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 THE BAYARD 
 OF INDIA- 5 
 Life of General 
 S/rJAMES d 
 OUTRAM 
 
 J -Trotter ^J^ 
 
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 EDITOR'S NOTE 
 
 THERE is a tomb in the nave of Westminster Abbey 
 which for Anglo-Indians has an effect not unlike that of 
 Ben Jonson's tablet, with its inscription, " O Rare Ben 
 Jonson," on the lovers of English poetry. This tomb 
 is marked by a slab on which are carved the words that 
 form the title of this volume: " The Bayard of India." 
 The present life of General Sir James Outram by Cap- 
 tain L. J. Trotter, which was first published in 1903, 
 sums up, in a characteristically direct and very lucid 
 form, the complicated record of Outram, carrying it 
 through some of the most vital passages in the history 
 of India during the last century. Since it was written, 
 the rapid evolution of new democratic ideas in the 
 country, in some degree the product themselves of 
 English political theory, has given a keener reflected 
 interest to its military annals. Captain Trotter writes 
 from first-hand experience of the life there; and his 
 book is the first of a series of contemplated biographies, 
 histories, and books of travel, by which it is hoped in 
 the end to complete an Indian shelf or section of 
 Everyman's Library. 
 
 E. R. 
 
 1909. 
 
 vn
 
 viii The Bayard of India 
 
 The following is the list of other works by the same 
 author: 
 
 East and West, and other poems, 1859; Studies in Biography, 1 865 ; 
 History of the British Empire in India from the appointment of 
 JLord Hardinge to the political extinction of the East India Com- 
 pany, 1844-1862; A Sequel to Thornton's History of India, 2 vols., 
 1866; History of India from the earliest times to the present day, 
 etc., 1874; revised and enlarged ed., 1899; Warren Hastings: a 
 biography, 1878; Lord Lawrence : a sketch of his public career, 1880; 
 History of India under Queen Victoria. From 1836 to 1880, 2 vols., 
 1886; William Taylor of Patna: a brief account of his services, etc. 
 (brief extracts from letters received from 1857 to 1884), 1887; 
 Life of the Marquis of Dalhousie (Statesmen series), 1889; Warren 
 Hastings (Rulers of India series), 1890; Earl of Auckland (Rulers 
 of India series), 1893; The Life of John Nicholson, Soldier and 
 Administrator, 1897; gth edition, 1904; in Nelson's Shilling 
 Library, 1908; A Leader of Light Horse: Life of Hodson of 
 Hodson's Horse, 1901; The Bayard of India: A Life of General 
 Sir James Outram, Bart., 1903. 
 
 TRANSLATIONS: Michelet's La Sorciere, 1863; J. J. L. Blanc's 
 Lettres sur 1'Angleterre, 2nd series, 1867. 
 
 Editor of Allen's Indian Mail from 1867-1878, and contributor 
 to various journals and magazines.
 
 THE BAYARD OF INDIA 
 
 YE who have joyed to read, in Spenser's lay, 
 How, in old time, a champion pure did ride, 
 Through twilight wood, at " heavenly Una's " side, 
 
 Guarding the meek one on her dangerous way; 
 
 Ye who lament o'er past romance to-day, 
 Here see portrayed a " knight of holiness," 
 Prompt to redeem the helpless in distress, 
 
 And for the weak his lance in rest to lay. 
 
 Bayard of India! no reproach or fear 
 
 Stained thy bright scutcheon. Nor alone in fight 
 
 Pre-eminent wert thou, but couldst forbear 
 Valour's high guerdon, quit thy lawful right, 
 
 And bid a comrade's brow thy laurels wear; 
 Thus manifest in all " a perfect Knight." 
 
 R. F. J. 
 
 IX
 
 TO THE 
 
 DOWAGER LADY OUTRAM, 
 
 AND HER SON, 
 
 SIR FRANCIS OUTRAM, BART. 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED 
 BY THE AUTHOR.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IN all those qualities which mark the born leader of men, 
 James Outram had very few rivals among the best and 
 greatest of the soldier statesmen who rose to fame in the 
 service of the old East India Company. From the day 
 when "the little general" speared his first boar in the 
 jungles of Western India, to the last hours of hard office 
 work as a leading member of the Calcutta Council, our 
 Indian Bayard won alike the confidence and the love of 
 all who served with or under him, by sheer force of that 
 personal magnetism which springs from lofty impulses 
 guided and sustained by a generous disregard of self. 
 His piety was deep, if unobtrusive; and a heart more 
 steadily loyal, in every sense of the word, loyal to his 
 country, his official chiefs, his family, friends and com- 
 rades of every degree, and not least of all to his own 
 manly upright self, never beat, I think, in human breast. 
 In the following pages I have tried to set forth within 
 a moderate compass the story of a life so memorable, so 
 strenuous for all noble ends, so rich in brave deeds and 
 stirring adventures, that it furnished one able biographer 
 with matter enough to fill two bulky volumes. The 
 present memoir, however, claims to be something more 
 than a mere abridgment of Sir Frederick Goldsmid's 
 valuable work. Through the unfailing kindness of Sir
 
 xiv The Bayard of India 
 
 Francis Outram I have been enabled to extract some 
 interesting details from the mass of documents which 
 passed through Sir Frederick's hands. Some further 
 information has been derived from sources which will be 
 found duly acknowledged in the footnotes or the text of 
 
 the present volume. 
 
 L. J. T. 
 
 EXMOUTH, September 1903.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND SCHOOL-DAYS . . i 
 
 II. SOLDIERING AND SPORT IN WESTERN INDIA . . 8 
 
 III. AMONG THE BH!LS OF KHANDESH . . 15 
 
 IV. FROM KHANDESH TO THE MAHI KANTA . . 37 
 V. FROM GUZERAT TO SIND . . . . -38 
 
 VI. WITH THE ARMY OF THE INDUS .... 46 
 
 VII. MAINLY AMONG THE GHILZAIS AND BiLftcms . 54 
 
 VIII. SIND, KHELAT, AND AFGHANISTAN ... 64 
 
 IX. WITH NAPIER IN SIND ..... 78 
 
 X. ON FURLOUGH AND AFTER 92 
 
 XI. FROM SATARA TO BARODA ..... 100 
 
 XII. FROM BARODA TO EGYPT AND BACK AGAIN . . no 
 
 XIII. ON THE FLOWING TIDE 121 
 
 XIV. NEW HONOURS AND WIDER OUTLOOKS . . 129 
 XV. THE PERSIAN WAR . . ______.. _ I 4 
 
 XVI. ON THE WAY TO LUCKNOW .... 150 
 
 XVII. WITHIN THE LUCKNOW RESIDENCY . . 161 
 
 XVIII. ON GUARD IN THE ALAMBAGH . . . .176 
 
 XIX. WITH THE ARMY OF OUDH 188 
 
 XX. THE MILITARY MEMBER OF THE VICEROY'S COUNCIL 202 
 
 XXI. FROM CALCUTTA TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY . .214 
 
 APPENDICES ....... 226 
 
 INDEX ........ 236
 
 THE BAYARD OF INDIA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND SCHOOL-DAYS. 1803-1819 
 
 THE family of which James Outram was to be so illus- 
 trious a member can be traced back as far as the fifteenth 
 century, when Thomas Outram was Rector of Burton, 
 near Gainsborough, about 1435. In the Poets' Corner of 
 Westminster Abbey is a monument to William Outram, 
 D.D., Archdeacon of Leicester, Prebendary of West- 
 minster, and Court Chaplain to Charles II. He appears 
 to have been, in the words of Samuel Pepys, " one of the 
 ablest and best of the Nonconformists, eminent for his 
 piety and charity, and an excellent preacher." Early in 
 the eighteenth century we come upon James's grandfather, 
 Joseph Outram, of Alfreton in Derbyshire, " a well-to-do 
 surveyor and manager of estates, and himself possessor of 
 some property in land and collieries, in whose marked 
 vigour of character, shrewd sense, and kind heart, we 
 begin to discern qualities which his sons and grandsons 
 were destined to develop in a wider sphere." l 
 
 Among Joseph's intimate friends was the celebrated 
 Benjamin Franklin, who in 1764 stood godfather to 
 Joseph's eldest son, Benjamin. As a civil engineer Ben- 
 jamin Outram played his part in the construction of canals 
 and tramways, and crowned a successful career by found- 
 ing the Butterley Ironworks in his own county. In this 
 undertaking he had sunk the greater part of his capital 
 when his untimely death in May 1805 involved his 
 
 1 James Outram: a Biography. By Major-General Sir F. J. 
 Goldsmid, C.B., K.C.S.I. Smith, Elder, & Co., 1880. 
 
 A
 
 2 The Bayard of India 
 
 young widow and five small children in a tangled coil of 
 unforeseen disaster. 
 
 But Mrs. Outram faced her broken fortunes with 
 amazing courage, clear aims, and proud strength of will. 
 Married at the age of twenty, Margaret Anderson had lost 
 her husband after only five years of wedded happiness. 
 Her father, James Anderson, LL.D., who died three years 
 later, was a man of rare ability in many branches of 
 agricultural science. At an early age he appears to have 
 invented a small two -horse plough without wheels, 
 commonly called the Scotch plough. For many years he 
 rented a farm of 1300 acres in Aberdeenshire, and spent 
 much of his leisure time in writing essays upon planting 
 and other agricultural topics. In 1780 he obtained the 
 degree of LL.D. in Aberdeen University. Four years 
 later the government engaged him to make a survey of 
 the western coast of Scotland, for the purpose of develop- 
 ing the national fisheries, to which one of his pamphlets 
 had drawn their attention. In 1797 Dr. Anderson went 
 up to London, where he pursued his literary labours with 
 a zeal so untiring that his health gradually gave way. 1 
 
 From such a father Mrs. Outram must have inherited 
 some of those qualities which afterwards reappeared in 
 both her sons. When she was barely seven years old she 
 had lost her mother, a grand-daughter of Sir Alexander 
 Seton, Lord Pitmedden, a Scottish judge, whose great- 
 grandson, Colonel Alexander Seton, commanded the wing 
 of the 78th Highlanders which met death so heroically in 
 1852 on board the sinking Birkenhead? Owing to her 
 father's absorption in his own pursuits, the education of 
 his little maid was left, on the whole, to look after itself. 
 But Margaret Anderson showed no lack of brains, energy, 
 or common-sense; and these, combined with her strong 
 motherly instincts, helped the widow of Benjamin Outram 
 to guide her fatherless children over the rough places in 
 their altered lot. 
 
 Her husband had died so suddenly that his affairs 
 remained in irretrievable disorder. Assets and liabilities 
 were mixed up in such hopeless confusion that the estate 
 
 1 Chambers's Encyclopedia, " Dr. Anderson." 
 * Dictionary of National Biography. Goldsmid.
 
 Birth, Parentage, and School-days 3 
 
 was finally thrown into Chancery, " to await," says Sir 
 F. Goldsmid, " a tardy and unprofitable compromise." 
 With the aid of 200 a-year granted by her relatives, and 
 the little she could realise from the wreck of her husband's 
 personal property, Mrs. Outram contrived to support her 
 growing family for several years. After five years of 
 wandering from one place to another, she settled down 
 in Aberdeen, where schooling was good and cheap. 
 
 By this time her slender means were increased by a 
 small annuity, which the government after much pressing 
 had bestowed upon her in acknowledgment of her father's 
 public services. In order to obtain this pension the 
 brave lady went up to London, where she pleaded her 
 cause in a private interview with Pitt's old friend and 
 colleague, Lord Melville. 
 
 Bending before the rush of her wrathful eloquence 
 " To you, my lord," she said, " I look for the payment of 
 my father's just claims. If you are an honest or honour- 
 able man, you will see that they are liquidated ; you were 
 the means of their being incurred, and you ought to be 
 answerable for them " 1 Lord Melville used his influence 
 with the government of that day to obtain for Mrs. 
 Outram the needful pension. As he afterwards told her, 
 he " never was so taken by surprise, or got such a lecture 
 in his life." 
 
 For some years Mrs. Outram lived in a small cottage 
 on the outskirts of Aberdeen. Thence in due time she 
 migrated to an upper flat in Castle Street, with a view to 
 provide her daughters with the best tuition which she 
 could afford. Many offers of assistance were made to her 
 by her more intimate friends, offers which she persistently 
 declined, for her proud spirit could brook no dependence 
 on the charity of others. 
 
 Francis Outram, the elder of her two sons, was sent at 
 an early age to Christ's Hospital, whence after seven 
 years he was transferred to Marischal College, Aberdeen. 
 The offer of an Indian cadetship brought his stay there 
 to a speedy close. Three terms in the East India Com- 
 pany's College at Addiscombe sufficed to win for him the 
 rank of an officer of Engineers, and to send him on to 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 4 The Bayard of India 
 
 Chatham to complete his training for the Company's 
 service. 
 
 James Outram, the second son, was born at Butterley 
 Hall, Derbyshire, on January 29, 1803. In his twelfth 
 year his mother placed him at Udny school, near Aberdeen, 
 under the care of Dr. Bisset. He is described by that 
 gentleman as somewhat pale, but quite healthy, and of 
 prepossessing countenance. He had his mother's black 
 glossy hair. " His dark hazel eye kept time, as it were, 
 with whatever was going on, and marked his quick appre- 
 hension of, and sympathy with, every scintillation of wit, 
 drollery, or humour." At the same time " his usual 
 manner was quiet and sedate." l The boy appears, from 
 the same informant, to have made fair progress in classical 
 and other studies, but devoted himself with a special zeal 
 to mathematics and the exact sciences. 
 
 One of his favourite indoor amusements was the carving 
 of figures with a penknife out of any materials that might 
 come to hand. For many years the figure of an elephant 
 carved by young James adorned the mantelpiece of the 
 Udny drawing-room, and drew forth the admiring com- 
 ments of all who could appreciate skilful and artistic 
 work. In quest of suitable subjects for his purpose he 
 would visit the menageries which came to Aberdeen, and 
 carve faithful likenesses of the animals that took his 
 fancy. The monkeys seem to have been his favourite 
 study, and his success in mimicking their various attitudes 
 surprised all beholders. His mother sometimes thought 
 of him as a possible sculptor, " but having no friends in 
 that line," says one of her daughters, " she did not make 
 any endeavour to follow up this view." 
 
 But it was in all kinds of outdoor pastimes that James 
 Outram especially excelled. Even in his fourteenth year, 
 according to Dr. Bisset, he had become a recognised leader 
 of the school in cricket, football, shinty, and bowls. An 
 expert swimmer and diver, he would bring home pebbles 
 and other trophies from the bottom of a deep pond in 
 the school grounds. His feats in wrestling and climbing 
 trees are also recorded by his master. " He was always 
 kind to me," says a younger schoolfellow, " protecting me 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 Birth, Parentage, and School-days 5 
 
 from the bullying of older boys; and I believe he was 
 equally generous and just to the others. ... In every 
 adventure of daring he was the leader, and frequently he 
 exposed himself to great danger." l 
 
 His sister, Mrs. Sligo, tells us how his playtime at 
 home was spent in active exercise, gardening, mechanics, 
 and every athletic sport. " He had the courage and 
 fortitude of a giant, with the body of a pigmy (being 
 very small for his age). I never remember his evincing 
 the slightest sign of bodily pain." On one occasion 
 when he and his sisters were scrambling among the rocks 
 by the river Dee, a crab caught hold of James's fore- 
 finger. The blood streamed from his finger as he calmly 
 held it up without moving a muscle, until the creature 
 let go its hold. " I thought he'd get tired at last," was 
 his cool remark as he wrapped his handkerchief round 
 the wound. 
 
 Nothing, however, pleased him better than going 
 among the soldiers in the barracks, or the sailors at the 
 docks. " I recollect," adds Mrs. Sligo, " our surprise 
 one evening when, on returning from our walk and 
 glancing at the soldiers going through their exercises, 
 we saw our own little Jemmy at their head, as perfect 
 in all the manoeuvres as any among them. He was the 
 delight of the regiment, but even still more, if possible, 
 the sailors' pet. There was a mutiny among the latter 
 I can't remember the date, but I think he must then 
 have been about twelve or thirteen years of age. All 
 Aberdeen was uneasy; my brother, of course, not at 
 home. The sailors were drawn up in a dense body on 
 the pier. The magistrates went down to them, backed 
 by the soldiers, whose muskets were loaded; and they 
 were held in readiness to fire on the mutineers, if necessary. 
 Between the latter and their opponents Jemmy Outram 
 was to be seen, with his hands in his trouser-pockets, 
 stumping about from one side to the other, like a tiger 
 in his den, protecting his sailor friends from the threaten- 
 ing muskets; resolved to receive the fire first, if firing was 
 to be. 
 
 " All ended peacefully, however, much to the general 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 6 The Bayard of India 
 
 satisfaction, and to our particular thankfulness, when we 
 were told how our brother had exposed himself." l 
 
 One day James Outram, then a boy of thirteen, was 
 walking with a schoolfellow beyond Aberdeen when a 
 large mastiff attacked them both. In a moment James 
 ran at the furious brute, and beat him off with a shower 
 of well-planted blows from his fists and feet. About 
 two years later young Outram, who had meanwhile 
 been transferred to another and higher school, appeared 
 one day at home with a face so disfigured that his sisters 
 at first could hardly recognise him. In reply to their 
 anxious questioning, he merely said, " Never mind, Anna; 
 I've licked the biggest boy in the school in such a manner 
 that he'll not ill-treat any of the little boys again, I'll 
 be bound." 2 
 
 In 1818-19 we find him studying mathematics and 
 attending lectures on natural and experimental philosophy 
 at Marischal College, where his brother Frank had been 
 studying before him. The officials reported him as 
 " An attentive and well-behaved student, evincing good 
 abilities and an amiable disposition." 3 It was not long, 
 however, before these studies gave place to preparations 
 for his future career. On hearing that his mother wanted 
 him to enter the service of the church, he exclaimed to 
 his sister, " You see that window; rather than be a parson, 
 I'm out of it; and I'll 'list for a common soldier ! " From 
 one of her friends Mrs. Outram received the offer of a 
 direct cadetship in the Indian army, while another pro- 
 posed to send her son out to India by way of that same 
 Addiscombe through which his brother had already 
 passed. 
 
 Between these alternatives James himself at once 
 selected the former. " My brother Frank," he remarked, 
 " when only half the allotted time at Addiscombe, gained 
 all the highest prizes there, and got into the Engineers. 
 If I remain the whole three years, I shall at the best 
 come out only as cadet for the infantry. It's much 
 better, therefore, that I should go out as a cadet; I 
 choose Captain Gordon's appointment." He had already 
 learned to know something of himself and his own limita- 
 1 Goldsmid. Ibid. 3 Ibid.
 
 Birth? Parentage, and School-days 7 
 
 tions. His mother also felt that he had done wisely in 
 preferring the direct cadetship to a course of preliminary 
 training, which in his case would almost certainly have 
 led to no adequate results. On May 2, 1819, James 
 Outram, then little more than sixteen years old, embarked 
 on board the good ship York as a qualified cadet of 
 infantry on the Bombay establishment.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 SOLDIERING AND SPORT IN WESTERN INDIA. 1819-1824 
 
 AFTER an uneventful voyage of nearly three months 
 and a half, Ensign Outram landed at Bombay on 
 August 15, 1819. Among his shipmates was a cadet 
 named Stalker, who was destined many years later to 
 serve as Outram 's second in command throughout the 
 Persian war of 1856-57. Shortly after his landing Ensign 
 Outram found himself posted to do duty with the ist 
 Battalion of the 4th Native Infantry, then stationed at 
 Poona. From that place he marched with his regiment 
 a few days later to the hill fort of Savandrug in the 
 Bangalore district. On December 2 he proceeded to 
 join the 2nd Battalion of the ist Grenadier Native 
 Infantry at Sirur in the Poona district, which had lately 
 passed for ever under British rule. 
 
 With the close of the year 1819 had begun a new era 
 of peace, order, and prosperity for nearly the whole of 
 India, under the strong and beneficent rule of the Marquis 
 of Hastings. In the course of seven years that governor- 
 general had done great things in that vast peninsula, 
 which for more than a hundred years had been given 
 over to every form of anarchy, pillage, and armed strife. 
 After teaching the Nepalese a long-needed lesson of respect 
 for their British neighbours, Lord Hastings had made up 
 his mind to crush out once for all the growing power of 
 the Pindari freebooters, and to baffle the intrigues of those 
 Maratha princes who still dreamed of reducing all India 
 under their sway. In one bold and decisive campaign 
 the great Maratha power, which had survived the slaughter 
 of Panipat and the blows dealt against it by the Marquis 
 Wellesley, fell shattered to pieces by the same hand which 
 crushed the Pindaris and raised an English merchant 
 company to the paramount lordship of all India, from 
 the Satlaj and the Himalayas to Cape Comorin. 
 8
 
 Soldiering and Sport 9 
 
 In 1819 the last of the Maratha Peshwas had ceased 
 to reign at Poona; the Rajah of Berar was a discrowned 
 fugitive, the Rajah of Satara a king only in name, while 
 Sindhia, Holkar, and the Nizam of Haidarabad thence- 
 forth reigned only by sufferance of an English governor- 
 general at Calcutta. The old Mughal empire lingered 
 only in the palace of Delhi; and the proudest princes 
 of Rajputana cheerfully bowed their necks to the yoke 
 of masters merciful as Akbar and mightier than Aurangzib. 
 With the capture of Asirgarh in April 1819, the fighting 
 in Southern India had come to an end. The large tract 
 of country conquered from the last of the Peshwas had 
 been placed under the fostering care of Mountstuart 
 Elphinstone, who presently, as Governor of Bombay, 
 completed the healing work which he and his able 
 subalterns had begun from Poona. 
 
 Early in 1820 James Outram was transferred to the 
 ist Battalion of the i2th Native Infantry, which had 
 just been embodied at Poona. Only six months later 
 he was appointed to act as adjutant of the same regiment. 
 " I have now acted," he writes to his mother in October, 
 " upwards of three months, and expect to act one month 
 longer, as I believe the adjutant will not join till that 
 time. It is of no immediate advantage to me, otherwise 
 than that it teaches me my duty; but my having acted 
 as adjutant four months will give me strong claims for 
 that appointment when it becomes vacant. . . . Should 
 a vacancy happen to-morrow, I would not hesitate a 
 moment about applying for the situation, as I would 
 feel confident (without flattery to myself) that I would 
 be equal to the task, with a little application and trouble 
 on my part." 
 
 He was still acting as adjutant when, in February 1821, 
 the regiment began its march to Baroda. By this time 
 he had begun to discover that the duties of his office 
 were not quite so light or easy as he had imagined. 
 Writing to his mother in April from Baroda, he thus 
 excuses himself for his long silence: "Many difficulties 
 were thrown in my way which I had not foreseen. 
 Several officers who were removed from the corps had 
 charge of a company each, all of which were thrown
 
 io The Bayard of India 
 
 upon my hands, and I had to make out the papers of al- 
 most all the companies, besides all the battalion ones. 
 Almost all adjutants have two writers, one which govern- 
 ment allows a sergeant and one which he keeps at his 
 own expense. Now I have been altogether, I dare say, 
 five months without one at all, and have never had more 
 than one at any time. At first a sergeant was not pro- 
 cured (as it is a new corps) till about seven months after 
 I had begun to act. I had now and then a writer for a 
 few days, but I dare say I was five months without one 
 altogether; and when I got the sergeant I found him 
 more a burden than a help to me, as he had everything to 
 learn. ... I have also been latterly acting quarter- 
 master. I am to be relieved by the regular adjutant, I 
 suppose, on the ist of next month, as he has been re- 
 lieved from the corps which he has been obliged to remain 
 with till this time. I shall then have done the duties of 
 adjutant exactly ten months." 
 
 During the monsoon rains of that year, a serious attack 
 of fever drove Outram on sick-leave to Bombay. The 
 doctors were of opinion that he should return to England 
 to recruit his health, but Outram was eager only to rejoin 
 his regiment, which had been ordered on active service 
 in Kathiawar. In February 1822 he embarked from 
 Bombay in a native boat, which had not gone far when 
 an unforeseen disaster compelled his immediate return. 
 Besides his necessary baggage, he had laid in a stock of 
 fireworks in honour of some festival to be kept that 
 evening at Bombay. By some mischance the fireworks 
 exploded, and the vessel was blown to pieces. Outram's 
 horses were either killed or drowned, and the whole of his 
 kit was irretrievably lost; but he himself was picked up 
 floating, half-dead, and so disfigured that no one at the 
 moment could have recognised him as a white man. A 
 charitable Parsi found him lying helpless on the shore, and 
 conveyed him in a palanquin to his own house, whence 
 the wounded officer was finally transferred to that of Mr. 
 Willoughby, a civil servant in Bombay. 
 
 The explosion appears to have spoiled his beauty, 
 while it served to do away with all traces of the jungle 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 Soldiering and Sport 1 1 
 
 fever. Writing to his mother two months later, Francis 
 Outram, then a lieutenant in the Bombay Engineers, 
 declared that the results of the accident might have been 
 much worse. " James, however, has luckily escaped 
 with a good scorching, and will be more careful with gun- 
 powder for the future." l 
 
 His letters to his mother during this year attest not 
 only the depth of his filial love, but also a full and abiding 
 sense of all that Mrs. Outram had done and endured for 
 her children in the past. 
 
 " You used to say you were badly off," he wrote in 
 July; " but as I had been used to poor Udny, I thought we 
 were very comfortable at our humble home. Now, when 
 I see how many privations you had to put up with, I 
 think you made wonderful sacrifices for your children, 
 whose duty it is to make you as comfortable as they 
 possibly can. I, for one, am certainly sorry that I have 
 not been more prudent, for I certainly ought by this time 
 to have been able to send you, at least, something; for 
 I got the allowances of the acting adjutancy for eight 
 months out of the ten in which I acted, after a reference to 
 government. . . . When I rejoin my corps I shall be in 
 the receipt of 600 Rs. per mensem, as the corps is at 
 present in the field, out of which I shall at least be able 
 to save 300 Rs. a-month, which is about 350 a-year. I 
 am obliged to keep an additional horse and office estab- 
 lishment and field-carriage, but 300 Rs. a-month will 
 certainly cover all expenses in the field, and 250 in 
 garrison. The above 600 Rs. per mensem is the field- 
 pay and allowances the garrison is about 400 Rs. per 
 month; so that in the field I shall save about 350 Rs. and 
 in garrison about 150 Rs. a-month, which makes about 
 180 a-year, all of which is, of course, dedicated to you; 
 and much greater pleasure will spending it in this manner 
 afford me than if I was amassing riches upon riches on 
 my own account." 2 His brother Frank was not back- 
 ward in adding his own contribution J;o the maternal 
 store. 3 
 
 By the time that James Outram rejoined his regiment 
 
 1 Goldsmid. * Ibid. 
 
 3 Dictionary of National Biography.
 
 1 2 The Bayard of India 
 
 in the Ahmadabad district, the little war in the corner of 
 Western India was nearly at an end. He had not long 
 resumed the duties of an adjutant when the regiment 
 began its hot-weather march from Morasa to Rajkot, the 
 capital of a small native state in Kathiawar. It was 
 during this march that Outram and his friend Lieutenant 
 Ord were riding in rear of the column, when they set off 
 in hot chase of a fine large hog. After a sharp burst of 
 about a mile, the hog, says Ord, " took refuge in a large 
 patch of cactus-bushes, out of which we found it impos- 
 sible to dislodge him, though Outram in his eagerness 
 dismounted, and did his best to make him bolt. From 
 what I afterwards saw of hog-hunting I think it was as 
 well . . . that he did not succeed," l seeing that the 
 hunters were armed only with swords. 
 
 At Rajkot hog-hunting, or " pig-sticking " as it was 
 popularly called, became a weekly pastime with Outram 
 and his brother officers. On such occasions Outram was 
 pretty sure to be among the foremost in the chase and at 
 the death. His small, spare figure he was hardly yet 
 five feet seven gave him an advantage which his keen 
 love of sport and his perfect fearlessness turned to the 
 best account. Between 1822 and 1824 he appears from 
 his own note-book to have won seventy-four first spears 
 out of a total of 123 gained by a party of twelve. During 
 the same period he killed four nilgai, two hyenas, one 
 cheeta (leopard), and two wolves. 
 
 Many years afterwards, Colonel Ord gave a spirited 
 account of an adventure in which he, Outram, and Liddle 
 had been concerned: "We started a sounder, Outram 
 looking after one hog, and Liddle and myself after another. 
 Outram soon lost sight of his in the thick jungle, but 
 Liddle and I pursued our course. Soon we heard Outram 
 galloping up behind us ; we pushed on, hoping to get the 
 spear before he came up. Most unfortunately there was 
 a deep jungly ravine before us; into that the hog dashed, 
 and while we stopped on the brink, Outram rushed by us, 
 and after floundering and rolling over several times, 
 reached the bottom a dry nullah. We thought that he 
 must have been severely hurt, but not a bit: soon he was 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 Soldiering and Sport 13 
 
 on his horse's back again, and after a long run he killed 
 the boar, although he had only half a spear, the shaft 
 having been broken in his descent down the ravine." 
 
 Ord and Liddle then rode on into the jungle in quest of 
 another boar. Seeing the grass moving in front of them, 
 they at ones set off in chase. Instead of a hog, they pre- 
 sently came upon two lions, who stopped for a moment to 
 look at their pursuers, and then quietly walked away. 
 " We followed their example," says Colonel Ord. " On 
 rejoining Outram, and telling him what we had seen, he 
 was anxious that we should again go in pursuit, but we 
 resolutely declined." * 
 
 If Waterloo was won, according to the Iron Duke, in the 
 playing-fields of Eton, it may with equal truth be affirmed 
 that Nimrods of young Outram's stamp are likely to 
 make the most efficient soldiers. Even at this stage of his 
 career, our sport-loving adjutant was winning high praise 
 from his military chiefs for the smart appearance, perfect 
 discipline, and skilful handling of a sepoy regiment on 
 parade. 2 
 
 In this connection I may quote some passages from a 
 private letter written by Dr. Henry Johnston, the surgeon 
 in charge of a wing of Outram's regiment during the 
 march from Kathiawar to Malegaon in 1824. " He " 
 (Outram) " was at that time adjutant of the regiment, 
 and it will show the confidence that was thus early re- 
 posed in him that he should have been intrusted with 
 such a command when he was only twenty-one years of 
 age. The march was one of about 250 miles, through 
 a fine country not wanting in game. The strict discipline 
 maintained by the young commanding officer did not 
 allow of our interfering with it on the line of march. But 
 after reaching our ground, encamping the men, and dis- 
 cussing a good breakfast in the mess-tent, we generally 
 sallied out in quest of game, and many a wild boar bit the 
 dust on these occasions. Outram was always ready to 
 join those under his command in the field-sports, of which 
 
 1 Goldsmid. 
 
 * " In January 1824 he commanded the ist Battalion of the i2th 
 N. I. on its annual review, and was highly complimented by Colonel 
 Turner, the reviewing officer, in Station Orders of the day." 
 Goldsmid.
 
 14 The Bayard of India 
 
 indeed he was the great promoter, and in which he took 
 more first spears than any other man. But this, so far 
 from leading them to be lax in their duties, made every 
 man try to do his best. Duty was always a labour of 
 love with those under him, for he inspired all who were 
 capable of any elevation of feeling with some portion of 
 his own ardour, and made all such willing assistants rather 
 than mere perfunctory subordinates. Thus early did he 
 show that wonderful tact of commanding, which few have 
 possessed in such a high degree." x 
 
 In the spring of 1824 Ou tram's regiment found itself 
 officially renumbered as the 23rd Native Infantry; and 
 he himself was presently transferred as adjutant to the 
 24th Native Infantry. The transfer, however, did not 
 please him, and in September he returned as adjutant to 
 his old friends of the 23rd. Towards the close of 1824 
 Outram's craving for new adventures led him to volunteer 
 for active service with the field-force then marching under 
 Colonel Deacon against Kittur, the chief town of a small 
 native state, which had lapsed to the paramount power 
 on the death of its heirless lord. A body of insurgents 
 within the town had refused to open its gates to St. John 
 Thackeray, the chief revenue officer of that district. 
 Thackeray himself was shot down under a flag of truce 
 on October 23, and the Bombay Government at once 
 prepared to crush the incipient revolt. 2 
 
 In the first days of December 1824 Deacon's column 
 entered on the siege of Kittur, whose garrison surrendered 
 on the 5th. Outram returned to Bombay with his brother 
 Francis, who had served with credit as an engineer officer 
 during the siege. In the following February James 
 Outram rejoined his regiment at Malegaon. 
 
 1 Papers supplied by Sir Francis Outram, Bart. 
 ' The Thackeray s in India. Sir W. Hunter.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 AMONGST THE BHILS OF KHANDESH. 1825-1829 
 
 HARDLY had Outram returned to Malegaon when a new 
 insurrection broke out in the western districts of Khandesh. 
 In the course of March 1825 the insurgent leader and his 
 800 men had seized the hill-fortress of Malair, between 
 Surat and Malegaon. From its battlements the flag of 
 the discrowned Maratha Peshwa waved defiance to the 
 Government of Bombay. On the morning of April 5 
 Outram received the order to march a small force of 
 sepoys towards Malair. By sundown of that evening 
 some 200 sepoys of the nth and 23rd Native Infantry set 
 out from Malegaon on their long night-march towards 
 the rebel stronghold. Their commander, Lieutenant 
 Outram, accompanied by Mr. Graham, the assistant- 
 collector, followed a few hours later on an elephant. 
 
 After covering thirty-seven miles in thirteen hours, the 
 little force halted for rest and food at sunrise of the next 
 morning, while Outram carefully reconnoitred the country 
 round Malair. His plan of action was soon formed. 
 Without waiting for the expected reinforcements, he 
 resolved, with Graham's willing consent, to attack the 
 fortress in front and rear before the enemy were aware 
 of his intentions. At nightfall the sepoys began their 
 forward march. As they neared the hill on which Malair 
 was situated, he directed Ensigns Whitmore and Paul to 
 begin a false attack in front with 150 men, while he him- 
 self led the remainder of his sepoys round to the rear. 
 While the rebels were engaged in meeting the front attack 
 of a foe whose real strength they had no means of know- 
 ing, Outram dashed in upon them from behind. " The 
 panic-stricken garrison," says a well-informed writer, 
 " fled with scarcely an attempt at resistance. And at the 
 head of his reunited detachment, and some horsemen 
 whom Mr. Graham had in the meantime collected, Outram 
 15
 
 16 The Bayard of India 
 
 followed them up so closely that they could neither rally 
 nor discover the weakness of their assailants. Their 
 leader was cut down; many of his adherents shared his 
 fate; and the rest made for the neighbouring hills, in a 
 state of complete disorganisation. 
 
 " As the infantry had now marched upwards of fifty 
 miles in little more than thirty-six hours, Outram found 
 it necessary to halt them soon after dawn. But the horse- 
 men continued the pursuit so far as the nature of the 
 ground permitted; scouts were dispatched to ascertain 
 the point of rendezvous selected by the scattered foe, and 
 at night the chase was resumed. The insurgents were a 
 second time surprised; many were slain; numbers were 
 taken prisoners ; and the rest, throwing down their arms, 
 fled to their respective villages. A rebellion which had 
 caused much anxiety to the authorities was thus promptly 
 crushed ere the troops intended for its suppression had 
 been put in motion. And the plunder of Antapor was 
 restored to its lawful owners." x 
 
 For this bold exploit Outram and his brave companions 
 received hearty thanks both from the government and 
 the commander - in - chief . Seldom has praise so un- 
 qualified been bestowed upon so young a soldier. From 
 this time forth the young adjutant of sepoys ceased to 
 serve as a regimental officer. 
 
 Mountstuart Elphinstone, the humane and able 
 Governor of Bombay, had resolved to enter upon the 
 difficult task of reclaiming the Bhil marauders of Khan- 
 desh from their old lawless habits and traditions to 
 peaceful acquiescence in the rule of their new masters. 
 In James Outram he had already discerned an agent 
 specially qualified to carry out his views. On April 22, 
 
 1 Services of Lieut. -Colonel Outram. Smith, Elder, & Co., 1853. 
 In Outram's report to Captain Newton, Brigade-Major of Malegaon, 
 he writes: " I have no copy of my instructions: they merely re- 
 quired me to protect the town of Malair (situated two miles from 
 the hill-fort) until the assembly of a force which was ordered to be 
 in readiness to suppress the rebellion, consisting of a brigade of 
 infantry from Surat (distance 120 miles), a battering- tram, and 
 infantry escort from Jaulnah (180 miles), and all the disposable 
 troops under Major Rigby from Kokurmunda (50 miles), which 
 latter did not arrive till three days afterwards, and the former, in 
 consequence of my successful measures, were countermanded." 
 Outram Letters.
 
 Amongst the Bhils of Khandesh 1 7 
 
 1825, Outran found himself placed at the disposal of 
 the collector and political agent in Khandesh for the 
 purpose of commanding a Bhil corps to be raised for 
 police duties within that province. On resigning his 
 adjutancy Lieutenant Outram received from his com- 
 manding officer, Colonel Deschamps, a public testimony, 
 couched in glowing language, to the share which he had 
 borne in raising the reputation of the 23rd Native Infantry 
 at army headquarters. 
 
 Before entering on his new duties James Outram was 
 detained at Malegaon by another of those severe attacks 
 of fever which few men of less iron strength of purpose 
 would probably have struggled through. " We learn," 
 says Sir F. Goldsmid, " that even in his early days he 
 formed the resolution to fight it out with the climate or 
 die : to acclimatise himself by surmounting all the illnesses 
 of Anglo-Indian existence, or succumb to one of them 
 altogether. ... He did fight it out, and, strange to 
 say, illness after illness left him none the worse per- 
 manently; while the result of an unusually varied series 
 of approaches to death's door was the establishment of 
 a constitution of iron, proof against all influences, and 
 proverbial in its marvellous capacity for endurance of 
 deadly trials." 
 
 The Bhils, among whom Outram was now to pursue 
 his beneficent labours, were an old non-Aryan race who 
 had roamed for centuries among the hills and jungles of 
 Northern and Western Khandesh, living by the chase 
 and by frequent raids upon peaceful villages in the plains. 
 For long years of Mughal and Maratha rule their hands 
 had been against every man, while every man's hand had 
 been against them. For some years after the annexation 
 of Khandesh our own functionaries had treated these wild 
 people almost as ruthlessly as the Peshwa's officers had 
 been wont to do. But Elphinstone was bent on trying 
 the kindlier methods which Cleveland, half a century 
 earlier, had applied so successfully to the Santhal savages 
 of Lower Bengal. In furtherance of his far-seeing purpose 
 he devised two schemes one for establishing agricultural 
 colonies of Bhils; the other for organising a battalion of 
 Bhil soldiers, to be armed and disciplined like regiments 
 
 B
 
 1 8 The Bayard of India 
 
 of the line, and commanded by a British officer. 1 For 
 the carrying out of this twofold experiment no fitter 
 instruments could have been selected than Captain Ovans 
 and Lieutenant Outram. 
 
 Despite the warnings and remonstrances of well-mean- 
 ing friends, Outram eagerly accepted Elphinstone's offer, 
 and before the middle of May threw himself with his 
 wonted ardour into the hazardous duties of his new 
 career. Failing in his first attempts to negotiate with 
 the robber tribes, Outram resolved to strike a wholesome 
 terror among them by a sudden invasion of their mountain 
 haunts. A native officer of his old regiment had been 
 posted with thirty men at Jatigaon, on the Western Ghats, 
 some thirty miles from Malegaon. " The native officer," 
 to use Outram's own words, " ignorant that, being now 
 on staff employ, I no longer had any authority in the 
 regiment, at once obeyed my orders to have all his 
 disposable men in readiness for a march after nightfall. 
 When I marched, in the guidance of a spy I had taken 
 up with me, on the strong position in the heart of the 
 mountains, which, I had been informed, was then occupied 
 by the united tribes, who had just assembled in great 
 numbers for the purpose of undertaking some enterprise. 
 My detachment consisted of only thirty bayonets, but I 
 calculated on effectually surprising the rebels from so 
 unexpected a quarter and on coming upon them before 
 daybreak, when, unable to observe the weakness of their 
 assailants, I had little doubt they would disperse in 
 confusion." 
 
 The result fulfilled his most sanguine expectations. 
 " On the first alarm that the red-coats were upon them, 
 which was given by the scouts, while we were yet too far 
 off to attack effectually, the whole body fled panic-struck, 
 scattering in every direction, and leaving their women, 
 children, and wretched property at our mercy. I then 
 separated my small party into threes and fours, with 
 orders to pursue while any Bhils were to be seen, and then 
 to rendezvous at the Bhil Hatti (encampment), searching 
 the ravines on their return. Seeing the red-coats in so 
 many different quarters, the effect of which was increased 
 1 Services of Lieut. -Colonel Outram.
 
 Amongst the Bhils of Khandesh 19 
 
 by hearing their musketry in such opposite directions, 
 confirmed the idea of the enemy that the whole British 
 force was upon them, and prevented any attempt to rally 
 and their dispersion was complete. Two of the Bhils 
 were killed in the pursuit, many others supposed to be 
 wounded, and almost all their families remained in my 
 power. Having, the evening before, sent information to 
 Major Deschamps of my intended attempt, he was in- 
 duced to co-operate, and the troops from below soon 
 afterwards joined me. 
 
 " The Bhils were so hotly pursued for some days that 
 they could not reassemble, and their haunts being then 
 occupied by our troops, their power was so completely 
 broken that I was then enabled to commence operations, 
 and laid the foundation of the corps through the medium 
 of my captives, some of whom were released to bring in 
 the relatives of the rest, on the pledge that then all should 
 be set at liberty. I thus effected an intercourse with some 
 of the leading Naiks; went alone with them into their 
 jungles; gained their confidence by living unguarded 
 among them, and hunting with them, until at last I per- 
 suaded five of the most adventurous to risk their fortunes 
 with me, which small beginning I considered ensured 
 ultimate success." 1 
 
 Outram 's power of becoming all things to all men was 
 steadily winning these reckless caterans into the path of 
 cheerful submission to the demands of civilised rule. The 
 utter fearlessness with which he threw himseif, unarmed 
 and unattended, amongst his recent foes, listening to 
 their talk, sharing in all their sports and pastimes, accept- 
 ing and returning their rude hospitalities, and proving 
 his prowess in hunting tigers and other large game, 
 gradually disarmed them of all their old suspicions, and 
 led them at last to join heartily in the civiiising work 
 which their new masters were bent on carrying out.- 
 
 Within two months after his daring night-march 
 Outram had secured twenty-five recruits for his future 
 battalion. By the beginning of September their number 
 had increased to ninety-two. In spite of passing checks 
 
 1 Outram Letters. 
 2 Services of Lieut. Colonel Outram. Outram Letters.
 
 2O The Bayard of India 
 
 and misunderstandings, the new levies amounted to 134 
 on January i, 1826. By that time the Bhil corps was 
 encamped a few miles from Malegaon, whence Outram 
 was awaiting the arrival of their arms. The new recruits 
 had taken kindly to their drill some months before, 
 submitting to it, writes Outram to his new chief, Colonel 
 Robertson the Collector, " with as much readiness,, and 
 paying as much attention, as recruits of the line." 
 
 A few weeks earlier, Outram's ready tact and foresight 
 had carried his new levies safely among the pitfalls which 
 beset their progress along ways untrodden hitherto by a 
 Bhil foot. One day in November a detachment of regular 
 sepoys had reached Outram's headquarters at Dharan- 
 gaon. " Notwithstanding the pains I had taken," he 
 writes to Colonel Robertson, " to prepare the Bhils to 
 receive them without distrust, I had not succeeded so 
 completely as I wished. I, however, effected .that end by 
 sending away all the arms of the detachment, and giving 
 the Bhils to understand that they and the regulars should 
 be armed at the same time. In the course of a very few 
 days, what I had expected from my knowledge of the 
 character and respectability of the men I had selected 
 from the line, was fully effected; the regulars obtained 
 the entire confidence of the Bhils by their conciliatory 
 conduct towards them ; and these high-caste men associat- 
 ing without scruple with the Bhils has the happiest effect; 
 they begin to rise in self-esteem, and feel proud of the 
 service which places them on an equality with the highest 
 classes." 
 
 The reception of these new-comers in the following 
 month by the men of Outram's old regiment at Malegaon 
 justified their leader's fondest wishes. " Not only," he 
 adds, " were the Bhils received by the men of that 
 regiment without insulting scoffs, but they were even 
 received as friends, and with the greatest kindness invited 
 to sit down among them, fed by them, and talked to by 
 high and low, as on an equality from being brother 
 soldiers. . . . The Bhils returned quite delighted and 
 flattered by their reception, and entreated me to allow 
 them no rest from drill until they became equal to their 
 brother soldiers."
 
 Amongst the Bhils of Khandesh 21 
 
 To this happy state of things his old comrade, Captain 
 Douglas Graham, bears pointed testimony: " Men of the 
 highest caste behaved in a manner most flattering to the 
 feelings of the mountaineers, visiting and presenting them 
 with betel-nut, to the no small amazement of the guests, 
 and to the gratification of government, who complimented 
 the regiment on their conduct." 
 
 By the end of June 1826 the new barracks, built by 
 Outram's orders with the aid of his own men, contained 
 308 Bhil recruits, eager not only to learn their drill but 
 to discharge the duties of an armed police, even against 
 offenders of their own tribe. During the past two months 
 not a single complaint had been brought against them 
 by the neighbouring villagers. " Their abstinence from 
 spirituous liquors, which they are not allowed to touch 
 except on particular holidays," writes Outram in July, 
 "is the greatest proof of the success with which my 
 endeavours to improve them have been attended, and 
 the very quiet and orderly conduct of such a large 
 assembly of Bhils at so early a stage of the measure is 
 surprising." 
 
 They had already begun to feel themselves at home 
 in their new surroundings. " All who can afford it have 
 purchased grinding-stones, and other domestic utensils; 
 they have assembled their women and children, and are 
 exceedingly comfortable in every respect, fully sensible 
 of the advantages of their present situation, and convinced 
 of our sincerity in promoting their permanent welfare." 1 
 
 So marked was the progress made by the new corps 
 in all soldierly requirements that Outram, at the special 
 request of Mr. J. Bax, Robertson's successor in the civil 
 charge of the province, gladly supplied him in December 
 of that year with a party of his Bhils for escort duty 
 during his cold-weather tour. " I am also indebted," 
 he adds in the same letter, " to Captain Ovans, who has 
 offered to employ a guard of Bhils as his personal escort 
 instead of regulars. I am most happy to supply it; 
 nothing can be more beneficial to the corps than these 
 instances of our confidence in it." He also assures Mr. 
 Bax that " the corps is ready to act in a body or in de- 
 1 Outram Letters.
 
 22 The Bayard of India 
 
 tachments against any assembly of outlaws or rebels* 
 and, I will answer for it, is quite sufficient in itself for 
 the suppression of any assembly of Bhils, however strong, 
 that can come together within the limits of this province. 
 
 " The Bhil corps, I trust, would also prove of great 
 assistance to the line, in operations against a more for- 
 midable enemy, should opportunity offer in the neighbour- 
 hood of this province." 
 
 Thus, within twenty months from the date of his 
 opening move against the Bhils, had James Outram 
 wrought something like a miracle of moral and social 
 regeneration among the long - outlawed highlanders of 
 the Khandesh border. 
 
 A few months later, in April 1827, " the first oppor- 
 tunity," says Mr. Bax, " was offered to these reformed 
 Bhils of shedding their blood for their new masters ; and 
 they freely risked it, and fought boldly, though opposed 
 to their own caste, and probably relations." For his 
 success in routing a large body of insurgent Bhils by a 
 small detachment of his own men, Outram and his little 
 band received the heartiest thanks and praises of the 
 Bombay government. 
 
 In the following September the new corps, then muster- 
 ing 600 strong, was reviewed by Brigadier Campbell, 
 who reported to his commander-in-chief that their per- 
 formances would " claim a favourable comparison with 
 many of the best native regiments of the line." As a 
 reward for their high efficiency they were now intrusted 
 with a large share in the duties hitherto reserved for 
 regular troops. " In the course of two years," wrote 
 Captain Outram in 1833, " the corps was completely 
 organised, and so far exceeded our hopes in good conduct 
 and discipline that it was placed in important trusts 
 throughout the province, relieving outposts of the regulars, 
 protecting treasure, guarding prisoners, attacking insur- 
 gents, etc., etc., which it has performed to the present 
 day without a single instance of infidelity or relaxed 
 vigilance, though greatly harassed by hard duty; three- 
 fourths being constantly detached, while the remainder 
 are required to act on every emergency of disturbance 
 or insurrection in the wild countries beyond our borders."
 
 Amongst the Bhils of Khandesh 23 
 
 All this, as Outram went on to show, had been accom- 
 plished with a very large saving of expense to the govern- 
 ment. " Beyond this," he added, " the Bhil corps is also 
 the chief police of the district, its influence and power 
 over every clan of Khandesh Bhils, every family of which 
 has a relation or connection in the corps, effectually 
 controls the whole hitherto untamable class. They 
 can no longer as formerly unite in insurrection, and when 
 individuals offend against our laws they can never elude 
 their comrades in our service: the village Bhils are now 
 compelled to do their duty as watchmen, etc., and the 
 whole body throughout the province is, in fact, united 
 to government through the Hnk of the corps, and they 
 who were formerly its scourge are now its protectors. 
 At the same time a large body of Bhils have, through the 
 exertions of the southern Bhil agent, been established 
 in colonies and turned to good husbandmen. . . . The 
 tranquillity of an immense province is secured, which 
 hitherto no military force or expenditure of money could 
 maintain; and an efficient body of troops and admirable 
 police is gained." 
 
 As early, indeed, as 1828, the fourth year of Outram's 
 mission, Mr. Giberne, the new Collector of Khandesh, 
 was able to report that for the first time in twenty years 
 the province had enjoyed six months of uninterrupted 
 repose. Meanwhile the new Governor of Bombay, Sir 
 John Malcolm, had issued a general order congratulating 
 Outram on his achievement of a task " which could only 
 have been brought to its present successful result by a 
 peculiar combination of firmness and kindness of temper, 
 and perseverance on the part of the officer to whom so 
 important and delicate a charge was assigned." 
 
 More than once in the course of that year, 1828, Mrs. 
 Outram had written to her son inquiring anxiously about 
 his health, and entreating him to avoid unnecessary risks 
 from tigers and other wild beasts of prey. Writing in 
 September, Outram assures his mother that there is no 
 danger in hunting tigers from the top of an elephant. 
 " It is as safe as firing at the monsters from the top of a 
 tower. If I may have been carried away by enthusiasm 
 occasionally to expose myself unnecessarily, believe me
 
 24 The Bayard of India 
 
 I shall bear your advice and admonitions in mind, and 
 abstain for the future: in my situation a little daring 
 was necessary to obtain the requisite influence over the 
 minds of the raw irregular people I command; and if 
 ever you hear of any act of temerity I may have hitherto 
 been guilty of, do not condemn me as unmindful of what 
 I owe to you and our family, but attribute it to having 
 been a part of my peculiar duty, and the necessity for 
 a recurrence of such duties as now at an end." 
 
 As for boar-hunting, he had not chased such an animal 
 for three years, " there being none at least to be got at 
 in Khandesh." His rides are now along good roads, 
 and the opportunities for tiger-hunting are daily decreas- 
 ing with a rapid diminution in the number of those beasts. 
 " Again, you ought," he adds, " to be very easy on the 
 score of my health. I am now so inured to the climate 
 that it has become natural to me, and I have no doubt 
 my life is as good in this country as it would be in India. 
 ... I never in my life felt better or stronger in con- 
 stitution than I do now. Such being the case, I trust 
 you will no longer conjure up dangers which can only 
 exist in your imagination." 
 
 In the same letter he tries to allay his mother's anxiety 
 on the question of his coming home. His brother Frank, 
 who is quite recovered from his illness, will be the first 
 to go home on leave. " Now, I think as Frank is going 
 home now, it would be better, even were my interests 
 not likely to be injured by return, for your sake that I 
 should wait till his return, in order that you may always 
 have to look forward to seeing one or other of us at short 
 intervals whereas were we both to return together 
 you could not see either again for ten or twelve years; 
 now, if I return to England a year after Frank comes back, 
 I would stay with you three years, and in three or four 
 years afterwards Frank would be with you again. Do 
 not think me selfish in not stretching a point to please 
 you." l 
 
 Poor Frank's dream of a speedy reunion with the dear 
 ones at home was cut short by his untimely death during 
 the delirium of fever in September 1829. His sister 
 1 Oulram Letters.
 
 Amongst the Bhils of Khandesh 25 
 
 Margaret was even then on her way out to India as the 
 destined wife of Colonel Farquharson, a distinguished 
 officer in the Bombay army. Hardly had James Outram 
 congratulated Farquharson upon his approaching marriage, 
 when he had to write again on October 2 about " the 
 dreadful tidings " which had reached him the day before 
 at Dharangaon. " Do not be alarmed on my account. 
 I have been too long accustomed to see my dearest friends 
 suddenly snatched away to allow myself to be overcome 
 by unmanly weakness. A man with friends in India 
 ought always to be prepared for such dreadful shocks, 
 and ought always to consider that it may too soon be his 
 own fate. Poor Frank was the most generous, noble- 
 minded man I ever knew he never did an unjust or a 
 mean thing, surely God Almighty in His great mercy 
 will forgive his failings, and poor Frank, I trust, is now 
 happy: the confidence that he must be so is a great 
 consolation to me. 
 
 " Poor fellow ! I had a letter from him a few days 
 before he died, in which he said he had been unwell, 
 but was then better; that he intended being in Bombay 
 next month, and after seeing Margaret happily settled, 
 to go home with Burrows overland." 
 
 James Outram's grief on this occasion was intensified 
 by much anxiety upon his mother's account. How was 
 the sad news to be broken to her, and in what spirit 
 would she bear so cruel a loss ? It was not until December 
 of that year that he could bring himself to write directly 
 to her on a topic nearest the hearts of both. " You have, 
 I trust, ere now, my dear mother, become resigned to 
 the will of Heaven, which has deprived you of a beloved 
 son; if you can bring yourself, as you ought to do, to 
 throw off all selfish feelings, you would the rather rejoice 
 that poor Frank has been removed from a world in which 
 he never could have met with enjoyment. Frank is now 
 happy, and rejoices at the change: we ought to thank 
 God that he is so. 
 
 " The poor fellow had long been very ill, which he con- 
 cealed from me ; but I was prepared to expect the melan- 
 choly event from a knowledge of his weakly constitution, 
 which had been dreadfully impaired by an attack of
 
 26 The Bayard of India 
 
 cholera two years ago, and which I well knew could not 
 withstand a fever. 
 
 " Turn your thoughts from such melancholy subjects 
 and look forward cheerfully to the future. Why should 
 we indulge ambitious projects or selfish considerations, 
 when we are so likely to be so soon removed from this 
 paltry earth? " 
 
 Writing again on Christmas Day, he tells his mother 
 that " Margaret was yesterday married to a man who is 
 esteemed by all who know him, and I am sure that they 
 will be most happy in each other. They will stay about 
 three years in India, and then return to Europe, to pass 
 the remainder of their lives in easy circumstances." 
 
 By James Outram's expressed desire, the whole of his 
 brother's property was made over to his mother. Frank's 
 grave at Baroda was presently marked by a stone, upon 
 which his brother, heartily detesting the fulsome epitaphs 
 too often written " by those who despised the person 
 when living," proposed to inscribe these simple words: 
 
 THE REMAINS OF 
 
 LIEUTENANT FRANCIS OUTRAM, 
 
 BOMBAY ENGINEERS. 
 
 A MOST TALENTED AND HONOURABLE MAN. 
 DIED IN THE TWENTY-SEVENTH YEAR OF HIS AGE. 1 
 
 1 Outrim Papers. In point of fact, Francis Outram must have 
 been nearly twenty-eight at the time of his death.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 FROM KHANDESH TO THE MAHI KANTA. 1830-1836 
 
 IN the spring of 1830 the Bhil corps had an opportunity of 
 proving its soldiership in the field; and it did so in a 
 manner which surpassed the expectations even of its 
 warmest friends. Dang was the name given to a strong 
 mountainous and jungly region which lies between Khan- 
 desh and the Surat districts, and was then peopled by a 
 wild, and hitherto unsubdued race of Bhils, who fre- 
 quently raided into British ground. Fully aware of the 
 risks involved in any attempt to invade this wild un- 
 known country, Lieutenant Outram obtained permission 
 to lead a force into the Dang. On April 4 Outram began 
 his march at the head of his own Bhils, two companies of 
 regular sepoys, a squadron of Poona Horse, and a body of 
 Bhil auxiliaries. From the Surat aide a few detachments 
 of native infantry moved forward on the same day to act 
 in concert with the main body. 
 
 " The Dang," writes Mr. Giberne, " was a country 
 altogether unknown. You could look down upon it 
 from the western hills of Khandesh; and of all places|I 
 ever beheld, it appeared the most uninviting generally, 
 it was covered with jungle; its atmosphere was malaria; 
 and the worst of fevers attacked all intruders. The 
 natives, police and others, were always afraid of going 
 near it, and they fancied, I believe, it was inhabited by 
 demons. I remember, on looking down upon it from a 
 lofty hill, it appeared to me as the unexplored portions of 
 the world must have presented themselves to the early 
 navigators." Outram, however, was equal to the occa- 
 sion. He had once told Giberne " that in riding along 
 by himself he always took note of the country around, 
 and worked out in his own mind its capabilities, advan- 
 tages, and disadvantages for attacking an enemy or de- 
 fending it against one." He was, in fact, a born scout, 
 
 27
 
 28 The Bayard of India 
 
 under whose leadership no enterprise, however difficult, 
 could altogether miscarry. 
 
 In less than a month all the rajahs of the Dang were 
 either captured or hemmed in beyond hope of resistance, 
 their followers subdued, and their whole country ex- 
 plored. " You will be happy to learn," writes Outram 
 to Farquharson on May 5, " that we more than exceeded 
 the most sanguine hopes of government by our complete 
 success, though we ourselves were miserably disappointed 
 by such an inglorious expedition: the government is 
 better pleased that the matter has been settled without 
 blows." 
 
 If the matter was settled without bloodshed, it was 
 not to be settled without heavy costs in bodily suffering. 
 The climate, in fact, claimed many more victims than 
 the spears and arrows of the frightened foe. At one time 
 or another almost every man in Outram's force was 
 stricken with jungle fever, except their leader himself, 
 who made a point of wrapping his head and face with 
 fine gauze whenever he lay down to sleep. Of the 
 thirteen officers under his command not one escaped the 
 fever; three or four dying, while the rest had to take 
 sick-leave to Europe, the Cape, or the nearest hill-stations 
 in Southern India. 1 By the last week of May the field- 
 force was broken up, and Outram marched back with his 
 Bhils to their cantonments in Khandesh. It goes with- 
 out saying that he received the heartiest thanks and 
 praises from Malcolm's government for the thoroughness 
 with which he had accomplished the task of no common 
 difficulty and danger. 
 
 In January 1831 Outram writes to his mother: " I 
 have been very unfortunate in my promotion most of 
 my contemporaries have been promoted three or four 
 years upwards of fifty have superseded me. I am, of 
 course, as usual in rude health, and successful in what I 
 undertake no opportunity of anything new in the latter 
 way lately." 
 
 The next opportunity came in the hot weather of that 
 year, when he was directed to inquire into certain gang 
 robberies, and other outrages lately committed in the 
 1 Services, etc.
 
 From Khandesh to the Mahi Kanta 29 
 
 north-eastern districts of Khandesh, and to seize as many 
 as possible of the offenders. In the course of a month, 
 with the aid of less than 50 Bhils and native horse, he 
 carried off 469 suspected persons, of whom 158 were com- 
 mitted for trial. Of these latter all but eight were con- 
 victed and punished so clear was the evidence of their 
 guilt. 
 
 A few months earlier, in March 1831, another shadow 
 had been cast upon Outram's life by the death of his 
 sister, Margaret Farquharson, a little more than two 
 years after her marriage. She had been, as he wrote to 
 her sorrowing husband, " the warmest and most excellent 
 friend " he possessed on earth, and the most affectionate 
 of sisters. 1 A little later in the same year he had learned 
 from Glasgow the death of his uncle, Joseph Outram. 
 " All, all are failing," he writes to Farquharson; " I shall 
 have no relations left to welcome me home, if I ever can 
 return." 
 
 By this time James Outram had begun to find a new 
 vent for his abounding energies, and perhaps a timely 
 solace for private cares, in the shape of letters to the 
 newspapers, and lengthier essays in local magazines. 
 One of the topics on which he wrote most feelingly was 
 the proper treatment of the sepoy, whose white officers 
 were prone to regard him merely as so much clay in the 
 hands of that masterful potter the drill-sergeant. On 
 behalf of the " obedient, warm-hearted, and brave 
 sepoy " he pleaded for a system of kindly treatment, 
 tempered by all needful strictness, in preference to one of 
 " constant worry, dress, and drill, which, I think, pretty 
 generally prevails at present." 
 
 He asserts from his own experience that " instead of 
 drilling twice a-day under a strict disciplinarian who 
 attends to little else, an equal proficiency will be observed 
 in those corps where officers and men are united by regard, 
 though paraded only three times a- week; for in the 
 latter case the men exert themselves, in the former they 
 are but heartlessly obedient." 
 
 He holds that an adjutant should not be allowed to 
 meddle with the internal management of any company 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 30 The Bayard of India 
 
 which he does not himself command. And he proceeds 
 to ask " whether it is necessary or wise to persevere in 
 the flogging system, whether it would not be more 
 politic to permit sepoys to leave the service when they 
 solicit discharge on reasonable grounds, than retain 
 against their will men thus rendered discontented, when 
 there are now such numerous candidates for vacancies, 
 this also causing a considerable saving to government in 
 the way of pensions. Whether by thus rendering the 
 service more popular, and available to persons of family 
 and character, who are now deterred from enlisting by 
 the fear of degradation and difficulty of obtaining dis- 
 charge, this sole support of our power would not be 
 rendered more attached and secure." 
 
 On the love of sport as the best of all training for a true 
 soldier he dilated with honest enthusiasm in another 
 letter bearing the signature of " Rough and Ready." 
 " I have been taught from boyhood the love of sport, and 
 since I came into the military services of India I have had 
 the good fortune to be commanded by officers who con- 
 sidered that the pursuit of sport off duty by no means 
 incapacitated for duty. ... At first I suffered much 
 from the climate, but by a steady perseverance in ex- 
 posure to the sun, rain, and every vicissitude of climate, 
 I am now able to stand anything and everything in the 
 shape of fatigue or exposure. . . . When I first entered 
 the service, a few hours' march in the morning totally 
 unfitted me for every exertion mentally or bodily for the 
 rest of the day. I am now as ready for any duty or 
 pleasure after grilling all day in the sun as I formerly was 
 when I rose from my bed; whereas I find my contem- 
 poraries, who have passed a sedentary or what is called a 
 prudent life, gradually decreasing in energy, and fast 
 approaching a premature old age. Sport sport is the 
 burden of my song. You cannot, Mr. Editor, inculcate 
 too zealously the advantages of the pursuit of sporting to 
 a young soldier. Love of sport makes the man, and love 
 of sport never fails to make the soldier. 
 
 " I am surprised that the qualifications of a sportsman 
 are not insisted on to perfect an officer, and that the 
 superiority of such a man as a soldier to one who is no
 
 From Khandesh to the Mahi Kanta 31 
 
 sportsman, a mollycoddle, is not more frequently ad- 
 vanced, and emulation for sport more encouraged by those 
 who have the welfare of young officers, and the good of the 
 army at heart." x 
 
 In April 1832 Outram had begun to feel a natural 
 craving for fresh achievements in a wider field. "It is 
 now high time," he writes to his mother, " that I should 
 have further scope for exertion, my duties in Khandesh 
 having been entirely executed, and nothing further re- 
 maining for me to do. This most unruly of all our pro- 
 vinces is now enjoying the most profound peace, which 
 can never again be disturbed by the wild Bhil clans all of 
 which are now the most peaceable of our subjects, whose 
 reform cannot retrograde, in consequence of the sure hold 
 we have obtained over them through the attachment of 
 their comrades now enrolled in our service; whilst all the 
 wild clans of the fastnesses beyond our frontier have been 
 subdued by me, and never will dare again to resist their 
 brethren, who are organised in my corps. There is nothing 
 further left for me to do, and no higher can I rise in my 
 present line except in the slow progress of promotion in 
 the army. I am therefore anxious to have an opportunity 
 of acting in a more extended sphere, and in the only line 
 in the Indian services which allows a military officer to 
 display his talents both civil and military. I mean the 
 political" 
 
 There was need, however, for his further presence in 
 Khandesh. In May of the following year Captain Outram 
 he had gained his promotion in the previous October 
 was called upon to quell a dangerous rising among the 
 Bhils in the mountains that enclose the Narbada valley. 
 At the head of a force composed of his own Bhils, a few 
 companies of Bengal sepoys from Mhow, and of Bombay 
 sepoys from Malegaon, he drove the enemy from their 
 mountain fastnesses, chased them across the Narbada, 
 compelled their speedy submission, and captured their 
 chief. So prompt had been his movements, that before 
 the end of June the Bombay Government proclaimed 
 their high sense of " his ability and judgment in concert- 
 ing and of his zeal and activity in executing those 
 1 Outram Papers.
 
 32 The Bayard of India 
 
 measures by which the insurrection has been suppressed, 
 and the neighbouring parts of the province of Khandesh 
 preserved from plunder." l 
 
 In November of that year, 1833, Outram writes again 
 to his mother, begging her to enlist the support of friends 
 at home in his schemes for obtaining political employ- 
 ment in the North- West Provinces, which were about to 
 be placed under the able rulership of Sir Charles Metcalfe. 
 " There is no further honour and advancement to be ob- 
 tained for me here is this confined sphere. . . . There 
 is no opening whatever in this presidency. In the new one, 
 surrounded by independent states, glory and honour alone 
 can be obtained: a man once placed there is sure to rise 
 if he deserves to do so, and could / be so placed I think I 
 would not disappoint your wishes." In India he felt that 
 he could ensure success, " having gained some little dis- 
 tinction and many friends in power therefore get me 
 home patronage, and I will do the rest." 
 
 Mrs. Outram did her best in furtherance of her son's 
 appeal. But for all his avowed admiration of Out- 
 ram's work among the Bhils, Mountstuart Elphinstone 
 felt himself debarred for various reasons from complying 
 with Mrs. Outram's request. " I make no doubt," he 
 writes, " that Sir Charles Metcalfe is already well ac- 
 quainted with Mr. Outram's merits, and he is a great deal 
 more likely to employ him from his own impression of his 
 fitness than in consequence of any recommendation that 
 could be sent from England." 
 
 Outram therefore was fain for some time longer to 
 discharge the ordinary duties of a post that still called 
 for much continuous work. These duties indeed, were 
 neither few nor trivial. Besides the task of maintaining 
 a strong and efficient Bhil corps, he was intrusted with the 
 command of a body of Poona Horse, then stationed in 
 Khandesh. His magisterial duties took up no little of his 
 time ; to his Bhil agency had been added the duties of an 
 agent for the suppression of Thuggi; while his presence 
 was required and his influence exerted not only within 
 the province, but often far beyond its limits. 2 
 
 Meanwhile he found leisure to inveigh through the local 
 1 Services, etc. Ibid.
 
 From Khandesh to the Mahi Kanta 33 
 
 newspapers against some crying defects and abuses in the 
 administration of Bombay. He deplored, for instance, 
 the frequent shifting of civil officers in Khandesh. 
 " Since we took possession of Khandesh in 1819," he 
 writes in 1834, " we have had five different collectors, 
 besides interregnums of acting collectors, giving an average 
 of three years each, which is barely sufficient time to 
 bring them fully acquainted with the nature and resources 
 of the province; and no sooner do their measures for the 
 improvement of the country begin to take effect, and the 
 natives to look up to their collector with confidence and 
 love, then he is removed to a higher collectorate, and the 
 last-made collector is sent to practise new theories which 
 may have been formed from experience in Guzerat and 
 quite inapplicable here, or perhaps to commence his 
 revenue education, having hitherto served solely in the 
 judicial or any other line." 
 
 He was also justly indignant at the hardships endured 
 by hundreds of native witnesses summoned from time to 
 time before the Sadr, or principal judge of Khandesh. 
 On one particular occasion 220 native peasants assembled 
 at Dulia in July 1834. The judge's personal conveni- 
 ence required an adjournment sine die, and the poor men 
 were ordered to reappear by the 2oth of August. Many 
 of them were thus compelled to " travel upwards of 300 
 miles without compensation, and all to leave their homes 
 and their farms at a season when their presence was most 
 required. 
 
 " At Dulia they still remain [September 13] awaiting 
 the convenience of the judge, who has not yet made his 
 appearance, and after whose arrival most will be con- 
 demned to at least a month's further banishment from 
 their families, thus losing the whole season for sowing 
 their crops and providing maintenance for the ensuing 
 year." 1 
 
 Outram's yearning for new fields of active enterprise 
 was at last to be gratified in the following year. Writing 
 from Mandlesar, on the right bank of the Narbada, in 
 March 1835, he tells his mother that he has been travelling 
 for the last six weeks in Malwa and Nimar with his kind 
 1 Outram Papers.
 
 34 The Bayard of India 
 
 friend Mr. Bax, the Resident of Indore. " I wish," he 
 adds, " I had the talent of description to make you ac- 
 quainted with all I have seen of native courts, and admired 
 of Indian scenery during my tour, which has been a 
 remarkably pleasant one." 
 
 A few weeks after his return to Khandesh the govern- 
 ment consulted him on the affairs of the neighbouring 
 province of Guzerat, with special reference to the troubles 
 that seemed impending among the small native chiefships 
 of the Mahi Kanta. After due inquiry and much ponder- 
 ing, Captain Outram drew up a full and weighty report, 
 in which he avowed his firm conviction that peace and 
 order could not be established in the Mahi Kanta until 
 the unruly clans in that region were thoroughly subdued, 
 and their chiefs duly punished for their resistance to 
 British arms. 
 
 The Bombay Government lost no time in acting upon 
 the advice thus given by an officer of Outram's acknow- 
 ledged worth. His official report had been forwarded 
 from Baroda on November 14. A few days later, Sir 
 John Keane, the commander-in-chief at Bombay, offered 
 him the command of the troops then about to assemble 
 for a campaign in the Mahi Kanta. With the same 
 generosity which was to mark his conduct at a more 
 conspicuous stage of his career, he declined an offer which 
 involved a seeming injustice to the claims of Captain 
 Forbes, an officer of much higher standing in the army, 
 who had long been intrusted with the defence of the Mahi 
 Kanta frontier. At the same time, he would gladly 
 render all possible assistance in the task which his senior 
 officer would be the better qualified to carry through. 
 "His be the honour of success," he wrote; "mine be 
 the blame of defeat to measures of which I am the 
 proposer." 
 
 The authorities, however, declined to take James 
 Outram at his own valuing. Sir John Keane warmly 
 complimented him on his readiness to serve under another, 
 but went on to assure him that no question of seniority 
 would be involved in the service for which he was now 
 designed. " His Excellency highly approves of what 
 he understands to be the intention of government
 
 From Khandesh to the Mahi Kanta 35 
 
 namely, to invest you with civil and political powers, 
 which will render you independent of the authority of 
 senior officers; and the military, of whatever rank, must 
 take their directions generally from you. This is accord- 
 ing to precedent and Indian usage." x 
 
 Before the close of September 1835 Outram had held 
 his last parade of the Bhil corps, then mustering 900 
 strong. The command of the regiment, which he had 
 raised in ten years to the highest level of discipline, was 
 handed over to his old friend Captain Douglas Graham, 
 under whom it continued to maintain its former reputa- 
 tion, and became the model on which many other corps 
 have since been organised in India. 2 
 
 To this day Outram's memory is still revered by the 
 children of the men who under his guidance learned to 
 exchange their old lawless freedom for the blessings of 
 peace and order under a civilised rule. 3 
 
 In the last week of November Outram arrived in 
 Bombay after a long and arduous tour of inquiry through- 
 out Guzerat. He had come thither for the twofold 
 purpose of conferring with the governor, Sir Robert 
 Grant, on the policy to be pursued in the Mahi Kanta, 
 and of meeting the lady who was about to become his 
 wife. For some time past he had been engaged to his 
 cousin, Margaret Anderson, daughter of James Anderson, 
 of Bridgend, Brechin, Forfarshire, and the ship that bore 
 her was now daily expected in Bombay. The first meet- 
 ing with his betrothed took place before the middle of 
 December, and on the i8th the two became man and 
 wife. 
 
 After a fortnight of wedded happiness came the longer 
 separation demanded by the call of urgent public duty. 
 Leaving his wife to the care of trusty friends in Bombay, 
 Outram hastened in January 1836 to Ahmadabad, where 
 the assistant commissioner, Arthur Malet, acquainted 
 him with the final orders received from Bombay touching 
 the best mode of dealing with the troubles in Mahi Kanta. 
 
 1 Outram Letters. - Services of Lieut.- Colonel Outram. 
 
 3 " Not many years ago some of his old sepoys happened to light 
 upon an ugly little image. Tracing in it a fancied resemblance to 
 their old commandant, they forthwith set it up and worshipped it 
 as ' Outram Sahib.' " Goldsmid.
 
 36 The Bayard of India 
 
 The tenor of these orders was not exactly to Outram's 
 taste. Sir Robert Grant was a peace-loving doctrinaire, 
 who held that the lenient policy which had answered so 
 well in Kathiawar could be applied with equal success 
 to a tract of country peopled by insurgents of a very 
 different type. Outram, on the other hand, could see 
 the difference between the two cases. He, too, was all 
 in favour of conciliation and redress of grievances at the 
 proper moment; but that moment, he rightly argued, 
 had not yet come. He believed, wrote Sir John Kaye, 
 " that men are never in a better mood to listen to your 
 reason, and to appreciate your kindness, than after you 
 have well beaten them. Demonstrate your power over 
 them, and they will respect your moderation, and appre- 
 ciate your clemency." 1 
 
 Outram protested against the folly of weakening our 
 garrisons along a disturbed frontier at the very moment 
 when more troops might be needed for its pacification. 
 True to the old Virgilian precept, " Parcere subjectis et 
 debellare superbos," he would begin by subduing the 
 proud before proceeding to spare the humbled. After a 
 vain attempt to bring one of the insurgent leaders to 
 reason by means of repeated warnings, he proclaimed 
 Suraj Mall an outlaw, and called upon Captain Forbes to 
 aid him in coercing that contumacious chief. They 
 hunted their enemy from point to point, invaded the 
 mountain fastnesses of his friends, and, in Kaye's words, 
 " made the British bayonets glitter in recesses which 
 were held to be impenetrable by our arms." 
 
 While Grant was shaking his head over his agent's 
 high-handed doings, the vanquished rebel was suing for 
 the mercy which his conqueror could now afford to show. 
 The offers and promises which Suraj Mall had once 
 scorned as a sign of weakness, he now gratefully accepted 
 as proofs of the victor's generosity. His brother chiefs 
 were not slow to profit by the experience of their humbled 
 ally. 2 
 
 Conscious of well deserving, Outram winced under the 
 qualified praise at first accorded him by a government 
 which seemed to value the letter more than the spirit of 
 
 1 Cornhill Magazine, January 1861. * Services, etc.
 
 From Khandesh to the Mahi Kanta 37 
 
 their injunctions. The agent of their choosing had done 
 all that became a man; but why had he ventured of his 
 own authority to make an outlaw of a refractory chief? 
 His manly appeal to Bombay for fairer treatment was 
 seconded by his friend the Commissioner of Guzerat with 
 arguments so convincing that the governor felt constrained 
 to issue an amended despatch, in which Captain Outram 
 received full credit for acting up to the spirit of his in- 
 structions. The government begged to assure Captain 
 Outram that further information induced them to qualify 
 materially their previous opinions regarding the outlawry 
 of Suraj Mall, and they acknowledged the " remarkable " 
 success with which he had won the confidence of his 
 defeated foe. " Still more remarkable," they added, was 
 the impression which his combination of bold and pacific 
 measures had " produced on the minds of the people in 
 general." 1 
 
 Thus within four months from his return to Ahmadabad 
 Outram's mingled tact and energy had wellnigh stamped 
 out the smouldering mischief which Sir R. Grant's rose- 
 water policy would only have worse inflamed. 
 1 Services, etc.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 FROM GUZERAT TO SIND. 1836-1839 
 
 IT was not until May 26, 1836, that Outram found leisure 
 for writing to his mother about the events of the past five 
 months. " Margaret has, doubtless, kept you informed 
 of how I have been employed on very harassing and un- 
 pleasant duties in a new quarter viz., the north-western 
 corner of Guzerat. I am gradually and slowly succeeding 
 in pacifying the country, but I fear tranquillity never will 
 be permanently secured until an example has been made 
 of one or two of the turbulent leaders." Although he 
 felt highly flattered by his selection for the post he now 
 held, he was not exultant over " the change from an 
 agreeable duty to a very arduous and unpleasant one 
 from a climate and country to which I am accustomed, 
 to Guzerat, which I never liked and from old friends 
 and the Bhils, to whom I had become sincerely attached, 
 to^new faces and turbulent and unruly tribes whom it 
 will take much time and trouble to bring into the orderly 
 state of those I have left if ever it can be effected. 
 What reconciles me to the change, however, and inspires 
 me with spirit to persevere, is the hope of being able to 
 effect what hitherto has never been effected the pacifica- 
 tion of this interesting country, and attaching and 
 benefiting the Rajput Bhil and Koli tribes of these hills." 
 His headquarters were now at Edar, the capital of a 
 Rajput state in the Mahi Kanta, which paid a yearly 
 tribute to the Gaikwar of Baroda. Here, in the company 
 of his wife, Outram found some passing relaxation from 
 the duties which often carried him further south. His 
 agency included " innumerable petty chiefs, who, being 
 independent of each other, and of almost any control 
 whatsoever, are of course constantly quarrelling with 
 each other and my duty is chiefly to mediate between 
 38
 
 From Guzerat to Sind 39 
 
 the parties and collect the tribute, which they pay 
 through us to the gaikwar (Prince of Guzerat)." 1 
 
 " I am occupied in my office," he writes again in 
 October, " every day between seven and eight hours, 
 and have little leisure during the rest of the day." In 
 the same letter, written from Harsol, he reports the birth 
 of a son now Sir Francis Outram, Bart. on September 
 23, followed by the dangerous illness of his wife. " She 
 has, however, been gradually recovering, and is to-day 
 [October 2] pronounced out of danger. As soon as she is 
 perfectly strong we shall move to our residence at Sadra 
 (twenty-four miles from hence), which is much healthier 
 and more commodious." 
 
 They passed the cold season of 1836-37 at the Sadra 
 residence, where Outram was " obliged to slave every 
 day till dusk, not excepting Sundays even. I am suc- 
 ceeding in my task, however, and gaining honour and 
 inward satisfaction, which is better." 2 Mrs. Outram 
 regained strength so slowly that the doctors ordered her 
 to spend the hot season in the hills. 
 
 After many weeks spent in official tours, or in aiding 
 our ally the gaikwar to chastise a rebellious vassal, 
 Outram rejoined his ailing wife at Poona during the 
 monsoon rains of 1837. But his hopes of carrying her 
 back with him ere long to Sadra were dashed by inexor- 
 able fate, which, in the guise of a strong medical certificate, 
 decreed her immediate return to Europe, in search of the 
 health denied her by the relaxing climate of Western 
 India. At Bombay he parted from his wife and child 
 on board the ship which was to bear them out of the 
 noble harbour towards the home he had longed so often 
 of late to revisit. 
 
 His success in dealing with the rebellious vassal afore 
 said had once more brought Captain Outram into collision 
 with the Government of Bombay. In March 1837, Partab 
 Singh, the turbulent Rajah of Aglur, was in open revolt 
 against his liege lord the Gaikwar of Baroda; the gaik- 
 war's general had applied to the political agent for the 
 loan of British troops to aid him in subduing so powerful 
 
 1 Outram Letters. 
 1 Letter of January i, 1837, to his mother.
 
 40 The Bayard of India 
 
 a foe. Outram was willing to lend the troops, but 
 declined to place them under the orders of a native 
 commandant. Armed with the implicit sanction of Mr. 
 Williams, the political commissioner, Outram arranged 
 with the head of the gaikwar's army to make a combined 
 attack on the rebel stronghold of Ransipur on the Sabar- 
 mati river. After a stout resistance the place was carried 
 by assault; many of its defenders were slain, their leaders 
 captured, and the Mahi Kanta was saved betimes from 
 the danger which had seemed to threaten it. 1 
 
 Outram's services on this occasion evoked from the 
 Bombay Government some words of praise for his great 
 military talents, coupled with many sentences strongly 
 condemning the policy which had led to their display. 
 It was very wrong of him, they declared, to aid our ally 
 in coercing his subjects before obtaining some guarantee 
 that their grievances would be investigated or redressed. 
 In his zeal for peace at any price Sir Robert Grant made 
 small allowance for the difficulties which beset an officer 
 intrusted with the task of maintaining the peace of 
 " an imperfectly tranquillised and highly inflammable 
 country"; a peace, moreover, which had just been 
 seriously endangered by the arts of insurgent emissaries 
 bent on gathering recruits to their cause from among 
 their fellow-tribesmen across the border. 
 
 So strongly, indeed, had the governor written to the 
 Court of Directors against his agent's violent and warlike 
 tendencies, that the court were at first impelled to prohibit 
 the further employment of Captain Outram in the Mahi 
 Kanta, " under the belief that his longer presence would 
 keep alive feelings of mutual distrust and animosity 
 amongst the parties concerned in these unfortunate 
 transactions." 
 
 On receipt, however, of ampler information from India, 
 the directors not only withdrew their prohibition, but 
 acknowledged that no feelings of mutual distrust and 
 animosity had been aroused " even while the transactions 
 were recent"; and that the reports of the government 
 contained satisfactory evidence " of the great confidence 
 reposed in Captain Outram by all classes in the Mahi 
 1 Services, etc.
 
 From Guzerat to Sind 41 
 
 Kanta, and of the general feeling of respect which, through 
 his exertions, is now entertained in that country for the 
 British Government." They went on to declare in effect 
 that Sir Robert Grant's excessive leniency had at first 
 created a false impression, the speedy removal of which 
 was " honourable in the highest degree to Captain Out- 
 ram's talents and energy; nor do we doubt that it could 
 only have been effected (as he states) by most arduous 
 personal exertions on his own part, and on that of his 
 able assistant, Lieutenant Wallace." : 
 
 How thoroughly Outram had succeeded in accomplish- 
 ing a task of rare difficulty was proved by the fact that 
 in June 1838 he found himself able to dispense with the 
 services of the troops employed in pacifying the Mahi 
 Kanta. A change so marvellous in the character and 
 habits of a whole province had been brought about, as 
 the Court of Directors subsequently declared, " without 
 taking a single life except in the field or depriving a 
 single person of his estate." 
 
 Nor were the healing effects of Outram's firm yet 
 lenient policy confined to the province of which he had 
 special charge. In March 1839, Mr. Giberne, as Acting 
 Judicial Commissioner for Guzerat, reported to his govern- 
 ment " the highly satisfactory and surprisingly tranquil " 
 state of affairs in the Ahmadabad districts during the past 
 year. This happy result he ascribed not to any improve- 
 ment in the local police, but " to the excellent arrange- 
 ments and judicious proceedings of Captain Outram, 
 Political Agent in the Mahi Kanta." 2 
 
 After parting from his wife and child in the manner 
 already shown, Outram had returned to his daily grind 
 at Sadra, where he employed his leisure moments in the 
 business of repairing the damage wrought upon his 
 bungalow by the recent rains. By this time, the close 
 of 1837, his stated devotion alike to official and domestic 
 duties had effected a curious transformation in his habits 
 and appearance. " Physical exertion," says Sir F. 
 Goldsmid, " was in a great measure abandoned. He 
 detested ' constitutionals ' in any shape, and soon fell 
 into the mistake of avoiding exercise if he could possibly 
 1 Services, etc. * Outram Testimonials.
 
 42 The Bayard of India 
 
 manage it. The early morning, like every period of the 
 day, was devoted to desk-work. At Harsol he would 
 walk beside his wife's tonjon in the evening ; but at Sadra 
 he often passed the walking hour in inspecting the work- 
 men carrying out proposed improvements in the house, 
 an expensive amusement to which he was everywhere 
 prone. He had begun to grow quite stout before leaving 
 the Mahi Kanta." At Harsol he had sometimes gone 
 after hog ; but at Sadra there seems to have been no sport 
 to tempt him. Small game he had always held in such 
 contempt that he had long since made a vow, which he 
 faithfully kept, never to fire anything but ball. During 
 the summer of 1837 he is said to have slain his last tiger, 
 a man-eater, in the Kaira jungles, where such game was 
 still to be found. 1 
 
 Writing to his mother in June 1838, Outram tells her 
 that his anxiety on her account has decided him to go 
 home on furlough in 1840; " by which time I shall have 
 completed my labours here in such a manner as to ensure 
 being reinstated in the political line when I return to 
 India." But events were happening in India and Afghani- 
 stan which delayed for some years the fulfilment of his 
 long-cherished hopes, and called for his services on another 
 and more exciting scene. Lord Auckland, the new 
 governor-general, was drifting, for high political reasons, 
 into an unprovoked war with Dost Muhammad, the able 
 ruler of Afghanistan. Espousing the cause of Dost 
 Muhammad's supplanted rival, Shah Shuja, the exiled 
 pensioner of Ludiana, he issued orders on October i, 1838, 
 for assembling British troops at Bombay and Ferozepore 
 for a march across the Indus upon Kandahar and Kabul. 
 As a matter of course, Outram volunteered to rejoin his 
 regiment, which had been ordered on active service. 
 
 The offer was accepted so far as concerned his employ- 
 ment in the field. But neither Lord Auckland nor the 
 Governor of Bombay would hear of remitting an officer 
 of Outram's merits to the routine of regimental duty. 
 He himself would have been delighted, as he tells the 
 governor's private secretary, "to be attached to the 
 cavalry brigade simply as a volunteer, or in any capacity." 
 
 1 Goldsmid. * Letter of October 14, 1838, to Major Felix.
 
 From Guzerat to Sind 43 
 
 Better things, however, were reserved for an officer whose 
 deserts had won him many friends in high places. On 
 November 21 Outram sends his mother a " very hasty 
 line just to tell you that I sail to-day with Sir John Keane, 
 on his personal staff, with the Bombay army, destined for 
 Sind. ... Sir John kindly relieved me from regimental 
 duty by constituting me an extra A.D.C. I still, how- 
 ever, retain my appointment of political agent, which 
 gives me half my civil allowances." The campaign, 
 he fondly imagined, would be over in six months, and then 
 he would certainly prepare to return home. 
 
 The great fleet of transports, guarded by the warships 
 of the old Indian navy, carried Sir John Keane and the 
 Bombay column of the Army of the Indus to the shores 
 of Sind, where the British agent, Colonel (afterwards Sir) 
 Henry Pottinger, was still bargaining with the amirs, or 
 rulers of the country, for the free passage of our troops 
 across their land toward the mountain-passes leading into 
 Southern Afghanistan. On landing near Vikkar, the 
 troops found nothing ready for supplying even their im- 
 mediate needs. It appeared to Keane as if he had landed 
 in an enemy's country. The boatmen and camel-owners 
 near the coast would have no dealings with him, while 
 the amirs and their Biluchi soldiery were gathering for 
 the defence of Haidarabad, the southern capital of Sind. 
 Outram at once set off in a schooner to Mandavi in quest 
 of aid from the friendly Rao of Cutch. A few days spent 
 in travelling to and fro and interviewing all kinds of 
 people enabled him to procure a large supply of boats, 
 forage, cattle, sheep, and baggage-animals for the army 
 encamped at Vikkar. 1 
 
 On December 7, Outram landed at Karachi, about a 
 hundred miles westward of the British camp. " I went 
 on shore," he says, " in a native boat, without servants or 
 baggage of any kind, having sent back the Constance to 
 the Hujamri, determining myself to go overland to camp, 
 and hoping to excite confidence by displaying it in thus 
 going totally unattended, my object being ostensibly 
 merely to look after camels, but in reality also to feel the 
 
 1 Outram's Rough Notes of the Campaign, 1^3^-39. Richardson. 
 London.
 
 44 The Bayard of India 
 
 temper of the natives, and to endeavour to ascertain the 
 actual intentions of their rulers." x Three days of rapid 
 travelling across a country dotted with ruined cities and 
 tamarisk-jungles brought him back to Vikkar, whither 
 several hundred camels were soon to follow him from 
 Karachi and Ghari Kot. 
 
 Thanks mainly to Captain Outram's resourceful 
 energy, 2 Keane began his forward march up the left bank 
 of the Indus on December 24, 1838. On the 28th his 
 camp was pitched beside the once populous town of 
 Thatta, whose trade had been nearly ruined by the mis- 
 government of the amirs. A long halt at this place, 
 pending the progress of events elsewhere, was followed 
 on January 23, 1839, by Keane's advance towards 
 Haidarabad. Two more marches brought him to Jerak, 
 about twenty miles from the capital of Lower Sind. 3 
 
 Meanwhile British diplomacy, backed by an imposing 
 array of guns and bayonets, was hourly tightening its 
 coils around the writhing Laocoons of Sind. About the 
 middle of January Captain Outram and Lieutenant East- 
 wick were steaming up the Indus to Haidarabad, charged 
 with orders from Pottinger and Keane to obtain a final 
 answer from the amirs to Lord Auckland's imperious 
 demands. On the 2oth our two envoys and their escort 
 of sixty men encamped within three miles of the capital. 
 At 4 P.M. of the 22nd, Outram and Eastwick were ad- 
 mitted to an audience with the leading amirs, who after 
 a brief discussion of the obnoxious treaty dismissed the 
 envoys, in Outram's own words, " with every assurance 
 that ' the will of the British Government was law to that 
 of Sind/ but that a definite answer could not be given 
 until next day." 4 
 
 1 Outram's Rough Notes. 
 
 * " To him chiefly, if not entirely, was it to be attributed that on 
 the aand (December) it was reported that a sufficient number of 
 camels had been collected; and orders were given for the army to 
 advance, in two divisions." Narrative of the Campaign of the Army 
 of the Indus in Sind and Kabul in 1838. By Richard Hartley 
 Kennedy, M.D. Bentley, 1840. " Keane made his way up the 
 Indus valley, the transport service and the supply of a sufficiency 
 of camels presenting almost insuperable difficulties, surmounted 
 chiefly by the energy of Outram." The Life of General John Jacob. 
 By A. I. Shand. Seeley & Co. London. 1900. 
 
 The First Afghan War. By Major-General Durand. 
 4 Outram's Rough Notes.
 
 From Guzerat to Sind 45 
 
 On the morning of the 24th the envoys received through 
 their native agent an answer so ambiguous that, in view of 
 the hostile attitude of the amirs' soldiery, they broke up 
 their little camp and returned down the Indus to Jerak. 
 Their time, however, had not been altogether wasted, for 
 Outram had made a careful survey, not only of the town 
 and fort of Haidarabad, but of the hilly ranges lying to 
 the westward. 
 
 On February 3, Keane marched eleven miles nearer 
 Haidarabad, encamping on the ground which Outram 
 had reconnoitred a week before. By that time the 
 amirs, thoroughly frightened and despairing of help from 
 without, had agreed to accept the treaty as it stood, lest 
 a worse thing should befall them. When Keane's army 
 on February 4 halted at Kotri, on the right bank of the 
 Indus opposite Haidarabad, it was known in camp that 
 the treaty had actually been signed, and orders issued 
 for the dispersion of the Sindian army. Two days later 
 Outram accompanied the chief engineer and several 
 other scientific officers for the purpose of inspecting the 
 city, fort, and environs of Haidarabad. It is worth 
 noting that the results of their visit entirely confirmed 
 the accuracy of the plans sketched by Outram during 
 his previous mission to the amirs. 1 
 
 1 Outram's Rough Notes. Goldsmid.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 WITH THE ARMY OF THE INDUS. FEBRUARY- 
 AUGUST 1839 
 
 ON February 10, Sir John Keane resumed his march 
 northwards upon Shikarpur, about twenty miles north- 
 westward of Sakhar. A few days later the Bengal 
 column of the Army of the Indus, commanded by Sir 
 Willoughby Cotton, was making its way from Rohri, by 
 a bridge of boats which our engineers had thrown across 
 the swift-flowing Indus, to Sakhar on the opposite bank. 
 By February 20 the whole of Cotton's army was en- 
 camped at Shikarpur, awaiting further orders from Sir 
 John Keane, and fresh supplies of food and camels, before 
 plunging into the arid wastes that stretched away west- 
 ward to the foot of the bare Biluchi Hills. 
 
 On the last day of February the Bombay column came 
 to a halt about thirty miles to the south of Larkhana. 
 So many camels had perished on the way up from Kotri 
 that fresh supplies were imperatively needed for the final 
 advance across the Sind desert. At that time our Afghan 
 puppet, Shah Shuja, was still encamped among his own 
 levies at Shikarpur, in company with the British envoys 
 Macnaghten and Burnes. It was Keane's earnest desire 
 to secure for his own use a large number of the camels 
 attached to the shah's contingent. In order to effect his 
 purpose he looked about for some officer on whose zeal, 
 tact, and suasive influence he could thoroughly depend; 
 and the choice fell upon Captain Outram. 
 
 By the evening of March i, Outram had traversed on 
 camel-back the ninety miles that lay between Sir John 
 Keane's camp and Shikarpur. On the same evening he 
 " found Mr. Macnaghten at table with his assistants, 
 Major Todd and Captain M'Gregor, and was received 
 with much cordiality by the envoy, to whom I communi- 
 46
 
 With the Army of the Indus 47 
 
 cated the object of my journey." l On the evening of the 
 2nd he was riding in company with Macnaghten and 
 Major Todd beside the shah's litter. His majesty, an 
 elderly person of mild manners, was known to be a great 
 stickler for etiquette, and all the British officers had to 
 approach and leave him with the utmost ceremony. 
 Outram, however, found him " very affable " during the 
 few minutes that they conversed together, and he was 
 . able to assure his chief that Macnaghten would furnish 
 him with twice as many camels as those which Keane had 
 offered for the shah's own use. 
 
 On the following day Outram learns that Sir Willoughby 
 Cotton, who had led a portion of his troops a week earlier 
 from Shikarpur towards the Bolan Pass, " gives a most 
 deplorable account of the scarcity of water and forage on 
 this route, which is so great that only one squadron of 
 cavalry, or one wing of infantry, can advance at a time: 
 many days will consequently be occupied in the passage 
 of his troops. His artillery park and the 2nd infantry 
 brigade had not yet left Shikarpur, nor were they likely 
 to do so in less than a week." Before noon of March 4 
 Outram rejoined his chief at Larkhana, whence he wrote 
 to Macnaghten " thanking him for an offer, conveyed 
 through Sir John Keane, which had passed me on the 
 road, to attach me to his mission, but respectfully declin- 
 ing the favour, as I am unwilling to leave the army whilst 
 a prospect of service remains." x 
 
 Hardly had one of the lions in Keane's path been 
 happily disposed of when another rose up from between 
 his very feet. The Cutch camel-drivers refused to advance 
 a step farther, and Outram was deputed to quell the 
 mutiny. When all other means of bringing them to 
 reason had been tried in vain, " I was under the necessity," 
 he writes, " of tying up one and giving him two dozen 
 lashes: a second succeeded, and a third, who got four 
 dozen, he having been observed checking the rest when 
 they began to show symptoms of giving in." This, he 
 adds, " had the desired effect; they promised obedience 
 in future, and took out the camels to graze." When 
 some of their jemadars had given the requisite pledges 
 1 Rough Notes.
 
 48 The Bayard of India 
 
 for their future good behaviour, the mutineers, who 
 numbered more than 2000, were allowed to return to their 
 duty. 
 
 During Keane's advance westward across Sind, Outram 
 was continually engaged in carrying messages between 
 Macnaghten and Sir John Keane. On the morning of 
 March 21 he was riding out to meet his chief when his 
 horse, in making a sudden turn, " fell flat on his side, with 
 me below him, the result being that the bone of the pelvis, 
 above the hip- joint, was fractured, in consequence of 
 coming into violent contact with the hilt of my sword." 
 Borne along each day in his dhooly, he accompanied the 
 column thenceforth commanded by General Wiltshire, 
 while Keane himself was pushing on ahead with a few 
 troops to overtake the Bengal force somewhere beyond 
 the steep stony windings of the Bolan Pass. 
 
 It was more than a month after his mishap before 
 Outram was well enough to mount a horse again. He 
 himself tells how on the morning of April 25 he rode, for 
 the first time, three miles to the mouth of the Khojak Pass. 
 On the same evening he rode on again with Major Todd 
 the greater part of the twenty-four miles which led from 
 the northern end of the pass to the fort of Fatulla, where 
 he left his dhooly altogether. 1 
 
 Still riding on ahead of the column, Outram on the 29th 
 rejoined Sir John Keane at breakfast, " in a delightful 
 garden, a few hundred yards from the walls of Kandahar, 
 with the different camps scattered around in various 
 directions." On May 4 Willshire's column marched into 
 camp outside the city, which Shah Shuja had entered 
 peaceably a few days before. Four days later a grand 
 review of the whole army was held outside the city, in 
 honour of the royal exile whom British bayonets had 
 brought back in triumph to his western capital. As the 
 shah mounted the raised platform whence he and his 
 retainers were to witness the review, the long line of 
 troops presented arms, and the batteries thundered a 
 salute of a hundred-and-one guns. 
 
 One thing only was wanting to the full success of 
 that morning's pageant. The expected crowd of loyal 
 1 Rough Notes.
 
 With the Army of the Indus 49 
 
 citizens numbered barely fourscore, nor did a single 
 Afghan of any mark come out from the city to aid in 
 acclaiming the rightful heir to the throne of his famous 
 forefather, Ahmad Shah. 
 
 By this time both divisions of Keane's army were in sore 
 need of rest after the hardships, toils, losses, and low 
 rations of the past month. Not until June 27, 1839, 
 while Ranjit Singh lay dying at Lahore, did Keane begin 
 his march of 230 miles from Kandahar to Ghazni, leaving 
 behind him a sufficient garrison, and the heavy guns 
 which he had brought on with so much difficulty through 
 the Bolan and Khojak passes. The whole force was still 
 on reduced rations for want of carriage; and bodies of 
 Ghilzai horsemen hovered about their flanks, ready for 
 plunder, but seldom venturing to attack. 
 
 The line of march lay through open country rising 
 gradually towards Khelat-i-Ghilzai, and higher still in 
 the neighbourhood of Ghazni. On July 21 the whole 
 army, including the shah's contingent, halted within 
 sight of the famous stronghold, whence the terrible 
 Mahmud had sallied forth eight centuries earlier, to 
 harry the people and subdue the princes of Northern 
 India. The place was then garrisoned by a few thousand 
 Afghans under the command of Prince Haidar, a son of 
 Dost Muhammad. For want of the siege-guns Keane 
 had left at Kandahar, he resolved to carry Ghazni by storm 
 as soon as his engineers had blown in the Kabul gate. 
 Meanwhile, about noon of the 22nd, the hills to the south- 
 ward of his camp were crowned by masses of horse and 
 foot, who seemed preparing to swoop down upon the 
 shah's camp, which lay just below them. As the enemy 
 moved downwards they were promptly met and driven 
 backwards by the shah's horse under Captain Peter 
 Nicholson, leaving a few dead and one of their standards 
 on the field. 
 
 Just before this repulse Outram had galloped out to 
 see what was going on. Finding no European officer on 
 the spot, " I prevailed," he says, " on a body of the shah's 
 horse to follow me round the hills in the enemy's rear, 
 where I stationed them so as to cut off their retreat." 
 On his way back to the front Outram came upon a body 
 
 D
 
 50 The Bayard of India 
 
 of the shah's infantry and matchlock-men under a 
 European officer. " I suggested to him," he says, " the 
 propriety of an immediate attempt to force the enemy 
 from the heights, in the direction where I had just 
 stationed the cavalry. He expressed his readiness to act 
 under my orders; and, relinquishing to me the charge of 
 his detachment, which was composed of pickets from 
 different corps hastily assembled, we ascended the hill 
 together. The matchlock-men behaved with great 
 gallantry, advancing steadily under a galling fire, and 
 availing themselves of every rock and stone as fast as the 
 enemy were dislodged. They were followed by the 
 sepoys in close order, who occupied every favourable 
 undulation of ground, and were thus prepared to meet 
 any sudden rush that might be made on the part of the 
 enemy." 
 
 On the loftiest peak floated the sacred banner of green 
 and white, which summoned Musalman zealots to a jihad, 
 or holy war, against the infidel. " Towards this object," 
 says Outram, " we made our way, ascending a very pre- 
 cipitous acclivity under a smart fire, from which we were 
 sheltered by the rocks, until, on our arriving within fifty 
 paces of the enemy, a fortunate shot brought down the 
 standard-bearer. The whole of our party then rushing 
 up with a general cheer, the banner was seized, whilst 
 the enemy, panic-stricken at this proof of the fallacy of 
 their belief, fled with precipitation to a second hill, 
 whither I deemed it useless to follow them, both because 
 our men were already much exhausted from thirst and 
 fatigue, and because the range, instead of terminating, as 
 I had conjectured, at this point, in which case the fugitives 
 might easily have been driven into the plain, proved to 
 be a succession of steep hills, among which it was not 
 practicable for cavalry to act." l 
 
 In this brilliant affair the enemy lost between thirty and 
 forty killed or wounded, besides fifty prisoners taken by 
 the shah's cavalry. The total loss on our side did not 
 exceed twenty. 
 
 Before dawn of the 23rd the powder-bags had been 
 duly laid at the foot of the Kabul gate. In another 
 1 Rough Notes.
 
 With the Army of the Indus 5 i 
 
 moment came the explosion, which burst the gate open. 
 The storming columns did their duty, and in less than an 
 hour the fight was over and the whole fortress had fallen 
 into our hands. The loss of the victors had been, in 
 Outram's words, " surprisingly small," considering the 
 stand made by the enemy in various quarters a stand 
 which cost them more than 600 in slain alone. Sixteen 
 hundred prisoners, including the governor, Haidar Khan 
 himself, fell into our hands. 
 
 It remains only to say that Captain Outram's services 
 on that eventful morning were such as became the 
 smartest and most active officer on Keane's personal 
 staff. He was the first to acquaint his chief with the 
 successful storming of the Kabul gate. A little later his 
 timely appearance outside the eastern wall of Ghazni 
 thwarted the enemy's attempts to break away in that 
 direction. 1 
 
 With the fall of Ghazni fell Dost Muhammad's last 
 hopes of saving his northern capital. Before Keane, on 
 July 30, began his final march of ninety miles towards 
 Kabul, the disheartened amir, with his son Akbar and 
 a small band of faithful followers, was making his way 
 towards the wilds of the Hindu Kush. Four days later 
 the news of his flight had reached the British camp. It 
 seemed to Macnaghten and Shah Shuja that there could 
 be no peace in Afghanistan so long as the foe they most 
 dreaded remained at large. The flying amir must be 
 hunted down promptly at whatever cost. Two hundred 
 and twenty-five picked horsemen, led by the dashing 
 James Outram, with the aid of ten other British officers, 
 were sent off at once in hot chase of their noble quarry. 
 With them also marched 500 Afghan Horse commanded 
 by Hajji Khan Khakar, who had undertaken to act as 
 guide. This man had been one of the first to desert the 
 amir and pay homage to Shah Shuja at Kandahar. 
 The shah had rewarded the traitor with a rich jaghir and 
 a post of honour in the state. 2 
 
 The story of that keen but futile chase has been well 
 
 1 Rough Notes. 
 
 2 Kaye's War in Afghanistan. Sir G. Lawrence's Forty Years' 
 Service in India.
 
 52 The Bayard of India 
 
 told by Sir George Lawrence, who took an active part 
 therein at the head of fifty of his own troopers. Outram's 
 force set off in the lightest marching order on the evening 
 of August 3. Three days later two more officers with a 
 few score men joined in the chase. For six days and 
 nights, with short intervals of rest, and food of the 
 scantiest and plainest kind, the hunters rode on over 
 rough and hilly ground, past scattered villages, up the 
 steep pass that led over the Hindu Kush, as far as the 
 town of Bamian, turning always a deaf ear to the excuses 
 repeatedly urged by their treacherous guide for delaying 
 or abandoning a dangerous and fruitless errand. 
 
 Many of Outram's Afghan horsemen were badly 
 mounted, and most of them kept lagging behind in 
 quest of plunder. " We have to obey our orders," was 
 Outram's answer to all Hajji's remonstrances, " and if 
 your men fail us at the critical moment, you will have 
 to answer to Shah Shuja with your life." At Bamian 
 Outram learned that the fugitive amir, with his son 
 Akbar and 2000 horsemen, had fled beyond Saigan, and 
 found asylum with the Wali, or Governor, of Kulum 
 across the Balkh frontier. Seeing that further pursuit 
 was hopeless, Outram halted for three days at Bamian 
 to rest and recruit his tired party before turning his face 
 towards Kabul, where Keane's army was already en- 
 camped, jj; 
 
 Meanwhile his letters to Macnaghten report the final 
 escape of Dost Muhammad across the frontier, and 
 recount the series of tricks played upon himself by a 
 manifest traitor in order to ensure the failure of an 
 enterprise which would else have proved a complete 
 success. " The conduct of Hajji Khan," he declares, 
 "if not criminal, has been most blamable throughout; 
 his backwardness having favoured the escape of the Amir 
 Dost Muhammad Khan, whose capture was inevitable 
 had the khan pushed on, as he might have done, as I 
 repeatedly urged him to do, and as his troops were 
 perfectly capable of doing." 
 
 He concludes by affirming that " the whole of the 
 proceedings of Nussir-ud-Daula [the Hajji's official title] 
 have thus displayed either the grossest cowardice or the
 
 With the Army of the Indus 53 
 
 deepest treachery; and I have now performed my duty 
 in making them known to you." x 
 
 On August 12 Ou tram's party set out from Bamian, 
 and arrived at Kabul on the xyth. " Our arrival," says 
 Lawrence, " was hailed with much satisfaction as well as 
 surprise, as a horseman had come into camp and reported 
 that he had witnessed our total destruction. Of course 
 we had to bear the usual fate of the unsuccessful friends 
 kindly remarking, ' what madmen we were to go on such 
 a wild-goose chase; what other result could have been 
 expected? we were only too lucky to return with our 
 heads on our shoulders/ etc.; Sir John Keane winding 
 up the chorus by saying, ' he had not supposed there were 
 thirteen such asses in his whole force ! ' Indeed I enter- 
 tained some such thoughts myself as to the rash character 
 of our expedition ; but still, as a soldier, I could not have 
 shrunk from undertaking what my superiors deemed was 
 within the verge of possibility. Besides, I think that had 
 we been accompanied by a stronger body of our own 
 troops, and no Afghans, with only trustworthy guides, 
 we should have succeeded in our enterprise." 2 
 
 Outram at once reported to Shah Shuja the apparent 
 treachery of Hajji Khan. The old traitor was promptly 
 arrested by the shah's command. Clear proofs of his 
 treasonable practices were soon forthcoming, and the 
 villainous Hajji was presently marched off a close prisoner 
 to Hindustan. In due time he was safely lodged in the 
 riverside fortress of Chunar. 
 
 Meanwhile on August 7, 1839, Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk, 
 glittering with jewels and mounted on a white charger, 
 had been escorted in triumph by British officers and 
 troops through the streets of Kabul into the castled 
 palace of the Bala Hissar. No outburst of popular 
 welcome hailed the shah's return to his capital after an 
 absence of thirty years. Of those who came out to stare 
 at the passing pageant, very few were seen to offer him 
 a common salaam. " It was more," says Kaye, " like a 
 funeral procession than the entry of the king into the 
 capital of his restored dominions." 
 
 1 Rough Notes. 
 * Lawrence's Forty-Three Years' Service.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 MAINLY AMONG THE GHILZAIS AND BILUCHIS. 
 AUGUST-DECEMBER 1839 
 
 NOT many weeks after the escape of Dost Muhammad 
 Captain Outram was leading an armed force on a more 
 successful errand than that which had carried him across 
 the Hindu Kush. " On August 21," he writes, " I was 
 temporarily placed at the disposal of the envoy and 
 minister with his majesty Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk, for the 
 purpose of conducting an expedition into certain dis- 
 turbed districts lying between Kabul and Kandahar, in 
 order to tranquillise the disaffected Ghilzai tribes, none 
 of whom had yet submitted to the king." He accepted 
 Macnaghten's offer of political employment only on the 
 understanding that he should be free to take part in any 
 further fighting that events might call for. 
 
 He was instructed to depose, and if possible to arrest, 
 four refractory Ghilzai chiefs, and to establish the newly 
 appointed Ghilzai governors; to punish the people of 
 Maruf for their wanton destruction of a peaceful caravan; 
 to reduce, if needful, the forts of Hajji Khan Khakar; 
 and lastly, to hunt down and punish all concerned in the 
 cold-blooded murder of Colonel Herring. 1 The troops 
 assigned him for this purpose comprised a wing of the 
 shah's ist Cavalry, a squadron of Skinner's Horse, 500 
 Afghan Horse, Captain Abbot's nine-pounder battery, 
 and Captain Anderson's troop of Horse Artillery. A 
 wing of the i6th Bengal Infantry was to join him later 
 from Ghazni, and a regiment of the shah's infantry from 
 Kandahar. 
 
 On September 7, Outram set out from Kabul on an 
 enterprise which demanded skill, energy, and endurance 
 
 1 " This officer, with his regiment, was escorting treasure from 
 Kandahar, and was barbarously butchered when strolling unarmed 
 to a small distance from his camp." Durand. 
 
 54
 
 Among the Ghilzais and Biluchis 55 
 
 of the highest order. The delays and difficulties which 
 he had to encounter on his march northwards were not 
 few. On the i2th his men toiled painfully over the 
 Kharwar Pass, the ascent of which is described by Outram 
 as " extremely steep and difficult, and infinitely worse 
 than the Khojak." It was not until the i4th that the 
 500 Afghan horsemen, whom Macnaghten had promised 
 to send on by hook or by crook, made their tardy appear- 
 ance in Outram's camp. Still pressing forwards, he was 
 joined on the i8th by a wing of the i6th Bengal Native 
 Infantry under Major M'Laren. Two days later Outram 
 learned that the detachment which he had left behind 
 at Kharwar had arrested Bakshi Khan, a chief of the 
 robber tribe concerned in the murder of Colonel Herring. 
 
 On the 2ist Outram made a night-march in order to 
 surprise a body of these Kanjak banditti in one of their 
 mountain fastnesses. Arriving by daybreak at a deep 
 dell occupied by the gang, he disposed his troops so 
 skilfully that the enemy, hemmed in on all sides, were 
 compelled after a fierce and stubborn resistance to throw 
 down their arms. Sixteen of the more desperate had 
 been slain, and 112, including several women who had 
 shared in the fighting, were taken prisoners. Not a soul 
 among them had been permitted to escape. Forty-six 
 of the most ferocious were forthwith sent off to Kabul, 
 where they were promptly executed in the presence of 
 our troops. 
 
 How much of this success, won by our side with very 
 trifling loss, was due to Outram's quick eye and ready 
 daring may be gathered from his own account of the 
 affair: "The ground being very broken and difficult, 
 most of the enemy had found time to ascend a precipitous 
 hill, along the ridge of which they must have escaped had 
 I not fortunately been mounted on an exceedingly active 
 horse, and thus been enabled to gallop ahead and deter 
 them from advancing until the cavalry came up. Find- 
 ing themselves completely surrounded, they defended 
 themselves most stoutly, and maintained their position 
 until their ammunition was nearly all expended, when on 
 a general rush being made from every quarter at once, 
 Uiey were induced to throw down their arms."
 
 56 The Bayard of India 
 
 Outram accomplished the remainder of his errand with 
 equal celerity and success. By October 8 the strong fort 
 of Killa-i-Murgha, whose garrison in the darkness had 
 cut their way out, was entirely demolished by Outram's 
 sappers. Nine days later he contrived to capture two 
 Barakzai chiefs with all their followers, who had been 
 concerned in the plunder and ill-treatment of the Hindu- 
 stani caravan. The Barakzai stronghold at Maruf, which 
 had been abandoned a few days before on the approach 
 of Willshire's Bombay column, was destroyed by Outram's 
 orders on the i8th. " To my astonishment," he writes, 
 " it proved to be the strongest fortress that we had yet 
 seen in the country, . . . which might have held out 
 successfully against all the materiel with which the Bom- 
 bay Division is provided." x The destruction of a large 
 fort belonging to Hajji Khan Khakar on October 29 
 relieved the surrounding villages from all fear of further 
 depredations, and brought Outram's mission to a success- 
 ful close. Rejoining the Bombay column, he arrived at 
 Quetta on the last day of October 1839. 
 
 Outside Afghanistan one more task remained to accom- 
 plish before the Bombay column could resume its home- 
 ward march. During his halt at Quetta, Willshire had 
 been ordered to march southwards against Khelat, the 
 capital of Biluchistan, for the purpose of punishing the 
 ruler of that country, Mihrab Khan, whom Burnes had 
 charged with divers acts of enmity and bad faith in breach 
 of his treaty with the Indian Government. In vain had 
 the khan pleaded his utter impotence to restrain Biluchi 
 robbers from plundering our baggage, and to furnish the 
 promised supplies from a country on the brink of famine. 
 No mercy was to be shown to the prince who had given 
 Shah Shuja a kindly welcome during his flight in 1834 
 from Kandahar. 
 
 Leaving his cavalry, with most of his guns and some 
 native infantry, to march off through the Bolan Pass, 
 General Willshire led the rest of his troops from Quetta 
 on November 4 towards Khelat. On November 13 
 Khelat was carried by storm after a desperate struggle, 
 
 1 Rough Notes.
 
 Among the Ghilzais and Biluchis 57 
 
 in which the brave old khan and eight of his chief officers 
 fell, fighting stubbornly to the last. 1 
 
 As an officer on Willshire's staff, Outram rendered 
 conspicuous service during that day's fighting. Seeing 
 that the enemy were trying to withdraw their guns from 
 the heights outside the fort, General Willshire despatched 
 Outram with orders to the column nearest the gate " to 
 pursue the fugitives, and, if possible, to enter the fort 
 with them but at any rate to prevent their taking in 
 the ordnance." Outram reached the scene of action in 
 time to ensure the capture of the guns, but too late to 
 prevent the flying enemy from closing the gate against 
 their pursuers. 
 
 Leaving the grenadier company of the Queen's Royals 
 to " take post under cover of a ruined building within 
 sixty yards of the gate," Outram galloped off to report 
 progress. The whole of our troops had now gained the 
 heights, and the guns were also being dragged up. Two 
 of these were speedily playing upon the towers which 
 commanded the gateway, while two others opened fire 
 upon the gate itself, which was presently blown in after a 
 few discharges from the two remaining guns. 
 
 During the final advance of the storming parties the 
 general ordered Captain Outram, who in the meantime 
 had not been idle, to take a company of the iyth Foot 
 and the 3ist Bengal Native Infantry, and with these to 
 storm the heights and secure the gate on the opposite 
 side of the fort. This movement was carried out in so 
 spirited a manner that the last of the matchlock-men 
 were driven from the heights, and the gate itself was 
 stormed by a successful rush of our men before the 
 enemy had time to close it. Two guns which had been 
 sent to Outram's aid were then turned against the citadel 
 with such effect that a way in was soon cleared for the 
 short but desperate struggle which ended in the fall of 
 Khelat. 
 
 Through that day's fighting Outram's good fortune 
 
 carried him unharmed by the storm of shot to which he 
 
 must have offered a conspicuous mark. " On these two 
 
 occasions," he writes, " I was the only mounted officer 
 
 1 Kaye.
 
 58 The Bayard of India 
 
 present; but although both the nature of my occupation, 
 and the singularity of my rifle uniform, differing as it 
 did from all others, must have attracted a considerable 
 share of the enemy's observation, I escaped with my 
 usual good fortune." 1 
 
 In his despatch of November 14, General Willshire 
 paid an especial tribute to Captain Outram, " who had 
 volunteered his services on my personal staff." To that 
 officer, he adds, " I feel greatly indebted for the zeal and 
 ability with which he has performed various duties that 
 I have required of him upon other occasions, as well as 
 the present." As a further mark of his approval, Will- 
 shire requested Outram to bear a duplicate of his de- 
 spatch to the Governor of Bombay by the direct route 
 southwards to the port of Sonmiani, for the purpose of 
 ascertaining how far that route was practicable for the 
 march of troops. About midnight of November 15 
 Outram started on his perilous journey of 360 miles 
 through a hostile country as yet unknown to Europeans. 
 
 His party consisted of six persons, himself disguised as 
 an Afghan pir, or friar, attended by one servant, and 
 accompanied by " two holy Saiyads from Shawl," with 
 their two armed followers; the whole " being mounted 
 on four ponies and two camels, carrying provisions for 
 ourselves, and as much grain for the animals as we 
 could conveniently take." 
 
 On the following day they passed a number of fugitives 
 from Khelat, and travelled for a time in unwilling com- 
 pany with the families of Mihrab Khan's brother and his 
 chief minister. The ladies of this party recognised the 
 Saiyads as old acquaintances. " It behoved us," says 
 Outram, " to remain with this party a sufficient time to 
 listen to all their griefs, and having been previously in- 
 troduced by my companions in the character of a pir, I 
 was most especially called upon to sympathise in their 
 woes. This I did by assuming an air of deep gravity and 
 attention, although in reality I did not understand a 
 single word that was uttered." The very disguise donned 
 by Outram might have become an added danger, had 
 the garments, which he selected from the plunder of 
 1 Rough Notts. Outram Services.
 
 Among the Ghilzais and Biluchis 59 
 
 Khelat, been of a somewhat costlier and more pretentious 
 quality. 
 
 On the night of the i6th, while the travellers were 
 resting under the walls of a deserted village, " inquisitive 
 persons flocked round us to institute inquiries respecting 
 relatives or friends who had been engaged at Khelat." 
 Outram pretended to be asleep; " but my companions 
 were compelled to satisfy a whole string of interroga- 
 tories, which lasted until the night was far advanced." 
 Deciding to push on again before dawn, they persuaded 
 " an indigent native " to act as guide, upon the sole con- 
 dition that Outram would furnish him with a charm to 
 save his sick camel from dying during his absence. " A 
 tuft of the animal's hair having accordingly been brought 
 to me, I was obliged, in support of my assumed character, 
 to go through the mummery of muttering over it a string 
 of cabalistic words may God forgive the hypocrisy ! " l 
 
 After passing safely on the i8th through the village of 
 Nal, the party halted in a friendly jungle three miles 
 beyond, while one of the Saiyads, with the two armed 
 attendants, returned to the village in quest of grain for 
 the horses. This party, unfortunately missing our place 
 of concealment, subsequently passed on, and we waited 
 for them in vain until the evening. The other Saiyad 
 then became so uneasy that he went back to the village 
 to inquire for them, leaving me alone with my domestic, 
 Hussain, to abide his return." 
 
 Outram and his servant were thus left alone, without 
 money, food, or guide; neither of them able to speak 
 a word of Biluchi, and both of them liable to be murdered 
 by the first party of natives who might discover their 
 hiding-place. Nearly an hour passed by in this manner; 
 the night was fast approaching, and neither of his com- 
 panions had yet returned. Taking his courage in both 
 hands, Outram took his way towards the village, " where, 
 should I fail to terrify the chief into civility by threats 
 of the consequences of maltreating a British officer, I 
 hoped that the holy influence of my Saiyad friends might 
 prove of some avail." 
 
 He and Hussain had not gone far when, to their great 
 1 Rough Notes.
 
 60 The Bayard of India 
 
 relief, they were overtaken by the second Saiyad, who 
 was hunting everywhere for his lost companions. " His 
 return," says Outram, " brought a most welcome reprieve 
 from what I considered almost certain destruction; and 
 he informed us that the rest of our party had left the village 
 some hours previously, and had doubtless gone on, under 
 the impression that we had preceded them." Pushing 
 forward for two hours from village to village in search of 
 their missing friends, " we at length discovered them in a 
 small fort assisting at the coronach for the dead chief, the 
 tidings of whose fall at Khelat had been received that very 
 afternoon." An hour later the whole of Ou tram's party 
 hurried on beneath the brilliant moonlight for eight hours 
 over some forty miles of smooth road. 
 
 During the last thirty miles they had seen " not a 
 trace of human habitation." It was with a keen sense 
 of relief that Outram lay down by the bank of a river 
 for two hours of well-earned sleep. 1 They awoke at last 
 to find that their guide had meanwhile decamped. Luckily 
 a shepherd tending his flock hard by was persuaded to 
 take the other man's place. A ride of eight hours on the 
 1 9th carried the party over a range of lofty mountains to 
 their bivouac in the half-dry bed of the Urnach river, 
 where for the first time their horses enjoyed the forage 
 they sorely needed. At 10 A.M. of November 23 they 
 reached Sonmiani, whence Outram the same evening 
 embarked for Karachi in a boat provided by a hospitable 
 Hindu. 
 
 At Karachi Outram rode off in his Afghan costume 
 on the pony which had borne him so stoutly from Khelat 
 to Sonmiani, to renew acquaintance with his brother-in- 
 law, General Farquharson. Great was the general's 
 amused surprise at the figure which appeared before him, 
 with a small puggree " sparsely bound about his head, 
 the hair cropping through the interstices; all very dirty 
 and mean-looking. There was no saddle on the pony 
 merely a cloth over his back." 2 
 
 On the evening of the same day, the 24th, Outram 
 sailed for Bombay, where he delivered the despatches 
 which first acquainted his government with the fall of 
 1 Rough Notes. 2 Goldsmid.
 
 Among the Ghilzais and Biluchis 61 
 
 Khelat. It was now, too, that Outram learned for the 
 first time how very near to utter failure had come his 
 successful journey through Biluchistan. Shortly after 
 his arrival at Bombay a party of Biluchi horse-dealers 
 landed there also from Sonmiani. They stated " that at 
 midnight of the evening on which I sailed the son of Wali 
 Muhammad Khan (the chief of Wadh, who was slain at 
 the storm of Khelat) arrived in great haste with a party 
 in pursuit of me ; and on learning that I had already gone, 
 displayed extreme disappointment and irritation. It 
 would appear that information of my journey and dis- 
 guise had been received by this chief the day after I 
 passed through Nal. To the forced march of fifty miles, 
 therefore, which was made thence by our party, with 
 the design of outstripping the flying tidings of the over- 
 throw of Khelat, I may consider myself principally in- 
 debted for my escape my pursuers having missed me 
 at the seaport of Sonmiani only by a few hours." 1 
 
 On November 13, 1839, Captain Outram was promoted 
 to the brevet rank of major for his services at Khelat. 
 His report on the results of his recent journey was duly 
 forwarded by the Bombay Government to the Govern- 
 ment of India. From both quarters he received abundant 
 thanks for " the very interesting and valuable documents " 
 which he had placed before them, " being a sketch and 
 description of the route, and narrative of that officer's 
 journey through Biluchistan from Khelat to Sonmiani." 2 
 
 In the course of the following year the Court of Directors, 
 through their Secret Committee, conferred upon Major 
 Outram the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and Lord Auckland 
 wrote to congratulate him upon the promotion he had 
 so well deserved. But Outram looked in vain for any 
 authoritative announcement of this new honour. By 
 some strange oversight his name was omitted from the 
 Gazette. In the list of honours and rewards for noteworthy 
 achievements connected with the final triumph of our 
 arms no place had been found for the deeds of that tire- 
 less officer, without whose ubiquitous aid the army of 
 the Indus could never have won its way to Kandahar. 
 But Outram was too proud, or too unselfish, to bring 
 1 Rough Notes. 2 Outram Testimonials.
 
 62 The Bayard of India 
 
 this omission to the notice of those who might have 
 repaired it. "I consider that honours sought are not to 
 be esteemed/' was his unfailing answer to his friends who 
 urged him to press the matter home. 
 
 Had Outram's name been mentioned, as it ought to 
 have been, by Lord Keane in his Ghazni despatch, his 
 brevet majority would have been dated from the fall of 
 that place, and he would have risen to the rank of lieu- 
 tenant-colonel for his services at Khelat. " You will have 
 inferred," he writes to his father-in-law, Mr. J. Anderson, 
 in June 1840, " from his [Lord Keane's] silence regarding 
 me at Ghazni that there is a want of cordiality in that 
 quarter in fact, there had been a coolness between us 
 some time before, . . . and though I had done more 
 than all the rest of his personal staff as a soldier, still 
 out of mere spitefulness he left me unnoticed, which, as 
 all others were mentioned, amounted to positive disgrace." 1 
 
 If Outram scorned to plead for the justice officially 
 denied him, he was anxious at any rate to win a favour- 
 able hearing from all lovers of truth and fair play. The 
 Rough Notes, so often cited in these pages, aimed merely 
 at furnishing intelligent readers with a plain unvarnished 
 record of the writer's own services during the late cam- 
 paign. As such the little volume needed no apology 
 for its candid egotism. Made up of extracts from his 
 copious diary, it contained no sort of criticism on the 
 mistakes or shortcomings of other people. But the 
 letter already quoted shows how keenly his conscience 
 could upbraid him for having published a book in which 
 he seemed to figure as the leading hero of his story. He 
 had at first been persuaded to print a few copies of his 
 journal, " for circulation amongst my private friends as 
 a sort of self-justification to them; but in an evil hour 
 I was persuaded further to allow it to be published in 
 England, which, now that the irritation which induced me 
 to put it forth in the first instance has passed away, I most 
 heartily repent of. The thing was well enough as a 
 personal appeal to my personal friends, but to thrust my 
 own performances thus before the public I look upon as 
 most indelicate. The public, not knowing the object 
 1 See letter quoted in Appendix A.
 
 Among the Ghilzais and Biluchis 63 
 
 of notes, in the first instance will naturally look on me 
 as a most unblushing braggart, as in the journal I describe 
 nothing of general interest whatever merely my own 
 doings. Alas! it is too late now; my judgment was 
 carried away at the moment by my feelings and the 
 enthusiasm of my friends." l 
 
 In view of his own preface, however, it may be doubted 
 whether any fair-minded reader of Rough Notes would 
 have discovered a trace of that vain-glorious boasting 
 for which the writer took himself so remorsefully to task. 
 Outram had none, indeed, of the pride which apes humility ; 
 but neither was he given to overrating his own merits 
 or seeking to exalt himself at the expense of others. 
 
 1 Outram Letters. The first London edition of Rough Notes was 
 published in 1840 by J. M. Richardson, 23 Cornhill.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SIND, KHELAT, AND AFGHANISTAN. JANUARY 1840- 
 SEPTEMBER 1842 
 
 SHORTLY after his arrival at Bombay Major Outram 
 received a flattering letter from Lord Auckland, offering 
 him the Political Agency in Lower Sind in the room of 
 Sir Henry Pottinger, whose retirement would take effect 
 from January i, 1840. The compliment thus paid him 
 was materially enhanced by Lord Auckland's knowledge 
 of the fact that Outram had always strongly condemned 
 his Afghan policy, and even foretold its disastrous failure. 1 
 
 His friends in India were not backward in their con- 
 gratulations. One of them, our old acquaintance Mr. 
 Bax, disclaimed all credit for having helped him forward 
 on the road to success. " You will get to the top of the 
 ladder," he wrote, " as you deserve. . . . Your own right 
 hand, your own sound heart and sound sense, your own 
 energy and enterprise, have accomplished everything, 
 and I knew, a dozen years ago, they would raise you to 
 fame whenever opportunity offered." 2 
 
 Embarking from Bassein on January 13, 1840, Outram 
 landed at Mandavi on the 22nd. In passing leisurely 
 through Cutch, he spent some days with Sir Henry 
 Pottinger at Bhuj, and gleaned from him much useful 
 information concerning affairs in Sind. His further 
 progress thence to Haidarabad was made all the easier 
 for the help his party received from the Amirs of Lower 
 Sind. His arrival at Haidarabad on February 24 was 
 marked by every token of respectful and friendly greeting 
 from members of the reigning family. 3 
 
 " We have much to do to set our house in order," he 
 writes in April to his mother, " and I foresee stirring 
 
 1 Outram Services. Letters to Mr. Willoughby, Secretary to the 
 Bombay Government. 
 
 1 Outram Letters. * Goldsmid. 
 
 6 4
 
 Sind, Khelat, and Afghanistan 65 
 
 times in which I must take a foremost part." The new 
 Resident at Haidarabad took up the work that lay before 
 him with his usual vigour and enlightened zeal. Chief 
 among the fruits of his earlier labours were the reduction 
 of taxes on inland produce brought to the British camp 
 at Karachi, the relief of the Indus traffic from excessive 
 tolls, and the beginnings of a friendly understanding with 
 Mir Sher Muhammad of Mirpur, which ripened in the 
 following year into a treaty warmly approved by the 
 Indian Government, and gratefully indorsed by the Secret 
 Committee in Leadenhall Street. 1 " The documents," 
 wrote the committee, " relating to the renunciation by 
 the Amir of Mirpur of the right to levy tolls on the 
 Indus, furnished additional proof of the zeal and ability 
 with which Major Outram discharges his important 
 functions." 2 
 
 Meanwhile Outram's anxiety regarding the progress of 
 Russian arms and intrigues in Central Asia had been 
 allayed by the disastrous issue of Perovski's march across 
 the Turkman steppes upon Khiva. " We shall now have 
 plenty of time," he writes to his mother in July 1840, 
 " to render secure our new positions on the Indus at any 
 rate, if not in Afghanistan, which is and will be for some 
 time to come internally very disturbed. . . . Maggy has 
 of course announced her arrival in Bombay. ... I am 
 preparing a good house in a nice garden overhanging the 
 banks of the Indus, and as our communications now will 
 be rapid and easy by steamer, I think we may make it 
 out tolerably well by going to Karachi on the coast for 
 the hot months always, where the climate is then delight- 
 ful. ... I see no reason for fearing that I shall not be 
 able to pay you a visit in three years at the outside, for 
 by that time I shall be sure of high employment when I 
 return to India." 
 
 His hopes, however, of a speedy reunion with his wife 
 had to be deferred for several months. It was not until 
 December of that year that the building and furnishing 
 
 1 In this street stood the old India House, from which the Court 
 of Directors through their Secret Committee dictated or controlled 
 the actions of their servants in all parts of India. 
 
 2 Outram Testimonials. 
 
 E
 
 66 The Bayard of India 
 
 of the new Residency had been completed. At last, 
 however, at the close of January 1841, his wife entered 
 the new home which Outram had prepared for her. He 
 still clung to the hope that as soon as Haidarabad grew 
 too hot for her personal comfort she might be able to 
 recruit her strength among the cool sea-breezes at Karachi. 
 
 Early in June Mrs. Outram fled to Karachi, whither 
 her husband hoped to follow her before long. " Un- 
 fortunately," he writes to his mother, " I am unable to 
 leave my post at present, but then I don't care for heat. 
 I shall join Margaret at Karachi as soon as I can get 
 away." After a few months spent at Karachi under 
 the roof of Brigadier Farquharson, Mrs. Outram returned 
 to Bombay, " where I hope," writes her husband, " she 
 will be comfortable in a house she has hired for herself till 
 she goes home, which she purposes doing either in January 
 or March, and I confidently trust to join her there in 
 two years, for everything promises a successful work to 
 me in settling this country, and I consider that time 
 ample." 1 
 
 Besides her delicate health, Outram had yet another 
 reason for sending his wife away on a long leave of absence 
 from her husband's side. Lord Auckland's confidence in 
 the agent of his own appointing had already declared 
 itself in an order placing the whole of Sind, with the 
 transmontane province of Khelat, under Outram's political 
 charge. Outram saw that his new sphere of duty would 
 make imperious demands upon his time and strength in 
 a country which offered no fit resting-place for an invalid 
 wife. As early as August 18, he had taken a hasty leave 
 of the Haidarabad amirs, and given his last instructions 
 to Captain Leckie concerning the proper treatment of 
 those princes. The kindly and generous spirit of those 
 instructions may be inferred from one of the most pathetic 
 incidents in Outram's career. 
 
 On December 5, 1840, died Nur Muhammad Khan, the 
 acknowledged head of the Haidarabad amirs, whose old 
 distrust of England's policy had given place under 
 Outram's soothing influence to a feeling of sincere friend- 
 ship for his powerful neighbour. On the morning before 
 1 Outram Papers.
 
 Sind, Khelat, and Afghanistan 67 
 
 his death " the amir/' writes Outram, " evidently feeling 
 that we could not meet again, embraced me most fervently 
 and spoke distinctly to the following purport in the 
 presence of Doctor Owen and the other amirs : ' You 
 are to me as my brother Nasir Khan, and the grief of this 
 sickness is equally felt by you and Nasir Khan : from the 
 days of Adam no one has known so great truth and 
 friendship as I have found in you.' I replied, ' Your 
 highness has proved your friendship to my government 
 and myself by your daily acts. You have considered me 
 as a brother; I feel for your highness, and night and day 
 grieve for your sickness ; ' to which he added, ' My friend- 
 ship for the British is known to God, my conscience is 
 clear before God.' The amir still retained me in his 
 feeble embrace for a few moments, and after taking some 
 medicine from my hand, again embraced me, as if with 
 the conviction that we could not meet again." l 
 
 For some days before the amir's death, Outram had 
 been a regular visitor at his bedside. On one of such 
 occasions the dying prince beckoned his brother Nasir 
 Khan, and his youngest son Husain Ali, to his side. " He 
 then took a hand of each," says Outram, " and placed 
 them in mine, saying ' You are their father and brother, 
 you will protect them,' to which I replied in general but 
 warm terms of personal friendship." 
 
 During a second visit to the amir on the same evening 
 Husain Ali came into the room " and whispered in the 
 ear of his father, who smiled, and informed me that the 
 Khanum (the mother of his sons) sent to say she hailed 
 me as her brother with much gratification, to which I 
 made a suitable acknowledgment. On inquiry after- 
 wards I learned that this is considered an extraordinary 
 proof of friendship, such as has never heretofore been 
 displayed except to the nearest relations." 1 
 
 How rightly Nur Muhammad reckoned upon Outram's 
 loyal friendship, and how nobly Outram struggled, for 
 his dead friend's sake as well as England's honour, to 
 avert misfortune from the family thus bequeathed to 
 his guardian care, the reader of these pages will learn 
 later on. 
 
 1 Despatch of December 6, 1840, to the Government of India.
 
 68 The Bayard of India 
 
 In the latter part of August 1841 the new agent for 
 Upper Sind and Khelat was speeding up the Indus to 
 Sakhar, whence on the morning of the 25th he started on 
 camel-back for a ride of 250 miles across Sind to Quetta, 
 on the farther side of the Bolan Pass. Accompanied by 
 one hardy servant, also mounted on a camel, he reached 
 Dadar at the foot of the Bolan in five days. The journey 
 was accomplished " at- a season of the year," says a well- 
 informed writer, " when most men would have regarded 
 an order to undertake it as little short of sentence of 
 death." 
 
 Halting for two days at Dadar, he pushed on through 
 the Bolan Pass, which no one hitherto had dreamed of 
 entering without a strong escort, and arrived at Quetta on 
 September 2. On learning the issue of this adventurous 
 ride in the hottest season of the year, Lord Auckland 
 wrote to express his " satisfaction at the promptitude 
 with which you have joined the headquarters of your 
 office." 
 
 At Quetta Outram's first care was to conciliate the 
 young prince, Nasir Khan of Khelat, whose father, 
 Mihrab Khan, had fallen two years before in defence of 
 his own capital. After the fall of Khelat the young 
 Brahui prince, scorning submission to Shah Shuja, had 
 led the remnant of his followers into the hill country 
 about the Bolan. For many months the brave young 
 prince strove, not always unsuccessfully, to avenge his 
 father's wrongs upon the invaders of his father's realm. 
 Khelat itself fell for a time into his hands, and several 
 parties of British sepoys were waylaid and destroyed or put 
 to flight. But the recapture of Khelat by Nott, and the 
 crushing defeat of his faithful highlanders at Mustang, 
 sent Nasir Khan a heartsick wanderer among the wilds of 
 Biluchistan. 
 
 The Indian Government still had a conscience, and 
 offered for a small consideration to acknowledge Nasir 
 Khan's title to the greater part of his father's dominions. 
 But the son of Mihrab Khan was slow to accept the 
 proffered friendship of his victorious foes. It was only 
 a few weeks before Outram's arrival at Quetta that Nasir 
 Khan could bring himself to comply with Colonel Stacy's
 
 Sind, Khelat, and Afghanistan 69 
 
 earnest invitations to a friendly conference on the future 
 of Khelat. 
 
 At last, on September 4, 1841, the young Khan was 
 met by Colonel Stacy and conducted with all due cere- 
 mony into Quetta, where a friendly message awaited him 
 from Major Outram. Next morning at a darbar, attended 
 by several British officers of rank, he was introduced to 
 the new Political Agent, who received him with every 
 mark of respectful courtesy. " The youth," writes 
 Colonel Stacy, " was rather embarrassed at first, but on 
 Major Outram's assuring him of the kindly feelings of 
 government towards him, he expressed his desire to 
 become an ally of the company," of whose justice and 
 liberality he had often heard. " He had come," he added, 
 " to enrol himself amongst the number of their servants^ 
 to live under the shade of their flag ; and he was willing to 
 'agree to whatever terms the company might prescribe." x 
 
 Outram's kindly words and frank geniality took the 
 young prince's heart as it were by storm. His old dis- 
 trust of the man who had played a conspicuous part in 
 the assault upon his father's capital gave place to a 
 feeling of utter confidence in this new friend, whose quiet 
 sympathy lightened the burden of his sorrows, while his 
 cheery counsel inspired him with the hope of brighter 
 days to come. 
 
 Escorted by a body of British troops, the young Khan 
 was duly conducted by Outram to Khelat, where, in the 
 presence of his chief sirdars, he signed the treaty cf friend 
 ship between himself and the East India Company. On 
 the same afternoon he was publicly installed by Outram 
 in the seat of his ancestors. After the ceiemony the 
 khan shook hands with each of the British officers there 
 assembled, while a royal salute was fired in good style 
 from his highness's own guns. " The young chief," says 
 Outram, " was visibly affected almost to tears by the 
 good feeling displayed towards him by the English 
 gentlemen." 2 
 
 So successful were the measures taken Dy Ouliam, that 
 he won the hearts not only of the Khan himself, but of all 
 
 1 Colonel Stacy's letter, quoted by Goldsmid. 
 2 Outram's letter to Mr. John Colvin.
 
 jo The Bayard of India 
 
 his Brahui nobles, who had been fiercely exasperated by 
 the slaughters of 1839 and the sack of Khelat. 1 It was 
 this act of timely conciliation which saved from disaster 
 the troops of Nott and England in the dark days that 
 were about to follow. 
 
 In the middle of October Outram quitted Khelat for 
 Dadar, where for a time he established his headquarters, 
 and busied himself in keeping order and guarding the roads 
 between Sind and Biluchistan against the marauding 
 tribes that infested the mountain passes. He had hardly 
 settled down to his work on the Sind frontier when the 
 first mutterings of a storm that boded mischief to our 
 garrisons beyond the Khaiber caught his attentive ear. 
 Emissaries from Kabul and Kandahar were already pass- 
 ing down to Quetta and Northern Sind, preaching a holy 
 war against Shah Shuja and his English allies. While 
 Macnaghten was reporting " all quiet from Dan to Beer- 
 sheba," Outram had learned enough to convince him that 
 nearly all Afghanistan was seething with rebellion, against 
 a monarch whose sole claim to his people's allegiance 
 rested on a few thousand British bayonets, backed by a 
 score or two of British guns. 
 
 On November 2, 1841, at the moment when he was 
 about to succeed Sir William Macnaghten as envoy to Shah 
 Shuja, Sir Alexander Burnes fell a victim to the policy 
 which he had once opposed. The help which he had asked 
 for from the cantonments outside Kabul never came, and 
 he was cut to pieces by a furious Afghan mob, in the vain 
 attempt to pass through them disguised as an Afghan. 
 That murderous outbreak in Kabul city was to mark the 
 beginning of a period perhaps the most sorrowful in the 
 history of British India before the great Mutiny of 1857, 
 It became the signal for a revolt which spread unchecked 
 day by day in the face of some 5000 good fighting men 
 outside the city, whose leaders proved quite incapable of 
 acting promptly for a common end. 
 
 It seemed as if the Nemesis of triumphant wrong-doing 
 
 had suddenly found us out, and paralysed the hands and 
 
 brains of our civil and military chiefs at Kabul. The 
 
 rout of our mishandled troops at Behmaru on November 23 
 
 1 Outram Services.
 
 Sind, Khelit, and Afghanistan 71 
 
 was followed by weeks of divided counsels and palsied 
 inaction within a beleaguered intrenchment, held by a 
 garrison benumbed with cold, hunger, and despair. One 
 last wild effort made by Macnaghten on December 23, to 
 secure the safety for our starving people by sowing dis- 
 sensions among their foes, was rewarded by the pistol-shot 
 which ended his own life and sealed the doom of Elphin- 
 stone's dwindling army. 
 
 It is needless here infandum renovare dolorem with a 
 detailed account of the yet darker days that followed the 
 envoy's death. On the morning of January 6, 1842, in 
 compliance with a treaty signed by the leading Afghan 
 chiefs, some 4500 Europeans and sepoys, with nearly 100 
 women and children and 11,000 camp-followers, marched 
 off from Kabul through the falling snow towards a country 
 which very few of them were ever to behold again. On 
 the 1 3th of the same month some men of Sale's garrison 
 at Jalalabad descried a solitary horseman feebly urging 
 his jaded pony towards the walls of that friendly strong- 
 hold. It proved to be Dr. Bryden, the only man of 
 Elphinstone's army who had fought his way through a 
 week of fearful suffering from Afghan savagery, aided by 
 an Afghan winter, to a place of rest and safety on the road 
 to Peshawar. Of the thousands that left Kabul on 
 January 6, 120 men, women, and children survived as 
 prisoners in the hands of Muhammad Akbar. 
 
 Very few of the camp-followers survived the horrors of 
 that awful retreat, which had soon turned into a wild pell- 
 mell rush through passes blocked with snow, and crowned 
 with Afghan marksmen greedy for revenge and plunder. 
 Of the sepoy regiments a few score frost-bitten wretches 
 straggled ultimately into Peshawar. 
 
 The tidings of that great disaster, the most shameful 
 which had ever yet befallen our arms in Asia, sent a thrill 
 of wrathful dismay through every English heart in India. 
 " I have proved a false prophet," wrote Outram on 
 February 10 to Sir James Carnac, " as regards the issue 
 of affairs at Kabul; but who could conceive that 5000 
 British troops would deliberately commit suicide, which 
 literally has been the fate of the Kabul garrison ? From 
 first to last such a tissue of political and military mis-
 
 72 The Bayard of India 
 
 management the history of the world has never shown, 
 and such dire disgrace never heretofore blotted the British 
 page." 
 
 " Had we retained our hold on the Bala Hisar, doubt- 
 less our troops in the camp when at the last extremity 
 would have cut their way to the fortress; so we can only 
 account for their not doing so by the circumstance of the 
 Shah in whose power we so foolishly placed it having 
 refused us refuge ! 
 
 " Being cut off from that retreat, and devoid of supplies, 
 I can imagine the troops becoming dispirited, and at last 
 driving their leaders to seek for terms; but I could not 
 have believed that any British officers could have con- 
 sented to such terms as appear to have been entered into ; 
 shackling their country by conditions which it is dis- 
 honourable and will be a vital blow to our power in 
 India to abide by; besides being in every respect the 
 most disgraceful treaty that Britons with arms in their 
 hands ever submitted to, that too after proof of the 
 utter futility of all such engagements with their savage 
 enemies, in the murder of our envoy and attack on our 
 camp during the armistice." 
 
 In the same letter he rejoices to hear that General Sale 
 has refused to evacuate Jalalabad; and he hopes that 
 General Nott will hold Kandahar and Khelat-i-Ghilzai, 
 " where there is nothing to fear." But he has grave 
 doubts concerning the safety of Ghazni, and fears that 
 Colonel Palmer's garrison will pay the penalty of our 
 recent blunders in Kabul. " Within my own charge," 
 he adds, " I confidently trust to all going well, notwith- 
 standing the volcanoes around us." 
 
 In order to prove that he had not been a false prophet 
 except in one particular, Outram encloses " extracts from 
 my correspondence from Afghanistan, when we first 
 entered that country in 1839, from which you will see 
 that I then predicted everything that has come to pass so 
 far as the Afghans are concerned, though certainly I 
 never could have believed that our troops in that country 
 could be humbled to such a depth of degradation." l 
 
 1 Selections from the Private Correspondence of 1 iettt. -Colonel 
 Outram, concerning affairs in Afghanistan and Sind. 1839-42.
 
 Sind, Khelat, and Afghanistan 73 
 
 A few days earlier he had written to his mother: " Let 
 me again assure you that you have no cause to be anxious 
 about my charge or myself because of what has happened 
 at Kabul, which you will learn by this opportunity. This 
 country is a level plain, below the passes, where successful 
 opposition never could be made to our troops. At 
 Kandahar we have an overwhelming force which nothing 
 in Afghanistan could conquer, and at Quetta we have 
 a strong brigade posted in such a manner that the position 
 is impregnable, and while we hold those positions there 
 is no fear of disturbance in the countries below the passes, 
 besides which there is no fellow-feeling between the 
 Afghans and Biluchis, and troops are pouring into the 
 country from Gujerat and Karachi which nothing in Sind 
 could withstand or would attempt to oppose. Conse- 
 quently the amirs would not dare to rebel. Be under 
 no anxiety, therefore, on my account, my dearest mother; 
 the outbreak at Kabul I foretold, and recorded the 
 prophecy three years ago, but we are far differently 
 situated in Sind and in this country. I expect to have 
 everything settled in this quarter by about the end of 
 the month, when I shall move to Sakhar and get under 
 cover of a house for the hot season, unless I may have to 
 go up to Khelat, which I don't think likely." 
 
 On February 20, 1842, the retiring governor-general, 
 Lord Auckland, wrote Outram a farewell letter declaring 
 his " assurance that you have, from day to day, since your 
 late appointment, added to that high estimate with which 
 I have long regarded your character, and which led me 
 to place confidence in you. It is mortifying and galling 
 to me to feel that plans, which you had nearly brought 
 to successful maturity, for great improvement, for the 
 consolidation of security and influence, for the happiness 
 of the population of immense tracts, and for your own 
 and our honour, should be endangered by events of which 
 our military history has happily no parallel. You will, 
 I know, do well in the storm; and, I trust, that as far 
 as the interests confided to you are concerned, you will 
 enable us to weather it." l 
 
 How richly Outram repaid the confidence thus accorded 
 1 Outram Testimonials.
 
 74 The Bayard of India 
 
 him a sympathetic historian has set forth in glowing 
 words: " Outram was supreme in Sind, and a heavy 
 weight of responsibility fell upon him. But he was equal 
 to the occasion. His was it in that conjuncture not only 
 to maintain the peace and security of the country immedi- 
 ately under his political care, but to aid our imperilled 
 countrymen in the territory beyond the Biluchi passes. 
 He stood on the high road to Kandahar. If that road 
 had been closed, if Sind and Biluchistan had risen against 
 us, it would have gone hard with our beleaguered garrisons 
 in Western Afghanistan. But the country did not rise; 
 and Outram, all his energies roused into intense action, 
 grieving over the dishonour that was falling upon the 
 nation, and vehemently protesting against the recreant 
 counsels of those who would have withdrawn our beaten 
 army within the British frontier without chastising the 
 insolence of our enemies, did mighty service, at a most 
 critical time, by throwing troops, stores, ammunition, 
 and money into Kandahar." x 
 
 Speaking in the House of Lords, February 26, 1843, 
 Lord Auckland declared that "to no man in a public 
 office was the public service under greater obligations than 
 to Major Outram; a more distinguished servant of the 
 public did not exist, and one more eminent in a long 
 career. Major Outram exerted himself in collecting camels 
 and stores; from Rajputana, Jindpur, and other places 
 3000 camels were obtained, and marched on April 10 
 from Sakhar to Quetta, and thence to Kandahar; and 
 with these camels General Nott was enabled to effect his 
 march [to Kabul], for which he was indebted, in a great 
 degree, to the promptitude and zeal with which Major 
 Outram acted." 2 
 
 He protested again and again with honest fervour 
 against Lord Ellenborough's avowed intention to retire 
 from Afghanistan without making an effort to retrieve the 
 tarnished honour of our arms, or to rescue the British 
 captives from the hands of the Afghans. " Nothing is 
 easier," he wrote on one occasion, " than to retrieve our 
 honour in Afghanistan, and I pray God Lord Ellenborough 
 
 1 Cornhill Magazine, January 1861. 
 1 Outram Testimonials.
 
 Sind, Khelat, and Afghanistan 75 
 
 may at once see the damnable policy of shirking the 
 undertaking." 
 
 In the course of February 1842, Outram had been speci- 
 ally active in furnishing General England with all needful 
 means for the march of a strong brigade through the 
 Bolan Pass to Quetta, in charge of ample treasure and 
 supplies for Nott's garrison at Kandahar. His one 
 anxiety at this time was to strengthen Nott's hands at 
 Kandahar in the hope of bolder counsels prevailing at 
 Calcutta. Happily for Outram's peace of mind, as well 
 as the national honour, Lord Ellenborough's views regard- 
 ing the Afghan problem were not shared by the two 
 veterans who were burning for an opportunity to vindicate 
 the national honour in spite of the governor - general 
 himself. General Nott was of one mind with Outram 
 in his resolution to hold his ground at Kandahar against 
 all assailants until events should compel him to cut his 
 way back to Quetta. General George Pollock, an old 
 artillery officer who had fought under Lord Lake and done 
 good service in Nipal and Burmah, was now intrusted 
 with the task of leading a British army through the 
 Khaibar Pass and joining hands with Sale at Jalalabad. 
 He, too, had a will of his own which enabled him in due 
 time to carry his victorious troops a good deal further 
 than Lord Ellenborough had at first designed. 
 
 Outram's letters of this period to friends or fellow- 
 workers in all parts of India show how strenuously he 
 pleaded for that free hand which Lord Ellenborough 
 still shrank from granting to our commanders in Afghan- 
 istan. Whether he writes to his old friend Mr. J. P. 
 Willoughby at Bombay, to his able assistant Captain 
 Hammersley at Quetta, to Captain Henry Lawrence at 
 Peshawar, or to Mr. Herbert Maddock of the Bengal 
 Secretariat, he is always harping on the ease with which 
 Nott and Pollock could march on Kabul from opposite 
 quarters to avenge the disasters and the shame of the past 
 winter, and to rescue our compatriots from a prolonged 
 and cruel captivity. 
 
 In his letter of March 13 to Mr. (afterwards Sir Herbert) 
 Maddock he speaks of a severe illness from which he had 
 just recovered in time to leave Dadar for the more central,
 
 j6 The Bayard of India 
 
 if even hotter, neighbourhood of Sakhar. During the 
 fierce heats of a Sindian June he travelled all the way 
 back from Sakhar to Quetta, where he arrived on the 
 i ith, two days after the despatch thence of a large convoy 
 of camels for Kandahar. By that time he knew that 
 Nott was in " direct and quick communication with 
 General Pollock " at Jalalabad. The two generals 
 understood each other: Lord Ellenborough's latest order 
 had allowed them to stand fast until October. Mean- 
 while they still hoped that something might induce his 
 wavering lordship again to modify his own plans in com- 
 pliance with the pressure which they and their friends 
 might yet bring to bear upon the Indian Government. 
 
 They had not to wait long for the next swing of the 
 official pendulum. On July 4 the governor - general 
 issued from Allahabad an order which relieved many a 
 brave heart from torturing suspense, and virtually gave 
 his two generals the free hand which they had well-nigh 
 despaired of obtaining. The old order for withdrawal 
 was still to hold good ; but Nott was allowed, at his own 
 risk, to choose between retiring into Sind by way of 
 Quetta, and retiring to Peshawar by way of Ghazni and 
 Kabul. Pollock, for his part, was empowered to move 
 forward in concert with Nott, should that officer " decide 
 upon adopting the line of retirement by Ghazni and 
 Kabul." ! 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that neither general shrank 
 from accepting the grave responsibility thus laid upon his 
 shoulders by a governor bent on proving his own con- 
 sistency at the expense of his moral courage. On August 
 9, at the head of 8000 choice troops of all arms, Nott 
 began his memorable march upon Ghazni and Kabul, 
 leaving England to conduct his spare troops, guns, and 
 stores back to Quetta, on their way home through Sind. 
 Eleven days later, Pollock also led his avenging army, 
 strengthened by Sale's garrison, out of Jalalabad, timing 
 his forward movements so as to keep step with the force 
 advancing from Kandahar. 
 
 Meanwhile Outram at Quetta was slowly recovering 
 from a dangerous illness brought on by " the worry 
 1 Afghan Papers.
 
 Sind, Khelat, and Afghanistan 77 
 
 of mind and body to which I had been incessantly ex- 
 posed of late, and watching by the deathbed of poor 
 Hammersley for several nights." 
 
 On England's first advance in April from Quetta 
 towards Kandahar he retired in haste before a few 
 hundred tribesmen defending a breastwork which his 
 own troops could have carried with little loss. In 
 excuse for his own shortcomings he complained that 
 Hammersley had failed to warn him of the enemy's 
 movements. Hammersley became the scapegoat for 
 England's default of duty. The government ordered 
 his removal from political employ; but Outram, resent- 
 ing the injustice done to a zealous public servant, retained 
 him at his post on the plea that his presence there was 
 absolutely needed. Outram's noble disregard of orders, 
 and his persistent pleadings on behalf of his injured friend, 
 were rewarded only by a semi-official reprimand. The 
 subsequent illness and death of Hammersley may have 
 helped to account for the brain fever of which Outram so 
 nearly died. 
 
 In the first days of October, however, we find Outram 
 in the field again, leading a body of Brahui horsemen to 
 guard the flanks of England's column on its march home- 
 ward through the Bolan Pass into the plains of Sind. 1 
 1 Outram Services.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 WITH NAPIER IN SIND. OCTOBER l842-APRIL 1843 
 
 THE injustice done to Hammersley by the Indian Govern- 
 ment was not the only cause of Outram's bitterness 
 against the posturing proconsul, who cherished a lofty 
 scorn of the whole race of public servants known in India 
 as Politicals. In fulfilment of the pledges given by Lord 
 Auckland, Major Outram had secured the loyalty of the 
 young Khan of Khelat and his Brahui followers by restor- 
 ing the whole of the Shal valley to the son of its former 
 ruler. " I complain/' he writes to Colonel Sutherland 
 on September 29, " not of being bandied like a racket- 
 ball up and down this infernal pass, because it is my duty 
 to go wherever it is thought I am most required; but I 
 do complain of the lackey style in which I am treated by 
 the governor-general ; of the bitter reproof he so lavishly 
 bestows on me when he thinks me wrong and I know I 
 am right; of the withering neglect with which he treats 
 the devoted services of those in my department; of the 
 unjust sacrifice of one of my most deserving assistants; 
 of the unceremonious dismissal of five others without any 
 communication to myself whatever on the subject. 
 
 " Such treatment, caused solely by his lordship's vexa- 
 tion at my advocacy of the advance on Kabul and poor 
 Hammersley 's cause, would have goaded many men to 
 madness ; but I verily believe it has been the resurrection 
 of me from the very jaws of death like Marryat's middy 
 for, when in extreme danger the other day (brought 
 on, by the bye, by attendance on the deathbed of poor 
 Hammersley, whose death the medical men declare was 
 accelerated, if not positively caused, by the treatment he 
 received), the most insulting letter I ever received in my 
 life, and which I am sure Mr. Maddock, or any other 
 gentleman secretary, would not have penned of his own 
 
 78
 
 With Napier in Sind 79 
 
 accord, arrived; my eager desire to reply to which gave 
 a fillip to my system from which I benefited at any rate." 
 Outram's reply to his lordship's censure would, he 
 declares, have ensured his destruction " had it contained 
 anything that could be refuted; but, on the contrary, 
 elicited only acknowledgment, an apology being due for 
 a positive and unfounded insult." l 
 
 Pushing on ahead of England's troops, he reached 
 Dadar on October 7. Leaving Dadar on the evening of 
 the loth, he breakfasted at Sakhar on the morning of 
 the 1 2th. Here for the first time he met the redoubtable 
 Sir Charles Napier, whom Ellenborough had already in- 
 trusted with the supreme control of all civil and military 
 affairs in Sind. The two men seem at that time to have 
 been agreed on the policy to be pursued towards the 
 amirs. " Major Outram," writes Napier, " is of my 
 opinion, and I like him much, for that reason probably, 
 for I confess not to like those who differ in opinion with 
 me." 2 
 
 Outram was also satisfied with his new acquaintance. 
 " I have now," he writes to George Clerk on October 16, 
 " a most able and upright coadjutor in General Napier, a 
 man after my own heart, and under whom I consider it 
 an honour to serve." 
 
 In the same letter he congratulates his correspondent 
 on his promotion, " who felt so deeply our national de- 
 gradation, and so nobly advocated the only honourable 
 course we could pursue for the retrieval of our fame, and 
 rescue of our captive countrymen. Thank God, we have 
 escaped from the lowest depth of degradation into which 
 we were about at one time to plunge, and should have 
 sunk, had it not been for the stand against it made by our 
 generals in Afghanistan, backed by the advocacy of such 
 men as Mr. Maddock and yourself." 
 
 Writing to Willoughby on the 22nd, he says: "Sir 
 Charles and I are working heartily together to put matters 
 on a better footing in Sind, for which a new treaty will be 
 necessary; and I think we have grounds sufficient to 
 
 1 Outram's Private Correspondence. 
 
 " Life of General Sir Charles Napier, G.C.B. By William Napier 
 Bruce. Murray, London.
 
 80 The Bayard of India 
 
 warrant dictating our own terms. /, however, ostensibly 
 have nothing to say to the matter, his lordship having 
 apparently thrown me overboard, and no longer addresses 
 me on any subject! " 
 
 By this time, however, the blow which Outram had 
 foreseen was about to fall upon him. In spite of Ellen- 
 borough's previous assurances, Outram was suddenly 
 removed from his post. " His lordship having failed in 
 convicting me of any fault," he writes to Willoughby, on 
 October 26, " has recourse to a general measure by which 
 he sweeps me off with the whole department. A ' new- 
 broom measure,' which it will take some trouble hereafter 
 to remedy the effects of. 
 
 " As I before told you I should do, I return to my 
 regiment a poorer man than when I left it twenty years 
 ago, but with a lighter heart than I have enjoyed for 
 some months past. I feel emancipated from bondage of 
 the most degraded nature, and am only too much obliged 
 to Lord Ellenborough for saving me from breaking my 
 own head by resigning." 
 
 Before leaving Sind, Outram placed before Sir C. Napier 
 a full and clear statement of our relations with the amirs, 
 and of the measures which Napier and himself had 
 deemed requisite for the readjustment of those relations. 
 Napier's testimony to the help which Outram had given 
 him was amply rendered in his letter of October 28: "I 
 cannot allow you to leave this command without ex- 
 pressing to you the high sense I entertain of your zeal 
 and abilities in the public service, and of the obligations 
 I personally feel towards you, for the great assistance 
 you have so kindly and so diligently afforded me; thereby 
 diminishing in every way the difficulties that I have had 
 to encounter, as your successor in the political depart- 
 ment of Sind." l 
 
 At Sakhar, Outram counted many friends and admirers 
 among the officers under Napier's command. On 
 November 4, 1842, they invited him to a grand farewell 
 dinner, at which Napier himself presided. After the 
 queen's health had been drunk with all the honours, the 
 gallant chairman delivered the following speech: 
 1 Outram Services.
 
 With Napier in Sind 8 1 
 
 " Gentlemen, I have told you that there are only to be 
 two toasts drunk this evening. One, that of a lady, the 
 queen, you have already responded to ; the other shall be 
 for a gentleman. But, before I proceed any further, I 
 must tell you a story. In the fourteenth century there 
 was, in the French army, a knight renowned for deeds of 
 gallantry in war, and wisdom in council; indeed, so de- 
 servedly famous was he that, by general acclamation, he 
 was called the knight sans peur et sans reproche. The 
 name of this knight you may all know was the Chevalier 
 Bayard. Gentlemen, I give you the Bayard of India, 
 sans peur et sans reproche, Major James Outram, of the 
 Bombay army." 
 
 The applause which greeted these words of the veteran 
 warrior testified to the hearty response they evoked from 
 nearly a hundred throats. Outram was deeply moved by 
 the cheers that emphasised Napier's crowning compliment. 
 For some moments after rising to acknowledge the toast 
 he stood as if dumb before his expectant audience. The 
 speech when it did come glowed with a natural eloquence 
 of a full and grateful heart. In acknowledging the 
 honour paid him " by such a man as Sir Charles Napier, 
 and so cordially echoed by such an assembly," he accepted 
 it only on behalf of the " political corps of Sind and 
 Biluchistan, of which I was till lately the chief, and 
 receive it as a generous requiem on the demise of that 
 body." 
 
 He went on to thank the officers of the Indian army for 
 the help they had so generously rendered in maintaining 
 the peace of the provinces intrusted to his charge. " We 
 now depart from this country," he added, " with the 
 innate gratification of knowing that during our adminis- 
 tration, and throughout the most exciting period the 
 pages of our Indian history can show, that not a human 
 life has been sacrificed within the limits of Biluchistan 
 (beyond that of criminals formally executed); that not 
 a particle of property has been pillaged, not a habitation 
 has been destroyed, not a field has been laid waste, and 
 that the population has been converted from our bitterest 
 foes to friends who now crave British rule. 
 
 "As to myself, gentlemen, I say with truth that 
 
 F
 
 82 The Bayard of India 
 
 although I now return to my regiment a poorer man than 
 I left it three years ago, I do so a far prouder man than 
 I had ever hoped I could have acquired the right to hold 
 myself, proud in the best sense of the term, and rendered 
 so by the high opinion which has this night been so 
 publicly expressed of me by Sir Charles Napier, and so 
 warmly responded to by this great company, to the 
 agitation caused by which I beg you to attribute my 
 confused address ; for although prepared to see the many 
 gallant comrades who have so kindly met to do me 
 honour on this occasion, I certainly never could have 
 contemplated so overwhelming a compliment as was 
 conveyed by the comparison your distinguished president 
 was pleased to institute." l 
 
 Returning later in the same month to Bombay, Outram 
 received the congratulations of his own government on 
 " the satisfactory terms under which he had made over 
 his late important charge to Sir C. Napier," followed by 
 an assurance " of the high gratification which they had 
 derived from observing the eminent zeal and ability with 
 which he had discharged the important duties confided to 
 him during the three last eventful years." 2 The governor 
 himself, Sir George Arthur, hastened to offer him the best 
 appointment then at his disposal. But Outram would 
 accept no kindness that might delay for an hour longer 
 his return home. 
 
 His arrangements for the voyage were already com- 
 pleted, when a sudden message from the governor-general 
 once more frustrated his dearest hopes. " Alas ! there is 
 much between the cup and the lip in this world," he 
 writes to his mother on December 16; "I am ordered 
 back to Sind ! not asked to suit my own convenience as 
 to going or not, but ordered positively to go, in order to 
 officiate as a commissioner in negotiating the new treaties 
 with the amirs of Sind; so go I must, much to my 
 disgust, although it is looked upon by my friends as much 
 to my advantage, as proving to the world (our little 
 Pedlington) that my late removal from office was not 
 owing to any fault on my part, and that I still retain 
 the confidence of government. . . . 
 
 1 Bombay Times, November 1842. * Outram Testimonials.
 
 With Napier in Sind 83 
 
 " I can only refer you for consolation to the gratifying 
 account of a public dinner given to me here the other 
 day, the largest that has been ever given here to any 
 individual except Mr. Elphinstone, and Sir J. Malcolm, I 
 am told, at which almost every male member of the 
 society either attended or put down their names as sub- 
 scribers, and the governor and the commander-in-chief 
 each deputed one of their staff on the occasion. I have 
 been quite overwhelmed with kindness and attention, 
 which will far more than compensate me for Lord Ellen- 
 borough's contumely, and loss of any share in the honours 
 which will, I suppose, be bestowed on those prominently 
 concerned in the Afghan retrieval, for which I beg you 
 will not make any stir. I really begin to have a con- 
 tempt for such baubles, seeing how they are bestowed. 
 I embark for Sind in a steamer at four this afternoon, and 
 expect to be at Sakhar by the end of the month." 
 
 Outram arrived at Sakhar on January 3, 1843. On 
 the 1 2th he writes to his mother from Imamgarh, " a 
 small fort situated in the midst of the desert about 100 
 miles a little to the eastward of south of Khairpur, the 
 capital of Upper Sind, a stronghold where the chiefs of 
 Sind are in the habit of taking refuge when in rebellion or 
 pressed by foreign invasion, on which account Sir Charles 
 Napier determined to destroy the place, and advanced 
 with a light force for the purpose in eight marches from 
 Diji, where I joined him the day before he started, having 
 reached Sakhar on the evening of the 3rd, from whence 
 I made his camp on the 4th." l 
 
 Napier's daring march across the Sind Desert from 
 Diji to Imamgarh was declared by the Duke of Wellington 
 to be " one of the most curious military feats he had ever 
 known or read of." On January 6, 1843, ne se ^ out with 
 a squadron of Sind horse, two large howitzers of the 
 camel battery, and 350 men of the 22nd Foot mounted 
 on camels, two to each in kajdwas or panniers. The 
 eighty miles were accomplished in seven marches; " the 
 first three," says Outram, " through thick jungle, and a 
 not very bad road, the remaining four through an ocean 
 
 1 Outram Letters,
 
 84 The Bayard of India 
 
 of loose sandhills, sometimes very high and steep, over 
 which we had much difficulty in taking the guns." 
 
 The desert stronghold was found empty, and the forti- 
 fications were blown up with the powder they contained. 
 It was a novel and brilliant feat of arms, accomplished 
 without the loss of a single man; and as a means of 
 frightening the amirs into submission it was not without 
 important effect. 
 
 Leaving the ruined fortress on the i6th, Napier marched 
 southward to disperse a gathering of hostile tribes at 
 Dinghi, a fort about midway between Khairpur and 
 Haidarabad. Meanwhile, on the night of the i5th, Outram 
 had been despatched by Napier to Khairpur with instruc- 
 tions to summon the amirs of both provinces to appear 
 at that place in person, or through their vakils, on January 
 25, in order to complete the new treaty with the Indian 
 Government. Resolved to make one more effort to save 
 Mir Rustam, the aged chief of the amirs, Outram turned 
 aside to visit the amir's camp a few miles from Diji. 
 " The old chief and all about him received me," he says, 
 " very civilly, and appeared grateful for the trouble I 
 took on their account, but their confidence in me was 
 evidently much shaken." 
 
 The intrigues of Rustam's rival, Ali Murad, were 
 already doing their work; and the old chief's mistrust of 
 his visitor's intentions was further confirmed by Outram 's 
 assurance that it was not in his power " to alter the 
 arrangements which had already been decided by the 
 governor-general." Outram expressed his earnest desire 
 " to settle all details, and the arrangement of the territory 
 that remained, as much as possible, fairly towards all 
 parties. The amir then remarked, ' What remains to be 
 settled ? Our means of livelihood are taken ; ' adding, 
 ' Why am I not to continue Rais for the short time I 
 have to live? ' J>1 
 
 By the evening of the i6th Outram arrived at Diji 
 after a journey of ninety miles, completed on one camel 
 through a hostile country, with two Biluchi horsemen for 
 his escort. By January 25 not a single amir from Upper 
 Sind had responded to Outram 's summons for the meet- 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 With Napier in Sind 85 
 
 ing at Khairpur; the term of grace was extended by 
 Napier to February 6. Meanwhile Outram at his own 
 request was allowed to go on to Haidarabad. " I am 
 sure," wrote Napier, " they will not resist by force of 
 arms, but I would omit no one step that you or any one 
 thinks can prevent that chance." 
 
 Reaching Haidarabad on February 8, Outram at once 
 held a series of conferences with the amirs of both 
 provinces. The commissioner tried his best to dissuade 
 the assembled princes from demanding redress for the 
 wrongs inflicted on their beloved rais, Mir Rustam, 
 through the treachery of his younger brother Ali Murad. 
 Unless the turban were restored to Rustam, and the 
 march of Napier's troops at once arrested, they could 
 not restrain their Biluchi soldiery from plundering far 
 and wide. At last, however, on February 12, the hateful 
 treaty was signed and sealed in Outram 's presence by 
 nearly all the leading amirs. On his way back from the 
 port where the treaty had been signed, Outram and his 
 officers were assailed with curses by a crowd of citizens 
 and soldiers, who were hardly restrained from bloodshed 
 by the presence of an escort furnished from the amirs' 
 own troops. 
 
 On the following day the amirs sent to warn the 
 commissioner that their Biluchi soldiers were getting out 
 of hand. If Major Outram stayed at the Residency they 
 could not answer for the result. Outram assured the 
 amirs' messengers that their masters would be held 
 responsible for the conduct of their subjects. As for 
 retiring from the Residency, he declared that he would not 
 budge an inch, nor place an additional sentry at his door. 
 
 On the morning of the i5th large bodies of horse and 
 foot, numbering about 8000, were seen advancing towards 
 the Residency compound, a square enclosure skirted on 
 three sides by a wall barely five feet high; while the 
 fourth looked upon the river, whence the company's 
 steamer the Planet could rake the enemy at need with 
 the fire from her single twelve-pounder. For more than 
 three hours Outram's slender garrison of 100 men, the 
 light company of the 22nd Foot and a small body of 
 sepoys, the whole commanded by the gallant Captain
 
 86 The Bayard of India 
 
 Con way, nobly stood their ground against overwhelming 
 odds. By that time the ammunition was running very 
 short, and the Satellite steamer had reached the scene of 
 conflict without any fresh supplies of men or cartridges. 
 Meanwhile the enemy were bringing up some guns to 
 bear upon the Residency itself. The next hour, 12 to 
 i P.M., was spent by the little garrison in masking their 
 retreat with all the baggage from a position no longer 
 tenable. " It was resolved," wrote Outram, " as a pre- 
 paratory measure, to abandon the front positions of the 
 compound. Accordingly, at a preconcerted signal, the 
 parties posted there fell back to the Residency, which 
 then became the front line of defence. 
 
 " The hour allotted for carrying off the baggage having 
 terminated, the retreat was sounded, on which all posts 
 except one were abandoned, and the men closed in double 
 march at a gate appointed. When formed, Captain 
 Conway marched the party by sections to the river front 
 of the still guarded post, and then marched in column 
 directly down to the steamer, the march being the signal 
 for the last batch of defenders to drop from the windows 
 and cover the retiring column by skirmishing to the rear 
 in extended order." 
 
 By this time the enemy had placed three guns under 
 the trees in front of the gate where our soldiers had last 
 formed. " But their fire," adds Outram, " was almost 
 entirely kept under by the Planet's single twelve-pounder; 
 and the detachment was embarked without loss, the 
 wounded and corpses of the slain having been previously 
 removed on board." 
 
 Outram's whole loss in those four hours of continuous 
 fighting amounted only to three men killed, twelve 
 wounded, and four camp-followers missing; while the 
 enemy had lost more than sixty killed, and probably 
 four times as many wounded. Thus, in spite of every 
 advantage, the assailants had completely failed, in 
 Outram's words, " to force an imperfect low-walled 
 enclosure of 200 yards square, defended by only 100 
 men against countless numbers possessing commanding 
 positions and cover up to our walls on three sides." * 
 1 Outram Papers. Marshman's History of India.
 
 With Napier in Sind 87 
 
 On February 16, Outram and his gallant little band 
 arrived at Matari, sixteen miles above Haidarabad. Here 
 they fell in with the advanced-guard of Napier's army. 
 On the same day he reported himself to Sir Charles Napier, 
 whose admiration of his recent exploit is thus recorded in 
 his subsequent despatch of the victory of Miani: "The 
 defence of the Residency by Major Outram and the small 
 force with him, against such numbers of the enemy, was 
 so admirable that I have scarcely mentioned it in the 
 foregoing despatch, because I propose to send your lord- 
 ship a detailed account of it, as a brilliant example of 
 defending a military post." 
 
 In compliance with his chief's instructions, Outram 
 started on the same night with 200 men to set fire to the 
 woods of the Shikargah, or hunting-ground of the amirs, 
 which were supposed to cover the flank of the amirs' 
 forces. Throughout the greater part of the next day, 
 famous in history for the battle of Miani, he was employed 
 in trying to destroy a large tract of forest, which, owing 
 to the absence of wind, " burned," he says, " very slowly 
 and partially. We only saw one body of about 500 of 
 the enemy, who made off on observing our approach; 
 we heard firing in the direction of the army, which 
 continued till i P.M." 
 
 He would have taken his men round the forest so as 
 to fall upon the retreating enemy. " The officers, how- 
 ever, considered their men too much knocked up to 
 attempt an enterprise involving a farther march of some 
 miles. We returned to our vessels about sunset, and 
 shortly after learned from the natives the severe action 
 which had taken place." 
 
 Napier held that Ou tram's operations " would have 
 been most important to the result of the battle. How- 
 ever, the enemy had moved about eight miles to their 
 right during the night, and Major Outram executed his 
 task without difficulty at the hour appointed viz., nine 
 o'clock and from the field we observed the smoke of the 
 burning wood arise. I am strongly inclined to think that 
 this circumstance had some effect on the enemy. But 
 it deprived me of the able services of Major Outram, 
 Captain Green, and Lieutenants Brown and Wells,
 
 88 The Bayard of India 
 
 together with 200 men, which I much regretted for their 
 sakes." 
 
 On the 1 8th Outram rejoined the victor of Miani, 
 encamped on the Indus within striking distance of 
 Haidarabad. The field of battle, through which his 
 road lay, " plainly showed, in the bright moonlight, 
 from the heaps of slain covering it, how severely con- 
 tested the action must have been. We were soon in 
 possession of the particulars of this very sanguinary, at 
 one time doubtful, and finally decisive conflict. Our loss, 
 in proportion to the numbers engaged, was very heavy : 
 19 officers and 256 men, and 95 horses killed and wounded 
 out of about 2700 actually in the field. There were many 
 chiefs, and upwards of 5000 killed and wounded of the 
 enemy." 
 
 By noon of the same day several of the Haidarabad 
 amirs had surrendered on the only terms " life, and 
 nothing else " which Napier would deign to grant them. 
 The swords which they had laid at the stern old warrior's 
 feet were at once returned to them; and one of their 
 number, Husain Ali Khan, was forthwith set free at 
 Outram 's own intercession, " out of respect to the memory 
 of his late father, Mir Nur Muhammad, who on his death- 
 bed had consigned the youth to my guardianship." l 
 
 On the following day Napier marched past Haidarabad 
 and encamped close to the ruined Residency. Believing 
 that nothing more could be done pending the receipt of 
 fresh orders from the governor - general, Outram, with 
 Napier's consent, embarked on the zoth for Bombay. 
 Two days later he wrote from Tatta to his friend Lieu- 
 tenant Brown, to whose charge the captive princes had 
 been confided : " Let me entreat of you, as a kindness 
 to myself, to pay every regard to their comfort and dignity. 
 I do assure you my heart bleeds for them, and it was in 
 the fear that I might betray my feelings that I declined 
 the last interview they yesterday sought of me. Pray 
 say how sorry I was I could not call upon them before 
 leaving ; that, could I have done them any good, I would 
 not have grudged any expenditure of time or labour on 
 their behalf ; but that, alas ! they have placed it out of 
 1 Goldsmid. Napier Bruce.
 
 With Napier in Sind 89 
 
 my power to do aught, by acting contrary to my advice, 
 and having recourse to the fatal step of appeal to arms 
 against the British power." 
 
 It was with a heavy heart that Outram paced the deck 
 of the steamer which bore him back to Bombay. He 
 had witnessed the failure of all his efforts to save the 
 reigning princes of Sind from the ruin they had helped to 
 bring upon themselves. And the warmth of his friend- 
 ship for the great captain, with whom his own nature 
 had much in common, could not blind him to the war of 
 sentiment and opinion already blazing between them on 
 some vital questions of public policy. 
 
 Landing at Bombay before the close of that eventful 
 February, Outram had no reason to complain of the greet- 
 ing which awaited him from all classes of his countrymen. 
 The governor himself, Sir George Arthur, received him as 
 a personal friend, and persuaded him to defer his departure 
 homewards for at least another month, in case his services 
 might still be needed by Sir Charles Napier. " It never 
 occurred to me," he writes to the governor on February 
 28, " that possibly Sir Charles, in his kind consideration for 
 my personal convenience, may have let me come away 
 sooner than he otherwise would have wished; and it is 
 with compunction that I reflect on the enormous labour 
 which he certainly will have to go through during the 
 coming hot season, much of the minor details and 
 drudgery of which I might save him from. 
 
 " If such is really the opinion of Sir Charles, I would 
 rejoin him with alacrity and pleasure on the footing of an 
 acting aide-de-camp, as which I should have no voice of 
 my own in the -policy Sir Charles might adopt, and merely 
 should have to carry out to the best of my ability the 
 details which he might intrust to me, which would be far 
 preferable to me to the situation in which I was formerly 
 placed, when, having a voice, I was bound to raise it as my 
 conscience dictated." 
 
 Writing to Napier himself about a week later, Outram 
 will not presume " to think that I could be of much use in 
 a purely military line, but it would gratify me to share 
 your fatigues and dangers, and I should be no longer called 
 upon to officiate out of that line. . . .
 
 90 The Bayard of India 
 
 " I am sick of policy ; I will not say yours is the best, 
 but it is undoubtedly the shortest that of the sword. Oh, 
 how I wish you had drawn it in a better cause ! " 
 
 When Outram, however, did volunteer to join a detach 
 ment preparing to embark for Sind, the Bombay Govern- 
 ment deemed it inexpedient, in view of his former services 
 and position, to accept his offer. Meanwhile, on March 
 25, his many friends in Bombay held a public meeting, 
 at which it was unanimously resolved to present him 
 with a sword, of the value of 300 guineas, and a costly 
 piece of plate. " I have always felt," wrote Outram in 
 return to Mr. Le Geyt, " that to obtain the applause of 
 my comrades in arms is the highest honour to which I 
 could aspire ; but when I perceive men of all classes unite 
 with them in according to me this distinguished mark of 
 approbation, I feel my merits have been greatly overrated, 
 and that it is to their partial estimate of the services I 
 have performed that I am indebted for this splendid token 
 of their approbation. 
 
 " I accept with gratitude the sword thus presented to 
 me. It will be my most cherished possession while I live, 
 and on my death it shall be bequeathed to my representa- 
 tive as the most highly valued gift I can bestow." x 
 
 On April i, 1843, James Outram went on board the 
 steamer which was to carry him as far as Suez on his way 
 home through Egypt. A day or two earlier he had received 
 from Dr. Carr, the Bishop of Bombay, a Bible and Prayer- 
 Book, accompanied by a letter, which accounted for the 
 absence of the rev. donor's name from the list of sub- 
 scribers to the Outram testimonial. " I felt," he wrote, 
 " that I could not consistently take part in the offering 
 of a sword, as it is the object of my office and ministry to 
 keep the sword in its scabbard, and to labour to promote 
 peace. With these views, and with feelings of great 
 respect for the intrepid bravery, ability, persevering 
 activity, and, I will add, forbearance towards the weak, 
 which have marked your conduct, I venture to offer you 
 a small tribute of respect, and to request your acceptance 
 
 'There were no fewer than 511 subscribers to this testimonial. 
 The sword was duly made by a London firm, and delivered to 
 Outram in the following October after his return from France.
 
 With Napier in Sind 91 
 
 of a Book, a blessed Book, in which you may find support 
 in the hour of trial, and consolation at that time when the 
 sword must be laid aside, and when external things must 
 cease to interest. In it, my dear sir, is to be found a 
 peace which the world cannot disturb. I pray that this 
 peace may be yours; and with sentiments of much 
 admiration and respect, believe me to be, sir, very sin- 
 cerely yours, THOMAS BOMBAY."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 ON FURLOUGH AND AFTER. APRIL l843~MAY 1845 
 
 WRITING to his mother from Malta on April 29, Outram 
 thanks heaven that " I am now on the high road towards 
 you, and, God willing, shall be at Motherbank on the i3th, 
 out of quarantine on the i4th, and on my way from 
 London to Scotland on the lyth, so you may calculate on 
 what day I am likely to be with you. I shall stay as long 
 as I can, and then return to London, where I expect to 
 have much to occupy me for a month or two. When I 
 see you all my plans will be arranged." 
 
 Once more, however, circumstances conspired to upset 
 his plans. For some days after his arrival in London, 
 Lord Ripon, then President of the Board of Control, had 
 no leisure to grant him the interview for which he had 
 applied. Outram's first care on returning to England 
 was to plead the cause of the despoiled and exiled amirs of 
 Sind with the minister who controlled the foreign affairs 
 of the East India Company. For this purpose he pre- 
 sented Lord Ripon with a copy of his journal, which con- 
 tained a full report of his conferences with the amirs 
 before the battle of Miani. This report he had forwarded 
 in February to Sir Charles Napier, who acknowledged the 
 receipt of it, but for some reason or another withheld its 
 contents from the governor-general. 
 
 In his letter of May 16 to Lord Ripon he pledges him- 
 self " to maintain the truth of everything that is stated 
 in those papers," which show, among other things, that 
 the amirs " never contemplated opposing our power, and 
 were only driven to do so from desperation." In these 
 documents Outram also foretells " evil consequences here- 
 after if we do not take advantage of our position as con- 
 querors magnanimously to pardon the amirs, at least 
 to the extent of restoring their possessions if not their 
 92
 
 On Furlough and After 93 
 
 sovereignty, thus showing to the princes of India that 
 territorial acquisition is not really our object or desire." l 
 
 It was too late, however, for human eloquence to avert 
 the issues of accomplished facts. Even before Outram 
 left India Napier had won his crowning victory over the 
 amirs' forces; the whole of Sind had been formally 
 annexed to British India; and her exiled princes had been 
 carried off as state prisoners to their future homes at 
 Poona and Barackpore. From a statement put forth 
 many years afterwards by Mr. Gladstone, it appears that 
 the ministry of Sir Robert Peel entirely disapproved of 
 the course adopted by their governor - general. But 
 they felt themselves powerless to undo what Ellen- 
 borough had already done; for, in Mr. Gladstone's 
 words, " the mischief of retaining was less than the mis- 
 chief of abandoning " their new conquest. 2 
 
 Outram's persistent pleadings on behalf of the Sind 
 amirs with prominent statesmen and East India directors 
 served, at least, to bring out the sentimental side of the 
 story told in official despatches, and secured a respectful 
 hearing for his own version of the matters in dispute 
 between himself and the Indian Government. From 
 Lord Ripon he obtained an assurance that the documents 
 suppressed by Napier should find a place in the coming 
 Blue-Book on the affairs of Sind. And it may have been 
 partly due to Outram's influence that the Court of 
 Directors passed in August resolutions condemning the 
 policy which had turned the land of the amirs into a 
 British province. 
 
 Beyond that burst of harmless thunder the Court of 
 Directors did not care to go. Lord Ellenborough was 
 not recalled; the exiled princes remained in exile; and 
 Napier proceeded to govern Sind with the strong hand 
 of a great soldier, guided by the skill and genius of a 
 resourceful statesman. 
 
 In July 1843, Outram saw himself gazetted Lieutenant- 
 Colonel and C.B., two distinctions which, in the words 
 of Mountstuart Elphinstone, " had been promised, or 
 more than promised, long ago. Had he received these 
 
 1 Outram's Correspondence with the Authorities in England. 
 * Contemporary Review, November 1876.
 
 94 The Bayard of India 
 
 honours at the time, he would now, on the principle which 
 must have been observed, of advancing each officer one 
 step, have been made aide-de-camp to the queen and 
 K.C.B." In the same letter to Mr. John Lock, an East 
 India director, Elphinstone declares that, " besides his 
 ample share in the planning and conduct of various 
 military enterprises, his political services for several 
 years have been such as it would be difficult to parallel 
 in the whole course of Indian diplomacy. . . . Consider- 
 ing all these services, and the high station held by Colonel 
 Outram when he performed them, the appearance of his 
 name among crowds of subalterns is rather a humiliation 
 than an honour." * 
 
 Colonel Outram's share of the Sind prize-money 
 amounted to the value of 3000. Of this timely addition 
 to a moderate income he refused to accept a single farthing 
 for his own use, handing the whole sum over to various 
 charities in India. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the early summer of 1843, Outram joined 
 his wife and mother at Cheltenham, where he spent some 
 happy weeks varied by occasional visits to London. 
 During his stay in that once favourite resort of Anglo- 
 Indians he was invited to meet a number of friends and 
 admirers at a dinner to be given in the Plough Hotel. 
 He declined the honour on the plea of his health, for he 
 was only just recovering from a huge Sind boil upon his 
 cheek. Before the close of the season he took his wife 
 and mother to London, where the former was duly pre- 
 sented, together with Mrs. Bax, at court. 
 
 A brief experience of London gaieties and sight-seeing 
 was followed by Outram's journey to Scotland on visits 
 of a few days each to his sister, Mrs. Sligo, and his father- 
 in-law. Rejoining his wife at Brighton, he took her 
 on with him to Paris by way of Dieppe. The close 
 of September found them back again in Brook Street, 
 where he stayed until his return to India by the mail of 
 December i. 2 
 
 During the voyage he won the friendship of Mr. Inglis 
 Money of the Bengal Civil Service, who in a letter to Sir 
 Francis Outram tells how one day, when the ship was 
 1 Outram Testimonials. Goldsmid.
 
 On Furlough and After 95 
 
 rolling heavily, " a sergeant's wife with a baby in her 
 arms had hold of the top of the companion-ladder, and 
 did not know how to get down it to the lower deck. There 
 were three young fellows standing close by smoking, and 
 apparently amused at her predicament. Just as I was 
 on the point of starting to help the poor woman, your 
 chivalrous father darted past me and, getting hold of the 
 companion-ladder, helped her down as tenderly and care- 
 fully as if she had been his own mother." 
 
 This abrupt curtailment of Outram's furlough sprang 
 from his own eagerness to serve his country at a critical 
 moment in her Indian affairs. In November it was known 
 that a revolution had occurred at Lahore, and that Sher 
 Sing, who had succeeded his famous father Ranjit on the 
 throne of the Punjab, had been murdered by his own 
 minister, Dhyan Sing. This event was followed by others 
 which threatened to involve the rulers of India in a war 
 with their whilom Sikh allies. 
 
 In the first days of the new year, 1844, Outram landed 
 in Bombay armed with a letter from the Duke of Welling- 
 ton to the commander-in-chief, Sir Hugh Gough, in which 
 he was strongly recommended for employment, in the 
 event of war with the Sikhs. By that time, however, 
 Sir Hugh had brought his brief campaign against the 
 Gwalior Marathas to a victorious ending, while the 
 chances of armed strife beyond the Satlaj seemed still 
 remote. 
 
 On the 23rd Outram writes to his wife from Asirgarh, 
 on his way to the governor-general's camp at Gwalior. 
 Three weeks later, on his way back from Gwalior, he 
 acquaints his mother with the failure of his attempt to 
 speak with Lord Ellenbo rough face to face. " Fancy 
 my being in the same camp yesterday with Lord Ellen- 
 borough, to whom I proffered my attendance as in duty 
 bound, and to show that I did not shun to meet his lordship 
 after all I had done at home ! He, however, had no wish 
 to meet me, and declined the interview, unless I would 
 state my reasons in writing: so we did not meet." 
 
 Lord Ellenborough, however, offered him the political 
 charge of Nimar, a district lying to the north of Khandesh. 
 This appointment, so inferior to anything he had held
 
 96 The Bayard of India 
 
 before, he was at first inclined to reject. But the advice 
 of his friends prevailed upon him to accept the offer of a 
 post which was probably at that time the best that the 
 government could bestow. On March 10 he reached 
 Mandlesar, the headquarters of his agency, " situated 
 on the banks of the Narbada, on the road between Asir- 
 garh and Mhow." Here he found " a good house and 
 garden, a doctor and his wife, and one or two officers. 
 A detachment of troops is always stationed there; it is 
 a pretty place also, so I daresay Margaret will not dislike 
 it." 
 
 During his travels of the past two months he had seen 
 " Agra, the Taj, and Gwalior, which alone would repay 
 the journey, and met with much civility and attention 
 from everybody except Lord Ellenborough." 
 
 " My life," he adds, " is that of a perfect hermit. I go 
 to office at sunrise, stay there till ten o'clock, receiving 
 petitions, and transacting business personally with the 
 natives; breakfast at ten; then in my office at home 
 official correspondence, etc., till dinner at four; ride out 
 after dinner, then tea and read till bedtime." 
 
 Meanwhile his letters to his friends in India and at 
 home were always harping on the subject that engrossed 
 his thoughts, the injustice done to the amirs, and their 
 champion, by a ministry which refused to lay before 
 parliament certain papers bearing on questions raised 
 by the annexation of Sind. The recall of Lord Ellen- 
 borough in May, followed by the arrival of his successor, 
 Sir Henry Hardinge, failed to comfort his sorely troubled 
 spirit, or to save some of his correspondents from un- 
 merited reproach for their seeming lack of sympathy 
 with his own especial grievance. By the middle of 
 September he had thrown up his appointment, and 
 started for Bombay with the intention of returning home 
 in the following month. 
 
 At Bombay he was still awaiting the answer to his 
 request for permission to return home when the news 
 of a rebellion in the Southern Maratha country impelled 
 him to delay his departure, and to place his sword at the 
 disposal of the Bombay Government. Sir George Arthur 
 gladly accepted his offer, and proposed to send him into
 
 On Furlough and After 97 
 
 the disturbed provinces as political agent in room of Mr. 
 Reeves, who, being a civilian, was deemed less suitable 
 for such a post than a military officer at a time when war 
 was already raging. Outram, with his wonted chivalry, 
 refused to supersede a gentleman for whose talents and 
 character he had a high respect, and who was thoroughly 
 acquainted with the state of affairs in the Southern 
 Maratha country. At the same time he expressed his 
 readiness to act in conjunction with Mr. Reeves so long 
 as the war lasted. Sir George Arthur avowed his hearty 
 approval of Outram's generous scruples, and directed 
 him to proceed on " special duty " to the seat of war. 
 
 On October n Outram joined the camp of Brigadier 
 Wallace in front of the fortress of Samangarh. On the 
 morning of the i3th the fort was carried by storm, Outram 
 himself leading the way inside, and standing for a moment 
 alone among the enemy. On the same day he took part 
 with Captain Graeme and a wing of the 5th Light Cavalry 
 in their successful pursuit of a large body of the rebels. 
 For his services throughout that day he received the 
 cordial thanks of the brigadier commanding. 
 
 The camp of General Delamotte became the next scene 
 of Outram's activities. As special commissioner and 
 chief intelligence officer he kept a close watch upon the 
 movements of the insurgent leaders, while using his best 
 efforts to win their submission by offers of a general 
 amnesty. Had those efforts been backed by the timely 
 movements of an armed force, the rebellion might have 
 collapsed before the middle of November. It was not 
 until the close of that month that Delamotte appeared 
 before Panhala, a hill-fort in the State of Kolhapur, whose 
 boy ruler had fled for shelter to the British camp. 1 
 
 On December i our batteries opened fire upon the 
 stronghold, which was stormed the same afternoon in 
 gallant style Outram, as usual, being among the fore- 
 most to mount the breach. Several of the ringleaders fell 
 in the assault, many prisoners were taken by the troops 
 posted outside the fort, and before evening the neigh- 
 bouring fort of Pawangarh fell without a struggle into 
 our hands. 
 
 1 Calcutta Review, September 1845. Outram Services. Goldsmid- 
 
 G
 
 98 The Bayard of India 
 
 As the fighting in those districts now seemed virtually 
 over, Outram returned to Bombay in the middle of 
 December for the purpose of taking his passage to Eng- 
 land. But the military commanders had reckoned 
 without their defeated foes, who prepared to renew the 
 struggle below the Ghats among the rocky jungles of 
 Sawant-Wari. The Bombay Government, however, still 
 needed the help of so tried and trustworthy an agent, and 
 Outram promptly offered to return to the seat of war, 
 and there organise and lead a body of light troops. 
 
 Landing at Vingorla in the first days of January 1845, 
 he selected two or three good officers for service on his 
 staff, with whom a week later he arrived at the town of 
 Wari, where he proceeded to organise a column 1200 
 strong, made up of Europeans, sepoys, and local troops, 
 with a few sappers and a light field battery. " Never," 
 says his great contemporary, Sir Henry Lawrence, in the 
 Calcutta Review, " was the magic power of one man's 
 presence more striking than on Outram's return to the 
 seat of war." His first act was to detach 100 men under 
 an English officer back to Vingorla, to allay the panic 
 which had spread to that place. From Wari he himself 
 pushed on with the bulk of his troops towards the Sivapur 
 valley, with a view to attacking the rebels on that side, 
 while three other columns were moving against them 
 from as many different quarters. 
 
 Of all these columns Outram's alone was entirely suc- 
 cessful. In spite of all hindrances he made his way from 
 one point to another of an unknown and difficult country, 
 capturing stockades, villages, and forts, with only one 
 partial check, and driving the last of the insurgent chiefs 
 across the border into the Portuguese territory of Goa. 
 The combined movement had begun on January 20. By 
 the end of that month the last band of insurgents had 
 been dispersed, and the boldest of their leaders slain or 
 captured. At Kolhapur a British officer ere long replaced 
 the native minister, and the political control of Sawant- 
 Wari was finally intrusted to the capable hands of Captain 
 Le Grand Jacob, who, in Lawrence's own words, " is, like 
 Colonel Outram, a good soldier as well as an able and 
 conciliating civil officer."
 
 On Furlough and After 99 
 
 Outram's brilliant services during the past few months, 
 " the energy, boldness, and military skill " displayed by 
 him, " and the rapidity and success which characterised 
 all the movements of his detachment," were gratefully 
 acknowledged both by the Bombay Government and 
 their commander-in-chief." 1 
 
 Early in February 1845 Sir George Arthur offered him 
 the post of Resident at the court of Satara, in the small 
 Maratha kingdom, then ruled by a direct descendant of 
 that daring Sivaji who first taught his countrymen to defy 
 the armies and humble the pride of a great Mughal 
 emperor. It was not, however, until three months later 
 that Outram found himself free to take up his new duties, 
 leaving to his successor, Captain Jacob, the management 
 of a tranquillised and orderly Sawant-Wari, and carrying 
 away with him the thanks of the Supreme Government 
 for his skilful handling of some delicate negotiations with 
 the Portuguese Government of Goa. 
 1 Outram Papers.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 FROM SATARA TO BARODA. MAY l845~NOVEMBER 1848 
 
 ON May 26, 1845, Colonel Outram reached Satara in 
 company with his wife, who had rejoined him earlier in 
 the month at Bombay. On April 22 he had written to 
 his mother about his future plans: " I have had much to 
 undergo and struggle against during the past six months, 
 but have passed through the ordeal with increased credit, 
 and believe I stand higher than ever in the estimation of 
 government, even that of Bengal, having received con- 
 gratulations of Sir Henry Hardinge on the success of my 
 measures in this country; but I certainly cannot rest 
 under the misrepresentations cast upon me in the Napier 
 book, and hope it may induce government to permit me 
 to defend myself, in which case I have no fear of the 
 result. . . . 
 
 " I have been so incessantly occupied since the first 
 volume of William Napier's Conquest of Sind came out 
 that I have had no time to turn my attention to the 
 subject, and purposed waiting for the second to tackle 
 both at once, but the second does not now appear likely 
 to come out, as I understand the duke frowns upon it; 
 but there is too much in the first for me to pass over, and 
 as soon as released from my present duty I shall turn my 
 attention to it." 
 
 His present duties included the chief command of all 
 the troops quartered in Satara. During the worst of the 
 summer heats he went with Mrs. Outram up the Ghats 
 for a few weeks' sojourn in the cool mountain air of 
 Mahabaleshar. Here, too, he found more leisure for com- 
 pleting his commentary on Sir William Napier's version 
 of the events which issued in the conquest of Sind. 
 Before the close of September he had already sniffed the 
 first tokens of impending war along the valley of the
 
 From Satara to Baroda 101 
 
 Satlaj. However pacific were our own intentions towards 
 the Government of Lahore, he felt that the Sikh soldiery 
 might prove so uncontrollable that the collision so long 
 expected might come at any moment. " I cannot resist, 
 therefore," he writes to Colonel Gough, " again soliciting 
 permission to join the army said to be about to assemble 
 under the commander-in-chief, on the mere chance of 
 hostilities, as a volunteer." 
 
 In his answer of October 17, Colonel Gough assures 
 Outram that the commander-in-chief " at present sees no 
 chance of active service either in the Punjab or else 
 where "; and that his excellency would deem it " quite 
 out of his province to order the attendance of an officer 
 belonging to another presidency." 
 
 Sir Hugh Cough's soothing assurances failed to quench 
 Outram's yearning for fresh fields of military adventure. 
 On December 18 he applies to the governor-general 
 through his secretary, Mr. Frederick Currie, for permission 
 to join the headquarters' camp as a volunteer, if he can 
 obtain a few months' leave of absence from his govern 
 ment. Sir Henry Hardinge referred the matter to his 
 commander-in-chief, who replied on January 4, 1846, 
 through his secretary, Captain West, that he would be 
 happy to see Colonel Outram in his camp, if he could 
 obtain the necessary leave of absence. 
 
 By that time Gough had already won two hard-fought 
 battles with the great Sikh army which had poured across 
 the Satlaj before the middle of December 1845. The 
 campaign, however, was not yet over. Armed with the 
 sanction of his own government, Outram had arranged 
 his dak from Satara to the headquarters' camp at Firozpur, 
 when on January 20 " Sir George Arthur received a letter 
 from Sir Hugh Gough of such a nature as caused him to 
 withdraw the leave which had been granted to me." 
 
 " Thus has been suddenly dashed the hope of my life 
 for years past," he writes to Captain West on January 
 24, " for which I returned to India before the expiration 
 of my furlough in November 1843, m the fuN confidence 
 that the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington 
 would ensure my admission to the glorious field of the 
 Punjab, which I considered was the only one worthy of
 
 102 The Bayard of India 
 
 a soldier likely to occur in my day, and the last chance 
 I should ever have of serving under the banner of a 
 Peninsular hero." x 
 
 The reasons for this sudden change of front are set 
 forth in Captain West's letter of February 19 to Colonel 
 Outram: " I have delayed a few days to reply to your 
 letter from Satara, thinking, as has turned out to be the 
 case, that the decisive victory of Subraon on the loth 
 instant would change the face of affairs from a warlike 
 to a peaceful hue; and when I laid your request before 
 his excellency the commander-in-chief, he replied, ' Write 
 to Colonel Outram that I could have no personal motive 
 in interdicting his joining the army; on the contrary, 
 that I had every desire of making the acquaintance of so 
 gallant and distinguished an officer.' 
 
 " It was, however, suggested to his excellency, when 
 Sir C. Napier was summoned to join the army of the 
 Satlaj, that there might be some awkwardness on your 
 both being present with it; and acting upon this view of 
 the case, his excellency did write to Sir G. Arthur point- 
 ing out the inconvenience which might arise, and which 
 to others did appear sufficiently obvious to merit con- 
 sideration." 
 
 The writer goes on to say that Gulab Sing has agreed 
 to all the terms proposed by the governor-general. " As 
 matters have assumed an aspect so decidedly peaceable, 
 his excellency thinks it would be as useless writing to 
 Sir G. Arthur on the subject as it would be unprofitable 
 to yourself to make so long a journey for nothing. 
 
 " I can fully sympathise in your disappointment at 
 not having witnessed our glorious and hardly-contested 
 campaign; it has been bloody indeed; the Singhs have 
 proved themselves no mean or contemptible enemy; it 
 has been the severest fighting that ever occurred in 
 India. 
 
 " Had you quitted Bombay to join the army on the 
 permission from his excellency accorded in my letter, 
 you would probably have been too late for the battle of 
 Subraon. However, I repeat again, I can well under- 
 stand your feelings on this occasion, recollecting as I do 
 1 Outram MSS.
 
 From Satara to Baroda 103 
 
 my own vexation at missing the battles of Miani and 
 Haidarabad." 1 
 
 The war, indeed, had come to an end with the crowning 
 victory of Subraon. Outram, however, felt as one who 
 had been cheated of his heart's desire by what appeared 
 to him a paltry subterfuge. Why should the fact of his 
 having quarrelled with Sir Charles Napier suffice to dis- 
 able him from rendering loyal service to the leader of an 
 army in which his adversary happened to hold high 
 command? As the force which Napier assembled at 
 Rohri never crossed the frontier of Northern Sind, while 
 Outram had sought only for a place in the fighting line, 
 the likelihood of any meeting between the queen's and 
 the company's officer would have been infinitesimal. 
 Even if they had met, Napier surely would not have 
 wished, in the words of Outram's previous letter, " to 
 thwart a soldier's desire to serve his country in the field; 
 and as it was never my intention to intrude myself 
 personally upon the commander-in-chief, Sir C. Napier 
 would have no cause for complaint on that score. Neither 
 is it, I should hope, to be apprehended that I could ever 
 so far forget my duty as a soldier and the respect due to 
 that officer's position, as to conduct myself otherwise than 
 I ought to do towards him, should we personally meet." 
 
 Meanwhile Outram was engaged in passing through the 
 Bombay press the last sheets of his commentary on 
 General Sir William Napier's Conquest of Sind, a work 
 in which the well-known historian of the Peninsular War 
 sought to vindicate his brother's dealings with the amirs 
 of Sind by savagely aspersing the character and conduct 
 of the man whom Sir Charles Napier had once extolled 
 as the Bayard of India. It was only in the previous 
 June that Cutram had read the second volume of this 
 remarkable outburst of brotherly devotion; and he had 
 hastened to acquaint its author with " my intention to 
 publish, as soon as possible, as full and complete refuta- 
 tion as circumstances admit of all the calumnies and 
 misrepresentations which, with the manifest obiect of 
 raising your brother's character at the expense of mine, 
 you have published against me." 
 1 Outram MSS
 
 1 04 The Bayard of India 
 
 The commentary was printed in Bombay merely for 
 private circulation, but a London edition, revised and 
 expurgated, came out a few months later from the press 
 of Messrs. Blackwood under the title of The Conquest of 
 Sind : a Commentary. Many of the misstatements in 
 Sir William Napier's work " are exposed," says a writer 
 in the Calcutta Review, " with unsparing freedom, but in 
 a tone of great moderation, in Colonel Outram's com- 
 mentary, which presents, in many respects, a remarkable 
 contrast to the work upon which it comments." 
 
 Of Outram's commentary, in the words of the same 
 writer, " it may, in brief, be said, that without displaying 
 the fitful eloquence or the practised literary skill of the 
 military historian, it evinces a thorough mastery of the 
 subject on which it treats, and it is written in clear, 
 forcible, and unaffected language, with an earnestness 
 that bespeaks the author's honesty of purpose, and with 
 a scrupulous accuracy to which his opponent can lay no 
 claim." ! 
 
 It is needless here to dwell upon the furious controversy 
 aroused by these two rival retrospects of the events which 
 issued in the conquest of Sind. Wild words wandered 
 to and fro for several years between the partisans on 
 either side, and even Outram was stung into making rash 
 charges against Sir Charles Napier, which he afterwards 
 saw reason to qualify or withdraw. Of Outram, however, 
 it may truly be said that in all the heat of this polemic 
 word-throwing he " nothing common did, nor mean." 
 He never knowingly hit his assailant below the belt, nor 
 could he stoop to fling back the kind of mud with which 
 Sir W. Napier had wantonly bespattered him. 
 
 As to the main question at issue between himself and 
 Sir C. Napier, it seems only fair to admit that each of 
 them, looking at a different side of the shield, may have 
 acted rightly from his own point of view. While Outram 
 clung to his belief in the good faith of the amirs, and their 
 readiness to accept, with certain limitations, the terms 
 proposed by the Indian Government, Napier, on the other 
 hand, had started with a firm conviction of their secret 
 hostility to a power whose real strength they had been 
 1 Calcutta Review, December 1846.
 
 From Satara to Baroda 105 
 
 tempted to undervalue. Napier declared that the safety 
 of his small army had been gravely imperilled by Outram's 
 ill-timed appeals to the magnanimity of Sher Muhammad, 
 the " Lion of Mirpur," while Outram complained that his 
 last efforts to conciliate the amirs had been foredoomed 
 to failure by Napier's sudden march towards Haidara- 
 bad. The two men, in short, had been working upon lines 
 so clearly divergent that misunderstandings, leading by 
 degrees to an open rupture, would inevitably ensue. One 
 is reminded of the eager disputants in Merrick's amusing 
 tale concerning the colour of the chameleon. In the light 
 of subsequent history it may even be argued that Outram's 
 policy of trust in the amirs would have proved less wise 
 for practical purposes than Napier's policy of vigilant 
 coercion. 
 
 In March 1847 Outram obtained a month's leave on 
 medical certificate to Bombay. It does not appear, 
 according to Sir F. Goldsmid, that he suffered from any 
 serious ailment; but the sedentary life which he had 
 lately been leading, added to the long mental strain of 
 paper controversy, may have driven him to recruit his 
 health among the sea-breezes and social recreations of 
 Malabar Hill. He had not long returned to Satara when 
 Sir George Clerk, the new Governor of Bombay, offered 
 him the post of Resident at Baroda, the chief native state 
 on that side of India. This appointment was at that 
 time the highest which the Bombay Government could 
 bestow; and Sir George Clerk had warmly sympathised 
 with Outram's earnest efforts to secure an honourable 
 retreat from Afghanistan. He had followed Outram's 
 subsequent career with admiring interest, and in May of 
 this year he gladly offered him an appointment worthy 
 of his deserts. " My appointment," writes Outram to 
 his mother on May 17, " to the highest political situation 
 under the Bombay Government, is looked upon by the 
 service generally as a triumph over the Napiers; but I 
 shall never consider myself righted until I am replaced 
 in political employment under the Government of India, 
 from which Lord Ellenborough removed me, and until 
 the condemnation his lordship recorded against me, 
 respecting Sind, is expunged."
 
 106 The Bayard of India 
 
 The Baroda State was one of those Maratha kingdoms 
 which the vassals of the Peshwas had carved out for 
 themselves in the eighteenth century from the ruins of 
 the old Mughal Empire. Outram was no stranger to 
 some parts of the country now placed under his political 
 charge. His official experiences in Khandesh and the 
 Mahi Kanta from 1835-38 had thrown much curious light 
 on the dealings of native officials throughout the pro- 
 vinces governed by the gaikwar. 1 His new appointment 
 seemed to open to him a wide field of administrative 
 reform, and he " hastened/' says an able writer, " to 
 enter on its duties, cheered with bright visions of the 
 lasting benefits which he hoped to confer on the prince 
 and people of Baroda. 
 
 " But these visions were not destined to be realised. 
 Before he could mature his plans he was grieved to 
 discover that the corruption, which in former days he 
 had helped to combat, was not extinct; that the long- 
 cherished popular belief in the corruptibility of the 
 Bombay Government still survived; and that this belief 
 was not less potent for mischief than he had found it to 
 be in 1837. The further he carried his inquiries, the 
 more forcibly was the conviction impressed on his mind. 
 And he saw that till a more healthy moral tone could be 
 introduced into the native department of his diplomatic 
 establishment, and a more elevated estimate of the 
 integrity of Bombay functionaries forced on the native 
 community, vain must be his efforts to promote the 
 mental or material improvement of the people." 2 
 
 The task to which our modern Hercules addressed him- 
 self might have taxed the courage of him who slew the 
 Hydra and achieved the cleansing of the Augean stables. 
 Outram's own particular monster was called by the 
 natives khatpat, a term which included every kind of 
 corrupt influence, from bribery to blackmailing. In 
 Baroda the trail of this serpent was over all departments 
 of public business, and its poisonous breath seems to have 
 
 1 Gaikwar, or cowherd, was the title bequeathed to his successors 
 by Pilaji Gaikwar, the Maratha peasant who founded the reigning 
 dynasty of Baroda. 
 
 2 Outram Services.
 
 From Satara to Baroda 107 
 
 tainted the official atmosphere of Bombay itself. " The 
 great art of life," as Kaye has well observed, " is to make 
 things pleasant. A troublesome man is the despair of 
 his superiors; he must have as good stuff in him as you, 
 James Outram, if his stirrings do not bring him to grief." 1 
 
 How zealously the new Resident went to work may be 
 seen from his letters of July 1847 to his assistant, Captain 
 Fulljames, at Ahmadabad. After recounting the mis- 
 deeds of one Baba Nafra who had just been arrested on 
 the charges of bribery and abduction, he goes on to speak 
 in no flattering terms of Narsu Pant, for several years 
 the confidential agent at the Baroda Residency. " A 
 cunning fellow like Narsu Pant would have little diffi- 
 culty in trumping up false charges. But Mr. Narsu's 
 tether is very short, and I doubt not that in a few days 
 his own misdeeds will be fully exposed he must be 
 quaking in his shoes, knowing as he does what there is 
 against him." 
 
 In another letter he gives his assistant " full authority 
 to search the magisterial and other judicial records the 
 records of the Kolie corps, etc., etc. and to quote from 
 them whatever may be necessary to your report on the 
 state of the police and working of the corps, and every- 
 thing connected therewith." 
 
 " Your report," he adds, " will, I have no doubt, be 
 sufficient to afford government ground for utterly reform- 
 ing the whole system of police, and on handing it up I 
 shall submit the reorganisation I would recommend; so 
 if you have any further suggestions to offer beyond those 
 you have already given me, let me have them by the 
 time I receive your report." And he concludes by telling 
 Fulljames to be in no hurry with his report; " it is of 
 more importance it should be full and convincing than 
 that it should go in soon." 
 
 Writing again to Fulljames on December i, with 
 regard to some further reports on the police, Outram 
 suggests that he might " find a way to comment on 
 the ill-working of those united functions (revenue and 
 magisterial) without appearing unnecessarily to intrude 
 what must be so unpalatable to the Civil Service, and if 
 1 Cornhill Magazine, January 1861.
 
 io8 The Bayard of India 
 
 your and Wallace's supplementary reports come through 
 me, I will then take the opportunity to say my say also." 
 
 Referring to a case of opium robbery which had not yet 
 been brought clearly home to the actual culprits, although 
 so many persons had been confined on suspicion, " I wish 
 much," he says, " you would try by a second examina- 
 tion of the prisoners in Ahmadabad to elicit further 
 evidence, otherwise I fear it never will be brought home 
 to the rascals." " Might you not," he adds, " with 
 sanction of the judge, hold out a promise of pardon to one 
 or two of them if they gave such information as will lead 
 to the conviction of the culprits? or might you not get 
 some of those who are to be released on security, to come 
 forward as queen's evidence? " 
 
 In the year 1848 a change of ill-omen to Outram 
 occurred in the Government of Bombay. His staunch 
 friend Sir George Clerk was driven by ill-health to resign 
 his office, and Lord Falkland was sent out to fill his place. 
 Towards the end of April Outram's home at Baroda was 
 saddened by the untimely death of Mrs. Outram's brother, 
 Lieutenant Anderson, who had been foully murdered, 
 together with his civil colleague, Mr. Vans Agnew, by 
 the soldiers of Mulraj, the Diwan or Governor of Multan. 
 The two victims of unforeseen treachery had been de- 
 puted by the Lahore Darbar to instal a new governor at 
 Multan in the room of Mulraj, who had lately tendered 
 his resignation. With regard to Lieutenant Anderson, 
 Outram writes to his mother on May 16: " It is indeed a 
 sad, sad termination to the career of one of the noblest 
 young men I ever knew, when he thought he had attained 
 a sure path to fame and honour. Our last letter from him, 
 written the day he embarked at Lahore to sail down to 
 Multan, was full of hope and joy." l 
 
 While Herbert Edwardes was leading his Bannu levies 
 across the Indus to the very walls of Mulraj 's stronghold, 
 it was becoming daily clearer that the outbreak at Multan 
 had set fire to the fuel of a general Sikh revolt against a 
 government impelled by British officers and protected by 
 British bayonets. Outram, as usual, longed to play his 
 part in the coming struggle between the whole Sikh 
 nation and the government of Lord Dalhousie, who had 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 From Satara to Baroda 109 
 
 gone out to fill the place vacated by Lord Hardinge. In a 
 letter to Sir Frederick Currie, who was acting at Lahore 
 as British Resident in the room of Sir Henry Lawrence, 
 absent for a time on sick-leave to Europe, Outram urged 
 the propriety of securing the services of the Sind camel 
 corps, and a regiment of Sind horse, for the defence of 
 Bhawalpur from the inroads of the Multani rebels. 
 
 For this end he was ready to act in concert with Major 
 John Jacob. " If you intrust my friend Jacob and 
 myself with this duty," he writes, " depend upon it we 
 shall not lie idle, nor allow the Multanis to cross to this 
 side of the river with impunity, and shall so puzzle Mulraj 
 by our feints and movements as to deter him, in a great 
 measure, if not altogether, from attempting any distant 
 operations until our regular army can come down upon 
 him." ! 
 
 Shortly afterwards he applied to Lord Dalhousie him- 
 self for employment on a roving commission of the kind 
 already proposed. The governor-general expressed his 
 readiness to further Outram's wishes; but in view of 
 pending arrangements for the despatch of a Bombay 
 column to co-operate with the troops of Bengal, he held 
 it better that Outram should apply to his own govern- 
 ment for the requisite permission. The consequent 
 reference to Bombay resulted only in a polite refusal of 
 Colonel Outram's request. 
 
 On September 12, 1848, Outram left Baroda on medical 
 certificate, arriving five days later in Bombay. In the 
 autumn of the previous year he had been attacked with 
 erysipelas, which nearly caused his death. A year later, 
 excessive brain-work in a very unhealthy climate had 
 developed symptoms so alarming that his medical advisers 
 insisted on a complete change of scene and air. The six 
 weeks that Outram spent in Bombay were chiefly em- 
 ployed in vainly urging the government to carry out 
 some of the measures advocated in his official reports on 
 the state of things at Baroda. At last, on November 3, he 
 embarked with his wife for Suez, whence Mrs. Outram would 
 pass on to her Scottish home, leaving her husband to recruit 
 his health and enlarge his mental outlook by a lengthened 
 sojourn in the land of the Pharaohs and the Ptolemies. 
 1 Outram MSS.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 FROM BARODA TO EGYPT AND BACK AGAIN. NOVEMBER 
 I848-FEBRUARY 1852 
 
 AFTER landing at Suez, Colonel and Mrs. Outram pro- 
 ceeded across the desert in one of those vans which carried 
 passengers between Suez and Cairo in the early days 
 of the overland route from India to England. Towards 
 evening they came across a van which was bearing Sir 
 Henry Lawrence back to the Punjab after an absence 
 of less than a year. The meeting between these two 
 men, who had never seen each other before, is described 
 by Lady Lawrence in a letter to her son Alexander: 
 " Our vans stopped ; papa got out, and, in the twilight, 
 had ten minutes' talk with Colonel Outram. They have 
 long known each other by character, and corresponded 
 pleasantly, but had never met before. There is much 
 alike in their characters; but Colonel Outram has had 
 peculiar opportunities of protesting against tyranny, and 
 he has refused to enrich himself by ill-gotten gains. . . . 
 
 " Colonel Outram, though a very poor man, would not 
 take money which he did not think rightfully his, and 
 distributed all his share in charity giving 800 to the 
 Hill Asylum at Kussowli. I was glad, even in the dark, 
 to shake hands with one whom I esteemed so highly." l 
 
 Early in December Outram parted from his wife at 
 Alexandria on board the steamer which was to convey 
 her back to England. Finding Alexandria intolerable 
 after her departure, he returned up the Nile towards 
 Cairo in the steamer which had brought him down. At 
 Cairo he began to study Arabic with a view to extending 
 his travels as far west as Tunis. A qualified teacher 
 had^been found for him by the well-known missionary, 
 
 1 Life of Sir Henry Lawrence. By Sir Herbert Edwardes and 
 Herman Merivale, C.B. 
 
 110
 
 From Baroda to Egypt 1 1 1 
 
 Mr. Leider. " As I have had no practice," he writes 
 to Mrs. Outram, " in learning languages for thirty years 
 past, I fear I shall prove a very stupid pupil." In the 
 following year, however, his letters from Bombay served 
 to convince him that his scheme for visiting Tunis was a 
 vain thing under the terms of his furlough to Egypt. 
 " I am informed," he writes, " that my tether extends 
 only to 36 degrees of north latitude, and 30 longitude 
 E. of Greenwich." 
 
 Before leaving India he had been ordered by his doctors 
 to keep always moving as the best means of regaining 
 his health. The first two months of 1849 were occupied 
 by him in a careful survey of the route across the desert 
 from Keneh to Kosseir, the same route which Bairds' 
 Indian contingent had traversed in the opposite direction 
 during the war with Napoleon in 1801. On this occasion 
 he was accompanied by Mr. Stuart Poole, nephew of the 
 well-known Arabic scholar, Edward Lane. 1 
 
 On mounting his camel at Keneh for the trip across 
 the desert Outram wore a regulation sword. " Don't 
 wear that, Colonel; they will find you out," entreated 
 Mr. Poole. " Do you think," he answered, " I will wear 
 anything but the queen's sword? " So he went undis- 
 guised, and the suspicions that his frankness excited 
 nearly " led to my being carried off during his absence." 
 On his previous voyage up the Nile as far as Thebes he 
 had taken note of every good military position along the 
 route. " He would say of a fine temple, ' What a splendid 
 position ! ' With a great respect for learning, he cared 
 very little for antiquities." 
 
 In his account of the trip Mr. Stuart Poole was deeply 
 impressed by " the strength and individuality of his 
 disposition, his warmth of heart, his great unselfishness, 
 his absolute confidence in me. ... At that time he 
 seemed to me in full strength of body and mind. He 
 struck me as not unlike Cromwell in face, though of a 
 far more refined type, marked in the firm and delicate 
 modelling of the mouth, especially in the upper lip. 
 He had a soldier's piercing eyes, changing in a moment 
 
 'Author of Modern Egyptians, and translator of The Arabian 
 Nights.
 
 112 The Bayard of India 
 
 from command to gentleness. In speech he was hesitat- 
 ing, but when he was warmed by his subject he could 
 speak forcibly. He was consumed by ambition, yet I 
 never knew a more modest man." 
 
 Just as they were setting out on their return journey 
 from Kosseir, the news of the hard-fought and only 
 half-won battle of Chilianwala excited Outram to the 
 verge of madness. " I will go back at once/' he said, 
 " and serve as captain in my old black regiment." During 
 their voyage down the Nile to Cairo Outram " kept the 
 boatmen at work night and day. Sleeping in the cabin 
 next to his, I was constantly roused by his shouts to the 
 exhausted men to go on rowing. A mutiny broke out, 
 and the men were taken before a Turkish governor, who 
 politely offered to have them bastinadoed all round. 
 Outram, of course, could not consent, and the old state 
 of things returned." 
 
 By the time the travellers reached Cairo they knew 
 that Lord Gough had won the crowning victory of Gujarat, 
 and Outram " was full of regret for the discomfort his 
 impetuosity had caused." 
 
 One characteristic incident of the return voyage must 
 not be omitted. " One day when we had no meat for 
 dinner I shot a pigeon. Outram, ardent sportsman as 
 he was, said to me sadly, ' I have made a vow never to 
 shoot a bird.' He would not eat the bird, which was 
 given to an old peasant woman, and we dined as we could." l 
 
 So intense had been Outram's anxiety concerning the 
 progress of our arms in the Punjab that on one occasion 
 he sped down the Red Sea to Aden, intending if need arose 
 to catch the first steamer thence for Bombay. " Every 
 officer," he writes to his wife, " who has eaten the com- 
 pany's salt is bound to do so likewise in whatever part 
 of the world he may happen to be situated." Happily 
 the news that reached him by the next homeward mail 
 seemed to justify his immediate return to Suez, and to 
 his self-appointed task in Egypt. The date of this Aden 
 episode is not given by his biographer, but in all likelihood 
 it occurred just after his journey across the desert to 
 Kosseir. 
 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 From Baroda to Egypt 1 1 3 
 
 By the end of March 1849 Outram was speeding down 
 the Nile to Damietta, on the eastern mouth of that river. 
 After a long and careful inspection of a town which had 
 once been the centre of a thriving trade, he returned to 
 Cairo about the end of April. In the following month 
 he started on a similar errand for Rosetta, on the western 
 mouth of the Nile; but on this occasion he was too ill 
 to leave his boat, and the visit had to be deferred to a 
 later season. In June we find him at Alexandria, suffer- 
 ing from a sharp attack of spinal rheumatism, brought 
 on by imprudent bathing. To shake off this painful 
 malady he started on the 20th for a cruise along the 
 Syrian coast. The first days of his voyage were days to 
 him of unspeakable agony. He lived entirely upon tea, 
 and was unable to walk without support. After a while 
 his health began to improve, and soon after landing at 
 Smyrna he reported himself as nearly free from pain, and 
 able at last to sit up and write. 
 
 By the middle of August he was strong enough to make 
 an excursion to Beyrout, whence he rode up to the 
 Lebanon, where, says Sir F. Goldsmid, " he had once 
 contemplated passing the hot weather. But the trip was 
 enough to satisfy him, and he forthwith rode down again." 
 In a letter of October 2 to his wife, written shortly after 
 his return to Cairo, he declares that he was never better 
 in bodily health. In the course of the same month he 
 made another trip to Damietta, to complete his survey 
 of that neighbourhood. A second visit to Rosetta fur- 
 nished him with fresh materials for the report on which 
 he was engaged. This report was afterwards completed 
 at Cairo, and is, in the words of his biographer, " an 
 admirable example of the useful account to which an able 
 and active-minded soldier may turn a twelve or fifteen 
 months' furlough in a foreign country." 
 
 The body of this exhaustive memoir, compiled for the 
 instruction of the Court of Directors, comprised more 
 than a hundred pages of closely printed foolscap. Of 
 the twelve sections into which it was divided, " the first," 
 says Sir F. Goldsmid, " deals mainly with the fortifications 
 of Alexandria, but is in other respects a political review; 
 the second is a valuable notice of the resources of Egypt, 
 
 H
 
 1 14 The Bayard of India 
 
 touching on military establishments, revenues, agricultural 
 products, and means of transport ; the third is a retrospect 
 of French campaigns under the first Napoleon; and the 
 remaining nine may be generally classed together under 
 the heads of political, strategical, and hypothetical." 
 
 The appendices were even bulkier than the Memoir 
 itself. From Mr. Stuart Poole we learn that his uncle Mr. 
 Lane and his brother rendered Outram no little service in 
 the preparation of this report. 
 
 In April 1850 the document was laid before the Govern- 
 ment of Bombay, by whom it was duly forwarded to Lord 
 Dalhousie for transmission to the Secret Committee in 
 Leadenhall Street. The governor-general entirely con- 
 curred with Lord Falkland in the tribute paid by the 
 latter to the " distinguished and honourable zeal " dis- 
 played by Colonel Outram in his country's service, 
 " under the pressure of ill-health and other unfavourable 
 circumstances." Lord Palmerston, who was then at the 
 Foreign Office, testified to the value of Outram's Memoir, 
 and declared his belief that, if the Russo-Turkish differ- 
 ences had continued, Outram would have been asked to 
 remain in Egypt. 
 
 In his reminiscences of this period Mr. Stuart Poole 
 touches upon some noteworthy traits in Outram's vivid 
 personality. " At this time," he says, " I saw much of 
 Colonel Outram. His conversation usually turned on the 
 wrongs of the amirs of Sind, the Baroda bribery, and not 
 seldom on the native races and how they should be 
 governed. It now strikes me that he lost mental strength 
 from the power an idee fixe had of getting entire command 
 of him. On native questions, I may add, that without 
 being sympathetic, owing possibly to his want of linguistic 
 facility, he was full of a desire for equal justice to all, and 
 commented on acts of spoliation or harshness with the 
 keenest indignation. He was so sensitive to fair play 
 that he spoke of being hurt with his brother officers for 
 picking off Afghan matchlock-men who innocently came 
 within range of their rifles. He never could be made to 
 tell or verify any story of his own achievements. What- 
 ever I knew came out by accident. Thus once he said, 
 ' I like that stick; I took a hill-fort with it! ' Another
 
 From Baroda to Egypt 115 
 
 time he told how, as a subaltern, he had called out the 
 commander-in-chief of the Bombay army for not giving 
 him a chance of active service in Burmah, when that 
 gallant old officer, while regretting he had not the chance 
 of a shot at Outram, whose challenge no one at Puna 
 would carry, yet sent him at once to the front. 
 
 " Even the incidents of his tiger-hunts were withheld 
 from us. The deep scars on his head were admitted to 
 be the marks of claws, but he would never acknowledge 
 or deny the story that his head was once in a tiger's 
 mouth, when a well-directed bullet from a friend's gun 
 relaxed the brute's jaws. He lived sparingly, but lavished 
 everything in presents to his friends. His only amuse- 
 ment was chess, and his only indulgence smoking either a 
 hookah, of which he took half-a-dozen whiffs, or a cigar." 
 
 " I wish," continues Mr. Poole, " I could remember his 
 conversation on political matters, but except in the cases 
 of Sind and Baroda, and his strong indignation against 
 those who would not have rescued our captives in 
 Afghanistan, I cannot venture at this distance of time to 
 put on paper what he said of those high in office. He 
 had a strong feeling of personal responsibility, and spared 
 no one who was not true to this test. Consistently he 
 was the first to see and reward merit in young men." 1 
 
 On January 21, 1850, Outram started from Suez on 
 his return to India, landing at Bombay on February 7. 
 In the previous December he had written from Cairo to 
 Captain Fulljames: " Thank the Lord, my pilgrimage is 
 now nearly over. I never was more tired of anything in 
 my life, and most willingly would have gone back months 
 ago, could I have had any excuse for returning before my 
 time was up. I tried it once, and got as far as Aden, but 
 the termination of the war, which I there learned, deprived 
 me of that plea, so I had to come back 12 out of pocket 
 by the trip. I should return by this mail had I not two 
 more journeys to make to complete my inspection of 
 Egypt, which I may as well finish since I am about it." 
 
 His moods at this period seemed to have varied like 
 the play of light and shadow across a wind-stirred land- 
 scape. According to his biographer, his letters home in 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 1 1 6 The Bayard of India 
 
 1849 betrayed a marked unwillingness to resume his duties 
 at Baroda. He had even applied to Lord Dalhousie for 
 the next vacancy at Nagpur. " He would have almost 
 preferred retirement from the service altogether, had 
 his means permitted; and to have become Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Addiscombe, in succession to Sir Ephraim 
 Stannus, then shortly to retire, would have been to him a 
 most acceptable contingency." Still longing for home, 
 he appears to have indulged in visions of some quiet 
 retreat, where " he and his wife and son might live 
 together in peace until time should bring about a more 
 propitious state of things." 
 
 In Bombay he enjoyed for a time the hospitality of his 
 old friends the Willoughbys, pending their departure 
 thence to Mahableshwar. He was cheered, too, by wel- 
 come letters from the Lawrences at Lahore, in one of 
 which Lady Lawrence tells him how " we often talk of 
 our ten minutes' acquaintance with you in the desert, 
 and only wish it could be carried somewhat further." 
 
 Outram returned to Baroda in May, determined, in 
 spite of all discouragement from headquarters, to carry 
 on his thankless crusade against khatpat. On the follow- 
 ing day, the gth, Captain and Mrs. Fulljames came to 
 stay with him, and relieved for a time what he called 
 " the melancholy of the great house." Between 4 A.M. 
 and sunrise he would take his morning ride, after which 
 he usually sat at his desk until his breakfast hour at nine. 
 Half an hour later he returned to his work till sunset. A 
 drive to the parade-ground, followed by half an hour's 
 walk, filled up his time before dinner, after which he 
 generally wrote for two or three hours ; retiring punctually 
 to rest at 9 P.M. Although he liked the officers and found 
 their messes good, he never dined at mess. " As I always 
 go to bed at nine," he writes, " to enable me to get up 
 before daybreak, I cannot suit myself to the late hours." 
 
 His assistant, Lieutenant Batty e, " kind and honest- 
 hearted as ever," was always present at the dinner-table, 
 where several officers from camp were often welcome 
 guests. For their amusement he resolved to " perpetrate 
 one piece of extravagance. . . . The grand undertaking 
 is a bathing-tank, to be erected beside the well near the
 
 From Baroda to Egypt 1 17 
 
 flagstaff: it is to be forty feet long and twelve broad, 
 which will be a great luxury to all, for at present there 
 is no place where they can get a swim." 
 
 " My crusade against corruption goes on/' he writes to 
 his wife in December; " no light work/' as we have seen 
 already. But the incessant occupation appeared to agree 
 with him, for he " never was better." Christmas, how- 
 ever, brought with it the inevitable longing to strike work 
 at Baroda and hasten homewards to his family circle. 
 " Oh, how I wish," he writes, " I could be of the party ! 
 What a contrast to a happy Christmas is my solitary 
 condition here ! " Batty e had gone away for two months' 
 leave on account of ill-health, and he was once more 
 alone. He was still busily engaged in " prosecuting 
 corruption cases," despite the ill-will he encountered from 
 natives of all classes. " I am progressing slowly but 
 surely," he writes, " in spite of every obstacle, and 
 assuredly shall succeed; but the villainy, hypocrisy, and 
 unblushing perjury I meet with at every turn, together 
 with the apathy of the government, so thoroughly have 
 disgusted me that I am determined to shake the dust off 
 my feet and leave Baroda when I have finished the work." 1 
 
 In April 1851 we find Outram in Bombay, exchanging 
 warm farewells with his old friend Willoughby, who was 
 about to return home. " With his departure I feel," he 
 said, " as if almost my last tie to India were severed." 
 Before the end of May he was back again in Baroda, 
 disheartened by the failure of the Bombay Government 
 to make good their promises of support in his campaign 
 against corruption. They appointed a special commission 
 to retry the cases which he himself had carefully investi- 
 gated, and that arch-offender Narsu Pant, against whom 
 the Resident had sent in five damning charges, became 
 once more free to parade the streets of Baroda in all the 
 pomp and splendour of his former greatness. 
 
 By this time Outram saw that the days of his official 
 life at Baroda were already numbered. In October he 
 forwarded to Lord Falkland's Government, for submission 
 to the Court of Directors, a long and fearless report on 
 the khatpat cases. " In framing that report," he says, 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 1 1 8 The Bayard of India 
 
 " I deemed it my duty to leave nothing untold which 
 was requisite to enable the Court of Directors (from whom 
 the Bombay Government had withheld my appeals) to 
 judge of the nature and propriety of those official obstruc- 
 tions which had been thrown in my way." 1 
 
 Lord Falkland's answer to so direct a challenge was 
 not long in coming. It seemed to the Bombay Govern- 
 ment that Outram's report was couched in terms dis- 
 respectful to itself, and likely to impair its friendly 
 relations with the gaikwar. An angry letter from the 
 governor in council dispensed with Outram's services in 
 Baroda, but allowed him to withdraw in the manner least 
 offensive to his own feelings, and least calculated to em- 
 barrass the government. Outram replied by requesting 
 leave to visit the Presidency for a month from December 
 15, an arrangement which, he trusted, would give the 
 government sufficient time for appointing his successor. 
 
 " Do not fancy," he writes to his mother, " that I am 
 at all cast down by this. I fully expected it, and am not 
 sorry to get away from this sink of iniquity; though, 
 of course, I should have preferred a more honourable 
 retreat." 
 
 " You must not think," he adds, " that I am coming 
 home to agitate, or to induce the court to censure or 
 annul the measures of the Bombay Government. Under 
 any circumstances I should never be induced to place 
 myself in opposition to my own government; and the 
 wording of their present letter certainly would not 
 warrant me in doing so now." 
 
 He would simply leave it to the Court of Directors to 
 decide whether he could have acted otherwise than he 
 had done; for "I am certain that a careful perusal of 
 the whole correspondence, and especially of the khatpat 
 report, upon which the government's letter is based, will 
 assure the court that however right government may be 
 in removing me from hence, there rests not the shadow of 
 a stain on my character as a man or as a diplomatist." 2 
 
 There was one circumstance in Outram's career in 
 
 1 BarotUi Intrigues, and Bombay Khatpat. By Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Outram, C.B. Smith, Elder, & Co., London. 
 - Goldsmid.
 
 From Baroda to Egypt 1 19 
 
 Baroda which he had never mentioned to his own family, 
 or even to any of his friends in Bombay. There is no 
 doubt that his life was attempted, not once, but several 
 times during the progress of his khatpat crusade. The 
 strange and mysterious illness which had driven him to 
 Egypt was attributed by his doctors to poison, adminis- 
 tered either in his food or in the hookah which he gener- 
 ally smoked. Similar practices were employed against 
 him after his return to Baroda. 
 
 In a confidential letter of October 1850 he tells Captain 
 Eastwick how he had lately been on the eve of succeeding 
 in his investigations " regarding Baba Nafra's villainy in 
 the Jatabai affair." Up to that time he had been in good 
 health, and it was most important that his health should 
 remain good. " I began to fall into a somnolent condi- 
 tion, and to present all the symptoms which medical 
 men consider to indicate the operation on the system of 
 narcotic poison." After much puzzling, his doctors sug- 
 gested something wrong in the tobacco which he used. 
 " In the most off-hand manner I expressed to my servant 
 my fear that the tobacconist of whom I had bought it 
 might have given me an inferior quality. The man 
 instantly grew as white as a black man can become, 
 trembled all over, and began asseverating in a confused 
 and conscience-stricken manner that he had not put 
 any poison into the goracho ; a suspicion I had not ex- 
 pressed. . . . Next day I thought it right to tell him 
 that, whether justly or unjustly, the doctor thought I 
 had been tampered with, that if I died my body would be 
 examined and the cause of my death ascertained, and 
 that, if poison were detected, suspicion would then fall on 
 him as having supplied my chillams." 
 
 From that day forward the old symptoms abated, and 
 had not since returned. " But you rarely fail," he adds, 
 " to find a stick when you wish to strike a dog, and there 
 are more ways than one of hocussing an obnoxious 
 Resident." 1 
 
 It appears that subsequent attempts to poison him 
 were frustrated by the vigilance of kind Dr. Ogilvie and 
 a few other friends. Besides other precautions, the good 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 1 2O The Bayard of India 
 
 doctor, in the words of Sir F. Goldsmid, " combined with 
 four or five associates in an arrangement that one of the 
 band should partake of every dish which the Resident 
 tasted a task of some risk in more ways than one, for 
 he seemed to have a preference for what was most 
 indigestible." 
 
 The new year, 1852, found Outram once more in 
 Bombay, drafting the last pages of his Baroda report, 
 looking up old friends, and interviewing members of the 
 Bombay Council, all save the governor himself, who 
 refused to grant him a private audience. On February 
 17 he embarked for Suez, and landed a month later at 
 Southampton.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ON THE FLOWING TIDE. MARCH l852-NOVEMBER 1854 
 
 FROM Southampton Outram hastened to rejoin his wife 
 and son in some quiet lodgings bordering on Mayfair. A 
 visit to Brighton during the summer was followed by a 
 trip to Boulogne and Paris. At watering-places and in 
 Paris " it amused him," says a trustworthy informant, 
 " to sit out on the frequented promenades and watch 
 what was going on always with a cigar in his mouth, 
 and, if possible, with an Indian friend. But his acquaint- 
 ances were not necessarily Anglo-Indians: he had a 
 great faculty of attracting strangers and making the 
 most of their society. His frank and open manners and 
 quiet fun made him an agreeable companion, and wher- 
 ever he went he picked up friends who retained an un- 
 usually permanent interest in their fellow-traveller." 
 
 Intolerant of aimless idling, and having no special 
 resources, he always " liked to be where ' something was 
 going on ' he did not mind what, so long as there was 
 not quiescence or stagnation. When anything occurred 
 to cheer or interest him his spirits would visibly rise, and 
 he would shed his brightness around." 
 
 In places such as Brighton he delighted in the varied 
 aspects of the sea, and the light and movement of a 
 crowded beach. He would go out sailing in the roughest 
 weather, bribing the boatmen to encounter perils from 
 which they would else have shrunk. 
 
 Returning to London in November 1852, Outram was 
 just in time to attend the funeral of his old friend the 
 great Duke of Wellington, who was buried in St. Paul's 
 Cathedral amid " the noise of the mourning of a mighty 
 nation." From that time until July 1853 he appears 
 never to have quitted London except for a short visit to 
 Scotland in the spring. During the greater part of this 
 period his mother had her place of honour in the Outram 
 121
 
 122 The Bayard of India 
 
 household, enlivening, says her biographer, " many a 
 sociable breakfast by her wit and freshness." 
 
 The presence of a friend at breakfast or dinner was 
 always welcome, and he liked to meet people at his club; 
 but he steadily refused to go out to parties, or pose in 
 public among the lions of the hour. After breakfast he 
 would betake himself, cigar in mouth, to the Oriental 
 Club, returning home to prosecute his researches into 
 Baroda affairs, to write his letters, and to interview his 
 friends in parliament and the India House. His even- 
 ings were usually spent at his club, or among congenial 
 associates at the Cosmopolitan. Meanwhile his wife and 
 her son Francis spent many an hour in copying out all 
 manner of notes and documents bearing upon Outram's 
 official past. 
 
 Towards the close of October 1852 was issued, in two 
 huge volumes of a Parliamentary Blue-Book, a full but 
 ill-digested report on all matters connected with the 
 khatpat scandals and Colonel Outram's enforced retire- 
 ment from Baroda. This Blue-Book contains the answer 
 given in June by the Court of Directors to Lord 
 Falkland's spiteful charges against his plain-speaking 
 subaltern. It contains also the dissents recorded from 
 certain passages in the court's despatch by directors of 
 such mark as Colonel Sykes, Captain Eastwick, Messrs. 
 W. B. Bayley, and Ross Mangles. Thirteen dissidents 
 in all were found to differ from their colleagues, mainly in 
 condemning the removal of Colonel Outram from a post 
 in which he was rendering the highest service to the 
 Government of Bombay. These gentlemen were virtually 
 of one mind in holding that Outram's intemperate 
 language towards his official betters was fully condoned, if 
 not wholly justified, by " the zeal, ability, and fearless 
 energy which that officer was bringing to bear upon the 
 important object of his investigations, and which it was 
 the bounden duty, as assuredly it was the interest, of the 
 Government of Bombay to encourage and support." l 
 
 The Court of Directors seem, in fact, to have halted 
 between two opinions, " scarcely knowing," in the words 
 
 1 Baroda and Bombay : a Narrative drawn from the Papers laid 
 before Parliament. By John Chapman.
 
 On the Flowing Tide 123 
 
 of Sir John Kaye, " whether to applaud what he did, or 
 to censure his manner of doing it. Bound to maintain 
 the authority of their distant rulers, and to condemn 
 insubordination of language, the directors of the company 
 could not help feeling, not only that he had done nobly, 
 but that he had done well that he had promoted their 
 interests whilst he was demonstratively asserting his own 
 honesty and courage." But for the intervention of the 
 Board of Control, they would probably have insisted in 
 reinstating Outram in Baroda. They went so far, at any 
 rate, as to express their hope " that, when Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Outram shall return to India, you will find a suit- 
 able opportunity of employing him where his talents and 
 experience may prove useful to the public service." 
 
 It was not, indeed, with Lord Falkland's approval that 
 Outram was destined to return in triumph to his former 
 post. In a happy moment the Court of Directors decided 
 to transfer the political charge of Baroda from the Bombay 
 Government to the governor-general himself. They also 
 requested the Marquis of Dalhousie to find suitable em- 
 ployment for Colonel Outram on that officer's return to 
 duty. 
 
 Early in July 1853 Outram sailed from Southampton 
 on his way through Egypt to Calcutta. At Alexandria 
 he stayed a fortnight, in hopes of being required to pro- 
 ceed to Constantinople for active service in the war which 
 then seemed imminent between Turkey and Russia. 
 Once more his dreams of military renown were to be 
 quashed by a message from the " Great Elchi," Sir Strat- 
 ford Canning, who assured him that there was no present 
 likelihood of an appeal to arms. 
 
 Outram reached Calcutta on September 12. A welcome 
 letter from Lord Dalhousie awaited his arrival. " We 
 had bedrooms adjoining," says Mr. Inglis Money, " in 
 one of the houses near the Bengal Club. One morning he 
 brought his breakfast into my room and this letter. . . . 
 Lord D. towards the end wrote that he deeply regretted 
 there was nothing in his power to offer him that would 
 compensate for his brilliant services." 
 
 In this letter Dalhousie said that the post of Resident 
 at Haidarabad, for which Outram had been recommended
 
 124 The Bayard of India 
 
 by the Court of Directors, had already been promised to 
 a civil officer of high standing and long service. But, he 
 added, " I have officially told the court that if I am to 
 take charge of Baroda, as they desire, I must choose my 
 own agent ; and that my first act would be to replace you 
 in that Residency." l 
 
 On September 13 Outram had his first interview with 
 the great proconsul, who was bent upon transforming 
 the conquered Punjab into a model province, who had 
 just been adding Pegu to the dominions of the East India 
 Company, and whose reforming hand was making itself 
 felt for good in a hundred ways throughout the length and 
 breadth of our Indian Empire. The interview was long 
 and most satisfactory, as Outram tells his wife. The 
 governor-general, who was still reeling under the shock 
 caused by the death of his beloved wife on her voyage 
 home, " expressed his regret that he could not show any 
 hospitality, being unfit company for any one. In fact he 
 sees no one, and never moves out of his room even for a 
 drive. He is, however, assiduous in business, and the 
 amount of work he gets through is, I am told, perfectly 
 astonishing ; indeed, excessive work seems to be his only 
 solace under his deep affliction." 
 
 Outram, for his part, had " every reason to be thankful " 
 for the result of an interview which sent him back in 
 triumph to Baroda " as the governor-general's agent, with 
 his full support." Pending the needful arrangements for 
 that end, Outram stayed on in Calcutta as an honorary 
 member of Dalhousie's personal staff. After Dalhousie's 
 return from a tour through Pegu, Outram was employed 
 by his new chief to write an important " Memorandum 
 on the Invasion of India from the Westward." 
 
 From his frequent interviews with the head of the 
 Indian Government he seems to have come away spell- 
 bound by the inherent kingliness of Lord Dalhousie's 
 mien and bearing. He told Dr. Alexander Grant, his 
 lordship's physician and trusted friend, " that he had had 
 interviews with the Duke of Wellington, with Sir Robert 
 Peel, and other leading statesmen in England, but never 
 felt such awe and such a feeling of inferiority as in inter- 
 1 Outram Papers.
 
 On the Flowing Tide i 25 
 
 views with Lord Dalhousie, who had ever been most kind 
 to him." ! 
 
 Before the cold season of 1853-54 came to an end 
 Outram had grown heartily tired of the idle kind of life 
 he was leading in the City of Palaces. After attending a 
 banquet given in his honour by Chief- Justice Sir James 
 Colville and a large number of his countrymen, he left 
 Calcutta in the latter part of February 1854. In Bombay 
 he met with a hearty welcome from the new governor, 
 Lord Elphinstone. In company with his former assistant, 
 Captain Batty e, he arrived at Baroda on March 19. On 
 the following day he paid his first visit to the gaikwar, who 
 after a moment of awkward silence received the rein- 
 stalled Resident with his accustomed courtesy. 
 
 Under Outram's steady insistence his highness ere long 
 found himself constrained to get rid of his favourite 
 minister and kinsman, the Bhao, whose removal was 
 demanded by the governor-general himself. To all the 
 gaikwar's pleadings on this matter Outram turned a deaf 
 ear; and a month later he was able to report that " the 
 gaikwar has not only dismissed the Bhao as required to 
 do, but has gone much further, having expelled him from 
 the country, and dismissed all his allies besides, solemnly 
 pledging himself never to readmit any of them to his 
 counsels." By that time also the infamous Narsu Pant 
 had disappeared not only from Baroda, but from the 
 world in which he had intrigued so long and so success- 
 fully. 
 
 In May Outram was warmly congratulated by Lord 
 Dalhousie on the complete success of his mission to 
 Baroda. " The mingled sternness and consideration with 
 which you have treated the gaikwar will, I hope, have a 
 lasting effect on the gaikwar himself; and will teach both 
 him and those about him, that while the Supreme Govern- 
 ment is desirous of upholding him, it must be obeyed in 
 all things." 
 
 In the same letter Dalhousie was " concerned to learn 
 that the transfer to the new appointment at Aden is not 
 agreeable to you. The triumph to you seemed to me so 
 
 1 Physician and Friend. Edited by John Smith, C.I.E., LL.D. 
 John Murray, 1902.
 
 126 The Bayard of India 
 
 great, and the post was one I thought so much to your 
 mind, that I supposed it would be very acceptable to 
 you. 
 
 " The despatch will show you that not only your 
 pecuniary interests have been saved from harm, but that 
 a strong opinion has been recorded that your acceptance 
 of the transfer, far from being an impediment to your 
 promotion to higher office hereafter, greatly strengthens 
 your claims. I hope this provision will remove some of 
 your distaste." l 
 
 The governor-general had already given Outram full 
 authority to summon his successor, with permission to 
 leave for Aden at any moment after Major Malcolm's 
 arrival. On June 7, 1854, Outram left Bombay on board 
 the company's war-steamer Ajdaha to take up the post of 
 commandant and political agent at Aden, the Gibraltar of 
 the Arabian Sea. The weather was rough, the lascar 
 crew were weak and utterly inefficient for the work re- 
 quired of them, and the supply of coal threatened to run 
 short. It was sixteen days before Captain Barker 
 dropped anchor in the port of Aden with scarcely a ton 
 of coal to spare. 
 
 At that time a strong hand and a clear head were 
 especially needed for the safeguarding of our new posses- 
 sion at the south-western corner of the Arabian Peninsula. 
 In the short space of three months the new Resident 
 succeeded in disarming the hostility of the neighbouring 
 tribes, and in making British influence respected outside 
 the borders of his command. Nor did he neglect the 
 well-being of the troops intrusted to his charge. " It has 
 been my unfortunate destiny," he writes in August to 
 Lord Elphinstone, " to expose evil of one sort or other 
 wherever I go." Thanks to his exertions, the tanks and 
 wells, which had hitherto supplied the garrison with 
 impure and brackish water, were soon to undergo so 
 thorough a cleansing that a gallon of pure sweet water 
 could be issued daily to each soldier." 2 
 
 In a like spirit he selected a large plot of ground on the 
 
 ohn* Jacob. By Alexander Innes Shand. Seeley & 
 Co., 1900. 
 
 1 Notes on Outram. By the Rev. G. P. Badger.
 
 On the Flowing Tide i 27 
 
 northern side of the harbour, where potatoes and other 
 vegetables might be grown for the use of dwellers in the 
 cantonment. 
 
 Outram had started for Aden in the highest spirits; 
 " as merry as a marriage-bell " were the words he used in 
 one of his letters home. But the climate of that Arabian 
 Eden soon told so harmfully upon his outward man that 
 we find him writing in September to acquaint Lord Elphin- 
 stone with his failing health and the need of temporary 
 absence from his duties. At this juncture he received 
 from Lord Dalhousie the welcome offer of the best appoint- 
 ment within his lordship's gift namely, the post of 
 Resident at the Court of Oudh. 
 
 While gratefully acknowledging the " very distin- 
 guished honour " thus accorded him, Outram protested 
 that he would ill deserve the confidence placed in him by 
 the governor-general if he failed to bring to his lordship's 
 notice a fact which might disqualify him for so important 
 a post. ' ' I allude to my ignorance of the Persian language, 
 in which I understand the Resident's transactions with 
 the Court of Oudh are conducted, and a thorough know- 
 ledge of which may perhaps be deemed essential to the 
 representative of government at that court." As the 
 state of his health, however, demanded a change of climate 
 for a short period, Outram proposed, with the sanction 
 of the Bombay Government, to proceed at once on sick- 
 leave to Calcutta, " in order, should your lordship still 
 deem me worthy of holding the Lucknow Residency, I 
 may not cause any inconvenience to the public interests 
 by unnecessary delay." x 
 
 Reassured on this point by Dalhousie himself, Outram 
 quitted Aden on October 27, by the mail-steamer, which 
 called there on its way from Suez to Garden Reach. A 
 few days earlier he had handed over the charge of his 
 office to his old friend and fellow-campaigner, Colonel 
 (afterwards Sir) William Coghlan, K.C.B., of the Bombay 
 Artillery. The regret which Lord Elphinstone expressed 
 at his departure was shared, in the words of his able 
 assistant, the Rev. G. P. Badger, " by all the surrounding 
 tribes, who had learned during the short space of four 
 1 Outram MSS.
 
 iz8 The Bayard of India 
 
 months to dread him as an enemy, and to love him as a 
 friend." 
 
 On the eve of his departure he found time to acquaint 
 his mother with the good fortune which had befallen him, 
 and to announce his plans for her future welfare. " You 
 can now, therefore, have no scruple to receive from me 
 whatever may be necessary to your comfort. I formerly 
 said 500 a-year, but I can well afford much more than 
 that, if you could but be prevailed upon to expend it. 
 
 " Lucknow is a delightful climate I am told, and we 
 have a favourite hill station within three days' march 
 to go to in the hot weather, where the climate is equal 
 to that of Italy. We are looking for the English mail, 
 and I trust it will bring a letter from you giving a good 
 account of yourself, and assuring me that you will now 
 keep a maid and a carriage." 1 
 
 By the middle of November he landed once more in 
 the populous city on the Hugli, after an absence of only 
 nine months, the greater part of which had been passed 
 in strenuous official labours. 
 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 NEW HONOURS AND WIDER OUTLOOKS. DECEMBER 1854- 
 DECEMBER 1856 
 
 BEFORE Outram reached Calcutta Dalhousie had started 
 on a voyage along the coast of Orissa in quest of the 
 health which grief and overwork had broken down. But 
 the instructions which he had left behind him for the 
 guidance of the new Resident were duly imparted to 
 Outram by Sir John Low, who had lately taken his seat 
 in the Supreme Council. Outram learned, in the words 
 of Kaye, " the settled resolution of government to wait 
 no longer for impossible improvements from within, but 
 at once to shape their measures for the assertion, in 
 accordance with treaty, of the authority of the paramount 
 state. But it was not a thing to be done in a hurry. The 
 measure itself was to be deliberately carried out after 
 certain preliminary formalities of inquiry and reference. 
 It was Outram's part to inquire." l 
 
 On his way up the country Outram met with a cordial 
 welcome from General Sleeman, the late Resident at 
 Lucknow, who had hailed in his successor the very man 
 whom he himself would have selected for such a post. 
 " Had your lordship," he had written in September, 
 " left the choice of a successor to me, I should have pointed 
 out Colonel Outram; and I feel very much rejoiced that 
 he has been selected for the office, and I hope he will come 
 as soon as possible." 
 
 At Cawnpore, where he arrived on December 2, Outram 
 spent two days in receiving visits from the functionaries 
 whom the King of Oudh had sent forward to prepare the 
 way for his arrival at Lucknow. On December 5 the new 
 Resident made his formal entrance into the capital of 
 Oudh, " attended by the Residency officers, with a large 
 procession of elephants, camel-men, cavalry, and infantry. 
 1 Kaye's Sepoy War. 
 
 129 I
 
 I 30 The Bayard of India 
 
 The heir-apparent the king being indisposed met the 
 Resident half-way between the Dil Khusha and the 
 Residency. Outram left his own howdah for that of the 
 heir-apparent, and the procession then went on, attended 
 by great crowds, among whom money was scattered, to 
 the Moti Mahal palace, where a banquet was prepared, 
 followed by elephant and other wild-beast fights." l 
 
 In January 1855, Mrs. Outram rejoined the husband 
 from whom she had parted in the summer of 1853. Out- 
 ram had already plunged with his wonted zeal into the 
 work that lay before him. " He used to rise," says his 
 biographer, " before it was light, and, after a few minutes' 
 walk on the flat roof of the Residency, set to work, pausing 
 only to eat a hurried breakfast, till time for the evening 
 drive, which he underwent as a necessary penance. In 
 the morning he was occasionally and with difficulty 
 persuaded by his wife to accompany her in the carriage; 
 but such an act was the mere pretence of an airing. 
 Though by dint of much persuasion he had been led to 
 purchase a riding-horse, to get him upon it was quite 
 another matter. He is said to have only accomplished one 
 or two rides, and these apparently because he wished to 
 inspect some buildings." 
 
 In the midst of his new labours he still hankered after 
 more active service at the seat of war in the Crimea. " I 
 must confess," he writes to a friend in March, " I am 
 beginning to despond regarding the war in the Crimea. 
 I don't like trusting to any co-operation from the Turks 
 from Eupatoria. They certainly will be defeated by the 
 Russians if they move out of their intrenchments, and I 
 see not how otherwise we can assemble sufficient forces 
 to complete the investment of Sebastopol, and at the 
 same time keep in check the enormous army Russia will 
 now have in the Crimea." 
 
 At Kars also affairs looked so gloomy that he regretted 
 the mistake he had made in coming out again to India. 
 " All the pomp and luxuries I here enjoy are grating to my 
 feelings, for I feel that I ought to be sharing the dangers 
 and privations of my comrades in the field." 
 
 1 Recollections of my Life. By Surgeon-General Sir Joseph 
 Fayrer, Bart., K.C.S.I., LL.D. Blackwood, 1900.
 
 New Honours and Wider Outlooks i 3 I 
 
 The news which reached him four months later evoked 
 some comments of a more cheerful nature, although he 
 felt that nothing less would satisfy him than the expulsion 
 of Russia from Georgia and Circassia, as well as the 
 Danubian provinces. 
 
 With all his eagerness to press matters against Russia, 
 he agreed with Lord Dalhousie as to the impolicy of de- 
 spatching any more European troops from India to feed 
 the war in the Crimea. When the news of the Santal 
 rising in Birbhum reached Lucknow, he wrote on July 
 28: " And now it is doubly certain that his lordship would 
 not sanction the despatch of more troops from India, 
 since the insurrection which has lately broken out in 
 Bengal (which, though not very formidable, will take time 
 and considerable troops to put down) shows how well 
 prepared we ought to be for such emeutes, this of the 
 Santals being the last that could have been anticipated, 
 they being the least warlike, and naturally the most 
 peaceable of our Indian subjects." 1 
 
 Before the end of March Outram had forwarded to his 
 government a careful and exhaustive report on the 
 condition of Oudh from the first years of the century 
 onward. Long before 1855 it had become clear that 
 some radical change was needed in the government of 
 that unfortunate country. One governor-general after 
 another, from Lord William Bentinck to Lord Hardinge, 
 had striven to check misrule in the fair province which 
 Wellesley had raised into a kingdom. Ever since Wajid 
 Ali's accession in 1847, matters had been going steadily 
 from bad to worse. General Sleeman's reports from the 
 Residency had shown that such things as government, 
 law, and justice had no existence in Oudh that the 
 strong everywhere preyed upon the weak, that the Garden 
 of India was fast becoming a thorn-covered wilderness, 
 that violence and rapine stalked through the land, while 
 the king amused himself with a court of fiddlers, singers, 
 buffoons, and dancing-girls. 
 
 All these evils Outram found flourishing as rankly as 
 ever in 1855. He too, like Sleeman before him, called 
 upon the governor-general to enforce his treaty rights 
 1 Rev. Dr. Badger's Notes on Outram.
 
 132 The Bayard of India 
 
 against a dynasty which in fifty years had continually 
 broken all its pledges, and to assume the government of 
 a country whose native rulers could not be trusted to 
 govern it for themselves. 
 
 In the preparation of this report Outram had been 
 largely aided by Dr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph Fayrer, who 
 combined the duties of medical officer and political assistant 
 to the Lucknow Residency. Possessing that knowledge 
 of Persian which Outram lacked, Fayrer had been re- 
 quested to furnish his new chief with a daily precis of 
 the events recorded by a native scribe in the court circular 
 of his time and country. " Strange reports/' says Fayrer, 
 " thus reached me of the king and his doings. His various 
 proceedings in the harem and court ; the presents he gave, 
 the honours, he conferred, and the promotions he made ; 
 the oppression of the amils (tax-collectors), the resistance 
 of the zemindars and talukdars, their fights and the con- 
 sequences, made a story that no one could have imagined." 
 
 " The following," he adds, " will give an idea of one 
 of the daily reports: ' His majesty was this morning 
 carried in his tonjon to the Mahal, and there he and So- 
 and-so [ladies] were entertained with the fights of two 
 pairs of new rams, which fought with great energy, also 
 of some quails. Shawls worth Rs. 100 were presented 
 to the jemadar who arranged these fights. His majesty 
 then listened to a new singer, and amused himself after- 
 wards by kite-flying till 4 P.M., when he went to sleep. 
 Reports have come from the village of in the district 
 of that Ram Sing, zemindar, refused to pay Rs. 500 
 demanded of him by the amil, whereon his house was 
 burned; he was wounded, and his two sons and brothers 
 have absconded. Jewan Khan, daroga of the pigeon- 
 house, received a khilat of shawls and Rs. 2000 for pro- 
 ducing a pigeon with one black and one white wing. His 
 majesty recited to the Khas Mahal his new poem on the 
 loves of the bulbuls,' and so on." 
 
 In spite of his new surroundings and improved prospects, 
 Ou tram's health remained far from good, and Fayrer was 
 often called upon to prescribe for him. " He was a great 
 smoker," writes Sir Joseph, " was hardly ever without a 
 cigar in his mouth; and this I tried to alter, but with
 
 New Honours and Wider Outlooks 133 
 
 little success. I wrote him a very strong letter on the 
 subject, hoping it might have some effect. He replied 
 very kindly, saying how implicitly he believed in all I 
 said, but that he could not do without his cigars." 
 
 Before the close of 1855, Dalhousie had returned from 
 the Nilgiris to Calcutta, bowed down and crippled by a 
 wasting disease, but intent upon doing his duty to the 
 last, and leaving no arrears of work for his destined 
 successor. On January 2, 1856, he received from the 
 Court of Directors their final answer to his previous 
 minutes on the past and present condition of Oudh. 
 That answer he could only read as a positive order to 
 annex the kingdom misruled by Wajid AH. Had any 
 choice been left to him, he would have preferred to govern 
 Oudh directly through competent British officers, in the 
 name and for the ultimate good of the reigning dynasty. 
 But the mandates of the India House were to him as 
 decrees of fate, and he spent the last days of his Indian 
 rulership in carrying out a measure the virtual justice of 
 which he could not dispute. 
 
 In prompt answer to Dalhousie's summons, Outram 
 hastened down to Calcutta to take counsel with his chief 
 on the best means of accomplishing the task imposed by 
 their honourable masters. Returning a few days later 
 to Lucknow, Outram lost no time in laying before the 
 king a letter from the governor-general, explaining the 
 terms of a draft treaty which his majesty was courteously 
 invited to sign. Wajid Ali fell to weeping, called himself 
 a miserable wretch, placed his turban in the Resident's 
 hands, and with a curious mixture of pride and humility 
 refused to sign a covenant which left him still a sovereign 
 within his own palace, with a handsome yearly allowance 
 for himself, his family, and his retinue. 
 
 Seeing that no words of his could move the royal 
 voluptuary from his set purpose, Outram withdrew 
 from the presence to arrange the next scene in that 
 historic drama which began a century earlier in the days 
 of Clive. On February 7, he issued the proclamation in 
 which Dalhousie declared Oudh thenceforth a British 
 province. Sir James Outram, K.C.B., was appointed 
 chief commissioner; his civil officers proceeded to take
 
 134 The Bayard of India 
 
 charge of their several districts, while British troops held 
 the capital, and the people everywhere submitted quietly 
 to their future masters. 
 
 " Everything," wrote Outram a few days later to the 
 governor-general, " has been going on most satisfactorily. 
 The populace of the capital appear to have already for- 
 gotten they ever had a king, and display the same civility 
 to Europeans they were previously so noted for. Even 
 the higher classes and nobles of the court appear already 
 reconciled to the change. In the districts our proclama- 
 tions have been heartily welcomed, I am informed, by 
 the middling and lower classes, and even the higher 
 display no dissatisfaction; while the more powerful 
 talukdars and chieftains in the provinces are turning 
 their allegiance with alacrity." 
 
 He was " greatly gratified by the zeal displayed by all 
 the civil officers, not one of whom has grumbled in the 
 slightest degree at being ordered off into the jungles the 
 moment after coming off long dak trips without tents, 
 kit, or servants, to find shelter as they best can in the 
 towns or villages." x 
 
 For his tardy promotion to a Knighthood of the Bath 
 the new chief commissioner was mainly indebted to the 
 strong representations made on his behalf by the retiring 
 governor-general, who in September 1855 had written to 
 the powers at home a letter reviewing Outram's past 
 career, and frankly avowing his opinion " that General 
 Outram has not received the reward that was his due. 
 I venture humbly to express my hope," he adds, " that 
 before quitting the shores of India I shall enjoy the deep 
 gratification of seeing the gracious favour of the crown 
 extended to this most gallant and distinguished officer." 
 
 Writing from Galle on March 14, Dalhousie sent Outram 
 his hearty congratulations " on the well-earned honour," 
 which he had just seen mentioned in the Gazette. " And 
 now," he adds, " let me bid you farewell. As long as I 
 live I shall remember with genuine pleasure our official 
 connection, and shall hope to retain your personal friend- 
 ship." 
 
 It was not long before the peace of Oudh became ruffled 
 1 Outram MSS.
 
 New Honours and Wider Outlooks 135 
 
 here and there by breezes ominous of possible storm. On 
 February 29, the day on which Dalhousie received his 
 successor, Lord Canning, on the steps of Government 
 House, the chief commissioner wrote to acquaint the 
 governor-general with the turbulent doings of two najib 
 regiments at Baraitch, who refused to have their arrears 
 investigated by a special committee, or to take service 
 under the new government. " As I suspect they are 
 instigated to this by Rajah Man Sing or the Tulsipur 
 Rajah, who though professing loyalty are no doubt 
 bitterly opposed to our rule, which would put an end to 
 their almost independent power, and that they, the 
 najibs, purpose to instigate others to commence a sort 
 of guerilla warfare so soon as the hot season will render 
 the operations of our troops difficult." 
 
 He proposed to make an example of the malcontents 
 in such a manner as would serve to overawe " the immense 
 numbers of discharged soldiery now let loose on the 
 country, and perhaps save further difficulty with other 
 regiments not yet disposed of, which may be instigated 
 to the same course through the same influences." 
 
 Turning aside from public and more personal matters, 
 Outram bids his chief a regretful farewell : 
 
 "It is with heavy heart I now say farewell to your 
 lordship. May the Almighty in His mercy restore that 
 health which has been sacrificed in the service of India, 
 and may I yet have opportunities of proving my gratitude 
 for the vast benefits and generous support I have received 
 from your lordship, and more particularly by satisfac- 
 torily fulfilling the duties of the high functions you have 
 intrusted to me, is the earnest prayer of, my dear Lord 
 Dalhousie, your most deeply obliged and sincerely 
 devoted servant, J. OUTRAM." 1 
 
 Under the heavy work that now devolved upon him, 
 Outram's slender store of health soon dwindled away. 
 Nor was the burden of his new and somewhat distasteful 
 duties lightened by the growing friction between himself 
 and some of his civilian colleagues, who aspired to govern 
 1 Outram MSS.
 
 136 The Bayard of India 
 
 Oudh according to the cast-iron methods enforced in the 
 oldest of our Indian provinces. As early as April 1856 
 his watchful friend Dr. Fayrer " had to insist upon his 
 leaving for England." Besides the acute rheumatism in 
 his neck and shoulders, there were manifest symptoms 
 of mischief in the brain, which nothing but immediate 
 rest from work could overcome. On April n, Outram 
 announced to Lord Canning the imperative need for his 
 temporary absence from Lucknow. 
 
 After making over his office to Mr. Coverley Jackson, 
 and sending Lady Outram off to the hills, 1 her invalid 
 husband hastened down the country to catch the next 
 mail-steamer from Calcutta. On May i he had a long 
 interview with Lord Canning, who " was very kind, and 
 appears to have made himself thoroughly acquainted 
 with Oudh politics." 2 
 
 His chief object, however, was to impress his lordship 
 with the need of taking " immediate measures for the 
 better security of the fortress of Allahabad. I informed 
 him that the gates were held only by sepoy guards, and 
 that if a Sivaji should arise, he might any day obtain 
 possession, by corrupting the sepoys, or by introducing 
 any number of followers with concealed arms among the 
 crowds of Hindu devotees who were allowed access on 
 certain festival days to pay their devotions at the shrines 
 within the fort." 
 
 On his way through Cawnpore, Outram had arranged 
 with General Penny " to have 200 European troops in 
 readiness to despatch by bullock-train to Allahabad so 
 soon as he should receive the order from Calcutta, and I 
 entreated his lordship to send the order without delay. 
 He made a note of my suggestion, and appeared impressed 
 with the advisability of carrying it out." 
 
 Outram also found time to write to General Anson, the 
 new commander-in-chief, " informing him of what I had 
 recommended, and begged his Excellency to see it done 
 without delay." 
 
 We may imagine Outram's astonishment when on his 
 
 1 Lady Outram went to Mussoorie, escorted by her son, now Sir 
 Francis Outram, Bart., who had just come out to India as a 
 qualified member of the Indian Civil Service. 
 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 New Honours and Wider Outlooks 137 
 
 return from Persia to Calcutta in 1857, he found " that 
 nothing had been done that the Fort of Allahabad had 
 been saved by a miracle! Had it fallen, the garrison of 
 Lucknow would inevitably have been sacrificed like that 
 of Cawnpore, for Havelock's troops could not have passed 
 Allahabad to the rescue. And as it would have taken 
 many months to equip an army at Calcutta for the siege 
 of Allahabad, the Delhi force also must have been sacri- 
 ficed, and India lost. Whereas had the precautions I 
 proposed been adopted, a European regiment must have 
 been retained at Cawnpore to supply the Allahabad 
 garrison, and General Wheeler's party would have been 
 saved." * 
 
 On May 3 the Bentinck steamed down the Hugli with 
 James Outram on board. It was not before the middle 
 of August that he reappeared in London, not much the 
 better for his recent wanderings over sea and land. " As 
 sea-air, change of scenery, and relaxation have been 
 prescribed by the faculty as my best medicine," he writes 
 to his mother from Suez on May 30, "I shall occupy 
 myself at first, I think, in coasting from port to port 
 along the shores of the Mediterranean going, in the first 
 instance, via Beyrout and Smyrna, to Constantinople, and 
 thence, via Greece, to Malta; . . . thence I should coast 
 along Italy, going inland to Rome and Milan, staying a 
 few days at Naples, Leghorn, Genoa, and Marseilles, and 
 thence to Paris and home." 
 
 He feared, moreover, that an earlier return home might 
 involve him in heated discussions at the India House and 
 other like annoyances, " which would keep me in London, 
 and defeat the object of my sea trip to set me up." 
 
 For some days after his arrival he was confined to the 
 house by severe rheumatic troubles. Early in the fol- 
 lowing month he was able to visit his aged mother in 
 Edinburgh, where he owed to her timely intervention his 
 narrow escape from death by suffocation. One night 
 after he had gone to bed his old Portuguese servant blew 
 out the gas in his room instead of turning it off. Luckily 
 his mother, who was in the adjoining room, smelt the 
 danger, and hastened into her son's room to ascertain the 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 138 The Bayard of India 
 
 cause. " Her son was sleeping," says his biographer, 
 " wholly unconscious of what had happened; though in 
 another half hour the vapour might have done its deadly 
 work upon him, or the house have been blown up." 
 
 A subsequent visit to his kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Mangles, at Brighton, seems to have worked wonders 
 upon Outram's bodily health. At the beginning of 
 November he assures his mother that his complaint had 
 left him ; that the air of Brighton has invigorated him to 
 such a degree that she would scarcely know him again. 
 
 While he was still at Brighton, it appears, according to 
 Mr. Stuart Poole, that he was called upon by Colonel 
 Sykes, who had come to tell him that the government 
 had resolved to offer him the command of an expedition 
 against Persia. "What! Persia? " exclaimed Outram; 
 " I'll go to-morrow." On the afternoon of November 13, 
 shortly after his return to London, he found a messenger 
 awaiting him with a note from Colonel Sykes, " requesting 
 my immediate attendance at the India Board. When I 
 got there Mr. Vernon Smith 1 and the Chairs of the Court 
 of Directors were in conclave. Mr. Smith then informed 
 me that it had been decided in the Cabinet yesterday that 
 I was to be offered the command of the army which had 
 gone from Bombay to Persia, with diplomatic powers and 
 the rank of lieutenant-general. I expressed, of course, 
 my readiness and gratification; and was told that I should 
 be required to go by the first mail if I possibly could, 
 which I declared myself ready to do." 2 
 
 To Outram this announcement came like the trumpet- 
 call to an old war-horse. Five days later he embarked at 
 Southampton by the old overland route through Egypt 
 to Bombay. From Malta he writes to assure his mother 
 of his entire freedom from any return of the old rheumatic 
 
 1 Afterwards Lord Lyveden. 
 
 1 " While the organisation of this expeditionary force was under 
 discussion in Calcutta, the Commander-in-Chief, General Anson, 
 requested Havelock's sentiments as to the fittest man to command 
 it, and mentioned the name of General Stalker. Havelock stated 
 that, without any disparagement of the merits of this officer, be 
 considered General Outram to be suited above all other men for 
 this important enterprise; and it was partly under the influence 
 of this suggestion that the offer was made to him by the Home 
 Government." Marshman's Life of Sir Henry Havelock.
 
 New Honours and Wider Outlooks 139 
 
 troubles. " I never felt better or stronger in my life 
 quite equal to any campaign." 
 
 " It is impossible to say/' he wrote to Dr. Fayrer on 
 December 20, " how long I may be occupied in Persia, as 
 no one can foresee what may be the effect of our present 
 demonstration on the shah; but it is hardly to be ex- 
 pected that he will at once submit to our terms, under- 
 handedly encouraged to opposition, as he most likely will 
 be, by French as well as Russian advisers, for both are 
 interested in undermining our influence in Persia. You 
 will, I am sure, consider that I could not in honour have 
 declined so important a trust as has been imposed on me, 
 sole diplomatic as well as military responsibility. I only 
 hope I may prove equal to the emergency." x 
 
 On December 22, 1856, Sir James Outram landed in 
 Bombay, whence a division of his army had sailed a few 
 weeks earlier for the Persian Gulf, under the command 
 of Major-General Stalker. The second division, under 
 Brigadier-General Havelock, C.B., was being got ready 
 to follow in the same direction. By Outram 's special 
 desire the command of the cavalry was to be intrusted to 
 Colonel John Jacob, the brilliant soldier whose merits he 
 himself had been among the first to extol. 
 1 Outram MSS.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE PERSIAN WAR. JANUARY-JULY 1857 
 
 ON December 27, Outram's generous instincts were grati- 
 fied by the tidings of his old comrade's successful enter- 
 prise in the Persian Gulf. By the capture of Bushahr on 
 the loth, General Stalker had struck the first blow at 
 Persian arrogance, and secured a firm base for the further 
 movements of British troops. Meanwhile several causes 
 detained Outram for some weeks longer in Bombay. 
 Time was needed to complete the equipment of a fleet 
 and army strong enough to ensure the speedy triumph of 
 our arms. By some mischance Outram's brevet rank of 
 lieutenant-general had been limited to India alone, and 
 it was not until three days before his departure, in the 
 middle of January 1857, that the mistake was duly 
 rectified. 
 
 On January 27, Outram landed at Bushahr, where he 
 met with a cordial welcome both from General Stalker 
 and the British envoy, Mr. Murray. By the end of the 
 month the greater part of Havelock's division had also 
 arrived. Outram had already learned that the Persian 
 Government were making great preparations to recover 
 their lost stronghold. At Burasjun, about forty-six 
 miles inland from Bushahr, the Persian commander had 
 assembled a force nearly 8000 strong, with eighteen or 
 twenty guns. 
 
 Outram resolved to attack the enemy at once, before 
 he could be yet further strengthened. On the evening of 
 February 3 he began his march at the head of 4500 men, 
 half of whom were British, and eighteen guns, leaving a 
 sufficient garrison in Bushahr. On the afternoon of the 
 5th, after a trying march of forty-one hours " in the worst 
 of weather," his troops came within sight of the Persian 
 intrenchments, only to find them vacant of any foe. A 
 few horsemen alone were visible in the rear of the flying 
 140
 
 The Persian War 141 
 
 enemy, whose retreat through strong mountain-passes 
 Outram, with his small force, few cavalry, and slender 
 commissariat, deemed it rash to follow. In the hurry of 
 their flight, however, the Persians had left behind them 
 vast heaps of warlike stores, enough for the feeding and 
 equipment of a large army. Of these, all that was useful 
 or portable was either brought away or given out among 
 the troops, the remainder being destroyed upon the spot 
 before Outram began his march home. 
 
 On the evening of the 7th, by the light of exploding 
 magazines, the army began to retrace its steps towards 
 Bushahr. It had not gone far, however, when the 
 Persian horse began to worry its rear, and ere long to 
 threaten it on every side. The halt was presently 
 sounded, and the troops formed square to protect the 
 baggage. Under a galling fire from four heavy guns they 
 awaited the slow approach of dawn. The first light of 
 morning revealed to our troops a Persian army from 
 6000 to 7000 strong, drawn up in fighting order on their 
 left rear. 
 
 The order to advance was promptly given. Our 
 cavalry and artillery swept forward, with the infantry 
 behind them in double line. While the guns were doing 
 their wonted duty against the Persian ranks, the Poonah 
 Horse and the 3rd Bombay Cavalry made two dashing 
 charges into the thick of the Persian bayonets. In one 
 of their onsets the Bombay troopers crashed into a square 
 of infantry, and riding through and through it, left nearly 
 a whole regiment dead upon the spot. At sight of such 
 slaughter the enemy broke and fled, throwing their arms 
 away as they ran, and owing their escape from worse 
 disaster only to the scant numbers of the British horse. 
 
 The fight had taken place near the village of Khushab, 
 some five miles only from Burasjun. By ten o'clock the 
 victors found themselves easy masters of a field strewn 
 with 700 dead, besides two field-guns and many hundred 
 stand of arms. Our infantry never came within reach of 
 the foe. Ten killed and sixty-two wounded, many of 
 them during the night, made up the whole of the British 
 loss. To Major-General Stalker and Colonel Lugard, 
 chief of the staff, was assigned by Outram himself the
 
 142 The Bayard of India 
 
 real credit for this achievement; their brave commander 
 having in the first moments of the night-alarm been so 
 stunned by the falling of his charger as to have only 
 resumed his place in time to witness the enemy's final 
 discomfiture. Before midnight of the following day, the 
 9th, most of our tired troops were back again at Bushahr, 
 after another long march through a country in many 
 places scarcely passable for the never-ending rain. 1 
 
 Writing to Lord Elphinstone on February 15, Outram 
 speaks of the hearty support which he had received from 
 General Stalker. " Not content with seconding me in 
 command, he insisted on my being his guest and sharing 
 his tent. No brother could be more kind or cordial, and 
 I shall be very sorry to leave him for a time. His position 
 here will be very onerous until reinforced, or until I can 
 return; for, on learning the diminution of the force here, 
 the enemy may be encouraged to come on, though I do 
 not think this immediately likely." 
 
 The experience gained on the march to Burasjun had 
 taught him the futility of attempting, with his limited 
 means, to reach the Persian capital by the way of Shiraz. 
 He resolved therefore to make all due preparations for an 
 attack upon Muhamra, a fortified town on the right bank 
 of the Karun river, commanding at once the passage of 
 the Euphrates and the approach by water to Ispahan. 
 Some weeks had to elapse before the whole of the promised 
 reinforcements reached Bushahr in transports towed by 
 slow steamers. On March 4 he began embarking the 
 troops detailed for service against Muhamra; but it was 
 not until the i5th that Havelock with a wing of his y&th 
 Highlanders joined the fleet anchored some thirty miles 
 below Muhamra. 
 
 Meanwhile Outram had been detained at Bushahr by 
 the illness and death of General Stalker, and the need of 
 finding a competent officer to fill his place. Happily the 
 arrival of Colonel Jacob, at the head of his famous Sind 
 Horse, gave Outram the very man he wanted for the 
 Bushahr command, and left him free at last to carry out 
 his scheme for bringing Persia to her knees. 
 
 On the evening of March 21 the company's steamer, 
 1 Trotter's British Empire in India, vol. ii.
 
 The Persian War 143 
 
 the Feroze, bore Sir James Outram up to the fleet, already 
 assembled off the Shat-ul-Arab mouth of the Euphrates. 
 Three days later the war-steamers, commanded by Com- 
 modore Young, passed up the Shat-ul-Arab, towing the 
 troop-ships, aboard which were distributed about 4900 
 soldiers, including 400 horse and two batteries of artillery. 
 Some of the transports grounded on the way, and night 
 had set in before the last of them dropped anchor off 
 Hurteh, an Arab village just above the junction of the 
 Shat-ul-Arab with the Karun, about thirty miles from 
 the sea, and only three below Muhamra. 
 
 On the same day a mishap befell the Feroze, for a full 
 account of which I am indebted to Captain Hewison, then 
 a young naval officer on board the steam-frigate which 
 carried Outram and his staff. " We were towing a large 
 sailing-ship full of troops from Bushahr, and on entering 
 the river grounded on a mudbank, and stuck fast until 
 the tide rose. The sailing-ship, requiring less depth of 
 water, ran into us, and embedded her stem in the centre 
 of our stern, at the same time upsetting the large deck- 
 house (where Outram and his staff were) with her bow- 
 sprit. We thought they were all killed by the roof falling 
 on them, but, strange to say, with the exception of Dr. 
 Badger, who had his face and eye badly cut, the others 
 were hauled from under the roof unhurt, owing to four 
 heavy brass stanchions round the hatchway that led to 
 the sleeping-deck below preventing the roof falling flat, 
 also a strong black-wood table. It created some little 
 excitement on board, as you may imagine." 
 
 The next day was spent in preparing a raft for the 
 mortar battery, and transferring guns, troops, and stores 
 from the larger vessels into boats and small steamers. 
 At daybreak of the 26th the mortar battery opened a 
 heavy fire upon the enemy's works from the shelter of 
 a low island. At 7 A.M. the men-of-war moved up the 
 Karun under a raking fire, which none of them returned 
 until they had all gained their proper places. Then in 
 one and the same moment the din of their answering guns 
 began. After two hours' steady pounding the fire from 
 the fort batteries slackened more and more until it 
 ceased; the signal for the transports soon brought them
 
 144 The Bayard of India 
 
 up above the northernmost defences; and by half -past 
 one the troops, all safely disembarked, began their march 
 upon the enemy's intrenchments. But the enemy, com- 
 manded by Prince Mirza, were already in full flight, 
 leaving behind them all their seventeen guns, much 
 ammunition, and a vast amount of public and private 
 stores. A scouting party of Sind Horse under Captain 
 Malcolm Green followed the fugitives for several miles; 
 but for want of sufficient cavalry and guns at the right 
 moment it was impossible to continue the pursuit. 
 
 Muhamra, in fact, had been won by the warships of 
 the Indian navy, consisting of four steam-frigates, one 
 steam-sloop, and two sloops of war. " The gentlemen 
 in blue," wrote Havelock, " had it all to themselves, and 
 left us naught to do." The smallness of the British loss 
 ten killed and thirty wounded was largely due to the 
 foresight of Commander Rennie, who lined the bulwarks 
 of each vessel with trusses of pressed hay, through which 
 a Persian matchlock-ball could make no way. " Thus 
 300 bullets," says Lieutenant Low, " were found buried 
 in the sides of the Feroze, and vast numbers were shaken 
 out of the hay-trusses." The fire, moreover, from the 
 enemy's guns had been unsettled at the last moment 
 " by the bold step of closing on the batteries, by which 
 the loss of the ships, engaging under a point-blank fire, 
 at a range varying between 60 and 300 yards, was greatly 
 reduced." l 
 
 In planning the attack on Muhamra, Outram had in- 
 tended to take his post on board the leading ship. In 
 vain did some of his officers point out the danger to which 
 he would thus be exposing a life so important to the service 
 on hand. Fortunately one of his most confidential 
 friends determined to appeal to Outram's generosity 
 by suggesting that " his presence with the leading ship 
 might deprive the commodore and the Indian navy 
 generally of some of the honour which was to be won." 
 The bait took at once, and he arranged to follow in the 
 Scindian after the forts had been battered by the men- 
 of-war. 
 
 " As it proved, however," says Dr. Badger, " Outram 
 1 Low's History of the Indian Navy.
 
 The Persian War 145 
 
 did not thereby place himself beyond personal danger. 
 As the different vessels moved up the river they were 
 exposed to the fire of several field-pieces which the Persians 
 had detached to arrest their progress, and to frequent 
 volleys of musketry from behind the mud wall which 
 enclosed the date-groves on its banks. The Scindian, 
 carrying the old Indian jack, or gridiron, as the sailors 
 call it, was specially marked for these attacks. A round- 
 shot from one of their guns struck down Captain 
 Havelock's servant and killed him on the spot, and a 
 musket-ball was prevented from wounding Outram's foot 
 by a lucky hookah which happened to stand before him. 
 Outram at the time was calmly surveying the movements 
 of the enemy on shore, dropping his glass every now and 
 then to order the men, who belonged to H.M.'s glorious 
 64th Regiment, and who would be peering above the 
 bulwarks, not to expose themselves. He had hardly 
 uttered the words, ' Down, men of the 64th ! ' when a 
 shower of balls from the shore rattled over the deck, 
 happily missing the general, whose whole person was 
 exposed to the assailants. ' They have put your pipe 
 out,' was his only remark, addressing himself to his 
 friend, who had been smoking the hookah, quite uncon- 
 scious of the danger which he had escaped." x 
 
 On the 29th three small steamers, three gunboats, and 
 as many ships' boats, carrying among them 300 British 
 infantry, started up the Karum under the command of 
 Captain Rennie in quest of the vanished foe. On the 
 morning of April i a body of these, numbering 7000 
 infantry and many hundred horse, with six guns, were 
 seen strongly posted near the town of Ahwaz, 100 miles 
 up the Karun. A few rounds from the gunboats sent the 
 brave army once more flying, with swarms of plundering 
 Arabs at their heels. Two days were spent in carrying 
 away the sheep, arms, and mules discovered in Ahwaz, 
 and in distributing the captured stores of grain among 
 the people of the country. On April 4 the flotilla steamed 
 down again towards Muhamra. 
 
 In his despatch to the Indian Government, Outram 
 dwells on the admirable manner in which his instructions 
 1 Rev. G. P. Badger's Notes on Outram.
 
 146 The Bayard of India 
 
 had been carried out, and on the " complete success which 
 has attended the energetic and judicious measures 
 adopted by all concerned; indeed it is impossible to cal- 
 culate upon the advantages that must ensue from the 
 successful result of this expedition, in the effect it will 
 have upon the Arab tribes, who, in crowds, witnessed the 
 extraordinary scene of a large army of 7000 infantry, 
 with five or six guns, and a host of cavalry, precipitately 
 retreating before a detachment of 300 British infantry, 
 three small river-steamers, and three gunboats." x 
 
 A few days later the war was virtually ended by the 
 truce which Outram ordered on hearing of the treaty 
 then actually on its way from Paris for final ratification 
 at Teheran. At Paris, on March 4, the English and Persian 
 commissioners had signed an agreement which pledged 
 the shah to renounce all claim of sovereignty over Herat, 
 or any other Afghan province. In any future quarrel 
 between Persia and Afghanistan England was to act as a 
 friendly mediator. The treaty for suppressing the slave- 
 trade in the Persian Gulf was to be prolonged for another 
 ten years after the expiry of its original term; and in all 
 matters of commerce and politics Great Britain was hence- 
 forth to stand on an equal footing with the most favoured 
 of her rivals. 
 
 On April 14 the shah affixed his signature to a treaty 
 which relieved England from further embroilment with 
 a foreign power at the very moment when all her resources 
 were about to be needed for the preservation of her Indian 
 Empire. At Baghdad, on May 2, the final ratifications of 
 the treaty were exchanged. On May 9 Sir James Outram 
 issued a field-force order thanking the troops for their 
 past services, and bidding them prepare for a speedy 
 return to India. 
 
 By that time, indeed, he knew that his countrymen in 
 Northern India were walking per ignes suppositos cineri 
 doloso. Some weeks earlier the smouldering disaffection 
 among the Bengal sepoys had blazed into open mutiny 
 at Barrackpur and Bahrampur. All through March and 
 April the tokens of coming evil had been growing more 
 rife. Night after night fresh fires, whose origin remained 
 1 Quoted by Lieutenant Low.
 
 The Persian War 147 
 
 a mystery, broke out in the wide Ambala cantonment; 
 and the men who handled the new Enfield cartridges were 
 exposed to the jeers and insults of their less loyal com- 
 rades. Early in April Lord Elphinstone had sent Outram 
 an urgent request for the despatch of every European 
 soldier with all possible haste to Bombay and Calcutta. 
 
 On the morning before their return to India the 78th 
 Highlanders had been reviewed for the last time by 
 their beloved general, Sir James Outram. But the 
 men were not satisfied with a farewell of this formal 
 nature. Through the mediation of their own officers, 
 Colonel Stisted arranged with an officer of Outram's 
 staff that the general should be detained in his tent on 
 one pretext or another to receive their parting homage .. 
 Towards the evening the sound of their bagpipes an- 
 nounced their approach. After some persuasion Outram 
 consented to come forth. " No sooner," says Dr. Badger r 
 " was he seen by the men than they burst out into a 
 cheer such as brave British soldiers only can give. Out- 
 ram attempted to address them, but his sentences were 
 interrupted by renewed outbursts which so much affected 
 him that he could scarcely speak. An Italian officer in 
 the service of the Pasha of Baghdad, who was an eye- 
 witness of this scene, remarked to an officer of the force, 
 ' I should be sorry to command a whole division of Persians 
 against that one regiment of Highlanders.' " 
 
 Writing on April 27 to Lord Elphinstone, Outram 
 pointed out that the mutinous spirit so rife in the Bengal 
 army resulted from " the faulty system of its organisation, 
 so different from that of Bombay, where such insubordina- 
 tion is scarcely possible; for with us the intermediate tie 
 between the European officers and the men i.e., the 
 native officers is a loyal efficient body, selected for their 
 superior ability, and gratefully attached to their officers 
 in consequence. Their superior ability naturally exer- 
 cises a wholesome influence over the men, among whom 
 no mutinous spirit could be engendered without their 
 knowledge, and the exertion of their influence to counter- 
 act it; whereas the seniority system of the Bengal Army 
 supplies neither able nor influential native officers old 
 imbeciles merely, possessing no control over the men, and
 
 148 The Bayard of India 
 
 owing no gratitude to their officers, or to the government, 
 for a position which is merely the result of seniority in 
 the service." 
 
 He had once spoken his mind on this subject to Lord 
 Dalhousie, who assured him that he too had seriously con- 
 sidered the matter, and had consulted some of the highest 
 officers of the Bengal Army. But they, " one and all, 
 deprecated any attempt to change the system, as a 
 dangerous innovation. Whatever the danger, it should 
 be incurred, the change being gradually introduced; for, 
 as at present constituted, the Bengal Army never can be 
 depended on." x 
 
 Leaving his native troops and European artillery under 
 Jacob's command to hold Bushahr until the Persians 
 should have withdrawn from Herat, Outram hastened in 
 the latter part of May to Baghdad, to take measures for 
 ensuring the due fulfilment of the treaty on Persia's part. 
 
 At Baghdad he was tortured by fears " for my wife and 
 son," as he writes to Mr. Mangles. " He is stationed at 
 Aligarh, and she was with him when I last heard from her 
 in the middle of May, but expected to leave for Landour 
 in ten days. At that time all was tranquil in that quarter, 
 but ere she could leave most probably the country may 
 have risen, and God only knows what may have been her 
 fate. It is dreadful to contemplate." 
 
 These fears were allayed soon after his return to 
 Bushahr in the middle of June. " My wife and son," he 
 writes, " had a narrow escape from Aligarh. . . . The 
 sepoys at last broke out in mutiny, and all Europeans were 
 obliged to fly. Our boy Frank placed his mother behind 
 him on a pony, and carried her safely till they overtook 
 a carriage on the Agra road, and they made good their way 
 to Agra; but all their kit (including her jewels and some of 
 my medals, etc.) was sacrificed, except the clothes on their 
 backs. Her latest letter was dated 26th May, by which 
 time she had recovered from her fatigues, but was in much 
 anxiety about Frank, who forms one of a band of volun- 
 teers who scour the country to rescue isolated Europeans." 
 Lady Outram's letter to her husband had not told 
 him all the facts. " The pony," says Sir F. Goldsmid, 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 The Persian War 149 
 
 " rebelled against the double burden, and so they had to 
 walk for more than half a mile through cantonments 
 the sepoys looting the bungalows as they passed. Lady 
 Outram's thin shoes fell off, and her feet were much 
 blistered by the hot sand." 
 
 On June 17, Outram started for Bombay in company 
 with Colonel Lugard and the officers of his staff. From 
 June 26 to July 9 he remained at Bombay as the guest of 
 Lord Elphinstone, awaiting further instructions from 
 Calcutta, and diligently revolving the best means of 
 battling with the hurricane of revolt and bloodshed 
 already raging over a large part of British India. Tired 
 of waiting for instructions which never reached him, he 
 embarked from Bombay on July 9 for Galle, whence he 
 took the first available steamer for Calcutta.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ON THE WAY TO LUCKNOW. JULY-SEPTEMBER 1857 
 
 ON the last day of July 1857, Sir James Outram, G.C.B., 
 landed in Calcutta, having just received the Grand Cross 
 of the Bath in reward for his services against the Persians. 
 For our imperilled countrymen in India July had been a 
 month of torturing anxiety, of incessant alarms, relieved 
 by a few gleams of hope, too often swallowed up in a 
 black cloud of unspeakable disaster. Even in the strongly 
 governed, well-policed Punjab the fear of Nicholson's 
 avenging column had failed to avert a formidable out- 
 break at Sialkot. The little army, which on June 8 had 
 encamped before Delhi, seemed by the close of July as far 
 as ever from the capture of a great walled city bristling 
 with guns and garrisoned by more than 30,000 trained 
 sepoys. In the North-West Provinces the fort of Agra 
 was filled with fugitives from the neighbouring districts, 
 and held by a garrison too weak to cope with the lawless- 
 ness everywhere rampant outside its walls. All Oudh 
 was in wild revolt, and the untimely death of Sir Henry 
 Lawrence in his Residency, which his foresight had made 
 defensible, marked the first days of a siege memorable for 
 the sufferings and the dauntless heroism of a few hundred 
 men and women under the most trying conditions, in the 
 face of overwhelming odds. 
 
 From Allahabad, succoured in the nick of time by 
 Colonel James Neill and his Madras Fusiliers fresh from 
 restoring order in Benares, General Havelock and his 
 recent comrades of the Persian war had fought their way 
 in triumph to Cawnpore against thousands of armed 
 mutineers sent out for their undoing by the miscreant 
 Nana of Bithur. They had already learned something of 
 the fate which befell Sir Hugh Wheeler's hapless garrison 
 in the last days of June, but they still hoped to rescue the 
 women and children whom the Nana held in close captivity.
 
 On the night of July 16, Havelock's weary soldiers slept 
 on the parade-ground of Cawnpore, still unprepared for 
 the crowning catastrophe, whose tokens on the morrow 
 were to meet their eyes. Not until then did they learn 
 the whole truth; how on the evening of July 15, the day 
 of his last defeat, the ruthless Nana had caused the 
 remnant of his captives men, women, and children to 
 be shot down, hacked, stabbed, or beaten to death, within 
 the bungalow which had been their prison for a fortnight 
 past, and how next morning their mangled bodies had 
 been stripped and tumbled into the nearest well. Two 
 hundred in all, including those who had survived the 
 slaughter of Fathigarh, appear to have perished on that 
 night of horror. Of all the 900 souls who entered the 
 doomed intrenchment in the first week of June, four only, 
 two officers and two privates, survived to rejoin their 
 countrymen at Allahabad. 
 
 Before the end of July, mutiny and rebellion were ram- 
 pant also in the province of Bihar, where the mutineers 
 from Dinapore acted in concert with the armed retainers of 
 Kunwar Singh. From his quarters at Government House 
 Outram wrote on August 2 to inform Lord Elphinstone 
 that events had occurred in Dinapore and elsewhere which 
 required his " immediate services in command of the two 
 divisions of the Bengal army," covering the whole distance 
 from Calcutta to Cawnpore. Besides his appointment to 
 this double charge, Lord Canning intrusted him a few days 
 later with the post of chief commissioner in Oudh, left 
 vacant by the death of Sir Henry Lawrence. His lordship 
 further insisted on Outram's retaining the appointment of 
 governor-general's agent for Rajputana, in spite of Out- 
 ram's earnest desire to hand that post over to his locum 
 tenens, Sir George Lawrence, " one of my companions in 
 chase of Dost Muhammad over the Hindu Kush in 1839." 1 
 
 On the evening of August 6, Outram started on his 
 voyage up the Ganges with Colonel Robert Napier of the 
 Bengal Engineers afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala 
 for his military secretary and chief of the staff. " I take 
 up a mountain train with me," he writes to Lord Elphin- 
 stone, " but no artillerymen are to be had, and I must 
 1 Letter to Dr Badger.
 
 152 The Bayard of India 
 
 extemporise a crew for the guns as best I can from among 
 the sailors and soldiers. You will allow my prospects are 
 not very brilliant, but your lordship may rely on my 
 doing my best to uphold my honour as a Bombay officer, 
 and to prove myself worthy of the confidence you have 
 always placed in me." 1 
 
 The soldiers to whom he refers belonged to the 5th and 
 9<Dth Regiments of Foot. On his way up the river Outram 
 learned how gloriously Vincent Eyre, at the head of 220 
 Europeans and three guns, had won his perilous way 
 through thousands of Bihar insurgents to the rescue of 
 Wake's heroic little garrison at Arrah, at the very moment 
 when hope had well-nigh given place to despair. At 
 Dinapore, on the i8th, Outram received perhaps his first 
 telegram from the new commander-in-chief, the veteran 
 Sir Colin Campbell, who expressed the hope that Eyre's 
 success in Bihar would enable Sir James Outram to send 
 on his European troops at once to Allahabad. " It is an 
 exceeding satisfaction to me," Sir Colin added, " to have 
 your assistance, and to find you in your present position." 
 
 Not until the evening of September i did Outram arrive 
 at Allahabad. By that time Havelock had fallen back 
 upon Cawnpore, disheartened by the failure of two 
 attemps made in the teeth of appalling obstacles to relieve 
 the daily dwindling garrison of Lucknow. He had even 
 talked of retiring as far as Allahabad unless the reinforce- 
 ments he sorely needed were sent up to him without 
 delay. The prospect indeed was enough to daunt the most 
 sanguine leader of troops in the field; for cholera, sun- 
 stroke, dysentery, and the inevitable losses in battle 
 against heavy odds had reduced Havelock's effective 
 strength from 1300 men to 700. His spirits had been 
 further depressed by the knowledge that another officer 
 was about to relieve him of his command. 
 
 On this point, however, Outram had already taken 
 care to reassure him. On August 28 he had telegraphed 
 to Havelock announcing his intention to retain that officer 
 in command of the relieving force. " I shall join you with 
 the reinforcements. But to you shall be left the glory of 
 relieving Lucknow, for which you have already struggled 
 1 Kaye's Sepoy War.
 
 On the Way to Lucknow 153 
 
 so much. I shall accompany you only in my civil capacity 
 as commissioner, placing my military service at your 
 disposal should you please, serving under you as volun- 
 teer." l This act of heroic self -abnegation, over which 
 Outram had pondered long and anxiously, and which he 
 lived sincerely to regret, was warmly commended at the 
 time both by Sir Colin Campbell and the governor-general. 
 
 On the night of September 5, Outram began his march 
 towards Cawnpore at the head of the goth Foot, having 
 sent on half of his force under Major Simmons in the first 
 hours of the same day. At the second stage of his march 
 he was joined by a strong company of the 78th High- 
 landers, despatched by bullock-train from Benares. On 
 the morning of the zoth Outram despatched Major Eyre 
 with two guns and 150 men mounted on elephants, to 
 look after a body of insurgents who were threatening to 
 outflank him. " As Major Eyre commands the party," 
 he wrote to Havelock, " he will succeed if any one can 
 in discomfiting the scoundrels." 2 Eyre discharged his 
 errand so completely that few of the enemy escaped 
 across the river. 
 
 On the morning of the i5th more than half of Outram 's 
 reinforcements marched into camp at Cawnpore. The 
 rest were brought up later in the day by their noble 
 leader, who found himself warmly welcomed, both by his 
 friend and comrade of the Persian war and by Havelock's 
 bold lieutenant, James Neill. He had intended, if need 
 arose, to make Cawnpore by forced marches; but one 
 day's experience convinced him of the danger of over- 
 taxing the strength of men, some hundreds of whom had 
 been cooped up for five months on board ship and in 
 river-steamers. " As we have such favourable accounts 
 of the Lucknow garrison," he wrote to Havelock on 
 September 6, " and it being of importance you should 
 receive your reinforcements in an efficient state, I propose 
 to pursue the ordinary ten marches to Cawnpore." 3 
 Three days later he was able to telegraph to the com- 
 mander-in-chief, " We are getting on better, as the goth 
 get more accustomed to their shore-legs." 4 
 
 1 Marshman's Havelock. * Goldsmid. 
 
 * Goldsmid. 4 Forrest's Selections, etc., vol. ii.
 
 154 The Bayard of India 
 
 Thanks to Outram's timely dissuasions, Havelock's 
 order for the immediate advance of his troops across the 
 Ganges was countermanded, pending the construction of 
 a bridge of boats on the Cawnpore side. During the three 
 days spent upon this work by Crommelin and his sappers, 
 aided by the coolies whom Mr. John Sherer, the energetic 
 magistrate, had got together, Outram's magnetic influence 
 made itself felt among all classes of his countrymen at 
 Cawnpore. " Although every soldier," writes Captain 
 John Robertson, " had perfect confidence in Brigadier- 
 General Havelock, all who had served with Outram were 
 delighted to see him again. . . . During the few days he 
 was at Cawnpore he got up sports for the amusement of 
 the men, as he had done in Persia, awarding prizes to 
 the successful competitors. His unselfish and generous 
 nature in allowing Havelock to command until the garri- 
 son of Lucknow had been relieved, was characteristic of 
 the man. He never appeared to have any thought for 
 himself." 1 
 
 Mr. Sherer " felt somewhat nervous on entering a room 
 in the large house on the bank, where he [Outram] had 
 taken up his quarters a little out of conversation, as one 
 does find oneself when first in the presence of a person of 
 whom one has heard much. The kindly face, the friendly 
 hand extended, the entire absence of stiffness or self- 
 consciousness reminding me greatly, in this noble and 
 natural simplicity, of Mr. Thomason soon brought 
 reassurance. He took the trouble to show me a map of 
 Lucknow, and to explain some of the difficulties of reach- 
 ing the Residency. And never neglecting an opportunity 
 of encouraging what he thought was right, he told me he 
 had not failed to observe how harmoniously all efforts 
 for the objects in view were working together." 2 
 
 On the morning of the i6th Sir James Outram issued 
 the famous order which transferred to Havelock the sole 
 command of the troops destined for the relief of Lucknow. 
 " The important duty of first relieving the garrison of 
 Lucknow has been intrusted to Brigadier-General Have- 
 
 1 Outram MSS. 
 
 1 Daily Life during the Indian Mutiny. By J. W. Sherer, C.S.I. 
 Swan, Sonnenschein, & Co.
 
 On the Way to Lucknow 155 
 
 lock, C.B. ; and Major-General Outram feels that it is 
 due to this distinguished officer, and the strenuous and 
 noble exertions which he has already made to effect that 
 object, that to him should accrue the honour of the 
 achievement. Major-General Outram is confident that 
 the great end for which General Havelock and his brave 
 troops have so long and so gloriously fought will now, 
 under the blessing of Providence, be accomplished. 
 
 " The major-general therefore, in gratitude for, and 
 admiration of, the brilliant deeds in arms achieved by 
 General Havelock and his gallant troops, will cheerfully 
 waive his rank on the occasion; and will accompany the 
 force to Lucknow in his civil capacity as Chief Com- 
 missioner of Oudh, tendering his military services to 
 General Havelock as a volunteer. On the relief of 
 Lucknow the major-general will resume his position at 
 the head of the force'." x 
 
 That such an order, in Mr. Sherer's opinion, " did 
 honour to his heart, no one, of course, could dispute. 
 But there was no question of Outram's heart. He was 
 known to be the most generous man alive. The difficulty 
 that exercised many military minds was of a different 
 kind. Can an officer, intrusted with a task by the queen, 
 make that task over to another person ? " What Outram 
 himself thought upon this subject a few years later will 
 be shown in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 In the early morning of September 19 the relieving 
 column, now mustering about 3000 fighting men, began 
 its fateful march over the bridge of boats into Oudh. 
 Outram reined up his mottled roan horse on the mound 
 where Mr. Sherer and a few other friends were standing. 
 " He was bearded and sat erect, as if his youth had 
 returned. The long array wound down to the water, and 
 slowly crossed over into Oudh. Men of history were 
 there: Havelock and Napier, Neill and Eyre; and many 
 others. The pageant passed us; and by nightfall the 
 troops were spread out on the opposite shore. Next day 
 the heavy guns were taken over a task of some trouble, 
 of course." 2 
 
 1 Marshman. * Sherer's Daily Life, etc.
 
 156 The Bayard of India 
 
 The first infantry brigade, commanded by Neill him- 
 self, consisted of the Madras Fusiliers, the 5th Fusiliers, 
 the 84th Foot, and two companies of the 64th. The 
 second, composed of the 78th Highlanders, the goth 
 Light Infantry, and Brayser's Sikhs, was led by Colonel 
 Hamilton of the 78th. The field-batteries of Maude and 
 Olpherts, together with Vincent Eyre's heavy guns and 
 howitzers, made up the artillery brigade under the com- 
 mand of Major Cooper. Crommelin commanded the 
 Engineers. To Captain Barrow of the Madras army had 
 been assigned the leadership of the Volunteer Cavalry, 
 about 150 in all, two-thirds of whom were officers in search 
 of employment, indigo-planters, refugee tradesmen, and 
 police patrols. Conspicuous among these for his powerful 
 war-horse and the stout cudgel which he carried in the 
 place of any other weapon, rode out Indian Bayard, in 
 himself a host. 
 
 Only forty-five miles lay between the river and the 
 goal of every man's desire. But the rainy season was 
 not yet over, and for three days our men had to tramp 
 along through a flooded country under a downpour of 
 persistent rain. On the morning of the 2ist they had 
 marched only five miles from camp when the enemy were 
 seen in great numbers with twelve guns about the village 
 of Mangalwar. A strong turning movement against the 
 enemy's right was promptly seconded by a dashing 
 charge of Barrow's volunteers, foremost among whom 
 was Sir James Outram, as eager for the fray as when, 
 many years before, he started in chase of Dost Muhammad. 
 " A turn in the road," to quote from Mr. G. W. Forrest, 
 " disclosed right ahead a dense body of rallied rebels. 
 ' Close up and take order,' shouted Barrow, and in a word 
 they plunged forward and rode into the mass, sabring 
 right and left ; Outram 's malacca in full play. Pursued 
 and pursuers rolled pell-mell along the road to Bashi- 
 ratganj. Two guns behind an intrenchment barred the 
 way. Barrow, his men following him, rushed at the 
 earthwork and over it, cut down the gunners and 
 captured the guns. The rebels were pursued and sabred 
 through the town till the great serai beyond was reached. 
 A hundred and twenty killed, two guns and the regimental
 
 On the Way to Lucknow 157 
 
 colours of the ist Bengal Native Infantry captured, 
 attested the vigour of the pursuit." l 
 
 For eight miles, as far as Bashiratganj, was the pursuit 
 continued. Havelock gave the routed enemy no time 
 to destroy the bridge over the Sai, or to carry across 
 it more than four of their guns. That night the column 
 bivouacked a little beyond Bashiratganj. On the 22nd 
 it crossed the Sai, still under a drenching rain, and found 
 shelter for the night in some neighbouring villages. 
 During that afternoon the firing at Lucknow could be 
 heard so plainly that a royal salute was fired from Eyre's 
 24-pounders, in the hope of its reaching the ears of our 
 countrymen only sixteen miles away. But that hope 
 proved fallacious, for the wind was blowing in the wrong 
 direction. 
 
 On the 23rd Havelock's force marched on for some ten 
 miles along a road lined by broad swamps to attack 10,000 
 or 11,000 rebels strongly posted about the walled park 
 and gardens of the Alambagh, the great summer palace 
 of the kings of Oudh, In the face of a steady fire from 
 many guns the assailants plunged through the interven- 
 ing marshes, drove the enemy before them at every turn, 
 and stormed the park with the adjacent buildings, taking 
 five guns, and following up the routed enemy to the very 
 skirts of Lucknow. Outram's volunteers and Johnson's 
 irregulars vied with each other in deeds of successful 
 daring, charging some of the guns, cutting down the 
 gunners, and chasing the pandies back to their intrench- 
 ments beyond the canal. Sixty officers and men slain or 
 wounded was the price paid by Havelock for a victory 
 which placed him within arm's-length of his long-desired 
 goal. 
 
 Barrow and Outram, joined by Olpherts with his light 
 guns, had chased the rebels up to the Charbagh bridge 
 which spanned the canal. The failing daylight stayed 
 their further progress at a point too strong to be carried 
 by a sudden rush. As Outram was riding back with his 
 men he received a despatch announcing the fall of Delhi 
 and the flight of its king. Later in the evening our wet 
 and weary soldiers drank in the glad tidings from Outram's 
 1 Forrest's Selections.
 
 158 The Bayard of India 
 
 own lips as he passed along the lines of their respective 
 bivouacs. The ringing cheers which everywhere followed 
 the reading of Brigadier Wilson's letter seemed to find 
 their answer in the booming of the guns from the hard- 
 pressed garrison of Lucknow. 
 
 All that day, indeed, the people in the Residency had 
 been listening with eager ears to the sounds of battle 
 raging only a few miles off, sounds which eloquently 
 confirmed the news brought back to Colonel Inglis on 
 the night before by his faithful scout Angad. The letter 
 which that brave old pensioner delivered into the colonel's 
 hands had been written by Outram on September 20 
 " telling us," says Fayrer, " that a force had crossed the 
 Ganges on the igth and was advancing to our relief. The 
 letter advised us not to leave the defences as they ap- 
 proached, and only to attempt to assist them in such a 
 way as we could with safety. This news did good to all 
 by raising our spirits and inspiring hope, which had at 
 this time sunk very low." 
 
 On the following day, the 24th, Havelock resolved to 
 give his men a full day's rest before the crowning struggle 
 against immeasurable odds. The tents were pitched for 
 the first time since the crossing of the Ganges, and the 
 troops were thus enabled once more to enjoy the luxury 
 of dry clothes. The only close fighting done that day 
 arose from a sudden dash of hostile cavalry upon the 
 weakly guarded baggage in our rear. One officer and 
 several men were slain in the first surprise, before the 
 rear-guard had learned to distinguish foes from friends. 
 It was not long, however, before the assailants were 
 driven back with heavy loss by the steadiness of the 
 9oth Foot, and the timely onset of Olphert's guns. " Far 
 greater annoyance," says Havelock's biographer, " was 
 experienced from two of the enemy's g-pounders placed 
 near the Charbagh bridge, in a thick wood which afforded 
 no mark to our guns but the white puffs of smoke as they 
 rose above the trees. Our six heavy guns endeavoured 
 to silence them from daybreak till near evening, but with 
 little success." 
 
 The two generals, Outram and Havelock, spent several 
 hours of this day in discussing ways and means of carrying
 
 On the Way to Lucknow 159 
 
 out the heroic enterprise appointed for the morrow. Of 
 the four routes leading to the Residency, Havelock would 
 have preferred that which passed along the northern bank 
 of the river Gumti, to a point which might afford an easy 
 passage for his guns. But this route was declared im- 
 practicable, even for light field-guns, by Colonel Napier, 
 who had just returned from a careful reconnaissance of 
 a country water-logged by three days of incessant rain. 
 It was finally resolved to force the Charbagh bridge, turn 
 to the right along the canal, pass round the eastern side 
 of the city, and make for the Farid Baksh, a palace near 
 the Residency. 
 
 There was nothing, indeed, but a choice of evils for 
 these two veterans to consider. Had time been of less 
 importance, Havelock would have stood fast a few days 
 longer in the Alambagh until the drying of the ground 
 enabled him to reach the Residency by the route of his 
 own preferring, and even to escort the rescued garrison 
 back in triumph to Cawnpore. But the latest messages, 
 from Colonel Inglis pointed to the absolute need of press- 
 ing forward at all hazards to the help of a garrison closely 
 besieged, wasted by wounds, sickness, hardship in every 
 form, and threatened by the imminent failure of its fast 
 diminishing stock of food. 1 " It was certain," says 
 Malleson, " that the Charbagh bridge and every inch of 
 ground beyond it would be desperately defended." But 
 every soldier in the force knew that he formed part of a 
 forlorn-hope on whose success alone the life of every man, 
 woman, and child in the Lucknow Residency would 
 depend. 
 
 It was arranged that the baggage, with the sick and 
 wounded, the hospital, and the reserves of food and 
 ammunition, should be left in the Alambagh, under the 
 charge of six officers and 300 men, mostly footsore, com- 
 manded by Major M'Intyre of the 78th Highlanders. 
 The position was further guarded by two g-pounders and 
 two of the heavy guns, beside those previously captured 
 from the enemy. 2 The troops were ordered to take sixty 
 rounds of ball-cartridge in their pouches, while a reserve 
 of the same quantity was to be conveyed on camels. In. 
 1 Marshman's Havelock * Forrest.
 
 160 The Bayard of India 
 
 .spite of Outram's objections, Havelock, mindful of 
 Keane's mistake at Ghazni, decided to take with him the 
 rest of the heavy guns. 
 
 Less than five miles lay between the Residency and 
 the Alambagh. But many hours of the following day 
 had to elapse, and many lions to be encountered by the 
 way, before that march was fairly accomplished.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 WITHIN THE LUCKNOW RESIDENCY. SEPTEMBER- 
 NOVEMBER 1857 
 
 ON the morning of September 25, as the troops were 
 standing armed and eager for the work before them, 
 Outram rode up to Havelock with the view of effecting 
 certain changes in the movements ordered for that day. 
 As the two were bending together over a map of the 
 locality, a round-shot bounding over their heads seemed 
 like the challenge to immediate and deadly battle. The 
 advance was sounded, and Outram placed himself at the 
 head of the first, or Neill's brigade, while Havelock 
 followed in front of the second. 
 
 It was not many minutes before the fight began in 
 deadly earnest. In spite of a tremendous fire from guns 
 in front, and from houses and walls on either side, Neill's 
 war-tried Fusiliers, stoutly aided by the men of the 64th 
 and 84th Foot, by Maude's battery, and part of the 5th 
 Fusiliers, ere long drove the enemy from a succession of 
 gardens and walled enclosures which blocked the ap- 
 proach to the Charbagh bridge. 
 
 As the column neared the bridge a halt was sounded by 
 Havelock's orders. The bridge itself was defended on 
 the Lucknow side by a battery of five guns, light and 
 heavy, nearly hidden by a strong breastwork, on each 
 side of which rose lofty houses held by a crowd of mus- 
 keteers. For many long minutes the troops had to find 
 what shelter they could from the hail of lead and iron 
 that beat upon them, while Maude's guns kept up an 
 answering fire upon the batteries in his front. Outram 
 was struck by a bullet which pierced his arm; " but he 
 only smiled," says Colonel Maude, " and asked one of 
 us to tie his handkerchief tightly above the wound." 
 Several times during the halt Maude " turned to the calm, 
 cool, grim general, and asked him to allow us to advance, 
 161 L
 
 1 62 The Bayard of India 
 
 as we could not possibly do any good by halting there. 
 He agreed with me, but did not like to take the responsi- 
 bility of ordering us to go on. At last Havelock sent the 
 welcome order to advance." 
 
 At a word from Neill the Madras Fusiliers with a dozen 
 or so of the 84th, covered by the fire from Maude's guns, 
 rushed on with a cheer towards the bridge through a 
 storm of grape-shot, and, before the enemy had time to 
 reload, carried the breastwork, bayoneting the gunners 
 and spiking the guns. At the same moment Outram 
 emerged at the head of the 5th Fusiliers from the walled 
 gardens which he had cleared of the foe. The y8th were 
 left to hold the bridge with the adjacent houses until all 
 the troops and baggage had passed. 
 
 Meanwhile the rest of the column marched quietly 
 forward along the northern bank of the canal, hindered 
 only by the dead weight of the heavy guns, which stuck 
 fast at any part of the road where the mud lay deepest. 
 Avoiding the certain dangers of the direct road to the 
 Residency, Havelock finally struck off from the canal into 
 a road which led northwards past the Sikandrabagh 
 towards the line of palaces about the Kaiser Bagh, or 
 King's Garden. Here on that afternoon the crowning 
 struggle of an eventful day began. A fire of grape and 
 musketry, under which, as Havelock said, " nothing 
 could live," mowed down scores of brave men as they 
 rushed across a narrow bridge that led to the shelter of 
 some deserted buildings near the Chatar Manzil and the 
 palace of Farid Baksh. 
 
 " The force," says Marshman, " was halted under the 
 shelter of a wall of one of the palaces to allow the long 
 column, the progress of which had been impeded by the 
 narrowness of the streets, and by the heavy guns, to come 
 up, and the troops obtained some respite." Ere long the 
 78th Highlanders issued from a road along which they 
 had been stubbornly fighting their way for three hours 
 against fearful odds. Daylight was now waning fast, 
 and 500 yards of streets and lanes still lay between our 
 foremost troops and the Residency. The heavy guns, 
 the dhoolies full of wounded, the baggage, and the rear- 
 guard were still some way behind, with the enemy all
 
 Within the Lucknow Residency 163 
 
 around them. A few hours' halt at the Chatar Manzil 
 would enable the rest of the troops with the wounded to 
 close up; and meanwhile messages might somehow be 
 exchanged with the beleaguered garrison. Outram, as 
 cool-headed as he was chivalrous, urged upon Havelock 
 the only course which prudence could have justified. 
 " I proposed a halt/' he wrote to Sir Colin Campbell, 
 " of only a few hours' duration, in order to enable the 
 rear-guard, with which were all our heavy guns, the 
 baggage, and the dhoolies containing our wounded, to 
 come up, by which time the whole force would have 
 occupied the Chatar Manzil in security, which we were 
 then holding, and from which we could have effected our 
 way to the Residency by opening communication through 
 the intervening palaces; in a less brilliant manner, it is 
 true, but with comparatively little loss; at the same time 
 offering to show the way through the street, if he 
 preferred it." 
 
 Havelock, however, viewing the question from its 
 sentimental side, would hear of nothing but an immediate 
 advance; and Outram, vexed at heart but mindful of a 
 soldier's duty, rode forward in the deepening twilight to 
 show his countrymen the way across what to him was 
 familiar ground. 
 
 The final advance was led by Stisted's Highlanders 
 and Brasyer's Sikhs, who now formed the head of the 
 column. " This column," in Havelock's own words, 
 " rushed on with a desperate gallantry, led by Sir James 
 Outram and myself and Lieutenants Hudson and Har- 
 good of my staff, through streets of flat-roofed loopholed 
 houses, from which a perpetual fire was kept up." 
 
 Meanwhile the spirits of the beleaguered garrison had 
 been rising higher and higher as the sounds of that day's 
 fighting drew hourly nearer. " At 4 P.M.," says Sir J. 
 Fayrer, " it was reported that Europeans could be seen 
 near Mr. Martin's house and about the Moti Mahal, and 
 a continuous heavy musketry-fire, coming nearer and 
 nearer, was heard. We could not see our friends, hidden 
 as they were amongst the streets, but we could see that 
 the enemy were firing upon them from the roofs of the 
 houses, and from places of vantage. Very soon the
 
 1 64 The Bayard of India 
 
 Europeans could be seen fighting their way through one 
 of the principal streets, men falling rapidly, when, as 
 Wilson says, ' once fairly seen, all our doubts and fears 
 regarding them were ended, and then the garrison's long- 
 pent-up feelings of anxiety and suspense burst forth in a 
 succession of deafening cheers from every pit, trench, and 
 battery; from behind the sandbags piled on shattered 
 houses, from every post still held by a few gallant spirits, 
 rose cheer on cheer. Even from the hospital many of the 
 wounded crawled forth to join in the glad shout of wel- 
 come of those who had so bravely come to our assistance. 
 It was a moment never to be forgotten.' " * 
 
 With an exultant hurrah the Highlanders and Sikhs, 
 headed by Outram and Havelock, rushed through the 
 evening shades into a whirl of outstretched hands and 
 joy-flashing eyes, and voices feebly re-echoing the shouts 
 that each fresh band of victors sent up to heaven in their 
 turn. Strange hands wrung each other in familiar greet- 
 ing; strange voices thrilled together with a rush of sym- 
 pathy seldom shown even between the oldest and dearest 
 friends. The ladies with their children crowded to the 
 porch of Dr. Fayrer's house to see Outram and Havelock 
 enter in, and to welcome the rough-bearded warriors who 
 pressed forward to shake the hands of their rescued 
 countrywomen, and to catch up the children one after 
 another in their arms. 
 
 Among the new-comers who thronged the Residency, 
 one man of superlative mark was missing. Brigadier- 
 General Neill had fallen from his horse, shot dead by a 
 sepoy marksman as he was leading his " Blue-caps," the 
 Madras Fusiliers, towards the Residency by another road 
 than that which Outram and Havelock had followed. 
 Of him Kaye has well said, " Like the two Lawrences, 
 like Outram and like Nicholson, he had wonderful self- 
 reliance; and there was no responsibility so great as to 
 make him shrink from taking upon himself the burden 
 of it." ' But for the crisis which brought him and his 
 regiment round to Calcutta, the deeds of Colonel James 
 
 1 Fayrer's Recollections. The Defence of Lucknow. By a Staff 
 Officer. Smith, Elder, & Co. 
 1 Kaye's Lives of Indian Officers.
 
 Within the Lucknow Residency 165 
 
 Neill might never have filled a page in the annals of 
 Indian history. Nor would his name have figured among 
 the heroes to whom more than one speaker paid eloquent 
 tribute at the great meeting held that winter in Calcutta. 
 " He was an honour to the country, and the idol of the 
 British army," said a soldier of the y8th Highlanders in a 
 letter to his brother on September 20. 
 
 That evening Dr. Fayrer found his house filled with 
 " officers and soldiers all showing the results of hard 
 fighting. Dear old Outram, with him Colonel R. Napier 
 as chief of his staff, Sitwell and Chamier, his A.D.C.'s, 
 and W. Money, C.S., his private secretary, all entered 
 by the Bailey-guard into my house. We felt as if it were 
 all over now, though we knew, too, that this could not 
 be the case, and very shortly realised that by finding 
 ourselves as closely besieged as before. 
 
 " Outram and Napier both came in wounded: Outram 
 had been shot through the arm and Napier through the 
 leg. I dressed their wounds and made them as comfort- 
 able as possible. We had very little to offer them, but 
 we did all we could. The enemy were still keeping up 
 a heavy fire upon us, as if in defiance. We were rein- 
 forced, but not relieved in the sense that we had hoped 
 to be." 
 
 During that night several hundred of Havelock's men 
 still lay outside the Residency, between the Bailey-guard 
 and the adjacent buildings. It was not until the next 
 morning that the bulk of these troops made their way 
 into the garrison lines. Not until the night of the 26th 
 did the rear-guard, which had fought its way to the Moti 
 Mahal palace, join hands with a strong column which 
 Colonel Napier had led out in quest of the missing troops 
 and guns. 
 
 Thus, after a close siege of eighty-seven days, had the 
 Lucknow garrison been saved from untold disaster by 
 the sturdy courage of the men who stormed the defences 
 of the canal, and fought their conquering way through 
 every barrier that frowned between them and the Bailey- 
 guard. In the success so far achieved good generalship 
 had borne but little part. " It is difficult," says Colonel 
 Maude, " to resist the conclusion that the affair was a
 
 1 66 The Bayard of India 
 
 muddle, however gloriously conducted, from beginning to 
 end. 
 
 " The officers led their men right well; but of general- 
 ship, proprement dit, that day there was little if any at 
 all." Outram of course " had his wits about him, and 
 was cool and collected enough; but having voluntarily 
 subordinated his rank, he could not take any independent 
 steps without involving a grave breach of discipline, while 
 the general who was nominally in command took no 
 initiative action whatever." 1 
 
 Out of the 2000 who marched out from the Alambagh 
 on September 25, no fewer than 31 officers and 504 men 
 had been killed or wounded during the movements of 
 that and the following day. The number of slain alone 
 amounted to 196, of whom 77 were wounded soldiers 
 who were either burned to death in their dhoolies or cut 
 up by a merciless foe. 
 
 Among the first to grasp Outram's hand on the evening 
 of the 25th was his brother-in-law, Lieutenant J. C. 
 Anderson, who had lately succeeded the brave and 
 resourceful Fulton as chief engineer in charge of the 
 Residency. The war-worn general, with one arm in a 
 sling and his head bare, he had lost his forage-cap during 
 the final advance, returned all such greetings with a 
 cordial word or smile as he passed on to take up his quarters 
 in the long room of Fayrer's house, where Outram and 
 Napier, lying side by side on two charpoys, talked to each 
 other and gave their instructions, while their kind host 
 busied himself in dressing their wounds and seeing to their 
 comfort. 
 
 Next morning Dr. Fayrer met Sir James " wandering 
 about with his coat in his hand, when he said, ' Do you 
 think Mrs. Fayrer or one of the ladies could mend this 
 for me? ' He referred to the two bullet-holes. My wife 
 mended it, and I provided him with a uniform cap with 
 a gold-banded peak which just fitted him, so he was set 
 up again in this respect." 
 
 On this day, September 26, Outram resumed the chief 
 command of the troops in Oudh. His first step was to 
 order the clearing out of the " Captain Bazaar," which 
 1 Memories of the Mutiny.
 
 Within the Lucknow Residency 167 
 
 lay disagreeably close to one part of the garrison's out- 
 works. That task was thoroughly accomplished by 
 Colonel Inglis and the 32nd Foot, after a struggle which 
 issued in the capture of five guns, and the loss on our side 
 of three killed, including one officer, and seven wounded. 
 
 On the following day, the 27th, " the palaces extending 
 along, on the line of the river, from the Residency to near 
 the Kaiser Bagh, were occupied for the accommodation 
 of our troops. On the same day, at noon, a party con- 
 sisting of 150 men made a sortie on another of the enemy's 
 positions and destroyed four guns, at a loss of eight killed 
 and wounded. At daylight on the 28th three columns, 
 aggregating 700 men, attacked the enemy's works at three 
 different points, destroyed ten guns, and demolished by 
 powder explosions the houses which afforded position 
 to the enemy for musketry-fire. This successful operation 
 was attended by the serious loss of one officer and fifteen 
 men killed and missing, one officer and thirty-one men 
 wounded, the officer killed being Major Simmons, com- 
 manding her Majesty's 5th Fusiliers, most deeply regretted 
 by the whole army." 1 
 
 At the time when Outram wrote the lines just quoted 
 he had come to the conclusion that only one course re- 
 mained open to him. Recognising the hopelessness of 
 any attempt to carry off the rescued garrison from Luck- 
 now, he resolved to stand fast within the Residency until 
 further help should come, to secure all possible supplies 
 of provisions for his force, " and to maintain ourselves, 
 even on reduced rations, until reinforcements advance to 
 our relief." 
 
 During that last week in September many visitors 
 came to inquire after Outram and his wounded arm. 
 "Oh, damn the arm!" was the answer which Fayrer 
 heard him give to one of these well-meaning questioners. 
 He had been provoked beyond his wont by the ill-timed 
 reference to such a trifle at a moment when affairs of the 
 gravest public import were engrossing all his attentions. 
 " We had nothing to give them [Outram and Napier] 
 but commissariat rations," remarks Sir Joseph, " nor 
 would they hear of anything being sent to them from 
 1 Outram's despatch of September 30.
 
 1 68 The Bayard of India 
 
 elsewhere. Something was sent to* him one day beyond 
 the ordinary ration; he was very angry, and refused 
 to have it. Dear old fellow! He was indeed chevalier 
 sans peur et sans reprochc." 
 
 From September 25 down to the arrival of Sir C. 
 Campbell's relieving force in November, Outram, says 
 Captain Robertson, " was untiring in his exertions to do 
 everything in his power for us. He daily visited the sick 
 and wounded, speaking words of kindness when he could 
 do nothing better. His genial face and kind-hearted 
 words did more for me than all the skill of my doctors." * 
 It had lately been Outram's secret ambition to obtain 
 the Victoria Cross which the queen had instituted as a 
 reward for signal deeds of valour at the close of the 
 Crimean war in 1856. The Volunteer Cavalry unani- 
 mously recorded their votes for Sir James Outram on 
 account of his gallantry at Mangalwar. " Nothing," 
 says Sir J. Fayrer, " would have pleased him more than 
 to have it [the V.C.], but some wretched red-tapism pre- 
 vented him from getting it because he was so high in 
 command. I don't know what he thought about it, 
 but I know what we all thought of it ! " On learning 
 what had happened, Outram requested the volunteers 
 to cancel their election and choose some one else in his 
 place. He would never have allowed them, he explained, 
 to take such a step had he been aware of their intention, 
 for he was of course ineligible as being the general under 
 whom they served. 
 
 It was not merely personal ambition which inspired 
 Outram's apparent rashness on the road to Lucknow. 
 " I conceive," he wrote in 1859, " that as a soldier I was 
 simply in the position of a mere volunteer during the 
 period I abdicated the command to General Havelock. I 
 am not so satisfied, however, that I can justly contend 
 against the impression, which I regret to find is enter- 
 tained by the governor-general, that I too readily ignored 
 the responsibilities of the high civil position in which he 
 had placed me, even whilst its duties were in abeyance 
 from the impossibility of conducting them, while yet we 
 possessed no footing in Oudh. In that view his excel- 
 1 Outram MSS.
 
 Within the Lucknow Residency 169 
 
 Imcy's arguments against the course I pursued on this 
 occasion are too cogent, though so kindly and courteously 
 expressed, to allow me to blind myself to the fact that I 
 was not justified in so entirely losing sight, as I cannot 
 but feel conscious that I did, of my position of Chief 
 Commissioner of Oudh. But I beg to be allowed to urge 
 as somewhat extenuating my apparent selfishness in seek- 
 ing personal distinction in the field, while yet my civil 
 functions were literally nil, that until Lucknow fell to our 
 arms or returned to allegiance on relief of the garrison, 
 there could be no possibility of a chief commissioner being 
 required; and to effect the great object which we then 
 had in view, every man of the force, military or civil, 
 was required to do the duty of a soldier." 
 
 " But I hope," he goes on, " I was actuated by better 
 motives than the mere seeking of personal distinction. I 
 felt that it was more incumbent on myself than on any 
 man in the force to show the soldiers that I did not 
 shrink from any dangers to which they themselves were 
 exposed, in a struggle which they all knew / had drawn 
 them into. Our success depended on all being nerved by 
 the same spirit ; and the holding back of so prominent an 
 individual as their late general, on the plea of his position 
 as chief commissioner, would not have promoted such a 
 spirit. It was an object certainly to inspire our small 
 body of cavalry, in their first contest, with the enthusiasm 
 required to carry them through what we knew they would 
 have to encounter ere we reached Lucknow. 
 
 " But my interference was little needed to that end 
 with men under Captain Barrow's command, and would 
 not have been exerted, perhaps, had I had previous 
 opportunities of testing that officer's qualifications for 
 command. The cavalry affair, however, was mere 
 pastime to what was before us when imperative duty 
 demanded my exposure; for I state but the truth, to 
 which the whole army will testify, declaring it in self- 
 defence against the imputation of needlessly exposing 
 myself, that had I gone to the rear when wounded on the 
 morning of September 25, the column would not have 
 penetrated into the city, nor without my guidance could 
 it have reached the Residency."
 
 170 The Bayard of India 
 
 I think that no impartial reader will hesitate to indorse 
 Sir John Kaye's conclusion, " that to have done otherwise 
 than he did would have been very much unlike all that 
 we know of the character of James Outram. It was not 
 in him when danger threatened to refrain from going to 
 the front. That he was ambitious is not to be denied; 
 but his ambition had but little of the common element 
 of selfishness. He would never consent to rise at the 
 expense of others, nor would he benefit himself to the 
 injury of the state." l 
 
 As the enemy still continued from a battery across the 
 river to annoy the defenders of the Redan, Colonel Maude 
 contrived by a well-aimed shot, delivered at the right 
 moment, to disable their heaviest gun. The good news 
 soon found its way to Outram, who came down with one 
 or two of his staff to see for himself the result of Maude's 
 skill. " The Bayard of India said with his genial smile, 
 ' I have heard of your feat of arms, Maude, and I now 
 give you the highest reward it is in my power to bestow ! ' 
 at the same time handing me a Manilla cheroot. A most 
 seasonable gift it was, and I heartily and laughingly 
 thanked the good general for it." 2 
 
 The safety of the little garrison at the Alambagh gave 
 Outram food for grave anxiety in the first days of his 
 renewed command. On the 28th he advised Major 
 M'Intyre to do the best he could for the defence of his 
 position. " Should you be assailed," he wrote, " you will 
 be able to hold your own. The only damage they can do 
 you is by firing long shots into the garden, but I trust 
 the four guns left with you will soon silence such fire." 
 
 The failure of his cavalry on September 30 to force a 
 passage through the enemy's lines decided him to work 
 his way through the buildings along the Cawnpore road. 
 For this end it was necessary to clear away the powerful 
 battery which still annoyed our troops from the garden 
 of Phillips's house, flanking the road aforesaid. " This 
 was effected," wrote Outram, " on October 2, with the 
 comparatively trifling loss of two killed and eleven 
 wounded; a result which was due to the careful and 
 scientific dispositions of Colonel Napier, under whose 
 
 1 Cornhill Magazine, May 1863. ' Memories of the Mutiny.
 
 Within the Lucknow Residency 1 7 i 
 
 personal guidance the operation was conducted. Three 
 guns were taken and burst their carriages destroyed; 
 and a large house in the garden, which had been the 
 enemy's stronghold, was blown up." 
 
 The next few days were spent by our troops in working 
 from house to house with crowbar and pickaxe, until a 
 large mosque strongly held by the enemy effectually 
 blocked their advance. The assailants therefore, on 
 October 6, fell back upon Phillips' s house after blowing 
 up the principal houses between the mosque and their 
 new position, which thenceforth became " a permanent 
 outpost, affording comfortable accommodation to her 
 Majesty's y8th Highlanders, and protecting a considerable 
 portion of the intrenchment from molestation, besides con- 
 necting it with the palaces occupied by General Havelock." 1 
 
 It was not long before Outram's fears for the safety of 
 M'Intyre's garrison were dispelled by the timely arrival 
 at the Alambagh of successive convoys from Cawnpore. 
 Meanwhile his mind had been relieved from a still heavier 
 burden by the results of a scrutiny which Napier had 
 conducted at his desire into the stock of food remaining 
 within the Residency precincts. To his surprise Napier 
 discovered that the stock of supplies laid in by the fore- 
 thought of Sir Henry Lawrence would suffice to feed the 
 enlarged garrison for yet another two months. 2 
 
 A discovery so unexpected brought about a radical 
 change in Outram's plans. Thenceforth no more sorties 
 were allowed; and Outram resolved to make the best 
 he could of his improved position pending the arrival of 
 reinforcements from below. 
 
 " From this time," says General Innes, " warfare 
 became one of mines, but on quite a different footing 
 from that of the first siege. Then the struggle had been 
 for life or death a single sudden success on the enemy's 
 part might have meant the irruption of the besiegers and 
 the extinction of the garrison; but now there was no 
 such risk it was a case of pure underground contest, 
 with no specially important result hanging on the issue. 
 But throughout it, except at the start, the enemy always 
 
 1 Outram's despatch of November 25. 
 * The Sepoy Revolt. By General M'Leod Innes, V.C.
 
 172 The Bayard of India 
 
 failed, and the victory lay with the garrison. The locale 
 of this contest was confined entirely to the new position." 
 
 On the 2ist both Outram and Napier were described 
 by Fayrer as doing well. " Outram is constantly about; 
 he is utterly indifferent to fire; I have been about with 
 him in many places where it was hot, but he takes not 
 the slightest notice of it." 
 
 The enemy, whose numbers had lately been increased 
 by thousands of sepoys from Delhi and elsewhere, still 
 maintained a steady but well-nigh harmless fire upon 
 Outram's garrison. In the city itself a boy king had 
 been set up by the rebel soldiery, and in his name alone 
 would the wily Rajah Man Singh deign to treat with Lord 
 Canning's chief commissioner. On October 27 Man 
 Singh's wakil, or envoy, had a long conference with 
 Outram's private secretary, Mr. W. J. Money, which led 
 to no satisfactory result. The great Hindu chieftain's 
 offer to escort the women, children, and invalids to 
 Cawnpore appeared to Outram more like an insult or a 
 bravado than a mark of genuine courtesy. 
 
 The receipt of news from home was of course a rare 
 event in the life of Outram's garrison. One day in 
 October a messenger from the Alambagh brought them a 
 Home News of August 25. " Great interest expressed in 
 it about us all. Troops are coming out overland to our 
 assistance, and the prospects seem more cheering." * 
 
 On the 27th a letter was received from Cawnpore telling 
 of the arrival there of Hope Grant's Delhi column, and of 
 its successful fights with the rebels near Mainpuri and 
 Cawnpore. Amidst his multifarious duties Outram kept 
 up a brisk correspondence with the authorities, civil and 
 military, beyond the Ganges. His messengers carried no 
 private letters from any one in the garrison to friends 
 outside. " Tell her I cannot write to her," were Outram's 
 own words concerning Lady Outram in the postscript of a 
 letter addressed to Captain Bruce at Cawnpore; " as our 
 expensive cossids can only carry a quill, private com- 
 munications have been forbidden to others, and I cannot, 
 in honour, take advantage to write privately myself." 2 
 By way of precaution all letters sent from the Residency 
 1 Sir J . Fayrer's Recollections. * Goldsmid.
 
 Within the Lucknow Residency 173 
 
 were written in Greek characters. " You ask me to write 
 in the English character," was Outram's answer to one of 
 his officers, " so would the enemy wish me to do. As the 
 only security against their understanding what we write 
 in case our letters fall into their hands, the Greek char- 
 acter must be used." 
 
 On learning that an army of Gwalior mutineers had 
 reached Kalpi on the Jumna, whence they would cer- 
 tainly march across the Doab to Cawnpore, Outram 
 wrote to Captain Bruce on October 28 urgently recom- 
 mending the defeat and dispersion of the " Gwalior rebels " 
 before any attempt was made to relieve himself. " We 
 can manage to screw on," he added, " till near the end of 
 November on further reduced rations. Only the longer 
 we remain the less physical strength we shall have to aid 
 our friends when they do advance, and the fewer guns 
 shall we be able to move out in co-operation. But it is so 
 obviously to the advantage of the state that the Gwalior 
 rebels should be first effectually destroyed, that our relief 
 should be a secondary consideration." 
 
 On November 3 a semaphore was set up on the top of 
 the Residency, whence signals could be exchanged with 
 the Alambagh. On the same day Sir Colin Campbell 
 arrived at Cawnpore. Disregarding, wisely or unwisely, 
 Outram's counsel touching the Gwalior rebels, he decided 
 to push on with the least possible delay towards Lucknow. 
 On the evening of November 9, after a forced march of 
 thirty-five miles, he joined hands with Hope Grant's 
 column at Bantera, about five miles from the Alambagh. 
 At Bantera on the following morning a strange-looking 
 creature appeared before the tent of the commander-in- 
 chief. The grim old warrior came out to ask the new- 
 comer's name and business. Pulling off his turban, the 
 stranger drew from one of its folds a short note of intro- 
 duction from Sir James Outram. 
 
 The bearer of the note was Mr. Thomas Kavanagh, a 
 clerk in the company's service at Lucknow, who had 
 persuaded the chief commissioner to send him forth dis- 
 guised as a native, in company with a trusty native spy, 
 upon an errand which Outram dared not ask one of his 
 own officers to undertake. After a night of perilous
 
 174 The Bayard of India 
 
 wandering through streets full of armed men, and through 
 a country bristling with rebel pickets, Kavanagh had 
 fallen in with a British outpost, whence he was duly con- 
 ducted to Campbell's headquarters. Besides a number 
 of verbal messages from the chief commissioner, Kavanagh 
 had brought with him a plan of the city, a code of signals, 
 and a letter in which Outram pointed out what seemed to 
 him the easiest road for the relieving column. 1 Kavanagh 
 himself remained at headquarters for the purpose of acting 
 as guide to the advancing force. 
 
 In the evening of November 12 Campbell's force, 
 amounting only to 5000 of all arms, encamped at the 
 Alambagh after a sharp skirmish, in which Hugh Cough's 
 squadron of Hodson's Horse made a brilliant charge, 
 resulting in the capture of two guns. 2 On the i4th, Sir 
 Colin fought his way across country from the Alambagh to 
 the Dilkusha Park and the Martiniere, where the troops 
 were halted for the following day. 
 
 Thus far Campbell had followed Outram's directions, 
 but a reconnaissance made on the i5th decided him to 
 take a wider circuit across the canal. " On the morning 
 of the i6th," says Sir J. Fayrer, " the relief force moved 
 early, and we heard the fire of their heavy guns distinctly. 
 From the roof of the house we could see a good deal, and 
 it was curious to feel that it was for us they were fighting ! 
 I could see distinctly in the distance cavalry, infantry, 
 and artillery. We saw some of our mines explode at 
 the Chatar Manzil, and several shells burst in the air. 
 Rockets were being freely used, and some buildings were 
 seen in flames. By the evening the relief force had got 
 up to the Moti Mahal, so that they were now very near us. 
 Some of our people made a sortie and stormed one of the 
 enemy's positions." 
 
 Meanwhile the advancing force had to carry by storm 
 the walled defences of the Sikandrabagh and the Shah 
 Najif before that day's work came to a successful close. 
 That evening 1800 rebels lay dead within the precincts of 
 the Sikandrabagh alone. 
 
 On the 1 7th fighting was renewed at the Mess-House, 
 
 'Goldsmid; Forrest. 
 1 Sir C. Campbell's despatch. Sir H. Gough's Old Memories.
 
 Within the Lucknow Residency 175 
 
 where Peel's blue-jackets battered a way in with their 
 heavy guns for Campbell's infantry. Before evening the 
 victors had carried the wide enclosure of the Moti Mahal. 
 Between this point and Outram's advanced post there 
 intervened a quarter of a mile commanded by a line of 
 sharpshooters and the guns from the Badshah Bagh. 
 Along this perilous space Outram and Havelock, with their 
 respective staffs, went forward on foot to welcome the 
 commander-in-chief. " Passing unhurt," says Marsh- 
 man, " through the first fire from the Kaiser Bagh, they 
 reached the Moti Mahal in safety." As the party hastened 
 through the passages and courts of the Moti Mahal a shell 
 burst among them, which laid Havelock for a moment 
 prostrate, but otherwise unharmed. Only twenty-five 
 yards now divided them from Campbell's headquarters at 
 the Mess-House. 
 
 Under a storm of fire from the Kaiser Bagh they sped 
 in single file across that deadly passage. Outram and 
 Havelock made their way unscathed towards the spot 
 where Campbell awaited them ; but the rest of the party, 
 including Napier himself, were struck by the passing 
 bullets. The meeting between the three veterans was, in 
 Sir Hope Grant's words, " a happy meeting, and a cordial 
 shaking of hands took place." Havelock's wan face 
 lighted up a little on learning from his brave old chief 
 that he had been gazetted K.C.B. The relief of the 
 besieged garrison had now been accomplished. It only 
 remained, as Sir Colin himself informed the two com- 
 manders, to carry out his original plan of withdrawing the 
 whole of the garrison to Cawnpore before taking steps to 
 deal with the Gwalior mutineers.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 ON GUARD IN THE ALAMBAGH. NOVEMBER 1857- 
 FEBRUARY 1858 
 
 ON the following day, November 18, Outram and Have- 
 lock waited upon the commander-in-chief to express their 
 views upon the course they deemed it best to pursue. 
 They urged Sir Colin to drive the rebels out of the Kaiser 
 Bagh, and then to continue holding the city with an 
 adequate portion of the troops at his command. Sir 
 Colin, however, insisted that " a strong movable division 
 outside the town, with field and heavy artillery, in a good 
 military position, was the real manner of holding the 
 city of Lucknow in check." His ammunition also was 
 running short ; he deemed himself weak in infantry ; and, 
 strongest reason of all, the Gwalior insurgents might at 
 any moment attack Cawnpore. For the present he would 
 content himself with carrying off -the Lucknow garrison, 
 and holding the city in check by means of a strong force 
 intrenched at the Alambagh. 1 
 
 The arrangements which Outram made by Campbell's 
 orders for the safe withdrawal of many hundred men, 
 women, and children from the ruined Residency to the 
 ground prepared for them in the Dilkusha Park were not 
 completed until the igth. " I have enough to do just 
 now," he writes to Lady Outram on the i8th, " in arrang- 
 ing the difficult and delicate operation of the withdrawal 
 of our troops with the vast number of women, sick and 
 wounded (about 1500 souls). . . . My wound is entirely 
 healed, and was nothing to signify, not having laid me 
 up for a single day." 2 
 
 About 3 P.M. of the iQth, some hours after the last of 
 the sick and wounded had been safely borne away, the 
 general exodus of the women, children, and non-com- 
 batants began. Many of them had to trudge on foot 
 
 1 Marshman. ' Goldsmid. 
 
 I 7 6
 
 On Guard in the Alambagh 177 
 
 through five miles of heavy sand, while others were 
 drawn slowly along by horses, too weak almost to carry 
 themselves. More than once they had to run for their 
 lives from a shower of grape or bullets; at other times a 
 block in the narrow road kept them waiting for long 
 minutes in sharp suspense. By the end of the first hour 
 they reached the Sikandrabagh, where they received a 
 kindly welcome from the commander-in-chief. A few 
 hours' halt in that noisome neighbourhood enabled them 
 to pursue the rest of their way in dhoolies provided by 
 the old chief himself. The long procession took some 
 hours more to reach the Dilkusha. After all their past 
 sufferings, in spite of their buried dear ones, and of the 
 household goods they had been forced to leave behind 
 them, their first night's quiet sleep in the tents prepared 
 for them at their new resting-place, was an event to 
 remember with special thankfulness in after years. 1 
 
 Only one woman and two or three attendants were hurt 
 on the way by hostile shot. Meanwhile the troops in 
 garrison, under Outram's masterly management, were 
 busied in preparing for their own departure. Of the 
 guns they had served so well, some were burst on the spot, 
 others were removed to the camp outside the city. The 
 ordnance stores, the treasure, the remaining supplies of 
 grain, the state prisoners, were all carried quietly away 
 while the enemy's attention was drawn off by a steady 
 cannonade of the Kaiser Bagh and other strong posts in 
 the city. 2 
 
 At length, on the night of the 22nd, silently, and in 
 perfect order, the last body of Outram's soldiers the 
 78th Highlanders and Maude's battery having the post 
 of honour in the rear stepped forth from the lights 
 and fires of the battered Residency into the darkness of 
 the long winding lane that still lay between them and 
 comparative safety. The Highlanders were enjoined by 
 Outram to avoid keeping step, lest the regular tramp 
 should be heard by the enemy. 3 As Mr. Money passed 
 out of the Bailey-guard gate he saw his noble chief hold- 
 
 1 The Polehampton Memoirs ; Lady Inglis's Diary ; Forrest; 
 Sir J. Fayrer. 
 
 1 C. Campbell's despatch of November 25. 3 Goldsmid. 
 
 M
 
 178 The Bayard of India 
 
 ing back. " The thought struck me at once that he 
 wished to be the last man to quit the garrison but it 
 was not to be. Brigadier Inglis had observed the move, 
 and at once said, ' You will allow me, Sir James, to be 
 the last, and to shut the gates of my old garrison.' 
 Outram at once yielded, and Inglis closed the gates." 
 
 From the Sikandrabagh Campbell himself, riding with 
 Adrian Hope's brigade, covered the retreat which 
 Outram had so skilfully planned. Not a hitch occurred 
 throughout the movement, whose success depended on 
 the intelligence and the discipline of all concerned. Not 
 am an was lost in that night march through the midst of 
 40,000 or 50,000 armed foes. One officer, indeed, who 
 had somehow been overlooked, awoke to find himself alone 
 in the abandoned intrenchment. Horror-stricken, and 
 hardly knowing which way to turn, he sped on from one 
 deserted post to another as fast as fear could carry him, 
 until, breathless and well-nigh crazed, he came up with a 
 part of the British rear-guard. By four in the morning 
 of the 23rd the last of our soldiers had reached the 
 Dilkusha. Some hours later the enemy were still blazing 
 away at our abandoned posts, and repairing the breaches 
 which our guns the day before had made in the Kaiser 
 Bagh. 
 
 On one conspicuous leader in the fighting of the past 
 six months death was already closing fast. Worn out 
 with toil, anxiety, exposure, and hard fare, Sir Henry 
 Havelock had fallen ill on November 20. Two days 
 later he knew himself to be dying, and on the 24th he 
 breathed his last, calmly and contentedly, in the camp at 
 the Dilkusha. Outram could not restrain his tears when 
 he visited his dying comrade on the evening of the 23rd. 
 Writing afterwards to Havelock's biographer, he speaks 
 of his tenderness as " that of a brother. He told me he 
 was dying, and spoke from the fulness of his honest heart 
 of the feelings which he bore towards me, and of the 
 satisfaction with which he looked back to our past inter- 
 course and service together, which had never been on a 
 single occasion marred by a disagreement of any kind, 
 nor embittered by an angry word. . . . How truly I 
 mourned his loss is known to God and my own heart."
 
 On Guard in the Alambagh 179 
 
 On the morning of the 26th his remains were interred 
 in the Alambagh with all the honours that a crowd of 
 mourning comrades, headed by Campbell himself, could 
 bestow. " I myself," says Outram, " was denied the 
 melancholy satisfaction of attending his honoured 
 remains to the grave, by being left at Dilkusha to bring 
 up the rear division." 
 
 By way of precaution Outram afterwards caused the 
 grave to be smoothed over. " At the same time," says 
 his biographer, " he directed such minute measurements 
 to be taken as to lead to the recognition, when required, 
 of the precise site." According to Mr. Forrest, the 
 mango-tree which marks the spot " still spreads its 
 branches over his tomb, and the cross carved on it by the 
 hand of Outram was a few years ago still discernible." 
 
 During the 24th the long train of women and children, 
 together with the sick and wounded of the whole force, 
 were escorted by Hope Grant's division to their tem- 
 porary halting-place at the Alambagh. " The difficulties 
 and obstacles upon the road," says Sir J. Fayrer, " were 
 indescribable, but every one was very kind to the sick 
 and wounded, the ladies and children." Outram's 
 division remained behind until the following day, " to 
 prevent molestation," wrote Sir Colin Campbell, " of the 
 immense convoy of the women and wounded, which it 
 was necessary to transport with us." 
 
 To each and all concerned in the work thus far accom- 
 plished Sir Colin Campbell's despatch dealt out a liberal 
 measure of just praise. Outram's able strategy, Hope 
 Grant's untiring diligence, Peel's happy daring, the 
 splendid rivalry of the Royal and Bengal Artillery, the 
 steady zeal of the officers of the 9th Lancers and the 
 Irregular Horse, who " were never out of the saddle 
 during all this time," received from Sir Colin's pen no 
 heartier tribute than did the fiery courage of the troops 
 that stormed the Sikandrabagh, the soldier-like watchful- 
 ness of Brigadier Russell's column, and the matchless 
 heroism of the whole force, which for seven days had 
 formed " one outlying picket, never out of fire, and 
 covering an immense extent of ground." 
 
 Admirable also had been the defence of the enlarged
 
 180 The Bayard of India 
 
 position, as maintained by Outram for nearly two months 
 between the first and the second relief of Lucknow. The 
 manner in which a straggling, weakly guarded line of 
 gardens, courts, and dwelling-houses, mixed up with the 
 buildings of a hostile city, had been held against " a close 
 and constant fire from loopholed walls and windows," 
 and a fitful storm of grape and round-shot from guns, 
 mostly within point-blank range, was a marvel of sturdy 
 soldiership and engineering skill. Against twenty of the 
 enemy's mines twenty-one shafts had been dug by 
 Napier's engineers. Of the former, five only had been 
 burst by the rebels, two of them quite harmlessly; while 
 seven had been blown in by our men, and the enemy had 
 been driven out of seven more. 
 
 As for the old garrison who had fought and suffered 
 under Colonel Inglis, all England rang with stories of 
 their prowess, and with heartfelt paeans over their success. 
 All Europe hailed with half -envious admiration the 
 victorious issue of a defence which Lord Canning might 
 well place among the most heroic recorded in history a 
 defence which Campbell himself called magnificent, and 
 which, to Outram's thinking, demanded the use of terms 
 " far more laudatory," if such were possible, than those 
 once applied to the " illustrious garrison " of Jalalabad. 
 
 On the 2)th Sir Colin Campbell began his return march 
 to Cawnpore at the head of 3000 men, amongst whom, 
 says Mr. G. W. Forrest, " were the remnant of the gallant 
 32nd who had so stoutly defended the Residency, the 
 sepoys whose fidelity and courage can never be too 
 highly appraised, and the few native pensioners who had 
 loyally responded to the call of Sir Henry Lawrence to 
 come to our aid in the darkest hour." To them was 
 intrusted the safeguarding of the rescued women and 
 children, and some 1500 sick and wounded, together with 
 the treasure, surplus stores, and the engineer and artillery 
 parks. The march of a convoy extending over ten miles 
 of road was inevitably slow, and not until the evening of 
 November 30 had the whole of its precious burden been 
 safely sheltered within Windham's intrenched position 
 at Cawnpore. 
 
 " That fine noble fellow," as Sir Hope Grant calls Sir
 
 On Guard in the Alambagh 1 8 I 
 
 James Outram, was left behind with 3500 men to hold 
 the position around the Alambagh until the commander- 
 in-chief should return in the following year to expel the 
 rebels from Lucknow. The position which Outram had 
 to hold with this small force against any number of the 
 enemy covered a circuit of about ten miles, extending 
 across the Cawnpore road south-eastward to the old, half- 
 ruined fort of Jalalabad. " Where this position," writes 
 Colonel Malleson, " was not naturally covered by swamps 
 he placed batteries, dug trenches, and planted abattis 
 to protect it. 
 
 The troops under his command consisted of " the 
 remnants of Havelock's noble force; the regiments 
 Outram had brought up with him from Allahabad; and 
 what the siege of Delhi had left of the gallant 75th. 
 Weak in numbers were these battalions, but every man 
 of them was a veteran to be relied upon. One, the 78th, 
 had learned to love James Outram no other word would 
 express the truth in Persia. The Military Train, as 
 worthy comrades of the Volunteer Cavalry, and some 
 good Madras troops, must not be forgotten in making 
 up the total. Sir James had lost Colonel Napier, called 
 away on other duty, but Colonel Berkeley proved an 
 excellent chief of the staff. Colonels Hamilton and 
 Stisted well led his two infantry brigades; while Vincent 
 Eyre handled the cavalry and artillery to perfection, 
 seconded by one whose dash had become proverbial even 
 among Horse Artillerymen Major William Olpherts." 1 
 Outram's numbers were made up to 4000 by a strong 
 picket retained at Banni to guard the bridge over the 
 Sai. 
 
 For the next few weeks Outram employed himself in 
 strengthening his position, in keeping a careful watch 
 upon the enemy's movements, and in making fruitless 
 efforts to obtain supplies from the neighbouring villages. 
 So strict and general was the blockade enforced by the 
 
 1 This passage quoted from Goldsmid seems to need some correc- 
 tion. I have since been assured by Colonel J. P. Robertson, C.I.E., 
 that the cavalry, consisting of the Military Train and a small body 
 of Volunteer Horse, were placed under his sole command, and that 
 he had to report directly to Sir James Outram, who afterwards 
 paid the warmest tribute to Colonel Robertson's brilliant services.
 
 1 82 The Bayard of India 
 
 rebel leaders that Outran was driven to depend upon 
 Cawnpore for supplies escorted by troops whom he could 
 ill spare from the defence of his own position. 
 
 The instructions forwarded by Campbell's chief of the 
 staff, shortly after the rout of the Gwalior contingent, 
 evoked from Outram so powerful a protest against un- 
 reasonable demands upon his military strength that he 
 was allowed henceforth a free hand in matters bearing 
 on the safety of his command. 
 
 Amidst all his difficulties he managed to keep himself 
 thoroughly informed of the enemy's movements and 
 designs. Few commanders, indeed, have ever equalled 
 him in the excellence of his scouting arrangements. A 
 great deal of his success in war has been ascribed by a 
 competent critic to " his determination to obtain the 
 best information of the enemy's strength and plans before 
 acting. He was cautious in this, but when once on the 
 field, he was all dash. At the Alambagh his Intelligence 
 Department was amazingly good. Again and again were 
 his spies sent back before he would move from camp." 
 
 During the three months that he held his isolated 
 position " he never harassed the soldiers," says Major 
 Robertson, " by calling them out a moment before wanted 
 to repel the repeated attacks of the rebels; and he dis- 
 missed them as soon as he could dispense with their 
 services, generally ordering a dram or half a dram of rum 
 to be issued if he had it to give. The result of this was, 
 that when an alarm was given the men were on the ground 
 at once." 
 
 Day after day in December the enemy had been 
 employed in throwing up batteries, and in making hostile 
 demonstrations along his lines. At last, on the 2znd, 
 an attempt was made to sever Outram's communications 
 with Banni. But the British general happened to be 
 wide awake. At five of that morning he moved out with 
 nearly half his force " in the hope of surprising the 
 enemy, and intercepting their retreat to the city." Their 
 main body retreated betimes out of Outram's reach; but 
 the attack upon their rear was made so suddenly and 
 followed up with so fierce a courage, that, in spite of their 
 overwhelming numbers, they fled like frightened sheep,
 
 On Guard in the Alambagh 183 
 
 with " the loss of four Horse Artillery guns, much ammuni- 
 tion, besides elephants and baggage, and some fifty or 
 sixty men slain." According to Outram's report on this 
 affair, there was " hardly a casualty on our side." 
 
 About a fortnight later Outran despatched a convoy 
 of empty waggons to Cawnpore, guarded by 530 men 
 with four guns. The strength of the escort on this occa- 
 sion was due to the tidings which Outram's spies had 
 brought him, of fresh movements planned by the rebel 
 leaders against his rear. On hearing of an arrangement 
 which seemed for the time to cripple the force about the 
 Alambagh, the enemy determined, in Malleson's words, 
 " to make a supreme effort to destroy Outram." Accord- 
 ingly on January 12 they issued from Lucknow to the 
 number of 30,000. They massed this body opposite to 
 the extreme left of Outram's position, then gradually 
 extended it so as to face his front and left. To the front 
 attack Outram opposed two brigades, the one consisting 
 of 733 English troops, the other of 713, whilst he directed 
 the ever-daring Olpherts to take four guns, and, supported 
 by the men of the military train, to dash at the over- 
 lapping right of the rebels. Olpherts fell on them just 
 as they were developing their overlapping movement, 
 and not only compelled them to renounce it, but to fall 
 back in confusion. The two brigades operating against 
 the centre were equally successful. They not only drove 
 back the rebels, but foiled an insidious movement which 
 their leader was planning against the right of the British 
 position. By four o'clock the rebels were in full flight. 
 Their losses were heavy. 
 
 Four days later the enemy renewed their attack on 
 several points of Outram's lines. One large body, led 
 by a Hindu devotee dressed up as Hanuman the monkey- 
 god, made a sudden dash on the Jalalabad outpost, but 
 were soon repulsed by a well-aimed fire which laid their 
 leader helpless on the ground. Throughout the day they 
 skirmished ineffectually about Outram's left. Growing 
 bolder in the falling darkness, they swarmed against the 
 villages on our extreme left. But the withering fire of 
 grape and musketry poured in by Gordon's men sent 
 them flying with heavy loss. Meanwhile a large body
 
 1 84 The Bayard of India 
 
 of horse which threatened the left rear was held in check 
 and finally scattered by Olpherts' gunners and the men 
 of the military train. 
 
 About the middle of February 1858 a return convoy 
 laden with supplies had begun its march homeward from 
 Cawnpore. But the famous maulvi, one of the most 
 active of the rebel leaders, had sworn that he would 
 capture the returning convoy. On the night of the i4th 
 he set out from Lucknow at the head of a strong force, 
 and took up a position whence he could fall with ease 
 upon his expected prey. But Outram had already got 
 some inkling of the maulvi's scheme. As a violent dust- 
 storm was blowing on the i5th, under cover of which the 
 assailants might gain their end, he ordered out two of 
 Olpherts' horsed guns and a troop of military train to 
 observe their movements. Some fresh troops, with the 
 rest of Olpherts' battery, were sent on betimes towards 
 the scene of danger. 
 
 Olpherts, however, had already made so spirited a 
 charge upon the hostile cavalry escorting the maulvi 
 himself that his supports came up only in time to quicken 
 the enemy's retreat, and cover the return of the convoy 
 to camp. 1 
 
 On the morning of the i6th, to quote from Outram's 
 own despatch, " the enemy filled their trenches with as 
 many men as they could hold, and assembled in vast 
 numbers under the topes [groves] in their rear; at the same 
 time a body of cavalry and infantry was detached to 
 threaten our left flank. . . . They made repeated 
 demonstrations of advancing to attack, but their courage 
 apparently as often failed them, and they almost im- 
 mediately retired to their position. About 5.30 P.M. they 
 suddenly issued in clouds of skirmishers from the trenches, 
 advancing for some distance towards our batteries posted 
 on the left and centre of our line, and opened a smart 
 fire of musketry on the outpost of the left front village 
 and advanced towards it in large bodies. They were 
 repulsed by the picket, consisting of 200 men of the goth 
 Light Infantry under command of Lieutenant - Colonel 
 
 1 Malleson. Forrest.
 
 On Guard in the Alambagh 185 
 
 Smith of that regiment, losing a good many men, the goth 
 having three wounded. 
 
 " As soon as it was dark they concentrated a very heavy 
 musketry-fire on the north and east faces of the Alambagh, 
 which they continued for about two hours, but fortunately 
 did no harm; they did not all finally retire until 8.30 
 P.M. Their loss must have been severe, as their flashes 
 gave an excellent line for our guns, which opened on them 
 with shrapnel-shell and grape. Our loss during the last 
 two days has been one killed and three wounded." 
 
 By this time the rebel leaders became aware of the 
 great preparations which Sir Colin Campbell was making 
 for the advance of a powerful army against Lucknow. 
 A large convoy was coming up from Cawnpore, escorted 
 by the greater part of Outram's cavalry. On Sunday, 
 February 21, the war-worn Outram had again to meet 
 the furious onsets of 20,000 rebels, and the fire of numerous 
 guns, on all sides of a position weakened by the absence 
 of some of his best troops. His spies, however, had fore- 
 warned him of the enemy's purpose; how the Hindus 
 had sworn by the Ganges, and the Muhammadans on the 
 Koran, that they would slay the Farangis or perish in the 
 attempt. 
 
 The assailants, therefore, got nothing but disappoint- 
 ment for their pains. Dosed with grape from the British 
 guns, their swarming cavalry checked by the bold advance 
 of a few field-pieces and a few hundred horse, those 
 threatening masses were chased back to the shelter of 
 their own batteries with the loss of many hundred slain 
 or wounded, against only nine wounded on our side. 
 
 " I am awaiting the junction of the chief," Outram 
 writes on the 23rd to Dr. Fayrer, " and he appears to be 
 awaiting the advance of Jung Bahadur; in the meantime 
 the enemy is becoming desperate, and has been rather 
 restless of late and somewhat troublesome; but he lost 
 so severely in his last attack on Sunday at least 600 
 killed and wounded that he has not plucked up heart 
 yet to come on again." 
 
 On the 25th, however, the enemy made one last deter- 
 mined effort to destroy the garrison which had defied 
 them for three months past. " The queen regent and her
 
 1 86 The Bayard of India 
 
 son," says Forrest, " the prime minister and the principal 
 nobles, mounted on state elephants, came out of the city 
 to encourage the assailants and witness their triumph." 
 But by this time Outram had been reinforced by several 
 hundred horse and foot, and a battery of light guns. 
 After a night-march of thirty-six miles, the main body 
 of Hodson's Horse, led by the all-daring Hodson himself, 
 had entered the Alambagh in the early morning of the 
 25th, just in time to bear a noteworthy part in that day's 
 decisive struggle. 
 
 The attack was delivered about 9 A.M. along the whole 
 front of Outram's line. While large bodies of horse and 
 foot, with three guns, bore down against his left, thirty 
 regiments of foot, with 1000 horse and eight guns, were 
 seen advancing against his right. " Of this number," 
 writes Outram, " about one-half, with two guns, advanced 
 towards our right rear, and, having occupied the topes 
 immediately to the east of Jalalabad, commenced shelling 
 that post heavily, evidently in the hope of igniting the 
 large quantity of combustible stores at present collected 
 there; while the remainder held in support the villages 
 and topes directly in front of the enemy's outworks." 
 
 About an hour later, having given time for Barrow's 
 Volunteers and Wales 's Horse to sweep round on the 
 enemy's rear, Outram delivered his counter-attack with 
 the bulk of his available force. " The infantry," says 
 Captain Sir J. Seton of the Madras Fusiliers, " did not 
 come into effective action, so precipitate was the retreat 
 of the enemy on receiving the fire of the horsed guns, and 
 on becoming aware of two bodies of cavalry, of which 
 one, advancing from the left of the British column, 
 threatened to cut off his retreat, while the other, having 
 made a detour by the village of Naurangabad, came on 
 him from the opposite direction. Still there was time 
 for the centre body of cavalry which headed the infantry 
 column to dash into the retreating ranks and to capture 
 two guns." 
 
 By i P.M. the foe had disappeared. " About 4 P.M.," 
 says Outram, " the enemy again moved out against us. 
 On this occasion they directed their principal efforts 
 against our left, and evinced more spirit and determination
 
 On Guard in the Alambagh 187 
 
 than they had hitherto done. Repeatedly they advanced 
 within grape and musket range, and as they ever met 
 with a warm reception from our guns and Enfields, 
 especially from those of the left front picket, commanded 
 by Major Master, of the 5th Fusiliers, they must have 
 suffered severely." 
 
 During the night firing was renewed from time to time 
 as the discomfited rebels sent parties forward to cover 
 the removal of their dead. Their loss throughout the day 
 was reported to have been from 400 to 500 slain, while 
 Outram had lost no more than five killed and thirty-five 
 officers and men wounded. 
 
 Thus ended the sixth and last attempt to overpower 
 the little force which for three months had maintained 
 its perilous watch at the Alambagh over the rebellious 
 capital of a province swarming with sepoy mutineers 
 and the armed retainers of nobles and great landowners 
 fiercely impatient of British rule. Outram's unsleeping 
 vigilance, and the ready trust which he inspired in all 
 who served under him, had now cleared the way for that 
 final subjugation of Oudh which our arms and diplomacy 
 had still to accomplish. 
 
 " Sir James," says one who knew him, " had a cheery 
 word for officers and men at each post, generally some 
 small compliment such as a regret the enemy would not 
 come on, because you're always so well prepared and 
 his visit seemed a welcome one everywhere. As you know, 
 he could be uncommonly irate on provocation. ... I 
 was told that when he did ' let out ' at any one, especially 
 a youngster, he was not comfortable till he had made it up 
 by some kind word or deed, and that as often as not a 
 ' wig ' ended by the offer of a cheroot a valuable gift 
 at the Alambagh. His holster was stuffed with these 
 luxuries instead of a revolver, and he dispensed them 
 right liberally." l 
 
 " Full justice," says Mr. Forrest, " was not done by 
 Sir Colin Campbell or the chief of the staff to Outram's 
 defence of Alambagh, which must be viewed as a fine 
 example of courage and good conduct, and will always 
 stand out as a glorious episode in the annals of the Indian 
 Mutiny." 
 
 1 Forrest's Selections.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 WITH THE ARMY OF OUDH. MARCH 1858 
 
 NOT till the end of February 1858 did Sir Colin Campbell 
 leave Cawnpore to take command of perhaps the finest 
 army that ever in British uniform stepped out on Indian 
 soil. Four strong divisions of infantry, including that of 
 Franks', who was marching up from the southern borders 
 of Oudh, two good brigades of Sir Hope Grant's cavalry, 
 three splendid brigades of artillery under Sir Archdale 
 Wilson, and one of Engineers, made up an army of 25,000 
 men, two-thirds of whom were British-born. Outram, 
 of course, commanded the first infantry division, which 
 included the heroes of so many bloody fights between 
 Fathipur and Lucknow Neill's own Fusiliers, the 7 8th 
 Highlanders, and Brasyer's Sikhs. To the second divi- 
 sion, under General Lugard, belonged the 93rd High- 
 landers and the 4th Punjab Rifles. Conspicuous among 
 the regiments of Walpole's division were the ist Bengal 
 Fusiliers and the 2nd, or Green's, Punjab Infantry. The 
 war-worn Qth Lancers, Hodson's swarthy Horse, and the 
 dashing Volunteer Cavalry formed the pick of Hope 
 Grant's powerful array. The Engineer brigade might well 
 be proud of such a leader as Robert Napier. In the long 
 roll of battery-commanders the names of Turner, Tombs, 
 Olpherts, Remmington, Middleton, Bishop, recalled many 
 a great deed done before Delhi, or on the way to Lucknow, 
 by the soldiers of an army renowned for matchless ser- 
 vices in every field. Major Henry Norman, the adjutant- 
 general, had won no small distinction during the siege of 
 Delhi. As chief of the staff General Mansfield was in 
 his right place. Dr. Brown, the superintending surgeon; 
 Major Johnson, the assistant adjutant-general; Captain 
 FitzGerald, of the commissariat; Captain Allgood, the 
 quartermaster-general, were all officers of known worth 
 in their several lines. Joti Parsad himself, the great 
 188
 
 With the Army of Oudh 189 
 
 contractor, came over from Agra to supply the means of 
 feeding and moving Sir Colin's troops. 
 
 On March 2 Sir Colin, with the van of his fine army, 
 passed by the Alambagh on his way to the old camping- 
 ground at the Dilkusha. Outram came out to meet his 
 chief and discuss with him the details of the campaign in 
 which he himself was to play an important part, and 
 concerning which he had more than once in the past 
 month expounded his own views by letter to Sir Colin 
 Campbell. 
 
 After a sharp skirmish, in which the enemy lost a gun, 
 Sir Colin Campbell got firmly planted around the Dilkusha, 
 his right resting on the Gumti, while the advanced pickets 
 held the Dilkusha Palace on the right, the Muhammad- 
 Bagh on the left front. Both points were strengthened 
 with heavy guns, which kept down the fire from a line 
 of outworks along the canal. The next two days were 
 spent in bringing up the remainder of the troops, guns, 
 and stores of all kinds from the rear. Colonel Campbell's 
 cavalry brigade guarded the left of the camp, and scoured 
 the country in front of the Alambagh. Hodson's ubi- 
 quitous troopers kept diligent watch towards the fort 
 of Jalalabad beyond the British left. On the 5th General 
 Franks, true to the day appointed, was ready to fill up 
 the gap which Ou tram's march across the Gumti would 
 leave on the morrow in Campbell's line. 
 
 By this time Outram had left the Alambagh to overlook 
 the process of bridging the Gumti near the village of 
 Bibiapur. " The chief," he wrote to his wife on March 
 4, " has done me the high honour of placing me in com- 
 mand of a large force which is to occupy a position on 
 the other side of the Gumti to-morrow. ... I anticipate 
 little or no opposition, so do not be alarmed should this 
 reach you before you learn the result. ... A higher 
 honour could not have been conferred on me than this 
 command." 
 
 Early on the morning of the 6th Outram's division 
 marched down towards the Gumti, across which two 
 floating bridges had been completed during the previous 
 night. As the leading troop of horse approached the 
 river they found Outram seated beside one of the bridges,
 
 190 The Bayard of India 
 
 quietly smoking his cigar as he awaited the arrival of his 
 column across the difficult ground which lay between the 
 river and the camp. A little later Sir Colin himself, says 
 Sir J. Hope Grant, " being anxious to get his men across 
 before the enemy could discover our intention and open 
 upon us, rode down to the riverside and pitched into 
 everybody most handsomely, I catching the principal 
 share. But this had a good effect, and hastened the 
 passage very materially everything was got over in 
 safety just as daybreak appeared." 
 
 Then began the great turning movement which Sir 
 Colin Campbell had rightly intrusted to the foremost 
 soldier in his army, the first deliverer of Lucknow, the 
 stubborn defender of the Alambagh. While the com- 
 mander-in-chief prepared at the given moment to crash 
 his way forward through a triple line of works, held by 
 a foe at once strong and resolute, his trusty lieutenant 
 was to press onward up the left bank of the Gumti, to 
 block the way of escape on that side of the great city, 
 and to storm or rake with his heavy guns the eastern and 
 northern faces of the enemy's works. 
 
 It was no light task, indeed, that awaited the powerful 
 army of Oudh. Whatever a brave, resolute, and cunning 
 foe could do to strengthen a strong position had been 
 done by the 70,000 or 80,000 sepoys, volunteers, and 
 armed retainers, whom national pride, fanaticism, or hope 
 of plunder had rallied to the colours of the manly-hearted 
 Queen Regent, Hazrat-Mahal, or to the green flag of her 
 suspected rival, the ntatdvi of Faizabad. Besides the 
 natural strength of a large city full of narrow streets, tall 
 houses, and great palace squares, each forming a separate 
 stronghold, its defenders had gained ample time to repair 
 past damages and to throw up new defences at points 
 that seemed open to future attack. 
 
 The canal itself formed a wet ditch to the outermost 
 line of works whose kernel consisted of the cluster of 
 courts and buildings known as the Kaiser Bagh. A 
 fortified rampart stretched along the inner side of the 
 canal. The midmost line of works covered the great pile 
 of the Imambara, the Mess-House, and the Moti Mahal. 
 Each of these lines ended at the river, which swept
 
 With the Army of Oudh 191 
 
 sharply southward as it passed the neighbourhood of the 
 dome-crowned Imambara. Their inner flanks rested on 
 the streets of a crowded city, through which no general 
 would choose to force his way. Outside the canal, in the 
 bend between it and the river, stood, amidst fair gardens 
 and stately groves, the building once known as Constantia, 
 and since called, after its founder, La Martinire. From 
 this post the rebels for the first few days kept up a fire 
 not altogether harmless. But it was not Sir Colin's cue 
 to take one step forward until Outram had fairly turned 
 the defences of the canal. 
 
 Meanwhile Sir James led Walpole's infantry, a picked 
 brigade of horse under Hope Grant, and five batteries of 
 guns under Brigadier Wood, across the two bridges which 
 Napier's engineers had fashioned out of beer-casks, ropes, 
 and planking in the past three days. That night, after a 
 skirmish with the enemy's cavalry, he rested near the 
 village of Ishmaelganj, the site of that disastrous battle 
 on June 30 which preluded the siege of the Residency. 
 The next day was spent in repelling the enemy's attacks 
 upon Outram's pickets. On the 8th his men were 
 employed in preparing batteries for the heavy guns sent 
 over that morning for his use. 
 
 The dawn of the gth was ushered in by the thunders of 
 a crushing fire poured into the enemy's works at the 
 Chakar Kothi, or Yellow House, which had been the 
 grand-stand of the King of Oudh's race-course, from 
 eight heavy guns and three howitzers. Ere long the 
 Chakar Kothi was stormed by a part of Walpole's infantry, 
 aided by a few of Wood's guns. Pressing hotly on the 
 heels of a retreating foe, Outram carried with ease the 
 strong walled enclosure of the Pedshah-Bagh or King's 
 Garden, and began with his heavy guns to rake the line 
 of works behind the Martiniere. 
 
 During those days of waiting Sir Colin's heavy guns 
 and mortars from the opposite bank of the river kept 
 pounding into the defences in their front. Peel's rockets 
 scared the rebels out of corners still spared by his shells. 
 The storming of the Yellow House became the signal for 
 Lugard's advance on the first line of works. Without 
 firing a shot the Highlanders and Punjabis of Hope's
 
 192 The Bayard of India 
 
 brigade stormed the defences of the Martiniere ; then with 
 another magnificent rush they climbed up the lofty 
 ramparts lining the canal. Their steps were quickened 
 by the sight of an English officer waving his sword atop 
 of the rampart, a mark for the muskets of many foes. It 
 was the bold Lieutenant Butler of the ist Bengal Fusiliers, 
 who had swum across the river to acquaint Hope's 
 skirmishers with Outram's success in turning the first 
 line of works. 
 
 On the evening of the gth the line of the canal as far 
 as Banks's House was safe in British hands. The next 
 day was spent by Lugard's column in battering and 
 storming Banks's House and in making ready for a flank 
 march to the left of the Kaiser Bagh, while Outram was 
 bringing his guns and mortars to play upon the same 
 post from his camp across the river, and Hope Grant's 
 horsemen were busy scouring the plain between the river 
 and the old cantonments. On the nth from both flanks 
 of the besieging army a furious storm of shot and shell 
 crashed down on the remaining defences of the doomed 
 city. The Sikandrabagh, scene of so much slaughter in 
 the past November, was carried easily that morning. 
 Other buildings to the right were won as swiftly by storm 
 or simple cannonade. One massive pile of buildings, 
 known as the Begam Kothi or Begam's Palace, held out 
 for several hours under a merciless pounding from Peel's 
 howitzers. While Napier was yet watching for the 
 moment when bayonets might take the place of cannon, 
 Sir Colin and some of his officers were engaged in the 
 less congenial task of exchanging courtesies with Jang 
 Bahadur, the warlike Regent of Nipal, who had just 
 brought his Gurkhas, some days after time, into the 
 field. 
 
 In the midst of that interview the war-grimed figure 
 of Hope Johnstone, the deputy adjutant-general, strode 
 up to his chief bearing the glad news of the successful 
 storming of the Begam Kothi. In another moment Sir 
 Colin Campbell and Jang Bahadur were grasping each 
 other's hands and making up with friendly smiles for 
 their want of a common language. 
 
 The fight whose issue had been thus opportunely
 
 With the Army of Oudh 193 
 
 announced was described by Campbell himself as the 
 " sternest struggle which occurred during the siege." 
 After a fierce bombardment of eight or nine hours, ending 
 in a practicable breach, Napier resolved to carry the 
 Begam's Palace by storm. About 4 P.M. Adrian Hope 
 led forth a column of the 93rd Highlanders, 4th Punjab 
 Rifles, and 1000 Gurkhas to the attack. The Highlanders 
 mounted the breach first, but their comrades were close 
 behind. At every turn some fresh work had to be carried, 
 some fresh group of rebels to be overpowered. But the 
 dread bayonet clove its way through all barriers. Ere 
 long the whole pile of buildings, itself a powerful fortress, 
 bastioned, loop-holed, filled with men and guns, begirt 
 with tall ramparts and a broad deep ditch, had been 
 swept clean of its living garrison. Of the rebel dead 
 500 bodies were afterwards counted up. 
 
 The victory would have been cheaply won but for the 
 death of the far-famed Hodson, who, having joined the 
 fight as a volunteer, fell shot through the liver by one 
 of the sepoys lurking in an outer room of the great court- 
 yard. Some of his troopers cried that night like children 
 over their dying hero, whom those rough Eastern warriors 
 had loved and worshipped as their ideal of perfect soldier- 
 ship, the model captain of light horse, the matchless 
 swordsman, the wise yet daring counsellor, the born 
 leader of men, who would have followed him any- 
 whither to the death. 1 
 
 " I trust I have done my duty," were the last words 
 which the dying hero spoke to his sorrowing friend Napier. 
 On the evening of the i2th, the day after Hodson's death, 
 his body was buried in the grounds of the Martiniere. At 
 the moment when it was lowered into the grave, Campbell 
 himself, the veteran commander-in-chief, burst into tears 
 over the loss of " one of the finest officers in the army," 
 the man whom Robert Napier was proud to call friend, 
 to whom Montgomery could find no equal for his rare 
 combination of talent, courage, coolness, and unerring 
 judgment. 
 
 On this day Outram also had been steadily gaining 
 ground. While his heavy batteries pounded the Mess- 
 J Russell; Hodson of Hodson's Horse ; Innes; Forrest M 
 
 N
 
 194 The Bayard of India 
 
 House and the Kaiser Bagh, his infantry, flanked by the 
 horse, swept onwards through the suburbs on that side 
 of the Gumti, seized a mosque commanding the iron bridge 
 above the Residency, and drove the enemy as far as the 
 stone bridge by the Machhi-Bhawan. At this point he 
 sounded a halt. Strengthening his hold on the iron 
 bridge, he resolved to await the coming of some more 
 heavy guns, which might help in raking the defences of 
 the Kaiser Bagh. On the i3th these new allies spoke to 
 such effect that the enemy, placed between two raging 
 fires, fled despairing on the morrow from their last great 
 stronghold in Lucknow. In all these movements on the 
 left bank of the river Outram's loss, apart from the 
 cavalry, amounted only to 26 slain, 113 wounded. " It 
 is impossible," says Colonel Malleson, " to overestimate 
 the value of the assistance which Outram thus rendered 
 to the main attack." 
 
 Meanwhile, on his own side, Sir Colin had been steadily 
 tearing his way to the heart of the rebel defences. On 
 the 1 2th Franks's division relieved Lugard's. While 
 Napier's sappers kept blowing up the lines of building 
 between the Begam Kothi and the Kaiser Bagh, the 
 infantry with some of the mortars moved gradually 
 forward, and a strong battery of heavy guns thundered 
 against the lesser Imambara. At last on the morning 
 of the i4th this light and graceful monument of Moorish 
 art was carried with a rush by Brigadier Russell's infantry. 
 A minute later Brasyer's Sikhs had followed the flying 
 Pandies right through the open gateway of the Kaiser 
 Bagh. Other troops came up close behind the Sikhs; 
 but their help was hardly needed, for no stand was made 
 save where a knot of rebels, driven into a corner, had to 
 sell their lives as dearly as they could. 
 
 Still the conquerors pressed forward, the more eagerly 
 for that last success. One after another the Mess-House, 
 the Teri-Kothi, the Moti Mahal, and the Chatar Manzil, 
 all scenes of hard fighting in the past November, fell into 
 their hands. It was a hard day's work for all concerned; 
 but the elation of repeated victories upheld them marvel- 
 lously to the end. That evening Campbell might fairly 
 deem himself master of Lucknow, might well be proud of
 
 With the Army of Oudh 195 
 
 a conquest achieved on the whole so easily, at a cost of 
 only 900 killed and wounded, over an enemy of thrice 
 his own numbers, intrenched along a range of massive 
 palaces and wide-walled courts whose like could hardly 
 be found in Europe; every weak point strengthened to 
 the utmost, each outlet carefully guarded by works 
 that displayed a marvellous industry and no common 
 skill. 1 
 
 Campbell, however, on this day had lost a golden 
 opportunity of reaping the full fruits of his success. 
 Thanks to the daring of two volunteers, Lieutenant 
 Wynne and Sergeant Paul, Outram saw himself free to 
 cross the iron bridge and cut off the retreat of the enemy 
 from the positions already attacked by Franks and Napier. 
 The rebels would thus have been completely destroyed, 
 and much of the work which our arms had still to accom- 
 plish would have been forestalled. But his request for 
 leave to cross the Gumti was met by an answer, the 
 strangest surely that ever a British general returned to 
 his second in command. " I am afraid, gentlemen," 
 said Outram to those around him, " you will be dis- 
 appointed when I tell you that I am not going to attack 
 to-day." Sir Colin, in fact, had ordered him not to cross 
 the river unless he could do so without losing a single 
 man. 
 
 As the enemy had guns commanding the bridge, to say 
 nothing of a mosque and some loopholed houses behind 
 them, Outram knew that he could not carry the bridge 
 without losing a number of men. As Malleson has well 
 observed, " the ultimate pursuit of the rebels who escaped 
 because Outram did not cross caused an infinitely greater 
 loss of men to the British army than the storming of the 
 bridge and the taking of the rebels in rear would have 
 occasioned." 2 
 
 On the 1 5th the cavalry of Hope Grant and Brigadier 
 Campbell were sent off by different roads in pursuit of 
 the rebels flying from Lucknow. But nothing was gained 
 by this move. The enemy had scattered all over the 
 country, and many of those who still remained in the 
 
 1 Sir C. Campbell's despatch. 
 2 Forrest; Malleson; Lord Roberts's Forty-One Years in India.
 
 196 The Bayard of India 
 
 city seized that opportunity to escape for the purpose 
 of doing us further mischief ere long. " It was not a 
 judicious move on Sir Colin's part," writes Lord Roberts, 
 " to send the cavalry miles away from Lucknow just 
 when they could have been so usefully employed on the 
 outskirts of the city. This was also appreciated when 
 too late, and both brigades were ordered to return, which 
 they did on the iyth." 
 
 A large remnant of the beaten foe had still to be cleared 
 out of the city. On March 16, Outram carried one of 
 his brigades across the Gumti to the Sikandrabagh, and, 
 strengthened by two more regiments, pressed on to attack 
 the Residency and seize the iron bridge. Easily successful 
 in both attempts, he lost no time in carrying the Machhi- 
 Bhawan and a group of buildings hard by. 
 
 The way of escape by the stone bridge being at length 
 cut off by Walpole's brigade and some of the cavalry, the 
 enemy fled up the right bank of the river; some making 
 straight for Rohilkhand, others halting for a last stand 
 in the Musa-Bagh, another of those walled gardens that 
 everywhere skirted the city. Meanwhile another body 
 of rebels made a bold but fruitless dash upon the Alam- 
 bagh, where Franklin's small garrison stood quite ready 
 to receive them. 
 
 While Outram was steadily cleaving his way through 
 the north-western quarter of the city, Jang Bahadur, 
 having dislodged the rebels from the neighbourhood of 
 the Alambagh, advanced along the southern side of 
 Lucknow, clearing the neighbourhood of the Hazrat- 
 Ganj, the great street which led from the Charbagh 
 bridge up to the ruined Residency. 
 
 On March 19 a combined movement was led by 
 Outram against the 5000 rebels still intrenched within 
 the Musa-Bagh. The task allotted him was soon accom- 
 plished. Position after position fell with hardly a 
 struggle, until the enemy were sent flying in headlong 
 rout before the sweeping rush of the gth Lancers. Of 
 their twelve guns two were at once abandoned, four were 
 taken by Outram's pursuing force, and the other six fell 
 into the hands of Captain Coles's Lancers, who kept up 
 the chase for several miles. But 200 or 300 horsemen
 
 With the Army of Oudh 197 
 
 could not annihilate so many thousand sepoys fleeing 
 through cornfields, enclosed gardens, and ground cut up 
 by ravines. Most of the fugitives, therefore, got away to 
 brew fresh mischief anon in other places. 
 
 Once more Outram was prevented by an untoward 
 chance from gathering the full fruits of his success. The 
 fault on this occasion lay not with his chief but with 
 Colonel Campbell, who failed to bring up his cavalry 
 brigade in time to press on the pursuit which Coles's 
 Lancers had so brilliantly begun. And thus it happened 
 that some thousands more of discomfited Pandies swelled 
 the number of fugitives who lived to fight another day. 1 
 
 One of the foremost rebel leaders, the maulvi of Faiza- 
 bad, was still lurking in the heart of the city with several 
 hundred of his bravest followers and two guns. On the 
 2ist Sir Edward Lugard was sent to dislodge him. A 
 stout resistance was at last overcome by a successful 
 charge of the 93rd Foot, who took the guns and slew more 
 than a hundred of the flying foe. But, in spite of a keen 
 pursuit by Brigadier Campbell's cavalry, the maulvi him- 
 self again made good his escape. By that time the few 
 small parties who had lingered in odd corners of the city 
 had been routed out and slain or scattered afar. Two 
 days later Hope Grant broke up a body of insurgents at 
 Kursi, twenty miles away on the Faizabad road, with 
 heavy slaughter and the seizure of more guns. 
 
 With this last achievement ends the reconquest of 
 Lucknow, and the short but memorable career of the 
 army of Oudh. The last great centre of armed rebellion 
 eastward of the Jumna had fallen wholly into Sir Colin's 
 power. Paralysed by the loss of Lucknow, by the defec- 
 tion or the quarrels of their foremost leaders, one of 
 whom, Man Singh, was already making terms with his 
 former masters, the insurgents of Oudh could henceforth 
 be attacked and crushed by smaller columns moving each 
 under its own commander. 
 
 Lucknow was wholly in our hands; but Sir Colin had, 
 
 in the words of General Innes, " lost nearly the whole of 
 
 the hoped-for fruits of his capture of Lucknow, owing 
 
 first to his checking Outram on the i4th; then to his 
 
 1 Hope Grant ; Malleson.
 
 198 The Bayard of India 
 
 misdirected pursuits of the i5th; and finally to the failure 
 of proper leading for his splendid force of cavalry at the 
 most opportune and critical moment of the war." The 
 immediate outcome of three weeks' fighting fell lament- 
 ably short of that which Outram's far-seeing counsels 
 would have ensured. 
 
 In the great city itself was left a powerful garrison 
 under the fit command of Hope Grant, himself sub- 
 ordinate to the Chief Commissioner of Oudh. Lugard's 
 division marched southwards to deal with the rebels who, 
 under Kunwar Singh, were still threatening Azimgarh. 
 Walpole led his own brave soldiers northwards into 
 Rohilkhand. Jang Bahadur, with the pick of his 
 Nipalese, marched off to Allahabad, where the governor- 
 general was waiting to thank his magnificent ally for 
 services which, though tardily accepted and somewhat 
 haltingly rendered, were destined to reap no grudging 
 reward. 
 
 Meanwhile the chief commissioner had been strongly 
 protesting through the telegraph wires against the tenor 
 of a proclamation which Lord Canning had directed him 
 to issue after the reconquest of Lucknow. In the first 
 draft of that memorable document the governor-general 
 had confiscated the whole proprietory right in the soil of 
 Oudh, save in the case of six men three rajahs, one 
 talukdar, and two zamindars who had stood faithful 
 amid great temptations. An explanatory letter accom- 
 panied the proclamation. Sir James protested against 
 the impolitic harshness of a decree which seemed to widen 
 the area of popular revolt. It was adding, he pleaded, 
 one injustice to another to press so hard upon a class of 
 men who, smarting under the blows inflicted by the 
 settlement decrees of 1856, had delayed taking up arms 
 against us " until our rule was virtually at an end." 
 Give them back their lands, and they will at once aid us 
 in restoring order. Otherwise, driven to despair, " they 
 will betake themselves to their domains for the carrying 
 on of a long, bloody, and guerilla war." l In reply to 
 these remonstrances, Lord Canning instructed him to 
 insert in the proclamation a qualifying clause, which 
 1 Official Papers.
 
 With the Army of Oudh 199 
 
 granted a large indulgence to all who should help in re" 
 establishing order. 
 
 In the document thus amended those rebel landowners 
 who should at once surrender were promised immunity 
 from death or imprisonment, if only their hands were 
 " unstained with English blood murderously shed." 
 Those who had protected English lives would have 
 especial claims to the kind and considerate treatment 
 withheld from none but downright murderers of English 
 men and women. 
 
 With every copy of the revised proclamation Outram 
 sent forth a circular letter, informing each of the taluk- 
 dars that if he would at once come in and obey the chief 
 commissioner's orders, none of his lands would be con- 
 fiscated, and his claims to lands held by him before 
 annexation would be re-heard, " provided you have 
 taken no part in the atrocities committed on helpless 
 Europeans." 
 
 In another circular he exhorted the people of Oudh to 
 get rid of the " absurd belief, instilled into them by the 
 rebels, that the British Government are going to destroy 
 their caste," because " the Christian religion forbids 
 forcible conversion to its doctrines." 
 
 Outram's efforts to neutralise the mischief caused by 
 Canning's sweeping severity found a hearty, if rather 
 indiscreet, response in the scolding despatch which his 
 former opponent, Lord Ellenborough, sent out as Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Control to the governor-general. By 
 that time, however, Outram had ceased to administer the 
 affairs of Oudh. On April 4 he left Lucknow for Calcutta 
 to serve as military member of the Supreme Council in the 
 room of Sir John Low. His able successor in Oudh, 
 Robert Montgomery, proceeded to carry out the new 
 policy with the mingled tact and vigour which had won 
 for him in the Punjab a name second only to that of John 
 Lawrence. 
 
 " It need hardly be observed," says Outram's bio- 
 grapher, " that the farewell greetings he received were of 
 more than ordinary warmth. Few men have left more 
 sincerely attached comrades behind than he did at each 
 stage of his career. He declined an escort for himself and
 
 200 The Bayard of India 
 
 the members of his staff who accompanied him, relying 
 on his stout stick for his own protection; and so he 
 quietly took his final leave of Lucknow." 
 
 " General Outram left yesterday," wrote one of his 
 friends to an Indian newspaper. " He left with that 
 which rank cannot claim nor regulations compel, the 
 tearful valedictions of many attached friends, and the 
 affectionate regrets of the whole army. ' How Sir James 
 must have been beloved ! ' was the pleased exclamation 
 of his successor, Mr. Montgomery, as he watched the 
 general's departure from Banks's House. . . . ' God 
 bless the dear old general ! ' was uttered by many a 
 manly voice from the Dil Khusha to Musa-Bagh, from the 
 cantonments to the Residency, in tones of deep emotion, 
 and with the emphasis of unfeigned sincerity. And the 
 bravery, the goodness, the tender-heartedness of the 
 fine soldier who had so often led them in battle, were 
 the favourite topics of discussion yesterday afternoon 
 in every guardroom and at every mess. Well did this 
 true-hearted, chivalric, generous English gentleman merit 
 the love of his troops. For rarely has there been a com- 
 mander to whom the happiness and wellbeing of his men 
 were so much an object of incessant thought. Have you 
 noticed the difference between his despatches and those 
 of most other generals ? With them it is ' I ' did this, 
 ' I ' ordered that, ' I ' pushed on here, or effected a division 
 there. With him how different! The whole operations 
 are described as though they had been spontaneous acts 
 of the individual commanding officers, with no directing 
 mind to regulate their movements. His ' I's ' are limited 
 to acknowledgments of his obligations ; and how warmly 
 does he acknowledge his obligations ! How eager to say 
 a kind word for every one! Now thoughtful about all 
 but himself!" 
 
 A few days before his departure, Outram found time 
 to write Major Olpherts a letter which deserves quoting 
 in full : 
 
 " MY DEAR OLPHERTS, The old ist Division is about 
 to be broken up. An entirely new distribution of the 
 army is about to take place, and I shall not have the
 
 With the Army of Oudh 201 
 
 opportunity of expressing in my farewell order, which 
 must be of a general nature, the admiration with which 
 I regard both you and your noble fellows in particular, 
 and the regard which I entertain towards yourself person- 
 ally. Such sentiments I could not embody in a despatch 
 while we were together in the field without laying myself 
 open to the charge of using extra-official language. 
 
 " Believe me, my dear heroic Olpherts, that you occupy 
 a very high place in my affection and regard; and that 
 I shall ever remember with pride, pleasure, and gratitude 
 to yourself the six months we stood together in the plain 
 of Alambagh. 
 
 " ' Bravery ' is a poor and insufficient epithet to apply 
 to a valour such as yours; and Olpherts' 'zeal' and 
 ' energy ' are terms of too common application to convey 
 my sense of your entire and successful devotion to the 
 service. But words are at best the symbols of ideas and 
 feelings, and I trust that you require no symbols to satisfy 
 you as to what I think of you and feel towards you. Should 
 you be spared, there is a bright and glorious career before 
 you, and not one of your friends will watch it with deeper 
 interest than, my dear Olpherts, yours affectionately, 
 
 "J. OUTRAM." 1 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE MILITARY MEMBER OF THE VICEROY'S COUNCIL. 
 MAY I858-JULY i860 
 
 AT Allahabad, where Lord Canning had for the time 
 fixed his headquarters, Outram became the guest of the 
 governor-general, who greeted him as cordially as if no 
 cause for dispute had arisen between them. 
 
 On May 2 we find him in Calcutta writing to his old 
 friend Captain Eastwick on many topics of public and 
 personal interest. He is " crushed with work, principally 
 the drudgery of demi-official correspondence," resulting 
 from his Persian and Indian campaigns. He " hopes and 
 believes " that the new Chief Commissioner of Oudh will 
 render that province " the most prosperous division of 
 our Indian Empire. By the aid of its existing landed 
 aristocracy this may easily be done. . . . But even 
 with the adoption of correct principles, and with a Mont- 
 gomery to apply them, I fear that Oudh will never flourish 
 as it easily might be made, and indubitably ought to 
 be made to flourish until half the foolscap work now 
 imposed on our officials be abolished." 
 
 And he goes on to sketch some of the most needful 
 reforms which would tend to release " our highly educated 
 and highly paid civil officers from the clerkly drudgery 
 which leaves them no time for the performance of their 
 higher duties, and from that soul-crushing system of 
 references, official criticisms, and snubbings, etc., which 
 makes them dread to do good, or move one step beyond 
 the ' Regulations.' " 
 
 Soon after his arrival in Calcutta " he sent," says Major 
 Robertson, " a very large quantity of new books and 
 newspapers to all the corps which had served under him 
 during the Mutiny. The papers were continued to the 
 78th until ordered home early in 1859. I need scarcely 
 say that the cost of the books and papers came out of 
 Sir James's pocket." l 
 
 " In Calcutta," says his biographer, " he led the usual 
 ' Outram MSS. 
 202
 
 Member of Viceroy's Council 203 
 
 life of the European dignitary, with its many hours of 
 steamy work, and such relaxation as was afforded by a 
 constant succession of dinner-parties. These were in his 
 case, though frequent, mostly at home; for he did not 
 care to go out at night. He and Lady Outram shared a 
 good house at Garden Reach with his old friend Mr. Le 
 Geyt, of the Bombay Civil Service, and they generally 
 had guests living under their roof, after the approved 
 Indian custom none being more welcome to Sir James 
 than small middies." 
 
 As early as June of this year he was driven to recruit 
 his health by a sea voyage to Galle and back. Later in 
 the year, for a similar reason, he spent a month at Chan- 
 danagor, and a few days at Barrackpore. 
 
 Soon after his return from Galle, Outram was cheered 
 by abundant tokens of public honour and esteem ; he had 
 already received the thanks of parliament for his services 
 at the Alambagh and for his share in the final conquest 
 of Lucknow. At a meeting held in June by the Court 
 of Proprietors, Sir Frederick Currie, chairman of the East 
 India Board, announced that the queen, at Lord Ellen- 
 borough's suggestion, had been pleased to confer a 
 baronetcy on Sir James Outram. He then proposed 
 to enhance the value of this new honour by a yearly 
 pension of 1000. The proposal was warmly seconded by 
 Captain Eastwick, who thus closed an eloquent review of 
 Outram's career: " It is right and fitting that their country 
 should reward such men : no institutions, no political con- 
 trivances, can supply their place in the administration 
 of its affairs." 
 
 In the same month of June Outram's friends and well- 
 wishers held a meeting in Bombay for the purpose of pre- 
 senting him with a fitting testimonial of their affectionate 
 regard. The result in due time appeared in the form of 
 a handsome shield made of oxydised silver and damascened 
 steel, the whole designed and modelled by the eminent 
 sculptor Mr. H. H. Armstead, R.A. In honour of Lady 
 Outram the same committee ordered a complete set of 
 silver plate, including a tea service for ordinary use. On 
 the shield itself were represented the most noteworthy 
 scenes in Outram's Indian career, from the subjugation of 
 the Bhils to the charge of the Volunteer Horse at Mangal-
 
 204 The Bayard of India 
 
 war. In the centre of this fair work of art is a bold relief 
 showing forth the hero's surrender of his command to 
 Havelock. Around the central scene are medallion por- 
 traits of some of his most intimate friends and comrades. 
 
 At a meeting held in the Guildhall on October 7 it was 
 resolved to present Outram with the freedom of the city 
 of London and a sword of the value of a hundred guineas. 
 In January 1859 the Master and Wardens of the Merchant 
 Taylors' Company awarded him the freedom of their 
 ancient corporation. 
 
 Meanwhile, on August 2, 1858, the " Act for the better 
 government of India " passed under the royal hand, and 
 the East India Company ceased to rule the empire founded 
 in its name. On the ;th the Directors went through the 
 process of electing seven of their number to seats in the 
 new Council of India, which took the place of the old 
 Court of Directors. On November i of the same year 
 a new era of peace and good government was solemnly 
 proclaimed throughout British India by the reading of 
 the manifesto in which Queen Victoria formally assumed 
 the sceptre hitherto wielded by her trustees, the Honour- 
 able East India Company. 
 
 This carefully worded state paper, drawn up by Lord 
 Derby and retouched by the queen herself, teemed with 
 every assurance of pardon, protection, goodwill, and 
 tender treatment for all ranks and classes of her Majesty's 
 Indian subjects save the convicted murderers of English 
 folk. It proclaimed a policy of strong-handed peace, 
 good faith, and enlightened efforts for the common weal; 
 of respect for " the rights, dignity, and honour of native 
 princes as our own " ; of impartial tolerance for all forms 
 of religious belief or worship. None should be "in any- 
 wise favoured, none molested or disquieted," on account 
 of his religious creed under a government which for the 
 first time openly rejoiced in its own Christianity. Every 
 native, of whatever race or creed, was to be freely admitted 
 to any public office the duties of which he might be 
 qualified by " education, ability, and integrity duly to 
 discharge." In all future legislation all possible regard 
 should be paid to " the ancient rights, usages, and customs 
 of India," especially to all rights connected with the 
 holding of ancestral lands.
 
 Member of Viceroy's Council 205 
 
 It was a memorable holiday all over India, the day when 
 this proclamation was read aloud, not only in the viceroy's 
 camp at Allahabad, but at the headquarters of every 
 province in the empire, from the Punjab to Pegu. In all 
 the chief cities of British India the booming of guns, the 
 clang of military music, the cheers of paraded soldiery, 
 and the noise of admiring crowds acclaimed the new charter 
 of Indian rights and aspirations. 
 
 While our troops were still employed in reconquering 
 parts of Oudh, hunting down the last band of outlawed 
 desperadoes in Central India, the new military member 
 of the Viceroy's Council was adding to his regular duties 
 the writing of long minutes upon the new administrative 
 problems arising out of the sepoy war, and the final 
 transfer of India from the company to the crown. He had 
 long since foreseen that India needed a large increase of 
 her English garrison to counterpoise the growing numbers 
 of her native soldiery. How best to remodel her military 
 system in accordance with the teachings of experience 
 and the drift of recent political changes formed one of the 
 gravest questions which Canning's government had now 
 to consider. 
 
 Outram, for his part, pleaded long and earnestly 
 against entire absorption of the company's European 
 forces into the regular army of the crown. By all means 
 let us maintain, he argued, a large European garrison in 
 India, but let it consist mainly of troops recruited for 
 local service alone. Outram was willing enough to 
 " abolish all the native artillery of the Bengal army, 
 with the exception of the few guns required at certain 
 frontier posts, in positions where Europeans could not 
 live." But he would " rather retain the native artillery 
 of Madras and Bombay." Should that point be other- 
 wise resolved, he proposed to make the transition very 
 gradual. He " would turn no trained artillerymen loose 
 upon the country." 
 
 He was against re-establishing " regular native infantry 
 for Bengal, and would retain on the regular footing only 
 the regiments which remained faithful, and those composed 
 of the loyal remnants of other regiments; these, I think, 
 should have higher pay than the rest of the native army, 
 comprised of irregular and police corps, who will generally,
 
 206 The Bayard of India 
 
 I understand, have nearly, if not quite, the same rates of 
 pay as the line formerly received." 
 
 To any scheme for amalgamating the royal and Indian 
 armies he was strongly averse, holding that any such 
 transformation would involve serious injury to the in- 
 terests of the latter, " especially of its officers." Even 
 if such a measure could be carried through with entire 
 justice to all concerned, he would still regard it as most 
 impolitic. " In the first place, to assimilate the two 
 armies, the system of purchase must be introduced into 
 the Indian army, which would be detrimental to its 
 morale. But more particularly would it be injurious to 
 the Indian army, as creating a spirit of restlessness among 
 young men, the officers, naturally desirous of change, 
 and a feeling of instability in their position in India, 
 which would deprive officers of heart in the service 
 and it would destroy that esprit de corps which now 
 animates our Indian army. The officers composing that 
 army should regard India as their home the only sphere 
 in which they can acquire, or hope for, promotion and 
 distinction." 
 
 In the course of 1859, while the question of amalgama- 
 tion still hung in suspense, reports were rife of an impend- 
 ing mutiny among the local European troops, who had 
 upheld their country's honour in a hundred fields, and 
 during the late troubles had surpassed even their old 
 renown. Remembering how Lord Palmerston, as Prime 
 Minister, had declared that all who objected to serve 
 the queen would " of course be entitled to their discharge," 
 they deeply resented the prospect of being transferred 
 " like a lot of horses " without question asked or choice 
 offered them, from the service of the company to that 
 of the crown. 
 
 The storm blew over, but the " White Mutiny," as 
 some people called it, dealt a crushing blow to the advo- 
 cates of a separate local army. 
 
 In vain did Outram, in January 1860, record his solemn 
 protest against a measure upon which the Home Govern- 
 ment had already made up its mind. To his thinking 
 the stories of the so-called " mutiny " had been greatly 
 exaggerated. He urged that allowances should be made 
 for conduct due to official blundering; and he argued
 
 Member of Viceroy's Council 207 
 
 justly, that " were circumstances to arise calculated to 
 excite disaffection amongst the European soldiers of India, 
 the evil could best be remedied by the presence in the 
 country of two forces . . . differing so far from each 
 other in conditions of service and traditions as to give 
 each a distinctive esprit de corps" The argument that 
 a " local force would occupy a social position inferior to 
 that held by the line troops " was scouted as " utterly 
 undeserving of attention." 
 
 In desiring to give the queen's regiments a wider 
 experience of field service in India, the government 
 seemed, he thought, to admit that Indian regiments were 
 " in better marching and fighting order than regiments 
 serving at home or in the colonies." 
 
 Under the Indian system of selection for staff employ, 
 he held that the staff of the Indian army contained as 
 large a number of highly competent officers " as any 
 army in Europe ; for, as he truly said, ' a man can and 
 does create for himself, and superior fitness for staff 
 employ always does create it for him. Such is not the 
 case in England.' " l 
 
 All such protests and Outram on this question was 
 backed by many officers of high repute failed to avert 
 the inevitable issues of a struggle between the Horse 
 Guards and the champions of local efficiency. In the 
 summer of 1860 the ministerial bill for amalgamating 
 the two armies finally became law, and during the next 
 two years Prince Albert's demand for " simplicity, unity, 
 steadiness of system, and unity of command " was finally 
 adopted. 
 
 Outram 's fatherly care for the wellbeing, moral and 
 physical, of the British soldier shone forth in every line 
 of a " supplementary minute," too long to be quoted, 
 or even summarised here. It set forth in minute detail 
 his carefully pondered views on the soldier's training, 
 equipment, and instruction, from the moment of his 
 leaving home to the end of his career. 
 
 Beginning, for instance, with the young soldier's life 
 
 on board ship, he expressed " a very decided opinion 
 
 that, daily (before breakfast), the troops should be 
 
 assembled for the public worship of God. I do not ask 
 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 208 The Bayard of India 
 
 for a long service. . . . But a service of some sort there 
 should be, were it to embrace no more than the singing 
 of the morning or some other hymn, the reading of a few 
 verses of the Bible, and the recitation of one or two 
 collects or the Litany on those days on which the church 
 prescribes that the Litany shall be used." 
 
 He insisted on the " great value of theatricals as a 
 means of affording amusement to soldiers. In every 
 regiment there are several men of mercurial temperament, 
 and often of considerable intellectual ability and good 
 education, for whom it is very difficult to find any inno- 
 cent amusement often among the best and most useful 
 men in an emergency, they are troublesome, and some- 
 times even dangerous, in quiet quarters. The rough 
 outdoor amusements of their coarser comrades have few 
 charms for them, and they are but too apt to degenerate 
 into hard drinkers, or to find a most mischievous vent for 
 their mental activity as soldier lawyers." l 
 
 " Nothing," remarked his colleague, Sir Bartle Frere, 
 " can be more profoundly true than what he says of the 
 necessity for developing to a greater degree the ' indi- 
 vidualism ' of the soldier in other words, training him to 
 think and judge and act for himself, in place of training 
 him to consider himself merely as a small portion of a 
 great machine, prohibited from all independent action." 
 
 " In the various gradations of military control," said 
 Outram in the concluding words of his own minute, " all 
 depends on the spirit in which the controlling power is 
 exercised, and on the tact of him who exercises it. Be 
 kind, considerate, and conciliatory; scrupulously regard 
 the feelings of those under you; avoid aught that can 
 weaken their legitimate authority or diminish the respect 
 of their inferiors; treat not a blunder as a crime; assume 
 that what is evidently unknown is simply something for- 
 gotten; and if you have to do with well-conditioned men, 
 they will regard your constant interest in their proceedings 
 as a compliment, not as an offence. I speak from the 
 experience of more than forty years, both in civil and 
 military life. 
 
 " I can only plead my profound conviction that the 
 British soldier, even of the roughest stamp, is, if wisely 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 Member of Viceroy's Council 209 
 
 and kindly treated, susceptible of a culture physical, 
 intellectual, moral, and professional far in excess of that 
 which is generally supposed to be attainable by him; that 
 just as you approximate a private intellectually, morally, 
 and professionally to the standard of his officers, do you 
 increase his commercial value as a soldier; and that the 
 interests of India (politically, financially, and morally 
 considered) demand that the very highest possible culture 
 of all kinds should be bestowed on the members of her 
 European garrison, and the highest possible development 
 given to their capacities, both individual and corporate." 
 
 His care for the British soldier extended even to the 
 soldier's wife and daughters, who ought, he said in effect, 
 to be treated by their officers with all the courtesy due 
 from gentlemen towards women of whatever class. " The 
 women should feel, and their husbands and husband's 
 comrades should see, that the most trifling matters affecting 
 their comfort and happiness engaged their officers' con- 
 stant and solicitous attention. They should be addressed 
 as if it were assumed that every woman was in feelings a 
 lady, and in moral tone all that her best friends could wish." 
 
 As President of the Council in Lord Canning's absence, 
 he impressed Sir Bartle Frere in 1860 with the " abundant 
 energy " displayed by a veteran overworn with hard 
 work, and the bodily strain of the past few years, in 
 dealing with " any subject which related to the welfare 
 of the soldier or to the rights of native princes or people; 
 and the favourite work of his latter days in Calcutta was 
 the provision of means for exercise and recreation for the 
 English soldiers, to whom Calcutta and the neighbouring 
 cantonment of Dum-dum had so frequently afforded 
 nothing but the road to a premature grave." 
 
 During this period " it was my good fortune," says his 
 old comrade Sir Vincent Eyre, " to be a frequent guest 
 in Outram's house, and to enjoy a considerable share of 
 his confidence. His active mind seemed to be perpetually 
 occupied with the practical problem of how he could best 
 serve the interests of his country, and benefit those 
 classes, whether European or native, who fell within the 
 legitimate range of his influence. . . . 
 
 " He did all in his power to introduce a system of 
 healthy recreations and useful occupations in barracks 
 
 o
 
 2io The Bayard of India 
 
 Juring those periods of unavoidable idleness when the 
 soldier is most liable to fall into evil habits from sheer 
 lack of proper objects to engage his attention. These 
 efforts culminated in the establishment, at the canton- 
 ment of Dum-dum, of what became known as ' The 
 Outram Institute/ and was the first ' soldiers' club/ on a 
 durable basis, introduced into India. Its success may be 
 said to have given the first impetus to a general adoption 
 of the system throughout the service, with well-known 
 beneficial results. . . . Outram may be said to have 
 established an unquestionable claim to special distinction 
 as ' the soldier's friend.' " 
 
 Towards the end of 1859 he had once more to part 
 from the wife who had so lately rejoined him. About 
 this time he renewed his acquaintance with Mr. John 
 Sherer, then journeying homewards on a well-earned 
 furlough from Cawnpore. On reaching the metropolis 
 Mr. Sherer found his father-in-law, Sir Henry Harington, 
 living in Chowringhee with Outram and Le Geyt, then 
 legislative member for Bombay. " The Indian Bayard, 
 when I was driving in the carriage with him in the evening, 
 with no especial claim to his confidence whatever, often 
 spoke to me of passages in his career. The sense of his 
 own celebrity never seemed to occur to him, and he 
 talked about public events with the same simplicity with 
 which on ' the course/ in the midst of all the fashionables, 
 he would stop and chaffer, jokingly, about the price of 
 tupsee much, as the vendors of the renowned ' mango fish ' 
 brought it along fresh from the river. 
 
 " But it was not in the carriage, but at the house, and 
 before several people, including the gaunt, talkative 
 Chisholm Anstey, who was visiting Calcutta, that Outram 
 began to speak of having postponed taking charge from 
 Havelock till the Bailey-guard was reached. ' It was a 
 foolish thing/ he said; 'sentiment had obscured duty. 
 Every man should carry out the task assigned to him. I 
 do not know that I could not have got through the streets 
 of Lucknow with less loss of life. At any rate, I ought 
 to have tried what I could do.' This plainly-expressed 
 regret seemed to me to do his character as much credit 
 as the mistaken but noble impulse which called it forth." x 
 1 Daily Life during the Mutiny,
 
 Member of Viceroy's Council 211 
 
 In March 1860 a farewell dinner was given by the 
 Royal Engineers to Colonel Robert Napier, who had just 
 been appointed to command a division in the army 
 destined for service in China under the leadership of 
 General Sir Hope Grant. Among the leading speakers 
 on this occasion was Sir James Outram, who paid a 
 hearty tribute to the worth of his old friend and comrade, 
 the guest of the evening. He went so far as to say that, 
 " when under the difficult circumstances in which they 
 were placed his heart sometimes failed him, he invariably 
 found Napier prepared with a means of getting over 
 the difficulty, and he always left him reassured and 
 established." 
 
 Napier on his side frankly acknowledged " his obliga- 
 tions to Outram's example and Ou tram's teaching." 
 Referring modestly to the high compliments which his 
 friend had paid him, he protested that " he would have 
 been dull indeed if he had derived no profit from his 
 intimate relations with such a distinguished soldier." l 
 
 It is pleasant, by the way, to note the terms in which 
 Outram on this occasion referred to his old commander 
 Sir Charles Napier; dwelling on " the respect and esteem 
 he had always entertained for him from first to last; how 
 convinced he was that the differences which had arisen, 
 arose solely from the indiscretion of partisans who come 
 between." 
 
 In all the arrangements for the Chinese expedition 
 Outram had borne so strenuous a part that much of its. 
 ultimate success was due to his keen foresight and com- 
 prehensive mastery of details. But his many labours for 
 the public weal in that exhausting climate told so seriously 
 upon his health that he found himself compelled, in the 
 latter part of April 1860, to take a voyage as far as 
 Singapur. " He has had that nasty bronchitic attack 
 hanging about him," wrote Dr. Fayrer to Lady Outram, 
 " and lately it has been rather worse than better, so he- 
 has admitted the advantage of going away, and I feel 
 satisfied that it will do him all the good in the world, 
 enable him to return to Calcutta and serve out the 
 remainder of the time, . . . and enable him also to retire 
 in good health." z The two months' trip, however, had 
 1 Goldsmid. * Outram MSS.
 
 2 1 2 The Bayard of India 
 
 done him so little good that nothing remained for him 
 but his immediate return home. 
 
 On July 14 a great public meeting was held in Calcutta 
 to consider what sort of testimonial could best be offered 
 by his grateful countrymen to their departing hero. Of 
 the four resolutions then passed, one embodied an address 
 recounting in eloquent terms a long list of services which 
 Outram had rendered his country during more than 
 forty years. " But, sir," the address concluded, " it is 
 not as the successful general, nor as the trusted states- 
 man, that you will be best remembered by us, who have 
 mixed with the companions of your toils and triumphs, 
 and who, some of us, have had the honour to serve with 
 and under you. 
 
 "It is as a man whom no success could harden or 
 render selfish, who could surrender to an heroic comrade 
 the honour of success which fortune had placed within 
 his own grasp, who in the excitement of battle and in the 
 midst of triumph never forgot the claims and wants of 
 the humblest of his followers, who loved his fellow- 
 soldiers better than his own fame and aggrandisement, 
 and has devoted himself with his whole heart to improve 
 the soldiers' moral and intellectual as well as physical 
 condition, it is as one who would not only sacrifice life 
 and fortune to duty, but who never allowed either fear 
 or favour to weigh for a moment against what his heart 
 told him was right and true; it is as our noble, disin- 
 terested fellow-countryman, who has preserved all his 
 chivalry of feeling unchilled through the wear and tear 
 of a laborious life, and who will ever be remembered as 
 emphatically ' the soldier's friend,' that we would wish 
 to testify our admiration and affectionate respect, and to 
 preserve the memory of your career as an example to 
 ourselves and to those who come after us." * 
 
 The address was duly presented to Sir James Outram, 
 together with a copy of another resolution voting him a 
 testimonial in the form most agreeable to himself. 
 
 On July 1 8, two days before his own departure, Outram 
 
 replied to the address in words that strove to express 
 
 the fulness of a warm and generous heart. After duly 
 
 acknowledging the honour thus conferred upon him by 
 
 1 lutram Papers.
 
 Member of Viceroy's Council 213 
 
 the unanimous vote of all classes " of the large com- 
 munity of Calcutta/' he went on to assure his kind 
 friends that he was " quite unconscious of having done 
 anything to deserve the distinguished honour. I am not 
 sensible of having done more than my duty in the various 
 public situations which I have had the honour to hold. 
 To few, perhaps, have the opportunities been accorded 
 which I have had the good fortune to enjoy, and if I have 
 been able to improve those opportunities, and to obtain 
 some measure of success, I owe it, under Providence, to 
 a great extent, to the assistance and co-operation of the 
 many able and gallant comrades with whom I have had 
 the happiness of being associated in the discharge of my 
 public duties, and it is very gratifying to me to think that 
 the honours bestowed upon me will be reflected upon 
 them." 
 
 With regard to the proffered testimonial, he avowed 
 his " earnest desire " that only a small portion of the 
 fund subscribed " should be expended on any object of a 
 personal character, . . . and that the greater part of 
 the money should be devoted to establishing an institu- 
 tion at any place that the committee appointed at the 
 meeting may think proper to select, whereby the army 
 in which my lot in life has been cast may benefit." ] Sir 
 F. Goldsmid tells us that in one day alone the subscription 
 list in Calcutta amounted to no less than 10,000 rupees, 
 then equivalent to 1000 sterling. 
 
 In the last two years Outram had expended more than 
 1000 in providing readable books, newspapers, and 
 games for the use of those who had shared his Oudh cam- 
 paigns; and before leaving Calcutta he made over some 
 500 of his own books to the Soldiers' Library at Fort 
 William. Among the few which he carried home with 
 him were Froissart's Chronicles, and Life of Bayard. 
 
 On the eve of his last journey home " The Friend of 
 India" wrote: "To-morrow the Indian army will lose 
 its brightest ornament, and every soldier of India his best 
 friend. Worn out by the almost continuous service of 
 forty years, having stuck to his post just one hot season 
 too many, Sir James Outram leaves India, nominally for 
 six months, but we believe for ever." 
 
 1 Outram Papers.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 FROM CALCUTTA TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY. JULY l86o- 
 MARCH 25, 1863 
 
 ON July 20, 1860, our Indian Bayard embarked for Suez 
 on his way home. " I fear," he wrote from Aden to Dr. 
 Fayrer, " my friends may have thought me insensible to 
 the kindly cheer they gave me on leaving Garden Reach. 
 The truth was I was too sensible and was quite over- 
 powered by it." 
 
 In the same letter he assures his friend that the voyage 
 to Aden " has almost entirely restored me I have had 
 no cough for days, and my arm is almost restored to its 
 usual flexibility." He still hoped to " make out the 
 Danube trip," but would decide nothing until he reached 
 Suez. At Madras Sir Patrick Grant, then Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Southern Presidency, came off to see him; 
 and the governor, Sir Henry Ward, " wrote to say he 
 was coming, but his duties prevented him, being alarmed 
 by a carbuncle which had made its appearance." l 
 
 The heat in Egypt tried him so severely, that he wrote 
 on August 1 8 from Alexandria, " It would be madness to 
 attempt the Constantinople route, so I have resolved on 
 going by Marseilles." He writes from the Oriental Club 
 to announce his arrival in England, after a fatiguing 
 journey of twenty hours from Marseilles to Paris, and ten 
 more from Paris to London. He was still so much of an 
 invalid that instead of proceeding, as he had fondly hoped, 
 to his mother's home in Scotland, he returned to his old 
 quarters at Brighton. Thither also came Lady Outram, 
 who would gladly have met him in Egypt but for his 
 express injunctions to the contrary. " She was much 
 shocked," says his biographer, " by the change the nine 
 months had wrought; for when he had bade farewell to 
 her at the mouth of the Hugli, he was looking remarkably 
 1 Outram MSS. 
 214
 
 Calcutta to Westminster Abbey 215 
 
 well, and now she found him utterly broken down, and 
 in a most critical state of health. 
 
 Returning to London in October, he was invited to a 
 public function at the Guildhall, for the purpose of re- 
 ceiving the freedom of the city and the sword of honour 
 which had been awarded him two years before. In spite 
 of his weak health, and the earnest dissuasions of his 
 family, he resolved to go through the needful formalities 
 at any cost. The civic authorities for their part did all 
 they could to render the ceremony as little fatiguing as 
 possible. The lord mayor begged him to remain seated 
 when he would have risen to return thanks for the honour 
 conferred upon him. The few words which Outram 
 spoke on this occasion, amidst the cheers of a crowded 
 gathering, were devoted to the praise of Lord Clyde, 
 the Sir Colin Campbell of former days, " for whom he 
 felt all the affectionate devotion of a Highland clansman 
 for his chief." 
 
 The ceremony took place on December 26. It was 
 followed by a banquet given the same evening in honour 
 of Lord Clyde and Sir James Outram. In a letter ex- 
 pressing deep regret at his utter inability to attend the 
 banquet, Outram never touched upon himself or his own 
 doings, but descanted in generous terms upon the merits 
 of Lord Canning and his Indian policy. A few days 
 earlier he had been compelled, for like reasons, to decline 
 attending a banquet given by the Merchant Taylors' 
 Company in honour of Lord Clyde and himself; nor was 
 he able to name a day for his formal admission to the 
 Grocers' Company. 
 
 In March 1861 an influential meeting was held in 
 London to raise funds for a grand testimonial to the 
 hero, whom all men delighted to honour. Lord Lyveden 
 the Vernon Smith of an earlier day took the chair in 
 the unavoidable absence of the Duke of Argyll. Around 
 him sat a distinguished group of noblemen and gentlemen, 
 and among the speakers were Lord Keane, Sir James 
 Fergusson, Lord Kinnaird, Lord Shaftesbury, Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson, Colonel Sykes, Sir Robert Hamilton, and Dr. 
 Burnes. The testimonial was to take the shape, first, of 
 a statue in London itself; secondly, of an equestrian
 
 21 6 The Bayard of India 
 
 statue in Calcutta; and thirdly, of a silver dessert service 
 of the value of 1000, together with an illuminated 
 address bearing the names of more than 1800 subscribers 
 to the testimonial. 
 
 The Calcutta and London committees worked in zealous 
 concert for a common end. In due time Noble's statue, 
 bearing the single word OUTRAM, adorned the Thames 
 embankment near Charing Cross; but it was several 
 years before Foley's masterpiece of equestrian sculpture 
 got itself erected on the Calcutta Maidan, an excellent 
 cast of which may still be seen at the Crystal Palace. 
 
 On July 26 he is writing once more from Brighton to 
 Dr. Fayrer: " Not yet well, but very much better, and 
 the doctors say next winter in Egypt will quite set me 
 up. . . . My wife also has been benefited by the Homburg 
 waters, but is far from strong. I wish her to pass the 
 winter at Nice, which the doctors think the best for liver 
 complaint, which she has; Egypt would not do for her." 1 
 
 His handwriting at this time was sadly shaken. " I 
 have only lately begun to write again," he says in the 
 same letter, " and the practice seems quite strange." 1 
 In October 1861 Outram found himself once more in 
 Egypt. " Unfortunately," writes Dr. Badger, " health 
 was the thing which he least attended to, and, after spend- 
 ing the winter there, returned to England via Corfu and 
 Vienna somewhat improved, perhaps, but still very 
 weak. . . . While at Cairo he was cheered by seeing many 
 of his old friends going to or returning from India; and 
 it always afforded him the highest gratification to recognise 
 among the passengers some he had known in former 
 years." 
 
 Twice also did the Prince of Wales dismount from his 
 donkey to speak with the broken veteran in front of 
 Shepheard's Hotel. At Alexandria in the spring of 1862 
 he met Lord Canning, who was then returning home, a 
 heart-broken widower, to die a few weeks later at his house 
 in Grosvenor Square. Before the end of Tune the late 
 viceroy's remains were interred in Westminster Abbey. 
 Conspicuous among those who attended the funeral 
 " walked Lord Clyde, supporting on his arm the bowed 
 form of the gallant Outram." z 
 
 1 Outram MSS. * Times, June 23. 1882.
 
 Calcutta to Westminster Abbey 217 
 
 Earlier in the same month Outram was at Oxford 
 receiving his degree of D.C.L., in the Sheldonian Theatre, 
 amidst the deafening plaudits of all who witnessed the 
 ceremony. On this occasion a similar degree was con- 
 ferred upon Lord Palmerston. Dr. Badger tells us that 
 " Outram had been requested to come wearing all his 
 decorations; but seeing the Premier without any, he 
 remarked, ' My lord, the contrast makes me look like a 
 brass captain.' ' You have won yours nobly,' replied 
 Lord Palmerston, a remark which gratified Outram ex- 
 ceedingly, and which he frequently repeated in token of 
 the Premier's kindliness." 
 
 A like honour had been proposed to him some time 
 before by the University of Cambridge, but Outram was 
 then too ill to appear in person. 
 
 In July a deputation of friends and admirers, headed 
 by the Duke of Argyll, waited upon Outram at his own 
 house in Queen's Gate Gardens to present him with the 
 address already mentioned, and with a choice set of silver 
 centre-pieces supported upon figures emblematic of his 
 own career. " The names enrolled on this address," said 
 his Grace of Argyll, " are those of men of different classes 
 and different countries, many of whom, knowing you 
 only by the achievements which you have bequeathed 
 to history, admire your heroism and chivalry from a 
 distance; while others, who have enjoyed the privilege 
 of more intimate relations with you, and have closely 
 observed the simplicity, the gentleness, and the manliness 
 of your character, blend with a still higher admiration 
 the most affectionate feelings of personal regard." 
 
 " To what length," wrote Kaye, " the parchment bear- 
 ing those names might have been rolled out could only 
 be dimly conjectured, for it had stretched itself over the 
 floor of a room of no small dimensions without sensibly 
 diminishing the bulk of the scroll, and there were those 
 who proposed laughingly to adjourn, for more fitting 
 space, to the neighbouring exhibition building." l 
 
 " I thank you from the bottom of my heart," was 
 Outram 's answer; " I thank all, whether present or 
 absent, in England or in India, who have united to render 
 1 Cornliill Magazine, May 1863.
 
 2 1 8 The Bayard of India 
 
 me this great honour. I cannot venture to think that I 
 have done all that you say of me ; but I know that, with 
 such powers as God has given me, I have honestly tried 
 to do it. 
 
 " I was reared under a system which gave to every 
 man an equal chance of going to the front; and I owe it 
 to that system that I am now standing before you less, 
 I cannot help thinking, on account of my individual 
 deserts than as the representative of the great service, 
 now passed into a tradition, to which for forty years I 
 had the honour to belong. If to anything in myself I 
 owe such success as I may have attained, it is mainly to 
 this that throughout my career I have loved the people 
 of India, regarded their country as my home, and made 
 their weal my first object. And though my last service 
 in the field was against the comrades of my old associates, 
 the madness of a moment has not obliterated from my 
 mind the fidelity of a century, and I can still love and 
 still believe. I thank you again for your great kindness. 
 The memory of it will go with me to my grave." x 
 
 One more honour he was debarred by the rules of 
 the service from receiving. Sir William Mansfield, then 
 Commander-in-Chief at Bombay, had suggested that 
 Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram, as " incomparably 
 the most distinguished general officer on the rolls of the 
 Bombay Army," should be appointed to the colonelcy 
 of one of the new line regiments, the io6th. But the fact 
 of his never having reached the regimental rank of colonel 
 was not to be set aside in favour even of worth so clearly 
 pre-eminent. 
 
 On August 29 he writes from Brighton to the dear old 
 mother, whom ever since his last farewell to India he had 
 been hoping to visit once more in her Scottish home. 
 After telling her how his health would compel him to 
 winter abroad, " I fully hope," he added, " you may, 
 through God's mercy, be spared yet long after my return, 
 when I trust to be sufficiently restored to visit you in 
 Edinburgh. ... I feel that Scotland would be too much 
 for rne at present." 
 
 " The last two years of his life were," in the words of 
 1 Times, July 5, 1862.
 
 Calcutta to Westminster Abbey 219 
 
 a near relative, " but a prolonged struggle with suffering." 
 He had bought a house in Queen's Gate Gardens, " but 
 his asthma kept him so much on the move that he enjoyed 
 little more than a few weeks of occasional residence in it. 
 The stimulus of a congenial friend or of cheery young 
 people would, however, now and then revive him a little, 
 when something of his former self would pleasantly flash 
 out. Youngsters had always been favourites with him, 
 and he was never seen to more advantage than when 
 entering thoroughly into their interests, telling them of 
 his hunting days, or indulging in the good-humoured 
 badinage to which he was prone. His quaint humour, 
 his keen sense of the ludicrous, his merry glance, added 
 to the effect of his well-told and well-timed anecdotes; 
 and he had a peculiar way of looking up and laughing 
 with his eyes which gave irresistible point to his shrewd 
 comments or sly remarks. 
 
 " His taste was good, indeed apt to be fastidious, and 
 he greatly appreciated music of a touching character. 
 Sacred music, always his preference, was an especial 
 solace to him now. Books were still a means of whiling 
 away an hour or two, but reading was no longer the 
 resource it had been. Imperial politics home, foreign, 
 or Anglo-Indian continued to occupy his thoughts to 
 the last. Of party intrigues he had seen more than 
 enough, and preferred to judge men and measures from 
 his own point of view. Brag, bluster, or insincerity in 
 any shape were an abomination to him, and he was most 
 averse to persons professing infidel views. But he was 
 tolerant of divergent opinions generally, if only he were 
 convinced of the sincerity of those who advanced them. 
 No one more readily appreciated sterling worth in any 
 sphere of life. 
 
 " The irritability induced by illness and the ' trouble ' 
 he gave as an invalid much distressed him. He bought 
 a repeater on purpose not to disturb his servant by asking 
 the time during the weary hours of his long night, and 
 whenever he heard of any sight or amusement within 
 reach he was anxious to send his attendants, no matter 
 at what inconvenience to himself. One of these was a 
 gentle Indo-Portuguese, whom he might well esteem
 
 22O The Bayard of India 
 
 highly. Another was a poor band-boy who had been 
 found chained up a prisoner in Lucknow. Though a son 
 of European parents, his sallow complexion and his use- 
 fulness to the rebels as a translator of English saved him 
 from death; and except as regarded close confinement, 
 short commons, jeers and scoffs, he did not complain 
 much of his treatment by them. 
 
 " Sir James was chivalrously loyal, and the inability to 
 attend any levee, in consequence of his infirm state of 
 health, grieved him, lest his absence should be miscon- 
 strued. Honours crowded upon him, and he was grati- 
 fied by the genuine respect and considerate attention he 
 met with wherever he went. But what most pleased him 
 were the kindnesses proffered by strangers of all ranks in 
 recognition of what he had done for some loved one. He 
 felt such attentions particularly when they were the ex- 
 pressions of gratitude of aged parents in recollection of 
 some dear boy who had fought and died under his command. 
 Few men had enjoyed so many opportunities of befriend- 
 ing others, and it may perhaps be added that few had 
 availed themselves of such opportunities more constantly. 
 Of this his invalid days reaped the comforting fruit." l 
 
 In the autumn of 1862 Sir James once more left his 
 London home to pass the coming winter in the milder 
 climate of Southern Europe. In company with his wife 
 he remained some weeks in Paris before proceeding to Nice. 
 Here, in spite of his broken health, " he employed himself," 
 says Sir F. Goldsmid, " in earnest endeavours to advance 
 the claims of such of his friends as he felt were worthy of 
 his help, and might soon miss his powerful advocacy." 
 
 On Christmas morning he was able for the last time to 
 attend the early communion service. But the cold winds 
 of Nice developed symptoms so alarming that in February 
 1863 his medical advisers ordered him to Pau. In spite 
 of careful nursing on Lady Outram's part, his sufferings 
 on the journey thither seemed to wear out the last remnants 
 of his vital strength. At Pau Dr. Duncan Macpherson of 
 the Madras Army at once placed his services at the dis- 
 posal of the dying hero. They were gratefully accepted, 
 and he remained in close attendance upon him to the last. 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 Calcutta to Westminster Abbey 221 
 
 " My gallant patient/' he wrote to The Lancet, " was in a 
 hopeless state when he reached Pau. The cold winds of 
 Nice had excited a fresh attack of bronchitis ; and during 
 the last eight days of his life he was unable to lie down 
 even for a few minutes. 
 
 " Weak as he was, he spoke often of the depressed position 
 of army medical officers, regretting that so little success 
 had attended his efforts to obtain a due recognition of 
 their services ; adding, with emphasis, ' The day must 
 come when your services will be recognised. Another 
 great war will end this long controversy in your favour.' 
 Such were the dying words of this good and gallant 
 soldier." 
 
 At one o'clock on the morning of March n, 1863, the 
 Bayard of India passed away, " sitting in his arm-chair, 
 without a struggle his face unmoved his hands resting 
 as if in sleep. His face had lost much of the suffering look 
 of his later years: his head was slightly bent forward and 
 looked very noble." l His last moments were cheered by 
 the presence of his wife and son, the latter having 
 arrived on the previous afternoon from the death-bed of 
 Mrs. Outram, whose long life had been brought to a timely 
 close a few days only before the death of him who had 
 been the pride and mainstay of her declining years. 
 
 A fortnight later, on March 25, 1863, " crowds were 
 flocking," writes Sir John Kaye, " to Westminster Abbey 
 to see Outram's remains laid in the grave of the great 
 burial-place of the mighty dead. The government, which 
 he had served so long and so devotedly, gave him a public 
 funeral, and so great was the veneration in which he had 
 been held that people came from a distance to pay him 
 the last honours, and hundreds sought admittance to the 
 Abbey, to whom it was of necessity reluctantly refused. 
 It was a solemn and a touching scene." 
 
 Besides other ministers of the crown, " that particular 
 department of the state," in the words of the same writer, 
 " under which he had served, went forth in a body to the 
 Abbey from its neighbouring domicile Secretary of 
 State, Under-Secretaries of State, Members of Council, 
 Secretaries of Departments, and others of less rank, but 
 1 Goldsmid.
 
 222 The Bayard of India 
 
 with like instincts of admiration for the great man, the 
 history of whose deeds was scattered over the bulky 
 records in their charge." l 
 
 Conspicuous among the mourners stood the soldierlike 
 figure of the veteran Lord Clyde, who bowed his grey head 
 in manifest sorrow as he laid his wreath upon the bier. 
 There also stood Sir John Lawrence, the saviour of North- 
 Western India, and ere long the destined successor to the 
 Indian Viceroyalty. Among others there present might 
 be seen the Duke of Argyll, the Earls of Dalhousie and 
 Shaftesbury, Lords Chelmsford, Lyveden, and Harris, 
 Sir George Clerk, Sir Henry Rawlinson, Outram's comrade 
 in the Afghan war, the second Lord Keane, and a crowd of 
 the personal friends whom the dead hero had gathered 
 round him in the long years of his Indian service. 
 
 " But more noticeable," says Kaye, " even than great 
 statesmen and high officers of government, more notice- 
 able by the living and more honouring to the dead, was a 
 little group of soldiers, in the Highland uniform, who 
 stood by the hero's grave, stirred to the very depths of 
 their hearts by reverence and affection. They were a 
 party of sergeants of the j8th Regiment who had solicited 
 and obtained leave to come down from a distance that they 
 might pay, on behalf of their regiment, the last honours to 
 one by whom it was their privilege to have been led to 
 battle and to conquest. The y8th Highlanders knew 
 Outram well. There were some men still in the regiment 
 who twenty years before had served in the dreary furnace 
 of Sindh ; but it was on the great battlefield of Oudh that 
 they had learnt to love and to honour a leader who was 
 ever as mindful of their interests as he was regardless of his 
 own; who was as tender towards and as careful of his 
 men as though they were his children; who never sacri- 
 ficed a life except to the stern necessity of the fight." 
 This party of faithful Highlanders consisted of four officers 
 and twenty sergeants or corporals, who had come up of 
 their own accord from Shorncliffe to pay the last honours 
 to the great soldier, whose persistent kindliness had won 
 their undying love. 2 
 
 On the morning of the 25th they had called at the 
 1 Cornhill Magazine. May 1863. * Ibid. ; Goldsmid.
 
 Calcutta to Westminster Abbey 223 
 
 house where Outram's body lay, in hopes of being allowed 
 to carry it to its last resting-place. But the weight of 
 the coffin and the distance to be traversed compelled 
 the reluctant refusal of their request. But they marched 
 beside the hearse, filed through the Abbey on either side 
 of the coffin, and saw it lowered into the grave. 
 
 Nearly in the centre of the lofty nave lie the remains, 
 of James Outram, beside those of Lord Canning, and of 
 Lord Clyde, who was to survive him only by a few months. 
 Outram's grave is marked by a marble slab, bearing the 
 words suggested by Dean Stanley, " The Bayard of 
 India." Over the doorway on the south side of the nave 
 is Noble's bust of the dead warrior, erected by the 
 Minister for India, Sir Charles Wood, and the members- 
 of his council. The inscription, worded by the political 
 secretary, Sir John Kaye, reveres the memory of " A 
 soldier of the East India Company, who during a service 
 of forty years in war and in council, by deeds of bravery 
 and devotion, by an unselfish life, by benevolence never 
 weary of welldoing, sustained the honour of the British 
 nation, won the love of his comrades, and promoted the 
 happiness of the people of India." 
 
 From the newspaper press of England and India arose 
 a general chorus of regretful homage to the memory of 
 the large-hearted, upright, clear-headed leader, who had 
 made his way by sheer force of character into the front 
 rank of England's doughtiest and noblest sons; of men, 
 for instance, like Philip Sydney, Wolfe, and Nelson. 
 " James Outram," wrote The Times, " was an illustration 
 of what can be done by a strong-minded, truth-loving, 
 honest, and valiant nature in such an arena as India 
 affords. Because he had neither rank nor fortune, he 
 stood in that press of self-reliant men from which the hand 
 of patron or politician could pluck no favourite. He 
 took his place among his peers in the race when there was 
 a fair field and no favour, and he came to the front and 
 bore himself so well that his distanced rivals echoed 1she 
 applause which greeted the winner. . . . 
 
 " Truly was he told in the address which was voted to 
 him by his countrymen at home, ' By men of your stamp 
 was our Indian Empire won; by men of your stamp must
 
 224 The Bayard of India 
 
 it be preserved/ by men as honest, as single-minded, as 
 chivalrous, as humane, with as much love for the people 
 of the country, as much pride in an Indian career, and as 
 little thought of self as James Outram." 
 
 " No lips will open," says The Times of India, " to 
 speak of the deceased but in terms of regret, respect, love, 
 and admiration. James Outram was a man of whom 
 any army, any government, any nation might be proud. 
 He was one of those few, in high place, whose claims to 
 be considered a master-mind men never paused to analyse. 
 They knew he would do no wrong, and was ever desirous 
 to do good, and that sufficed. And much good has he 
 left behind him. ... He was brave as the best of olden 
 knights, lovable as best of olden priors." 
 
 " A fox is a fool and a lion a coward compared with 
 James Outram," was a common saying among his 
 countrymen in Bombay, a saying which expressed in 
 the neatest of epigrams the essential qualities of a mighty 
 hunter and a great military chief. Of Outram's military 
 genius we have had abundant proofs. As the writer of 
 an excellent memoir in the Dictionary of National Bio- 
 graphy has truly said, " Outram was a good soldier and a 
 skilful diplomatist. Filled with ambition, he was never- 
 theless most unselfish. Possessed of great courage, a 
 strong individuality, a warm temper, untiring energy, 
 and good physique, he was kind-hearted, modest, and 
 chivalrous." In speech he " was hesitating until he 
 warmed to a subject, when he could speak forcibly. An 
 idea too often got complete command of him, and it was 
 then difficult for him to see the other side of a question. 
 He had a strong feeling of personal responsibility. He 
 quickly saw and rewarded merit in young men." 
 
 " The more his life is studied in its details," said 
 the late head-master of Harrow, Dr. Montagu Butler, 
 " the more it will be found how habitually he made a 
 practice of esteeming others better than himself, of 
 looking less at his own things and more at the things 
 of others." 
 
 " There were men of higher rank than James Outram," 
 wrote his old friend Sir John Kaye, " men who had com- 
 manded greater armies, and who had governed more
 
 Calcutta to Westminster Abbey 225 
 
 extensive territories. There was no one great event' 
 changing the destinies of empires, to which he could 
 point as peculiarly his own. His career was without a 
 Waterloo. But a life of sustained devotion to the public 
 service, a life made beautiful by repeated acts of heroism 
 and chivalry, a life of stainless truth and unsullied 
 honour, made England echo back the praises which 
 pealed across the Eastern seas." l 
 
 " I never knew one," wrote his old admirer Sir George 
 Clerk in 1880, " who combined with thorough sterling 
 character and soldierly qualities so much of single- 
 mindedness and modesty; and heaps of experience have 
 come in my way, too, during a long and busy public life." 
 
 The inscription carved on the monument in the Cal- 
 cutta Maidan was a somewhat curtailed version of that 
 prepared by another ornament of the company's service, 
 the late Sir Henry Yule. With a full copy of the original 
 text this chapter may fitly close : 
 
 " His life was given to India: in early manhood he 
 reclaimed wild races by winning their hearts: Ghazni, 
 Khelat, the Indian Caucasus, witnessed the daring deeds 
 of his prime : Persia brought to sue for peace ; Lucknow 
 relieved, defended, and recovered, were fields of his later 
 glories. Many wise rulers, many valiant captains, hath 
 his country sent hither; but never any loved as this man 
 was by those whom they governed or led on to battle! 
 Faithful servant of England: large-minded and kindly 
 ruler of her subjects : doing nought through vainglory, but 
 ' ever esteeming others better than himself ' : valiant, 
 incorrupt, self-denying, magnanimous, in all the true 
 knight!" 
 
 " If an opponent once styled him the Bayard of India, 
 they who set up this memorial may well lack words to 
 utter all their loving admiration ! " 
 
 1 Cornhill Magazine, May 1863.
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 APPENDIX A 
 
 THE following " Rough Notes/' forwarded to Sir Francis 
 Outram in 1865 by Colonel W. Morris of the Bombay 
 Army, came under my notice too late for insertion in 
 their proper place. 
 
 Rough Notes from April 1833 to February 1835 
 
 " It would be difficult to select an individual better 
 entitled to the enduring remembrance of all who knew 
 him than Sir James Outram. He was a brave indomitable 
 soldier, a true friend, and one to be thoroughly relied on, 
 and no one understood better than he the true spirit which 
 ought to animate a soldier and the moral energy which 
 has so material an influence on the issues of war. It was 
 in the summer of 1833 that Captain Outram went (for the 
 first time, I believe) into the Satpura mountains on service, 
 and just as he was entering a deep gorge was heard to 
 say to himself, ' Well, here we enter these strong fastnesses, 
 and I return alive only if successful; I never will quit 
 these Bhil chiefs until they are subdued,' thus showing his 
 determinate will and full resolution to gain his object or 
 perish. Having succeeded in all his operations, he was 
 encamped near the strong fort of Sindwa, the walls of 
 which were in many places 60 feet high: he had been 
 bathing in a tank, close under the walls, when he resolved 
 to jump off the wall into the tank, and taking with him 
 an umbrella to act as a parachute, made his leap ; but he 
 soon found that he had trusted to too frail a support, for 
 on jumping from the wall his weight and the rapidity of 
 his descent caused the umbrella to collapse, and he came 
 down a fearful crash. He was, however, only slightly 
 stunned, and came to the surface after being some time 
 submerged. This shows the sort of man Sir James was. 
 226
 
 Appendix A 227 
 
 " Again, on one occasion, he, accompanied by a party 
 of his own Bhils, went after a cheetah on the Nandurbar 
 Hills. The animal, on being found, took refuge in a large 
 cave situated on the side of a hill too steep for human foot 
 to descend. The Bhils were at a loss what to do, but 
 Outram was not to be balked. He desired the Bhils to 
 take off their pugrees and to tie them together, and then 
 having fastened one end round his waist, told the 
 astonished followers to lower him to the cave, where he 
 succeeded in killing the cheetah. 
 
 " On another occasion, at a tiger hunt, the animal, 
 having been wounded, went down into a large earth and 
 could not be dislodged. Outram descended from his 
 elep'iant, and, spear in hand, sat down at the entrance 
 intending to pin the animal as it came out, which at 
 length it did, and Outram, driving the spear as he thought 
 through his neck, was surprised to see the tiger dash the 
 spear aside as if it were a reed and bound away unhurt. 
 
 " Sir James was sincere and hearty in his friendship, 
 jovial, and full of fun and anecdote. On duty he was 
 stern, and thoroughly determined to have his orders carried 
 out. He was a great friend to the natives of India, and 
 beloved by them, as is proved by his success in taming 
 the wild Bhils. He was a lover of justice, and would 
 even write in the newspapers, if by doing so he could 
 benefit a native who he thought deserved it. He liked 
 an independent spirit in man or animal. He admired a 
 particular dog because he never would wag his tail to 
 any one but his master; and would often caress this animal 
 more for his independent feeling, as he never would wag 
 his tail to him. He was a great rider, and never could 
 bear to be anything but leader. Once he was seen out 
 of his saddle and on his horse's neck in excitement to 
 gain the first spear. 
 
 " Another instance of Captain Outram's prowess in 
 hunting may be mentioned. A tiger, whom the party in 
 pursuit intended to spear instead of shooting, after a run 
 through difficult jungle crept into a lair of long reeds. 
 Outram at once proposed to follow him, and on hands 
 and knees crept through the tiger's lair. Fortunately the 
 tiger, hearing his approach, moved off instead of showing
 
 228 The Bayard of India 
 
 ght, otherwise in Outram's cramped posture he would 
 have been completely in the animal's power. On another 
 occasion, while riding after a wild buffalo spear in hand, 
 the animal was at length brought to bay, and charged so 
 furiously as by his weight completely to upset both horse 
 and rider, goring the former severely. 
 
 " Once, Avhen bathing in a tank he heard that one of the 
 party had jumped off the top of the bath-house, which 
 was two stories high; he sent for the house-steps and 
 jumped from them after placing them on the top of the 
 bath-house. Again, in the same tank a young alligator 
 was temporarily placed, which was very savage; Outram 
 was aware of this, but he immediately bathed in the tank, 
 defying the alligator." 
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 I AM indebted to my friend Mr. R. Jupp of Sunderland 
 for the following spirited verses on Outram's advance to 
 the Lucknow Residency: 
 
 The Red Lane : Lucknow 
 
 " On in God's name advance ! " Up the lane ! onward ! 
 
 Who will not follow when Outram rides first ! 
 Forward ! though not e'en the far-famed six hundred 
 
 Through such a tempest of musketry burst. 
 From every flap-topped roof where crouch the foe aloof, 
 
 Shielded and sheltered, the live bullets rain, 
 Raking our staggering flanks, while the white smoke in 
 
 banks 
 Broods like a death-shadow o'er the red lane. 
 
 " On in God's name advance! " Sections, quick wheel- 
 ing, 
 
 Right and left firing each cross-alley sweep: 
 Back from our volleys the Pandies are reeling, 
 
 Breaking and scattering like hound-driven sheep. 
 Would that the broad claymore now cleared a path before, 
 
 Sword of our sires that ne'er flashed in vain : 
 Onward, in order due, march we like clansmen true. 
 
 Forcing a passage grim up the red lane.
 
 Appendix C 229 
 
 Hark ! in the front now what means that wild cheering ? 
 
 See his bright broadsword the Chief waves in air; 
 Can it be really the goal we are nearing ? 
 
 "Forward! Quick! Double!" By God, we are there ! 
 Back from the Bailey-guard, by the grim cannon barred, 
 
 Haul they the grinning gun with might and main: 
 Through the embrasure freed leaps Outram's plunging 
 steed, 
 
 And dim behind us now lies the red lane. 
 
 Round us they gather in wild gratulation 
 
 Babes in our arms are clasped, fondled, and pressed ; 
 Cheer upon cheer peals of stern exultation: 
 
 God ! be thy succour and mercy confessed. 
 No coronach to-day let the shrill bagpipe play, 
 
 Only a triumph-note over the slain: 
 Long shall the tale be told, 'mid Scotland's mountains cold, 
 
 How Outram led the Plaids up the red lane. 
 
 September 1903. 
 
 APPENDIX C 
 
 THE following letter from the son of the first Lord Keane 
 deserves quoting at full length: 
 
 LONDON, March 9, iSGr, 
 
 MY DEAR OUTRAM, I have had very great pleasure in 
 receiving your letter from Paris this evening, inasmuch as 
 it informs me of the great improvement in your health, 
 which all your friends (and they are legion) pray for, and 
 trust that you may be restored to us, on your return to 
 England, in renewed health and strength. 
 
 You must not thank me (for I don't deserve it) for any 
 little trouble I may have had in preparing the late success- 
 ful demonstration in Willis's Rooms, to General Hancock 
 and Colonel Holland, especially the former, are your thanks 
 due; for they have both worked like horses, and their 
 arrangements have been admirable although they could 
 not help the unavoidable absence of the Duke of Argyll 
 and Lord Stanley, to which was nearly added the mis-
 
 230 The Bayard of India 
 
 fortune of losing Lord Shaftesbury, who spoke nobly for 
 you, as he was summoned the same evening to his dying 
 mother at Richmond. 
 
 I feel I can never repay you the valuable and important 
 services you rendered to my poor father and his army in 
 Sindh and Afghanistan services ill requited to you by 
 omitting your name in his despatches and orders, which 
 had he not done so, would have secured you a brevet- 
 majority for Ghazni with S. Powell (and myself after- 
 wards), and consequently a lieutenant-colonelcy for 
 
 Khelat; but I lay the blame on M , for I know he 
 
 (my father) always had the highest regard and opinion 
 of you, but was too much influenced by his military 
 secretary not only in that instance, but in many others. 
 He did not consequently appreciate your efforts and 
 services as they deserved, or acknowledge the importance 
 of them as every one else did. I hope some day to have 
 a talk with you on this subject. 
 
 It is not only this feeling that I have alluded to, but old 
 friendship, the great regard I feel and have always felt 
 for you, added to the transcendent services you have 
 rendered to your country, that now prompt me to do my 
 utmost in securing from your countrymen that public 
 notice and reward that is so justly your due, and which 
 it gives me real pleasure and gratification to see so well 
 responded to, when they are called upon to render honour 
 where it has been so nobly won. 
 
 I shall hope to hear of you and your whereabouts occa- 
 sionally from your son. Believe me, my dear Outram, 
 your old and sincere friend, 
 
 KEANE. 
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 THE following passages are extracted from the Supplement 
 to the Home News of March 19, 1863: 
 
 " One of the bravest and most devoted of the East India 
 Company's army, Sir James Outram, died at Pau on March 
 xi, after a long illness. The state of his health since his
 
 Appendix D 23 i 
 
 return from India prevented that gallant spirit from enjoy- 
 ing the honours and rewards which his grateful country- 
 men were eager to press upon him. As modest and gentle 
 in his private character as he was firm and dauntless at the 
 post of duty, Outram, after forty years of hard work in a 
 tropical climate, bore with exemplary patience the suffer- 
 ings which denied him the satisfaction of reposing on his 
 well-earned laurels in the evening of his life. 
 
 " The great mass of the people who are proud of our 
 vast dominion in the East little know the nature of the 
 tenure by which it is held, and the sacrifices by which it 
 has been won. Men of vast abilities, of great capacity for 
 business, of the highest order of intellect, attain a reputa- 
 tion in the world of India without exercising any influence 
 or gaining any large position in the mother country which 
 they serve. If they sink under the weight of their burdens 
 and their toils abroad, a few obituary lines are all they 
 receive at home, where an election for a member of parlia- 
 ment at an obscure borough, or the details of a remarkable 
 trial, may be at the time engrossing popular attention. 
 If they come home, they come home as men who have 
 abandoned a career or who are seeking retirement, and 
 their giant proportions are lost in the crowd. The old 
 traditions concerning Indian nabobs pursue them here, 
 and they probably subside into the moderate position 
 which is assigned to the first man in some pleasant 
 watering-place. It is not possible to estimate too highly 
 the quality by which a man rises to high station in India, 
 where the art of government is polished and perfected 
 by the friction of the dangers under which it is cultivated, 
 and by the enormous responsibility and the risks of 
 failure. James Outram was an illustration of what can 
 be done by a strong-minded, truth-loving, and honest 
 and valiant nature in such an arena as India affords. 
 Because he had neither rank nor fortune, he stood in that 
 press of self-reliant men from which the hand of patron 
 or politician could pluck no favourite. He took his place 
 among his peers in the race when there was a fair field 
 and no favour, and he came to the front and bore himself 
 so well that his distanced rivals echoed the applause 
 which greeted the winner. It was but natural that he
 
 232 The Bayard of India 
 
 should have been proud of the services in which he won 
 such honours, and that he should be jealous of any measure 
 which did it wrong. And to the last he was the Indian 
 officer to whom the Indian army was dear, who loved its 
 reputation, and resisted any effort to destroy its individu- 
 ality. It was he who, more than any other man, opposed 
 the amalgamation of the services, and who in an exhaus- 
 tive minute of singular ability pointed out the practical 
 objections to the measure. 
 
 "He visited England in the summer of 1856, and all 
 men who saw him then believed that his work was done, 
 so little did he resemble the James Outram they had known 
 a few years before. But when our rupture with the Court 
 of Teheran rendered war inevitable, and orders went to 
 India to fit out an expedition for service in Persia, Outram 
 suddenly revived. 
 
 " A new-born strength seemed to have been infused into 
 his shattered frame, and when he knew that his aid was 
 needed he never doubted for a moment that he was able to 
 assume the command which his government was willing 
 to intrust to him. 
 
 " He went, forgetful of his bodily ailments, and the 
 excitement of active service, like a strong tonic, made 
 him more than equal to his work. The campaign was 
 short and decisive. All the objects of the expedition were 
 triumphantly attained. In this year Outram was made 
 a K.C.B. 
 
 " Scarcely had he returned from the Persian expedition 
 before he found himself called to more serious duty yet in 
 India. The Bengal army had broken out into rebellion, 
 and another field of action opened out before Sir James 
 Outram. 
 
 " In July 1857 Outram landed at Bombay, telegraphed 
 to Calcutta, found that he was wanted there, and pro- 
 ceeded onwards to receive Lord Canning's instructions. 
 ' The intense admiration,' he recorded more than two 
 years afterwards in an official minute, ' with which I 
 regarded Lord Elphins tone's bold demeanour and noble 
 self-abnegation under such trying circumstances when I 
 parted from his lordship in July 1857 was only equal, for 
 it. 'could not be surpassed, even by that with which,
 
 Appendix D 233 
 
 on my arrival a fortnight afterwards in Calcutta, I was 
 then inspired by the calm dignity, confidence, and deter- 
 mination with which the governor-general himself was 
 braving the storm which by that time was raging in its 
 utmost fury.' 
 
 " With Lord Canning, the governor-general, Outram 
 had a serious misunderstanding regarding the policy 
 pursued by his lordship towards the talukdars of Oudh. 
 Lord Canning's so-called confiscation measure, dated from 
 Allahabad, caused a perfect storm of disapproval in 
 England, and the fact becoming known that the chief 
 commissioner in Oudh strongly disapproved of it, made 
 most people instinctively feel that Lord Canning had 
 made a mistake. But Outram's calm and waiting remon- 
 strance bore the stamp of truthfulness and responsibility ; 
 he showed plainly that if the scheme were carried out, it 
 would be one of general confiscation, which must end 
 in another rebellion. The talukdars had been unjustly 
 treated, he said, under the settlement operation ; they did 
 not revolt till the last moment, and they might fairly be 
 regarded as honourable enemies, against whom it was 
 monstrous to engage in ' a guerilla war of extirpation.' 
 The scheme was modified, but Sir James Outram did not 
 approve of it, and left for Calcutta because he could not 
 carry out a policy so repugnant to the feelings of one who, 
 a poor man, had refused to touch money derived from the 
 conquest of those whom he regarded as oppressively 
 treated. It is due to his wisdom and knowledge of the 
 country to say that the modifications he introduced into 
 the policy indicated by the measure were justified in the 
 subsequent dealings of the Government of India with the 
 leaders of the disaffected. 
 
 " He went down to Calcutta and took his seat as a 
 member of the Supreme Council of India ; but desk- work 
 of any kind never suited him, and the climate of Bengal 
 soon began to ravage his constitution. He took immense 
 interest in his work, especially in all questions affecting 
 the interest of the old Indian army in which he had been 
 bred; and his minutes on the subject of reorganisation 
 show how great was his concern for the welfare of his 
 comrades, and how resolute he was to speak out the 
 unvarnished truth.
 
 234 The Bayard of India 
 
 " But the harness which braced him up was now off his 
 back, and the trumpet-sound no longer stirred his spirit. 
 He sank under the burden of peace, turned his face home- 
 wards, and appeared among us feeble and exhausted, to 
 receive from men of all ranks and all callings the homage 
 of an admiring welcome. The communities of India had 
 voted him a statue, had founded an institution to his 
 honour, and had presented him with other commemorative 
 testimonials. 
 
 " His admirers in England followed their example, and 
 a characteristic statue by one of the first of our English 
 sculptors now waits a befitting site in the metropolis of 
 the empire. 
 
 " But while in a grateful and humble spirit he was 
 receiving the applause of his countrymen, he was fast 
 fading away from their sight. He spent the winter of 
 1861-62 in the mild dry climate of Egypt, and he returned 
 somewhat benefited by the change. But the favourable 
 symptoms which had manifested themselves were transi- 
 tory. His health was so shattered that it was wonderful 
 how he bore the voyage to his native shore. Honours 
 awaited him at all points, but he could enjoy them little. 
 He was presented with the freedom of the city of London 
 in the form of a sword worth one hundred guineas, on 
 December 20, 1860, according to a vote of the Corporation 
 of October 7, 1858. He was very feeble, and suffered 
 severely during the proceedings. The vote stated that 
 the present was made to Sir James Outram ' in testimony 
 of the signal services rendered by him in suppressing mutiny 
 and rebellion in the East Indies, and in admiration of his 
 high personal and public character, exemplified through 
 a long period of military service in the East as a brave, 
 skilful, and patriotic soldier.' 
 
 " On the creation of the Order of the Star of India, Sir 
 James Outram was enrolled as one of its first and not least 
 distinguished members, and was pressed to become one 
 of the [Home] Indian Council; but his health was too 
 far gone for any more work. 
 
 " In July 1862 Sir James Outram received the honorary 
 degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford at the 
 grand commemoration in company with Lord Palmerston,
 
 Appendix E 235 
 
 Sir Roundell Palmer, Sir E. W. Head, and others. He 
 was designated by Dr. Twiss ' Dux fortissimus,' and was 
 warmly praised for his various services ; but it was painful 
 to see the effort which the ceremony caused the gallant 
 veteran, who had to be lifted up to the doctors' seats 
 amid a perfect storm of sympathetic cheering from all 
 the theatre. From that day he gradually sank under his 
 illness. He quitted England again for the last time, 
 and though his friends were hopeful that still for some 
 years he might be spared to them, and though he himself 
 often talked of again serving his country, disease had taken 
 fast hold of him, and he went abroad only to die. 
 
 " Sir James Outram did many great things in his time, 
 and he had many great qualities. But he desired nothing 
 so much as to be regarded as a fair specimen of a ' com- 
 pany's officer.' He often said that there were many better 
 men in the army to which he was proud of belonging, and 
 that they would have done better than himself had they 
 enjoyed equal opportunities. In this his humility ex- 
 ceeded the truth. For, without any one pre-eminent 
 quality, he had a combination of many qualities which 
 precisely fitted him for the work which lay before him; 
 and many abler men would have failed to do what he 
 accomplished by his robust energy and his devotion to 
 the public service. Truly was he told in the address 
 which was voted to him by his countrymen at home, 
 ' By men of your stamp was our Indian Empire won; 
 by men of your stamp must it be preserved.' 
 
 " The Dean of Westminster has acceded to the wishes 
 of Sir James Outram's friends that the remains of this 
 distinguished soldier should be interred in Westminster 
 Abbey." 
 
 APPENDIX E 
 
 IT is pleasant to learn that the regiment once known as 
 the 23rd Bombay N.I. is henceforth to figure in the Indian 
 army as the i23rd, or Outram's Rifles.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Address, presentation to Outram 
 of an, on his leaving India, 212 
 et seq. ; again presented with 
 an, in London, 216, 217 
 
 Aden, Outram appointed Com- 
 mandant and Political Agent 
 at, 126; improvements effected 
 at, ib. et seq. 
 
 Alambagh, the, Outram's defence 
 of, after the relief of the Luck- 
 now garrison, 181 et seq., 187; 
 Sir Colin Campbell's prepara- 
 tions for relief of, 185; arrival 
 of Hodson's Horse at, 186 
 
 Allahabad Fort, the, Outram's 
 suggestions for strengthening, 
 136; miraculous escape of, 
 from destruction, 137, 150 
 
 Amirs of Haidarabad, the, Out- 
 ram's kindly treatment of, 66 
 et seq. ; statement to Sir Charles 
 Napier regarding, 80; Outram 
 appointed commissioner in 
 negotiating new treaties with, 
 82 ; the treaty with, reluctantly 
 signed, 85 ; Sir Charles Napier's 
 victory over, at Miani, 88; the 
 cause of, pled by Outram before 
 Lord Ripon in London, 93; 
 ultimate fate of, ib. ; different 
 views regarding, taken by Out- 
 ram and Sir Charles Napier, 104 
 
 Auckland, Lord, Outram ap- 
 pointed Political Agent in 
 Lower Sind by, 64 ; the whole 
 of Sind and.Khelat placed under 
 Outram's political charge by, 
 66; farewell letter to Outram 
 from, 73; testimony of, in the 
 House of Lords, as to Outram's 
 services, 74 
 
 Baroda, Outram's duties as adju- 
 tant at, 9; appointed Resident 
 at, 105; corrupt condition of 
 public affairs in, 106 et seq. ; 
 Outram's leave of, on medical 
 certificate, 109; his return to, 
 116; his services in, dispensed 
 
 with, 118; attempts to poison 
 him while in, 119; Parliamen- 
 tary Blue-Book issued on the 
 affairs of, 122; Outram replaced 
 at, by Lord Dalhousie, 124; 
 reforms accomplished in, 125 
 
 " Bayard of India," the title of, 
 applied to Outram by Sir 
 Charles Napier, 81 
 
 Bengal army, the, mutinous spirit 
 in, 146, 147; outbreak of mutiny 
 in the, 148 
 
 Bhils of Khandesh, the, insurrec- 
 tion of, 15; reclamation of, 17; 
 raising of a corps amongst, 19 
 
 British India, royal proclamation 
 regarding the government of, 
 204 
 
 Burnes, Sir Alex., murder of, 70 
 
 Campbell, Sir Colin, march of, for 
 the second relief of Lucknow, 
 173; meeting of Outram and 
 Havelock with, on relief of 
 Lucknow garrison, 175; orders 
 of, for withdrawal from the 
 Lucknow Residency, 176; de- 
 spatch by, regarding conduct 
 of the garrison during the siege 
 of the Residency, 179 et seq. ; 
 return march of, to Cawnpore, 
 1 80; takes command of the 
 Army of Oudh, 188; final 
 success of, 195; tribute by 
 Outram, to, 215; banquet in 
 London to, ib. ; at Outram's 
 funeral in Westminster Abbey, 
 222; grave of, in Westminster 
 Abbey, 223 
 
 Canning, Lord, proclamation of, 
 regarding rebel landowners of 
 Oudh, 198; Outram's protest 
 against the severity of, ib. ; 
 becomes the guest of, at Allaha- 
 bad, 202; Outram's testimony 
 regarding the Indian policy of, 
 215; funeral of, in Westminster 
 Abbey, 216 
 i Cawnpore, Havelock's march to, 
 
 36
 
 Index 
 
 2 37 
 
 150; the massacre at, 151; 
 Outram's march to, 153; with- 
 drawal of Lucknow garrison 
 to, 176 et seq. ; Sir Colin Camp- 
 bell's return march to, 180 
 
 Conquest of Sind, The, by Sir 
 William Napier, misrepresenta- 
 tions of Outram in, 100; Out- 
 ram's Commentary on, ib., 103 
 et seq. 
 
 Cotton, Sir Willoughby, command 
 of the Bengal column of the 
 Army of the Indus by, 46 
 
 Crown and Company armies in 
 India, the, ministerial Bill for 
 amalgamating, 207; Outram's 
 " supplementary minute " re- 
 garding, ib. et seq. 
 
 Dalhousie, Lord, Outram replaced 
 in the Baroda Residency by, 
 123; Outram's admiration for, 
 124; appointed Commandant 
 and Political Agent at Aden by, 
 126; offered the post of Re- 
 sident at the Court of Oudh by, 
 127; ill-health of, 129, 133; 
 Oudh declared a British pro- 
 vince by, ib. ; procures a 
 K.C.B. for Outram, 134; Out- 
 ram's farewell of, ib. 
 
 Dang, the, Outram's expedition 
 against the Bhils of, 27 et seq. 
 
 Delhi, the fall of. 157 
 
 Dost Muhammad, flight of, from 
 Ghazni, 51; the chase after, ib. 
 et seq. 
 
 East India Company, assumption 
 of the powers of the, by the 
 Crown, 204 
 
 Egypt, Outram's sojourn in, on 
 furlough, no et seq. ; bis 
 Memoir on, laid before the 
 Government of Bombay, 114; 
 his second residence in, 216 
 
 Ellenborough, Lord, Outram's 
 protest against the policy of, 
 regarding Afghanistan, 74 ; 
 Outram removed from his post 
 in Sind by, 80; declines an in- 
 terview with Outram, but offers 
 him the political charge of 
 Nimar, 95; recall of, from 
 India, 96 
 
 Elphinstone, Mountstuart, Gover- 
 nor of Bombay, attempts by, 
 
 to reclaim the Bhils of Khan- 
 desh, 16 et seq. ; Mrs. Outram's 
 application to, on behalf of her 
 son, 32; testimony of, as to 
 Outram's services, 94 
 England, General, Outram's 
 timely assistance to, 75; first 
 advance of, to Kandahar, 77 
 
 Fayrer, Dr. (afterwards Sir 
 Joseph), services of, to Outram, 
 at the Lucknow Residency, 132 ; 
 references to, 136, 139, 158, 164, 
 165, 1 66, 179 et seq. passim ; 
 accounts by, of the relief of the 
 Residency during the Mutiny, 
 163, 174 
 
 Ghazni, storming of the fortress 
 
 of, 49 et seq. ; flight of Dost 
 
 Muhammad from, 51 
 Ghilzais, expedition against the, 
 
 54 et seq. 
 Guzerat, subjugation of the 
 
 unruly clans of, 34 et seq. 
 
 Haidarabad, Outram's residence 
 at, 65 ; the Amirs of, 66 et seq. ; 
 the Residency at, defended by 
 Outram and his garrison, 86 
 
 Hastings, the Marquis of, results 
 of the rule of, in India, 8 
 
 Havelock, General (afterwards Sir 
 Henry), command of troops by r 
 in the Persian war, 139; march 
 of, to Cawnpore, 150; attempts 
 of, to relieve the Lucknow gar- 
 rison, 152; Outram's generous 
 resolve regarding the com- 
 mand of, ib., 154; march of 
 troops under command of, for 
 Lucknow, 155 et seq. ; relief of 
 the Lucknow garrison by, 164 
 et seq. ; Outram's conclusions 
 regarding his abdication of 
 command to, 168 et seq., 210; 
 meeting of Outram and, with 
 Sir CoUn Campbell, on second 
 relief of Lucknow, 175; death 
 of, 178 
 
 Hodson of Hodson's Horse, ser- 
 vices of, during the Mutiny, 
 186, 188, 189; death of, 193 
 
 Hog-hunting in India, the practice 
 of, 12 et seq. 
 
 Illuminated address, presentation
 
 2 3 8 
 
 The Bayard of India 
 
 to Outram of an, at the close of 
 his career, 216, 217; Outram's 
 reply on receiving, ib. 
 
 Imamgarh, the fort of, destroyed 
 by Sir Charles Napier, 83, 84 
 
 Indian military system, the pro- 
 blem of, under Crown rule, 205 
 et seq. ; passing of ministerial 
 Bill regarding, 207 
 
 Indian Mutiny, the, first signs of, 
 146; outbreak of, 148, 150 et 
 seq. 
 
 Indus, the Army of the, opera- 
 tions of, 43 et seq. 
 
 Jacob, Captain Le Grand, ap- 
 pointment of, as political ruler 
 at Sawant-Wari, 98 
 
 Jacob, Colonel John, appointed to 
 cavalry command in the Persian 
 war, 139; Bushahr command 
 given to, 142 
 
 Kabul, British disasters at, 70; 
 
 the retreat from, ib. et seq. ; 
 
 General Nott's march on, 76 
 
 et seq. 
 Kavanagh, Thomas, important 
 
 services of, during the siege of 
 
 Lucknow, 173 
 Kaye, Sir John, testimony of, to 
 
 Outram's character, 224 
 Keane, Sir John, Outram becomes 
 
 extra A.D.C. to, 43 ; operations 
 
 of the Army of the Indus under, 
 
 43 et seq. 
 Khandesh, expedition against the 
 
 Bhils of, 15 et seq. 
 Khatpat, Outram's efforts to 
 
 abolish the practice of, in 
 
 Baroda, 106 et seq., 116 et seq. ; 
 
 his report on, 117 et seq. ; 
 
 Parliamentary Blue-Book on, 
 
 122 et seq. 
 
 Khelat, the storming of, 56 
 Kittur, the siege of, 14 
 
 Lawrence, Sir Henry, first meet- 
 ing of Outram and, no; death 
 of, 150 
 
 Lucknow, formal entrance of Out- 
 ram into, as Resident at the 
 Court of Oudh, 129; his leave 
 of, from ill-health, 136; Have- 
 lock's attempts to relieve the 
 garrison of, on the outbreak of 
 the Mutiny, 152; march of the 
 
 relieving column for, 155 et 
 seq. ; operations for the relief 
 of, 158 et seq. ; the final ad- 
 vance on, 163; relief of the 
 Residency at, 164; strengthen- 
 ing of the defences of, 170 et 
 seq.; Sir Colin Campbell's 
 march towards, 173; meeting 
 of Outram, Havelock, and 
 Campbell on second relief of, 
 175; withdrawal of the garrison 
 from, 176 et seq. ; Sir Colin 
 Campbell's preparations for 
 attack on, 185; operations of 
 the Army of Oudh in, 188 et 
 seq.; final victory at, 194; the 
 enemy's flight from, 195 
 
 Mahi Kanta, the, insubordination 
 in, 34; expedition against, 36; 
 Outram's residence in, 38; suc- 
 cessful pacification of, 41 
 
 Melville, Lord, interview with, of 
 Outram's mother, 3 
 
 Merchant Taylors' Company of 
 London, presentation to Out- 
 ram of the freedom of the, 204 
 
 Miani, Sir Charles Napier's victory 
 at, 88 
 
 Mihrab Khan, ruler of Biluchi- 
 stan, expedition against, 56 
 et seq. 
 
 Napier, Colonel Robert (after- 
 wards Lord Napier of Magdala), 
 appointment of, as Outram's 
 military secretary during the 
 Indian Mutiny, 151; services 
 of, during the siege of the Luck- 
 now Residency, 165, 170, 180; 
 presence of, with the Army of 
 Oudh, 1 88; farewell dinner to, 
 
 211 
 
 Napier, Sir Charles, supreme con- 
 trol in Sind assumed by, 79; 
 the title of " Bayard of India " 
 applied to Outram by, 81; the 
 fort of Imamgarh destroyed by, 
 83; the battle of Miani fought 
 by, 88; crowning victory over 
 the amirs' forces gained by, 
 93; unfortunate result of Out- 
 ram's quarrel with, 102; Out- 
 ram's feelings towards, 211 
 
 Narbada valley, the insurrection 
 amongst the Bhils of the, 31 
 ft seq.
 
 Index 
 
 2 39 
 
 Nasir Khan of Khelat, revolt of, 
 68; conference between Out- 
 ram and, 69 ; instalment of, as 
 chief of Khelat, ib. 
 
 Neill, Brigadier-General, death of, 
 at first relief of the Lucknow 
 Residency, 164 
 
 Nur Muhammad Khan, affecting 
 scene at deathbed of, 67 
 
 Olpherts, Major William, services 
 of, in the Alambagh, 181, 183, 
 184; with the Army of Oudh, 
 189; Outram's letter to, 201 
 
 Oudh, Outram appointed Resi- 
 dent at the Court of, 127; his 
 official report on the condition 
 of, 131; declared a British pro- 
 vince, 133; Outram appointed 
 Chief Commissioner in, 151; 
 services of the army of, 188 et 
 seq. ; Lord Canning's proclama- 
 tion regarding rebel landowners 
 of, 198 
 
 Outram, Benjamin, father of Sir 
 James, i 
 
 Outram, Francis, brother of Sir 
 James, early years of, 3; re- 
 ferences to, 6, n, 14, 24; his 
 death, 24 ; monument to, 26 
 
 Outram, Francis (afterwards Sir 
 Francis), son of Sir James, 
 birth of, 39; references to, 94, 
 121, 122, 148 
 
 Outram, General Sir James, 
 parentage of, i et seq. ; his 
 school-days, 4 et seq. ; becomes 
 a cadet in the Indian army, 7; 
 appointed adjutant of a regi- 
 ment of native infantry, 9; 
 marches against the Bhils of 
 Khandesh, 15; raises and com- 
 mands a Bhil corps, 19; his 
 native troops take the field, 22 ; 
 he applies for political employ- 
 ment in the North- West Pro- 
 vinces, 31; his marriage, 35; 
 proceeds against the unruly 
 clans of the Mahi Kanta, ib. et 
 seq. ; sails for Sind as extra 
 A.D.C. to Sk John Keane, 43; 
 his service with the Army of 
 the Indus, 46 et seq. ; conducts 
 an expedition against the dis- 
 affected Ghilzais and Biluchis, 
 54 et seq. ; promoted to brevet 
 rank of major, 61; becomes 
 
 Political Agent of Sind and 
 Khelat, 66; his dangerous ill- 
 ness, 76; joined by Sir Charles 
 Napier, 79; takes farewell of 
 Sind, 80 ; ordered back to Sind, 
 82 et seq. ; rejoins Sir Charles 
 Napier, and acts in concert 
 with him in pacifying the 
 country, embarks for Bombay 
 on furlough, 88 ; presented with 
 a sword and a piece of plate, 90 ; 
 arrives in London, 92 
 
 He pleads the cause of the 
 exiled amirs of Sind with Lord 
 Ripon, 92 et seq. ; is gazetted 
 Lieut.-Col. and C.B., 93; his 
 return to India, 94; accepts a 
 political charge, 96 ; volunteers 
 for service against the Mara- 
 thas, ib. ; becomes Resident at 
 the Court of Satara, 99; his 
 application for active service 
 in the Punjab refused, 101; 
 publication of his Commentary 
 on General Sir William Napier's 
 Conquest of Sind, 103; ap- 
 pointed Resident at Baroda, 
 105 ; on sick leave, 109 
 
 His leisure-time occupations 
 in Egypt, no et seq. ; his 
 return to Baroda, 116; his 
 services at Baroda dispensed 
 with, 118; repeated attempts 
 on his life, 119; arrives in 
 England, 121; official inquiry 
 regarding his work in Baroda, 
 122; reinstated at the Resid- 
 ency there, 124; appointed 
 Commandant and Political 
 Agent at Aden, 126; becomes 
 Resident at Lucknow, 128; 
 promoted to be Chief Commis- 
 sioner of Oudh, with title of 
 Sir James Outram, K.C.B., 
 JSS'. again invalided home, 
 136 ; is given command of army 
 in Persia, 138; his successes in 
 Persia, 141 et seq. ; the 78th 
 Highlanders bid him farewell, 
 147; receives the Grand Cross 
 of the Bath, 150; takes com- 
 mand of the Bengal army on 
 the outbreak of the Indian 
 Mutiny, 151; march to Cawn- 
 pore, 153; transfers his com- 
 mand to General Havelock, 
 154; present at the relief of the
 
 240 
 
 The Bayard of India 
 
 Lucknow Residency, 164; re- 
 sumes chief command of troops 
 inOudh, 166; along with Have- 
 lock welcomes Sir Colin Camp- 
 bell on second relief of the 
 Lucknow garrison, 174; carries 
 out the retreat from the Re- 
 sidency, 176 et seq. ; is left 
 behind to hold the position 
 around the Alambagh, 180 et 
 seq. ; co-operates with Sir 
 Colin Campbell in expelling 
 the rebels from Lucknow, 188 
 et seq. ; appointed military 
 member of the Supreme Council 
 at Calcutta, 199; receives 
 various public honours, 203; 
 his views as to the remodelling 
 of our Indian military system, 
 205 et seq. ; forced .by ill-health 
 to embark for home, 212; 
 farewell gifts presented to 
 him at Calcutta, ib. et seq. 
 
 His journey to England, 214; 
 more public honours conferred 
 upon him, ib. et seq.; receives 
 degree of D.C.L. from Oxford, 
 217; his last two years, 218 et 
 seq. ; his death, 221 ; his 
 funeral at Westminster Abbey, 
 t&. ; public testimonies as to 
 his worth and services to his 
 country, 223 et seq. 
 
 Outram, Margaret, sister of Sir 
 James, marriage of, 25; death 
 of, 29 
 
 Outram, Mrs., mother of Sir 
 James, references to, 2, 3, 4, n, 
 22, 28, 32, 42, 64, 73, 92, 94, 95, 
 100, 105, 108, 118, 121, 128, 
 137, 138, 218; death of, 221 
 
 Outram's Rifles, the designation 
 of, 235 (Appendix E) 
 
 Palmerston, Lord, testimony of, 
 as to the value of Outram's 
 Memoir on Egypt, 114 
 
 Partab Singh, expedition against, 
 
 39 
 
 Persia, Outram appointed to com- 
 mand of expedition against. 
 
 138; military operations in, 
 140 et seq. ; signing of treaty 
 between Great Britain and, 
 146; Outram receives the 
 Grand Cross of the Bath for 
 services in, 150 
 
 Poole, Stuart, Outram accom- 
 panied by, in his survey of the 
 Desert route, in ; some reminis- 
 cences of Outram by, ib. et seq. 
 
 Queen Victoria, proclamation by, 
 regarding government of British 
 India, 204 
 
 Quetta, Outram's adventurous 
 ride from Sind to, 68; confer- 
 ence between Nasir Khan and 
 Outram at, 69 
 
 Shah Shuja - ul - Mulk, reinstate- 
 ment of, as ruler of Afghani- 
 stan, 48, 53; native revolt 
 against, 70 
 
 Sind, expedition against, 43 et seq. 
 
 Southern Mahratta country, Out- 
 ram's services during the re- 
 bellion in the, 96 et seq. 
 
 Suraj Mall, subjugation and out- 
 lawry of, 36 et seq. 
 
 Times of India, The, on Outram's 
 
 career, 224 
 Times, The, on Outram's career, 
 
 223 
 
 Victoria Cross, Outram pre- 
 vented from receiving the, 168 
 
 Wellington, the Duke of, funeral 
 
 Of, 121 
 
 Westminster Abbey, monument 
 to an ancestor of Outram's in, 
 i ; Lord Canning's funeral in, 
 216; Outram's funeral in, 221 
 et seq. ; Outram's grave in, 223 ; 
 Lord Clyde's grave in, ib, 
 
 Willshire, General, services of, 
 with the Army of the Indus, 
 48, 56; tribute paid to Outram 
 by, 58; task entrusted to 
 Outram by, ib. et seq. 
 
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