunks of trees; and by
the latter end of July, besides being amply pro-
visioned, the fort bristled with twenty heavy guns in
position, including howitzers; in addition to nine light
guns at various angles.

The following is an interesting statement com-
municated to the compiler by the excellent Governor
of the Lawrence Asylum, who was in a most re-
sponsible and anxious position in the hills :—

“ Early in May we were alarmed and horrified by
the news of the atrocities perpetrated at Meerut and
Delhi. The natives said, ‘It is because of the annex-
ation of Oude, and the Poorbeas will all rise, and
then what will become of the Europeans?’ They
seemed shocked at the horrible atrocities committed,
but not taken by surprise by the mutiny. Soon
after, news reached us that the Nusseree Battalion at

Simlah were in a state of mutiny. The natives said,
STATEMENT FROM LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 113

‘They are good men, and do not wish to rebel ; but
if the Company’s raj is over, what are they to do?
If they fight for their salt, and it turns out that the
mutineers are victorious, what will become of them?
Every man must take care of himself.’” There can
now be no doubt that it was this feeling which
caused the otherwise inexplicable conduct of the
little Goorkhas at Simlah; besides which they had a
number of Poorbeahs among thefn, through whom
they were continually incited to mutiny. Some of
the hill Ranas were in the same state of uncertainty,
and apparently waited to see which side the Rajah of
Patialah took. This chief took two days to consider
before he decided to cast his lot in with the Govern-
ment. There can be no doubt but that if this chief
had proved recusant all would have been lost in the
hill stations.

“On Saturday the news was brought in, that
the Goorkha guard over the Kussowlie Treasury
had looted the treasure and made off. One of our
chuprassies, who was bringing up a box of clothing
to the institution, met a body of twenty-eight
Goorkhas at the village below the Asylum on the
Simlah road about one mile distant. They had with
them the treasure, and were collecting coolies to
carry it on to Simlah. They abused and beat him,

P. I
114 STATEMENT FROM LAWRENCE ASYLUM.

and threw down the box, asking for rupees; but on
finding no sound was emitted by the concussion, and
being assured that there was nothing in the box but
clothing, he was allowed to pass. That night at the
Asylum all the women and children were collected
in the girls’ house as being most capable of defence.
The male inhabitants of Sunawur and the elder boys
were mustered, and spent the night in alternate
watches. It was an anxious night, for intelligence
was received that 200 Goorkhas were en route to
Kussowlie to assist the Treasury guard, who had sent
off messengers for them. Early on Sunday morn-
ing, 17th May, I rode off to Dugshai to arrange for
a retreat to that station in case matters became
serious. Whilst there conferring with the com-
manding officer, an officer rode in from Subathoo
with the intelligence (which proved groundless) that
the massacre at Simlah had commenced, and that the
cannon could be heard from Subathoo.
“Orders came for the force at Dugshai and Su-
bathoo, and the inmates of the Asylum, to concentrate
in Kussowlie. The officer commanding at Dugshai
determined to hold his own; but on the evening of
Sunday the 17th we retreated to Kussowlie, where
the party was accommodated in a couple of empty

barracks. We remained there ten days; till the
STATEMENT FROM LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 115

Goorkhas, who in the meantime had decided on the
side of loyalty, marched down to Kalka, when we
returned, with no other damage than some loss of
health from having been cooped up in ill-ventilated
rooms. The whole period was one of intense anxiety
— anxiety which, though somewhat relieved by
the departure of the Goorkhas, has been kept up by
the constantly arriving intelligence of one sad dis-
aster and horrible catastrophe after another, until
the recapture of Delhi has given us fresh assurance
and comfort.

“ As far as our experience here goes, the native
servants have behaved admirably. With one or
two exceptions we have very few Mussulmans
here, about eight or nine only, and these table ser-
vants and bhisties. In my own family I found our
table servants more attentive and orderly than usual,
although, in common with ourselves, sufferers for the
want of money consequent on the plunder of trea~
suries. The bunniahs, too, and native contractors,
never lost their confidence in the power of Govern-
ment, but always said—‘Sahib it is but for a
little while, and all these rebels will bite the
dust, (literally eat dirt), ‘for the Company is
almighty.”

‘“‘Our position was also one of considerable diffi-
12
116 STATEMENT FROM LAWRENCE ASYLUM.

culty on the score of supplies. All communication

“ceased, and the usual supplies of cash with it. The
markets were closed to credit, and there was little
ready money; and but for the. prompt assistance of
the Local Government, which cashed in anticipation
our drafts on the Supreme Government, we could not
lave existed much longer, as the contractors had at
length parted with their jewels and ornaments to
procure supplies. Our losses by the mutiny are
severe indeed—10,000 rupees per annum hy the
lamented death of Sir H. M. Lawrence alone, and
about 5,000 per annum more by other mournful
casualties.

« The feeling of intense anxiety has now given way
to gratitude for God’s great mercy to us. With 380
helpless little ones about us what could we have
done if attacked at Sunawur? and to what place
would rebels, bent on the destruction of the European
population, have been so likely to direct their atten-
tion in the hope of cutting off at one fell swoop so
many? The whole European population of these
four stations must have been (at the time of the out-
break and after the greater portion of the troops had
marched from thence), less than 250. Only about
100 men were left at Kussowlee, about 50 or 60 at

Dugshai, and less at Subathoo!) What could such a
STATEMENT FROM LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 117

force have effected, if the hill chiefs had concentrated
their forces behind us?

“The Asylum has been kept in a state of siege up
to the present time. A little force of police has been
organized, with a native superintendent at their
head (a Poorbeah, but a faithful man); and the
Europeans capable of bearing arms formed a Volun-
teer Corps, and took alternate rounds four times
nightly. This has now been discontinued. I must
not omit to mention that we were all obliged to
evacuate the station, and to leave our houses with
our property behind us. The males and many other
natives voluntarily formed a corps for the protection
of the property, and so faithfully guarded it day and
night that nothing was missing when we returned.

* Some Poorbeah coolies wished to loot, but were
told by the leader of this little band, that if they
attempted any such thing they would have to kill
them, the guard, first.

* Before and during these troubles, faqueers were
every where seen about the neighbourhood; and I
have since learnt that they were emissaries from
Oude and Delhi, empowered to offer seven rupees
per man to any willing to enter the service of the
respective pretenders to sovereignty. About 100
coolies employed at the Asylum went off to Oude in
118 STATEMENT FROM LAWRENCE ASYLUM.

consequence, and small drafts of Poorbeahs have been
continually leaving the hills during the whole period
for Oude and Delhi. The hill men around us have
proved perfectly quiet; the inhabitants of the large
village, from which Sunawur take its name, offered
to despatch to our assistance fifteen or twenty men
when required, and this is a Brahmin village.

« At the time of the Murree outbreak (a little before
that event I think) there were some unpleasant reports
respecting an intended outbreak of the Mahomedans,
in which the household servants were implicated.
Whatever might have been the truth of the report as
to the intention, nothing came of it in action. They
knew we were all prepared to fight to the last, and
all on the gui vive, and perhaps thought that ‘the

better part of valour is discretion.””
119

CHAPTER V.

NUTINY AND ENGAGEMENTS AT JHELUM AND SEALKOTE.

Rover hewn as were all human devices in the vast
struggle, Divine Providence shaped their ends.
Apparent weaknesses were turned into sources of
real strength; foolishness became wisdom. The
Jullundur evacuation placed H. M.’s 8th and artil-
lery at the disposal of the Government to reinforce
the army of Delhi. It would be easy to show how
the events which will be described in this chapter,
have, though terrible in individualities, tended un-
mistakeably to the prosperity of the general issue of
the great stake at risk. The very vigour of the
action of the Government, though it recoiled, or
rather eddied in various quarters against itself,
ensured ultimate victory. Almost all commanding
officers, while confident of the “ staunchness” of their
own corps, appreciated the luxury of the vicinage of
one of her Majesty’s regiments; and as often as not

acquiesced in the propriety of the disarming any
120 SYMPTOMS AT JHELUM.

other regiment but their own. The masterly way
in which the sepoys had been outwitted at Lahore,
and the summary and fierce retribution visited on
them at Peshawur, contrasted with the tempting
accounts sedulously spread of the exodus scot-free of
their Uhai-bunds at Jullundur. Those regiments in
the Peshawur valley felt the thing hopeless: they
were inacage. Not so the 14th at Jhelum, or those
at Sealkote.

The first intelligence of the Delhi and Meerut out-
break reached Jhelum on the 13th of May.

The troops at that station were entirely natives, of
Poorbeah extraction—Major Knatchbull’s native field
battery, the 14th Regiment N. I., and the 39th Rezi-
ment N, I.

Against such a force, had they chosen their time
for mutiny and massacre, resistance was futile, for
at Jhelum there is not a building capable of with-
standing cannon. A faint hope, however, that the
artillery might remain staunch was indulged, so the
mavazine was fixed upon as a rendezvous; its situa-
tion being midway between the civil. and military
stations. Major Clement Browne, the Deputy-Com-
missioner, urged from the first the quiet removal of
all ladies; but without avail. The worst news was

withheld from them mercifully. Of the command-
ACTS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 121

ing officers, Major Knatchbull appeared confident of |
the fidelity of his men; Colonel Gerrard was assured
of the good feeling and conduct of the 14th N. L.;
Colonel Macdonald, with more reserve, did not think
that the 39th N. I. would fire on their officers! The
proposition to intercept sepoy letters by the Deputy-
Commissioner was not acceded to, for fear of pre-
cipitating the danger. Anxiety was the order of the
day, and every eye turned to watch the measures of
the local Government. Proofs abundant of the
vigilant and sagacious minds at the head of affairs
were not long forthcoming. And comfort was soon
derived from the evidence that the Government not
only was prepared by superior genius and force of
will to anticipate and baffle, but to quell and punish
every indication of mutiny at home, beside sending
aid to other parts of the empire. In pursuance of
this policy, orders instantly came forth for the 39th
N. I. to depart in light marching order to Shalpore,
where further orders would await them.

The wondrous agency of the electric telegrapi
was brought into play. But for “God’s lightning,”
simultaneity had been added to spontaneity, and the
empire was not worth a week’s purchase. The
Delhi revolt was thus known to the authorities long

before the swiftest-footed miscreant could herald the
122 REMOVAL OF THE 39TH N. I.

tidings of its success. The relief experienced by
the European residents in getting rid of the 39th
N. I. before it was common talk, may be appreciated,
when it was found out that there was every reason
to believe that on the receipt of the looked-for signal
a conspiracy to murder all the Europeans at night
would have been carried out! The 39th were
despatched purposely by the most circuitous route
on the Jeft bank of the river, so that all communica-
tion with the station and the dik road was cut off.
The regiment thought they were selected for service
against some petty chieftain. Their progress was
anxiously watched. Ahead of them was a muti-
nously-disposed detachment of the 46th N. L, in
charge of the treasury at Shahpore. If the 39th
N. I. were allowed to communicate with them, a
junction might be effected, the treasure lost, and
the example followed; or, which was just as bad,
that when required to march across the Jhelum,
with the knowledge that they were destined for
Dera Ismael Khan, they would refuse payment, and
so bring on a mutiny at that remote point. Measures
were taken to prevent any mutiny between the men
of the two regiments by sending the Shahpore
detachment out of the way, and the 39th marched
on without the exhibition of any reluctance: more-
AGITATION IN THE 14TH N. 1 123

over, with the exception of a small party of thirty-
three men left at Jhelum to protect regimental pro-
perty, and which were mixed up in the mutiny at that
station, they have apparently continued to conduct
themselves in an orderly manner; even to the giving
up of their arms, when required by Colonel Mac-
donald.

The march of the 39th Regiment was immediately
followed by the arrival of a moveable column com-
posed chiefly of Europeans. Their short stay pro-
duced decidedly a good effect; in no way weakened
by the removal, under its protection, of the native
battery, soon to be disarmed at Lahore. The station
was now left with the 14th Regiment; and these men
were watched very closely, notwithstanding the
opinions loudly expressed by their officers of the
fidelity of the regiment. Intelligence was received
from various sources, unsuspected by each other, and
each excellent. Day by day, the necessity for this
espionage became more and more apparent. For a
time they remained to all appearance staxnch, for
there were two parties in the regiment. Then came
nightly meetings, at which first one and then the
other opinion prevailed in debate ;—the turbulent
party were ready to seize any pretext for flinging

the regiment into mutiny, and at one time nearly
124 MEASURES FOR DISARMING.

succeeded in doing so, because there was some delay
in the issue of the pay from the non-receipt of the
abstracts. Being made acquainted with the internal
politics of the corps, Major Browne was enabled to
adjust the difficulty, by informing Colonel Gerrard,
and inducing him at once to apply for the pay in
anticipation. Other symptoms of ebullition were
communicated to the Chief Commissioner, who at
length deemed it necessary (though no overt act had
been committed), as a precautionary measure, to
disarm the regiment.

Accordingly a detachment of 250 men of H. M.’s
24th, under Colonel Ellice, three Horse Artillery
guns, under Lieutenant Cooke, and a portion of
Irregular Mooltanees, under Captain Lind, were
ordered to proceed to Jhelum for the purpose. The
well-known 24th had suffered more exposure since
the outbreak than perhaps any other corps. If the
adage be true that more is done in campaiening by
lees than arms, two notable instances of this truth will
be found in this chapter. On the commencement of
the outbreak, the regiment marched to Wuzeerabad,
but, owing to apprehensions at Peshawur, had to
return on the 8th of June. Then three companies,
under Major Woodhouse, were ordered to Attock,

perhaps the hottest place in Upper India, situated on
MUTINY OF THE 14TH NVI. 125

ground upon which no tent can be pitched, and
affording only accommodation to the European
soldier in the natural excavations which abound;
and wherein it is a question whether the stifling heat
from radiation is not less endurable than the sun
itself. In these ovens the three companies were
stewed up for a month; when, in consequence of the
departure of the detachment under Colonel Ellice
for Jhelum, they were ordered to Rawal Pindee by
forced marches. The first night they marched thirty
miles; but as no carriage adequate was procurable,
no less than twelve soldiers perished from apoplexy
and sun-stroke. The detachment under Colonel
Ellice was to arrive in the cantonments a little
before daybreak to effect the disarming; but unfor-
tunately it arrived when the sun was up, and the
14th had got wind of their fate. No sooner did the
head of the European column emerge into sight than
the 14th N. I. at once commenced a dastardly firing
on their own officers, who fortunately escaped. The
late Colonel Gerrard, it is surmised, in full trust of
his men, informed them of the object of the Euro-
pean arrivals, and forthwith they fell to loading.
Under such circumstances, it was a thousand
pities that the Europeans were not halted for refresh-

ment, and simple picquets placed around to prevent
126 RESISTANCE OF THE MUTINEERS.

escape. As it was, a most desperate, unusual, and
protracted engagement immediately ensued, in which
the most determined gallantry was shown on our
side. Every inch of way had to be fought, and the
mutineers, fully armed, had to be bayoneted (like
rabbits from their burrows) out of their huts; from
which they were firing with telling effect on the men
in the open space, through loopholes obviously of
long preparation.

‘The fire of the six-pounders was making little
impression on the buildings to which the mutineers
had betaken themselves. The most rapid and deter-
mined fire was poured upon the Europeans, with
deadly effect, from every nook and corner behind
which the enemy skulked. The quarter-guard was
the chief stronghold. Round the roof of the build-
ing was a loopholed parapet which commanded the
whole line.

The European force was out in the open, and
Colonel Ellice felt that but small progress would be
made, with this position in the enemy’s possession,
Heading a small and brave band, he charged and
took the place with a cheer. But his bravery nearly
cost him his life, he being most dangerously wounded ;
and the loss of the commander at the critical moment

created confusion. He received a shot wound in the
THE LINES CLEARED. 127

neck, the ball coming out close to the spine; another
through his leg, and his horse had been shot under
him. The Mooltan Cavalry also had made a splendid
charge; but the business of the day was not one in
which cavalry could be effectual in sweeping up
streets, when the enemy were lodged in houses. They
afforded considerable aid to the Deputy Commissioner,
Major Browne. Meanwhile, the elimination of the
Sikhs from the 14th N. I. had taken place, and joined
with the police under command of Lieutenant Battye
and Lieutenant Macdonald, they behaved splendidly.

The harassing work of clearing the lines it was
found impossible to effect without considerable loss.
Lieutenants Streathfield and Chichester were both
wounded, the former pierced through both legs
in a gallant attack on a temple. When driven out,
the enemy retreated to a walled village, too close to
which, as was now seen, the cantonments had been
originally erected. Before this village the lamented
Captain Spring fell mortally wounded. The out-
works of the village were easily taken; but as the
mutineers were fighting with halters round their
necks, they fought like stags at bay.

Satisfied with the impression made, and aware that
there must be a limit to heroic endurance of fatigue
—the Europeans having fought desperately for 12
1

bo

8 DEFEAT OF THO MUTINEERS.

successive hours after a long march of 12 miles, and
being 20 hours under arms, 13 of which they were
fighting without a morsel of food—Captain Macpher-
son determined on bivouacking on the bare ground for
the night. His anticipations of the impression made
were correct. The next morning all had fled. One
hundred and fifty dead bodies were counted on the
field, and thirty were brought in the day after. Each
had died in almost hand-to-hand conflict. The police
despatched numbers on islands, and one hundred and
sixteen were executed. It is said that some one
hundred and odd of the 39th N. I. were fighting
with the mutineers. Thus ended a bloody struggle
in which the hopelessness of a native sepoy force,
althourh fighting to the death behind walls, contend-
ing against determined Europeans, was again evinced.
As a fit conclusion to the Jhelum affair, a specimen
of the sort of correspondence is afforded, by which
it will be understood how the trammels of “ red-
tape” were at once broken through in the Punjab.
An assistant commissioner captured a party of the
mutineers of the 14th, who had fled from Jhelum,
and addressed Mr. Robert Montgomery as to their
disposal; that high functionary appended on the
reverse the laconic order required, signed with his

initials only, there being no time for delay: the
DEMI-OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 129

same order being as laconically endorsed by Sir
John Lawrence, G.C.B., Chief Commissioner for the
Punjab, also with his signature in initials. That

order was for the execution of the extreme penalty

of the law :—
“ SJhung, 11th July, 1857.

“ My pear Mr. Montcomery,—

“ We have caught a native officer and nine sepoys of
the 14th N.I.; of these one stabbed himself in the boat, and
falling or jumping into the river was drowned. Another some
time after cut his own throat, leaving one native officer and
seven sepoys to be dealt with according to the law.

“ T have written to you publicly on the subject, and intend
proceeding to try these mutineers immediately on their arrival.
Their conviction is beyond a doubt. The only thing is are they
to be hanged here or blown away from the guns elsewhere. I
shall feel much obliged if you will send me speedy instructions
on this subject. In the interim I am scouring the country in
every direction, and trust that not one of the murdering
scoundrels may escape this way. They were armed with
muskets loaded and capped. Fortunately the anxieties they
had undergone, and the pangs of hunger, had put it out of
their power to do mischief. All is quiet here. I have nothing
further to add save that I hope to receive your authority to my
punishing these mutinous dogs as they deserve, by return of
post. “Yours sincerely,

“A. L. Hawes.”

On the reverse is :—

“ T have ordered them all to be hanged —R. M.”

« All right.—J. L.”

The conduct of Maharajah Goolab Singh on this
occasion was not calculated to afford the purest satis-
faction: it was thoroughly Asiatic ; which will convey
sufficient meaning. One hundred and eighty-one

K
130 TRANQUILLITY AT JHELUM.

mutineers had escaped into his territory, and he
guaranteed their lives. After about two months anda
half, Goolab Singh died; the turn of the tide then dis-
gorged one hundred and twenty-one: the remainder
having been allowed to be at large, by him or his
officials. Many acts of doubtful hue and sufficient
significancy had been brought to the notice of the
Chief Commissioner, even up to the actual plunder
of some frontier villages in the Goojerat district.
But it was politic to wink at these things at the
time: we had not the whip hand of events so per-
fectly as now.

The people at Jhelum were in feverish uncertainty
for some time previous to the outbreak, and afforded
opportunity for the exercise of the utmost tact on
the part of Major Clement Browne; but their dispo-
sition towards our rule was uniformly excellent.
The revenue was paid with unusual punctuality ;
and even when the zemindars heard of the temporary
need of Government for ready money, many sturdy
village elders came forward and volunteered to pay
in anticipation their autumn rents. A posse of head-
men of the remote collectorate posts actually formed
a guard, and escorted money to the treasury at Rawul
Pindee. Crime had not increased; and under this

severe test, contentment with the British rule, and
EVENTS AT SEALKOTE. 131

the appreciation of peace instead of turbulence and
uncertainty, might fairly be assumed as proved in the
Jhelum district. One remarkable trait was elicited.
All the old rebels of the Sikh war, who were under
a sort of official and social ban, seized the oppor-
tunity of regaining their characters; and naturally
nourishing a hope that their loyalty might evoke
substantial recognition, came forward with offers of
service. No man hopes to regain confiscated land
from a State he thinks tottering to its fall. Many of :
the most dangerous thus, as it were, drew their own
teeth for danger; and were absolutely made of capital
use. But to resume the narrative.

Intelligence of the Jhelum affair, as it progressed,
was transmitted through the ever faithful telegraph
to Nicholson, at Umritsur with the Moveable Column.
He considered it his duty at once to disarm the 59th
Native Infantry; which was accordingly simply
effected under the guns of Govindghur. On the
same day, the occurrences at Sealkote, now about to
be detailed, broke out.

On the 10th of May, the garrison at Sealkote,
one of the largest military stations in the Punjab
(bordering on Kashmere), was composed of one troop
of Horse Artillery (Colonel Dawes), one light field
battery (Captain Bourchier), both manned by Euro-

K2
132 BRIGADIER BRIND’S POLICY.

peans, H. M.’s 52nd Light Infantry (Colonel Camp-
bell), the 9th Light Cavalry, 35th N. IJ. (formerly
of the illustrious garrison), and the 46th Native
Infantry.

Brigadier Brind (of Punniar, Moodkee, Feroz-
shuhur, Sobraon, celebrity, and of Ramnuggur,
Chillianwallah, Goojerat, where he held a brigade)
was in command. This was one of the stations
whither detachments of different sepoys had met, as
at Umballah and elsewhere, to practise with the new
Enfield rifle. A fair opportunity of learning each
others’ sentiments of the cartridge was thus con-
yeniently afforded; and so favourable a one for
disseminating treason never so fortuitously occurred.
On the formation of the Moveable Column, H. M.’s
52nd L.I., the European Artillery, the 35th N. L,
since disarmed, and the wing of the Light Cavalry
were detached.

Brigadier Brind protested against the European
troops being entirely removed, and desired that 250
should remain. In reply he was requested to disarm.
But to the last he shared in the belief (almost
glorious) in the honour of the sepoy; and again and
again has this belief been shaken in the face of
dispassionate observers. Setting aside the military

objection, that the presence of small detached parties
BRIGADIER BRIND’S POLICY, 133

of Europeans without direct communication (when.
the whole European force in the Punjab amounted.
to scarcely above 7,000 men, to overawe a population
of 14,000,000, and 27 districts), was contrary to
all military rule—250 Europeans against a deter-
mined number of a full native regiment and a wing
of cavalry, could make but little head under any
circumstances; and to stand on the defensive any-
where was not the policy in the Punjab. Under,
these considerations, the smaller risk had to give
way to the greater: the loss of a district must be
chanced when an empire is at stake. By consum-
mate tact and show of confidence, the lamented
Brigadier postponed the dreadful day. Every politic
device had been seized and acted on to prove
that no mischief or disloyalty, was apprehended.
Letters even were forwarded as usual, and not
withheld by the postal authorities as in other
districts.

It was known at Lahore on the 12th of May
(although the majority were well disposed) that a
vague fear occupied the minds of sepoys that orders
had been issued from “ London” to ruin their caste.
A proposition, indeed, to massacre a large party
assembled at Brigadier Brind’s house, had been

actually on the tapis, but was postponed until it was
154 DEVOTION OF BRITISH OFFICERS.

shown “whether” they would be forced to bite the
obnoxious cartridges. This was the handle that
worked (but too precipitately) the leverage of national,
or rather Mahomedan, concerted rebellion. A down-
right Anglo-Saxon apology, that the “ composition”
was a mistake, was as powerless before the countless
insidious influences at work and the grand un-
suspected design of dominion at bottom, as the efforts
of the mop of Mrs. Partington against the Atlantic
Ocean.

Let it be recorded in the history of the late Bengal
army that, unappalled by stories of other regiments,
unshaken by the atrocities around, the officers of each
several regiment stood by their colours; and hundreds
have perished from their devotion, hoping where
none could believe. Scanty as, by system, were they
in numbers; small, as from circumstances neces-
sarily arising from that system, might have been their
real influence; never amid the dark recitals of the
morning’s papers did they quail from their post, or
fear for any but the women and the children.
Human nature vindicated itself, and rewarded them;
for in almost every broken corps there have been
instances of fealty and devotion at which the heart
can feel even glad.

The precedents at Jullundur and Ferozepore show
CONDUCT OF GOOLAB SING. 135

that the presence of even a whole regiment of
Europeans was not enough to prevent mutiny;
though probably their easy vicinity (before the
rivers rose, and with the Umballa regiments openly
disloyal) to the great seat of disease Delhi, was no
smal] incentive.

At Sealkote the withdrawal of European troops
at this peculiar crisis gave our ally, Maharajah
Goolab Singh, an assurance of the highest policy in
the faith reposed in his loyaly. The trust was, on the
whole, not misplaced; for never has greater atten-
tion been lavished on the visitors of the valley than
during that interval. Before his death he furnished
a contingent and money. His isolated position per-
mitted him to keep aloof; and though doubtless
conscious of the Mahomedan fanaticism which was
the prime mover of the sepoy revolt—nay, more
probably, intimately forewarned as to the details
of the concocted scheme—this potentate, wisely
perhaps for himself, certainly with profit to us, kept
outwardly and seemingly, as far as an Asiatic can,
his pledges with the British. His conduct to his
nephew, Rajah Jawahir Singh, had been only lately
stigmatized in terms of strong disapprobation by the
Lahore Government; and it is just possible that the
presence of that personage, with some 1,500 bayonets
136 TREACHEROUS CALM AT SEALKOTE.

in the capital, might have been a source of alarm to
Goolab Singh. Anyhow, Goolab Singh was appeased
and friendly, while Jawahir Singh has furnished
active assistance also.

Up to the date of events at Jhelum everything
had been still and quiet as deep waters at Sealkote.
The band played as usual; society partook of its
evening recreation. In fact the sepoy did not find
it worth his while, as at Jullundur, to test by insolence
and incendiarism the temper of the authorities; for
he was already master of the situation. Society
knew, however, the corruption that lay beneath that
shining and polite exterior. The sepoy, too, felt
himself suspected, and knew his power. Besides
this a hopefully hypocritical aspect had to be worn.
By a temporising policy, every day without fresh
evidence of “overt” disaffection was of a week’s
political value. And though every resident in the
ill-fated station had his or her forebodings, none
liked to dilate upon them, when every gesture and
look was commented upon. Thus on the night of
the rise, the Superintending Surgeon begged a friend
with whom he was dining, who had remarked on
the contemptuous demeanour of the sepoys, not to
let “his fears get the better of his senses.” The

next morning the slanghtered body of Dr. Graham
THE OUTBREAK AT SEALKOTE. 137

fell into the arms of his daughter, shot dead by a
trooper as he was driving her to the fort!

Whether or not the events at Jhelum, as to the
desperate resistance made in the lines of the 14th
N. I., against the small force of Europeans, had been
communicated to the troops at Sealkote; or whether
the matter was of deliberate concert for that day,
is a matter of cuess. But it is certain that a man
connected with the wing of the 9th, forming part
of the Moveable Column at Umritsur, who had
inprudently obtained leave, was the immediate cause
of the insurrection. He brought the stories of the
disarming of the 33rd and the 35th N. J. He must
have inflamed the passions of the cavalry by every
sort of lie; for a second conclave was held with
delegates from the 46th N. J. that very night. The
whole plan of the morning’s bloody proceedings must
have been then laid out. The sepoys invited their
officers to hold an inspection parade, the invitation
was complied with, and the right wing at once com-
menced firing on them; though, providentially (or
let us hope for the sake of human nature, purposely)
without effect. As at Meerut and Delhi and
Jullundur, the cavalry were the prime instigators ;
their powers of locomotion alone achieved more

than the most elaborate persuasion. They rode to the
138 FLIGHT OF EUROPEAN RESIDENTS.

infantry lines, flashed off their pistols, shouted re-
bellion, yelled about religion, cursed the “ Feringhee
kaffirs;” and intentionally committing themselves
they committed the best intentioned others.

There was not an European inhabitant in that
station that had not his or her plan of escape
or defence; though it is deeply to be deplored that
no concerted plan for a general house of refuge and
defence had been pre-arranged. At early dawn
ominous sounds of musketry were heard, and in
less time than takes to pen this, each European
individual had commended his soul to God, and
prepared for the worst. The organization of the
mutineers’ plan was soon fearfully apparent. Before
daylight, skirmishers and cavalry pickets had been
posted at all outlets, to prevent the escape of a single
victim. There was nothing to be done, for about
one hundred miscellaneous Europeans, with women
and children, but to flee as best they might to the
small fort, which fortunately existed at the station.
None hardly who reached that place of refuge
had not been fired at; and to the anxious greed of
the mutineers to seize and divide the treasure, and
to the confusion consequent thereon, may be at-
tributed the safety of so many lives,

But the gallant old Brigadier could not be induced
DEATH OF BRIGADIER BRIND. 139

to retreat with undignified hurry, though in the
presence of inevitable death; he was thus easily
caught, and shot through the back mortally. Captains
Chambers and Balmain were chased, and bullets
flew around, past, and beneath them. The kind-
hearted Captain Bishop was murdered in sight of
refuge underneath the fort; the assassin reloading
deliberately after his first shot, to finish him as he
was trying to cross the stream, almost in the
presence of his agonized wife.

The daughter of the murdered Superintending
Surgeon, Miss Graham, owes her life to one of those
extraordinary but too scarce incidents of the late
crisis, when the personal attendance of some troopers
and sepoys had succeeded in saving life. Fortunately
having taken refuge in, or rather being dragged
shrieking to the cavalry guard, she found there
Colonel and Mrs. Lorne Campbell surrounded by a
few faithful troopers, who escorted them safely to
the fort.

So complete had been the conviction in all minds
apparently of the annihilation of the British power—
the uncentrical situation of Sealkote, the absence of all
healthy current of civilized ideas, and its contiguity
to a despotic Government of the worst repute, favour-
ing the impression among the people—that an offer
of two thousand Company’s rupees a month was
140 MURDER AND PILLAGE AT SEALKOTE.

made to Colonel Campbell to take command of the
mutinous regiment down as far as Phillour! A
similar offer had been made, varying in the amount
of pecuniary emolument, to Colonel Farquharson,
with leave to reside in the hills!

Whilst there was comparative safety for the crowd
of miserable fugitives of all classes in the narrow,
miserable fort, amid the wounded, the dead, and the
dying, but little solace could be acquired in the
contemplation from the ramparts of things outside,
or hope for the many still absent. Al] the neighbour-
ing villages, roused by the tales of the restoration of
the Mogul dynasty and the extinction of British
power, emptied their hordes upon the ill-fated
station, and left it a complete wreck. This once
splendid cantonment, with its enormous public and
private property, first became a scene of deliberate
waylaying and cold-blooded murder, and then the
theatre of havoc and ruin.

For fourteen hours the families of Dr. Butler
and Captain Saunders, with eight little children,
crouched in an out-house in their garden while
search was being made for them. The whole
house was pillaged in their hearing, fired at,
and riddled with shot. An old Sikh “chowkedar ”
saved them from inevitable murder and outrage, by

calmly informing the pursuers that they were not
MURDER OF MR. HUNTER AND FAMILY. 141

at home. Dr. Butler shot a man of savage aspect,
who peered through the only grating which
admitted light and air into their hiding place: the
man fell, groaned, but spoke no more, or all would
have been discovered. In those terrible thirteen hours
a mother had so disposed herself, her baby in her lap,
her three children behind her in a row, that haply
one bullet might kill all at once. It appears that
a party of the 46th N. I. had concentrated, at the
sound of the bugle, for their work. The shocks
caused by the explosion of the magazine, added to
the smashing open of the venetian blinds, of panes
of glass, wardrobes, and furniture, mingled with
the rattling of the troop of the cavalry, and the
ringing of their sabres and scabbards, (the door of
the retreat being occasionally battered at), all caused
a chaos of inconceivable uproar and alarm. And
this was going on in fifty different places at once.
Even a babe in arms had been sent away with its
faithful Sikhnee wet-nurse, in the hope that in the
almost inevitable massacre that little one might be
saved! The good and revered missionary, the Rev.
Mr. Hunter, wife and child, were cruelly and foully
assassinated; and another surgeon of the same name

as the Superintendent, Dr. Graham, was also

murdered.
142 THE MUTINEERS ABANDON SEALKOTE.

The isolation of Sealkote has been spoken of, and
was probably one of the complications and difficulties
that beset the civil authorities, in addition to the
marked plurality of Hindoostanee employés. Else-
where the Government natives have been trusted,
tried, and found true metal; here they had suc-
cumbed to the arts of the seducers. Even the
loyalty of the Sikhs “quailed.”. The gaol was
broken open and its denizens let loose, and the
work of riot and demoralization seemed complete.
The new levies in the fort, however, remained
true. Emissaries had been despatched to General
Nicholson. The state of affairs was critical.
Every house was gutted, many were unroofed.

Short, however, was to be the triumph of the
rebels, and great the contrast which two days hence
the appearance of their remnants half-drowned,
naked, and dispersed, was about to present, skulking
into the fastnesses of Cashmere. Their cupidity
had been their ruin: the “embarras de richesse”
swamped them. Alarmed by the menacing vicinity
of H. M.’s 24th (though but a slender wing), un-
certain as to the position of the Mcveable Column,
and the probability or not of its moving on Sealkote,
they abandoned the intention which they had at

one time entertained of attacking the fort. This
THEIR SHORT-LIVED TRIUMPH. 143

so-called fort was a mere mud work, and could not
have stood for an hour against the 12-pounder iron
gun, which the mutineers had in their possession.
They had counted upon the distance of the dreaded
“ gora logue,” H. M.’s 52nd, at Umritsur; they had
counted upon the chance of the 2nd Irregulars at
Goordaspore* turning faithless ; and upon the hope
of easily securing the co-operation of the 4th N. I. at
Kangra, and the 16th Irregulars at Hoshiyarpoor.
They had also counted on the actual presence in the
Moveable Column, of the wing of the 9th Light
Cavalry, and on the embarrassing presence of the
59th N. I. still, in their apprehension, armed at
Umritsur, and thus affording subject for guarded
movement on the part of Nicholson.

Possessed with these confident anticipations, in
brief ecstacy, off marched the 46th N. I. and the left
wing of the 9th, bugles sounding, banners flying, and
laden with stolen property, leisurely towards imperial
Delhi. But their Nemesis was on the alert. They
had not counted on the forethought, the wisdom, and
soldierly genius of the lamented General Nicholson.

On the very day of the outbreak, (the 9th July,)
while the 14th N. I. were fighting for their lives at
Jhelum, he had a third operation of disarming, and

* Still armed.
144 DISARMING OF THE NATIVE TROOPS.

the 59th N. I., a distinguished regiment, succumbed
to the general fate. Previously, under the shadow of
the fort at Phillour, the significant mandate to pile
arms had been unresistingly obeyed by the 35th and
33rd N. I. So also when the Sealkote mutiny came
to the ears of the General, the baffled wing of the
9th Light Cavalry were quietly disarmed; and, per-
haps, a hundred and fifty more truculent visages
never paraded face to face within one yard of as
many open and frank-faced Anglo-Saxon soldiery.
The position of a commander, who has to disarm
a regiment and a half of the column under his
charge, is not an ordinary one in the annals of mili-
tary history; and for a commander to march against
marauding cavalry, without a branch of this arm in
his own force, is next to impossible. This wing of
the 9th marched along for nearly six weeks with the
Moveable Column, hugging the belief that their
wiles were unsuspected; and the promptitude of
their treatment at the proper time was a master-piece
of checkmating. The policy adopted before that
was, perforce, of a temporizing nature. The position
of these regiments in the Moveable Column was
always so adjusted that H. M.’s 52nd and the artil-
lery could make mincemeat of them at any given

signal. So sudden had been the crisis, so wide and
GENERAL NICHOLSON’S POSITION. 145

far-spread had been the disaffection, that to coun-
teract it at once was a physical impossibility ; for the
counteracting force had to be created. Thus there
were no reliable cavalry even to replace the wing of
the 9th just disarmed, and hardly men to mount their
horses when the column* marched to the scene of
victorious action at the Trimoo ghat.

General Nicholson had adopted a centrical position
at Umritsur. Its presence overawed the Manjha, the
nursery of the warlike spirits of the Khalsa soldiery ;
it rendered hopeless any movement of the 59th N. L.;
it could afford immediate aid to Lahore and to
Goordaspore; and, as will now be seen, it could
crush mutiny, and save the whole Doab from
anarchy.

The station of Goordaspore is forty-four miles
from Umritsur. Determined by a bold stroke to
assert the might of British power, General Nicholson
formed the project of making for this point in one
forced march under a July sun. And nobly did the
gellant H. M.’s 52nd and the ever-ready and brave
European Artillery, relieved by occasional lifts in

ekkas or on horses, perform their toilsome march:

* 3rd Troop, 2nd Brigade, Horse Artillery; three guns
No. 17 Light Field Battery; H. M.’s 52nd Light Infantry;
detachments 3rd and 4th Punjab Infantry ; 1st Company Police
Battalion, and two newly-raised ressallahs.

P L
146 ACTION AT TRIMOO’S GHAUT.

they knew their man. Numbers fell out from
exhaustion; apoplexy and sun-stroke did their sure
work on others; but the distance was accomplished.
On arriving it was found that the mutineers had
got as far as a place called Noorkote, about fifteen
miles from the station. A trap was at once devised.
They were permitted to cross without molestation.
At 9 a.m. intelligence from reconnoitring parties
reached head-quarters that they had fallen into the
meshes, and were crossing in force at the Trimoo
ferry, never known to have been fordable previously
at this season of the year. The river Ravee was
rapidly swelling, and enhanced the chances of com-
plete discomfiture. The distance to the scene of
action, again to be marched, under a tropical sun, was
nine miles. The enemy were sighted at midday.
Calculating, doubtless, on the armed wing of the
9th Light Cavalry being with the column, and on the
mutiny of the 2nd Irregulars, they had drawn up in
a bold and imposing line; their right resting on a
serai and a dismantled mud fort; their left on a
small village and clump of trees; the cavalry pretty
equally distributed in flanks. The British force
advanced as follows:—Three guns Light Field Bat-
tery in the centre; the troops of Horse Artillery
equally divided 100 yards on the sides; and 300
TOTAL DEFEAT OF THE REBELS. 147

men of H. M.’s 52nd, with Enfield rifles, in extended
order at one face between and on the flanks of the
Artillery ; and the remainder of H. M.’s 52nd, with
the Punjab Infantry, with the rear and reserve.

The enemy opened the action by charging down
boldly up to the flanks of the guns; obviously ex-
pecting their brethren in the rear. The struggle was
fierce and brief. A British cheer uprose, the bayonets
came into play, and the universal result occurred,
whether against French or Russian, or against dis-
ciplined recreants from their colours. The rebels
turned and fled: one hundred and fifty corpses strewed
the ground. The advancing tide proved a faithful
ally, and swept away as many in their flight. The
Sikhs flew like vultures on the ill-gotten spoil of two
days before, which was left on the field.

Mindful of the extraordinary march of the troops,
and his want of reliable cavalry, Nicholson wisely
decided on awaiting further news of the rebels’ move-
ments; Lieutenant Boswell being left to keep watch
with his detachment of Punjabees, while Captain
Adams and other officers reconnoitred. The former
officer had to indite a letter to the General on an
important move that he discerned among the enemy:
having no ink he wrote in blood, which was fresh
and plentiful around him!

L 2
148 DESTRUCTION OF THE MUTINEERS.

However, the complete and sudden downfall of
the main body was soon apparent: arms, uniform,
accoutrements, had been flung away in dismay.
After their first and only conflict with the dreaded
“ Gora logue,” all hopes of martial progress to Delhi
were abandoned. Some three or four hundred,
hemmed in by the rising flood and maddened by
failure, resolved to die at their post on the island.
So in the morning Nicholson crossed his force half a
mile down the river, keeping the mutineers’ gun in
play by his artillery higher up. They were attacked
by the detachment of H. M.’s 52nd, in skirmishing
order, and with a few men wounded the affair was
over. The khansamah, (or chef de cuisine) of the
late Brigadier Brind plied the 12-pounder gun on
H. M.’s 52nd, who at once doubled and captured the
gun. This was the signal for the promiscuous flight
of all who could run away, and the slaughter of all
who remained. Thus ended the action against the
Sealkote mutineers. The political effect was imme-
diate and decisive. But for the want of cavalry it
would have been the most complete stroke of business
ever effected.

There was no want of characteristic incidents.
Carriages (in one of which was found a bottle of
eau-de-cologne and a Bible, and an unfinished overland
CHARACTERISTIC INCIDENTS. 149

letter) had been appropriated by the new fangled
iilitary chieftains; who with fire and sword were
about to march unmolested to the imperial city, and
aid in supplanting the empire of a century. One
desperado of the 9th Cavalry galloped up to an
artillery sergeant, saying, “ Salaam, Brabazon Sahib,”
and slashed him over the head, inflicting a wound
of which he afterwards died. Another sturdy horse
artillery man, suddenly discovering that the sanctity
of the rear of his guns was outraged by unlicensed
intrusion of the enemy’s troopers, swept three in
succession of their horses to the earth with his
spunging-rod.

Short shrift awaited all captures. The motto of
General Nicholson for mutineers was “ a la lanterne.”

Lieutenant Baillie, of the 55th N. I., and Lieutenant
FitzGerald were wounded, but altogether few casual-
ties clouded the bright record of their skilfully-
planned and successful achievement.

At Sealkote, Mr. Montgomery again caused to be
administered the only panacea to the hydra-headed
disease; and foremost among those who suffered
various punishments, were the rissaldar of the cavalry,
a Sikh, and the subadar of the Sikh Police Battalion,
for not doing their duty, and the gaol darogah (a
Hindoostanee). The duty of trying these men by
150 PUEISHMENT OF SIKH OFFICIALS.

commission was no ordinary one; and then the
position, the rank, and the country of two of the
offenders were taken into consideration. They re-
ceived previous to sentence a fair and lengthened
trial. Had there been the faintest hesitation shown
in bringing them to trial because they were Sikhs, or
any tendency to relax the construction of the’ law,
the effect would have been most dangerous. But
the Judicial Commissioner knew not what it was
to swerve from the right line of action; and fearlessly
did his delegate, Captain Lawrence, perform the stern
duty of presiding over the trial, and of sentencing
to death two of his own subordinates. Thus the
impregnable stability of the State was acted upon
throughout as a given axiom. No overtures hare
been made that were not in accordance with this
line of policy, and in keeping with the tone of inter-
national communication with all civilized countries.

No concessions have been made.
151

CHAPTER VI.

MUTINY OF THE 26TH N.I.. MURDER OF MAJOR SPENCER, AND
TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE REGIMENT.

Onz of the most portentous features of the insur-
rection in Hindoostan, was official ingratitude and
disloyalty. We have read of judges and collectors
mocked with a trial and murdered deliberately by
their native official subordinates, principally, if not
always, Mahomedans. Even in the Punjab, as
detailed in the last chapter, where the people are
as yet on the whole loyal, the execution, by orders
of Mr. Montgomery, of a subadar of a Sikh Batta-
lion, of the resaldar of the mounted police, and of
the gaol darogah for “having failed in their duty to
the State” was necessary, to show publicly in the eyes
of all men, that at all events, the Punjab authorities
adhered to the policy of overawing, by a prompt
and stern initiative (the only way to strike terror
into its semi-barbarous people), and to the last would
brook nothing short of absolute, active, and positive
152 MUTINY OF THE 26TH N. I.

loyalty. Government could not condescend to exist
upon the moral sufferance of its subjects.

Tn contrast with this was the real service rendered,
and the official loyalty displayed, by the tehseeldars,
police officers, and even common moonshees of all
grades, in the Umritsur district.

The effect of the victory at Trimoo had begun
to wear off. Up to the end of July, there had been
a lull in mutinies and outbreaks in the Punjab.
To attempt it, with Nicholson in the vicinity, was felt
to be sheer madness. But again the fatal poison was
about to break out for the third time, at the lunar
interval of one month; and the doom of what was
once one of the most disciplined and distinguished of
the native corps was about to be sealed.

The 26th N. I., stationed under surveillance at
Meean Aeer, was, as previously narrated, disarmed
on the 13th of May last.

Whether there had been any preconcerted scheme
among the disarmed regiments for a general attempt
to escape from their unpleasant position, is not
known ; though it has been generally understood that
lots had actually been drawn, and that had the 26th
succeeded in any measure, the 16th Grenadiers had
engaged to follow in their wake. Some say that

the noon-day gun was to be the signal of a general
MURDER OF MAJOR SPENCER. 153

rise. Society, on the 30th of July, was, however,
shocked to hear of another foul murder of a com-
manding officer, Major Spencer, and the rise of the
26th Regiment. Lieutenant Montague White nar-
rowly escaped. He was enticed into the lines by
some sepoys, who affected sorrow at the murder, and
was about to dismount, when a warning voice in his
ear told him to beware. He galloped off; but not
before some hand had aimed a felon stroke at him,
and wounded his horse. The sergeant-major was
also killed, and the regiment precipitately fled; a
dust-storm (as was the case at Jullundur when the
mutiny arose) raging at the time, favouring their
immediate escape, and concealing its exact direction.
They were not, however, unmolested; and it is
feared that the ardour of the Sikh levies, in firing when
the first outbreak occurred, precipitated the murders
and rightened all, good, bad, or indifferently disposed,
to flight. From subsequent statements, since taken
down, it is concurrently admitted that a fanatic of the
name of Prakash Singh, alias Prakash Pandy, rushed
out of his hut, brandishing a sword, and bawling out
to his comrades to rise and kill the Feringees, selected
as his own victim the kind-hearted Major; of whom
it is said that he was quite overcome when the order

for disarming this corps (which thus furnished his
154 PURSUIT OF THE FUGITIVES.

own assassin) was at first communicated to him.
Another panic arose at Anarkullee, and the thun-
dering of cannon at Meean Meer into the then empty
lines of the fugitives, spread the utmost alarm.

It was taken for granted that the fugitives must
flee southwards, and accordingly Captain Blagrave
proceeded with a strong party from Lahore to the
Hurriki ghat (near to which Sobraon was fought) ;
and from Umritsur, was detached in the same direc-
tion, a force (150 Punjab Infantry and some Tawana
horse) under Lieutenant Boswell, a rough and ready
soldier, superior to all hardships. They had to march
in a drenching rain, the country nearly flooded.
Sanguine hopes warmed their hearts amid the
wretched weather. But, alas, for their hopes! intelli-
gence reached the Deputy Commissioner that the
mutineers had made almost due north; perhaps in
hopes of getting to Cashmere, perhaps to try their
luck, and by preconcerted plan to run the gauntlet of
those districts in which Hindoostanee regiments, some
with arms, some without arms, still existed.

Suffice it to say that it was reported at mid-day, on
the 31st of July, that they were trying to skirt the
left bank of the Ravee; but had met with unexpected
and determined opposition from the Tehseeldar, with

a posse of police, aided by a swarm of sturdy villagers
THE MUTINEERS RUN DOWN. 155

at a ght twenty-six miles from the station. A rapid
pursuit was at once organized.

At four o’clock, when the district officer arrived
with some eighty or ninety horsemen, he found a
great struggle had taken place: the gore, the marks
of the trampling of hundreds of feet, and the broken
.. banks of the river, which, augmented with the late
rains, was sweeping in a vast volume, all testified to
it. Some 150 had been shot, mobbed backwards
into the river, and drowned inevitably ; too weakened
and famished as they must have been after their forty
miles flight to battle with the flood. The main body
had fled upwards and swum over on pieces of wood,
or floated on to an island about a mile off from the
shore, where they might be descried crouching like a
brood of wild fowl. It remained to capture this body,
and having done so, to execute condign punishment
at once.

Everything natural, artificial, and accidental, fa-
voured the attempt and combined to secure the fate
of the mutineers. So cool was the day that no horses
were knocked up, though the riding was very heavy,
and the distance they had made (twenty-six miles)
from Umritsur was great. The sun was waxing low,
and the dispirited mutineers probably would magnify
the numbers of the reinforcing party; and, moreover,
156 PLANS FOR THEIR CAPTURE.

probably would think that the Tehseeldar, with all
the villagers who had attacked them so warmly in
the first instance, was still on the bank flushed with
recent triumph, and eager with accession of strength ;
whereas, in fact, many had gone in pursuit of stragglers
some ten miles off. These were the calculations of
the district officer, and they turned out not amiss.
There were but two boats, both ricketty, and
the boatmen unskilled. The presence of a good
number of Hindoostanees among the sowars might
lead to embarrassment and “accidental” escapes.
The point was first how to cross this large body to
the main land, if they allowed themselves to be
captured at all (after the model of the fox, the
geese, and the peck of oats). This was not to be
done under two or three trips, without leaving two-
thirds of the mutineers on the island, under too
scanty a protection, and able to escape, whilst the
first batch was being conveyed to the main bank;
nor also without launching the first batch, when they
did arrive, into the jaws of the Hindoostanee party,
who in the first trip were to be left ostensibly “to take
care of the horses” on the main land. From the
desperate conflict which had already taken place, a
considerable struggle was anticipated before these

plans could be brought into operation.
CAPTURE OF THE MUTINEERS. 157

The translation of the above fable to the aged
Sikh Sirdar, who accompanied, and to the other
heads of the pursuing party, caused intense mirth,
and the plan of operations after this formula elicited
general approval.

So the boats put off with about thirty sowars
(dismounted of course) in high spirits; most of the
Hindoostanee sowars being left on the bank. The
boats straggled a little, but managed to reach the island
in about twenty minutes. It was a long inhospitable
patch, with tall grass; a most undesirable place to
bivouac on for the night, with a rising tide; especially
if wet, dispirited, hungry, without food, fire, or dry
clothing. The sun was setting in golden splendour,
and as the doomed men with joined palms crowded
down to the shore on the approach of the boats, one
side of which bristled with about sixty muskets, besides
sundry revolvers and pistols, their long shadows
were flung far athwart the gleaming waters. In
utter despair forty or fifty dashed into the stream
and disappeared, rose at a distance, and were borne
away into the increasing gloom.

Some thirty or forty sowars with matchlocks
(subsequently discovered to be of very precarious
value) jumped into the shallow water and invested

the lower side of the island, and being seen on
158 PINIONING THE SEPOYS.

the point of taking pot-shots at the heads of the
swimmers, orders were given “not to fire.” This
accidental instruction produced an instantaneous
effect on the mutineers. They evidently were
possessed of a sudden and insane idea, that they
were going to be tried by court-martial, after some
luxurious refreshment. In consequence of which
sixty-six stalwart sepoys submitted to be bound by
a single man deputed for the purpose from the boats,
and stacked like slaves in a hold into one of the two
boats emptied for the purpose. Leaving some forty
armed sowars on the island, and feeling certain that
after the peaceful submission of the first batch (or
peck of oats) the rest would follow suit and suit,
orders were given to push off.

On reaching the shore, one by one, as they stepped
out of the boats, all were tightly bound; their decora-
tions and necklaces ignominiously cut off; and under
guard of a posse of villagers, who had begun to
assemble, and some Sikh horse, they were ordered
to proceed slowly on their journey back, six miles to
the police station at Ujnalla. Meanwhile the
Hindoostanees (the geese) had been despatched to
the island back in the boats with an overawing number
of Tawana* sowars; and it was gratifying to see the

* Raised near Shahpore.
ALL THE REBELS SECURED. 159

next detachment put off safely; though at one time
the escorting boat got at a great distance from the
escorted, and fears were entertained that escape had
been premeditated. However, by dint of hallooing,
with threats of a volley of musketry, the next
invoice came safely to land, and were subjected to
the same process of spoliation, disrobement, and
pinioning. At any moment, had they} made an
attempt to escape, a bloody struggle must have
ensued. But Providence ordered otherwise, and
nothing on the side of the pursuing party seemed
to go wrong. Some begged that their women and
children might be spared, and were informed that
the British Government did not condescend to war
with women and children.

The last batch having arrived, the long straggling
party were safely but slowly escorted back to the
police station, almost all the road being knee-deep in
water. Even this accident, by making the ground so
heavy—not to mention the gracious moon, which came
out through the clouds and reflected herself in
myriad pools and streams, as if to light the prisoners
to their fate—aided in preventing a single escape.

It was near midnight before all were safely lodged
in the police station. A drizzling rain coming on
prevented the commencement of the execution; so a
160 EXECUTION OF THE MUTINEERS.

rest until daybreak was announced. Before dawn
another batch of sixty-six was brought in, and as
the police station was then nearly full, they were
ushered into a large round tower or bastion.

Previously to his departure with the pursuing
party from Umritsur, the Deputy Commissioner had
ordered out a large supply of rope, in case the
numbers captured were few enough for hanging
(trees being scarce), and also a reserve of fifty Sikh
Levies for a firing party, in case of the numbers
demanding wholesale execution; as also to be of use
as a reserve in case of a fight on the island. So
eager were the Sikhs that they marched straight on
end, and he met them half way, twenty-three miles
between the river and the police station, on his
journey back in charge of the prisoners, the total
number of which, when the execution commenced,
amounted to 282 of all ranks, besides numbers of
camp-followers, who were left to be taken care of by
the villagers.

As fortune would have it, again favouring audacity,
a deep dry well was discovered within one hundred
yards of the police station, and its presence furnished
a convenient solution as to the one remaining difficulty
which was of sanitary consideration—the disposal of

the corpses of the dishonoured soldiers.
EXECUTION OF MUTINEERS. 161

The climax of fortunate coincidences seemed to
have arrived when it was remembered that the 1st of
August was the anniversary of the great Mahomedan
sacrificial festival of the Bukra Eed. A capital
excuse was thus afforded to permit the Hindoostanee
Mussulman horsemen to return to celebrate it at
Umritsur ; while the single Christian, unembarrassed
by their presence, and aided by the faithful Sikhs,
might perform a ceremonial sacrifice of a different
nature (and the nature of which they had not been
made aware of) on the same morrow. When that
morrow dawned, sentries were placed round the town,
to prevent the egress of sight-seers. The officials
were called; and they were made aware of the
character of the spectacle they were about to witness.

Ten by ten the sepoys were called forth. Their
names having been taken down in succession, they
were pinioned, linked together, and marched to exe-
cution; a firing-party being in readiness. Every
phase of deportment was manifested by the doomed
men, after the sullen firing of volleys of distant
musketry forced the conviction of inevitable death:
astonishment, rage, frantic despair, the most stoic
calmness. One detachment, as they passed, yelled
to the solitary Anglo-Saxon magistrate, as he sat
under the shade of the police station performing his

P M
e

162 AN AWFUL TRAGEDY.

solemn duty, with his native officials around him,
that he, the Christian, would meet the same fate;
then as they passed the reserve of young Sikh
soldiery, who were to relieve the executioners after a
certain period, they danced, though pinioned, insulted
the Sikh religion, and called on Gungajee to aid
them; but they only in one instance provoked a
reply, which was instantaneously checked. Others
again petitioned to be allowed to make one last
“ salaam ” to the Sahib.

About 150 having been thus executed, one of the
executioners swooned away (he was the oldest of
the firing-party), and a little respite was allowed.
‘Then proceeding, the number had arrived at two
hundred and thirty-seven; when the district officer
was informed that the remainder refused to come out
of the bastion, where they had been imprisoned
temporarily a few hours before. Expecting a rush
and resistance, preparations were made against escape;
but little expectation was entertained of the real and
awful fate which had fallen on the remainder of the
mutineers: they had anticipated, by a few short
hours, their doom. The doors were opened, and,
behold! they were nearly all dead! Unconsciously,
the tragedy of Holwell’s Black Hole had been
re-enacted. No cries had been heard during the
EXECUTION OF OTHER MUTINEERS. 163

night, in consequence of the hubbub, tumult and
shouting of the crowds of horsemen, police, tehseel
guards, and excited villagers. Forty-five bodies, dead
from fright, exhaustion, fatigue, heat, and partial
suffocation, were dragged into light, and consigned,
in common with all the other bodies, into one common
pit, by the hands of the village sweepers.

One sepoy only was too much wounded in the
conflict to suffer the agony of being taken to the
scene of execution. He was accordingly reprieved
for Queen’s evidence, and forwarded to Lahore, with
some forty-one subsequent captures, from Umritsur.
There, in full parade before the other mutinously-
disposed regiments at Meean Meer, they all suf-
fered death by being blown away from the cannon’s
mouth. The execution at Ujnalla commenced at
daybreak, and the stern spectacle was over in a few
hours. Thus, within forty-eight hours from the
date of the crime, there fell by the law nearly 500
men. All the crowds of assembled natives, to whom
the crime was fully explained, considered the act
“ righteous,” but incomplete; because the magistrate
did not hurl headlong into the chasm, the rabble of
men, women and children, who had fled miserably
with the mutineers: they marvelled at the clemency
and the justice of the British.

M2
164 THE REBELS’ GRAVE.

A tumulus has been erected over the grave (already
called moofstdgar, or rebels’ hole, by the people of
the vicinity), and it can be seen from a great distance;
as it is on the high road, travellers ask and ponder
over the tale! Hereafter the “ rebels’ grave” will be
imprinted in tall capitals over the masonry in Persian,
Goormookhi, and English.

The above account, written by the principal actor
in the scene himself, might read strangely at home: a
single Anglo-Saxon, supported by a section of Asiatics,
undertaking so tremendous a responsibility, and coldly
presiding over so memorable an execution, without
the excitement of battle, or a sense of individual
injury, to imbue the proceedings with the faintest hue
of vindictiveness. The Governors of the Punjab are
of the true English stamp and mould, and knew
that England expected every man to do his duty,
and that duty done, thanks them warmly for doing
it, The crime was mutiny, and had there even been
no murders to darken the memory of these men,
the law was exact. The punishment was death.

Political reasons also governed the occasion, and led
to the decision as to immediate execution. Nicholson
had left for Delhi, and was far on his road to
Loodianah. This fact was as well known to every
mutinotis corps as if it had been heralded trumpet-
A SIGNAL EXAMPLE NEEDED. 165

tongued through the bazaars. Nearly three months
had elapsed since the first outbreak, and still Delhi
was untaken. Nothing could be more gloomy than
the aspect of affairs at this time. In the Doab,
there were no less than seven and a half disarmed
regiments, besides two armed Hindoostanee Irregulars
of doubtful allegiance. Such an opportunity for an
immediate and tremendous example never presented
itself before, and might never do so again. To
transport three hundred and twenty disciplined and
desperate sepoys, after refreshing them, was almost
as difficult as confining them with a due regard to
safety even for so short a time; much embarrassment
for escort might have been produced, and perhaps a
“sensation” created among the disarmed Poorbeah
regiments at Umritsur, who might have been seized
with an impulse to rescue. The effect on the whole
Doab, and upon the mind of native society, has not
proved to have been over-estimated; for since the
extinction of this regiment, there has been no “ sign”
among the native troops therein located. Had the
26th N. I. escaped, or even had their punishment
been less terrible and instantaneous, the whole of
the disarmed regiments would of a certainty have
followed their example, and consequences, which
it were fruitless now to speculate upon, but easy
166 TIMELY SEVERITY ESSENTIAL.

enough to conjecture, might have ensued. Their
extermination probably saved the lives of thousands.
In his proclamation on the subject, the Chief Com-
missioner wrote: “It is fervently hoped that the
signal and summary punishment which has overtaken
this corps, may deter all others from committing
the atrocious and wanton murders which have dis-
graced the name of the Bengal sepoy.”

Certain mock philanthropists may cry out; but
with all their resolutions and orations they will never
bring life back again to those that were sacrificed
through the fault of the living who shrunk unrea-
sonably from obvious and simple duty, though the
performance of it might have involved circumstances.
of magnitude or caused sights which might tax
weak nerves, and who, in closely contemplating the
severity rather than the justice of the punishment,
Jost all sight and memory of the awful and wide
catastrophes which have waited in many instances
since the outbreak (as the reader may have seen),
and ever will wait, in India, upon timid counsel and
hesitating action.

Further on, the same rapid fate pursued the
miserable residue. The gallant Major Jackson, of the
2nd Irregulars (still performing active service), went
out, and pushed on so fast that he outrode his party,
GALLANTRY OF OFFICERS. 167

and encountered forty of them. He attacked, killed
and wounded several, and, being in a swamp, got
surrounded and wounded himself. Going further
on, the desperate remnants fled by Madhopore, and
Messrs. Garbett and Hanna, with the utmost gallantry
(the village people being negatively loyal), dashed
out and performed repeated feats of gallantry almost
unaided ; for which they received the merited thanks
of the Government. The few remnants have since
been brought in and executed. There is a well at
Cawnpore, but there is also one at Ajnala!

The annexed letters are appended as a proof that
no officer in the Punjab can do his duty without
instant and warm recognition. They were received
by the magistrate the day after the occurrences
narrated. The first letter is from the chief commis-
sioner, Sir John Lawrence, G.C.B.; the second
from the next highest authority in the Punjab. They
are highly characteristic, and redound to the honour
of both. Their perusal will sensibly diminish the
wonder why the Punjab Government is so successful.

Demi- Official from Six Joun Lawrence, K.C.B., Chief Com-
missioner for the Punjaub.
My Dear Coorrr,— Lahore, 2nd August, 1857.
I congratulate you on your success against the 26th
N. I. You and your police acted with much energy and spirit,
and deserve well of the State. I trust the fate of these sepoys
168 LETTERS OF APPROVAL.

will operate as a warning to others. Every effort should be
exerted to glean up all who are yet at large.

Roberts will no doubt leave the distribution of the rewards
mainly to you. Pray see that they are allotted with due regard
to merit, and that every one gets what is intended for him.

Yours sincerely,
Frederick Cooper, Esq., D.C., Joun LAWRENCE.
Umritsur.

(Copy)
Demi- Oficial from Ropert Moxteomery, Esq., Judicial
Commissioner for the Punjab.
My Des Coorrr,— Sunday, 9 A.0.
All honour to you for what you have done, and right
well you did it. There was no hesitation or delay, or drawing
back. It will be a feather to your cap as long as you live.

Get out of the wounded man all you can, and send him to
Lahore, that he may himself proclaim what has been done. The
people will not otherwise believe it.

Better write an official report, and place the whole on record.
Bring forward all persons who did well. Do this judiciously.
I mean discriminate between the medium, the good, and the
superexcellent.

Prima facie, the Tehseeldar deserves apparently great praise.
Were they baulked in getting the boats? and how? Had the
Tehscel people knowledge that the 26th N. I. had broken out,
or did they first ascertain it on seeing them ?

You will have abundant money to reward all, and the
(executioners) Sikhs should have a good round sum given to
them.

I congratulate you very heartily on your success. There will
be some stragglers; have them all picked up, and any you get
send us now. You have had slaughter enough. We want a
few for the troops here, and also for evidence.

Believe me, yours sincerely,
F. Cooper, Esq., D.C. R. Monreomery.

P.S.—The other three regiments here were very shaky yes-
CONGRATULATORY LETTERS. 169

terday, but I hardly think they will now go. I wish they
would, as they are a nuisance; and not a man would escape if
they do.—R. M.

Lord Canning, who, through evil report and good
report, has steadily insisted on discriminating justice:
at once accorded his high commendation of the sum-

mary proceedings narrated in this chapter.

Letters received by the Author from the Rajah of Kuppoorthulla.

Mz Dear Mr. Coorrr,— Jullundur, 9th July, 1857.

In these days of peril and difficulties those who are
acquainted with each other should be nearer to each by writing
occasionally. You know how often we are misled by wicked
and designed men by false reports. True news in these days
are a great blessing. How much we look for and read with
real gratification the brief circular issued by the Judicial Com-
missioner. My object is simply to inform myself with the
affairs of things as going on in your district as well as your own
personal welfare, which is of great importance to me.

I am quite confident and so is my people about me, that the
troubles will soon have an end. Delhi will be taken, the rebels
will be punished, and peace will be established without much
bloodshed or delay.

Hoping you are quite well in this trying weather,

Yours very sincerely,
F. H. Cooper, Esq. Runpuerr Sine, Rajah.

My Dear Mr. Coorzr,— Jullundur, 4th August, 1857.

I consider it a fit occasion to drop a line or two in the way
of congratulating you for the triumphant return you have made
of the disarmed mutinous sepoys of 26th N. I.

You haye certainly made a very good impression on the mind
of all the disaffected troops in Punjab. I hear very frequently
from my own people, who had occasion to wait on you, that
you have, invariably kind to them, never failed to produce
170 CONGRATULATORY LETTERS.

that effect on their as well as my mind, which is so pleasing to
a native of this country. I have lately received a letter from
Shahabuddeen, one of my tehseeldars on business at Umritsur,
says that you have been very kind to him. This is to pray for
the prosperity of the English officers.
I remain yours most sincerely,
F. Cooper, Esq. Runpueer Sine, Rajah.

My Dear Mr. Coorrr,— Kuppoorthulla, October, 1857.

I have no doubt you must have considered me very
rude in not doing myself the pleasure of congratulating you on
the fall of Delhi, but I assure you I was so much pressed for
time, that I was obliged to confine myself to such letters
as were most emergent, and even those got through great
difficulty.

You know that I have been so long in Jullundur; and the
work here was entirely stopped, on account of my not being
here.

We most sincerely congratulate you on the fall of Delhi,
which we longed for; and we hope the country all around will
soon be settled; and we should very much like to hear the
mutineers getting a good lesson for their deeds, which I hope
will shortly commence. Trusting you are in the best of health,
with regards, Yours very sincerely,

F. H. Cooper, Esq. Renpueer Sine, Rajah.
CHAPTER VII.

MUTINIES AT FEROZEPORE AND PESHAWUR.

In every great crisis certain terms attain a familiar
significance, from their meaning a great deal more
than their import in ordinary acceptation would
warrant. Every one knows what pregnant meaning
a “difficulty” has in America. So in the Punjab,
the words “accounted for” and “ disposed of” have
universally attained pertinent significance. In the
last chapter it was shown how the 26th were both
“accounted for” and “disposed of.” The present
will show how the 10th Light Cavalry, though
“accounted for,” were not “ disposed of” at Feroze-
pore; and how the 51st N. I. were both accounted
for and disposed of in the most complete sense of
the term at Peshawur.

The first occurrence will prove how watchful and
wily an enemy we deal with in the Asiatic. He
studies all our habits, adapts himself to all our
vagaries, and almost fathoms our thoughts. As in
172 MUTINY OF THE 1OTH L. C.

the great design of the insurrection, so in the petty
scheme of the rise of the 10th Cavalry, the most
advantageous hour was seized. It is just possible
that the escape of the 26th N. I. (though not their
fate) had met their ears; or that the news had
reached them that their horses (for they had been
dismounted) were to be taken away. However, they
broke loose on the 10th of August, and attempted to
seize the guns, which had been posted on the open
space between the European Infantry barracks and
the south face of the fort. The hour chosen was the
dinner hour. They killed the sergeant at the guns,
and wounded several others, jumped on their horses,
and galloped all over the place. They must have
been but carelessly disarmed, as they were sufficiently
provided with swords, pistols, and spears.

Major Marsden, the deputy commissioner, gal-
loped over to provide for contingencies, and was at
once attacked by a trooper. Both horses were un-
manageable, and flashes only were interchanged ; but
Marsden’s pistol, however, took effect on a companion
of the trooper. All families were cared for, and
during the interval of great confusion, the Patialah
Horse, some Levies, and the 1st Bombay Fusiliers
were being collected. Meanwhile the mutineers

jumped on all available horses bare-backed, and
GALLANTRY OF BRITISH SOLDIERS. 173

galloped through cantonments. They had captured
momentarily the guns, and were advancing to turn
them on the barracks, when the depét of the 61st
and the artillery rushed up and retook them before
they could fire.

The splendid and determined resistance of the
artillery guard, against the first shock of such
tremendous odds, was worthy of the British soldier.
Private Molony was nearly hacked to pieces, and
since died. A young gunner saved a Corporal
Doherty’s life at the expense of two severe wounds,
and in return was rescued by the Corporal. The
complicity of the syce drivers is undoubted; their
horses were left in the most convenient state to be
let loose by the mutineers, and the accoutrements
and harness had been taken to pieces, ostensibly for
cleaning purposes, but unmistakably that the utmost
delay might occur, and the mutineers be allowed to
get away. And over such men, and in the teeth of
such facts, the regular courts-martial have been
sitting !

A most unaccountable error occurred in the
management of a gun placed originally to command
a bridge leading from the barracks to the native
infantry. It was fired into the rows of cavalry
horses, and while it hardly disturbed the mutineers,
174 MURDER AND ROBBERY BY SOWARS.

killed and wounded thirty-two horses! Fifty-nine
horses were made away with by the mutineers.
Many officers’ chargers besides were stolen; the
mutineers being bent more on flight than aught else.
They signalized their flight, however, by dastardly
murdering their veterinary surgeon, Mr. Nelson,
a talented and much-regretted officer. It is said the
poor fellow lost his stirrup, and received a sword cut
on the back of his head and neck, which knocked
him} off his horse, when some felon assassin gashed
his throat from ear to ear as he lay on the ground.
The sowars rode about collecting horses, ponies,
and native arms from every one they met; also hog-
spears, saddlery, and every weapon they could find
in officers’ bungalows: it was fortunate that the
officers were absent. Some dashed to the kutcherry
compound in hopes of treasure, but were immediately
repulsed by the Sikh guard. Fourteen officers’
horses were stolen, valued at nearly twenty thousand
rupees. Two hundred sowars thus having re-
plenished themselves, escaped by a road down which
no artillery could follow, and, as a matter of course,
distanced all infantry pursuit. Major Marsden,
however, recovered the carriage of General Van
Cortlandt. It will be gathered from the above nar-
rative that the guns were completely surprised.
REVOLT OF 518T N.I. 175

Previously to the outbreak the cavalry had de-
spatched a great part of their families toward Sirsa
on hackeries by the jungle roads. Had more officers
accompanied Major Marsden with the Patialah horse,
they might have harassed the rear of the retreating
party, and perhaps the infantry could have come up.

A very different drama was enacted a week after
this at Peshawur; where the military arrangements,
from first to last, under General Cotton have elicited
universal admiration. A second search for con-
cealed arms in the 5lst N. I. lines being deemed
necessary, Captain Bartlett, commanding the 28th
Punjab Infantry (one of the newly-raised corps),
was deputed to that duty. The work occupied
longer time than was expected; and the noon-day
gun had fired, and still the lines of two companies
remained for search. When of a sudden the whole
regiment rose and rushed upon Captain Bartlett,
Lieutenant Roberts, and Ensign Platt. The first
escaped almost by a miracle from his assailants, after
receiving a severe mauling. He rushed into a tank,
drew his revolver, and kept his assailants at bay.
Ensign Platt, quite a youth, wrestled with a man in
the water, and was tossed into a shallow well. The
pistol of Lieutenant Roberts twice missed fire, and

he was knocked down three times successively.
176 DEFEAT OF THE MUTINEERS.

The 18th could not open fire until the recruits had
extricated themselves from the huts, and from among
the mutineers with whom they were mixed up. The
first volley was decisive; some fifty mutineers imme-
diately fell; numbers were bayoneted in the lines;
the rest fled indiscriminately,— some towards the
barracks and magazine of the Peshawur Light Horse,
whence they were immediately repulsed with severe
loss; others for the lines of the 18th, where they were
at once made prisoners, as were a third party in the
peach gardens by the same loyal and energetic corps.
Those who attempted to flee through the Sudder
Bazaar were pursued, and nearly all cut up by the
eager soldiers of the 70th and 27th Regiments.

Foiled at all points, the main body ran away
towards Jumrood, still closely followed by the 18th
infantry in skirmishing order. The Deputy-Com-
missioner, Captain James, was early in the field with
his Mooltanee Horse, and had soon cut up fifty
fugitives. Another party of Mooltanees, attached
to the Peshawur Light Norse, under Lieutenant
Gosling, soon killed fifteen or twenty, besides making
thirty-seven prisoners. The pursuing force was over-
powering and determined, and the result was almost
complete annihilation of the mutineers with, as will be

scen, the most trivial loss, and that principally from
THE 18TH PUNJAB INFANTRY. 177

the burning sun. The pursuit by the 18th Punjab
Infantry was especially long, keen, and close.
Standing crops were beat up, ravines probed, as
if for pheasants and hares, and with great success.
The conduct of the 18th Punjab Native Infantry
deserved every encomium. Some idea may be
gathered of the terrific and swift destruction, when
it is remembered that the strength of the regiment
before the mutiny amounted to 871. The Punjab
Infantry shot and killed 125; Captain James’s party
killed 40; Lieutenant Gosling’s party killed 15.
The Peshawur Light Horse, the villagers, and
H. M.’s 27th and 70th killed 36. By sentence of
drum-head court-martial, on the same day, there
were executed by H. M.’s 87th, 187; and by a
similar summary tribunal, on the 29th of August,
167; also on the same date, 84; one thanahdar
killed five: total, within about 30 hours after the
mutiny, no less than 659! There were also 110 in
confinement. One sepoy literally died two deaths,
and the first time was buried: when the fatal
volley was discharged he fell with the others, and
feigned death; his body was flung rather high up in
the chasm, and covered over with lime. He managed
to crawl out at dark, and escape to the hills; but was
caught and brought in. He pleaded previous demise ;
P. N
178 GEN. COTTON’S DIVISIONAL ORDER.

but ineffectually, and this time he moulders with the
forms of his mutinous comrades.

There were but four deaths in action among the
pursuing party, and three from sun-stroke ; the latter
including Licutenant-Colonel Cooper.

The Divisional Order, published by Brigadier-

General Cotton, is an interesting document.

Division Head- Quarters, Peshawur, 2nd Sept.

No. 420.—The recent outbreak en masse of the soldiers of
the 51st N. I. brings another. corps on the long list of those,
which, after years of gallantry and meritorious services, have
basely revolted against the Government, and on no occasion
throughout has retribution more speedily and thoroughly
awaited the mutiny and treachery of these misguided men.

2. Terrible, indeed, has been the example made of this
formerly-esteemed and highly-disciplined corps. In a few
hours the 51st N.I., which had faithfully served the State for
half a century, and proudly bore on its colours the words
Punniar, Punjab, Mooltan, and Goojerat, ceased to exist, and
those colours have been put out of sight for ever. P

3. Prompt and sure has been, and ever will be, the punish-
ment awarded in the Peshawur garrison to the perpetrators of
atrocious crimes. Mutineers and deserters must suffer the
extreme penalty of the law, and let these just and fearful
examples be solemn warnings for the future.

4. To the loyal, true, and well-affected of Her Majesty’s and
the Honourable Company’s forces under his command, who
on many trying occasions and throughout have evinced the
most determined and energetic bearing, Brigadier-General
Cotton tenders his warmest thanks. At the recent mutiny the
conduct of the troops was most exemplary. The heat was
excessive, many valuable men in the discharge of their duty
were laid low by an overpowering sun.

5. The best thanks of the Brigadier-General are especially
SUBSEQUENT PRECAUTIONS. 179

due, and they are warmly given to Brigadier Galloway, com-
manding the Peshawur district, and to Colonel Chute, of H. M.’s
70th Regiment, and Lieutenant-Colouel Kyle, of H. M.’s
Enniskillens, commanding wings of the Peshawur Brigade, as
well asto the whole staff and regimental officers employed on
a service of very considerable difficulty.

Immediately subsequent to these events, the whole
of the sepoy lines not occupied by the newly-raised
Punjab regiments were levelled by commissariat
elephants, and the sepoys themselves were marched
into camp with the artillery pointed on them.

And since the discovery of concealed arms, all
the native regiments (but the still armed 21st) are
stationed under guns and watched, as at Lahore,

and the slightest move will be the signal of a storm
of iron hail.

N 2
180

CHAPTER VIII.

DELHI.

Tus narrative professes to contain an account of
the principal events which happened in the Punjab
up to the fall of Delhi. The reconquest of the
imperial city was, however, accomplished almost
wholly and entirely by Punjab forces. History will
hereafter do ample justice to the heroic endurance
of the tenfold more than Crimean sufferings of the
European officers and men, though unageravated by
Crimean incapacities: history will place the chaplet
on the brows of those heroes who toiled, from the
victorious General Wilson down to the lowest soldiers,
under a tropical sun; who conquered in thirty fierce
battles with a disciplined, overpowering, and savage
enemy; and who gloriously and finally vindicated
the supremacy and the honour of Great Britain,
by unfurling the flag of England on the walls of
Delhi.

All European India was impatient to hear of the
FORCES OF THE MUTINEERS. 181

capture of Delhi from the moment that, under General
Sir H. Barnard, the first original defeat of the rebels
had taken place. With scant information, the super-
human difficulties against which the force had to
contend were inadequately appreciated.

A month had nearly elapsed between the original
outbreak, and the arrival of the army before Delhi.
The interval was employed by the mutineers in vast
preparations; and almost daily accessions to their
strength had been made. They had been joined by
the Rohilcund, the Neemuch, and the Nusseerabad
brigades. Troops from the Saugor and Nerbudda
territories, and detached mutinous corps from various
stations in the provinces had arrived; and as they
arrived were invariably ordered out, to measure their
strength against the British force. This lent a
degree of pertinacity and an appearance of sustained
vigour to their attacks, which sensibly diminished
when the last accession had arrived and had ex-
perienced their first lesson at British hands.

In rigid accuracy, the British force before Delhi
were the beseiged, and not the besiegers; and from
the relative strength of the armies, the position
occupied, the impossibility of a complete investment
of a city seven miles in circumference, it could not
be otherwise. A seventh only of the line of in-
182 DIFFICULTIES OF THE SIEGE.

vestment could be held by our troops, when General
Wilson assumed command on the retirement of
General Reed. And as the remaining six-sevenths
were in possession of the mutinous garrison, the
position was assailable, and assailed (though in-
variably followed by disgraceful defeat) by the
enemy in front, in the flank, and the rear
simultaneously. The environs of the city, too,
were peculiarly favourable for the description of
fighting, or secure assassination policy; in which
the sepoys proved themselves but too destructive.
They abounded, as the vicinities of all imperial cities
do, with relics of ancient palaces, ruined tombs,
deserted mosques, serais, walled gardens filled with '
dense shrubbery and large trees, amid which the
enemy flitted about like wasps. Besides this, there
was every species of harsh undulating surface and
broken ridge almost impracticable for cavalry, and
affording the utmost facilities for concealment and
surprise. To decimate the Europeans; to exasperate
them by this kind of attack; to bribe them by
feints into the open, and lead them into ambuscade,
was the aim of the sepoy leaders.

With an efficient siege train and an investment
of the line with some 25,000 men, Delhi could not
have stood a fortnight, as the fortifications are not
POSITION OF GENERAL WILSON. 183

of formidable character. On ordinary calculation
the enemy inside could not number less than from
forty to fifty thousand fighting men; half trained
and disciplined by ourselves; men accustomed to
the habits of Europeans, and?dangerously aware of
their peculiar weakness: as'dangerously aware also
of their peculiar and unmatched power; inasmuch as
they never fought them in fair pitched battle after
the first.

There is, we believe, no parallel in the annals of
warfare to the position of Major-General Wilson
when he assumed command of the indomitable little
band before Delhi on the 20th July. His base of
operations unsafe; European troops almost the only
troops reliable; treachery rife in his own camp;
diseases on the increase: the numerical force at his
command (exclusive of small bodies of cavalry and
artillery), consisting only of about 2,200 Europeans
and 1,500 natives, in all 3,700 bayonets; while the
enemy were literally numberless, in perfect pre-
paration behind strong defences, and perfectly
equipped.

This was not all. Our own magazines had
supplied the enemy’s force with one hundred and
fourteen field pieces, with sixty field pieces manned
by our own trained gunners, and Sikh infantry
184 CRITICAL SITUATION OF THE BRITISH.

trained to the gun drill, who exhibited (to our loss)
the excellent practice they had acquired. In all
probability none of the same class will be per-
mitted to attain any such dangerous efficiency again.
Even in a military point of view, against a garrison
so desperate, so strongly armed, and with religion
for their war cry, any attack would have met with
fierce resistance. To a certainty, the British camp
and hospitals, if left undefended, would have been
attacked and destroyed, and their baggage would
have fallen into the enemy’s hands.

Supposing any bold attempt at escalading the city
walls had been made, failure would have been
attended with calamity not usual in ordinary warfare.
The Government was engaged ostensibly in the easy
task, according to all precedent (as long as the
impression of invincibility was abroad), of punishing
its rebellious subjects with the strong arm of power:
but the strong arm of power had become a shadow.
Honour and prestige were at stake when Lord
Raglan was before Sebastopol, had he been forced
to retire to his ships. An empire, and lasting dis-
honour were at stake, when General Wilson held his
eround magnificently before Delhi; resting his hopes
of succour on the consummate political wisdom,

determination, and foresight of Sir John Lawrence,
REINFORCEMENTS SUPPLIED. 185

and his hopes of success on the indomitable courage
of the British soldier. The position was critical ;
reinforcements strong and speedy were imperative ;
and reliance on the Chief Commissioner was justly
reposed.*

Within two days after General Wilson had
applied for reinforcements, he was informed that the
Kumaon Battalion (Ramsay’s), 400 strong, had
already passed Loodianah, and would be at Delhi
on the 4th of August; that H. M.’s 52nd, 600
bayonets (fresh from the victory at Trimmoo ghat),
military police, 400 bayonets; Mooltanee Horse,
200, and a nine-pounder battery had been also
ordered down; the whole under the command of
Brigadier-General Nicholson. These would all
arrive by the 15th of August. Furthermore—
regardless of all lesser risks when all was staked on
the great game, and the fate of India was trembling in
the balance—the Chief Commissioner made arrange-
ments for the despatch of the 2nd Punjab Infantry
(Captain Green’s), 700; H.M.’s 61st, 400; wing of
Belooch (Colonel Farquhar’s), 500; 4th Punjab
Infantry, 400 (Captain Wilde): two Companies H.M.’s
8th, one detachment of H.M.’s 8th, 200 ; and Dawes’s
troop of Horse Artillery 100—in all 2,000 men.

* To retire upon Kurnaul would have been political suicide.
186 GENERAL WILSON’S POLICY.

General Wilson felt invigorated. Four thousand
trained and brave troops were coming to his relief.
Until their arrival, his policy was to bide his time
and repulse attack; all his energies were exerted,
therefore, to prevent undue waste of life, and his
exertions were crowned with complete success.
Never had appeared a single complaint (though
the freest spoken letters were admitted into the
papers) against any commissariat arrangements ; and
the Government of the Cis-Sutlej States, by Mr.
G. C. Barnes—who, literally, by his moral influence
maintained the security of the base of operations
by ensuring the co-operation of the chiefs in keeping
open the line of communication—left nothing to fear.
The indefatigable Mr. Ricketts, at Loodianah, had
called into existence, out of a naked country, almost
magical aid for transports, and laid the General
commanding under a debt of thanks he munificently
repaid.

The Rajah of Jheend had given peculiar and
uncalled-for evidence of his allegiance and devotion.
About the middle of July, when nothing could exceed
the gloomy aspect of affairs (though, had the British
power been temporarily vanquished in the desperate
struggle, he must infallibly have been obliterated
for his acts, yet) he volunteered a letter to the Chief
LOYALTY OF NATIVE CHIEFS. 187

Commissioner deprecating doubts, pledging himself
to aid, and assuring him that he was in the cause
heart and hand. Throughout he was anxious that
his troops should share in the assault of Delhi.
Nobly has he redeemed his pledge. Not otherwise so,
the Maharajah of Pattiala; but his realm is large;
its confines dangerously contiguous, and open to
infection from the Delhi districts. About this period
he solicited a private interview with Mr. G. C.
Barnes, and frankly asked him if in his own opinion
the British Government would pull through, as
the horizon looked so lowering. The Commissioner
affected to think, drew a piece of paper towards
him, and, after show of elaborate calculation, ap-
prised the Maharajah that if the State could hold
out until the 30th of August all was safe; and it
would be stronger than ever. The Maharajah de-
parted highly pleased, and redoubled his efforts:
Foreseeing the value of assuring the loyalty of
native chiefs by exhibiting the Maharajah Goolab
Singh of Cashmere in active co-operation and cordial
alliance, Sir John Lawrence demanded a contingent ;
and the demand was acceded to, on faithful construc-
tion of the international engagements between feuda-
tory chieftains and the paramount power. But, as
if to test again the mental resources of the local
188 THE CASHMERE CONTINGENT.

Government, and to offer a crowning evidence of its
mastery in unravelling political complications, the
Maharajah died. Doubts were then entertained, not
unreasonably, as to the internal state of Cashmere.
The prestige and capacity of the father was lost to
us; but the want of them might be advantageous to
us in the son. Sharing by repute much of his
father’s cunning, and, perhaps, more of his unscru-
pulousness, Runbeer Singh was not yet seated firmly
on the throne. Rajah Jowahir Singh had afforded
the Government effectual aid in the crisis; and the
late Maharajah’s conduct towards him had not met
with approval. The counterpoise was in sight of
the young king; the contingent, therefore, proceeded
on its journey to the seat of war. Sinister reports
had been spread, about Cashmere having been the
refuge for destitute mutineers now, and the 66th N.I.
disbanded eight years’ since by Sir Charles Napier.
The conduct of the late Maharajah had been not
altogether without suspicion in the crisis. Half the
contingent were reported to be composed of Poor-
beeahs. More than the reverse, however, turned
out to be the case: nearly all were Dogras and
Rajpoots. The ubiquitous Chief Commissioner him-
self met them at Jullundur, gave them a reception,

confirmed them in their loyalty by an assuring
THE TURNING POINT. 189

address; adverted to the invariable custom of the
British Government of pensioning the families of
those who had fallen in war; distributed robes of
honour to the superior officers, and largess to the
men, and ushered them, thus pecuniarily and mentally
reinvigorated, to their destitution. Thus the last
card had been played

The capture of Delhi had become the turning
point of our fate. Into the sink of the vile city
all the scum of India had gathered. To act on the
defensive, unless the defensive action was accom-
panied by incessant punishment of the mutineers,
was becoming tenfold more dangerous as the days
wore on. The Bombay army was at least shaky, and
no tidings of troops coming out overland reached
the anxious ear of the Chief Commissioner. From
Bombay up to this time, the first detachment only of
a single European regiment had arrived. The most
loyally disposed began to quaver: the storm might
burst on every quarter at once.

Sir John Lawrence (himself in former days Magis-
trate of Delhi), acquainted with every nook and
corner of its streets, assured in his own mind, and
by the light of his own vast experience, of the double
game every Asiatic plays, especially with divided
interests, as in this crisis, felt that the time for the
190 CHARACTER OF THE CRISIS.

finel blow had now come. Like Wellington at
Waterloo, he shut up his telescope. The mutiny in
the Bengal Presidency had arrived at its worst, and
the dark lane had arrived at its turning. No fresh
arrival of mutineers was to be expected in Delhi for
the present, and the Gwalior mutineers were far off.
Social disorganisation was complete in the interior of
the city: the house was divided against itself, and
was now to fall. Never, with all their vast resources,
had the enemy made any sensible impression on the
British Army of Delhi.

All possible reinforcements had been scraped
together, even to the risk of self-sacrifice. Every
day now had become fraught with danger: even our
prestige was waning. Sikhs had come back to the
Punjab and declared they were fighting “ our”
battles. One old Sikh had thought it just as likely
they might be fighting against us in a year hence!
The subordinate Presidencies of Madras and Bombay
(the latter especially) held together with difficulty,
but with the utmost wisdom and bravery, were all
awaiting the fate of Delhi. The frontier, though
guarded by an Edwardes and a Cotton, might, on the
death of Dost Mahomed, who was old and ill, be
invaded by twenty thousand Affghans.

Fever, as usual, had laid its unrelenting and
CHARACTER OF THE CRISIS. 191

prostrating hand upon the European soldiery of the
Peshawur valley. Hardly eleven hundred men
were fit for active duty; although there were from
five to six thousand disarmed Poorbeeah regiments
to watch. All these considerations pointed to prompt
action. Delhi was to be taken now or never.
The British Government was fairly at bay. Never
was the want of railways and steam flotillas more
keenly deplored. Reinforcements from the south
had long been given up as hopeless, although the
most confident predictions had been promulgated.
Even the detention, inactive, of so preponderating
a native contingent before Delhi, though friendly for
the time, was to be deprecated; and it was as well
that they had as little leisure to “ think” as possible.
The insurrection of Googara almost immediately
after the capture of Delhi indicated ominously how
near the point of durance had been stretched.
Peshawur was waxing more feverish every day, and
Edwardes grew anxious. Six per cent. Government
paper was twenty-five per cent. discount. Lahore
and Umritsur were equally excited. The Bombay
presidency was beginning to disbelieve our power,
and tottered sensibly.

The final blow was preceded by a brilliant victory
under the lamented General Nicholson. Almost
192 GENERAL NICHOLSON’S VICTORY.

immediately on his arrival with the reinforcements,
previously detailed, he was moved out by Wilson to
attack, at a place called Nujjuffghur, a large force of
the rebels, who had hoped to get into our rear, cut
off our communications, and capture our siege train.
This force was composed of the Kotah and Neemuch
mutineers. Though so obvious a piece of strategy
had suggested itself to General Bukht Khan, yet, to
our inestimable advantage, it was providentially never
attempted.

Nicholson was famous for his marches, and again,
with the country under water, he appeared at the right
spot at the right time. The enemy fell into the jaws
of the lion. He attacked them, cut them up, captured
all their guns, completely routed the force, and ended
by demolishing a bridge which formed a most im-
portant communication. Every arrangement was, as
might be expected under such a commander, admir-
able. It was the only aggressive stroke we had been
enabled to make, and the depressing effect on the
mutineers was electric; for it was the first time they
had essayed anything but sorties. The force re-
turned. The bands played, and almost the whole
army of Delhi turned out to greet the victors.

While this engagement was lasting, the insurgents,

under the impression that General Wilson had left
TREACHERY BEFORE DELHI. 193

himself weak in camp, ventured out, and attacked
the position in force, and with the usual results.
No impression was made; they suffered great loss,
and the British army showed a very slender list of
casualties.

The assault and fall of Delhi is matter for the
historian, and will furnish hereafter volumes of the
deepest interest, filled with the most extraordinary
details of British foresight, stoic courage, endurance
of privation, and brilliant instances of chivalry un-
approached in the stories of war. Has any artillery
officer in warfare been able to perform his duty
with ordinary cheerfulness when finding shell after
shell, though most carefully laid, fall far beyond, or
short of the mark, or when he listened perhaps for
the explosion was rewarded with silence? And why?
The fuses were found purposely reduced to irregular
lengths; treacherous, though trusted native hands
filled shells with sand instead of powder; the charges
of powder were carefully increased or diminished
by the same felon agency, so as to disconcert the
besiegers. Have water-carriers ever in the history
of war been treacherously furnished with strong
drink instead of water, by an enemy, so as to intoxi-
cate the senses they could not subdue? These, and
thousands of other treacheries, which the British

P. 0

a
194 PRECAUTIONS AGAINST DISORDER.

mind was soon taught to realise, will hereafter come
to light. Nor will the position of the Commander
in such a peculiar emergency be lost sight of
Demoralisation after the capture and sack of a
large city is a temporary and inevitable evil, but
eventual subjection to proper control is generally to
be calculated upon; in this case it was scarcely
certain, and the utmost precautions were taken.
Half of General Nicholson’s force was composed of
new levies, besides Sikh and Goorkha corps; who,
although trained and perfectly disciplined, were
inflamed with hereditary hatred, eager for their
long-deferred plunder, and exasperated by the pro-
tracted conflict. Even the feelings of the British
troops had been aroused to a pitch of excite-
ment which might temporarily threaten discipline,
and certainly endanger loss. A succession of street
conflicts might almost decimate those against whom
the principal fire was sure to be aimed; for though
the non-combatants of the city, and thousands of
residents who had not taken arms, might desert, the
remainder, it was known, would fight with the
fanaticism of despair. It was wonderful that a spark
of ardour was left to the European after the long
exposure and incessant conflicts of the preceding

four months. Such are some of the very anomalous
THE INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. 195

and peculiar disadvantages with which our com-
manders had to contend.

The enemy, however, were not without treachery
in their own camp. Equally difficult was it for
them to know friend from foe. The British were
furnished with an intelligence department as trust-
worthy as their own. Notwithstanding the storm of
calamities, which to all external appearances had
well nigh overwhelmed the State, there were not
wanting thousands of far-seers who felt that, the first
shock having been withstood, the day of sweeping,
simultaneous insurrection had gone by for another
century, and that the grappling-irons of Great Britain
upon Hindustan were scarcely loosened, and were
about to be fixed more firmly than ever.

Among these wise and far-seeing men was the
Meer Moonshee of the late Sir H. Lawrence, Rujjub
Ali, Almost before the end of June an espionage
and intelligence department of extraordinary value
was organized, through Asiatic agents, under the
guidance principally of Lieutenant Hodson. It is
within our power to record briefly hereafter the main
incidents only of the assault on Delhi; but the
interior of the city could be vividly imagined from
the almost daily bulletins furnished by the spies.

A veil must be drawn over the horrors which

02
196 HORRORS WITHIN THE CITY.

inaugurated the brief and bloody attempt at rule of
the last of the Moguls. “The civilization of fifty-
three years,” wrote a newswriter to the Rajah of
Kuppoorthullah, “has been destroyed in three
hours.” <A reality of that scarcely shadowed in
dreams of bygone ages, was being enacted. Glitter,
squalor, mock monarchy, lip subserviency, license,
fanaticism, bloodshed, treachery, cruel murders, con-
fiscation, pillage, abject cowardice, jealousies, strifes,
vacillation, disorganization, and finally hopeless bar-
barism characterized the state of things in the city
during the revolt. Having no wish to harrow unne-
cessarily the feelings of the reader, a few only of
the salient points will be touched upn.

Early in the insurrection a bunniah wrote what
must have been passing in the mind of every respect-
able native. “If Delhi is taken quickly there
remains no other fear; if not, this is‘a time to be
anxious for our lives and property. -The price of
gold mohurs has risen to twenty-four rupees.”

On the 2nd of June not a Huropean remained alive !
The extraordinary excitement of fanaticism was
found necessary even in the earliest stage to give
the selfish and trembling sepoy a religious “ cry.”
* Moulvies” especially flocked to Delhi and became
Ghazees, and devoted themselves to the slaughter
MEASURES OF THE KING OF DELHI. 197

of the infidels. The green standard waved over the
Jumma Musjid, and attracted all eyes. The dread
of British might and vengeance was manifest from
the first; so no attempt was made to come out on
the Kurnaul road, though preparations for defence
were actually adopted. Rumours of collusion with
Affghanistan were rife, although no direct communi-
cation seems to have been opened; but the mutiny
of all the Poorbeeah regiments was confidently relied
on from the first. The King, or those who used his
name and influence, proclaimed the remission of reve-
nue to all villagers who joined. Meanwhile the army
before Delhi was kept aware of the position of all the
guns inside, and of the mutinous reinforcements.
The pulsation of politics appears’ to have been
nicely distinguished. Sometimes we read “The King
is dispirited at the result of the last fight, and wishes
to retreat, or to cross the river.” The Mahajuns had
been asked to advance twenty lakhs; but they re-
quested some sort of government, and the resumption
of the “ ordinary routine of trade” as a guarantee.
The twenty-second attack had been made on the
little army when General Wilson assumed command.
On the 19th of July it was known that “a Kerannie”
(subsequently proved to be a Sergeant-Major of the
rebel 28th N. I.) had joined, and was working with
198 DISORGANIZATION IN DELHI.

the Bareilly mutinous brigade. Further items of
intelligence, of sufficient significance, continued to
pour in, Disorganization had beeun reigning in the
city. The King had proclaimed pensions of three
rupees monthly to the widows whose husbands fell
in his cause. Seven men had been killed in an
affray originating in a cow-slaying enterprise ; con-
fusion and riot ensued, and the sepoys, not the King,
were “dominant.” The released Agra gaol convicts
had begun to come in; desertion of sepoys, who had
provided themselves with gold mohurs had become
not unfrequent. There was no care for the wounded:
there was no lint or ointment, as in British days, for
open sores. The amount of percussion caps had been
narrowly counted, and was said to be failing. The
plan of fighting the British force every day did not
appear to “succeed ;” and arrangements for a grand
assault, with the King at the head of the army and
the whole city population, was determined upon, but
not carried out. A subadar of artillery, named
Bukht Khan, had been named Commander-in-Chief ;
from personal preponderance, only, apparently. He
and others had represented to the King that the
Delhi and Meerut forces were too fond of plunder,
and objected to fighting. Three divisions had been
made, and a General created to go out at each attack!
POEMS AND PREDICTIONS. 199

Sometimes news almost diverting was communicated.
Poets sprang forth. One of the earliest emanations
of their muse was the following. It possibly has lost
somewhat of the pith in the translation, which is as
follows :—

“ Suraj-ood-deen Bahadoor, the conqueror of England,
Second of his name, has issued a new currency.”

Horrid intelligence, however, predominated ; grati-
fying to the debased, sensual and cruel Asiatic,
but almost paralysing to the English mind. The
British troops required not the aid of exasperated
feelings and factitious incitements to urge them to do
their duty; so the tales of Jhansi and Cawnpore were
kept from them, out of respect to their feelings.

Again, a Pundit rich in occult lore had made his
appearance, and had declared, by his knowledge of the
stars, that the sepoys would rule this year in India!
Tuesday the 21st of July was the day this oracle
fixed for the great attack. “The horses’ hoofs were
to be steeped in blood, and the action was to rival
the great conflict of the Maha Bharut; after that the
sepoys were to be dominant over India.”

Pursuing the rather tangled thread of native
information from the interior, we find other important
and pregnant indications. “The rebels” (even on the
19th of July,) “were getting sick of ill success, and
200 OUR SYSTEM OF ESPIONAGE.

some escaped every day in disguise.” Indeed after the
assault, it was found that the majority of those who
defended the city were armed fanatics and towns-
people.

The necessity also of hospitals began to dawn
upon the new authorities at Delhi, and native doctors,
a class who have as a rule behaved disgracefully,
were found to dress wounds. Up to this date our
small artillery force had made but little impression
on the city. Hopes were still entertained by the
King of the monetary aid of native chieftains; such
as the rebel Nawab of Jujjur, who has since been
hanged. Fairly accurate information continued to
be obtained, even up to the numbers killed by the
British army in every repulse; and the repulses were
not only signal but invariable. For days and weeks
the gallantry of the 9th Lancers, of the Artillery,
of the renowned 60th Rifles, and of officers and men
whose names are familiar as household words, was
the theme of admiration in all peaceful quarters.

From between the fifteenth to the end of July the
fate of India was in the balance. The most tre-
mendous efforts of the mutineers were directed
against the British at this period, and with fearful
odds. Our Asiatic spies were vigilant. Every

reinforcement to the mutineers was carefully de-
GENERAL BUKHT KHAN. 201

tailed; and every engineering project explained, even
to the length and width of beams of wood in con-
templated structures.

One of the most leading characters appears to
have been the aforenamed Subadér Bukht Khan,
upon whom the King conferred the rank and title of
General. He is described by his late commanding
officer (Captain Waddy, H.A.), to have been “sixty
years of age; to have served the Company for forty
years; his height about five feet ten inches; forty-
four inches round the chest; family of Hindoo ex-
traction, but converted under temptation of terri-
torial acquisition; a very bad rider, owing to large
stomach and round thighs, but clever, and a good
drill.” Such is a faithful and authentic description
of one of the rebel leaders. The Neemuch force,
when it arrived on the 27th of July, did not approve
of this gentleman being Commander-in-Chief; and
splits in council, most valuable to our cause, began
to widen into breaches of internal disunion. Even
the varied and continual, though unauthentic stories of
large reinforcements of Europeans from the south,
while they afforded occasional and spasmodic exulta-
tion to British hearts, contributed not a little to the
dismay of the rebels, from their very vagueness.
The native mind actuated upon by fear is especially
prone to exaggeration and loss of self-reliance.
* 202 THE RIVAL COMMANDERS.

The fame of General Neill at Allahabad and
Cawnpore had not been too glowingly depicted ; and
the anticipated arrival of two European regiments,
called respectively the “devils” and the “ cannibals,”
was deplored by the inhabitants of Delhi. These
regiments of enviable fame were supposed to be the
Madras Fusiliers and the 93rd Highlanders. In
short, the hopes of the British, even in ultimate
reinforcements, never came up to the fabulous
credulity of the natives in their awful proximity.

About the 31st of July we heard of premeditated
attacks postponed in consequence of the Commander-
in-Chief, Bukht Khan, and General Ghous Khan
hating one another. On the great Bukra Eed, as on
other religious occasions, the utmost fanaticism was
incited in place of bravery. But, except among
the local Goojur population, sympathy was scarce
throughout the country. General Wilson’s policy of
repulsing with effect, and leaving the mutineers to
fight amongst themselves, told well. Unaware of
our line of policy, though strongly convinced of the
indomitable determination of the British, no endea-
vours were omitted after the last day of July to
seduce our troops into isolated positions; but these
never succeeded, through great demonstrations were
attempted.

True to Asiatic system, the mutineers, cowed by
DISCONTENT IN THE CITY. 203

incessant losses, notwithstanding their numerical pre-
ponderance, and disheartened by the conflict of selfish
internal feeling as to their future destiny, began to
assail the King, as responsible for not having suc-
ceeded in the position in which they had placed him.
They complained of want of support, after retiring
night after night discomfited. The King replied that
the mutineers had ruined him; whereupon he was
railed at in full durbar. The King’s son, the master-
spirit of the rebellion, though stained with the
slaughter of innocents, found it impossible to govern
the malcontent spirits of the black-hearted soldiers ;
violent reproaches were exchanged, and delays in
making attacks were petitioned for, which perforce
had to be granted. These delays were of fruitful
value to General Wilson and his army. In the city,
the standing army was beginning to be found “ un-
wieldy, and funds ran short.” More attempts, there-
fore, to cut off British supplies were again made;
but in no case succeeded. The British mind had
been frequently cheered by reports of the enemy’s
want of percussion caps, but the well-informed knew
that at least three hundred thousand and more must
be in store. Experiments were essayed at making
detonating powder, and with signal failure. The

most urgent attempts were made to seduce the Maha-
204 DESERTION, DEPRESSION, AND DISEASE.

rajah of Pattialah, and to impress upon the people
the triumph of the rebel cause. But it came to the
ears of the King, on the authority of “ Toolla Ram,
that the English were not yet driven into the sea.”
He had made incessant demands on the city. He
had even been importuned to send subsidies to
Waleedad Khan, the miscreant of Malagurh.

By the 4th of August desertions from the muti-
neers became of daily occurrence, especially under
pretence of “furlough.” That reinforcements were
pouring down from the Punjab was no secret to
them, and the name of Lawrence was dismaying.
The Ghazees (fanatics) who arrived were also a
source of trouble to the King’s party, as their politics
on the 4th of August had swerved considerably
towards the English side. About the 5th of August
a General Bukhtawur Khan (probably Bukht Khan)
seems to have got into disgrace; for we hear that
through his neelect the force of General Sirdar
Singh had “got out of spirits; they had been kept

in the wet for two days.”

This disagreement the
King is said to have reconciled. The hearts of the
most sanguine rebels still entertained hopes of suc-
cour from Gwalior; but none came. Though there
was no famine in the city, there was much disease.

Prices were still low, but cholera began to rage,
THE KING OF DELHI'S IDEAS. 205

The citizens almost asked to be rescued from sepoy
rule. Friday was an especial day for sorties; but
Baal did not answer to the call of his priests. Rohil-
cund affairs, about the beginning of August, seemed
to have occupied the King’s attention; and he had
hopes that residents of the Gangetic Doab, who pre-
tended to be eager to pay revenue on arrival of his
Majesty’s chupprassies, might be induced to remit
money.

Occasionally the King dallied with the muse, and
the translation of one couplet runs thus—“I, Nuffer
(his poetical name), will seize London; for what is
the distance from Hindoostan?” The King was also
informed from Lucknow that Goordutoola Beg, son
of Mendoo Khan, had reinstated the son of Wajid
Allee Shah, late King of Oude, subject to the
Emperor’s approval, and had commenced coining

with the following inscription :—

“ Bazar zud sicca nusrut tarazee,
Surajood-deen Bahadur Shah Ghazee.”

Despair began to reign in the rebels’ hearts, and
fanatic excitements were again resorted to. Hindoo
pundits began to publish and sing wild and extrava-
gant rhapsodies, of which the following may be a
good specimen. After a portentous announcement,

that he had arranged with the Almighty for preter-
206 BRAHMINICAL EXHORTATIONS.

natural agency, and had set the guards of Hanooman
round the camp of the English, the rebel troops were
thus addressed :—

“No white-face can move out,
Therefore advance your batteries without fear.
The camp shall be destroyed like Lunka by fire ;
Increase the number of your guns.
By the grace of Bulbhudder and Ramchunder
The camp shall be annihilated.
Fight without intermission day and night ;
Protect from injury our mother the cow.
Offer sacrificial food to Joala Maee and Bhovanee,
And distribute it among the Brahmins.
Present daily an offering of fourteen cows.
I have scrutinized the leaves of the book,
Nirput Jee Jurria, and ascertain that Suneechur (the

god of vengeance)

Has descended upon the heads of the English.
Offer sacrifices to Sunneechur ;
See what a moment will bring forth.”

About the time when Heaven had been thus stormed
with Brahminical supplication, a great protége of the
King, and a bitter and fanatic enemy of the British,
Hakeem Ahsanoollah Khan, had been cleverly out-
diplomatized by Rujjub Ali, Meer Moonshee, under
the guidance of the accomplished Hodson.

Rujjub Ali addressed his Mohamedan friend in a
letter, couched in terms which, if the letter fell
into the sepoys’ hands, must infallibly lead them to
infer the treachery of the Hakeem; and if not dis-
covered by them the Hakeem’s allegiance might be
DISSENSIONS AMONGST THE ENEMY. 207

diverted to the British side. The letter was very
clever, and the annexed couplet was introduced as
probably applicable to the Hakeem’s position, but
certainly applicable to that of the puppet monarch.
*« A fly was seated on a piece of straw floating in the
urine of an ass, and thought himself conducting a
ship.” Very shortly after the receipt of the letter,
the Hakeem paid a visit to the Begum Sumroo’s
house, wherein was deposited the rebel powder
manufactory. It exploded. This roused the sus-
picions of the sepoys, who rushed to the Hakeem’s
residence, searched it, and found the letter of Rujjub
Ali; whereon they plundered the premises, gutted
them completely, and finished by conflagration. The
Hakeem narrowly escaped with life, by darting to
the palace. Great divisions were the result of this
adroit piece of tactics. A new powder manufactory,
far out of the deadly range of British batteries, was
erected at Dariogunge. The King’s authority was
spurned; he wished to abdicate. The enemy lost
all unanimity, strength, and concert. Councils in
the city, under different presidents, sat continually.
Though with unity of action the annihilation of
the British force, by simple overwhelming numbers,
could hardly have been doubted, yet each new
commander distrusted his rival. Fresh and heavy
208 THE REBELS DISHEARTENED.

levies of money were made on the inhabitants, and a
general and honest prayer for the return of peaceful
times and British law and order was breathed around
by the ruined trades people.

The mutineers felt that the disposition of their
forces was accurately known. So soon as a damaging
battery was erected from the interior, suggestions
as to the position proper for another to silence it
from the exterior, were tendered and carried out.
Want of heart, the sure precursor of defeat, had
began to be displayed. Bands which had remained
with the mutinous brigades, assembled one evening
before the tent of General Bukht Khan to celebrate
fictitious captures and imaginary triumphs, and to
shroud the ignominy of incessant defeats and almost
daily loss of guns; but none were deceived by
imposture so palpable. The King at last shut himself
up: when he appeared in durbar he maintained a
gloomy silence. The Mirza Mogul and General Bukht
Khan were in open feud; which not even the contem-
plation of the certain ruin impending could contribute
to appease, or yield to the cultivation of a good under-
standing. The latter complained that the former
had demoralized his division, who were envious of
the superior plunder obtained. The King attempted
to harangue the army, declaring that “as he had
THE DELHI EXCHEQUER EMPTY. 209

never called them together, so they might disperse
as soon as they liked.” The Neemuch Brigade
became particularly broken-spirited. The Bareilly
Brigade showed symptoms of retirement. The
steady monthly salaries under the British Govern-
ment began to be missed; and the King had a third
time to impose additional burdens on the wretched
townspeople. But the golden egg had been ex-
tracted, and there were no supplies. Indications of
partiality for the King’s family were now (16th
August) apparent even in the letters of correspon-
dents. The names of Neill and Nicholson had
become of terrific notoriety ; and the most exaggerated
reports of British reinforcements were again circu-
lated and believed in. Upstart chieftains on all sides,
and mushroom commanders, pestered the King of
Delhi for subsidies and pecuniary aid. But the
exchequer was empty.

The internal affairs of the city continued this wise
until the 30th of August, when the correspondence
to the camp became distinctly varied in its style,
according as it was composed by a Mahomedan, or
by a Hindoo. The approaching hour was known
and feared. Of one, Heera Singh, who was made
major of brigade of the Neemuch force, it is declared
by a Hindoo correspondent that on the 13th of

P. P
210 OVERTURES PROPOSED.

>

August the King spoke to him “ encouragingly,’
directed him to re-organize the brigade, and though
he “could not give such guns as had been lost, he
would replace them to the best of his ability.”
Particular enumerations of the force which re-
mained were made, for the information of the British
camp; but these were only partially correct, both as
to numbers and names. The 70th N. I., who were
at Barrackpore, were named. There is mention of a
leading character in the Gwalior Contingent who
offered, if put in command of the whole force
under the King’s orders, to attack Agra; but the
answer was to the effect that the King “ could not
interfere.” The formidable nature of the Rohilkund
insurrection was well known in Delhi; but the
behaviour of the Nawab of Rampoor damped the
ardour of the rebels; and the hill station at Nainee
Tal has been preserved intact. From a Mahomedan
correspondent we are informed of the enormous
exertions which Muftee Sudder-ood-deen, the afore-
mentioned Hukeem Ahsanoolah Khan, Mirza Ellahee
Bux and Begum Zeenet Mahal are prepared to make
for the English Government. Four thousand horse-
men, irregulars, became suddenly possessed of an
anxious desire to embrace their families once more

if their lives were spared. The infantry were equally
APPEAL FOR MERCY. 211

anxious for change of air. The zealous personages
did not wish to screen “actual rebels, and would
wish all those who had committed bloodshed and
plunder to be severely punished” indeed; but the
mercy of the Government is particularly asked for
the “ King, the nobles, and the citizens of Delhi, who
are innocent and helpless !”

So distracted were the councils of the interior
about the beginning of September, that frequently
the British army was harassed by watching for pre-
meditated night attacks, which never were made. The
Neemuch Brigade on the 8th of September swore
to conquer or die: Hindoo and Mussulman troops
grasped hands and exchanged oaths not to desert.

More financial measures were resolved on. All
villages near Boolundshuhur, which had befriended
the British, were to be plundered for a fourth time;
compulsory loans from the shopkeepers of the city
were devised. The Mhow mutineers were reported
to have crossed the Chumbul, and the city spies
pressed that the grand assault should he made before
their arrival. The population began to assume an
ironical air in their responses to the king, and said
“they were to go out to the attack, as they had
enjoyed such quiet and happiness under the rule
of the mutineers!” An emissary half-unnerved the

P 2
212 DISTRESS IN THE CITY.

whole city on the 9th of August, returning from the
Punjab with a report that Sir John Lawrence, at the
head of ten thousand men, had just arrived in camp
to make a special attack.

About this period, also, the awful miseries of
warfare, and the ghastly destitution of anarchy, were
fully felt by the population, shop-keepers, and retail
tradesmen; and as the day of retribution drew nigh,
they began to seek, at the hands of the British army,
that generous protection for their wives and for
their children which in no instance had been extended
to European maidenhood or infancy by their ferocious
countrymen. Two thousand five hundred women
and children tried to leave, and about six hundred
carts blocked up the main streets; but all egress was
prevented.

On the 9th of September, the rebel army became
torn by intestine feuds; and the information of the
spies became singularly precise as to the effect of
the British fire, the positions of the rebel guns, and
the measures adopted to resist the assault. Procla-
mations were issued that any Sikhs or Khakees who
would desert from the British army and join the
army of Islam, were to be received with open arms,
and their devotion rewarded by jagheers.

According to the spies, about half of the Sikhs in
RAGE AND DESPAIR OF THE KING. 213

Delhi were inclined to the British side, but the other
half fought even more determinedly against us; and
it is possible that a considerable body deserted. All
this information, however, had to be received, and
was received, with due caution. Events proved the
military details to be sufficiently reliable. Subse-
quently to this, and just previous to the assault,
amidst the military details and general information,
one picturesque incident breaks forth: that of the
Kirig—the last of the Moguls—appearing before his
durbar, tearing his beard, snatching his turban from
his hoary head, and invoking vengeance on those
who had brought him to such an end by their
cowardice and disunion. We must now return to
the exterior of the city.

It has been mentioned that the position of the Bri-
tish army before Delhi was that of the besieged rather
than of the besiegers. Even with the augmented
force at his disposal, the General could not have com-
pleted the line of investment. The Chief Engineer,
Lieutenant-Colonel Baird Smith, thus describes the
characteristic features of the place:—“ The eastern
face of the city rests on the Jumna, and during the
season of the year when our operations were carried
on, the stream may be described as washing the base
of the walls. All access to a besieger on the river
214 DEFENCES OF DELHI.

front is, therefore, impracticable. The defences here
consist of an irregular wall with occasional bastions
and towers, and about one-half of the length of the
river face is occupied by the palace of the King of
Delhi, and its outwork, the old Mogul fort of
Selimghur. The river may be described as the
chord of a rough are formed by the remaining
defences at the place. These consist of a succession
of bastioned fronts, the connection being very long,
and the outworks limited to one crown-work at the
Ajmere gate, and Martello towers mounting a single
gun at such points as require some additional flank-
ing fire to that given by the bastions themselves.
The bastions are small, generally mounting three
guns in each face, two in each flank, and one in
embrasure at the salient. They are provided with
masonry parapets about 12 feet in thickness, and
have a relief of about 16 feet above the plane of site.
The curtain consists of a simple masonry wall or
rampart 16 feet in height, 11 feet thick at top, and
14 or 15 at bottom. This main wall carries a para-
pet loopholed for musketry 8 feet in height and 8
feet in thickness. The whole of the land front is
covered by a beam of variable width ranging from
16 to 30 feet, and having a scarp wall 8 feet high.
Exterior to this is a dry ditch, of about 25 feet in
DEFENCES OF DELHI. 215

width, and from 16 to 20 feet in depth. The counter-
scarp is simply an earthen slope easy to descend.
The glacis is a very short one extending only 50
or 60 yards from the counterscarp; using general
terms, it covers from the besiegers’ view from half to
one-third of the height of the walls of the place. The
defences, In a word, are ‘modernized’ forms of
ancient works that existed when the city fell before
Lord Lake’s army in 1803. They extend about
seven miles in circumference, and include an area of
about three square miles. On the western side of
Delhi there appear the last outlying spurs of the
Aravelli Mountains, and represented here by a low
ridge which disappears at its intersection with the
Jumna, about two miles above the place. The
drainage from the eastern slope of the ridge finds its
way to the river along the northern and the north-
western faces of the city, and has formed there a
succession of parallels or connected ravines of consi-
derable depth. By taking advantage of these hollow
ways admirable cover was constantly obtained for
the troops, and the labour of the siege was materially
reduced. The whole of the exterior of the place
presents an extraordinary mass of old buildings of
all kinds—of thick brushwood and occasional clumps
of forest trees, giving great facilities for cover, which,
216 SUCCESS OF SIEGE OPERATIONS.

during the siege operations at least proved to be
on the whole more favourable to us than to the
enemy.”

The most perfect success attended the plan of
siege operations, and the noble Bengal Artillery has
added another, if possible more lustrous, page to its
long annals of glory and renown. Never was its
fire more vigorous and effective. Associated with
the recollection of the famous six days’ open trenches
before Delhi in 1857, will be handed down to pos-
terity the reputation of the 9th Lancers and the 6th
Dragoon Carabineers, who worked at the guns at
each of the breaching batteries in common with their
comrades of the Artillery. With no relief for the
officers, and but little for the men, for seven and a
half scorching days and nights, in the most sickly
season of the year, did this gallant band keep up a
galling fire. One breaching battery was entirely
worked by men of the 9th Lancers, and aided by two
sergeants of Artillery; a concentrated and vigorous
fire was kept up on the walled space of the city
included between the Water, the Mcree, and the
Cashmere Bastions.

Fifty-four siege guns were distributed to silence
the enemy’s fire, and four siege batteries were erected.

The first, under Major Brind, completely ruined the
THE BREACHING BATTERIES. 217

defences of the Shah and Moree Bastions, while it
protected the assaulting column from a flank fire,
and diverted the fire of the enemy at the Cashmere
Bastion from the working parties at the second
battery. The first siege battery caught fire, and was
destroyed on the 10th of September; but not before
it had accomplished its task. Not until after the
most urgent persuasions would Major Turner, who
had joint command, be persuaded to leave the field,
though sore stricken with sickness. The battery was
not unmolested: night after night did the enemy in
force come out and strive to destroy it.

The second siege battery, under Major Campbell,
breached the curtain to the right of the Cashmere
Bastion, dismounted nearly all the enemy’s guns,
stripped off the parapet, and thus left the mutineers
without cover. The third siege battery, under Major
Nott, which was armed on the night of the 11th
instant, shelled the interior of the Water Bastion and
the Church, pierced the wall on the 13th of Sep-
tember, and by the same evening had effected
a practicable breach. The fourth siege battery,
under Major Tombs, whom to mention is to praise,
kept up, from the 14th of September, a ravaging
fire on the Cashmere Gate, the Church, the
Water Bastion, and Skinner’s house.

On the night of the 13th September, Delhi became
218 COLUMNS OF ASSAULT.

ripe for assault; and hearts beat high when the
bombardment ceased, and the order of the General
commanding for the storm on the morning of the
14th was rapidly circulated through the camp.

The assault was delivered on four points. The first
column was commanded by the lamented Brigadier-
General Nicholson; who, to the grief of the army,
sank under his wounds on the 20th of September.
The second was led by Brigadier Jones, of the 60th
Rifles; the third by Colonel Campbell, H. M.’s
52nd L. I.; the fourth by Major Reid. <A reserve
column was commanded by Brigadier Longfield.
The despatches published will give the reader the
exact results of the first momentous day.

But the devoted heroism of the Engineers, who
formed the exploding party to blow away the Cash-
mere Gate, cannot be passed over. The deed was
done, not stealthily, or by stratagem, nor under the
broad black shield of night, but in open daylight.
Lieutenants Salkeld and Home, of the Engineers,
accompanied by a small band of heroes, Sergeant
John Smith, A. B. Carmichael, Corporal Burgess,
of the Sappers and Miners, Bugler Hawthorne, of
H. M.’s 52nd, covered by the fire of the splendid
60th Rifles, were told off for the desperate and
critical duty. Lieutenants Home, Smith, Carmichael,
and Havildar Madho led with the powder bags.
HEROISM OF THE EXPLODING PARTY. 219

Salkeld, with Corporal Burgess and the remainder,
followed. On reaching the gateway, the advanced
party found part of the drawbridge destroyed. Re-
gardless of the precarious footing offered by the few
remaining beams, the party pushed on nobly to
lodge the powder at the gate. But the wicket was
open, and a murderous fire issued from its portal.
A sergeant fell dead after fixing the powder, and
the havildar was wounded. But one-half of the
perilous, though glorious, task was done. None
dared to venture out to dislodge the bags, and the
advanced party slipped down into the ditch, to permit
of the advance of the firing party.

In attempting to fire, Lieutenant Salkeld fell fear-
fully wounded in two places; but while on the
ground, he remembered England and his duty, and
flung the slow match to Corporal Burgess, who had
scarce appended the light to the train (in fact played
the part on which, perhaps, the fate of British India
depended), when he, too, fell mortally wounded.
The noise of the explosion was a fitting salvo over
the grave of such Englishmen. Bugler Hawthorne
did his own dangerous work, and then repaired to
the wounded Salkeld, bound up his wounds, and,
careless of the hail of bullets, tenderly removed his
dying commander.
220 GEN. WILSON’S FIRST DESPATCH.

We have thus led our readers up to the fall of Delhi.
As the most appropriate close to this chapter, we re-
publish the original despatches of General Wilson :—

From Major-General A. Wiusox, Commanding Delhi Field
Force, to Captain H.W. Norman, Assistant Adjutant-General
of the Army, Delhi.

Sir, Delhi, 16th September, 1857.

I have the high satisfaction of reporting for the information
of the Major-General commanding in the Upper Provinces, and
through him of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, and of
the Government, that on the morning of the 14th instant the
force under my command assaulted the city of Delhi with
success.

Under present circumstances, Major-General Gowan will, I
trust, allow me to withhold for a time a full and complete
detail of the operations from their commencement to their close,
and to limit myself to a summary of events.

After six days of open trenches, during which the Artillery,
and Engineers, under their respective commanding officers,
Major Gaitskell and Lieutenant-Colonel Baird Smith, vied
with each other in pushing on the works; two excellent and
most practicable breaches were formed in the walls of the
place, one in the curtain to the right of the Cashmere Bastion,
the other to the left of the Water Bastion, the defences of
those bastions and the parapets, giving musketry cover to the
enemy commanding the breaches, having also been destroyed
by the artillery.

The assault was delivered on four points. The first column,
under Brigadier-General J. Nicholson, consisting of her
Majesty’s 75th Regiment (300 men), Ist European Bengal
Fusiliers (200 men), and the 2nd Punjaub Infantry (450 men),
assaulted the main breach, their advance being admirably
covered by the Ist Battalion her Majesty's 60th Rifles, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Jones. The operation was crowned with
brilliant success; the enemy, after severe resistance, being
driven from the Cashmere Bastion, the Main Guard, and its
vicinity, in complete rout.
GEN. WILSON’S FIRST DESPATCH. 221

The 2nd Column, under Brigadier Jones, her Majesty’s 60th
Regiment, consisting of her Majesty’s 8th Regiment (250
men), the 2nd European Bengal Fusiliers (250 men), and the
4th Regiment of Sikhs (350 men), similarly covered by the
60th Rifles, advanced on the Water Bastion, carried the breach,
and drove the enemy from his guns and position with a deter-
mination and spirit which gave me the highest satisfaction.

The 3rd column, under Colonel Campbell, of Her Majesty's
52nd Light Infantry, consisting of his own regiment (200 men),
the Kumaon Battalion (250 men), and the Ist Punjaub
Infantry (500 men), was directed against the Cashmere gate-
way. This column was preceded by an explosion party under
Lieutenants Home and Salkeld, of the Engineers, covered by
the 60th Rifles. The demolition of the gate having been
accomplished, the column forced an entrance, overcoming a
strenuous opposition from the enemy’s infantry and heavy
artillery, which had been brought to bear on the position. I
cannot express too warmly my admiration of the gallantry of
all concerned in this difficult operation.

The reserve, under Brigadier Longfield, her Majesty’s 8th
Regiment, composed of her Majesty’s 61st Regiment (250 men),
4th Punjaub Rifles, (450 men), the Belooch Battalion (300
men), the Jheend Rajah’s Auxiliaries (300 men), and 200 of
her Majesty's 60th Rifles, who joined after the assault had been
made, awaited the result of the attack, and on the columns
entering the place, took possession of the post I had previously
assigned to it. This duty was ultimately performed to my
entire satisfaction. ‘

The firm establishment of the reserve rendering the assault-
ing columns free to act in advance, Brigadier - General
Nicholson, supported by Brigadier Jones, swept the ramparts
of the place from the Cashmere to the Cabul gate, occupying
the bastions and defences, capturing the guns, and driving the
enemy before him. During the advance, Brigadier-General
Nicholson was, to the grief of myself and the whole army,
dangerously wounded; the command consequently devolved
on Brigadier Jones, who, finding the enemy in great force,
occupying, and pouring a destructive fire from the roofs of
222 GEN. WILSON’S FIRST DESPATCH.

strong and commanding houses in the city on all sides, the
ramparts themselves being enfiladed by guns, prudently resolved
on retaining possession of the Cabul gate, which his troops
had so gallantly won, in which he firmly established himself,
awaiting the result of the operations of the other columns of
occupation.

Colonel Campbell with the column under his command
advanced successfully from the Cashmere-gate by one of the
main streets beyond the Chandnee Chouk, the central and
principal street of the city, towards the Jumma Musjid, with
the intention of occupying that important post. The opposition,
however, which he met from the great concentration of the
enemy at the Jumma Musjid and the houses in the neighbour-
hood, he himself, I regret to state being wounded, satisfied him
that his most prudent course was not to maintain so advanced
a position with the comparatively limited force at his disposal,
and he accordingly withdrew the head of his column, and
placed himself in communication with the reserve, a measure
which had my entire approval, I having previously determined
that in the event of serious opposition being encountered in the
town itself, it would be most inexpedient to commit my small
force to a succession of street fights, in which their gallantry,
discipline, and organization could avail them so little.

My present position, therefore, is that which, under such a
contingency, I had resolved to occupy and establish myself in
firmly, as the base of my systematic operations for the complete
possession of the city. This embraces the magazine on one
side, and the Cabul gate on the other, with the Moree, Cash-
mere, and Water Bastions, and strong intermediate posts, with
secure communication along the front and to the rear.

From this base I am now cautiously pressing the enemy on
all points with a view to establishing myself in a second
advanced position, and I trust before many days to have it in
my power to announce to the Supreme Government that the
enemy have been driven from their last stronghold in the
palace, fort, and streets of Delhi.

Simultaneously with the operations above detailed, an attack
was made on the enemy’s strong position outside the city in the
GEN. WILSON’S FIRST DESPATCH. 223

suburbs of Kishengunge and Pahareepore, with a view of
driving in the rebels, and supporting the main attack by
effecting an entrance at the Cabul gate after it should be taken.

The force employed in this difficult duty I entrusted to that
admirable officer, Major C. Reid, commanding the Sirmoor
Battalion, whose distinguished conduct I have already had
occasion prominently to bring to the notice of superior authority,
and who was, I regret deeply to state, severely wounded on
this occasion. The column consisted of his own battalion,
detachments of the Rifles, Ist Fusiliers, the Guides, and other
regiments, amounting in all to about 1,000 men, supported by
the auxiliary troops of his Highness the Maharajah Rumbeer
Singh under Captain R. Lawrence.

The strength of the positions, however, and the desperate
resistance offered by the enemy, withstood for a time the effort
of the troops, gallant though they were, and the combination
was unable to be effected. The delay, [am happy to say, has
been only temporary, for the enemy have subsequently
abandoned their position, leaving their guns in our hands.

In this attack I found it necessary to support Major Reid
with Cavalry and Horse Artillery, both of which arms were
admirably handled respectively by Brigadier Grant, of Her
Majesty's 9th Lancers, Commanding the Cavalry Brigade, and
Major H. Tombs, of the Horse Artillery, who inflicted severe
punishment on the enemy, though I regret their own loss was
very heavy.

The resistance of the rebels up to this time has been that of
desperate men, to which must be attributed the severe loss we
have sustained, amounting proximately, so far as I am able to
judge in the absence of returns of casualties, to 46 officers killed
and wounded, and about 800 men. Amongst those whose ser-
vices the State has been deprived of, are many officers of
distinction and merit, holding superior commands, and whose
places cannot be supplied; and I have specially to lament that
I have been deprived of the services of no less than nine
officers of that splendid corps, the Engineers, one of whom was
killed, and others seriously wounded in the gallant performance
of their duty.
224 GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH.

Until I receive reports from Brigadiers and other commanding
officers, I am unable to enter more fully into the details of
these operations, and I trust the circumstances under which I
write will excuse any slight inaccuracies or imperfections which
my despatch may exhibit.

The absence of such reports also prevents my bringing to
notice the names of those officers and men who have specially
distinguished themselves. This will be my grateful duty here-
after. But I cannot defer the expression of my admiration for
the intrepidity, coolness and determination of all engaged—
officers and men, Europeans and natives of all arms.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) A. Witson, Major-General,
Commanding Delhi Field Force.

From Major-General A. Witson, Commanding Delhi Field
Force, to the Adjutant- General of the Army, Dethi.
Dated Delhi, 22nd September, 1857.
Sir,

In continuation of my despach of the 16th instant, I now
have the honour to forward a report, for the information
the Major-General Commanding in the Upper Provinces, His
Exceilency the Commander-in-Chief, and the Government, of
the further operations of the force under my command since
that date.

During the 17th and 18th we continued to take up advanced
posts in the face of considerable opposition on the part of the
rebels, and not without loss to ourselves—two officers being
killed, and a number of men killed and wounded. On the
evening of the 19th the Burn Bastion, which had given us con-
siderable annoyance, was surprised and captured. On the
morning of the 20th our troops pushed on and occupied the
Lahore gate, from which an unopposed advance was made on
the other bastions and gateways until the whole defences were
in our hands.

From the time of our first entering the city an uninterrupted
and vigorous fire from our guns and mortars was kept up on
GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH. 225

the palace, Jumma Musjid,and other important posts in posses-
sion of the rebels, and as we took up our various positions in
advance, our light guns and mortars were brought forward and
used with effect on the streets and houses in their neighbour-
hood.

The result of this heavy and unceasing bombardment, and of
the steady and persevering advance of our troops, has been the
evacuation of the palace by the King, entire desertion of the
city by the inhabitants, and the precipitate flight of the rebel
troops, who abandoning their camp property, many of their
sick and wounded, and the greater part of their field artillery,
have fled in utter disorganization; some 4,000 or 5,000 across
the bridge-of-boats into the Doab, the remainder along the
right bank of the Jumna.,

The gates of the palace having been blown in, it was occu-
pied by our troops at about noon on the 20th, and my Head-
Quarters established in it on the same day.

The great diminution of our strength by losses in action
during the last few days, added to the severe sickness prevailing
among the troops, has prevented my immediately organizing
and sending a column in pursuit, but a force,* under Command
of Lieutenant-Colonel Greathed, will march to-morrow morn-
ing towards Boolundshuhur and Allyghur to intercept the
rebels, whose intentions are said to be to cross the Jumna. My
intelligence, however, I regret to say, is very defective.

The King, who accompanied the troops, it is believed, for some
short distance last night, gave himself up to a party of Irre-
gular Cavalry, whom I had sent out in the direction of the
fugitives, and he is now a prisoner under a guard of European
soldiers. Three of the Shahzadas,j who are known to have
taken a prominent part in the atrocities attending the insurrec-

’ Ist Troop Ist Brigade Horse Artillery, 3rd Troop Ist Bri-
gade 8rd Horse Artillery, No. 17 Light Field Battery, two
Companies Punjab Sappers, 9th Lancers, Ist, 2nd, and 5th
Punjab Cavalry, Hodson’s Horse (200), H.M.’s 8th Regiment,
H.M.’s 75th Regiment, 2nd and 4th Punjab Infantry. _

+ Mirza Mogul, Mirza Khoje Sultan, sons of the King, and
Mirza Aboo Bukker, grandson.

P. Q
226 GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH.

tion, have been this day captured by Captain Hodson, and shot
on the spot.

Thus has the important duty committed to this force been
accomplished, and its object attained. Delhi, the focus of re-
bellion and insurrection, and the scene of so much horrible
cruelty, taken and made desolate—the King a prisoner in our
hands, and the mutineers, notwithstanding their great numerical
superiority, and their vast resources in ordnance and all the
munitions and appliances of war, defeated on every occasion of
engagement with our troops, are now driven with slaughter
in confusion and dismay from their boasted stronghold.

The details of the operation have been so fully entered into
in my previous despatch, and in the annexed reports and
returns from the various commanding officers, that little re-
mains for me to say—but to again express my unqualified
approbation of the conduct and spirit of the whole of the
troops—not only on this occasion but during the entire period
they have been in the field.

For four months of the most trying season of the year this
force, originally very weak in number, has been exposed to the
repeated and determined attacks of an cnemy far out-number-
ing it, and supported by a numerous and powerful artillery.
The duties imposed upon all have been laborious, harassing,
and incessant ; and, notwithstanding heavy losses both in action
and from disease, have been at all times zealously and cheerfully
performed.

I beg to add my most cordial concurrence in the commenda-
tions bestowed by officers commanding brigades, columns and
detachments on the officers and men named in their several
reports; and I have to express my own deep obligations to
those officers themselves for the valuable assistance I have at
all times received from them.

To Major F. Gaitskell, who recently assumed command of
the artillery in the field, consequent on Brigadier Garbett
haying been disabled by a wound, and to the officers and men
of that distinguished arm, to whose energy and untiring zeal
the successful issue of the operations is so largely attributable,
T have to offer my hearty thanks; and particularly am I in-
GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH. 227

debted to that excellent officer, Lieut.-Colonel C. Hogge,
Director of the Artillery Depét, who volunteered his services
as commissary of ordnance with the siege train, through
whose able superintendence of the park and arrangements for
the supply of ammunition to the batteries, our artillery was
able to deal out the destruction which was effected ; as also to
Capt. T. Young, Deputy-Commissary, and Mr. J. Stotesbury,
Assistant-Commissary of Orduance, for their exertions during
the whole siege.

To Lieut.-Colonel Baird Smith, Chief Engineer, who in ill
health, and whilst suffering from the effects of a painful wound,
devoted himself with the greatest ability and assiduity to the
conduct of the difficult and important operations of the siege,
to his gallant and eminently talented second, Captain A.
Taylor, and to the whole of the officers and men of the
Engineer Brigade, my thanks and acknowledgments are espe-
cially due for having planned and successfully carried out in
the face of extreme and unusual difficulties an attack almost
without parallel in the annals of siege operations.

To that most brilliant officer, Brigadier-General J. Nichol-
son, whose professional character and qualifications are so well
known and appreciated, I am under the greatest obligations for
the daring manner in which he led his column to the assault ;
and I deeply deplore that his services are for the present lost
to the State.

To Brigadier Hope Grant, C.B., commanding the Cavalry
Brigade, and to Brigadiers J. Longfield and W. Jones, C.B.,
commanding Infantry Brigades, I am deeply indebted. And I
have to offer my best thanks to Colonel C. Campbell, command-
ing Her Majesty’s 52nd Light Infantry, and to that intrepid
and excellent officer, Major C. Reid, of the Sirmoor Battalion,
both wounded whilst gallantly leading columns of attack; as
also to Colonel J. Jones, commanding the Ist Battalion 60th
Royal Rifles, a regiment which has shown a glorious example
both in its daring gallantry and its perfect discipline to the
whole force, for the ability with which he covered the advance
of'the assaulting columns.

I have pleasure also in bringing favourably to notice the

Q 2
228 GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH. ‘

services rendered by Lieut.-Colonel H. P. Burn, attached as
field officer to the Ist Brigade of Infantry, and by Captain
Seymour Blane, Her Majesty’s 52nd Light Infantry, Major of
Brigade to Brigadier-General Nicholson.

Colonel J. L. Denniss, of Her Majesty’s 52nd Light In-
fantry, whom I placed in charge of the camp during the
operations, is entitled to my thanks and acknowledgments for
the able disposition he made with the troops under his
command for the due protection of his important charge.

To the officers of the general staff of the army, and to
those of the staff of the field force, my cordial acknowledg-
ments are due for the admirable manner in which they have
performed their responsible duties; to that very distinguished
officer, Brigadier General W. Chamberlain, Adjutant-General
of the Army, who, though still incapacitated by a severe
wound previously received, proceeded to the ridge at Hindoo
Rao’s, and performed essential service after Major Reid had
been wounded, and it became necessary to resume that position
to Captain H. M. Norman, Assistant Adjutant-General of the
Army, who on this, as on each and every occasion, has been
distinguished by his gallantry, zeal, and professional ability ;
to that experienced officer, Major R. S. Ewart, Deputy
Assistant Adjutant-General, and his gallant and energetic
coadjutor Captain D. M. Stewart, Deputy Assistant Adjutant-
General, who have conducted the duties of their important
department with the force, much to my satisfaction; and to
Captain E. B. Johnson, Assistant Adjutant-General of Artil-
lery, who volunteered to command the 24-pounder Breach-
ing Battery, most ably and effectually carried out the duty
assigned to him, and who rejoined my personal staff on the
morning of the assault, and who has throughout these opera-
tions given me the most zealous and efficient support; I am
greatly indebted for the assistance they have afforded me.

I also beg to bring very favourably to notice the officers of
the Quartermaster-General’s Department, Captain D. C. Chute
and Captain H. M. Garstin, and Captain W. S. R. Hodson,
who has performed such good and gallant service with his
newly-raised regiment of Irregular Horse, and at the same
GEN. WILSON’S SECUND DESPATCH. 229

time conducted the duties of the intelligence department under
the orders of the Quartermaster-General with rare ability and
success : also that active and gallant officer, Lieutenant F. S.
Roberts, attached to the Artillery Brigade in the capacity of
Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General.

Lieutenant-Colonel Keith Young, Judge Advocate General,
also, and his Deputies, Captain F. C. Maisey, and Captain
YO. W. Wilson, most zealously assisted me in carrying my
orders.

To the officers of my personal staff, Captain C. H. Barchard,
who has served with me first as my orderly officer, and subse-
quently as Aide-de-Camp, and to whose zealous and untiring
exertions I am deeply indebted; to Captain J. R. Turnbull,
Second Aide-de-Camp, Captain R. A. Lowe and Lieutenant
R. C. Lowe, Extra Aide-de-Camp, I am under great obliga-
tions for the zeal and readiness with which they on this and
all other occasions have performed their duties. My thanks
are also due to Major H. A. Ouvry, who attended me on the
day of assault.

For the valuable aid at all times rendered by officers of the
Civil Service, who have been attached to the force, I have to
record my warm acknowledgments; to Mr. Hervey Greathed,
Agent to the Lieutenant-Governor North-West Provinces
(whose subsequent sudden death I deeply lament), and Mr.
C. B. Saunders, both of whom attended me in action, and
made themselves most useful; Sir T. Metcalfe, Bart., whose
gallantry in conducting Colonel Campbell’s assaulting column
through the city was conspicuous; and Mr. R. W. Clifford,
who was also in attendance on me, are all entitled to my
thanks.

Whilst, however, in acknowledging the services of those
officers whose good fortune it was to be present at the assault
and in the action of the 14th, I have only performed a grateful
duty. I should be greatly wanting if I failed to record the
names of those who have previously distinguished themselves,
but who, incapacitated by wounds or sickness, were unable to
join in the operations of that day. Amongst these I have
specially to notice Brigadier St. G. D. Showers, whose cool
230 GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH.

gallantry on the numerous occasions in which he has been
engaged has been conspicuous; also Colonel A. W. M. Becher,
Quartermaster-General of the Army, who, though prevented
by a severe wound received in June last from taking an active
part in the field, has at all times rendered me zealous assistance.
Lieutenant-Colonel T. Seaton, C.B., of the 35th Native
Infantry, attached to the force, a most valuable and expe-
rienced officer, of whose services I have been deprived owing
to a wound received by him on the 23rd July; that admirable
officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Murray Mackenzie, commanding
the Ist Brigade of Horse Artillery, of whose services I have
also been deprived by a wound which he received when in
charge of the heavy batteries at an early stage of our opera-
tions ; that officer so distinguished in our frontier warfare,
Major J. Coke, commanding the Ist Punjab Rifles, severely
wounded at the head of his regiment on the 12th August;
and the gallant commander of the Guides, Captain H. D.
Daly, who was very severely wounded leading a most daring
charge on the enemy’s guns in the action of the 19th June.

I need not observe how largely the success and efficiency of
the army depends on the regularity of its supplies. Under
circumstances of peculiar difficulty, in a district the population
of which has been inimical, and in which civil authority has
ceased to exist, this force has from the commencement been
kept well and sufficiently provisioned with supplies of every
description, the issue of rations to the soldier having been as
regular, both in quantity and quality, as in cantonments. My
warmest thanks are, therefore, due to Lieutenant-Colonel
W. B. Thompson, Deputy-Commissary-General, the admirable
and indefatigable head of that department in the field; as also
to Lieutenant T. H. Sibley, Principal Executive Officer; to
Lieutenant Waterfield, and to the other officers serving in that
department.

With the medical arrangements of Superintending-Surgeon
E. Tritton I have every reason to be satisfied, and he is
entitled to my cordial acknowledgments. At such a trying
season of the year, and in a notoriously unhealthy locality, the
sickness and mortality have of course been heavy. In addition
GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH. 231

to those suffering from disease, the hospitals have received
almost daily accessions of wounded men. ‘The labours, there-
fore, of the medical] department have been unceasing. Not-
withstanding there has not been at any time the slightest
failure in the arrangements for the care and comfort of the
very numerous patients.

Amongst those medical officers whose unwearied zeal and
superior ability have come prominently before me are Offi-
ciating Superintending Surgeon C. McKinnon, M.D., who has
been in medical charge of the Ist Brigade Horse Artillery ;
Surgeon J. H. Ker Innes, 60th Royal Rifles; Surgeon E.
Hare, of the 2nd Fusiliers; Assistant-Surgeon J. J. Clifford,
M.D., of the 9th Lancers; and Assistant-Surgeon W. F.
Mactier, M.D., on the personal staff of the late Commander-
in-Chief.

Credit is also due to Assistant-Surgeon D. Scott, M.D.,
Medical Storekeeper.

The duties and offices of Provost Marshal to the force have
been conducted by a very deserving old non-commissioned
officer, Sergeant-Major Stroud, 3rd Brigade Horse Artillery,
whom I recommend to favourable consideration for a commis-
sion. The names of other non-commissioned officers, deserving
of a similar reward, I shall have the pleasure of submitting
hereafter.

I should neither be fulfilling the repeatedly-expressed wishes
of the artillery officers attached to this force, nor following the
dictates of my own inclination, if I failed to acknowledge the
valuable assistance which has throughout the operations before
Delhi been most cheerfully given by the non-commissioned
officers and men of Her Majesty’s 9th Lancers and the 6th
Dragoon Guards in working the batteries; without it, owing
to the comparatively small number of artillerymen, I should
have been quite unable to man the batteries efficiently, or
keep up the heavy fire which, aided by these men, I have
happily been able to do. To these regiments, therefore, and
to Brigadier Grant, who so readily placed a certain number of
his men at my disposal for such purpose, I tender my best
thanks.
232 GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH.

It would be an omission on my part were I to pass over in
silence the good services and loyal conduct of one who has
already been rewarded by the Government for the friendly
assistance he rendered to our army in Affghanistan—I allude
to Nawab Jan Fishan Khan, who, with his brave nephew,
Sirdar Bahadoor Mcer Khan, and their retainers, accompanied
me from Meerut, was present at the actions on the Hindun,
and has since taken part in nearly every action in which this
force has been engaged.

Of the loyal services rendered to the State by the Rajah of
Putteeala, which must be so well known to the Government, it
may not be considered necessary for me to speak; but it is
incumbent on me, in my capacity as Commander of this force,
to acknowledge officially the great assistance the Rajah’s troops
have afforded me in enabling the numerous convoys of ammu-
nition and stores to travel in security and safety to my camp
under their escort and protection.

It is my duty to bring prominently to the notice of Govern-
ment the admirable service performed by the Jheend Rajah
and his troops, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel H. F.
Dunsford; they have not only had very harassing duties to
carry out in the constant escort of convoys of sick and wounded
men, ammunition, &c., but they have also aided me in the field
on more than one occasion, and finally participated in the
assault of the city.

Lastly, I trust I may be excused if I thus publicly acknow-
ledge the all-important and valuable aid for which I am
indebted to the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, Sir John
Lawrence, K.C.B., to whose indefatigable exertions, in rein-
forcing me with every available soldier in the Punjab, the
successful result of our operations is, I unhesitatingly pro-
nounce, attributable ; and I take this opportunity of recognising
the advantage derived from the presence of the troops of his
Highness the Maharajah Runbeer Singh, in alliance with the
British force, the moral effect of which has becn great; and
although unsuccessful, I regret to say, in the actual accomplish-
ment of that part of the operations in which the Jummoo
Contingent was engaged on the 14th, I can attach no particle
GEN. WILSON’S SECOND DESPATCH. 233

of blame to those troops, as I consider, under the cireum-
stances in which they were placed, the very strong position
which they had to attack, and the prolonged and determined
resistance which they encountered from an enemy superior to
them in number, arms, training, and experience, that they
behaved under their gallant commander, Captain R. Lawrence,
and the other British officers serving with them, to whom my
best thanks are due, as well as they could have been expected
to do.
Captain Lawrence's report of his operations is annexed.
T have, &c.,
(Signed) A. Witson, Major-General,
Commanding Delhi Field Force.
234

CHAPTER IX.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

Ir is to be feared that many excellent actions,
much private heroism, and moral as well as physical
chivalry, have, from necessarily contracted private
sources of information, escaped merited notice: to
such incidents history will do justice; but if any
palpable omission has been made, the compiler offers
his apologies to those aggrieved.

The Punjab Government make no pretensions to
infallibility in their counsels or finality in their
administrative machine; much less would it claim
credit for prophetic political foresight, because of the
extraordinary fidelity, loyalty, and even attachment,
shown to their rulers generally by the Punjab people
in the past perilous conjuncture. Still whatever
credit is due for the success attending the determined
pursuit of an original and bold line of policy, is fairly
theirs. The impression of inherent invincibility was

kept up; and the ignorance of the Asiatic as to the
POLICY OF THE PUNJAB GOVERNMENT. 235

universality and overwhelming nature of the danger
was boldly counted on. The announcement of
the speedy arrival of vast reinforcements from
England was as calmly made, as if the proverbial
apathy of the British Parliament was to be roused
from its sleep of a hundred years on Indian subjects
by a single summons, however black the tidings.
The full force of the danger, and the form in which
it would approach, were to them matters of conjec-
ture, but anxiously and justly enough appreciated by
Indians. To have ever acted on the defensive—ever,
much less then—would have ruined our prestige,
and only staved off the evil day for the Punjab for
a few short weeks. Further, without securing
certain tranquillity it would have lost us the im-
portant political advantage of using the hereditary
and inextinguishable aversion of the Sikhs to the
Poorbeah, as the strongest and most malevolent
weapon in the fight. The outbreak had been pre-
cipitated by about ten days; and in those days every
golden moment was used.

The reader has seen what the decision and nerve
of a Montgomery accomplished at Lahore; how his
example was followed at Peshawur; what Sir John
Lawrence has done finally for the resumption of
empire in Hindoostan; and what the Punjab could
have done for it (but for the first decisive step of the
236 DESIGNS OF THE REBELS.

13th May), with forty thousand Poorbeah soldiers in
simultaneous revolt.

It was a rough awakening, but a complete one.
The universality of the design was obvious. The
Queen’s Regiments on the 24th of May fired a “ feu
de joie” with blank ammunition on parade, and the
unsuspecting Europeans were to have been massacred
before reaching their lines. The sepoys at Fort
William, Allahabad, Lahore, Govindeurh, Phillour,
were to have seized those strongholds, while the
green flag was hoisted at Delhi and the empire of
Bahadoor Shah proclaimed. He was, it is believed,
to haye been endowed with the empire of his
ancestors; the licentious Nawab of Moorshedabad
was to have assumed the vice-royalty of Oudh; and
to the protection of the ex-King of Oudh was to have
been confided the care of Bahar and Bengal, while
he assumed the purple, superseding the Governor-
General of India.

Rapidly surveying the aspect of affairs, Sir Jobn
Lawrence at once foresaw the necessity of pro-
viding additional force for the Punjab: he predicted
to the Governor-General, in a telegram of the 12th
of May, the certainty that the greater portion of the
native regular army would have to be disarmed!
The Governor-General promptly accorded full pleni-
potentiary powers to the Chief Commissioner. The
MEASURES OF SIR JOHN LAWRENCE. 237

latter forthwith stopped all private leave; recalled
all officers from Cashmere; directed the concentra-
tion of Europeans at all important places; and depre-
cating the error of detaching small bodies in various
directions, commenced the raising of one thousand
Mooltanee horse. He acquiesced in the valuable
suggestion of Colonel Edwardes of calling in the
hill tribes; ordered all mounted police into station
head-quarters ; calmly and courteously thanked, and
directed such thanks to be offered, to the petty Sikh
Chiefs who had at once pressed forward with offers of
aid; and after these preliminary steps, sternly and
manfully set himself to the stupendous task which,
from the terrible delays in the original march of the
army of Delhi, he felt convinced was in store for
him.

The Chief Commissioner had already earnestly
suggested the recall of the Persian troops, and the
interception of the Chinese expedition; using the
expression that every available European was neces-
sary to save the country! He had empowered Colonel
Edwardes to carry out the extreme sentence of the
law; had ordered the director of public instruction
(while leaving the English press entirely unfettered)
to prepare sedative articles for the native journals,
to allay public excitement ; he had issued the most

minute and varied orders on all sides for the pro-
238 NATIVE CHIEFS PROPITIATED.

vision of transport, and on the regulation of caste
and sects, which should compose the new levies ;
orders containing suggestions replete with wisdom
and the maturest insight into the Asiatic element.
He had declined to permit any native chieftain to
raise troops for us; at the same time accepting their
aid for the district officers.

Such is a brief outline of the preliminary
steps. A foremost one, however, was to secure
the cordial allegiance of the chieftains in the most
dangerous proximity. The Dost was subsidized into
quiescence; Goolab Singh was cajcled into active
allegiance ; the Nawab of Bahawulpore was intimi-
dated into neutrality; the Maharajah of Putiala
required no summons: he was already in the field.
His aid secured, or rather his “rédle” in the drama,
confirmed the attitude of every other wavering chief-
tain. The Jheend Rajah outrivalled even the
Putiala chief by the activity of his movements. The
news from home showed that the crisis had been
either under estimated or weakly palliated; whereas.
every day became more menacing. The Government
nerved itself in the Punjab to greater and greater
efforts, and reinforcements poured down to the fast
thinning ranks before Delhi.

All semblance of Government in the North-West

Provinces was nearly at an end. The exaggerated
STATE OF _THE N.-W. PROVINCES. 239

elaboration of its routine, and ramification of its
legal defences—distasteful to those who had to
administer it, and incomprehensible to the people—
furnished no hope that any district could be held
by moral force, founded either upon its merits,
or upon affectionate reminiscences of its modes
of procedure. In Mozaffernugger and other dis-
tricts the first thing the populace did was to burn
all the records. Devout aspirations were breathed,
even by high authority, that in the Agra conflagra-
tions might be included all the criminal and civil
records. Thus district after district, though not
occupied by a single mutineer, after a stagger broke
up. The scattered and isolated instances of indi-
vidual devotion and official loyalty, only showed in a
more appalling light the total want of real sympathy,
the time-serving policy of the revenue-paying masses,
and the alienation of the half-educated population.
In some of the oldest conquered provinces, the
popular resentment—on the natural principle of
liberty implanted in man against usurpation, and the
popular contempt of the real power of the usurper
—has been most marked. In the North-West
Provinces the civil establishments suffered nearly
instantaneous collapse; and yet in almost every
district, as it is recovered and submits to sway,
every individual in official employ will be realizable,
2490 THE PUNJAB SYSTEM.

with dread secrets and unctuous stories in his heart;
but not a fact to show as a set-off to the million
plausible excuses for his absence when danger was
near. Centralization exists together with divided
responsibility, and the result is neutralization of force
and waste of power. The Judge moved in the same
social circle, but breathed a different popular and
official atmosphere to that of the collector; and their
“ sets” revolved in separate systems. The fortunate
absence of a superior officer enabled a Spankie at
Saharanpore to hold his own in the teeth of unsur-
passed difficulties, Goojur villages rampant, and
Rohilkund in insurrection; and at Mirzapore a
Tucker again maintained the reputation of the
family. There may be others, but how few!

Under the Punjab system there is a recognized
responsible head to each district, who originates,
harmonizes, adopts, and acts. He is the authorized
exponent of the political position of the Govern-
ment, as well of its laws and institutions. Hence
he is the referee in the first instance in every
matter, domestic, social, or public. He enjoys, in
common with the commandants of the Irregular
Corps (which have generally proved successful expe-
riments), the reality, as well as the responsibility
of power. All his vigilance, tact, influence, if he

possesses such essentials, could be used to good pur-
EUROPEAN INFLUENCE IN THE PUNJAB. 241

pose in the crisis, and without fear of neutralization.
He could appease excited feelings, allay curiosity ;
and conversing, as he has to do daily, with native
gentlemen and chieftains keenly alive to the state of
affairs, could execrate in common with them the
horrors inflicted on miserable surviving women and
little children. He could awake common sympathy.
He could point out and elicit acquiescence in senti-
ment in regard to the speciality of the crisis; the
degeneracy from high Asiatic honour of the Poorbeah
Asiatic. He could glory with them in the story of
the grand old faqueer who brought a European child
in his arms to European protection at the risk of his
own life, himself bleeding from wounds, and who
would take no reward. He could fairly point out
the manifest opportunity now offered to the unem-
ployed mass of society in the Punjab, of congenial
and honourable service, and lay before them the
advantages and the reward; of which the degenerate
Hindoostanees had shown themselves so grossly
unworthy. Honesty saved the policy. The results
of disloyalty were calmly and prophetically dis-
cussed—certain anarchy ; disorder; domestic misery ;
riot; uncertainty.

For ten years, a practical commentary on the
difference between the Anglo-Saxon and the Sikh

P. R
242 POWER OF THE NAME OF “LAWRENCE.”

dynasties had been presented to the understanding
of every chieftain, every landowner, every trader,
every capitalist, in the Punjab. The different uses
to which conquests and temporary elevations to
supreme power can be put, commended itself to the
appreciation of each. The fostering care of Lord
Dalhousie had not been lavished in vain.

The name of “Lawrence” alone represented
power. Associated in the affectionate recollections of
the people with the chivalrous gallantry, the culti-
vated understanding, the urbane demeanour, and
princely munificence of the great Sir Henry, was
their respect for the strong sagacity and the rough
will, though scarcely less kind heart, of Sir John
Lawrence. The two never dissociated from one single
sphere of action, the amalgamation of the law into
a name, “ Lawrence,” formed the ideal of a govern-
ing impersonation. What the Punjab lost in Sir
Henry, it seemed at once to have gained in the calm
and impassible, though resolute and high-souled
Mr. Montgomery.

Thus, the country of our latest, and fiercest, and
most chivalrous foe, through being preserved and used
more in accordance with the genius and capacity of
its people, has maintained an attitude unrivalled

throughout the length and breadth of the troubled
EFFICACY OF THE PUNJAB GOVERNMENT. 243

land. The fact is not stated as a matter for exul-
tation, but for humble and hopeful thankfulness
that some plan has been at last hit upon, and worked
out with persevering sagacity and singleness of pur-
pose, whereby the European can touch the native
heart, and his mind’s thoughts become intelligible ;
and some development of actual sympathy between
the government and the governed be, however
slightly, attained. Truly God Almighty with his
own right hand and stretched out arm has gotten
himself the victory. The loyalty of the Punjab
once assured, every subsequent mutiny in the terri-
tories were absolutely Divine blessings: they relieved
the Government of the task of the charge of suspected
men, and rendered it free to send more and more
troops to the great centre of action.

Of the Punjab Government it may indeed be said,
* Alone they did it.” It created an army of twenty-
eight thousand men; of which there were, in round
figures, thirteen thousand regular troops, seven
thousand mounted levies, and nine thousand foot levies.
With the exception of H. M.’s 60th Rifles, the Cara-
bineers, and artillery originally drawn from Meerut,
the whole of the Delhi field force was from the Punjab.
Not a single native regiment was forthcoming from
below. During the four chequered and momentous

R 2
244 EUROPEANS IN INDIA.

months preceding the capture of Delhi, was it all
peace at home in the Punjab? The foregoing pages
will have been written in vain, if the reader has
not seen that there were murders, mutinies, incen-
diarisms, conspiracies, disloyalty, disarmings, battles,
executions, pursuits, panics, and treacheries, sufficient
to tax the utmost energies for the preservation of
internal peace alone; setting aside the glorious and
immortal task which the Punjab Government at once
accepted, of saving the British empire in the East.
The first tidings from Delhi sent a spasm to
the heart of every Christian in the Punjab. The
tidings of the instantaneous disarming at Meean
Meer sounded the réveille to every Englishman.
The commonest European soldier seemed to attain
an unwonted moral elevation of character. Like
Ceur-de-Lion in the lists of Ashby-de-la-Zouche, the
Anglo-Saxon seemed to have emulated the “ noir
faineant” and slept in his saddle. Such was the
enormous vital energy, moral as well as physical,
evoked. The natives believe it to consist in the
truth of the significant saying that every European
in India fights in his shroud. Let us look higher,
and hope that the Anglo-Saxon race, like Cromwell’s
Tronsides, can not only fight for their country, but
pray also to the God of Battles. The attributes
ANGLO-SAXONS AND ASIATICS. 245

and instincts of one quarter of the human species were
pitted against another quarter. The Asiatic mind
laid siege to the Anglo-Saxon mind on his own
chosen vantage ground. The want or the presence
of an extra European regiment has everywhere
decided the physical contest. Unfathomable in de-
sign, unmatched in chicane, transcendant in powers
of secret communion, bit by bit, inch by inch, had
the Asiatic laid the great mine. Everything was
diplomatically perfect: nothing was wanting but
success. When the day dawned for the bold open
field of thought and action, all ended in barbarous
and ignominious failure — like the flight of the
brilliant but unstable hordes of Darius before the
Macedonian Phalanx.

At Allahabad the famous fort could not be wrested
from a handful of stout old British pensioners. The
illustrious defence. of Jellalabad has paled before
the spectacle of a British regiment holding out, for
six months, at Lucknow, in the midst of a hostile
population of ten millions, in the heart of the vilest
capital in the world filled by more than two hundred
thousand armed enemies; and assailed by the whole
of the mutinous Oude forces, augmented by the
rabble of the provincial chieftains.

Thus, as the days of temporization, of moral
246 RESULT OF THE STRUGGLE.

influence, of conciliation and diplomacy swept hur-
riedly by, and the great plot was bared, the amazed
and baffled sepoy discovered the power of the
nation which can conquer though beleaguered. Again
it will be said in Europe, “ The British do not know
when they are beaten.” The idea of retreat, even
with the lustre of a Xenophon, scarcely entered one
bosom. According to rule, for a handful of Euro-
peans to make head against the rebellion of an
empire, outnumbering them by millions to their
fifties, was fatuity, and they ought decently to have
succumbed to their inevitable fates. The continent
of Europe during the great struggle might have
been looking on with ill-dissembled glee at Great
Britain’s fancied extremity; whereas the harbinger
of her greatest triumph has already heralded the
downfall of the seat of Islamism in India. To those
fond of reading signs, we would point to the solitary
golden cross still gleaming aloft on the summit of
the Christian church in Delhi, whole and untouched ;
thouch the ball on which it rests is riddled with shots
deliberately fired by the infidel populace. The cross

symbolically triumphant over a shattered globe!
247

APPENDICES,

APPENDIX A.

TraysLaTion oF A Letter rrom Movrver Russus Axi Kuan,
to Hakeem AnsANnoottAn Kuan.

30th July, 1857.

I give you a piece of advice, do not make any excuses, but
hear it.

Whatever a kind instructor says to you receive it.

Hakeem Sahib, wise as Plato, philosophic as Aristotle, unri-
valled in wisdom in this age, Hakeem Ahsanoollah Khan, peace
be to you.

Having laid aside the usual ceremonies I come to the subject
matter of this letter which is as follows :—About two months
have elapsed that the troops who ate the salt of the English
Government, not keeping in view the ill consequences at the
end, came to Delhi, and having raised the dust of tumult and
disturbance, got a bad name to his Majesty the King of Delhi,
and having stepped out of their proper sphere, have stood up
as competitors of the English Government of supreme dignity.

The state of these rebel troops is just as described in the
following verse of Mowlana Room :—

« A blade of grass in the urine of an ass was floating ;

A fly having sat upon it, thought herself a ship conducting.”

To the enlightened minds of his Majesty, of yourself, and to
those of the wise men of the seven kingdoms (i.e. of the
whole globe) the supremacy and power of the English Govern-
248 APPENDIX.

ment is well-known. The fact of the English Government
having assisted the Sultan of Turkey with troops, both in sea
and land, and of having protected the Mahomedan empire
against Russia at the expense of their own men and money,
notwithstanding the English and European nations professed
the same religion (2. e. Christianity) are so conspicuous as the
light of the meridian sun. This is also known to all that from
the commencement of the British rule in India the English
rulers have never used force or authority in making the
Hindocs and Mahomedans to learn the doctrines of Chris-
tianity, but that from the beginning to the present day the
people of India are left in perfect liberty to live in peace, and
to do as they think proper for bettering their condition in
this world, and in that which is to come. The numberless
benefits which the English Government have imparted to the
people of India, and which entitle the English to gratitude
and love from our part, are well impressed in your enlightened
mind, and, therefore, it is quite unnecessary to enlarge this
letter by an enumeration of them. From the history of
Ferishta it appears that Abul Futah Jallalloodeen Akber
CG. e. Akber the Great) was the best of all the emperors of
Hindoostan, and to none was fitted the royal robe to a greater
degree of propriety than to him, and that when his empire
had reached to its highest glory, the English had taken
possession of the ships sent by the emperor to Hejaz in Arabia,
and notwithstanding the greatness of his power and might,
and the English having had not the least power in India at
that time, he could not take back the ships from the English
nation. Now the English nation having brought the whole
of India from the shores of the ocean to Peshawur under their
rule, who is there that can dare set himself in opposition to
these brave and wise rulers of this time.

The delay which has taken place in inflicting on the rebels
the just retribution they deserve is not to be traced to the
causes given out by the ignorant vulgar; but that this delay
has been made on purpose in order to make a distinction
between friends and enemies, between the wise and the foolish,
and for other objects which the Government have in view.
APPENDIX. 249

Up to the time when the rebel troops entered Delhi nothing
had happened from the part of the servants of the King dis-
pleasing to the English Government; but it is difficult to say
what has caused a sudden change in these royal officers after
the entrance of the rebel troops in Delhi, or what is the
reasonable ground upon which they have set their hopes in
siding with the rebels.

If the vain thoughts of the rebel sepoys have not touched
you as yet, then it is equally difficult to understand what has
prevented you from communicating your opinions to this camp
and in endeayouring to put down this tumultuous disturbance.
If there are some faithful servants of the King, then what is
the reason that they negligently suffer the lamp of Hindostan
(i. e. the King of Delhi), to be extinguished? And do not use
all their best endeavours to keep its light as before? The
way of doing this, in my opinion, is as follows :—The Ahulkars
of the King ought, if they agree to my opinion, to communicate
all their wishes and plans and those of his Majesty to the
English officer in this camp, either personally or through a
vakeel, in writing or verbally. It is worthy of being thought
upon that when the rebels are punished and exterminated, and
all things are settled, then it will not be the proper time for
you to write and speak to the English officers. I wait for
your answer, which, whatever it may be, will be laid before the
English officer in this camp.

““T haye broken the pen and shortened the subject.
For it is not in my way to speak in great length.”

19th October, 1857.— Narrative of Khajah Kban Raus,
Mouzah Warajaub Hussun, Affghan, Thanadar of Peshawur,
who accompanied General Nicholson: also. favourite personal
orderly who stormed with bim the breach at Delhi.

At four o'clock in the morning of the 14th September, 1857,
General Nicholson got ready the entire column and advanced
towards the Cashmere Gate. Having reached the place where
the Government batteries were thrown up, the General
moved to the assault, keeping on the right side of the column.
To the east was the Cashmere Gate, where a breach had been
made in the city wall by the cannon balls; he mounted the
250 APPENDIX.

wall, charged, and took several of the enemy’s batteries.
Advancing in the direction of Skinner's house he there
captured several other batteries. After that one of the villains
shot him at a battery with a musket. The ball entered the
right side under the arm-pit and came out under the left arm-
pit. The General then desired to be laid in the shade, and
said ‘I will remain here till Delhi is taken.’ He then called
for some cold water. At that time I ordered a doolie from
Delhi and sent Lateef Khan (with the General) to the General
TIospital in camp, where Dr. gave him some medicine,
and he became a little better. He then ordered me to remove
him to Major Daly’s tent. Accordingly I removed him to the
tent. On the next day the Sahib told me to give his salaam
to Captain Lake, on the Mooltan Rassala, and ask whether the
rebels still remained in Teliwarah and Kishungunge, or had
been defeated. I went to Captain Lake and gave the salaam.
The Captain mounted his horse and rode to see the General.
General Nicholson wrote about Telliwarah and Kishungunge
some thing with his own hand on a piece of paper, and gave it
to the captain. To this letter the captain gave a verbal reply
in English. The reason of the General's writing was that he
had a severe pain in the abdomen, and had no strength left.
After that, Captain Lake mounted and rode to his Rassala and
gave some orders about the two places mentioned. On the
3rd day General Nicholson sent for Brigadier General Cham-
berlain, and talked with him also in English about Kishungunge
and Salimghur. After that day Chamberlain himself went to
the city and gave orders about Salimghur, and ordered the
guns to open fire. On the 4th day, by orders of the doctor,
the General was removed to an empty house incamp. On the
20th September the victory at Delhi was complete, the faces of
the rebels were blackened, and they fled. I went to the Sahib
and told him of the victory. He was greatly delighted, and
said, ‘ My desire was that Delhi might be taken before I die,
and it has been so.” On the 24th September, the (nightingale-
faced) Sahib took his flight from this transitory world. After
his death General Chamberlain and some English gentlemen
came and cut each a lock of hair from his head. The body of

 
APPENDIX. 251

the Sahib remained the day in the bungalow. In the morning
at sunrise several of the Horse Artillery came and took the
General's coffin and placed it on a bier behind the horses, and
carried it once more towards the Cashmere Gate. They made
him a grave in front of the Cashmere Gate between the two
roads by which the assault was made. Brigadier Chamberlain,
Brigade Major i , and some other dis-
tinguished officers, and also Mr. Saunders, the Commissioner,
came and did reverence to the body, and having taken up the
coffin placed it in the grave. Utta Mahomed Khan, and
Nowrung Khan, Russaldar of the Mooltan Horse, who was also
present, asked Brigadier Chamberlain how the grave was to be
made. The brigadier ordered it to be built with bricks within
and raised high. Accordingly at that time the bricklayers set
to work to prepare the place. When I went next morning to
see the grave the building was raised as high as the coffin, and
was finished with lime. And after the victory all the Sahibs

went to the palace (the red fort) and remained there night and
day.

 

 

 

Thus closed a career of the brightest promise. It culminated
like a star; all eyes were turned to it admiringly, and it
suddenly closed, not in darkness or in gloom—but in glory!

Troops of friends bore him to his grave. Te had died the
most envied of all deaths—the soldier’s—in the hour and
witbin hearing of the shouts of victory !

The following Appendices testify to the successful exertions
of the Punjab Government to supply the places left by the
exodus from its territories.
252 APPENDIX.

APPENDIX B.

Memoranpum of Native Troors entertained in the Punssz,
and additions to the Old Regiments, as per latest Returns
received.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recruits enlisted.
Regiments. Date of
Return. | Maho- | a.- Hill
medans. Sikhs. Men. Total
Horse . 5 5
Guide Corps Delhi. a _ = joa = —@
Foot
4th Sikh Reat., Delhi * ‘ 1 Sept. — = = 124
Ist t Punjab Regt. _ _ = = —
ands, F : — = — _ 233
4th as a Markunda 1 Sept. _ a = —ob
7th as % Meerut . 15 Sept. = _ = 797
8th an . Noushera . z a = — _ 748
Sth 3 om Kohat 5 1 Sept. _ = = 646
10th =, - es fo) os _ — = = 701
llth = ,, = wold el: oe — _ _ = 606
12th ey 3 Lahore . a 1 Sept. _ = —_— 645
13th +, 5 Seeplee ” _ ae _— 727
i ae ‘i as oe ae = = _ 646
17th aa a Meean Meer. | 15 Sept. - _ _ 797
18th 9h ax Peshawur . ss ay — = = 898
19th 5 »  Rawul Pindee . 9 = ZF — 818
20th 51 6 Ferozepore 59 a — _ 695
2ist —,, si _ é — —_ -—-|-— 794
22nd. 3h #6 Loodianah . | 15 Sept. —_ _ _— 853
23rd + : —_— _ = = TIT
Ist Regt. Salk. "Cav., Lahore . 3 1 Oct. _ = _ 583
14th Regt. Punjab Inf, Peshawur . _ —_ = _ —«@
Recruiting Depot, 4th 8. Es 3 _ _ _ _ 143¢
Landour Levy, Landour . z _ _ _ _ 82
Total. . => = = — | 12,313
(a) No return, (®) No extra establishment. (c) At Phillour.

APPENDIX C.

Memoranpum of Irrecutar Horse and Poricemen enter-
tained by the Judicial Commissioner for the N. W. P., and
sent to their destination up to the 12th inst.

 

 

 

Officers. Men. Total.

For Lieutenant Hodson’s Hereeular Horse é 50 376 426
« Sirsa District 2 é 35 506 341
» Hissar District 3 . . ‘ 16 250 266
» Delhi District é . . . 14 226 240
Total . . i 115 1,358 1,473

 

 

 

 
APPENDIX. 253

APPENDIX D.

Memoranpum of Horse Levirs entertained in the several
Districts in the Punjab, as per latest Returns received.
Lahore, 10th Oct., 1857.

 

 

 

Recruits entertained.
sip Date of
“u .
oe Return. | Maho- | gins} Hill | rota
medans.|"'*"5-| Men. | 7°:
Peshawur . . . z . : 5 Sept. 1,012 306 | — 1,318
Kohat . : . ‘ . - | 1 Oct. 209 3 ll 223,
Huzarah . 3 ‘ re a | 1 Aug. 149 1) — 150
Leia . 5 a é ‘ . | 23 Sept. 30 3]; — 33
Dera Ismael Khan e < a . | 15 Sept. 36 93 | 535 664
Dera Ghazee Khan . ; -| 3 Oct. 306 _- _ 306
Mooltan si . . “i ” = — = 1124
Jhung 5 ‘ a . < 1 Oct 95 7 1 103
Goojaira S 15 Aug. _ — _ 57
Jhelum. e . s . | 30 Sept. 6L 2 — 63
Rawul Pindee . ‘ 7 n - | 5 Oct. 81 1 3 85
Shahpoor . 3 : . 2 - | 1 Oct. 104 1 4 109
Goojerat . * @ fe & é 3 83 4 9 96
Lahore ‘ . : ® a _ =_ _ _ 672b
Goojranwallah . . % ‘ 1 Oct. 9 10 9 28d
Jullunder . . . “a % . | 30 Sept. 35 45 16 96c
Hooshearpoor . . = . 3 1 Oct. 8 80 10 98d
Kangra. . | 15 Sept. 3 _— 8 lL
Rajah Jowabir Singh’s Contingent . | 1 Oct. _ — — lde
Sher Malick Mahomed Khan, Tawanah = 295 == 3 2987
Surfraz Khan and ‘Abdoolia _Khan’s
Esa Khiel a . = = = = 114e
Futteh Shu Khan, Tawanah _ = =, zy 332e
Khairooddeen Khan Kussooreah _ _ ~~ == 112e
Sahib Khan, Tawanah . _— _— - = 250g
Mooltanee Horse, under Lieut. Lind. | 15 Aug. _ — —_ 355k
Mustapha Khan Khagwanee . «| 1 Oct. ~_ = = 116e
Surfraz Khan Lukozye . ‘: — _ = _ 100e
Haffizoolah Khan Wazar Khanee .| 1 Oct. _— — _ 63e
Riza Mahomed Khanof Tak. . _ = _ - 68¢
Mahomed Surfraz Khan. hs s 1 Sept. — —_ — 54i
Sirdar Mahomed Ufzul Khan — — — = 157i
Sooltan Jan’s Ressalah, under Lieut.
Smith . = = = _ 112k
Alum Shu Khan's Tawanah Ressalah, _— _ _ — 1032
attached to 2lst P.I. Regt. . 1 Oct. =- _ _ 68m
Meer Moobarick Shah’s Ressalah, at
tached to Ist P. Inf. : — - = cor 802
Osman Khan’s Ressalah, Ferozepore. 1 Oct. _ _ — 60e
Total . . . 3 — =— _ — | 6,660

 

 

 

 

 

 

(a) Extra Ressalah of Mounted Police.
(b) Mounted Police raised by Capt. Lawrence, | ress. sent tojoin the Guide Corps;
23 on duty between Umballa and Delhi; 1 with the Jummoo Contingent.
(c) Mounted Police. (d) Levies. (2) With Gen. Van Cortlandt’s Force.
(f) Jullunder. (g) Moveab'e Column. (A) At Delhi.
G) Under Maj. Stokes at Meerut. (+) Onduty at Meerut. (2) Ditto at Umballa.
(m) Under Capt, Obbard.
254 APPENDIX,

APPENDIX E

Momoranpum of Foor Levies entertained in the several Dis-
tricts in the Punjab, as per latest returns received.
Lahore, Oct., 1857.

 

 

No. of
Districts. pete OF) all Remarks.
* | Ranks.
Peshawur z r 5 Sept. 1,433
Kohab is , 1 Oct. 279
Hazarah -| J Aug. 500
Ditto, Sultee Comp.” 46
Leia a « | 23 Sept. 243
Dera Ismael Khan é 18 Sept. 1,193
Dera Ghazee Khan 3 Oct. 338
Mooltan . ‘ . 30 Sept. 24
Goojaira . . 1 Sept. 449
Jhelum . a a + | 1 Oct. 147 ‘| Sanctioned strength, 400 ; reduced
by transfer to New Punjab Regts.
Sealkote . . 93: 456
vHolranwallaly 5 283 | Nu Ws. Pe
Civsrdaspoor 5 306 | 65 recruits for N. W. P.
Jullunder se 190 | 109 ditto.
Lesies the followi ing for
Field Service :—
Rajah Jowahir Singh's
Contingent . a 35 627 | With Gen. Van Cortlandt’s Force.
Mooltanee Irregulars 3 250 | With Lt. Lind, with Delhi Field
Force.
Haffizoolah Hazir Khanee i 170 | With Van Cortlandt’s Field Force.
Muzlee Pioneers. 7 1,013. | With Lieut. Gulliver at Delhi.
Sikh Artillery, sent =) ae ahout | Employed at Delhi, and with Van
Delhi and Loodianah 400 Cortlandt’s Field Force.
Loodianah e = a S recruits for N. W. P.
Hoshiarpoor . é —_ — 72 ditto.
Total : 3 — 8,341

 

 

 

 

 

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British Rule in India.

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Notes on the Pictures in the Exhibition of

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SMITH, ELDER & CO. 5

 

WORKS OF MR. RUSKIN—continued.

Modern Painters.

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Complete in Three Volumes, Imperial 8vo, with Fifty-three Plates and

numerous Woodcuts, drawn by the Author.

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Vou. I
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Life in Ancient India. By Mrs. Srzm.

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