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 REYNELL TAYLOR 
 
 X
 
 REYNELL TAYLOR 
 
 C.B. C.S.I. 
 
 A BIOGRAPHY 
 
 By E. GAMBIER PARRY 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'SUAKIN, 1885 ' ETC. 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT AND MAP 
 
 LONDON 
 KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., i PATERNOSTER SQUARE 
 
 1888
 
 ( The rights of Iranslalion and of reproduclion are reserved)
 
 TO 
 
 REYNELL TAYLOR'S CHILDREN. 
 
 More than a year ago I was asked to write your Father's 
 h'fe. The work is now finished, and, before long, will be 
 placed in your hands. Nobody could be better aware of 
 its many shortcomings than I am, and though I have 
 striven to make the picture a true one, I feel it would be 
 well-nigh impossible for a stranger to do justice to your 
 father's memory. 
 
 ' If you are able,' writes one of his most distinguished 
 friends, ' to publish only a true picture of what Reyncll 
 Taylor's character really was, many, if not most, of your 
 readers, except those who were personally acquainted with 
 him, will probably wonder, and, I think, be justified in 
 wondering, whether such perfection in mortal ever existed. 
 But those who knew him well will tell you that it would 
 be impossible to speak too highly of him. He feared God, 
 but nothing on earth. Not only in battle, and in any 
 bodily exposure, was he a hero, absolutely fearless, but in 
 every daily occupation of life ; and whether in public or 
 private work, his character always appeared to me to stand 
 out as a thing apart from the generality of men.'
 
 vi TO RFA'NELL TAYLORS CHILDREN 
 
 ' Nobody,' says Johnson, ' can write the life of a man 
 but those who have ate and drank, and lived in social inter- 
 course with him.' 
 
 How, then, was I, as a stranger who never knew your 
 father, and who only saw him once, to write his life ? Only 
 by obtaining the assistance of his many friends. His lite- 
 rary remains were lamentably scanty, and there were only 
 diaries for two years, viz. from May 1847 to April 1849, and 
 consequently my only chance was to write to all those whom 
 I thought most likely to give help. This I have endea- 
 voured to do, and I would ask you, therefore, as you read 
 the story of your father's life, most of which I am aware 
 will be new to you, to remember, that it is to your father's 
 friends that the following pages are indebted for the in- 
 terest they possess, and not to me, who even now, when 
 my work is finished, remain, through physical infirmity, a 
 stranger to you. 
 
 I am unable to give the names of all with whom I have 
 corresponded, for they are many ; but while I thank them 
 collectively for the help they have given me, there are some 
 among them whom I feel bound to mention individually. 
 
 To Lady Willoughby de Broke and Mrs. Fortescue I 
 am particularly indebted, and to Colonel A. H. Bamfield, 
 who has been ever ready to assist me in any way he could, 
 I have to return my warmest thanks ; but there is one who 
 needs special mention — one of whom your father was wont 
 to speak as his ' dear and valued friend.' A constant 
 companion and fellow-worker in the same field. General
 
 TO REVNELL TAVLOR'S CHILDREN vii 
 
 Holled Coxe put together, soon after your father died, 
 some ' Notes ' or ' Memoranda,' as he calls them, of his life. 
 
 On hearing that I had undertaken the work, General 
 Coxe at once placed what he had written unreservedly at 
 my disposal. Out of love for the memor\' of your father he 
 had worked up the reminiscences of the \^ears they spent 
 together ; and out of love, and wishing only that his friend's 
 work in the world should be recorded, he handed over to 
 me the result of his labours. I thank him sincerely, and I 
 ask him to forgive this public recognition of the assistance 
 he has rendered me. I can only hope that the following 
 pages, full of blots as they are, may \-et recall to him, as 
 well as to others, the events of years long gone b\\ and 
 that, in reading the story of his friend's life, it may be 
 some satisfaction to him to feel that he aided materially in 
 placing that story before the world. 
 
 But as regards yourselves. It was your father's wish 
 that you should know something of the many stirring inci- 
 dents of his life. He felt that you knew little about them, 
 but his natural modesty and extreme reticence, where his 
 own actions were concerned, caused him to maintain a 
 strict silence regarding them ; and thus he never talked, 
 much less wrote, about his own experiences, though he 
 was often pressed to do so. I trust that the following 
 pages may, at least, jjut you in possession of the leading 
 facts ; that they might do so has been the aim 1 have had 
 before me throughout the past hap[)\- mt^nlhs of hard work 
 
 a
 
 viii TO REVNELL TAYLORS CHILDREN 
 
 In tracing the course of your father's life from childhood 
 to j'outli and manhood, through battles, toilings, joys, and 
 sorrows, and through all those uncertainties and vicissitudes 
 which go to make up the lives of all of us, I have hoped 
 that the story might be a pleasure to you, and that it 
 might show \'ou something of the man your father really 
 was. That it can be altogether without a tinge of sorrow, 
 even to the youngest among you, I can hardly expect ; but 
 that the book, as years go on, may prove a comfort to you, 
 is my most earnest wish. 
 
 In writing to you as Reynell Taylor's children, I must 
 not omit to mention one who was your father's constant 
 companion, both abroad and at home, during thirt\'-two 
 years of his life. I mean your mother. I thank her for 
 the assistance she has rendered me. I hav-e endeavoured 
 to write her husband's life truly, without exaggeration, and, 
 though a stranger, with the loving care of a personal friend ; 
 and while I can well believe that in looking back the 
 following pages may seem to have more sorrow than joy 
 in them, perhaps the sorrow may not be without the gleam 
 of a bright hope, and there may be a ray of peaceful satis- 
 faction in the thought that ' the ways of a good man are 
 ordered by the Lord.' and that the works of such live after 
 
 them. 
 
 E. G. P. 
 
 HiGfiNAM, Gloucester : iS88. 
 
 As regards the spelling of Indian names, the orthography 
 adopted has been that used by Reynell Taylor.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Early Lifk. 1822-40 i 
 
 II. Arrival in India. Gwalior. 1840 44. . . . 18 
 
 III. The First Sikh War. 1845-46 .... 46 
 
 I\'. Cashmere. Peshawur. The Kohat Pass. 1847. -]■] 
 
 \. BUNNOO. 1848 118 
 
 \T. MooLTAN. The Siege of Lukkee. 1848 49 . . 158 
 
 \TI. Annexation. Work in Bunnoo. 1849-52 . . 189 
 
 VIII. Return Home. Dhurmsala during the Mutiny. 
 
 1852-59 207 
 
 IX. The Muhsood Expedition. The Derajat Mission. 
 
 1859 62 231 
 
 X. Pesh-wvur. The Umbeylah War. 1862-63 • • 261 
 XI. The Umballa Division. 1864-70 .... 296 
 
 XII. Umritsur. 1S70-77 319 
 
 XIII. Closing Years. Rest. 1877 86 . . . .342 
 
 Appendix 353 
 
 Index 359
 
 londcn, : KeoajL FajuL , TreruOu &• Co ■ 
 
 £dw^VeLaJ:th
 
 REYNELL TAYLOR, C.B., C.S.I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE. 
 1S22-40. 
 
 Among the many tablets and monuments adorning the 
 walls of the old parish church of Denbury, South Devon, 
 there is one in the south transept which may be distin- 
 guished from the rest by reason of its size and importance. 
 The Latin inscription, after the fashion of the time at 
 which it was written, is of a laudatory character, but it 
 has this advantage over many of the kind — it speaks the 
 truth and tells of praise well earned. 
 
 Translated into English the lines of this inscription run 
 thus : — 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 JOSEPH TAYLOR, Esquire, 
 
 Who for many years, being in command of a ship of war, dis- 
 charged his duty most honourably. He was renowned both at 
 home and abroad for his exploits. 
 
 With heroic courage he engaged four French vessels which to- 
 gether attacked him. He dyed the sea with the blood of the 
 enemy and dispersed their ships in a miserably shattered condi- 
 tion. 
 » B
 
 2 REYNELL TAYLOR 1822- 
 
 Through the whole French fleet he forced a way for himself 
 singlehanded, and he seldom put into port unadorned with some 
 trophies of war. Dauntless in the face of the enemy, he always 
 inspired them with terror. 
 
 With friends he was always companionable and polite, and they 
 found him ever courteous and amiable. Sincerely religious too — 
 no less remarkable as a good man than as a good warrior, he had 
 been schooled in the science of both warfares, the warfare of the 
 world as well as that of Christ. 
 
 Having lived long enough and gloriously enough, with the same 
 brave spirit and constancy with which he had served his country, 
 he died 
 
 T ^7 -» ^ 
 
 V JO- 
 
 Joseph Taylor was no common man, and his life was 
 one of stirring adventure. While still young he was taken 
 prisoner at sea and narrowly escaped hanging at the hands 
 of the Duke of Monmouth, for refusing to side against the 
 king. Fifteen years later he played an active part in the 
 wars of the Spanish Succession ; was at the taking of Vigo, 
 and brought home the despatches of the capture of Gib- 
 raltar. His successes against the enemy's privateers were 
 so continual that he earned for himself the title of ' the 
 King of the Channel,' and he not only defeated four French 
 galleys and a number of shore boats, when becalmed alone 
 off the Antilles, but he, on one occasion, cut his way 
 through the French fleet, and so brought the news to Sir 
 George Rooke that they^ were out. For this service he was 
 decorated by the Queen with a gold medal and chain. In 
 17 1 3 he was employed by the Government to settle some 
 of the numerous fishery disputes in Newfoundland, and on 
 the accession of George I., in the following year, he was 
 offered a baronctc)-. This honour, however, he declined,
 
 -1840 EARLY LIFE 3 
 
 and soon afterwards, worn out in the service of his country, 
 he retired from the navy and estabUshed himself at Den- 
 bury, in Devonshire. His family consisted of two sons : 
 Thomas, who lost his life in the foundering of a frigate in 
 the Gulf of Lyons ; and Joseph, the younger of the two, who 
 married the daughter and heiress of a Mr. Whitrow, of 
 Dartmouth, became a member of Parliament, and on his 
 father's death succeeded him at Denbury. 
 
 Not more than a mile from Denbury stands West 
 Ogwell House. It is a large, square, comfortable-looking 
 place, surrounded by trees, and snugly situated in a narrow 
 valley along which runs the river Og. History relates that 
 the labourers who built it in the first instance were pri- 
 soners from the Spanish Armada, and that two centuries 
 or more later, when part of the old house was pulled down 
 to make room for modern improvements, the work was 
 done by French prisoners of war from Dartmoor gaol. 
 
 West Ogwell was one of the many estates owned by 
 the Reynell family, all of which have passed with heiresses 
 into other hands. When Joseph Taylor established him- 
 self at Denbury, Richard Reynell, the last of the elder 
 branch of the family, and M.P. for many years for Ash- 
 burton, was living at Ogwell. He had several daughters, 
 with whom, it appears, he did not agree ; but he had no son, 
 and when he died, in 1735, he left his estates to his niece, 
 the wife of the younger Joseph Taylor ; and thus it ha])- 
 pened that the Reynell and the Taylor properties became 
 united. 
 
 I must leave Denbury and Ogwell for the present, and, 
 passing over three generations, come at once to the great- 
 grandson of Joseph and Rebecca Taylor — the father of the 
 
 B 2
 
 4 REYNELL TAYLOR 1822- 
 
 man whose life forms the subject of this volume. His 
 name will be often mentioned in these pages, and it is well, 
 therefore, we should see what manner of man he was. 
 
 Thomas William Taylor, after completing his education 
 at Eton and St. John's, Cambridge, entered the army, in 
 1804, as cornet in the 6th Dragoon Guards. He was then 
 twenty-two years of age, and, after ser\-ing with Sir James 
 Craig in the Mediterranean, was, in 1807, promoted to a 
 captaincy in the 24th Light Dragoons. With this regi- 
 ment he remained but a short time, for in the following 
 year he was appointed military secretary to Lord Minto, 
 Governor-General of India. 
 
 In India, Taylor became acquainted with Ann Har\'ey 
 Petrie, a member of an old Perthshire family, who was then 
 staying with her uncle, William Petrie, acting Governor of 
 Madras. Her father had seen something of the vicissitudes 
 of fortune, and from having been a rich man had become a 
 very poor one. He began life in the army in India, and 
 made money there. On his return home he purchased 
 Gatton, in Surrey, and that being a close borough, returned 
 himself to Parliament. One curious fact about his life was 
 this, that, being possessed of land in the island of Tobago, 
 he sat as deputy for it in the French Assembly, and thus 
 was a member of the English and French parliaments at 
 one and the same time. But these days of prosperity did 
 not last long. John Petrie, through heavy losses, became 
 a poor man, and, in 1803, retired with his family to France. 
 Here he had the ill-fortune to fall into Buonaparte's hands, 
 and though he was allowed to leave Paris on parole, he was 
 not permitted to quit the country. His affairs in England 
 meanwhile went from bad to worse, and being now unable
 
 -1840 EARLY LIFE 5 
 
 to look after them himself, he determined to send his wife 
 and daughters over to see what could be done. After 
 many adventures they reached England, to find matters as 
 bad as they could be : the mother accordingly returned to 
 France, and the daughters, accepting an invitation from 
 their uncle in Madras, sailed forthwith for India. They 
 had not been long in India when Lord Minto happened to 
 pass through Madras in company with his staff The 
 Governor-General had been interested in the INIiss Petries 
 by a friend, so they very soon received an invitation to 
 Calcutta. The rest is easily told : Taylor fell in love with 
 the second of the three sisters, and on January 14, 18 10, 
 Ann Harv-ey Petrie became his wife. 
 
 In 181 1 Taylor accompanied Lord Minto to Java, where 
 he evidently gained golden opinions, for in a letter now 
 lying before me Lord IMinto writes : — ' Taylor has dis- 
 tinguished himself by courage, activity and intelligence. 
 He was Gillespie's right arm, and Gillespie himself the 
 hero of the war. Taylor has miraculously escaped a thou- 
 sand deaths that he deserved, and has suffered only in flesh.' 
 
 At the close of the Java expedition Taylor returned to 
 India, and in 181 2, when Lord Minto was superseded in 
 the government, his Staff appointment came to an end. 
 He now turned his face homewards in compan\' with liis 
 wife and two sons ' who had been born to him at Calcutta, 
 and soon after his arrival in England he was appointed 
 Major in the loth Hussars. 
 
 ' Pierce Gilbert Edward, afterwards for thirty-six years in the East India 
 Company's service ; and Arthur Joseph, who entered Woolwich at fourteen, 
 fought in the Crimea, became Inspector of Artillery in Canada, Commandant 
 of Shoeburyness, and afterwards Inspector-General of Artillery in England. 
 Died December 23, 1S73.
 
 6 REYXELL TAYLOR 1822-- 
 
 In 1 815 came the closing scene of Europe's great 
 struggle with France, and with the lOth Hussars Taylor 
 saw service under Wellington at Waterloo. He was 
 detained in France for' some time with the Army of Occu- 
 pation, and the same year he became a Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 after only eleven years' service. On his return home he 
 led the unsettled life which is the lot of every soldier, 
 going from one garrison to another in England, Scotland, 
 and Ireland. His family continued to increase, and as 
 I shall have to refer to Reynell Ta}-lor's brothers and 
 sisters in the course of my narrative I give their names 
 below.' 
 
 And what kind of a father was Thomas W^illiam 
 Ta\-lor ? His children were all devoted to him, and one^ 
 of these writes : — ' He was no ordinary father. His ap- 
 pearance I can only describe as that of a handsome man 
 with a particularly benevolent expression. He was a 
 humble, sincere, and manly Christian, with an endless fund 
 of genial humour and a poetic mind. He went to Eton 
 and Cambridge before entering the armv, and retained his 
 classical knowledge in a wonderful manner, as you may 
 suppose when I tell you that he educated my two elder 
 brothers till one went to Eton and the other to Woolwich, 
 and my brother Reynell and myself till I went to Oxford 
 
 ' After the two sons I have already mentioned came : — Ann Frances, who 
 married Sir Walter Carew, Bart., of Haccombe, and died in 1861 ; Fitzwilliam 
 John, now Rector of East and ^Vest Ogwell and Haccombe ; Harriet Maria, 
 who married William Blundell Fortescue, of Fallapit, Dev^on ; Re}Tiell George ; 
 Georgina Jane, who married Robert, Lord Willoughby de Broke ; Amelia Mar)-, 
 who married Colonel William Morris, of Fishleigh, North Devon, and late of the 
 17th Lancers ; and Eliza Charlotte, who married Colonel Robert Portal, of Ashe 
 Park, in the county of Hants. 
 
 * The Rev. Fitzwilliam Taylor.
 
 -1840 EARLY LIFE 7 
 
 and he to India ; and when you consider that this was done 
 chiefly while he was a Major and Lieutenant-Colonel in 
 the loth Hussars and Commandant of the Riding Esta- 
 blishment at St. John's Wood, you will agree that he was 
 no ordinary man or father. With all this he was, when in 
 India, an energetic pigsticker and tiger-shooter, a good 
 horseman, and a sportsman in every way. W^hen he 
 was appointed to Sandhurst I believe no Lieutenant- 
 Governor was ever more respected or more beloved by the 
 youths under him.' 
 
 Such, then, was Thomas William Taylor. It is time I 
 turned to his youngest son. 
 
 Revnell George Taylor was born at Brighton on 
 January 25, 1822. When he was four years old his father 
 was appointed Commandant of the Riding Establishment 
 at St. John's Wood, and for the next six years the family 
 made their home in Grove End Road. He was never 
 sent to school, and consequently his early days lack any 
 reminiscences of school life. In after years he was inclined 
 to think that he laboured under a disadvantage in never 
 having had any training at a public school, but that he 
 fell short of other men in manliness, or in any of those 
 qualities which school life gives, those who knew Reynell 
 Taylor best entirely deny. School life, apart altogether 
 from knowledge acquired, no doubt brings out the best 
 qualities in a boy, and often makes the man visible in the 
 child ; and it is frequently the case that the leader of boys 
 comes to be the leader of men. But the world affords 
 many an instance that the converse is equally true, and we 
 can look back and recall fig-ures who were leaders in school
 
 8 REYNELL TAYLOR 1822- 
 
 and out of school, in doors as well as out of doors — boys 
 who were gods among us at Eton, but who, in these our 
 later years, have been outstripped in the race by those who 
 passed through their school life unnoticed, almost unknown. 
 And if this be the case with school-boys, it is sometimes 
 equally so with those who have never been to school. A 
 boy who has never undergone the discipline of a public 
 school life starts at this disadvantage, that he has had 
 little opportunity of trying his strength, either mentally, 
 morally, or physically, with those of his own age. There 
 is something more than a competition of wits in a school — 
 there is a competition of character ; and a boy brought up 
 at home instead of starting early in life in this competition 
 starts late. The difficulties he has to overcome are pro- 
 portionate to the strength or weakness of home influences, 
 and it says something for Reynell Taylor's bringing up, 
 that, though he was launched into the world direct from 
 home, he rapidly asserted himself, and in time acquired an 
 influence among those about him which was not surpassed 
 by that of any of his distinguished contemporaries in the 
 same field. 
 
 Reynell Taylor possessed many marked characteristics 
 even as a boy, and these grew to fairer and broader pro- 
 portions as he increased in years. Earnestness and utter 
 fearlessness were always a part of him, but he was endowed 
 also with two ready passports to popularity — good looks 
 and genial manners. He evinced a spirit of fearlessness 
 at an early age, and it is related of him that one day, when 
 he was only nine years old, he was sent into London on 
 his pony to execute some commissions for his father. On 
 his way he fell in with a noisy crowd of roughs who were
 
 -1840 EARLY LIFE 9 
 
 hissing and hooting the Duke of Wellington as he rode 
 through Hyde Park. The boy pushed his pony through the 
 crowd as best as he could, and on his return home related 
 his adventure to his father. ' And what did you do ? ' he 
 was asked. ' What did I do ? — why took my hat off to 
 the Duke, of course,' was the little fellow's reply. 
 
 Of the life of the family in St. John's Wood I have the 
 following account : — 
 
 * Well can I recollect Reynell at this time,' writes 
 Mrs. Fortescue. ' He and my brother Fitz were always 
 companions — my eldest brother having gone to India, and 
 my second, Arthur, being in the artillery, so only at home 
 from time to time. Our childhood was very happy ; the 
 brothers Fitz and Reynell amused themselves fishing in 
 the Regent's Canal, and we all thought the fish they caught 
 delicious. They always had some scheme on hand. An 
 old gentleman, who lived near, encouraged them in butterfly 
 catching, and they pursued that amusement for some 
 time. Much money was expended in buying birds in 
 Lisson Grove, for which we all subscribed, though after a 
 day or two we always let them fly away. 
 
 * During this time my father, in spite of his many duties, 
 always superintended the education of these two boys, and 
 he must have done it well, as one passed through Oxford 
 with credit, and Reynell through his career without having 
 had any experience of school life. 
 
 ' Of course I can remember many squabbles and fights 
 amongst us all, but they were soon made up, and my elder 
 sister Annie (Lady Carew) was generally the peacemaker, 
 though she took a certain tone of authority, at which we 
 necessarily sometimes rebelled.'
 
 10 REYNELL TAYLOR 1822- 
 
 When Reynell Taylor was a boy of ten years of age 
 his father's appointment at the Riding EstabHshment came 
 to an end, and in September 1832 the whole family moved 
 to Ogwell, where Pierce Joseph Taylor, their grandfather, 
 had just died. 
 
 A change now came over the lives of the children, and 
 one which their high spirits and happy dispositions enabled 
 them to enjoy to the full. From the waste of houses, and 
 the dull uniformity of a town, they were transported to a 
 county where man has had to do but little, where Nature 
 has done all. From town children they became country 
 children, surrounded by hills and dales, by woods and 
 flowers. The rolling moorlands of Devonshire had sud- 
 denly taken the place of the bricks and flags of St. John's 
 Wood, and instead of the Regent's Canal there were rich 
 meadows watered by clear streams. W'hat wonder, then, 
 that Ogwell days had a distinct influence on their after 
 lives, and that Reynell Taylor grew up with an earnest 
 love of home, which came in time to be a passion rooted 
 deep down in his heart. Many, many years afterwards, 
 when Ogwell had passed altogether from his family, 
 Reynell Taylor still carried this love about with him, and 
 sought to see in landscapes in far-off countries Haytors, 
 and Haldons, and the outlines of the woods and hills he 
 loved so well. Endless indeed were the amusements 
 which the younger members of the family found ready to 
 their hands at Ogwell. Cricket and archery, bird-nesting, 
 butterfly-catching, sport of all kinds ; a day with the 
 hounds in winter, or long gallops over moorlands in the 
 hot summer sun — all were enjoyed to the full and with the 
 zest which is a part of childhood.
 
 -1840 EARLY LIFE II 
 
 Reynell was the ringleader ; his sisters looked up to 
 him as a hero. Lessons over in the schoolroom, Reynell 
 was found, and away the party started on some fresh freak. 
 All sorts of plans were devised for trapping vermin, and a 
 regular campaign was instituted against young birds. 
 Owls, jays, and magpies were taken from their nests, and 
 woodpeckers, watched to their holes in the trees, were then 
 caught, as they flew out, in a gauze bag at the end of a 
 long pole, which one held carefully over the hole while 
 another tapped the tree with a stick. Thus in time 
 Reynell's room was turned into a sort of menagerie, and 
 families of birds of all kinds found a home there. 
 
 The children regarded it as a special dispensation in 
 their favour that the governess was a bad walker, and hence, 
 free from all control, they ranged the park and country 
 round at v.'ill. At one time the pound was visited, where 
 cider was bottled, and the bottles then buried in some 
 secret corner of the garden ; then the party would adjourn 
 for a game of cricket ; but, tired of this, some fresh amuse- 
 ment was thought of, and away they would go to the 
 stream, or, better still, the pond, which Reynell would 
 navigate in a barrel amidst the peals of laughter of those 
 on the bank. 
 
 It may be conceived that, under these circumstances, 
 education was carried on in a somewhat desultory manner, 
 but at one time a tutor from Newton assisted the father 
 with the boys. 
 
 ' Except,' writes Lady Willoughby de Broke,' when we 
 were at our lessons, Reynell was our inseparable com- 
 panion. When he learnt his lessons I know not, for I am 
 afraid there was no regular time for them, but I believe he
 
 12 REYNELL TAYLOR 1822- 
 
 always had some work ready for my father when he could 
 attend to him. 
 
 ' I often wonder what the strict disciphnarian of the 
 present day would think of the desultory way in which our 
 readings with my father were carried on. One day, 
 perhaps in the middle of our French or English history, 
 Reynell would call out, " Oh, stop a minute ; I must just 
 shoot that stoat on the lawn ; don't you see it ? ' The gun 
 was fetched forthwith, and the stoat shot dead. I don't 
 think he could have been more than twelve or thirteen at 
 this time. 
 
 ' Before he had a gun of his own he got hold of an old 
 barrel of one, for which he made hard bullets of baked mud, 
 which he used to blow through itx With this he used to kill 
 small birds, which were afterwards made into excellent 
 puddings for the rest of us. 
 
 ' My brothers were trusted with guns at a ver)" early age 
 on the condition that they should never go out together 
 unless some grown person was with them, and their word 
 and obedience were always depended on for any simple 
 order or direction. 
 
 ' My brother Reynell was from the first a very good 
 shot, and also a very good rider and swimmer. 
 
 ' Nothing could have exceeded the happiness of our lives 
 at Ogwell. I feel it was not only the foundation of my 
 brother's intense love of country life and home, but the life 
 itself was also the foundation of his self-reliance and power 
 of doing what he was called upon to do in after life without 
 any thought of self 
 
 If one thing more than another added to the children's 
 happiness it was the keen interest taken by their father in
 
 -1810 EARLY LIFE 1 3 
 
 their pursuits. He was never happier than when he was 
 with them, and endless were the stories he could tell of the 
 storming of Cornelio, of the rout of Napoleon's army, and 
 of the subsequent duties of the Army of Occupation. But 
 these stories were reserved for winter evenings ; in the 
 summer, when the shadows began to creep slowly o\er the 
 grass, the children, in company with their father, would 
 often walk to the summer-house, or ' Folly ' as it was called, 
 in the park, and watch the sun sink slowly to rest behind 
 the great line of hills, while High Tor, Saddle Tor, and 
 Rippen Tor stood up in blue shadow against the clear sky, 
 and rich Devonshire valleys were bathed in thick mists. 
 
 I have been told that these evening walks remain as 
 happy memories now to those of the home circle who are 
 still living, and that they shed a radiance over their lives 
 then which lingers on even yet. 
 
 Thus Reynell Taylor's boyish days were passed in all 
 the happiness of contented childhood. The sky was always 
 bright, the sun was never clouded, and the golden summer 
 months, it may be believed, seemed an absolute infinity. 
 The serious side of life was a closed book, and the strup-o-le 
 of after years in the wider world was unthought of 
 
 But the life in the old house came suddenly to an end ; 
 the expenses of a large family, and a country place, already 
 much encumbered, determined the parents to move else- 
 where, and in 1836 they left Ogwcll never to return.' 
 
 That winter was spent at Richmond, and in January 
 1837 Ann Frances was married to Sir Walter Carew. ' In 
 
 ' On the death of Reynell Taylor's father, in 1854, Ogwell was sold. Den- 
 bury having been sold by his grandfather, and thus the property with which 
 the family had been for so long a time connected passed into strange hands.
 
 14 REVNELL TAYLOR 1822- 
 
 T\Iay the same yc:\v,' writes Mrs. Fortcscuc, ' my father was 
 appointetl Lieuteiiaiit-Ciovernor of Sandhurst, and my 
 niarriaL;e took place there in November. That winter 
 the home parly came to Devon, and visited us at h^dlapit. 
 'I'hc chief inciileiil of their \isit was, I recollect, l\.e\-nell 
 havini;- a fall out huiitiiii;- and breaking his collar-bone. 
 The next ila\- the doctor came to sec him, and on arriving 
 at the house asked w ho the curious-looking person was he 
 had seen ilown the vallc)-. It was Reynell in a dressing- 
 gown oi mv hushantl's, with a gun in his one available 
 hantl. getting shots at ever}- bird and animal possible ! ' 
 
 At Santlhurst Rexnell Ta\-lor's education was carried 
 on with greater regularilw Ills father still continued to 
 teach him tlreek and Latin, ami his mother, who was an 
 exceiitionall)- good I'rench scholar, taught him to speak 
 {''reiich. \W the help of some of the professors at the 
 college Rexncll Ta) lor also acquired a certain knowledge 
 of German aiul matlu-matics, so that up to the time of his 
 leaxing for India, in 1S40, his stutlies were b\' no means 
 neglected. 
 
 Having two sisters with homes in Devonshire, he spent 
 ]-)art of his time at llaccombc and pait at h'allapit, enjo^Mng 
 all tin- sport he possibl)- couKl. 
 
 ' At Sandhurst." w riles his brother, h'itzwilliam Ta\lor, 
 ' he became a gre.il fu ourile w ilh the cadets and officers 
 of the senior department, and pla\ed constantly in the 
 college cricket m. itches. lie earl)- e\inced a love for 
 shooting and all other fieUl sports, aiul man\- a good day's 
 snipe shooting ha\e we had together o\er Edmoor and 
 the present site i^f .\UlcrslnU Camp, then a desc^late wilder- 
 ness. -I well remember one feat o[ his, which was the
 
 -1840 EARLY LIFE 1 5 
 
 picking up of about fourteen golden and common plover, 
 after firing both barrels into a lot of them as we were 
 returning one night in the dark over Harford Bridge 
 flats.' 
 
 His life at Sandhurst among soldiers fostered the love 
 he had previously shown for the army, and when India 
 was suggested as affording the best opening for a young 
 soldier, Reynell Taylor readily accepted the idea. His 
 father had still many influential friends there, and his 
 eldest brother had been for some time in the Company's 
 service, so it was settled that Reynell Taylor was to sail 
 for India, and a commission as cornet was accordingly ob- 
 tained for him on February 26, 1840, when he was just 
 eighteen years of age. 
 
 ' My brother's personal appearance when he went to 
 India,' writes Fitzwilliam Taylor again, ' was that of a 
 remarkably good-looking boy, with bright complexion and 
 wavy light-brown hair. He was not quite six feet in 
 height then, but he subsequently attained that height. 
 He was strong and muscular, but with a light, active 
 figure ; good at all outdoor exercises — cricket, shooting, 
 swimming, a good rider, and a good shot, and in every way 
 calculated to make a good soldier, which profession was 
 decidedly the one of his choice. 
 
 ' He was always very thoughtful, and to a certain 
 degree inclined to be taciturn, but no one had a keener 
 sense of the ridiculous, or a truer appreciation of fun, 
 than he had. He always had a reverent religious feeling, 
 but it was not until after he had gone to India that it took 
 the deeper form. His courage was of the cool and steady 
 order. My eldest brother told me that someone who had
 
 1 6 REYNELL TAYLOR 1822- 
 
 sccn him in action said that he had never seen greater 
 coohiess under fire.' 
 
 Of his courage and soldierlike qualities I shall have 
 much to say presently ; he had not to wait long before 
 they were put to the test. His life lay before him now — 
 a life destined to be filled with storm and sunshine, like 
 others' lives, with much honest work, with hard blows 
 given and received in a country's cause ; a long tale of 
 years spent battling against the world, always looking 
 forward, never looking back, for Reynell Taylor, like 
 Joseph Taylor, of whom I spoke just now, was ' no less 
 remarkable as a good man than as a good warrior,' and 
 ere he lay down to rest he was ' well schooled in both 
 warfares.' And can a man desire more ? ' Man is 
 created to fight ; he is perhaps best of all definable as 
 a born soldier ; his life a battle and a march under the 
 right General ; ' and if he succeed — I mean not by earning 
 fame — if he come out of the ordeal with the true ring to 
 him, clear and deep-toned ; if when the last chapter is 
 closed and the seal set to the book, he be found to have 
 turned neither to the right hand nor to the left, is there 
 nothing to be learnt from the study of his life ? Let us 
 see, then, how Reynell Taylor fared. As soon as the day 
 was fixed for sailing he paid a last visit to Devonshire, 
 and found all his relatives assembled at Haccombe to 
 wish him good-bye. Bo}- as he was at this time, there 
 was still something so attractive in his character that he 
 was universally beloved wherever he went, and his frank 
 open manner and manly wa}'s made him a general 
 favourite. Thus his going to Intlia left a blank in the 
 family, and the ring of his merry voice was missed for
 
 -IfilO EARLY LIFE 1/ 
 
 many a long day. ' Wc were .sta>'ing at Ilaccombc,' 
 writes Mrs. Fortescue, ' when he left there to join the 
 coach at Newton Abbott. Sir Walter Carew had .started 
 for hunting after his parting, but as the carriage did not 
 overtake him he feared Rcynell would be late, and so he 
 galloped back, and finding the phaeton at the door and 
 Reynell bidding good-bye, he made him jump in and gave 
 the horse to the servant. I fancy I can see him now, 
 standing up in his red coat, and using his hunting-whip 
 to urge on the horses a good deal faster than the servant 
 would have dared to.' 
 
 So Reynell Taylor started on his journey, and after 
 pausing at Sandhurst for a final parting with his parents, 
 he made his way to Gravesend, and a few days later set 
 sail for India.
 
 I 8 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR. 
 I 840- I 844. 
 
 The voyage out proved uneventful, and early in the month 
 of August 1840 Taylor reached India. 
 
 ' I commenced my Indian life,' he writes when his 
 working days were over, ' by spending two months in 
 Calcutta in a cousin's house with the free run of my 
 teeth and throat, and a stable full of pigsticking Arabs 
 and horses of other breeds. I went out and spent a week 
 at Barrackpore with Lord Auckland and the Miss E.'s, and 
 altogether I enjoyed myself, the whole reviving recollections 
 of my father's and mother's stories of India and Calcutta. 
 
 ' After two months in Calcutta I went to Beshamporc, 
 and spent two more there with my brother and his wife in 
 the merry position of a young brother welcomed from 
 home. Such snipe shootings and other games we had ! 
 and then, at the beginning of the beautiful Bengal cold 
 weather, I went off with a first-rate Indian sportsman ; my 
 brother lent me a good Arab, and I bought a pony. We 
 had elephants for a time, and stuck pigs on the banks of 
 the Mahanudda, and rode buffaloes under the snowy hills 
 opposite Darjeeling. Then we marched through Tirhoot, 
 a beautiful and rich district, all the time depending on our
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 19 
 
 guns for our food, and having accompanied my friend to 
 Gorakhpore, where his work in the Thuggee Department 
 lay, I went on my way through Oudh straight up to Feroze- 
 pore.' 
 
 The ' first-rate Indian sportsman ' here alluded to was 
 Captain James Sleeman, and among Reynell Taylor's 
 books there is a carefully bound copy of The Bengal Sport- 
 ing Magazine ' for the month of April 1841, in the fly-leaf 
 of which is written : — 
 
 ' This book is preserved because it contains an account 
 written by James Sleeman, of a buffalo hunt in which I 
 took a part. It occurred in the course of my first march in 
 India, back along in the times when I had just embarked 
 in life and all was fresh and new, and so the day has a rose- 
 coloured cell of its own in my memory. — R. G. T.' 
 
 The account is worth quoting, because it records two 
 incidents, either of which, but for extraordinary good for- 
 tune, might have terminated fatally to Reynell Taylor. I 
 quote it therefore almost in extenso : — 
 
 ' Ca^np, Mooteeharee, December 30. — We had heard so 
 much in favour of Darjeeling that we determined on visit- 
 ing it, and for that purpose made a detour to Titalyah. . . . 
 Having no elephants we were obliged to ride and shoot 
 the buffaloes, and in two days floored five splendid 
 specimens, the largest and fiercest I have ever met with. 
 
 ' Riding buffaloes is no child's play — it requires a bo'd 
 horse and a steady hand to escape death. The first 
 buffalo we rode, a bull of fair proportions, fought well, but 
 the ground was like a racecourse, and enabled us to avoid 
 his charges. He fell to the sixth shot. 
 
 ' The following morning we got amonq; a herd. After
 
 20 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 some hard riding we managed to cut off the leader, a 
 mighty bull, and induced him to take a line of his own, 
 and then commenced a race, compared to which Dick 
 Turpin's ride from London to York was a trifle. Both 
 our horses were steady and in good wind, and in spite of 
 his rapid charges most of our balls were well put in. After 
 running five miles we came suddenly upon a small river 
 with very precipitous banks, and a deep and rapid stream 
 about sixty yards in width ; into this he plunged headlong, 
 and, appearing again near the centre, swam over and 
 struggled up the opposite bank. Just as we mounted the 
 bank after our swim we saw him dash into some thick 
 jungle and disappear. The patch was not more than one 
 hundred yards in extent, but the jungle was very high and 
 thick and the ground swampy. To attempt to ride 
 through it was madness, so we quietly dismounted to watch 
 till two pad elephants we had with us should arrive. 
 
 ' While thus occupied, the herd from which we had 
 separated the bull again appeared. They had crossed the 
 river and were making play over a fine grass plain for 
 some heavy tree jungle. Our horses having by this time 
 regained their wind, we mounted, gave chase, and, after 
 a ver}' pretty run and fight, managed to floor a large 
 cow. 
 
 ' On returning to our male friends the elephants had 
 come up, so we sent them into the jungle. The buffalo 
 was soon sighted, and the moment the elephants approached 
 he drove them out of the jungle by a rapid charge, and 
 followed them out upon the plain, taking the line which 
 the flying herd had just before traversed. The same scene 
 of load, fire, and charge was acted over again ; another
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 21 
 
 and broader river was stemmed, but in spite of our efforts 
 he reached his point, a heavy tree and bush jungle. 
 
 ' The latter part of the run I had to myself, for Taylor 
 and his horse came down in a blind ditch an awful smash ; 
 and the horse, in trying to get up, struck the trigger-guard 
 of the gun with his foot, bent the iron, and exploded both 
 barrels under their prostrate bodies without injuring either ! 
 
 ' I must tell you that I had a servant mounted in this 
 last run who carried a second gun, and when Ta}-lor joined 
 me after his fall I was busily employed, with the assistance 
 of my servant and some fifty volunteers, in tracing the 
 buffalo through the jungle, sometimes by his blood and 
 sometimes by his footmarks. After carrying on the trail 
 for about a mile we lost it in a barren glade of the forest, 
 not more than sixty yards long by forty in width. At its 
 upper end we found another narrow path which led to 
 another but smaller glade, while on all sides the tree and 
 bush jungle rose like a wall, impervious to anything but a 
 pig or a buffalo. Here I thought our search must end, 
 and we were on the point of turning back when a native in 
 a tree called out that he saw the jungle in the smaller 
 glade shaking, and that it must be the buffalo. To 
 ascertain the point I pushed my horse through the 
 narrow path, and had just entered the open space when I 
 was charged furiously from the opposite side. My horse 
 up to this time had behaved pretty well, but his nerves 
 could not stand a charge in such a cramped position, and 
 turning sharp round before I could fire, he dashed back 
 through the path at the top of his speed. 
 
 ' I had just time to call out to Taylor and the boy to 
 clear the way and take care of themselves, when my horse,
 
 22 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 striking his knee against a concealed stump, rolled head 
 over heels, smashing my gun-stock just behind the locks, 
 and leaving me directly in the path of the buffalo, who 
 was then perhaps fifteen paces in my rear. 
 
 ' I am generally good at getting up, having had con- 
 siderable experience in that line, and with such a stimulus 
 to my activity a second sufficed to put me on my legs, and 
 I made a dash towards the side jungle. At the same 
 moment Taylor very gallantly pushed his horse between 
 me and the foe, firing into the latter as he came on. This 
 bold act would, under any circumstances, have probably 
 saved me, while it ensured death to him and his horse ; but 
 providentially we were both on his blind side (I had 
 stopped one of his previous charges by a ball in the right 
 eye), and though he passed within a yard of Taylor he did 
 not see him, but with head down he held on his course at 
 the boy, who was about twenty yards lower down, and 
 whose horse, paralysed with terror, refused to move away. 
 To say they were upset would convey but a poor idea of 
 the thing. Horse and man were lifted from the ground and 
 thrown forward in a heap, the buffalo goring at them as 
 they lay. Fortunately the boy was completely stunned by 
 the fall, and he lay flat on his back, so that all the efforts 
 of the buffalo to get his horn in or under him failed. 
 Finding this, the furious brute butted him with his fore- 
 head, and drove the body about the ground as if it had 
 been a bundle of rags. When I saw him smashing the 
 boy I ran back into the open for my broken gun, intending 
 to use it pistol fashion, but before I could find it the 
 buffalo, thinking he had settled his victim, dashed over 
 the body and disappeared in the jungle, \^x found the
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 23 
 
 boy senseless and covered with blood, but a month's good 
 nursing has made him all right again. 
 
 ' Having no sound gun, and only one steady horse i 
 the field, we gave up the pursuit and went home, leaving a 
 promise of a reward of five rupees for the head and horns 
 of our enemy.' 
 
 It may seem curious to us in these days that a young 
 ofificer arriving in India for the purpose of joining his 
 regiment should have been able to devote so much time 
 to sport and other amusements by the way ; but in the 
 days of which I am writing there were no railways in 
 India, and few carriages, and consequently the time 
 allowed an officer to find his way up country was often 
 very considerable. Three months were allowed between 
 Calcutta and Allahabad, and as Reynell Taylor had been 
 appointed to the 2nd Light Cavalry, which, after employ- 
 ment in Afghanistan, was now returning to Ferozepore, it 
 is not improbable that he was granted as much as five or 
 six months. 
 
 After leaving his friend Sleeman, Reynell Taylor made 
 his way to Loodiana on the Sutlej. Here he determined 
 to travel the remainder of the distance by water, and 
 having hired a boat, he embarked with all his worldly 
 goods and possessions. One evening, soon after starting, 
 the boat ran on to a rock, filled, and went down ; and 
 almost before Reynell Taylor and the crew realised what 
 had happened they found themselves striking out as best 
 they could for the shore. On reaching terra firnia the 
 crew sat down in a circle and wept, but Rc)-ncll Taylor, 
 who from a boy had been an excellent swimmer, went to 
 work with a will, and continued until dark swimming out
 
 24 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 to the sunken boat and diving for his things at the bottom 
 of the river. When he had saved as much as he could, he 
 started off across the country in search of shelter for the 
 night, and after a while arrived at a bungalow. Having 
 told his tale to the owner, he was surprised to find he had 
 met with an old friend of his father's. Dry clothes were 
 obtained for him, and the next morning the remainder of 
 his things, with the exception of his books, were recovered 
 from the bottom of the river, and he was able to resume 
 his journey on board another boat. Reynell Taylor was 
 fond of telling the story of his march up the country to 
 join his regiment, ' and the fun of the whole thing was,' he 
 would add, ' that, after all said and done, I only arrived just 
 in time to see my regiment ignominiously disbanded.' 
 
 The 2nd Light Cavalry had refused to follow their 
 officers at the action of Purwan Durrah, and for their 
 cowardice on this occasion the name of the regiment was 
 removed from the Army List. Thus Reynell Taylor 
 found himself one of a number of officers without any 
 men to command. 
 
 In June 1841 Reynell Taylor was temporarily attached 
 to the 7th Irregular Cavalry at Bareilly, and he remained 
 with this regiment until the early part of the following 
 year, when the 2nd Light Cavalry was re-formed at Cawn- 
 pore under the title of the nth Light Cavalry. Of his 
 doings at Cawnpore during the year 1842 he has left no 
 record, and I have been unable to discover a single letter 
 dealing with this period. 
 
 Throughout his life in India Reynell Taylor corre- 
 sponded regularly with his family in England. His letters, 
 written sometimes week by week, were almost always
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 25 
 
 addressed to his father and intended for circulation among 
 his relations and friends. I have heard it said that his 
 father arranged these letters in order in a book, and that in 
 his declining years the old soldier's greatest pleasure was 
 to read over and over again the doings of his soldier son. 
 That volume, down to the time of General Taylor's death, 
 must have contained a complete record of Reynell Taylor's 
 life, but, in spite of diligent search, no trace of it can now 
 be found, and thus these pages lack much that might have 
 added to their interest. Fortunately, however, among Rey- 
 nell Taylor's papers is a roll of sheets of tissue paper, 
 labelled, ' My old manifold Copy Books,' and here are 
 copies of some of the numerous letters he wrote to his 
 father during the years 1843 and 1845. Many of them 
 sparkle with the joyousness of youth, all are brimful of 
 affection, and his love for those at home, instead of dimin- 
 ishing, seems to grow brighter and brighter as year follows 
 year and the time of separation grows longer. There is 
 a great secret bound up in this constant letter-writing. 
 For nigh upon twelve years scarcely a single month passed 
 without some tidings arriving at Sandhurst. He was in 
 the habit of referring all questions for his father's opinion, 
 and thus these two hearts were fast bound together with a 
 love which grew in strength till their hands were clasped 
 once more, though none too soon, in England. 
 
 The first of Reynell Taylor's letters from Cawnpore is 
 dated March 18, 1843. In it he laments the loss of all his 
 books, and begs his father to send him ' an Ainsworth, 
 a Lexicon, a Greek Testament, and a Lempricre,' as he 
 is anxious to keep up his reading. There is always an 
 undercurrent of fun in his letters, and many of them arc
 
 26 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 illustrated with ludicrous caricatures. ' I have not got my 
 room to myself,' he writes, ' for a fellow-sportsman, in a 
 lizard, has the run of my skylight ; a mouse without a tail 
 lives behind the wainscot, and a vocal company of crickets 
 inhabit the back of the coloured print of the Cathedral of 
 Rheims.' 
 
 In June Reynell Taylor began to study native lan- 
 guages, or ' the black classics,' as he calls them, and 
 he illustrates ' the effect of black classics, when the 
 heat was enough to cook a beefsteak on the gate-post,' 
 by a pen-and-ink sketch in which an individual in a 
 turban is sitting very erect at one end of a table, and 
 he himself lying fast asleep at the other with his head on 
 his book. 
 
 But study did not occupy all his time by any means. 
 There are constant references to sporting expeditions in 
 these letters of his, as well as parts played in garrison the- 
 atricals. His thoughts evidently often reverted to Ogwell 
 and Devonshire, and he continued to carry vivid recollec- 
 tions of former happy days. Everyone who has engaged 
 to any extent in cricket in Devonshire, know^s the drive 
 from Newton along a dusty road, at first, and afterwards 
 over an old stone bridge, where the brown waters of the 
 Teign babble over the stones, and the trees cast grateful 
 shade. Everyone knows the awkward turn in at the gate, 
 the thatched pavilion, and the broad expanse of mossy turf 
 where the first club in Devon has for many and many a 
 decade carried on its contests and dispensed its hospitalit)'. 
 It must have been refreshing in the vicious, parching sun- 
 heat of Cawnpore to go back in mind to the cool waters of 
 the Teign and the green turf; and thus Reynell Taylor
 
 -184-t ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 2/ 
 
 writes : ' So the Teignbridge Club has lasted to its second 
 jubilee. I do hope it will not be allowed to subside before 
 I find my way to the pretty valley again ; that is, if I am 
 ever destined to do so. I know no country meeting that 
 would recall so many pleasant associations to my mind as 
 that would ; besides, I retain my love for the beautiful 
 game of cricket, and I never played on a better ground than 
 that' 
 
 Forty years later Reynell Taylor's figure was well 
 known on the old ground ; and grown too stiff for cricket, 
 he might often still be seen playing bowls or keeping score 
 there. 
 
 So the letters run on from month to month, till in one, 
 dated August 9, he writes : — 
 
 ' I do not know how long we may be here now, as we 
 hear rumours of wars. A large force is to be assembled at 
 Agra very quickly, the object being Gwalior, where they 
 have kicked out our Resident and misbehaved themselves 
 in sundry manners, and still remain refractory.' 
 
 The dissensions in Gwalior had been the cause of 
 anxiety ever since the early part of this year. In February 
 1843 the reigning Scindia — the Maharajah Jankaji — died 
 without heirs, and without making any arrangement for a 
 successor to the guddee. His widow, by the advice of 
 some of the most powerful persons in the state, adopted as 
 her son a boy named Bhageerut Rao, who was said to be 
 the nearest relation of the late ]\Iaharajah. When nominated 
 to the throne Bhageerut Rao was but eight years of age, 
 while the Maharanee had not yet completed her thirteenth 
 year, and as it was absolutely necessary that a Regent 
 should be appointed to carry on the government, Mama
 
 28 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 Sahib, maternal uncle of the deceased Maharajah, was, 
 chiefly through the influence of the British Resident^ 
 selected for the post. 
 
 The history of most Eastern Courts is one of intrigue. 
 No sooner has one man attained a certain degree of 
 authority than a hostile faction sets to work, and by subtle 
 devices seeks to undermine his position. To love power 
 is to court danger and to be surrounded by few friends. 
 Mama Sahib soon discovered that he had many enemies, 
 who, making the Maharanee their tool, endeavoured to 
 thwart him to the best of their ability. Into the maze 
 of intrigue, and the endless plotting and planning that 
 followed, it is here unnecessary to go, but scarcely more 
 than three months had passed before the Regent was one 
 day suddenly deposed by order of the Maharanee. The 
 British Resident remonstrated, but to no purpose ; and 
 aid in support of the Regent being refused him by the 
 Governor-General, nothing could be done, and Mama Sahib 
 accordingly left Gwalior and retired to Seronge. The 
 Resident was not long in following him, and at the in- 
 stigation of his Government he too quitted Gwalior. 
 
 The Maharanee, and the clique by whom she was sur- 
 rounded, now became aware of the gravity of the situation. 
 The army, numbering upwards of 30,000 men, was the 
 ready tool first of one faction, then of another, and afiairs 
 thus went rapidly from bad to worse. The duties of state 
 were transacted by those who had deposed the Regent in 
 defiance of the real and sovereign authority, the leader 
 being one Dada Khasjee Walla. All officers of European 
 origin, and holding military or civil appointments, were 
 removed for no reason but that they were known to be
 
 -1S44 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 29 
 
 friendly to the British Government, and others with 
 opposite views were appointed in their place. The capital* 
 and the roads to the frontier, were thronged with soldiers 
 over whom their officers had no control, and it was evident 
 that if order was to be maintained in the country the 
 British Government would have to exercise its paramount 
 authority and re-establish it by the exhibition of force. A 
 state in the condition and position of Gwalior would have 
 been a sure source of weakness in the event of complica- 
 tions on the Sutlej, and in order therefore to establish a 
 stable government and to ensure tranquillity along the 
 border, orders were issued for a concentration of troops on 
 the Jumna. Hopes were at first entertained that bloodshed 
 would be avoided, as the threatening attitude of the 
 British forces was not without its efTect. Dada Khasjee 
 Walla was given up, and the Mahratta chiefs expressed 
 themselves anxious to accept the terms offered them. 
 Meanwhile the utmost excitement reigned at Gwalior, and 
 the soldiery busied themselves daily by throwing up 
 entrenchments for the protection of the capital. Still the 
 treaty remained unsigned, and at length, towards the end 
 of December, the British army crossed the Chumbul and 
 entered Gwalior territory. On the 25th of the same month 
 the Governor-General issued a proclamation stating that 
 the British army came ' as a friend bound to protect the 
 Maharajah and to maintain his authority.' This was fol- 
 lowed the next day by an announcement that the treaty 
 was to be ratified by the 28th, or a fine of 15,000 rupees 
 paid for every day's delay. The 2Sth passed and the 
 treaty remained unsigned, and on the following day the 
 British forces, advancing upon the capital from two points,
 
 30 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 came into collision with the enemy at Punniar and 
 Maharajpore, and signally defeated them. 
 
 The last letter written by Reynell Taylor from Cawn- 
 pore is dated September lo. The nth Light Cavalry 
 formed part of the force assembling there under Sir John 
 Grey, destined to advance upon Gwalior from that quarter, 
 while the remainder of the army, under the Commander- 
 in-Chief, operated from Agra. The capital was thus threat- 
 ened from two sides at once. Sir John Grey's force left 
 Cawnpore in the second week in December, and the events 
 that followed shall be told in Reynell Taylor's own words. 
 His first letter, addressed to ' Sister Harriet,' is undated, 
 but is headed, ' On the borders of the Gwalior territor\'.' 
 
 ' I must inform you of an important event, and that is, 
 that I am fairly started on my first campaign, not with a 
 "pretence enemy," as Eliza used to call it, but a real 
 enemy, to-day reported to be on the other side of a small 
 river called the Sinde, in front of us, with a lot of guns, 
 and they say determined to fight us all the way to 
 Gwalior.' 
 
 ' The reports of what is going to happen are numerous, 
 but I believe one thing is certain, and that is, that to 
 Gwalior we go, either by fair means or foul. If the 
 refractory portion of the Gwalior army have their eyes 
 opened in time, I suppose it will be by fair means, but 
 Lord Ellenborough is not likely to waste much time in 
 begging them to come in to his terms. He has offered 
 them the pill, which is certainly a big and rather an ill- 
 flavoured one, but not worse than they deserve. I cannot 
 say myself that I thiiik the terms a bit too severe after all 
 the trouble, expense, and insult they have given us. I say
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA— GWALIOR 3 1 
 
 he has offered them the pill, and if they go screwing their 
 faces about and making excuses, he will try the effect of a 
 dig in the ribs.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor had been present at his first action ere 
 he wrote again, and his next letter, dated December 30, 
 contains an account of the fight of Punniar. 
 
 ' Our force was engaged yesterday, and our loss, I am 
 sorry to say, considering the comparative smallness of the 
 affair, has been very great. We are here encamped in 
 a cup of land, that is, a plain surrounded on all sides by 
 low hills, and I am alone on picket, with my troop some 
 half mile to the left of the main picket, which is on the 
 Gwalior road. 
 
 ' My last letter brought you to the Sinde River. We 
 crossed it and marched to Dubbra, where we remained two 
 or three days. The last day of our halt at Dubbra I was 
 ordered out with my troop to reinforce the main picket. 
 After the vedettes were posted I went round to see that the 
 men understood their orders, and on my return found the 
 whole picket in a hubbub. In answer to my question as 
 to what it was all about, I was informed that the enemy 
 were coming ; and sure enough in the distance there was an 
 approaching cloud of dust. My fellows were mounted in 
 no time, and directly they had fallen in the commanding 
 officer called out to me, " Are you ready ? " " Aye, aye," 
 said I ; " Then come along," said he, and away we went at 
 a hand gallop. We met lots of grass-cutters running in 
 before the object we were approaching and which was 
 approaching us, and just as I was worked up to a 
 great pitch of excitement, expecting to have a charge all 
 to myself, and open the ball for the whole army, what
 
 32 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 should emerge from the dust but a body of our own 
 irregular horse ! 
 
 ' We marched the next morning from Dubbra to an open 
 plain beneath the Antree pass, which was occupied by the 
 enemy in considerable force. Here for the first time we 
 heard that our General had strict orders not to commence 
 hostilities with the rebel army, as we were actually at peace 
 w'ith the Gwalior Government. We were all much disap- 
 pointed at this, and instead of forcing the Antree pass, as 
 w^e expected, we left it a little on our right, and marched 
 on the morning of yesterday, the 29th, to our present en- 
 campment. 
 
 ' I was with the main body that day, and as we came 
 along not a soul was to be seen. We passed a high fort 
 with two peaceable-looking individuals looking over the 
 parapet. We arrived in camp about eleven o'clock, but 
 did not get anything in the shape of breakfast till nearly 
 four, and had only half eaten it when the alarm sounded. 
 In a few minutes I was in the saddle again, and the troops 
 were all turning out. Then came a message to say it was 
 a false alarm, so saddles were off again, and I once more 
 clutched my cup of tea. Presently " Boom, boom ! " went 
 two heavy guns down the valley up which we had ad- 
 vanced in the morning, followed by half-a-dozen more. 
 Of course we were all mounted again in no time. ]\Iy 
 troop, being the only one off picket or rear-guard duty, 
 formed the strength of our regiment, the 9th Lancers 
 mustered a squadron, and the 5 th Cavalry a troop, and 
 unless there was a troop of lancers detached some- 
 where, that was the whole force mustered by the 1st 
 Brigade of Cavalry. The 2nd Brigade was ordered off to
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA— GWALIOR 33 
 
 reinforce the rear guard, which was getting most awfully 
 mauled. 
 
 ' But I must tell you my story as it occurred. We were 
 off in no time, and when we reached the right of camp 
 there was a proper scene of apparent confusion, though I 
 fancy all the regiments were moving by order. Infantry 
 were hurrying out at the double ; other regiments were 
 getting under arms ; the horse artillery rumbling out half 
 enveloped in dust ; the noise of officers shouting, and all 
 the time the cannonade in the valley becoming louder and 
 nearer. 
 
 ' We moved steadily on, and very soon began to see 
 the position of some of the enemy's guns by the wreaths of 
 smoke,' but w^e could not make out what they were blazing 
 at. In a short time we — i.e. the cavalry, for we were all 
 moving independently at the time — emerged on to an open 
 plain about half a mile long and the same broad, sur- 
 rounded by low heights on all sides. On our left, and 
 about in the centre of the amphitheatre, was a small fort 
 which was firing into the valley, but at what we were pre- 
 vented by a spur of the hills from seeing. This fort was 
 a {qw minutes afterwards carried by our infantry. There 
 were some heavy guns in position on the heights immedi- 
 ately in front of us, which, until we appeared, were firing 
 into the valley on the other side of the heights, but when 
 the enemy caught sight of us these guns were immediately 
 turned upon us, and then for the first time in my life I 
 heard the peculiar rushing sound of a heavy shot coming 
 directly our way. They fired short at first, and the balls 
 hopped high, but they elevated at every shot, and at last 
 pitched a shot close to my troop. Brigadier Campbell 
 
 D
 
 34 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 then took us under cover, where we waited for orders from 
 General Grey. By this time our infantry had taken two 
 or three of the enemy's batteries, but had suffered severely 
 in so doing, and soon the dhoolies came hurrying over the 
 brow bearing the wounded into camp. 
 
 ' Soon after we had halted in the hollow General Grey 
 came up at the head of a brigade of infantry, composed of 
 the 50th Queen's, the 39th and, I think, the 58th N.I. The 
 brigade were halted, and as soon as they had loaded they 
 went over the brow with a loud cheer and were soon in the 
 thick of it. I certainly felt very FitzEustace-like> and 
 chafed much at the delay which kept us stuck under the 
 hill with evening coming on, and the hope of gilded spurs 
 becoming fainter every minute. 
 
 ' At last I thought our moment was come, and a loud 
 order was shouted from the hill to bring on the cavalry. 
 Then it was " Draw swords," and away we went. It was 
 ugly ground for cavalry, steep slopes covered with loose 
 slaty stones. On descending the other side of the hill we 
 had to spread out like a flock of sheep, each man taking 
 his own line. We then crossed a deep nullah and ascended 
 the opposite hill, where our artillery were firing shrapnel 
 on the now retreating enemy — the prettiest thing I ever 
 saw. It was so dark we could see the flash of each shell 
 as it burst, and it seemed to me they always did so at 
 exactly the right time. We were halted in rear of the 
 artillery for about a quarter of an hour, and then a cloud of 
 dust being observed in the valley to our right we de- 
 scended, forming front as we went. \\'e could see it was 
 horse, but could make nothing of them, and they after- 
 wards proved to be a body of Christie's horse.
 
 -ISU ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 35 
 
 ' It was now quite dark and the artillery had ceased firing. 
 We soon after received orders to return to camp, and so 
 ended the first fight, in which you will say I saw nothing. 
 Had there been an hour's more light we should have had 
 our full share of the work. 
 
 ' And now to the men who bore the brunt of the work 
 — the infantry. The Buffs, I think, lost ten killed and 
 sixty-one wounded ; the Queen's 50th, eight killed and a 
 considerable number wounded ; and the 39th, sixteen 
 killed and many wounded. I do not know the loss of the 
 other troops engaged.' The enemy were supposed to have 
 lost 300 killed and wounded ; twenty-four of their guns 
 were taken, some of them very fine ones. The artillery 
 officers say they worked them deuced well ; they sent a 
 shot slap into Campbell's troop while he was blazing away 
 at them himself, and killed a horse and man and injured 
 a gun. Their numbers must have been very great, both 
 horse and foot, and they were commanded by one Sik- 
 under, who they say is wounded. About 7,000 rupees 
 were found in different tumbrils. There is one thing I am 
 very glad of in the whole thing, and that is that our General 
 acted up to his orders and did not commence hostilities. 
 We had marched considerably out of our way to avoid them, 
 and they had come considerably out of theirs to attack us ; 
 er£-o, the consequences were entirely their own look-out, 
 and they certainly got an uncommon thrashing, considering 
 the little time they left us to do it in. I shall ever regret 
 we were not pushed on while there was light. We should 
 have suffered severely, I dare say, but we should have read 
 them a severer lesson even than they received. The enemy 
 
 ' The total loss in this action anr.ounted to 35 killed and 182 wounded. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 fought most bravely, sticking by their guns till the very last, 
 and being bayoneted at them. It would have been a 
 great day for me had we had an opportunity, as I com- 
 manded the troop of my regiment that was present. 
 
 ' I could not resist the temptation to visit the scene of 
 action. I could not go the next day but went the day 
 after, partly really because I wanted to understand the 
 fight. I need not tell you the horrors I saw there, but 
 there were some almost pleasant sights ; one man who had 
 sunk down with a gentlemanly bullet right in the centre of 
 his forehead seemed quite to be envied among his riddled 
 neighbours.' 
 
 On January 9 he writes again, this time from ' Before 
 Gwalior.' 
 
 ' I have not written for many days now, partly because 
 I have such a deal to tell you that I have been afraid to 
 begin. We have been here six days, during which I have 
 been so employed gadding about with old friends in t'other 
 army, and talking over our own and their smashing fight, 
 that I have never had time to write ; but here I am on 
 picket again, and the result is that I must sit down and 
 tell you something about Hugh Cough's battle of Maha- 
 rajpore, which was fought the same day as our own, the 
 two armies being then, I suppose, about sixteen miles 
 apart. We heard the distant cannonade in the morning 
 on the march, and half-guessed what was doing, though 
 the cold water gentry would have it that the Gwaliorites 
 were fighting amongst themselves. We little thought that 
 we should be hard at it ourselves before nightfall. 
 
 ' The enemy, I must say, have excited my respect by 
 the way they have fought. Nothing could have been more
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 37 
 
 gallant than the conduct of their artillery and cavalry in 
 both these fights, but the far-famed Mahratta horsemen 
 declined to have anything to say to our cavalry except in 
 one instance, when the chiefs, I suppose, not being able to 
 get their men to follow them, formed a body of themselves 
 and charged down upon Scott's brigade, composed of the 
 4th and loth Cavalry, who disposed of nearly all of them, 
 though not without getting a little mauled themselves. 
 
 ' The cavalry do not seem to have been well handled 
 by our great chiefs. The i6th Lancers had nothing to do, 
 but were kept under a tearing fire the chief part of the 
 day. With them were also the ist Cavalry and Body 
 Guard. The loth Cavalry charged some guns in the 
 teeth, and cut down the men at the guns, but while a little 
 scattered and confused the chiefs of horse, to the number 
 of 70, came down upon them. The loth, however, re- 
 formed, and killed nearly all their opponents. 
 
 ' I shall not attempt to describe the plan of the battle 
 to you, but leave you to gather an idea of it from the 
 despatches. We had about 800 killed and w^ounded, of 
 which ^6 were officers.^ 
 
 ' I fancy there will be no more fighting, but there is no 
 saying. There is to be a large contingent force raised, 
 and I believe the men who composed the Ranee's army 
 will be allowed to enlist. I have not ascertained sati>> 
 factorily whether the Ranee encouraged the soldiery to 
 fight us, but I strongly suspect she did. When they were 
 licked and had lost their guns, to the number of 49, 
 and God knows how many men, she went to Lord 
 
 ' The loss at the action of Maharajpore amounted to 106 killed, C84 
 wounded, and 7 missing.
 
 38 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 Ellenborough and put the little rajah in his arms and 
 begged to be forgiven. 
 
 ' This will be a disconnected sort of letter, but I shall 
 write down anything which I know to be true and think 
 worth mentioning. 
 
 ' In the battle of Maharajpore a horse artilleryman in 
 Lane's troop had his foot shot off at the ankle, but as it 
 was necessary to move the gun at the time, and there was 
 nobody to supply his place in the saddle, he refused every 
 entreaty to dismount, though he said he would do so 
 directly they could get anyone to drive in his stead. He 
 rode on, doing his duty for some time, and until he was 
 relieved, but he died the same evening. 
 
 ' Cavanagh, of the 4th Irregular Cavalry, lately married, 
 wrote a short letter to his wife before going into action, 
 saying there had been a fight and that he was all safe and 
 sound, meaning to send it off at the first opportunity, 
 which he did, poor fellow, but he was obliged to add that 
 he had lost a leg. 
 
 ' General Churchill, it is said, went up to a fellow with 
 a cane in his hand, and called out to him to give up his 
 sword. The fellow preferred laying over Churchill's head — 
 i.e. cut him down, and when on the ground a round shot 
 struck him and knocked his leg to smithereens. It was 
 amputated, but he sunk under the operation. A great 
 number of our men were blown up, the enemy having 
 mined a great part of the ground, and, besides that, they 
 put matches to their tumbrils. 
 
 ' Gwalior itself is a very fine-looking fort, on the top 
 of a large rock, apparently scarped on all sides ; but 
 we are about a mile from it, and are not allowed to
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 39 
 
 go and see it yet. You shall see some sketches of it some 
 day.' 
 
 By January 5 the whole of the British forces had 
 arrived before Gwalior, but there was no further fiehtine. 
 On January 9 the disbanding of the Gwalior army began, 
 and by the 17th it was completed. Meanwhile, on 
 January 13, the treaty had been ratified and British 
 supremacy established.^ 
 
 On the 15 th Re\'nell Taylor writes again to his father. 
 Hostilities were over, and he had time to turn his atten- 
 tion to other matters. 
 
 * Here I am on picket again. We should have had 
 a lot of broken heads if we had forced the Antree pass, 
 for we hear now that the enemy had mined the whole of 
 it. This is a style of fighting they seem rather partial to, 
 but it is one for which every soldier has a most particular 
 aversion. 
 
 ' The Commander-in-Chief held a levee the other day, 
 which we all attended. He is a remarkably fine, active- 
 looking man. General Smith came out of the crowd of 
 Panjendrums to shake me kindly by the hand, and on my 
 lamenting that we had not had more to do in the late 
 affair, he told me that I could not eat my cake and have 
 it, and bid me wait for the Punjab. I see, in looking back, 
 that I have said that I shall ever regret not having been 
 pushed on, but I do not consider it my place to say any- 
 thing of the kind. That I did much regret it is perhaps 
 a justification for what I wrote, but to say that I shall ever 
 regret it is not true, for on cool refiection I have ceased 
 to regret it already. Enough was done to show these 
 
 ' Taylor received tlie bronze star for his services in the campaign.
 
 40 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 fellows that we were rough customers at a game of sharps, 
 and, after all, there is sound philosophy in living to fight 
 another day as long as it is not accompanied by the first 
 part of the old adage. 
 
 ' I fancy we shall march from this soon now, as affairs 
 are nearly settled. I believe there is to be a grand tama- 
 shah to put the young rajah on his throne, and then we 
 shall wend our respective ways home. 
 
 ' Yesterday I went out with Charley Beecher and 
 Tucker, of the 8th Cavalry, in search of some bears that 
 infest the neighbouring hills. We started in the dark, I 
 mean about four in the morning, and reached the most 
 likely ground about daylight. It was a most lovely scene, 
 more like Bradley Vale than anything I can give for a 
 comparison, but you must add, running along the crests 
 on each side, a lofty range of crags, sometimes jutting out 
 and overhanging the valley, and sometimes receding in 
 cold gloomy clefts. The whole of these crags were 
 covered, wherever there was the least soil, with trees, in 
 some places so thick that it was a hard matter to force 
 one's way through them. \\'e had hardly gone a hundred 
 yards before we found fresh traces of bears. This gave a 
 thrilling interest to our work, and we laboured on over loose 
 stones, slippery slabs, and tangled brushwood, in a manner 
 that, without the excitement, would have soon knocked us 
 up. I could not help thinking of the American's prayer 
 before engaging with a bear when we were poking about 
 their habitations. (Don't think that I am trifling with 
 serious subjects if I repeat it. It amounts to this : " O 
 Lord, if you won't help me, don't help the bear.") 
 
 ' Don't let mother think it is an overdangerous amuse-
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 4I 
 
 ment, it is one where I should always like to be sure of the 
 nerve and character of nny friends, but if you are sure of 
 that, and of yourself, the danger is comparatively small. 
 When he is within five paces of you he generally rears him- 
 self on his hind legs and dances up for a hug, and one ball 
 coolly placed is enough for a bear. 
 
 ' Well, we toiled on for an hour or so without success, and 
 so took to our cold meat and beer. When we had finished 
 our meal and were sauntering about, we were roused from 
 our lethargy by a sound not to be mistaken — the terrific 
 roar of a charging bear, followed by the yell of the fellow 
 he had attacked, and then by the hulloo of every man with- 
 in hearing. We three, guns in hand, were very soon half 
 way to the scene of action, our men following us as best 
 they could with our second guns. We came to a couple 
 of men, who just pointed the way the bear had gone, and 
 on we pressed in his rear. I suppose we had not struggled 
 eighty yards through the jungle when we heard a hulla- 
 baloo in front of us. We knew very well what this meant. 
 Johnny Bruin had come upon another party of camp fol- 
 lowers, and would probably be turned back. We advanced 
 silently and rapidly, I on the right, Beecher in the middle, 
 and Tucker on the left. Beecher thought I was too much 
 to the right, and sung out to me to come down lower, 
 which I did. Had it not been for this, ten seconds after- 
 wards I should have met the bear in his very path. A few 
 seconds afterwards I heard a heavy rush through the grass 
 to my right. I knew it was the bear immediately, and ran 
 as hard as I could, hoping to get a good shot at him. At 
 this moment he caught sight of somebody, and gave — 
 Crikey, Bill\ — such a roar ; then I caught sight of him, a fine
 
 42 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 fellow, as black as my hat. I should have thrown away 
 my fire had I shot at him, as I was running and he was 
 cantering. He passed behind some bushes, and then 
 " bang ! " went Beecher. I made tow^ards him as quick as 
 I could, and reached his elbow just as he fired his second 
 barrel, but I could not see the bear at the moment. I ran 
 as hard as I could in the direction Beecher had fired, and 
 while I was running I heard Tucker fire both barrels on 
 my right, and in the bottom of the valley we nearly ran 
 against each other, but I was not in time to get a shot. 
 We followed him as sharp as we could, and very soon 
 found traces of blood in his foot tracks. We traced him 
 for some mile and a quarter, and at last tracked him to a 
 cave That he had attempted to go into it there can be 
 no doubt, for the stones w'ere smeared with blood. We 
 accordingly determined to smoke him out if possible. 
 There w^ere two mouths to the cave, one above and one 
 below ; the fire was applied to the lower one, and soon the 
 smoke began to issue, and there we stood, like terriers at 
 the mouth of a rat-hole, till the smoke, issuing from the 
 upper mouth of the cave, we were obliged to allow that 
 the beast was not there. So ended all real excitement. 
 We struck off on a fresh beast, but with no success. I 
 am going after them again to-morrow, and will let you 
 know the result. Good-night ; such a bore sleeping in 
 boots.' 
 
 Four days later, Januar}^ 19, he writes, still from before 
 Gwalior : — 
 
 ' The second bear expedition was a failure, and I am 
 not destined to kill one this season. 
 
 ' Affairs are going on well here, and the fellows are
 
 -1844 ARRIVAL IN INDIA — GWALIOR 43 
 
 enlisting willingly in our contingent, and those that are not 
 fit for service, or do not choose to enlist, get their arrears 
 of pay and three months' in addition, as a present. 
 
 ' The army will break up soon now, and we shall all 
 return to our respective stations. I shall be twenty-two in 
 five days more. I would that I had a spare year before me 
 for reading of general kinds. I want it sadly. 
 
 ' This has been a sad time for some poor fellows, 
 sadder than we with sound limbs and light hearts have 
 time to think about. The spirits of others have retired 
 with the year that's awa', and are nearly forgotten by some 
 already. There is nothing in death in the field which 
 gives one a horror of death, and so that a man has tried 
 to serve his God as well as his earthly master, the old 
 rascal's sting must fall lighter there than anywhere, I should 
 say.' 
 
 At the end of January the army broke up before 
 Gwalior, and the troops retired to their different stations. 
 Reynell Ta}'lor was not destined to remain long with the 
 iith Light Cavalry, for, on the return of the regiment to 
 Cawnpore, he was appointed to the Governor-General's 
 Body Guard, an advancement of which he was justly 
 proud. 
 
 He announces the fact to his father on February i 5, in 
 a letter headed, ' Three marches from Allahabad ' : — 
 
 ' I have undergone another change since I last wrote to 
 you, and have mounted the red again, so, instead of a 
 youth in French grey and a busby, you must look upon 
 me for the present as Captain Taylor, of the Governor- 
 General's Body Guard. Be very particular about the 
 " Captain," because it may not last long.
 
 44 REYNELL TAYLOR 1840- 
 
 ' The Body Guard when I first came to this country 
 was only one squadron strong, with a commandant, ad- 
 jutant, and vet. After the last campaign in Afghanistan 
 Lord E. increased it to two squadrons, and gave it two 
 extra subalterns. It is now increased to three squadrons, 
 with the addition, I believe, eventually of four officers. 
 Three have been appointed, and I am one of these. 
 Chamberlain had been made adjutant, but he has gone 
 to the hills on sick certificate, having been wounded in the 
 leg in the Khyber pass. Meantime I get the acting ad- 
 jutancy, so I drop in to what may be my first step on the 
 ladder of advancement. My present situation holds out 
 many advantageous prospects. In the first place, if there 
 is anything to do in the Punjab we shall be in the thick of 
 it ; another thing is, that when Chamberlain returns I shall 
 have to take my turn of duty in Calcutta, and I shall then, 
 I hope, pass my examination at the college under the very 
 noses of the dispensers of loaves and fishes. 
 
 ' The station of the Body Guard is to be Sultanpore, 
 Benares, for which place we are in full march now. There 
 will, however, be a detachment of 60 men under a sub- 
 altern at Calcutta. 
 
 ' Gwalior affairs were all comfortably settled before we 
 left. The enemy's battalions had all laid down their 
 arms ; most of those that were fit enlisted into our con- 
 tingent, the rest took the gratuity and retired to their 
 homes. 
 
 ' I studied the fort a good deal while I was there. If 
 you go round the ramparts at Gwalior, taking the in and 
 out of every elbow of the rock, I suppose you would have 
 to walk four or five miles befoie you had completed the
 
 -184-t ARRIVAL IN INDIA — G\YALIOR 45 
 
 circuit. The rock is about 340 feet high, and is black and 
 inky, hke iron ore. It seems a most impregnable place, 
 but has fallen once by coup de main, and would have 
 again very likely. Popham took it by escalade about 
 sixty years ago. There are some curious figures carved 
 on the rock ; one, I think, nearly 40 feet high. I have 
 a drawing of it.' 
 
 The Body Guard arrived at Sultanpore at the end of 
 February, when Reynell Taylor was appointed 'Officiating 
 Adjutant' His new duties naturally occupied the chief 
 part of his time, but he employed himself as well studying 
 native languages and reading military works. His letters 
 to his father at this time are filled with long dissertations 
 on the uses and capabilities of cavalry in the field, and he 
 asks that any books dealing with cavalry tactics may be 
 sent him. 'What is your opinion of carbines for troopers?' 
 he asks. ' We are just going to have them, and the 
 N.C.O.'s are to have percussion pistols in place of the flint 
 locks they have carried hitherto. With the new carbine you 
 make sure of your man at sixty yards on a steady horse.' 
 
 In August he hears of his brother Fitzwilliam being 
 appointed to the living of West Ogwell, and he writes : — 
 ' I shall look with more pleasure still upon the old tower 
 among the trees in your picture, and I like to think my 
 old companion in snipe and plover shooting holds forth 
 there to his simple congregation upon those ways that 
 are all pleasantness and those paths that are all peace.' 
 
 In November Reynell Taylor qualified as an inter- 
 preter, and in the following January he resigned tlic 
 adjutancy of the Body Guard and took up the appoint- 
 ment of Interpreter and Quartermaster.
 
 46 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 I 845- I 846. 
 
 All eyes were now turned towards the Punjab. The 
 condition of that country, and the mutinous conduct of 
 the Sikh soldiery, gave cause for the gravest anxiety, and 
 it became necessary to reinforce the garrisons in the 
 neighbourhood of the frontier. Among the troops moving 
 northwards was the Body Guard, and early in 1845 the 
 regiment took up its quarters at Umballa. 
 
 Ever since the death of Runjeet Sing, in 1839, discord 
 had reigned where before there had been order. The firm 
 hand which for years had held within its iron grip the 
 various factions of the state was withdrawn ; the mighty 
 fabric which Runjeet had raised with his single arm fell 
 asunder, and an impotent and vacillating government, 
 acting for a boy sovereign, now reigned in Runjeet's place. 
 The army which the great ruler had spent forty years in 
 organising, and which had never known defeat, grew by 
 degrees to be the dominant power in the state, and the 
 urgency of its demands, coupled with the attitude and 
 temper of the troops within its ranks, ' threatened the very 
 existence of the Ranee and the Sirdars around her.' ' 
 
 ' The Governor-General to the Secret Committee, December 2, 1S45.
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 47 
 
 To occupy the minds of the soldiers became at last a 
 necessity. They had already once before, in the early part 
 of this year, demanded that they should be led across the 
 frontier, but wiser counsels prevailed, and for a moment 
 war was averted. It was not, however, for long. The re- 
 inforcements now gathering on the left bank of the Sutlej 
 appeared to furnish a pretext for a further hostile demon - 
 stration as well as a way out of immediate difficulties, and 
 on December 17 the durbar decided on no less an under- 
 taking than the invasion of British India. 
 
 The forces which had been gradually collected in the 
 vicinity of Ferozepore, Loodiana, and Umballa were made 
 the excuse for what followed ; but, in the words of the 
 Governor-General, ' the real cause originated in the internal 
 dissensions of the Lahore Government, and, above all, in 
 their desire to be released on any terms from the terror 
 which the ferocity of their own troops had inspired.' 
 
 To the very last it was hoped that the Sikhs would be 
 deterred from any act of aggression, and even up to 
 December 10 the Governor-General, and those about him, 
 still held the opinion that the Sikhs would not cross the 
 river. Yet on the very next day a part of their army had 
 entered British territory, and by the i 5th 60,000 men and 
 over 100 guns stood ready to give us battle on our own 
 soil. 
 
 The news of the violation of the frontier reached the 
 Governor-General on the 12th, but by that time our army, 
 in preparation for any contingency, was already on the 
 move, and while the Sikhs were advancing on the one side, 
 our forces were pushing up from Meerut, Umballa, and Loo- 
 diana. But I must retrace my steps. ' We do not know
 
 48 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 yet,' writes Reynell Taylor from Umballa on August 14, 
 ' whether an army will be formed. Certainly little orders 
 have indicated something like an intention of fisticuffs, but 
 it is very doubtful.' A month later he writes again : — 
 ' There is no apparent likelihood of war ; ' and once more 
 on September 19 : — ' Everything looks peaceable, but still 
 it strikes me that there is something brewing, as Cooper 
 makes the Indian say, " It is too quiet." The Punjab is in 
 an awful state, and I think there is every chance of the 
 Sikhs being on our side of the river ere long.' 
 
 After this there is no further mention of war rumours 
 till October 17, when he returns again to the subject, and 
 writes : — ' The plot has thickened since I last wrote, and it 
 is generally believed that something is going to be done. 
 Sir Heniy Hardinge is coming up at the rate of a hunt, 
 and Sir Hugh Gough is to meet him at Meerut on 
 November 10.' But this proved to be only a rumour, and 
 aeain there is a lull, while the black clouds gather round 
 Lahore and the body-politic of the Sikhs prepares for 
 war. 
 
 ' Our expectations of war have faded,' run the letters in 
 the middle of November, ' and, in fact, some considerable 
 change must have taken place in the views and intentions 
 in high quarters, as the Governor-General, instead of hurr\-- 
 ing up, is marching up by Bhurtpore. I never mean to 
 expect war again, and the fact is, with a Native State it is 
 ever uncertain till the first shot is fired.' 
 
 And this is the last complete letter for many da}'s. 
 Two scraps there are, written hurricdh', and ending 
 abruptly. They lie before me now as they were written 
 at the time — mere fragments — sent off, no doubt, in the
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 
 
 49 
 
 endeavour to keep up the regular supply of letters home. 
 The first, dated ' Umballa, December 2,' runs : — ' Sir H. H. 
 marched in this morning, the whole of the troops being 
 drawn up in a long line to receive him. We, the Body 
 Guard, were in line in the street of his camp. A new 
 king of the country is naturally an object of some interest. 
 He was in plain clothes, and answered the salute v/ith the 
 stump of his arm.' The next, dated ' Governor-General's 
 Camp, December 15,' only three days before the first 
 blow : — ' Strange times have come upon us since I last 
 WTote or attempted to write. We marched from Umballa 
 on the 6th of the month, and took it easily and quietly 
 till we got to Rajpoorah. Here some intelligence reached 
 Sir H. H. which caused the ordering back of all the ladies 
 in camp, amounting to about five or six. We marched 
 on in fighting order, and soon heard reports that the 
 Sikhs had crossed the river. We also heard that the 
 Umballa force had been ordered on. I must now tell you 
 the ' 
 
 And thus it ends abruptly, and there is no further letter 
 this year ; not until Reynell Taylor had fought in his first 
 action, and lay wounded in a village not far from the 
 field of Moodkee. 
 
 The Umballa force had started for the frontier on 
 December 1 1, and a few days later came up with the Body 
 Guard. Then all pushed on, still by forced marches, and 
 Moodkee was at length reached on the afternoon of 
 December 18. 
 
 The rapidity of this movement was necessarily most 
 trying to the troops, but Ferozepore was threatened, and 
 no time was to be lost. In speaking of it, the Commander- 
 
 E
 
 50 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 in-Chief, Sir Hugh Gough, says that the force ' moved over 
 a distance of 1 50 miles in six days, along roads of heavy 
 sand, perpetual labour allowing the men scarcely time to 
 cook their food, even when they received it, and hardly an 
 hour for repose before they were called on for renewed ex- 
 ertions.' Water had been scarce throughout the march, 
 and when the army reached Moodkee the troops were 
 well-nigh exhausted. Hardly, however, had they taken 
 up their camping ground, when the news arrived that the 
 Sikhs were advancing in considerable force. The army 
 was at once got under arms, and, while the infantry 
 brigades were forming up, the cavalry and horse artillery 
 were thrown forward to cover the front. The country was 
 ' a dead flat, covered at short intervals with low, but, in 
 some places, thick jhow jungle, and dotted with sandy 
 hillocks.' Availing themselves of the cover thus afforded 
 them, the enemy took up a position and opened a severe 
 fire upon our advancing ranks. A small portion of the 
 cavalry were at once directed to threaten the enemy's right, 
 while the remainder, consisting of the 3rd Light Dragoons, 
 the Body Guard, the 5th Light Cavalry, and a part of the 
 4th Lancers, were launched against the left. 
 
 Taking ground to the right in column of troops, the 
 cavalry on the right wheeled into line as best they could 
 in the thick bush, and dashing forward were quickh- among 
 the enemy, * sweeping along the whole rear of their infantry 
 and guns, and putting to flight the vastly superior force of 
 horse by which they were opposed.' The cavalry charges 
 over, the infantry went in with the bayonet. The enemy, 
 though in far greater numbers, were driven back and utterly 
 routed, and long after darkness closed in the fight was
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 5 1 
 
 continued in the thick bush and the bHnding dust of the 
 sandy plain. 
 
 The first fight with the Sikhs was over and victory re- 
 mained with us, but our success had been purchased with 
 the loss of many valuable lives, and among the killed was 
 one we could ill spare — Sir Robert Sale. Our losses 
 amounted all told to 215 killed and 657 wounded, and 
 among the latter was Reynell Taylor, who had borne him- 
 self gallantly in the thickest of the fray, and come out of 
 it with wounds in three different parts of his body. 
 
 It was not until a fortnight after the fight that Reynell 
 Taylor was able to give an account of his doings, and his 
 first letter, dated ' Governor-General's Camp, Ferozepore, 
 January i, 1846,' ran as follows : — 
 
 ' My dear Pater, — I hope you have had a merry 
 Christmas, merrier than ours, which has been rather too 
 bloody to be pleasant. I made many attempts to write to 
 you before the skrimviages, but we had such a race to the 
 frontier that we ate our meals at one stage and took our 
 water (beer when we could get hold of it) at another. My 
 shoulder is very painful and I shall not be able to write much, 
 so must tell you the heads of the things in as few words as 
 possible. The Sikhs attacked us at a place called Moodkee 
 on the evening of the i8th, and when we had just ended a 
 march of twenty miles. They got preciously licked for 
 their pains and lost nearly all the guns they had brought 
 into the field. They took up a good position in some low 
 brush jungle for their artillery, and the cannonade they 
 opened upon us was tremendous. Soon after the com- 
 mencement of the action the dragoons and ourselves were 
 ordered to attack the enemy's left, which rested on some 
 
 E 2
 
 52 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 much higher and thicker thorn jungle, and consisted of a 
 large body of horse and matchlock footmen. 
 
 ' We accordingly took ground to the right, open column 
 of troops, right shoulders forward. Conceive a brigade or 
 column of troops galloping through a thick thorn jungle 
 enveloped in clouds of dust so dense that the standard 
 of my squadron was the only landmark I could recog- 
 nise, approaching nearer and nearer to the thundering 
 batteries of the enemy and the yelling crowd protecting 
 them. 
 
 ' Above all the din I heard the word passed to wheel 
 into line ; it was merely a left turn for each individual ; and 
 on we rushed at the same pace. Loud shouts of friend and 
 foe arose on our right as our gallant dragoons dashed in, 
 clearing all before them, and in another second we were in 
 a mass of bloody-minded Sikh horse and foot, but chiefly 
 the former. I need not give you the details of such work. 
 I believe the men we were opposed to were, or thought 
 themselves to be, cut off from escape by the dragoons, and 
 they fought most furiously. I was personally engaged 
 with five men at different times, and after a tussle of some 
 seven or eight minutes, in which our adversaries were all 
 cut down, shot, or driven off, I found myself wounded in 
 three different places, my reins cut, and my horse " Pickle " 
 very severely wounded by a sabre. On tr}-ing to pick up 
 the pieces of the regiment the result was : Dawkins down, 
 shot through the thigh ; Bouverie's two thousand rupee 
 horse shot under him ; Fisher and Stanners missing — the 
 former, poor fellow, killed, and the latter carried away in 
 the confusion with the dragoons ; Harrington, the Brigade 
 Major, wounded. This left Colonel Gough, our Brigadier,
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 53 
 
 and Cornet Pakenham and self to form up the regiment. 
 Bouverie got another horse and was all right. 
 
 ' I was bleeding very much, but felt strong and well, 
 and should not have left the field had not Colonel Gough 
 particularly requested that I would do so, saying that he 
 should not take the regiment into action in its crippled 
 state if he could help it. 
 
 ' I found, when I got in, that it was lucky I did give 
 up when I did. My wounds are a severe " facer," com- 
 mencing about half-way up the forehead and running down 
 to the end of the nose, which it split like a pea. I only 
 wish " Vetus " had hold of the Sikh ; how she would sarve 
 him out for spoiling the side bits ! This blow was given 
 me from the left over my bridle-hand, when I was engaged 
 with a man on my right, whose spear I had just parried. 
 
 ' Another, and the severest wound, is on my right 
 shoulder. The greedy sabre has taken a large lump out 
 of the deltoid muscle, just at the round of the shoulder. 
 This will take some time to heal ; it is doing well. I have 
 another slight snip on the bridle-arm, which is nothing. 
 My face is healing beautifully. I nightly thank God for 
 having preserved my life, even if it be only for a time, and 
 for having enabled me to do my duty quietly and calmly. 
 
 ' I never wished for war, but now it is come I hope to 
 see it carried through with honour to my country and 
 confusion to her enemies, where she is so clearly in the 
 right, and her foes are such blood-stained murderers and 
 turbulent spirits, whose extermination affords the only hope 
 of peace for India for years to come. 
 
 ' I cannot but hope that Providence will strike with us. 
 Our loss has been tremendous— nearly four thousand killed
 
 54 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 and wounded in the three actions.^ The Sikhs are Hcked 
 across the river and have lost between ninety and a hun- 
 dred of their guns. There will be some severe fighting 
 }'et, as of course we cannot let the matter rest as it is. We 
 fight for our name and the peace of the country generally ; 
 the game is great and worth the venture of a life. If I 
 should lose mine, believe me, pater, that I have thought 
 deeply on death, and, thank God, have been enabled to 
 act on the thought, but to what purpose remains with my 
 merciful Judge. I must say good-bye, pater. With a 
 father's blessing and a conscience void of wilful offence, I 
 do not fear what man can do unto me. The rest is in 
 God's hands ; may He bless you all ! 
 
 In a letter written many years afterwards (May 30, 
 1 871) to his friend Colonel Bouverie Campbell, an old 
 brother-officer in the Body Guard, he reverts to the events 
 of December 18, 1845 : — 
 
 ' I have boys growing up, and now or later the story 
 (of Moodkee) will interest them. My father used occa- 
 sionally at long intervals to give us the account of his 
 experiences on the celebrated i8th of June, one of which 
 was, I remember, that a fowl which his soldier-servant had 
 put on to boil in the early morning, at the village of 
 Smohain, where he was on picket, was eaten after nightfall 
 on the Paris road, the First Empire having finally collapsed 
 in the interim. The chicken had gone through the day in 
 a half-boiled state in the batman's haversack, and ought to 
 have been tender. I remember being always interested in 
 the story and other more stirring portions of the narrative, 
 including the death of Byron's " young gallant Howard 
 
 ' This refers as well to Ferozeshah, fought on December 21 and 22.
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 55 
 
 in the same regiment, and so I hope my boys may take 
 some interest in their Dad's part in the battle that opened 
 the ball with the Sikhs. 
 
 ' I am very ill able to speak of such things in connection 
 with myself, and am always oppressed with the idea that 
 my hearers will think that I am engaged in the use of an 
 ancient weapon instead of treating of modern ball and 
 steel, and I shall be very glad to have one word from an 
 old comrade by way of confirmation of my facts.' 
 
 After a detailed account of the movements of the 
 Body Guard immediately before the charge, the letter goes 
 on : ' With regard to myself — and here the bow sounds as 
 if stretched — I have persistently stated that I had dealings 
 with about six men at different times : that I remembered 
 stopping the cut of the first man I met and giving him a 
 return blow across the face. Another fellow rode at me 
 with a lance, and I turned it off with my sword when close 
 to my breast ; and I believe it was while making a return 
 cut at him that another man, who had come up on my 
 bridle-hand, administered a severe " smeller " in the face, 
 as poor Fisher would have called it, which, cutting through 
 my shako peak, hit me half-way down the forehead, and, 
 passing down, split my nose like a pea, and deluged my 
 left eye with blood. Another man whom I met rode close 
 up to my sword-hand, and with his teeth set, and standing 
 in his stirrups, gave a downright cut at my head, which I 
 stopped ; and the sword, a Wilkinson, bears the notch to 
 this day in the thick part near the hilt ; the metal, being as 
 hard as a diamond, is yet cut into like lead ! 
 
 ' In the inclce I received a .severe cut on the shoulder, 
 but by whom given I never clearly made out. It cut
 
 56 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 through my jacket and two shirts which I had put on for 
 the bitter cold, having been on picket the night before, and 
 cut a great piece out of the deltoid muscle as well. I had 
 also another wound on my left wrist, the sword having 
 been stopped by the bone, but this was not deep. My 
 curb rein was cut, and my horse " Pickle " ' received a severe 
 cut on his flank. 
 
 ' The last thing I remember was sparring with a foot- 
 man, trying to get a cut at him. He had his sword lifted 
 high and was just going to make a sweeping cut at my 
 horse's neck, when a bullet struck his sword close to the 
 hilt and snapped it off; on which the fellow sank down, 
 shamming dead. 
 
 ' After our front was cleared I assisted in forming up 
 the regiment, and I remember your remonstrating with me 
 (you being in command of the regiment at the time) as I 
 w'as bleeding pretty freely; and shortly after. Brigadier 
 John Gough urged my leaving the field so strongly that I 
 went. 
 
 ' I must say for myself that it was in no particular wish 
 to play the gladiator that I worked, but chiefly from an 
 ardent desire that the regiment should show well and be 
 successful. 
 
 ' I must pray you to excuse the vainglory of all this. 
 It is, as I hope you will see, a not very unnatural attempt 
 to pick the story of a stirring day's work out of tlie oblivion 
 
 ' ' Pickle' was a bay Arab he bought in 1844. He describes him as ' a 
 very powerful and handsome horse with capital action and noble temper, who 
 looks up to know whether you were "pleased to remark" anything when a 
 pistol is fired close to him and who does not care for the sweep of a sword a 
 bit.' ' Pickle ' was Reynell Taylor's constant companion for eight years, and 
 his name will be often mentioned in these pages.
 
 -1S16 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 5/ 
 
 into which such matters must necessarily fall as time passes 
 on.' 
 
 ' You need never be shy,' writes his friend in answering 
 this letter, ' of mentioning the part you took in the battle 
 of Moodkee, and no one who knows you will ever accuse 
 you of being " vainglorious," but, on the contrary, will say 
 that you did your duty as a man and an officer with con- 
 spicuous bravery.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor made light enough of his wounds, but 
 he was returned in the Casualty Roll as ' very severely 
 wounded.' His services were noticed in despatches by 
 Brigadier Gough, commanding the cavalry, thus : — ' Lieu- 
 tenant Taylor, who, though severely wounded in three 
 places, would not quit the field until he had assisted in 
 forming up his regiment' 
 
 After the action he was removed to a small tent in the 
 village of Moodkee, and the doctor, when it came to Rey- 
 nell Taylor's turn to be attended to, was heard to say : 
 * Dear me, this is too handsome a face to be scarred in this 
 way; I must use fine needles instead of plaster.' So the 
 gaping wound in the face was mended up with fine needles ; 
 but many years afterwards, when Reynell Taylor was tra- 
 velling in England, a gentleman got into the carriage with 
 him and began muttering : ' Well, I did make a capital 
 job of that, certainly. Yes, I'm sure it is the same nose.' 
 And it was the same doctor, who thirty years afterwards 
 had still the trick of speaking his thoughts out aloud. 
 
 Reynell Taylor v/as incapacitated from further fighting 
 during the war, but his ultimate recovery was a rapid one. 
 ' Pickle ' also came round again, and lived for many years 
 after as a faithful friend, carr}'ing his master in all kinds of
 
 58 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 strange places, in days of peace as well as in days of war. 
 He afterwards, on Reynell Taylor's return to England in 
 1852, became the property of Colonel Coke, commanding 
 the 1st Punjab Infantry. 
 
 For two days the army remained at Moodkee, and on 
 December 21 marched to attack the enemy in their en- 
 trenched camp at Ferozeshah. On that night and the fol- 
 lowing morning was fought one of the bloodiest battles in 
 all the annals of our military history. No soldier, no Eng- 
 lishman, can read the account of the actions of December 
 21 and 22, 1845, without feeling a thrill run through 
 his frame, for, in the words of Lord Ripon, ' never was 
 there an occasion upon which the indomitable courage of 
 the British soldier was more gloriously proved than in those 
 repeated and well-fought fields.' ^ 
 
 The account of the fight can form no part of my story, 
 for Reynell Taylor was not present at it. Lying wounded 
 at Moodkee, he was, however, as will be seen presently, able 
 to appreciate to the full the anxious nature of the conflict. 
 It was only by dogged pertinacity that the enemy's position 
 was eventually carried. Late in the evening of the 21st we 
 had seized a part of the enemy's entrenchments, after many 
 hours' hard fighting ; a fearful night followed, spent under 
 artillery fire ; morning broke, and the fight was renewed 
 against the vastly superior force, backed by upwards of 100 
 guns. The hero of Albuera, Sir Henry Hardinge, Governor- 
 General, yet second in command, who had during the night 
 lost ten out of his staff of eleven, and was now left with his 
 son, a boy of sixteen, as his sole aide-de-camp, led on the 
 left ; the Commander-in-Chief, the right ; the position was 
 ' Thanks to the Army in India. House of Lords, March 2, 1846.
 
 -18-16 THE FIRST SIKH \YAR 59 
 
 carried, the camp swept, the enemy utterly routed, and 
 ' our Hne then halted as if on a day of manoeuvre,' but 
 behind lay of our dead and wounded alone no less than 
 2,415 men. 
 
 The wounded in and around Moodkee were fully able 
 to appreciate the critical nature of the fight which was going 
 on only a few miles from them, and as they lay there suf- 
 fering, the roar of the conflict was anything but pleasant to 
 listen to, for defeat meant death to them. 
 
 The following letter from Reynell Ta}'lor to his father 
 tells something of this, and as there are in it details regard- 
 ing himself, as well as many references to other matters, I give 
 it almost as it stands. It is dated 'January 17, Governor- 
 General's Camp, Ferozepore,' to which place he had been 
 moved from Moodkee on the retreat of the Sikhs across the 
 river. 
 
 ' . . . My shoulder is still in rather a disrepaired state, 
 so you must not expect a long letter. 
 
 ' The engagement at Moodkee took place, as you know, 
 on the 1 8th. We lay there for a couple of days picking 
 up the pieces, and on the 21st the army marched to attack 
 the enemy's position at Ferozeshah, leaving the wounded 
 in Moodkee, with two guns and two infantry regiments to 
 take care of us. You never saw such a mass of mutilated 
 humanity. Yes, I fancy you have seen several such, and so 
 I need not trouble myself to describe it to you ; but among 
 all these poor mortals struck down in the middle of fresh 
 gay life, and mutilated in every variety of manner, there 
 was no unworthy complaining to be heard ; they had done 
 their duty once, and were ready to do it again when they 
 could. . . .
 
 6o REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 ' I, with the other cripples, Dawkins and Edwardes, 
 occupied a small tent pitched in a mud court in a village. 
 
 ' I have visited poor Muro (loth Cavalry) ; he had been 
 shot in the spine and death was pretty clearly stamped 
 upon his face. He made me tell him all I could of Fi.sher's 
 death ; he belonged to the same regiment. 
 
 ' Poor Fisher, as you know, was a great friend of mine, 
 and in more peaceable times I should mourn his loss much. 
 At present, though, all life seems so uncertain that it 
 appears to me misplaced to lament much those that have 
 gone first. This is, I dare say, the feeling of a young hand, 
 unused to the near neighbourhood of danger. . . . There 
 is something in death in the field of battle that, as Francis 
 Osbaldiston says, strikes one as a lot natural and proper 
 for humanity, therefore not producing great regret and sor- 
 row in the mind of a friend who ran the same risk with 
 better fortune. I hope this does not seem selfish and cold- 
 blooded, but all I know is that I do not wish anyone to 
 feel more for me in a similar case. 
 
 ' Well, I must get to my story, and give you an idea of 
 the order things happened in as well as I can. 
 
 'Towards evening of the 21st December we heard the 
 cannonade of the first attack on the enemy's position, and 
 as the enemy had some hundred guns, chiefly of very heavy 
 calibre, and we about fifty, you may imagine it was pretty 
 heavy, and anything but agreeable to lie in our beds and 
 listen to. It continued with little intermission all night, 
 and was renewed with fresh vigour next day. 
 
 ' Altogether, from the description I have gathered, the 
 awful cannonade kept up by the enemy, the night of doubt 
 and uncertainty in the immediate neighbourhood of a most
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 6 1 
 
 formidable enemy, the proved uselessness of our light guns 
 against their heavy metal in position, the immense loss we 
 had already sustained, and the prospect of as tough a 
 contest in the morning, formed a whole sufficiently try- 
 ing to the oldest soldiers, and almost appalling to the 
 young. 
 
 * I have seen enough myself to make me believe that 
 nothing is so appalling to the human mind, when located 
 in that funny machine the soldier, as confusion — confusion 
 either apparent or real ; and I can understand how bold 
 men, who would be prompt to die steadily and in order, 
 may be hurried into common defeat by the unsteadiness of 
 their neighbours. I have picked up a few ideas from late 
 events, and this is one of them. Another is, the hopeless- 
 ness of a cavalry affair ever coming up to one's poetical 
 ideas of it, as formed from the parade-ground or from 
 written descriptions. 
 
 ' The Dragoons (3rd) lost a great number of men by 
 their excessive gallantry in rushing after the Sikh horse 
 when they turned. Nothing could hold them, and even- 
 tually they got separated in small parties of ten and twelve, 
 and great numbers of them were shot. The enemy's 
 matchlock men, taking advantage of the nature of the 
 ground, ducked in among the bushes, and let the cavalry 
 pass over them, then jumped up and shot and sabred 
 stragglers. Hence to lose your horse was to lose your life, 
 and in the most disgusting way. 
 
 ' I received your letter announcing having paid for the 
 "Pig " (an Arab horse), for which my best thanks. He will 
 be my only stand-by now that poor " Pickle " is mauled. 
 Did I tell you of his being wounded ? He received a gash
 
 62 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 from a footman, who also cut my reins. It nearly cut 
 through the crupper, and extended from thence a good foot 
 down the flank, and so deep had the sabre gone that had 
 it fallen on my thigh it must have cut it to the bone. God 
 be thanked it did not ! 
 
 ' My face has healed with the first intention, and is really 
 no discomfort or disfigurement to signify. The shoulder 
 is healing very fast, but there being such a large surface, a 
 lump having been cut out, it is naturally a slow operation. 
 The Sikh army is encamped on the other side of the 
 river in considerable force, their camp extending about ten 
 miles. They as yet hold their bridge of boats, and have 
 a tcie-de-pont and outworks on this side occupied by about 
 5,000 men, and out of these we have no immediate prospect 
 of kicking them. 
 
 ' They pitch into our pickets daily, and are altogether 
 exceedingly bumptious. They will fight hard yet. All I 
 do hope is we shall go steadily and scientifically to work. 
 
 ' I confess I have not learnt much tactics in these opera- 
 tions, and the Tipperary rush, though effective, is rather 
 expensive in good material. 
 
 ' These fellows deserve considerable credit ; their out- 
 works on this side are strongly placed, and so well com- 
 manded by their heavy artillery on the other, that we are 
 shy of breaking our teeth on them 
 
 ' There will come a day of reckoning yet, God willing. 
 I hope I may live to see it, on national grounds. Their 
 confidence in their own invincibility must be considerably 
 shaken after losing a hundred of their really beautiful 
 guns. 
 
 * Kind love to Arthur. I wish he was here with his
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 63 
 
 troop to pitch into these rascals ; he would find foemen 
 worthy his steel. A troop of our horse artillery was 
 taken out to reconnoitre the other day, and came within 
 range of their artillery, also on the move. Both parties 
 unlimbered and began blazing at one another. The Sikhs' 
 range was exact, and in a few minutes our troop had to 
 retire with a loss of several horses, more men, a couple of 
 tumbrils blown up, and a gun injured. This was told me 
 by the artillery officers of the troop. 
 
 ' I hope to join the Body Guard by muster ; there is 
 no chance of our crossing before that. By the new bri- 
 gading we are with the i6th Lancers, 2nd Cavalry, and 4th 
 Irregulars.' 
 
 There is no need for me to pursue the history of the 
 first Sikh war further. A few days after the date of the 
 letter I have just quoted the Sikhs were defeated at 
 Aliwal (January 28), and on February 10 the battle of 
 Sobraon terminated the war. The Khalsa army had been 
 crushed, no less than 220 guns had passed into our hands, 
 and within two months of the commencement of the cam- 
 paign our forces entered Lahore. 
 
 The Sikhs were, however, to be given another chance, 
 and for a time their independence was to be a.ssured to 
 them. Their Cis-Sutlej states had already been confis- 
 cated, but now the Jullundur Doab was annexed to the 
 Company's dominions, and, as a set-off against our ex- 
 penses, we claimed the valley of Cashmere and the high- 
 lands of Jummoo, which wc afterwards sold to Golab Sine 
 to cover the cost of the war. Henry Lawrence took up 
 the duties of Governor-General's Agent at Lahore, and, at 
 the earnest request of the Sikh Government, a force of
 
 64 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 British bayonets was stationed in the capital for the 
 remainder of the year. 
 
 Four days after the battle of Sobraon Reynell Ta}-lor 
 rejoined the Body Guard, then on its way from Ferozepore 
 to Lahore, and immediately after the conclusion of the 
 treaty to which I have just alluded he, in company with 
 the rest of the Governor-General's escort, set out on a tour 
 of the Jullundur Doab and the newly annexed districts. 
 While on the march he wrote the following letter to his 
 father. It is dated ' Sultanpore, three marches from Umritsur 
 and four from Loodiana, March 19 ' : — 
 
 ' My dear Pater, — Here we are in John Company's new 
 estate, which seems a nice country enough. The Gover- 
 nor-General gave a monster feed on the 5th to the Heads 
 of Departments of the army of the Sutlej, to which 
 Bouverie and I went, but under what " Head " I don't 
 exactly know. 
 
 ' It was certainly a very interesting scene. That fine 
 fellow, Sir C. Napier, had arrived in camp, and at the head 
 of the table sat Sir H. H., Prince Waldemar, Sirs H. Gough 
 and Charles of Scinde, Sir H. Smith, and others, while 
 round the tables were collected all the commanders of 
 forces engaged in the late severe actions who had escaped 
 death and wounds. 
 
 ' Sir H. H., after dinner, in a long but clear and good 
 speech, gave a sort of sketch of the campaign, and of our 
 previous and present policy. . . . 
 
 ' Sir C. Napier's health was afterwards drunk with great 
 applause, and his speech in returning thanks was soldier- 
 like, simple, and good. 
 
 ' On March 9 a grand durbar was held for the purpose
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 65 
 
 of signing the treaty. This was also impressive. Besides 
 all the personages mustered at the dinner, we had all the 
 remarkable men of the state we had lately been fighting 
 against. 
 
 ' The little Maharajah was also present ; he was carried 
 in and deposited in a large gold chair, next to Sir Henry, 
 on the right ; on Sir Henry's left sat Prince Waldemar, so 
 that he had Sikh royalty on one side and Prussian on the 
 other. 
 
 'On the nth we marched from Lahore, and on the 
 14th reached Umritsur. I must tell you,, however, that 
 " we " means the Governor-General, the Body Guard, the 
 8th and 5th Cavalry, one irregular corps, seven native 
 infantry corps, and the 50th Queen's. 
 
 ' The siege train, two troops of horse artillery and 
 10,000 men are to be left at Lahore at the earnest request 
 of the Ranee and Sikh Sirdars, to enable them to organise 
 a manageable army on the old footing, such as it was in 
 Runjeet Sing's time, and we limit the pay they are to 
 receive. 
 
 ' What comical chaps we are in this country, to be sure ! 
 We have no sooner done fighting with a state that more 
 nearly overpowered us than was quite pleasant, than we 
 lend them some troops to assist them in reorganising their 
 army ; we lend them ofificers also to help in getting it into 
 warlike trim ; and the Governor-General goes off with a 
 small force to take a look at their most sacred city and 
 fort, and then on to see his new territory acquired by the 
 war. 
 
 'The Sikhs will never take us by surprise again as they 
 did this last time ; in fact, I do not think they will fight us 
 
 F
 
 66 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 again if they can help it, though they may get their affairs 
 into such confusion as to make it necessary for us to go in 
 once more.' 
 
 Yet within two years we were again at war with the 
 Sikhs, and Reynell Taylor was called upon to discharge 
 duties of considerable danger and difficulty ; not charging 
 with the cavalry he loved in company with friends, but 
 alone, far away on the frontier, struggling manfully against 
 most trying circumstances, and coming out of the ordeal 
 with honour to himself and a simple heart full of thank- 
 fulness for his preservation. 
 
 Early in the month of April the Body Guard returned 
 to Umballa. For his services during the war Reynell 
 Taylor received the medal and clasp, but his gallantry in 
 the field was still further recognised by the Governor- 
 General, who appointed him Assistant to Colonel Dixon, 
 the Agent at Ajmir. 
 
 Political employment had been Reynell Taylor's aim 
 for some time, and in a letter to his father, written 
 from Ferozepore on February 3, he says : — ' Sir Henry 
 Hardinge has been very kind to me, and has asked if he 
 could do anything for me, as it was his wish. I said that, 
 after all the fighting was over, my hopes and plans were 
 the Political line, for which I doubt not he thinks me a 
 cool youth. I really have studied the language in hopes of 
 something of the sort, and Irregular Horse would be 
 no advance to me.' On March i, when at Lahore, he 
 refers again to the subject : — ' I think Sir Henry thought 
 I should apply for the Irregular Cavalry, under the im- 
 pression that knifing was necessary to my bodily health, 
 but in time of peace it is an idle, ill-paid, and unprofitable
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 6y 
 
 line, with no regular daily duties to perform, and no hope 
 of advancement. I have been offered the adjutancy of 
 one of the new corps and I have declined it. Sir Henry told 
 me to tell Wood what my hopes and plans were, which I 
 did. I said that in passing my interpreter's examination 
 and studying subsequently, my wish had always been to 
 obtain some appointment where languages would be of use 
 to me, and where there was a prospect of advancement — 
 in fact, something in the Political line. I dare say nothing 
 will come of it.' 
 
 But something did come of it, and a month later 
 Reynell Taylor's hopes were realised, the fact being an- 
 nounced to his father in the following letter : — 
 
 ' My dear Sir, — The Governor-General has directed me 
 to inform you that he has appointed your son. Lieutenant 
 Taylor, to be Assistant to the Superintendent of Ajmir, 
 and to add at the same time the satisfaction he has experi- 
 enced in forwarding his interests. 
 
 ' Lieutenant Taylor distinguished himself at Moodkee, 
 where he was severely wounded, being then attached to 
 the Governor-General's Body Guard. He has also been 
 discharging the duties of Quartermaster in that corps, and 
 has shewn both gallantry in the field and zeal and ability 
 in the performance of those duties. — I remain, yours very 
 
 ^^^^^^^1^>^' 'C.S. Hardinge.' 
 
 So Reynell Taylor was transferred from the army to 
 the desk. Fresh opportunities lay before him, and though 
 he was parted from his comrades in the ranks of the army, 
 his sword, for that reason, did not remain sheathed. His 
 life wherever he was, and to whatever employment he was 
 
 F 2
 
 68 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 called, was destined to be filled with many a stirring inci- 
 dent, and often and often in after years the blade that 
 had done such good service at Moodkee was drawn again 
 and used with effect in the wild and rugged mountain 
 passes of the frontier. 
 
 On May 7 he writes from the ' Dak Bungalow, 
 Kurnaul ' : — -'I have been appointed Assistant to the 
 Political Agent at Ajmir since I last wrote, and am now 
 on my way to join dak, and precious hot work it is too. I 
 had obtained my leave to the hills, and in the same letter 
 that Wood wrote to tell me so he mentioned that this 
 appointment in the line I had applied for was likely to fall 
 vacant, and that, if I liked, he would submit my name to 
 the Governor-General. I answered approvingly, and a 
 few days later heard that I had been appointed. You will 
 be anxious to hear what I think of the matter. It is by 
 far the best line for a military man to get into ; it contains 
 all the best plums, and even in the lower grades a man is 
 in a more responsible and independent position than he is 
 with his regiment. It affords regular daily employment of 
 an improving kind, forcing a man to acquire habits of busi- 
 ness and application which may be useful to him in any 
 line of life. I had my eye on this agency on the North- 
 West Frontier when I applied, but did not presume to 
 dictate, as Jingle says. The North-West Frontier being 
 still raw makes it a more likely place for a man to come 
 strongly into notice. I am under a good man and an ex- 
 cellent officer named Dixon, the head man of all in these 
 parts.' 
 
 On June 5, having arrived at Ajmir, he continues : — * I 
 got over my journey to this place pretty well. From Kur-
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 69 
 
 naul two nights took me to Delhi, where I stayed for a 
 couple of days with a good-natured but apathetic friend 
 who had been three years at Delhi and never seen the inside 
 of the Royal Palace or any other point of interest. . . . 
 
 ' From Delhi four nights took me to Agra, where William 
 Grant, whom I met in England at the Lindsays, took me 
 in. He is A.D.C. to Mr. Thomason, the Lieutenant- 
 Governor of the North- West Provinces. . . I took Bhurt- 
 pore on my way from Agra to Jeypore, where I was enter- 
 tained by the Rajah. After breakfast I paid his altitude a 
 visit, which passed off well, and afterwards nearly got a cmtp 
 de soleil by standing on the top of the house trying to 
 make out the fortifications and the site of the main breach. 
 Then I got behind a tattie and moralised on the flight of Time 
 and the harlequin tricks of that staid old gentleman. Here 
 was I fresh from new fields surveying the scene of a well- 
 remembered contest in which my godfather had borne a 
 conspicuous and honourable part, and in fact the guest of 
 the man to whom that very fight secured his rights. From 
 Bhurtpore four nights took me to Jeypore, where I was re- 
 ceived by Major Ludlow, and where I found Colonel Suther- 
 land, the Governor-General's Agent for all Rajpootana.' 
 
 A few days later Reynell Taylor arrived at Ajmir and 
 made acquaintance with his immediate superior. Colonel 
 Dixon, whom he describes as ' a man of all-conquering 
 energy, with the credit of having brought one of the most 
 troublesome districts into the most complete order, and also 
 of having induced men who for years had done nothing but 
 fight, quarrel, and plunder to become peaceable subjects and 
 industrious cultivators.' 
 
 But Reynell Taylor was not allowed to remain in
 
 JO REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 b^autiful Ajmir or to enjoy the picturesque scenery of its 
 mountains, its valley, and its lake, for on June 9 he was 
 again on the march to take up his duties at Beawur, a place 
 about thirty miles or more from Ajmir, and the head- 
 quarters of Mhairwarrah, which was to be his district. He 
 was soon established here and hard at work acquiring his 
 new duties. ' My days of leisure and lounging,' he writes, 
 ' are over. I have as much work as I can very well do in 
 the day, and the Sabbath comes really as a day of rest. 
 The work is chiefly common magisterial duty, but as it is 
 new it occupies my time pretty well.' 
 
 There are many genial letters before me from Dixon to 
 his Assistant, but they call for no comment here. In one 
 of them mention is made of the ' History of the Mhairs,' a 
 work Dixon was compiling for the Government, and it is 
 evident from the correspondence that Reynell Taylor lent 
 his assistance in its preparation. 
 
 By degrees his work became easier to him, and he found 
 time as usual, at this period of his life, to turn his attention 
 to sport. On July 26 he writes to his sister Harriet : — 
 
 ' My life is uneventful and placid. Tell Fortescue that 
 I am within fifty miles of one of the great Indian fishing 
 rivers, the Bonas, and have purchased an establishment of 
 fishing tackle, and hope in the cold weather to kill some 
 fine trout. They say the sport is excellent, and the wild 
 scenery of the river very beautiful, and that if the fish won't 
 bite, five minutes' walk will take you, rifle in hand, into the 
 middle of an Indian hill forest where you may meet with 
 any of the numerous objects of game to be found in the 
 country, elephant and buffalo excepted. 
 
 ' Regarding tigers, I am rather in a fix. At present I
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 71 
 
 am the only gun here, but were there six I would not advo- 
 cate pedestrian cat-shooting. Fancy, I have tiger within a 
 few miles of me killing cattle and playing Old Harry ! ' 
 
 However, he appears to have thought better of this, for 
 a few days afterwards he had engaged a number of men, 
 whom he called his tiger police, and whom he employed to 
 keep a look-out for tigers in the neighbourhood. At last 
 one day one of his ' Lincoln Greens,' as he nicknamed 
 these watchers, came in to report that a cow had been 
 killed not far off, and he writes the following description of 
 his ' first interview with a Rajpootana tiger ' : — 
 
 ' The whole affair was so hurried that I did not get to 
 my ground till eight o'clock in the evening. The " Lincoln 
 Green " had gone on to prepare a place for me to bivouack 
 in, so as to get a shot at Johnny when he came to dinner, 
 so I was obliged to trust to the guidance of an under- 
 strapper, and away we walked into the jungle. 
 
 ' I was rather disgusted at finding the defences were not 
 of the strength that I could have wished. I had nothing 
 but a thickish thorn fence between me and the cow, which 
 lay at about eight yards distant. This was my first attempt 
 at the waiting-out system, and I felt considerably interested 
 in the result. 
 
 ' I cannot describe to you the excitement of sitting in 
 the middle of a jungle full of all sorts of animals, listening 
 to the unearthly sounds of midnight birds and beasts. I 
 sat for, I suppose, two hours, quite sufficiently amused by 
 listening to the purring of the goat-sucker, the wailing of 
 the peewit plover, the cry of an awakened peacock, or the 
 distant " hurrah " of a whole pack of jolly jackals. In the 
 midst of these familiar sounds would come some strange
 
 72 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 deep sound, the solitary cry of a larger beast of prey on the 
 prowl. Occasionally I was made aware, by an animal gal- 
 loping away from within a few yards of me, that my whole 
 position had been minutely reconnoitred ; at other times I 
 could hear the galloping of heavy feet, and then a scuffle 
 and a suppressed whining. At last, when I had nearly for- 
 gotten what I had come out about, a foraging party of 
 jackals came over the hill, and some of the vedettes, seeing 
 the carcass of the cow, set to without further ado pulling, 
 tearing, and scrunching the flesh and bones in high glee at 
 their good luck. In the middle of this some larger animal 
 approached, and the jackals scampered off to a little distance. 
 This frightened the big animal, and he moved off again. 
 Then back came the jackals, but it was so dark that, though 
 they were eating beef within eight yards of me, I could not 
 see them. This was very exciting, though I had not seen 
 the big animal yet. While straining my eyes to see the 
 jackals, the Lincoln Green who was by my side suddenly 
 caught hold of my arm and pointed through the thorn fence 
 on my right. I looked, but could not make out anything. 
 Again the jackals retreated, and I now clearly saw the out- 
 line of a large animal standing over the cow, magnified by 
 the mystery and excitement of the performance. In another 
 second he had begun to eat. I could not distinctly make 
 out his form or size, but fancied several times that I saw 
 stripes. My assistant was, I think, equally puzzled, but at 
 last he said, " You had better try him with a bullet." I ac- 
 cordingly raised my rifle, and then felt as if I was going to 
 take an awful responsibility upon myself by breaking the 
 mysterious wild dream around me with the report of so 
 commonplace a thing as a gun ; and I could have almost
 
 -1846 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 73 
 
 fancied that every available wild beast within hearing of it 
 would hasten to the spot to make short work of so unwonted 
 an intruder. 
 
 ' At length, having, as well as I could, covered my 
 object, I pulled the trigger. I am sure that a rifle never 
 made such a clamour in the world as that one did. The 
 first hill that received the report was so taken by surprise 
 that it did not hand it on to its neighbour for several 
 seconds. The second hill wouldn't believe it, and shied it 
 back at once at the head of the first, and so they went on 
 tossing it about for nearly half a minute. In the meantime 
 I inspected the result of my shot. The animal, after some 
 heavy struggles, fell dead, and proved to be a large h)-ena. 
 I feared I had spoilt my chance of a tiger, but reloaded 
 and returned to my fort, and watched on through the 
 solemn hours of the night. 
 
 ' I began about twelve o'clock to feel rather dozy, so 
 took the watch in turn with my assistants. It must have 
 been about one o'clock, when, tired of straining my eye- 
 sight to make imaginary tigers out of the bushes around 
 me, my eyes resting languidly on the ghostlike body of the 
 dead cow, that suddenly some large animal sprang upon 
 the prostrate carcass, and with a savage growl carried it, 
 rather than dragged it, for a couple of yards. A large dark 
 tiger stood within two spears' length of me ! 
 
 ' For several seconds I was completely incapacitated by 
 nervous excitement. My eyesight swam, and for the life 
 of me I could not for a time distinguish tiger, tree, or cow. 
 This was not fear, but it was as like it as was pleasant. It 
 was produced, I believe, by the suddenness and mystery 
 attending the appearance of my formidable guest. When
 
 74 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845- 
 
 I got the peepers clear, the tiger had raised himself from 
 the cow, and was standing broadside to me, and staring me 
 in the face. He must have seen a movement of my head 
 against the light. I slowly raised the rifle and brought 
 it to bear on the large but indistinct form in front of 
 me. At that moment I perceived that the 300 yards 
 sight was up, so that the ball would, in all probability, be 
 thrown too high. Without lowering the rifle from my 
 shoulder, I passed my left hand down the barrel and 
 smoothed the sights down, but in that interval the tiger 
 smelt a rat and moved off. I fired at his retreating form, 
 and missed him altogether ! 
 
 ' " Oh, you precious vniph ! " I hear you exclaim, For- 
 tescue assent, and Teddy nod his head. But 'twasn't my 
 fault, really ; I never was taught to shoot in the dark.' 
 
 After so graphic an account as this I need not dwell 
 upon any of Taylor's further exploits with his ' Lincoln 
 Greens,' but it appears that between intervals of work he 
 was always out with his gun. Of his other occupations 
 he has left no mention, and his life in the Ajmir Agency 
 proved uneventful. 
 
 He was not, however, destined to remain long at 
 Beawur, for in the first week in January 1847 the following 
 letter arrived from George Lawrence : — 
 
 ' Lahore : Januarj' 2, 1847. 
 
 ' My dear Taylor, — M}- brother has a vacancy for a 
 junior assistant in this Agency. Would it suit you to take 
 it, as affording a better prospect of promotion than 5-our 
 present one? If so, write him by return of post. ... I am 
 off to Peshawur forthwith. — Sincerely yours, 
 
 ' G. W. Lawrence.'
 
 -184(5 THE FIRST SIKH WAR 75 
 
 So good an offer as this was not to be declined, and 
 Reynell Taylor wrote at once to accept it. ' The sooner 
 you proceed the better,' wrote Dixon. ' You have my full 
 permission to go whenever you please. I should have liked 
 to have shaken you by the hand and wished you success 
 viva voce before you turned your back upon us, but this 
 plan involves an extra trip of eighty miles or so, besides 
 keeping you back, so pray quite suit your convenience.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor's acceptance of the offer was acknow- 
 ledged from Lahore in the following letters, all written one 
 after the other on the same rough sheet of foolscap : — 
 
 ' Lahore : January 19. 
 
 ' My dear Sir, — I am glad that you like the idea of 
 coming here. Charles Hardinge wrote to you at my sug- 
 gestion two or three days after my brother addressed you, 
 and I hope you will have started ere this reaches ; but in 
 case authority has not been given you I will write by this 
 dak to Mr. Currie to do the needful. — Yours, 
 
 ' Henry Lawrence.' 
 
 ' My dear Taylor, — I was quite sure you would like the 
 
 appointment, and am glad we shall have you among us 
 
 soon. It's not improbable that after a time you will join 
 
 me at Peshawur, should the work be heavy there, which I 
 
 expect it will. My brother thinks you had better join us 
 
 by dak, as he can furnish you with bed, etc. till }our things 
 
 follow. He has written to Mr. Currie just now, but he hopes 
 
 that Hardinge's letter, following mine, will have enabled 
 
 you to start at once, and that you arc now on the road. — 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 • G. W. Lawrence.
 
 76 REYNELL TAYLOR 1845-46 
 
 ' My dear Taylor, — It is with pleasure that I add a line 
 or two to this letter to congratulate you on removing from 
 your present quiet and unpromising post to this frontier. 
 
 ' You are right. The wind of future events blows from 
 the north. 
 
 ' Business at present is frightful, but as things settle 
 and zealous assistants come to the rescue (!), I hope we 
 shall soon have a little respite. 
 
 ' Come along and bring your crickets with you.— Be- 
 lieve me, my dear Taylor, yours very sincerely, 
 
 ' Herbert Edwardes.
 
 77 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS. 
 
 1847. 
 
 At no period of our Indian history were a more remarkable 
 set of men collected together than were to be found under 
 Henry Lawrence in the year 1847. Few of them remain 
 with us now, but their deeds live after them, and their 
 gallantry and devotion are enshrined in some of the 
 brightest pages of our national records. In writing to 
 Sir John Kaye, Henry Lawrence says of them : — ' I was 
 very fortunate in my assistants, all of whom were my 
 friends, and almost everyone was introduced into the 
 Punjab through me. George Lawrence, Macgregor, James 
 Abbott, Edwardes, Lumsden, Nicholson, Taylor, Cocks, 
 Hodson, Pollock, Bowring, Henry Coxe, and Melvill are 
 men such as you will seldom see anywhere, but when 
 collected under one administration were worth double and 
 treble the number taken at haphazard. Each was a good 
 man ; the most were excellent officers. My chief help, 
 however, was in my brother John.' • 
 
 At the close of the first Sikh war Henry Lawrence had, 
 as wc have seen, been left at Lahore as the Governor- 
 General's Agent, and a British force remained in the 
 
 ' Lives of Indian Officers (Kaye).
 
 78 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 capital till the end of the year to support the government 
 and to maintain order. The early months of 1846 had 
 been eventful ones, but the closing months of this same 
 year were scarcely less eventful than their predecessors. 
 j\Iuch had been effected by the power of the sword ; much 
 was afterwards achieved without bloodshed ; and thus 
 the year 1846 closed with the suppression of the Sheikh 
 Imamudeen in Cashmere, the great State trial and the ex- 
 pulsion of Lai Sing, and with the treaty of Byrowal, which 
 gave Henry Lawrence, as the British Resident, ' unlimited 
 authority in all matters of internal administration and 
 external relation during the ]\Iaharajah's minority,' and 
 constituted him master of the Punjab for a period of eight 
 years. 
 
 It was now that he looked around for the men who 
 were to assist him in bringing into order ' a country more 
 backward in civilisation than any other part of India — a 
 country only recently reclaimed from a state of most 
 ignorant barbarism, and one that had been but little sub- 
 jected to the wholesome restraints of a regular government.' 
 Among the first to be called to Lahore under the altered 
 condition of affairs was the Assistant to the Superintendent 
 at Ajmir, and thus Reynell Taylor was transferred from 
 his ' quiet and unpromising post ' at Beawur to the wider 
 field offered by the Punjab. A new life dawned on him 
 from this moment, and at Lahore he took his place among 
 those who have come to be known as the soldier-politicians 
 of the Lawrence school. All of them earned distinction, 
 most of them became historical, for opportunity offered to 
 some a more brilliant opening than to others, but in that 
 group of distinguished men, who seemed to have been
 
 1847 CASHMERE— PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 79 
 
 formed by Providence for a great purpose, and to stand 
 out, as it were, almost alone, few were more distinguished 
 than Reynell Taylor, none surpassed him in absolute 
 devotion to duty. 
 
 The deeds of the more prominent actors in the Punjab 
 have been recorded page by page ; the light has been 
 thrown in upon their lives, and their histories now stand 
 side by side upon the same shelves ; but here and there are 
 gaps, for some still live, and others have not long since 
 passed away. It is with the hope of filling one of these 
 empty spaces that I have taken up my pen to write, and 
 if I should appear to claim for Reynell Taylor one iota of 
 praise to which he is not justly entitled, I will quote two 
 sentences from two letters, written, while Reynell Taylor 
 was still living, the one by one of India's greatest generals, 
 and the other by one of India's most prominent ' civilians.' 
 
 The first says of him, ' He was the Bayard of the 
 Punjab, smts petir et sans reprocJie ' ; and the second, 
 ' His character can never stand otherwise than amongst the 
 foremost of the great men the Punjab produced.' And 
 what, it may be asked, was the opinion of those whose 
 welfare he always had nearest at heart — the natives ? 
 They called him \h€\x fcrishta, their good angel. 
 
 His opportunity had come now. The wind of future 
 events did indeed blow from the north, and though only a 
 light air at this time, it grew gradually in strength till it 
 came to be a hurricane, sweeping over the Five Rivers and 
 bringing down in one confused heap the mighty common- 
 wealth which Runjcet had built up with so much care. 
 The storm died away at length, and when peace followed 
 the chaos of convulsion, and the kingdom of Porus had
 
 8o REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 passed irrevocably into other hands, Lawrence's assistants, 
 separated from each other by many hundreds of miles, 
 were still found at their posts, weather-beaten no doubt, 
 torn by the gale, tried, but not found wanting. The 
 names of such men as Henry, John, and George Lawrence, 
 Nicholson, Edwardes, James Abbott, and Herbert can 
 never be forgotten, but to these I would add one more — 
 Reynell Taylor. 
 
 As soon as Reynell Taylor was relieved at Beawur 
 he set out immediately for Lahore, which he reached early 
 in the month of March. He did not, however, remain 
 there long, for in May he was sent into Cashmere to report 
 upon the condition of that province, and to inquire into 
 the complaints made by the inhabitants against their new 
 ruler. Few natives have been painted in blacker colours 
 than Golab Sing. Herbert Edwardes set him down as the 
 worst native he had ever met, ' a bad king, a miser, and a 
 liar, and the dirtiest fellow in all India ' ; and even so 
 liberal-minded a man as Henry Lawrence considered that 
 he was beyond being either reclaimed or civilised. Yet 
 such was the man into whose hands we placed one of the 
 most lovely countries of the habitable globe, without any 
 regard whatsoever to the wishes or the feelings of its 
 inhabitants. History has long since passed her verdict on 
 that act, and the mistake made then we may well sorrow 
 over to the present day. 
 
 If the new ruler of all Cashmere was bad, his prede- 
 cessor, the Sheikh Imamudeen, appears to have been even 
 worse. ' Beneath the smooth surface of accomplishment 
 and courtesy, which was so noticeable a feature in the cha- 
 racter of this individual, lay an ill-assorted and incon-
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 8 1 
 
 gruous disposition : ambition, pride, cruelty and intrigue 
 strangely mixed up with indolence, effeminacy, voluptuous- 
 ness and timidity,' and if the unfortunate Cashmerees had 
 hitherto groaned beneath the t}'rannyof a ruler deputed by 
 the Lahore Durbar, it was scarcely probable that they 
 would fare better under a man of Golab Sing's character 
 coming to them with the title of Maharajah. What was 
 the consequence ? The oppression of the one was followed 
 by the misrule of the other, and after Golab Sing had been 
 six months in power it was found necessary to send an 
 officer from Lahore to inquire into the condition of the 
 country. Youth as he still was, Reynell Taylor was chosen 
 for this duty ; his orders being, as he writes himself, ' not 
 to invite complaints, but to learn all he could of the cha- 
 racter of the several kurdars (tax collectors) and to pick 
 up all the general and statistical knowledge possible.' 
 
 Travels, to be interesting, must at least possess the 
 charm of novelty, and though there is a complete account 
 of daily incidents and impressions in the diary before me, 
 I do not think much advantage would be gained by my 
 transcribing them here. Reynell Taylor was accompanied 
 in his expedition by Melvill, afterwards Secretary to the 
 Board of Administration. They set out from Lahore on 
 May 15, and, travelling leisurely, stayed a day here and a 
 day there, hearing complaints and collecting statistics of the 
 general condition of the country. The scenery naturally 
 charmed one of Reynell Taylor's artistic temperament, 
 and there is constant reference in the diary to points which 
 reminded him of his own country. Thus one day they 
 halted ' in a beautiful dell surrounded by most picturesque 
 hills covered with pines and Scotch firs.' ' Many parts 
 
 G
 
 82 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 of the road,' he writes, ' put me in mind of the Sandhurst 
 and Ascot country.' Another day he continues : ' The 
 scenery is very beautiful, too grand to be Enghsh, and yet 
 with the fresh smell of the fir, the fine fresh air, and an 
 occasional sight of the blue hills beyond, I had a very 
 strong English feeling upon me. 
 
 ' I was much delighted at recognising my old friend the 
 jackdaws of England ; their cheerful, consequential cry and 
 their absurd manners put me strongly in mind of my old 
 friend " Chock," and the days when I possessed him.' 
 
 In the middle of June they reached the capital, Siri- 
 nuggur, and here they were met on the river Jhelum by the 
 Maharajah in a magnificent barge. Like John Lawrence 
 at Paniput, Reynell Taylor determined to be alwa}'s within 
 reach of those who wished to address him, and in this first 
 interview with Golab Sing he at once declined the proffered 
 invitation to the Shere Gurree. ' The emperor was very 
 polite and asked affectionately after our health. He was 
 very anxious that we should go to the Shere Gurree, which 
 move I stoutly but civilly resisted, having no inten- 
 tion of putting myself within walls carefully guarded by 
 his soldiers, and where no petitions or petitioners could 
 reach me. He accordingly had the boat turned round and 
 we proceeded to the Shaikhbagh, which we had actually 
 passed.' 
 
 Here they found a commodious house ready for them, 
 with gardens sloping to the river, and within easy access of 
 the town. The principal points concerning which Reynell 
 Taylor had to make inquiries were the free grants of 
 land and money known as ' jageers ' and ' dhurmurths ' ; the 
 condition of the shawl-weavers, or shalbafs ; the coinage ;
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 83 
 
 the criminal code ; and the number of troops and guns ; 
 and he appears to have lost no time in setting about his 
 task. 
 
 The morning after his arrival he visited the ^Maharajah, 
 whom he describes as ' a good-looking fellow, handsomely 
 dressed, but with the appearance of the man he has been, 
 and is, about him.' On returning Reynell Taylor's visit 
 the Maharajah talked very pleasantly, and after a while 
 desired that the room might be cleared. He then stated 
 that it was his earnest desire to do everything in accordance 
 with the wish of the Resident, and to act generously to- 
 wards the people, but that he was surrounded by great 
 difficulties, owing to the ill-managed condition of his offices. 
 It was evident he wished to appear to advantage, and was 
 also rather uneasy about the nature of my mission. I 
 thought it proper to tell him fairly that, though I certainly 
 intended to inquire carefully into all matters, he need not 
 be the least alarmed that I should decide hastily that op- 
 pression had been practised, or that injustice had been 
 done ; that I intended to try and understand all matters, and 
 where I thought there was anything wrong, that I would 
 speak to him and consult him, and then refer the matter 
 to the Resident. He made great professions of his readi- 
 ness to do anything I might seriously recommend, and I 
 applauded his resolution. I think the old gentleman un- 
 derstood, and that our conversation, on the whole, was a 
 relief to his mind.' 
 
 Melvill was almost immediately despatched on a tour 
 of the surrounding country, and Reynell Taylor meanwhile 
 drew up a proclamation which he circulated by sending 
 ' six men to each of the large divisions of the province.' 
 
 G 2
 
 84 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 At this Golab Sing was somewhat alarmed, but Reynell 
 Taylor writes : ' I begged him not to suppose that, because 
 I had issued proclamations calling in all claimants up to 
 the end of Imamudeen's time, that I should advise their 
 being all released ; I merely did not wish that anything 
 should be left uninquired into.' 
 
 It is a matter for regret that it is impossible to follow 
 the ins and outs of Reynell Taylor's work in Cashmere, 
 owing to the fact that his suggestions for the better govern- 
 ment of the country were all contained in official letters 
 and reports now no longer within reach. His diary, how- 
 ever, refers to the chief points, and from this it appears 
 that one of the most serious causes of discontent in Cash- 
 mere was the condition of the shawl industry. In the 
 oppression which had been practised against the people 
 generally, the shalbafs had not been suffered to escape, and 
 as the industry, it seems, was at this time under State con- 
 trol, the weavers had been deprived of certain dues to 
 which they were justly entitled, and had, moreover, been 
 compelled to work for merely nominal wages. 
 
 Reynell Taylor, by way of finding out the rights of the 
 matter, collected some thousands of the shawl-workers 
 together and made them appoint six of their number to 
 answer for the interests of the remainder, and he did the 
 same also with the dealers, ' hoping,' as he writes, ' to 
 arrange some plan by which all parties might feel their 
 rights secured.' But the discontent appears to have been 
 too deep seated to be easily cured, and the end of the 
 matter was that the shalbafs 'went out on strike.' 
 
 ' Received the news this morning (July 6) that the 
 w^hole of the shalbafs had bolted, and intended going to
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 85 
 
 Lahore. They numbered upwards of four thousand, and 
 the intelligence was startling enough ; not that I thought 
 they would go beyond a few miles, but I felt convinced 
 they were not acting on their own account, and that some 
 vicious power was at work to prevent a settlement of the 
 case.' 
 
 The next day, when out riding, Reynell Taylor came 
 across a large party of the weavers encamped some distance 
 beyond the town. Making the most of his opportunity he 
 addressed a few of them, and very soon had a large crowd 
 round him : ' I told them that I, as an English officer, 
 was perfectly disinterested one way or the other, but that 
 I knew very well that some people who called themselves 
 their friends had induced them to do all this, their real 
 and only object being to prevent a settlement now, in 
 order that, as soon as I was gone, they might oppress them 
 to their heart's content. I also said that I could do 
 nothing for them until I saw^ them quietly at work again.' 
 
 This speech was not without its effect, for a few days 
 later a number of the weavers came to Reynell Taylor and 
 told him they had decided to take his advice ; and it says 
 something for the tact he had displayed, as well as for the 
 influence he had obtained over the Maharajah, that before 
 he left Cashmere the difficulties with the shalbafs were 
 amicably settled and the weavers all peaceably at work 
 again at their looms. The question of the jageers was, 
 of course, a very complicated one, but, owing to the absence 
 of all documents, I am unable to give any of Reynell Taylor's 
 suggestions for the rectification of the abuses which had 
 crept in in connection with the free tenures in land. 
 
 The administration of justice was certainly singular,
 
 86 REYNELL TAYLOR 1S47 
 
 and the Maharajah seems to have had very elementary 
 ideas concerning the best modes of procedure. Thus I find 
 him suggesting to Reynell Taylor that, by way of settling 
 a charge of theft, it might be advisable to hand the de- 
 fendant over to the tender mercies of the plaintiff! In 
 murder cases the punishment was ' the Azhab,' which 
 consisted in cutting off the nose, arms or legs of the cul- 
 prits, and then in hanging them. Conjugal infidelity was 
 punishable in even a more barbarous manner, and Golab 
 Sing owned to having flayed three men alive on one 
 occasion for a minor offence. 
 
 The coinage was in a very unsatisfactory condition, no 
 less than five different rupees, all varying in value, having 
 been issued in the previous eleven years. Reynell Taylor's 
 aim seems to have been to induce the Maharajah to assimi- 
 late his coinage to the currency of other parts of India, but 
 what success attended his efforts I have been unable to 
 discover. 
 
 There were many other matters which attracted Reynell 
 Taylor's attention, and his work in Cashmere was no 
 sinecure. Besides going thoroughly into the questions to 
 which I have just referred, he collected a mass of statistics 
 regarding the population, the taxation, and the agri- 
 cultural condition of the country, and wrote out as well a 
 sketch of the characters of almost all the chief officials of 
 the province. How fully he appreciated the difficulties of 
 his position is best conveyed in his own words. 
 
 ' I can only say,' he writes, ' that my time has been 
 thoroughly employed during my stay in the country, and 
 that, though the result may be small, it has taken a good 
 deal of labour to accomplish that much. The matters
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 8/ 
 
 arranged are of a nature that during their progress com- 
 pletely engrossed my attention. Had I been merely an 
 inquirer, I should not have felt this so much, but, being to 
 a certain extent in the responsible position of a reformer, 
 it affected me more than I can well describe. The mani- 
 fest danger of an inexperienced man dabbling in the 
 affairs of a kingdom, and with one word consenting to 
 arrangements affecting the prosperity and happiness of 
 thousands, or unfairly tying the hands of a ruler in his own 
 country for years to come, has encountered me at every 
 step, and to suit my own feelings and capacities it would 
 not be on two months', but two years' acquaintance that I 
 would willingly undertake the task.' 
 
 At the end of August he received a letter from the 
 Resident telling him to wind up affairs as soon as he could 
 and make his way through Huzara to Peshawur, where he 
 was to join George Lawrence. 
 
 The press of work now became very great : ' I am 
 nearly torn to pieces by people desirous of having their 
 matters settled,' he writes at the end of this month ; and 
 on September 8, when the time had arrived for him to 
 leave Sirinuggur, he continues : * I have a heartbreaking 
 feeling that there is much left to be done.' 
 
 On the 9th the Maharajah entertained him at dinner, 
 the gardens and banks of the river being illuminated in his 
 honour. ' The old gentleman sat near the table and did the 
 honours very well indeed, and after a quantity of fireworks 
 and nautching we took our leave. The king made a lot of 
 pretty speeches about his heart not desiring my departure, 
 &c., to which I replied in a similar strain. At length we 
 got off, going to our boats and letting go at once.'
 
 88 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 Reynell Taylor was again accompanied by Melvill on 
 his march through the northern part of Cashmere, but at 
 Uri they parted, Melvill going to Lahore and Reynell 
 Taylor continuing on his way towards Peshawur. 
 
 On September 20 he reached Mozufferabad, where he 
 had an opportunity of seeing some of the local military 
 forces, and he gives the following amusing description of a 
 parade he attended here :— 
 
 ' I saw four regiments under arms at Mozufferabad ; 
 three were under Muthra Dass, and one under Bahadoor 
 Shah. Half the men belonging to all the regiments were 
 in hospital, and a good many, I was told, were dying. 
 Muthra Dass turned out in a blue plain frock coat, gold 
 lieutenant's epaulets, coat open in front, with an old- 
 fashioned frilled shirt protruding, red breeches, and a 
 coloured turban and slippers. He looked something like a 
 man who had been acting a distinguished French officer in 
 a play, and had subsequently got into a row in the green 
 room and come in for a broken bead. Bahadoor Shah 
 was dressed in a light brown suit made in European 
 fashion, and fitting so tightly that he could hardly move. 
 He lounged at the head of his regiment with great no7i- 
 chalancc, evidently confident of its powers of taking care of 
 itself After looking at the regiments I went to inspect 
 the fort, and just as I was crossing the bridge to enter the 
 gate a big gun was fired in my face, or rather just above 
 me, which brought down some large boulders and stones. 
 I was not quite sure whether this was meant for the com- 
 mencement of a salute, or whether the magazine had acci- 
 dentally blown up, but not to be taken aback, I was 
 walking on, when the military commander put his head
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 89 
 
 over the wall and requested me to wait outside till the 
 salute was fired. With this request I complied, and as 
 each explosion was accompanied by an avalanche of 
 rafters and large stones, I was not sorry I had done so.' 
 
 In Huzara he fell in with James Abbott, then employed 
 as Boundary Commissioner, and of whom it is related that 
 for years after he had left this inhospitable region ' the 
 natives loved to recall how he fed their children with 
 sweetmeats, or to point with filial veneration to the stone 
 on which he had rested for awhile, saying, " It was on that 
 stone father Abbott sat." ' ' And this same James Abbott, 
 almost the last of the many distinguished men with whom 
 he served, writes to me of Reynell Taylor : — ' I was much 
 struck with his appearance, with his handsome face, and 
 most prepossessing address. He was one of those men,' 
 continues the letter, ' whom to know even slightly is to 
 trust for ever.' 
 
 With Abbott he remained a fortnight, ' writing day and 
 night at his Cashmere report,' and on October 7, having 
 received letters from George Lawrence, he set out to join 
 him at Yar Hussein. On his road he was met by a 
 messenger with the news ' that George Lawrence intended 
 to attack a " rumgumtious " village that very morning ' 
 (October 11). ' This,' continues Reynell Taylor, ' was the 
 first mention I had heard that there was the slightest pro- 
 bability of anything like active hostilities. I immediately 
 made my preparations, and sent on the Khan's horses to 
 be laid on the road dak. This was done in the most busi- 
 nesslike manner, the horses going out at a canter. I seized 
 the few minutes necessary to give the first horse a good 
 
 ' Life of Lord Lawrence (Bosworth Smith).
 
 90 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 Start to get myself something to eat, and then mounting 
 " Pickle," I rode him about five miles, when I got upon a 
 mare and rode her another eight, then another horse was 
 provided, and I rode him into Katelung. I could see all 
 the time that the troops had moved, by the columns of 
 dust hanging about the mountains, but I heard no firing, 
 and as I knew that it was to be done by circumvention, I 
 thought I might still be in time. On approaching Kate- 
 lung, however, I questioned some stragglers, and learnt 
 that the affair had taken place and been successful, and on 
 arriving at Lawrence's tent I found two wounded men 
 at the tent door, from whom I learnt that there had been 
 a sharp tussle with the Pathans of Baboozye that morn- 
 ing, and that we had lost one man killed and eleven 
 wounded.' 
 
 Later on, George Lawrence and Lumsden returned to 
 camp, and Reynell Taylor heard with delight that, though 
 he had missed the attack on Baboozye, there were other 
 villages refusing to pay their revenue, and that there was 
 still a chance of further fighting. 
 
 During the next few days warnings were issued to the 
 refractory villages in the neighbourhood, the mullicks of 
 some of which came in and made their submission ; but 
 two, Pullee and Zormundee, declined to come to terms, and 
 on October i8 George Lawrence determined to proceed 
 against them. 
 
 In the fight that followed Reynell Taylor played a not 
 unimportant part, and I give the account of the affair, 
 therefore, in his own words : — 
 
 'October i8. — Marched at two o'clock in the morning 
 for Pullee, taking two regiments of infantry, six guns, a
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 9 1 
 
 regiment of cavalry, and the Guides, and leaving three 
 companies of infantry and some horsemen to look after 
 the camp, which had been struck and collected into one 
 place. 
 
 ' The road had been partially prepared for the passage 
 of guns, but was still very bad. We, however, got along 
 very well, and arrived near Pullee a little before daylight, 
 when we halted for a while. 
 
 ' As soon as it became light enough for reconnoitring 
 we ascertained that Pullee itself was to all appearance 
 deserted, but that the neighbouring village of Zormundee 
 was strongly garrisoned. All the heights around were 
 covered with matchlock men, many of them Swatees, or 
 Suhatees, from the country of that name. We had no 
 wish to be embroiled with these last, so sent them a 
 message telling them to stand off; after which we burnt 
 Pullee, the enemy all the while watching us from a 
 distance. 
 
 ' I thought it would be very strange if matters ended as 
 they had begun, and accordingly, when the job was about 
 half done, the enemy opened fire on us. At first their fire 
 was scanty, but it very soon grew in strength. I was 
 holding a small mud square, or gurree, with a company 
 of Najeebs, and, as I knew it was Lawrence's intention to 
 retire after burning Pullee, I went to ask for orders, and 
 was told to burn the gurree and retire. Lawrence was 
 then nearly clear of the village, so I galloped back as 
 quickly as I could to carry out my orders, but found that 
 the plot had thickened considerably during my absence. 
 The enemy had come down in considerable numbers, and, 
 emboldened by the retreat of our main bod}^, were pushing
 
 92 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 close up to the walls, and to a great extent hemming in 
 my company. 
 
 ' On my way back to the gurree I met some other 
 troops, and these I ordered to retire, keeping up a fire as 
 they went. I then joined my own lot and did my best to 
 set the gurree on fire, but could only get it lighted in two 
 places. I began to think about this time that, as the 
 enemy's fire was becoming very heavy, I might have some 
 difficulty in drawing off my own men, so sent an order to 
 Colonel Holmes to halt the troops I had just before 
 ordered to retire, in order that they might form a support. 
 This order, however, could never have reached him, as 
 they certainly were not there when we came down. 
 
 ' I could not retire through the village, as it was blazing 
 cheerily, so had to do so round the outside of the walls, 
 and the way w^e got peppered was a caution to sinners. 
 The Najeebs kept up a good fire, but being in the open, 
 and in the act of retiring, they were far more exposed 
 than their enemies, who came down very close in clusters, 
 taking advantage of the cover afforded by the bushes and 
 Indian corn, and keeping up at the same time a rattling 
 and ever-increasing fire. 
 
 ' Our position was really not a very comfortable one ; 
 I believed the main column to be at a considerable 
 distance from the village, and it was quite uncertain 
 whether anyone knew we had been left behind or not. 
 The Najeebs behaved very well and retired steadily, 
 but I saw that any attempt to halt them would be in- 
 effectual. 
 
 ' We had nearly got clear of the village, and I was 
 trying to get the men to make a stand at a well, when a
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 93 
 
 sudden and, to me, quite unexpected turn was given to 
 affairs by an event the nature of which it was some 
 seconds before I thoroughly understood. The first thing 
 I heard was a loud and heart-thrilling shout, which seemed 
 to be taken up by hundreds of throats close in rear of the 
 village, and in another second the men about me also took 
 up the shout, explaining to me the cause of the uproar by 
 saying, "The cavalry have charged." We immediately 
 made a rush on our own account, and our enemies, a 
 moment before so bold, now took to their scrapers at no 
 allowance. 
 
 ' Lawrence had heard at first that Colonel Holmes was 
 surrounded in the village, upon which he immediately 
 countermarched the infantry and came up himself at the 
 rate of a hunt. On his way he met with a large party 
 of the scoundrels near the village, charged them, cut up 
 seven or eight of them, and completely relieved me. I 
 should mention that on his way up he had met Holmes, 
 and learnt from him that I was the gentleman in the 
 scrape. 
 
 'The panic created by this bold charge was very extra- 
 ordinary ; not a fellow dared show his face again in the 
 place. We formed up in proper retiring order and moved 
 off, receiving no further molestation. The enemy lost 
 nine men killed and thirteen wounded, so I fancy the 
 Najeebs must have shot a few of the more forward gentle- 
 men. We only had four men wounded and a few horses 
 slivered.' 
 
 On October 20, an arrangement having been come 
 to with the villages of the district, George Lawrence, 
 Lumsden, and Reynell Taylor, with their escort of four
 
 94 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 guns, a regiment of cavalry, and another of infantry, com- 
 menced their march to Peshawur, which was duly reached 
 five days later. 
 
 They were met at the entrance to the town by the 
 Sirdar Golab Sing, ' one of Runjeet's old generals,' the 
 whole of the troops in garrison, numbering 10,000 men, 
 being drawn up in line for their inspection. 
 
 Reynell Taylor was not impressed with the appearance 
 of Peshawur at this date, for he says of it : — ' Peshawur is 
 a miserable-looking town, and I was certainly much dis- 
 appointed with it ; it is scarcely more imposing than 
 Wuzeerabad or Gujerat, and the whole circuit of the city 
 is not much more than three miles and a half 
 
 The time was now approaching when Reynell Taylor 
 was to be thrown entirely on his own resources. A few 
 days after his arrival at Peshawur, Lawrence started for 
 Lahore, and Lumsden was ordered into Eusufzye, and on 
 November 4 he writes in his diary : — ' Lawrence went off 
 before daylight, leaving me in the rather responsible posi- 
 tion of Hakim-i-wukt (Ruler) of Peshawur, in charge of 
 some 10,000 Sikh troops, and with the responsibility of the 
 management of the district. He has brought everything 
 into good train, and I do not expect much difficulty in 
 keeping the mill at work. If there is a row, my trust is 
 in God ; in Him, and in the common sense and common 
 spirit with which He has gifted me, I may safely trust, 
 and hope that, whatever turns up, I shall not disgrace my- 
 self as an Englishman or as the son of my father.' 
 
 There was plenty of work to be done, and from morning 
 till night Taylor was engaged transacting business with 
 the Sirdar, hearing endless reports, settling numerous cases
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 95 
 
 regarding payment of revenue, visiting the villages of the 
 district, and attending the parades of the troops. 
 
 He writes cheerily to George Lawrence the week after 
 he left, thus :^' Everything has been jogging on well here. 
 I have my hands full of work as I expected, and the only 
 time I get to work at Cashmere is before daylight and 
 after dinner. 
 
 * I have steadily refused leave since you left. An 
 adjutant, Mehr Singh by name, is at present tearing his 
 hair on the subject of leave. He wants to marry his 
 grandmother. The rest of the officers interceded for him. 
 I feel much for a man in such a case, as the necessity is 
 very possibly a true one, but I know from experience that, 
 if you once yield to a pitiable tale, there is no end to it.' 
 
 In his early morning rides he appears to have had his 
 eyes about him, as will be seen from the following : — 
 
 ' Rode to the fort of Jumrood, about ten or eleven miles 
 from the Agency. I found no guards at two of the 
 chokees (guardhouses) on the road, and only seven men 
 at a third. This was in going out : on returning, a few 
 men had been thrown out hurriedly from one post to 
 another. I found out it was Zeereen Khan's tour of duty, 
 so on my return I sent for him, and handed him over to 
 the Sirdar, with directions to fine him 500 rupees.' 
 
 This, again, shows that he was determined that disci- 
 pline should not grow lax while he was in charge of the 
 troops : — ' The jemadar's guard turned out to-day exactly 
 three men. The orders arc that till one watch of the day 
 every man is to remain present. The jemadar did not 
 even know where his men were. I have caused him to be 
 reduced to the rank of havildar. This may appear harsh,
 
 g6 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 but if a man cannot perform so paltry a duty as that, 
 according to his orders, what promotion is he worthy of? ' 
 
 The most disagreeable part of Reynell Taylor's duty 
 was deciding criminal cases. Robbing was, of course, 
 common enough in a place like Peshawur, but the crime 
 of murder was almost as common as that of theft, and 
 it became necessary to act promptly and severely with 
 culprits when caught. I will refer here to one murder 
 which occurred, not only because it happened to be the 
 only one with which Taylor had to deal, but because his 
 decision was afterwards commented on by the Resident at 
 Lahore. 
 
 The circumstances were these : A certain young girl 
 was missed from her home, and her father, accompanied 
 by her uncle, went in search of her, finding her at last late 
 one night in company with a servant. As soon as they 
 were discovered the servant jumped up and ran away, and 
 the uncle then and there set to work to strangle the 
 wretched girl in the presence of her father. After per- 
 petrating this infamous act they both endeavoured to leave 
 Peshawur. The father of the girl made good his escape 
 and was never afterwards heard of, but the uncle was 
 caught. On being accused of the crime, he at once 
 allowed that he was the murderer, stating first of all that 
 the father had nothing to do with it, but afterwards con- 
 tradicting this, and sa}'ing that he not only stood by and 
 witnessed the murder but also lent his assistance. 
 
 It fell to Reynell Taylor to pass sentence in this case, 
 and two days after the murder this entry occurs in his 
 diary : — ' \^'ith reference to the murder of the woman, I 
 asked the Sirdar whether the man would have been hung
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR— THE KOHAT PASS 97 
 
 had Major Lawrence been here, and he said he undoubtedly 
 would, so I directed him to be hung. Dire necessity, but 
 I think he deserves little pity. Had he killed the girl in 
 anger with a sword it would have been less cruel, but 
 coolly and savagely to strangle her with a cloth makes the 
 crime a heavy one ; and, moreover, Lawrence having pro- 
 claimed that blood must atone for blood, it would be weak 
 in me to hesitate, and my doing so might cause the death 
 of future victims. God knows I am not a happy man in 
 being obliged to give sentence in such weighty matters.' 
 
 Murder, indeed, was so rife, and was so lightly regarded 
 by the people, that in certain cases a native could not 
 maintain his position among his fellows unless he took the 
 law into his own hands and killed those who had wronged 
 him. Taylor worked hard to put a stop to this practice, 
 ' for,' he writes, ' the way in which they butcher each other 
 is something awful.' 
 
 It seems curious, in the face of such a state of affairs, 
 that Henry Lawrence should have found fault with Reynell 
 Taylor for passing sentence of death in this case, but that 
 he did so is obvious from the following entry in the diary. 
 About three weeks after the murder had occurred, Reynell 
 Taylor writes : — ' Received a reprimand from Lawrence for 
 executing the man for murder at Peshawur. This has 
 made me very unhappy, but as the murder was confessed, 
 and as George Lawrence has always done the same for the 
 same crime, I think myself that prompt punishment was 
 necessary : I therefore do not feel the reproof as deeply as 
 I otherwise should. In any other place but Peshawur, I 
 should seek any possible means of avoiding the necessity 
 of ordering a man's execution, or having anything to do 
 
 II
 
 98 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 with it, but at Peshawur, where they think so Httle of 
 murdering a man, it is a more serious matter.' 
 
 It is easy to believe that a character like Taylor's 
 would have been more likely to err on the side of mercy 
 than on that of undue severity, but that he did not hesitate 
 to act decidedly in this case speaks well for his strength of 
 mind, for it must be remembered that he was still little 
 more than a boy in years. In all probability Lawrence's 
 letter, in its private nature, was meant to act as a check 
 upon so young a man in dealing with cases involving life 
 and death, and to impress upon him the necessity of 
 adequate deliberation before passing sentence. Reynell 
 Taylor's answer is so characteristic of him that I give it in 
 full. Henry Lawrence was at this time on his way to 
 England, his health having broken down from overwork 
 in a hot climate, and so Taylor writes : — ' One of your last 
 acts before leaving Lahore was to administer to me one of 
 the severest and most serious reproofs that a man often 
 comes in for. It was also the last notice, public or private, 
 that I received from you, and I feel as if you had left your 
 malison with me, and that bad luck would attend me in 
 consequence. 
 
 ' I do not, however, wish you to retract one word of it ; 
 in fact, }'Our doing so could not make the load, if there be 
 any, at all lighter on my conscience, which, as it acquits me 
 of intentional precipitancy in the matter, is comparatively 
 at rest. I say intentional precipitancy, because I do not 
 wish to deny that your letter startled me, and made me 
 think that so grave an act had been done too quickly to 
 leave me clear of blame before God. Before man, under 
 the peculiar circumstances of the province, the necessity of
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR— THE KOHAT PASS 99 
 
 prompt punishment decided on by others, and the vital 
 necessity of acting firmly and even severely to save other 
 lives, I think myself justified ; and, with regard to forms, I 
 followed those of my principal and predecessor. 
 
 ' I say I do not wish you to unsay a word that you have 
 said, and only write these few lines to assure you that your 
 censure was deeply felt and will never be forgotten, and 
 you may depend upon its leading to more deliberation on 
 future occasions. At present I feel rather knocked down 
 by it, and out of heart about my ability to meddle with 
 such matters, but that will, I hope, wear off. I did not 
 force myself into these difficult positions, and having been 
 called to them, I may hope for assistance if it be properly 
 sought.' 
 
 Among the multifarious duties engaging Reynell 
 Taylor's attention was one of more than usual importance, 
 and in order to make this part of his work intelligible to 
 the reader, I must pause for a moment to explain the cause. 
 
 Soon after Henry Lawrence was installed as supreme 
 Governor of the Punjab his attention was drawn to a 
 district on the far-off borders of the Sikh kingdom which 
 was inhabited by wild and warlike Afghan tribes, and which, 
 though it properly formed a portion of the Sikh empire, 
 had never been in any other condition than that of a pro- 
 voked and determined hostility to it. This was the district 
 of Bunnoo, and as Reynell Taylor was so shortly to begin 
 his connection with it, it is necessary we should sec what 
 kind of country it really was at this time. A glance at the 
 map accompanying this volume will show its position, and 
 at once convey to the reader the difficulty of dealing with 
 a country so situated.
 
 lOO REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 Almost surrounded by mountains, and cut off from the 
 Punjab proper, if not by its mountain passes at least by the 
 broad waters of the Indus, it had never been under the 
 control of the Sikhs, and ever since the day when Shah 
 Shoojah-ool-Moolk ceded it to Runjeet Sing no revenue 
 had been regularly collected there except at the sword's 
 point, and no Sikh governor had ever dared to establish 
 himself in the country. 
 
 Blessed in every conceivable way by nature, its soil 
 yielded a bountiful supply in return for the smallest 
 amount of labour. Watered by the Koorrum and the 
 Gombela, it defied the intense heat of the hot season, and 
 thus its harvests were rich in the extreme, and corn, sugar, 
 tobacco, cotton, and grain of all kinds were poured un- 
 stintingly into the lap of its indolent and vicious inhabi- 
 tants. Fruits of endless variety grew wild, and roses and 
 other flowers were to be seen in profusion. The banks of its 
 rivers were shaded by great mulberry trees, and a peculiar 
 variety of the sheeshum tree, resembling the willow in 
 character, was dotted over its landscape. It was, and is 
 indeed, a rich and beautiful land, and yet, though blessed 
 by nature with all her priceless gifts, it was at this period 
 cursed by man. Every man's hand was against his fellow, 
 and every village was a fort where all were armed. The 
 country smiled in the sunshine, the vines entwined them- 
 selves among the trees, rivers of purest water irrigated the 
 country, and the earth yielded her increase of grain, of 
 fruit, of flowers, yet man remained all the while as a foul 
 blot. Read, for instance, what Reynell Taylor himself says 
 of the inhabitants. Writing some five years after his first 
 acquaintance with the country, and when he had virtually
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 1 01 
 
 made Bunnoo his own province, he says : — ' The Bunnoo- 
 chees, taken as a class, are far inferior to their neighbours 
 the Wuzeerees ; small in stature and wizened in appearance, 
 they always remind me of the lives they had led in youth, 
 of which their appearance is, in fact, but a natural result. 
 When we first arrived in Bunnoo it was a common thing to 
 find a man who had never in his life been more than two 
 miles from his own village, the village possibly being at war 
 with its neighbour, rendered wandering in the fields a service 
 of danger, while within the walls it is sad to think of the 
 heat, dirt, squalor and stagnation that must have existed. 
 The villages in those days, walled up to the sky, so that no 
 air could reach the houses below, must indeed have been 
 hot-beds of all that was enervating and demoralising, and 
 the characteristics of the full-grown Bunnoochee weed cor- 
 respond but too well with the nature of its origin and 
 training. Here and there a fine character may possibly be 
 found, and some, no doubt, possess domestic virtues which 
 in a measure redeem their public and social immorality ; 
 but, taken as a class, they certainly are the worst disposed 
 men I have ever had to deal with ; they are vicious, false, 
 backbiting, treacherous, cruel, and revengeful, and I have 
 never known or heard of men so utterly regardless of truth, 
 even in cases of the most vital importance.' Edwardes,' 
 too, gives a picture of them. He says : — ' Every stature, 
 from that of the weak Indian to that of the tall Dooranee ; 
 every complexion, from the ebony of Bengal to the rosy 
 cheek of Cabul; every dress, from the linen garments of 
 the south to the heavy goat-skin of the eternal snows, is 
 to be seen promiscuously among them, reduced only to 
 ' A Year on the Punjab Fro)!//er {Ucfhen B. Edwardes),
 
 102 REYNELL TAYLOR ISif 
 
 a harmonious whole by the neutral tint of universal 
 dirt' 
 
 Thus vice and bloodshed ran on unchecked in Bun- 
 noo ; tribe fought with tribe and village with village, and the 
 Bunnoochees were never happy unless engaged in war. 
 
 The forts, or fortified villages, of the country numbered 
 upwards of 400, and out of an estimated population of 
 60,000, no less than 15,000 were regular fighting-men. 
 
 The revenue of Bunnoo was reckoned at 65,000 rupees 
 per annum, but this had never been properly collected. 
 The amount due had been allowed to run on from one 
 year to another, and then at intervals great armies were 
 sent to get what they could ; the inhabitants were put to 
 the sword, the crops cut or trodden down, the villages 
 burnt, and the country regularly laid waste. Sometimes 
 the people fled to the mountains on the approach of the 
 Sikh armies ; at others, forgetting their private feuds, they 
 banded together and opposed the common foe, and thus it 
 often happened that the Sikhs were forced to retire with 
 but little to show in return for the losses they had them- 
 selves sustained. 
 
 The result of this freedom from all restraint and alle- 
 giance was that the country became split up into innu- 
 merable factions, and there was no law or order anywhere. 
 In early times each village was a unit under its own 
 muUick, or master, but by degrees the weaker villages 
 were swallowed up by the stronger, and they thus became 
 incorporated into groups of forts or villages. Later, the 
 richest part of Bunnoo was divided into twenty tuppahs, 
 or districts, and finally these districts were subdivided 
 into two goorees, ' marching,' as it was called, under
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 103 
 
 separate chiefs ; and this last was the condition of affairs 
 in 1847, when the settlement of the country was first 
 attempted. 
 
 I shall have more to say of Bunnoo presently, but the 
 above outline is sufficient for the moment. 
 
 In 1846 no revenue had been paid for nearly three 
 years, and the durbar accordingly informed Henry Law- 
 rence that the time had arrived for an army to be sent on 
 its usual round of devastation. The light in which Henry 
 Lawrence was likely to look upon such a proposition may 
 be easily imagined. He had, of course, to maintain the 
 boundaries of the Sikh kingdom as he found them, and if 
 any province within those boundaries refused to pay a fair 
 revenue when called upon to do so, then coercion was the 
 only remedy ; but since force had so signally failed on all 
 occasions, he strongly recommended that conciliation should 
 now be tried. 
 
 It was accordingly arranged that in the spring of 1847 
 an expedition should start for Bunnoo under the direction 
 of an English officer (Herbert Edwardes), and an en- 
 deavour made to come to an arrangement with the people 
 of the country. It was hoped that, by showing a concilia- 
 tory manner to the Bunnoochees, by respecting their pro- 
 perty, and by paying regularly for everything required for 
 the army, they might be induced to enter into an agree- 
 ment with regard to the payment of the revenue. But the 
 Bunnoochees refused altogether to come to terms, and the 
 expedition accordingly returned without having effected 
 anything. For the first time, however, an army had entered 
 the country without bloodshed, and Bunnoochee and Sikh 
 had met as friends.
 
 I04 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 Edwardes, on his return to Lahore, drew up a report of 
 the expedition, in which he made sundry suggestions for 
 the subjugation of the country. The chief of these were, 
 that Bunnoo should now be finally occupied, that all the 
 forts should be levelled to the ground, and that a large 
 fort should be built in a central position, and held perma- 
 nently for the Government. 
 
 This plan was approved by the Governor-General, and 
 it was determined to carry it out in the coming cold season 
 under Herbert Edwardes's supervision. It was, moreover, 
 decided that the troops for the purpose should move in two 
 columns, the one from Lahore and the other from Pesha- 
 wur, and form a junction on the border of Bunnoo at a 
 place called Khurruk. 
 
 To Reynell Taylor fell the duty of organising the 
 Peshawur column of this force, though he had no notion 
 at this time that he was to have the honour of command- 
 ing it. 
 
 Thus, on November i 5, he writes : — ' I inspected the 
 horse artillery destined for service in Bunnoo, of which 
 Muzzur Allee is to have command. These six guns have 
 been selected from the other troops ; they are in good order, 
 the harness, &c. all new.' 
 
 On the same day, too, he writes to George Lawrence, 
 and it is easy to see from this letter how very little he knew 
 of the route the column was to take, even within eight 
 days of its actual start. 
 
 He says : — ' An order has been received by the Sirdar 
 from Mr. John Lawrence, telling him to send off the troops, 
 warned for Bunnoo, by Kohat. 
 
 ' They are all ready, and I should send them off at
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS I05 
 
 once, but should like to be able to give them some sort of 
 directions. I have not an idea of the road they are to go, 
 where they are to penetrate into Bunnoo, whether they 
 may expect opposition, where they are to march upon 
 when in the country, and where form a junction with the 
 Lahore force. In fact, as yet, as you know, no direc- 
 tions have been forwarded, and I confess, if I had com- 
 mand of the party, I should like to have some before 
 marching. 
 
 ' I suppose your brother John will say that, if I was 
 worth my salt, I could imagine them ; but still, if you can, 
 get a slight sketch of the route of the Peshawur wing of 
 the Bunnoo army sent.' 
 
 The following day the first intimation reached him that 
 he was to accompany the force, and he writes in his diary: — 
 
 ' I received a letter from Edwardes to-day (November 
 16), in which he speaks of my accompanying the Bunnoo 
 force as a matter of course, and says, " Of course }'OU are 
 all ready." This is rather a " smasher," as I had not 
 previously had the slightest idea of anything of the 
 sort' 
 
 He also writes to the Resident at Lahore on the same 
 day : — 
 
 ' I have this day received a letter from Lieutenant 
 Edwardes, dated the nth, from which it is evident to me 
 that it has all along been intended that I should accompany 
 the force proceeding from this via Kohat to Bunnoo, there 
 to effect a junction with that under Lieut. Edwardes. 
 
 ' I need hardly say that this is the first intimation I have 
 received of the fact, and it is evident that some letters on 
 the subject mu.st have miscarried, as both Sirdar Golab
 
 I06 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 Sing and myself were this morning ignorant of the route 
 beyond Kohat that the column was intended to take. 
 
 ' Lieut. Edwardes's letter gives me full details of what is 
 required, and though I fear the force will arrive at its desti- 
 nation some days later than expected by Lieut. Edwardes, 
 I have no doubt of being able to carry out his views on the 
 subject. 
 
 ' Lieut. Edwardes talks of my accompanying the force as 
 a matter of course, and in another part of his letter men- 
 tions that Major George Lawrence is expected in a few 
 days at Lahore, from which I infer that my being the only 
 officer at Peshawur has not been overlooked, and that the 
 above arrangement has been decided upon notwithstanding. 
 I shall therefore communicate to Lieut. Lumsden, who is at 
 present in the Eusufzye country, the probability of my 
 leaving Peshawur. I shall be able to move whenever the 
 confirmation of the order arrives. 
 
 ' The only real difficulty on the whole road is the passage 
 of the Kohat Kothul. Rajah Soocheyt Sing, on one oc- 
 casion, took six guns over it on elephants, and that is the 
 only way in which they can be taken across it. I have 
 to-day sent out 40 Bildars, under an intelligent adjutant, to 
 join and assist a large party of Sirdar Sultan Mahomed's 
 men in clearing and improving the road as much as pos- 
 sible. Sirdar Sultan Mahomed has undertaken to get the 
 guns and ammunition over, the former on elephants, the 
 latter on men's heads if need be. I do not doubt his keeping 
 his word, but the passage will necessarily take time, and re- 
 quire two days at least, and perhaps a halt at Kohat after it. 
 ' I this day gave orders for the force to break ground on 
 Friday, igth, and make the first march on Saturday, 20th.
 
 iSi- CASHMERE— PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 10/ 
 
 Lieut. Edwardes's letter has since arrived, and I shall there- 
 fore, if possible, now move the troops before the above date, 
 but cannot say whether this is feasible till I have consulted 
 the Sirdar. 
 
 ' You may depend upon my using my best endeavours to 
 march as quickly as possible, with the troops in an efficient 
 state, and also on my leaving affairs here in good train.' 
 
 Busy days followed on Taylor's hearing he was to take 
 charge of the column. The troops had all to receive their pay 
 and new clothing, camels had to be got together for trans- 
 port purposes, numberless letters had to be written, and, 
 besides the usual routine of work, affairs had all to be in 
 readiness to hand over to Lumsden, who was expected to 
 arrive on the 23 rd. 
 
 The entries in the diary are hurried now, some days are 
 left blank, or with only a rough pencil note, and it is evi- 
 dent that Taylor was much pushed to get through all he 
 had to do in the few remaining days left him. 
 
 He received no definite instructions for marching until 
 the 19th, when he made a last inspection of his force. It 
 consisted of a troop of horse artillery, a regiment of 
 regular cavalry, three regiments of infantry, and 1,000 
 Afghan irregular horse, to which must be added transport 
 and an army of camp followers. 
 
 One can well imagine the enthusiasm with which Rcy- 
 nell Taylor undertook the difficult task before him and the 
 pride he felt in his position. At twenty-five years of age, 
 to have command of some three or four thousand men, with 
 a certainty of having to battle with almost insurmountable 
 difficulties, and with a probability of a brush with the wild 
 tribes of an almost unknown country, was enough to fire
 
 I08 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 the heart of any young soldier. Reynell Taylor felt this, 
 and set to work at his hazardous task with all the ardour 
 of youth. As it happened, he met with no opposition from 
 the tribes, and he thus carried his army through a country 
 which had never been entered before without battle and 
 bloodshed, and after ten days of unceasing toil handed it 
 over to Herbert Edwardes intact. 
 
 ' I exult in being useful,' he writes to Edwardes when 
 half-way through his march ; ' the temper of my men is ex- 
 cellent, and should we meet with opposition my own inex- 
 perience as a leader would be the chief obstacle in the way 
 of success. My trust is in God, who will, I doubt not, en- 
 able me to do my duty by those men whose safety is 
 intrusted to me.' 
 
 The following is Reynell Taylor's account of the march 
 as he wrote it in his diary from day to day, and as this 
 gives a complete picture of the difficulties to be met with 
 in the Kohat pass before the present road was made, 
 and at the same time shows how determinedly Reynell 
 Taylor set to work to overcome them, I quote it almost 
 in full :— 
 
 'November 23. — I started at about 12 o'clock with a 
 dak of Sultan Mahomed's horses to join the Bunnoo 
 troops at the foot of the Kohat pass. After a ride of 
 about twenty-five miles I found them at a place five miles 
 short of the pass where there is a tank of water, 
 
 ' November 24. — This morning I sent six companies 
 on with the guns and brought on the main column with 
 the ammunition hackeries myself; the work of getting 
 these last along was awful. The Kohat pass is situated 
 at the end of a durrah (valley) about six miles in length.
 
 1847 CASHMERE— PESHAWUR— THE KOHAT PASS IO9 
 
 The road up the durrah is good enough, but in the actual 
 pass it is rough and bad. On the Peshawur side the 
 ascent is about half-a-mile in length, but from the summit 
 of the pass down to the valley of Kohat the descent is much 
 more considerable and the road very rough. In spite of all 
 our efforts to-day, we found it impossible to get the hackeries 
 beyond the summit of the pass. The guns, however, being 
 placed on elephants, were, after much labour, safely landed 
 in the plain beyond. 
 
 ' I was obliged to leave two companies, and some of 
 Sultan Mahomed's men, under John Holmes, on the top of 
 the pass to look after the hackeries, and then, after col- 
 lecting as many camels as possible, I marched on myself 
 for the camp. Many camels fell, others threw their loads, 
 and caused endless confusion and difficulty. 
 
 ' Having at length reached the camp I found it agree- 
 ably distributed over a large plain, no one description of 
 force protecting another in the least, and my own tent 
 placed in a most isolated position well away from all the 
 others. The whole affair was dismal enough. I had been 
 obliged to leave a great portion of the sepoys' personal 
 property on the road down the pass, the whole of my 
 ammunition was still in the pass, and I had arrived after 
 dark in a strange country, to find my camp pitched 
 anyhow and all my men overworked and tired out. 
 
 ' I sat down to my disconsolate dinner, and had hardly 
 taken two mouthfuls before I was informed that some men 
 had been wounded near the foot of the pass and robbed. 
 These individuals accordingly appeared, and asserted that 
 they had been attacked by the very men who were affecting 
 to protect the baggage ; and I confess I did not think this
 
 no REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 improbable, for I had felt very suspicious of our strange, 
 wild assistants, with their hungry-looking knives and 
 tulwars, their long guns and general thievish appearance. 
 There were great numbers of them, and unless ordered to 
 work by Khoajah Mahomed Khan, they congregated in 
 groups, and occupied the strong nooks and eyries com- 
 manding the road. I on some occasions sauntered among 
 them ; they all appeared to carry the same arms — a long 
 gun with a hollow stock, a tulwar, and, in most cases, the 
 long Khyberree knife. They looked vicious enough, cer- 
 tainly ; and, as I was obliged to send unarmed fatigue- 
 parties among them, I often felt very uncomfortable ; but, 
 thank God, all has passed off well as yet. 
 
 ' November 25. — I was employed all the morning getting 
 the camp into shape. I sent off two companies from each 
 regiment to assist in getting down the ammunition, and 
 with them I also sent sixty camels to bring down the shot 
 and powder cases, following on myself with a regiment of 
 infantry and a troop of cavalry as a covering-party. The 
 condition of affairs in the pass was most disheartening ; I 
 passed hackery after hackery loaded with shot all alike 
 well stuck on the road, and the bullocks belonging to 
 them looking half-starved and jaded. Some of the powder 
 was being brought down on camels and the shot on men's 
 heads. My anxieties made me think that the Afreedees 
 and Ooruckzyes looked more numerous and impudent than 
 usual, and old Rehmut Khan Ooruckzye regaled me with 
 accounts of the number of Sikhs that had died in that 
 pass, and told me, too, that it was only my Ikbal that pre- 
 vented the Pathans from falling on the line of baggage. 
 These fellows were really only restrained by the presence
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS III 
 
 and influence of Sultan IMahomed Khan, who has long 
 held Kohat, and who has taken upon himself the responsi- 
 bility of the matter. But still I think the affair altogether 
 very risky work, for the temptation of a long line of un- 
 protected baggage must appear as an appetising morsel to 
 these savages. I may, of course, be exaggerating the 
 danger through ignorance of the peculiar relative positions 
 of the parties, but I think I may be excused for feeling as 
 I do, having so many lives to look after. The day ended 
 better than I expected, and by incredible exertions we got 
 the whole of the ammunition to the bottom of the hill and 
 away into camp. Much of it was brought in on camels, 
 but more on men's heads or in their hands, and finally 
 nothing was left in the pass but the empty hackeries and 
 one khoopah of powder. 
 
 * November 26. — I sent John Holmes with fatigue-parties 
 to bring in the hackeries, and these arrived in camp in the 
 evening, though in rather a damaged condition. I was 
 sorry to find the trail of one of my guns had been broken 
 and rendered unserviceable. 
 
 ' November 27. — Heavy rain set in before daylight and 
 continued steadily till 4 P.M., making everything dismally 
 gloomy, and endangering the ammunition, which, being of 
 Sikh manufacture, is very susceptible to damp. 
 
 ' I drew up some regulations for the pickets for the 
 protection of the camp, and towards evening, I am glad to 
 say, we got some woodwork done. The blacksmiths have 
 been at work all day, as there are a good many repairs 
 wanted. The cold is extreme. 
 
 * November 28, Sunday. — Fine sunny morning, which is 
 quite refreshing ; the hills around are beginning to be
 
 112 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 covered with snow. I read the service to John Holmes 
 and the Doctor ; the first time our church service has been 
 read at Kohat I suspect. 
 
 ' Repairs going on all day. 
 
 ' I dined with the Sirdar in the evening at his country 
 garden, a stupid performance enough, with the exception of 
 a dance by the Pathan men and women. Such a wild 
 scene I never saw. They first executed a sort of mummery 
 and dance with naked swords, the whole party crowded 
 together and the gesticulations most violent ; and yet, 
 strange to say, nothing approaching an accident occurred. 
 A singular part of the performance was a mode they had 
 of first walking round in a circle, and, either with the hilt 
 of the sword or the hand, making a motion as if enticing 
 some one to come to them, and this accompanied by the 
 blandest and most amiable smiles and gestures. Then all 
 of a sudden this was exchanged for a scene of the wildest 
 confusion, swords, arms, legs, and heads were tossed about 
 in the most frantic manner, and the expression of the 
 face changed to one of fierce malevolence. Knowing 
 the style of life, and the mode of fighting these people 
 have, 1 could not help thinking that the first performance 
 mignt represent the insidious way in which the too con- 
 fiding were enticed into their Golgothic valleys, and the 
 second their consequent fate. 
 
 ' November 29. — I had hoped to be able to march to-day, 
 but the work has been too heavy : we have had to make a 
 new trail for the gun and repair numbers of the hackeries, 
 and also to make sacks in which to carry the ammunition 
 on camels' backs for the next three marches, to save the 
 necessity of putting it on the hackeries.
 
 1847 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS 113 
 
 ^November 30. — Still mending traps. I was employed 
 all day looking after the repairs. 
 
 'December i. — Marched to Gudda Khail ; distance about 
 ten miles ; the road excellent. Gudda Khail is situated in 
 a small durrah, and is a miserable little place enough. My 
 fool of a quartermaster stuck us down in the middle of 
 the pass. 
 
 ' The Sirdar went out hawking and sent me some par- 
 tridges. 
 
 ' December 2. — Marched to Lachee. The country has 
 the wildest appearance imaginable, but is certainly very 
 picturesque. It is rather depressing to think how wild, 
 and, at present, hopelessly barbarous its inhabitants are. 
 Our course lies through the very extreme spurs of vast 
 mountain ranges. I wish Pater could see some of the wild 
 picturesque scenes and groups I see sometimes. It comes 
 upon me strangely now and then that I am the Hurly 
 Burly, and as much a boy at heart as ever that dis- 
 tinguished individual was ; and all this game of man I am 
 playing daily, among men old enough to be each and all 
 my grandfather, vanishes then before the peaceful and 
 placid visions the recollection gives rise to. 
 
 ' December 3. — Marched to Ismail Khail ; at least that 
 was our intended halting-place, but, finding no water, we 
 were obliged to go two miles further to Munsoorgurh. 
 
 ' About two miles after leaving Lachee we entered a pass, 
 and, after crossing the bed of a stream, commenced the 
 ascent. I have .seen guns before in strange positions, but 
 never have seen anything to equal the places that I have 
 to-day beheld them crashing and bumping over. We are 
 in the habit of thinking a violently excited horse, par- 
 
 I
 
 114 REYXELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 ticularly when rearing and kicking in the midst of others 
 with men on their backs, rather a nuisance ; but here we 
 had six horses, harnessed to a heavy gun and limber, 
 rearing, plunging, kicking, and pulling, by mad starts and 
 dashes, up a steep and rocky acclivity covered with large 
 detached stones. We succeeded in getting all over, with 
 damage to one pole, a hacker}' or two, and the bouleverse- 
 inent of a waggon. The rearward of the line of march did 
 not reach camp till evening. 
 
 ' December 4. — Marched to Kujjooree, a short march of 
 about five miles, and the road pretty good. 
 
 ' December 5. — Marched to Chounterah. The first three 
 or four miles stony and rough ; we had a ravine to cross, 
 after which we got into the bed of a salt river and followed 
 it for a long distance, say eight miles, and then entered a 
 narrow pass where the road became extremely difficult for 
 wheeled carriages. The road had been made in some 
 places, otherwise we should never have got along at all. 
 After about a mile and a half of road like this we came to 
 the famous Koondh-i-gou, a singular fissure in a long 
 bladelike ridge of rock through which the road passes. 
 It has much the appearance of a deep cleft made with a 
 sword. It had been filled up to a height of six or eight 
 feet expressly for our passage, but even then it was only 
 just wide enough to admit of the passage of a gun, and 
 I saw several camel-loads nearly knocked off by the sides 
 in going through. A hundred or even fifty men might 
 defend it against three armies. 
 
 ' It was a curious thing to see the army filing through 
 this gorge, and the crush on the wrong side of it was a 
 sig-ht to behold — Sikh and Afghan horse and infantry in
 
 1817 CASHMERE — PESHAWUR— THE KOHAT PASS I15 
 
 every variety of costume, from the flowing and costly 
 robes of the Sirdar's immediate retainers, to the "turn out " 
 of the sculHon or the dog-keeper pressed into boots and a 
 shirt of mail to make up the war muster of his master. 
 All these crowded together, with the jaunty zumboorchee 
 on his finely-decorated camel jangling like a church steeple 
 on a wedding-day, and the sullen and mischievous-looking 
 hill footmen with their long blue tunics, ponderous guns, 
 blue turbans, and long matted locks. These last, however, 
 often kept aloof, and herding together in small groups 
 passed their remarks in low muttering tones on the passers- 
 by, and I doubt not the burden of them was often much 
 that of the Borderer on seeing Marmion's gay cortege pass 
 by in going through the Scottish camp.^ We had very 
 hard work with the hackeries, and the infantr)-, who were 
 helping in getting them over the difficulties, did not reach 
 camp till evening. A gun was upset without suffering any 
 damage, and altogether we have been wonderfully lucky in 
 getting six guns over such roads without suffering more 
 than we have. 
 
 ' December 6. — Halt. When I was writing after break- 
 fast I was suddenly surprised by a man rushing into my 
 tent and saying that a sa/ied had arrived. On going out, 
 who should I find but Edvvardes, the other general, who 
 had ridden over from his camp about thirty miles off ! lie 
 was looking well but sad. Poor fellow, he has just lost his 
 brother. 
 
 ' Each Borderer to his kinsman said : 
 ' Hist, Ringan ! seest thou there ! 
 Canst guess which road they'll homeward ride ? 
 O ! could we but on Border side, 
 By Eusedale glen, or Liddell's tide, 
 Beset a prize so fair ! ' 
 
 I 2
 
 1 l6 REYNELL TAYLOR 1847 
 
 ' Decembe)" y. — Marched to Khurruk, reaching that long- 
 talked-of place two days after the appointed time, which, 
 considering the roads and passes we have come over, I do 
 not think so bad. Edwardes left me and rode on to his 
 own army. 
 
 ' December 8. — Marched to Joor, a long march of ten 
 koss,^ but the road good enough. 
 
 ' The two armies joined here, and together made a very 
 respectable show. There were five infantry regiments, two 
 of Edwardes's and three of mine, three troops of horse 
 artillery, one regiment of cavalry, 500 Ghorchurrahs, 1,000 
 of Sirdar Sultan Mahomed's horse, and about 80 zum- 
 boorahs.' '^ 
 
 The following day the whole force marched to Jhundoo 
 Khail in Bunnoo, the camp being pitched on the banks of 
 the Koorrum. Edwardes at once set to work to measure 
 the land, but this proceeding seemed likely to provoke ' an 
 immediate row with the Wuzeerees.' Swahn Khan, the 
 Wuzecree mullick, to whom I shall have cause to refer 
 later, came in and said ' that the measurement was doubt- 
 less a very nice idea, but that, if it was done with any 
 intention of taking revenue, it might as well be dispensed 
 with, as such a thing was altogether visionary, and could 
 certainly never come to pass.' 
 
 Affairs looked awkward, and Re}'nell Ta}-lor, who had 
 been ordered to return to Peshawur as soon as he had 
 joined forces with Edwardes, at once countermanded his 
 march. However, after a long palaver with Swahn Khan, 
 the Esakhailee, and other mullicks, the prospect of an 
 
 ' A * koss ' varies from a mile and a half to two miles. 
 ' Camel-swivels.
 
 18+7 CASHMERE — rESIIAWUR — THE KOHAT PASS II7 
 
 amicable arrangement appeared more favourable, so Rey- 
 nell Taylor adhered to his original plan. 
 
 On December 11, accompanied by Sirdar Zagah Khan, 
 250 horsemen and 20 zumboorahs, he accordingly set 
 out on his return march. He reached Kohat on the 14th, 
 and he writes in his diary this day : — ' I shall never see 
 Kohat without thinking of the four gloomy days I passed 
 here as a genera!.' 
 
 Great preparations had been made by Sirdar Sultan 
 Mahomed for his safe passage through the Kohat Durrah, 
 as the Afreedees had come down from the mountains, and, 
 it was feared, meditated an attack on the column. The 
 country had been raised, and parties of horse and foot 
 posted all along the road, and, thanks to these precau- 
 tions, Reynell Taylor reached Peshawur on December 1 5 
 in safety.
 
 Il8 . REYNELL TAYLOR 18iB 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BUNNOO. 
 
 184S. 
 
 Between the Suliman range and the right bank of the 
 Indus Hes a long narrow stretch of country, called, from 
 the three Derahs — Derah Ishmael Khan, Derah Futteh 
 Khan, and Derah Ghazee Khan — the Derajat, or ' The 
 Encampments.' 
 
 The Sikhs had divided this country into two districts, 
 and in 1847 the northern, or Derah Ishmael Khan district, 
 was held b}^ Dewan Dowlut Rai ; and the southern, or Derah 
 Ghazee Khan district, by Dewan Moolraj. 
 
 It is with the first of these, or ' Camp of Ishmael,' that 
 I wish principally to deal, because the next four years of 
 Reynell Taylor's life were spent here, and some of the 
 deeds for which his name afterwards became so famous in 
 the Punjab were performed in this particular part of the 
 Derajat. 
 
 After Edwardes returned from the first of his two 
 expeditions to Bunnoo, he recommended that Dowlut 
 Rai should be remov^ed, and that General van Cortlandt, 
 of the Sikh service, should have command of the Derah 
 Ishmael Khan district ; and, as it appeared that Dowlut 
 Rai was quite incompetent to discharge the duties of
 
 1848 BUNNOO II9 
 
 a governor, Henry Lawrence at once concurred in 
 Edwardes's recommendation, and Cortlandt was appointed 
 to the post. 
 
 The district of Derah Ishmael Khan, with which was 
 included Derah Futteh Khan, was divided into ten different 
 provinces, the principal and most northern being the pro- 
 vince of Bunnoo. Thus Bunnoo belonged to Cortlandt's 
 command ; but, as it had never been actually conquered, his 
 jurisdiction was only to extend to the troops employed in 
 its reduction, and Edwardes was to have the sole responsi- 
 bility of its effective subjugation. 
 
 As political officer, Edwardes was also charged with the 
 revenue settlement of the whole district, and as soon as he 
 could arrive at a preliminary arrangement with the mul- 
 licks of Bunnoo he intended to visit the other provinces, 
 and effect a settlement of the revenue question there also 
 for the next three years. 
 
 Cortlandt was meanwhile to remain in Bunnoo, and 
 another officer was to be deputed to discharge the civil 
 duties in Edwardes's absence. At first it appeared uncertain 
 to whom this latter duty would fall, for during the days 
 Edwardes and Reynell Taylor were together at Jhundoo 
 Khail Edwardes had pointed out the certainty of his 
 having to be absent on the Revenue Survey, and had strongly 
 advised Reynell Taylor to come to Bunnoo in his place. 
 But Reynell Taylor, diffident in his own powers, and think- 
 ing there were others far more eligible, hesitated to fall in 
 with Edwardes's suggestion, and thus for some time the 
 matter was left open. 
 
 Reynell Taylor's writings show how much he after- 
 wards regretted not having at once offered t<j take up
 
 I20 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 Edwardes's duties. He knew the difficulties and dangers of 
 the position, but he did not hesitate on this account, and 
 when it appeared that Lumsden would be sent in his 
 stead he wrote to Edwardes : ' I shall never forgive 
 myself for having said anything to bias the choice be- 
 tween us.' 
 
 But Reynell Taylor was to have the opportunity of 
 retrieving his position, and to seize it. 
 
 A few days after his return to Peshawur the news 
 arrived of the first attempt on Edwardes's life. Then, with- 
 out a moment's hesitation, Reynell Taylor sprang forward to 
 help his friend, and to grapple for months with difficulties 
 growing daily in intensity as the whisper of treachery and 
 murder passed from mouth to mouth, and the booming of 
 heavy guns was wafted on the wind from the direction of 
 Mooltan. 
 
 I must pause here for a moment, because, in relation 
 to this apparent hesitation on Reynell Taylor's part to 
 undertake the duty in Bunnoo, there are sundry rough 
 drafts of letters written to Edwardes, as well as jottings 
 in the diary before me, throwing distinct light on two 
 material points in Reynell Taylor's character — his estimate 
 of his own powers, and the strength of his religious con- 
 victions. 
 
 There is no doubt that, when Reynell Taylor and 
 Edwardes were together in Bunnoo, in December 1847, 
 many questions were seriously discussed by them ; and 
 that these discussions had a religious tendency seems clear 
 from the letters which passed between them after they 
 parted. 
 
 The characters of the two men at this time, though
 
 184S BUNNOO 121 
 
 curiously alike in some respects, differed very materially in 
 others. Faith and humble reliance on the will of God, 
 absolute fearlessness, perseverance, determination, high 
 principle, and a certain buoyant cheerfulness under adverse 
 circumstances, were common to both ; but where they 
 differed most was in the quality of self-reliance. Ed- 
 wardes, in writing to Reynell Taylor, speaks of the enthu- 
 siasm which possesses him whenever he is placed in a 
 position of great trust, but Reynell Taylor, at this period of 
 his life, accepted such positions with diffidence, and only 
 after full consideration. 
 
 He was ever ready to consider himself inferior in jcapa- 
 city to the men with whom he was thrown, but that he was 
 so in reality it would be a mistake for one moment to 
 suppose. The Lawrences were not likely to err in their 
 choice of assistants ; but, apart from this, Reynell Tay- 
 lor's work in Cashmere, at Peshawur, and on the Kohat 
 Kothul had already proved beyond doubt that he was 
 possessed of administrative talents at least equal to, if not 
 beyond, those of many of his distinguished contempo- 
 raries. 
 
 From a feeling of diffidence he at first declined to 
 attempt the work in Bunnoo, yet there was neither weak- 
 ness nor want of manliness in the view he thus took of his 
 own powers ; it resulted from his contrasting his own 
 shortcomings, as he imagined them, with that high standard 
 to which he considered all men ought to attain, and there 
 is ample evidence to show that his friends, and those under 
 whom he served, were fully alive to this, and both under- 
 stood and respected him for it. 
 
 His proncncss to self-depreciation made l)im think he
 
 122 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 was ever falling short of his high ideal, but that there was 
 either weakness or unmanliness in this self-depreciation I 
 shall, I hope, be able to show. Reynell Taylor would 
 have scorned such weakness as approaching morbidness, 
 and he would have condemned it above all because it was 
 unmanly. 
 
 Though many letters passed between him and Edwardes 
 on the subject of the Bunnoo duties, only two are now 
 forthcoming. 
 
 In his first letter, written on the return march to 
 Peshawur, Reynell Taylor evidently dwelt at some length 
 upon the possibility of our being able so to order our 
 minds that God's directing influence might make itself felt 
 in everything, for in answer to this letter Edwardes 
 writes : — 
 
 ' To me the principles you avow seem the highest on 
 which a public or private person can act in all situations in 
 life. . . . But excuse me if I ask you whether the fears you 
 express of encountering responsibility are consistent with 
 your reliance on the overruling Power which drives 
 events before it like so many straws ? Are you not, with 
 so happy a morale, the last man who should feel a moment's 
 uneasiness under any amount of responsibility imposed 
 upon you ? 
 
 ' I do not say that it follows that, because you trust in 
 God, you must succeed. The inscrutable laws which are 
 made for a world's conduct cannot turn aside for an indi- 
 vidual ; and it is well known that the best men are often 
 the most unfortunate in life. Means also are prescribed 
 for the working out of ends ; and the plans of a fool, 
 however good his intentions, by accident onh' occasionally
 
 1848 BUNNOO 1 23 
 
 meet with the same success as those of a wise and prudent 
 man. 
 
 ' . . . Possessed of sound sense by nature, and more 
 advantages of education than fall to the lot of most men, 
 you are furnished with adequate means for the accom- 
 plishment of any ends short of the highest flights of that 
 semi-inspiration, genius; and therefore, I think, you should 
 have more self-confidence than I. . . . 
 
 ' That lack of confidence and those misgivings I hold, 
 in your case, to be self-imposed delusions, which you 
 might blow away like tobacco smoke ; which you ought 
 to and will conquer, for, depend upon it, they will else be 
 frightful stumbling-blocks in your public path ' 
 
 In answer to this Reynell Taylor writes : — 
 
 ' I have long been wishing to answer your wise letter, in 
 which you hit most of the nails on the head and drive them 
 home so firmly that they assume the character of clenchers, 
 but since my return to Peshawur I have been steadily at 
 work all day at viva voce, and till late at night with 
 writing. 
 
 ' I agree heartily in all you say in nearly every point, 
 but hope that you did not mistake me so far as to suppose 
 that I wished to represent m)-self as being in that perfect 
 state of obedience described in your conditional case, and 
 which I think you would say could furnish the only just 
 grounds for a man relying on heavenly help and guidance 
 in the trials and difficulties of life. I hope it is not so, for 
 it would be long ere a man could feci that he deserved 
 protection. 
 
 ' In talking of means you hit upon my rock. I have 
 through life neglected the means, and my natural gifts,
 
 124 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 though of ordinary stamp, have not been improved as they 
 ought to have been ; the consequence is my whole cha- 
 racter has become weakened. Through life I have taken 
 things too easily and have never learned that energy 
 which conceives a project, grasps the whole thing in all 
 its bearings, and then carries it through in spite of dis- 
 couragement merely because it has mastered the subject 
 and will not be denied. 
 
 ' If you can understand, I think the study of mathema- 
 tics the great deficit in my mental discipline ; the species 
 of methodical application of mind, perseverance and accu- 
 racy required for bringing the demonstration of a difficult 
 theorem to a satisfactory conclusion is just what I so much 
 need in transacting the ordinary business of life, and thus, 
 though I do observe and reflect, I bring nothing to perfec- 
 tion, and directly I am called upon to support my views I 
 find, or fancy I find, that everyone or anyone has better 
 grounded opinions on the subject than I have. 
 
 ' My only hope now is, by the acquisition of knowledge, 
 habits of business and method, to be enabled to conquer 
 this weakness, and thus to take my place among men of 
 practised acquirements. I will make a desperate and 
 prolonged struggle for it.' 
 
 The following extract from the diary also reverts to the 
 subject of the Bunnoo duties, and gives at the same time 
 a peculiar insight into Reynell Taylor's character : — 
 
 ' I received a long and admirable letter from Edwardes 
 on the subject of the Bunnoo duty. He shows all the 
 strong, clear sense I gave him credit for in treating the 
 subject, and, like a wise man, does not mince matters to 
 spare me.
 
 1848 BUNNOO 1 25 
 
 ' I must make a desperate effort to shake off this demon 
 of weakness and self-distrust that would prompt me to 
 think myself so far inferior to other men in moral courage 
 and character. I surely have higher and better incentives 
 than many who have prospered in the world, and my trust 
 is, I humbly hope, placed in that God who never fails.' 
 
 There is almost a prayer in these words of Reynell 
 Taylor. It was ever his wont to march along his path 
 of duty with an earnestness of purpose and an unwavering 
 faith, doing his best to carry out his labours unflinchingly 
 as in the sight of God, and putting his trust unhesitatingly 
 where he knew it must of necessity receive support. It 
 was his religious spirit, apart altogether from that of his 
 manly generous disposition, that carried him through many 
 a hard-fought day and many a trying moment, and it was 
 his faith which ever made him look forward and upward 
 without a thought or attempt ' to lift the painted veil 
 which those who live call life.' 
 
 ' I am not,' he continues, ' a personal coward, and yet 
 the idea of being placed in a position where a whole army 
 would be entirely dependent on my skill, decision, and 
 energy, and that through a long period, alarms me con- 
 siderably. My feeling is that I could, I hope, be a good 
 assistant to any man, but I shrink from being the sole 
 responsible person. This is wrong ; I feel it to be so ; and 
 still more do I feel it to have been wrong in me to com- 
 municate to Edwardes my diffidence in my own powers, 
 for he has in consequence requested that Lumsden be sent, 
 and I have thus, by what I thought at the time a pardon- 
 able act of diffidence, transferred for certain a difficult and 
 dangerous duty from myself to Lumsden, merely because
 
 126 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 he has on a former occasion done his duty well and un- 
 flinchingly. I say for certain, because it was uncertain 
 before which of us would be sent, and I suppose now there 
 can be little doubt. 
 
 ' I think the duty a most difficult and arduous one to 
 hold a country like Bunnoo, and keep in check numerous 
 unruly mountain tribes in the neighbourhood, all with 
 Sing troops, and not another countryman to back one for 
 a hundred miles. Still the light it should be considered 
 in is this, that the officer sent is not supposed to be a 
 Soult by nature, but it is supposed, and with truth, that 
 a Sing garrison would be safe with the assistance of a 
 European officer. My great deficiency is in the matter of 
 knowledge, and to obtain it I want more energy, perse- 
 verance, and accuracy than I at present possess. I have 
 comparatively very little military knowledge, and hence 
 my horror of the idea of having to fight a battle myself 
 The part of second fiddle I could, I trust, play well.' 
 
 But events were ordered differently, and within the 
 next twelve months he was destined to take up those very 
 duties which we have just seen him characterise as diffi- 
 cult and dangerous in the extreme. He was for months 
 to be thrown entirely on his own resources, without a 
 countryman to ' back him ' within a good deal more than 
 a hundred miles, and he was eventually, within the same 
 short period, to carry out military as well as civil duties of 
 no small importance, and if not actually to fight a battle, at 
 least to bring a siege to a successful issue unaided, and alone. 
 
 Before continuing the thread of the narrative, I give 
 one more extract from the diar}-, throwing additional light 
 on the purity of Reynell Ta}-lor's character, and showing
 
 1848 BUNNOO 12/ 
 
 the way in which he was constantly striving to improve 
 himself both mentally and morally. He never forgot his 
 brother Fitz's birthday, and hence the entry begins : — 
 ' Christmas Day 1847. Fitz's birthday, making him some- 
 thing like thirty years old, I fear. How old we are getting ! 
 Oh, those merry days when we were young and roamed 
 about the fields and orchards of the paternal property in 
 search of our youthful game ! I wonder if we shall ever 
 see days like those again. 
 
 I have made me bosom friends, 
 
 And loved and linked my heart with others, 
 
 Yet who with me his spirit blends 
 
 As mine was blended with my brothers ? 
 
 ' One huge source of consolation and thankfulness is, 
 that I humbly trust I have made some little progress in 
 improving my mind and cleansing it since then, and I pray 
 God will but guide the bark to its haven, and only be 
 inclined to remember the rough waters passed, and not the 
 smooth and joyous ones of the commencement of the 
 voyage. Dear old Fitty has long since gone before me on 
 the path, and I hope some happy day to receive a helping 
 hand from him.' 
 
 But I must return to my story. As soon as the news 
 of the attempt on Edwardes's life reached Peshawur, Rcyncll 
 Taylor at once wrote to John Lawrence begging that he 
 might be sent to Bunnoo, and on January 27 this sig- 
 nificant entry occurs in the diary : — ' I received a letter 
 from J. Lawrence to the effect that I had better go to 
 Bunnoo, that the idea was a good one, and that he was 
 much obliged to me for offering to go.' 
 
 On the following day a letter arrived from Edwardcs
 
 128 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 telling of a second attempt on his life, and a week later 
 Reynell Taylor left Peshawur accompanied by ' a lot of 
 irregular infantry, heaps of horse, a company of Subhan 
 Khan's regiment, and other details.' 
 
 The passage of the Kohat pass proved a lighter affair 
 on this occasion, and at the Koondh-i-Gou Reynell Taylor 
 was met by a party of lOO horse sent out by Edwardes to 
 escort him to Bunnoo. There was much excitement in the 
 country about the attempts on Edwardes's life, and Reynell 
 Taylor writes : — ' The people will not let me walk a few 
 yards by myself, and even the phlegmatic Swahn Khan, 
 who had been sent out by Edwardes to meet me, on my 
 going apart to a little hillock to read while waiting for the 
 camels, came with his sword and shield and sat himself 
 down by me, begging me to take care. I certainly, if 
 inclined to fear assassination from any class, should not be 
 surprised at its coming from Bunnoochees, for a more 
 skulking, cringing, ruffianly-looking set of rascals I never 
 saw. This is a matter which I believe to be entirely in 
 God's hands. Of course I would not neglect ordinary 
 precautions, but, in positions like ours, where we have the 
 grievances of the whole country to hear, it appears to me 
 to be utterly impossible for a man to be always on his 
 guard. I received two letters from Edwardes, one to the 
 effect that he wished me to get in on Friday (nth), as the 
 Doorees intended attacking his camp on that night, and he 
 thought they might pitch into my detachment before I 
 could join. Pleasant' 
 
 Edwardes had now been two months in Bunnoo, and 
 the following entry in Reynell Taylor's diary shows how 
 much had been done in the time : —
 
 184S BUNNOO I29 
 
 ^February 11. — Marched in the morning for Bunnoo, 
 and at about five miles from it met Edwardes and Cort- 
 landt with some Sikh horse. We then proceeded to the 
 camp, and before breakfast we inspected the new fort. It 
 really is wonderful what Edwardes has accomplished in my 
 absence. The whole of the fortified villages, amounting to 
 400, have been knocked down by the people themselves, 
 and in their place the walls of the new fort of Dhuleepgurh, 
 surrounded by a cantonment wall, have arisen. The 
 triumph of making the people knock down their own walls 
 is worth anything. A military road has been marked out 
 between this and Lukkee in Murwut, and about two koss 
 of it have been made. On the other hand, the fear of 
 assassination is still rife, and we are obliged to go and 
 sit well armed, even among our attendants, Edwardes's 
 adventure having shown that it is useless to depend for 
 safety on either guards or attendants.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor lost no time in acquiring information 
 regarding the country, and learning from Edwardes the 
 arrangements that he had made concerning the revenue 
 and the administration of justice, and his first few days in 
 Bunnoo were employed in reading Edwardes's diaries of the 
 year before, and ' all old papers on the country.' Mean- 
 while it may be as well to see what sort of place this royal 
 fort of Dhuleepgurh was. The source of all influence and 
 wealth in Bunnoo was the river Koorrum, for on its waters 
 depended the irrigation of all the richest part of the country. 
 Command, therefore, of these waters — that is, of the canals 
 by which the waters were conducted to sixteen out of the 
 twenty tuppahs of Bunnoo — gave commnnd of the country, 
 and a site for the new fort was accordingly chosen in a 
 
 K
 
 130 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 central position at a place called Bureyree, within a few 
 yards of the principal canal of Kooch Kote. 
 
 On December i8 the foundation was laid with native 
 ceremonies : ' the soil turned up, oil poured in, sweetmeats 
 distributed, a royal salute fired, and the fort named Dhuleep- 
 gurh, in honour of the little Maharajah, whose sovereignty 
 it was intended to establish.' The fortress was of con- 
 siderable size, and these are the measurements Edwardes 
 gives of it : — ' The inner fort was to be one hundred yards 
 square, its walls twenty feet high and nine feet thick ; it 
 was to be surrounded by a deep dry ditch. The outer fort 
 or cantonment, eighty yards from the inner one, was to 
 have walls ten feet high and six feet thick, and the whole 
 surrounded by another ditch about thirty feet deep. Both 
 ditches could be filled with water from the canal close by. 
 The citadel was to contain lines for one native regiment, a 
 magazine, and a commandant's house. In the middle was 
 to be a well. Four heavy guns were to mount the four 
 inner bastions. The cantonment or outer fort was to con- 
 tain lines for three more regiments of native infantry, one 
 thousand cavalry, two troops of horse artillery, and eighty 
 zumboorahs, or camel-swivels, and the two troops of horse 
 artillery would be distributed in the four outer bastions, 
 three guns in each.' 
 
 I have a sketch of Dhuleepgurh before me as I write — 
 one of Reynell Taylor's drawings for the illustrations in 
 Edwardes's ' A Year on the Punjab Frontier.' The fort 
 looks a big place, with castellated walls, and circular bastions 
 at each corner of the outer as well as the inner lines. Two 
 regiments of infantry are parading in the foreground, and 
 behind the fort, and close to it, are the rugged mountains
 
 1848 BUNNOO I3I 
 
 of the Kafir Kote range. The sketch, like all Reynell 
 Taylor's drawings, is by no means deficient in artistic 
 merit ; he had great natural facility for drawing, and his 
 diaries are scribbled over with clever caricatures of natives, 
 horses' heads, animals, and rough pen-and-ink sketches of 
 country, some of which are exceedingly well done. 
 
 One of Reynell Taylor's first acts on arriving at Dhu- 
 leepgurh was to inaugurate a Sunday service. It had always 
 been his habit to read prayers on Sunday wherever he was, 
 and when possible he persuaded others to come and read 
 with him. Every Sunday is noted in his diary, and not 
 unfrequently special reference is made to the day. Thus 
 on Christmas Day at Peshawur I find written : — ' We had 
 a respectable congregation of seven to-day at prayers.' 
 And later in the Kohat pass : — ' Read the service to John 
 Holmes and the doctor.' But besides many instances 
 such as these, I find also references to marches having been 
 put off ; of ' peaceful quiet Sundays spent in reading ' and 
 of prayers being read by him in Hindostanee ' because some 
 of the congregation did not understand English.' At 
 Dhuleepgurh, besides Edwardes and Reynell Taylor, there 
 were only two other regular officers, and one of these, John 
 Holmes, was a half-caste who had served in the Company's 
 native army as a musician, and who, after some years' 
 employment in this way, had gone to Lahore and, by his 
 knowledge of drill, had gradually risen to be the Colonel of 
 a regular regiment. Holmes had been in the habit of 
 attending prayers at Peshawur, so Reynell Taylor, two 
 days after his arrival in Bunnoo, wrote to Edwardes : — ' Do 
 you have service on Sunday ; or if you do not, ivill you ? 
 We are four Christians here, and where the blessing is 
 
 K 2
 
 132 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 promised to the two or three that gather, surely it ought to 
 be done. 
 
 ' John Holmes always attended prayers at Peshawur, and 
 was pleased to do so. I was asked by Mudut Khan only 
 a few days ago whether the laws of our religion prescribed 
 any regular worship. I am not for displaying the matter 
 unnecessarily, but surely this is wrong. I could add plenty 
 of arguments, but you can well imagine them. Only do 
 not think that I wish to assume the mentor, or that, if you 
 have any repugnance to the arrangement, I shall think 
 you a worse Christian than myself or others ; but I really 
 think what I propose, to be the duty of every man. I know 
 how much happiness it leads to.' 
 
 Edwardes, however, knowing something of Holmes's 
 character, rather demurred at first at accepting him as a 
 Christian. But Reynell Taylor would not be gainsaid 
 ' He was too good,' writes Edwardes, ' to be ashamed of 
 anybody. It was for the pure sake of doing religious good 
 that he battled, and I was so struck with the charity and 
 generosity of the motive that I gave way ; we had prayers 
 in my tent and Taylor was happy.' * This is a small 
 thing to record,' says a writer in the ' Church Missionary 
 Intelligencer' (June 1886), 'yet worth recording for what it 
 tells us of Reynell Taylor. It gives us a glimpse of the quiet 
 undercurrent of his life, from which he drew his strength, 
 which at all times, in days of peace and days of trouble, 
 flowed steadily on, ever widening and deepening, down to his 
 life's end. The source of that full stream and of his even 
 calm was a fixed and conscious sense of the presence of God. 
 He was a man of deeds, not words ; his words were always 
 few, but in his life he was known and read of all men, and
 
 1848 BUNNOO I33 
 
 as an earnest Christian he won the respect of the men of 
 other creeds among whom he Hved and worked. Obser- 
 vance of sacred duties would touch a people so strict, after 
 their fashion, as the sturdy Pathans of that western fron- 
 tier.' 
 
 By the end of March Dhuleepgurh was well on towards 
 completion, the walls had risen to a height of twenty feet, 
 and Edwardes had sent for the four largest guns from 
 Lukkee to mount on the four inner bastions. The mate- 
 rial of which the fort was constructed was chiefly sunburnt 
 brick, and this, if once allowed to dry and harden thoroughly, 
 would stand all weathers, though rain had a terribly 
 damaging effect at first. The constant rains at this season 
 of the year doubled the work of building the fort, and 
 Taylor writes : — ' I walked round the works this morning to 
 see the damage done by the rain, and to be sure nothing 
 could be so dismal. Every bit of wall had suffered more 
 or less, and many were reduced to pulp. 
 
 ' In the course of the day we had such rain as I have 
 seldom seen before in India. It really is a great misfortune. 
 Here is a fort raised in a hostile country by incredible ex- 
 ertions, and by the soldiers of an army, one regiment of 
 which ran rusty and got into disgrace over the business ; 
 and now, when it has reached most respectable dimensions 
 and we were in the habit of admiring it, down comes the 
 rain, and we have to begin all over again. A calamity of 
 this kind in a superstitious country is rather a serious matter, 
 and I would bet any money that the fall of the walls is at- 
 tributed to the wrath of heaven at our invading a country 
 in the possession of the faithful. 
 
 ' I hope the Bunnoo ranks do not boast a Lconidas.
 
 134 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 Three hundred determined men, well led, might make a 
 pretty mess in our camp a night like this, for John Sing is 
 next to useless as a sentry in rain.' 
 
 Under these somewhat depressing circumstances of con- 
 tinued bad weather, and the misery of life under canvas 
 ' with tents coming down, horses getting loose, and every- 
 thing in a very Pandemonium of confusion,' a letter reached 
 Reynell Taylor which evidently delighted him beyond 
 measure. He says of it : — ' Received a very kind letter from 
 Henry Lawrence, from Point de Galle, couched in terms 
 far too commendatory to be deserved, saying that the Gov- 
 ernment and he had been much pleased with my conduct 
 during my employment in the Punjab. Praise from a man 
 like Henry Lawrence is very much to be coveted. As far 
 as zeal and anxiety to do well go, I hope I may assume 
 part of it, but I cannot help feeling that I owe it chiefly to 
 Henry Lawrence's kindness of heart, and the rather too 
 good opinion he was from the first inclined to form of my abi- 
 lities. He says he recommended me for 700 rs., but that it 
 could not be allowed so soon after the increase I had had. 
 It would be allowed, however, if his successor repeated the 
 request, and that he would tell Currie as much. 
 
 ' He asks me to write to him. This I think a better 
 compliment than all the rest.' 
 
 I can only regret, as his biographer, that this letter, like 
 many another valuable one, has been lost, and that we have 
 to be content with the above passing notice of it in Reynell 
 Taylor's diary. It would be pleasant to read the words of 
 praise never given unless they were first fully earned ; but 
 it is scarcely less pleasant to read the spirit in which they 
 were received, the diffidence in accepting praise too readily
 
 1848 BUNNOO 135 
 
 even ' from a man like Henry Lawrence,' and the love lying 
 hid in the last line of the entrj'. 
 
 On March 28, after making over to Taylor the mullicks 
 of the country and all other political dependents, Edwardes 
 left Bunnoo. And now let us see with what sort of people 
 Reynell Taylor had to deal, and how by an administration 
 of firmness and benevolence he won the hearts of the wild 
 tribes around him. 
 
 The task of giving the reader a short description 
 of the two principal races of Bunnoo has been made 
 easy by the printed memorandum Taylor has left on the 
 subject.! ^ writer in ' The Friend of India', signing him- 
 self ' Trans-Indicus,' and to whom Taylor was personally 
 unknown, says of this memorandum : ' It was written when 
 Reynell Taylor, the first Deputy Commissioner of the 
 Derah Ishmael Khan, made over the charge of the district 
 to his successor, John Nicholson. 
 
 * It was apparently intended to place his successor au 
 courant with the affairs of the district, but in doing so the 
 writer has gone deep into the subject. 
 
 ' By no one of our frontier celebrities has the question 
 been so fully thought out, and whatever success has been 
 subsequently achieved in the management of frontier afi'airs, 
 to Reynell Taylor the main share of the credit is due. 
 This I say without any desire to detract one iota from Ed- 
 wardes and other distinguished frontier officers. Edwardes's 
 early connection with the frontier was more in the capa- 
 city of a conqueror than an administrator, and, as regards 
 other administrative officers, they came to the scene later 
 than Reynell Taylor, and under circumstances, for various 
 
 ' ' District Memorandum, Derah Ishmael Khan, 1852.
 
 136 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 reasons, considerably more favourable. At all events, it was 
 Reynell Taylor who organised the existing system of fron- 
 tier defence, and who was at pains to record, in the memo- 
 randum referred to, the results of his experience and obser- 
 vation in the difficult question of dealing with the rude 
 tribes both within and beyond the border.' 
 
 I have already said something of the Bunnoochees, but 
 they were not the only race inhabiting Bunnoo ; there was 
 another occupying a large tract of country extending round 
 nearly two-thirds of the northern part of Bunnoo proper. 
 This race of people, who had never owed allegiance any- 
 where, and who, though at peace among themselves, were at 
 war with all the world, were the Wuzeerees. They were 
 divided into innumerable tribes, and with the Bunnoochees, 
 the Syuds, and the Hindoos, who carried on almost the 
 whole trade of the country, formed the four main divisions 
 of the inhabitants of the province. 
 
 ' The Wuzeerees,' says Reynell Taylor, ' are the most 
 unanimous of all the Afghan tribes ; they never quarrel 
 amongst themselves ; safeguards are always respected 
 among them, and though proverbially addicted to plun- 
 dering, I have known large bodies of them live from one 
 year's end to another without falling into any impropriety of 
 the kind, and, with regard to their veracity, I consider the 
 eulogy passed upon them by Mr. Elphinstone ^ in a great 
 degree correct and deserved. The possession of such an 
 extent of virtue would not, however, make it incumbent on 
 them to adhere to the truth in their dealings with Bunnoo- 
 chees or Government officials, the duties towards such being 
 quite another affair in Wuzeeree ethics. 
 
 * See Taylor's ' D. I. K. Memorandum,' p. 19.
 
 1848 BUNNOO 1 37 
 
 ' Take them all in all, they are a fine race of men, prone 
 to plunder, and careless about blood-shedding it may be, 
 but bold, plain-spoken, true to their friends, and not un- 
 usually treacherous. I wish I could say as much for other 
 Afghan tribes of my acquaintance. 
 
 ' Their loud talking is the quality I should be most in- 
 clined to object to in the Wuzeeree character. There is no 
 denying they are inclined to be boastful and rough in 
 council, but for this allowance must be made when we 
 consider that, until we came in contact with them in Bunnoo, 
 they had never paid revenue to any Government, and had 
 never been anything but what they still are in their own 
 hills — a thoroughly independent body of between twenty 
 and thirty thousand fighting-men. It was undoubtedly a 
 terrible fall in the life of the Wuzeerees being obliged to 
 submit to the measurement of their lands, and then to pay 
 away a fixed share of the produce to the Government, and 
 I occasionally conceded to them the privilege of talking loud 
 as some slight indemnification for the annoyance.' 
 
 The Wuzeerees are by nature an astute and quick- 
 witted race, and they are gifted as well with a ready talent 
 for repartee. It had been Edwardes's custom to receive the 
 Wuzeeree mullicks in large numbers, headed by Swahn 
 Khan or some chief of influence among them, but Taylor 
 found that in a council thus formed ' their home arguments, 
 retorts, and queries ' often had the best of it. He accord- 
 ingly resolved to abolish this system, and to summon the 
 heads of each section separately. 
 
 As an instance of their quickness in reply, Reynell 
 Taylor tells the following story : — ' At one of the councils 
 a part of those present had requested leave to say their
 
 138 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 prayers, and were accordingly performing their devotions 
 in the verandah of the tent while I carried on a desultory 
 conversation with the remainder. Looking at the men 
 praying I said to the chief that it was a pity that men who 
 were so particular in their religious observances should be 
 so careless about some of the cardinal virtues advocated 
 by all religions, such as speaking the truth, so that the very 
 men who were then on their knees would presently come 
 before me and not scruple to attempt to deceive me about 
 their crops, revenue, &c. The mullick replied immediately 
 that it might be so. I was, no doubt, correct ; there was 
 probably some radical defect in their religious conduct, as 
 God had thought fit to confer a Hakim (a governor) on 
 them after so many ages of independence.' 
 
 I must add one more extract from the ' Memorandum ' 
 to complete the picture of Reynell Taylor's neighbours. 
 I have already endeavoured to give some slight account of 
 the Bunnoochees and their mode of life, but here is another 
 evil trait in their character. Reynell Taylor says of them : — 
 ' They are the class most naturally addicted to assassination 
 that I have ever met with, having that fatal attachment to 
 the use of the short knife or dagger which more than any- 
 thing else stamps the character of the true assassin. A 
 Bunnoochee idea of a successful field is time — midnight — 
 and the long-sought rival, or enemy, asleep under his vine in 
 the open air ; no witness but the moon, and leisure given 
 for three well-planted blows with the small broad-backed 
 knife, under which a man may linger long enough to drink 
 the full bitterness contained in the knowledge of his enemy's 
 triumph.' 
 
 Such, then, in a few words, were the inhabitants with
 
 1848 BUNNOO 139 
 
 whom Reynell Taylor had to do, and the wonder is not so 
 much that Edwardes's hfe was three times attempted, but 
 that Reynell Taylor escaped assassination. 
 
 The force with w'hich Reynell Taylor had to keep order 
 in the country numbered about three thousand men, and, 
 with the exception of Cortlandt,' there was no European 
 officer at Dhuleepgurh besides himself The troops were 
 nearly all Sikhs, and the enmity existing between them and 
 the people of the country did not lessen Taylor's labours. 
 Night after night assassins crept up to the camp and 
 stabbed or alarmed the sentries, and crafty thieves carried 
 off arms or anything they could lay their hands on. Over 
 and over again entries occur in the diary of this kind : — 
 ' More firing last night ; ' ' Some fellows came round last night 
 and fired at the people sleeping ; a regular rumpus was the 
 result ; ' ' Three of our men were set upon by a party of 
 seven, one man was killed and the others obliged to run 
 for it ; ' ' The Dooranee camp was attacked last night by a 
 gang of thieves, and several shots were fired ; ' ' The dak was 
 robbed a few days ago, and as there were three parcels 
 looted, I think it probable that I may have lost candles, 
 tea, and perhaps books.' 
 
 Here is a story Reynell Taylor tells of what occurred 
 on one occasion : — ' There was a pretty to do in camp last 
 night. It was cold, dark, and rainy, and the Sikh infantry 
 vedette on the plain beyond the fort, after, I suppose, re- 
 volving for some time in his Siamese mind why it was that 
 vedettes were always composed of two men, at length dis- 
 
 ' General Cortlandt was of Eastern descent, but had been educated in 
 England, and at this date he had been for about nineteen years in the Sikh
 
 140 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 covered the drift of the whole thing, namely, that one should 
 go to sleep and the other keep a sharp look-out towards 
 the camp to see that no officer approached. While thus 
 employed, a thief came behind them and hit the sleeper 
 three heavy wipes over the head with a tulwar ; upon which 
 the man on the look-out for " Pisikky rounds " fled inconti- 
 nently, as did the wounded man, when he could, leaving his 
 musket behind him. The noise roused the neighbouring 
 sentries, and " bang ! " " bang ! " went the nearest, followed 
 by half-a-dozen others, and then out turned the pickets, 
 and afterwards the regiments.' 
 
 At last the nuisance became so great that Reynell 
 Taylor consented to traps being laid for these rascals, who 
 now attacked the sentries every night. Two secret outlying 
 pickets of good marksmen were accordingly posted, and 
 at length a great triumph occurred. A thief was caught who 
 had evidently come in search of a horse, as he was armed 
 with a bridle with which to ride it back. Reynell Taylor 
 does not mention what he did with this particular thief or 
 whether the pickets succeeded in shooting any others, but 
 the attacks must have abated, as I find no further mention 
 of them in the diary. 
 
 The work of a political officer at Dhuleepgurh was, of 
 course, incessant, and besides an endless correspondence 
 with Lahore concerning details of the settlement, there 
 were lengthy interviews with the mullicks and chiefs to be 
 held, disputes to be decided, complaints to be heard, jus- 
 tice to be administered, and full accounts kept of all receipts 
 of revenue, whether in kind or in money ; and some idea 
 may be formed of how fully Reynell Taylor's time was 
 employed by extracts taken here and there from the diary.
 
 1848 BUNNOO 141 
 
 ' I cannot,' he writes on one day, ' record the work, for it 
 would take a small book daily to do so, as well as about 
 three clerks. I got up at twelve o'clock last night, and 
 have had a hard day's work, and the consequence is I 
 can hardly keep my eyes open to write.' There were 
 many days when the labours extended uninterruptedly 
 from morning till night, and when the last interview and 
 the last wrangle were ended, ' a business-like absorption 
 of sustenance followed ; then a vague attempt to read with 
 one eye, or perhaps only half a one ; then five minutes' 
 thoughtful contemplation of the moon, when thoughts of 
 other days and other scenes, and the world there is some- 
 where, but from which I am estranged, intrude themselves, 
 and then down like a log upon my bed to sleep till morn- 
 ing. A blessing this, at any rate.' 
 
 But Reynell Taylor's duties were not confined to 
 indoor work alone. He had many detached posts to visit, 
 and it was occasionally necessary to use force in bringing 
 the Wuzeerees to reason. More than once, accompanied 
 by three or four hundred troops and an army of followers, 
 he inflicted punishment on the unruly by cutting and 
 carrying off their corps ; and on these occasions he would 
 leave his camp at midnight and often not return till the 
 following evening. 
 
 Cut off, as Taylor was, from the outside world, ' over- 
 lands,' when they did reach him, were a source of the 
 greatest delight. Sometimes a newspaper or two accom- 
 panied the letters, and then the various events of the day 
 — such, for instance, as the revolution in France, affairs in 
 Germany, and the failure of the Union Bank — are noted 
 and commented on. In one of the papers he found the
 
 142 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 death of his godfather ^ announced. ' My poor, kind god- 
 father,' he writes, ' gathered peacefully to his fathers. 
 Boys often remember words and sentences, and a reproof 
 from him for not having brought my prayer-book with me 
 when visiting him at Avisford, for Goodwood races, has 
 often been remembered, and, I hope, acted on.' 
 
 But I must pass on now to more momentous events. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1848 a cloud no bigger 
 than a man's hand was hanging over Mooltan, destined 
 shortly and without previous warning to grow in volume 
 and density till at last it burst into a storm which swept 
 the country with a flood of war. 
 
 The story of the murder of Agnew and of Anderson at 
 Mooltan is an old one, old enough, indeed, to have been 
 forgotten by those amongst us who might remember it. 
 The fate of the two young Englishmen in 1 848 has, more- 
 over, been re-enacted since in all its horrible details. Twice 
 within the last ten years ; once, and that the darkest of all, 
 within the last three ; the murders at Mooltan have found a 
 parallel in our history, and the fall of one man has been 
 followed by the fall of many thousands. I am not about 
 to go over ground traversed already by many a far more 
 able pen, or to inquire deeply into the causes which led up 
 to the second Sikh War ; but, in order to make the part 
 Reynell Taylor played in current events intelligible to the 
 reader, it is necessary that I should set down briefly the 
 chief incidents of the first few months of this year. 
 
 Early in 1848 Sirdar Khan Sing was appointed as 
 Nazim of Mooltan, in place of Dewan Moolraj, who in a 
 fit of temper had resigned his position in that province. 
 
 ' General Sir Thomas Reynell.
 
 1848 BUNNOO I43 
 
 Accompanied by two officers, under whose supervision he 
 was to act, Khan Sing set out for Mooltan. Floating down 
 the Indus themselves, their escort toiled by land, and when 
 at length Agnew and Anderson reached the city, they knew 
 little or nothing of the troops to whom they were to look 
 for assistance in the hour of need. A few days after their 
 arrival both were struck down within sight of the man 
 who a moment before had posed as their friend, but who 
 now either would not or could not lift a finger to help 
 them. 
 
 Escaping instant death almost by a miracle, they 
 reached the Eedgah, where their camp was pitched. The 
 one laid down to die ; the other, though severely wounded 
 in several places, had still strength enough left to send off 
 to Derah Futteh Khan for help and to prepare for defence. 
 
 The night passed, but late in the afternoon of the 
 following day the roar of an angry crowd was heard in the 
 distance. Retreat was barred, for the last horse had been 
 driven off in the night ; to treat was alike hopeless ; and 
 even defence was now impossible, for the troops, save 
 some eight or ten, had deserted in a body. 
 
 As the sun set the mob, catching up arms as they 
 
 went, and 
 
 Baying in full cry for blood, 
 
 approached the Eedgah. They found there two wounded 
 Englishmen ; the one too badly hurt to move again, the 
 other sitting by the bedside holding his dying comrade's 
 hand. A Muzubee, so horribly crippled, it is said, by old 
 wounds that he had the appearance of ' an imp more than 
 mortal man,' dashed forward from the crowd, and then, as 
 the last good-bye was on the lip, the end came.
 
 144 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 The mob, its appetite appeased, returned in the twi- 
 Hght to the Am Khas to hail Moolraj king, and the bodies 
 of Agnew and Anderson were left for the night beneath 
 the sky. 
 
 Such was the murder of April 20, 1 848. The cry for 
 help despatched on the 19th reached Edwardes at Derah 
 Futteh Khan on the 22nd. Writing off instantly to 
 Reynell Taylor to send Cortlandt with troops from Dhuleep- 
 gurh, he crossed the Indus, occupied Leia, and raised a 
 body of some 3,000 Pathans. With these and others he 
 engaged Moolraj at Kyneree on June 18 and defeated 
 him. Following up his advantage, he again attacked him 
 with similar results at Suddosain, and a few days later 
 actually drove him back to Mooltan. It was grand work 
 grandly done, but the whole country was now in a ferment, 
 and the second Sikh War had virtually begun. 
 
 The news of what had occurred at Mooltan reached 
 Reynell Taylor five days after the date of the murder, and 
 he writes : — 
 
 ' Tuesday, April 25. — Received the astounding intelli- 
 gence from Edwardes that Agnew and Anderson had both 
 been cut down when coming out of the fort of Mooltan. 
 Edwardes, like the decided fellow he is, immediately 
 crossed the river at Leia with his twelve companies of 
 infantry, two guns, twenty zumboorahs, and 350 horse- 
 men, and he tells me to send Sabhan Khan's regiment and 
 the rest of the Peshawur troop of artillery. These troops 
 I have made immediate arrangements for sending off; 
 General Cortlandt goes with them to see them safe and 
 quickly across the Indus. This reduces our force consider- 
 ably and deprives me of my great prop and mainstay,
 
 18-18 BUXXOO 145 
 
 Cortlandt ; but we must share the difficulties of a crisis 
 like this amongst us. I have considerable hope that 
 things may turn out better than they look at present, but 
 how well do I know that they may turn out much worse. 
 It is all in God's hands.' 
 
 Prompt measures were the only ones likely to succeed 
 in such a crisis, and well might John Lawrence write from 
 Jullundur to the Resident at Lahore: — ^' The lives of none 
 of our officers in Bunnoo, Peshawur, and Huzara will be 
 safe if speedy retribution does not fall on those scoundrels.' 
 It was fortunate that Edwardes and Reynell Taylor were 
 fully alive to this, and that no time was lost in dealing a 
 blow at Moolraj's forces. Had Edwardes not acted as he 
 did, there is no doubt that Moolraj would have crossed 
 the Indus and advanced through the Derah Ghazee Khan 
 elaquah, and with treachery in Edwardes's camp the result 
 must have proved fatal there. ' Then would come my 
 turn,' writes Reynell Taylor. ' I wish I was a booted and 
 spurred John Beale on the Resident's back ; not that I can 
 know here where the delay is there. If God intends to 
 read us a severe lesson, if not destroy us, he may have 
 made us mad, and allowing the Mooltan lighted tinder to 
 spread to the loose powder lying beyond the limits of that 
 district would be sufficient evidence of it.' 
 
 But the fault was not the Resident's, and the delay 
 which gave time for the whole country to rise in revolt 
 was due to the apathy of those in higher positions than 
 Frederick Curric and John Lawrence.^ ' I believe the 
 only thing to save us from a general revolution is to 
 
 ' Sir Frederick Curric relieved John Lawrence at Lahore on March 6, and 
 on April 3 John Lawrence returned to his post in the Jullundur Doab.
 
 146 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 despatch a British force at once to Mooltan,' wrote Rey- 
 nell Taylor ; and so also wrote Edwardes in the Derajat, 
 Lumsden and George Lawrence at Peshawur, and Abbott 
 in Huzara. 
 
 Sir Frederick Currie and John Lawrence ably sup- 
 ported the views thus entertained by their subordinates, 
 but, in spite of all protestations to the contrary, it was 
 finally determined to postpone active operations, so far as 
 any British force was concerned, until the close of the hot 
 season. Thus Edwardes was left to battle it out as best 
 he could with the help of Sikh troops. Agnew and 
 Anderson were murdered on April 20, but it was not until 
 the following November that the army under Lord Gough 
 took the field. Meanwhile the crowd which attacked the 
 Eedgah grew to be an army under INIoolraj, and the in- 
 surrection at Mooltan swelled into a revolt of the Punjab. 
 
 The bitterness with which Reynell Taylor received the 
 news that no immediate action was to be taken, is best 
 described in his own words : — 
 
 ^ May 17. — I heard from Lumsden that there is no in- 
 tention of advancing on Mooltan at present. What a blight ! 
 I am used to stunners nowadays, but this is certainl)' a 
 grievous disappointment, and the prospect of holding these 
 districts through the next four months, with a successful 
 and growing revolt going on in Mooltan, and emissaries 
 everywhere trying to spread treachery and disaffection in 
 the ranks of the army, is not, I must confess, pleasant. 
 Still, if it is to be so, after remonstrances from Edwardes, 
 Lumsden, and myself, all of which have been fully made, 
 we must e'en take matters as they come, and trust in that 
 God who can and will bring good out of evil.'
 
 1848 BUNNOO I47 
 
 It was fortunate, indeed, that there were men like 
 Edwardes and Reynell Taylor in the Derajat, prepared to 
 act for themselves and ready to bear all responsibility. It 
 fell to Edwardes to play the most brilliant part in the 
 subsequent proceedings, but it was Reynell Taylor who 
 held the turbulent Bunnoochees and Wuzeerees in check, 
 and who, at the same time, sent every available man to 
 help stem the tide of rebellion. Two days after receiving 
 Edwardes's letter of April 22, Reynell Taylor, by seizing 
 every camel within reach, was able to despatch Cortlandt, 
 and thus the first of the many detachments drawn from 
 the Bunnoo force was on its way to Edwardes's assistance. 
 
 Among the many instances of disinterested action to 
 be found in Reynell Taylor's life, none stands out in 
 greater boldness than the way in which he sent off com- 
 pany after company of the most reliable troops at Dhu- 
 leepgurh to stem the torrent while there was yet time. 
 Rebellion was in the air, disaffection was spreading with 
 terrible rapidity, and Hindoos and Mahomcdans were 
 banding together to expel the hated Feringhi. In no part 
 were the people more difficult to deal with than in Bunnoo, 
 but Reynell Taylor had already obtained a great influence 
 over them, and though he was sensible ' how ticklish a 
 thing it was to withdraw more troops from his own dis- 
 trict,' he responded at once to every call Edwardes made 
 for help. 
 
 Insecurity was increasing all round him ; the Wuzeerees 
 were daily becoming more and more disaffected, and in two 
 cases outlying detachments had been attacked and several 
 men killed. ' A man's trials in dangers and difficulties 
 would be halved or quartered if he had only his own fears 
 
 L 2
 
 148 REVNELL TAYLOR 18i8 
 
 to deal with. The misgivings and mournful forebodings of 
 neighbours are a terrible addition to the bill of discomfort. 
 The country looks so peaceful on a fine morning that I can 
 hardly fancy that hostilities are really going on within a 
 short distance of me, that thousands close round would 
 join hand and heart in hurling us out of the country, and 
 that any week or day may plunge the whole Punjab in 
 confusion and bloodshed, and involve our Government in a 
 second Punjab war. May God forbid it all ; I have no 
 trust in any child of man in the matter.' 
 
 The unsettled condition of the country, and the course 
 events were taking, naturally affected the troops at Dhu- 
 leepgurh as well as the people of the neighbourhood. 
 ' These wars and rumours have put the wind into the 
 men's heads, and the news of the last two days has pro- 
 duced a marked difference in the bearing of my own 
 soldiery and some of their officers. Woe is me that I 
 should be condemned to dwell among so fickle and so 
 false a race of men. I never encountered such deep, 
 thorough-going dissemblers or such arrant worshippers 
 of " Ikbal " as the Sikhs, and all covered with a veil of 
 humility and self-abasement more elaborate than com- 
 monly in use by natives, and that is saying a good deal.' 
 
 Surrounded thus by people who were daily becoming 
 more and more intolerant of control, and unable to depend 
 upon a great part of the troops with whom he had to 
 maintain order in the country, Reynell Taylor yet set 
 himself to face the difficulty with all his wonted vigour 
 and determination. Conscious of the extreme necessity 
 there was for striking a blow and crushing the rebellion 
 before it could come to a head, and altogether forgetful of
 
 1848 BUXNOO I49 
 
 the great personal risk he was running, he strove by every 
 means in his power to help his friend, and the way in 
 which he did so will be best shown by extracts taken from 
 his diary. 
 
 Cortlandt, as I have already stated, had left Bunnoo on 
 April 27, but on the following day he wrote saying that he 
 was going to take on four companies from Derah, and that, 
 if Taylor approved, he was to send four more companies 
 from Dhuleepgurh to take their place. 
 
 ' I look upon it as a very ticklish thing withdrawing 
 more troops from this, but, if they are imperatively required, 
 why there is nothing more to be said.' 
 
 ^ May I. — Edwardes wants another regiment if I can 
 spare it ; but here is the knotty and difficult point. As far 
 as I am concerned I should be perfectly ready to spare it, 
 but the effect on the minds of the people of the country, 
 on the soldiers, and on the surrounding tribes must, in all 
 probability, be very bad. God is the Master of the scenes, 
 and will arrange them according to his infallible wisdom.' 
 
 ' It is very uncomfortable having men planning this and 
 that and knowing oneself that a large portion of the force 
 has yet to be detached, of which secret I am at present the 
 sole repository.' 
 
 'May 3. — Wrote to Edwardes to say I had sent off the 
 troops he had called for. I had to break to John Holmes 
 that more troops must go away. It was a severe blow to 
 him, but he took it soldierly and well. After consulting 
 with him I resolved on sending a picnic regiment, three 
 companies from Bishcn Sing's regiment, four from Zora- 
 khun Sing's, and one from Merh Sing's. One hundred 
 Ghorchurrahs also accompany the infantry.'
 
 I50 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 ' I am becoming dreadfully stripped of cavalry, and it 
 really is a serious matter to me here. About 1,500 was 
 the proposed establishment, and I have not half that now.' 
 News having arrived from Edwardes, on May 20, that ' the 
 rebels had collected in strength with fifteen guns,' he de- 
 termined to send off another reinforcement, ' consisting of 
 the two remaining guns, two companies of infantry, and 
 the Bunnoo horse.' To replace these drafts Allegur Khan 
 was ordered to raise 200 horse, Mukweib Khan sixty, and 
 Agaz Khan fifty, and with these, and what he had left, 
 Reynell Taylor thought he should be able to keep the 
 country in order. 
 
 A few days later, on June i, another letter from 
 Edwardes, from Derah Ishmael Khan, told of the ' rebels 
 being encamped right opposite him,' and accordingly more 
 troops were despatched to assist him in case of attack. 
 George Lawrence had written from Peshawur to say that 
 he was sending 400 irregulars to Bunnoo, and Mahomed 
 Khan, of Esakhail, had responded with alacrity to Reynell 
 Taylor's orders and sent in 500 men from his district under 
 the command of his sons. Reynell Taylor thus felt justi- 
 fied in sending away another of his regiments, and this 
 time the Kuthar Mookhee Pultan corps was ordered to 
 march at once. 
 
 It is almost needless to say that Edwardes received 
 these detachments with the utmost gratitude, and the 
 following extract from a letter, written by him to the 
 Resident at Lahore on June 6, shows how fully alive he 
 was to the risk Rejmell was running : — 
 
 ' By a private note from Lieutenant Taylor I learn he 
 has despatched to us another regiment from Bunnoo, viz.
 
 1848 BUNNOO I51 
 
 General Cortlandt's Kuthar Mookhee Pultan, a strong body 
 of Poorbeeuhs. This is quite contrary to my wishes, and 
 once before I sent back eight companies of infantry which 
 Lieutenant Taylor sent to our relief^ 
 
 'The disinterested generosity of the action claims my 
 warmest acknowledgments, for I know it to be one of the 
 only two regiments on which that officer could really rely to 
 stand by him in case of a military revolt, and I shall not 
 refuse the reinforcement now that more active operations 
 lie before me on the other bank. ... It would be an in- 
 justice to him, however, were I not to state, what none but 
 myself can be fully aware of, that the extraordinary 
 security of Bunnoo at this moment, when older possessions 
 are in rebellion — the peaceable conduct of the Bunnoochees, 
 who are paying in their guns and swords in part of revenue 
 and escorting artillery to me, 150 koss from their own 
 valley — the happy issue to which the threatening inieute 
 of the Tull Wuzeerees has now been brought, and the in- 
 ability of the neighbouring hill tribes in Bunnoo to get up 
 an insurrection, are results solely to be attributed to the 
 rare union of forbearance and firmness, gentleness and de- 
 termination, which Lieutenant Taylor has brought to bear 
 on the subjugation of two races, one the most independent, 
 and the other the most vicious, that I ever saw.' A tri- 
 bute such as this was as honourable as it was thoroughly 
 
 ' In another place Edwardes, in talking of these eight companies, mentions 
 that Bunnoo had becomeso disturbed that he was obliged, when they had arrived 
 at Derah, to order them to hurry back to Dhuleepgurh. The Sikhs and Mussul- 
 mans refused at first to march, though they were afterwards persuaded to change 
 their minds by Mrs. Cortlandt ; but whether or not these troops ever reached 
 Reynell Taylor again I know not ; I can find no mention of their having done 
 so.-E. G. P.
 
 152 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 deserved, and there is no. need to add more to it. When 
 the news of Edwardes's victory on ' Waterloo day ' reached 
 Reynell Taylor he must have felt repaid for his anxiety, and 
 at the same time have derived no small satisfaction from 
 the thought that his troops had taken their part in the 
 fight ' which lasted nine hours in a June sun, and ended in 
 driving Moolraj off the field.' ' 
 
 The extraordinary influence which Re}-nell Taylor pos- 
 sessed over the tribes of Bunnoo was due to a careful study 
 of the characters of every class of man in the district. He 
 listened to them, talked to them, acted as an arbitrator and 
 adviser in all their difficulties, and by the interest he showed 
 in their private affairs, and the fairness and firmness he dis- 
 pla}-ed in dealing with all matters brought to his notice, he 
 came to be looked upon more in the light of a friend than 
 a ruler. He believed that acquaintance with individuals, 
 and kindness to all classes, was the surest way to their 
 hearts, and he says himself that 'by these means a man 
 would generally be able to acquire an apparently wonderful 
 amount of influence over the people about him.' His in- 
 fluence with the soldiery resulted from his personal know- 
 ledge of them as well as from the way in which he made a 
 point of joining in their pursuits. Thus I find many refer- 
 ences to ' tent-pegging with the men in the early morning,' 
 and ' shooting at the bottle at the gallop with single ball.' 
 A splendid horseman himself, he delighted in taking a line 
 across country followed by his escort, and he gives amusing 
 accounts of how, on more than one occasion, he was able to 
 ' pound ' nearly the whole of his followers. ' I jumped my 
 horse over a brook this morning and called to my Sikh 
 ' Kyneree, June 18, 1S48.
 
 1848 BUXXOO 153 
 
 and Afghan followers to follow me, when a scene ensued 
 which amused me much, and afforded me lively satisfaction, 
 as showing the good chance a decently mounted English- 
 man would have of pounding any number of Oriental 
 pursuers. In obedience to my call they all went at it, and 
 out of about thirty men only five got over safe, and the 
 variety of falls that took place were highly entertain- 
 ing.' 
 
 Besides a ready way of gaining the affections of his 
 men, Reynell Taylor had a happy knack of remembering 
 names, and those who have had much to do with soldiers 
 will know how invaluable this faculty is. 
 
 ' Going down the ranks this morning, whom should I 
 recognise but a scoundrel who deserted from the Body 
 Guard on the night of Moodkee, taking with him the 
 prisoner, a spy, who had been made over to his charge, 
 and now he and I meet again, he figuring as a jemadar of 
 artillery, and I as a general reviewing a Sikh army in an 
 Afghan valley. I did not betray that I recognised him. 
 His name is Bhugwan Sing.' 
 
 For more than two months now Reynell Taylor had 
 borne the whole brunt of the work in Bunnoo alone, but 
 besides his daily round of duties there were other matters 
 which pressed heavily upon him. The constant anxiety 
 owing to the disturbed state of the country, the fact of his 
 not having a fellow-countryman to speak to, the intense 
 heat of the climate, the indifferent food, and the months 
 he had been without a roof over his head, all tended to try 
 him to the utmost, and it is no surprise therefore to find 
 the handwriting growing daily more and more straggling 
 in character, till at last a gap occurs, and then, at the end
 
 154 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 of June : — ' I have been ill this week, and not able to keep 
 my journal regularly.' 
 
 Failing to cure himself with the remedies he had at 
 hand, he sent for a Hakim of the camp, and after a while 
 his strength began to return, and he was able to go back to 
 work, ' old fashion, from morning till night.' 
 
 During the time Reynell Taylor was ill he received an 
 express from Edwardes giving an account of the victory of 
 Kyneree on June i8. Salutes were at once fired from the 
 fort in honour of the event, and Taylor makes an amusing 
 reference to the duplicity exhibited by the Sikhs on the 
 occasion. ' What deceitful rascals these Sikhs are ! Though 
 I suppose there may be thousands whose real wishes are 
 on the side of the rebels, nothing is to be gathered from 
 their countenances and manner but the most exuberant 
 jo}' at this fatal blow to a serious and promising Khalsa 
 effort. I can fancy their feeling to be, " Well, it's no good 
 now, my lads, so blaze away and lend your tongues to 
 worship the Ikbal, which is at present too much for us, but 
 better luck next time." ' 
 
 The day was now approaching when Reynell Taylor 
 was to be withdrawn for a time from Bunnoo. 
 
 Some of the regular Sikh troops in the Sindh Sagur 
 Doab had already deserted to Dewan IMoolraj, and it was 
 known that many regiments were only waiting their op- 
 portunity to follow suit. On June 8 the Churunjeet 
 regiment of cavalry went over in a body to the rebels, and 
 referring to this in a letter to the Resident, dated June 13, 
 Edwardes says : — ' This event is most unfortunate and 
 commences a new crisis. ... It is painful to think what 
 the consequences may be to Lieutenant Ta}'lor in Bunnoo,
 
 1848 BUNNOO 155 
 
 Major Lawrence and Lieutenant Nicholson at Peshawur, 
 and Captain Abbott in Huzara. You are, of course, the 
 best judge of the propriety of keeping these officers longer 
 at their posts ; but, in the territory of which I have charge, 
 I conceive it to be m\- immediate duty to extricate my 
 junior and assistant. Lieutenant Taylor, from the meshes of 
 the army in Bunnoo.' 
 
 A few days after this letter was written, I find the 
 following entry in the diary : — ' Edwardes talks of calling 
 on me to take up my headquarters at Derah Ishmael 
 Khan, in order to enable me the better to manage the 
 whole of the Derajat, which is now left without a governor, 
 Cortlandt having gone on with Edwardes's forces. He talks 
 of sending Futteh Khan Tawannah to take the general 
 management of Bunnoo, and of making John Holmes 
 Killidar of Dhuleepgurh. If the Bunnoochees and 
 Wuzeerees will only keep quiet this may do well enough ; 
 I misdoubt them, however.' 
 
 But there was more than this, and unknown to Reynell 
 Taylor a plot was hatching to seize Dhuleepgurh. 
 Rumours of this had already reached Edwardes at Derah 
 Ghazee Khan, and he accordingly despatched Futteh Khan 
 Tawannah to take up the duty in Bunnoo, and at the 
 same time sent off this message to Taylor : — ' Stand not on 
 the order of your coming, but come at once.' 
 
 On July I Futteh Khan Tawannah arrived at Dhuleep- 
 gurh, ' bringing with him an awful tail of irregulars,' and 
 on the 13th, having assembled all the mullicks, and made 
 them formally over to his successor, Rcyncll Taylor held 
 his 'last Icvce', and prepared for his march on the following 
 day.
 
 156 REYXELL TAYLOR 18i8 
 
 When the hour arrived for his departure, Reynell 
 Taylor was attended by Futteh Khan, the Esakhailees, 
 nearly all the mullicks of Bunnoo, and crowds of country 
 people; the salute was raised from 11 to 19 guns, and 
 when he remonstrated, he was told that he was their 
 Governor-General, and could not be dismissed with less. 
 The officers of the different regiments accompanied him 
 for many miles, and ' all parted good friends.' So loath, 
 indeed, were the inhabitants to lose him, and such was 
 the hold he had acquired over them, that when, after Futteh 
 Khan's arrival, they knew he was still to remain with them 
 some days, they expressed the greatest delight, and when 
 he announced his intention of leaving on a Friday, they 
 were more than ever pleased, ' because,' they said, ' that 
 was the lucky day of all others for marching towards the 
 East.' 
 
 But what took place not long after his back was 
 turned ? The Sikh troops broke out into sudden re- 
 bellion ; they murdered John Holmes, they seized the 
 guns which had been withdrawn from the bastions to be 
 sent to Edwardes, and they hemmed in Futteh Khan 
 Tawannah and his followers in the inner enclosure of 
 Dhuleepgurh. 
 
 For ten days Futteh Khan resisted gallantl}-, but by 
 degrees the water began to fail, the well was sunk deeper, 
 but no further supply could be obtained. Exhausted by 
 the heat, and worn out by the constant attacks made 
 upon them, Futteh Khan's followers now demanded that 
 he should surrender, but Futteh Khan Tawannah had 
 given his word to Edwardes, and had promised Re}-nell 
 Ta}-lor, that he would never give up the fort. What
 
 1848 BUXNOO 1 57 
 
 could he do ? He could hold out no longer without 
 water, but at least he could die a soldier's death ; so, 
 buckling on his sword and shield, he showed himself at 
 the gateway. 
 
 ' Do not,' he shouted, ' shoot me like a dog ; I am 
 Futteh Khan Tawannah ; and if there be any two among 
 you equal to a man, come on.' But in another instant 
 his body lay riddled with balls, and the gallant mullick, 
 faithful to the last, had died a hero's death ! ' 
 
 ' A Year on the Punjab Frontier- (Herbert Edwardes).
 
 158 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE. 
 1 848- 1 849. 
 
 It having been decided in the month of May that no 
 British force was to take the field against Moolraj until 
 the arrival of the cool season, Sir Frederick Currie deter- 
 mined to keep the rebellion within the narrowest limits 
 by despatching five converging columns on Mooltan. Of 
 these it is only necessary to my purpose to notice two — 
 the first, under the command of Rajah Sher Sing, moving 
 from Lahore ; and the fifth, under Cortlandt and Edwardes, 
 operating in the Derajat. 
 
 At the action of Suddosain on July i, the rebel army, 
 commanded by Dewan Moolraj in person, was driven off 
 the field and shut up within the walls of Mooltan, and 
 Edwardes, confident of being able to carry the town, then 
 surrounded only by old walls, wrote to the Resident at 
 Lahore to say that all he wanted was ' a few heavy guns, 
 as many sappers and miners as could be spared, and Major 
 Napier to direct them.' 
 
 The news of the victory of Suddosain reached Sir 
 Frederick Currie at Lahore on July 10, and being con- 
 vinced that it was now possible to bring the rebellion to an 
 immediate close, he took upon himself all responsibility,
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE I 59 
 
 and in opposition to the opinions previously expressed by 
 the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief, de- 
 spatched a force under General Whish to Edwardes's assist- 
 ance. This force marched in two columns, the one from 
 Lahore and the other from Ferozepore, with a British 
 regiment attached to each, and reached Mooltan in the 
 middle of August. 
 
 On September 4 the siege train arrived, Alooltan was 
 summoned, and two attacks followed on the 9th and 12th 
 of the same month. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the early part of July, Sher Sing's 
 column had also reached Mooltan and been allotted its 
 position by Edwardes. The column numbered five thousand 
 men, and the eyes of the remainder of the Sikh army in 
 Peshawur, Bunnoo, and Huzara were fixed upon it, ' ready,' 
 as Edwardes says, ' to take their cue from its conduct.' 
 
 Before long, however, an event occurred which proved 
 at once that a fresh struggle with the Khalsa was altogether 
 unavoidable. Chuttur Sing, father of Sher Sing, had 
 been latterly creating a diversion in Huzara in favour of 
 Moolraj, and now called upon his son to do the same at 
 Mooltan. For some time Sher Sing hesitated, but in the 
 end he made up his mind, and on September 14 went over 
 with his whole army to the side of the Dewan of Mooltan. 
 The siege, in consequence, had to be raised at once, and 
 it was not resumed until three months later (December 27), 
 when reinforcements arrived from Bombay. 
 
 Having thus sketched the more prominent events of 
 the latter part of 1848, I will return to my story. 
 
 Two days after leaving Bunnoo (July 16) Rcynell 
 Taylor arrived at Lukkce, and put up in the gate of the
 
 l60 REYNELL TAYLOR 18i8- 
 
 fort, which a few months later was to be closed against him. 
 He describes it as ' a strong little place, close to the left 
 bank of the Gombela, and in the middle of a beautiful 
 grass plain,' but mentions that it was sadl}' in need of 
 repair, owing to damage done by the rain. 
 
 Marching thus through the country, and transacting 
 business as he went, he occasionally varied his evenings by 
 going out for an hour's pigsticking on ' Pickle,' or by a 
 bathe in the cool waters of the Koorrum. 
 
 On July 19 he reached Esakhail, and two days later a 
 letter arrived from John Holmes, saying that the troops at 
 Dhuleepgurh were showing signs of disaffection. Reynell 
 Taylor at once wrote to Futteh Khan, offering to return if 
 any real difficulty was likely to occur ; and thus again, for- 
 getful of himself, he was ready to go back to a post de- 
 scribed by Edwardes as one of ' treachery and danger which 
 no British officer was called upon to hold for the sake of 
 the Sikh Government.' 
 
 A few days later a more satisfactory account was 
 brought in, so Reynell Taylor determined to resume his 
 march, and on July 29 he reached Derah Ishmael Khan in 
 safety. 
 
 Here he found the wife of his friend, General Cortlandt, 
 a woman of singular strength of mind, and one capable of 
 taking an active part in the stirring events of the time ; 
 and here too, on August 15, the first account of Chuttur 
 Sing's outbreak in Huzara reached him. On the 17th 
 he writes in his diary : — ' Cock's letters give so serious an 
 account of affairs in Huzara that I think we are in for it. 
 I have ordered my traps to be read\- to march towards 
 Lukkce and Bunnoo, where my presence is likely to be
 
 -1819 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE l6l 
 
 more required than it is here, though, of course, it will be 
 better if I can avoid moving at all.' 
 
 ' The real state of the Huzara row is not yet known in 
 Lahore, and hopes are entertained — rather wild ones, I 
 fear — that Sirdar Jundhur Sing may, on arrival, be able to 
 patch up matters between Sirdar Chuttur Sing and his 
 State. Heard from General Cortlandt at Mooltan — his letter 
 dated August 15 — that the right column under General 
 Whish was expected next day.' 
 
 On August 28 he continues : — ' Bad news from Huzara. 
 It seems clear that Chuttur Sing is in rebellion. I expect 
 the next news to be that there has been a serious collision. 
 God strike with the true men and protect my country- 
 men.' 
 
 The unsettled condition of Huzara caused Reynell 
 Taylor to turn his thoughts again towards Bunnoo, and 
 on August 29 he writes :— ' Sent word secretly to Mullick 
 Futteh Khan and John Holmes to the effect that this fresh 
 row in Huzara would be likely to lead to more plotting 
 among the Sikhs, and that, though I considered them well 
 able to manage matters, if they thought my presence would 
 at all tend to keep matters straight, or add to the safety 
 and power of those who were true and loyal servants of 
 Maharajah Dhuleep Sing, and who were in every respect 
 my brethren and friends, that they were to say so, and I 
 would find some excuse to march via Lukkee to Bunnoo, 
 or halt at the former place if it seemed better. I feel, with 
 Mooltan on one side and Bunnoo on the other, like an 
 intelligent animal between two stools.' 
 
 Conflicting accounts continued to arrive daily at Dcrah 
 Ishmacl Khan, and Rcyncll Taylor found it impossible to 
 
 M
 
 1 62 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 obtain any reliable news of the state of affairs further up 
 the country. At one time there was a report that Chuttur 
 Sing had murdered Abbott, and that the whole of the dis- 
 trict of Huzara was in the hands of the rebels ; at another, 
 that there had been a great fight in Huzara, and that two 
 of Golab Sing's regiments had joined Chuttur Sing ; that 
 the Peshawur force was only waiting its opportunity to rise ; 
 and finally, that it had already risen. 
 
 At last, on September 8, the entries in the diary ter- 
 minate abruptly, and it is not until some days later that 
 they are resumed : — ' I have not been able to write my 
 journal regularly for twelve days ; they have been rather 
 eventful and anxious days too. A severe skirmish occurred 
 at Mooltan on the loth, in which, I believe, our troops were 
 foiled of their object, and lost a considerable number of 
 officers and men. I did not receive any particulars of this 
 affair, but the significant looks and manner of the people 
 around me convinced me that they looked upon it as a 
 reverse to our arms. Meanwhile there were all sorts of 
 reports abroad of horrible things supposed to have hap- 
 pened at Peshawur and other places. 
 
 ' A few days after the accounts of the first skirmish we 
 heard that a considerable engagement had taken place, and 
 when the dak arrived it brought the welcome news of a severe 
 fight and complete victory over the rebel troops. The 
 number of men killed and wounded I believe to be very 
 great, but we have had no returns. The action occurred on 
 the 1 2th, and, strange to say, the guns, or explosions, were 
 heard at Derah Ishmael Khan, and that, too, by some half- 
 dozen people. I can testify to the wind having been the 
 right way, and to the people reporting what they had heard
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 163 
 
 at the very time the action occurred. The distance must 
 be 140 miles. 
 
 ' I immediately forwarded particulars of this intelligence 
 to Peshawur and Bunnoo, thinking it might do good. 
 
 ' Thus things continued for two days, till the 17th, when 
 staggerer number eight or ten for the season arrived. The 
 Mooltan dak came in early ; the news-writer opened it, 
 glanced at the contents, and turned green. I asked what 
 the game was, and he read it. Sirdar Uttur Sing had come 
 to Edwardes's tent and informed him that the whole of the 
 troops were preparing to walk off to Mooltan, to which 
 Edwardes seems to have answered, " All right." In the 
 morning news was brought that they had marched, " every 
 man with his bullets and powther, every man with his fire- 
 lock on shoulther," into Mooltan. On the strength of this 
 Edwardes wrote to me, through Lake, to take boat imme- 
 diately and drop down to Ooch, in the Bhawulpore terri- 
 tory, as he considered the game up, the State in rebellion, 
 and war inevitable, in which case my presence at Derah Ish- 
 mael Khan would only be embarrassing. The injunction to 
 start immediately was repeated several times, and as other 
 parts of the letter mentioned the intention to suspend the 
 siege, and hinted at the probability of a temporary retire- 
 ment, the matter did indeed appear serious. General Cort- 
 landt wrote at the same time to his wife, telling her to get 
 under weigh without an hour's delay and to anchor in the 
 middle of the river at night. 
 
 ' All this looked bad. On the other hand, I felt that 
 the retirement of any individual Political would probably 
 have a bad effect, and was therefore to be avoided if pos- 
 sible. It would encourage rebels to declare themselves, 
 
 M 2
 
 164 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 hasten the crisis, and increase the difficulties of those de- 
 tached, and whose information might not be good. So 
 here was a dilemma, and the worst was that I had to decide 
 upon whether to go or not in the course of twelve hours. 
 
 ' I was rather anxious to conceal any indication of an 
 intention to depart till the last moment, to prevent any 
 plan being concocted to interfere with my intentions. 
 
 ' I wrote to Futteh Khan Tawannah, putting the matter 
 in the least alarming language possible. I also wrote to 
 George Lawrence, telling him the whole story, and wishing 
 him God-speed in these troublous times. Herbert is at 
 Attock, and Nicholson near it. I hope that, if the Sings 
 are inclined to kick up a row, Lawrence will have a suffi- 
 ciently strong party to protect himself and those with him. 
 Abbott has a background of hills friendly to honest men, 
 and if the game is up he will, I hope, find protection there. 
 I do not think I could do anything to help them, but I feel 
 more compunction at leaving the officers in the Bunnoo 
 force, who are supposed to be loyal, though, of course, 
 they have no claim on me. Well, after such deliberation 
 as I could snatch in the midst of work, I decided on joining 
 the army at once, where Politicals are required as much as 
 anywhere, and where Lumsden and Pollock have to take 
 turn and turn about wath the troops in the trenches. 
 
 ' On the morning of the i8th I rode out before daylight, 
 went down to the Ghat, and had all the boats dragged up. 
 They numbered in all seven. Before going out I told my 
 servant to pack up my things. He asked, " With a view to 
 moving to the big house ? " and seemed rather staggered 
 when I told him, " No ; for a start." 
 
 ' When I returned from my ride on the morning of the
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 165 
 
 1 8th I found every official of every sort and kind in the 
 place awaiting my arrival, and the questioning and trouble 
 that ensued were unspeakable. 
 
 ' I set my mind, however, to take it quietly ; and after 
 about seven hours' work got through every'thing that was 
 actually necessary, and left the people, I believe, tolerably 
 well satisfied. 
 
 ' On September 21, floated within five koss of Derah 
 Ghazee Khan, and sent in men to find out the state of 
 affairs. I heard Rajah Sher Sing was still kept outside 
 the fort (at Mooltan) in a sort of rebel quarantine. 
 
 ' 22nd. — Floated down to Derah Ghazee Khan to break- 
 fast and in the evening I rode into the city, which is one 
 of the strangest places I ever saw. It is really completely 
 buried in the most profuse foliage of date, peepul, banian, 
 and every other kind of tree, very lofty, but so wildly 
 irregular as to give more the effect of a Bengal tree jungle 
 than the environs of a town. 
 
 'On the 23rd Cortlandt and Mrs. started for Ooch, and 
 I remained at the Ghat waiting for carriage, in the midst 
 of which there came an ominous and well-remembered 
 sound, booming over the flat country between me and 
 Mooltan — no other than the deep, angry sough of a heavy 
 cannonade. After continuing for about an hour it ceased. 
 
 ' Kept waiting till evening for carriage cattle, and when 
 I procured them crossed the river and marched to Kore- 
 shee that night. Here I slept in an old house built by 
 Sawun Mull, father of the rebellious Dewan. From Kore- 
 shee I sent on a horse to Koobra, having previously sent 
 another from Derah on towards the Ghat. 
 
 ' On September 24 started early in the morning for
 
 1 66 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 Mooltan. Rode the " Pig " to Koobra, where I mounted 
 ** Pickle," and rode him on to near Mozuffernuggur, where 
 I found my other horse. Reached Mooltan about one P.M.' 
 From September 24 to October 3 1 Reynell Taylor was 
 present with the force before Mooltan, but he has left no 
 personal record of this period. 
 
 The first siege of Mooltan was raised on September 16, 
 and General Whish was forbidden to resume it until fur- 
 ther reinforcements reached him. The time was, however, 
 a busy one enough, and apart from the various skirmishes, 
 in which a good many were killed and wounded on both 
 sides, great preparations were made for resuming operations 
 as soon as possible. The country all round Mooltan was 
 carefully mapped, and an inexhaustible store of fascines and 
 gabions manufactured. Moolraj, too, did not allovv^ the time 
 to pass idly by, and, aided by the inhabitants and by the 
 numerous recruits constantly joining his standard, he lined 
 the whole of the city walls with a rampart of mud. In the 
 early part of October Sher Sing, having quarrelled with 
 Dewan Moolraj, left Mooltan with a considerable portion of 
 his force, and though Moolraj still had upwards of 1 3,000 men 
 at his command, it became evident that Mooltan would no 
 longer be the centre of interest, and that the war would 
 now have to be fought out in another part of the Punjab. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ferozepore was busy with the rattling of 
 limbers and the clank of arms, and a magnificent army, 
 collected from Bombay and Bengal, was assembling there. 
 The serious aspect of affairs had at length forced itself 
 upon the minds of those at Calcutta, and there was to be 
 war to the knife. Vengeance was to be taken for inno- 
 cent blood ; Agnew's prophetic words were to come true ;
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 1 6/ 
 
 and ' thousands of Englishmen were to come down and 
 annihilate Moolraj, his soldiers, and his fort.' But the army 
 of Ferozepore was not destined to achieve the immediate 
 successes expected of it. One, two, )-es, even three inde- 
 cisive actions were to be fought out ; hard knocks were to 
 be given and received on both sides, and blood was to be 
 poured out like water on the hot plains and the burning 
 sands, as one army confronted the other and both refused 
 to acknowledge defeat. 
 
 Many and many a time have the Sikhs stood shoulder 
 to shoulder with us since the days of the second Sikh War, 
 and more than once have we been right glad of their assist- 
 ance. 
 
 Soldiers by nature, they have proved themselves in later 
 times as valiant in fighting our battles as they were in the 
 old days, when they forsook the plough and the sickle and 
 took up the sword against us ; and those in whose minds 
 the struggle at To Frek is still fresh, and who remember 
 the way in which the Sikhs stood their ground in a crisis 
 sufficiently terrible to try the metal of the finest troops, 
 will be able to realise why it was that the battles of Ram- 
 nuggur, Sadoolapore and Chillianwallah were such hard- 
 fought fields. 
 
 The second Sikh War was a mighty struggle indeed, 
 but, as every one knows, after not a little hesitation, 
 vacillation, and indifferent generalship, victory at length 
 crowned our arms at Gujerat on February 21, 1849. 
 
 Reynell Taylor, it may be believed, spent a busy five 
 weeks before Mooltan, and two events at least of the 
 month of October were fraught with peculiar interest to 
 him First, there was the fall of Dhulcepgurh, and the saa
 
 i68 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 end of the friends he had been so anxious and willing to 
 help ; and then there was the mutiny of the troops at 
 Peshawur, and the consequent anxiety concerning the 
 English circle there. 
 
 John Holmes and Futteh Khan were now past help, but 
 no sooner did the perilous position of those at Peshawur 
 become known than Reynell Taylor at once volunteered to 
 go to their assistance. 
 
 The only mention of Reynell Taylor's services at 
 Mooltan that I have been able to find is contained in a 
 despatch, dated January 23, 1849, where General Whish 
 says that when Lumsden, who had had unassisted charge 
 of the Nawab of Bhawulpoor's troops, was wounded, ' he 
 was relieved by Lieutenant Taylor, nth Light Cavalry, 
 Assistant Resident, who was prevented from continuing 
 during the siege by a chivalrous expedition he undertook 
 to recover our captives at Peshawur.' 
 
 And this last requires some explanation. 
 
 Affairs had become so unsettled at Peshawur towards 
 the end of September, that George Lawrence determined 
 to send his wife for safety to Lahore under the escort of 
 Sultan Mahomed's son. On the way it was reported that 
 Sirdar Chuttur Sing was about to oppose their passage, 
 and accordingly the whole party retired to Kohat, where 
 Mrs. Lawrence was detained under the pretence that the 
 country was in too disturbed a state for the march to 
 Lahore to be attempted. Feeling uneasy in the position 
 in which she was thus placed, Mrs. Lawrence contrived to 
 acquaint Edwardes of her anxiety, and thus it happened 
 that Reynell Taylor offered to go to her assistance. 
 
 Meanwhile, on October 24, the Peshawur troops muti-
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 1 69 
 
 nied, and George Lawrence had to escape from the Resi- 
 dency as best he could, and, with his companions, join his 
 wife at Kohat. 
 
 On October 31 Reynell Taylor turned his back on 
 Mooltan and set out on his expedition, which he describes 
 as being ' chiefly for the purpose of bringing off Mrs. Law- 
 rence, at present at Kohat' 
 
 Keeping, in the first instance, to the left bank of the 
 Indus, he crossed the river opposite Derah Futteh Khan on 
 November 5, and three days later arrived at Derah Ishmael 
 Khan. 
 
 Here he writes : — ' I found the news from the front 
 much as I expected — Lukkee occupied, Esakhail ditto, but 
 by doubtful and irregular troops, and I don't know how it 
 will all turn out' 
 
 Continuing his march on the loth, Reynell Taylor 
 reached Esakhail on the evening of the 12th, the fort 
 having, to his relief, surrendered the day before. He im- 
 mediately wrote to Mrs. Lawrence, telling her of his 
 whereabouts, and also to Sirdar Sultan Mahomed Khan, 
 ' pointing out to him the folly of his ways, the necessity 
 of acting up to his former professions, and the total ab- 
 sence of excuse for his not doing so now that the road 
 was open.' 
 
 Late the same evening a breathless messenger arrived 
 from Kohat to say ' that on Lawrence's requesting the 
 young Sirdar to convey him to Kala Bagh in pursuance of 
 the plan proposed, Khoajah Mahomed Khan sent to inquire 
 of his papa what was to be done. The answer came in 
 the shape of a party of horse headed by two other sons, 
 who immediately caused Lawrence, Bowie, and the doctor
 
 I/O REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 to mount, and carried them off to Peshawur, leaving Mrs. 
 Lawrence and Mrs. Thompson at Kohat.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor hardly credited this piece of intelligence, 
 though the impression of the people about him was that 
 Chuttur Sing wanted hostages for his son and the Ranee, 
 and on this account had insisted on the prisoners being 
 given up to him. On November 22 the news was, how- 
 ever, confirmed : — ' I received the intelligence direct from 
 Bowie to-day that Sultan Mahomed had indeed been 
 villain enough to give up all his prisoners, or rather guests, 
 to Chuttur Sing. The letter was dated November 18, 
 and they were then in the middle of the Sikh camp, kindly 
 treated, and tolerably at ease. The party consists of Major 
 and Mrs. Lawrence, Doctor and Mrs. Thompson, Bowie, 
 and a servant-girl. 
 
 ' Sultan Mahomed Khan has indeed proved an arrant 
 villain. His treachery will probably greatly prolong the 
 war, as it will be his interest to assist the Sikhs in every 
 way ; still I cannot think the struggle will be a long one.' 
 
 The chief object of Reynell Taylor's expedition was 
 therefore at an end, and the people whom he had come to 
 relieve had, by treachery, been removed far beyond his 
 reach. But there was plenty of work ready to his hand, 
 and every day brought its load of anxiety. Herbert was at 
 this time besieged in the fort of Attock, and Reynell Taylor 
 at once set to work to open communications, with the hope 
 of assisting his escape if possible. But Taylor's messengers 
 were fired on from the fort, and it was evident that the 
 garrison were showing signs of disaffection. 
 
 At length a letter arrived from Herbert, and Reynell 
 Taylor writes : — ' Herbert seems to have heard my pro-
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 171 
 
 ceedings reported as if I were marching to his relief with a 
 British brigade, and urges me to lose no time in pushing 
 on troops to his aid, poor fellow ! I wish to God I had any 
 to push on that were likely to reach him.' 
 
 Situated as Reynell Taylor was, and with only a small 
 force of irregulars at his back, it was impossible for him to 
 go to Herbert's assistance, and from what he could gather, 
 Attock was besieged ' by about 7,000 men and eight guns.' 
 To set against these Taylor's forces numbered only a few 
 hundred untrained individuals ; but, apart from this, opera- 
 tions in the direction of Attock formed no part of his 
 orders, and he had to confine himself to the Derah Ishmael 
 Khan district. As, however, the report of his arrival in the 
 neighbourhood had evidently reached Attock, it struck 
 him that a demonstration on the frontier, with the osten- 
 sible purpose of seizing Gohur Sing, might be advanta- 
 geous. He accordingly sent a small body of horse from 
 Esakhail, to be joined by another from Kala Bagh, on 
 this errand, and he writes : — ' It may cause him to run 
 away, the effect of which would doubtless be good.' 
 
 Meanwhile Taylor was fully occupied with other matters. 
 No sooner did the mullicks of Bunnoo hear of his arrival 
 at Esakhail than the whole of them, together with the re- 
 doubtable Swahn Khan, came in to him, and with them, 
 considerably to Reynell Taylor's relief, the officers of the 
 Lukkee garrison. Dhuleepgurh was, as we have seen, in 
 the hands of the rebels, but Alim Khan, the commandant, 
 had written to Taylor telling him that he was entirely the 
 slave of the Sirdar. Taylor replied that he was very glad 
 to hear it, but that, ' as there was no end to the evil reports, 
 the best thing he could do was to come in himself and thus
 
 172 REVNELL TAYLOR 184?- 
 
 prove his loyalty.' As may be supposed, however, Meer 
 Alim Khan did not fall in with the suggestion, and the fort 
 thus remained for a time in the hands of the rebels. The 
 day after the arrival of the officers from Lukkee, Reynell 
 Taylor despatched a body of 500 infantry and lOO horse 
 to take over the fort there, but on the fort being summoned 
 the garrison replied ' that they would surrender on the order 
 of the Maharajah Dhuleep Sing, and that of no other.' 
 ' Pleasant chaps these,' writes Reynell Taylor on receiving 
 this intelligence ; * they will, I suppose, remain mutinous 
 until they are coerced, for I do not think it at all probable 
 they will come in — wretches.' 
 
 It was Reynell Taylor's opinion that, with Esakhail and 
 Lukkee in his hands, and a hold kept upon the boats on 
 the Indus, the provinces around him might enjoy consider- 
 able tranquillity in spite of the unsettled condition of the 
 remainder of the country. Esakhail was for the moment 
 under control, and the conduct of the mullicks of Bunnoo, 
 in coming to pay their respects to Reynell Taylor, gave 
 hopes that his influence in the province was still in the 
 ascendant, and that therefore Dhuleepgurh might eventually 
 be reoccupied without very much trouble. But with Lukkee 
 the case was different. Left to itself, this strong little fort 
 might become the centre of further sedition, and the force 
 still within its walls prove the nucleus of a rebel army 
 capable of complicating matters still further in the Derajat. 
 Reynell Taylor therefore determined to bring the Lukkee 
 garrison to reason immediately, and accordingly he ordered 
 up what guns there were at Derah, ' old things not worth 
 a straw ; ' got together as much serviceable ammunition and 
 mining powder as possible ; collected his irregular levies,
 
 -1S49 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 1 73 
 
 ' funny material enough to work with,' and prepared to 
 leave Esakhail. 
 
 And now followed one of the most remarkable episodes 
 in Reynell Taylor's career. The achievement received 
 little notice in England at the time in the face of more 
 momentous events, and I have been unable to discover that 
 any adequate account of it was ever published. But in 
 India, and especially in the Punjab, the siege attracted 
 considerable attention, and in many instances I find Reynell 
 Taylor referred to in consequence as ' the hero of Lukkee.' 
 He never spoke of it himself, as may be supposed, but in 
 the most modest manner, for he was more than ever a man 
 of few words where his own exploits were concerned ; but 
 it is the duty of his biographer to set this right and to show, 
 to the best of his ability, why it was that the siege of 
 Lukkee was so remarkable. 
 
 The pages of our military history teem with instances 
 of pluck and daring ; of devotion to duty ; of lives laid down 
 readily and unhesitatingly ; of times when men have stood 
 alone unflinchingly, struggling on against fearful odds, and 
 clinging more and more tenaciously to the object on which 
 their eyes were fixed, without a thought of ever giving 
 in while life lasted, or where strength remained to strike 
 another blow. Many are the deeds of heroism of which 
 the world has never heard, and where, consequently, the 
 hero has gone unnoticed and unrewarded, for rewards must 
 ever be unequally distributed in this world, and it is the 
 greatest characters amongst us who care least for them. It 
 is not the love of praise, but the charm of holding out and 
 never giving in ; it is that quality of dogged perseverance, 
 the birthright of Englishmen, which has egged men on to
 
 174 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 noble deeds, and brought out qualities where strength 
 has mingled curiously with gentleness, and nobleness of 
 soul has shone out as a beacon, to confront pain and death 
 with a smile on the lip and a light in the eye, ready to 
 strike hard and swiftly in defence, but in victory to temper 
 justice with mercy. 
 
 So it was at Lukkee. Afghan and Sikh were arrayed 
 against us, and from Mooltan to Peshawur war was raging 
 throughout the country. Day by day the horizon grew 
 darker and darker as fresh bands joined the revolt, and 
 those even who remained passive trimmed by the course of 
 events, and reliance could be placed nowhere. 
 
 Surrounded by circumstances such as these, Reynell 
 Taylor nevertheless advanced on Lukkee, and far removed 
 from any chance of support or assistance, and aided only 
 by irregular and undisciplined levies and three crazy guns, 
 sat down before the fort. His force was insufficient to 
 invest the place completely, and the garrison, cheered by 
 news of the approach of friends, was from time to time 
 assisted by the advent of small reinforcements. Ill-pro- 
 vided with ammunition, he had to eke out his supply of 
 hammered shot by collecting round stones from the bed of 
 the Gombela, while such was the condition of his guns 
 that it was found impossible to strike the walls ' within ten 
 yards of the same place twice running.' Threatened by 
 the approach of hostile armies, and surrounded by a popu- 
 lation halting in their allegiance, it was impossible to obtain 
 reliable news of the outside world, and, over and above 
 this, evil influence was at work in the camp, and the troops 
 were counselled to look to themselves, to leave their com- 
 mander, and to declare at once for the truly faithful.
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 175 
 
 Threatened thus from within as well as from without, 
 and unaided by the presence of a single fellow-country- 
 man, Reynell Taylor still remained at his post, and from 
 December 11 to January 10 he kept his undisciplined 
 Pathans together, encouraging them by his example and 
 holding them all the while in the firm grip of a marvellous 
 personal influence. 
 
 The fort fell at last; fell, too, at the nick of time, for 
 the day after the garrison gave in Sirdar Mahomed Azim 
 Khan, son of the Ameer, took possession of Bunnoo. 
 Attock had already fallen before Dost Mahomed Khan, 
 and had Mahomed Azim been able to continue his march 
 unthreatened and unopposed, the whole of the Derah 
 Ishmael Khan district, together with a great part of the 
 Sindh Sagur Doab, would have fallen into his hands. 
 
 The story of the siege shall be told in Reynell Taylor's 
 own words, as I find it written daily at the time in the 
 weather-beaten old folio before me. The garrison num- 
 bered at first 'some 475 men,' but these were all regular 
 and efficient Sikh troops, and among them were several 
 trained artillerymen. The fort ' consisted of an inner and 
 an outer enclosure, the outer being one hundred yards 
 square and the inner one sixty yards,' and its armament 
 was made up of two excellent guns, a mortar, four large 
 zumboorahs and several small ones. To set against this 
 Reynell Taylor had 1,021 foot and 650 horse, three miser- 
 able guns throwing shot too light to take any effect on the 
 walls, and among all his men he had no trained soldiers ; 
 all were irregular and undisciplined. 
 
 Let us turn to the diary. Reynell Taylor had sent on 
 a part of his troops under Gholam Hussan Khan, and he
 
 176 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 vvrites : — ' Heard that the guns are approaching Lukkee. I 
 am rather perplexed at having this matter on my hands at 
 the same time as the rest. I hope I have not acted foolishly 
 in any particular, and therefore that (D.V.) it will all come 
 right in the end.' 
 
 Just before leaving Esakhail, Taylor heard that a battle 
 had been fought on the Chenab. ' God make us worthy of 
 our successes, and our occupation of the country a blessing 
 to the people, and then little harm can ensue. I believe 
 our cause in the present instance, as in the first, to be 
 most honest, and therefore I trust God's blessing may be 
 upon it.' 
 
 Sunday, December 10, he spent quietly at Esakhail 
 writing to his father, and on the next day the entry in the 
 diary begins : — 
 
 ^December 11. — Marched to Lukkee, where I found 
 Gholam Hussan Khan and the army encamped, and very 
 carefully concealed and protected from the fire of the fort, 
 the fort people having made themselves very disagreeable 
 with their long bowls. Before dinner I rode over to look 
 for a place for the camp ; we were within range of the fort 
 the whole time, but the rascals did not fire. 
 
 ' I must confess that the inspection of the guns with 
 which I have to besiege this strong little fort gave me a 
 heart-sinking feeling. We have only three very indifferent 
 guns to their two excellent ones. One of mine (I wish it 
 was of any use disowning it) carries a shot about the size 
 of a racket-ball ; another has a large cavern at the muzzle 
 into which I could put my head. I could not help making 
 some slight demur on seeing this, upon which the head 
 artilleryman said that he had hit on an excellent remedy
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 177 
 
 for that. I inquired what that might be, to which he 
 answered, " Why, I mean to melt down some metal frag- 
 ments and pour it into the cavern and fill it up." " And 
 where," I asked, " may these spare pieces of gun-metal 
 come from ? " " Oh," said the artilleryman in reply, " they 
 come away daily from the breeching of gun No. 3." 
 
 ' I cannot describe the exhilarating effect this account 
 of affairs had upon me, yet I could not help feeling the huge 
 ludicrousness of the whole thing, when the commandant of 
 artillery sent for a looking-glass and insisted upon showing 
 me all the horrible nakedness of the land by obliging me 
 to look down the muzzle of the gun at the huge caverns 
 near the breeching. If the gun had been made of Bovey 
 pottery brassed over, he ought at any rate to have kept it 
 quiet before the multitude ; but, cunning and deceitful as 
 natives are, I have often remarked in them an extraordinary 
 want of tact. 
 
 ^December 12. — Rode out early to select a place for the 
 trenches, which I did to my satisfaction. I went within 
 grape range of the fort, but, strange to say, the garrison did 
 not fire. 
 
 ' Part of my arrangements were that we should occupy 
 the old Lukkee lines, and from there push forward the 
 trenches. Towards evening we saw that the enemy had 
 turned out a party to knock down the walls in these old 
 lines, and I accordingly ordered out a party of horse and 
 foot to dislodge them. Before my force could form up, I 
 saw the enemy come out of the lines and wander back to- 
 wards the fort ; I therefore told the officer in command to 
 push on, gain the cover of the lines, and hfjkl his own till I 
 could send pickaxes and shovels for him to cover himself 
 
 N
 
 178 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 in. Directly the enemy saw our party were coming to oc- 
 cupy the place, the lines not being more than 600 yards 
 from the fort, they began cannonading them handsomely 
 Their practice seemed to me uncommonly good. They 
 favoured mc with two or three shots which were in splendid 
 line, and only a little out in elevation. 
 
 ' Well, when the returning party of the enemy heard the 
 fort guns open they turned, and a regular fusillade began 
 on both sides, very pretty to look at and very exciting to 
 me, but in which, I am happy to say, no harm was done to 
 my side. 
 
 ' That scoundrel Meer Alim Khan is persuading the 
 unhappy Lukkeeites that he is coming sharp with a large 
 force to help them, that he is in communication with 
 Afzue Khan, and that he also is coming with 500 horse and 
 foot. There is, moreover, a report to-day that 200 Afghans 
 have arrived at Dhuleepgurh, and whether all this is true 
 or false it is dead against me, as it unsettles the minds of 
 the mullicks and the inhabitants of the country'. 
 
 ^December 13. — Rose with the lark. The fort began 
 its ungentlemanly game of blazing round shot in every 
 direction as soon as it was light. The beasts shot very 
 straight. I wanted to mount a gun on this bank of the 
 river, and commenced making a battery for it, but the shot 
 came in so sharp that I feared the gun might be disabled 
 in its passage down, as it would be considerabl}' exposed. 
 
 ' The report to-day is that the Dooranees are within 
 three marches of Bunnoo. I don't believe it. 
 
 ' There is an unfortunate scarcity of powder and shot in 
 camp. Pleasant this at the commencement of a siege. 
 
 ' December 14.— Got up in the middle of the night to
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 1 79 
 
 look after the batteries. Rode in the morning all round 
 the fort and town of Lukkee. Came back, went into the 
 batteries, and fired a shot or two. It will be necessary to 
 take our guns up within musket-range before they will be 
 able to do anything, and, anyway, I doubt the garrison 
 giving in without a serious fight. 
 
 ' Not much damage done to the fort to-day by our fire, 
 and the enemy's shot, though they pitch all about us, seem 
 forbidden by a kind Providence from doing hurt. 
 
 ' December 15. — Round-shot practice. In the afternoon 
 I received a staggerer. Gholam Hussan Khan came with a 
 letter he had received from Gaol Badshah, which spoke in 
 terms of huge exultation of the purely faithful at Peshawur, 
 and advised him to kick up a row wherever he was. With 
 this letter was an enclosure from the Dost himself of a most 
 gunpowdery order, to the effect that he was employed with 
 all the power of Islam in quelling the English rebellion. 
 All this is most baneful at this moment and puts me on a 
 nest of volcanoes. 
 
 ^December 16. — Endeavoured to persuade the fort 
 people to give in, and sent a purwannah of my own to 
 them by the hands of Hazee Ikhlass, a celebrated fakir of 
 this place. He remained away all day, but returned in the 
 evening unsuccessful. The Sings are evidently not inclined 
 to give in ; either they are assured of relief or are very con- 
 fident of the strength of the fort. 
 
 ^December 17, Sunday. — A most unpeaceful one it proved. 
 The enemy turned out and occupied a small nullah under 
 the guns of the fort and about i 50 }'ards in front of our 
 trenches. Gholam Hussan Khan, who was commanding in 
 the trenches at the time, pushed forward his men to meet 
 
 ' N 2
 
 l8o REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 thcm, and a severe and well-contested light infantry skir- 
 mish ensued. I never saw anything so extraordinary as 
 the way in which the sharpshooters on both sides, but 
 especially the Pathans on my side, seemed to find cover 
 on ground that appeared naturally to afford little. They 
 seemed, even when loading, to keep as close to the ground 
 as sacks of wheat. The fight lasted for three or four hours, 
 and when it was over, our bill was, one man killed and five 
 wounded ; that of the enemy, seven killed and a number 
 wounded. We had also two horses killed and a man 
 wounded by a roundshot in camp. My Pathans behaved 
 very gallantly. The fight was prolonged for some time by 
 the circumstance of a Sing being shot in the open be- 
 tween the two parties, and his friends wishing to carry off 
 the body while his late enemies wished, if possible, to pre- 
 vent this. At last some of the Sings stole up and fas- 
 tened a rope to the dead man's leg and then dragged him 
 back to their cover. My men were exposed to cannon- 
 ade from the fort as well as to the fire of their immediate 
 adversaries. I did my best to give our fellows a lift by 
 bringing down the zumboorahs opposite the nullah, thereby 
 enfilading the enemy. 
 
 ^December i8. — The enemy, rather sickened by the 
 fight of yesterday, kept within their walls. I received a 
 message from their adjutant of artillery that, if I would 
 give him a free pass, he would come out of the fort with all 
 the Mussulmans. I gave him this, but he did not come. 
 
 '■December 19. — Witnessed a dreadful sight in the 
 morning. Proceeding as usual on my morning round of 
 the batteries, I came upon a group of men surrounding a 
 prostrate individual. I have seen all sorts of wounds by
 
 -1849 MOOLTAX — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE iSl 
 
 cannon, bullet, and sword, but never aught so appalling as 
 this. Imagine a man in full health and strength, with all 
 his senses about him, eyes in full play, &c., but with the 
 whole of the jawbones, teeth, nose, tongue and everything 
 blown clean away by a roundshot, and then believe me 
 when I say that for three or four seconds I was under the 
 impression that the unfortunate was Gholam Hussan Khan, 
 my chief adviser and assistant, the dress being similar. It 
 turned out, however, to be another man, who had (how 
 strange is fate in such matters !) only arrived the night 
 before. It was a dreadful picture of war and its agree- 
 abilities. 
 
 'December 20. — The trenches are carrying on dail}-, 
 but the ground is very hard and the tools of the country 
 very inferior. ^leer Alim Khan is threatening to come 
 down with three or four hundred men and throw himself 
 into the fort to reinforce the garrison. To guard against 
 this I have for two nights been obliged to turn out a force 
 to keep a look-out for him, and have enlisted the Murwut 
 mu Hicks to watch the roads and prevent any parties 
 coming from Bunnoo. 
 
 'December 21. — Beautiful weather now, clear, cold, and 
 frosty, but the cold is excessive. That horrid fort stands 
 between me and the pageant at Mooltan. How am I to get 
 rid of it ? I am afraid the Derah pop-guns arc not equal 
 to sweeping it from my path. 
 
 ' December 22. — Trenches going on, and the enemy 
 tolerably quiet. 
 
 ' December 23. — The garrison sent for one Golah Shah 
 of this place, begging him to make terms for them with 
 me.
 
 1 82 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 ' I let the matter go on, but continued making my 
 batteries and preparing for war. The report of the advent 
 of the Dooranees has greatly cooled down now. 
 
 ' December 24 {Sunday). — No firing. The main battery 
 ready. It appeared to me that the garrison had really 
 some wish to come to terms, and I therefore said that I 
 would not fire in the morning till I heard how Golah 
 Shah had sped in his mission. Took a sketch of the snowy 
 mountains of Koorrum. 
 
 ' December 25 {Christmas Day). — Dear old Fitty's birth- 
 day. 
 
 ' Waited till mid-day, when Golah Shah reported that 
 the garrison were making difficulties. I saw the whole 
 thing was humbug, so proceeded immediately to the 
 batteries and ordered the guns to be opened on the fort. 
 No sooner said than done, and before we had fired three 
 shots the fort guns returned the compliment. The enemy's 
 fire was certainly formidable. Their third shot hit one of 
 our guns in the muzzle, striking it like a bell. Another, 
 soon after, struck a board filling up a spare embrasure and 
 knocked down a gunner who was near it. Every shot of 
 theirs either struck the battery or flew just over it, and 
 every other minute we were enveloped in a cloud of earth 
 and dust struck up by a shot. Our fire was lamentably 
 weak ; the shot are so small that they make no impression 
 on the walls. 
 
 ' December 26. — Batteries playing but doing little 
 damage. Our batteries go to pieces with our own fire. I 
 have made gabions for them, but the materials are very 
 bad. 
 
 ' Six men deserted from the fort.
 
 -1849 MOOLTAX — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE I 83 
 
 ' December 27. — Two men came out of the fort. They 
 report that the night before last Metah Sing got into the 
 fort with four or five men. It remains to be seen whether 
 he has brought any promises of reinforcements. This is 
 untoward, and owing to the difficulties of investing a 
 place in a hostile country with a small and inadequate 
 force. 
 
 ' Heard in the evening that some Sikh and Dooranec 
 horse had been seen at a place a short distance from this. 
 The intelligence reached me about ten p.m., and I imme- 
 diately turned out strong parties to occupy positions on 
 the roads. Went out with the cavalry myself The fort 
 people in much agitation, burning blue lights and firing 
 continuously. 
 
 '■December 28. — A man of ours wanted a sword to-day, 
 so started for the neighbourhood of the fort, and there 
 squatted down with some Sings who were washing them- 
 selves, professing to be a traveller. After a few minutes' 
 affectionate conversation he snatched up one of the Sings' 
 swords and bolted, followed by an awful hullabaloo and a 
 shower of round and small shot, but carrying off his prize 
 in safety. 
 
 ' December 29. — Heard from Edwardes in the morning 
 that he was going to send off a thousand men to my 
 assistance. 
 
 ' Having decided to take up positions in the town of 
 Lukkee I sent Khuda Buksh Khan with 400 men and 
 some auxiliaries to march round by the village of old 
 I.ukkee, enter the new town, and take up positions which, 
 with our advanced parallel, will complete the investment of 
 the fort.
 
 1 84 REYNELL TAYLOR 1«48- 
 
 ' December 30. — Three men wounded. A man in the 
 fort lost both his arms yesterday by a roundshot. 
 
 * I hear rumours of the possible approach of the Sikhs, 
 and also of the Dooranees. The enemy's zumboorah balls 
 ricochet in the most ungentlemanly fashion, rendering any 
 rampart useless. I saw a man wounded by a zumboorah 
 ball to-day, when standing completely behind the rampart. 
 'December 31. — Sunday. Stopped the firing in the 
 batteries. Heard from the mullicks that they had received 
 purwannahs from Khoajah Mahomet Khan, in which every 
 one is directed to quit me. This is serious ; but what is 
 to be done ? 
 
 ' Good-night all. 
 
 'January i. — Good-bye to '48. It is chalked up on 
 the list ; its acts and accidents are unalterable, and, like 
 a dead man's character, it must undergo severe criticism, 
 reproach, and misrepresentation without a possibility of 
 repairing errors, making amends, or refuting calumny. 
 
 ' Opened the batteries cheerfully in the morning, making 
 some good practice, but all to little purpose. Our guns 
 are so indifferent that, with the most careful laying, we 
 cannot, even at this short distance, make sure of hitting 
 within ten yards of the same place twice running. 
 
 '■January 2. — More reports of the Dooranees. These 
 horrid reports keep the hopes of the Lukkee garrison alive 
 and double my difficulties. 
 
 'January 3. — The report is very strong again that the 
 Dooranees are coming. I hardly know what to believe, 
 but have to keep both eyes very wide open. 
 
 - ' Went to the trenches during the night, and while there 
 a great hullabaloo took place. Some men sent by Meer
 
 -1849 MOOLTAX — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 1 85 
 
 Alim Khan tried to get into the fort, and some succeeded. 
 The hubbub in the fort was great, and we thought they 
 were mustering for an attack on the trenches. We could 
 hear their conversation and understood they came from 
 Meer xA-lim Khan, that there were more behind, &c. I 
 was therefore obliged to turn out 200 men to strengthen 
 the pickets and keep good watch outside the town ; and 
 two more men were subsequently seized. 
 
 ^January 4. — Xo particular news. 
 
 ^January 5. — Commenced making our new battery, 
 which is close on the nullah, and very near the fort. The 
 garrison are making a ravelin to protect their ditch and 
 wall ; rather a bore, as it is in the very place where I in- 
 tended to mine. The military spirit of the rascals is 
 admirable, but I had rather they had less of it. 
 
 'January 6. — Heard by a native letter that ^looltan 
 city had been taken.' Grand news. 
 
 'January 7. — Received another letter confirming the 
 account of the capture of the city of Mooltan, so ordered 
 a salute to be fired in the batteries, the guns being turned 
 away from the fort for the purpose. The garrison fired 
 roundshot among us as an answer to our salute. This was 
 all swagger. The fall of Mooltan is death to the hopes of 
 the rebels, and they are not good for an inch of ground 
 between the Sutlcj and the Indus. We are getting very 
 near the fort now ; one could see a cock sparrow on the 
 parapet wink from the foremost parallel. No overlands ; 
 I have not received a letter since I know not when. 
 
 'January 8. — Three men wounded in the trenches to- 
 day. We are hard put t(; it for a rolling sap, as there is no 
 ' Mooltan city fell on January 2,
 
 1 86 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848- 
 
 wood in the country suitable. We tried sacks stuffed with 
 Boosah (chopped straw), but the garrison guns soon walked 
 a couple of roundshot through them. I have now sewn 
 four sacks together, and had them stuffed with cotton. 
 These will afford protection against musketry but not 
 against roundshot ; earth banks are the only safe stoppers 
 for them. 
 
 ^January g. — We had a severe cannonade and fusillade 
 to-day, and an orderly of mine had his arm smashed by a 
 roundshot. The garrison lost six men killed. 
 
 ' At night, when I was in the trenches, a man came into 
 our lines from the fort, and it subsequently transpired that 
 he had come to sue for terms for the whole garrison. 
 
 ^January lo. — Our batteries opened a spirited fire this 
 morning, and kept it up so well that at last some impression 
 appeared to be made on the wall and part actually fell. 
 Golah Shah Syud went, with my permission, to see what 
 the fort people would say. I told him I must have their 
 request in writing, and that he must be answerable for their 
 not playing false. He returned in a short time with a 
 petition from the garrison, couched in very mild terms, 
 requesting that they might have their pay and a safe con- 
 duct to the river. These conditions I eventually granted 
 if they would come out at once, as I feared that a night's 
 reflection would be fatal. 
 
 ' Before night my Thannah (guard) was placed in the 
 fort. 
 
 ' So much for Lukkee. 
 
 '■January ii. — Rode early to see the fort, which has 
 suffered severely. It contains two excellent guns, a 
 mortar, and four large zumboorahs.
 
 -1849 MOOLTAN — THE SIEGE OF LUKKEE 1 8/ 
 
 ' I was quite overwhelmed by the congratulations of 
 my own men, and encountered the hearty " Mobareek ! " 
 (" Well done ! ") at every turn. Insignificant as the 
 affair is, compared to what is going on in the great world, 
 I am very thankful that it has had a successful issue. In 
 all common probability my future employment will be in 
 these provinces, and having been successful in a military 
 undertaking like the present will give me a certain in- 
 fluence in the country. 
 
 ' So much for Lukkee.' 
 
 Yes, but it will not do to leave it thus. It is necessary 
 to refer to the view taken of Reynell Taylor's performance 
 by those under whom he served. In a letter to the Resi- 
 dent at Lahore, dated January 19, Edwardes writes : — 
 
 ' I feel sure that Lieutenant Taylor will already have 
 earned your warmest approbation, by completing the re- 
 duction of Lukkee, the key of the Derajat, in the face of 
 an obstinate resistance from within and the most dis- 
 couraging rumours of Dooranee invasion from without ; 
 this too, without one regular soldier, and with means which 
 would have been altogether inadequate in the hands of 
 anyone less resolute. The value of the fort of Lukkee 
 is well understood upon the Trans-Indus frontier, and the 
 rapid and unexpected march of Dost Mahomed's son from 
 Khorassan to Bunnoo was solely to raise the siege of 
 that place ; and had he succeeded (that is, had he arrived 
 twenty-four hours sooner) Lieutenant Taylor must have 
 fallen back behind the Peyzoo pass, in Tak, leaving Mur- 
 wut and Esakhail in the hands of the Dooranees, a reverse 
 which would have placed the rest of the Derajat in danger 
 and necessitated the despatch of a regular brigade, at
 
 1 88 REYNELL TAYLOR 1848-49 
 
 least, Trans-Indus, to prevent the left flank of Lord 
 Gough's operations from being turned. As it is, I believe 
 that Lieutenant Taylor will be able to confine the Doora- 
 nees to Bunnoo, and preserve the peace of the frontier 
 throughout the war, without the assistance of one regular 
 soldier from the army of the Punjab.' 
 
 ' I concur with you,' writes the Resident in answer to 
 this letter of Edwardes's, ' in all you say of the gallantry 
 and good conduct of Lieutenant Taylor, which entitle him 
 to very high praise. 
 
 ' Lieutenant Taylor's perseverance, gallantry, and judi- 
 cious and vigorous arrangements in the siege against 
 Lukkee are most creditable to him ; and his success, at 
 this moment, may be of great benefit to our interests in the 
 Derajat.' 
 
 From ' The Camp, Ferozepore,' came this : — 
 
 ' The Governor-General directs that you will commu- 
 nicate to Lieutenant Taylor his Lordship's praise for the 
 gallantry and perseverance displayed by that officer in his 
 proceedings at Lukkee.' 
 
 Once more, and I have done. In the Devonshire home 
 where Reynell Taylor's wife and family now live, there is 
 a silent monument to this same siege of Lukkee. It is a 
 Sikh mortar, and on it is the following inscription : — 
 
 Sikh Mortar. 
 
 Taken at Lukkee, on the Indus, January 1849, by the Irregular 
 Force under Lieutenant Reynell G. Taylor, and presented to him in 
 token of regard and approval by Sir H. Lawrence, K.C.B., President 
 of the Board of Administration, Lahore.
 
 1 89 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO. 
 1849-1852. 
 
 Reynell Taylor's first care on gaming possession of 
 Lukkee was to prepare for immediate contingencies. His 
 position was a most critical one, and there was cause indeed 
 for the gravest anxiety. The citadel of Mooltan still held 
 out against us ; the army under Lord Gough had not as 
 yet gained any decided success Cis-Indus ; Attock had 
 fallen into the enemy's hands after a most gallant resist- 
 ance ; Dhuleepgurh was occupied by Mahomed Azim Khan 
 with three thousand men ; and Reynell Taylor's small 
 force, as he writes himself, ' was the only obstacle to aggres- 
 sion west of the Jhelum.' Nothing daunted, however, he set 
 to work with a will to fill in his trenches with all speed, to 
 repair the damage the fort had sustained, and to take up a 
 position before the walls for fighting if necessary. At the 
 same time he wrote to Edwardes and to the Resident, 
 asking for reinforcements, and pointing out the risk there 
 was of an immediate invasion of the Derajat by the 
 Afghans. ' The expression used by one and all of the 
 chiefs here,' he writes to Henry Lawrence, is ' to the effect 
 that in the grand game now playing Mooltan is an im- 
 portant affair, and the campaign on the Jhckun is important
 
 IQO REYNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 too, but that Stopping up this road and warding off Afghan 
 aggression here is equal in importance to either of them 
 This is the opinion of Mussulmans of more than ordinary 
 intelligence, and I must say that, in a minor degree, it is 
 my own, in so far that it appears to me that if our armies 
 are to cross the Jhelum their flank would be turned by an 
 Afghan army descending into the Derajat. Of the local 
 injury and ruin of our influence that would ensue I need say 
 nothing.' 
 
 For ten days after the fall of Lukkee ' no news, good, 
 bad, or indifferent,' reached him, but on January 21 he 
 learnt ' that an action had been fought, and the Sikhs 
 defeated, at Chillianwallah,' and on the same day he 
 heard also of the approach of reinforcements under Pearse 
 (afterwards Major-General and C.B.), amounting to 1,000 
 irregulars and two companies of regular infantry. This 
 was followed, four days later, by still better news, and on 
 January 25 he writes in his diary : — ' My birthday, making 
 me twenty-seven — tremendous age ! At night received 
 first a letter from Pollock, dated the 21st, saying that either 
 Moolraj would come in or they would go in the next day, and 
 immediately afterwards came an express from Edwardes 
 conveying the joyful announcement that Moolraj had given 
 in and was a prisoner in Napier's tent. The news spread 
 like wildfire in my camp, and all the Khans came tumbling 
 out of their beds to congratulate me. We fired no end of 
 a salute and wakened the echoes of the hills all round.' 
 
 Still many anxious days followed, and it was not until 
 February 6 that he was joined by Pearse's reinforcements. 
 Constant references are made at this time to letters from 
 friends congratulating him on his success at Lukkee, and
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO I91 
 
 one of these runs : — ' Received a letter to-day (6th) from the 
 Governor-General, containing his approbation of the Lukkce 
 business, my first communication from Lord Dalhousie. I 
 am a lucky fellow, to be sure, to have gained the approval 
 of all friends and companions.' 
 
 The reinforcements which had now reached him nearly 
 doubled the strength of his army, but the new troops do 
 not appear to have been very dependable, for on the 1 1 th 
 he writes :— ' I yesterday heard, through a spy, that some of 
 the Sikhs in camp were plotting to join Mahomed Azim, 
 so to-night I sent some men of my own to them in disguise, 
 professing to be messengers from the Sirdar. John Sing 
 fell into the trap completely, sent all kinds of affectionate 
 messages to the Sirdar, and amongst other things asserted 
 that the report of the fall of Mooltan was all a lie. Plea- 
 sant allies these.' 
 
 As Reynell Taylor's force increased at Lukkee, so 
 Mahomed Azim's appeared to do at Dhuleepgurh, and 
 daily salutes were to be heard in that direction as fresh 
 recruits joined his standard. There was no lack of reports 
 of the advance of the Dooranees, but on the 19th an end 
 was finally put to all anxiety from this quarter. ' While 
 sitting outside my tent to-day a man came struggling 
 through the sentries, trying to make his way towards me, 
 but as he would not tell his errand, of course he failed in 
 his object. When he found that he could get no nearer, 
 he roared out from the place where he stood that the 
 Dooranees Jiad bolted. This news was quickly confirmed 
 by a dozen other messengers, who arrived in breathless 
 haste and with blistered feet, each anxious to be the first 
 to communicate the intelligence, and to earn the reward of
 
 192 REYNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 the bringer of good tidings.' Reynell Taylor immediately 
 despatched a strong force under Gholam Hussan Khan to 
 seize Dhuleepgurh, and on the 22nd further reinforcements 
 under Pollock (now Sir Richard Pollock, K. C.S.I.) having 
 come in, his position in the Derajat was secured. 
 
 Meanwhile, on February 21, the great army of the 
 Khalsa received its death-blow at Gujerat. Rumours of 
 the fight reached Reynell Taylor on the 28th, but these 
 were not confirmed until March i, when he received a full 
 account of the battle from Hodson. On the same day a 
 letter reached him from Henry Lawrence, proposing that 
 he should advance on Kohat and Peshawur and co-operate 
 with General Gilbert, who was then employed in driving 
 the remains of the Sikh army northwards. 
 
 The force at Reynell Taylor's disposal had now risen 
 to upwards of 6,000 men, and he calculated that, after pro- 
 viding for the garrison of Lukkee, Dhuleepgurh, and Esak- 
 hail, he would be able to take the field with 4,000 cavalry 
 and infantry and 9 horse artillery guns. 
 
 In a long and able letter in answer to the Resident's 
 suggestions, he lays before him his plan of advance, and, 
 after asking that further reinforcements, as well as ammu- 
 nition and money, may be sent him, he concludes : — ' You 
 call upon me to say whether I think m}'self competent to 
 lead an army into one of the most difficult countries I 
 have ever seen, Huzara perhaps excepted. It would, of 
 course, be gross presumption in me to entertain an idea of 
 the kind, but, under the circumstances, I cannot see that 
 you could find at a moment's notice any man more likeh' 
 to be equal to the task. Major Edwardes and General 
 Cortlandt are both thoroughly emplo}-ed at Mooltan, and
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO 193 
 
 Nicholson, Lumsden, and others have all their parts to 
 play. I have seen the country, and know something of 
 the people, and should hope to acquit myself as a man. I 
 have a tried hand in my second in command in Pollock ; 
 and Pearse, MacMahon, and James are all good men and 
 true.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor's first move was to send Pollock with 
 the Esakhail horse to Kala Bagh to open communication 
 with Gilbert if possible, and to learn all he could of the 
 condition of the Kohat country. He then, in view of the 
 possible destruction of the bridge of boats at Attock by 
 the Afghans, seized all the boats within reach on the Indus, 
 and sent them up to Kala Bagh ; and on the 23rd, after 
 throwing a strong garrison into Lukkee, he set out with the 
 remainder of his force to join Pollock. 
 
 There was, by this time, little chance of further oppo- 
 sition, and on April 3 Reynell Taylor occupied Kohat 
 without resistance. 
 
 I cannot do better than quote here a few lines written 
 by Sir Richard Pollock, which refer to this period of 
 Reynell Taylor's life : — 
 
 ' Directly Mooltan fell I was sent off in a hurry to 
 Taylor's assistance, and I was very soon sent on by him to 
 Kala Bagh. Well do I remember Reynell Taylor's simple 
 life and self-devotion while I was with him. He was lite- 
 rally on duty day and night, and encouraging all around 
 him by his example. I can say undoubtedly that in all 
 my ofificial life I was never associated with any official 
 superior who influenced me so greatly, or who so won my 
 admiration. His was the most beautiful career I have 
 ever seen. Of the religious side of his life I need say 
 
 o
 
 194 REYNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 nothing, except perhaps this, that though in after years we 
 seldom or never met, I ahvays looked upon him as a close 
 friend in the best sense of the word— as one who had 
 shown me, more than any human being I have met, how 
 high a standard a Christian could not only aspire to, but 
 actually live up to. I believe his sense of duty was never 
 dormant' 
 
 While Reynell Taylor was thus busily engaged Trans- 
 Indus, important events had taken place at Lahore. The 
 fatal proclamation had been read on March 30 ; the land 
 of the Five Rivers had ceased to be a separate kingdom ; 
 the arms had been taken away from the soldiery ; the 
 Crown jewels had been confiscated ; the descendant of the 
 great Runjeet Sing had been deposed and the throne over- 
 turned ; and well might the Sikhs say ' that Runjeet was 
 indeed dead,' for his territories had now become a part of 
 the British Empire in India. 
 
 The news of the annexation reached Reynell Taylor 
 the day after he had occupied Kohat, and he writes in his 
 diary : — ' Annexation ! Received a letter and copy of the 
 proclamation from Coxe, and also a letter from Sir 
 Henry, from which I think he disapproves of the above 
 measure.' And here the diaries come abruptly to an end. 
 
 Of the numerous letters Reynell Taylor received from 
 those high in office, congratulating him on his exploits in 
 the Derajat, only one has been preserved : it is from Sir 
 F. Currie, and is dated Lahore, March 29 : — ' I congratulate 
 you,' he writes, ' with all my heart on your success. Your 
 exertions have been most valuable ; to them are owing the 
 present allegiance of the Derajat and great part of the 
 Sindh Sagur Doab, and I rejoice to learn that your con-
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO 195 
 
 duct is appreciated here and at home, and to believe that 
 you have secured promotion and distinction. They cannot 
 reward you beyond your merits. I hope Lord Dalhousie 
 will have you king of Bunnoo — it is fairly your province ; 
 and if you chose to hold out against an order to remove, it 
 would take an army to dislodge you.' 
 
 In proposing a vote of thanks to the army in the 
 House of Commons, Sir John Hobhou^e referred to Rey- 
 nell Taylor's services in the following words : — ' Lieutenant 
 Taylor was employed in Bunnoo. He was sent to try and 
 release the British prisoners at Peshawur, and his conduct 
 is well spoken of in a despatch from the Governor-General. 
 (Hear, hear.) It is one of the peculiar characteristics of 
 the British officer that when, even after a comparatively 
 short period of service, he is placed in situations of the 
 highest responsibility, he shows himself equal to that 
 responsibility, and performs his duty with all the judgment 
 that can be expected from more mature and long experi- 
 ence.' 
 
 For his services Reynell Taylor received the war meddl 
 and clasp, and from a Lieutenant he was made Local Major 
 in the Punjab, his rank being confirmed in the army in 
 the following year.' But there was something more than 
 this. The Punjab was now to be governed by a Board 
 of Administration composed of three members — Henry 
 Lawrence, John Lawrence, and Charles Greville Mansell. 
 The newly annexed province was to be divided into seven 
 divisions, and to each of these a Commissioner was to be 
 appointed. Under the Commissioners were to be a number 
 
 ' Taylor was gazetted Captain December 15, 1851, and Major the following 
 day.
 
 196 REVNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 of Deput}' Commissioners, assisted by a further staff of 
 Assistant and extra Assistant Commissioners, drawn from 
 the uncovenanted servants of Government. These last two 
 classes were either Europeans, Indo-Britons, or natives of 
 pure descent, but the higher posts were held by the very 
 pick of the Indian services.^ A great number of officers 
 had already been collected to fill these appointments pre- 
 vious to the issue of the proclamation, and these were now 
 rapidly distributed over the different divisions. Bunnoo, 
 to which was now added Derah Ishmael Khan, fell to 
 Reynell Taylor, and on March 3 1 he was appointed Deputy 
 Commissioner of the Northern Derajat, or Derah Ishmael 
 Khan district. Some idea of the extent of his jurisdiction 
 may be realised from the following figures. It measured 
 from end to end 1 50 miles ; its average breadth varied 
 from 50 to 60 miles ; it embraced 10,300 square miles of 
 country, and contained a population numbering no less than 
 700,000 souls. Of the character of the inhabitants we 
 have already seen something ; but this district, which is 
 quoted in the Punjab Reports as ' in every respect the most 
 important of the whole of the Derajat,' which was bordered 
 by wild tribes acting in open hostility to the Government, 
 and in which there were no roads or fortified posts, had 
 now to be held and governed by Reynell Taylor with a 
 small force of police and irregular troops only. 
 
 The task was a heavy one. The fiscal department had 
 to be set in order ; justice had to be administered ; a force 
 of police had to be organised, and a stop put to crime ; 
 roads had to be laid out ; agriculture and trade fostered and 
 encouraged ; the mines of the Salt Range had to be taken 
 ' Kaye's Sepoy War, vol. i. p. 52.
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO 1 97 
 
 in hand, and the conflicting interests of many claimants 
 in the wild region between Bahadoor Khail and Meeranzye 
 settled and arranged for ; the interests of the peaceable 
 portion of the population had to be protected ; and, perhaps 
 the most difficult thing of all in such a country, the incur- 
 sions of the wild tribes from the mountains had to be 
 guarded against all along the border. 
 
 I cannot venture into these, or into the many other 
 matters which came under Reynell Taylor's supervision 
 during the next three years, even were there any materials 
 among the papers enabling me to do so. Many of the ques- 
 tions he had to settle were of a very complex character 
 such, for instance, as satisfying the claims of the men of 
 the native levies who had done us such good service, and 
 whose interests had now to be looked after ; or defining 
 the rights and interests of certain tribes in the salt mines ; 
 or mediating in the case of blood feuds. All these matters 
 and many more, deeply engaged his attention ; some were 
 settled, but others, as in the case of tribal feuds, were 
 altogether beyond his reach, and remained unsettled long 
 after his connection with the district ceased. 
 
 But though Reynell Taylor has left no record of his 
 work as Deputy Commissioner of the Upper Derajat, one 
 of those who worked under him at this time — General 
 Holled Coxe — has put together some notes which he has 
 most kindly entrusted to me, and I cannot do better, there- 
 fore, than quote from the writings of so able an eye- 
 witness. 
 
 ' I think,' he writes, 'that the difficulties attending the 
 administration of districts during the early part of our rule 
 in the Punjab have hardly been sufficiently appreciated.
 
 198 REYNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 ' These were serious enough in the central parts of the 
 province, but they assumed far larger proportions when to 
 internal management was added the care of an extended 
 frontier, where the tribes within our limits were hardly 
 reclaimed from savagery, and those beyond the border 
 recognised no law but their own will, which, in the matter 
 of aggression on our subjects, was only limited by their 
 power of offence. 
 
 ' The means placed at Reynell Taylor's disposal for the 
 military and civil supervision of the district were at first 
 ludicrously inadequate. The .military force at Bunnoo 
 consisted of one regular police battalion and a detail of 
 irregular levies, and with these he held the frontier until 
 more than a year had elapsed, when he was joined by a 
 detachment of the Guide Corps. It was not until early in 
 1 85 1, nearly two years after annexation, that the arrival 
 of the 2nd Punjab Cavalry under Captain Browne (now Sir 
 S. Browne, V.C), a corps of Punjab infantry, and a battery 
 of artillery, placed the garrison of Bunnoo on a regular 
 footing, and gave Taylor some relief from the pressure of 
 military work, of which, so far, he had had to bear the 
 entire responsibility in addition to his civil and political 
 duties. 
 
 ' At Derail Ishmael Khan matters were on a better 
 footing. Within a few months after annexation the station 
 of Derah, which was about forty or fifty miles from the 
 frontier — not like Bunnoo, under its very shadow — was 
 garrisoned by a regiment of Punjab cavalr}^ one of infantry, 
 a regular police battalion, and a battery of artillery. 
 Taylor was fortunate in the presence of two excellent 
 officers in the Derah garrison — Younghusband (now
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO 199 
 
 General Younghusband, C.S.I.), who commanded the 
 poHce battahon, and Fitzgerald, commanding the 5th 
 Punjab Cavalry. Pearse, who had done good service at 
 Mooltan, was for a short time in charge of the civil depart- 
 ments, and was succeeded by Simson, a distinguished 
 officer of the Bengal Civil Service, and subsequently Judge 
 of the chief court ; and as his assistant in Bunnoo for nearly 
 two years after, when I joined him in 185 1, Reynell Taylor 
 had MacMahon, who had distinguished himself in action 
 at Mooltan. 
 
 ' As clerks for preparing the voluminous accounts which 
 were called for, and which were all the more complicated 
 from the entire absence of any previous system, and from 
 the irregularity with w^hich the revenue had been collected 
 hitherto, Taylor w^as furnished with two half-caste writers, 
 who had no single recommendation beyond that of writing 
 a legible hand. They had had no training of any kind, 
 and were utterly ignorant of method in keeping accounts.' 
 
 With a staff so inadequate as this, it is no wonder the 
 revenue settlement in the Upper Derajat remained uncom- 
 pleted for some considerable time after annexation, and in 
 explanation of this the Punjab Reports for 1849-51 state 
 that ' Major Taylor was so much absorbed with the defence 
 of the frontier and the superintendence of the military 
 details, all of which for the first two years fell to his lot, 
 that he found it impracticable to assess the land tax. Out 
 of some five lacs of revenue only two were assessed, the 
 remainder of the revenue being collected mainly in kind.' 
 
 To secure peace within the border was Reynell Taylor's 
 first care. During the time he was at Dhuleepgurh in 1848, 
 he had established a certain number of fortified posts in
 
 200 REYNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 the neighbourhood of the frontier, and he now added to 
 these and connected them by roads. But in some places 
 the district was even then ill-protected against the constant 
 raids of Wuzeeree tribesmen, and Reynell Taylor writes 
 that he would ' not have been surprised at being called up 
 any night to find the whole of the Meree villages in 
 flames.' By degrees the attacks became more frequent, 
 and at last he was authorised to allow one line of villages 
 on the outer circle of Bunnoo to repair their defences and 
 to furnish the inhabitants with the arms of the old Sikh 
 corps. As the villages in question rebuilt their walls, a 
 continual line of posts in close proximity to the roads was 
 established and greater tranquillity secured. But even then, 
 and in spite of constant patrols both by day and night, the 
 mountain tribes still continued their attacks, and it was 
 necessary to be at all times prepared. ' Rockets,' writes 
 General Coxe, ' were distributed at the outposts to be fired 
 at the first indication of danger ; the old native custom of 
 beating a drum at a threatened point, from whence it was 
 taken up by the neighbouring villages in succession, was 
 utilised ; details of horse and foot were held ready to turn 
 out at the first alarm ; and when there was any consider- 
 able gathering of Wuzeerees on the neighbouring hills, the 
 roads and the river bed were patrolled all night.' 
 
 The various tribes of Wuzeerees lived in a great measure 
 by plunder, and it was found almost impossible to keep 
 them in check ; but justice overtook some of them in the 
 end, and after we had borne with them for years their 
 country was entered, and they received the chastisement 
 they so richly merited. In one of the expeditions under- 
 taken against the Wuzeerees some years later, Reynell
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO 20I 
 
 Taylor played an important part, but I shall come to this 
 in due course. 
 
 I must pass to another point. After annexation we 
 necessarily assumed direct control of the salt mines, and 
 those lying Cis-Indus were placed under Reynell Taylor's 
 jurisdiction, as the range in which they were situated 
 traversed his district. In referring to this General Coxe 
 writes : — ' In addition to providing for the safety of his own 
 proper frontier, Taylor was saddled with another difficult 
 charge, the supervision of the Bahadoor Khail salt mines 
 on the north-east of the Bunnoo district. This charge 
 should properly have devolved on the Deputy Commis- 
 sioner of Kohat, and subsequently it was transferred to 
 that officer's jurisdiction. 
 
 ' The mines produced an inferior kind of salt, which 
 the more civilised communities east of the Indus would have 
 despised ; but it was in universal use among the Wuzeerees, 
 who regarded our setting up a regular establishment for 
 the working and protection of the mines with extreme dis- 
 favour. 
 
 ' Before our advent there was some rude kind of under- 
 standing between the Wuzeerees and Khutuks, in whose 
 country the mines were situated, but I fancy the Wuzeerees, 
 from their superior power and numbers, had pretty much 
 their own way. The regular system now introduced, of 
 paying ready money for salt purchased, was so offensive to 
 them that they kept up a constant petty warfare in the 
 neighbourhood, robbing and often murdering travellers, and 
 on one or two occasions even making organised attacks 
 upon the garrison detailed for the protection of the mines. 
 
 ' This charge added greatly to Taylor's labours : there
 
 202 REYNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 was a constant correspondence with the officer command- 
 ing the post, occasional visits in person, frequent communi- 
 cation with the Board of Administration, and numerous 
 cases for judicial treatment connected with thefts and 
 murders in the vicinity of the mines. In fact, the manage- 
 ment of Bahadoor Khail alone was almost enough for one 
 man.' 
 
 That Reynell Taylor's health should have held out in 
 the face of the severe strain his responsibilities entailed 
 upon him says something for his physique, but during the 
 three years of his Deputy Commissionership he remained 
 at his post working in a manner that I am only faintly able 
 to describe, and through all that time I cannot discover 
 that he was once incapacitated by real sickness. Work, 
 especially desk work, did not come easy to him, and his 
 extreme anxiety never to settle anything until he had 
 gone to the very bottom of it and thrashed it out in every 
 detail often added considerably to the difficulties of his 
 position. All he did was done most thoroughly, but a 
 certain want of method caused his arrears of correspond- 
 ence to increase occasionally to an alarming extent, and 
 thus, though nothing was ever neglected, his work was 
 carried through with unnecessary labour to himself ' If 
 he had a fault,' writes Sir Richard Pollock, ' it was a virtue 
 carried to excess. His over conscientiousness now and 
 again caused injustice by delays that might have been 
 avoided, and in criminal cases, especially where a life or 
 lives hung on his decision, he quite tortured himself to get 
 at all possible details and circumstances before taking the 
 responsibility of acquitting or condemning.' 
 
 In the earlier pages of this volume there have occurred
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO 203 
 
 from time to time accounts of sporting expeditions, and 
 though Reynell Taylor remained a keen sportsman to the 
 end of his days he seldom after this allowed himself time 
 for suchlike healthy exercise. He seems to have eschewed 
 even the games he was most fond of, and though he lost 
 none of his interest in them he seldom engaged in them 
 himself ' He would allow himself,' writes General Coxe, 
 'no recreation, and during the many years I passed in 
 intimate association with him I could never induce him 
 to join our shooting-parties, or even take the occasional 
 recreation of a game of cricket or rackets.' 
 
 But it was during the hot season especially that 
 Reynell Taylor was tied to his desk, for at this time of 
 year the Wuzeeree tribes withdrew from the lower hills, and 
 the border was left, in a measure, in peace. From June to 
 September he was consequently more able to turn his 
 attention to judicial and other matters, and it was then 
 that he remained at work from early morning till late at 
 night, never going out except for half an hour before sun- 
 down for a much-needed gallop or walk. So much, indeed, 
 was this the case that the remark, ' Here comes Taylor, as 
 usual, with the bats,' was a standing joke with those about 
 him. 
 
 In the cold season it was different. For eight months 
 in the year he could never count on a night's rest, and he 
 frequently had to ride off at a moment's notice a distance 
 of thirty or forty miles, and take up his quarters in the 
 open with his rough escort at some threatened point of 
 attack. The intimate knowledge of the ground possessed 
 by the tribes, and the extraordinary rapidity of their 
 movements, caused Taylor's small force to be always on
 
 204 REYNELL TAYLOR 1849- 
 
 the watch, but it was the example he set himself that was 
 of such inestimable value, and when he was succeeded in 
 his wardenship it is officially recorded that double the 
 number of troops were then found insufficient to protect 
 the frontier. 
 
 Upon the improvements he effected in the country I 
 need not dwell ; suffice it to say that under his rule many 
 miles of new roads were made ; large tracts which had 
 hitherto been covered by thorn jungle were cleared for 
 cultivation, particularly in the case of an extensive waste 
 called the Nar ; the trade of the country gradually in- 
 creased, and the inhabitants enjoyed a tranquillity to which 
 they had long been strangers. 
 
 In April 1852, after having been in India for nearly 
 twelve years, Reynell Taylor applied for leave to return 
 to England. The application was granted, and in May 
 he was succeeded in the Deputy Commissionership by 
 Nicholson. 
 
 Among the papers that have been entrusted to me 
 there are two letters dealing with this period which show 
 better than any words of mine the estimation in which 
 Reynell Taylor's official superiors held both his character 
 and his services. The first of these is from a Governor- 
 General whose words have sometimes been quoted as not a 
 little sharp and inconsiderate. It runs thus : — 
 
 ' My dear Taylor, — The power of encouraging and 
 rewarding such men as yourself, is one of the few things 
 which makes the labour and anxiety of ruling men in 
 some degree bearable. I have seen your progress with 
 great satisfaction. I earnestly hope you may have future
 
 -1852 ANNEXATION — WORK IN BUNNOO 20$ 
 
 Opportunities for gaining distinction, which you are so well 
 fitted to win. Farewell, my dear Taylor. 
 
 ' Always yours sincerely, 
 
 ' Dalhousie.' 
 
 The second is from the Board of Administration : — 
 
 ' Sir, — On the occasion of your leaving Derah Ishmael 
 Khan to proceed to Europe the Board have desired me to 
 thank you for the zealous, able, and conciliatory conduct 
 which has distinguished you since you came under their 
 orders, answering most fully to the high expectations 
 which their previous knowledge of your character had led 
 them to entertain. They do not hesitate to say that the 
 comparative tranquillity of the Bunnoo and Derah Ishmael 
 Khan frontier and district during the last three years, 
 has been mainly owing to the energy, promptness, and 
 judgment by which your proceedings have been marked. 
 
 ' P. Melvill, Secretary! 
 
 Higher praise than this could not well be given, and 
 these two letters bring to a fitting close the most eventful 
 half perhaps of Reynell Taylor's life. As one of a number 
 of picked men, known as the 'Wardens of the Marches,' 
 his services had been of no common order ; but though the 
 condition of the Upper Derajat rendered his post one of 
 peculiar difficulty and danger, he would have been the last 
 to claim that he did either more than others or more than 
 was his duty. When he had done a thing, even though 
 the service was exceptional, he had almost a horror of 
 being praised for it or being spoken to about it. Nothing 
 he disliked more than to hear a man dilating upon 
 his own exploits, and to such a one he would remark
 
 206 REYNELL TAYLOR 1849-52 
 
 good-naturedly : — ' I should not say too much about it if I 
 were you. You did your duty as best you could, and that's 
 enough.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor was one among many who bore the 
 burden and heat of the day in our early connection with 
 the Punjab ; he toiled as others toiled, seeking for no par- 
 ticular reward, and content in that glow of satisfaction 
 which comes, and must ever come, in return for work well 
 done. 
 
 Perhaps it were better to leave it thus. 
 
 ' All speech and rumour,' says the sage, ' is short-lived, 
 foolish, untrue. Genuine work alone, what thou workest 
 faithfully, that is eternal, as the Almighty Founder and 
 World Builder himself Stand thou by that, and let 
 " Fame " and the rest of it go prating.'
 
 20/ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 RETURN HOME. DHURMSALA DURING THE MUTINY. 
 1852-1S59. 
 
 There are few moments of happiness in a man's life excel- 
 ling those which bring to an end a long period of separation, 
 and there are few men who are better able to appreciate 
 such moments than those who, after braving dangers by 
 sea or by land, return once more to the shelter of their own 
 homes. One thing alone is wanting then to fill the cup to 
 the full — the circle must be intact ; there must be no gaps. 
 
 And such was Reynell Taylor's fortune. After twelve 
 eventful years he returned home to find the same faces 
 to welcome him — father and mother, sisters and brothers ; 
 and when he reached Sandhurst on July 9, 1852, all the 
 members of the family then in England were assembled, 
 there to meet him. Such a home-coming, after so long an 
 interval, is not allowed to many. 
 
 I have little to tell of the first part of Reynell Taylor's 
 leave in England, for there is not much that is worthy of 
 note in the few scattered fragments I have been able to 
 collect. Compton, Haccombe, and Fallapit were, of course, 
 always open to him, and he spent much of his time hunting 
 and shooting at either one or the other. At Compton he 
 had, in his brother-in-law. Lord Willoughby de Broke, the
 
 208 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 Master of the Warwickshire Hounds, and at Haccombe 
 and Fallapit, though the Haccombe kennels were no longer 
 tenanted and Mr. Fortescue had given up his harriers, he 
 hunted over the Tiverton and Dartmoor countries with 
 Mr. T. Carew and ' Squire ' Trelawnay respectively. 
 
 After a winter spent in this way the whole family met 
 at Sandhurst for Ascot races, the 4th June at Eton, and the 
 great camp and review at Chobham. Sir Walter Carew 
 had his coach at Sandhurst, so locomotion was made easy, 
 and the party was finally brought to a close by a visit to 
 London, where the father, the sisters, and the three brothers 
 attended the Queen's Drawing-room together. Later on 
 in the summer the greater part of the family met again at 
 the Kingstown regatta, the Carews and the Willoughbys 
 being there in the ' Beatrice,' and the Fortescues in the 
 ' Fancy.' Reynell Taylor joined them in July, visiting the 
 Dublin Exhibition and being present at the review in the 
 Phoenix Park. A tour in the South of Ireland followed, 
 ' the pleasure of which,' writes one, ' will never be forgotten. 
 The genial party on the coach, the lovely weather, the 
 beautiful scenery, and the under-current of fun that always 
 accompanied Reynell's thoughts and ways, are bright spots 
 indeed to look back to.' 
 
 So the summer months flew by and winter came again 
 bringing with it a fresh train of occupations and amuse- 
 ments. Troubles and sorrows seemed far off, no doubt ; as 
 far off as they always do until sunny smiles are suddenly 
 replaced by hot tears, and lithe hearts give way before a 
 dull aching sense of pain. It is ever so, and ever will be so. 
 In the whirl of life and the mad race after a phantom ; in 
 the quick ' five-and-forty minutes,' when we pride ourselves
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 209 
 
 in being well placed ; in the rush through the dancing 
 waves, two planks under, in a fresh breeze ; in the battle 
 and the march ; and in the heart's desire attained at last, do 
 we think of the scythesman at our elbow, who is mowing 
 us down at the rate of sixty a minute all the world over, 
 and ready in the next sweep, perhaps, to take us too 
 among the rest ? Why should we ? Are we to meet 
 trouble half way, or are we to say to ourselves : ' Sufficient 
 unto the day is the evil thereof?' Because the Egyptians 
 were wont in former times to set up a corpse at the table, 
 are we in these days, when luxury has come to be a fine 
 art, are we to do the same ? Are we to have ever before our 
 eyes the famished wanderer, the tattered heap of rags there 
 sleeping on the cold flags ? Let every man answer these 
 questions, each for himself 
 
 Sorrow comes ever suddenly, and in the midst of their 
 happiness a heavy trouble fell on the Taylor family, for in 
 the winter of 1853-4 Thomas William Taylor was taken 
 to his long home. He had been staying at Kineton in 
 December, but left there before Christmas for Haccombe. 
 Here he caught cold and was confined to his bed. Reynell 
 Taylor was sent for, and the old soldier's few remaining 
 days were gladdened by the presence of his youngest son, 
 • his Benjamin,' as he loved to call him, who scarcely ever 
 left his side. 
 
 At the end of the first week of the new year in- 
 flammation of the lungs supervened, and on January 8, 
 1854, conscious to the last, he died. Yet stay. A few 
 moments before the end Reynell Taylor approached the 
 bed, and saluting his father, asked in Hindostanee, "■ KucJik 
 hookum hat, sahib ?' ( ' Have you any further orders, 
 
 P
 
 2IO REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 sir ? '). The old General replied in the same language, 
 and then his spirit fled. 
 
 Late in the evening of January i6, when the earth was 
 covered in a white mantle and the moon shone brightly in 
 a clear sky, the body was conveyed from Haccombe to 
 Ogwell House, and behind, tramping in the snow, followed 
 Reynell Taylor as the sole guard. Ogwell House was un- 
 tenanted at the time, and the family met there the next 
 day for the funeral in Denbury Churchyard. ' When we 
 were all waiting,' writes one of the family, ' my sister called 
 my attention to my brother's expression. It conveyed the 
 same thought to both our minds, that the evening's 
 moonlight walk, and the watch in the silent home, had 
 raised his thoughts far above all earthly sorrow ; it was 
 truly as if he heard a voice from heaven, saying : " Blessed 
 are the dead which die in the Lord ; for they rest from 
 their labours." ' 
 
 But it is time to brush away the tears ; the transition 
 from sorrow and trouble to a degree of happiness again has, 
 thank God, nothing impossible in it. 
 
 'Tis sometimes natural to be glad, 
 And no man can be always sad 
 Unless he wills to have it so. 
 
 And as sorrow gives place to joy again, so bells in the 
 same church tower toll sorrowfully or ring joyfully — one 
 day for a dear brother departed, the next for two young 
 hearts united, and thus 
 
 This chequer'd life jogs on, and so 
 The world keeps rolling. 
 
 Within a year of General Taylor's death Reynell
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 211 
 
 Taylor was married to Ann Holdsworth, daughter of 
 Arthur Holdsworth, Esq., of Widdicombe, Devon. The 
 wedding took place on December 14, 1854, in Stohenham 
 Church, the parish church of Widdicombe, and the honey- 
 moon was spent at the Rectory, East Ogwell. 
 
 Taylor's leave was now drawing rapidly to a close. 
 The few remaining weeks left him were spent at the 
 different family homes, and on February 4, 1855, in com- 
 pany with a wife only seventeen years of age, he set sail 
 again for India. 
 
 After an uneventful voyage he reached Calcutta on 
 March 21, being met by his brother, with whom he stayed 
 for a few days at Bancoolah. 
 
 During Taylor's absence an important change had taken 
 place in the government of the Punjab. Henry Lawrence 
 had retired, the Board of Administration had been abolished, 
 and John Lawrence, as Chief Commissioner, and assisted by 
 two principal Commissioners, now controlled the country. 
 
 The retirement of Henry Lawrence came as a severe 
 blow to many, for it has been given to few men to be be- 
 loved in the way that he was. The subject of his retire- 
 ment, and all to do with it, has been ably treated elsewhere 
 and there is little need to refer further to it here, but I am 
 justified in saying that in the weeping crowd which assem- 
 bled to bid Henry Lawrence farewell on February 20, 
 1853, and in the mournful procession which accompanied 
 him when he turned his back for the last time upon 
 Lahore, nobody more truly lamented his loss than Reynell 
 Taylor, who, though far away in England, had served 
 under him long, and learnt to love him faithfully and well. 
 
 By the rules then in force, an officer returning from 
 
 p 2
 
 212 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 leave had no right to the appointment he had previously- 
 held/ but had to wait until a vacancy occurred ; and it was 
 with no small satisfaction, therefore, that Reynell Taylor, 
 a few days after his arrival in India, received the following 
 letter from the Governor-General, dated March 30 : — 
 
 ' My dear Taylor — The post of Commandant of the 
 Guide Corps will be temporarily vacant, probably till the 
 end of the year. If it would suit you to hold this until 
 something else turns up, I shall be very glad to nominate 
 you to the acting appointment. 
 
 ' I am heartily glad to get you back again ; and you 
 may be assured I have not forgotten your claims, nor will 
 lose sight of your interests. — Yours very truly, 
 
 ' Dalhousie.' 
 
 Taylor, of course, at once accepted the offer, and set 
 out without loss of time for Hotee Murdan, where the 
 Guides were then lying. Gratified as he was at his pre- 
 vious services being acknowledged, and delighted at being 
 again with soldiers, Reynell Taylor's pleasure in obtaining 
 temporary command of this distinguished corps was never- 
 theless damped by a circumstance to which I must pre- 
 sently refer. 
 
 But first let us see something of the constitution of the 
 regiment Reynell Taylor was called to command. The 
 Guides had been raised in 1846 by Harry Lumsden, who 
 held command till 1852, when he took furlough, and 
 handed over the regiment to Hodson, who had helped him 
 
 ' Under the old furlough rules all appointments were vacated on taking 
 furlough to England. The new furlough rules were promulgated in 1854, and 
 added to in 1868 and 1875, when the forfeiture of appointments was done away 
 with.
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 213 
 
 to raise it. In the early days of their existence the Guides 
 consisted of a troop of cavalry and two companies of infan- 
 try, but Lord Dalhousie had increased their establishment 
 to three troops and six companies, and when Taylor joined 
 them they numbered, with four European officers, about 
 840 of all ranks. The peculiar qualities of the corps are 
 well described in the first Report upon the Punjab. ' The 
 Guides,' it says, ' are an interesting and remarkable corps 
 They are formed so that in the same body of men shall be 
 united all the requisites of regular troops with the best 
 qualities of guides and spies, thus combining intelligence 
 and sagacity with courage, endurance, and soldierly bear- 
 ing, and a presence of mind which rarely fails in solitary 
 danger and in trying situations. To ensure the combina- 
 tion of so many diverse qualities, the corps has been com- 
 posed of the most varied elements ; there is scarcely a 
 wild and warlike tribe in Upper India which is not repre- 
 sented in its ranks. In raising this corps, although 
 soldierly qualities were chiefly regarded, the other qualifi- 
 cations were not overlooked. Men habituated from child- 
 hood to war and the chase, and inured to all the dangers 
 of a wild and mountainous border, were freely admitted 
 to its ranks, and to whatever part of Upper India the 
 corps may be marched, it can furnish men conversant 
 with the features of the country and the dialect of the 
 people.' 
 
 I need not refer to the regiment's brilliant record of 
 services, but wherever blows have rained heaviest the 
 Guides, since the day of their formation, have borne their 
 share with alacrity and with honour. 
 
 To be offered the command of such a corps is at once
 
 214 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 a feather in the cap of any soldier ; but, as I have already- 
 said, the offer, when made to Reynell Taylor, came tinged 
 with the reflection that he would be called upon to investi- 
 gate the conduct of a friend ; and one of his first remarks 
 on receiving Lord Dalhousie's letter was, ' I hope I shall 
 not have anything to do with Hodson's accounts.' 
 
 I have no wish to reopen a subject which it were 
 better to leave closed, and in what I am now about to 
 write I am not going to pass in review the many acts with 
 which Hodson's name must ever be inseparably connected. 
 If those acts were as scarlet I could not hope to wash 
 them white, neither if they are white will I endeavour to 
 take from their brilliancy. With these pages — with this 
 life of Reynell Taylor, Hodson's character need have little 
 to do, but this I will say, that it seems hard a man's many 
 gallant actions should be buried with him, and that his 
 misdeeds should almost alone be thrown up into the vivid 
 light of hostile criticism. 
 
 The task which Reynell Taylor hoped to avoid fell 
 ultimately upon his shoulders, and when he joined the 
 Guides he found himself charged with the onus and respon- 
 sibility of investigating Hodson's administration of the 
 regimental chest. 
 
 With this matter, and this alone, we have, therefore, to 
 deal, and I will endeavour to extract from the pile of 
 papers now lying before me such portions as bear upon the 
 subject. The conscientious care Taylor devoted to the 
 matter may be easily conceived. For many weeks he 
 toiled at the books, assisted by his second in command, 
 and in the end he was able to acquit Hodson of the 
 charges preferred against him.
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 21 5 
 
 ' The case I had to deal with,' he writes, * was simply 
 this :— 
 
 ' A new commandant had joined the regiment three 
 years before. After a year he took the accounts and 
 treasure chest out of the adjutant's hands and assumed the 
 complete management himself, appointing his own men to 
 keep the accounts, &c. In the two years that followed, con- 
 siderable difficulties occurred from the audit being delayed. 
 
 * The balance in the chest had not been carefully ascer- 
 tained and defined. 
 
 ' The commandant, having various duties, neglected the 
 claims of individuals, who thus were dissatisfied. 
 
 * At length complaint went up, and the commandant 
 was taken to task. He was summoned to Peshawur, and 
 his conduct was inquired into by a court. 
 
 ' He was called upon to render account of the regimental 
 chest, and failed to do so, though asserting that he could 
 do so. 
 
 ' He was relieved in the command, and did not return 
 to the regiment. 
 
 ' He continued to represent that he could render 
 correct account if Government would arrange for its 
 hearing. 
 
 ' This was granted, and I had to examine the accounts 
 of two years. 
 
 ' The whole thing hinged on the genuineness and trust- 
 worthiness of the available regimental records. I selected 
 one which I thought, after evidence taken, to be quite fit 
 as a test-book of the whole account. By this book the 
 correctness of the whole account was established, and I was 
 satisfied.
 
 2l6 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 ' Hodson had made himself disagreeable, but nobody- 
 was prepared to say that he was a liar and a cheat. He 
 was supposed to have been guilty of malversation in the 
 management of the money which passed through his 
 hands, but this charge was, I may say, quite unsup- 
 ported. 
 
 ' By the result of my inquiry I therefore considered that 
 a mistake had been made in accusing, or rather suspect- 
 ing, him of the supposed misconduct, and acquitted him 
 accordingly.' 
 
 From a bundle of Reynell Taylor's letters written many 
 years later I extract the following passages : — 
 
 ' I have always regarded the doubt and distrust which 
 had arisen regarding his accounts as the most serious 
 charge against Hodson, because it involved a breach of 
 trust.' 
 
 * I was called upon to report whether the regimental 
 chest was solvent or not, and whether the accounts of past 
 transactions could be made out from the available records. 
 After a careful examination of the accounts, in company 
 with the second in command, I was able to report in the 
 affirmative on both points. The books had been im- 
 pounded by the Peshawur Court of Inquiry ; Hodson left 
 the regiment, and they (the books) were, if my memory 
 serves me rightly, returned to the officiating commandant 
 on his requisition, and by permission of Government. It 
 was by an examination of these impounded books that I 
 was able to make out a clean account of the whole of the 
 transactions of the chest from the date of Hodson's takiner 
 charge to that of his suspension from duty on another 
 (political) charge,'
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 21/ 
 
 ' The work was to examine every item in the accounts 
 during two years' transactions, audit of nearly a year's pay 
 having been withheld for months, and to test each entry by 
 the trustworthy records which I had to assist me. This 
 was done with laborious and conscientious care, the result 
 being that the whole account was worked out to an 
 intelligible conclusion, showing indeed numerous irregu- 
 larities, but no actual improprieties in the management.' 
 
 'The trustworthiness of the result hinges on the 
 examination. Man is fallible, but I have never had 
 any misgivings or self-reproach for want of care in this 
 matter.' 
 
 * I am not in a position to accept Hodson's character 
 and acts as free from all reproach. His services were most 
 admirable, and we all owed him a debt of gratitude for his 
 gallant acts in opening up communication with Meerut and 
 Cawnpore. He strung India together again by these acts. 
 It behoves us to remember his bravery.' 
 
 And with this last sentence I will take leave of a pain- 
 ful and complicated subject. 
 
 The result of Reynell Taylor's investigations were em- 
 bodied in a report extending to nineteen pages of print, but 
 I see no reason, in the face of the letters I have just quoted, 
 to give extracts from it here. 
 
 His treatment of the subject has not to be defended ; he 
 sought, in his usual chivalrous spirit, to remove, if he could 
 honestly do so — and he was not a man who was easily con- 
 vinced unless his conscience was fully satisfied — the slur cast 
 upon another's honour. 
 
 This he was able to do, and it seems needless, therefore, 
 to pursue the matter further.
 
 21 8 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 In January 1856 Reynell Taylor was again appointed a 
 Deputy Commissioner, and posted to Jhelum. The year 
 was an uneventful one, save for a terrible storm which 
 carried away the bridge of boats on the river and wrecked 
 many of the natives' houses. Taylor, I am told, was inde- 
 fatigable in getting tents pitched for the houseless, and 
 food cooked for those who had lost all they possessed. 
 Within a year a storm of another character swept over 
 Jhelum, but from this Reynell Taylor was mercifully pre- 
 served. 
 
 In October, at the conclusion of a very unhealthy 
 season, a notification appeared in the ' Gazette ' that he was 
 appointed to Gujerat, but before he could take up his duties 
 there he was transferred to Sealkot. 
 
 His stay here was again short, and in April i857> 
 much to his delight, he was appointed Deputy Com- 
 missioner of the Kangra District. Both Jhelum and 
 Sealkot had proved unhealthy, and he had already begun 
 to fear for the lives of his children.' It was with no small 
 amount of relief, therefore, that he turned his face towards 
 the Himalayas and deposited his family at Dhurmsala, the 
 hill station of the district. Here, surrounded by some of 
 the most beautiful scenery to be found anywhere in India, 
 they remained in peace and quiet while the places they 
 had so lately left were overrun by the pent-up torrents of 
 years. Signs had not been wanting of a mutinous spirit 
 being abroad ere Taylor left Sealkot. Soldiers passed their 
 officers in the streets without saluting, and the natives 
 employed in the civil offices remained seated in presence 
 
 ' Florence, born at Hotee Murdan, September 16, 1S55 ; and Morris, born 
 at Sealkot, March 4, 1S57.
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 219 
 
 of their superiors ; but here, as elsewhere, warnings were 
 disregarded, and, in spite of an outburst having been for a 
 long time expected, no preparations were made to meet it. 
 Before sunrise on the morning of July 9 — scarcely more 
 than two months after Taylor's departure — Sealkot was 
 quietly surrounded by Sepoy pickets, and as the Europeans 
 came out for their morning exercise they found themselves 
 ' face to face with mutiny in its worst form.' Escape was 
 impossible, Sealkot was surrounded : the fort alone afforded 
 shelter, and some fortunately gained it alive : many were 
 murdered as they sat in their carriages, done to death in 
 the presence of their children, shot down and sabred as 
 they rode along in the cool of the day-dawn, for a horrible 
 convulsion had suddenly spread over the station, and 
 throughout that day a terrible drama was acted before the 
 eyes of the startled fugitives in Tej Sing's stronghold. 
 Again and again were these disastrous events repeated 
 elsewhere, and the ghastly drama at Sealkot was destined 
 to be reacted in many a place ere the throes of the great 
 Mutiny subsided and India emerged from the fiery ordeal, 
 purified, but shaken to her very foundations. From all 
 this Reynell Taylor was preserved, and in the leading 
 events of the Mutiny he took no part. Still, one incident 
 occurred in the Kangra District which deserves mention, 
 and I am fortunately able to give an account of it in the 
 words of the principal actor. 
 
 It was a happy circumstance that Kangra at the time 
 of the Mutiny was in the hands of such men as Lake, 
 Younghusband, and Taylor ; men who, in a critical moment, 
 counted not the cost of responsibility, and who in an 
 emergency grasped the situation and acted at once. Had
 
 220 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 the Kangra fort fallen into the hands of the rebels the con- 
 sequences might have been serious indeed. The credit of 
 having averted such a calamity belongs to those whose 
 names I have just mentioned, and it is to General Young- 
 husband, then Superintendent of the Police of the District, 
 that I am indebted for the following interesting parti- 
 culars : — 
 
 ' There are in the Kangra District several Rajahs varying 
 in political importance, and all more or less independent. 
 They come of the best Rajpoot blood and trace back their 
 pedigrees in some instances for two thousand years. These 
 chiefs and their clansmen chafed under our rule, which at 
 that time offered few openings for military service, and the 
 villages were crowded with young men whose proud Raj- 
 poot blood preferred even penury to soiling their hands 
 with agricultural labour. 
 
 ' More than once since our occupation of the Punjab 
 insurrectionary outbreaks had taken place in these 
 hills, and Sir John Lawrence, writing about this time, 
 said : — " After Huzara the elements of discord prevail to 
 a greater extent in Kangra than in any other district of the 
 Punjab." 
 
 ' The district is studded with forts, the two most im- 
 portant, Kangra and Noorpoor, being at the time of the 
 Mutiny garrisoned by a regiment of Native Infantry, a wing 
 in each. Kangra held the highest reputation, having been 
 in existence for more than four hundred years. It was 
 considered impregnable, and a saying was rife among the 
 people that " he who holds Kangra rules the hills." 
 
 ' Sir John Lawrence wrote in the height of the Mutiny 
 that, should Kangra by any misadventure be lost to us,
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 221 
 
 a general insurrection of the hill people would almost 
 certainly follow. 
 
 ' When the mutiny broke out the troops in the Kangra 
 District were distributed as follows : — A wing of the 4th 
 Bengal N.I. and half a company of Native Artillery at 
 Noorpore, the other wing and half company in the Kangra 
 fort ; the headquarters and five companies of the Sher 
 Dil (Lion Hearts) at Dhurmsala, a hill station about four- 
 teen miles from Kangra, and the remainder of the regiment 
 on detachment duty. 
 
 'Early in the morning of May 13, 1857, I received an 
 express informing me that the Native troops had mutinied 
 at Meerut and Delhi, and that the latter place was in the 
 hands of the mutineers. I went to Taylor immediately to 
 communicate the intelligence and take counsel on the situ- 
 ation. He was strongly of opinion that no time should 
 be lost in throwing a reliable body of men of the Sher Dil 
 into the Kangra fort. 
 
 ' He arranged to go down that forenoon and put the 
 recommendation to Lake. On the way down he received 
 a letter from Lake enclosing one to me, requesting that I 
 would arrange to move a body of the Sher Dil into the 
 Kangra fort the next morning, and pointing out the neces- 
 sity for secrecy. The advisability of this movement had 
 therefore occurred to Lake and Taylor simultaneously, but 
 it required men of more than ordinary courage to assume 
 the responsibility of such a decided step.' 
 
 The Sher Dil was a Civil corps, and not under the 
 military authorities, and the compulsory introduction of 
 this, so to speak, foreign body into the fort, miglit give rise 
 to disorder, tumult, and, possibly, bloodshed, when a heavy
 
 222 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 responsibility would rest on those who authorised the 
 measure. It must be borne in mind that the outbreak had 
 come with such suddenness and violence that no provision 
 had been made to meet it. The weight of responsibility 
 assumed by the officers on the spot may be inferred from 
 the fact that Sir John Lawrence, on the first report reach- 
 ing him of what had been done, considered that it was 
 going beyond the necessities of the case, and that the Sher 
 Dil should have encamped outside the fort. The rapid 
 development of the Mutiny, however, caused him to change 
 his views and approve of the action that had been taken. 
 
 ' The disastrous news was still unknown at Dhurmsala 
 on the afternoon of May 13, nor would it become known 
 till the arrival of the post on the following morning. 
 
 ' At eleven o'clock at night I rode down to the lines, the 
 men were roused from sleep, ammunition served out, and 
 by midnight the regiment had marched, so silently that no 
 one outside the lines knew that they were gone ; in fact, in 
 the morning, the shopkeepers in the regimental bazaar, 
 finding the lines vacant, went to the police station to 
 report that the regiment had disappeared. 
 
 ' As the day dawned I was under the walls of the Kangra 
 fort, where I was joined by Lake and Taylor, and as the 
 gates were opened we marched in, and the Sher Dil occu- 
 pied the citadel and gates of the fort. 
 
 ' Taylor then went down to the 4th Native Infantry 
 lines, and explained to the men that it had been considered 
 advisable to strengthen the garrison. 
 
 * The wisdom of the movement was strikingly manifest 
 two days later, when emissaries from thejullundur Brigade 
 presented themselves at the fort and were refused admit-
 
 -1869 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 223 
 
 tance, their leave certificates showing that they had left 
 JuUundur the day after the news arrived there of what had 
 occurred at Meerut and Delhi. Had the Sher Dil been 
 encamped outside the fort they never would have got in. 
 
 'When Lake returned to Jullundur Taylor took up his 
 abode at the Kangra Cucherry, a short distance from the 
 fort, and from the day I entered it until after the fall of 
 Delhi we were in constant communication, verbal or 
 written, by day and by night. His spirits never flagged ; 
 he was always ready to see a gleam of brightness in any 
 news, but was never depressed when none such was to be 
 found, taking with equal mind the " ups and downs," as he 
 called them. Few nights passed that we did not hear the 
 sounds of approaching footsteps, and, in answer to the 
 sentry's challenge, the reply, " ChitJiee zuroosee " (an emergent 
 letter), for evil news, or " downs," seemed always to come 
 in the night. 
 
 ' On July 1 1 Taylor came with the information that the 
 Sealkot Brigade had mutinied, and it was thought they 
 would march via Noorpoor and Kangra to avoid Nichol- 
 son's column, and also to pick up the 4th N.I. At noon 
 the same day I received a note from Taylor enclosing a 
 letter from Sir R. Montgomery, with a postscript trom 
 Nicholson, which may be worth inserting : — 
 
 ' " The Sealkot force has mutinied. It is of the utmost 
 importance that the Kangra fort be secured, and the men of 
 the 4th N.I. in it should be disarmed at all risks. I be- 
 lieve they are not numerous, and under 200.' The Police 
 Corps in possession of the citadel could do this. The diffi- 
 culty is about Noorpoor, and I have nothing to suggest. 
 
 ' Really 400.
 
 224 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 You, Younghusband and Wilkie (commanding 4th N.I.) 
 will best be able to decide. But the difficulty of carrying 
 it out (the securing of Noorpoor) should not, I think, pre- 
 vent at once securing Kangra. Were the mutineers to get 
 into it the disaffected hill people might rise, and it would 
 take a force with guns to get them out, which we do not 
 possess. I send this through Brigadier Nicholson, whose 
 experience may be able to suggest something. Delay not 
 
 to act. 
 
 *"R. Montgomery." 
 
 '"P.S. from Nicholson. — I can suggest nothing. You 
 and the officers on the spot are the best judges of how you 
 should act. God prosper what you do. 
 
 '"John Nicholson." 
 
 ' Prompt action was necessary. I sent a rough memo 
 of what I intended doing, and at five P.M. Taylor came 
 down to the fort with his escort, and I disarmed the wing 
 of the 4th N.I. 
 
 ' Shortly afterwards Taylor started for Noorpoor with 
 100 of the Sher Dil in order to bring off the European 
 officers of the 4th should necessity arise. He reached 
 Noorpoor the following day. The wing there had, however, 
 been apprised of what had taken place at Kangra by two 
 Sepoys who deserted directly after being disarmed, and on 
 reaching Noorpoor Taylor found that the wing of the 4th 
 had surrendered their muskets, so he accordingly returned 
 to Kangra. 
 
 ' The tidings became gloomier and gloomier, but we 
 had fortunately been able to relieve the congestion with 
 regard to the employment of the Rajpoots.
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 225 
 
 ' Taylor had engaged a considerable number as guards 
 at the different ferries, and I had enlisted nearly 2,500 
 for different regiments and levies in the plains. Never- 
 theless there was a growing feeling of insecurity and 
 alarm, which required all Taylor's ripened judgment to 
 keep under. Delhi fell at last, lifting a load of care from 
 our minds, but it was with little gladness we heard of it, 
 for Delhi had been dearly won with the loss of so many of 
 our best, and amongst them the foremost man in India — ■ 
 John Nicholson. 
 
 ' As the Mutiny died out the close official intercourse 
 between Taylor and myself ceased, but not our personal 
 regard, developed in such times, which remained undi- 
 minished to the end.' 
 
 During the hot season of 1857 Taylor, in order to be 
 nearer for news, spent most of his time at Kangra, only 
 returning to Dhurmsala once a fortnight, but that winter 
 he went into camp and travelled with his wife about the 
 district. The year 1858, so far as Taylor was concerned, 
 proved as uneventful as its predecessor ; fresh levies had 
 been raised for the protection of the Europeans, and the 
 time passed away peacefully. A heavy sorrow, however, 
 fell on Reynell Taylor in the death of his mother on 
 May 29. A woman of a singularly gentle and unselfish 
 disposition, she possessed to the last the love of her 
 children. Her influence with them was always great 
 but especially was this so in the case of her sons, whose 
 interests and well-being she had always nearest her 
 heart. 
 
 The few letters which have fallen into my hands written 
 by Rcyncll Taylor to his mother from time to time arc 
 
 Q
 
 226 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 brimming over with love and much tender interest in her 
 welfare ; and her death, it is evident, came as a heavy trial 
 to him. There is no need to quote from the letters written 
 as soon as the news reached him ; they are full of the out- 
 pourings of his inmost heart, and are intended only for the 
 eyes of those most near and dear to him. As examples 
 of peaceful resignation, and as monuments of steady, 
 manly, unwavering faith, they deserve to live ; and espe- 
 cially, moreover, for this reason, that in days of sorrow as 
 in days of joy he thought not of himself. His words in 
 times of bitter trial referred not to his own trouble, but 
 conveyed sentence after sentence of comfort to others — 
 staunch, outspoken, fearless words, bringing with them balm 
 to the wound and a bright hope of a sure and certain 
 hereafter. 
 
 The loss of his mother was followed, in July, by the 
 death of his brother-in-law. Colonel Morris, ' a soldier and 
 Christian to the backbone.' He served for many years in 
 the 17th Lancers, and in 1854 was ordered to the East. 
 At Varna, where he held a Staff appointment, he caught the 
 cholera, but recovered sufficiently to lead his father-in-law's 
 ree-iment into action on the ever-memorable October 25. 
 
 o 
 
 At Balaclava he was most desperately wounded, but again 
 he pulled through and took up Staff duty at Scutari. At 
 the end of the war he returned home, and soon after the 
 Mutiny broke out was ordered to India. Here he served 
 only a few months, for after braving all kinds of dangers 
 he died of dysentery at Poonah. Reynell Taylor speaks 
 of him as ' a type of what a man ought to be,' and he felt 
 his death acutely. 
 
 But to return to Dhurmsala. In a letter received from
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 22/ 
 
 Colonel Heathcote Plummer there is a reference to the 
 life in the quiet hill station which seems worth inserting. 
 
 'In 1858,' he writes, ' I was appointed to command an 
 invalid depot at Dhurmsala, the hill station of the Kangra 
 Valley, and I proceeded there with a party of invalids from 
 Mean Meer. Dhurmsala was then a refuge from the heat 
 of the plains to many distinguished Punjab officials, and 
 I there had the good fortune to become acquainted with 
 a number of them, Donald McLeod, Edward Lake, and 
 Reynell Taylor amongst others. 
 
 ' I was devoted to the pursuit of large and small game, 
 and I well remember my first visit to Reynell Taylor and 
 the kindly interest he took in my short career and sporting 
 proclivities. Like all youngsters on arrival in India, I 
 treated the usual precautions against sunstroke with con- 
 tempt, and as I rose to go Taylor stopped me with the re- 
 mark, " Did I not see you out shooting with a glengarry 
 on ? " I answered, surprised at the question : " Yes, I have 
 no doubt you did." He then asked me if I had a sun-hat of 
 any kind, and learning that I had not he at once brought 
 mc a new helmet of his own, and having ascertained that it 
 fitted me, said : " You will be taking a great anxiety off my 
 mind if you will promise me to wear this on your shooting 
 expeditions in future." I mention this trifling incident 
 as showing the kind thoughtfulness for others which was 
 habitual with him. 
 
 ' Whenever Taylor occupied his hill retreat I always 
 found a ready welcome and much kind sympathy from both 
 him and his wife, and I look back with grateful feelings to 
 many happy hours spent under his hospitable roof The 
 common meeting-place was, however, at the table of the 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852- 
 
 Commissioner, Lake, who always kept open house when in 
 residence, and more cheerful gatherings can hardly be ima- 
 gined. The general tone of the conversation was alwavs 
 such as to do one good, and I remember being much struck 
 at the time at the invariable habit of closing the evening 
 with scripture reading and prayer. I can now understand 
 the secret of the nobility of character of these great men. 
 They feared God and were not ashamed that all within the 
 circle of their influence — European and Native — should 
 know it.' 
 
 While the time was passing thus quietly at Dhurmsala, 
 momentous events were taking place elsewhere. Lucknow 
 had fallen ; Jhansi and Bareilly had been captured ; the 
 mutineers had been severely punished in many encounters ; 
 on September i the political power of the East India 
 Company had ceased to exist, and on November i Her 
 Majesty the Queen had been proclaimed throughout all 
 British India. The terrible crisis was over ; the embers 
 were nearly burnt out. 
 
 On the first day of the new year another change 
 was made in the administration of the Punjab ; it was con- 
 stituted a Lieutenant-Governorship, and the man who 
 had controlled the country for so many years as Chief 
 Commissioner became for a short time its first Lieutenant- 
 Governor. 
 
 Early in the same year (1859) Reynell Taylor was of- 
 fered the Commissionership of the Derajat. To leave the 
 beautiful climate of the hills at the very beginning of the 
 hot season, and to take wife and three little children — for a 
 third son, Reynell, had been born on the 24th of the previous 
 November — to the burning plains Trans-Indus, required no 
 small effort on Taylor's part, but the offer meant pro-
 
 -1859 RETURN HOME — DHURMSALA DURING MUTINY 229 
 
 motion and could not be refused, so in March he set out 
 for the country he had left seven years previously, and a 
 month later was joined by his wife and children in Bun- 
 noo.' ' Here,' writes Mrs. Tayior, 'we stayed with General 
 and Mrs. Coxe until rain had fallen on the hill called 
 Sheik Budeen, when we all moved to the station there. 
 Reynell remained with us until a small mud-house had been 
 built, for we were in tents before this, and then he left us 
 for Derah Ishmael Khan, which we always made our head- 
 quarters in the Derajat.' 
 
 Many changes and improvements had taken place in 
 the district during Reynell Taylor's absence, and the coun- 
 try was now in a far more settled condition. ' The civil 
 routine of the Administration now worked smoothly and 
 regularly,' writes General Coxe, then Deputy Commissioner 
 of Bunnoo ; ' there were no more treasury agonies ; sum- 
 mary settlements of the revenue had been effected, and the 
 Government demand was paid easily and without pressure. 
 Civil suits were increasing in number and importance, a 
 sign, though an unwelcome one, of increasing prosperity. 
 The Wuzeerecs who cultivated within our limits were or- 
 derly and paid their revenue with regularity. The Nar, the 
 waste which Taylor had colonised, was now largely culti- 
 vated, and if, as remarked above, increased litigation is a 
 token of advancing prosperity, the Nar furnished a good 
 example by the number of suits instituted from that quarter 
 for irrigation rights. 
 
 ' The military force in the district was ample for all 
 internal requirements.' 
 
 ' Taylor went in the first instance as Acting Commissioner of the Leia Divi- 
 sion, as it. was then called, his appointment as Commissioner of the Derajat 
 being confirmed shortly after his arrival.
 
 230 REYNELL TAYLOR 1852-59 
 
 Most of the Wuzeeree tribes on the border had become 
 more peaceably disposed, and though murders and robberies 
 occurred now and then, the nightly incursions and whole- 
 sale plunder of villages had in a great measure ceased alto- 
 gether. Only in the case of the Muhsoods on the Tank 
 border was there any great cause for complaint. Here, it 
 is true, the petty attacks had been almost continuous, and 
 there was no security for life or property anywhere within 
 their neighbourhood. But punishment was shortly to over- 
 take them, and in the next chapter I shall have to record 
 their signal chastisement. 
 
 ' Many of Taylor's old followers,' continues General 
 Coxe, ' were to be found in the irregular levies occupying 
 the smaller frontier posts, and in the mounted police. His 
 former lieutenant and friend Gholam Hassan Khan was at 
 Derail Ishmael Khan, enjoying the jageer he had so richly 
 earned by his gallant conduct in the second Sikh War. 
 Foujdar Khan, Edwardes's great ally during the Mooltan 
 campaign, was also at Derah, rejoicing now in the title of 
 Nawab, and many old friends among the Gundapoors, Esa 
 Khailees, and others were glad to welcome their old leader 
 among them again.' 
 
 So Reynell Taylor settled down in his old quarters, and 
 for a time at least he was able to carry on the affairs of his 
 immense district without interruption.
 
 231 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — THE DERAJAT MISSION. 
 1859-1862. 
 
 For a time, as I have said, nothing occurred to interfere 
 with Taylor's routine of duty. Derah Ishmael Khan was 
 his headquarters, but he made periodical visits to Derah 
 Ghazee Khan and Bunnoo for session cases, and in these 
 marches from place to place his wife often accompanied 
 him. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1859 a circumstance 
 occurred which brought out in a peculiar manner the in- 
 fluence his name still had with the border tribes. 
 
 Captain Mecham, an officer of the Bengal Artiller}'-, 
 was proceeding from Bunnoo to Kohat, and being ill and 
 unable to ride, was travelling by bearer dak. Midway in 
 his journey he was suddenly attacked by a party of robbers ; 
 his escort, consisting of two sowars, fled, the bearers dropped 
 the dhoolie, and Mecham, being unable to defend himself, 
 was set upon and murdered. 
 
 Inquiries were at once instituted, and it was determined 
 to hold the Cabul Khail Wuzeerees responsible for what 
 happened. There were two well-known bands of robbers 
 on the Bunnoo frontier, the principal one being headed by 
 a man named Zungee, a member of the Cabul Khail tribe
 
 232 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 The second gang was composed chiefly of Hatee Khailees, 
 who, though they belonged to a different tribe to Zungee, 
 generally acted under his orders. The Cabul Khail tribe 
 who, it was known, sheltered the robbers were therefore 
 called upon to give them up ; but this they declined to do, 
 and early in December a force was sent to coerce them. 
 Reynell Taylor took no active part in this expedition, and 
 it is therefore unnecessary to refer to it here. When, how- 
 ever, the Cabul Khail tribe had been punished, Reynell 
 Taylor brought pressure to bear upon the Hatee Khail, 
 much of whose land lay within our border. It had been 
 discovered that the leader of the gang which attacked and 
 murdered Mecham was one Mohubbut by name, belonging 
 to the Hatee Khail tribe, and Taylor demanded that search 
 should be made for him and that he should be given up at 
 once. Within a few weeks Mohubbut was actually seized 
 by the chiefs of the tribe to which he belonged and handed 
 over to Reynell Taylor, and I believe that in the whole 
 history of our connection with border tribes no parallel is 
 to be found for such an act, and never was a tribe known 
 before to hand over one of their own members to justice. 
 
 Reynell Taylor subsequently tried the case, and Mohub- 
 but was hanged on the spot where the murder was com- 
 mitted. 
 
 In February i860 the Governor-General held a Durbar 
 at Sealkot, which Reynell Taylor, now a Lieutenant-Colonel,^ 
 attended, taking with him several frontier chiefs, and among 
 others Shah Newaz Khan, Nawab of Tank. While he 
 was away, and no doubt taking advantage of the absence 
 of the Nawab, a most determined attack was made on 
 
 ' Taylor was gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel December 21, 1S59.
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 233 
 
 Tank by the Muhsoods, and hardly had the troops returned 
 from the expedition against the Cabul Khail when they 
 were called upon to march against one of the most power- 
 ful of all the Wuzeeree tribes. 
 
 The Muhsood Wuzeerees inhabit a large tract of the 
 wildest hill country lying between the Bunnoo and Tank 
 valleys, to the westward of the Ghubbur mountain. In the 
 course of many years they had gradually overcome the 
 smaller clans around them, and as their numbers increased 
 so the limit of their power extended, till at length they 
 grew to be the tribe most dreaded along the whole of the 
 western border. They mustered, in the days of which I 
 am writing, 12,000 fighting men ; the whole tribe were 
 thieves and proud of their prowess as such, and they lived 
 almost entirely by making raids upon their neighbours. 
 
 From the date of the annexation of the Derajat, when 
 the Wuzeerees became our neighbours on the north-west, 
 every endeavour had been made to conciliate them, but in 
 spite of all overtures they continued to exhibit the most 
 hostile spirit towards us. No traveller or caravan was safe 
 within many miles of their border, and life had been only 
 rendered moderately secure, by the establishment of a line 
 of posts and the maintenance of a strong force of frontier 
 police.' 
 
 Mistaking our conciliatory action for weakness, the 
 Muhsoods year by year became more and more aggressive, 
 and, conceiving that their immunity from attack was due 
 to our inability to penetrate their mountain passes, their 
 inroads became more and more frequent. But punish- 
 
 ' The Punjab Reports, 1859-61 ; General Chamberlain's report upon the 
 tribes ; and Taylor's Derah Ishmael Khan memorandum.
 
 234 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 ment was now to overtake them, and if the chastise- 
 ment they received in the campaign (a sketch of which 
 I am about to give) appears at first sight to have been 
 severe, it will be well to remember that in the five years 
 i855~59 the police reports of the district officer alone, 
 omitting altogether the constant necessity for action on 
 the part of the soldiers, show that no less than 184 crimes 
 of a heinous nature were reported against them. Twice 
 within the same period had the Chief Commissioner recom- 
 mended that a force should be sent to exact redress for 
 destruction of villages and the wholesale murder of in- 
 habitants ; but on both occasions circumstances arose which 
 prevented his suggestions being carried out. 
 
 At last, however, affairs culminated in an act of aggres- 
 sion on the part of the Muhsoods which, in the matter of 
 boldness, put all their former misdeeds into the shade. On 
 March 13, i860, without any provocation, they advanced 
 into the plains with a force numbering 4,000 men, fully in- 
 tending to sack and destroy the town of Tank, and they 
 were only prevented from carrying out their design by the 
 the gallantry and quick-wittedness of a Ressaldar, named 
 Sahadut Khan, commanding a party of 158 sabres. By 
 feigning to retire, this gallant soldier induced the enemy 
 to follow him ; the Muhsoods fell into the trap and came 
 on with shouts of derision ; but when the Ressaldar reached 
 ground where cavalry could act with advantage, he sud- 
 denly wheeled round and charged his pursuers, completely 
 routing them and killing upwards of 200 of their number. 
 
 To suffer annoyance of this sort any longer was im- 
 possible, and Chamberlain was directed to enter the country 
 with a force of 5,000 men.
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 235 
 
 The chief difficulty in an undertaking such as that now 
 determined on, was want of knowledge concerning the 
 country in which operations were to be carried out. No 
 enemy had ever penetrated into the Wuzeeree highlands, 
 no European had travelled there, and though it was be- 
 lieved that large towns were situated in the valleys and 
 on the slopes of the great mountains of the interior, their 
 position and their distance one from another were alike 
 unknown. 
 
 Before the expedition started, therefore, it was neces- 
 sary that information should be obtained concerning the 
 routes and distances from point to point, the probable 
 armed strength of the tribes, the supplies which might be 
 looked for, and the nature of the country generally. The 
 time for collecting this information was necessarily short, 
 as it was important that the expedition should start as 
 quickly as possible. But there was another difficulty. 
 Who could be found to undertake such a task at a moment's 
 notice ? Whoever he might be, it was imperative that he 
 should be possessed of a thorough knowledge of the cha- 
 racteristics of the tribes, that he should have influence with 
 the inhabitants along the border, that he should be a good 
 draughtsman, and, lastly, that his energy and perseverance 
 should be unlimited. And who could fulfil these conditions 
 more ably than Reynell Taylor ? Let us sec how he set 
 about the task. 
 
 ' I returned from Sealkot,' he writes, ' on March 19 and 
 went to Tank on the 21st, and, assisted by Captain Coxe, 
 immediately commenced the examination of the country, 
 a task which was unremittingly continued until twenty- 
 five days later, when the force entered the hills
 
 236 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 ' The materials on which I worked were as follows. A 
 native map of the Muhsood country on the Tank side, and 
 a map of the Dour valley, prepared in March last under 
 my instructions by Hafiz Ahmed Khan of Bunnoo. These 
 two maps may be said to have formed sketches of the 
 country on each side of the Ruzmuk pass. They had to 
 be put together, arranged on a scale, and tested as closely as 
 could be by the cross-examination of spies who had visited 
 the country.' 
 
 The materials were thus meagre enough, but there was 
 something more than this. ' The difficulties,' writes General 
 Coxe, ' which Reynell Taylor had to contend against in 
 his endeavours to obtain reliable information from the 
 Buttunees — a tribe residing partly within and partly beyond 
 our border — and from other rude dwellers on the border, 
 were immense. They had no idea of the compass beyond 
 the rising and setting of the sun ; distances were reckoned 
 by one man by the interval between two meals, and by 
 another from the moment at which the sun was so many 
 spears high till noon. The " koss," which we have taken at 
 the estimate of two miles, might be one or might be five, 
 according to the intelligence or the mood of the informant. 
 Taylor's perseverance, however, was rewarded, and a map 
 was prepared containing an estimate wonderfully accurate 
 under the circumstances.' 
 
 The rapidity with which the work was performed may 
 be gathered from the fact that within five weeks of the 
 attack on Tank, the force under the command of General 
 Chamberlain, and accompanied by Reynell Taylor as chief 
 political officer, entered the hills. On April 17 and 18 the 
 Wuzeeree positions at Innis Tungha and at Kot Shinghee
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 237 
 
 were destroyed without opposition, and on the 19th the 
 camp was pitched at Pulloseen.' 
 
 So far the force had encountered no obstacle to its 
 advance, and the enemy seemed anxious to avoid the 
 combat. The point reached was more than twenty miles 
 from Tank, but before advancing further. Chamberlain de- 
 cided to leave 1,700 men at Pulloseen under Lumsden, 
 while he moved in a westerly direction himself through a 
 difficult defile known as the Shahoor pass. The main 
 objects to be obtained by this flank movement were : in the 
 first place, to examine a portion of the country in this 
 direction before pushing further with the whole force ; 
 secondly, to show that the nature of the mountain passes 
 afforded no barrier to the march of the troops ; and thirdly, 
 to visit Jungeh Khan's home and do all the injury possible 
 to the crops and property of the tribes who were most 
 notoriously mischievous on the Tank border. 
 
 Needless to say, Reynell Taylor chose to accompany 
 Chamberlain's portion of the army, for where possible, and 
 even when his position as a political officer should have 
 prevented his taking part in active operations, he was 
 always among the first in an advance. On this occasion 
 he very nearly paid the penalty for his temerity with his 
 life, but his wonted coolness and intrepidity came to his 
 aid, and he not only saved his own life, but the lives of 
 more than one of those who accompanied him. I have re- 
 ceived many far more sensational versions of the story, but I 
 prefer to adhere to the account, however inadequate, which 
 Reynell Taylor himself gave of the affair within a few 
 
 ' The account of the Muhsood Wuzeeree expedition is t.iken almost entirely 
 from Reynell Taylor's own official, but unpublished, report of the proceedings.
 
 238 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 hours of its occurrence. It is contained in a letter, dated 
 ' Camp, Shahoor, April 20 ; ' — 
 
 ' We marched from our camp at Pulloseen to-day 
 through the Shahoor pass, a stiff place. I was in advance 
 and found the pass partially occupied, but I could not say 
 to what extent, so the heights had to be crowned and all 
 done in due form. The Wuzeerees bolted, a horse of the 
 sowar of my party was shot, and there ended the damage. 
 
 ' When the force came up and encamped, I rode on to 
 look at the country beyond, and coming round a corner I 
 came suddenly on the tail of the party that had been firing 
 on us in the pass. We surprised them, and they rather 
 surprised us. Two horsemen were in front of me, and 
 the rest tailing behind, but the two in front were only 
 about fifteen paces from me. In another second one fired 
 a pistol and both wheeled their horses round and came 
 back on us, and up tumbled the Wuzeerees after them. I 
 drew my sword and called to all to come on, but we were 
 in a narrow road, and the Wuzeerees, who were desperate, 
 pushed on so bravely that they literally hustled us back 
 for ten or twelve yards. A scuffle then ensued which lasted 
 for several minutes, and most gallantly did the Wuzeerees 
 dance about and ply their weapons. Their advantage was 
 that with a hollow on one side and a hill on the other, 
 our men could not get at or round them. The end was 
 that we killed the whole three, for there were only that 
 number, but they did us a lot of damage. The poor little 
 Bombay horse received three severe wounds, two of them 
 desperate gashes, one at the root of the neck and another 
 behind the saddle low down, from which the bowels pro- 
 truded. The third cut deep into the neck higher up.
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJ AT MISSION 239 
 
 ' But this is all about my horse, when two poor fellows 
 were severely wounded, another more slightly, and four 
 horses very badly hurt, one at least of which will never get 
 up again. I had my martingale and crupper cut, and 
 stopped some blows with Morris's sword, besides using it 
 effectively on the hard frames of these brave but rough 
 men, by which it has suffered. 
 
 ' I saved one man's life with my revolver by shooting 
 another who was pressing him. I put two bullets into him 
 before he fell, and even then he remained hugging the man 
 whom he had previously wounded, and they were not sepa- 
 rated till the skirmish was over. Having done so well 
 with these two barrels, I tried two more on another man, 
 but both snapped, so I had to take to my sword again. 
 
 ' All this sounds a very egotistical story, I am afraid, 
 but you will know that it is just what happened, and truth 
 to say our enemies being only three men there is nothing 
 to be very proud of in the matter. The ground, and the 
 suddenness of the thing leaving us no room for anything 
 like a charge, may account in some measure for the diffi- 
 culty we had in destroying our opponents. For myself, I 
 believe I was in as much danger as a man usually is in 
 action, and I am therefore most thankful to a merciful God 
 who brought me through it without a scratch. 
 
 * I said the old thanksgiving for past and present mer- 
 cies and blessings, and the prayed to be found living to 
 God whether in life or if called on to die, and that in the 
 true trust and faith in His mercy through Christ. 
 
 ' God can preserve in all places, and I will be more 
 careful, though I had not in this instance neglected pre- 
 cautions. As I have said, the ground was against us, the
 
 240 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 men were desperate and fought for their lives. Six men 
 were seen to escape from close to the place where we 
 fought after it was all over. I am thankful, as I had only 
 sowars with me and no good native officers, that I had not 
 nine such men to deal with in such a place instead of 
 three. I can write no more.' ' 
 
 It will be my duty to record many another instance of 
 Reynell Taylor's physical as well as moral courage ere my 
 task is ended ; but before returning to the events of the 
 Muhsood campaign I must quote from a letter I have 
 received from Colonel Heathcote Plummer, who acted as 
 Quartermaster-General to the expedition, and who gives a 
 description of the way in which Reynell Taylor in his utter 
 fearlessness appeared almost to court danger, 
 
 ' Right glad was I to see Reynell Taylor's well-known 
 figure, as he rode up to join the advance on the morning 
 we struck camp and prepared to enter the rocky fastnesses 
 of these gallant marauders. Wholly occupied with the 
 very arduous duties of my position, I seldom had oppor- 
 tunities of meeting my old friend excepting during the 
 early hours of our march each morning, when he almost 
 always joined the advanced body of cavalry which accom- 
 panied me. Many anxious moments did he and the 
 General cause me, by the reckless way in which they 
 would gallop ahead of the escort, exposing themselves to 
 be shot down or cut off by the outlying pickets of the 
 keen-eyed clansmen, never very far away from us and 
 always ready to take advantage of any careless exposure. 
 As a youngster my remonstrances were treated with good- 
 
 ' I have been told, by one who was there, that Taylor walked into camp 
 after this affair and never mentioned it until questioned.
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 24I 
 
 humoured scorn, and on one occasion I got the General to 
 send me with a message to Taylor to ask him not to ven- 
 ture so far ahead. The only answer I received was : " All 
 right, my dear fellow ; look after the General, he is twice as 
 bad at it as I am." It was quite true, but Neville Cham- 
 berlain was not the man to give advice to, though I felt 
 that if anything were to happen to him, the result might be 
 a serious disaster to the whole force.* 
 
 After mentioning the fight in the pass to which I have 
 just referred. Colonel Plummer continues : — ' Taylor came 
 into camp after it as cool as if nothing out of the way had 
 happened, though terribly concerned about his poor little 
 Arab. The General gave him a good lecture on the foil}' 
 of going ahead, but I fear coming from such an old 
 offender it had not much effect.' 
 
 On emerging from the pass the army entered the 
 Shahoor tract, where the crops were as far as possible 
 destroyed, and several villages burnt. Jungeh Khan's fort 
 was demolished on the 23rd, and for the first time in their 
 history the Wuzeerees found an enemy advancing into 
 the very heart of their country, laying waste their crops, 
 blowing up their strongholds, and razing their villages to 
 the ground. 
 
 On April 24 preparations were made for the return 
 march to Pulloseen, and on the same day news arrived that 
 a sharp attack had been made on the camp there, and that 
 the enemy were occupying the Shahoor pass. The severe 
 handling, however, which they received from Lumsden's 
 force no doubt made them think better of this, for the pass 
 was found deserted, and the forces were reunited w ithout 
 further incident. 
 
 R
 
 242 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 The attack on the Pulloseen encampment proved to 
 have been a serious affair ; but, thanks to the gallantry of 
 the Guides and Goorkhas, the enemy had been driven off 
 the field, leaving 92 of their dead in and around the camp, 
 and 40 more in the valley along which they were pursued. 
 The loss to the detachment amounted to 47 killed and 143 
 wounded. The severe nature of the fighting was, it ap- 
 pears, due to the attack having come as a surprise just as 
 day began to dawn, and it was fortunate under the circum- 
 stances that the affair terminated as it did. 
 
 The Wuzeerees had now felt our strength, and soon after 
 the Pulloseen fight a deputation of their mullicks arrived 
 in camp and desired to treat. Every endeavour was made 
 to arrange terms and to put a stop to further bloodshed, but 
 it was evident from the first that the Wuzeerees had no 
 fancy for paying a fine, and that the alternative of their 
 giving us free way and assistance in marching to Kanee- 
 gorum, the capital- of the hills, was equally unpalatable. 
 ' Kings have come and gone for many years,' they said, 
 ' but hostile eyes have never seen Kaneegorum.' ' The de- 
 putation,' writes Colonel Plummer, ' numbered some twenty 
 men, fine martial-looking fellows, apparently sternly uncon- 
 cerned. The General and Reynell Taylor endeavoured to 
 reason with them, and, finding it useless to say more, per- 
 suaded them to stay in camp that night and give their 
 answer the next morning. In the early dawn the mullicks 
 appeared and again declined to accede to our terms. " We 
 shall meet at the pass," they said, and then turned and rode 
 slowly out of camp, a splendid picture of manly resolution.' 
 In order to carry out the march to Kaneegorum, 
 with the force at the General's disposal, it was neces-
 
 •^1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 243 
 
 sary to give up all idea of preserving communications 
 with Tank. The distance and the great resources of the 
 tribes for petty warfare appeared to render this step im- 
 perative, for to keep communications open with the base 
 would be to render small parties, holding posts, or passing 
 from point to point, liable to very sudden and serious 
 attacks. 
 
 The sick and wounded were accordingly sent back to 
 Tank, and supplies for the whole force for a period of six- 
 teen days having been collected, together with powder and 
 shot, boots and sandals for the men, shoes for the horses, 
 dhoolies for the sick and wounded, and all those multi- 
 farious articles without which an army is as an engine with- 
 out steam, the encampment was broken up, and an advance 
 made to Shinghee, five miles from the Wuzeeree position 
 of Unai. 
 
 At the head of the Shinghee valley, the mullicks, who 
 were only slightly in advance of the force, were met by the 
 tribes, and Reynell Taylor gives the following account of 
 the scene ;^ 
 
 ' The effect was most dramatic. In front of the whole of 
 our column rode the little band of mullicks, rough warlike- 
 looking fellows as need be seen. A short distance in their 
 rear followed the advance guard, and with it the Ouartcr- 
 master-Gcncral and his camp colourmen. On a sudden 
 we were surprised to see the whole of the hills at the head 
 of the valley alive with men, before unseen, and as the 
 mullicks advanced the tribesmen crowded down to hear the 
 result of their mission, and then retired in a body to 
 Unai.' 
 
 The mullicks had promised to return after consulting 
 
 R 2
 
 244 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 vvith the tribes, but this they failed to do, and it was now 
 evident that further fighting was inevitable. 
 
 The work of destruction accordingly recommenced. 
 The large village of Zereewan was burnt, and the waving 
 crops in the Unai valley laid waste. 
 
 On May 4 a further advance was made to the Barrurah 
 pass, where the enemy had determined to oppose us. 
 
 ' The position occupied by the Wuzeeree leaders,' writes 
 Reynell Taylor, ' was naturally very strong, and had been 
 taken advantage of to the utmost. 
 
 ' A thick grove of trees concealed the actual mouth of 
 the pass, but we could easily conjecture from seeing low 
 lines of sungahs ' immediately over it, that something 
 difficult had been prepared there also. It proved even- 
 tually to be a strong abattis composed of large stones and 
 felled poplar trees, forming a massive barrier, completely 
 closing up the pass, and one on which our guns would have 
 but little effect. 
 
 ' After a patient and thorough examination of the 
 enemy's position, in which all the information that it 
 was possible to obtain regarding the features of the ground 
 were extracted from the spies on the spot, Brigadier- 
 General Chamberlain rapidly formed his plan of action, 
 which was to gain possession at once of the heights on the 
 enemy's left by a vigorous attack, and so to threaten the 
 right of their position at the same time, that an attack 
 could be made on it when a favourable opportunity oc- 
 curred. Bodies of infantry, each accompanied by a moun- 
 tain train, accordingly proceeded to ascend the heights on 
 the right and left of the valley. 
 ' A wall or shelter of loose stones built on a hill side for cover when fighting.
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 245 
 
 ' The Huzara mountain train on the right soon came 
 into action, and the first few discharges evidently caused 
 considerable alarm and astonishment in the Wuzeeree 
 ranks, and there was a decided inclination to retreat, but, 
 gaining courage by reinforcements, they returned to the 
 main sungah. 
 
 ' Our infantry column was soon seen ascending from 
 the gorge to the attack, covered by skirmishers. It 
 was impossible not to perceive that they had a stiff task 
 before them. The sungah, swarming with cool and 
 expert marksmen, occupied the crest of a rugged steep 
 ascent, the last twelve or fifteen feet of which had every 
 appearance from below of being inaccessible, and the 
 nature of the ground, moreover, divided the assailing 
 party by ribs or ridges which ran down from the main 
 crest. 
 
 * The fight at this point quickly became very severe. 
 Lieutenant /\yton, of the 94th, and a number of men were 
 killed and wounded early in the attack. The Wuzeerees 
 had the great advantage of firing from a height and in 
 comparative safety upon masses of men but ill protected 
 by the ground over which they were approaching. The 
 infantry pressed on, however, till the battle on the part of 
 the Wuzeerees was aided by their dexterity in throwing 
 stones — one of their regular modes of fighting. 
 
 'Just at this time we could see from below that the 
 Wuzeerees received a large reinforcement from the rear, 
 and almost simultaneously the head of our column, unable 
 to surmount the last crest of the hill, and suffering loss 
 which they could not return, began to give ground. The 
 Wuzeerees, seeing this, rushed out with sword and shield.
 
 246 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 and succeeded for a time in completely driving back the 
 body which had ascended towards the sungahs. They 
 were themselves turned, however, at the foot of the rise by 
 the fire of Captain Butt's Huzara mountain train and 
 the reserves of the 1st Punjab Infantry. 
 
 ' The Wuzeerees, when thus checked, were quickly 
 driven back ov^er the ridge, and suffered severely in their 
 retreat. The sungah was occupied by the ist Punjab, and 
 the column then proceeded in pursuit, and shortly gained 
 possession of the whole heights on the left of the enemy's 
 position. 
 
 ' Meantime Colonel Lumsden had been engaged with 
 the right of the Wuzeeree force, which for a long time 
 showed every intention of fighting as stubbornly as the 
 men on the left had done ; but when the defenders of the 
 left heights, whose temporary success had been hailed by 
 loud plaudits on the right, had been driven back, they also 
 began to retire. 
 
 ' In less than two hours the enemy had been forced from 
 every strong point, a gap had . been made in the abattis, 
 and in a short time the column marched on to the encamp- 
 ment at Bungeewallah, three miles distant. 
 
 ' Our loss in this action was one officer and twenty- 
 nine men killed, and one officer and eighty-five men 
 wounded. The Wuzeerees left thirty-two bodies on the 
 ground at the point of the chief struggle, and must have 
 lost more in other places, besides having a large number 
 wounded.' 
 
 No further opposition was offered in the Barrurah pass, 
 and the army, with its long line of baggage animals, passed 
 through in safety. In the evening, as the mortal remains
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 247 
 
 of the Sikhs and Hindoos were reduced to ashes, the body 
 of the gallant young English officer, who had fallen early 
 in the day, was laid to rest in a secluded spot, shaded by 
 poplar trees, and close to the banks of a bright mountain 
 stream. Qu(z caret ora cruore nostro. 
 
 ' It is,' says Reynell Taylor, ' impossible not to reflect, 
 with some wonder at such times as these, on the position 
 which it is the good pleasure of Almighty God that a few 
 English officers should occupy, leading a mixed force of 
 strangers to effect the subjection of tribes which have defied 
 all control from time immemorial' 
 
 On the following morning the army, encumbered by a 
 long train of sick and wounded, pushed on up the country. 
 Almost all the dhoolies were full, and it was not without 
 anxiety that the events of the next fortnight were looked 
 forward to. After a march of fifteen miles over the 
 roughest country the army reached Maidanee before night- 
 fall, and late in the afternoon of May 6, in a blinding 
 mountain storm of wind and rain, the advance-guard 
 appeared before Kaneegorum. 
 
 Renewed efforts were now made to induce the Muhsoods 
 to come to terms, and a deputation was sent to Mukeen to 
 point out to the mullicks there assembled that we were not 
 anxious for war, that we had spared many villages on our 
 way up, but that if they did not make peace we should 
 most assuredly destroy all these on our return. It was 
 still further impressed upon them that, by our march to 
 Kaneegorum, we had taken satisfaction for the past, and 
 that all we now required was security for the future. But 
 affairs assumed a new aspect when it was discovered that 
 the mullicks had sent to ask help of the Ameer, represent-
 
 248 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 ing at the same time that our object in invading their 
 country was the annexation of territory. Severe measures, 
 it was evident, were the only ones hkely to succeed against 
 such an enemy, and on May 9 the army accordingly broke 
 up at Kaneegorum and marched to Doa Toyah, destroying 
 all the villages and leaving the valleys wreathed in the 
 smoke of burning houses. 
 
 In spite of repeated attacks upon the rear-guard, 
 Mukeen, the true Wuzeeree headquarters, was reached 
 without serious loss ; but instead of a single town, the 
 valley of Mukeen was found to contain numerous villages 
 of considerable size. 
 
 Kaneegorum had been spared because the inhabitants 
 of that district were not so much in fault ; but it was de- 
 termined to burn Mukeen. The Muhsoods had had every 
 opportunity of redeeming their position, but either from 
 pride, hatred, or shame at being reduced to sue for terms 
 after a three weeks' campaign, they now stood altogether 
 aloof They had been beaten in the field and would not 
 expose themselves to further defeat, and on the other hand 
 they would neither make peace nor give security for future 
 good behaviour. 
 
 So on May 1 1 Mukeen was burnt and the mullicks' 
 towers blown into the air ; and by the evening the great 
 peaks of the Peer Ghul and Showeeghur mountains, up- 
 wards of 11,000 feet in height, looked down upon a 
 blackened and blazing district, and the ruins of a town 
 which had taken more than thirty years to build up. 
 
 ' It was strange to think,' writes Reynell Taylor, ' that 
 this was probably the first page in the chapter of Muhsood 
 civilisation, but that such will prove to be the case,
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 249 
 
 under Providence, I have not the slightest doubt in my 
 own mind.' 
 
 Upon the further course of the campaign I need not 
 dwell as it was altogether uneventful. 
 
 A week after the burning of Mukeen the army emerged 
 from the passes and re-entered Bunnoo, and the expedition 
 was thus brought to a close without further fighting. No 
 terms were formally arranged with the tribes, but severe 
 punishment had been meted out to them, and their gutted 
 villages and trodden crops remained as lessons upon which 
 they might well ponder for many years to come. 
 
 In looking back to the Muhsood expedition there seem 
 to be many points deserving attention. The army, num- 
 bering, with its camp followers, upwards of 8,000 men, 
 entered and traversed an enemy's country, carrying with 
 it all its supplies for a period of sixteen days. The country 
 through which the army passed presented every imaginable 
 difficulty, and had never before been entered by a hostile 
 force. The tribes inhabiting it were active mountaineers 
 accustomed to carry on guerilla warfare, and able, owing to 
 the wild and rocky nature of the ground, to make sudden 
 attacks from points where their presence was altogether 
 unsuspected. There were no roads over the mountains, 
 and the army consequently marched, a distance of fifty 
 miles into the country and fifty miles out again, solely by 
 the maps Rcynell Taylor had prepared from native sources 
 and from information collected by the cross-examination 
 of spies and merchantmen. No European troops were 
 employed in the undertaking ; neither was the force wholly 
 composed of regular native infantry : on the contrary, a 
 considerable portion of it was made up of frontier classes
 
 2 50 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 under command of their Toomundars or hereditary chiefs. 
 Yet with this material, with the advance seriously hampered 
 by an almost interminable line of transport, with dhoolies 
 filled from the first with sick, wounded, and footsore 
 soldiers, and with an enterprising enemy always on the 
 watch and constantly delivering petty attacks, the expedi- 
 tion was finally carried through to a successful conclusion, 
 and not one single baggage animal from first to last fell 
 alive into the enemy's hands. ' The amount of labour,' 
 writes Reynell Taylor, ' involved on officers and men, from 
 the indefatigable general down to the private soldier, was 
 immense. Besides the outlying detachments, half the 
 force was nightly on inlying picket, and on some occasions 
 the whole force lay down accoutred.' 
 
 The success attained belongs in the first place to the 
 General in command, but I shall not be claiming more 
 than is Reynell Taylor's due if I state that a large share 
 of that success belongs also by right to him. The follow- 
 ing references to his services would, in truth, appear to 
 place this beyond further question. General Chamberlain 
 in his despatch of July 7 writes : ' It now remains for me 
 to acknowledge how greatly the military operations were 
 assisted by the hearty co-operation of the Commissioner 
 and Deputy Commissioner.^ 
 
 'Notwithstanding the difficulty of obtaining information 
 Major Reynell Taylor's sketches and description of the 
 country proved to be singularly accurate, and no exertion 
 was spared by him to afford every assistance. Indeed I 
 should be ungrateful were I not to say that had he been 
 
 ' General, then Captain, Holled Co.xe, whose name has been so often 
 mentioned in these pages.
 
 -1852 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 25 I 
 
 an officer on the staff instead of the chief political officer in 
 camp, he could not have afforded me more assistance, or 
 more freely have placed his services at my disposal.' 
 
 And, further, the Governor-General, in a private letter 
 to Taylor, dated ' Calcutta, June 23, i860,' says : — 
 
 ' My dear Sir, — Sir Robert Montgomery tells me that 
 some time may elapse before the official report of the 
 expedition against the Wuzeerees will be sent up. The 
 general results are, of course, well known to me already, and 
 I am pretty well acquainted with details. 
 
 ' I cannot have the formal thanks of the Gov^ernment 
 conveyed to you until the report reaches Calcuttta, and 
 therefore, rather than you should remain without, I send 
 you these few lines to thank you for the large share which 
 }-ou have had in the success of the operations, and to leave 
 you in no doubt that your excellent service is gratefully 
 appreciated by me. 
 
 * I am sorry that the tribe has not come distinctly to 
 terms, but I think that perseverance against them was 
 carried quite as far as was in the circumstances expedient, 
 and certainly there is no question as to the efficient manner 
 in which the operations were conducted. 
 
 ' The whole management of the expedition has been 
 such as to confirm and raise our authority on the frontier. 
 The obstinate temper, too, of the tribe has quite satisfied 
 me that forbearance for another year, or postponement on 
 any ground, would have been an error. 
 
 ' I beg to thank you very heartily for the excellent 
 judgment which you have shown in all the stages of this 
 matter, and to assure you of the pleasure which I shall
 
 2 52 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 have in making known to the Home Government how 
 
 much value I attach to it. 
 
 ' I hope you are none the worse for the exposure and 
 
 exertion. — Believe me, yours very faithfully, 
 
 • Canning.' 
 
 And what substantial reward, then, it may be asked, 
 did Reynell Taylor receive for these services ? None. 
 
 He had served his country well and faithfully for 
 twenty years save some few months, he had fought in 
 three previous campaigns, and had now completed his 
 fourth ; he had been thanked both publicly and privately 
 by more than one Governor-General, and had been men- 
 tioned over and over again in despatches ; he had bled as 
 a soldier, and risked his life frequently and voluntarily as 
 a political officer ; yet his services remained unrewarded, 
 and not until three years after the close of the Muhsood 
 expedition was he admitted to the ranks of an Order 
 which, some may well think, had been his almost by right 
 years before.^ 
 
 At the conclusion of the campaign Taylor returned 
 to Derah Ishmael Khan and resumed his usual labours — 
 hearing appeals, trying cases of murder and of theft, and 
 attending to the administration of the division generally. 
 Death made another inroad into his family during the year 
 i86i, and in the month of June he was called upon to 
 mourn the loss of his sister. Lady Carew. Haccombe and 
 Marley had always been happy homes to him, and though 
 Sir Walter lived on till 1874, the death of his sister de- 
 prived those homes of much of their brightness. 
 
 ' Reynell Taylor was gazetted a Companion of the Bath in May 1863.
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 253 
 
 But I must pass on from this, and come to one of the 
 most important episodes in Reynell Taylor's Hfe. He 
 had been much struck while at Sealkot at the astonish- 
 ment of the frontier chiefs when they discovered that we 
 possessed places of worship. The Sealkot church is a 
 very beautiful one, and the chiefs were proportionately 
 impressed. I have been told by several people that 
 this fact caused the Lieutenant-Governor to consider the 
 suggestion of building small churches at the frontier 
 stations — a suggestion, moreover, which was afterwards 
 carried into effect, and it undoubtedly impressed Taylor 
 with the idea that the Derajat might afford a field for 
 the missionary. 
 
 For many months the subject engaged his earnest 
 attention ; his connection with the Derajat was drawing to 
 a close, but before leaving it he determined to mark his 
 retirement by putting within reach of the frontier races the 
 privileges of the Christian faith. His religion had always 
 been ' a chief fact with regard to him,' but in this he did 
 not differ from many of those by whom he was surrounded. 
 It is impossible to study the lives of the most distinguished 
 men in the Punjab at this period without being struck by 
 the religious tone which almost universally pervaded their 
 actions. Reynell Taylor's congregation of four in his tent 
 in Bunnoo was, it is well known, but the echo of what was 
 to be found in many other parts of the country ; and 
 meetings for the study of the Bible were not, we may 
 believe, confined to the Commissioner's house on the hill- 
 side at Dhurmsala. 
 
 ' The Christian character of British administration of 
 the Punjab,' writes Sir John Kaye, ' has ever been one of
 
 254 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 its most distinguishing features. It is not merely that 
 great humanising measures were pushed forward with an 
 alacrity most honourable to a Christian nation ; that the 
 moral elevation of the people was continually in the 
 thoughts of our administrators ; but that in their own 
 personal characters they sought to illustrate the religion 
 which they professed. Wherever two or three were 
 gathered, the voice of praise and prayer went up from the 
 white man's tent.' ' It was men like the Lawrences, men 
 like Robert Montgomery, Herbert Edwardes, Donald Mac- 
 Leod, Henry Norman, Douglas Forsyth, James Brind, Cust, 
 Lake, James, Martin, Urmston, Maclagan, Gorton, and 
 many more, besides him of whom I am writing, who left 
 their mark in this way upon the Punjab, and who, while 
 serving their country and their Queen, forgot not to serve 
 also their King of kings ; and it is a significant feature 
 that while those who I have just mentioned were mainly 
 instrumental in starting and supporting the earlier missions 
 in the Punjab, the mission stations of Umritsur, Simla, 
 Kotgurh, Kangra, Cashmere, Peshawur, and the Derajat 
 were all exclusively established by Government officers, 
 and all now form links in that chain of posts which extends 
 from Kotgurh through Kangra, Cashmere, and Peshawur 
 along the wild frontier of the Derajat and across Belu- 
 chistan and Sindh to the sea. 
 
 There is no doubt that the spread of Christianity in 
 India received a considerable accession of strength, and 
 that the mission field was greatly extended immediately 
 after the close of the Mutiny. Many missions had been 
 formed in the Punjab previous to the years 1857-8, as, for 
 instance, those of Simla and Kotgurh in 1840, the Umrit- 
 ' Kaye's Sepoy War, vol. i. p. 64.
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 255 
 
 sur Mission, following immediately upon the first meeting 
 of the Punjab Mission in 1852, the Peshawur Mission in 
 1853, and the Kangra Mission in the next year; but it 
 was not until after the Mutiny that men's minds began to 
 turn to the subject with greater earnestness, and that many 
 began to see in the spread of Christianity the safeguard of 
 our interests in India. ' It is not only our duty,' said Lord 
 Pal merston, when Prime Minister in 1859, 'but it is our 
 interest to promote the diffusion of Christianity as far as 
 possible throughout the whole length and breadth of India.' 
 ' Every additional Christian,' added Sir C. Wood, then 
 Secretary of State for India, ' is an additional bond of 
 union with England, and an additional source of strength 
 to the Empire.' All honour, then, to the men who have 
 sacrificed not only their health and strength, and devoted 
 their lives to the labour, but have in many cases im- 
 poverished themselves by the extent and liberality of their 
 donations. The history of British missionary labours in 
 India, as elsewhere, is a striking one enough, and its pages 
 tell of deeds of heroism and of daring performed by men 
 single-handed. What the missionary does he has to do for 
 the most part alone, and for this reason, if for no other, the 
 moral support of his fellow-men should be given all the 
 more ungrudgingly. Reynell Taylor was never tired of 
 advocating the cause of the missionary, and he supported 
 it alike with his pen as with his purse, ' because,' he said, 
 ' the British nation owes a debt, and a heavy debt, of 
 gratitude to the missionary bodies for what they have 
 accomplished for us in the past by their judicious and 
 persevering labours.' ' 
 
 ' 'The missionary not a pioneer of annexation' {Church Missionary 
 Intelligencer, June 1879).
 
 256 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 To the end of his days he remained a warm advocate 
 of the spread of Christianity in India, and it is impossible 
 to lose sight of the fact that the pecuniary sacrifice he 
 thought it right to make in support of the cause was a very 
 heavy one. I have had the privilege, since I commenced 
 this part of my subject, of corresponding with one whose 
 name must live in India, not only as a man who occupied 
 high positions, but as one who ever took the deepest inte- 
 rest in the development of missionary work — I allude to 
 Sir Robert Montgomery. But my correspondence with 
 him, and from which this book might have benefited 
 much, has now been cut short, for even as I write comes 
 the news of his death. In the last letter he wrote to me, 
 only a few days before he died, he says, after referring to 
 the extension of missions in the Punjab and Taylor's open- 
 handedness in supporting them : — ' India, abundant in good 
 men, had never a finer Christian character than Reynell 
 Taylor. He was a brave soldier, a splendid swordsman, 
 but gentle, true, and most lovable.' 
 
 So Reynell Taylor determined to mark his retirement 
 from the Derajat by doing something in aid of the subject 
 he had nearest at heart, and with a hope of benefiting 
 the wild races with whom he had been connected for so 
 many years. He decided, in short, to establish a mission 
 in the Derajat, and for this purpose, and though pos- 
 sessed of a very moderate income, he offered to make a 
 donation of 1,000/., and to supplement it by a subscription 
 of 100 rs. a month during such time as he remained in 
 India. 
 
 In forwarding his proposal through Montgomery and 
 Herbert Edwardes, he writes : — ' I should wish to put the
 
 -1863 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 2 5/ 
 
 matter in the hands of the Church Missionary Society. I 
 Hke its connection with our Church, and I beheve it to be 
 in every way entitled to confidence and honour both as to 
 motives and means employed, and therefore we can never 
 do better than put ourselves in its hands.' 
 
 ' It cannot but strike us,' wrote Herbert Edwardes in 
 supporting Taylor's proposal, ' as very remarkable that 
 this comes from one who is responsible for some 300 miles 
 of the farthest and ruggedest frontier of British India, and 
 that he who bids the proposal " God speed " is responsible 
 for the provinces whose manly races helped the English to 
 reconquer India in 1857-58. The Punjab is indeed con- 
 spicuous for two things — the most successful government 
 and the most open acknowledgment of Christian duty. So 
 long as the Punjab is ruled in the spirit of Colonel Reynell 
 Taylor and of Sir Robert Montgomery a blessing will 
 surely rest upon it. As one whose lot is cast in with theirs, 
 I am thankful even to read their letters and to carry such 
 plans before you.' 
 
 ' We have held the frontier,' wrote Montgomery to 
 Taylor, ' for twelve years against all comers, and now, 
 thank God, for the first time, we are at peace with all the 
 tribes. There are indications of a better state of things for 
 the future ; they seek more to come amongst us ; now is the 
 time to hold out the hand of friendship, and to offer 
 through the missionaries the bread of life. It is not the 
 duty of the Government, or their servants, to proselytise ; 
 this is left to those who have devoted their lives to the 
 work. I rejoice to see Missions spreading, and the Dcrajat 
 is a fitting place for the establishment of one.' 
 
 The Church Missionary Society was at the time of 
 
 S
 
 258 REYNELL TAYLOR 1859- 
 
 Taylor's proposal (1861) somewhat hard pressed for funds 
 and this new mission necessarily meant additional expense, 
 but Taylor's donation was supplemented by a subscription 
 of one hundred pounds from Montgomery, then Lieutenant- 
 Governor of the Punjab, as well as by other small sums, 
 and the mission was accordingly started at Derah Ishmael 
 Khan forthwith. It is no part of my duty to laud this 
 action of Taylor's, but it seems as though, by establishing 
 this mission, he brought to a fitting close a connection with 
 a country where his unparalleled influence was the outcome 
 of kindness and consideration. For sixteen years after 
 this he continued to pay his promised subscription of 
 100 rs. a month, and on one occasion he is known to have 
 insured his life and raised the money on the policy to en- 
 able him to do so. ' An amusing incident,' writes the 
 Rev. Robert Clark, ' occurred in connection with Reynell 
 Taylor's subscription to the Derajat Mission which is quite 
 unknown. He was asking one day about the missionary 
 at Derah Ishmael Khan, and was told that he had gone 
 home. Taylor gave a little start but said nothing. At the 
 end of the visit he remarked that his visitor must have 
 noticed that he was a little discomposed on hearing of the 
 missionary's departure, " for," said he, " I have not paid my 
 subscription for several months, and, in fact, had not the 
 money to give, so I borrowed of the Bank, and they would 
 not lend it till I had insured my life. It has just come, and 
 now the missionary has gone home." ' ' Probably,' adds 
 the same writer, ' no other instance has ever yet been 
 known in India of a man insuring his life to pay his sub- 
 scription to a Missionary Society.' The mission, established 
 in the first instance by Taylor's munificence, has now been
 
 -1862 MUHSOOD EXPEDITION — DERAJAT MISSION 259 
 
 in operation for more than twenty-six years, and there is at 
 the present time a missionary at Derah Ishmael Khan, 
 another at Bunnoo, and a medical missionary at Tank * ; but 
 the results, chiefly, I believe, from the fact that the sta- 
 tions have been at all times undermanned, have been as yet 
 lamentably small,^ and there is little to show for all these 
 years of labour. The classes it was hoped to reach — the 
 Wuzeerees, the Lohanee and Powindah merchants, and 
 the Beluchees — have not responded, and the labours and 
 preaching of the missionaries seem to have ' been carried 
 away by a strong and merciless stream.' 
 
 Long after Taylor left the Derajathis name, like James 
 Abbott's in Huzara, was remembered by the people among 
 whom he had worked, and writing as late as 1883^ the 
 Rev. Robert Clark says : — ' His deeds of prowess are still 
 spoken of on the frontier, where his name is a household 
 word for skill and courage. The only person who knows 
 what he did, and is silent respecting it, is himself And 
 yet so gentle, lovable, and beloved was he, that the natives 
 used to say there were two ferishtas (angels) amongst the 
 English in the Punjab ; that they were so good, that if all 
 
 ' Church Missionary Society's Annual Report, 1886-7. The Medical 
 Mission at Tank was founded by Major Gray in 1868. 
 
 * The missionary in charge of Bunnoo, writing to the Society on December 
 16, 1886, gives the following figures :— Native communicants, 5; native 
 baptised Christians, 17. Baptisms during the year — adult, i ; child, i ; schools, 
 3 ; scholars — boys, loi. The figures for Derah Ishmael Khan are rather 
 larger. The missionary here writes on February 10, 1887, that the native com- 
 municants number 19, the native Christians 42, the baptisms during the year 4, 
 and the scholars 265. 
 
 At Tank the medical missionary reports that in 1886 ' there were 9,375 new 
 patients and 15,971 visits recorded, 56 in-patients were treated, and that 14 
 major operations and 1,862 minor were performed.' 
 
 ^ Clark's Thirty Years of Missionary IVork. 
 
 S 2
 
 26o REYNELL TAYLOR 1859-62 
 
 the English had been like them the whole country would 
 have become Christian by seeing them and witnessing their 
 actions without the aid of any missionaries at all ; and that 
 these two ferishtas were Sir Donald MacLeod. and General 
 Reynell Taylor.'
 
 26l 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR. 
 1862-1863. 
 
 In the spring of 1862 Reynell Taylor turned his back upon 
 the Derajat for the last time. Hugh James, the Commis- 
 sioner of Peshawur, had goneto England on leave, and Taylor 
 was ordered to take up the Officiating Commissionership 
 in his absence. We may -well believe that he did not part 
 from the people of the Derajat without a true feeling of 
 regret. Among them he could count many friends ; in their 
 country he had won his earliest laurels, and his name was 
 known far and near as one who was never too busy to listen 
 to their troubles or to consider their complaints. His daring 
 and complete indifference to danger won their respect, but 
 his gentleness and consideration for the meanest among 
 them entwined itself about their rough hearts. They never 
 forgot ' the man,' as they called him, ' with the disposition 
 of an angel ; ' and it may equally be said that he never for- 
 got them. Years after this, even as late as 1876, I find him 
 still writing to advocate the claims of those who had stood 
 by him in his hour of direst need ; and it is satisfactory to 
 know that the Government at length 'granted all he asked.' 
 I have before alluded to the hold Reynell Taylor had upon 
 the natives of all classes, and there is no doubt — and I have
 
 262 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 heard it from many of his intimate friends — that the secret 
 of it was his accessibihty. He was never so hard at work 
 that he did not make the time to receive the high, the low, 
 the rich, or the poor ; ' at all times visitors came to him 
 without fear of rebuff, and all, from the pompous city mag- 
 nate to the humblest citizen, were sure of a courteous and 
 kindly reception.' So much, indeed, did he think of this 
 part of his duty throughout his life in India, that he let it 
 be generally known that he had regular hours for receiving 
 visits from natives every morning. All might come at 
 other times, but it was understood that those only came at 
 the stated hours whose social or official position entitled 
 them to visit the Commissioner. ' The preparations for 
 these visits were always made with the greatest care and 
 forethought. In fine and suitable weather, when the morn- 
 ing air was sufficiently cool (or in the cold season, suffi- 
 ciently mild) to make it pleasant, the receptions took place 
 in the garden, under the shade of trees, where carpets were 
 spread and chairs arranged. If it was necessary to be in 
 the house, domestic arrangements were made to give way, 
 and the guests were received kindly and courteously in the 
 drawing-room. His manner with natives (as, indeed, at all 
 times) was quiet and self-possessed, but with all there was 
 a pleasant geniality and none of that gaudierie which 
 comes of ignorance of Eastern customs or of the language. 
 His knowledge of both was complete, so there was neither 
 vagueness nor fear of offence on either side during these 
 ceremonies.' ' 
 
 The effects of Reynell Taylor's treatment of natives 
 were often most marked, but at no time were the fruits 
 > Colonel A. H. Bamfield.
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 263 
 
 more distinctly visible than in 1857-8, when the Derajatees 
 responded at once to our call and came forward voluntarily 
 to offer their assistance. It is undoubtedly a fact that the 
 visits of natives, be their rank or position what it may, are 
 often distasteful to the English official. Very often the 
 officer is overdone with work and the visits are ill-timed, 
 coming alike in the hours of work as in the hours of leisure. 
 Possibly he knows full well the burden of the complaint or 
 the request which is the real object of the visit, and he knows 
 too that this will only be brought out after a lengthened and 
 irrelevant conversation. Consequently the interview is of the 
 briefest and wanting in courtesy : the applicant is told that 
 the time is inopportune and that leisure cannot be found, and 
 he therefore goes his way with the feeling that the door is 
 shut to him. Reynell Taylor, as I have said, worked on the 
 opposite principle, and sacrificed himself and his time for 
 others. Personal influence he always considered to be the 
 strongest weapon, and he lost few opportunities throughout 
 his life of acquiring it. ' Probably,' writes one of his most 
 intimate friends, ' there never was an officer in the service, 
 whether civilian or military, who was so thoroughly acces- 
 sible to natives as he was ; ' and it was this accessibility 
 which was the cause of his strength. 
 
 So Reynell Taylor bid good-bye to the Dcrajat, and in 
 company with his wife and four children ' set out for 
 Peshawur. 
 
 His duties here differed little from those he had just 
 left. To the ordinary judicial and political work was, how- 
 ever, added one very important item, ' the conduct of dip- 
 
 ' A second daughter, Alice, had been born at Dera Ishmael Khan on 
 April 13, 1861.
 
 264 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 lomatic correspondence between the Ameer of Cabul and 
 the British Government, the Commissioner of Peshawur 
 being the intermediary through whom, as a rule, commu- 
 nications between the two Governments passed.' 
 
 To his already ripe knowledge of frontier politics Taylor 
 now added a close study of the internal affairs of Afghan- 
 istan. In after years this enabled him to give sound advice 
 when called upon, and also to foreshadow, in a remarkable 
 manner, the consequences which would result in the event 
 of certain courses of action being adopted. History in these 
 days is made at so rapid a rate that much of what he wrote 
 bears but little upon the present state of affairs, and I have 
 therefore thought it best, in order to avoid breaking the 
 thread of the narrative, to notice his writings together in an 
 appendix. 
 
 Peshawur has always been well known for two things — 
 its unhealthiness and its crime. The term which for many 
 years was applied to it is now almost obsolete, and Peshawur 
 can no longer be called ' the white man's grave.' That 
 deadly complaint, known as ' Peshawur fever,' is now rarely 
 met with, and, owing to a good water supply and general 
 sanitary improvement, the quarter may be considered quite 
 as healthy as many others. But in the days of which I am 
 writing it was different, and the year 1862 was memorable 
 for one of the most terrible outbreaks of cholera and fever 
 ever known. Hundreds were swept off, and in one day 
 alone the 93rd Highlanders lost four of their officers. The 
 outbreak lasted from June to October, during the whole of 
 which time Reynell Taylor visited the city daily, and 
 assisted by every means in his power to stay the ravages 
 of the disease. It is needless to say he never thought of
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 265 
 
 himself, and one instance I may at least quote to show how 
 utterly unmindful he was of the risks he ran. Working 
 one day when the outbreak was at its height, and the great 
 heat rendered the march of the disease all the more easy, 
 the coolie who was pulling the punkah over him was sud- 
 denly seized with the dreaded complaint. Reynell Taylor, 
 without a moment's thought, ordered his buggy to be 
 brought round, and, taking the coolie in his arms, drove 
 him himself to the hospital. To those who have never 
 known what it is to confront a severe outbreak of cholera 
 this fact may seem but a small affair ; but to others who 
 have had this experience, and who know that dread of in- 
 fection, amounting almost to panic, is not confined to the 
 weaker sex, the story of Taylor and the coolie will appear 
 worth recording. 
 
 And now as regards crime. It will be remembered 
 that when Taylor was left at ■ twenty-five years of age 
 Hakim-i-wukt of Peshawur, his action in hanging a rnan 
 for murder without due deliberation was somewhat severely 
 commented on by Henry Lawrence. I am inclined to 
 think, that this reprimand was the cause of his hesitating 
 ever afterwards to arrive at a decision in any case without 
 a most thorough and complete sifting of every tittle of 
 evidence. There is no doubt that he was much longer in 
 getting through his cases than others, and this I have 
 heard from many ; but it must also be recorded that his 
 decisions were very rarely upset, and the Judicial Com- 
 missioner averred that Reynell Taylor ' was one of two 
 whose judicial decisions and sessions cases were the best in 
 the Province.' It is a curious fact that tlic number of 
 murders when Taylor was Officiating Commissioner of
 
 266 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 Peshawur in 1863 was less than was ever known before ; 
 but I do not wish to claim credit to him for this, though a 
 certain action on his part, to which I shall have presently 
 to refer, may have had something to do with it. 
 
 The terrible prevalence of crime, which has always been 
 one of the distinctive features of the Peshawur district, is 
 no doubt due to the large proportion of Pathan inhabitants. 
 From youth up the Pathan is taught that the sword or the 
 knife is the only remedy for wrong, however weighty or 
 however slight. In writing of the race Kaye gives the 
 following description : — ' Brave, independent, but of a tur- 
 bulent, vindictive character, their very existence seemed to 
 depend upon a constant succession of internal feuds . . . 
 they knew no happiness in anything but strife. It was 
 their delight to live in a state of chronic warfare. Blood is 
 always crying aloud for blood. Revenge was a virtue 
 among them ; the heritage of retribution passed from 
 father to son, and murder became a solemn duty.' • 
 
 The causes of the prevalence of crime, therefore, were 
 due in a great measure to the characteristics of the in- 
 habitants, the murders being, in almost every case, the out- 
 come of infidelity or jealousy. In the years 1849-50 the 
 murders were believed to have averaged one a day, but 
 after this, partly owing to a very large force of police, and 
 partly to the introduction, with our rule, of capital punish- 
 ment, this class of crime decreased until, as I have said, it 
 touched its lowest level in 1863, when the number of 
 murders amounted to twenty-seven. But this improved 
 state of affairs did not last, for in the very next year they 
 were double again, and by 1872, after a gradual increase 
 
 ' Kaye's IVar in Afghanistan, vol. i.
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 26j 
 
 annually, they arose to the appalling figure of 103. Mr. 
 Elsmie, Additional Commissioner of Peshawur, in his 
 official report in 1873, writes: — 'I do not suppose that 
 such a state of things exists in any other part of the 
 British dominions, in India or elsewhere,' and in referring 
 to the decrease in 1863 he adds : — ' This number is remark- 
 ably low. The Deputy Commissioner thinks it was partly 
 owning to the Umbeylah campaign causing private animosi- 
 ties to be suspended. But in 1862 three brothers of good 
 position were hanged for brutal murder, and I have heard 
 General Taylor, the Commissioner of that time, say that 
 this example had a most marked effect' 
 
 The facts of this particular case were these : — A dispute 
 had arisen in a family, which ended in the murder of one 
 member of it by his three brothers. As usual, the sympa- 
 thies of the inhabitants were all on the side of the mur- 
 derers, and no amount of evidence was wanting in support 
 of an alibi. The case went before the magistrate. General 
 Coxe, to whom I am indebted for the facts, and the three 
 brothers were committed for trial before Reynell Taylor. 
 Taylor spared no pains to investigate the matter thoroughly, 
 and went several times to the scene of the murder. In the 
 end he recommended that all three brothers should be 
 hanged ; his recommendation was approved, and the mur- 
 derers were executed without loss of time. That three 
 lives should in this way be taken for one life was alike a 
 puzzle and check to the Pathans, and for a time at least 
 the execution was not without its effect. 
 
 I have been constrained to notice the crime of the 
 Peshawur district, because it was a matter to which Taylor 
 devoted much time, and when, in 1873, the prevalence of
 
 268 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 the crime of assassination in the district formed the sub- 
 ject of an official inquiry, Reynell Taylor was called upon 
 for an expression of his opinion. Infidelity and jealousy 
 were, as I have already said, the cause of the majority of 
 the murders, but blood feuds also accounted for a great 
 many. Rather more than ten years after the period of 
 which I am writing, a blood feud in the Peshawur district 
 was, indirectly, the cause of a national calamity, and as the 
 murderer was well known to Reynell Taylor, having been 
 in his employ for some time, I will notice the circumstance 
 here. 
 
 At the time of the murder of Lord Mayo, Reynell 
 Taylor was on leave in England, and in a letter to ' The 
 Times ' ' he gives the following account of Shere All's 
 history. The crime at the time was attributed to fanati- 
 cism, and indeed Shere Ali is, in many instances, referred 
 to even now as ' a fanatic' Taylor, I think, conclusively 
 proves that fanaticism had little or nothing to do with 
 it, and in a leading article upon his letter ' The Times ' 
 refers to his account as being ' so complete at all points, 
 and so entirely explaining the crime by motives of private 
 passion, that it would seem wholly unnecessary, if not un- 
 reasonable, to cast about for any more remote or recondite 
 cause.' 
 
 ' Shere Ali,' writes Reynell Taylor, ' is an Afreedee, his 
 home being beyond our border in the Teerah mountains, 
 west of the Khyber pass. He had been selected by Sir 
 Herbert Edwardes or Colonel James — I forget which — to 
 act as mounted orderly to the Commissioner of Peshawur, 
 and in this capacity I first made his acquaintance when I 
 ' February 13, 1872.
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 269 
 
 temporarily took up the Peshavvur Commlssionership from 
 Colonel James in 1862. 
 
 ' Shere Ali was made over to me by Colonel James with 
 the warning that he had a serious blood feud on hand with 
 a rival branch of his own family, and he would probably 
 ask leave to go and prosecute this petty warfare in his own 
 hills. Numerous victims had fallen on both sides in this 
 feud, and the balance for the time was against Shere Ali. 
 Accordingly he was occasionally summoned by his family 
 to carry on the feud, when they believed that an opportunity 
 of successfully attacking members of the rival branch was 
 likely to occur. 
 
 ' This hereditary quarrel was eventually the ruin of 
 Shere Ali himself, and by as strange a combination of cir- 
 cumstances as ever swayed the balance of mortal destiny 
 it has involved the fate of a gallant nobleman and gentle- 
 man, the highest in the land, the scene being a remote 
 island in the Indian seas. 
 
 ' Shere Ali, unhappily for all, did not content himself 
 with prosecuting his blood feud in his own mountains, 
 where his proceedings, being in accordance with the usages 
 of his tribe and the practice of his co-religionists, could be 
 no concern of ours. 
 
 'The British territory is free to all, and by implied 
 compact all are bound to forego their feuds and animosities 
 on British ground. This principle of the sanctity of the 
 neutral ground afforded by our territory is well known and 
 recognised by all the tribesmen on our borders. I have 
 frequently had men, and parties of men, sitting on the same 
 carpet before me, who directly they crossed the border 
 could only meet as Montague and Capulct.
 
 270 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 ' But it SO fell out that Shere Ali was induced, under 
 what was to him strong temptation, to violate the sanctuary 
 of British territory, and, either watching his opportunity or 
 accidentally obtaining it, fell upon his hereditary enemy in 
 the peach-groves in the suburbs of Peshawur and took his 
 life, thereby, according to Pathan modes of feeling, setting 
 himself right, and throwing the onus of the next move in 
 the game on his rivals. 
 
 ' This occurred after I had left Peshawur. Colonel 
 Pollock tried Shere Ali for his life, found him guilty, and, 
 I believe, sentenced him to death, but in consideration of 
 his good character in our service, and partly, I believe, 
 from the fact of the evidence against him being chiefly 
 circumstantial, he recommended him to mercy quoad the 
 extreme penalty of the law, and he was eventually trans- 
 ported for life. 
 
 ' I communicated with Colonel Pollock at the time 
 regarding him. Shere Ali had accompanied me throughout 
 the Umbeylah campaign, and had behaved with the gallantry 
 and devotion which the men of his tribe know so well how 
 to display when they are treated with kindness and con- 
 fidence, and I felt bound to say what I could for him. 
 
 ' He was not a mere brutal ruffian, as his last act would 
 make him appear ; the murder which he committed in the 
 Peshawur territory would have been no murder according 
 to the usages of his clansmen a few miles further north- 
 wards. He had attended me with eager zeal and devotion 
 in rough work, and in peace he had been the playfellow of 
 my children, one little girl having him entirely at her beck 
 and call. In his great rough posteen boots, and armed 
 always, like men of his clan, with sword and knife, he would
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 27 1 
 
 carry her all over the place and attend her on her pony 
 rides. 
 
 * I only give the worst his due. This is the man who 
 has now with ruffianly cruelty struck down our manly and 
 genial chief, and the power is only left us to deplore the 
 fact that, probably by a too frank and brave bearing on 
 the part of Lord Mayo, the opportunity was given him 
 of working this mischief 
 
 ' I know full well what transportation must have been 
 to Shere Ali, pining for the blue hills of Teerah, and 
 brooding over his punishment for what he would persist in 
 justifying as no crime. If you imagine a Highland clans- 
 man in the old times incarcerated for life in a Lowland 
 jail for killing a rival in the course of a blood feud, but on 
 land under the influence of the laws, you would come 
 somewhere near what was the man's probable state of 
 mind. 
 
 ' The Afreedees are proverbially reckless of human life, 
 but they are not fanatical, nor are they naturally prejudiced 
 against us. There was, therefore, I feel confident, nothing 
 connected with religious frenzy or hatred of the British in 
 the act, except, inasmuch as you have rightly conjectured, 
 it is probable that he recognised in the Governor-General 
 the head and front of that system of even-handed justice 
 which had condemned him to penal servitude for life. 
 
 ' How sad is the result ! Lord Mayo in his brave, 
 energetic, and human endeavours to understand this remote 
 portion of the charge entrusted to him, must have exposed 
 himself by his free, confident bearing to the blow. Our 
 chiefs are, I think, a whit too thoughtless of themselves in 
 such matters, urged on, however, by the wish to see all with
 
 272 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 their own eyes. Every convict against whom, in that dim 
 twilight, Lord Mayo may have almost been jostled, had a 
 history and antecedents which in his diseased imaginings 
 were brooded over daily as wrongs. I myself know that 
 there must have been one other man in that throng, unless 
 he has before this effected his escape or died in the attempt, 
 regarding whom it would not have surprised me in the 
 least to hear that he had done exactly as Shere Ali has. 
 The man I allude to is no religious enthusiast or political 
 intriguer, only a dacoit leader ; and the question I am 
 inclined to ask is, whether it is really right that the highest 
 and most important person in the country should be 
 brought actually in contact with such characters without 
 himself or those about him being even aware of the nature 
 of the danger encountered ? 
 
 ' It is most sad, I think, that so valuable a life should 
 have been sacrificed by the generous performance of a 
 duty which surely could have been sufficiently well per- 
 formed by those lower in rank, who would have been less 
 likely to suffer, or, if unfortunate, could have been spared 
 with less injury to the country.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor had not been more than fifteen months 
 at Peshawur, when an outbreak occurred on the borders of 
 his district which called for the full display of all his 
 remarkable qualities. I will tell the story in a few words. 
 In the early part of the century, one Syud Ahmed Shah, 
 a native of Bareilly, after devoting some years to the study 
 of Arabic, proceeded on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The 
 doctrines he professed attracted a certain number of fana- 
 tical Mahomedans, and in 1824 he appeared in Eusufzye 
 and commenced a religious war against the Sikhs. For a
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEVLAH WAR 273 
 
 time his operations were eminently successful, and in 1829 
 Peshawur fell into his hands. Elated by this stroke of 
 fortune, he was indiscreet enough to attempt to assert his 
 authority on those around him, but his measures proved 
 so oppressive that many of his followers forsook him, and 
 in 1830 he was slain in a fight on the Huzara border. The 
 remains of his army made good their escape across the 
 Indus, and established themselves at Sitana, at the foot 
 of the great Mahabun mountain. Here the Syuds, as 
 they came to be called, were joined from time to time by 
 parties of Hindostanees, who, though nominally attached to 
 the fanatics, really held themselves somewhat aloof These 
 Hindostanees were supported and furnished with money 
 and arms from Patna in Bengal, and from parts of Raj- 
 pootana, by those whose bitter enmity against us and 
 whose violent religious fanaticism prompted them to 
 seek out any means of undermining our power on the 
 frontier. 
 
 Aided in this way, and regularly supplied with all they 
 required, the inhabitants of Sitana were able to cross the 
 Indus and make systematic raids on British territory, and 
 these attacks at last became so insupportable that in 1858 
 a force under Sir Sydney Cotton was sent to exact redress. 
 The villages were destroyed, numbers of the fanatics were 
 killed, and an engagement entered into with the Otmanzai 
 and Jydoon tribes to prevent the Syuds and their followers 
 from returning to Sitana. 
 
 Before going further it is necessary to glance at the 
 position occupied by the Mahabun mountain, as otherwise 
 it will be difficult to understand the nature of the sub- 
 sequent operation.s. The mountain stands on the right 
 
 T
 
 274 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 bank of the Indus, about forty miles above Attock. On 
 two sides it is bounded by the Indus and its tributary, the 
 Burrundoo ; to the southward its rocky slopes descend 
 abruptly into the plains of Eusufzye, and on the north- 
 west a narrow valley, surrounded by mountains, called the 
 Chumlah Valley, separates it from the adjacent ranges. 
 The only entrance to the Chumlah Valley from Eusufzye 
 is through the Umbeylah pass, a narrow defile, nearly nine 
 miles in length, with the Mahabun on its right and the 
 Gurroo mountain on its left. It will thus be seen that the 
 mountain occupied an isolated position. The headquarters 
 of the fanatics at Sitana were close to the Indus, on the 
 eastern side of the Mahabun, and when the Syuds and 
 Hindostanees were driven away from there by Sir Sydney 
 Cotton they established themselves on the northern slopes 
 at a place called Mulkah. For three years the engagements 
 which had been made with the tribes in 1858 held good, 
 but in 1 86 1 they were broken, and it was only by the tribes 
 in the immediate vicinity instituting a blockade that the 
 . Hindostanees were compelled to retire. A period of com- 
 parative quietude followed after this, and for a time mer- 
 chants were able to journey along the border without fear 
 of being robbed and murdered. But this respite was not 
 of long duration ; and in July 1863 the Syuds were reported 
 to have reoccupied Sitana, and with the aid of the Jydoons 
 to have recommenced their former malpractices. 
 
 It was obvious that a fresh expedition would have to 
 be undertaken without loss of time, and Reynell Taylor, 
 as Commissioner of the adjoining district, from the first 
 recommended instant action. 
 
 Space will not allow me to give Taylor's official letters
 
 -18G3 PESHAWUR— THE UMREVLAH WAR 2/5 
 
 here, for they are both long and numerous. They arc 
 distinguished by that thoroughness which was a part of all 
 he did, and they contain advice regarding the strength of 
 the force to be despatched, the point of concentration, the 
 date of marching, the supplies to be found in the country, 
 the best positions for depots, the opposition likely to be 
 met with, as well as a description of the most feasible 
 routes. ' I pray that God's blessing may be in our 
 counsel,' he writes to the Secretary to Government, 
 Punjab, on September ir. ' If I have written strongly for 
 war, it is under a deep conviction that an avoidance of it 
 would be likely to involve us in far more serious difficulties. 
 At present we have our work within compass, and a vindi- 
 cation of our authority by the punishment of the present 
 offenders will keep down others ; delay to punish, and I 
 cannot answer for the consequences.' 
 
 The expedition which followed grew, through unforeseen 
 and unavoidable circumstances, into the proportions of a 
 frontier war, and the tribes previously at peace with us, 
 thinking that our advance along their borders must be 
 attended with danger to them, refused to believe our pro- 
 clamations. The Bonairs, having no sympathy with the 
 fanatics, but holding different tenets, and forming part of 
 the religious constituency of the Akhoond of Swat, threw 
 themselves into the quarrel, resisted our marching by the 
 Chumlah Valley, and, through want of faith in our protes- 
 tations, caused much of the subsequent complication. The 
 Akhoond of Swat, fearing lest he might lose influence did 
 he not show sympathy with the Bonair tribes, joined the 
 combination against us, and thus not only lent a certain 
 prestige to the cause, but threw a religious complexion 
 
 T 2
 
 2/6 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 over affairs of which the Hindostanees were not slow to 
 avail themselves. But I am anticipating. 
 
 Orders were given in September for a force to assemble 
 at Swabee, in Eusufzye, and towards the close of the same 
 month Taylor went to Murree to confer with the Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor and Sir Neville Chamberlain, and to arrange 
 matters with the chief engineer and the commissariat officers. 
 From Murree he rode in one day to Abbottabad, and 
 having despatched an assistant to Swabee to collect in- 
 formation of the route through the Umbeylah pass, he 
 started for the upper part of the Indus himself, and by 
 October 7 had taken sketches of the whole river board 
 from Bultheree below Sitana to the point where the 
 Burrundoo River joins the Indus. 
 
 Five days later he arrived at the camp at Swabee, from 
 w^hence he accompanied a reconnoitring party to Punjtar, 
 and endeavoured by every means in his power to verify the 
 information already gathered regarding the neighbouring 
 country. The absolute necessity for secrecy rendered the 
 task a difficult one, as it was impossible to discuss the 
 route the army was to take, and the probabilities of oppo- 
 sition, with men who were intimately connected with the 
 tribes concerned. Prudential reasons prevented Reynell 
 Taylor from examining the entrance to the Umbeylah 
 pass as he wished, and thus it was necessary to rely almost 
 entirely upon the statements made by natives. From 
 these it appeared ' that the pass presented no military 
 obstacles ; that the Chumlah Valley was open ; and that 
 the northern slopes of the Mahabun were easier than the 
 southern.' How misleading much of the information col- 
 lected proved in the end to be will be related presentl}-. The
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR— THE UMBEYLAH WAR 277 
 
 unexpected action of the tribes, far more than the features 
 of the country, was the real cause of our subsequent em- 
 barrassment. The nature of the country rendered mihtary 
 operations most difficult, but it was the religious cry espe- 
 cially that filled the enemy's ranks with a crowd of stubborn 
 hardy warriors, who hated us with a bitter hatred, and who 
 believed they were fighting for their homes, their country, 
 and their independence. 
 
 The command of the force, amounting in the first 
 instance to 5,620 men, and being partly composed of 
 European troops, was given to Sir Neville Chamberlain, 
 and Reynell Taylor accompanied the expedition as chief 
 political officer. The enemy far outnumbered us from the 
 outset. For two months British and native troops alike 
 had to contend against the greatest difficulties, and at the 
 end of the first month, and after some of the sharpest 
 fighting that has ever taken place on the frontier, it was 
 found necessary to call for reinforcements. The great road 
 from Lahore to Peshawur in a short while became crowded 
 with troops and blocked with baggage animals, and when 
 the campaign was brought finally to a close our losses 
 numbered no less than thirty-six English officers and 
 between eight and nine hundred men killed and wounded. 
 
 The check our forces received at the commencement of 
 the war, their inability to move straight on to Mulkah and 
 to destroy the outposts of the fanatic colony in the Chum- 
 lah Valley, was afterwards severely commented on. Blame, 
 in some instances, was cast upon those who were in n(^ 
 way at fault ; but as no part of this attached to Reynell 
 Taylor, I may well refrain from importing contentious 
 matter into the story of his life. The Umbeylah war was
 
 2/8 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 the last of his campaigns ; in it he distinguished himself in 
 as great, if not in a greater, degree than on any previous 
 occasion, and I will turn, therefore to the events with 
 which his name will always be associated. 
 
 For the first month Reynell Taylor was chief political 
 officer with the force, and it may appear from this that he 
 would have but a small part to play, therefore, in the more 
 active operations, but ' whenever the situation of affairs 
 afforded little scope for political negotiations, he resumed 
 his position as a military officer, and accompanied the 
 troops when engaged with the enemy.' ^ The crowning 
 event of the whole campaign was carried out by him, and, 
 in the opinion of those best able to judge, Reynell Taylor's 
 burning of Mulkah saved the Government from an even 
 larger undertaking. 
 
 The difficulties of the expedition began almost at the 
 outset. The force broke up at Swabee on October i8 
 and entered the Umbeylah pass on the 20th. After 
 threading its way through the narrow defile, in spite of the 
 track proving to be merely the bed of a mountain torrent, 
 the entrance to the Chumlah Valley was secured with only 
 slight opposition. But the outlook was by no means 
 favourable. The way through the pass, besides being en- 
 cumbered with rocks, was in places overhung by trees, 
 and it was only, therefore, by great exertions that the 
 bacrgage could be got through at all. The proclamation 
 to the tribes in the vicinity, in which the pacific nature of 
 our intentions, so far as they were concerned, was pointed 
 out, was circulated on the 19th ; but three days later the 
 Bonairs rose against us, and affairs at once assumed a new 
 ' General Chamberlain's despatch, November 25, 1S63.
 
 -1863 PESHA^YUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 279 
 
 complexion. Chamberlain, instead of being able to pro- 
 ceed, found himself suddenly assailed in front by a vastly 
 superior force ; to right and left of him rose the rugged 
 slopes of towering mountains, and in his rear a narrow- 
 defile, already choked with a long train of baggage ani- 
 mals, rendered communications with his base most difficult. 
 The fact of our being thus detained at the head of the pass 
 gave rise to the hope that we could move no further, and, 
 in the words of Reynell Taylor, ' it was this hope that 
 subsequently fired the tribes with such enthusiasm in the 
 cause, and which, when backed by the presence of their 
 priests, raised their spirit to a point to which it had never 
 been raised before.' 
 
 But Chamberlain, though his force was much reduced 
 by reason of the troops required to protect the line of com- 
 munication, set to work with indomitable energy to improve 
 his position. He fortified his front by means of a breast- 
 work, and occupied the ridges to his right and left with 
 strong pickets. ' The extreme left picket on the Gurroo 
 mountain, named the Eagle's Nest, stood on a rocky pro- 
 jecting knoll far above the camp. That on the right, called 
 the Crag Picket, was equally commanding, and towered up 
 into the sky a pinnacle of huge rocks scantily clothed with 
 pines.' ^ Round these two points centred the chief part of 
 the fighting. No less than three times was the Crag Picket 
 wrested from us only to be again recaptured, and our losses 
 on the occasion of recapture alone numbered 349 officers 
 and men. 
 
 I must pass over the many acts of gallantry performed 
 during these frequent attacks, as well as the change of 
 
 ' Sitaiia, by Colonel John Adye, C.B.
 
 28o REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 position, by which the Gurroo mountain was abandoned, and 
 the right heights occupied in such a way as to command 
 the new line of communication by Shere Durrah. For the 
 first month it appears, from Reynell Taylor's private letters, 
 that our troops lived in ' a chronic condition of repelling 
 attacks,' while every Friday, that day being the Mahome- 
 dan holy day, was distinguished by an onslaught of a more 
 furious nature. 
 
 The final attack on the Crag Picket took place on 
 November 20, and for a third time it was carried by the 
 enemy. Reynell Taylor had been relieved the previous 
 day by James, who had just returned from England, and 
 so he was able to take a still more active part in the mili- 
 tary operations. No sooner had the Crag Picket fallen 
 than preparations were immediately made for recaptur- 
 ing it, and writing on November 21 Reynell Taylor thus 
 describes what happened on the occasion : — 
 
 ' About 4 P.M. an attack in force was made on the Crag 
 Picket, and again was the summit covered with crowds of 
 dusky warriors and dotted with their flags. The artillery 
 played upon them with beautiful practice and checked their 
 advance. All was haste and stern preparation to arrange 
 the assault for recapture. The 71st had the task this time, 
 with the 5th Goorkhas and a portion of the 5th and 6th 
 P. I, When the General and I reached the plateau below 
 the Crag we found a strange but good manly scene — the 
 whole area rapped all over with the enemy's fire, the regi- 
 ments lying close under the cover available, and the artillery 
 from below, and Hughes from the plateau, rattling away 
 with shells at the crest and slope. 
 
 ' i sot the General to dismount and we scuttled across
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 28 1 
 
 the green to the better cover under the crag. Here the 
 General called the officers of the 71st and addressed them 
 with their men. He was well responded to, and the word 
 was then given to advance. I had dissuaded the General 
 from leading, and he stood it for some time, but it was 
 indeed a matter of vital importance for the whole force, 
 and as the men could only stream up so slowly, and a 
 sword-in-hand rush was to be naturally expected, the pro- 
 spect of failure pressed upon the mind and he could stand 
 it no longer. 
 
 ' In a few seconds we were among the leading climbers 
 of that terribly winding slope, shouting to the men to come 
 on, and anxious at seeing what comparatively slow progress 
 they could make ; however, they came on steadily and 
 without a check. Just at the crest we encountered showers 
 of stones, like Vesuvius before an eruption, our shells were 
 crashing just over our heads, and a body of the enemy on 
 a neighbouring mound flanked us. When we got near the 
 top the General was struck, I was close to him and saw 
 him clutch his arm and hoped the wound was not serious. 
 I thought pressing on was the thing at the moment, and in 
 another few seconds I was on the crest, and saw to my in- 
 tense relief that the fellows were bolting out on the other 
 side. Colonel Hope and a few men and some natives were 
 on the spot, and every man of the enemy who remained in 
 the work was quickly disposed of I never saw greater 
 coolness and self-possession than Colonel Hope displayed. 
 ' We very soon made all snug for the night. The 
 General's wound is through the arm ; he is still commanding 
 and doing well. Colonel Hope is wounded — a flesh wound 
 in the leg; Saundcrson and Dr. Pylc, of the loist, killed ;
 
 282 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 Campbell, of the Goorkhas, lost a finger. All the other 
 Abbottabad people well, thank God ! 
 
 * I believe I was struck by a stone ; I did not feel it at 
 the time, but felt the pain soon afterwards, and have the 
 mark. 
 
 ' The enemy lost heavily.' 
 
 This proved to be the last attack of any importance ; 
 the enemy had evidently lost heart, and from November 20 
 to December 1 5 no severe fighting took place. Meanwhile 
 Chamberlain, owing to the severity of his wound, had to 
 resign the command in favour of General Garvock, and 
 Taylor, as we have seen, was relieved by James. Chamber- 
 lain and Taylor had borne the brunt of the work hitherto, 
 but at the moment when a crushing blow had been struck 
 the one was incapacitated from further service and the 
 other had to give place to his superior. To most people 
 such a circumstance would have been attended with the 
 keenest sense of disappointment. Few things are so trying 
 to men as to see others reaping the fruits of their labour ; 
 yet Reynell Taylor was able to hand over to his successor 
 the credit to which he was himself so justly entitled, and, a 
 month after the close of the campaign, to write in a spirit 
 of self-forgetfulness which few, surely, can hope to imitate. 
 
 ' In the middle of the struggle,' he writes in one of his 
 official letters, ' I was relieved by Major James. Had the 
 difficulty been of an ordinary description, and not as we 
 held it on the spot to be, a national one, requiring all the 
 talents available, I should, I suppose, have been disap- 
 pointed at being obliged to give up the reins re infectd ; 
 but I had no feeling of the kind. The arithmetic of the 
 thing was simple : Major James had had thirteen years' ex-
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 283 
 
 perience on the Peshawur border, I had had two There was 
 then no room for personal feeling in the matter. It was 
 easy for me to make over charge to Major James, and our 
 subsequent association will be an agreeable recollection. 
 If I have in this report, not unnaturally as the originator, 
 been led into a review of the general results of the expedi- 
 tion, he will not suppose that I am claiming participation 
 in the final result, the credit of which is his own entirely, 
 and which I rejoice in as if it had been my own.' • 
 
 Before passing to the closing act of the campaign — 
 the burning of Mulkah — I must give an account of one of 
 the most striking instances of moral courage to be found 
 in Reynell Taylor's life. Many men are possessed of great 
 physical courage, but few have the moral fortitude to stand 
 up alone and risk the ridicule of those about them for the 
 sake of their religion. ' A man's religion,' it is said, ' is the 
 chief fact with regard to him ' ; and if this be so, I may 
 well give prominence to an incident which stands out as a 
 distinct landmark in the whole of Taylor's career. Two 
 days after the fight of November 20, in which he had dis- 
 tinguished himself by his usual coolness and intrepidit}-, 
 he circulated am.ong the Christian portion of the force the 
 first of two remarkable letters calling on officers and men 
 to spend a day in humiliation and pra}-cr. The original 
 letters, which, it should be mentioned, ' were well responded 
 to,' lie before me now, and the first runs thus : — 
 
 ' Camp, UinbeylaJi Pass, November 22, 1863. — To-day 
 is the fifth Sunday we have spent in the hills. It is pos- 
 sible that many may be prevented from attending divine 
 
 ' Letter from Reynell Taylor to the Secretary to Government, Punjab, 
 January 21, 1864.
 
 284 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 service, but the day may nevertheless be dedicated by 
 each individual Christian to humiliation and prayer to 
 Almighty God, soliciting his blessing on our efforts against 
 the enemy in a cause which we humbly trust is a just one 
 in His sight. 
 
 ' We are opposed to men who are fired with fanaticism 
 and superstition, who believe that their priest (who is with 
 them) can preserve them by miracle from death, or, if they 
 fall, ensure them paradise. Our God, the Lord of hosts 
 of old, is lightly esteemed by them, possibly because we 
 ourselves appear to neglect him so much. Men upon 
 whom the light of the pure gospel of truth has not yet 
 shone are full of zeal, but the servants of the true God are 
 cold and negligent ; and yet in the prayers of our church 
 we confess " There is none other that fighteth for us, but 
 only Thou, O God." 
 
 ' In entering upon our present undertaking we may 
 possibly not have been sufficiently earnest to do all in His 
 name and for His honour, and we are now reminded of it 
 by the heavy loss of valuable lives He has seen fit to inflict 
 on us, though still, in His mercy, we have been granted 
 substantial success. Though oppressed with much diffi- 
 dence, and a deep consciousness of unworthiness to speak 
 in the cause of God and Christ, I yet trust that my brother- 
 officers and Christian brethren throughout the force will 
 bear with me when I beg them affectionately to devote 
 this day to humble prayer to Almighty God, beseeching 
 Him to look mercifully on our past offences, and to deign 
 to guide our counsels and grant us His help in the contest 
 we are engaged in.' 
 
 A month later, when the campaign was over and the
 
 -1863 PESIIAWUR— THE UMBEYLAH WAR 285 
 
 force had already begun to retire from the enemy's country, 
 Reynell Taylor called upon his ' brother-officers and Chris- 
 tian brethren ' to give God the praise for their successes. 
 This second letter is dated ' Right Heights, Umbeylah Pass, 
 December 24,' and runs as follows : — 
 
 ' On Sunday, November 22, scarcely more than a month 
 ago, the Christian community of the Eusufzye Field Force 
 were exhorted to dedicate the day to humiliation and 
 prayer to Almighty God, beseeching Him to guide our 
 counsels and grant us success in our efforts against the 
 enemy in what we trusted was a lawful and just cause in 
 His sight. 
 
 ' At the time, our troops were greatly harassed with 
 duty, our losses in officers and men had been severe, and 
 our leader (Sir Neville Chamberlain) had been wounded 
 and taken from us. The invitation to dedicate a day to 
 prayer was most kindly and readily received by all, and I 
 trust I shall not be supposed to build too much on it if I 
 say that on looking back it appears as if the course of the 
 campaign had worn a different aspect since that day. I 
 do not think it can be wrong to call attention to this, be- 
 cause there is the best warrant for hoping for great results 
 from united prayer. For three weeks our army had rest, 
 and received reinforcements. During this interval the 
 enemy, at the solicitation of their chief, were allowed an 
 opportunity of making a peace which would have saved 
 further bloodshed, whilst it secured the object of both 
 parties in this war. This negotiation was interrupted 
 by a stranger chief heading a large clan in the thought 
 to gain honour by fighting us. In the operations that 
 ensued we were granted complete success, and on the
 
 285 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 third day after the terms had been refused, the Bonair tribe 
 submitted unconditionally and their auxiliaries returned 
 defeated. 
 
 ' Having ventured to ask my fellow-Christians to pray 
 at a time of difficulty, I am irresistibly impelled to exhort 
 them to give thanks for victory, success, and restoration of 
 peace. Our lips cried, " God have mercy," let them not fail 
 to say, " God be praised," when an honourable and useful 
 result has been granted to our efforts. 
 
 ' It has been a subject of rallying in camp, where we 
 should eat our Christmas meal. None could have predicted, 
 when the enemy refused our terms, that we should eat it 
 in peace in our own territory, with victory, attended with 
 slight loss, to talk over. Such, however, is the case. Let 
 us then do it thankfully, and take the opportunity of this 
 Christmas Day to turn once before we break up and render 
 hearty thanks to Almighty God for lives preserved, tur- 
 bulent enemies quelled, and the security of our borders 
 to all appearance ensured for years to come, enabling 
 us to revert happily to the pursuits and enjoyments of 
 peaceful life. 
 
 ' I might not have had the courage to move again in 
 the cause of God's honour and that of our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, had I not been supported by the sympathy and 
 countenance of the Rev. J. Loeventhal, who lately acted 
 as chaplain to the whole force, and who encouraged the 
 first effort, and also by the hearty concurrence and approval 
 of the present Chaplain of the Force, the Rev. W. G. 
 Cowie. Thus encouraged, I have felt that it would be 
 unworthy, when my own convictions of what is right are 
 so strong, to leave this effort unmade.'
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 287 
 
 ' Perhaps,' writes the Rev. Robert Clark,' ' no other 
 man than Reynell Taylor could in such circumstances have 
 written letters like these. He was himself the bravest of 
 the brave, perhaps the most skilled swordsman in the camp, 
 a man honoured by all, and words thus winged went to the 
 heart.' 
 
 There is little need to add more, and }-et there is one 
 fact in relation to the religious side of Taylor's character 
 which should, I think, be "mentioned. 
 
 Throughout the Umbeylah war he was attended by 
 an Afghan convert to Christianity, Shah IMunir by name. 
 This man always accompanied him wherever he went by 
 day and slept at the door of his tent by night, and it was 
 Taylor's custom to read prayers nightly with this Afghan 
 comrade before he lay down to rest. 
 
 Let us turn again to the story of the war. 
 
 There was, as I have already said, a lull in the active 
 operations after the fight of November 20 and pending the 
 arrival of reinforcements. During this time many ugly 
 rumours were afloat in the camp, and once it seemed as if 
 the Government would withdraw altogether from the con- 
 test. Far and near among the tribes it was known that 
 we had been long detained in the pass and had suffered 
 some reverse. The excitement spread rapidly along the 
 border. Many were only waiting for a favourable oppor- 
 tunity to rise against us ; at Peshawur, Kohat, and even at 
 Cabul, signs of sympathy were shown with our foes in the 
 Chumlah Valley, and thus day by day our difficulties in- 
 creased and our position became more and more critical. 
 
 By the second week in December, however, General 
 
 ' In Memoriam, General Reynell Taylor, Signed ' R. C, Umritsur, 1886.'
 
 288 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 Garvock was fortunately in a position to assume the offen- 
 sive. The reinforcements had all arrived ; the troops 
 available for a forward movement numbered nearly nine 
 thousand men, and among the fresh regiments were the 
 7th Fusiliers and the 93rd Highlanders. To strike at once 
 was imperative. Fresh recruits were pouring down to join 
 in the war against us, and the valley was filled with tribes- 
 men ; to withdraw now without loss of military prestige 
 was impossible. 
 
 On December 15, to the astonishment of the enemy, 
 our troops suddenly appeared before the village of Laloo, 
 two miles from the Crag Picket. The war had been carried 
 into the enemy's camp, and Laloo was burnt after some 
 hard fighting. Without giving the enemy time to recover 
 from their surprise, our force pushed on, passed Umbeylah 
 on the following day, and again defeated the enemy with 
 heavy loss. Where hard blows were being struck there 
 Reynell Taylor was sure to be found, and he took an active 
 part in both these days' fighting in company with Colonel 
 Wilde's brigade. In the absence of the chief part of our 
 forces, the enemy delivered a spirited attack on our en- 
 trenchments at the head of the Umbeylah pass, which was, 
 however, successfully repulsed.^ 
 
 The effect of these active measures was at once apparent. 
 The Akhoond was no longer heard of, tribe after tribe dis- 
 appeared from the scene, those who had come long distances 
 to join in the war returned to their homes, and the Bonair 
 chiefs came in to treat and to make peace. 
 
 It was arranged that the Bonair Khans should accom- 
 pany a small party of British officers to Mulkah, and that 
 ' Our losses in these fights numbered 772 killed and wounded.
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 289 
 
 they themselves should there set fire to the cantonments of 
 the Hindostanee fanatics. The plan of thus making the 
 Bonairs destroy Mulkah, without the aid of our troops, was 
 well conceived, but the undertaking was no easy one, and 
 it was attended, moreover, with many and obvious risks. 
 To Reynell Taylor the task was given of carrying it out. 
 * From the first,' writes Major James, * he had been unre- 
 mitting in his inquiries regarding the nature of the country, 
 and an important and delicate duty of this kind could not 
 have been entrusted to safer and more chivalrous hands.' 
 Reynell Taylor was accompanied by six British officers : 
 they were Colonel Adye, C.B., Colonel A. Taylor, R.E., 
 Major Roberts, V.C, Major Wright, Major Johnstone, and 
 Lieutenant Carter. The Guides, as representing the three 
 distinctive bodies of our native army — Pathans, Goorkhas, 
 and Sikhs — formed the escort, and on December 19 the party 
 set out on the undertaking. 
 
 The distance was only about twenty-six miles. Heavy 
 rain fell on the first day, and on the second it was im- 
 possible to proceed owing to the severity of the weather. 
 The troops were accordingly housed by the Bonairs in the 
 village of Khooria. 
 
 On the morning of the 21st the Amazai tribesmen were 
 reported to be collecting in force on the line of march, 
 and it was known that they had been joined by the Mud- 
 dakhail, so affairs for a moment looked awkward; 'but 
 the Bonair Khans,' writes Reynell Taylor, 'were calm and 
 firm, and I trusted fully to their being able to carry out the 
 engagements they had entered into with us. After some 
 exchange of messages they went forward, and in a little 
 while matters were arranged and we moved on.' 
 
 U
 
 290 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 This interruption was, however, the cause of unnecessary 
 delay, and before the force reached Mulkah darkness was 
 closing in. The place was found to be of considerable ex- 
 tent ; there were roomy barracks built in the best hill fashion 
 and capable of containing 3,000 men, and, besides a rough 
 gunpowder factory, some few workshops and other build- 
 ings. The position the fanatics had chosen was in a se- 
 cluded valley completely surrounded by the great ridges of 
 the Mahabun, and no doubt they considered it perfectly 
 safe from attack ; but the time for its destruction had 
 arrived. 
 
 ' On the morning of the 22nd,' writes Reynell Taylor,' 
 ' we fired the place, which, owing to the quantity of fine 
 timber, burnt furiously, sending a large column of smoke 
 high into the air, which was what we wanted. Sitana had 
 been reoccupied contrary to agreement ; we had been 
 abused and insulted, and our villages had been attacked, 
 and here, by God's help, was the result. 
 
 * An attempt was made, first by the Amazais, and 
 secondly by the Bonair Kahns, backing their request, to 
 get a part of the town spared as Amazai. The request was 
 embarrassing ; I knew that the Amazais would like to get 
 it spared for the name of the thing, and that the Bonair 
 Khans, though fully loyal in their intentions towards us, 
 would not be sorry to be able to throw this little sop to the 
 Mahabun tribes. 
 
 ' Here Azeez Khan, of Suddhoon, backed me up well. 
 I went to see the portion of the place it was desired to beg 
 off, and found it was far too considerable to be spared. I 
 knew that the Amazais would report that their Mulkah had 
 
 ' Letter to Major James, Commissioner of Peshawur, February 2, 1S64.
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 291 
 
 been spared, and that we had only destroyed the Hindo- 
 stanee portion, whereas our concern was with the whole 
 lodgment, which had been a hotbed of hostility to us, and 
 was quoted through the country as the headquarters of men 
 who learned war to assail and injure us. I therefore told 
 Azeez Khan that it would not do, and that he must have 
 the whole burnt. He acted on this, and the destruction was 
 completed. While the destruction was going on, some of 
 the Amazai tribesmen left and went down the valley, and 
 reports soon came up that they and the Muddakhail were 
 gathering again below. Azeez Khan accordingly went off 
 and speedily arranged matters. 
 
 * I spoke to the Amazais who were present, but they 
 were sullen and not inclined to answer in a good spirit. 
 They were saved the trouble by Zydullah Khan, the Bonair 
 chief, who stepped in front of them and, grasping his beard 
 with his one remaining hand, said, " I am answerable for 
 these men, both for their conduct now and for their ex- 
 cluding the Hindostanees in future." The Amazai mullicks 
 must have felt as I did, that they had better have had the 
 grace to speak for themselves, as the result of the con- 
 versation left them, as the expression is, " nowhere." ' 
 
 Thus was Mulkah destroyed in the presence of a great 
 concourse of neighbouring tribesmen, and the smoke of the 
 burning village, as it ascended to the skies in one great 
 column, was an unmistakable signal to the country round 
 that our honour was avenged. ' The spectacle,' writes 
 Reynell Taylor at the conclusion of the letter from which 
 I have just quoted, ' of a tribe like the Bonair doing our 
 bidding and destroying the stronghold of their own allies 
 in the war at a distant spot, with British witnesses looking 
 
 u 2
 
 292 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 on, must have been a thoroughly convincing proof to the 
 surrounding country of the reality of our success, and of 
 the indubitable character of the prostration felt by the 
 tribe which had been the foremost in opposing us.' 
 
 The Umbeylah war was over ; the officers and their 
 escort returned from Mulkah unopposed ; the camp at the 
 head of the Umbeylah pass was struck ; the lines and 
 redoubts, where so many gallant men had fallen, were 
 destroyed ; the roads were broken up ; and on Christmas 
 Day the greater part of the force stood once more on Britis 
 territory. 
 
 The list of honours and rewards at the conclusion of 
 the campaign was a long one, but in it the political officers 
 found no adequate place. As in the Muhsood expedition, 
 so in the Umbeylah, Reynell Taylor's signal services 
 remained unrecognised, and the North-West Frontier 
 medal with two clasps was, with the exception of the 
 official despatches, the only record of all he had gone 
 through. It is unnecessary to follow the events of the war 
 in detail ; the sketch I have just given, however superficial, 
 is sufficient to show that the arrangements previous to the 
 commencement of the war fell heavily upon Reynell Taylor, 
 that he was charged for the first half of the time with 
 the conduct of all the political work, and that the most 
 hazardous operation undertaken during the whole course 
 of the campaign was entrusted to him and carried through 
 without a hitch. I believe that he felt the omission not a 
 little. Mention in despatches of his services, of course, 
 there was, both in General Chamberlain's and in General 
 Garvock's case. Thanks also appeared in the General 
 Order by the Governor-General and in the despatch of the
 
 ^1863 PESHAWUR — THE U^NIBEYLAH WAR 293 
 
 Secretarj^ of State for India, but here the recognition of 
 his services began and ended.' His friends knew well how 
 unjust this was ; they knew what the value of his services 
 had been, and they knew, too, that those services received 
 no proper recognition. One letter on this point I will 
 quote, and only one ; it is from General Wilde. 
 
 ' I think,' he says, ' both and are to blame 
 
 for not giving you some public mark of a due recognition 
 of your services in that eventful campaign. To my mind — 
 and at Lahore I told Sir J. Lawrence so — your march to 
 Mulkah was an extraordinary political success, and on your 
 management on that occasion the question of a luar de- 
 pended, not with Bonair only, but Swat and all the Indus 
 tribes. I think you saved the British Government from this, 
 and held the same opinion.' 
 
 ' At home,' wrote Reynell Taylor to John Lawrence two 
 years later, ' a public recognition is the only thing one's 
 friends understand. Blue books are not studied, verbal 
 accounts weary and are not fully trusted, so the individual 
 may as well hold his tongue. A public recognition is 
 everything ; it can be quoted in a breath, and establishes 
 merit conclusively, the absence of it having the contrary 
 effect, and this even with one's own family. 
 
 ' Here in my own world I care much more for a little 
 genuine goodwill from comrades, and the good opinion of 
 those whose characters command my own respect, than 
 for any amount of honour my right to which could for a 
 moment be gainsaid.' 
 
 The omission is now past remedying. The case is no 
 
 ' It was not until three years after this (June 1866) that Taylor received the 
 Order of the Star of India.
 
 294 REYNELL TAYLOR 1862- 
 
 isolated one ; the loss is not Reynell Taylor's, and the rolls 
 of the higher classes of one of our most cherished Orders 
 is poorer by the name of a great and good man. 
 
 Before closing this chapter I cannot refrain from 
 inserting a just tribute paid by Reynell Taylor to the 
 devotion of the native troops during the war. The 
 circumstances attending the Umbeylah campaign were 
 exceptional. The greatest religious authority, both of our 
 hills and of our plains, was present in the ranks of the enemy ; 
 but, besides the Akhoond of Swat, the Hadjee of Koonhar, 
 the greatest priest of the Indus tribes of the northern 
 border, came down from his own country for the express 
 purpose of encouraging the tribes against us. The strain 
 which the presence of these religious authorities entailed 
 upon the faith and devotion of our native troops, can best 
 be understood by those who know what an overwhelming 
 weight of opinion is in the East bound up in that one word 
 ' religion.' 
 
 The religious cry was tried on this occasion to the 
 utmost, and it was known that every effort w^as secretly 
 made to tamper with the fidelity of our Mahomedan 
 troops, who, though faithful to their officers and their duty, 
 yet felt painfully the presence of these revered leaders in 
 the ranks of the enemy. But, though these peculiar 
 circumstances ' were enough to depress our native soldiery 
 to the utmost, not one case of misbehaviour occurred. 
 INIen worked on and lay hard through an increasing severity 
 of season, and fought bravely and devotedly against the 
 enemy, their fellows in faith, whenever they met them. 
 To reiterate an old opinion, which, however, cannot be 
 too often brought forward, personal influence of officers
 
 -1863 PESHAWUR — THE UMBEYLAH WAR 295 
 
 will always be found to be the only stand-by for the 
 Government interests when the religious cry is raised 
 and the fidelity of our troops is being tampered with. Pay, 
 pensions, and orders of merit may, and would be, cast to 
 the winds when the honour of the faith was in the scale ; 
 but to snap the association of years and turn in the hour 
 of his need against the man whom he has proved to be just 
 and worthy, whom he has noted in the hour of danger 
 and quoted to his family, is just what a Pathan will not do 
 to his honour be it said.' ^ 
 
 ' Reynell Taylor to the Secretary to Government, Punjab, January 21, 1864.
 
 296 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE UMBALLA DIVISION. 
 I 864- I 870. 
 
 Mrs. Taylor and her five^ children had been left at 
 Abbottabad during the Umbeylah war, and as soon as 
 Taylor's duties, in connection with the return of the troops, 
 were at an end he rejoined them there. 
 
 His children were now fast growing up around him, 
 and were, moreover, arriving at the age when the climate 
 of India would be most detrimental to their health. Edu- 
 cation, for the boys especially, was a necessity ; he had 
 no time to devote to it himself, and he therefore deter- 
 mined to return with his family to England. 
 
 Nine eventful years had slipped by ; two more cam- 
 paigns had been added to the list, and from a Major 
 Reynell Taylor had become a Colonel^ and a C.B. It 
 might have been to his advantage to remain in India until 
 he had secured a fresh appointment, but his young family 
 appeared to have the first claim upon him, so he applied 
 for leave. 
 
 He arrived in England early in March, but his home- 
 coming on this occasion was very different to the last. 
 
 ' Anne, born at Peshawur, March 15, 1S63. 
 
 ^ Taylor was gazetted Colonel April 3, 1863, and C.B. the following month.
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 297 
 
 Death had made sad havoc in his family during his ab- 
 sence/ and there was no gathering of sisters and brothers 
 to welcome him. A happy home was, however, found for 
 his children at Widdicombe, and for the next few years 
 they remained there with his wife's family. 
 
 There is little to tell of the few months he spent in 
 England. The details I have been able to collect are of 
 no moment, and relate merely to visits to Compton, to 
 London, and to Boyton in Wiltshire, where his sister, Mrs. 
 Portal, was then living. One incident I may relate, as it 
 is characteristic of him and has a bearing upon a circum- 
 stance I must refer to presently. He was rather troubled 
 to know where to leave his children on his return to India, 
 and one day, towards the end of the year, when visiting 
 his sister. Lady Willoughby de Broke, in London, he con- 
 tinued for a while to walk round the room without speak- 
 ing, as if he had something on his mind. At last he broke 
 the silence with : ' Will you take charge of Flory for me?' 
 His sister answered : ' Yes, if you will trust her to me as 
 if she was my own child ! ' ' All right,' was the reply, and 
 neither spoke further on the subject ; the negotiation was 
 concluded, and when Reynell Taylor left England his 
 eldest daughter went to Compton. It is a small matter to 
 record, but in after years the thought that Florence had 
 had the advantages and happy influences of such a bring- 
 ing up as Compton afforded, was the chief point he turned 
 to for consolation in the hour of a most bitter grief 
 
 In January 1865 Reynell Taylor returned to India. 
 His wife had intended to accompany him, but when the 
 
 ' Besides those mentioned previously, his brother-in-law, Lord Willoughby, 
 had died June 5, 1862.
 
 298 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 time arrived she was too unwell, and Taylor had therefore 
 to go out alone. • It is here that a man who has devoted 
 his life to an Indian career is hit hardest. At the time 
 when his children are at their most impressionable age, at 
 the time when he would wish to have them about him, not 
 only to gain their affections but to exert those many in- 
 fluences for good which form the chief part of a parent's 
 duty, he is cut off from their company and has to put 
 many a thousand miles between himself and those he loves 
 best on earth. In India a man has indeed to go ' to his work 
 and to his labour until the evening,' the evening of his life ; 
 and when the day wanes, and he returns home in the sun- 
 down, he finds, too often, he is a stranger to his own 
 children. Necessity, it is true, knows no law here. 
 
 On reaching India Taylor found himself appointed 
 Commissioner of the Umballa Division, one of the most 
 important in the Punjab. To the ordinary duties of a 
 Commissioner, and the superintendence of the several 
 districts of the Division, was here added the political 
 supervision of the Cis-Indus Sikh States, and consequently 
 the Commissioner of Umballa was also Political Agent to 
 the Viceroy. The most important of these States were 
 those of Puttiala and Nabha, and it is with these that 
 Reynell Taylor's history during the next five years is 
 more especially bound up. Other matters necessarily en- 
 gaged much of his attention, and he had the satisfaction 
 of bringing to a final conclusion two political cases of very 
 long standing, one, indeed, of which had occupied the 
 
 ' Mrs. Taylor followed her husband very shortly. On February 3, 1866, 
 Lawrence was born at Umballa ; and in 1868 Mrs. Taylor returned for a few 
 months to England, when another child, Mabel, was born at Widdicombe, 
 June 7.
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 299 
 
 attention of successive Governments for over forty years.' 
 But these and other matters, such as the visit of the Duke 
 of Edinburgh and the reception of the Ameer Shere Ali 
 by Lord Mayo, are of httle moment, so far as Reynell 
 Taylor is concerned, compared with the long and manly 
 course of opposition he thought it his duty to offer to the 
 intrigues existing in the States to which I have just re- 
 ferred. Reynell Taylor, as Lord Napier of Magdala has 
 truly written of him, ' was ever guided by the highest 
 principles of honour,' but his noble efforts to preserve the 
 States of Puttiala and Nabha from ruin and disgrace 
 during four weary years were fraught with the most bitter 
 consequences to himself^ 
 
 I take it to be no part of a biographer's task to shield 
 where blame is justly merited, but I hold it to be before all 
 else his duty to show where injustice has been done. ' A 
 perfect man,' writes Pope, ' is a monster the world ne'er 
 saw.' All men are prone to err. To palliate errors in 
 the writing of a life is to abuse a trust, and knowingly to 
 suppress truth in such a case is to be guilty of a fraud. I 
 am tempted to do neither one nor the other. At no period 
 of Reynell Taylor's life have I been so amply provided 
 with materials as for the years 1866-70. These I have 
 supplemented by an extended private correspondence, and 
 the bulk of papers would thus make up a volume of them- 
 selves. But the subject, though by no means without its 
 lessons, is calculated to afford but little interest to the 
 general reader, and I am therefore compelled to get what 
 
 ' See Punjab Reports for 1868-9. 
 
 2 In order to avoid breaking in upon the subject concerning which I am 
 now about to treat, I may mention that in June 1866 Taylor was made C.S.I., 
 and that on October 28, 1868, he was gazetted Major- General.
 
 300 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 I have to say into small compass, and to treat these four 
 years together as a whole. Justice to Reynell Taylor's 
 memory demands a due reference to the matter, and 
 friends and relations alike will look for a mention of it in 
 the story of his life. Let me therefore set out. 
 
 When Reynell Taylor was appointed to the Umballa 
 District the States of Puttiala and Nabha were gradually 
 drifting into a very unsettled condition. In Puttiala the 
 Maharajah was still a minor, though he was approaching 
 the age (eighteen) at which sovereign powers were to be 
 granted him. The government was meanwhile being 
 carried on by a Council of Regency. This Council was 
 composed in part of men who, while fully alive to their 
 own interests, were quite unmindful of those of the State ; 
 and the young Maharajah was thus surrounded by a 
 network of intrigue skilfully laid by the most unprin- 
 cipled of his advisers. To suit their own ends, they en- 
 deavoured by every means to obtain a paramount influence 
 over him while he was yet in his minority, and in order to 
 do this they misrepresented the counsels of those who had 
 his well-being really at heart, gratified his every wish, 
 pandered to all his tastes, and in a great measure suffered 
 his education to be neglected. As a sequence he naturally 
 became inflated with a false idea of his own importance, 
 and the future prosperity of his State was proportionately 
 endangered. The State of Nabha was scarcely in a better 
 condition than that of Puttiala. Here the reigning Maha- 
 rajah was a miserable debauchee, enfeebled, though a 
 young man, by a life of vice and immorality. Through 
 his incapacity, effeminacy, and extravagance he had 
 brought his State to the verge of ruin, and from the
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 301 
 
 reckless indulgence of his passions he had become the 
 mere puppet of those who stood at his elbow. The con- 
 dition of affairs was so scandalous that, not long after 
 Taylor's arrival, this miserable potentate was induced to 
 place the administration of his affairs in the hands of a 
 Commission, acting under the general control of the Com- 
 missioner of Umballa, and it was hoped that this measure 
 would have the effect of cutting short the machinations of 
 the evil disposed and curbing the unlicensed profligacy of 
 the head of the State. 
 
 Such being the condition of the two principal States in 
 the Division, Reynell Taylor was not the man to stand by 
 and see matters going steadily from bad to worse without 
 making a strenuous effort to improve them. The damage 
 was done in the case of Nabha, but in Puttiala there was 
 yet time. The Maharajah was only a boy, and Taylor 
 thus sought to gain a personal influence over him. Inter- 
 views were frequent, and many letters, some of which now 
 lie before me, passed between them. But this action on 
 Taylor's part naturally alarmed the intriguing members of 
 the Council, and they at once turned their forces against 
 him. They brought charges against him of unlawful in- 
 terference, incited the Maharajah of Nabha to join them 
 in thwarting him, endeavoured to poison the mind of the 
 Lieutenant-Governor (Sir D. MacLeod) by grossly mis- 
 representing what he was doing, and even hinted at his 
 having received bribes. 
 
 Thus month by month Taylor's position became more 
 and more uncomfortable. ' I fear,' wrote MacLeod early 
 in 1868, 'you must be having a sadly wearying time, and 
 a trj'ing task, in contending with the incessant intrigue
 
 302 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 which surrounds our chiefs.' And this was certainly no 
 more than the fact, for Reynell Taylor's position was by 
 degrees becoming almost insupportable. 
 
 ' You will, I think, understand,' he writes to MacLeod, 
 ' that until I have Nabha and Puttiala put in firm and 
 proper order, I must be distracted and paralysed a good 
 deal in other work. These two chiefs have gone in for a 
 regular innings against me, and against any control of 
 their actions. They have both had European assistance, 
 or they would not have proceeded to the lengths they 
 have. It is most necessary that they be brought to order, 
 both in their own cases and also to prevent others being 
 misled by their bad example.' For a long time after this, 
 throughout the year 1868 and the greater part of 1869, 
 Reynell Taylor continued to make every effort to put 
 matters right, but the combination against him was a very 
 strong one, and it is impossible to lose sight of the fact 
 that he did not receive the support in higher quarters to 
 which he was most justly entitled. He knew where the 
 fault lay, and he knew perfectly well that the Maharajah of 
 Puttiala was surrounded by unprincipled advisers, whose 
 sole object was to obtain paramount power in the State by 
 any means, and who, in their eagerness to thwart his 
 efforts, endeavoured to raise a general outcry against 
 him. 
 
 ' I had had,' he writes, ' from a long prior period, good 
 grounds for believing that the policy of the party was 
 secretly to back up the Maharajah of Nabha to the utter- 
 most in opposing me. This was from time to time 
 confirmed, and became one of those matters which no one 
 thinks of doubting. . . .
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 303 
 
 ' In my late interviews with the Maharajah he has 
 never once attempted to deny it. . . . 
 
 ' The Maharajah was fully primed by the mischief- 
 makers to defend them and accuse their enemies, but he is 
 not yet wholly versed in the lessons they would teach him, 
 and cannot yet look one straight in the face and persevere 
 in a false statement. He had brought cases and prepared 
 letters to aid in his representations and accusations, but it 
 ended, after I had talked earnestly with him for some time, 
 in his completely changing his manner, confessing that he 
 had put himself too much into the hands of others, and 
 promising that I should see how differently he would bear 
 himself . . . 
 
 * I thought he ought to give me his confession in 
 writing . . . and he asked me to write the paper for his 
 signature, and this I did. . . . 
 
 ' As I was trusted to write the paper I had to word it 
 very dryly and coldly, otherwise the Maharajah's confession 
 was most distinct and full. 
 
 ' Both I and visited him the next day, and he was 
 
 still in the same mind. . . . 
 
 ' I can only say that, to the best of my judgment and 
 experience, the Maharajah's whole manner of dealing with 
 the case was quite opposed to the supposition that the men 
 were innocent of the charge preferred against them. . . . 
 
 ' It was some time towards the end of May ('69) that 
 
 wrote informing me that a certain Mr. had 
 
 arrived at Umballa, and that he had been got up by the 
 officials of the States of Puttiala and Nabha to fight me. 
 
 ' All I heard confirmed my previous belief that the 
 mischievous characters in Puttiala were hand in glove with
 
 304 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 the troublesome party in Nabha, and that the whole plan 
 was to back up and encourage the Maharajah of Nabha to 
 resist me to the uttermost, and thus prolong, ad infinitum, 
 difficulties which really only had their origin in the hostile 
 instigations of these mischief-makers. 
 
 ' I could have no other impression with regard to the 
 
 entertainment of Mr. than that the whole scheme 
 
 was intended to give fresh impetus to the outcry and 
 abuse of myself and my measures, for which a pretty suffi- 
 ciently effective and active machinery existed already.' 
 
 To the rest was now to be added attacks on Reynell 
 Taylor in the public press, written by a European who had 
 been got up for the purpose. Further delay was impos- 
 sible, and in the middle of the year 1 869 Taylor suspended 
 the members of the Puttiala Council, whom he knew to be 
 the leaders in all the mischief And here a mistake was 
 committed which, in part due to Reynell Taylor, was the 
 cause of much serious trouble. 
 
 A committee was appointed to inquire into the charges 
 against these suspended officials. The members of that 
 committee were actuated by the highest motives, but their 
 information was limited, and the chances, therefore, of 
 getting to the bottom of intrigues and motives in a mere 
 judicial inquiry were very remote. What was the result ? 
 I will give the answer in Reynell Taylor's own words : — 
 ' The result was considerable injustice to myself and ruin 
 to the better men for whom I had thought it my duty to 
 act ... an upsetting of the right and triumph of the men 
 who have set rule and right, and something more, at 
 defiance to gain their own ends.' ^ 
 
 ' Re)Tiell Taylor to the Secretary- to Government, Punjab.
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 305 
 
 It was no part of the committee's duty to investigate 
 Reynell Taylor's action ; all they had to do was to report 
 upon the case. Their proceedings extended over a con- 
 siderable period, and they appear to have taken the best 
 evidence immediately to hand. But there is no doubt that 
 much important correspondence was not brought before 
 them, particularly in the case of certain letters of the 
 members of the Council ; and it must also be remembered 
 that Reynell Taylor, who from his lengthy experience and 
 perfect knowledge of the subject could have directed the 
 efforts of the committee aright, was precluded by his posi- 
 tion from giving evidence. All the members of the com- 
 mittee were his juniors, and not one — and I write entirely 
 without prejudice — had at that time a tithe of his experience 
 in matters of administration. Reynell Taylor replied to 
 the committee's report in an exhaustive and elaborate 
 paper of great length, but the Government, it appears, 
 approved of the recommendation of the committee. The 
 suspended officials were reinstated, and Reynell Taylor 
 was by inference adjudged wrong. What this meant to a 
 sensitive mind like his, may be left to the imagination of 
 the reader who has travelled thus far over the pages of 
 this book ; and I will pass on, therefore, without comment, 
 for Reynell Taylor's troubles did not stop here. 
 
 Early in 1870 the Maharajahs, both of Puttiala and 
 Nabha, pressed their claims to be put in possession of their 
 full powers. The Maharajah of Puttiala had not arrived 
 at the required age, and the Maharajah of Nabha was, as 
 we have seen, in too feeble a condition to carry on the 
 administration of his own affairs. 
 
 From all he knew of the condition of the States, Reynell 
 
 X
 
 306 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 Taylor strongly opposed the measure. He pressed his 
 opinions, as he was entitled to by his position as Agent 
 to the Governor-General, but he was overruled, and the 
 requests of the Maharajahs were granted. No sooner, 
 however, was the Maharajah of Puttiala established in his 
 position, than every effort was made to ruin those members 
 of the Council who had endeavoured to give Reynell 
 Taylor assistance in his noble effort to preserve the State 
 from ruin and disgrace. 
 
 Taylor at once reported the circumstance to the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, and a long correspondence ensued be- 
 tween MacLeod and himself This correspondence was of 
 a most friendly nature, but it had a curious termination, 
 and resulted in wrong being done to Reynell Taylor. 
 There is no need to quote from the earlier letters where 
 MacLeod writes to Taylor : — ' I cannot but regard with 
 admiration the generous, unselfish, and most candid spirit 
 which distinguishes all your letters, and feel an affectionate 
 regard for the writer.' Taylor was opposing a measure 
 which he considered detrimental to the interests of all 
 parties, but having pointed out his reasons for thinking 
 that a departure from the policy decided upon some years 
 previously would be a mistake, he set himself to carry out 
 the wishes of his superiors. The correspondence is thus 
 distinguished by extreme friendliness on both sides, and I 
 will, therefore, pass over many letters, and come to one 
 dated May 19, 1870, upon which this portion of the subject 
 hinges. 
 
 ' The impression,' writes MacLeod, ' has been growing 
 in my mind since you last expressed to me your fears, that 
 the Maharajah intended to ruin all those who had hitherto
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 307 
 
 helped you, that it would be kindest and best for all parties 
 if you were to allow some other officer to take the reins 
 for a year or so, by exchanging with some other Commis- 
 sioner, or in some other way. It must be very painful to 
 you to see those to whom you feel yourself indebted treated 
 inconsiderately, and your chivalrous feelings must prompt 
 you to take active measures on their behalf, with energy, 
 if not with indignation. An officer hitherto unconnected 
 with either party would be able to take things more 
 calmly, and, at the same time, I trust that any British 
 officer would see that no real injustice was done. 
 
 ' It must now, in all probability, rest with my successor • 
 to determine on the measure to be adopted, but, meantime, 
 I would earnestly beg of you to take the above suggestion 
 into consideration.' 
 
 ' To this,' writes Reynell Taylor in a note at the 
 bottom of the letter, ' I replied at once that the view taken 
 was certainly highly distressing to me under all circum- 
 stances, but I did not decline to entertain it. I also stated 
 that Sir Henry Durand would be with me in two days 
 afterwards, and I would put the whole matter before him. 
 I added that, with regard to Puttiala affairs, if I wished any 
 action taken, I should, in the first instance, proceed to 
 Murree to lay the case before the Lieutenant-Governor in 
 personal communication.' 
 
 And now comes the point. The letter in which Mac- 
 Leod had thrown out suggestions to Reynell Taylor * to 
 exchange with some other Commissioner ' was dated May 
 18, and Taylor, as we have seen, replied to this at once. 
 
 ' Sir D. MacLeod retired from the Lieutenant-Governorship on Juno i 
 1870, and was succeeded by Sir II. Durand.
 
 308 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 What was his surprise therefore, having acquiesced in 
 MacLeod's suggestions of the i8th, to receive the following 
 telegram on the 24th : — ' Consequent on the death of Colonel 
 McNeile, you are posted to Umritsur. Make over charge 
 to Mr. McNabb, and join as quickly as possible, that 
 division being vacant.' 
 
 Before passing to Reynell Taylor's telegram in reply, I 
 will give MacLeod's letter following on the telegram just 
 quoted, and the official letter from the Secretary to Govern- 
 ment, Punjab, notifying to Ta}'lor his transference from 
 L^mballa to Umritsur. They are both dated May 24. 
 MacLeod's runs as follows : — 
 
 ' Ere this reaches you, you will have received my tele- 
 gram, intimating that you have been posted to Umritsur to 
 take the place of Colonel McXeile, who, I grieve to say, 
 has been very suddenly and unexpectedly overtaken by a 
 fatal illness at Dalhousie. 
 
 ' I fear you will at first regard this as an unfriendly act 
 on my part, but I can most sincerely assure you that the 
 measure has been adopted in anything but an unfriendly 
 spirit. 
 
 ' I have for some time past felt conscious that, owing to 
 my action in the matter of Puttiala and Nabha, your posi- 
 tion has become in many ways a painful one, a conviction 
 \\hich has been as painful to me, almost, as it can have been 
 to you, and as I recently wrote to you, I have come to the 
 conclusion that by far the best solution of the imbroglio, for 
 all parties, would be to entrust to you the charge of some 
 other Division in lieu of that which now contains the 
 elements of so much trouble and vexation to you, and it is 
 on this ground that I have passed the order referred co.
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 309 
 
 ' I could have wished to await your reply to my last 
 letter before taking any action, but this opportunity having 
 so unexpectedly occurred, I deemed it incumbent on me at 
 once to avail myself of it. I feel grieved, indeed, that the 
 closing act of my connection with you should be one to 
 cause you any sort of diagrin, and I can only hope that 
 the day may not be far distant when you will feel thankful 
 to have been relieved from a trying position, which I hope 
 and believe will not be regarded as bringing discredit upon 
 you, if you will yourself abstain from making it appear in 
 this light. 
 
 ' I will not add more, save to express the hope that you 
 will believe me to remain, as ever, yours very sincerely, 
 
 'D. F. MacLeod.' 
 
 The official letter runs as follows : — ■ 
 
 ' In forwarding you a copy of the Lieutenant-Governor's 
 telegram of this day's date, intimating that he has been 
 pleased to post you to the Umritsur Division, I am desired 
 by Sir Donald MacLeod to state that, though the arrange- 
 ment may at first be distasteful to you, it is hoped that you 
 will not consider it to indicate that you have in any way 
 forfeited the confidence of this Government. 
 
 ' On the contrary, your distinguished career, the earnest 
 diligence with which you have at all times devoted yourself 
 to your public duties, and the anxiety which you have 
 evinced throughout your administration to promote virtue 
 and to check vice so far as may be possible, are highly 
 appreciated by his Honour. 
 
 ' But while his high appreciation of your character and 
 conduct remains undiminished, the Lieutenant-Governor
 
 3IO KEYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 has on one point been constrained to differ from you, viz. : 
 as to the amount and measure of interference which it is 
 desirable should be exercised in the affairs of native chiefs, 
 even during the period of their minority, and this difference 
 of opinion has given rise to so many complications, that 
 his Honour has deemed it best (in the interest of all parties) 
 to put an end to them so far as possible by the measure 
 now determined on.' 
 
 To these two letters Reynell Taylor replied by telegram 
 dated the 26th : — 
 
 ' I summoned McNabb yesterday. Can you not save 
 me from the annoyance and expense of this removal, which 
 comes like censure, when I am not in fault and was work- 
 ing with you, and would gladly have accepted a compromise ? 
 I go home in the winter and would, if wished, take three 
 months' leave at once, and another Division at the end of it 
 if then wished. I have done you hearty work here in 
 matters which make no show, but have saved you trouble. 
 This especial case I could not control. I did everything 
 to conciliate within reason ; having failed, I do not feel 
 deserving of punishment, and this looks like it. I talked 
 fully with Sir H. Durand yesterday, who, I think, felt for 
 me. I send a copy of this to him. If you wished, McNabb 
 could manage Puttiala and Nabha for the present, and I 
 would have nothing to say to them, not being responsible, 
 or }-ou could do so direct.' 
 
 The answer to this was: — 'I greatly regret causing 
 inconvenience, but postings already gazetted. Cannot be 
 altered. Proposed compromise impracticable.' 
 
 ' I wrote on the 24th in answer to yours of the 1 8th,' 
 telegraphed Reynell Taylor on the 27th in reply. ' I wish
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 3II 
 
 very much you would see that letter before answering my 
 telegram of yesterday.' 
 
 * Your two telegrams received,' came back the answer 
 on the 28th. * I regret I cannot alter arrangements already 
 ordered.' 
 
 The thing was done ; there was no appeal, there was 
 no waiting for letters, no further consideration of the subject. 
 Reynell Taylor was transferred by a flash of the telegraph 
 to another Division, and wrong was done him by one 
 whose great aim had always been to save others pain, 
 and who was at once the most loved and lovable of men. 
 From this stroke of fortune Reynell Taylor never, I think, 
 entirely recovered. I will not seek to explain MacLeod's 
 action ; others far more able have failed to do so. There 
 lie before me piles of letters written to Reynell Taylor by 
 friends from all parts as soon as the news of his retirement 
 from Umballa became known. Some of these are from 
 men whose names are as household words in India, and 
 others are from natives, bewailing the loss of a true friend. 
 There is no need to quote many of them, even were it 
 advisable to do so, but some at least I can give, and these, 
 written later, after a full consideration of the subject. 
 
 Here is one copied out by Reynell Taylor for the pur- 
 pose, it appears, of adding notes to the different paragraphs, 
 as the original lies with it. The copy is headed ' Extract 
 from a private letter,' and it runs thus : — 
 
 * I have read over the correspondence with Sir Donald 
 which so personally affects you. I have always held, and 
 a perusal of these letters confirms the opinion, that you 
 were not fairly treated. Sir Donald for some reason 
 thought proper to change his policy to these chiefs, and if
 
 312 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 you had been carrying out another policy, and were averse 
 to the change, the proposal to drop charge of such dis- 
 agreeable work, or to be removed to some position where 
 you could have acted on your own convictions, should 
 have come from yourself, not from the Government, that 
 felt itself embarrassed when they found it desirable to 
 initiate a change of policy.' 
 
 ' The above,' writes Reynell Taylor, * is an extract 
 from a letter of a man who understands well what he is 
 writing about, and who is certainly an authority in all 
 matters connected with the Punjab. 
 
 ' It contains all my grievance. I was ready to have 
 gone home, or on leave not to return ; anything to escape 
 the blow of removal ; but my prayers were unavailing. 
 
 ' This,' continues the letter, ' could have been easily 
 arranged without loss of dignity or prestige, and I remem- 
 ber pointing out to Sir Henry Durand how it could have 
 been done. 
 
 ' A system had sprung up of all these Courts sending 
 
 confidential agents to , , , and . No 
 
 wonder, then, there was set to work intrigue within intrigue, 
 and many unpleasant consequences resulted. Sir Donald 
 should have stopped it from the first; they were all pulling 
 against you all the while you supposed that Government 
 was requiring you to carry out their wishes. The end of 
 it all must have been very embarrassing and galling to you ; 
 but who knows the change has not been, and is not still to 
 be, for your good and that of the Government you serve ? 
 God arranges all these things, depend upon it, even under 
 a rule like that of the good Sir Donald. He of all men 
 did not take that step which hurt your feelings until he
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 313 
 
 had prayed over it, and if so, it can be accepted as that 
 which was right in the sight of God.' 
 
 ' I cannot,' writes Reynell Taylor here, ' quite accept 
 this. I ahvays think in my own case of that passage 
 regarding the danger of a man bringing his idols with him 
 when he prays, and therefore getting an answer according 
 to his idols. Sir D.'s idol at the time was a wish to con- 
 ciliate the chiefs, and I can believe from a kindly idea that 
 it was the right thing ; but, according to my ideas, there 
 was too much willingness to sacrifice me and the better set 
 of natives who were looking to him and to me for support, 
 but that he is a good, honest, and truly religious man I 
 most fully allow. I am therefore quite content to accept 
 the blow at his hands as not proceeding from any malice, 
 or pettiness, or craving for his own credit. 
 
 ' Think no more of it,' continues the letter again ; 
 ' possess a calm mind and a thankful spirit now that you 
 are brought back in health and permitted to work again 
 for India's good. India wants its best men in those places 
 where strong and just action may yet be required, and 
 Umritsur, indisputably, is one of these in the present 
 time. 
 
 ' Yours has been a great career, and the great Father 
 in Heaven will not in the future, as in the past, allow it to 
 be other than useful and honourable. May you yet rejoice 
 in all the work set before you and give Him the praise 
 continually.' 
 
 There was no lack of sympathy in any of the letters 
 Taylor received. ' I have just been going through all the 
 papers,' writes one, ' and I must say, without know ing any 
 secret pressure put upon Sir D. MacLeod, that if 1 had
 
 314 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 been Lieutenant-Governor at the time I must have been 
 pressed very hard indeed if I had treated you as he did.' 
 
 ' Your reputation, obtained on other grounds,' writes 
 another, ' was too high to be injured by such a turn of 
 fortune. I am sure it makes no difference to the high 
 estimation I have of your character.' 
 
 And MacLeod himself wrote in the month of July : — 
 ' I fear my action in many ways greatly aggravated the 
 undoubted difficulties of your position, and I very deeply 
 regret this.' 
 
 There is one letter I will quote in full. It is from Lord 
 Lawrence, dated ' The India Office, i8 July, '72,' and while 
 it exonerates Reynell Taylor from blame, seems to strike 
 the nail on the head with the certainty one would expect 
 coming from such a source : — 
 
 ' My dear Taylor, — I am afraid you must have come to 
 the conclusion that I have neglected my promise to you to 
 look into your case. But the fact is that I have not long 
 returned to England, and what with one thing and another 
 have not been able to give a day to the matter. I am now 
 sitting in Montgomery's room, having just gone over such 
 of the papers as throw a light on the subject. You were 
 quite right in saying that you were willing to make over 
 power and authority to the Maharajah of Puttiala a year 
 before the age (18) which had been laid as the time when 
 he arrived at his majority, and that I was opposed to the 
 measure. I have no doubt that this circumstance was the 
 main cause of your subsequent troubles, inasmuch as it 
 incited him and his friends to engage in intrigues against 
 you.
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 315 
 
 ' My opinion also is that no reproach whatever lies on 
 you for the nature and extent of your interference in the 
 affairs of Puttiala and Nabha. In the former case the 
 minority of the chief and the intrigues of influential men 
 about him necessitated such a course. Had you not so 
 interfered you would not have done your duty, and you 
 would not have carried out the pledges we gave to the late 
 chief of Puttiala in 1857-58. Whether you erred or not 
 in the mode of interference in some details I can hardly 
 say, but I have no reason to think that you did so. 
 
 ' I paid a good deal of attention at times, when at 
 Simla, to Puttiala affairs, and it always appeared to me 
 that your action connected with them was kind, reasonable, 
 and judicious, though by no means, of course, agreeable to 
 the young chief and the party who worked for the objects 
 he had at heart. Had you been more severe, more decided, 
 and insisted on the expulsion from Puttiala of those who 
 thwarted your views, the result might have been different. 
 I think that it was a pity that you asked for the Commis- 
 sion of Inquiry, and that you did not immediately follow 
 up their report by an explanatory letter yourself 
 
 ' I intend to write to Davies, your Lieutenant-Governor, 
 and to the new Governor-General, in a few days, and I will 
 take the opportunity of adverting to your case. 
 
 ' I had nearly forgotten to say that your interference 
 with Nabha affairs was quite in accordance with Herbert 
 Edwardes's previous policy and my views, and was abso- 
 lutely necessary in consequence of the utter incapacity of 
 the late chief 
 
 ' This is a mistake. Taylor followed up the report of the Committee with 
 a long and exhaustive minute.
 
 3l6 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864- 
 
 ' I wish that I could do anything to mitigate the very 
 
 natural vexation which you must feel at what has occurred. 
 
 — Yours very sincerely, 
 
 ' Lawrence.' 
 
 After Taylor's return to England in 1871 he had many 
 opportunities of discussing the whole matter with MacLeod, 
 and in reference to his letter to Lord Lawrence, which 
 elicited the above reply, he writes : — ' I sent my letter to 
 Lord Lawrence open, and for Sir R. Montgomery to read, 
 because in it I had been obliged to state distinctly cer- 
 tain points regarding Sir Donald's action by which I felt 
 aggrieved, a main one being that he did not read my 
 reports, and therefore could not be a fair judge of my 
 position and difficulties. 
 
 * This he had frankly told me himself I give him full 
 honour for the frankness. It was the kindest and most 
 honourable plaster he could apply to my heart. 
 
 ' You must not fancy that I retain any angry feeling 
 against Sir Donald in the matter, for, when all is said and 
 done, I would sooner have his genuine good opinion and 
 good will than have my own opinion gain the victory in 
 this or any other matter. 
 
 ' I saw Sir Donald frequently at home, and discussed 
 the whole subject with him. He deprecated my using the 
 expression that he had turned against me. He further 
 begged me not to suppose that his action was an assertion 
 that he was right and I wrong, regarding the characters of 
 the natives with whom we were dealing. He allowed fully 
 that I had always been a subordinate man, only urging my 
 own opinions so far as I thought it right and proper to do 
 so, and yielding when further resistance might be perti-
 
 -1870 THE UMBALLA DIVISION 317 
 
 nacity and obstinacy in matters where I was not the 
 mainly responsible authority ; and that in this way I had 
 yielded to his views in the matter of giving the chief his 
 powers, though sorely against my own judgment.' 
 
 ' I attribute no petty feeling to him for a moment,' 
 writes Reynell Taylor in another instance. ' He was per- 
 plexed and anxious to cut the knot instead of leaving it to 
 a successor.' 
 
 It is unnecessary to pursue the matter further. After 
 a careful study of the whole of the papers, I have given 
 extracts from those which seem to bear most upon the 
 points at issue, and if the subject has proved wearisome to 
 the reader it may be as well to reflect, that misfortune 
 sometimes attends those who have been actuated by the 
 highest motives, and that nobleness of purpose is no pass- 
 port to success. It remains to be recorded that within 
 a year of Taylor's leaving Umballa the Maharajah of 
 Nabha died from the effects of his many excesses, and 
 that in 1875 the Maharajah of Puttiala paid a similar 
 penalty. 
 
 When the news of the young chief's death reached 
 Reynell Taylor he seems to have passed in review the 
 episodes of these last years, and to have jotted down his 
 thoughts, for on a scrap of paper I find the following 
 reflection : — 
 
 ' Looking back through my own action, I am confident 
 I never wavered in the most anxious desire to preserve the 
 poor fellow from harm and keep him straight. It is a 
 comfort to me now to know that I, and the really moderate, 
 kindly men of his Council, suffered severe mortification 
 and loss through a perfectly honest attempt to curb the
 
 3l8 REYNELL TAYLOR 1864-1870 
 
 aggressive and illegal action of the men whom I consider 
 morally answerable — and I say it advisedly — for the early 
 and miserable death of this young chief I would not 
 have been in Hassan's shoes when the poor young fellow 
 cried, as they say he did, to those around him for help 
 where no help could come.'
 
 19 
 
 CHAPTER Xir. 
 
 UMRITSUR. 
 I 870- I 877. 
 
 Reynell Taylor took up his duties as Commissioner of 
 the Umritsur Division in July 1870. The events of the 
 past six years had taxed his strength severely, and he was 
 much in need of rest ; but rest was at present impossible, 
 and he determined before applying for leave to master 
 the details of his new position. The political work of 
 the Umritsur Division was much lighter than that of the 
 Umballa Division, there being only one small State, that 
 of Chumba ; but the judicial work was far heavier, and 
 Taylor found his time fully occupied. 
 
 Nothing occurred during the first few months to inter- 
 rupt his labours, and by the early part of the new year he 
 had so far grappled with his work that he decided to return 
 for a while to England. 
 
 It was not, however, solely on his own account that he 
 determined to take furlough : he felt compelled to do so 
 on account of his family. Six of his children were in 
 England, two ' more were with him, and he was most 
 anxious to arrange matters regarding their education, and 
 also to establish them with their mother in a temporary 
 
 ■ Mabel ; and Millicent, who was born at Umballa, December 16, 1869.
 
 320 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 home of their own. In March 1871. therefore, he applied 
 for leave, and in the following month reached England. 
 
 His steps naturally led him to Devonshire : his asso- 
 ciations with the past were centred there, and he had 
 always looked forward to the time when he should be able 
 to settle down within reach of his old home. 
 
 Newton Abbot appeared to offer many advantages, 
 and before he returned to India he had the satisfaction of 
 seeing his wife and family comfortably established there in 
 a house called ' St. Bernards.' ^ 
 
 Of Taylor's own doings during the time he remained 
 tn England I have been unable to discover anything 
 worthy of notice, and I am, therefore, compelled to pass 
 over this period without remark. While he was in Eng- 
 land, two events occurred concerning which he wrote 
 several letters to ' The Times,' viz. the Kooka outbreak 
 and the murder of Lord Mayo. The latter I have already 
 referred to, but the outbreak of the religious sect, known 
 as the Kookas, remains to be noticed. 
 
 As far back as 1866 Taylor had 'reported fully and 
 urgently to Government on the mischievous character of 
 the movement, or rather on the possible dangerous ten- 
 dency of a certain new activity which had been evinced by 
 the sect.'^ 
 
 The Kooka sect was founded by one Baluk Ram about 
 the year 1845, and had for its ostensible object the revival 
 of the primitive simplicity of the Sikh religion. On the 
 death of the founder, a carpenter named Ram Sing be- 
 
 ' A ninth child, Lucie, was born shortly before Taylor returned to India, 
 viz. January 22, 1872. 
 
 2 Taylor's letter to ' The Times,' dated February 14, 1S72.
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 321 
 
 came Guru, or high priest, of the sect, assuming at the 
 same time supernatural powers and requiring absokite 
 obedience from his disciples. The headquarters of the 
 Kookas were at Loodiana, in the Umballa Division, where 
 meetings were held and the organisation of the move- 
 ment carried out. By degrees the numbers of the Kookas 
 increased to such an extent that the leaders divided the 
 country into districts under soubahs, or lieutenants ; and 
 Ram Sing's officers were thus to be found alike at 
 Cabul and at Lucknow. ' But there was a worse feature 
 than this in the fact that proselytising for the sect was 
 gaining a footing in our native regiments,' and the move- 
 ment was evidently rapidly developing into a secret political 
 organisation. 
 
 More than once since the ' Cow riot ' at Lahore, in 
 1845 the slaughter of kine had caused disturbance among 
 the Hindoo population, and, in order to respect the strong 
 religious feeling in the matter, the shambles had been 
 erected outside the towns, and the exposure of the flesh 
 of the sacred animal forbidden. The abolition of the 
 practice of kine-killing was a point upon which it had 
 always been easy to fire the religious fanaticism of the 
 Sikhs and Hindoos generally, and Ram Sing and his 
 followers were, therefore, fully alive to the fact, that a 
 crusade against the practice would be sure to gain the 
 sympathy of the whole Sikh sect and further the interests 
 of Kookaism. 
 
 Such being the case, Taylor made careful inquiries, 
 and, as he says in the letter I have just referred to, ' I 
 examined Ram Sing and his lieutenants carefully, and 
 collected all the available information regarding their 
 
 Y
 
 322 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 proceedings. My conviction was that, whatever had been 
 the possible harmless character of Ram Sing's original 
 intentions, his soubahs, who were men of a very dangerous 
 stamp, were, for their own ends, doubtless, turning the 
 movement into something very different ; in fact, that 
 they were up to quite another game than mere religious 
 revival. . . . 
 
 ' The burden of the song was that Ram Sing was all 
 guilelessness and simplicity, and that they (his lieuten- 
 ants) were bound by their faith in his infallibility to be 
 implicitly guided by his injunctions, which were all for 
 peace and order. This style of assurance was reiterated 
 ad nauseam^ and sounded well, but the idea suggested 
 itself that possibly a change might come over the character 
 of the Prophet's teaching. There was, in fact, an awkward 
 precedent for this in the change made by the famous 
 warlike Guru, or religious leader of the Sikhs, who changed 
 the peaceful and beneficent teaching of his predecessors 
 into a warlike code ; and I felt that it would not be very 
 difficult for the stirring men before me, to be the means 
 of greatly modifying the new Guru's teaching when it 
 became convenient to them ; that, in fact, while he ruled 
 the sect, or was supposed to do so, his soubahs might 
 very probably pull his wires to suit their own views, and 
 then their simple answer, if charged with belying their 
 professions of peaceful intentions, would have been that 
 they had always warned us that they must obey implicitly 
 what the Guru enjoined ; and as he now preached active 
 hostility they were helpless to resist.' The result was 
 that Taylor reported very unfavourably of the sect, and, 
 acting on his suggestions, troops were at once put into
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 323 
 
 the Loodiana fort. He says of this : — ' Lord Lawrence, 
 took the matter up, and at once put a sufficient garrison 
 into the Loodiana fort, which had been for some time un- 
 occupied. He also caused circulars to be sent to com- 
 manding officers of regiments, bringing to their notice the 
 nature of the movement that was going on, and mentioning 
 the distrust with which it was regarded. Lord Lawrence 
 told me himself that he had directed these steps on my 
 reports. I am sure he will forgive my mentioning the fact.' 
 These prompt measures had the effect of checking the 
 movement for a time. ' Ram Sing and his friends lowered 
 their tone ; he gave up holding large gatherings, and alto- 
 gether conducted himself in a much more moderate manner.' 
 Proselytism was heard less of, and Lord Lawrence's action 
 in the matter caused the Native States to set their faces 
 against the sect. 
 
 So quiet, indeed, did the Kookas become, that Taylor 
 thought he might have attributed a more mischievous 
 motive to them than was just. However, circumstances 
 were after a while to show that his estimate of the sect had 
 been a true one. In June 1871 an organised attack was 
 made upon the butchers of Umritsur, four of them being 
 killed and three wounded. Suspicion naturally pointed 
 to those who had so recently been agitating against the 
 slaughter of kine, but the culprits made good their escape. 
 This attack at Umritsur was followed shortly by another 
 at Raikot, and the murderers were, in this case, captured 
 and found to be members of the Kooka sect. It subse- 
 quently transpired that ' the Kookas had taken oaths to 
 exert every nerve in exterminating the curse of cow-killing 
 in all places in the vicinity of Hindoo cities and .Sikli 
 
 V 2
 
 324 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 temples,' ^ and twelve of the assassins, who had recently- 
 been taken red-handed, were accordingly sentenced to 
 death. But the outbreak was of too serious and deter- 
 mined a nature to be cut short in this way, and in January 
 1S72 the Kookas made an organised attack on the fort of 
 Maloudh, ' the residence of an old Sikh chief of note,' and 
 afterwards on the village of Mulair Kotlah, the capital of a 
 State on the borders of the Loodiana district. The object 
 of both these attacks was to obtain arms, and had they 
 been successful there is no doubt the Kookas would have 
 received such an accession of strength, that it would have 
 been necessary to employ a brigade of troops to subdue 
 them. 
 
 Happily, through the energetic action of the Deputy 
 Commissioner of the Loodiana district, the Kookas, 
 numbering about 300, were pursued and captured. The 
 Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner of the Divi- 
 sion, thinking that they w^ere merely the pioneers of a larger 
 force, and knowing that the sect numbered from 50,000 
 to 80,000 adherents, ordered a large number of the Kookas 
 to instant execution. The severity of their action was 
 subsequently adjudged by the Government to have been 
 altogether in excess of what the case necessitated, and in 
 the end the Deputy Commissioner lost his appointment and 
 the Commissioner was removed to another province. It 
 remains to be told that the action of these two officers, 
 however severe, did not have the effect of quelling the 
 movement, and that the Kookas still continue to be a 
 source of anxiety to the Government. 
 
 ' Memo, by Reynell Taylor on the case of The Crown v. Jhanda Sing 
 and others.
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 325 
 
 In April 1872 Taylor returned alone to India. 
 
 I mentioned in a former chapter that the Puttiala and 
 Nabha troubles remained as an unhappy recollection with 
 Reynell Taylor during the rest of his days. He was always 
 keenly sensitive about any of his actions being questioned, 
 though he never for a moment assumed that he was right 
 and others wrong. It was at such times, and such times 
 alone, that he talked about himself. Circumstances might 
 occur, through actions on his part, which redounded greatly 
 to his credit, but of these, any more than of his gallant 
 deeds, he never spoke. When, however, guided by the 
 highest principles of honour, and in complete self-forgetful- 
 ness, he had carried anything through to the best of his 
 ability, then harsh criticism on his actions cut into his 
 very marrow, and he spoke openly to all. A few years 
 before he died, a great honour was done him to which I 
 shall have presently to refer. He was chosen from among 
 a crowd of distinguished men to occupy a prominent posi- 
 tion on a public occasion. The compliment was well de- 
 served, and was, moreover, one of which most men would 
 have been justly proud. Reynell Taylor was so. In writ- 
 ing to one of his many friends, and knowing how gratified 
 Taylor had felt, I asked the question whether Taylor talked 
 about it. The answer was : ' No, though I was with him 
 the same day, he never mentioned it.' 
 
 But as regards his difficulties in the Umballa Division. 
 He had been inclined to think that his reputation had 
 suffered by what had occurred. I do not hesitate to say 
 that in this he was entirely wrong. ' His reputation was of 
 too high an order to be injured by such a turn of fortune,' 
 and no further evidence is wanted to show how fully his
 
 326 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 ability was recognised in the highest quarters, than that 
 contained in the following letter : — 
 
 'Simla: October 4, 1872. 
 
 ' Dear General Taylor, — A vacancy has occurred in the 
 office of Political Resident at Gwalior, and it will give me 
 pleasure to appoint you if the appointment would be agree- 
 able to you. The salary is, I believe, the same as the salary 
 of your present appointment, but the office is one of con- 
 siderable political importance, and may be more congenial 
 to you than that of Commissioner at Umritsur. 
 
 ' If you accept the appointment it must, if you please, 
 be on the understanding that you are not going to take 
 furlough now, for it would be very inconvenient that the 
 post should be filled by an acting officer. — I am, yours 
 
 '^""^'^^>^' ' NORTHBROOK/ 
 
 To this, after a week's consideration, Reynell Taylor 
 replied on the i ith : — 
 
 ' My dear Lord Northbrook, — I have to thank you 
 very much for your kindness in offering me the very inter- 
 esting post of Political Agent at Gwalior. Though the 
 pay is the same as that of the office I hold, I am aware 
 that it is a more important and prominent post than this. 
 I can conceive also, the kindly motive with which you have 
 offered it to me. I believe the position to be second only 
 to the two or three principal appointments in the country, 
 and to be one of peculiar interest with regard to the 
 personal character and political position of the chief 
 
 ' But I find it a very serious matter to leave the Punjab, 
 with which I have been connected for a quarter of a centur\'. 
 I am used to its people and its seasons, know all and am
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 327 
 
 known, and it is a place, in fact, where I can work with 
 almost a homelike feeling. I have therefore, after con- 
 siderable canvass and reflection, come to the decision (with 
 a truly grateful feeling towards your Excellency for having 
 made it) to decline the offer. 
 
 ' I do not see any call of duty in the matter, or my 
 decision would, I hope, be otherwise. Your Lordship has 
 offered me a political charge which, according to my own 
 views at any rate, is one of extreme delicacy and importance, 
 and the fact has had a gratifying and soothing effect. I 
 hope you will accept again my hearty thanks for the kind- 
 ness of the offer, and believe me to remain, yours very 
 
 '^""^''^^>^' 'Reynell Taylor.' 
 
 While Taylor thus refused Gwalior he was not so 
 entirely wedded to the Punjab that he determined never 
 to leave it. The following letter to Davies ^ shows that 
 Rajpootana presented certain attractions, and that in re- 
 fusing Gwalior he had not been actuated entirely by 
 personal motives : — 
 
 ' My dear Mr. Davies, — Many thanks for your letter 
 I am relieved to find that His Excellency is not annoyed 
 with me for an apparent want of knowledge of my own 
 mind ; the pain of leaving the apron-strings of a very good 
 and fair-dealing old mother must be my excuse. 
 
 ' I have now to say that it would not be nice in me to 
 stand in Impey's way at all. His wife is a Lawrence, and 
 I owe so much to the family I would rather not interfere 
 in any way with the advancement of any of them or their 
 connections. Mrs. Impey's father, George Lawrence, never 
 ' Afterwards Sir H. Davies and Lieutenant-Governor.
 
 328 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 missed an opportunity of trying to serv^e me, and was very 
 
 anxious I should get Rajpootana after him. This latter 
 
 is the appointment I have always looked to as the kind of 
 
 advancement most likely to suit me, and I hope that I 
 
 might suit it. I was in Rajpootana when Sir Henry 
 
 Lawrence, as Resident, offered me a position on his staff, 
 
 a position I accepted immediately, and have never had 
 
 cause to regret. Had I remained in Rajpootana all these 
 
 years I should, I hope, have been at its head ere this, though 
 
 I should not have had the varied experience I have had. 
 
 I was at Ajmir under Colonel Dixon, and wrote the 
 
 opening chapter of his book on Ajmir and Mhairwarrah, 
 
 describing the people of the latter district. I was much 
 
 interested in the country, and always look back to my 
 
 sojourn in it with pleasure. I do not feel diffident about 
 
 the work, as I feel (D.V.) that I could do it. Looking 
 
 down the list, I see many names that I know, and am 
 
 interested in the body of men employed in the country. 
 
 ' You see I am taking the opportunity to place on 
 
 record an application for an appointment which it would not 
 
 occur to any one, from not knowing my antecedents, that 
 
 I should be likely to care particularly about. — Yours very 
 
 sincerely, 
 
 'Reynell Taylor.' 
 
 To this Davies replied ' that he understood there was 
 no immediate chance of Rajpootana being vacant,' but 
 that he had shown his letter to the Viceroy, ' who ex- 
 pressed himself pleased with it, and asked to be allowed 
 to keep it.' 
 
 Reynell Taylor was, however, never destined to return 
 to Ajmir, and he remained at Umritsur for the rest of his
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 329 
 
 working days. Rumours were not wanting of other posts 
 being offered him, and in letters to his wife at this time 
 reference is made to the possibiHty of his going to Cash- 
 mere, ' though if I went,' he writes, ' it would have to be as 
 a permanency, and not as a warming-pan for another 
 officer. There might be some sweets in the appointment, 
 but there would be distinct drawbacks, and altogether 
 I am much happier where I am.' 
 
 Among his friends there were not wanting those who 
 looked to his holding high appointments ; but that diffi- 
 dence in his own powers, which he had never shaken off, 
 caused high places to possess few attractions for him. 
 
 ' Your castles,' he writes to his wife from Dalhousie in 
 October 1873, ' ^^^ never the least likely to be built on any 
 firmer foundation than air. I do not feel that it is my 
 fault, because I have always worked hard and honestly, I 
 believe ; but ten years on the frontier in half-military 
 work, at the time I should have got up Revenue and Law so 
 as to master them, prevented my doing so, and thus I am 
 really not fit to be put over better and more learned men. 
 In other ways, too, I feel the pinnacles are not for me, and 
 without any sour-grape feeling, I can honestly say that I 
 can get on very comfortably, thank God, without them. 
 My pinnacle is a competency to live at home on among 
 my children. If this is granted me, others may perch 
 themselves on the icy peaks of Fortune, and I will not 
 grudge them the success. They are icy in the main, though 
 they glitter so in the sunlight, and sympathy fails to a 
 great extent when they are reached. The individual has 
 then to fly or fall alone, and the peaks themselves have 
 sharp points and edges which make them less charming as
 
 JO^ 
 
 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 resting-places than they appeared from below. However, 
 I have, and still have, a wholesome ambition, and am 
 pleased at being thought useful. The little craving that I 
 had has softened down from disappointment, and the result 
 is a calm and peaceful surface, which I hope will continue 
 until, after a comparatively short time of work now, I may 
 be allowed to return to look after our children with you in 
 an English home.' 
 
 It is during this year that I first find mention of his 
 own health. For over thirty-two years he had withstood 
 the hardships of campaigns, the endless round of work with 
 its attendant anxieties, and the effects of the climate in 
 all parts of the Punjab, and never in all that time had he 
 been once incapacitated by any serious illness. But the 
 strain began to tell now. He complains in his letters of a 
 feeling of being overdone. ' The work here,' he writes, 
 ' is never ending, and yet I must say, in the main, it 
 is interesting, and one feels the happier for having it to 
 do. If one could only do the week's work in the week 
 I should be quite happy, but somehow that never comes 
 about.' 
 
 ' I fancy,' he writes in another letter, ' that I may have 
 a foolhardy confidence in Nature righting herself with 
 me. We have made matters out so long together, and she 
 has come round so often, that I expect her to continue 
 to do so.' Still the letters lack none of their cheeriness 
 of tone, and he only says of this sense of overstrain : — 
 ' According to my own sensations it is worry that brings 
 it on, and worry means things going wrong, sins of omis- 
 sion and commission coming on one in a heap in offi- 
 cial work. Perhaps my work is rather more multiplied,
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 33 1 
 
 and requires more talent to dispose of, than was contem- 
 plated for the noddle aforesaid.' 
 
 All his letters during the two years he was alone in 
 India contain references to his children, and in their pro- 
 gress and education he shows the liveliest interest. His 
 great wish was that their education should be of a good 
 practical character, calculated to fit them for being useful 
 men and women in the world, and thus he impresses upon 
 them the necessity of learning modern languages, especially 
 French and German, for he writes, ' these are not the 
 times to be brassbound by old rules and fancies in such 
 matters, and with regard to boys especially.' He was 
 content, as he expressed it, ' to live on Brazil nuts and 
 coffee grouts ' for the sake of his children, and he strained 
 every nerve to provide his boys with such chances of 
 amusements and recreations as would tend to make them 
 grow up like men. Thus he advocated their being taught 
 to ride, and in this he confesses that he retains ' one old pre- 
 judice ' about boys learning to be good horsemen. ' Cricket, 
 too,' he continues, ' is a good game, and the best for after 
 life of any I know. I don't mean to set it above work, 
 but am content to see it studied along with work.' 
 
 The close of the year 1 873 was marked by the installation 
 of the young Rajah Sham Sing of Chumba. The ceremony 
 of installation was performed by Reynell Taylor on the 
 beautiful Choughan of Chumba, a level plain of green 
 sward some 600 yards in length by 1 50 in breadth, with 
 the town above it on one side and the high banks and 
 dashing blue waters of the Ravee on the other. Many 
 hundreds attended, and Taylor, who was surrounded by a 
 large circle of English officers, after causing the Government
 
 332 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 Order, sanctioning the succession, to be read out, bound 
 the Sirpeck ornament on the young Rajah's forehead and 
 conducted him to the throne. The ceremony closed with 
 a speech by Reynell Taylor, delivered in Hindostanee, but 
 I regret to say that I have been unable to discover any 
 report of this. 
 
 The time was now approaching when Taylor's life was 
 to be brightened by the presence of his wife. It had been 
 arranged that Mrs. Taylor and his eldest daughter, Florence, 
 should join him at Umritsur in the spring of 1874. For 
 two years he had been separated from his family, and this 
 happy reunion was looked forward to with the keenest 
 sense of enjoyment. His letters at this time are full of 
 pleasurable anticipations, and he describes the preparations 
 he is making in house and garden, the invitations he has 
 already received to stay at various places, the delights of 
 Dalhousie during the hot weather, and the hundred and 
 one thoughts which occupy the little leisure he has. What 
 a happy picture, what a happy ending to all the years of 
 toil ! In three years more his working days in India would 
 be brought to a close, and he would have reached the age 
 at which a man's period of usefulness is deemed by rule 
 to cease. Meanwhile the roughnesses of the Indian life 
 would be toned down, and the home would be the brighter 
 by that touch of refinement which women alone can give. 
 But it was ruled otherwise. Mental anticipation of pleasure, 
 ' castle-building ' as we call it, is a common pastime, but 
 how often is the cup dashed from our lips at the moment 
 when we think we have it firmly in our grasp ! 
 
 The long-looked-for day arrived at last, and just before 
 Easter Taylor welcomed his wife and daughter at Umritsur.
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 333 
 
 For a few short weeks the house was Ht by the presence of 
 a fresh young Hfe, and then the hopes which the father and 
 mother had built up were dashed to the ground. 
 There is no greater woe 
 
 Than to remember days of happiness 
 
 Amid affliction. 
 
 In the month of May a friend ^ staying with the Taylors on 
 his way to Dalhousie found Flor}^ as she was always called, 
 ill with fever, and persuaded the parents to let her go to 
 the hills with him. The doctors had thought lightly of her 
 ailment, and the idea of sending her to the cooler air of 
 the hills had not been hitherto entertained. However, 
 they agreed to let her go, and the change proved for two 
 or three days so beneficial that it was hoped she would 
 soon regain her strength. This feeling, however, shortly 
 gave place to alarm when the fever returned and was 
 pronounced to be typhoid. The parents were quickly 
 summoned ; the mother arrived, and the father followed 
 without delay. ' Never can those first few moments after 
 his entering the room in which his poor stricken child lay 
 be forgotten by those who witnessed the scene. The 
 wandering brain instantly, but only for a brief moment, 
 recognised the well-loved voice as it spoke a cheery 
 greeting, and arms and hands were raised to meet the 
 father's fond embrace. Then again fell the cloud of dim 
 unconsciousness, and Reynell Taylor, crushing down the 
 bitter anguish of his heart, and thinking that, perhaps, the 
 sound of the old familiar Devonshire talk might rekindle 
 the light of reason, said, "Why, Floray, you'm blawed out 
 to say a bet ; " but, alas ! there was no response.' 
 
 • Colonel A. 11. Bamfield, then Deputy Inspector of Police in the Punjab.
 
 334 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 From thenceforward until the day of her death her 
 parents and two kind friends * nursed her with loving care. 
 On June 14 there was one more flash of consciousness, 
 and the arms entwined themselves about the father's neck 
 — an act of love, a moment of recognition, and Flory was 
 
 gone. 
 
 Most blest are they who earliest free 
 Descend to death's eternal sleep. 
 
 And how did Reynell Taylor bear up against this 
 terrible affliction ? With the constancy of Job : ' The Lord 
 gave and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of 
 the Lord.' 
 
 ' I have often wondered,' he wrote to Lady Willoughby 
 shortly after her death, ' how my head was carried, as the 
 Scotch say, when I was induced to ask you to take her ; 
 but now, I trust, the explanation has come, and it is a 
 happy thing to me, as it contains the brightest hope that 
 dear Flory was marked by Mercy for early acceptance and 
 removal to the better country ; and if so, we may send 
 away the weepers and be content to have had the loan of 
 her for a time. . . . With all the sorrow and pain, I do 
 truly rejoice that we had the blessing, and I fully believe, 
 if our faith fail not, she will be ours again by-and-by.' 
 
 Flory's death tinged Reynell Taylor's whole after life. 
 ' He had always been devoted to her,' writes one of her 
 sisters, ' and I think she was the one of all his children 
 who at that time knew and appreciated him most. I 
 know that before she went to India she used often to talk 
 to us about him, and always with such pride and affection.' 
 
 * Colonel and Mrs. Bamfield, in whose house Flory died, and who were 
 indefatigable in doing all they could to the last.
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 335 
 
 A week after the death of his daughter Taylor moved 
 with his wife to his own house at Dalhousie, but the 
 memory of his lost child drew him day by day to the place 
 where she had died, though always at such an hour as would 
 ensure his being alone and undisturbed. His visits to the 
 cemetery were frequent, and he bestowed much loving care 
 in making ' Flory's corner ' bright. A white marble cross, 
 with a spray of flowers trailing over it, executed from 
 Reynell Taylor's own design, marks the spot where Flory 
 lies, and around her resting-place the hill scenery of 
 Dalhousie shimmers in the sun. 
 
 To those who have experienced — and who has not ? — 
 the anguish of a bitter sorrow, work next to prayer will 
 have appeared as a sure refuge in the hour of trouble. ' Of 
 all consolations,' writes a modern French author, ' work is 
 the most fortifying and the most healthy, because it solaces 
 a man, not by bringing him ease but by requiring effort.' 
 It seems as though the writer struck the mark. Prayer 
 comforts, work surely consoles. Neglect not the first 
 duty of man, but then, and not till then, turn again to the 
 plough. The hill may be steep, and the furrows run 
 roughly and unevenly, but the work will fortify, while the 
 prayer will most assuredly 
 
 Sing God's comfort through ymir soul. 
 
 So Reynell Taylor turned again to his work, and his 
 life flowed on in the old groove. In three years more there 
 would be an end to it, and he would then be able to retire 
 and set up a home in England. Meanwhile there was 
 plenty to engage his attention, and such spare moments as 
 he had he devoted to the Umritsur Mission. Through
 
 336 REYNELL TAYLOR 187C- 
 
 all these years he had continued his subscription of lOO 
 rupees a month to the Derajat Mission, but this heavy 
 call upon his purse did not prevent him extending his 
 liberality to the Mission of Umritsur. His friends often 
 remonstrated with him for giving away so much, but his 
 reply was always the same : — ' I don't believe my family 
 will ever be in straits for anything I give away.' 
 
 His liberality was, however, not confined to works of 
 charity, and I have heard his hospitality spoken of in many 
 places as having been of the most generous kind. His 
 house was open to all, and what he had was at the disposal 
 alike of friends and acquaintances. 
 
 A remarkable instance of this occurred during the 
 Prince of Wales's visit to India in 1875-6. As soon as 
 Taylor knew that he was to entertain the Prince at 
 Umritsur, his high sense of loyalty made him desirous of 
 doing so in a fitting manner. At very considerable expense, 
 he refurnished a part of his house and replenished his 
 stables. Tents in great numbers were pitched in the 
 garden and in an adjoining field, and all these he furnished 
 comfortably in anticipation of the expected visit, which 
 was to extend to two days. The Prince arrived, and was 
 received by Reynell Taylor, but through unavoidable cir- 
 cumstances his visit was curtailed to a few hours, and all 
 Taylor's preparations were consequently thrown away. 
 
 ' It is almost needless to tell you,' writes a friend, ' that 
 Taylor would not apply for any compensation. He bore the 
 entire outlay himself, though I know it was very consider- 
 able. He was wrong ; but yet one can quite understand 
 how repugnant to such a mind as his would be the idea of 
 taking money from the Government wherewith to entertain
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 337 
 
 even a Royal guest. Seeing that the Government of India 
 had set apart a sum of money for the express purpose ot 
 defraying the large outlay necessarily attendant on the 
 Prince's visit, we again and again urged Taylor to send in 
 his claim, though without avail. If he had been a rich 
 man it would not have mattered, but being the very 
 opposite, his delicacy made him act unjustly towards him- 
 self and his family. Such, however, was his nature — he 
 was truly one of Nature's noblemen.' 
 
 Of Taylor's life in India I have little left to tell, and 
 the remainder of his Commissionership of Umritsur passed 
 uneventfully by. 
 
 The last occasion on which he appeared at any public 
 ceremony was on January i, 1877, when, in a durbar of 
 unusual splendour and magnificence, her Majesty the 
 Queen was proclaimed Empress of India. 
 
 A few weeks later he prepared to leave the country to 
 which he had devoted the thirty-seven best years of his 
 life. As the time for his departure drew on, a number of 
 his friends determined to mark the high sense they had of 
 his services and character by giving a farewell banquet in 
 his honour. The banquet was held at Lahore on March 7, 
 and Mr. Boulnois, Judge of the Chief Court, occupied the 
 chair. Numbers of Reynell Taylor's friends attended, 
 ' some of whom,' says the ' Civil and Military Gazette,' 
 ' had come from distant parts of the Punjab, Shalpur and 
 even Bunnoo sending their representatives. From Kangra 
 the Assistant Commissioner Mahomed Hayat Khan, C.S.I. , 
 and from Jullundur the Commissioner, attended, and from 
 Umritsur, of course, many came.' 
 
 In proposing Reynell Ta}-lor's health, the chairman 
 
 z
 
 338 REYNELL TAYLOR 1870- 
 
 dwelt at considerable length on their guest's distinguished 
 career, referring to his unbroken record of brilliant services 
 and the many stirring incidents with which his name had 
 been connected. In concluding his speech he read a letter 
 from Sir Henry Daly, Resident at Indore, regretting his 
 inability to be present to sympathise in the testimony to 
 the ' Bayard of the Punjab.' Reynell Taylor's reply was 
 distinguished by his usual modesty ; he said that his 
 services had been of no great importance to the State, and 
 that he was not worthy of the distinction which had been 
 conferred upon him by the promoters of the entertainment. 
 He looked back with pleasure to his intercourse with 
 native gentlemen, for some of whom he had the deepest 
 regard, and one of whom, Nawab Gholam Hussan Khan, 
 he had learnt to trust as readily as any of his own rela- 
 tions. For such men who stood by us when we needed 
 help, who made no sort of stipulation when danger was to 
 the front, but joined us again and again in our time of 
 need, he could not express too warm a regard. He con- 
 sidered that the maintenance of friendly relations with the 
 native gentry depended upon the simple exercise of con- 
 sideration and tact, combined with Christian taste and 
 feeling, and he had always experienced that while on the 
 one hand natives are very careful of not hurting our 
 feelings, they never resented outspokenness on our part 
 even in regard to religious matters. He spoke with affec- 
 tion of the Mooltani Pathans, with whom he had often 
 served shoulder to shoulder, and confessed his liking for 
 the Sikhs. He thought that consideration for native 
 servants was especially incumbent upon all Englishmen in 
 India. After referring to many of his former companions
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 339 
 
 and contemporaries and also to the leaders under whom he 
 had served, he mentioned Lord Lawrence and Sir Robert 
 Montgomery as Lieutenant-Governors, as well as ' dear 
 Sir Donald,' with whom his personal relations had been 
 always most affectionate, even when an official matter 
 regarding his agency for the Puttiala State gave rise to a 
 difference of opinion from which he had himself keenly 
 suffered. He then noticed the extraordinary difficulty of 
 frontier expeditions, the distressing way in which disci- 
 plined troops had to be frittered away in the occupation of 
 numerous petty positions, the difficulty of dealing with 
 swarms of hillmen, and the amount of detailed arrange- 
 ments required. As regards our position in India, he said 
 he was persuaded that a majority of the people had no 
 objection to our rule, but there would always be the 
 turbulent minority with whom firmness was necessary, and 
 therefore we should always be strong enough to hold the 
 country by ourselves, though the help of auxiliaries should 
 not be undervalued, for they had often rendered us most 
 effectual and devoted service. He concluded his speech 
 by expressing the satisfaction it had been to him to join 
 in doing honour, just before his departure, to our beloved 
 Queen, by taking part in the proceedings for proclaiming 
 her Empress of India, adding that the thought of her 
 beneficent reign, and the purity of her Court, had through- 
 out his service constituted a large share of his personal 
 happiness.' 
 
 I could not close the story of Rcyncll Taylor's life in 
 India more fittingly than by quoting the following official 
 recognition of his services : — 
 ' From the abridged report in the Civil and Military Gazette, March 1877. 
 
 z 2
 
 340 reynell taylor 1870- 
 
 Proceedings of the Honourable the Lieut.- 
 GovERNOR, Punjab, in the Home Department, 
 DATED March 27, 1877. 
 
 Resolution. 
 
 The Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor would desire, before 
 the departure of Major-General ^ Reynell Taylor, C.B., C.S.I., 
 from the Punjab, to express, on the part of the Government under 
 which this distinguished officer has been so long employed, his high 
 sense of the value of his services, which have extended over the 
 whole period since annexation, and which are associated with some 
 of the most striking events in the history of the British occupation 
 of the province. 
 
 General Taylor entered the service in 1840, and joined in the 
 Gwalior campaign of 1843. I"' 1845 he was present at the battle 
 of Moodkee, in which he was severely wounded, and after the 
 campaign was appointed Assistant to the Resident at Lahore and 
 was stationed at Peshawur, from which place he took a Sikh 
 Brigade to Bunnoo through the Kohat pass to join Lieutenant 
 Edwardes, and for some months of 1848 held the newly reduced 
 Bunnoo Valley with a Sikh force of 5,000 men. During Septem- 
 ber and October of that year General Taylor was present with the 
 Army before Mooltan. The following month, the Bunnoo force 
 having mutinied and marched to Jhelum, he again went across the 
 Indus, capturing the fort of Lukkee and checking the progress of 
 Sirdar Mahomed Azim Khan, son of the Ameer of Cabul, and, on 
 the advance of General Gilbert to Peshawur, occupied Kohat with 
 irregular troops. 
 
 On the annexation of the Punjab General Taylor was appointed 
 a Deputy Commissioner on the TransTndus frontier, and has ever 
 since, with the exception of ten months, when he officiated as 
 
 ' Reynell Taylor retired from active employment as Major-General, but he 
 became Lieutenant-General on October i, 1S77, and General, December 15, 
 1880.
 
 -1877 UMRITSUR 34 1 
 
 Commandant of the Guide Corps, been in civil employ under the 
 Punjab Government. 
 
 But this employment has not prevented General Taylor 
 performing frequent, and always distinguished, service in the field, 
 both as a military and a political officer. When Commissioner of 
 the Derajat he was in political charge with the force under Sir 
 Neville Chamberlain, which successfully undertook the expedition 
 against the Muhsood Wazirs, and as Commissioner of Peshawur 
 he was in political charge during the Umbeylah campaign, and was 
 present at the destruction of Mulkah by the Guide Corps. 
 
 Subsequently General Taylor was Commissioner of the Umballa 
 Division and Agent of the Lieutenant-Governor for the Cis-Sutlej 
 States, and since 1870 has held the office of Commissioner of the 
 Umritsur Division. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Governor believes that there is no officer in the 
 Punjab Commission, which has included many honoured and dis- 
 tinguished names, whose services have been more eminent than 
 those of Major-General Taylor. His acquaintance with frontier 
 and Afghan politics is very intimate, and his influence with the 
 chiefs and people has always been great and has always been 
 exercised for good. 
 
 The Government which General Taylor has served so long and 
 so faithfully, his brother-officers of the Punjab Commission, and the 
 people of the province, whose best interests he has always had at 
 heart, join in regret at his departure and in esteem for a character in 
 which there is nothing which is not worthy of honour. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Governor trusts that General Taylor may have 
 before him many years of usefulness, and that his sound judgment 
 and unsurpassed knowledge of border politics may still be found 
 of service to the State. 
 
 Thus was Taylor's active career brought to a close, 
 and on April 3, 1877, he left India never to return.
 
 342 REYNELL TAYLOR 1877- 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CLOSING YEARS — REST. 
 
 1877-1S86. 
 
 To few people are the remarks of the biographer of Lord 
 Lawrence, when speaking of the close of an Indian admin- 
 istrator's life, more entirely applicable than to Reynell Tay- 
 lor. ' On returning to England,' says Mr. Bosworth Smith 
 in referring to Robert Mertins Bird, ' after thirty- three years' 
 service, amidst the warm appreciation of all who knew what 
 he had done, and how he had done it, he lived quite un- 
 noticed, and passed to his grave without a single mark of 
 distinction. 
 
 ' Such is the lot — the lot borne uncomplainingly and 
 even gratefully — of many of our best Indian administrators. 
 One here, and one there, rise to fame and honour, but the 
 rest live a life of unceasing toil, wield a power which within 
 its sphere is such as few European sovereigns wield, and, 
 with an absolute devotion to the good of their subjects, such 
 as few European sovereigns show. They have to be sepa- 
 rated from their children during the most impressible period 
 of their life, and the wife is often obliged to prefer the 
 claims of the children to those of her husband. India can 
 thus be no longer, in any true sense of the word, a home to 
 them, and when at length they return to England, they do
 
 -1886 CLOSING YEARS — REST 343 
 
 SO too often broken in health, find themselves unnoticed 
 and unknown, strangers even to their own children, and 
 settle down from a position of semi-regal influence into, 
 say, a semi-detached villa, visited by few save some half- 
 dozen old civilians like themselves, who have borne with 
 them the burden and heat of the Indian sun, and now drop 
 in from time to time to talk over old days and interests 
 which are all in all to them, but of which the outside world 
 knows nothing at all. Verily they have their reward, but 
 it is a reward such as few outsiders can understand or 
 appreciate.' ' 
 
 It would be idle to attempt to add more to words so 
 able and so true ; they seem to portray the last years of 
 Reynell Taylor's life in a few strokes of the pen. 
 
 On reaching England, which he did on May 15, having 
 been detained at Malta by the illness of his son Morris, then 
 quartered there with the loist Regiment, Taylor lost no 
 time in joining his children, and soon after went with his 
 whole family to Devonshire.^ 
 
 ' I never really knew my father,' writes his eldest surviv- 
 ing daughter, ' till I was sixteen, when he and my mother 
 returned finally from India in 1877. We all went to 
 Teignmouth till the spring of the following year, when we 
 moved to Newton Abbot, where we have been ever since. 
 
 ' My father was devoted to the country all round New- 
 ton, and used to enjoy nothing more than walking about 
 the lanes near Ogwcll and Denbury. He used to tell us the 
 great desire of his life had always been to end his days 
 
 ' Life of Lord Lawrence, vi. 95. 
 
 ^ From Malta Mrs. Taylor, in company with her youngest son, Henry (born 
 at Dalhousie, June i, 1875), had preceded her husband to England, and on 
 May 30 her last child, Antoinette, was born at Torcross.
 
 344 REYNELL TAYLOR 1877- 
 
 living near his old home. Soon after we went to Newton 
 he was made a magistrate, and he attended the bench re- 
 gularly twice a week. Once a week, too, he attended the 
 Board of Guardians, for he took great interest in the Union, 
 and particularly noticed the children. I think one day was 
 very like another : in the morning he generally wrote a 
 great deal, and in the afternoons took a long walk. He 
 very often went up to Haccombe to see his old nurse, who 
 was living with the Carews as housekeeper. In autumn he 
 used to enjoy going out for a day's shooting, but he did 
 not often go away from home. I think he often stayed at 
 home when he might have gone away, to avoid spending 
 anything on himself 
 
 ' My father was most particular about Sunday. He 
 used always to go to the old parish church in the morning 
 and to East Ogwell in the afternoon. His idea was that 
 nothing secular should be done on Sunday, and even made 
 a rule of never reading any fiction on that day. I do not 
 mean to say he ever told us we were to do the same, as he 
 never laid down any rules for us, but only told us his own 
 views. His religion was built on the very simplest lines ; 
 he used to say that the object to struggle for was to be en- 
 tirely as little children in the matter. I never knew anyone 
 live up to his own standard of right so consistently, but to 
 us he was always affectionate and lenient. 
 
 ' He never spoke to us of himself in any way, and we 
 really do not know the incidents of his life well.' 
 
 Here, again, is another picture to which I find it dififi- 
 cult to add, for ' men can be estimated by those who knew 
 them not, only as they are represented by those who 
 knew them.'
 
 -1886 CLOSING YEARS — REST 345 
 
 ' The house my father took at Newton,' writes another 
 of his daughters, ' was a regular villa, such as you always 
 see in the neighbourhood of towns. It was called Lome 
 House when we took it, but we all objected so to the name 
 that my father selected three other names, and as it was 
 my birthday I was allowed to choose. I chose Malston, 
 the name of a property once belonging to the Reynells, and 
 he quite approved, though he said it was almost a pity to 
 waste the name on a villa residence. I think he never 
 looked upon Malston as anything but a resting-place for 
 the time. The old keeper at Haccombe was a great friend 
 of his, having known him as a boy ; and he often used to 
 take books up to his old nurse, Mary Bollen, who had been 
 sixty-nine years in the family, and then he used to sit and 
 read to her. 
 
 ' He was a good deal with us, and he took the greatest 
 interest in the younger children's games, encouraging them to 
 play properly and often joining in the game himself He 
 was very proud of my brothers' cricket, and took the greatest 
 delight in seeing them play. Games, he always said, en- 
 couraged a manly, sturdy spirit. It was a favourite expres- 
 sion of his that we should all have a " manly " spirit about 
 things, and nothing he disliked more than bickerings and 
 anything small about our feelings being hurt by an 
 imaginary slight, though there was no one more careful of 
 other people's feelings than he was. 
 
 ' He was rather absent sometimes, and did not always 
 join in the general conversation, but he was often much 
 amused, and any little episode for " chaff" he never forgot. 
 Although he was often very quiet, he had a very keen 
 sense of the ridiculous, and if anything amused him he
 
 346 REYNELL TAYLOR 1877- 
 
 used to laugh in the most uncontrollable way. When he 
 read " Pickwick " to us, I remember, he laughed so much 
 that he could not go on, and we had to look over his 
 shoulder to find out the joke. 
 
 ' He was delighted at being made a member of Teign- 
 bridge ; he said it had been his castle in the air as a boy. 
 He was very fond of going there, and used to attend the 
 Thursday matches regularly. On these occasions Uncle 
 Fitz generally went with him, and on the ladies' days he 
 used to stay on through the dancing with us. He was 
 always distressed if he thought people were not enjoying 
 themselves, and he often used to come up to us and 
 ask whether we could not find some one to dance with 
 those he had noticed " sitting out." I think everyone 
 felt the wonderful courtesy of his manner ; at the time 
 of his death so many comparative strangers wrote to us 
 telling of some kind action or word he had said to 
 them. 
 
 ' He could not bear to hear us say anything against 
 anyone, and we used to laugh at him and say that when he 
 called a man " a good honest fellow " it was tantamount to 
 hearing him abused, as he always said that when he could 
 think of nothing else in a person's favour.' 
 
 Such, then, is the picture of Reynell Taylor's life during 
 his last few years — a quiet life enough when contrasted 
 with the battles, the marches, and the days of toil in the 
 hot Indian sun. Mornings spent in reading and in writing, 
 chiefly papers on the Afghan question ; afternoons devoted 
 to rambles in the old haunts about the old home ; now and 
 then a village cricket-match, or a visit to the Teignbridge 
 ground to watch others play in company with ' Fitz,' the
 
 -1886 CLOSING YEARS — REST 347 
 
 brother whose birthday he had never allowed to slip by 
 without a notice through all the years of his Indian life. 
 ' On Sundays,' writes this brother, ' he almost always went 
 to Wolborough Church in the morning, where he usually 
 read the lessons, and walked on here (East Ogwell) to 
 luncheon and my afternoon service, at which, latterly, he 
 used to read the lessons for me. I think he missed doing 
 this on very few Sundays during the last years of his life, 
 and you may imagine how I missed him when he was gone. 
 
 ' He was always doing kind actions, and did, I believe, 
 many more than were known to others, for he was one of 
 those men who acted completely on the precept not to let 
 his left hand know what his right hand did, and thus he 
 was liberal sometimes beyond his limited means.' 
 
 But Reynell Taylor had not come to the winter of his 
 life yet. His life was waning, but it was the waning of 
 life's summer ; as when Nature throws off the joyousness 
 and brightness of the long sunny days, and, after flashing 
 out in brilliant tints, assumes a sombre garb. 
 
 The day becomes more solemn and serene 
 When noon is past — there is a harmony 
 
 In autumn, and a lustre in its sky, 
 
 Which through the summer is not heard or seen, 
 
 As if it could not be, as if it had not been. 
 
 But as in autumn the days at times arc brilliant and 
 the sun streams ever and anon over the land, so Reynell 
 Taylor found himself once again in the full glare of the 
 sunlight, and on July 5, 1879, he received an honour which, 
 'dashed and flecked with sorrow though it was, can hardl)^ 
 have been of less value in his eyes than the highest official 
 recognition of his services.' ' 
 
 ' Life of Lord Lawrence.
 
 348 REYNELL TAYLOR 1877- 
 
 On that day Westminster Abbey was crowded with 
 ' a vast throng of Indian heroes and statesmen,' assembled 
 there to do honour to a man who had been as a king among 
 them. 
 
 From out that throng Reynell Taylor was chosen for a 
 solemn duty ; and as the body of John Lawrence was 
 borne to its last resting-place, Reynell Taylor walked in 
 front of the coffin carrying the coronet ' which had been so 
 well won and worn by his friend and chief 
 
 I have nothing left to tell. 
 
 When the news of Reynell Taylor's death was known 
 many notices of his life appeared in the public press. In 
 writing to ' The Times ' Sir Robert Montgomery said of 
 him : ' His modesty was such that even his more intimate 
 friends could never get him to narrate particulars of the 
 more stirring episodes of his life, though they were well 
 known to many natives in the Bunnoo district, and he was 
 renowned as a splendid swordsman. He was of a chival- 
 rous and unassuming disposition. He has always been 
 spoken of as a pure-minded, honourable man, and a gallant 
 soldier, a sincere Christian, kind-hearted almost to a fault, 
 and brave as a lion. He was beloved by all who came in 
 contact with him, natives as well as Europeans. A comrade 
 of Herbert Edwardes and of Nicholson, a follower of Sir 
 Henry Lawrence, and at the same time a type of the best 
 qualities possessed by each of those distinguished men, 
 General Taylor's example will live long after him. There 
 never was a case of distress known to him that his purse 
 did not open to relieve it, and often the widow and 
 fatherless children found shelter in his house.' 
 
 There is little need to quote other public references to
 
 -1886 CLOSING YEARS — REST 349 
 
 his life, but I cannot refrain from giving one among many 
 private letters, written to his relations at the time of his 
 death, and to myself since I began this volume. 
 
 ' I don't think,' writes Sir Dighton Probyn, ' I was ever 
 more shocked than when, on Tuesday morning, I read in the 
 newspaper I bought at Newton of poor dear Reynell's 
 death. I had a vague idea that he was living in the West 
 of England, and had been wondering on my journey down 
 whether I should see him anywhere. 
 
 ' My first impulse was to stop and endeavour to hear 
 some particulars about the death of a man whom for the 
 last five-and-thirty years I have always looked upon and 
 spoken of as one of the grandest characters India had 
 ever produced — more than that, that the world had ever 
 produced, we may in all honesty say. 
 
 * Poor dear Reynell ! where was his equal in honesty, 
 generosity, bravery, or in any good and Christian qualities 
 for a man? If mortal could be blameless, surely Reynell 
 Taylor was such. I don't suppose an evil thought ever 
 crossed his mind ; and I can assure you it has often been 
 a pleasure and a pride to me, when in quiet moments 
 thinking over old days and old friends, I felt that I might 
 look upon dear Reynell as one of the latter.' ' 
 
 But of the end. 
 
 On Thursday, February 25, 1886, he attended a political 
 dinner and meeting at the Market House in Newton on 
 the occasion of presenting a piece of plate to the unsuccess- 
 ful Conservative candidate for the Mid-division of Devon. 
 
 ' In referring to this letter Sir Dighton Prol)yn writes to me on February i, 
 1888 : — 'The character of the man is in no way exaggerated, neither are my 
 feelings about him.'
 
 3 so REYNELL TAYLOR 1877- 
 
 The night was bitterly cold, with a keen wind, and it seems 
 probable that, on coming out of the meeting, he caught a 
 chill. On the following day he was about as usual, but in 
 the evening remarked to his wife that he wished she would 
 go to a meeting at the School of Art instead of him. 
 However, he did not complain of feeling seriously unwell, 
 and having dined with his children and read prayers he 
 went to bed. An hour later he awoke shivering, and before 
 morning dawned those about him were already becoming 
 anxious. The doctor in attendance took an unfavourable 
 view of his condition from the first, and though throughout 
 Saturday he was himself from time to time, he grew worse 
 as the day wore on. On Sunday he no longer knew those 
 gathered round his bed. He never spoke again. There 
 was no fearless meeting with the King of Terrors, no con- 
 scious waiting for the dread summons ; quietly he had 
 lived amongst men ; strong in the faith he had fought out 
 the battles of the world ; with the gentleness of a woman 
 and the simplicity of a child he had walked along the 
 narrow way, and as a child falls asleep at even so Reynell 
 Taylor passed peacefully into the world where there is no 
 more pain. 
 
 My story is ended. 
 
 In the north-east corner of East Ogwell Churchyard a 
 small white marble cross marks the place where Reynell 
 Taylor lies buried. Here they laid him on March 5, and 
 from far and near friends and relations came to pay a last 
 tribute of respect to his memory. The weather was wild, 
 cold and stormy, the ground was snow-covered, and snow 
 fell fast throughout the service. In the church they sung 
 his favourite hymns : ' For ever with the Lord, Amen ; so
 
 -1886 CLOSING YEARS — REST 35 I 
 
 let it be,' and ' Now the labourer's task is o'er, now the 
 battle day is past ; ' and at the grave, whither his widow 
 and nine children followed him, the service closed with the 
 singing of the ' Nunc dimittis ' : — 
 
 ' Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.' 
 In Wolborough Church a brass tablet bears the follow- 
 ing inscription : — 
 
 TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF 
 
 REYNELL GEORGE TAYLOR, 
 
 GENERAL, BENGAL ARMY, C.B., C.S.I. , 
 
 A DEVOUT AND DISTINGUISHED MAN, 
 
 WHO ENTERED INTO HIS REST SUNDAY FEBRUARY 28, 1 886. 
 
 *A GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST.' 
 
 This Tablet is placed here by Parishioners and Friends. 
 
 The above is a tribute of love from those among whom 
 Reynell Taylor spent his closing years ; it remains for me 
 to notice the way in which his friends in the wider world 
 endeavoured to perpetuate the simple grandeur of his life 
 and example. 
 
 Shortly after his death an effort was made to raise a 
 sum of money sufficient to found a suitable and lasting 
 memorial in his honour. The appeal, however, did not 
 meet with the success anticipated, and the object in view 
 had consequently to be abandoned. The fund which had 
 been collected, chiefly, I believe, through the instrument- 
 ality of Colonel Bamfield, was in the end devoted to the 
 erection of two handsome memorial brasses. One of these 
 now stands in Lahore Cathedral, and the other, on the wall 
 of the south, or Reynell, transept of East Ogwell Church, 
 opposite the place where Reynell Taylor used to sit Sunday
 
 352 REYNELL TAYLOR 1877-1886 
 
 after Sunday. They are identical in character, and the in- 
 scription, written by General Maclagan, runs as follows : — 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 GENERAL REYNELL GEORGE TAYLOR, C.B., C.S.L 
 
 BORN AT BRIGHTON, JANUARY 2$, 1 822 : 
 DIED AT NEWTON ABBOT, SOUTH DEVON, FEBRUARY 28, 1 886. 
 
 A CAVALRY OFFICER OF THE INDIAN ARMY. 
 
 EARLY TRIED IN WAR IN THE GWALIOR CAMPAIGN, 1843 
 
 AND ON THE SUTLEJ, 1845, HE WAS CHOSEN, IN 1846, FOR CIVIL DUTY 
 
 IN THE PUNJAB AS ONE OF THE ASSISTANTS 
 
 TO THE RESIDENT AT LAHORE. 
 
 THE WISDOM, COURAGE, AND FIRMNESS 
 
 WITH WHICH, WHILE STILL A YOUNG LIEUTENANT 
 
 AND ALONE, HE CONTROLLED A FRONTIER DISTRICT 
 
 DURING THE RISING OF THE 
 
 SIKH ARMY IN 1848, MARKED HIS WHOLE AFTER SERVICE 
 
 ON THE SAME FRONTIER, WHEN THE PUNJAB 
 
 HAD BECOME A BRITISH PROVINCE. 
 
 IN DAILY LIFE, CALM IN SPIRIT, GENTLE IN SPEECH, LOVING PEACE. 
 
 IN THE FIELD, AGAINST DISTURBERS OF THE BORDER, 
 
 FIRM OF PURPOSE, SELF-RELIANT, FEARLESS. 
 
 HIS STRENGTH WAS QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE IN 
 
 PEACE AND WAR ALIKE. 
 
 EVER EARNEST IN SEEKING THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, 
 
 HE LONGED FOR THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 
 
 AND, HIMSELF, FURNISHED MEANS TO SET ON FOOT 
 
 A MISSION TO THE PEOPLE OF THE FRONTIER 
 
 TRIBES WHOM HE HAD RULED AND LOVED. 
 
 INDIAN PEOPLE OF ALL DEGREES, AMONG WHOM HE LIVED, 
 
 AS WELL AS HIS OWN COUNTRYMEN, HONOURED 
 
 HIS CHRISTIAN ZEAL AND DEVOTION NO LESS THAN HIS MANLY 
 
 AND UPRIGHT LIFE. AFTER SERVING 
 
 AS COMMISSIONER SUCCESSIVELY OF THE DERAJAT, 
 
 PESHAWAR, AMBALA, AND AMRITSAR DIVISIONS, HE RETIRED, IN 1S77 ; 
 
 AND AT HOME, AS IN INDIA, WAS 
 
 ACTIVE IN USEFUL DUTIES AND GOOD WORKS. 
 
 HE DIED, AS HE HAD LIVED, LEANING ON CHRIST. 
 
 *THOU WILT KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE WHOSE MIND IS STAYED 
 ON thee' (isaiah XXVI. 3) 
 
 T/its Alefuorial is erected by his Friends and Comrades.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Reynell Taylor's writings, referred to on page 264, are as 
 follows : — 
 
 1. ' Derah Ishmael Khan.' Published in 1852, and addressed 
 to his successor in the district, Major J. Nicholson. (See pages 
 135 et seq) 
 
 2. A paper upon the Native Army, entitled : ' Memorandum on 
 His Excellency Sir WiUiam Mansfield's Proposition for Remodelling 
 Military Cantonments.' ' As this paper,' writes Reynell Taylor, 
 ' was printed by authority three times, without any suggestion of 
 mine, I hope it is not conceited to suppose that it contains views 
 that are looked upon as common sense.' The paper was published 
 first at Umballa in 1867. 
 
 3. Reply to a letter of the Secretary to Government, Punjab, 
 asking his opinion upon the question, ' Whether the Ameer 
 of Afghanistan would willingly consent to the appointment of 
 European British officers as Residents at Herat or Candahar.' 
 Published 1875. 
 
 Taylor gave it as his opinion ' that we should not be able to 
 obtain the willing consent of the Ameer and his counsellors to the 
 appointment of British Residents in the country,' and he fore- 
 shadowed, in a remarkable manner, what would be the probable 
 result of such a course. 'I am quite clear,' he says, 'that it 
 would be a deeply unwise act to force the matter ; and further, as 
 the necessity, if it occurred, of revenging injury done to our repre- 
 sentatives would be a grievous misfortune to us, I am strongly of 
 opinion that it is most expedient to avoid putting our officers in 
 
 A A
 
 354 REVNELL TAYLOR 
 
 positions which might endanger such a result. I need not say 
 how unfortunate the scandal would be to us, if we had to go to 
 war with our reputed allies to punish them for dealing treacherously 
 with the officers whom we had put forward to assist in what was 
 supposed to be our common interests.' Eight years previous to 
 this (1867) Taylor had written a memorandum for Sir John Law- 
 rence upon the Afghan character. He admired the fine qualities 
 of the race, but he had the poorest opinion of their political 
 morality. I am not aware that this last was published. 
 
 4. ' Memorandum on a Paper by Sir Henry Rawlinson on 
 Central Asian Progress of Russia.' A pamphlet published at 
 Calcutta in 1875, though dated Umballa, November, 1868. 
 
 Taylor's opinion was, that subsidise and drill the Afghans how 
 you may, they would prove no opposition to the onward wave of 
 Russian aggression when once Russia had made her arrangements 
 and had resolved to advance on Cabul. The distance is nothing 
 to Russia if the road be her own, ' which she certainly will make 
 it.' She can afford to go on quietly making her preparations, 
 having all the time the advantage of ' being up in the attics, and 
 descending to her work, while we are downstairs and out in the 
 street, and must ascend narrow and difficult flights of steps, with 
 no good landing-places, in order to get even up to the first floor.' 
 
 He gave the Afghans credit for wishing to keep out the 
 Russians, and would like to see Russia and ourselves enter into 
 'a purely Asiatic treaty,' by which a good belt of independent 
 country might be preserved between us. 
 
 He thought that, when Russia did push forward, she would 
 soon wear out her welcome, and find the large mountain clans, 
 occupying important passes, the same thorn in her side that we 
 had ; and that though he believed Russia could establish herself 
 in Afghanistan and hold it for a time, her position ' would be sub- 
 ject to the same great difficulties and weakness that others have 
 felt, and that she would be as liable as any other nation to be 
 thrown on her haunches by serious revolt.' 
 
 Russia might be forced to advance into Afghanistan, when she 
 would immediately become mistress of the Koorrum and Khost
 
 APTENDIX 355 
 
 Valleys, and be in uncomfortable proximity to our outposts. He 
 points to Persia as being a possible move on our side, and he 
 deprecates our stopping at the foot of the mountains to meet 
 the Russians, even though ' a forward movement involved more 
 extended operations when the actual strain should come.' 
 
 His feeling about the occupation of Koorrum, coupled with 
 the establishment of a British envoy and contingent at Cabul, was 
 that in the event of any strain we should be involved in active 
 interference in the military position above the passes. The con- 
 tinued occupation of the stage beyond the passes, in order to fight 
 the Russians when they did come, he did not believe feasible for 
 us, though he allowed that it would be 'the true policy of any 
 nation playing its own game with its own nine-pins.' A fine, pre- 
 ponderantly European, force above the passes, if it could be kept 
 up to its full strength without weakening our garrisons in India, 
 was undoubtedly the best course ; but we must needs, in pru- 
 dence, shape our garment to suit the especial breadth and quality 
 of our material. ' My inclination,' he concludes, ' in making 
 arrangements with the Afghan chiefs would be to let them know 
 distinctly that we have no intention of advancing beyond our own 
 border. Of course, if we found it convenient, we could do so 
 eventually ; but I would guard against any possibility of the 
 Afghans having it in their power to say that we had proved a 
 broken reed to them when their difficulties came to the worst 
 point, and that thus the help they had counted on had failed them.' 
 
 5. ' Memorandum on a Proposition to Arm the Troops of a 
 Native State with Breech-loaders, and to Brigade them with British 
 Troops.' Published in 1876. Taylor was averse to this proposi- 
 tion. He considered that the armies of native states were a 
 possible source of weakness, though he fully allowed that they 
 might prove useful to us on occasions in the future as they had in 
 the past. He contended that it was best to leave them to them- 
 selves, and to avoid giving them the idea that they were in any 
 way necessary to us. 
 
 6. ' Notes on the Afghan Question.' l'ul)lished 1878. 
 Taylor was of opinion that, from our previous friendly relations 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 REYNELL TAYLOR 
 
 with the Ameer, we had a right to remonstrate against the promi- 
 nent reception of the Russian mission, and to back that remon- 
 strance by action. He thought war was scarcely avoidable unless 
 our ultimatum was of a conciliatory character ; but he doubted its 
 being expedient, and deeply regretted our having to take up arms. 
 If the Ameer's mind could be set at rest on the two points — the 
 independence of Afghanistan, and freedom from the enforced pre- 
 sence of British representatives in his country, he would be as 
 unanxious to admit Russian influence as he had been to accept 
 even a semblance of British tutelage. 
 
 He thought we had ourselves driven the Ameer into the arms 
 of Russia by pressing the demand for the admission of our officers 
 as political residents. 
 
 He knew Shere All's character too well to believe that he 
 would accept any ultimatum, and he again urges our ' shunting 
 him into a siding ' and coming to an agreement with Russia 
 instead of engaging in ' an expensive and profitless war.' 
 
 He did not think that our prestige would suffer by not fighting, 
 but, on the contrary, that our prestige for prudence and circum- 
 spection would be damaged by our doing so. 
 
 He agreed with those writers who deprecated war with the 
 Afghans, because he failed to see that the provocation we had 
 received was of a character to work up a feeling of vengeance. 
 He also maintained his former opinion, that our present frontier 
 was the best for us, because it furnishes in itself remarkable faci- 
 lities for defence. He fully maintained that we had a right of 
 remonstrance about the Russian mission, unless it was shown 
 that after the Peshawur conference we had broken off our previous 
 connection. 
 
 He agreed with those who thought that if we did not occupy 
 Afghanistan, ' materially or politically,' Russia would do so, and 
 he was fully aware how inconvenient to us a predominant Russian 
 influence at Cabul would prove. This dilemma could only be 
 cleared by securing the immunity of Afghanistan from foreign 
 occupation, and arranging on our side an efficient influence in her 
 counsels. If Russia and Afghanistan combine against us, then
 
 APPENDIX 357 
 
 one of two courses is open — either to occupy Afghanistan or to 
 content ourselves with the frontier that has fallen to us. 'Of 
 these two plans,' he writes, ' I distinctly give my opinion, as I did 
 ten years ago, in the face of all difificulties and drawbacks, in 
 favour of the latter course.' He did not hold with any middle 
 course, viz. the rectification of the frontier and the occupation of 
 positions within the hills, but advocated ' a good tooth-breaking 
 fortress ' at Peshawur, or between Peshawur and Jumrood, for the 
 Khyber ; the occupation of the natural position at Thull for the 
 Koorrum Valley, and a like protection for the Goomul Pass. As 
 to the Bolan, which he considered as undoubtedly the route for 
 the invasion of India by a large army, Quettah is so placed as to 
 command its northern entrance. The pamphlet closes with a 
 description of the many advantages of our present frontier. 
 
 In a postscript, dated December 4, 1878, Taylor concludes : — 
 ' As far as my judgment goes, the quiet game of guarding our own 
 frontier, and doing what we could with Afghanistan from that 
 base, without going to war with its ruler, would have been the 
 best for us to play ; still, I must allow that the apparently inimical 
 and dangerous action and language of the Turkestan authorities 
 form a strong justification of the conviction which appears to have 
 been adopted by our own Government, to the effect that either 
 we must make an equally strong counter-move, or suffer ourselves 
 tamely to be supplanted in that influence in the affairs of Afghan- 
 istan which we had enjoyed for years, and which had been fully 
 and unreservedly accorded to us by Russia herself.'
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ABB 
 
 Abbott, James, 8o ; meets Taylor 
 in Huzara, 89, 146, 155 ; reported 
 murdered, 162 ; his chance in 
 the case of a rising, 164, 259 
 
 Agnew, murder of, 143 ; his words 
 come true, 166 
 
 Ahmed Shah, Syud, 272 
 
 Ajmir, 69, 328 
 
 Aliwal, battle of, 63 
 
 Assistants, Henry Lawrence's first, 
 
 77 
 Attock, Herbert at, 164 ; besieged, 
 170; falls, 175, 189 
 
 Bahadoor salt mines, 201 
 
 Bamfield, Col. A. H., letter from, 
 262 ; during Florence Taylor's 
 illness and death, 333 
 
 Barrurah Pass, forcing the, 244 
 
 Bear hunt, 40 
 
 Beawur, 70 
 
 Board of Administration, first, 195 
 
 Body Guard, the Governor- 
 General's, 44; at Moodkee, 51 
 
 Bonairs, the, 275 ; burn Mulkah, 
 289 
 
 Bowie, 169 et seq. 
 
 Browne, Sir S., 198 
 
 Buffalo hunt, 19 
 
 Bunnoo, description of, 99 et seq. ; 
 when Taylor was appointed 
 Deputy Commissioner of, 196 ; 
 Taylor's work in, i^y et seq. 
 
 Bunnoochees, the, loi, 138 
 
 Byrowal, treaty of, 78 
 
 CUR 
 
 Campbell, Col. Bouverie, 54 
 
 Canning, Lord, letter to Taylor, 
 251 
 
 Chamberlain, Sir N., in command 
 of the Muhsood Wuzeeree expe- 
 dition, 234, 241 ; Umbeylah war, 
 277 ; wounded, 281 
 
 Chillianwallah, battle of, 167, 190 
 
 Chumba, installation of Maharajah 
 of, 331 
 
 Christianity in India, 254 
 
 Chumlah Valley, the, 274 
 
 Church Missionary Society, the, 
 257 
 
 Chuttur Sing in Huzara, 159, 160, 
 162 
 
 Clark, Rev. Robert, remarks by, 
 258, 259, 287 
 
 Cortlandt, General van, appointed 
 to the command of the Derah 
 Ishmael Khan district, 118, 129; 
 with Taylor in Bunnoo, 139 ; 
 sent to join Edwardes, 144, 149, 
 151 ; at Mooltan, 161 ; warns 
 his wife of danger, 163 ; leaves 
 Ooch, 165 
 
 Cortlandt, Mrs., 160, 163 
 
 Coxe, General Holled, his notes on 
 Taylor's life. Preface, 197, 229, 
 236 ; assists Taylor, 235, 250 
 note 
 
 Currie, Sir F., at Lahore, 145 ; 
 supports the views of his sub- 
 ordinates, 146 ; despatches forces 
 to Mooltan, 158 ; letter to Taylor, 
 194
 
 \6o 
 
 REYNELL TAYLOR 
 
 DAL 
 Dalhousie, Lord, writes to Taylor, 
 
 191 ; letter to Taylor, 204 ; offers 
 
 Taylor command of the Guides, 
 
 212 
 Davies, Sir H., 327 
 Delhi, 225 
 Denbury, 3, 2IO 
 Derajat, the, 1 18; Taylor appointed 
 
 Commissioner of, 229 ; founds 
 
 mission in, 256 ; statistics of 
 
 missions in, 259 
 Dhuleepgurh, fort of, 129, 133 ; 
 
 fall of, 156, 167; in hands of 
 
 rebels, 171, 189 
 Dhuleep Sing, the Maharajah, 65, 
 
 161, 172 
 Dhurmsala, 218 £/ set/. 
 Dixon, Col., 68 ; his character, 69 ; 
 
 wishes Taylor success at Lahore, 
 
 75 ; his ' History of the Mhairs,' 
 
 70, 328 
 Durand, Sir H., 307, 310 
 
 Edwardes, Sir IL, 60; letter to 
 Taylor from Lahore, 76 ; as one 
 of H. Lawrence's Assistants, 80 ; 
 his first expedition to Bunnoo, 
 103; meets Taylor, 116, 119; 
 first attempt on his life, 120; 
 corresponds with Taylor, 122 ; 
 second attempt on his life, 128 ; 
 his work in Bunnoo, 129 ; at 
 Taylor's request has service on 
 Sundays in his tent, 132 ; his 
 victories over Moolraj, 144 ; 
 applies to Taylor for reinforce- 
 ments, 149 ; letter to the Resident 
 with reference to Taylor's ser- 
 vices, 150 ; orders Taylor to 
 leave Bunnoo, 155 ; at Mooltan, 
 163 ; second letter to the Resi- 
 dent about Taylor, 187 ; at Mool- 
 tan, 192 ; supports Taylor's 
 proposition to found a mission in 
 the Derajat, 257, 348 
 
 Ellenborough, Lord, 30 
 
 Esakhail, Taylor at, 160, 169, 172 
 
 HOL 
 
 Ferozepore, 47, 49 ; Taylor at, 
 51, 59; troops for Mooltan from, 
 159; British force forming at, 
 166 
 
 Ferozeshah, battle of, 58 
 
 Fortified posts, frontier, 199 
 
 Furlough rules, 212 noie 
 
 Futteh Khan Tawannah, relieves 
 Taylor in Bunnoo, 155 ; his 
 heroic death, 157, 160, 161, 164 
 
 Garvock, General, 282 
 
 Gholam Hussan Khan, assists 
 Taylor throughout the siege of 
 Lukkee, ij^et seq. ; sent to seize 
 Dhuleepgurh, 192; Yas jageer, 
 230; referred to by Taylor, 338 
 
 Gilbert, General, 192 
 
 Golab Sing, 80 et seq. ; his appear- 
 ance, 83 
 
 Gough, Lord, 146, 189 
 
 Cirey, Sir John, 30, 34 
 
 Guide Corps, 198 ; constitution of, 
 213 ; escort Taylor and others to 
 Mulkah, 289 
 
 Gujerat, battle of, 167, 192 
 
 Gwalior, dissensions in, 27, 29 ; 
 campaign, incidents of, 30 e( seq. ; 
 fort of, 44 
 
 Hardi.n'GE, Sir H., at Umballa, 
 49 ; at the battle of Ferozeshah, 
 58 ; at Lahore, 64 ; notices 
 Taylor, 66, 67 
 
 Herbert as one of H. Lawrence's 
 Assistants, 80 ; at Attock, 164, 
 1 70 et seq. 
 
 Hodson, 192, 212 ; his administra- 
 tion of the Guides' regimental 
 chest, 214 et seq. 
 
 Holmes, Colonel J., at Pullee, 92 ; 
 with Taylor in the Kohat Pass, 
 109 ; attends Taylor's Sunday 
 services, 131 ; with Taylor in
 
 INDEX 
 
 361 
 
 HOP 
 
 Bunnoo, 149; his death, 156, 
 
 160, 161 
 Hope, Colonel, in the Umbeylah 
 
 war, 281 
 Huzara, 160. {See under Abbott, 
 
 and Chuttur Sing) 
 
 Imamudeen, Sheikh, his suppres- 
 sion, 78 ; his character, 80 
 
 James, Hugh, 193 ; Commissioner 
 of Peshawur, 261, 268; relieves 
 Taylor in Umbeylah war, 282 ; 
 entrusts the burning of Mulkah 
 to Taylor, 289 
 
 Jhelum, Taylor Deputy Commis- 
 sioner of, 218 
 
 Jundhur Sing, 161 
 
 Kaneegorum,242; Chamberlain's 
 force arrives at, 247 
 
 Kangra, district of, 218 ; during the 
 Mutiny, 219; fort, 220; dis- 
 arming native troops at, 221 eiseq. 
 
 Khan Sing, Sirdar, appointed Na- 
 zim of Mooltan, 142 
 
 Khoajah Mahomed Khan, 169 
 
 Kohat Pass, the, 106 ; Taylor's 
 passage of, 108 et seq., 128 
 
 Kookas, history of the, 320 ; out- 
 break of, 323 et seq. 
 
 Koondh-i-gou, the, 114 
 
 Koorrum, the river, 129 
 
 Kyneree, battle of, 144, 152, 
 154 
 
 Lahore, British forces enter, 63 ; 
 durbar at, 64 ; seat of the govern- 
 ment, 77 et seq. ; troops de- 
 spatched to Bunnoo from, 104 ; 
 troops despatched to Mooltan 
 from, 159 ; annexation pro- 
 claimed at, 194, 21 1 ; ' cow riot ' 
 at, 321 ; banquet to Taylor at, 
 337 
 
 LAW 
 
 Lake, Edward, 163; in the Kangra 
 district, 219; assists in disarm- 
 ing the troops in the Kangra fort, 
 222 ; his house at Dhurmsala, 
 227 ; his support of missions, 254 
 
 Laloo, the burning of, 288 
 
 Lawrence, George, writes to Taylor 
 with reference to appointment at 
 Lahore, 74, 75 ; Assistant at 
 Lahore, 80 ; attacks villages of 
 Pullee and Zormundee, 90 ; 
 leaves Taylor at Peshawur, 94, 
 97, 104, 106 ; sends reinforce- 
 ments to Taylor, 150 ; at Pesha- 
 wur, 164 ; taken prisoner, 169 ; 
 reference to, by Taylor, 327 
 
 Lawrence, Mrs. George, taken 
 prisoner, 16^ et seq., 327 
 
 Lawrence, Sir Henry, Governor- 
 General's Agent at Lahore, 63 ; 
 letter to Taylor about his coming 
 to Lahore, 75 ; refers to the 
 characters of his Assistants, 77 ; 
 Resident at Lahore, 78 ; his 
 opinion of Golab Sing, 80 ; finds 
 fault with Taylor's sentence in a 
 case of murder, 97 et seq. ; his 
 attention drawn to Bunnoo, 99 ; 
 his views with regard to dealing 
 with Bunnoo, 103 ; praises Tay- 
 lor, 134; presents the Lukkee 
 mortar to Taylor, 1 88, 189 ; 
 proposes that Taylor should 
 occupy Kohat, 192, 194; Board 
 of Administration, 195 ; retires 
 from the Punjab, 211, 265, 348 
 Lawrence, Sir John (Lord), Assis- 
 tant at Lahore, 80, 105 ; writes 
 to the Resident with reference to 
 chastisement of Moolraj, 145, note 
 ib. ; one of the Board of Adminis- 
 tration, 195; Chief Commissioner 
 of the Punjab, 2ii ; his views 
 about Kangra district, 220; 
 Lieutenant-Governor of the Pun- 
 jab, 228 ; Taylor writes to, 293 ; 
 letter to Taylor, 314; sujiport;^
 
 l62 
 
 REYNELL TAYLOR 
 
 LUK 
 Taylor's views about the Kookas, 
 322, 339 ; his funeral, 348 
 
 Lukkee, fort of, 160, 172; why the 
 siege of was remarkable, 173 ^^ 
 seq. ; description of, 175; force 
 occupying, 175 ; Taylor' force 
 before, 175; story of the siege of, 
 176 et seq. ; fall of, 186 ; mortar 
 from, 188 
 
 Lumsden, H., takes part in the de- 
 struction of the villages of Pullee 
 and Zormundee, 90 ; ordered to 
 Eusufzye, 94, 106 ; question of 
 his going to Bunnoo instead of 
 Taylor, 120, 125 ; at Mooltan, 
 168 ; Guides raised by, 212, 237 ; 
 attack on his force at PuUoscen, 
 241 et seq. 
 
 Maclagan, General, 352 
 
 MacLeod, Donald, at Dhurmsala, 
 227 ; his support of missions, 
 254 ; ferishta, 260 ; in connec- 
 tion with Taylor's difficulties in 
 Puttiala and Nabha, 301 et seq. ; 
 his retirement, 307 note, 339 
 
 MacMahon, 193, 199 
 
 Mahabun mountain, 273 
 
 Maharajpore, battle of, 36 ; losses 
 at, 37 note 
 
 Mahomed Azim Khan, in Bunnoo, 
 175; his force at Dhuleepgurh, 
 189, 191 
 
 Mansell, Charles Greville, a mem- 
 ber of the Board of Administra- 
 tion, 195 
 
 Mayo, Lord, Taylor's remarks on 
 murder of, 268 
 
 Mecham, Capt., murder of, 231 
 
 Meer Alim Khan, in Bunnoo, 171 ; 
 helps the rebels at Lukkee, 191 
 
 Melvill, P., at Lahore, 77; accom- 
 panies Taylor to Cashmere, Si, 
 83 ; returns to Lahore, 88, 205 
 
 Mhairs, the, 70, 328 
 
 Minto, Lord, 5 
 
 NOO 
 
 Missions, founders of, 254 ; frontier 
 mission stations, 254, 335 
 
 Montgomery, Robert, letter to 
 Taylor relative to securing Kan- 
 gra fort, 223, 251 ; his opinion 
 of Taylor, 256, 257 ; supports 
 Taylor's proposal to found a 
 mission in the Derajat, 257, 258; 
 his letter to ' The Times' on 
 Taylor's character, 348 
 
 Moodkee, battle of, 50 ; Taylor's 
 account of, '^\ et seq. 
 
 Mooltan, murders at, 142 et seq. ; 
 the revolt at, 146 ; despatch of 
 troops to, 158 ; siege raised, 159; 
 resumed, 159; fighting at, 162; 
 work at previous to the siege 
 being resumed, 166; fall of city, 
 185 ; fall of fort, 190 
 
 Moolraj, resigns his position at 
 Mooltan, 142 ; his treachery, 
 143 ; his defeat by Edwardes, 144, 
 145 ; defection of Sikh troops to, 
 154 ; joined by Sher Sing, 159 ; 
 strengthens Mooltan, 166 ; a 
 prisoner, 190 
 
 Morris, Colonel, 226 
 
 Muhsood Wu^eerees, 230 ; account 
 of tribe, 233 ; their aggression, 
 234 ; their attack on Tank, 234 ; 
 campaign against, 235 et seq. ; 
 remarks on, 249 
 
 Mukeen, burning of, 248 
 
 Mulkah, burning of, 289 
 
 Nabha, Maharajah of, 300 et seq. ; 
 
 death of, 317 
 Nabha, difficulties in connection 
 
 with state of, 301 et seq. 
 Napier, Robert (Lord), at Mooltan, 
 
 158; Moolraj a prisoner in his tent, 
 
 190 ; on Taylor's character, 299 
 Nicholson, J. , 80 ; at Peshawur, 
 
 155, 164 ; succeeds Taylor in 
 
 Bunnoo 204, 223 ; postscript 
 
 from, 224, 225, 348 
 Noorpoor, fort of, 220 ct seq.
 
 INDEX 
 
 
 ocw 
 Or.WELL House, 3, 13, 210 
 
 Pathans, no; their character- 
 istics, 266 et seq. 
 
 Pearse, General, reinforces Taylor 
 at Lukkee, 190, 193 ; in Bunnoo, 
 199 
 
 Peshawur, 94 ; murder and theft 
 at, 96, 97 ; troops despatched to 
 Bunnoo from, 104, 162 ; mutiny 
 at, 168; unhealthiness of, 264; 
 statistics of crime at, 265 et 
 seq. 
 
 Petrie, 4 
 
 Petrie, Ann Harvey, 4 
 
 ' Pickle,' 56, 57 
 
 Plummer, Colonel Heathcote, let- 
 ters from, 227, 240, 242 
 
 Pollock, Sir R., 190 ; reinforces 
 Taylor at Lukkee, 192 ; his im- 
 pressions of Taylor, 193, 202 ; 
 tries Shere AH, 270 
 
 Probyn, Sir Dighton, his opinion 
 of Taylor's character, 349 
 
 Pullee, attack on, 91 
 
 Pulloseen, attack on, 241 et seq. 
 
 Punjab, dissension in, 46 et seq. ; 
 condition of, 78 ; annexation of, 
 194 ; administration of, 195 
 
 Punniar, battle of, 32 ; losses at, 
 35 ^^ote 
 
 Puttiala, Maharajah of, 300 ; death 
 of, 317 
 
 Puttiala, difficulties in connection 
 with state of, 301 et seq. 
 
 Ramnugrur, ])attle of, 167 
 Reynell, Sir Thomas, 142 
 Runjeet Sing, the effect of his death 
 on the Punjab, 46, 194 
 
 Sadoolapore, battle of, 167 
 Sale, Sir Robert, 51 
 Sawun Mull, 165 
 
 Sealkot, outbreak at, 219 ; duri)ar 
 at, 232 ; church at, 253 
 
 TAY 
 
 Shere AH, his murder of Lord 
 
 Mayo, 268 
 Sher Dil battalion, 221 
 Sher Sing in command of troops 
 
 for Mooltan, 158; goes over to 
 
 Moolraj, 159; leaves Mooltan, 
 
 166 
 Sikhs, the, 148, 167 
 Simson, in Bunnoo, 199 
 Sirinuggur, 82 
 Sitana, fanatics of, 273 
 Sleeman, James, 19 
 Sobraon, battle of, 63 
 Suddosain, battle of, 144, 158 
 Sultan Mahomed Khan, Sirdar, 
 
 accompanies Taylor through the 
 
 Kohat Pass, 106 et seq., 117; 
 
 proves a villain, 169, 170 
 Sultanpore, 44, 45 
 Syuds, the, 273 et seq. 
 
 Tank, attack on, 234 ; medical 
 
 missionary at, 259 
 Taylor, Joseph, i ; his services, 2 
 Taylor, Reynell George, birth, 7 ; 
 early life, 7, 8 ; home at Ogwell, 
 10 ; Sandhurst, 14 ; his appear- 
 ance as a boy, 15 ; leaves for 
 India, 17 ; incidents on arrival 
 in India, 18; narrow escapes, 
 21, 22; joins his regiment, 23; 
 his letters to his father, 24 ; ' black 
 classics ' at Cawnpore, 26 ; Gwa- 
 lior campaign, 30 et seq. ; ap- 
 pointed to Governor-General's 
 Body Guard, 43; on the condition 
 of the Punjab, 48 ; account of 
 the battle of Moodkee, 51 ; 
 severely wounded, 53 ; hopes his 
 children may be interested in 
 hearing of his services, 55 ; 
 •Pickle,' 56, 57; mentioned in 
 despatches, 57 ; rejoins Body 
 Guard, 64 ; wishes for political 
 employment, 66 ; appointed 
 Assistant to the Agent at Ajmir,
 
 364 
 
 REYNELL TAYLOR 
 
 TAY 
 66 ; notice of his services, 67 ; 
 reaches Ajmir, 69 ; moves to 
 Beavrur, 70 ; description of tiger- 
 shooting, 71 ; offered appoint- 
 ment as one of Henry Lawrence's 
 Assistants, 74 ; Lawrence's As- 
 sistants, 77 ; opinions of Taylor's 
 character, 79 ; ' Bayard of the 
 Punjab,' 79 ; goes to Lahore, 
 80 ; sent to Cashmere, 80 ; work 
 in Cashmere, 84 ; ordered to 
 Peshawur, 87 ; meets James 
 Abbott, 89 ; attack on villages 
 of Pullee and Zormundee, 90 
 et seq. ; reaches Peshawur, 94 ; 
 left in charge of Peshawur, 94 ; 
 maintains discipline, 95 ; criminal 
 cases, 96 ; his decision in a case 
 of murder commented on by 
 Henry Lawrence, 97 ; letter to 
 Henry Lawrence, 98 ; organises 
 Peshawur column for Bunnoo, 
 104; obtains command of column, 
 105 ; march through the Kohat 
 Pass, loZetseq. ; joins Edwardes, 
 115; returns to Peshawur, 117; 
 traits of character, 120 et seq. ; 
 correspondence with Edwardes, 
 122 ; religious tone of character, 
 125 ; volunteers to go to Ed- 
 wardes's assistance, 127 ; reaches 
 Bunnoo, 128 ; observance of 
 Sunday, 131 ; praise from Henry 
 Lawrence, 134; left in charge of 
 Bunnoo, 135 ; management of 
 frontier affairs, 135 ; life in 
 Bunnoo, 139 et seq. ; hears of 
 murders at Mooltan and prepares 
 to reinforce Edwardes, 144 ; left 
 alone in Bunnoo, 144 ; favours 
 instant action, 145 ; forgetfulness 
 of self, 147 ; reinforcements for 
 Edwardes, 149 ; Edwardcs's 
 gratitude, 150; influence over 
 tribes, 152 ; prepares to leave 
 Bunnoo, 155; march to Mooltan, 
 160; offers to return to Bunnoo, 
 
 TAY 
 160; renewed offers, 161 ; reaches 
 Mooltan, 166 ; at Mooltan, 168 ; 
 volunteers to go to the relief of 
 the captives at Peshawur, 168 ; 
 reaches Esakhail, 169 ; efforts 
 disappointed, 170; tries to help 
 Herbert at Attock, 171 ; a marked 
 event in his career, 173 ; ' hero of 
 Lukkee,' 173 ; reasons why the 
 siege of Lukkee was remarkable, 
 174 ; his force before Lukkee, 
 175 ; story of the siege, 176 et 
 seq. ; fall of the fort, 187 ; 
 Edwardes on his services, 187 ; 
 recognition of his services, 187 ; 
 the Lukkee mortar, 188 ; his 
 position in the Derajat, 189 ; his 
 forces, 192 ; occupies Kohat, 193; 
 Pollock's opinion of his character, 
 193; letter from Currie, 194; 
 Captain and Major, 195 ; recog- 
 nition of his services, 195 ; ap- 
 pointed Deputy Commissioner of 
 Bunnoo, 196 ; work in the Bunnoo 
 district, 196 et seq. ; applies for 
 leave, 204 ; letter from Lord 
 Dalhousie, 204; letter from Board 
 of Administration, 205 ; return 
 home, 207 ; death of his father, 
 209; marriage, 211 ; return to 
 India, 211 ; offered the Guides, 
 212 ; his investigation of Hodson's 
 accounts, 214 et seq. ; appointed 
 to Jhelum, 218 ; appointed to 
 Gujerat and Sealkot, 218 ; ap- 
 pointed to Kangra district, 218 ; 
 takes part in disarming native 
 troops in Kangra fort, 221 et seq.; 
 death of his mother, 225 ; his 
 unselfishness, 226 ; life at Dhurm- 
 sala, 227 ; appointed Commis- 
 sioner of the Derajat, 229 ; in- 
 fluence with the tribes exemplified, 
 232 ; Lieutenant-Colonel, 232 ; 
 prepares maps for Miihsood ex. 
 pedition, 236 ; personal encounter 
 with Wuzeerees, 23S ; fearless-
 
 INDKX 
 
 36; 
 
 TAY 
 
 ness, 240 ; recognition of his 
 services, 250 ; letter from Lord 
 Canning, 251 ; C.B., 252 ; de- 
 termines to found a mission in the 
 Derajat, z^t, et seq.;ferishta, 259; 
 leaves the Derajat, 261 ; reason 
 of his influence with natives, 261 
 et seq. ; officiating Commissioner 
 of Peshawur, 261 ; dealing with 
 murder cases at Peshawur, 265 ; 
 coolie attacked by cholera, 265 ; 
 Shere Ali and Lord Mayo's mur- 
 der, 268 ; services antecedent to 
 the Umbeylah war, 274 et seq. ; 
 events of the war, 277 ^f ^^<J- '■> 
 self-forgetfulness, 282 ; religious 
 side of character, 283 ; letters 
 calling on officers and men of Um- 
 beylah force to spend a day in 
 humiliation and prayer, 283 ; the 
 burning of Mulkah, 289 ; recog- 
 nition of services, 292 ; letter 
 from Wilde, 293; C.S.L, 293; 
 opinions about honours and re- 
 wards, 293 ; tribute to devotion 
 of native troops, 294 ; Colonel, 
 296 ; return home, 296 ; return 
 to India, 297 ; appointed Com- 
 missioner of the Umballa Divi- 
 sion, 298 ; troubles in connection 
 with Puttiala and Nabha, 301 et 
 seq. ; transferred to Umritsur, 308; 
 letters from friends, 31 1; letter 
 from Lord Lawrence, 314 ; Um- 
 ritsur, 319 ; settles his family in 
 England, 320 ; Kookas, 320 ; 
 reserve concerning his own 
 actions, 325 ; offered Gwalior by 
 Lord Northbrook, 325; reasons for 
 declining, 326 ; his consideration 
 for his children, 330 ; instals the 
 Maharajah of Chumba, 331 ; 
 loss of his eldest child, 333 ; his 
 generosity, 335 ; last appearance 
 
 ZOR 
 in public, 337 ; banquet at 
 Lahore in his honour, 337 ; notice 
 of his services on retirement, 340 ; 
 General, 340 ; leaves India, 341 ; 
 life at Newton Abbot, 343 et seq. ; 
 carries the coronet at Lord Law- 
 rence's funeral, 348 ; his death, 
 349 ; his funeral, 350 ; memorial 
 brasses, 351 
 
 Taylor, Thomas William, 4 ; sketch 
 of his life, 4-7 ; death, 209 
 
 Teignbridge Club, 26 ; Taylor 
 elected a member of, 346 
 
 Tiger shooting, 71 
 
 Umballa, force at, 49 ; Commis- 
 sionership of, 298 
 
 Umbeylah Pass, the, 274 
 
 Umbeylah war, the, 274 et seq.; re- 
 marks on, 277, 294 
 
 Umritsur, Commissionership of, 
 319 ; mission at, 335 
 
 Uttur Sing, 163 
 
 Wardens of the Marches, 205 
 Whish, General, sent to Edward es's 
 
 assistance at Mooltan, 161, 168 
 Wilde, General, his brigade at 
 
 Laloo, 288 ; letter to Taylor, 293 
 Wuzeerees, their characteristics, 
 
 136 et seq.; their raids on the 
 
 frontier, 200 et seq., 229 
 
 YOUNGHUSBAND, General, at 
 Derah, 198 ; in the Kangra dis- 
 trict, 219; his account of dis- 
 arming troops in Kangra fort, 220 
 et seq. 
 
 ZORMUNDEE, attack on, 91 
 
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