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THE SEPOY REVOLT. 
 
 A Critical Narrative of the Great Mutiny of 1857. 
 
 By Lieut. -General M'LEOD INNES, V.C., 
 
 Author of " Luchiow and Oude in the Mutiny." 
 
 With numerous Maps and Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth. 
 
 Price $s. 
 
 This volume gives, in a handy form, a concise narrative of the whole Mutiny. 
 It examines and analyzes the conditions and causes of which the revolt was 
 the outcome, and points the political and military lessons to be drawn therefrom. 
 It shows the relation of the various operations in the several theatres of the 
 campaign ; aiming rather at giving an intelligible and coherent account of the 
 whole than producing a picturesque impression of occasional details. A full 
 index and table of contents make it particularly useful as a book of reference, 
 while it is amply supplied with the Maps and Plans without which it is impos- 
 sible to grasp a complicated narrative. 
 
 The Author was himself one of the original Lucknow garrison. 
 
 THE SIKHS AND THE SIKH WARS. 
 
 An Account of the Rise, Conquest, and Annexation 
 of the Punjab State. 
 
 By General Sir CHARLES GOUGH, V.C, G.C.B., 
 
 ARTHUR D. INNES, M.A. 
 With 13 Maps and Diagrams. Demy 8vo, cloth. Price i6j. 
 
 The purpose of this volume is to give an account in a compendious form of 
 the State by which the British Power in India was most seriously challenged. 
 The campaigns in which the Sikhs were overcome have been freely criticized, 
 and various erroneous ideas are now assumed in popular treatises to be ascer- 
 tained facts. 
 
 The Authors have had access to exceptional sources of information, including 
 decisive evidence from living eye-witnesses of the events of 1845-40. The narra- 
 tive is instructive both from the political and the military point of view ; and, 
 for the sake of historical accuracy, it was necessary that it should be re-told. 
 
 A. D. INNES & CO., 31 & 32, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C 
 
TWELVE YEARS 
 
 OF 
 
 A SOLDIER'S LIFE 
 
TWELVE YEARS 
 
 OF 
 
 A SOLDIER'S LIFE 
 
 FROM THE LETTERS OF 
 
 MAJOR W. T. JOHNSON 
 »/ 
 
 OF THE NATIVE IKKEGULAR CAVALKY 
 
 EDITED BY HIS WIDOW 
 
 LONDON 
 
 A. D. INNES & CO. 
 
 BEDFORD STREET 
 i897 
 
•3 
 
 HENRY MORSE STEPMCM8 
 
oc 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Early Days. 1827-1849 ... ... ... 1 
 
 II. Sport at Baroda— Pig and Tiger. 1849-185 i 18 
 
 III. Ahmadabad— Large Game Shooting, Pig-stick- 
 
 ing, etc. 1851-1854 ... ... ... 34 
 
 IV. Inkerman. 1854 ... ... ... ... 51 
 
 Appendix to Chapter IV. — Letters and De- 
 spatches RELATING TO THE CRIMEAN CAM- 
 PAIGN ... ... ... ... ... 67 
 
 V. POONA. 1855-1856 ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 VI. Life in Oude. 1856-1857 ... ... ... 85 
 
 VII. The Persian Campaign. January-June, 1857 101 
 VIII. The Indian Mutiny— Shipwreck. June, 1857... 123 
 IX. The Mutiny — Affair at HuTGAON f with the 
 Boats, under Major Vincent Eyre. Sep- 
 tember 10, 1857 ... ... ... 142 
 
 Appendix to Chapter IX.— Despatches from 
 General Outram and Major Eyre relating 
 to the Action at Hutgaon ... ... 159 
 
 X. Battle of the Alumbagh and Siege of Luck- 
 now. September 15-25, 1857 ... ... 166 
 
 XI. The First Relief of Lucknow. September 25, 
 
 1857 181 
 
 XII. The Second Relief and Evacuation of the 
 
 Residency, November 9-22, 1857 ,,. 20 j 
 
 512947 
 
TWELVE YEARS OF A 
 SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 1827-1849. 
 
 In a battle men hold varied stations. Some are 
 great leaders, whose names are on the lips of every- 
 one ; others, the fearless spirits who press on in front. 
 There are those, again, who do good service in the 
 rear ; and the day may be lost or won, by the beha- 
 viour at a critical moment, of some one person that 
 nobody knows of, but whose influence for good or 
 evil has been vital. 
 
 These turning-points have happened in many a 
 crisis of history ; and as we rejoice in a great victory, 
 or honour the name of a great commander, let us 
 not forget that the battle may have been won, and 
 
 B 
 
i TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 the leader supported, by the heroism or presence 
 of mind of men, of whom the world knows abso- 
 lutely nothing. So will it be seen in the following 
 sketch. 
 
 William Thomas Johnson was born at Enborne 
 Rectory, Newbury, Berks, on March 14th, 1827. He 
 was the youngest of the three children of the Rev. 
 Charles Thomas Johnson, Rector of Enborne and 
 of Hampstead Marshall. The family has for some 
 centuries been settled in Lincolnshire, and the 
 Grammar Schools of Uppingham and Oakham were 
 founded by an ancestor, Archdeacon Robert Johnson, 
 in the reign of Edward VI. The hereditary grand 
 trusteeship of both these schools, is always held by 
 the head of the Johnson family. Another ancestor 
 went to America, and was the founder of the city of 
 Boston, which he named after his old county town. 
 The grandfather of " Billy " Johnson (as he was always 
 called) was a captain in the army, but afterwards 
 took Holy Orders, and was for some years Rector 
 of Wistanstow, in Shropshire. He married Anna 
 Rebecca, sister of the sixth Lord Craven, and had 
 three sons and four daughters. His eldest son, 
 William, afterwards General Johnson, succeeded to 
 the family estate of Wytham-on-the-Hill, Lincoln- 
 shire. The second son, Henry, held for many years 
 
EARLY DAYS. 3 
 
 the rectories of Lutterworth and Claybrook, of which 
 it will be remembered John Wyclyff was rector. 
 The third son, Billy's father, was educated at 
 Shrewsbury, and at Brasenose College, Oxford, 
 where he gained the Craven Scholarship, and was 
 afterwards Rector of Enborne and Hampstead 
 Marshall, Berks, on the presentation of his cousin, 
 the Earl of Craven. 
 
 Of the daughters, two only were married — the 
 eldest, Harriet, to General Sir John Dalrymple, after- 
 wards eighth Earl of Stair, and the youngest, Selina, 
 to the Rev. Henry Williams. 
 
 The Rector of Enborne was a courteous, high-bred 
 gentleman, and an excellent parish priest. He was 
 fond of sport and of farming, but never indulged 
 these tastes to any extent after his ordination. He 
 devoted himself to his parochial work ; setting on foot 
 schools in both parishes, classes for lads, and cottage 
 readings, which in those days were quite the excep- 
 tion in the country. 
 
 In 1 8 17 he married Lucy Anne, youngest daughter 
 of Sir John Blois, Bart, of Cockfield Hall, and Grun- 
 disburgh, Suffolk, where they had been seated from 
 the time of Henry VII. Mrs. Johnson was one 
 of the most popular and charming women in the 
 neighbourhood. She survived her husband many 
 
4 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIERS LIFE, 
 
 years, living at Enborne Rectory with her eldest son, 
 Charles Augustus, who succeeded his father as 
 rector in 1848. Billy's only sister, Lucy Anne Maria, 
 married, in 1855, her cousin, Frederick Palmer-More- 
 wood, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 The parish of Enborne, in which Billy's childhood 
 was spent, is described in Domesday-book as Ane- 
 burne, or Taneburne, and one of its manors was con- 
 veyed to Thomas Chaucer, a son of the poet. It is 
 historically interesting as being the scene of the first 
 battle of Newbury, which was fought near the Rectory, 
 and many of the slain were buried in Enborne church- 
 yard. A letter was said to have been written by 
 Oliver Cromwell to the then rector, in the following 
 terms : " I desire that the dead of my army be 
 buried in your churchyard. Disobey me at your 
 peril." 
 
 A very remarkable man, Nicholas Ferrar, after- 
 wards famous as the founder of the Anglican 
 Monastery at Little Gidding, was at school at En- 
 borne Rectory with the Rev. Robert Brooke, a pro- 
 nounced Puritan of that time. 
 
 The other parish, Hampstead Marshall, belonged 
 formerly to the Earls-marshal of England ; hence 
 its name. It passed through many hands till it was 
 bought, in 1610, by the great soldier Sir William 
 
EARLY DAYS. 5 
 
 Craven. He had a romantic attachment for the 
 beautiful Queen of Bohemia, and is said to have built 
 a fine mansion in the Park, somewhat after the style 
 of Heidelberg Castle, to gratify her. It was unfortu- 
 nately burnt down in 1718, and only the stately 
 entrance-gates are now standing. The present house 
 was built by Lord Craven in 1720. 
 
 Billy and his brother and sister had a strong love 
 of driving, riding, and outdoor life and sport. He 
 also inherited from his father a talent for mechanical 
 work, building and carpentering, which he developed 
 in after years. 
 
 At the age of ten he was sent to Mr. Meyrick's 
 school at Ramsbury, in Wiltshire, well known in those 
 days, where his brother had been for some time. 
 Billy was there four years, and brought back, 
 according to his father's journal, "a good character 
 for all but books." He was very popular as a lad ; a 
 general favourite. 
 
 In February, 1841, his father took him to Rugby. 
 The son of an intimate friend, Mr. Hughes, of Don- 
 nington, the future author of " Tom Brown's School- 
 days," was there in the sixth form, and he chose Billy 
 for one of his fags. The late Tom Hughes wrote 
 recently about him: "He was some five years younger, 
 but I always knew him well in those days, and was 
 
6 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 much attracted to him, as he was one of the brightest 
 boys I ever remember. I fancy this was the reason 
 he was sent to Rugby, where I was a sixth-form boy, 
 in 1 841 and 1842, and his father and mother knew 
 that I should look after him. So I did, though no 
 small boy ever needed it less, as he got on at once 
 with his school-fellows. I chose him as one of my 
 fags, of whom each sixth-form boy had four in those 
 days ; excused him all study fagging, and helped 
 him, when he asked me to do so, with his lessons, 
 which, so far as I remember, was very seldom. Per- 
 haps I may have neglected this part of my duty, for 
 he was low in the school, and had no vocation for the 
 classics. Had the modern system been in force, I 
 have no doubt that such a bright boy would have 
 found some study which would have attracted him. 
 I was only there with him for a year, and unluckily 
 lost sight of him, and only saw him at long intervals, 
 though I followed his career with great interest and 
 sympathy. His marked characteristic in those early 
 days was his perfect temper : I don't think I ever 
 saw him put out, or moping. I wish I could give 
 you more than these general impressions, but can- 
 not call to mind any more definite impressions, 
 except, by the way, that he was called * Billy/ and 
 never had any nickname that I can remember. You 
 
EARLY DAYS. 7 
 
 and his sons have every reason to be proud of his 
 career." 
 
 Billy was in Bonamy Price's house, and his own 
 modest account of himself was, " I learnt to fish and 
 swim at Rugby." But apart from books he learnt 
 a great deal. He was under the influence of Dr. 
 Arnold, and every one knows what this influence 
 was. Reverence, honour, truth, and courage were 
 taught by him, and in the after career of the men 
 we read of in the " Military and Naval Records of 
 Rugbeans," we see evidences of the teaching of the 
 great Head Master. The Duke of Wellington is said 
 to have remarked that " the battle of Waterloo was 
 won on the playing field of Eton ; " and Billy's after 
 career bears splendid testimony to his early training. 
 "Well to the front" at Inkerman, charging the 
 enemy's gun almost unsupported at the Alumbagh, 
 fetching in the wounded during the siege of Luck- 
 now; assuredly the seed sown at Rugby bore its 
 fruit. 
 
 His letters written home from India show that, as 
 a young man and keen sportsman, he was faithful to 
 early teachings. He wrote : " I don't hunt on Sundays ; 
 not that I don't do many worse things, I am sorry to 
 say ;" and again : " I don't shoot on Sundays ; made 
 it a rule a long time ago." He had a great veneration 
 
8 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 for the Bible, and for the authority of religion ; a 
 strong faith in prayer (he often used to say he knew 
 his mother's prayers had saved him in many a 
 battle and a peril), and a great respect for Sunday. 
 His reverence at church was remarked all through 
 his life. It was the simple faith and practice of a 
 soldier. 
 
 In June, 1842, Dr. Arnold died. The impression 
 on the minds of the boys was overwhelming, and 
 Billy used often to speak of the panic in the school 
 on that Sunday morning, when the news went round 
 " Arnold is dead." 
 
 On leaving Rugby, Billy was sent to Brussels, to 
 the school of a Dr. Friedlander, to study modern 
 languages. He had previously had a strong wish to 
 enter the Royal Navy, but at his age this was not 
 thought advisable, and his father determined to 
 prepare him for India. He remained at Brussels 
 until March, 1845, and brought home very good 
 reports ; but he was not the sort of boy to care for a 
 foreign school, being so intensely English in his tastes 
 and ways. The school he used to call " the prison," 
 and would tell a story in after years of how the boys 
 once ran away in a body as far as Waterloo. He 
 learnt, however, a fair amount of French and German ; 
 and on his return to England his father sent him to 
 
EARLY DAYS. 9 
 
 Kensington School, which at that time had a repu- 
 tation as preparatory for India, and gave special 
 facilities for the study of Hindustani. He was in 
 the house of Mr. Jermyn, who wrote to his father : 
 " His conduct is everything I could wish. He is 
 industrious, steady, and well-conducted, and all 
 the masters speak well of him." He obtained prizes 
 in Hindustani and drawing, and left with a high 
 character. 
 
 In March, 1846, his father made arrangements with 
 Major Oliphant for his going to India, and he was 
 sworn in at the India House on April 23rd, and 
 sailed from Southampton on May 2nd, 1846. His 
 father wrote in his journal of May 1st : "A beautiful 
 rifle has arrived from Lord Craven to dear Billy ; " 
 (Lord Craven was his godfather) "his last day with 
 us ! how very sad ! " And on May 2nd, he wrote : 
 " Our dear boy is gone, and it is so like death, words 
 cannot describe my sorrow." From this date to that 
 of his own death, (which happened suddenly in June, 
 1848,) his father never spoke of "dear, dear Billy," but 
 with affection and regret ; indeed, he never seemed to 
 get over his son's going to India (which in those days 
 was a very different thing to what it is now), and he 
 had a great horror of the country and climate. Billy 
 was deeply attached to his father, and the shock of 
 
io TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 his death was a very real sorrow to him. He wrote 
 at that time to his mother (August, 1848): "The 
 dreadful, unlooked-for news reached me on the morn- 
 ing of the 7th inst. The shock to you all must have 
 been nearly as sudden as it was to me. . . . We 
 must not murmur against the Almighty Wisdon that 
 has been pleased to take to Himself the most affec- 
 tionate of fathers ; and on our part it is almost a 
 selfish feeling to mourn for one that we well know 
 has gone to a far happier world ; but it is very hard 
 to bear up against the severest sorrow that could 
 have been sent." . . . "There is a great deal of 
 work in the shape of duty going on now, which 
 perhaps is a good thing for me, as it helps to keep 
 my mind employed for the time ; but I find it difficult, 
 when alone, to keep my thoughts from wandering 
 amongst you, which makes me more and more 
 unhappy. Every one has been uncommonly kind 
 to me, and sympathizes with me, almost as if they 
 had known the beloved one for whom we mourn." 
 
 On his arrival at Bombay, in June, 1846, Johnson 
 was kindly received and entertained by his cousin, 
 Captain Tom Turner, of the Engineers, who had 
 married a daughter of Sir Herbert Compton ; and 
 he was gazetted to the 6th Bombay Native Infantry 
 in the autumn of this year. Colonel William Macan 
 
EARLY DAYS. H 
 
 was commandant of the regiment, which was 
 stationed at Sattara. His particular friends in it 
 were Captain Glasspoole, a Norfolk man, and Jervis 
 Harpur, "Jarvey," as he was always called, now 
 General Harpur. It was at Sattara that he first 
 became acquainted with Outram and his wife, who 
 were there at that time ; and he was again thrown 
 with them, when, in January, 1848, the regiment was 
 moved to Baroda, the capital of the territory of His 
 Highness the Guikwar. He wrote, on the march for 
 Mahableshwur : 
 
 " As far as this, I have enjoyed my march particu- 
 larly, and am living as comfortably as if I were in a 
 house. I always send my tent and two or three 
 servants on overnight, so as to have it pitched and 
 ready by the time we come up in the morning, and 
 keep a small rowtie to sleep in. Glasspoole, of ours, 
 is living with me in the same tent, as he does not 
 possess one of his own ; he is a very jolly, good- 
 natured fellow, and we get on famously together, 
 considering it is our first march. We march down 
 the other side of the ghat to-morrow morning, and 
 shall be in Bombay about the 20th." 
 
 On arriving at Bombay he changed his river-boat 
 for a larger one, to bring him up to Cambay. In his 
 own words : " I hoisted the main-sail to the wind and 
 
12 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 wished for morning, but all the sails in the world 
 would never have persuaded such an old bucket as I 
 was in to move more than fourteen miles a day ; but 
 notwithstanding that mine was such a slow coach, it 
 was one of the fastest of the whole fleet, fifteen in 
 number, beating the adjutants by several lengths and 
 the commanding officer's by three days. It is four 
 marches between the place we landed at and Baroda. 
 I was agreeably surprised with the beauty of the 
 country, which strikes one particularly coming out 
 of the Deccan, though Guzerat is as flat as a pan- 
 cake ; there are parts in it which almost resemble a 
 gentleman's park in England." 
 
 In 1848 he wrote to his sister, that he had had his 
 first attack of fever, and described it as " a sensation 
 of a blacksmith's shop, or iron steamer manufactory 
 going on in my head ; but four dozen very hungry 
 leeches soon put me all to rights." He writes of his 
 furniture at this time as consisting of " a couple of 
 chairs, a brace of tables, two candlesticks, two hog- 
 spears, and a book-shelf." In a letter to his father 
 he describes his household : " I am obliged to keep 
 nine servants : one to wait upon me at dinner ; one 
 to take care of my clothes and kit ; another to 
 clean knives and shoes, sweep the house, and so on. 
 One man to take care of the pony, a dog boy, a 
 
EARLY DAYS. 13 
 
 washerman, a tailor, a man that calls himself a 
 gardener, and lastly a 'puggy/ which being inter- 
 preted means a watchman, who is supposed to keep 
 thieves out of your house at night, but in truth is 
 nothing more nor less than a robber himself. Every 
 officer in camp is obliged to have one of these beings, 
 otherwise he would have everything walked away with 
 in no time. It is a curious piece of policy, you will say, 
 keeping a robber to keep others away, but it is the 
 case ; and if I were to discharge my puggy to-morrow, 
 he would tell his caste, and my house would be 
 cleared out in a month or two ; and if he could not 
 succeed in this, he would catch me out shooting 
 some day and give me a bit of knife, or pot me 
 with an arrow from behind a hedge, so I think 
 it best to keep at peace with this canine race ! 
 The latter part of last month (March) gave us a 
 specimen of Baroda weather; we were just able 
 to keep ourselves warm, the thermometer being 
 only 1 39 ! It was the hottest ten days I have 
 ever experienced, and the atmosphere is so extremely 
 moist." 
 
 A little later he wrote : " The hot winds are begin- 
 ing to blow, and all sorts of artificial means are 
 adopted to keep the house in a bearable state — 
 tatties, thermantidotes, and punkahs; but as you 
 
14 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 must have a very small idea what these things mean, 
 it will be as well to tell you that the tatty is a sort of 
 lattice frame made of bamboo, in which is placed a 
 grass called cuscus, and put in the doorway or 
 window, and kept constantly wet, with the wind 
 blowing through it. The thermantidote is a sort of 
 winnowing machine, to make artificial air. I can't 
 afford any of these luxuries, but most of the bigwigs 
 have got them. My house is 96 in the shade in 
 the daytime." 
 
 At Baroda Johnson's chief friends were Colonel 
 and Mrs. Hale, and the two brothers John and 
 William Leckie, in the 13th and 22nd Regiments ; 
 also the Outrams, until they left for Deesa in 
 September. He spoke of Outram's wishing all the 
 officers to get a banquet given by the Guikwar of 
 Baroda, which he described in a letter to his sister. 
 "His Highness sent carriages for us; a great improve- 
 ment on the elephants, which generally take us on 
 these occasions. The first entertainment was some 
 nautching, in which two very uninviting black females 
 attempted a fas de deux, not quite a la Cerito, or 
 Fanny Essler, as you may imagine. They danced 
 and sang, or made a noise, at the same time, and wore 
 nuts in their noses, which had a very unbecoming 
 effect. The dinner was the most satisfactory part, 
 
EARLY DAYS. 15 
 
 I thought, and some capital ice after dinner. Next 
 to this came some fireworks, but the attention of 
 most of us was taken away from these by the native 
 officer commanding the Guikwar's troops, who was 
 the worse for a couple of bottles of champagne. The 
 way he tumbled over his men and into the lamps 
 was very ridiculous. The first shower fell on the 
 27th of last month (June), and the growth of the grass 
 was the most ridiculous thing I ever saw, for not 
 having had any rain since October last, you can 
 fancy the dusty look of the country ; but two morn- 
 ings after the first shower everything was perfectly 
 green." 
 
 In the beginning of 1849 he took a house at 
 Baroda with his friend Harpur, H a gentleman," he 
 writes, " in blood and manners, which is an article you 
 don't always meet with in these parts. We have not 
 fallen out yet, and the chances are we shall get on 
 very well. He has the best part of the house ; I 
 gave him his choice, on condition I might choose 
 the stabling." Johnson had an Arab horse, called 
 
 II The Arab's Choice," to which he was devoted, and 
 which carried him perfectly. This horse he often 
 mentions in his letters ; he was afterwards lost, with 
 all his other possessions, in the Mutiny, a loss he 
 never ceased to deplore. 
 
16 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Baroda was famous for 
 pig-sticking, of which he was very fond. He 
 describes an expedition with Harpur, Battye, and 
 some other friends : * We killed five altogether 
 in the two days' hunting — three boars and two 
 sows ; Battye stuck two of the boars, and I the 
 other. Lodwick, our Brigade Major, and Graham 
 stuck a sow each. Harpur and Smith were both on 
 indifferent horses, but rode famously ; " and again, 
 of another hunt : " I got one boar to my own cheek ; 
 he was the largest we killed, and such fine tushes, 
 about seven inches long, and as sharp as the point of 
 a pin. He knew how to use them, too, for he ripped 
 my horse (the dear little bay) slightly, and another 
 dreadfully — tore its leg entirely to pieces ; I never 
 saw such a dreadful wound. One of the poor beaters 
 was mauled, though not severely — only a rip across 
 the thigh about four inches long, but rather deep — 
 he will soon be well again. Pig-sticking is certainly 
 a very fine sport, and, in my opinion, Dubka is a sort 
 of everything to Baroda. The best thing the Rajah 
 ever did, I should think, is allowing us to hunt there ; 
 at least, I have not enjoyed anything so much since 
 I have been in India. It has quite put a stop to all 
 my shooting. I have now seen a little fox-hunting 
 and a little hog-hunting, and, in my humble opinion, 
 
EARLY DAYS. 17 
 
 the fox gives the best amusement, and the hog the 
 best sport ; but I prefer the society of a hunt in 
 England, and if I had my choice, I would rather ride 
 with you and Charlie to see the hounds throw off at 
 home, than go after the largest boar that ever was 
 born out here." 
 
[8 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SPORT AT BARODA— PIG AND TIGER. 1849-1851. 
 
 In February, 1849, Johnson wrote to his brother: 
 " I think you will like to hear of a three days' trip 
 we had to Dubka, about fifteen miles from this, on 
 the banks of the Myr ; but first of all I must tell 
 you that the Rajah went there to his preserves on a 
 shooting expedition. Captain French, his Resident 
 here, and Battye, his assistant, asked me to go out 
 there with them ; in fact, the whole camp were 
 asked, but only Glasspoole and myself went. The 
 first day we did nothing but a little innocent snipe- 
 shooting. The next morning we went out with the 
 Rajah to see the cheetah hunting — very tame work, 
 but curious and interesting to see once. The deer 
 are much tamer in these preserves than any I have 
 yet seen in India. Of course, it is easier to account 
 for, as no one is allowed to shoot there. The 
 cheetahs are all taken on carts drawn by two 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER. 19 
 
 bullocks, and as soon as they are able to get within 
 150 or 200 yards of the deer, the hood is taken off 
 his eyes, and he is slipped at them. He generally 
 picks out the buck, does not go very fast at first, but 
 when he gets fairly into his stride, you never saw 
 such wonderful speed. You will fancy what it is, 
 when I tell you he will catch a black buck before 
 he has run 150 yards. As soon as he comes up to 
 him, he darts at his throat, and, with the wonderful 
 impetus, they roll over and over for about twenty 
 yards, but he never leaves go his hold, and there 
 they remain until some one comes up and secures 
 the cheetah and cuts the deer's throat. They don't 
 appear to have much pluck, for if they are not able 
 to catch the deer before he has run 300 or 400 yards, 
 they give in, and are brought back and put in the 
 cart again. 
 
 " We got back to breakfast about two p.m., and 
 after breakfast I told Battye I was going to look after 
 some pig, in what I thought was a very likely place, 
 and asked him to bring a spear and come too, in case 
 we saw anything ; but he was tired, and said it was 
 of no use going out without having made an arrange- 
 ment beforehand. However, this did not stop me, 
 and I got hold of six beaters and went by myself, 
 and before we had been in the jungle ten minutes 
 
lo TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 (it was low jungle with an open space here and 
 there in it) up started five and went into the thick 
 part again ; after beating about half an hour we 
 started another, which came back towards me. I got 
 a scurry for about five minutes amongst the trees 
 and bushes, which were so thick I soon lost him. 
 Well, coming home we were so fortunate as to come 
 across about fourteen, going over the hills to feed. 
 They did not see me until I came within about 
 eighty yards of them, and then most of them cut 
 away as soon as possible, but two of the larger ones 
 stood and looked at me, as if they did not know what 
 was going on. However, as soon as I got close upon 
 them, they turned round and went away : two 
 across a scraggy hedge (no jump) into a road, and 
 out the other side into a sort of plain, with a quantity 
 of low bushes every here and there. I picked out the 
 largest I saw, and went after him for about a couple 
 of miles. I could not get anywhere near him at 
 first. I had no idea they went such a pace. At last 
 I began to gain upon him, and came within about 
 ten yards of him, when, to my horror, he disappeared 
 in some jungle I had not seen before, and I lost him. 
 If I had known he had been making for this covert, 
 I would have pressed him more at first, but he 
 dodged round the bushes so actively, I could not 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER, 21 
 
 have killed him by myself. The ground was rough 
 and hard, but no holes and very little jumping. He 
 went through two thick prickly-pear hedges, which, 
 I should have thought, would have pierced any other 
 animal to death ; they were quite low, and I was 
 surprised he did not jump them ; but from what I saw, 
 I fancy they never jump anything. He went a wonder- 
 ful pace, much faster than I expected ; but this was a 
 perfectly fresh hog, which had not been hunted about 
 by the beaters beforehand, as is generally the case. 
 The horse, the new bay one, carried me, like the 
 perfect darling that he is. He jumps beautifully, and 
 is very clever at getting over rough, broken ground ; 
 in fact, he is quite perfection. 
 
 " Now for the next day, the big go, when the Rajah 
 turned out with all his retinue of elephants and 
 horses : about three thousand beaters are sent to one 
 side (a large space of jungle with the river Myr on 
 the other) ; they surround the game and beat it all 
 towards the Rajah (who sits on one of the elephants 
 with a silk umbrella, eating betel-nuts), and as soon 
 as a head of game of any description shows itself, 
 some of his horsemen with spears and swords go 
 after it. I was so glad when the poor deer escaped ; 
 and once I forgot myself and halloa' d out * hurrah ' 
 when a poor hare, with about five hundred people of 
 
22 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 every description after it, with dogs, etc., escaped 
 unhurt, much to the disgust of the Maharajah. 
 Battye and I sent on our horses and spears ahead, 
 and came down on one of the elephants to the ground, 
 where we dismounted. However, I missed Battye in 
 the crowd, and did not see him again till the end of 
 the day, so I got my horse and went on beyond 
 where the Rajah was, and waited for the first hog 
 that came by : and, sure enough, in about half an 
 hour they began to come, and as soon as I saw one 
 large one, with a lot of fellows after him, I gathered 
 up the reins and followed. I don't know whether it 
 is the natives' fault or their horses', but certainly they 
 could not go any pace at all, and as soon as I put the 
 steam on, I passed them like a shot, and when I got 
 into a small open space, I went still faster, as fast as 
 I could go, got the spear down, and gave it to him as 
 deep as I could. As he felt the spear, he gave a grunt 
 and turned round at me ; but I was going much too 
 fast to get damaged in any way. After this he got 
 into a patch of jungle about a hundred yards square, 
 and there he remained, charging everything that came 
 near him. I rode at him again, and before I could 
 get the spear at him, he turned round as I was 
 passing him, and tried to rip up the horse; fortu- 
 nately his lower tush caught my foot below the instep, 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER, 23 
 
 and saved him (the horse), giving me nothing more 
 than a bruise across the leather of the boot. He was 
 one of the most savage beasts I ever saw ; he came 
 across a poor little boy on foot, about fourteen or 
 fifteen years old, knocked him down, ripped up his 
 arm, and sent his tush in an inch and a half deep, 
 and there he stood, with the fellow's turban in his 
 mouth looking, at him. Afterwards I came at him 
 again, and when I got within eight yards he turned 
 round and charged me. Fortunately my horse made 
 a spring and cleared him, and got off scot-free. 
 Afterwards the other fellows killed him, which I was 
 very glad of; but it was my hog, as I struck him first, 
 but I can't say it was much credit, as no white faces 
 were riding against me. Afterwards Battye and I 
 went after another, and came up to him together, 
 but I was nearest the hog, and was getting the spear 
 down, when he turned sharp round, came against the 
 horse, and sent us both spinning about twenty yards. 
 I picked up the spear, and went to work again, 
 but Battye had killed him before I reached him. 
 He was a very large hog, but not so big as the 
 first one. Thus ended the best three days' sport 
 I have yet had in India. I came back to the 
 huts pretty well done, with the happy prospect of a 
 fifteen-mile ride back into camp. I got here at 
 
24 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 two in the morning, and had to turn out at four 
 for parade." 
 
 In May, 1849, he describes an excursion after 
 bears : " I started on the evening of the 1 3th April, 
 rode out the first eight miles on a horse I got for the 
 occasion, and went the rest of the way in a cart, 
 arriving at Champaneer, the village I intended to 
 stay at, at sunrise. We were delayed in the middle 
 of the night by our guide, who, as soon as he had 
 got us well into the middle of the wood, thought fit 
 to run away, and it was two or three hours, after 
 having gone in the wrong direction, that we found 
 another. This fellow seemed inclined to bolt too, 
 so I secured some of his clothes, and put them 
 behind me in the cart, and we got on without any 
 trouble. It is a beautiful country for shooting, just 
 at the beginning of that long range of hills running 
 down to Surat. I got on famously with the natives 
 out there. They were very independent, and almost 
 every one carries his matchlock, to pot the deer 
 when they come in their way. However, I found 
 that by treating them well, and paying them well, 
 I became capital friends with them, and they want 
 me to go out again after the first fall of rain, when 
 they say I shall shoot cheetah and sambre to any 
 amount I shot two bears ; they were very large 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER. 25 
 
 ones — indeed, one was upwards of five feet. It is 
 difficult to come across them, because they only 
 come out at night to feed, and come back to their 
 caves at daybreak, where they remain the whole day, 
 so the only plan is to get up in the night, and be 
 ready to receive them up at the rocks, as they come 
 home in the morning. I was disappointed the first 
 time, for none came ; but one of the beaters, a 
 famous fellow, always in the right place, spied 
 one at some distance going under a great piece of 
 rock, and after a good deal of hullabalooing and 
 rolling down pieces of rock, out he came with 
 a rush, making a tremendous row, something 
 between a hoarse pig and a bull. I shot him 
 before he had gone half-a-dozen yards, and he died 
 instantaneously. 
 
 " The other one I got two or three days afterwards, 
 at a village about seven miles further on. I arrived 
 there about midnight; two bears came home just before 
 sunrise, but went into some holes too far away to be 
 shot at. Again the next morning I was up there, 
 and put myself close to the hole that I thought was 
 their favourite one. They soon came. I dropped a 
 bullet into the largest; he began twirling round 
 and round on his hind legs, and I thought he was 
 done for, and shot the second barrel at the other, 
 
26 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 thinking it would be such a fine thing to have a 
 double shot at bears, and bag them both ; but to my 
 great dismay he got up, and before I could get 
 another gun, both of them had got under the rocks. 
 The following morning, behind a clump of bamboos, 
 they came out growling, and evidently remarkably 
 sulky. I shot at one, and hit him very hard indeed, 
 but it did not stop him. I ran after him with the 
 second barrel, and found them both together behind 
 a large stone. One got off, but I got the first one, 
 as he could not go any further. I got Walker's gun, 
 which was loaded with Eley's cartridges, and fired 
 a couple of shots at him, but I might as well have 
 thrown my hat at him. They won't answer at 
 all for bears ; they have such immense bone and 
 muscle. 
 
 " Great excitement took place at the spot where we 
 encamped in, one evening just after sunset. I was 
 away at the top of the hill, but my washerman and 
 two cartmen were sitting talking together, when up 
 comes a very hungry-looking tiger, and stood and 
 looked at them for about half a minute. All three 
 of them were in such fright, that not one had breath 
 enough to holloa out and drive him away ; at the last 
 they all crawled up to the top of the cart, and the 
 beast went away without doing any damage. There 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER. 27 
 
 were a great many tigers at the second place I went 
 to; pugs in every direction. I sat out the whole of one 
 night to wait for them to come and drink. They all 
 came round me ; I was in a tree about twelve feet 
 from the ground, but as the night was nearly pitch 
 dark, I was unable to see them. They made a fear- 
 ful row, and appeared to smash everything that came 
 in their way. The noise they made was unlike any- 
 thing I ever heard ; a sort of peculiar gurgling in the 
 throat, which one could have heard a mile off. I saw 
 a panther one day as I was looking for bears ; I ran 
 after him to try and get a shot, but he sneaked away. 
 The bears shed two of the most beautiful skins you 
 ever saw. I did my best to take care of them. A 
 curious incident happened one day. Whilst one of 
 the beaters was passing two or three large pieces of 
 rock with some holes under them, out comes a large 
 she bear, roaring like a bull, and makes for the first 
 one she sees, knocks him down, lays hold of him, 
 shaking and biting him very badly indeed. She was 
 soon shouted and pelted off, and was coming to 
 Glasspoole, to serve him the same, but a shot turned 
 her, and she did not do any more damage. They 
 picked the man up, who was senseless from fright and 
 pain, but they soon brought him round again with a 
 little brandy." 
 
28 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 In April, 1850, Johnson made another expedition 
 to the same place, and writes : " The bears apparently 
 got such a dusting last year, that they have almost 
 deserted the place where we used to shoot them, but 
 the last day coming home we had a bit of excitement 
 after one, and boned him too. He didn't at all appear 
 to relish being disturbed so early after his nightly 
 rovings, for he tried hard to lay hold of one or two of 
 the beaters, and one very wisely jumped up in a tree 
 as quickly as he could. I killed him the third shot with 
 Walker's gun, the bullet passing through one ear and 
 out at the other. He was a fine bear, and I shall keep 
 the skin and the skull. There was bear's-grease to 
 any extent, but the idea of saving any never entered my 
 head, or I would have done so. I shall try to go out 
 again for three days at the full moon, not exactly to 
 the same place, but ten miles further on, where a man 
 is going to dig a hole for me, close to some water, 
 where I am to be deposited at sunset, and he declares 
 I shall have three or four shots." It was here John- 
 son for the first time met Captain Fulljames, Com- 
 mandant of the Guzerat Horse, and afterwards so 
 intimate a friend. 
 
 A book, called " Traits and Anecdotes of Animals," 
 was published in 1861, by Bentley & Son, to which 
 Johnson contributed the following remarks on shooting 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER. 29 
 
 bears : " Bears generally go in couples. On one 
 occasion I became aware of some rocks, where bears 
 were known to live, but there was no getting them 
 out. Knowing that they always go out to feed at 
 night, and return about sunrise, I went before dawn 
 to the rocks, and had hardly taken up my position, 
 before I saw them coming one after the other. I took 
 a shot at the leading one, and hit him somewhere 
 about his tail ; he was probably under the impression 
 that his companion had bitten him on the stern, for 
 he turned round and furiously seized him ; they both 
 rolled over, and had a most terrible battle ; it was 
 truly ludicrous. I have seldom known tigers or 
 bears to charge without provocation or being wounded. 
 I have seen and shot many bears, and only on one 
 occasion have I seen them make an assault. It 
 was when a party of men were going through 
 some rocks, a bear came out suddenly, seized one 
 of the beaters, shook him well, put him down, and 
 escaped. Bears sometimes carry off a wonderful deal 
 of lead. I have shot them through and through, 
 and yet they have made their way into the jungle 
 and escaped." 
 
 In a letter to his mother from Baroda, he describes 
 the robberies that took place there. " The Guzera- 
 tees," he says, " are famous hands at this work ; they 
 
30 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 generally prefer boring holes through walls to any 
 other plan ; they then grease their bodies all over, so 
 if any one tries to catch them, they slip through 
 their fingers like an eel." In another letter he says : 
 " Nixon is gone away sick, and I am acting for him 
 as Quartermaster, Paymaster, and Interpreter. I 
 have quite enough to live upon, and don't want any 
 more. As for making a fortune out here, I wouldn't 
 do it if I could. In my humble opinion, a great deal 
 too much money goes home from this country. We 
 have taken India, and have improved its manu- 
 factures and agriculture, but this is no reason why the 
 value of the whole of the produce should go to 
 England, which it does in great measure, while the 
 poorer clases out here have scarcely bread to put in 
 their mouths. What I mean is, that the value of the 
 productions of this country should be spent in it, 
 and not go further." 
 
 His time at Baroda was by no means all spent in 
 sport, much as he loved it. He worked very hard at 
 the languages, and passed the Interpreter's examin- 
 ation in Hindustani and in Mahratti. In January, 
 1850, he wrote from Bombay to his mother of the 
 latter examination : " I see by this morning's paper 
 that my name is at the top of the list, so I must 
 have made the best examination of the lot, which is 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER, 31 
 
 more than I expected." There was no one in the 
 station who had passed in Mahratti, or indeed knew 
 anything about it ; and this advantage made him 
 eligible for staff appointments. Lord Falkland, 
 who had for some time promised to help him, 
 appointed him acting adjutant of the Southern 
 Mahratta Horse, stationed at Belgaum, with a 
 promise that if he remained steady he should gain 
 advancement. 
 
 He left Baroda in the autumn of 1850 for Belgaum, 
 where he was stationed about six months. He was 
 very happy there, and enjoyed the climate, place, 
 and society as well as the sport, of which there was 
 a good deal. He had some excellent pig-sticking, 
 and shot some panthers. In May, 185 1, Lord Falk- 
 land appointed him to the adjutancy of the Guzerat 
 Horse, stationed at Ahmadabad, of which Captain 
 Fulljames was Commandant. 
 
 He left Belgaum for Bombay to take up this 
 appointment in May, and did the 303 miles in seven 
 days and a half, the quickest march he had done as yet. 
 He rode on ponies by day and travelled in bullock- 
 carts at night. Writing to his brother in July, 1851, 
 from Ahmadabad, he says : " I don't know what to 
 think of this place. One seldom likes a place till one is 
 settled, and I have a wretched hole to live in, as bad a 
 
32 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 situation as could be — the city wall, which is about 
 as high as the roof, running close in front of it on the 
 west, and thereby keeping off every bit of the only 
 good wind we have. But this will not last very long, as 
 I hope soon to get something settled about the bit of 
 ground I want on the opposite side of the river, and 
 then I can begin my own house. From inquiries I 
 have made, it will be much less expensive than I antici- 
 pated. I should say it will be nearer 1 500 than 2000 
 rupees ; but even if it cost 2500 rupees I should be a 
 gainer rather than a loser, besides the comfort of 
 living in one's own house and garden, instead of being 
 in the middle of a dirty city. I like what I have seen 
 of Captain and Mrs. Fulljames : he is a thorough 
 straightforward gentleman and a first-rate soldier, 
 and every one is very fond of Mrs. Fulljames." 
 
 They did not, however, remain much longer at 
 Ahmadabad, for in September, 1 851, he wrote to his 
 mother: "We have lost our old Commandant, Captain 
 Fulljames, much to the regret of every one, as he 
 had been with the regiment about ten years, and was 
 much beloved ; there is not a man in the corps who 
 won't regret him. He goes to take up a Political 
 Agency in the country north of Baroda." His 
 successor was Captain Leeson. Mrs. Leeson was 
 a great rider across country, and Johnson often 
 
SPORT AT BARODA — PIG AND TIGER, 33 
 
 lent her his favourite " Arab's Choice." " It is 
 worth five rupees of any one's money," he said, 
 " to see the way she puts him along : it is quite 
 magnificent." 
 
34 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AHMADABAD — LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIG- 
 STICKING. 1851-1854. 
 
 The city of Ahmadabad stands on the river Sam- 
 bermutta. It contains most splendid mosques and 
 tombs of the kings of Guzerat, and is noted for the 
 elaborate beauty of the carving on many of the old 
 houses, as well as on the mosques and tombs. There 
 are magnificent trees on each side of the broad road 
 which connects the city with the cantonment. It was 
 taken by the British in 18 17, and has gone on steadily 
 increasing in importance ever since. 
 
 The house which Johnson built for himself was 
 situated on the bank of the river, looking across to 
 the city ; it consisted of dining-room, bedroom, and 
 office, with excellent stables, well, and gardens. "You 
 will be surprised," he wrote, * when I tell you I can 
 get fifty square feet of masonry, bricks and all, finished 
 for five shillings. All the houses here are built of old 
 bricks which abound in every direction — they are 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIGSTICKING. 35 
 
 found close under the surface of the ground — the 
 whole place appears to be one mass of ruins. The 
 stables are built after a plan of my own, and are very 
 much approved by all who have seen them." 
 
 In October, 185 1, he wrote to his brother: "I 
 have lots of employment now, having twelve years 
 of official correspondence to read up about the 
 Guzerat Horse, and they are going to make me 
 a magistrate, so I must read up Guzeratti for my 
 magisterial business. What with the new house 
 and garden, the new flute and the magisterial duties, 
 I hope to keep myself out of mischief for the 
 next few years. There's a report that the 6th are to 
 go to Loheia to fight the Arabs, and catch the man 
 who murdered Captain Milne the other day near Aden. 
 If a native regiment, it would probably be the 6th, 
 but I doubt if Government would send a large body 
 of troops on such a wild-goose chase as this would be. 
 I believe the Loheia people are perfectly defenceless, 
 and can only run away ; but if they go across the 
 desert and we have to follow them, it would be a 
 great bore." Later he writes : " There is a rumour 
 just arrived that the Governor and Commandant have 
 just come down from the hills post-haste, to send off 
 troops to the Cape. This interests me particularly, 
 because if they send the 6th I shall be very happy to 
 
36 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 go with them. I should much prefer going to fight 
 the Hottentots at the Cape, to running after Arabs 
 and living upon coffee at Mocha." 
 
 In February, 1852, Billy went to live in his new 
 house (which he had sold, after commencing it, to a 
 Parsee, who finished it for him), and here he lived with 
 his friend Nicholson. He writes : " I am as happy 
 and comfortable as I can be, with such nice people as 
 the Leesons, Babingtons, Seward and Whitehill are. 
 I often go over after an evening ride, and we all dine 
 together, and have a cheroot at the top of the house ; 
 much jollier than dining at home, which I have a 
 great aversion to. However, I take good care not to 
 go unless I'm asked, because hospitality is carried to 
 such an extent in this country, that a youngster 
 walks into a good-natured man's house, and gets a 
 footing there, and does whatever he likes, until the 
 good-natured man votes him a bore, but does not 
 know how to get rid of him ; and this is how the 
 good-natured man gets into debt, because it appears 
 a natural consequence that every one who comes to 
 see you must be in a state of thirst, and must have a 
 bottle of soda-water and brandy, and then a cheroot 
 or two, as a matter of course, to finish off with. I 
 send a picture of my estate. You must understand 
 that the bed of the river is a quarter of a mile broad, 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIG-STICKING. 37 
 
 but the stream, except in the monsoon, is only about 
 forty or fifty yards, and in many places quite shallow. 
 The bank on which our house stands is a good height 
 above the river, so we are well open to the breeze." 
 
 Besides the friends above named, with whom he 
 lived at Ahmadabad, much as if they were one large 
 family, there were Harington Bulkley, and Gordon 
 Cumming, brother of the celebrated lion-hunter, both 
 very keen sportsmen, and to both of whom Johnson 
 was greatly attached. They were employed in the 
 Revenue Survey Department in Guzerat. Poor 
 Bulkley lost his life in consequence of a wound from 
 a tiger, which caused an abscess, from which, after 
 undergoing an operation some years later, he died. 
 "Billy" described this adventure in a letter to his 
 mother from Poona : " My friend Bulkley has been 
 boned by a tiger, and a good deal mouthed. He is 
 up here now on sick certificate ; and though his back 
 and shoulder are a good deal lacerated, he is in just 
 as good spirits as ever, and being old friends, we are 
 a good deal together. The tiger, without being 
 wounded, charged him out of some bushes, and 
 Bulkley, having the hundred yards sight up, missed 
 it coming on. It bowled him over and caught him 
 in his mouth by the shoulder, shook him, dragged 
 him down the ravine, and then let him go. The 
 
38 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 wound is awfully poisonous always, and takes a long 
 time to heal." 
 
 With Harington Bulkley and Gordon Cumming 
 Billy had many an expedition after large game. It 
 was about this time that he met with an accident with 
 a panther. "I believe," he wrote, "there is not a 
 more treacherous or dangerous animal than a panther, 
 — many more accidents happen with panthers than 
 with tigers in India. On one occasion we had wounded 
 the mother of some cubs, and we went after her with 
 great caution — well armed with guns, spears, and 
 shields, all covering the puggee or tracker, who went 
 close in front of us. She was waiting, and charged 
 straight on us from behind the root of a tree. I jumped 
 on one side, gave her a shot as she went past, and hit 
 her in the neck. She charged on from one man to 
 another, each having a shot or cut at her with his 
 sword. I never saw such a game brute in my life, 
 as she continued to charge from one to the other, 
 until she had no breath left in her body. We took 
 the cubs home, and I brought one up, and a voracious 
 little savage he proved : he used to hunt the goats 
 and poultry, and finished up by devouring part of a 
 pair of flannel pants and a leather razor-case. I had 
 observed the brute getting poorly, and administered 
 two grains of tartar emetic, and two of calomel, which 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIG-STICKING. 39 
 
 caused him to vomit up the articles. There was once 
 marked down for me in a small patch of bushes a 
 large panther which I knew to be very severely 
 wounded, and I thought disabled. I took my rifle 
 — a handy, double-barrelled Lancaster — and walked 
 towards the bushes. When I was within forty yards, 
 he came out at me so quickly that I had but just 
 time to put up my rifle, and fire both barrels as quick 
 as I could. Most fortunately one bullet entered just 
 above the left eye, and came out behind the ear, 
 somewhat confusing him, but not in the least check- 
 ing his speed. He knocked me over, and bit and 
 clawed me severely. Some of my men of the Guzerat 
 Irregular Horse behaved very well, and, attacking 
 him, drove him off me with their swords and carbines ; 
 we killed him at last, but I had a very narrow escape."* 
 The panther tore him all down his leg, and he used 
 to describe how his native servant rubbed the wounds 
 with brandy, giving him terrible pain. He alludes to 
 this in a letter to his mother : " You seem to have 
 been in a great state of alarm about my accident, 
 which I am sorry for. I think I told you I was nearly 
 all right, and there was no cause to be anxious about 
 it, although it was lucky it was no worse ; and in one 
 
 * This anecdote was published in "Traits and Anecdotes of 
 Animals." 
 
40 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 respect I dare say it is a good thing, as now, perhaps, 
 it will be a warning to take better protection next 
 time. Young Barton, of the Artillery, has been 
 wounded much in the same way, but he was more 
 mauled than I was ; the tiger took him up and shook 
 him, and knocked his head against the rocks ; but he 
 is a tough little chap, and is all right again now. 
 Graham, who was close to him at the time, fell off the 
 same rock down below without a gun, and had the 
 satisfaction of looking on, expecting his turn would 
 come next, and as soon as the brute caught his eye 
 he came at him, but luckily missed him." 
 
 In September, 1852, "Billy" wrote to his brother, 
 describing the Ahmadabad races : " My little horse, 
 The Arab's Choice, has been doing wonders, and has 
 proved himself the best horse in Guzerat. I put him 
 in four of the best races, and he won them all, the 
 last with the greatest ease in the world. I always 
 knew he was a good, game little nag, but never the 
 least expected he was coming out in this way. Lots 
 of chaps want to get hold of him, but I have refused 
 three thousand rupees for him. He has won me 
 eight hundred rupees by stakes and entrances, and 
 I won between six and seven hundred rupees more, 
 in backing my own opinion. The horse cost me 
 nine hundred rupees, so, you see, he has won me 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIG-STICKING. 41 
 
 more than his price. What the horse's pedigree is, I 
 don't know, but he certainly must have some first-rate 
 lasting blood in him, for he was not the least dis- 
 tressed, although, as far as speed goes, for a short 
 distance, some of his races were very close indeed. 
 He's a well-made horse, and his style of galloping 
 beautiful, but the great perfection in his build is, he 
 has such fine, large, flat legs between the knee and 
 fetlock — a part where Arabs almost invariably break 
 down. A native always rides for me, an old man ; but 
 more about him next time, as now I must tell you 
 about the grand event, the steeplechase, which, of 
 course, I rode myself. The distance was about two 
 miles and a half; two brooks ; six hurdles ; two high, 
 broad hedges, and a brick wall ; all artificial except 
 one brook. The hedges were the only big jumps in 
 the race. The first brook I led over with another 
 man, and raced up to the first hurdle, and I landed 
 safe the other side, just as his head came in contact 
 with the ground. He was the only man I was afraid 
 of, and, after this, I had it all my own way, and won 
 in a walk. The Arab jumped everything beautifully, 
 and was very much admired. But the unlucky part 
 of the race is to come. On going to scales, I found 
 that during the race two saddle-cloths had got out 
 from under the saddle without my knowing anything 
 
42 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 about it at the time, and I was under weight by about 
 half a pound. It was so near, that I actually got the 
 weight off the ground, but could not weigh it down ; 
 and the stewards were obliged to give it against me ; 
 so the second horse got the stakes, and I and the 
 Arab the honour of coming in first. It was a loss to 
 me of £$o t which is a consideration at any time, 
 but I was more sorry, on account of the men who 
 had backed the horse. I even saddled him my- 
 self, and did not think it possible anything could 
 escape, but at each jump they must by degrees 
 have worked themselves out, and then flew away 
 behind." 
 
 About the same time he wrote : " I hate this 
 country quite as much as ever, and rather more, if 
 possible. I can't make a residence out of England, 
 I want to see some healthy-looking English faces 
 again ; I feel as if even that would do me good. 
 We are all of us on a wild-goose chase after some 
 murderers, about eighty or a hundred miles off, and 
 we are going to try and put some salt on their tails ; 
 but I am afraid they are quite sure to get news of 
 our whereabouts, and bolt before we get near them. 
 We shall get a lot of snipe, and perhaps have a run 
 after a pig." He writes later : " We contrived to get 
 three days' hunting, and killed five pig. The first 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIG-STICKING. 43 
 
 run was the only good one, and I think was the best 
 I ever have seen, and certainly the longest, for I 
 suppose from the place we found to the place where 
 the pig died, could not have been less than five miles, 
 and over a very excellent country, which made it 
 all the better fun, and we were all close up at the 
 first spear, which was taken by one Barton, who 
 thoroughly deserved it, for he rides magnificently. 
 I never saw a man ride a pig so perfectly as he does. 
 He belongs to the Artillery, rather short and stoutly 
 made, and rides an Arab galloway, one of the 
 cleverest animals I suppose that ever was foaled. 
 It is a treat to see a man go across country in the 
 way he does." 
 
 In March, 1853, Billy was appointed second in 
 command, during the absence of his friend Nicholson, 
 who held that post, and with whom he lived. He 
 was also acting adjutant. Early in the month he 
 had a few days' leave for shooting, and wrote to his 
 mother: "Here I am at a place called Rehma 
 Tursung, not far from the Myr River, under some 
 mango trees, and sitting on my bed in a very small 
 tent, ten feet by eight, and the sun just getting up — 
 three camels and horses of sorts, and a waterman's 
 bullock picketed close by. This is such a nice place, 
 nothing but mango trees and large rocks, and no end 
 
44 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 of a wild country all round. It seems quite a relief 
 after Ahmadabad, and I could stop here with pleasure 
 a couple of months. The men are gone down to the 
 rocks in the river to-day, and I hope will be able to 
 find the whereabouts of a tiger, or a panther ; if not, 
 I shall go and beat the ravine in that direction, and 
 they say I am pretty sure to see something. You 
 have no idea how careful I've become since my 
 accident last year. We had a very good run at 
 Warwal, one of the best I have ever seen in India, 
 and lots of difficulties. I met with an accident, as 
 usual, for I got up to the boar first, having ridden 
 him pretty close the whole way, but only touched 
 his back ; and as I prefer a short spear, the head 
 went into the ground, and the butt-end just caught 
 me on the side above the liver. It was very severe, 
 and I had to get off and lie under a tree, but I have 
 felt no ill effects since." 
 
 In May, 1853, he wrote to his sister: "I think 
 I told you I was going after large game as soon as 
 Leeson returned. I shot a large tigress, which they 
 said had killed a couple of men; but this I can't answer 
 for. We had great excitement after an enormous 
 bear one day. I got him marked down beautifully, 
 but he broke in rather a difficult place to get a clear 
 shot at him, and it was some time before I could get 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIGSTICKING. 45 
 
 hold of my second rifle (such a beauty ! one of 
 Leeson's — a Westley Richards, about eleven bore). 
 He charged at the third shot, and when he had got away 
 about fifty yards, came grunting and barking as hard 
 as he could, straight at me. I thought I was most 
 likely in for it again, as I was nearest the brute. I did 
 not know whether to cut or stand, for I had only one 
 barrel loaded, but fortunately stood where I was, and 
 when he got within about twenty yards, let drive, 
 and caught him somewhere between the neck and 
 shoulders, and he turned instanter. Didn't my heart 
 beat ! If I had looked round I should have bolted, 
 for all the niggers sang out to me to get up a tree ; 
 but luckily I did not hear them, as there could not 
 possibly have been time." 
 
 He suffered very much from fever at Ahmadabad 
 in the summer of 1853, and applied for leave to go 
 to Khandalah or Mahableshwur ; but a short trip he 
 took to Cambay did him much good, and he did 
 not go to Mahableshwur until the end of the year, 
 returning by way of Poona. 
 
 The story of these years of his life may well end 
 with two extracts from letters written by his in- 
 timate friends General Harpur and Dr. Greenhow. 
 General Harpur writes : " Poor Jansing ! (I feel I 
 must call him by the old familiar name) he was such 
 
46 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 a plucky, resolute fellow. To us in the regiment he 
 was known as a good, steady, hardworking, zealous 
 soldier,* very fearless and determined, regardless of 
 difficulties. He would go through and carry out 
 anything he took in hand. He was a courageous 
 and keen sportsman, especially in pursuit of large 
 game, and a very reliable man to have by one in 
 time of danger and need." Dr. Greenhow writes : " He 
 was very keen on sport, and used to be intensely 
 excited when a pig was afoot, riding hard to get 
 the first spear, which he often succeeded in doing. 
 Then his marshalling the long line of coolies was a 
 sight to see, explaining as he did to each man what 
 was expected of him, and ending with promises of 
 ' backsheesh ' if they drove out the pig success- 
 fully." 
 
 It is not surprising that a soldier so plucky and 
 resolute was longing for active service in the field. 
 India was at this time perfectly quiet, and it was 
 just now that the war with Russia broke out. Hear- 
 ing that officers were wanted for service with the 
 
 * The following note is from the Regimental Order-book at Ahmada- 
 bad, on Captain Fulljames giving over the command of the Guzerat 
 Horse to Captain Leeson: " Ahmadabad, 9th August, 185 1. To 
 Lieutenant and Adjutant Johnson the Commanding Officer's best 
 thanks are due, for the zeal and service be has performed during the 
 time he has been with the regiment. (Signed) George Fulljames, 
 Commanding Guzerat Irregular Horse." 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIG-STICKING. 47 
 
 Bashi Bozouks, he obtained six months' leave from 
 India on private affairs, intending when he had seen 
 his friends in England to apply at the India House 
 for service in Turkey. On June 19th, 1854, he 
 wrote from Tannah, near Bombay, as follows to his 
 mother : " You know I have been expecting an answer 
 to my application for leave, and at Ahmadabad on 
 the 3rd inst. I found myself in orders for a furlough 
 for six months on private affairs. I settled every- 
 thing as quick as I could ; gave over The Arab's 
 Choice to the care of one of my native officers, to be 
 particularly taken care of, as this is the only thing 
 I have any great affection for, and left the next day 
 for Surat, with a few boxes and one servant, on three 
 camels, pushing on night and day in hopes of catch- 
 ing the last steamer from Surat. I accomplished the 
 155 miles in less than four days, a march which I am 
 sure poor old Charlie Napier could not have grumbled 
 at, and you may fancy what a severe trial it was to find 
 the steamer had started the day before, but had been 
 obliged to put back, having been nearly lost trying 
 to get over the bar. This occasioned me another 
 trip of twelve miles to try and get aboard of her, but 
 the boatmen said they could not manage it with the 
 wind against them. Well, I was obliged to come 
 back to Surat, and the next day started overland to 
 
48 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Bombay. A letter reached me at Surat from the 
 Adjutant-General, saying my leave had been granted, 
 subject to the Government of India's decision, 
 whether or not I should be entitled to receive pay 
 and to retain my appointment in the Guzerat Horse 
 during my absence. I shall go on to-morrow to 
 Bombay, and try to learn if any answer has been 
 received from the Government of Bengal, and if I 
 can retain the appointment; and if so, I shall start 
 by to-morrow's steamer. But I don't like to leave 
 India with the chance of losing my appointment in 
 the Guzerat Horse, which, though a badly paid one, 
 is one of the most gentlemanly we have on this side 
 of India; and having served in this line more than 
 four years, I have no intention of giving it up if I 
 can possibly help it. 
 
 " I have never had such a march in my life as this 
 one. I don't know what I have lived upon. The 
 only things I have enjoyed have been some shrimps 
 now and then, some English bottled beer, and some 
 tea ; but whatever I have lived upon, I am remark- 
 ably well, and fit for anything. It is very odd, but 
 the rougher the life, the better I am in health, and, 
 except last night, I have not had a night's rest in bed 
 since I was at Surat, on the ioth. On the trip down, 
 my camel shut up once in the middle of a plain, and 
 
LARGE GAME SHOOTING, PIG-STICKING. 49 
 
 would not go on, on any terms, and so I had to pad 
 it a short way, which, with the thermometer at 120°, 
 wasn't very nice. At another place, Damaun, they 
 stole my big copper washing-basin, which was a con- 
 siderable loss, and ever since I have had nothing to 
 bathe in but the milk-jug ! You never saw such a 
 country or such roads. There is no made road at all, 
 except what the carts have made for themselves — big 
 ruts, and so awfully uneven in depth, that I was as 
 near as possible capsized lots of times ; and besides 
 this, there are between forty and fifty rivers between 
 this and Surat, and not a single bridge, and no boat 
 at all, so we could not cross them till the tide had 
 run out. I never had such a rough march in my life ; 
 and the people are so dirty, and everything full of 
 bugs, so I have been nearly devoured. . 
 
 "Yesterday the boatmen amused me by flinging 
 away all the water, because I had taken some out to 
 drink, thereby offending their religious prejudices, as 
 they thought ; but it was a mistake, as I had not 
 touched the water. I had a beautiful cut at them 
 afterwards, on finding that they ate fish, which in 
 their caste is strictly forbidden. If I don't get my 
 leave settled to-day, I must remain another month ; 
 at any rate, I am thinking of going to Poona, and I 
 would then call upon Lord Elphinstone. I have 
 
 E 
 
5o TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 brought down the skins, no end of yellow pepper, a 
 Manilla dress, and the big tiger's skull, all in a long 
 box, to be sent round the Cape, in case I don't come 
 myself overland." He finished this letter at Bombay, 
 June 20th: "Been to the Adjutant-General, but the 
 headquarters are at Poona, and I have no answer to 
 the application made to Bengal, so I can't come by 
 this mail, at any rate." 
 
( 5i ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INKERMAN. 1854. 
 
 The various delays recounted in the preceding letter 
 prevented a visit to England. Johnson could only go 
 straight from Bombay to Varna, intending to join the 
 Bashi Bozouks. On his arrival, however, at Varna he 
 found they had been disbanded. He therefore volun- 
 teered his services to Lord Raglan, who attached him 
 to Her Majesty's 20th Foot — "the Fighting 20th" — 
 and he was present at the embarkation of the troops 
 at Varna and subsequent landing at Eupatoria. On 
 his arrival in the Crimea he wrote : — 
 
 " Crimea. Landing Place (no name to it), 
 
 " September 18, 1854. 
 
 "My dearest Mother, 
 
 " You mustn't be alarmed at this paper, 
 but as we have to carry all our goods and chattels on 
 our back, I haven't much room for pen and ink, which 
 
$2 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 I have been obliged to borrow. You will be glad to 
 hear that I have been so fortunate as to get attached 
 to the 20th Queen's. I had great difficulty about it, 
 having no introductions. But I knew Captain Methven, 
 of the Colombo, with the 20th on board, and he very- 
 kindly, when we arrived off the Crimea, sent his boat 
 to take me off the Sovereign, and gave me a passage. 
 The next morning we went to the Caradoc, the boat 
 Lord Raglan was on, and tried to get an interview. 
 His staff were most polite and palavering, but at the 
 same time told me I had very little chance of being 
 attached to the Army in any way ; and as his lord- 
 ship was very busy with lots of people, I could not 
 possibly see him. This was all I could get from them. 
 However, fortunately, just as I was going away, who 
 should come out of the cabin but Lord Raglan him- 
 self, and he asked if I was the man from India. I 
 told him what I wanted, and he did not seem to make 
 much difficulty about it, and asked me what I would 
 like to be attached to ; and as I was then on board 
 the Colombo with the 20th, I said I should like to be 
 with them, for it is a particularly nice regiment ; and 
 he said I might be attached to the 20th, on condition 
 Colonel Horn, the Commandant, had no objection. 
 I never felt much more grateful for anything in my 
 life ; thanked him very much for his kindness, and 
 
INKERMAN. 53 
 
 came away, and got put in orders the same day. I 
 never saw such a nice set of fellows as the 20th are ; 
 and I am now sitting in the Light Company tent 
 writing this on a shako, and living with Lieutenants 
 Leet and MacNeill, two Irishmen of the Light 
 Company, in a little bell tent. Upon my word, after 
 a life in India, I don't think anything of roughing 
 it here. 
 
 " We have met with no opposition to our landing 
 here in the Crimea, which is most unexpected and 
 fortunate. I must soon pull up. I have no idea how 
 this will go, but I have no doubt it will go somehow. 
 We are all ordered to strike our tents directly, and 
 move on to-morrow. We are to carry no tents on 
 with us, and have to take everything we want on our 
 backs. Such a night it was ! — the first we landed. No 
 tents, and wind and rain to any extent, and nothing 
 but the wet sand to lie on. I shall not forget that 
 night for some time. We are all pretty well here. 
 This appears a beautiful climate, and we have all an 
 unfortunate appetite for rations — salt beef and bis- 
 cuits and rum, and not much of that. We are close 
 down to the sea, within ten yards of it, and I had a 
 dip this morning, but I am rather afraid of bathing, 
 as I got fever twice from it in India ; but there is no 
 other means of washing here. We have bought a 
 
54 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 pony between us three for £5, so we shall not have so 
 much to carry on our backs. How I hope you are 
 all right at Enborne, and how I long to hear from 
 you ! but all my letters will be at Constantinople. 
 We march to-morrow morning, and I hope shall 
 make short work of it into Sebastopol. I wrote by 
 the last mail, but they told us too late, after the 
 steamer had gone, so I tore the letter up. I should 
 have tried to get into a cavalry regiment, but not 
 being able to mount myself, should have had very 
 little chance. I am looking forward with great 
 pleasure to a gallop across country with Lucy and 
 Charlie." 
 
 Johnson was present at the engagements of the 
 Alma and Balaclava, and was in the trenches before 
 Sebastopol, but it was at the battle of Inkerman that 
 the 20th Regiment, to which he was attached, so 
 signally distinguished itself. That regiment had a 
 very high prestige. Kinglake writes of it : — " The 
 20th Regiment, with its strength of only three hundred 
 and forty, and armed with the small-bore musket, was 
 yet of so high a quality that it had justly been looked 
 to as a force which might govern the crisis in any 
 fight undertaken for the defence of the English 
 position. The Duke of Wellington once called the 
 20th the most distinguished regiment in the service, 
 
INKERMAN. 55 
 
 and proceeded to justify praise, which at first 
 seemed invidious, by saying it had won all its 
 great store of fame with one battalion. It now has 
 two." * 
 
 The battle of Inkerman began in darkness and mist 
 at five o'clock in the morning of Sunday, the 5th of 
 November, 1854. There is perhaps no history of any 
 other battle in which such great numbers fought on 
 so small a battlefield, and there are few battles which 
 have been so sharply contested, or in which courage 
 and endurance were so conspicuous. "The conduct of 
 the English," writes Lieutenant-Colonel Adye, u was 
 immortal. Though enfeebled by previous fatigue and 
 constant night-watches, and by exposure to wet and 
 wretchedness, on the day of trial eight thousand men 
 resolutely maintained themselves against successive 
 columns of attack of vastly superior numbers, and at 
 last, when almost overpowered, they found an ever- 
 ready and gallant ally at hand to save them in their 
 hour of need." It was stated by Lord Raglan that 
 he must have been attacked by at least fifty thousand 
 men. Kinglake tells the story of the 20th Regiment's 
 share in " governing the crisis " of the fight. " There 
 were," he says, "near Cathcart, dispersed in the 
 brushwood, some men who, though busied like the 
 * " Invasion of the Crimea," vol. v. p. 311. 
 
56 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 rest of his troops in pursuit, could yet be reached by 
 his orders. They were only fifty in number, but they 
 belonged to the 20th, a regiment of historic renown, 
 which is famous for imparting its aggregate quality to 
 the individual soldier. . . . Cathcart gathered together 
 these fifty men, and with these formed rudely in line, 
 undertook to move up against the overhanging body, 
 some seven or eight hundred men, which stood 
 on the crest above him. In ascending to make 
 their attack, these few 20th men were obstructed, and, 
 besides, more or less thrown asunder by the varying 
 abruptness of their activity ; but if aggregate strength 
 was thus neutralized, the individual soldier toiled on 
 with a determination all his own, and the twenty or 
 thirty soldiers who formed the right of the line, had 
 not long been climbing the steep, when they emerged 
 all at once from below, into the close presence of the 
 enemy. Then, panting after their effort, they sprang 
 at the left of the column directly confronting them, 
 and the Russians, there exposed to the onset, began 
 to break and give way, without awaiting the thrust of 
 the bayonet. Here, then, and in several places, the 
 Russians allowed some strong wilful assailant to tear 
 his way in through their ranks, and every intruder into 
 their hostile mass fought hard, as may be supposed, 
 for life no less than for victory, using sometimes 
 
INKERMAN. 57 
 
 the point of the bayonet, sometimes the butt-end 
 of the bayonet, sometimes a ready fragment of rock. 
 The disproportion of numbers was overwhelming, 
 and one must infer, though no witnesses speak, 
 that of the brave men who thus engulfed themselves 
 bodily in the depths of the column, a large proportion 
 fell slain. 
 
 " The strain that had been pressing so long upon 
 General Pennefather's slender resources was now in 
 some measure lightened, by the accession of Brigadier- 
 General Goldie, with a wing of the 20th Regiment, 
 counting 180 men under Colonel Horn, and the 
 approach of the 57th, nearly 200 strong, under 
 Captain Edward Stanley. Lord Raglan ordered 
 an aide-de-camp, Captain Somerset Calthorpe, to 
 bring forward the wing of the 20th and take it at 
 once to General Pennefather. This was speedily 
 done after moving up the Home ridge by ground 
 on the right of the post road. Colonel (now 
 Sir Frederick) Horn, with his men of the 20th, then 
 came under fire, and he at once deployed into 
 line, then began to move down the slope. The 
 state of the atmosphere had by this time changed, 
 and was clear enough to disclose a massive body of 
 Russians pressing up through the brushwood at a 
 distance of about a hundred yards. The men of the 
 
58 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 20th delivered their fire, and manifesting their pre- 
 sence to the enemy's gunners on Shell Hill, drew 
 upon them a shower of artillery missiles. Whilst 
 still a good way off from the column, they understood 
 that they were ordered to charge. They briskly 
 worked their way forward under a powerful fire of 
 both artillery and small arms, which was continually 
 lessening their scanty numbers, but the obstacles of 
 rugged ground and thick brushwood precluded them 
 from executing what an Englishman means by a 
 charge. Thus circumstanced, they advanced firing. 
 Presently they found that the enemy, whilst directly 
 confronting them with his masses, was also over- 
 lapping their line on each of its flanks, and that there 
 was obvious room for question as to what, in such 
 case, they should do, but in the absence of any 
 directions proceeding from higher authority, it was 
 judged that their right course must still be * to force 
 the enemy back down the hill/ and therefore fight 
 on to the utmost against the troops straight in their 
 front. Then ensued a combat, maintained for some 
 time by an industrious use of the firelock, and 
 Colonel Horn's people at length had so nearly ex- 
 hausted their cartridges as to be driven to the 
 expedient of taking ammunition from the pouches 
 of the dead. 
 
INKERMAN. 59 
 
 "But a change of temper came on, and at the 
 thought of the bayonet, these men of the 20th seemed 
 all to have but one will. Despite the hostile masses 
 on their flanks, they were glowing with that sense of 
 power, which is scarce other than power itself. To 
 men of their corps had been committed the charge of 
 a sacred, historic tradition, and if they were to use 
 the enchantment, they must not endure that in their 
 time the spell should be broken. The air was 
 rent by a sound which, unless they be men of the 
 initiated regiment, men speak of as i strange and 
 unearthly/ After nearly a century from the day 
 when their cry became famous, and forty years from 
 the time when it last sounded in battle, these men 
 of the 20th had once more delivered their old 
 ' Minden yell.' * Disregarding alike the force on their 
 right and the force on their left, they sprang at the 
 mass in their front, and drove it down the hillside. 
 Following the post road, they passed over the barrier, 
 and descended some hundreds of yards into the 
 Quarry Ravine ; but by that time they were in a 
 dispersed state. Lieutenant Vaughan chanced to be 
 with the foremost of the pursuing soldiery, and he 
 found himself in command of about a score of men, 
 
 * It was of course by steady practice in the regiment that the art 
 and mystery of the "Minden yell" had been faithfully preserved. 
 
60 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 belonging partly to his own regiment (the 20th), but 
 partly also the Guards and regiments of the 2nd 
 Division. With the aid of a volunteer officer, 
 Lieutenant Johnson, of the Indian Irregular Cavalry, 
 he formed up his men across the road, and moved 
 steadily forward, pushing always before him the 
 enemy's disordered troops. He was approaching the 
 part of the Quarry Ravine where it makes a sudden 
 bend in its course, when, on looking towards the crest 
 straight before him, he saw a Russian light battery 
 brought rapidly on to its edge, and presently he 
 and his men were under its plunging fire. Choosing 
 out a few of the Guards and other men armed with 
 a rifle, he bade them disregard altogether the 
 enemy's infantry, sight the pieces from 300 yards, 
 and steadily shoot at the battery. He was so well 
 obeyed by his marksmen (they knelt down and took 
 aim with studious, deliberate care), that the battery, 
 after firing another round, limbered up and made off 
 in great haste. It was only on the approach of fresh 
 columns that the now scattered fragments of Horn's 
 victorious soldiery, and with them Vaughan's little 
 band, began to fall back from the advanced ground 
 they had reached in the eagerness and heat of pursuit. 
 Colonel Horn's wing of the 20th was never forced 
 back to the crestwork ; sometimes losing, sometimes 
 
INKERMAN. 61 
 
 gaining ground, it remained fighting out in the 
 front. Thus against the whole weight of the forces 
 attacking the right of Home ridge, our people 
 made good the defence, with less than four hundred 
 men." 
 
 Describing a later period of the battle, Kinglake 
 goes on : " Amongst the accession on the right of 
 our line was a score of men under Vaughan [with 
 whom was Lieutenant Johnson], chiefly men of the 
 20th and Guardsmen, whom we saw doing venturesome 
 service in an earlier stage of the battle. From 
 time to time, after retreating a little way, Vaughan 
 caused the men with him to turn and show front, 
 and there being a few among them who had some 
 cartridges left, he was able to vex the assailants with 
 occasional shots. With the right of the battalion, 
 meanwhile, all seemed to be going ill. There, despite 
 all the vehement efforts of the French officers, 
 numbers not only turned and broke in disorder, but 
 fell back so heavily upon the friendly line of the 
 English as to burst their way through it. This 
 occurred at the part of the line where Vaughan had 
 drawn up the small thread of soldiers under him. 
 Yet even in this, the most disorderly part of Vaissier's 
 battalion, there were some that refused to yield. A 
 young French officer hoisted his cap upon the point 
 
62 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 of his uplifted sword and ran out several paces to the 
 front, an English officer * sprang forward and stood 
 by his side ; another and another darted out to the 
 same exposed spot, and there the four remained 
 steadfast, provoking a great flight of musket balls 
 without once being struck." f 
 
 In a letter to his mother, Johnson bears out King- 
 lake's description of the battle, and the part he 
 played in it. 
 
 u November 7th, 1854. Above Sebastopol. 
 
 "It will be safe to write at any rate, for should you 
 hear of this business, without a list of casualties, you 
 will be deeply anxious about me. We had such a go 
 on the 5th ; Alma was a joke to it, as far as the 
 Russian loss was concerned, and our own was very 
 severe, although I hope not half as much as Alma. 
 The 20th, I am glad to say, were in the thick of it, 
 so we have had our share, anyhow, as yet. The 
 fighting was most desperate ; we went into action 
 with about 300 or 400 men (not so many, I think) 
 and 18 officers. We have had one officer killed 
 (poor Dowling, a great friend of mine), and seven 
 wounded, and about 170 men killed and wounded. Our 
 
 * See letter from W. T. J. below. 
 
 t Kinglake's "Crimea," vol. v. p. 307. 
 
INKERMAN. 63 
 
 general, poor Cathcart, was killed ; both our brigadiers 
 wounded (one dead since). Sir George Brown 
 wounded ; in fact, we lost some of our best men 
 yesterday, men we can't spare. Old Cathcart I used 
 to love, like every one else. He got too far down the 
 hill. He was with a lot of the 20th and the Guards, 
 and went after the fellows too far, where there was hard 
 fighting going on to the left and above. There were 
 no end of Russians, columns after columns, and the 
 cavalry all ready below to finish the business when 
 their swarms of infantry had carried the heights. 
 However, part of our division, the Guards, and a few 
 of the 2nd Division, held the ground until the French 
 came up ; and then didn't we give it them : French 
 and ourselves all mixed up together ! I know a 
 French officer and myself* were the two first ahead. 
 I was sure it was all right when we began to advance, 
 but before that we had been out of ammunition ; and 
 although holding the ground as tight as we could, we 
 were driven to the very tops of the heights, when 
 like a perfect godsend the French came to our assist- 
 ance, and the firing was so thick then, and the 
 Russians had gained such confidence, that it was even 
 several minutes before we could make an impression 
 
 * These are doubtless the French and English officers mentioned by 
 Kinglake above. 
 
64 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 on them again. I did not get near enough to the 
 Russians to have a cut at one, but I pelted some 
 with big pieces of stones.* The whizzing of balls 
 and grape was something awful, and I fully expected 
 to be shot every minute. Our colonel, major, and 
 adjutant, our only mounted officers, all had their 
 horses killed. Lots of fellows were tumbling over 
 close to me, and a mounted officer could not live in 
 it for five minutes. I thank God, and so must you 
 all, that I am out of it with whole bones, for I had 
 several shaves, and one ball came through my 
 trousers just below the knee, and another through 
 my coat on the left side. I am glad I have been in a 
 general action at last, and I wasn't as much excited 
 as I expected, and I Can fight as well as any one, for 
 I was well in front; and the Colonel of the 20th, 
 Colonel Horn, after he saw me safe afterwards, shook 
 me by the hand and said, ' Your name shall go to 
 India for this ; at least, it shall if I have anything 
 to do with it/ Very flattering I thought it, though I 
 don't know that I deserve it particularly, except that 
 I did some good, and made the fellows fight as well 
 
 * Kinglake speaks of the fighting with stones : " With some of the 
 Grenadiers on the right, ammunition began to fail, and a few of their 
 immediate adversaries were feeling the same want, for the combatants 
 on each side at this spot, began to hurl against one another some of 
 the loose pieces of rock which strewed the ground." — Vol. v. p. 322. 
 
1NKERMAN. 65 
 
 as I could. Both the fellows in my tent are wounded, 
 and I have not time for any more. The action 
 began at daylight, and they tried to surprise us, and 
 were up to our tents almost before we knew where 
 they were ; but they have met with awful loss. I 
 went over the field of battle yesterday with a 
 bottle of water, to give any fellows I found wounded. 
 I think the Russians must have lost four or five 
 to every one of ours. I had no idea they would 
 fight so well ; I expect they were well crammed 
 with liquor. Duke Constantine was commanding in 
 person." 
 
 Colonel Horn kept his word. He reported the 
 gallant conduct of the young Lieutenant of Indian 
 Horse to the India House, and the Directors for- 
 warded his despatch, with strong approval, to the 
 Governor- General, who emphasized his satisfaction 
 in the most signal manner; he published it to the 
 army in India : — 
 
 " The Right Honourable the Governor in Council 
 has much satisfaction in publishing to the army 
 the following letter from Brigadier F. Horn, 
 commanding the 1st Brigade, 4th Division, of 
 the Army of the Crimea, dated Camp at Sebas- 
 topol, to the Chairman of the Honourable Court of 
 Directors, 
 
 F 
 
66 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 "Camp near Sebastopol, Nov. i8ih, 1854. 
 
 14 Sir, 
 
 u I trust you will kindly pardon the liberty 
 
 I take as an utter stranger, in thus addressing you, 
 
 as I feel it would be an act of injustice on my part to 
 
 allow the departure of Lieutenant Johnson of the 6th 
 
 Bombay Native Infantry, and Irregular Cavalry, who 
 
 has for upwards of two months been attached to the 
 
 20th Regiment, by Lord Raglan's order, without 
 
 bearing testimony to his gallant behaviour at the 
 
 recent terrific action of Inkerman, which victory is 
 
 allowed even to have eclipsed that of the Alma. I 
 
 beg therefore to state that in the early part of the 
 
 action of the 5th November the 20th, then under my 
 
 command, had the misfortune to lose ten officers, 
 
 including one killed, and the 4th Division to which 
 
 it belonged also lost the general (the Honourable 
 
 Sir George Cathcart) and two brigadiers, which 
 
 called me, as next in seniority, to command the 
 
 division. I cannot, therefore, speak in terms of 
 
 sufficient praise of the cool and determined bravery, 
 
 combined with intelligence, of Mr. Johnson on the 
 
 occasion, when the regiment had, as described, lost 
 
 so many of its members. His presence on the 
 
 battlefield was singularly useful in cheering and 
 
 directing the men, and I cannot but see in him 
 
INKERMAN. 67 
 
 the promise of a most efficient and valuable officer 
 to the service to which he belongs ; and he now 
 leaves the Crimea and his companions in arms of 
 the 20th Regiment, to the universal regret of the 
 latter, and in consequence of his furlough having 
 nearly expired. 
 
 " I have the honour to remain, etc., 
 "Frederick Horn, 
 
 "Col. and Lieut.-Col. and Actg. Brig.-Gen., 
 1st Brigade, 4th Div. 
 
 *' To Major Oliphant, Chairman to the Hon. 
 Court of Directors, East India Company." 
 
 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Letters and Despatches relating to » the Crimean 
 Campaign. 
 
 Brigadier-General Horn to Lieutenant W. T.Johnson. 
 
 Camp before Sevastopol, 
 
 24th January, 1855. 
 
 My dear Johnson, 
 
 I should have replied to your letter of 24th 
 December long since, but for the fact of my having waited 
 for the decision of the Field-Marshal, on a point in refer- 
 ence to myself. After I had transmitted the list of those 
 who were entitled to the honorary distinction of medals and 
 clasps belonging to the 20th, it struck me that no man in the 
 regiment had a better right to such marks of distinction 
 
68 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 than yourself. I therefore addressed Lord Raglan on the 
 subject, and though I have as yet received no answer 
 to my application, I trust there is but little doubt that 
 you will eventually obtain a Crimean medal and two clasps 
 for your services in the field at the battles of Alma and 
 Inkerman. Please, therefore, inform me whether they shall 
 be sent to the India House for transmission to you in India, 
 or where else you would like them sent, for as a British 
 officer, you are, as I said before, clearly entitled to them. 
 I have now to thank you for the handsome and timely 
 present of the fur coat ; it is not only handsome but useful 
 in the extreme. The weather has been fearful. It snowed 
 for about three days almost incessantly, and many poor 
 fellows were frozen to death, and lost in the snow-drifts, 
 including a Captain of the 9th Regiment. The sufferings 
 of our poor soldiers have been much underrated, even in 
 the accounts given by the Times paper ; and the exertions of 
 the generous-hearted people of England have in a measure 
 been abortive, from the difficulty, nay, almost impossibility 
 of getting up from Balaklava the tons weight of warm cloth- 
 ing sent out for our poor soldiers. Many of our wounded 
 have died at Scutari of hospital gangrene, amongst them 
 poor Major Sharpe. Butler has just returned to camp. 
 The siege operations have nearly stopped for the present, 
 but the duty in the trenches, I need hardly say, is more severe 
 than ever on account of the weather. I shall be glad to 
 hear from you, and meanwhile 
 
 Believe me, yours truly, 
 
 Fred. Horn. 
 
INKERMAN. 69 
 
 II. 
 
 Major- General Yorke to Lieut. -General Sir Henry Somerset, 
 K.C.B. 
 
 Horse Guards, 25th June, 1855. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I am directed by the General Commanding in 
 
 Chief to transmit to you the enclosed copy of a letter which 
 
 he has addressed to the President of the Board of Control, 
 
 drawing his attention to the praiseworthy conduct of 
 
 Lieutenant Johnson of the 6th Regiment of Bombay Native 
 
 Infantry, while attached to the 20th Regiment during the 
 
 operations last year in the Crimea. Lord Hardinge has 
 
 asked me to furnish you with this letter that you may be 
 
 aware of Lieutenant Johnson's services, and with the view 
 
 to recommend him to your notice as an officer fully 
 
 deserving of any notice you may be enabled to show him. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, etc., 
 
 C. Yorke. 
 
 Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Somerset, K.C.B. 
 
 III. 
 
 Lord Hardinge to the President of the Board of Control. 
 Horse Guards, 25th June, 1855. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to acquaint you that an 
 application was lately made to me to record Lieutenant 
 
70 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Johnson of the 6th Bombay Native Infantry, for the brevet 
 rank of Major whenever he may obtain his company, on 
 consideration of his having served with the 20th Regiment, 
 from the landing of the army in the Crimea, till after the 
 battle of Inkerman, where he was slightly wounded. I felt 
 it impossible to accede to this application, not only from 
 the inconvenience which has been occasioned by the 
 practise of recording subaltern officers for promotion to 
 brevet rank, as soon as they may become captains, but 
 because it did not appear that Lieutenant Johnson was 
 exercising any other command than that of an officer 
 attached to the 20th Regiment, to none of whom would 
 such an advantage be granted. At the same time papers 
 were laid before me, amongst others a letter from Colonel 
 Horn, commanding the 20th Regiment, addressed to the 
 Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India 
 Company, speaking in such terms of Lieutenant Johnson 
 as to satisfy me that he had rendered good service while 
 with the 20th Regiment, and particularly at the battle of 
 Inkerman, which was the only occasion on which that 
 Regiment was seriously engaged, and where he was slightly 
 wounded. His zealous desire to see active service, which 
 induced him to proceed to the Crimea, when on leave of 
 absence, merits also high consideration, and I am, therefore, 
 induced to suggest for your consideration whether it may 
 not be proper to make known to the civil and military 
 authorities of the Bombay Presidency, to which I under- 
 stand Lieutenant Johnson is about immediately to return, 
 the claims which by his bravery and intelligence he has 
 
INKERMAN. 71 
 
 acquired to any consideration which the rules of the Service 
 may enable them to extend to him. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, etc., 
 
 Hardinge. 
 
 The Right Honourable R. Vernon Smith, M.P., 
 President of the Board of Control. 
 
 IV. 
 
 From Brigadier-General Horn. 
 
 16th October, 1858. 
 
 I have again much pleasure in certifying to the gallantry 
 of Captain Johnson of the 6th Bombay N.I., who during 
 the Crimean campaign was attached by Lord Raglan to the 
 20th Regiment, then under my command. It is with much 
 regret that I have just learnt that this very distinguished 
 officer, subsequently engaged in the Persian campaign and 
 Indian Mutiny, has been excluded from the list of recipients 
 of the Turkish Order of the Mejidie, which it appears 
 others of less merit than himself have been decorated 
 with, nor has he obtained any of the foreign orders or 
 distinctive marks which others similarly positioned to him- 
 self have obtained. He was present at the battles of the 
 Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman, and his gallantry was such, 
 particularly at the latter, that I felt myself bound to take 
 special notice of it in a letter to Colonel Oliphant, at the 
 India House, and I now do so again in the hope of obtain- 
 ing for him the reward of merit, in which unfortunately it 
 appears others have superseded him. If it be not too late, 
 
72 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 I shall indeed feel gratified to learn that this deserving 
 officer has obtained one or more of the war distinctions in 
 common with others not more worthy of them. I was on 
 half-pay, and on the staff, consequently unconnected with 
 the 20th Regiment at the time when the list of names went 
 in for such distinction, or Captain Johnson would never 
 have been overlooked by 
 
 Frederick Horn, 
 
 Major-General on the Staff, Malta. 
 
 V. 
 
 Colonel Evelegh) 20th Regt., to Lieut. W. T. Johnson. 
 
 Standen, near Newport, Isle of Wight, 
 October 7th, 1858. 
 
 My dear Johnson, 
 
 I herewith enclose a certificate of your services, 
 
 which I trust may be the means of obtaining the Turkish 
 
 medal for you, which you so well deserve. When, through 
 
 the late campaign in India, I came across a Bombay man, 
 
 I frequently asked if you were known, and twice, I think, I 
 
 heard of you. You and your tulwar I so well recollect. I 
 
 can see you at this moment going down to the trenches. 
 
 How the 20th is altered ! Poor Butler, I much fear, dying 
 
 in Dublin ; and very shortly I shall be gazetted out, when, 
 
 I believe, there really will not be one left that you are 
 
 acquainted with. 
 
 Believe me, my dear Johnson, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Fred. Evelegh. 
 
INKERMAN. 73 
 
 VI. 
 
 General Sir Fred. Horn, K.C.B., to Major W. T. Johnson, 
 
 I, Redcliffe Road, Fulham Road, 
 
 1st June. No date; probably 1885. 
 
 My dear Johnson, 
 
 Your letter of the 29th reached me this morn- 
 ing, and you could hardly have hit upon a more correct 
 address, for, though living in a neighbouring county 
 (Northamptonshire), Rugby is my post town. Is it not 
 singular that on the very day your letter to me is dated 
 (29th), I called on your cousin, General Turner, leaving 
 one addressed to me from the India House over thirty years 
 ago, on the subject of your gallant behaviour at the battle of 
 Inkerman, and which letter the General will doubtless send 
 on to you. I need scarcely say how glad I was to hear 
 from you, for I have often thought of you, and shall ever 
 remember at that sharp fight, Inkerman, your shouts at the 
 fun, and your swinging your big Indian tulwar over your 
 head, at the charge we made to the barrier,* which gained 
 the old 20th so much credit, when reported to Lord 
 
 * The charge at the barrier mentioned here was the one described 
 by Kinglake, and quoted in the preceding chapter, when "the air 
 was rent with the old Minden yelV The inlying pickets of the 20th 
 Regiment formed a portion of the first troops sent against the Russians 
 at the battle of Inkerman, and these, together with the remainder of 
 the regiment, were very heavily engaged during the whole of the day. 
 Johnson was with the inlying pickets at the time, and was, as we have 
 seen, twice shot through the clothes, and slightly wounded. It was 
 said to have been "owing to his interposition that the two first guns 
 were brought into action at the battle of Inkerman." 
 
74 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Raglan. ... I must conclude with my very sincere good 
 wishes, and I am always 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 Fred. Horn. 
 
 VII. 
 
 General Sir Frederick Horn, K.C.B., to Mrs. Johnson, 
 
 2nd August, 1893. 
 
 It affords me great pleasure to reiterate how much I 
 esteemed his extreme gallantry on the field of battle, and 
 during the Crimean campaign, and while he was my aide-de- 
 camp. 
 
( 75 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 POONA. 1855-1856. 
 
 After the campaign in the Crimea Johnson received 
 an extension of leave for a few months to see his 
 friends in England, and came home early in 1855. 
 He had a very enthusiastic reception ; the bells were 
 rung, and he was heartily welcomed as a Crimean 
 hero. He remained at Enborne for the marriage of 
 his sister, in June, to Mr. Palmer Morewood, and 
 returned to India immediately afterwards. He stayed 
 in Paris, on his way, with his cousin, Lady Louisa 
 Oswald ; and from Marseilles went in the Vectis to 
 Malta, and on to Alexandria in the Indus, making the 
 journey from Alexandria to Suez in vans. He wrote 
 to his mother on board the Indus, July 3rd : " We 
 have made up the party for our van, consisting of 
 Chitty and Davis — a couple of fellows in the Indian 
 Navy — a Dr. Oakley, and Fairlie and Adams, of 
 the Bengal Cavalry, and self— rather a jolly party, I 
 
76 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 think ; and if we can lay in a good foundation of iced 
 champagne at Cairo before starting, we shall get on 
 very well. We have a Frenchman who rather amuses 
 us — a perfect tiger to eat ; he eats up everything near 
 him, and a great deal besides, and talks about hunting 
 * wild pork,' instead of wild boars. I have a fellow in 
 my cabin, a little man with a large opinion of himself, 
 going to Calcutta in the sugar and cotton line. He 
 tells me he is going to make his fortune in ten years. 
 I wished him joy, and hoped he would remember me 
 in his will, for old companionship sake. Not that I 
 see how he is to make his fortune, unless he sells him- 
 self very often at his own price, and buys himself at 
 mine. We have a band on board, and there was 
 dancing last night. I looked on and smoked a pipe, 
 but thought there was a vast difference between the 
 beauty and fashion on the Indus, and at the steeple- 
 chase balls in the Wellington rooms. Every other 
 man seems to be going out to Ceylon to plant coffee." 
 On July 14th he wrote again to his mother from 
 the Bengal, in which he sailed from Suez to Aden : 
 " We were seventeen hours between Alexandria and 
 Cairo, where everything looked as dirty as usual ; 
 remained the day at Cairo, and were sixteen hours 
 more in the vans to Suez. In a very few years there 
 will be a rail all the way, which will be more 
 
POONA. 77 
 
 convenient certainly, though I think the trip in the 
 vans, with two mules as wheelers, and the Arab leaders, 
 is great fun. From Aden to Bombay the voyage was 
 made in the Pottinger, and she arrived on the 21st 
 July, after a rough passage, being blown along in the 
 monsoon, and losing a boat off Secotra." 
 
 On reporting himself on his arrival, he found that 
 
 he had obtained one or two steps, and was second for 
 
 his company. He had brought out letters from Lord 
 
 Clarendon to Lord Elphinstone, and from Lord 
 
 Beaufort to the Commander-in-Chief, and the letter 
 
 from Brigadier-General Horn, published to the army 
 
 in India, was of itself enough to give distinction to 
 
 any officer. His friends were delighted to see him 
 
 back without, as he said, "a skewer through his 
 
 gizzard;" and he was offered the adjutancy to the 
 
 cavalry of the Malwar Contingent in the Bengal 
 
 Presidency. But he was anxious to remain in his 
 
 own presidency, and as the quartermastership and 
 
 interpretership of his own regiment were vacant, and 
 
 he had these to fall back upon, he felt he could wait 
 
 a while ; moreover, the Adjutant-General had said 
 
 that no officer could be spared for staff employment, 
 
 or withdrawn from his corps : so for a time he 
 
 remained with the 6th at Poona, where he lived with 
 
 Carr, the adjutant, and his old friend Glasspoole. 
 
78 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 In August he received from Colonel Hancock the 
 Crimean medal with three clasps for Alma, Balaklava, 
 and Inkerman, and wrote to his mother : " I am un- 
 commonly proud of it, I can tell you ; and it is the 
 first one that has come to this country, so it is thought 
 a great deal more of than it would be in England." 
 Later, in writing to his brother, he said : " I went to 
 dine with the Governor, and found a very swell party 
 — about fifty people — and all the staff. The Governor 
 took tremendous notice of me, and introduced me to 
 the Chief, Sir Henry Somerset ; and Lady Somerset 
 got hold of my medal, and handed it about to several 
 of the ladies, and it seemed to be an object of great 
 interest. Afterwards he got me into a corner, and 
 gave me a tremendous pumping about the Crimea, 
 and seemed very much pleased and satisfied. I don't 
 think any subaltern ever received so much attention 
 from the Governor before. Yesterday the Chief asked 
 me to dinner, and was very civil and kind. I suppose, 
 after this, I shall get a good appointment. It seems 
 the Governor has every wish to serve me, and that I 
 had better ask for anything I feel inclined for." In 
 his next letter, from Poona, he says : " I went over to 
 Colonel Hancock, the Adjutant-General, the other 
 day, who told me that my fortune was made, and that 
 I had better wait until I got something good ; and 
 
POONA. 79 
 
 he showed me a letter * they had just got from 
 General Yorke from the Horse Guards to the Bombay 
 Government, recommending me to their special con- 
 sideration : what with this and other letters, I shall 
 be surprised if I don't get something good. The 
 * Arab's Choice ' has arrived in Bombay all safe from 
 Guzerat ; but he is not to be raced any more. I see 
 there is some talk of withdrawing more Queen's 
 troops from India and the Cape, and to send out 
 sepoys for garrison duty there. I should not mind 
 going to the Cape — one might get a few elephants 
 and lions there. We expect rather exciting news by 
 the next mail, of some fighting at Kars and Erzeroum 
 and Trebizond. Atwell Lake will be lucky enough 
 to be in for all this, and I shall be very interested 
 to hear all he says. Had I gone there with him, I 
 might have been of use with some Bashi-Bazouks." 
 
 In October he went up to Kurrachee to stay with 
 his cousin, Colonel Henry Turner. " If you can 
 fancy," he writes, " a very large cantonment built on 
 a desert of sand, with scarcely a tree or a blade of 
 grass to be seen, you can form a very good idea of 
 Kurrachee ; but I don't think it is unhealthy. Henry 
 wanted me to apply for the police appointment here, 
 but I don't seem to care about it ; I like to see 
 * See above, p. 69. 
 
80 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 a tree or something green occasionally." On his 
 return to Poona, he found a letter from the Military 
 Secretary, saying that the Governor had proposed 
 him for the appointment of Lieutenant of Police at 
 Aden, for which he would have to pass an examina- 
 tion in colloquial Arabic. He replied that he did 
 not feel his health strong enough, and begged to be 
 excused this appointment. The next day came an 
 official from the Chief with "Immediate" outside, 
 telling him to proceed at once to Jacobabad and take 
 a hundred of the Scinde Horse to Aden. 
 
 This despatch must have crossed his letter de- 
 clining the appointment, for he did not go. He 
 wrote home : " Both the Quartermaster-General and 
 the Adjutant-General, in letters I have received from 
 them, seem to think I was quite right. . . . Have you 
 ever heard of Aden ? It is a bare, black rock, and 
 about the hottest place in the world. I was there 
 two days once, and thought to myself, if my regiment 
 was ever ordered there, I would cut my throat. 
 Moore of my regiment has got the appointment, which 
 I am glad of, as he wanted it, and I recommended 
 him for it. He was born in Syria, and is a first-rate 
 Arabic scholar. I feel so delightfully independent, as 
 if they don't give me what I ask for I shall remain 
 where I am, and the appointment of interpreter 
 
POONA. 81 
 
 with the regiment I am holding now, I have to 
 thank no one for, as my passing in two languages 
 entitles me to it. How glad I am to see Atwell 
 Lake getting on so well at Kars ! He has made a 
 great name for himself. I wish I had gone out with 
 him ; I should have got another medal then, and one 
 worth having too, but it was impossible to say at 
 that time what would occur. There is no chance of 
 any fighting in India, at least everything is very 
 quiet at present. We have had two or three in- 
 effectual excursions after pig, and I was very much 
 disgusted the other day. We went, a party of 
 fourteen, the largest field I have ever seen, and 
 although we found, we could not get the pig out of 
 the hills, and came home without a run. However, 
 determined not to be done, one of the Rifles and I 
 slipped out the last Brigade holiday and killed two, 
 greatly to the astonishment of the Poonaites, no pig 
 having been killed here for the last two years. I 
 still feel the effects of the Guzerat sun." 
 
 In January, 1856, he had a very bad attack of fever 
 at Poona : " I felt exactly as if I had been shot 
 through the head, and the only way I could keep it 
 cool was by holding it over a tub, and having cold 
 water poured over it every hour." At the end of 
 January, the Adjutant-General, Colonel Hancock, 
 
 G 
 
82 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 offered him the adjutancy and probably the post of 
 second in command of the ist Battalion Beloochees. 
 He thought it better to accept the appointment, 
 though he did not look forward with pleasure to 
 being quartered at Kurrachee, where there was not a 
 tiger or black buck within hundreds of miles, and 
 very few pig. However, as it turned out, he was not 
 to go there, for a fortnight later he wrote the following 
 letter to his mother : — 
 
 " Bombay, February 16th, 1856. 
 
 " I can fancy your surprise when you open this, 
 and hear that I am en route to Calcutta to join 
 General Outram in Oude. It appears that good 
 luck has come at last, from a quarter I least expected. 
 In a private note from General Outram the other day, 
 he says he has had much pleasure in placing my 
 name before the Governor-General for service with 
 the Oude Contingent, and that he was very glad to 
 find that the Governor-General had had good accounts 
 of me from other sources, and was very glad to serve 
 me, and that I should very shortly be offered the 
 post of second in command of a contingent of Ir- 
 regular Cavalry, The next thing that comes is an 
 official from the Bombay Government ordering me 
 off forthwith to Cawnpore, and on my arrival there 
 
POONA. 83 
 
 to report myself to Major-General Outram, C.B. ; so 
 at last, it appears, they have treated me like a gentle- 
 man. It is only eight hundred and seventy miles 
 from here to Cawnpore — a nice little trip, without 
 roads most of the way. I shall have to do it on 
 horses and camels, unless I go round by Calcutta. I 
 have not made up my mind yet, but I have come 
 down here to buy a couple of good Arabs to take up 
 with me, for one can't get such good ones on the 
 Bengal side as here. Not a bit sorry I did not go to 
 Aden now ! I shall get on in Oude, I think, if I 
 have good health, and there is no one I would rather 
 serve under than General Outram." 
 
 It will be remembered that he had been on very 
 friendly terms with the Outrams at Sattara in 1847, 
 and at Baroda in 1848. The following paragraph 
 appeared at this time in the papers, in reference to 
 the military organization of the newly annexed king- 
 dom of Oude. " A contingent of some 15,000 men is 
 to be raised : 1 2,000 infantry, 3000 cavalry, and 
 four companies of artillery, and this will take the 
 place of an army larger than that of England itself, 
 whose services will be dispensed with. The fol- 
 lowing officers are named as having been appointed : 
 Captain Gowan, Lieutenants Miles and Hawes of 
 
84 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 the Bengal Army, and Captain Daly and Lieuten- 
 ants Black, Johnson, G. Grant, and Hope Johnstone 
 of the Bombay Army. By this great concluding act 
 of his administration, Lord Dalhousie will have 
 added to the British Empire four provinces of an area 
 three times as large as the United Kingdom, and a 
 population scarcely inferior to that of England." 
 
( 85 > 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LIFE IN OUDE. 1856-1857. 
 
 Lieutenant Johnson started from Bombay on the 
 4th March, 1856, on his long journey to Oude. It 
 was for the most part through native states and a 
 very wild country. He longed to have some shooting 
 on the way, but had to hurry on and report himself 
 to Outram as soon as possible. Oude was favour- 
 ably spoken of, and tigers and pig were said to be 
 " walking about like cats," so he was in high spirits 
 at the move. The country was in a somewhat un- 
 settled state, but no outbreak was then apprehended. 
 He wrote the following letter to his mother on the 
 march : — 
 
 * ' Bursad, April 4th. 
 
 u You will have no idea where Bursad is, till I tell 
 you it is one of the halting-places between Bombay 
 and Lucknow, where I arrived last night, en route for 
 
86 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Oude. I have been travelling just a month to-day, 
 and have as yet only accomplished about two-thirds 
 of the trip, and find I cannot get on with my kit, 
 servants, and horses more than about twenty miles a 
 day. It is a long march : between eight and nine hun- 
 dred miles, all overland : quite a new country. I feel 
 going up to Lucknow and joining a new appointment 
 quite like beginning a new life, and I don't dislike 
 the idea of it, though it is a nuisance leaving all one's 
 friends behind in another presidency. This is the 
 worst of Indian life : one makes acquaintances for a 
 year or two, and then, just as one begins to find out 
 the people one likes, one is sent away, perhaps some 
 five hundred miles. 
 
 " Now for an account of my trip, which is rather a 
 curious one, and so far as comfort is concerned there 
 is very little. Sometimes I ride, sometimes I put 
 my bed in a cart, and come along in that way at 
 night, for it is too hot to travel by day just now ; 
 sometimes I walk, sometimes come in the mail-cart. 
 This last conveyance would amuse you, and I assure 
 you that travelling in one at night is most alarming, 
 and the excitement even beats tiger-shooting on foot 
 out and out The cart is a square red box on two 
 wheels, with a bar all round to hold on by. Two 
 horses, one in the shaft, the other attached on the 
 
LIFE IN OUDE. 87 
 
 off-side. The road is bad in places, and very uneven, 
 and it is as much as you can do to see it ; but with- 
 out moon or lamps, away they go, as hard as ever 
 they can lay legs to the ground, change every six 
 miles, and I suppose seldom come to grief. It was 
 the most reckless driving I ever saw ; it was as much 
 as I could do to hold myself in with both hands, and 
 the coachman, as he calls himself, keeps on licking 
 the horses from the beginning of the stage to the end, 
 perfectly indiscriminately as to whether they are 
 doing their best or not. There are travellers' bunga- 
 lows every twenty or thirty miles or so, with chair, 
 table, and bedstead inside, but nothing more. I find 
 the people on the road very hospitable, and wher- 
 ever there are officers or civilians I am generally 
 taken in and done for, as soon as they find out who 
 I am, and where I am going. I was in a fix on my 
 birthday [March 14]. My servant had made a mistake 
 and had taken all my kit on twenty miles ahead, 
 consequently I had not a single thing ; but fortu- 
 nately a Colonel Browne was marching down with his 
 wife and family, and very kindly asked me over to 
 tiffin, which I made serve for breakfast, dinner, and 
 everything. I see I am posted to the 1st Cavalry ; 
 Daly, 1st Fusiliers ; and Hope Johnstone, the Com- 
 mandant and Adjutant, both Bombay officers. Daly 
 
88 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 is a first-rate officer, a man of great judgment and 
 energy, and we must show the ' Qui hais • how to 
 raise a corps in style. Lord Elphinstone has given 
 me a letter of introduction to Lord Canning, which 
 is more than I could expect, after refusing the 
 appointment he offered me." * 
 
 The rest of his march is described in a letter to his 
 brother from Bibiapore, April 29th. " It was a 
 roughish trip of more than nine hundred miles, and in 
 many places, instead of finding travellers' bungalows, 
 I was disappointed and had to put up under a tree, 
 which, as I had no tent, and 150 of hot wind blow- 
 ing, was anything but comfortable. I was lucky one 
 day in bagging a tigress not far from the road. I got 
 news of a soft place down at the bed of a river ; halted 
 under a tree, and with great difficulty got fifteen 
 niggers out of the villages, who didn't seem to admire 
 the fun much at first. They beat for some time, and 
 
 * Captain Daly, afterwards General Sir Henry Daly, was one of the 
 most distinguished cavalry officers in India at that time. He raised 
 the 1st Punjaub Regiment at the end of the last campaign, for 
 which he received the thanks of the Directors. He afterwards com- 
 manded the Corps of Guides, with which well-known regiment he 
 made his celebrated march from Lahore to the relief of Delhi, in the 
 summer of 1857. He was a very intimate friend of Johnson's, and had 
 the highest opinion of him. " Of all true heroes," he wrote, "none 
 greater than Jehan " (one of Johnson's nicknames) ; and again, " The 
 services of no man, living or dead, better merit recognition than 
 Jehan's." 
 
LIFE IN OUDE. 89 
 
 out came a fine tigress in all her glory. I had 
 Walker's gun in my hand, but would not take the 
 chance with that, and had just time to snatch Lord 
 Craven's rifle from a man a few yards behind and 
 take a quiet pot at her just as she was passing us, 
 and bowled her over beautifully. One ball caught 
 her just below the heart, another just below the 
 shoulder-blade. She did not seem to like it much, 
 gave a most uncomfortable roar, but did not come 
 at us, I am happy to say. She got into some reeds 
 and bushes, where the niggers particularly wished 
 me to go after her. We could not find her pugs 
 anywhere out of the reeds, so surrounded the place, 
 and found her dead about two hours afterwards. 
 
 "I believe had I had time to halt at some other 
 places I could have had some good sport. I went out 
 twice : the first day I saw only a sambre ; the next we 
 found a panther, which went clean away ; we put up 
 a fine tiger, beating home, which slipped away behind 
 us. I came through a very wild country, with plenty 
 of pig ; but both self and horses had enough to do 
 marching all night, without pig-sticking by day. 
 One night coming along asleep in a cart, where I had 
 put my bed, a robber had the impudence to come 
 sneaking about for anything he could lay hold of, 
 and caught hold of my head, thinking, I suppose, it 
 
90 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 was a piece of goods. He pretty soon let go, how- 
 ever, when he found out what it was, and made off, 
 with me after him ; but I could not make much of a 
 run of it with slippers and sleeping-drawers, and I 
 only succeeded in boning the man who was with 
 him, and whom I gave over to the nearest guard- 
 room. 
 
 " I got to Lucknow, April 22nd, just the day 
 General Outram left. I missed him by five minutes 
 only ; I was sorry not to see him, to thank him for all 
 he has done for me. I found a note from him ask- 
 ing me to go and stay there on my arrival at Luck- 
 now. Lucknow is by far the finest city I have seen 
 in India ; the country is very flat, but is wooded and 
 pretty, scattered over with mango and neem groves ; 
 and in some parts not unlike Guzerat. We are only 
 raising the regiment now, and have as yet got only 
 about two hundred and fifty men ; but from what I 
 can see at present, I think it will be a beautiful 
 regiment : the men certainly are the finest I have 
 seen anywhere. We are at Bibiapore, about five 
 miles from Lucknow ; there is one house for all of us ; 
 a good-sized house and six rooms in it — three above 
 and three below. Captain Daly, a Bombay officer 
 of our 1st Fusiliers, is the Commanding Officer, 
 and a first-rate officer he appears to be. From what 
 
LIFE IN OUDE. 91 
 
 I have seen he is the smartest officer I have served 
 under." 
 
 He writes again : " My new Commanding Officer 
 and I agree famously, and our ideas on Irregular 
 Cavalry are very similar, and I think in time we 
 shall raise as good a regiment as any in the Service. 
 We have drill parades every morning except Sundays, 
 and anything like the vice of the horses I never saw ; 
 they kick and bite anything they come near, and 
 some of them are so bad they are obliged to be kept 
 constantly blindfolded. Our Adjutant, Hope John- 
 stone, got kicked the other morning; and another 
 horse came a good way out of the ranks on purpose 
 to kick my Arab's Choice, and then went quietly 
 back again. He struck the poor old- horse on the 
 fleshy part of the thigh, and did not hurt him much ; 
 but he seemed much surprised at being kicked for 
 nothing, and looked round with the white of his eye, 
 as much as to say he would remember him the first 
 opportunity. I wish you could see some of our men : 
 they are so much the most picturesque troops we 
 have ; it is the finest branch of the army. 
 
 " We are all together in one house by itself in the 
 corner of a wood of mango trees, about five miles 
 from the city. I cannot tell you half enough about 
 Lucknow yet, for the only time (the morning) when 
 
92 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 it is cool enough to get out, we are at drill. The 
 heat is something awful, but it is not unhealthy ; and 
 the natives look stouter and stronger and cleaner, and 
 dress better than in any part of India I have been in. 
 We all dine and breakfast together : i.e. Daly and his 
 wife, the adjutant, doctor, and myself; so we are 
 obliged to be very orderly, and put on an extra 
 allowance of manners for the lady. I have a room 
 with the doctor, whose name is Greenhow." 
 
 The room they occupied was on the ground floor. 
 The well was a source of amusement to " Jehan," who 
 had inherited a mechanical turn from his father, and 
 used to experiment with a wheel in the watercourse, 
 thinking to get perpetual motion. When he was in 
 Guzerat he had amused himself with inventing and 
 building a cart with very large wheels to go over the 
 sand as lightly as possible ; it was very substantially 
 built to take out in the jungle, with a movable seat, 
 and a pole to put a couple of bullocks in at night: this 
 was at a time when there was hardly such a thing as 
 a made road in Guzerat. 
 
 The life at Bibiapore, when raising the regiment, 
 was very quiet. He writes : — 
 
 " Generally speaking, the appointment of second in 
 command is the most idle in India, and were it not 
 that we were raising a new regiment, I should have 
 
LIFE IN OUDE. 93 
 
 little to do except attend parades. This was one of 
 my reasons for not asking for this line of service on 
 my return to India, for I should much prefer more 
 work and more pay. We get up every morning at 
 4 for parade ; come back about 7 for a cup of tea ; 
 breakfast at 10; dinner 7.30; bed 9.30. I have never 
 passed so regular a life anywhere as here, therefore 
 one will have the satisfaction of knowing if one's 
 health fails here, it will not be from want of regularity 
 or temperance. We never have more than one bottle 
 of beer a day (Daly sharing that one with me), half a 
 glass of sherry at two o'clock, and a glass at dinner. 
 Smoking I have given up, except one pipe after 
 dinner. The greater part of the day is spent in read- 
 ing, making up pattern bridles and saddles, and in 
 carpentering, etc. I have asked to be recommended 
 for the Sattara Police ; there is nothing I should like 
 better. Sattara is about the best climate in India. 
 It is in the gift of Lord Elphinstone. At any rate, I 
 shall not stay long in the Bengal Presidency. Our 
 presidency beats it out and out in climate, and I 
 prefer it. I should be sorry to leave Daly and the 
 regiment ; and if I were sure of good health, I should 
 not mind remaining." 
 
 It was, perhaps, natural to one of Johnson's cha- 
 racter that, after a time, his enthusiasm in raising the 
 
94 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 regiment wore off, and he got tired of the monotonous 
 drill life. Colonel Daly wrote to recommend him for 
 the police appointment, and his having been a good 
 deal at Sattara when the Southern Mahratta Horse 
 was raised, besides having such good testimonials, 
 gave him a very good chance ; but events took him 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Later, in a letter to his mother, he says: "You 
 will probably read in the papers a great deal of 
 talk of an expedition to Persia, which I fancy will 
 end in smoke. I fancy the state of finances at present 
 won't allow of a war, until there is actual necessity 
 for it. All India seems excessively quiet just now, 
 particularly Oude. The people must be glad their 
 country is out of the hands of such an imbecile old 
 king. I don't know if you have ever read ■ the Life 
 of an Eastern King,' * but in it you will read about 
 the palace of the Dilkoosha. It is a pretty-looking 
 building, the centre of a large park, which lies between 
 this and Lucknow ; the grounds contain antelope, 
 black buck, blue bulls, monkeys, and peacocks to a 
 great extent — all preserved ; and we are at a corner 
 of the park near the banks of the Goomtee ; and now 
 
 * Knighton (Wm.), " The Private Life of an Eastern King," com- 
 piled for a member of the household of Nussir-u-Deen, King of Oude : 
 sm. 8vo, plates. 
 
LIFE IN OUDE. 95 
 
 the floods are out, the country is looking perfectly 
 beautiful." This Dilkoosha Palace is interesting, as 
 the place where, a few months afterwards, General 
 Havelock died. It is now only a picturesque ruin. 
 
 On the 30th September, 1856, the regiment marched 
 from Bibiapore to Secrora, a distance of sixty-two 
 miles, where they relieved the 5th Irregulars. Just 
 at this time there was a sale of the arms and accoutre- 
 ments of the ex-king of Oude, and Johnson bought 
 many curiosities in the shape of swords, shields, and 
 matchlocks to decorate his house, all of which were 
 stolen afterwards, together with his favourite Arab's 
 Choice, by the mutineers. He described the march 
 to his mother : — 
 
 "Secrora, October 21st — We marched from Bibia- 
 pore on the 30th, and reached this October 9th ; the 
 roads were bad, and in many places under water and 
 difficult to cross. The Gogra was the worst, and just 
 now, after the rains, it is very much flooded and full 
 of islands and sandbanks. We took three days to 
 cross it, and a very disagreeable job it was. It will 
 give you some idea of what it is like, if you fancy two 
 boats of about forty feet long lashed together, and a 
 platform about twenty feet square on the top of them, 
 perfectly open, without any sort of protection to 
 prevent the horses kicking one another overboard. 
 
96 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 If you can imagine this, and then put eight or ten 
 horses on, whose chief object appeared to be to kick 
 and bite one another as much as possible, you will 
 be able to form some idea of what precarious sort of 
 work it was. It is quite marvellous to me that some 
 horses were not smashed. One horse was kicked 
 clean up into the air, and, of course, out into the 
 middle of the river. It did not matter much about 
 their tumbling overboard, for they could always swim 
 ashore on some of the islands, but some tumbled 
 backwards into the bottom of the boats, and were 
 hurt a good deal in this way, but none were killed. 
 
 " Secrora is not a very lively place ; the society 
 consists of Captain and Mrs, Boileau and his adjutant. 
 They gave us a picnic on the river, and appeared very 
 sociable ; and Mrs. Boileau has quite won my affection 
 with the most delicious lobster salad I ever tasted. 
 The chief amusement was fishing, eating, and 
 drinking. Boileau and I were out shooting the other 
 day, and found a few black partridges ; they are great 
 beauties, very game birds, something like a grouse, 
 and will quite repay me for the want of society here. 
 There is nothing for any one from Bombay to talk 
 about, except the Persian expedition, and certainly it 
 is very annoying to be out of the presidency now, for, 
 had I been there, I should have had a pretty good 
 
LIFE IN OUDE. 97 
 
 chance of being appointed to it in some capacity 
 or other. I sent down two telegraph messages to 
 General Stalker, offering my services with the 
 Irregular Horse, or in any other line more convenient. 
 I can't help thinking that the Shah will give in, and 
 even if the force sails, they may very likely come back 
 again, which would be a bore ; but it would be still 
 more annoying if anything serious were to take place, 
 not to be in it." 
 
 Soon after this, Johnson had a serious fall, when out 
 pig-sticking with his friend Doctor Greenhow. He 
 wrote to his brother: — "We had a very successful 
 picnic the other day, and found no end of the bristly, 
 but the ground was awful : long grass full of all sorts 
 of hidden impediments, such as holes, mounds, and 
 blind ditches. The number of purls was quite laugh- 
 able; you hear of a man being knocked into the 
 middle of next week ! / was knocked into the middle 
 of the last three months, not being able to remember 
 anything that happened during that time. The first 
 thing I remember when I 'came to' was finding 
 myself riding home between the doctor and the 
 adjutant, with a wet handkerchief round my head, 
 and being told that I and the pony had come over in 
 one of these blind ditches, going very fast close to a 
 pig ; and that I had come on my head, and had been 
 
 H 
 
98 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 talking ridiculous nonsense for three hours. I am 
 thankful it was no worse, and I am all sound again ; 
 but I got a terrible shaking. Government has passed 
 me ^45 for travelling up here — a wonderful piece of 
 liberality in these days ! I am going to invest it in 
 an elephant for tiger-shooting in the Turrai in hot 
 weather ; the jungle is so thick that it would be 
 impossible to get on these without one. We can see 
 the tops of the Himalayas early in the morning ; I 
 hope we shan't see them in the hot weather, for it 
 would be too tempting — for we can't get there, neither 
 may we go to the tops of the hills : all that country 
 belongs to the Rajah of Nepaul, and they fight un- 
 common shy of Englishmen since the annexation of 
 Oude. Some of our best politicals never thought 
 favourably of it ; but now that it is annexed, there is 
 little chance of the king getting it back again. The 
 Persian expedition, as you will read, has left Bombay. 
 They have given the Shah lots of time to put Bushire 
 in a good state of defence, at any rate." 
 
 Johnson was very shortly to join the Persian 
 expedition, and this sketch of his service with the 
 new Irregular Cavalry may end with an extract from 
 a despatch to Brigadier-General Grey, commanding 
 the Oude Force, dated 22nd September, 1856, in which 
 the Chief Commissioner of Lucknow, referring to the 
 
LIFE IN OUDE. 99 
 
 1st Oude Cavalry, expresses his "satisfaction at the 
 state of efficiency which the regiment has attained 
 in so short a period, and the pleasure the Chief 
 Commissioner experiences in being able to submit to 
 Government your commendatory notice of Captain 
 Daly and the officers of the regiment." Captain Daly 
 wrote later : " Major Johnson, of the Bombay Army, 
 served under my command as second in command 
 of the 1st Oude Cavalry, during which time he had 
 charge of the regimental treasure-chest and accounts 
 of the men. A more zealous officer, a more upright, 
 truthful gentleman I never served with. Major John- 
 son's kindly temper made him a favourite with all, 
 both officers and men." 
 
 In November, 1856, war was declared against 
 Persia by the Governor-General of India, Lord 
 Canning, the city of Herat having been taken by 
 Persian troops in defiance of treaties. Preparations 
 were made by Lord Canning, who followed Sir 
 Herbert Edwardes' advice in making a treaty with 
 Dost Mohammad, the Amir of Cabul, and by 
 grants of money and arms helping him to drive 
 the Persians from Herat. The command of the 
 Indian Army was offered to Sir James Outram, who 
 was at the time in England on sick leave ; and 
 on his arrival in Bombay, Outram applied for 
 
ioo TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 the services of Havelock, to command the Second 
 Division. Havelock was then at Agra, and left 
 for Bombay in January, 1857. Major-General 
 Stalker had already landed at Bushire in December, 
 in command of the land force, and had taken the 
 fort there. Johnson, as we have seen, had telegraphed 
 to General Stalker, offering his services, if he 
 could be spared. In January he received telegraphic 
 orders to join the force in the Persian Gulf, and he 
 immediately went down by mail-cart from Oude to 
 Bombay, and did the journey of 1030 miles in ten 
 days. 
 
( ioi ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. JANUARY-JUNE, 1857. 
 
 " You will be glad to hear," wrote Johnson to his 
 brother, January 7th, 1857, "that I have good 
 chance of employment with the Irregulars under 
 Jacob. A message came from Outram to me yester- 
 day, through Lord Elphinstone, telling me that if 
 the Supreme Government would let me go to Persia, 
 the Bombay Government would place me under 
 Colonel Jacob for Arab levies. Colonel Jacob is 
 one of the best soldiers, and perhaps the most 
 practical man we have, so it will be a good thing for 
 me to serve under him ; at least, if they will let me 
 go. You will read all about the fall of Bushire ; it 
 seems to have been a much more hollow affair than 
 was anticipated, and it is to be hoped that the Shah 
 received the declaration of war before the bombard- 
 ment took place, otherwise it may create a sensation 
 
102 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 at home." The following is the diary of his journey 
 from Lucknow to Bombay : — 
 
 "January loth, 1857. — Received an order from 
 Lucknow, which had been sent up from Calcutta, 
 to proceed at once to Bombay by dak* at the 
 public expense, and on arrival to report myself 
 to Government. Sent a small amount of kit off 
 on two shooters (running camels) to Lucknow, to 
 await my arrival ; also sent my pony to Nawab- 
 gunj, about half-way, to await my arrival. litk. — 
 Left Secrora on the Arab's Choice about 9 a.m., and 
 after taking leave of the Dalys, Greenhow, and Bax 
 (our select little circle), rode down all through the 
 lines to wish our fellows good-bye there, when all 
 the native officers on their horses and ponies accom- 
 panied me to Kuttra Ghat. Crossed the river at 
 Kuttra, on to a pony on the other side, and rattled 
 along to the Gogra about eighteen miles ; found a 
 dhooly waiting for me on the other side of the river, 
 which brought me into Nawabgunj at 4 ; on to my 
 pony there, and into Lucknow at 7 ; and passing 
 Partridge's house found him at dinner. Ate dinner 
 for a quarter of an hour, and cantered on into 
 the city to find my kit, and get a shigram (mail 
 carriage) ready to go on to Cawnpore. Every 
 * Dak, i.e. post service. 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 103 
 
 one asleep, and no one inclined to do anything. 
 Went up to see Lady Outram, and found her with 
 Mrs. Fayrer at the Residency, just returned from 
 the hills. Remained there talking till about nine, 
 and then left in a shigram, very comfortable, and 
 slept nearly all the way. Arrived at Cawnpore at 
 9 a.m. on the 12th. Great delay here in getting a 
 fresh carriage, and did not start until I.I 5 J arrived 
 next day (13th) at Agra at 8 in the evening ; pitch 
 dark, rain and thunder-storm; so thick and stormy 
 could hardly find the halting-place. Lucknow, 62 
 miles; Cawnpore, 53; Agra, 179— total 297 miles 
 in 59 hours : not bad for India. A very hard 
 beefsteak for dinner at 9.30 p.m. ; wrote three letters, 
 and sleep. 
 
 " Up at 3 a.m. on the 14th, and left Agra at day- 
 break. No time to see the Taj, or other sights : very 
 unfortunate, but can't be helped. People say the 
 Taj is the finest work in India, and that it even 
 exceeds the anticipation of most travellers. So 
 much the more my regret, having been disappointed 
 in most other sights in India. Good road the first 
 ten or fifteen miles, then sticky mud and heavy sand. 
 Made road again towards Gwalior — 79 miles. Found 
 that Sir R. Hamilton was there, therefore I knew Bill 
 Cumming would be with him. Drove up to Cumming's 
 
104 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 tent, found they had all gone to a big dinner and 
 Durbar with Scindia. However, Sir R. Hamilton's 
 butler gave me a cold saddle of mutton and a bottle 
 of A i treble X to wash it down with, and they all 
 returned about ten. Sat up with Cumming, Hunt, 
 and the others till two, and turned in till six. 
 Cumming and I went over and breakfasted with 
 Mrs. Murray, a sister of Mrs. Babington's. 
 
 "Left Gwalior at 9 a.m. on the 15th. Sir Robert 
 looking remarkably well, and as hospitable and good 
 natured as ever. Arrived at Ghanaghat at 7 p.m. — 
 62 miles. Going a sharp canter across country down 
 a very stony hill, one horse came head over heels, or 
 rather heels over head, and got completely under the 
 cart, his head resting against one wheel and his heels 
 against the other. The other horse tumbled over 
 him, and lay resting on some large boulders of rock. 
 A more complete smash I never saw, and how these 
 horses got off without any bones being broken is a 
 miracle to me. After some delay, got them up and 
 harnessed them again the best way we could (one 
 without a bridle, the bit having been smashed in the 
 fall), and came along again as lively as ever. Saw 
 some pretty Brinjaree girls, and, for a wonder, a very 
 pretty cooly girl, who blushed ! What next ? Very 
 open rocky country, with every facility for road- 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 105 
 
 making ; but this country belongs to Scindia, who does 
 nothing till Sir R. Hamilton makes him. A good 
 road is being made this side of Gwalior, when you go 
 across country again ; ground so rough, obliged to 
 hold myself in. Coachman occasionally chucked 
 into your lap. Not pleasant, as they are often greasy 
 and high, indulging plentifully in bad tobacco and 
 garlick. Very unlucky day — only 48 miles. 
 
 " Left Ghanagnat at 5 a.m. ; arrived at Sipree at 
 7 — 24 miles. Breakfasted with Colonel Harris, a 
 very worthy old man and good officer, one whom I 
 would like to see with us up the Gulf; also Wilson, 
 the handsome doctor who lives with him. Left again 
 at 9.30 ; horses all tired and bad ; at a walk nearly 
 the whole way, and English mail tiring all the horses. 
 Only reached Budderwass after sunset ; a stupid, 
 uninteresting country. Colonel Havelock 24 miles 
 ahead of me. This shows the glorious uncertainty of 
 travelling along this road : doing the first 18 miles 
 easy in two hours, the remaining 20 taking me 
 nine. However, I found a large duck, which I 
 immediately turned into the alabaze pan, and made 
 an excellent dinner, and what's the odds, so long 
 as you're happy. Roads very sticky from late 
 rain. 
 
 "Left Budderwass at 2 a.m., 17th; bad roads and 
 
106 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 tired horses. Reached Goona at 7; remained half 
 an hour to grease wheels and have a bit of breakfast. 
 Came along well to Dewass ; good roads, jungly- 
 country. Crossed Parbuttee River ; black soil this 
 side of Dewass ; not a bad day altogether. Arrived 
 at Shahjahanpore at daybreak, 18th; bolted three 
 eggs and two cups of tea, and came on, doing a very 
 good day — 116 miles. Very pretty tank at Dewass, 
 but the country from beginning to end is flat and 
 uninteresting, and becomes warmer and warmer as 
 you go south. Came from Shahjahanpore to Indore 
 between 8 and 3. A good road, and horses 
 better ; a good deal of cultivation, but not to be com- 
 pared in this respect to Oude. Oude and Guzerat 
 are the most fertile countries I have seen in India ; 
 the former the best. 
 
 " At Indore found I could not have a cart, so came 
 on in a dhooly, starting at 7 p.m. on the 18th. 
 Came on all night, and arrived at Googra at 8 a.m. 
 on the 19th ; detained here, waiting for kit to come up. 
 Left Googra at 12 same day; arrived at Shirpoor 
 at 9 a.m. the 20th ; very curious kicking horses all 
 the way. Left again at 12 ; arrived at Dhoolia 
 about five. Went straight to Sam Mansfield, who 
 gave me some dinner and a bath (how delicious !). 
 Left again at 9; arrived at Nassick at 3 (21st); 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 107 
 
 came on straight, remaining a short time at Egat- 
 pooree. Came on at a gallop all down the Thull 
 Ghat, and arrived at Wassing railway station, 50 
 miles from Bombay. Jumped out of the cart and 
 went to sleep on the grass, pretty well tired out, 
 having rested nowhere for the last 200 miles, except 
 for an hour or two. Found Walker and his wife at 
 the station at Thanna, and Harpur, who came with 
 me to Bombay. Put up at the Adelphi, and went 
 back to Thanna to dine with Harpur." 
 
 Notwithstanding this hurried march, Johnson found, 
 on his arrival at Bombay, that he would have to wait 
 there over a fortnight for a transport. He goes on 
 with his journal from the Adelphi Hotel : " Toler- 
 ably comfortable, being nicely situated on the race- 
 course, which, as the races were going on, was very 
 convenient. Rather alarmed, after my stay there 
 for a few days, at a married couple and three 
 children— two English girls, one tall and pretty, the 
 other small and plain, also a European servant-maid 
 — all being put in my room to sleep and live there ! 
 Rather a curious proceeding, I thought. However, I 
 am used to everything now, and didn't mind it much, 
 except that there was an incessant row, one child 
 squalling incessantly; in fact, I suffered all the incon- 
 veniences of a family man for a short time, without 
 
108 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 any of its advantages. The room was partitioned 
 off by canvas screens into four parts, the two girls 
 occupying the one next to me ; they kept up an in- 
 cessant talk most of the night, and their ideas were 
 most amusing. A few days afterwards I dined and 
 breakfasted with them at the table d'hote, and got up 
 a desperate flirtation with the pretty one, who I 
 found full of fun and up to anything, when they all 
 disappeared, via the Cape to England ; and I got an 
 order from the Quartermaster-General to attend at 
 his office for orders regarding some horses to go up 
 under my charge for the Light Field Battery at 
 Hyderabad. So here I am on the Mirzapore, one of 
 the Scinde Horse transports, en route to the Gulf, 
 via Kurrachee, where I shall drop these horses and 
 go in this same ship up the Gulf. We are being 
 towed by the Assaye, in company with others — the 
 Alabama and Lord George Bentinck. We left Bombay, 
 February 7th, having shipped the horses without an 
 accident, greatly to my relief. 
 
 "Kurrachee, February 2$th. — I have landed all the 
 horses, I am happy to say, without accident. Captain 
 and crew very civil; they don't care much about h's 
 here. * 'Ere, 'Arry, those 'orses down in the 'old arn't 
 got no 'ay.' " 
 
 The following letter was written to his mother from 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 109 
 
 Bombay, in addition to the journal : " February 22nd. 
 — My last letter will have prepared you for a move in 
 this direction, and here I am in Bombay waiting for 
 a transport to take me up. A day or two after my 
 last letter I received a telegraphic order from Calcutta 
 directing me to proceed at once to Bombay by dak, 
 and report myself to Government. The literal mean- 
 ing of travelling by dak, is being shut up in a box, 
 called in these parts a palky, and carried on men's 
 shoulders. This mode of conveyance doesn't exactly 
 suit my ideas, and as the pith of the order was to get 
 to Bombay as sharp as I could, I came down by 
 mail-cart, and accomplished the trip much quicker 
 than I expected. Receiving the order on the 10th, I 
 started on the morning of the nth, and reached this 
 on the morning of the 22nd, making it exactly ten 
 days, the distance being upwards of 1030 miles. 
 
 "I have had some roughish trips during my life, but 
 nothing ever the least to equal this. Certainly some 
 of these coachmen deserve a medal for the reckless, 
 break-neck way they drive. They go all night, light 
 or dark, moon or no moon, with no lamp. They 
 couldn't go the pace over such ground with lamps. 
 A great part of the way there is nothing more than 
 a beaten track by way of a road : over hills, and 
 through jungles, and across rivers. I shall always 
 
no TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 look back upon this excursion as the most remark- 
 able one of my life. I was detained in some places 
 by rain, and met with other hindrances I could not 
 foresee, which obliged me to make up for lost time by 
 going all the faster. We came through many interest- 
 ing places — Agra, Gwalior, Indore, — but of course I 
 had no time to see the lions. They gave poor 
 Colonel Havelock, who was travelling six hours 
 ahead of me, a bad upset into the middle of a corn- 
 field, and bruised his nose and arm a little, but being 
 a small, spare man, he fell light, and is none the 
 worse for it, and has gone on to command a Division. 
 As you may suppose, I had very little sleep all the 
 way, and only one real dinner ; this was with a 
 Mr. Mansfield, of the Civil Service, coming through 
 Dhoolia. 
 
 "I suppose by this time the Persian War is beginning 
 to create some excitement at home, and perhaps it 
 would have been better had they left China alone, till 
 this Persian business is over. All the best of our 
 men have gone on, as well as the pick of the regi- 
 ments, and I am looking forward to joining them 
 with much delight, so many of my friends being 
 there. I can't help thinking with many others that 
 the whole expedition is a great mistake, for I can't 
 see any great object to be gained, even should it turn 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. m 
 
 out favourably ; and now that the hot weather is 
 coming on, nothing, I fancy, can be attempted on any 
 grand scale, and every one dreads fearful sickness 
 among the troops ; but still they go on sending more 
 and more. Somehow or other, people at home, and 
 some out here also, seem to have been seized with a 
 panic all at once that the Russians contemplate an 
 attack upon us ; and to prepare for this crisis, we send 
 a force from this country in a totally opposite 
 direction, thereby denuding our frontier of some of 
 our best troops. I suppose it is some grand stroke 
 of diplomacy that we out here know nothing about, 
 and are therefore not able to form an opinion. Mis- 
 take or no mistake, I intend to come out with a 
 Brevet Majority, i.e. if I come out at all. 
 
 "I hear all the thermometers burst at Bushire in June 
 or July. On ahead, towards Bagdad, the climate is 
 better, and I fancy we shall be sent up somewhere 
 in that direction. I should be glad of any maps of 
 Persia, and of those parts of Turkish Arabia neigh- 
 bouring on the Tigris and Euphrates, and any books 
 or journals you can find that give information on 
 these parts. I have a superb outfit for this campaign, 
 not much in quantity, but very select in quality. I 
 am beginning to think the military profession is not 
 a money-making business, at any rate; all these 
 
112 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 continual changes make it difficult to keep out of 
 debt. 
 
 " Having been obliged to leave all my kit, horses, 
 and servants behind at Secrora, I have to fit myself 
 out afresh. I wish my regiment were going up. 
 The ist Oude Irregulars would astonish a large 
 amount of Russian cavalry, I think. We despair of 
 any grand affair with the Persians ; if they bolt as 
 fast as they did at Bushire, there will be no getting 
 near them. The Persians never could fight yet, and 
 I conclude never will. 
 
 " Journal: March ist. — Just at the last moment, as 
 we were under way, got an order to tranship myself 
 from the Mirzapore to the Eliza, and take charge of 
 all on board. So off I went, and in the dark, my 
 next move after getting safe on deck, was tumbling 
 neck and crop down the hold, very nearly pulling 
 my arms out of their sockets in laying hold of a beam 
 to save myself. After making fast to the Alabama, 
 we all three started for Bushire in tow of the Assaye 
 steam frigate. We went on quietly enough till 
 Tuesday, when a gale set in dead in our teeth, enough 
 to blow a pipe out of one's mouth, and all that night 
 I felt sure one of our hawsers must snap every 
 minute. However, we rode it out, and anchored off 
 Bushire roads about three p.m. the Monday week 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 113 
 
 following. As far as scenery is concerned, it is by 
 far the most uninteresting coast I have ever sailed 
 along, being nothing but bare rock, without the 
 slightest variety from beginning to end. 
 
 " Tuesday, 10th March. — It blew so hard we were 
 obliged to let out fifty fathoms of chain, and the 
 Assaye came drifting by us with two anchors down, 
 but fortunately stopped before she got ashore. 
 
 " Wednesday, nth. — The more I look at Bushire 
 through the telescope, the more I feel convinced it's 
 the most rotten-looking place I ever saw, and unless 
 it's a very important place for trade, I can't imagine 
 the Honourable John Company sending troops to 
 garrison such a place. If you can fancy a bleak, 
 sandy plain, without a blade of vegetation -except a 
 few date trees here and there, that look as if they 
 were ashamed of themselves, and a very dirty town 
 built of mud, and filled with flies, dates, and dust, you 
 will be able to form a very accurate idea of Bushire. 
 Received sailing orderstoproceed to Mohamra without 
 delay, under sail. Started at three p.m., and the next 
 morning found us just ten miles from the spot we 
 started from, which shows the glorious uncertainty of 
 the Eliza under canvas. 
 
 " Saturday, 14th. — A good strong breeze in our 
 favour all last night ; and this morning ran up the 
 
 I 
 
ii4 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Euphrates and anchored with the rest of the fleet 
 about 4 p.m. 
 
 "Sunday, March i$th. — King and I were sent to 
 report our ships to Colonel Havelock. Went accord- 
 ingly and met many old friends — McPherson,* of the 
 Highlanders; Hunt of ditto; Nuttall, and several others. 
 
 "Monday, 16th. — The Agdalia, Golden Era, Suldana, 
 Alabama, and several others brought up close astern 
 of us. The Pioneer came in with news of General 
 Stalker's death. He was a general favourite through- 
 out the whole army ; and there could not be a better 
 or more honest servant to Government. In many 
 respects, with his kind and gentle manner, he 
 reminded me of Sir George Cathcart. Heard very 
 bad news : thunderstruck with the intelligence that 
 all the Cavalry and one troop Horse Artillery were 
 to return to Bushire. 
 
 " Tuesday, ijth. — Got under way very much 
 disgusted, and ran down the river ; passed the 
 Mir sapor e aground. Spoke the Hugh Lindsay 
 steamer, who told us to 'return/ and received in 
 reply three very loud cheers from the Eliza. 
 
 "The state of affairs just now is as follows : General 
 Outram is expected every day, when we are to go 
 on and take Mohamra. I send you a rough outline 
 * Afterwards Sir Herbert McPherson. 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 115 
 
 of the whereabouts of Mohamra. I dare say it will 
 be a hollow business, after all, but better than Bushire. 
 The Sybile, French frigate, which is round here, 
 came down from Bussora the other day, and declared 
 the Persians are full of confidence. However, I look 
 upon their getting a good thrashing as a dead cer- 
 tainty ; nothing can equal the spirits and esprit of 
 our corps from beginning to end, and I expect it will 
 be a clasp at least, if not a medal. No one seems to 
 have the slightest idea of the force of the Persians, 
 but probably it may be about 10,000 or 15,000. Our 
 force consists of Her Majesty's 78th Highlanders (7 
 companies), Her Majesty's 64th (7 companies), one 
 troop Horse Artillery, a Light Field Battery, one 
 squadron Scinde Horse, the Light Battalion of 
 Native Infantry, the 23rd Native Light Infantry, 
 the 26th Native Infantry, and a few others." 
 
 The following was to his mother : — " I hope you 
 don't think I ought not to have volunteered for this, 
 because I shall be very much distressed, dearest 
 mother, if I hear that you are in a state of mind 
 about me. Everything must be a trifle, after Inker- 
 man. If I had a wife and brats depending upon my 
 existence, you might consider it decidedly wrong, but 
 as it is, being in the Army, the more work I see of 
 this kind the better. A surgeon, for instance, takes 
 
Ii6 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 every opportunity of slashing off legs and arms 
 whenever there is an opportunity, and is considered 
 all the more expert in consequence. I sincerely hope 
 this Persian expedition may turn out well, but I 
 certainly cannot look upon it in a more favourable 
 light than the ' Persian folly.' I heard a capital 
 argument to this. A man talking about the Persians 
 and Russians threatening India, said that if a man 
 came to break his door open to rob the house, he 
 certainly would not run out at the other end, and I 
 certainly would not give that old villain Dost Moham- 
 mad twelve lakhs a year to be my door-keeper. 
 
 * Regarding the Queen's medal for valour, I shall be 
 very sorry if you try for it : even were there a chance 
 of getting it, I should not take it. I look upon it in 
 this light : If a volunteer or outsider were to serve 
 with my regiment, and get the prize medal, I as a 
 member of the regiment should be very much dis- 
 gusted : and the 20th received me so kindly I should 
 be sorry for anything to occur to damp that feeling." 
 
 Johnson was present at the bombardment and 
 taking of Mohamra, which he always described as 
 very tame after the Crimea; and he accompanied 
 the only detachment of Native Horse sent in pursuit 
 of the Persian Army. On the 24th of March the 
 expedition anchored in front of the fortifications of 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 117 
 
 Mohamra ; on the 26th, fire was opened on the Persian 
 works, the principal magazines were blown up, and 
 the place was taken. On April 5th peace was signed 
 at Paris. The following letter was written on April 
 19th from the camp : — 
 
 * Probably this will be my last from Mohamra, for 
 we all expect shortly to be on the move for Bushire 
 or India. All our prospects of a campaign into Persia 
 are effectually damped by the news of peace, and all 
 I can look forward to now, is a tedious march back to 
 Lucknow. We don't know yet what are the terms of 
 peace, but as far as we can learn, they are not half so 
 good for us as might have been expected, and it is 
 the general opinion that unless it was the intention 
 at the commencement to carry on the war in earnest, 
 it has been nothing more than an enormous expen- 
 diture of money and nothing gained. The Persian 
 Army has all gone to ruin, disbanded and broken up ; 
 the state of the country is most thoroughly rotten ; 
 the army, since it has been licked out of Mohamra, has 
 been looted and robbed in all directions, and the Arabs 
 are paying them off for all sorts of tyranny practised 
 on them on their march down. The Government is 
 so thoroughly bad, that I believe many of the tribes 
 would be too glad to be relieved of it, and we could 
 have marched on to Shiraz and Ispahan with very 
 
n8 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 little opposition. Possibly we should have had a 
 fight at the top of the passes, where they would only 
 have run away again, and we should have gone on 
 quite comfortably. 
 
 " Last week we got up a little picnic, and ' did ' 
 Bussora, about thirty miles up the river. We hired 
 a native boat and had a very pretty sail, and put up 
 in Mr. Taylor's house, Assistant to the Consul at 
 Bagdad. Most of the place is in ruins, and what with 
 plague and cholera, the place has decreased from 
 about 70,000 to 6000 in the last twenty years, and an 
 intelligent Armenian told me he thought about two 
 more choleras would finish the remainder. The bazaar 
 was better built than the one at Smyrna, and there 
 are some pretty gardens on the river, containing the 
 most delightful conglomeration of fig, vine, date, 
 mulberry, peach, pomegranate, and other trees. Some 
 of the Arabs were such fine-looking fellows ; they 
 came in marketing from a long distance in the desert. 
 They reminded me much of the Circassians you see 
 at Constantinople, only a little darker in complexion. 
 The different costumes and figures you saw in the 
 bazaar made about as picturesque a sight as you could 
 see anywhere — Armenians, Turks, and Kurds with 
 belts full of daggers. The women, as at Cairo and 
 Alexandria, wear a blue veil over the entire face, 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN, 119 
 
 therefore I can't tell you what they are like ; the 
 people were very civil, and Bussora has not seen so 
 much tin for many a day, as it has since our force 
 has been up here. All the tops of the houses have 
 flat roofs, and in the mornings and evenings this is 
 the coolest place, and we often used to go and smoke 
 our pipes up there. We appeared to attract much 
 curiosity among the Bussora ladies, and we saw 
 numerous heads in all directions, greatly to the indig- 
 nation of the jealous old Turks. One fellow sent 
 over to say that if we looked at his wife any more, he 
 would cut her throat, or cut his own. We told him 
 to cut his own if he liked, but if he played any tricks 
 with any one else, we should hand him over to the 
 efTendi. We heard nothing more of him,- but most 
 likely the poor woman got a good licking after we 
 were gone." 
 
 The next letter is dated "Persian Folly Force, 
 Mokamra, May 3rd. — Here we are still, why or 
 wherefore is more than I can say ; one would have 
 supposed that after peace has been signed, the most 
 sensible thing would have been to send all the troops 
 back to India, before the monsoons set in : but no, 
 they say they must remain here till the treaty is 
 ratified. During my absence here, Daly is trans- 
 ferred as commandant to the corps of Guides in the 
 
120 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Punjaub ; and Forbes, of the 1st Bengal Irregular 
 Cavalry, is put in to succeed him in the 1st Oude 
 Cavalry. Had I remained quietly and comfortably 
 in Oude, I should now be commanding the regiment 
 in Daly's absence, and on rejoining the corps I ought 
 to be Daly's locum tenens. The news from Mohamra 
 will not take up much room ; the most important 
 productions of the place are dates, flies, and fleas : 
 the last to any amount, they come out of the ground 
 in all directions. We have an expedition to Bagdad 
 in contemplation, but I should not wonder if the 
 whole force was out of this by the end of the month. 
 In Bagdad I should expect to see nothing more than 
 Bussora magnified ten times. There is some very 
 fine hog-hunting there, but without horses I don't see 
 how this is to be managed. Lugard, Adjutant-General 
 for Queen's troops in Bombay, is perhaps the best 
 man we have here. There are several good men on 
 the staff. Briggs, Hogg, Cook, and Willoughby having 
 joined our party, we are shortly going to pitch 
 another tent. Several officers have been taken 
 seriously ill after breakfast. You ask what it is, and 
 are told by the authorities it is peculiar to Mohamra 
 to be sick after breakfast. The number of flies 
 affects the food. We have two months of flies, and 
 then two months of an insect of a far worse genus. 
 
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. 121 
 
 Pleasing prospect for us! Thermometer is to be 
 112 at sunrise, 122 noon, 114 evening." 
 
 Just after this they got orders to return to Bombay, 
 and Johnson was one of those told off for the Dakotah 
 sailing transport. He wrote from Bombay to his 
 mother, May 27th : a A few lines to tell you of my 
 safe arrival from Mohamra, with several other Bashi- 
 Bazouks. Nicholson, an old Guzerat friend of mine, 
 going down sick ; Nicholetts, Leith, Neave, and Brad- 
 ford, made up the rest of our party, with 162 horses 
 and a quantity of bullocks. All of these, being senior 
 officer on board, I had to look after, and the heat 
 sometimes was something so awful it was fortunate the 
 horses arrived safe. We came down part of the way 
 in tow of the Semiramis war steamer, and then, 
 after putting in at Muscat to coal, it began to blow 
 so hard that we were obliged to let go and sail. We 
 found Muscat a better place than we expected : it is 
 situated something like Balaklava, land-locked in the 
 same way, only the cliffs not so precipitous. We 
 landed and ' did ' the place satisfactorily. We found 
 the town about as dirty as Bussora, full of Arabs 
 and Persians. At Muscat we found some bad fruit, 
 which to us was a great treat ; where it came from 
 we could in no way comprehend. When we 
 asked, they pointed in the direction of a mass of rocks 
 
122 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 without a blade of cultivation of any kind : you see 
 nothing but range over range of bare rocks all round 
 you. I am thinking of starting for Calcutta June ist. 
 Not having seen any papers since the 14th of April, 
 you will learn more from them of the rows in the 
 North- West than I can tell you." 
 
( 123 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE INDIAN MUTINY — SHIPWRECK. JUNE, 1 857. 
 
 There had been for some time rumours of disaffec- 
 tion among the sepoys in the North- West Provinces, 
 and news of the outbreak of mutiny among the 
 native regiments at Meerut, Ferozepore, and Delhi, 
 had by this time reached Bombay. General Have- 
 lock had arrived at Bombay from Persia, and was 
 anxious at once to hurry overland to join the 
 Commander-in-Chief, who was believed to be march- 
 ing on Delhi ; but the risks of doing so were great, 
 and Lord Elphinstone would not permit it ; so 
 Havelock had, instead, to go to Galle in the hope 
 of catching there the mail steamer for Calcutta. He 
 left Bombay on the 1st of June, in the P. & O. 
 steamer Erin, with Captain Baily; his son (young 
 Henry Havelock), Johnson, and a few others with 
 him. Johnson wrote to his brother from the Erin, 
 off Cochin, June 4th — "You will wonder where in 
 
124 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 the world I have got to now, so I'll tell you. I am 
 on my way to Galle to catch the big steamer from 
 Cochin to Calcutta, and am going on from thence to 
 the North-West Provinces to shoot Bengal sepoys. 
 I remained in Bombay a week, and intended to have 
 taken a run up to Poona to see the regiment, but on 
 account of this row all our services are required with 
 our respective regiments in Bengal, and I thought it 
 best not to delay. So here we are, on board the 
 Erin, the ship that ran down the Pasha some years 
 back off Singapore. We left Bombay on the ist, 
 and expect to be at Galle to-morrow, where we shall 
 move into the Bengal, which will take us up to 
 Calcutta in eight or nine days or so. The Erin is 
 tolerably comfortable : commissariat very good, 
 except the tea, which is a go between that article and 
 coffee. However, as much good claret as you can 
 drink supplies the deficiency without grumbling. 
 Such curious critters by way of servants — Chinese 
 without eyes, and with most glorious pigtails, down 
 to the bottom of the calf of the leg ; they are very 
 clean, and make excellent servants. Our party 
 consists of General Wilson, Havelock (Adjutant- 
 General for Queen's troops in Bengal), young Have- 
 lock (his son), and a few others, merchants of sorts 
 for Ceylon and Shanghai. Not a bad party 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 125 
 
 altogether, and having beautiful weather, we have 
 as yet had rather a jolly trip than otherwise. 
 
 "I suppose this disgraceful mutiny has created 
 great excitement in England as well as in India. The 
 worst of it is, I hope, over now, although the accounts 
 were but seedy when we were in Bombay. Nothing 
 to create any alarm has occurred, I am happy to say, 
 on our side of India, and I dare say if a little grape 
 had been scientifically administered in the first 
 instance at Meerut, it would have put a stop to all 
 further proceedings. When it is all over, I dare say 
 it will do good in many respects. It will show the 
 Bengalese that their system of soldiering is quite a 
 mistake, at any rate, and create an entire reform, 
 which was much wanted. I am not the least afraid 
 of any of the Irregular Cavalry turning against us ; 
 in fact, the mutiny has been solely brought about 
 by the Bengal Infantry of the line, and the sooner 
 these fellows are hanged the better. It is just what 
 you might expect in an army where the officers are 
 afraid to keep up a sufficiently strict discipline 
 amongst their men. Have you seen the very mild 
 orders that have come out from the Governor-General ? 
 It is not much to the purpose to ask mutineers to 
 keep quiet. The only way it will be done, is to show 
 them you can make them give in. Rather an 
 
126 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 unfortunate occurrence took place just before my 
 departure from Bombay. I had just drawn about 
 seventy pounds from the Pay Office to pay my 
 way back to Oude, brought it back, and put it 
 into my writing-case, and a negro coolly walked off 
 with the whole of it ! Rather inconvenient, just at 
 starting, and there is not the slightest chance of ever 
 recovering a farthing of the money. How curious 
 India will be after this mutiny ! Of course no more 
 ladies will come out ; you have no idea what atten- 
 tion will be paid to the army now." 
 
 In the envelope of this letter is written : " We 
 have just been shipwrecked, but all hands on shore 
 safe." The Erin was wrecked on the west coast of 
 Ceylon, a few miles below Colombo, off a small 
 village called Kalutara South. The coast is very 
 dangerous, with many reefs and sandbanks ; it was 
 a very bad time of year (June 7th), and she struck 
 at night. The captain was in his cabin, and it 
 is said that the officer was misled by his compass, 
 which was a new one ; but as it went to the bottom 
 nothing could be proved. A star had been taken, 
 and the course was supposed to be right. Fortu- 
 nately the sandbank on which the Erin struck was 
 near the shore. It may still be seen, just opposite to 
 the little village of Kalutara, and quite recently one 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 127 
 
 of the paddle-wheels of the unfortunate vessel was 
 visible in the sand. It was through Johnson's 
 presence of mind, which never failed him in time of 
 need, that the alarm was given. He was the first to 
 hear the breakers, and to assist in sending up blue 
 lights and rockets, and in firing off the gun. He 
 lost most of his kit, which was in the hold, and there 
 was not time to get it out before the ship went to 
 pieces. The Commander, Captain Baily, is still living 
 at Colombo as agent to the P. & O. Company there 
 (he is well known as the best judge of precious stones 
 in the island). In writing about " Billy " Johnson's 
 conduct at the time, he says : " I remember him well : 
 we were both comparatively young men when the 
 Erin was lost, and his behaviour at the time fixed 
 him in my memory. I thought he was the pluckiest 
 man I ever saw. He was below when the saloon 
 was half full of water; got his powder-flask out of 
 his revolver case, and stood with the sea rushing over 
 him, and primed the gun which we were firing. 
 We had got cartridges up, but the priming powder 
 was wet." Johnson's own letter to his mother gives 
 a graphic account of the shipwreck : — 
 
 "On board Fire Queen, 
 
 "125 miles S.E. of Madras. 
 
 " Rather an unfortunate termination to my trip 
 
128 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE, 
 
 with the ' Persian Folly/ to be first robbed of seven 
 hundred rupees, and immediately after to be ship- 
 wrecked, instead of more honours, and a Brevet 
 Majority, as I expected. I won't grumble though, for 
 * misfortunes will occur in the best-regulated families/ 
 and perhaps we are very well out of it, for had we 
 struck a mile north of Kalutara, it would have been 
 the last you would ever have heard of the old Erin, 
 1 Master William/ and all the rest of us. Joking 
 apart, I assure you we are all very thankful it was 
 no worse ; for to end one's career by being drowned 
 like so many insignificant kittens, it is not exactly 
 what one would prefer, to say the least of it. And 
 now you will like to know the particulars, which 
 I will condense as much as possible. Well, you 
 already know we were en route between Bombay 
 and Point de Galle on board the Erin, iron paddle 
 P. & O. boat, running between Bombay and China. 
 On Friday afternoon, took the sun as usual, and 
 found ourselves a hundred and sixty miles from 
 Galle ; took the sun again at four the same afternoon, 
 and a star at ten, and then the captain turned in. We 
 were running then under topsails, with the current 
 in our favour, eleven and a half or twelve knots an 
 hour. 
 " Young Havelock and I were sleeping in our usual 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY, 129 
 
 places on the top of the skylight. The least thing 
 awakes me sleeping, and about one, hearing a peculiar 
 noise, I sat up and listened, and thought to myself 
 we must be in shallow water, amongst a lot of 
 breakers. Havelock saw me sitting up, and asked 
 me what was the matter ; but I did not answer him, 
 not knowing what was the matter. Just then a heavy 
 shower of rain came on. I rolled up my bed like a 
 shot, and sung out to Havelock if he did not look 
 sharp he would be washed down in five minutes. I 
 had been below only three minutes, and had turned 
 in again under the stern window, thinking that I must 
 have mistaken the noise of the rain on the water for 
 breakers, when, first, came a very slight bump, then 
 two together — bump, bump ; then bang, bump, a roll 
 and a dash simultaneously ; and so we went on being 
 dashed about till the end of the chapter, expecting 
 the ship (iron) to go to pieces every minute, and not 
 knowing in the least where we were, which made it 
 much worse ; and not being accustomed to being 
 shipwrecked, I thought the position most particularly 
 disagreeable, and felt a very peculiar sensation, 
 commonly called ' funk,' — very much what I felt at 
 Inkerman when I found myself alone, surrounded by 
 Russian riflemen, all deliberately shooting at me. 
 Every one looked particularly astonished ; there was 
 
 K 
 
130 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE, 
 
 a great deal of rushing about, much jaw, but very 
 little done. Blue lights and rockets were sent up ad 
 libitum, but no reply from the shore. At last, know- 
 ing the habits of niggers ashore in a storm, how they 
 roll themselves up like hedgehogs, seeing nothing, and 
 hearing very little, I suggested that we might fire off 
 one of the guns on board ; and I assisted to get up 
 some blank cartridge (which we did with difficulty) ; 
 but these not being rammed home sufficiently, made 
 but a poor report ; however, it was the first they heard 
 of us ashore. It was not of much consequence, how- 
 ever, for nothing could be done, or rather nothing 
 was done, until daylight. What amused me most 
 was, during the commotion, a man in a great state of 
 excitement, ramming his head into my stomach, with 
 a ' Here you are, sir,' and putting a bundle of shotted 
 cartridges into my hand, by way of some blank 
 ammunition for the gun ! Fortunately I felt the shot 
 inside, or we should the next moment have astonished 
 the village with a volley of grape. 
 
 " Well, in the morning boats put off and took us 
 ashore, and most of our baggage ; and they got the 
 specie out and the mails, and about nine the poor 
 old Erin broke in two, with about £150,000 of opium 
 on board, and most of the ship's officers' baggage. 
 After she began to break up, the scene on shore was 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 131 
 
 highly ridiculous — every sort of thing being flung 
 overboard in the hope of its being washed ashore — 
 chairs, boxes, beds, cushions, a cow and calf, sheep, 
 cocks and hens, ducks and geese (these seem to vote 
 it rather a lark than otherwise), a horse (who didn't). 
 Poor Baily, the captain, was very much cut up about 
 it : he had only been in command about six months. 
 The officer on watch was to blame, for not keeping 
 his eyes and ears open when the squall came on. . . . 
 I think, had the wheel been put over immediately the 
 ship struck, she might have been saved ; but they 
 stopped and backed engines, which was useless, as 
 we were going under topsails twelve knots an hour. 
 The rudder was smashed very shortly after we struck. 
 So much for this. If you look on the map, you will 
 find a place on the west coast of Ceylon, about half 
 way between Colombo and Galle, called Kalutara. 
 We found very comfortable quarters ; Mr. Templar, 
 the judge, took us in and did for us ; and the same 
 night we went on into Galle. We were too late, how- 
 ever, for the steamer, which had gone on to Calcutta 
 the day before ; so we got a lift up in the Fire Queen t 
 which had been sent down from Calcutta to Galle for 
 European troops ; but there being no Europeans to 
 send from there, she was ordered back, and to touch 
 at Madras. I lost some of my silver kit and camp 
 
132 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 kit on board the Erin, which will put me to some 
 inconvenience. It was down in the hold, and they 
 could not get it out. Such a dirty steamer this, and 
 cockroaches as big as young rabbits." 
 
 On his arrival in India he found that he had suffered 
 still greater losses, for, in his absence, all his house- 
 hold goods — horses (including his beloved "Arab's 
 Choice"), and everything he possessed — had fallen 
 into the hands of the mutineers. Amongst his 
 treasures was a very valuable collection of armour 
 and weapons ; and for all these losses he only received 
 compensation in part. 
 
 He arrived at Calcutta in the Fire Queen on the 
 17th June. Sir Henry Havelock, and Sir Patrick 
 Grant, who was then Commander-in-Chief at Madras, 
 were on board. Sir Patrick presented Havelock to 
 Lord Canning with the words, "My Lord, I have 
 brought you the man ; " and Havelock was forth- 
 with despatched to support Sir Hugh Wheeler 
 and Sir Henry Lawrence, who were holding the 
 mutineers at bay at Cawnpore and Lucknow. The 
 dauntless and heroic Neill had already gone on with 
 his "Lambs" — the 1st Madras Fusiliers — and had 
 quelled the outbreak at Allahabad. 
 
 On June 25th, Havelock left Calcutta, he and his 
 little band travelling by rail and road to Benares. 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 133 
 
 Johnson, on arriving with Havelock at Calcutta, had 
 received orders from Lord Canning to proceed up 
 country, and officiate as second in command of the 
 1 2th Regiment Irregular Cavalry. He accordingly went 
 up to Benares, but was unfortunately attacked there 
 with severe illness. He had been very ill while he 
 was at Calcutta, and in the doctor's hands ; but he 
 made light of it, and hurried on as soon as possible. 
 He wrote to his mother from Benares, July 14 : — 
 
 "You will be surprised to see my letter dated 
 from Benares, but I came up here a few days since, 
 intending to drop down the river to a place called 
 Chupra, and from thence to Segowlee (where the 12th 
 Irregular Cavalry were) ; but, unfortunately, I am laid 
 up here with my side troubling me again, and having 
 had leeches and a blister on yesterday, I am quite 
 unable to move out of bed. The pain, however, is 
 nothing serious, and I shall be well, I hope, in a few 
 days ; but it is a bore just now to be laid up, during 
 the present state of affairs, when every Englishman 
 is wanted for work. . . . Matters in this part of India 
 just now are looking up, and General Havelock has 
 given the mutineers a good thrashing between 
 Allahabad and Cawnpore, and will march on and 
 relieve Lucknow. I should have gone on with him, 
 had I been well. Several men from Oude are here 
 
134 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 just now. Boileau from Secrora is one ; you have 
 heard me speak of him before ; he is the husband of 
 the lady who used to make such lovely lobster salad. 
 He has lost everything, except his wife and children 
 (who are safe in Lucknow), and the horse he rode 
 away upon. All my things were plundered at a place 
 called Nawabgunj, between Secrora and Lucknow, 
 so I have not the slightest chance of ever seeing them 
 again — four rifles and a gun, swords, shields, and 
 many trophies of much value. The * Arab's Choice ' 
 and the brown Arab colt are supposed to be safe in 
 Lucknow.* 
 
 " As to my regiment, it has gone ; a few Sikhs only 
 remain. In fact, the whole of the Oude Contingent 
 has mutinied, almost to a man — three regiments 
 of cavalry, ten of infantry, three batteries of native 
 artillery, and about two thousand police. Doesn't it 
 sound ridiculous ? and Sir Henry Lawrence holding 
 his own at Lucknow all this time with a few 
 Europeans. I regret very much being absent when 
 the thing occurred. I think I could have held some 
 of the men together, at any rate ; but there is no 
 saying ; perhaps I might have been decapitated like 
 the rest. I should have been commanding that 
 party that started under Hayes (Military Secretary 
 
 * They were never recovered. 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 135 
 
 to Sir H. Lawrence), who was murdered with Barber, 
 Fayrer, and the others. The slaughter amongst 
 officers, women, and children has been awful ; and 
 I don't expect the country will be quiet till we have 
 had remuneration by blowing away from guns some 
 twenty thousand. It is a sad thing; and I can't 
 help thinking that many an innocent victim will 
 suffer, who has been misled by these cowardly lying 
 villains. However, there is only one way to treat a 
 mutiny, otherwise there is an end to all discipline 
 for the future. 
 
 " Holmes's * troops have mutinied as well as the 
 Gwalior Contingent. The former from Indore 
 marched on Mhow, and old Piatt, with the 23rd, a 
 battery of artillery, and some of the 1st" Cavalry, 
 gave them a most awful licking. The most curious 
 state of affairs exists now in India — the greater 
 part of the Bengal Native Army have all gone mad 
 at the same time. Government calls it a Mussulman 
 row, but I believe myself that the most bigoted of 
 the Brahmin Hindoos are the mischief-makers, and 
 that the Mussulmans do the fighting part of the 
 business. They are a much more open race than 
 the Bengal Brahmins. One article will be much 
 
 * He was Commandant of the 12th Irregular Cavalry, of whom 
 Johnson later took command. 
 
136 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 required in India when the troops arrive : i.e. small 
 powerful river steamers, drawing but little water ; 
 with a good supply of these, the work could be done 
 in half the time, not only for troops, but for heavy 
 ammunition, commissariat stores, etc." 
 
 Johnson lay at Benares sick for several weeks, and 
 during this time the state of affairs had become much 
 worse. Havelock reached Allahabad on the 30th of 
 June, where he met Neill, who was there equipping 
 the advance column, which left the same afternoon, 
 under the command of Major Renaud, for Cawnpore. 
 Havelock intended to follow with a stronger force 
 on July 4th, but was delayed three days by the 
 task of forming the Corps of Volunteer Cavalry, 
 which afterwards did such fine service under Barrow. 
 On July 7th Havelock marched from Allahabad with 
 the main column, and marched (as an old sergeant of 
 the 84th Regiment told the writer) " fighting all the 
 way." But before their start, sad news had come of 
 the massacre and destruction of the gallant little 
 garrison of Cawnpore. Havelock's " Ironsides " did 
 not number two thousand men. But what they 
 lacked in quantity was made up in quality, for finer 
 soldiers never stepped. Their first battle was at 
 Futtehpore, July 12th — Havelock's first engagement 
 as a General in command. Eleven guns were 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 137 
 
 taken. The next was at Cavvnpore, fought on the 
 1 6th of July, and on the following morning the 
 English took possession of the station. But, alas ! 
 they were just too late. 
 
 It will be remembered that after the massacre at 
 the Ghat (of which tidings had been received by 
 Havelock on the 1st of July) the unfortunate 
 women and children had been taken back to 
 Cawnpore, and confined in a single bungalow by 
 Nana Sahib. When he heard of the approach of 
 Havelock's column, he ordered them to be imme- 
 diately slaughtered. First, the men, of whom there 
 were but few prisoners, were brought out and killed ; 
 and then he sent down the sepoys of his guard to 
 shoot the women and children. It is said that they 
 fired over the heads of the hapless prisoners ; at all 
 events, few were killed ; so the Nana sent for some 
 butchers out of the city to finish off the work with 
 knives. The ghastly tale is told by Mr. Shepherd, a 
 civilian resident in Cawnpore, in his narrative of the 
 siege. He writes : — * 
 
 "The native spies were first put to the sword, and after 
 them the gentlemen : they were brought out from the out- 
 buildings in which they had been confined, and shot with 
 
 * Mr. Shepherd's narrative was shown to the writer by Professor G. 
 W. Forrest on her voyage home from India in 1895, an( i tne extracts 
 were made by his kind permission. 
 
138 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 bullets. Then the poor females were ordered to come out, 
 but neither threats nor persuasions could induce them to do 
 so. They laid hold of each other, and clung so close that 
 it was impossible to separate them, or drag them out of the 
 building. The troopers, therefore, brought muskets, and 
 after firing a great many shots from the doors and windows, 
 rushed in with swords and bayonets. Some of the helpless 
 creatures in their agony fell down at the feet of their 
 murderers, clasped their legs, and begged them in the most 
 pitiful manner to spare their lives, but to no purpose. 
 The fearful deed was done deliberately and completely, in 
 the midst of the most dreadful shrieks and cries of the 
 victims. There were between a hundred and forty and a 
 hundred and fifty souls, including children. The doors of 
 the building were then locked for the night (16th July). 
 Next morning it was found that some ten or fifteen women had 
 managed to escape by falling or hiding under the murdered 
 bodies of their fellow-prisoners. Fresh orders were there- 
 fore sent to murder these also ; but the survivors, not being 
 able to bear the idea of being cut down, rushed out into 
 the compound, and seeing a well there, threw themselves 
 into it without hesitation. The dead bodies of those 
 murdered by the butchers on the preceding evening were 
 then ordered to be thrown into the same well." 
 
 Another account of the scene is given by a 
 sergeant of the 57th, who went with Havelock and 
 Neill into the house of blood, a few hours after the 
 massacre. He relates that the Nana, when he heard 
 of Havelock's pushing forward, ordered all the 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 139 
 
 prisoners to be killed, and appointed a hundred of 
 his men to kill the men, and a hundred more to 
 kill the women and children, and served out a 
 hundred rounds of ammunition. These men fired 
 upon the poor creatures, but, it is supposed, missed 
 them intentionally by firing over their heads. So 
 the Nana sent into the city for some thirty of the 
 lowest caste men — butchers — to kill them with knives. 
 They were men of a low outcast tribe, but even of 
 these degraded creatures only five would do the 
 frightful work. Three of the five were faint from 
 heat and blood, and only two remained to finish it. 
 One of them fell into the hands of Havelock's soldiers, 
 and he confessed that he had broken three weapons 
 in the ghastly work, and finished off with a cavalry 
 sword. He said he was forced to go on by the 
 Nana's men. 
 
 All this took place at the very time that the battle 
 of Cawnpore was being fought outside. When Have- 
 lock's men entered the city they were righteously 
 maddened by what they found. The floor of the 
 house where the women and children had been 
 confined since the massacre of the men at the Ghat, 
 rather more than a fortnight before, was a pool of 
 blood. All round the walls were the marks of the 
 bullets and the stains of blood, with tresses of hair, 
 
140 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 articles of clothing, letters, toys, ornaments, and 
 other piteous relics. The soldiers followed the 
 tracks of blood which they found on the grass out- 
 side, and traced them to the brink of the well, 
 which had been covered by the sepoys with 
 branches of trees, in the vain hope of hiding it from 
 the English. They found it full to the brim with 
 the mangled and mutilated bodies of English women 
 and children — some dead, some dying — all thrown in 
 together. Is it a wonder that the vengeance taken 
 was a terrible one — that the soldiers were driven 
 almost to desperation ? 
 
 Neill's retribution was merciless. He forced the 
 highest caste men to lick up the blood, which, 
 according to their creed, would send them to 
 destruction : then many of them were blown from 
 guns, and the tree stands now, on which numbers 
 were hanged. Even Havelock said, " Are there not 
 some prisoners ? do they not encumber us ? " It 
 took his men several days to bury the dead : some 
 in the well, some in another well, which had been 
 the scene of many a gallant deed, some in another 
 large grave, and some in a small cemetery close by 
 what was the House of Blood. Often there were 
 three and four in one grave. The House of Blood 
 was razed to the ground : it was not thought right 
 
THE INDIAN MUTINY. 141 
 
 that it should be left standing. Over the well, and 
 hiding it from view, stands now the Memorial — a lovely 
 angel of spotless white marble, — and around the base 
 runs this inscription : " Sacred to the perpetual 
 memory of a great company of women and children 
 who near this place were cruelly massacred by the 
 followers of the rebel named Dundhoo Puath, but 
 commonly called Nana Sahib of Bithoor, and cast, 
 the dead with the dying, into the well below, A.D. 
 July 16th, 1857, and in graves close by." On one 
 cross is the appropriate inscription : " Our bones are 
 scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth 
 and cleaveth wood upon the earth." The ground all 
 round the Memorial is consecrated, and close by is 
 the Memorial Church, dedicated to All Souls, the 
 walls of which are entirely covered with marble tablets 
 to the memory of the victims of the massacres. 
 Beside the Memorial, stands the tree where 
 hundreds of mutineers were hanged by Neill's orders. 
 In the peace and beauty of the scene it is hard for 
 the visitor to Cawnpore of to-day, to realize the 
 piteous tragedy of the spot. 
 
142 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE MUTINY— AFFAIR AT HUTGAON WITH THE 
 BOATS, UNDER MAJOR VINCENT EYRE, SEPT. 10,1857. 
 
 Lieutenant Johnson, as we have seen, was lying 
 ill at Benares during the time that the terrible things 
 related in the last chapter happened. On the 5th 
 August he wrote the following letter to his mother 
 from Benares : " Altogether things in general have a 
 much worse appearance than when I last wrote : in 
 fact, the whole of Bengal is in the most delicious state 
 of rebellion you ever heard of, and it strikes me the 
 whole matter must end in a big campaign in the 
 cold weather, or rather as soon as a sufficient force 
 comes out from England. I hope to be at the fall 
 of Delhi yet. Up to the last accounts Delhi was 
 not likely to fall for some time. Some of our 
 best men have been wounded there. Neville Cham- 
 berlain has been dangerously wounded. Daly also, I 
 am sorry to say, has been wounded, with many others. 
 
THE MUTINY. 143 
 
 The last accounts, too, from General Havelock are 
 not good : he had been obliged to halt for reinforce- 
 ments, and the mutineers have broken down a bridge 
 before him. Havelock has about 2000 men with 
 him. The enemy have probably 10,000. They 
 make every sort of difficulty to prevent his advance, 
 and Havelock will have to fight his way by inches. 
 However, I expect to see him come out with flying 
 colours: He is a very fine old fellow, settles down 
 in a fight, and becomes as cool as a cucumber. 
 
 " People here look as if they would like to eat you 
 raw, bones and all. However, the whole country 
 now had better have its mutiny, and then there will 
 be a reaction, decidedly a considerable reaction, when 
 10,000 troops from England begin to make an 
 advance in the cold weather. Just now all Europeans 
 work under a sad disadvantage, on account of the 
 heat ; besides, the country is half under water, and 
 it is impossible for an army to move except on the 
 Grand Trunk Roads. There is only one good road 
 between Cawnpore and Lucknow ; if Havelock gets 
 off this he finds himself immediately stuck in the 
 mud. The loyal 12th Irregular Cavalry have gone : 
 they distinguished themselves by killing the Com- 
 manding Officer Holmes, his wife and family, and the 
 doctor, his wife, and family ; and had I not been 
 
144 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 detained here by weakness, there is not the slightest 
 doubt what my fate would have been. You know I 
 was on my way to join Holmes. I have heard from 
 private sources that I have been appointed comman- 
 dant of a new yeomanry corps of cavalry to be 
 raised, and am daily expected in Calcutta. I have 
 received nothing direct from Government, but shall 
 write about it to-day, for perhaps they do not know 
 where I am. I am better than when I last wrote, 
 but not able to move yet." 
 The following despatch refers to this appointment : 
 
 " Council Chamber, Fort William, Calcutta, 
 
 "August 4th, 1857. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I am directed to request that you will 
 
 have the goodness to order Lieutenant W. T. Johnson, 
 of the 6th Bombay Native Infantry, lately doing 
 work with the 12th Irregular Cavalry, and who is 
 believed to be detained in or near Benares, to proceed 
 immediately to Calcutta, for the purpose of being 
 appointed to the command of the Bengal Yeomanry 
 Corps. 
 
 " I am, etc., 
 " R. I. H. Birch, Colonel, 
 " Sec. to the Government of India, 
 
 " Military Department. 
 " To the Officer commanding, Military Department, Benares." 
 
THE MUTINY. H5 
 
 Johnson was at this time ordered by his doctor to 
 go home for change, and his cousin, Colonel Henry 
 Turner, wrote about him as follows : " I have written 
 strongly urging him to go home, and I do hope he 
 will follow my advice ; we must be thankful that his 
 illness prevents his being in the midst of these horrid 
 mutineers, where his life would be often endangered 
 when least expected. His regiment of cavalry is 
 one of those that has mutinied, and three of the 
 officers with it (and their families) were murdered. 
 Thank God Billy was not with them ! He is quite 
 safe where he is, and in Bengal we may hope that the 
 worst is over. We shall ere long hear that Lucknow 
 has been relieved, and that General Havelock's 
 force has gone on to reinforce the army in front of 
 Delhi." 
 
 The following letter was written by Johnson to his 
 mother on August 18th, from "The Mint, Benares." 
 "Not a letter have I received from England for 
 nearly three months, so I suppose these have all 
 been looted by these beggarly mutineers. The mail 
 from England is just in here, via Calcutta. At last 
 I am glad to see the mutiny is beginning to create 
 some excitement at home, and I have just been 
 reading the speeches after the first arrival of the news 
 in England of the Meerut affair, and the siege of 
 
 L 
 
146 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Delhi. Disraeli in some respects seems to take a 
 pretty correct view of the case ; the Earl of Hard- 
 wicke more particularly so, in recommending troops 
 to be sent overland at once. Had troops been sent 
 overland in the first instance, they might now be 
 on their way up the Indus, having disembarked at 
 Kurrachee. They would by this means get water 
 transport as far as Mooltan. Reinforcements for the 
 Force now before Delhi would reach us much sooner 
 in this way than via the Cape and Calcutta ; I should 
 say six weeks sooner. 
 
 " And now for the mutiny out here. I don't think 
 matters are much worse since I wrote last ; sixty- 
 two regiments of Native Infantry, eight of Regular 
 Cavalry, seven of Irregular Cavalry, the whole of the 
 Oude, Gwalior, and Indore Contingents having 
 mutinied, and being all loose about the country, you 
 can fancy there is rather a confusion in the state of 
 affairs in general; and the whole of the country 
 from the Punjaub down to the Hoogly is in a 
 most unsettled state at present, and will remain so 
 for some time to come, I am afraid. It is difficult to 
 give people in England, who have never been in 
 India, a correct idea of what is going on, but perhaps 
 you may gain some little insight from the following 
 remarks. Although almost the whole of the Bengal 
 
THE MUTINY, H7 
 
 Army has mutinied, I don't think mutiny is at all 
 the feeling of the country at large, and I feel there is 
 hardly a village throughout the disturbed districts 
 that would not be too glad of a settlement of affairs, 
 to be as they were before. Just now they are all 
 living in a most uncomfortable state of alarm, being 
 liable to be plundered and insulted in every way, by 
 bands of these brutal mutineers and rebels, at present 
 wandering about the country. 
 
 " To show you that the peasantry are not against 
 us : when all the Oude mutineers went out to 
 fight General Havelock on his march to Lucknow, 
 the villages from without came in and supplied 
 the garrison of Lucknow most handsomely with 
 provisions. Also at Delhi, our camp is supplied 
 with all the necessaries of life, when the mutineers 
 are in great want within the city. The men who 
 have mutinied have made themselves enemies 
 on all sides ; the country people and villagers 
 they have robbed and otherwise ill-treated, hate 
 them ; all the old pensioners ditto, because, if they 
 gain the day (which there is no chance of), what 
 will become of the pensions ? Now the beggars have 
 mutinied they don't know what to do. They can't 
 work together, and they get licked whenever they 
 come across a force under European discipline. 
 
148 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 They can loot small villages, and destroy property 
 and life where there is no opposition, but nothing 
 more. Most of them have gone to Delhi, and I have 
 heard lately that the Mohammedans and Hindoos 
 have been fighting amongst themselves there, which 
 I think very probably is the case. 
 
 "Regarding the settlement of matters again in 
 Bengal, it is a question of tin, guns, and ammunition. 
 As long as we can keep treasure, big guns, and 
 ammunition from falling into the hands of mutineers, 
 we shall have the advantage; but with the country 
 in this state we should, I think, find great difficulty 
 in collecting revenue in the disturbed districts, and 
 I am afraid for a short time this will prove a great 
 drain on England. When once established, and a 
 better system laid down with respect to the expendi- 
 ture of the revenue, I hope the country will thrive 
 more than ever ; there will be no more sepoys 
 to pension, no King of Delhi, and no petty Rajahs 
 to eat and swindle away the revenues. I shall wind 
 up now, or you will declare I speak like a book, 
 or am writing a sermon on the subject ; but since 
 these two great nations — England and India — have 
 become so dependent on each other, it is impossible 
 not to think seriously on the subject. 
 
 " General Havelock found himself so hard pressed 
 
THE MUTINY. 149 
 
 on his advance into Lucknow, he has turned back 
 and recrossed the Ganges into Cawnpore, where he 
 remains for reinforcements : in the mean time rein- 
 forcements on the river are detained at Dinapore 
 to go up the Gogra under Outram. The country 
 up to the end of September between Fyzabad 
 and Lucknow is impassable for artillery, on account 
 of swamps and rain. At any rate, a movement 
 in this direction must delay the relief of Agra. If 
 Agra is allowed to fall into the hands of the muti- 
 neers just now, it will most materially delay the 
 settlement of that part of the country round Delhi. 
 There are no end of ladies at Agra ; two or three 
 siege trains, besides kits of ammunition, and I dare 
 say a good lot of treasure. If they concentrated the 
 troops at once at Cawnpore, and then went on at 
 once to Agra, and from there reinforced our army 
 before Delhi, it might shorten matters considerably. 
 Lucknow could hold out, until another force came 
 to the relief via Cawnpore. 
 
 " This is most fearful weather for the poor European 
 soldiers to work in : it is the climate they have to 
 fight, not the mutineers. I am much better; side 
 nearly well. A telegram came to me the other day 
 from Lord Dunkellin, Military Secretary to the 
 Governor-General, to say that if Lieutenant Johnson 
 
ISO TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 was anywhere near Benares, he was required imme- 
 diately in Calcutta, to take command of the Bengal 
 Yeomanry Cavalry. I sent back word that I was too 
 sick just then, but I trusted I should be fit for duty 
 very shortly. This is very flattering to me, and the 
 pay would probably be ;£ioo a month. Unfortunate 
 my being sick just now ; when they hear I cannot take 
 it at once, they will very likely put in some one else." 
 This was his last letter from Benares. Shortly after- 
 wards, Sir James Outram, who had been appointed 
 to the military command of the Dinapore and 
 Cawnpore Division, passed through Benares with re- 
 inforcements for Lucknow. Johnson was, as we have 
 seen, ill at the time, and his doctor had ordered him 
 to go home ; but he was not the man to shirk duty 
 or danger. He knew that General Outram had no 
 cavalry of any sort when he arrived at Benares, and 
 was also aware how greatly General Havelock was 
 feeling the deficiency of cavalry at Cawnpore. He 
 therefore requested permission of General Outram to 
 accompany his reinforcements, and proposed to make 
 the attempt to bring up, by forced marches, all the 
 men of his regiment — the 12th Irregular Cavalry 
 — who remained faithful. The greater part had 
 mutinied, as we have seen, but a remnant were faithful 
 under Russeldar Muhammad Bukah Khan. General 
 
THE MUTINY. 151 
 
 Outram at once accepted Johnson's offer of his 
 services, and gave him instructions to bring up this 
 remnant and all of the regiment that he could muster 
 without delay, and join him by forced marches. 
 
 Johnson started the same day, and proceeded to 
 Azamgarh, with an escort of only two horsemen : 
 brought the remainder of the regiment up, and by 
 forced marches joined the column even sooner than 
 he expected. This was when the rebellion was at its 
 height : nearly the whole of the Irregular Cavalry 
 in Bengal had mutinied : the officers in his own 
 regiment had been killed, and when he joined the 
 force he did it at the risk of his life. General Have- 
 lock said openly, "Johnson is a great fool to trust 
 himself with these men ; they will be sure to cut his 
 head off some day." But the young officer had great 
 influence over natives. He trusted them, and they 
 believed in him. This remnant of the regiment 
 stuck to him stanchly throughout, and he commanded 
 them in all the engagements between Cawnpore and 
 Lucknow, under Generals Havelock and Outram. 
 
 Subsequently, at the Alumbagh, the remnants of the 
 1 2th and of the 3rd Irregular Cavalry served together. 
 They performed many valuable services, and so much 
 did their behaviour meet with the approval of Govern- 
 ment, that after the relief of Lucknow, every one of 
 
152 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Johnson's men received a step of rank in promotion, 
 besides a reward in money of a hundred rupees ; and 
 the senior native officer under him received a special 
 mark of appreciation, in the shape of a sword of 
 honour, from the Governor-General. 
 
 The following letter, from General Sir James 
 Outram, written somewhat later, shows his opinion 
 of the regiment : 
 
 "My dear Johnson, 
 
 • Colonel Napier has shown me your note, 
 and I answer it myself. I most highly appreciate 
 the conduct of the detachment of the 12th Irregulars : 
 first, for the faithful devotion they have displayed to 
 the Government when all others of their class, and 
 even of their regiment, were faithless ; secondly, for 
 their gallantry since they have come under my com- 
 mand ; and you may depend upon my doing ample 
 justice when, in my reports to Government and the 
 Commander-in-Chief, I have the power to promote, 
 and to confer the order of merit, and shall be most 
 happy to promote every man to such rank as you 
 may please to recommend, as well as to confer the 
 order on such as you may consider to deserve the 
 distinction, on your furnishing me with a nominal 
 roll ; and this I would do in the most public manner 
 
THE MUTINY, 153 
 
 on a general parade, as I also purpose doing to the 
 native troops of the garrison. I doubt whether you 
 have the power to promote, as you purpose ; but if 
 you have, and would prefer doing it yourself to my 
 doing so, you may. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 "J. OUTRAM." 
 
 Outram wrote again, December 28th, i860 : " Major 
 Johnson, of the Bombay Army, commanded a corps of 
 Irregular Cavalry in the force under my command 
 during the operations connected with the relief of 
 Lucknow Residency and re-conquest of Oude, 
 1857-8, and I most willingly record my testimony as 
 to his great worth as a gallant and zealous cavalry 
 officer. Besides showing the utmost activity and 
 forwardness in the field on all occasions, he lost no 
 opportunity (and he had many) of rendering me 
 efficient aid in miscellaneous services, which demanded 
 the exercise of intelligence and zeal. Thus, during 
 the time we were shut up in the Residency, he was 
 most useful in obtaining information, and accomplish- 
 ing important objects, by means of the Sikhs under 
 his command." 
 
 The men's rewards were well deserved, for they 
 were the few out of many thousands that remained 
 
154 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 faithful to Government. The 12th Irregular Cavalry 
 were the only native cavalry at the relief of Lucknow. 
 In speaking of this forced march, Johnson used to say, 
 " It was the most difficult duty I ever performed 
 during my military career, but it was also the most 
 successful." 
 
 The following letter to his mother describes this 
 period : 
 
 " Camp Gopeegunj, 
 ■ Halfway between Benares and Allahabad, 
 " September 6th. 
 
 • I am writing regardless of the departure of mails 
 and everything else; but I am so delighted at re- 
 ceiving a packet of sweet letters from Enborne, I feel 
 obliged to write a line out of sheer joy, not having 
 received any for more than three months. I think it 
 is a hard case I am to be scolded so much for losing 
 my money. You all seem to take it to heart much 
 more than I did. I intend to take the change out of 
 these natives before long. 
 
 " I wrote last from Benares ; since then General 
 Outram passed up through there with reinforcements 
 for General Havelock, and ordered me to bring up 
 all the remaining portion of the 12th Irregular 
 Cavalry, and to join him with all speed, either at 
 Allahabad or Cawnpore. So off I started the same 
 
THE MUTINY. 155 
 
 day ; dropped down the Ganges to Ghazeepoor ; rode 
 up to Azamgarh ; arrived there late on the evening of 
 the 1st September. Took command of the regiment 
 (or rather of all that is left of it), and issued an order 
 to be ready to start at two the next morning. This 
 Bombay way of doing business seemed rather to 
 astound the Bengalese. They made all sorts of 
 excuses not to start ; but we did march, and precisely 
 at two ; and here we are at Gopeegunj, and have 
 done twenty miles a day ever since. Diarrhoea has 
 been bothering me again. I have had it more or less 
 ever since I left ; but I am better now, and hope I 
 shall not knock up. I want to see us well through 
 this mutiny, and then come home for a long time, 
 for I am sure my health requires it. I would not 
 like to leave India just now ; in fact, if I possibly 
 can, I intend to be at the relief of Lucknow, and the 
 more rebels I am able to kill, the more happy I shall 
 be. I never experienced such a wish for revenge for 
 the deaths of so many of our countrymen as I do 
 now. I dare say it is very wrong, but I can't help it. 
 " I shall send this off at once, for I have lots of 
 work on hand, as you may suppose. We march at 
 eleven or twelve at night, and don't get to our 
 ground till seven or eight in the morning. The 
 weather is much improving. I think you will hear of 
 
156 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 an effectual smash in the mutiny ere a fortnight after 
 you receive this. We came up from Ghazeepoor to 
 Azamgarh with an escort of only two sowars.* Met 
 with nothing but civility from the country people ; 
 they were awfully civil, alarmingly polite. They 
 were quite the contrary a month ago. My sowars, 
 however, are all very * koosh,' f and have behaved 
 famously as yet. However, I am perfectly liable to 
 have my throat cut at any moment, but I don't 
 anticipate it. I received such a kind letter from 
 Holmes { just before his death. I must send you a 
 copy of it some day ; I have time for nothing now 
 except duty." 
 
 About this time he received the following note 
 from Sir James Outram : 
 
 " Camp Kurranea [no date], 1.30 p.m. 
 
 " My dear Johnson, 
 
 " Though your note is dated 7.30 a.m., 
 those rascally horsemen have only this moment 
 brought it in, and so have forfeited the hundred 
 rupees reward I promised them. Captain Dawson, 
 who takes this note to you, will explain the object of 
 your dawr, and will accompany you to Hutwa Pass, 
 the place of rendezvous with Major Eyre, who has 
 
 * Horsemen. f Happy. % C« O. of the 12th Irregulars. 
 
THE MUTINY. 157 
 
 with him twenty guns and a hundred and fifty 
 Europeans. We calculate that Hutwa Pass is about 
 ten miles from your camp ; thus your men will have 
 done forty miles in one day, which I shall long re- 
 member in their favour. But I am disappointed to 
 find you have only forty men. Where are all the 
 others ? If their horses are done up, their best plan 
 will be to follow our march leisurely, and overtake us 
 as convenient. We shall be to-morrow at Futtehpore. 
 You will of course remain with Eyre, who will over- 
 take us before we reach Cawnpore, or, at any rate, 
 before we cross the river. I send you my own watch, 
 set to our time. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 "J. OUTRAM." 
 
 On the ioth September, Captain Johnson, in com- 
 mand of the 1 2th Irregular Cavalry, and Lieutenant 
 Charles Havelock, second in command, joined Major 
 Eyre at Hutgaon. Major Eyre had been sent on by 
 General Outram to make a dawr, and attack a party 
 of insurgents from Oude, who had crossed the Ganges 
 near the village of Koondun Puttee. As they were 
 approaching the rebels, he sent Johnson on to 
 account for them, who hastened with all speed to the 
 spot, and found the enemy had reached their boats 
 
158 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 with a view to escape across the river into Oude. 
 Johnson was only just in time to dismount his men, 
 and use them as riflemen. Had he been five or ten 
 minutes later, the rebels would all of them have 
 escaped. He had not even time to link the horses 
 together (though they were so done up with the 
 heat and forced marches, that there was but little 
 risk of their straying), but opened fire on the 
 mutineers at once, which they returned ; and he 
 succeeded in holding them in check until Eyre came 
 up with two companies of Her Majesty's 5th Fusiliers, 
 when short work was made of them, and but few 
 escaped. 
 
 This successful expedition was the means of 
 preventing a daring invasion of the territory through 
 which the Grand Trunk Road passed, which, at that 
 critical time, it was of the greatest importance to 
 keep open. Here was one of those occasions in 
 which Captain Johnson's ready wit and presence of 
 mind stood him in good stead. Had he not, on the 
 spur of the moment, turned his cavalry into infantry 
 and held the rebels at bay, they must all have 
 escaped. It was a position where cavalry could not 
 act, and when Johnson arrived the mutineers were in 
 the act of pushing off their boats. It was, moreover, 
 a position of great risk, for the odds were as 300 
 
THE MUTINY. • 159 
 
 to 40. Had the mutineers charged, the little force 
 must have been annihilated, the enemy would have 
 got away, and the communication with the base of 
 operations would have been cut off. 
 
 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The following Despatches from General Outram 
 and Major Eyre relate to the Action at 
 
 HUTGAON. 
 
 I. 
 
 Major-General Sir James Outram to the Deputy 
 A djutant- General. 
 Camp, Thureedon, nth September, 1857. 
 I have the honour to report, for the information of His 
 Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, that on arriving at my 
 camp, Katogun, on the 9th inst., I received definite informa- 
 tion that a party of insurgents from Oude, amounting to from 
 three to four hundred, with four guns, had crossed the 
 Ganges near the village of Koondun Puttee, fifteen miles 
 north of Khaga, on the Trunk Road between Futtehpore and 
 Allahabad. On joining Major Simmons' column at this 
 place, I despatched, under Major Eyre, a party consisting 
 of a hundred men of H.M.'s Fusiliers, fifty of H.M.'s 
 64th, mounted on elephants, with two guns, and completely 
 equipped with tents, two days' cooked provisions, and 
 supplies for three more. Captain Johnson's detachment 
 of the 1 2th Irregular Cavalry, consisting of forty men, 
 made a forced march, and concentrated with Eyre's party 
 
160 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 at Hutgaon Khas yesterday evening, having completed 
 forty miles. For the further proceedings, I beg to refer 
 His Excellency to Major Eyre's despatch. His reputation 
 as a successful leader had been already so well established, 
 that I purposely selected him for this duty, in the perfect 
 confidence that he would succeed. The importance of his 
 success will, I am sure, be fully appreciated by your 
 Excellency and the Governor-General. I now consider my 
 communications secure, which otherwise must have been 
 entirely cut off during our operations in Oude, and a 
 general insurrection, I am assured, would have followed 
 throughout the Doab, had the enemy not been destroyed, 
 they being but the advance guard of more formidable 
 invaders; from which evils having been preserved by 
 Major Eyre's energy and decision, that officer and the 
 detachment under his command are, I consider, entitled to 
 thankful acknowledgment from Government, which I am 
 confident will not be withheld. 
 
 II. 
 
 Major Vincent Eyre, commanding a Field Force, to Colonel 
 Napier {afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala), Military 
 Secretary. 
 
 Koondun Puttee, September nth, 1857. 
 I am happy to have it in my power to report, for the 
 information of Major-General Sir James Outram, that the 
 expedition he did me the honour of entrusting to my 
 command has been attended with entire success, and the 
 daring invasion of this territory from Oude has been 
 signally punished. I arrived at Hutgaon last evening at 
 
THE MUTINY. 161 
 
 dusk, where I was joined by Captain Johnson's troop of 
 1 2th Irregular Horse, forty in number. As they had 
 marched twenty-four miles, and were in need of rest, I 
 halted till half-past one a.m., when we had the advantage of 
 moonlight to pursue our march to Koondun Puttee, where 
 we arrived at daybreak. The Oude rebels, having been 
 apprised a little previously of our advance, had fled 
 precipitately to their boats, about half a mile off. I 
 ordered the cavalry under Captain Johnson and Lieutenant 
 Havelock to pursue them, and followed myself with all 
 practicable speed with the infantry and guns. We found 
 the cavalry had driven the enemy into their boats, which 
 were fastened to the shore, and were maintaining a brisk 
 fire on them from the bank above. On the arrival of 
 Hill's Fusiliers and 64th Foot, under Captains Johnson 
 and Turner, the fire of our musketry into the densely 
 crowded boats was most telling; but the enemy still 
 defended themselves to the utmost, until the guns under 
 Lieutenant Gordon opened fire, when the rebels instantly 
 threw themselves panic-stricken into the river. Grape was 
 now showered upon them, and a terrific fusillade from the 
 infantry and cavalry was maintained, until only a few 
 scattered survivors escaped. Their number appeared to be 
 about three hundred. Previously to their plunging into the 
 river, they threw their guns overboard, and blew up one of 
 their boats, where, I regret to say, one man of Hill's (54th) 
 was killed, and ten more or less injured, of whom five were 
 Europeans and five natives. All the officers mentioned 
 above distinguished themselves highly, and the conduct 
 of the men was all that could be desired. Lieutenant 
 
 M 
 
ibz TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Impey, of the Engineers, and Mr. Volunteer Tarbey have 
 likewise by their zeal and usefulness merited my thanks and 
 commendation. 
 
 P.S. — Having heard of another party of rebels at the 
 Ghat, higher up the river, I have despatched the cavalry 
 to reconnoitre. 
 
 III. 
 
 Extract from Major Vincent Eyre's Despatch on the following 
 
 day, 
 
 September I2th. 
 
 In the postscript of my despatch of the nth inst, I 
 mentioned having sent the forty of the Irregular Cavalry 
 troopers under Captain Johnson to reconnoitre, and if 
 possible to intercept a party of Oude rebels, said to have 
 landed at Ukree Ghaut. 
 
 They had, however, retreated across the river, before 
 Captain Johnson's troop could get at them, but a small fort 
 that had been recently erected by the rebels was destroyed 
 by Captain Johnson. I was informed by Mahomed 
 Zuboor Khan, the Thanadar of Koondun Puttee, that, had 
 not the Oude invaders been checked, and a portion of 
 them destroyed by our troops, it was their intention to 
 overrun the whole country between Futtehpore and Allaha- 
 bad, with a view of interrupting our communications and 
 impeding our operations. ... I take this opportunity of 
 mentioning that the detachment of the 12th Irregulars had 
 already marched twenty-four miles when they received the 
 sudden order to join me at Hutgaon ; and although the men 
 and horses had been a whole day without food, they 
 galloped on the whole way to meet me, a distance of nine 
 
THE MUTINY. 163 
 
 miles farther, guided by that energetic officer Lieutenant 
 Dawson, who also took a conspicuous part in their 
 subsequent operations.* 
 
 IV. 
 
 General Vincent Eyre to Major Johnson. 
 
 Hotel des Bains, Boulogne-sur-Mcr, 
 27th March, 1871. 
 
 Your letter of the 23rd reached me on Saturday, and 
 recalled old times, when I had the privilege of being enabled 
 to render some service to the State, through the agency of 
 good soldiers like yourself, who both knew what was to be 
 done and how to do it. 
 
 On the particular occasion in question, I perfectly well 
 remember how much I was indebted for the success at- 
 tendant on your promptitude in driving the Oude rebels 
 to their boats, and there holding them in check until the 
 arrival of the infantry and guns to complete their destruc- 
 tion. In my despatch given at the time, I endeavoured to 
 render full justice to yourself and young Havelock. 
 
 V. 
 
 The action with the boats is thus referred to in Marsh- 
 man's * Life of Havelock," p. 394 : " At Hutgaon Major Eyre 
 was joined by Lieutenant Johnson, the commandant, and 
 Lieutenant Charles Havelock, second in command of the 
 
 * Extract from General Orders from the Government Gazette : " The 
 conduct of Major Eyre and his officers was highly appreciated by His 
 Excellency the Commander-in-Chief and the Governor-General in 
 Council.'* 
 
164 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIERS LIFE. 
 
 remnant of the 12 th Irregular Cavalry, forty in number, who 
 had remained faithful to Government. They had hastened 
 from Benares by forced marches to overtake Sir James 
 Outram, and when they joined Major Eyre, had been 
 twenty-four hours in the saddle, and required rest. The 
 major halted his little force until an hour after midnight, 
 when it recommenced its march, and came up at daylight 
 with the enemy, who immediately fled to their boats and 
 endeavoured to recross the river. 
 
 "Lieutenant Johnson, with prompt decision and great 
 judgment, dismounted the greater portion of his men, and 
 by a continued carbine fire, succeeded in preventing the 
 removal of the boats till the European infantry could 
 come up. 
 
 " In announcing this action to the Commander-in-Chief, 
 Sir James stated that a general insurrection would have 
 followed in the Doab, or province lying between the Ganges 
 and Jumna, had not the enemy been destroyed, they being 
 but the advance guard of more formidable invaders." 
 
 VI. 
 
 Extract from Recomme?idation Rolls. 
 Lieutenant Johnson, 6th Bombay Native Infantry, com- 
 manding 1 2th Irregular Cavalry, highly distinguished himself 
 in Major Eyre's attack on the rebels at Hutgaon, and in the 
 advance to Lucknow. 
 
 (Signed) D. S. Dodgson, 
 
 Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General 
 Umballa, 20th July, 1858. 
 
THE MUTINY. 165 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Secretary to the Government of India, Military Depart- 
 ment, to the Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 With reference to your letter of the 16th inst, forwarding 
 Major Eyre's account of his successful operation against 
 a party of rebels who crossed from the Oude side of the 
 Ganges into the Doab, I am directed to acquaint you, for 
 the information of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, 
 that the Right Honourable the Governor-General in Council 
 highly appreciates this further good service rendered by 
 Major Eyre and the detachment under his command, and 
 has noted with satisfaction the energy and sound judgment 
 exhibited by Major Eyre and his officers in the execution 
 of it. 
 
66 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BATTLE OF THE ALUMBAGH AND SIEGE OF 
 LUCKNOW. SEPTEMBER I 5-25, 1857. 
 
 It was dusk on the evening of September 15th when 
 General Outram arrived at Cawnpore. Two days 
 earlier Captain Johnson, with his loyal troopers, 
 chiefly Sikhs and Punjaubees, all splendid fellows, 
 had joined the column, as also had Lieutenant De la 
 Fosse * and his three companions, the sole survivors 
 of the siege of Cawnpore, who had escaped after the 
 massacre at the Ghat. They swam six miles down 
 the Ganges, until a friendly Rajah allowed them to 
 go ashore, and gave them shelter. When he gave 
 them leave to go away, they just happened to fall 
 in with the relieving force.f 
 
 * Now Major-General De la Fosse, C.B. 
 
 t Lieutenant De la Fosse had, during the sie^e of Cawnpore, earned 
 the sobriquet of " De la Fosse of the burning gun," in the following 
 manner, referred to in the narrative of Mr. Shepherd, a civilian of 
 Cawnpore, and quoted in Mr. G. Forrest's " History of the Mutiny." 
 
THE SIEGE OF LUC KNOW. 167 
 
 Generals Outram and Havelock met at Cawnpore, 
 only three months after their parting on the abrupt close 
 of the Persian Campaign, and Outram, with a chivalry 
 and generosity which have seldom been equalled, 
 waived his rank, gave up the command to General 
 Havelock, and accompanied the force to Lucknow in 
 his civil capacity, as Chief Commissioner of Oude, 
 tendering his military services to General Have- 
 lock as a volunteer only, and joining the Volunteer 
 Cavalry. 
 
 We have seen how Havelock arrived in Cawnpore 
 on the 1 6th July. He had been waiting there for 
 reinforcements up to now. On the 16th August he 
 
 "This day," Mr. Shepherd says, "I saw a very daring and brave 
 act done in our camp about midday. One of our ammunition waggons 
 in the north-west corner was blown up by the enemy's shot, and 
 whilst it was blazing, the batteries from the artillery barracks and the 
 tank directed all their guns towards it. Our soldiers being much 
 exhausted with the morning's work, and almost every artilleryman 
 being either killed or wounded, it was a difficult matter to put out 
 the fire, which endangered the other waggons near it. However, 
 in the midst of all the cannonading, a young officer of the 53rd Native 
 Infantry, Lieutenant De la Fosse, with unusual courage, went up, and 
 lying himself down under the burning gun, pulled away from it what 
 loose splinters he could get hold of, all the while throwing earth upon 
 the flames. He was soon joined by soldiers, who brought with them 
 a couple of buckets of water, which were very dexterously thrown by the 
 lieutenant, while the buckets were taken to be replenished from the 
 drinking water of the men close by. The process of pitching earth was 
 carried on amidst fearful cannonading of about six guns, all firing upon 
 the burning waggon. At last the fire was put out, and the officers and 
 men escaped unhurt." 
 
168 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 had marched to Bithoor, where an obstinate battle 
 took place ; the enemy lost two hundred and fifty 
 killed and wounded, and the English loss was forty ; 
 but Havelock's men were so exhausted by sunstroke 
 and cholera, that on their return to Cawnpore many 
 fell out on the road to die. His force, indeed, 
 had been fearfully reduced ; sickness, constant 
 fighting, and cholera, had made terrible ravages 
 amongst them, and they were much too weak to 
 attempt a march on Lucknow until reinforcements 
 came, which was not until a month later. 
 
 About this time Johnson wrote the following letter 
 to his mother : 
 
 " With the Oude Field Force, 
 " September 18th, 1857. 
 
 "I write you a line, perfectly regardless of mail 
 departures, but probably shall not have much time to 
 myself for the next six or seven days, when I hope 
 to be able to tell you we have relieved Lucknow. 
 We are now going to cross the river ; six guns, some 
 Sikhs, and two companies of Highlanders are already 
 across. But it is no joke crossing a river like this 
 with such an army. A bridge was made across the 
 river in three days, a bit of engineering that has never 
 been done before in the face of an enemy. If it were 
 only a month or two later, the weather would be 
 
THE SIEGE OF LUC KNOW. 169 
 
 beautiful ; as it is now, it is awful for Europeans ; but 
 every one is in excellent spirits. I don't think the 
 work between this and Lucknow will be as severe as 
 some people suppose, and I hope the 12th Irregulars 
 will distinguish themselves. I've got the command, 
 and they are the only native cavalry in the field ; 
 therefore, as you may suppose, I have a delicate 
 game to play. They behaved very well the other 
 day with the affair at the boats on the Ganges. Had 
 we not been there the infantry would have seen 
 nothing of them till they were well out of shot " (for 
 particulars see Major Eyre's and General Outram's 
 despatches of the 12th and 13th September*). "I 
 think some of the 13th Irregular Cavalry have been 
 given every encouragement not to serve the Euro- 
 peans ; but General Outram is much in my favour, 
 and supports me. I am quite sure that it is of the 
 greatest importance, that the native soldiers who 
 have remained faithful, should now meet with every 
 encouragement on the part of Government. The 
 enemy over the river get only four pice a day ; they 
 are very short of large ammunition. They have 
 several guns in position ; we shall take them. Their 
 bullocks, horses, and means of carrying away their 
 guns are bad. I could write you such a long } 
 
 * Given in chap, ix., Appendix. 
 
170 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 amusing letter, with so much interesting news. My 
 health is better. I hope to last till the relief of 
 Lucknow. With the blessing of Providence, I hope 
 we may get through this duty without any severe 
 loss." 
 
 The army under the command of General Havelock 
 (Outram having waived his rank) numbered 3179 
 men, all told. It was composed of the 84th Regiment, 
 with two companies of the 64th attached, the 5th 
 Fusiliers, and the 1st Madras Fusiliers, under the 
 command of General Neill ; the 78th Regiment, the 
 90th Light Infantry, and Bradyer's Sikhs, commanded 
 by Colonel Hamilton. The Artillery Brigade con- 
 sisted of Maude's Battery, Olphert's Battery, and 
 Eyre's Battery of 18-pounders, under the command of 
 Major Cooper. Barrow commanded the Volunteer 
 Cavalry, and Johnson the Native Cavalry. Captain 
 Crommelin was Chief Engineer. 
 
 The column began its march from Cawnpore on 
 September 20th, and at once successfully engaged the 
 enemy at the village of Mungulwar, and on the fol- 
 lowing day (the 21st) at Busseerutgunj. On the 22nd 
 they halted at Bunnee, on the Sye, and Havelock 
 ordered a royal salute to be fired, hoping that the 
 sound of it would reach the ears of those anxiously 
 waiting in the Residency at Lucknow, but the wind 
 
THE SIEGE OF LUC KNOW. 171 
 
 was not in the right direction. On the 23rd they 
 marched on again to the palace of the Alumbagh — 
 a park and pleasure-ground of one of the princes 
 of Oude, about five miles from Lucknow ; and 
 here it was that the battle of the Alumbagh was 
 fought* 
 
 " The enemy's line extended nearly two miles, and was 
 supposed to consist of 10,000 men, while a body of cavalry, 
 estimated at 1500, was massed on their right. The General 
 was anxious to turn their right flank, but they had planted 
 themselves, as they had often done, behind a morass, and 
 the turning movement could only be accomplished by a 
 considerable circuit. To cover this operation, the General 
 brought up his heavy battery of 24-pounders and his two 
 8-inch howitzers. 
 
 "The enemy's guns, which were masked by trees, had 
 preserved silence during the reconnaissance; but as the 
 advancing column came within their range, a withering fire 
 was opened, from which our troops suffered to some extent. 
 But the heavy battery came up, and, deploying on a dry 
 spot on the left of the road, soon succeeded in silencing the 
 enemy's artillery, and in driving back their cavalry. They 
 stood the shock of this heavy ordnance — so rarely seen in 
 the field — only for a few moments, and then broke up in 
 confusion. Our troops and guns followed them as closely 
 as the nature of the ground would permit. But one of their 
 
 * Marshman's "Life of Havelock," p. 403. 
 
172 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 guns, planted on the road, and admirably served by the 
 well-trained artillerymen of the Oude Force, still continued 
 to send destruction among our troops, when Lieutenant 
 Johnson, by an act of gallantry not surpassed in any action 
 during this campaign, without waiting for orders, charged 
 it with twenty troopers of his Irregular Cavalry, sabred the 
 gunners, and silenced the gun. Finding himself unsupported 
 a thousand yards in advance of the Force, and the enemy 
 keeping up a galling fire from neighbouring cover, he was 
 compelled to abandon it and retire ; but the dread inspired 
 by this dashing charge deterred the enemy from serving it 
 again, and the troops were free from its molestation during 
 their further advance." 
 
 Johnson's gallant action in taking this gun is thus 
 described in Mr. Archibald Forbes's " Havelock," p. 
 184: "Outflanked on their right and their centre and 
 left, crushed by the fire of Eyre's heavy guns, the rebel 
 army began to break. But there obstinately remained 
 in action on the road one of their guns, which was 
 admirably served by the well-trained gunners of the 
 Oude force, and whose fire had bowled over several 
 of Johnson's Irregular horsemen. Johnson was an 
 extremely practical young man. With a dozen of his 
 troopers at his back, he galloped up the road a good 
 thousand yards out to the front, rode straight on to 
 the obnoxious gun, sabred the gunners, pitched the 
 ammunition into the ditch, and the gun after the 
 
THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW. 173 
 
 ammunition, and then cantered quietly back, till he 
 met the main body on its advance. In all this 
 campaign there was no pluckier action." 
 
 Just after the battle of the Alumbagh, the news was 
 received by General Outram that Delhi had fallen. 
 He immediately announced it to the troops, and, as 
 an eye-witness of the scene told the writer, " such a 
 cheer was raised as might almost have been heard in 
 England." 
 
 The following letter, from Johnson to his mother, 
 mentions the affair with the gun at Alumbagh, in 
 which he took so active a part : " General Havelock 
 has mentioned my name, for nothing except volun- 
 teering and making myself generally useful. . . . 
 Outside, at the fight at Alumbagh, my men really had 
 some fun, and behaved uncommonly well. When we 
 left Cawnpore I had only about fifty men and native 
 officers ; and just before the action of the Alumbagh, 
 on the 23 rd, I was ordered to send half my detach- 
 ment back to look after the baggage, which was 
 threatened with cavalry ; thus I was obliged to send 
 poor Warren, my adjutant, back with half the men, 
 greatly to my disgust and his too. No one seemed to 
 care a straw about the baggage when we all expected 
 a general action on ahead. Well, on we went — 
 galloped through a bit of water with the Volunteer 
 
174 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Cavalry, and took one gun, without the loss of a man, 
 I believe, and then stood still to be shot at. I was 
 under Barrow, who was my brigadier. We were not 
 long before starting again ; and I knew the next best 
 thing to do was to take the next gun, which had been 
 bowling 9-pounders at us for the last half-hour or so, 
 down the road. So at it I went with my five and twenty 
 men. Greatly to my relief, they never fired a shot as 
 we came on ; and we took the gun without much 
 difficulty. We chopped up a few of the men, and the 
 rest ran away. ... I only lost one man killed, and a 
 few men and horses wounded : my own mare got a 
 shot through the hock." 
 
 As we come to the account of the first relief of 
 Lucknow, it may be well briefly to refer to the events 
 which had taken place there up to this date. At the 
 time of the annexation of Oude, in February, 1856, 
 Lucknow was one of the finest cities in India. It was 
 densely populated, and filled with temples, mosques, 
 and palaces of the greatest magnificence and beauty, 
 and had a large number of wealthy inhabitants. 
 Owing to the hopelessly bad government of the whole 
 province, the king was deposed and pensioned by the 
 British Government, and finally went to Calcutta, in 
 March, 1856. For a time things went smoothly, but 
 early in May the following year a mutiny broke out 
 
THE SIEGE OF LUC KNOW. 17 S 
 
 amongst the native troops in Lucknow, and a little 
 while later the mutiny at Meerut took place. 
 
 Sir Henry Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner of 
 Oude, had recently been appointed Resident at 
 Lucknow, and he did all he could to prepare for 
 the storm which he saw was coming, by collecting 
 supplies and stores, fortifying the Residency and 
 Muchee Bhawun, and bringing in the ladies and 
 children, and the boys of the Martiniere College, 
 into the Residency. These boys were in time trained 
 into soldiers, and afterwards proved of the greatest 
 use during the siege. 
 
 On the 30th May, 1857, the native regiments 
 in Lucknow all broke out into open rebellion, and 
 the troops at the out-stations followed. But it was 
 not until a month later, on the 30th June, that the 
 actual siege began. On that day the ill-fated battle 
 of Chinhut took place, at a village about eight miles 
 off, whence (it had been reported to Sir Henry 
 Lawrence) a small body of rebels were about to 
 march on Lucknow. He determined to meet them, 
 and marched out at 6 a.m. with this object. But the 
 European force was vastly outnumbered ; the heat 
 was intense ; the native artillery drivers deserted 
 to the enemy ; the native cavalry took to flight ; and 
 the result was disastrous. Our troops had to retreat, 
 
176 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 fighting all the way, and closely pursued by the 
 enemy; the workmen employed on the Residency 
 fortifications deserted, the supplies were stopped, 
 and the Residency was placed in a state of siege, 
 in which it remained four and a half months. 
 
 On the 2nd July Sir Henry Lawrence was wounded 
 by a shell, which burst in his room. On the previous 
 day a shell had fallen in the very same spot, and 
 Sir Henry was urged to leave the room and go to 
 another ; but he laughingly refused, saying " he did 
 not believe the enemy had an artilleryman good 
 enough to put another shell into that small room." 
 He was removed to Dr. Fayrer's house, and lingered 
 in great agony until the 4th of July, when he died. 
 He was buried in the churchyard close by, " with 
 the men," as he desired ; indeed, at that time many 
 were buried in one grave. On his tomb are the 
 simple words he himself wished to have there : 
 " Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his 
 duty. May the Lord have mercy upon his soul." 
 
 The incessant cannonading went on day after day, 
 and week after week, and constant and desperate 
 attacks were made on the Residency. On the 20th 
 July a mine was exploded near the Redan, and the 
 mutineers boldly advanced, but were repulsed with 
 much loss. On the 10th August, on the 18th 
 
THE SIEGE OF LUCK NOW. 177 
 
 August, and on the 5th September, assaults were 
 made and repulsed ; and every day and every night 
 the ceaseless fire of cannon and musketry went on. 
 Brigadier Inglis, who had succeeded Lawrence in 
 the command, wrote as follows of this time : 
 
 " The whole of the officers and men were on duty during 
 the eighty-seven days that the siege lasted, up to the 1st 
 relief. In addition to incessant military duty, the force was 
 nightly employed in repairing defences, moving guns, bury- 
 ing the dead, and in fatigue duties too numerous to mention. 
 Notwithstanding all their hardships, the garrison made no 
 less than five sorties, in which they spiked some of the 
 enemy's heaviest guns, and blew up two of the houses from 
 which they had kept up their most harassing fire. Each 
 man was taught to feel that on his own individual efforts 
 alone depended in no small measure the safety of the whole 
 position. This consciousness incited every officer, soldier, 
 and man to defend the position assigned to him with such 
 desperate tenacity, and to fight for the lives which Provi- 
 dence had entrusted to his care, with such dauntless 
 determination that the enemy, despite their constant attacks, 
 their heavy mines, their overwhelming numbers, could never 
 succeed in gaining one single inch of ground within the 
 bounds of the straggling position, which was so feebly 
 fortified, that had they once obtained a footing in any 
 of the outposts, the whole place must inevitably have 
 fallen." 
 
 The patience and courage shown by the women 
 
 N 
 
178 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 were marvellous, all through those anxious days. 
 No place was safe ; all were alike exposed. Cannon 
 balls and bullets passed through doors and windows ; 
 houses were constantly blown up, and even the rooms 
 of the banqueting hall (turned during the siege into 
 the general hospital) were completely exposed. The 
 sick, wounded, and dying were, however, throughout 
 devotedly nursed by the ladies. 
 
 One of the mutineers, an African rifleman, nick- 
 named " Bob the Nailer," was stationed on a turret 
 of Johannes's House, just outside the walls. This 
 position commanded the road, and extended as far 
 as the general hospital, and Bob's aim was so unfail- 
 ing, that literally no one escaped him. It was im- 
 possible even to cross the road, except when he was 
 loading his rifle, and it was equally impossible to 
 hit him, because he was protected by the turret. 
 At last it was determined to blow up the house 
 by a mine, which was carried under it from the 
 Martiniere Post, and Bob the Nailer perished in 
 the explosion. 
 
 The horses and other animals suffered terribly from 
 hunger during the siege, eating each other's tails off, 
 as in the Crimea. The following anecdote was told 
 to the writer by a woman who was in Lucknow all 
 the time. She sent out her native servant one day 
 
THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW, 179 
 
 to let loose a gentleman's horse, which was tied up. 
 The man did not return, so they went to look for 
 him, and he was found lying dead. The starved 
 horse had seized the poor fellow by the back of his 
 neck, and had bitten his head off. In August the 
 entire garrison was put on reduced rations ; the 
 women had three-quarter rations, the men and 
 children half; this allowance was later on still further 
 reduced, and the necessaries of life were at a fabulous 
 price.* 
 
 The present writer, when recently visiting Cawn- 
 pore and Lucknow, found it almost impossible to 
 realize the fearful scenes of the past. The Baillie 
 Guard Gate, Aitkin's post, Dr. Fayrer's house where 
 Lawrence died, the Residency itself, with the cellars 
 underneath, where the women and children were 
 kept, the Treasury and the post-office, both scenes 
 of the sharpest conflict — all these historic ruins are 
 still standing. The crowded churchyard where 
 Lawrence and the other heroes lie, is close to the 
 Residency, though the church itself was entirely 
 destroyed during the siege. It must be remembered 
 that the Residency grounds were simply surrounded 
 by a mere wall, and the houses of the city came up so 
 close to the line of defence, that the Sepoys within the 
 
 * Some prices are given in Johnson's letter below, p. 192. 
 
180 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 entrenchments could talk to those without, and the 
 rebels were constantly heard mocking the loyal 
 troops. Night alarms were very frequent, and it was 
 at night that the men had to repair defences and 
 bury the dead. Their numbers, too, became so re- 
 duced that each man felt that an enormous responsi- 
 bility rested on him, and each man, therefore, behaved 
 like a hero. There were several places at which a 
 dozen men abreast could have entered — so feebly 
 was the position fortified — and this would no doubt 
 have happened but for the dread the mutineers had 
 of the extraordinary pluck and courage of the 
 " Sahibs." 
 
 On the 16th August, Sir John Inglis wrote a 
 very urgent letter to General Havelock, describing 
 the straits they were put to, and imploring help. 
 Havelock replied, " I can only say, hold on and do 
 not negotiate, but rather perish sword in hand." 
 Weeks went on, and no news came from the outer 
 world. The death rate for many days averaged 
 twenty, and still the brave little band went on, hoping 
 against hope, for the help that seemed so long to 
 tarry. 
 
( i8i ) 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. SEPT. 25, 1 857. 
 
 Help came at last. On the 23rd of September 
 the sound of artillery was heard in the direction of 
 Cawnpore, and the next day the heavy guns of the 
 relieving force were recognized. The force started 
 from the Alumbagh at eight a.m. on the 25th of 
 September, after a day's rest. There was a choice 
 of roads ; the first was by the Charbagh bridge, 
 and thence on in a direct line for about two miles 
 to the Residency. This was the shortest route, but 
 it was so strongly defended that it could only be 
 taken as a last resort. The second was round by 
 the Dilkoosha Palace, and along the bank of the 
 Goomtee river. The third was a middle course 
 between the two ; by this they would first force 
 the Charbagh bridge, then turn to the right, and 
 go along the bank of the canal to the bridge on the 
 
18a TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 road to Dilkoosha, and then turn sharp round to the 
 left, towards the Residency. 
 
 The last was the route taken. At the Charbagh 
 bridge there was heavy fighting, and young Havelock 
 was wounded, but the bridge was won. The next 
 desperate struggle took place at the Motee Mahal. 
 The heavy guns were brought into service, and the 
 column suffered heavily. From the king's palace, 
 the Kaiserbagh, the battery manned by Oude 
 gunners was doing terrific damage ; but the High- 
 landers dashed in, killed the gunners, and spiked 
 some of the guns. It was here that Outram and 
 Havelock had a difference of opinion about the 
 advance. Outram proposed to halt, to enable the 
 rear-guard to come up. Havelock, on the other hand, 
 wished to push on without delay. "Let us go on, 
 then, in God's name," said Outram ; and go on 
 they did, but it was at a heavy cost ; of the entire 
 force — some two thousand — about a fourth were 
 killed. 
 
 From every window and balcony of the narrow 
 street which then led up to the Baillie Guard Gate, 
 a stream of bullets poured upon the gallant band. 
 The Highlanders and Sikhs pushed on with Havelock 
 and Outram at their head. Neill followed with his 
 Madras Fusiliers, " charging," as has been said, 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUCK NOW. 183 
 
 u through a very tempest of fire." Even the 
 women hurled down stones and furniture, and the 
 flat roofs were filled with Sepoys, firing down into 
 the street. Brave Neill fell, shot through the head, 
 and many another hero was mown down ; but 
 the Baillie Guard was reached, and the garrison was 
 saved. 
 
 There was a breach in the wall — the Baillie Guard 
 itself was filled with earth — and Havelock and 
 Outram pushed through this, followed by the eager 
 soldiers, begrimed with dust and blood. The 
 fighting men, the civilians, the women and children, 
 rushed down to welcome their deliverers, and the 
 Highlanders in the exuberance of their joy began 
 to dance the Highland fling, until Havelock came 
 out and put a stop to it. 
 
 Johnson was with the rear-guard, covering the 
 spare ammunition and the wounded, and he joined 
 the main force about four p.m. In the night, accom- 
 panied by his friend Dr. Greenhow — they had been 
 together, it will be remembered, in the 1st Oude 
 Cavalry — he went out to bring in as many wounded 
 as he might find. They discovered a number of 
 wounded men, whom they brought in, in the course 
 of the night, on the horses, which were led by 
 Johnson's troopers, and by this means many lives 
 
1 84 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 were saved, which would otherwise have been 
 sacrificed. All who had been left behind disabled, 
 would probably have died of their wounds before 
 morning, or have fallen victims to the mutineers ; as 
 indeed was the case next day, when about forty of 
 the wounded unfortunately fell into the hands of 
 the rebels and were butchered ; some killed with 
 daggers, and some burnt to death.* Lieutenant 
 Havelock,f who had been wounded, as we have seen, 
 at the Charbagh bridge, and who was in one of 
 the dhoolies, had a narrow escape of his life. John- 
 son did his best to get the Victoria Cross for his 
 friend Dr. Greenhow for this action. He made no 
 claim for himself, and neither of them received it. 
 
 Marshman, in his " Life of Havelock," refers to this 
 rescue.^ "The rear-guard, consisting of the 90th, 
 under Colonel Campbell, had been left with two of 
 the heavy guns at the Motee Mahal, to aid the 
 advance of the 78th Highlanders, who had, apparently 
 unknown to them, taken a different path, and joined 
 the main body under the generals. With this rear- 
 
 * It was not until daylight the following morning that Lieutenant 
 Johnson became aware that these wounded men had been left in the 
 Motee Mahal itself, but he and Surgeon Greenhow had brought in 
 about twenty, all they could find. 
 
 f Now General Sir Henry Havelock, V.C., etc. 
 
 X So also Mr. Archibald Forbes, " Havelock," p. 208. 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUC KNOW. 185 
 
 guard were the spare ammunition and the wounded. 
 During the night of the 25th, Lieutenant Johnson, 
 whose brilliant charge in the action at the Alumbagh 
 has already been mentioned, dismounted half his 
 troop of Irregular Cavalry, and issuing forth from 
 the Residency with the led horses, proceeded of his 
 own accord in the direction of the Motee Mahal to 
 bring in as many wounded as he might find. He 
 discovered no trace of any enemy in any direction, 
 and it is probable that if advantage could have been 
 taken of this circumstance, which unhappily was not 
 known, the whole of the rear-guard, with the guns, 
 the ammunition, and the wounded, might have 
 reached the Residency before the morning in 
 safety, and the unhappy loss, which partially 
 dimmed the triumph of the day, would have been 
 avoided." 
 
 Johnson wrote the following letter to his mother 
 during the siege : 
 
 "Tehri Kothi,* 9th Nov., 1857. 
 
 " I head this the Tehri Kothi, thinking that long 
 ere this you will have a map of Lucknow before you, 
 
 * The Tehree Kothee, which was captured on 26th September, is 
 still standing. It is a fine mansion just outside the Residency walls, 
 and near the Baillie Guard Gate, as after the first relief the defences 
 were extended. 
 
186 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 and am writing on the 9th November, so that it may 
 be ready to send out the moment there is an oppor- 
 tunity of its reaching Cawnpore. On the 6th a man 
 came in from Bruce, the superintendent of police, at 
 Cawnpore, saying Sir Colin Campbell, with 5000 
 bayonets, 600 cavalry, and 36 guns, would be at 
 Alumbagh on the 10th, so we may expect now to 
 be relieved in a few days. 
 
 "We have now been shut up here since the 25th 
 September, a day which will be celebrated in my 
 memory as the most thoroughly unsatisfactory one I 
 ever passed in my life. What made it so annoying 
 was our being mauled so in the town by an enemy so 
 cowardly in the open. All the cavalry had orders to 
 accompany the rear-guard and the baggage, and we 
 came along very well as far as the Charbagh bridge, 
 when instead of continuing along the straight road 
 to the Baillie Guard, we turned sharp to the right, 
 along the edge of the canal. Then we had the canal 
 — a deep, perpendicular cutting, about thirty feet deep, 
 and nearly dry at the bottom — on our right, and high 
 fields, houses, hedges, and enclosures of all sorts to 
 our left ; the road choked up at intervals with com- 
 missariat carts, shot carts, camels, and bullocks ; the 
 tout ensemble making it rather a lively sort of place 
 for cavalry to work in, as you may imagine. This 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. 187 
 
 manoeuvre would have done very well had it been 
 determined to make a dash for the iBaillie Guard 
 by this route with infantry alone, which I have no 
 doubt would have been accomplished with little loss. 
 But the road or track was narrow, uneven, and 
 soft ; just the sort of place for heavy guns and 
 baggage to get in a fix. Let me tell you here the 
 guns we had with us were some of them long iron 
 eighteen-pounder siege guns, and an eighteen-inch 
 howitzer, with twenty bullocks to each ; and 
 unless in a city where there are large enough 
 streets to work and turn in, they become worse than 
 useless. 
 
 " Well, here we were in the lane, being potted at 
 from all directions among the enclosures, from every 
 corner, window, and hedge about the place, without 
 being able to see where the bullets came from so as 
 to return shot or charge the villains. The rest of the 
 column were by this time about two miles ahead of 
 us, and after being shot at for about three hours, we 
 got the carts to move on, and came along the lanes 
 and enclosures till we reached the leading division 
 about four p.m. 
 
 " We came through a terrible fire, and it was 
 coming up one of these lanes that poor Warren, 
 my adjutant, was shot dead through the heart 
 
1 88 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 close to me. He was riding alongside of me. He 
 died instantaneously ; he was a dead man before he 
 reached the ground. I jumped off my horse and put 
 him in a dhooly that was passing at the time, and 
 told the bearers to hurry on with him to the front 
 as fast as they could. This little business very nearly 
 cost me my life, for on getting on my horse again 
 I found I was the last in the lane, and a body of the 
 enemy firing straight into me, at about sixty yards. 
 I was in hopes I should have recovered his body, but 
 I never could find it again. I greatly feel his loss, 
 and though I had only been with him about a month, 
 we were great friends. He was a man I could always 
 trust to do any duty for me, and he always did it 
 cheerfully and well. Besides, he was an excellent 
 companion, and always in good spirits. I shall have 
 the painful duty of writing the last account of him 
 to his father. His death will be a great blow to 
 them, for he was evidently a great favourite with 
 them, as well as with his regiment out here. Since 
 his death I have another man, Hay, of the 28th, now 
 doing duty with the Engineers, appointed in his place. 
 I knew him when I was in Lucknow before, and we 
 shall get on well together. General Outram had 
 promised him an appointment, and I asked him to 
 let him come to me as adjutant, which he has 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUCK NOW. 189 
 
 sanctioned. He is a quiet, gentlemanly fellow, and I 
 have great faith in him. I am also fortunate in having 
 appointed to me, as doctor, an old friend of mine — 
 Greenhow, of the 1st Oude Cavalry that was. But 
 as yet these appointments have to be confirmed by 
 the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 " On our arrival here, on the 25th September, we 
 found the garrison not nearly in the state of starva- 
 tion we had been given to suppose. The ladies and 
 children looked pale and sickly, which one might 
 expect, for although I don't pretend to be well 
 up in babies' food, I fancy tough beef and chupatties 
 are not quite the food for delicate females and grow- 
 ing children. After we had been in Lucknow a few 
 days we found ourselves besieged and unable to get 
 out. Hardinge, Barrow, and I, all tried one night 
 with our various detachments to get out, but we 
 found the fire so heavy that we were compelled to 
 return. Had we gone on, about half of us only 
 would probably have reached Alumbagh, certainly 
 not more. The ground was not such that one could 
 have made a gallop for it, and cut one's self out, or 
 we should have done it, and the enemy were shooting 
 at us all the time in all directions. Thus we came 
 back, and our horses have been starving to death, 
 eating one another's tails off, as they did in the 
 
190 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Crimea. Poor brutes ! it is quite melancholy to see 
 them. As for ourselves, we get beef and wheat 
 enough to eat, but no other luxuries. I thrive 
 wonderfully upon it, being in excellent health, have 
 nearly got rid of the pain in my side, and diarrhoea. 
 The weather and the water are beautiful. The 
 former, with the excitement, has set me up, I 
 expect. 
 
 " Never was there such an extraordinary siege as 
 this, I should think — the way the little garrison has 
 held out against the thousands and thousands that 
 have been trying to take it. The place, I think, 
 would doubtless have fallen, had it not been for 
 the number of officers shut up in proportion to the 
 men. They certainly deserve any amount of praise 
 that can be given to them. The shaves and narrow 
 escapes from death are extraordinary. One man, an 
 officer, is now going about with a bullet in his brain 
 and doing well — the name, I think, is Charlton. 
 Another officer was looking out for a shot through 
 an embrasure one day, when the enemy fired a twenty- 
 four-pounder full of grape right into him ; his clothes 
 were cut to pieces in four places, a bit of his ear, 
 and some of his hair cut off. Of course he was 
 knocked over and stunned, but he got up and shook 
 himself in half an hour, and was on duty again next 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. 191 
 
 day. Some of our men occasionally make good 
 shots with the Enfield. One of the 90th made a 
 very good shot once, and picked off a native swell 
 (one of importance, apparently) as he was reading 
 a proclamation to his men on parade before an 
 attack. 
 
 " The enemy fired all sorts of things : sometimes 
 telegraph wire rolled up into the shape of a shot ; 
 sometimes a couple of brickbats ; several logs of 
 wood ; sometimes balls of wood (they did little or no 
 damage, but made a great illumination and noise, as 
 they came over), sometimes pieces of shell. My 
 horse has been wounded three times since he has 
 been in here. Up to to-day I have been fortunate 
 in not having been touched myself, nor had I any 
 very narrow shaves. Several round shots have come 
 into our room. One came and lodged in a bag of 
 rupees in a treasure chest, just at the foot of my bed, 
 one evening, as we were all talking quietly just 
 before turning in. The next day another, a nine- 
 pounder, came in like a flash of lightning. First it 
 came through a room full of women and children 
 and servants of all sorts ; then through the next 
 door; then through one of the legs of our mess 
 table, and was brought up at the opposite wall : 
 all the damage it did was bruising one lady's legs. 
 
192 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 Another we had in the middle of the night from 
 the same gun cut a man's (Hall's) pillow clean in 
 two as he was lying fast asleep in bed, not hurting 
 him in the least. Another came through the 
 tumbril just outside the door, and on through the 
 verandah full of my men, and never hurt one of them. 
 Two ladies were shot during the siege, and lots of 
 children. 
 
 " I continue my letter to-day, the 12th. We have 
 established a telegraph between this and Alumbagh. 
 It told us to-day that the Chief had arrived this 
 morning, and would march on the Dilkoosha the day 
 after to-morrow (the 14th). I wish he was coming 
 the direct route, but dare say it's all for the best, and 
 will end well. 
 
 " Some of the prices during the siege will amuse 
 you. Cheroots (small ones) sold for two rupees 
 each (4s.) ; a couple of flannel shirts sold for £7 10s. ; 
 a pot of treacle, £4 16s. I bought ten candles one 
 day for 26s., and thought myself very lucky to get 
 them. Coarse sugar, 32^. a pound ; brandy, Sos. a 
 bottle (a man gave a watch one day for a glass of 
 brandy). One pound of rice, 8s. My russeldar (a 
 native officer) had difficulty in getting a leaf of 
 native tobacco for a rupee. The men were reduced 
 to smoking tea-leaves and dried leaves of trees. 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. 193 
 
 We are to be on full rations again from to-morrow, 
 but grog and tobacco are what we want most, and 
 there are none. I am happy to tell you there are 
 only 550 sick and wounded to-day; they did badly 
 up to the 3rd November, when suddenly a change 
 for the better came over them, and they have been 
 doing well ever since. Nearly all the cases of 
 amputation have died ; in fact, the slaughter has 
 been awful, and, what is worse, there appear to have 
 been many of the wounded left behind, who fell into 
 the hands of the rebels. 
 
 " I sent several letters out during the siege ; the 
 last I sent was sewn up in the sole of a man's shoe ; 
 probably none ever reached, as the enemy kept a 
 sharp look-out, and boned most of the men, who 
 were made to work in their trenches. You will have 
 heard of the action at Alumbagh, two days before we 
 came here, so I won't give you a second edition, 
 except to remark that it was ludicrous the way the 
 enemy bolted, leaving their guns in different places, 
 for us to take. The mare I was riding there was 
 shot through the hock by grape. 
 
 "No one, I think, anticipated the amount of 
 opposition we had coming in here, and it appears 
 that Nana Sing, one of the leading men in Oude, 
 joined the rebels the day before we came in. Nearly 
 
 o 
 
19+ TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 the whole of the country (Oude) is up against us 
 now : so much for annexation ! I think there must 
 be at least fifty thousand armed men fighting against 
 us here now. 
 
 "November 14th. — Sir Colin Campbell has advanced 
 to-day as far as Dilkoosha and the Martiniere. They 
 did not appear to have much fighting, which I am 
 glad of, for we have had quite enough slaughter 
 already. I forgot to tell you in the former part of 
 this letter that my name has gone in for a Brevet 
 Majority, as soon as I get my captaincy. General 
 Havelock sent my name in quite unexpectedly to 
 me, but I should have got it anyhow, I think. This 
 will have to be put in orders at the Horse 
 Guards, and I must get Charlie or Freddy* to see this 
 is done, otherwise it will be left out. The Crimea, 
 Lucknow, and Eyre's despatch, ought to give me 
 the Brevet Majority at once, and I think Jem Mac- 
 donald would think so too. I shall be anxiously 
 looking out for two months' English letters to- 
 morrow. 
 
 "November i$tk, morning. — Sir Colin Campbell 
 did not appear to advance yesterday : probably they 
 were making a road across the canal. We are put 
 on full rations again, and my poor horses are to have 
 
 * The late Hon. Frederick Craven. 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. 195 
 
 two pounds of barley each in future. Heavy firing 
 guns heard in the direction of Dilkoosha ; our own 
 guns, I think, perhaps smashing a few houses before 
 they advance. The enemy also made an attack 
 on us, but then their attacks appear to consist in 
 making a tremendous fire through loopholes and 
 windows. They will find some difference in the way 
 we make an attack (sortie) to-day. The worst of 
 all this firing at night on their part is, it obliges us 
 to sleep in our clothes, and always to be ready to 
 turn out at a moment's notice, in case they could 
 get up their pluck enough to come on properly. 
 I hope Sir Colin Campbell will come in with less 
 loss than we did, and leave none of his wounded 
 behind. 
 
 "November igtk t 9 p.m. — Just time to finish 
 this. We opened a communication with Sir Colin 
 Campbell yesterday : all the sick and wounded 
 move out to-night. Not a moment for any more : 
 no letters in yet, but we are very anxious for them." 
 
 In the early part of his letter, Johnson says that 
 so far he had had no very narrow shaves ; so it must 
 have been just afterwards that he had the following 
 wonderful escape. He was standing at a window 
 out of which the panes of glass had been blown, and 
 was looking through his telescope for the coming in 
 
196 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIERS LIFE. 
 
 of Sir Colin Campbell ; and as he leant against the 
 wooden frame (only two or three inches wide) in the 
 centre of the window, one of the enemy took a quiet 
 " pot " at him. The bullet lodged in the narrow bit 
 of wood behind which he was standing ; he fell back 
 from the shock, but was quite unhurt. 
 
 When the history of this heroic relief and defence 
 became known, Lord Canning, the Governor-General 
 of India, wrote of the besieged garrison: "The 
 despatches show how thoroughly that gallant band 
 has sustained the reputation of British soldiers for 
 daring, discipline, and determination, whether in the 
 plain, in the hand-to-hand struggle, in the street-fight- 
 ing, or in the more wearying labours of the siege. 
 His Lordship in Council acknowledges with pleasure 
 the cheerful alacrity with which Captain Barrow, 
 commanding Volunteer Cavalry, Captains Johnson 
 and Hardynge, commanding Irregular Cavalry, have 
 come forward to volunteer their services on every 
 opportunity." 
 
 Sir James Outram's despatch shows how fully he 
 appreciated the spirit of his men : 
 
 " Alumbagk, November 2$th, 1857. — I cannot 
 conclude this report without expressing to his 
 Excellency my intense admiration of the noble spirit 
 displayed by all ranks and grades of the force, since 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUC KNOW. 197 
 
 we entered Lucknow. Themselves placed in a state 
 of siege, suddenly reduced to scanty and unsavoury 
 rations, denied all the little luxuries, such as tea, 
 sugar, rum, which, by constant use, had been to them 
 almost necessaries of life ; smitten in many cases by 
 the same scorbutive affections, and other evidences of 
 debility, which obtained among the original garrison ; 
 compelled to engage in laborious operations, exposed 
 to constant danger, and kept ever on the alert ; their 
 spirits and cheerfulness, zeal and discipline, seemed 
 to rise with the occasion. Never could there have 
 been a force more free from grumblers, more cheerful, 
 more willing, or more earnest. Amongst the sick and 
 wounded this glorious spirit was, if possible/still more 
 conspicuous than among those fit for duty. It was a 
 painful sight to see so many noble fellows maimed 
 and suffering, and denied those comforts of which they 
 stood so much in need ; but it was truly delightful, 
 and made one proud of his countrymen, to observe 
 the heroic fortitude and hearty cheerfulness with 
 which all was borne.* . . . Captain Barrow, command- 
 ing Volunteer Cavalry, Captains Johnson and 
 Hardynge, commanding Irregular Cavalry, though 
 precluded from acting in their proper capacity, have 
 
 * Here follows a list of those to whom the General offers his 
 acknowledgments for their services during the siege. 
 
198 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 regularly volunteered for every service in which they 
 or their men could be useful, and have maintained 
 posts or furnished working parties with cheerful 
 alacrity." 
 
 The high opinion of Captain Johnson expressed 
 above by Sir James Outram was repeated some years 
 later by his Chief of the Staff, Colonel Napier, after- 
 wards Field-Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala, who 
 wrote in 1865 the following statement of Captain 
 Johnson's services : — 
 
 "Major W. T. Johnson was in command of a 
 squadron of the 12th Irregular Cavalry in Outram's 
 advance on Lucknow. 
 
 " During this advance Major Johnson particularly 
 distinguished himself in an action with a body of 
 rebels who were defeated and destroyed by a force 
 under Colonel Vincent Eyre, also in action with the 
 enemy at Alumbagh. 
 
 "On entering the Residency he dismounted his 
 men, and brought in a number of wounded on the 
 led horses. 
 
 " Major Johnson and his squadron were shut in with 
 the garrison during the remainder of the siege, and 
 assisted in all the duties of the defence. 
 
 " I am aware that the late Sir James Outram held 
 the highest opinion of Major Johnson as a gallant and 
 
THE FIRST RELIEF OF LUC KNOW, 199 
 
 excellent cavalry officer, and I am sure would have 
 given him a much more valuable testimonial than 
 mine, were he living. 
 
 "Major Johnson served with Her Majesty's 20th 
 Regiment in the Crimea, and with the Scinde Horse 
 in Persia. 
 
 " I beg to recommend him most strongly for any 
 military employment in England that may be avail- 
 able, in which his energy and skill as a cavalry officer 
 would render him valuable." 
 
 The following was also written, some years later, 
 by Lord Napier, when Major Johnson was seeking a 
 nomination for the Navy for one of his sons. 
 
 "June 24th, 1876. 
 
 "Major Johnson, formerly of the Indian Service, 
 has distinguished himself both in India and the 
 Crimea as a gallant and able soldier. The testimonial 
 which was given to him by the officer commanding 
 Her Majesty's 20th Regiment, for his gallant conduct 
 at Inkerman, is one of which any soldier of his stand- 
 ing might be proud. He was a volunteer attached to 
 a British regiment, and rendered essential service in 
 the battle, in which ten officers of the regiment were 
 killed and wounded. 
 
 u Major Johnson's services were equally distinguished 
 
200 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 in the mutiny of the Indian army. General Sir James 
 Outram held him in the highest estimation. A refer- 
 ence to Major Johnson's record of services will show 
 what a very strong claim he has on the public service. 
 He was obliged to leave the army on account of 
 having sacrificed his health in the public service." 
 
201 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE SECOND RELIEF AND EVACUATION OF THE 
 RESIDENCY. NOVEMBER 9-22, 1 857. 
 
 On the 9th November, the day on which Johnson 
 began the long letter from the Tehree Kothee, Out- 
 ram heard that Sir Colin Campbell was within a march 
 of Alumbagh. On the evening of that day, Mr. T. 
 Kavanagh, an officer of the uncovenanted service, 
 volunteered to go from the Residency to the camp at 
 Alumbagh, and take important plans and papers from 
 Sir James Outram to Sir Colin Campbell. He was 
 accordingly disguised as a "badmash," or sepoy 
 mutineer, and got to the British camp very early the 
 next morning, having gone right through the enemy's 
 pickets, and through the very middle of the rebels. 
 It was a very brave act, as he ran the risk of being 
 crucified or cruelly tortured, if discovered. He had 
 some very thrilling adventures, but accomplished his 
 mission successfully, and received the Victoria Cross. 
 
202 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 There was a celebrated spy in the Residency called 
 Runjeet Singh, who used to go out and get information 
 for the garrison as to the movements outside. This 
 man accompanied Kavanagh when he was sent with 
 the papers to the Alumbagh. One day Runjeet 
 Singh came back with the news that a regiment of 
 women had arrived, who played something under their 
 arms ! These were, of course, the Highlanders, with 
 their kilts and bagpipes. 
 
 On the 14th November Sir Colin Campbell arrived 
 at the Dilkoosha Palace. Sir James Outram had 
 recommended him to " give the city a wide berth," so 
 he took the extended route, halted for the night and 
 the following day, and sent a message from the 
 semaphore on the Martiniere : " Advance to-morrow." 
 On the morrow, the 16th, the relieving column accord- 
 ingly advanced up the right bank of the Goomtee 
 river, and attacked the Secundrabagh with heavy 
 fighting. The next day, the 17th, the advance to 
 Lucknow went on with stubborn resistance all the 
 way ; stronghold after stronghold fell ; and after 
 severe fighting the Motee Munzil and the Motee 
 Mahal were taken, and Lieutenant, now Field-Mar- 
 shal Lord Roberts, hoisted the flag of the 2nd Punjab 
 Infantry on the top of the mess-house to show Outram 
 and Havelock where they were. It was near this that 
 
THE SECOND RELIEF. 203 
 
 the meeting took place of Sir Colin Campbell, Outram, 
 and Havelock, which is represented in the celebrated 
 picture, and the second and final relief of Lucknow 
 was therefore accomplished on the afternoon of the 
 17th November, 1857. 
 
 The sick and wounded, and the women and chil- 
 dren, were removed to Dilkoosha Palace during the 
 night of the 19th November, and the remainder of the 
 garrison were taken there at midnight on the 22nd, 
 when in deep silence the Residency was evacuated. 
 The whole force reached the Dilkoosha Palace about 
 dawn on the 23rd. One officer only was left behind. 
 He was asleep in a retired spot, and his friends did 
 not miss him. He awoke to find himself alone, as 
 all the troops had marched away. He fled at once, 
 passing through thousands of mutineers (who did not 
 know that the Residency had been abandoned), and 
 in time he overtook the rear-guard in safety. 
 
 The relief was overshadowed by an irreparable loss. 
 On the 20th November General Havelock had been 
 attacked with dysentery. His constitution was already 
 shattered by privation and fatigue ; the symptoms 
 grew rapidly worse, and on the morning of the 24th 
 he passed away, at the Dilkoosha Palace. " I have 
 so ruled my life, that when death came I might face 
 it without fear : " these were among his last words. 
 
204 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE, 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, shortly after his 
 death, the troops marched to Alumbagh, taking his 
 body on a litter. The next morning he was buried, 
 near a mango tree, on which he had carved, a little 
 time before, the letter H. The tree is still standing 
 beside the memorial. 
 
 Johnson's health had for a long time been failing ; 
 it was only out of sheer pluck that he had gone on so 
 long. It now gave way completely, and after the 
 march to the Alumbagh he was very dangerously ill. 
 His old friend and comrade, Dr. H. M. Greenhow, 
 who was with him there throughout his illness, and 
 attended him with the greatest kindness, wrote the 
 letter to Colonel Turner * at this time. 
 
 " Camp Alumbagh, near Lucknow, 
 
 "December nth, 1857. 
 
 "I am asked by my friend Johnson, of the 6th 
 Bombay Native Infantry, and now commanding the 
 1 2th Irregular Cavalry, to write to you, and inform 
 you that he is at present unable to send you a line 
 himself on account of sickness. What he wishes 
 particularly to say is, that he wrote to his mother 
 in England, as soon as Sir Colin Campbell relieved 
 
 * Johnson's cousin. Afterwards Major-General Turner. 
 
THE SECOND RELIEF. 205 
 
 Lucknow, about a fortnight ago, but that he is un- 
 certain whether the letter may not have miscarried, as 
 we know several daks have done. Should the letter 
 not reach, Johnson would feel that his mother had not 
 heard for a long time, and he would therefore be glad 
 if you could kindly let her know that he is safe out of 
 Lucknow. We are now within five miles of the city, 
 encamped in the open plain, and in a few weeks shall 
 no doubt commence operations on it. Sir Colin 
 Campbell, after relieving it, went back to Cawnpore, 
 where he has been dispersing the Gwalior Contingent. 
 
 " At present I am sorry to say Johnson is very far 
 from well ; indeed, for the last ten days he has been 
 laid up with remittent fever, and he is much weakened 
 by it. I trust he will soon take a favourable change, 
 but his knocking about in Persia was but a bad pre- 
 paration for this campaign in Oude. Johnson asks 
 me to tell you his name has gone in for a Brevet 
 Majority." 
 
 Colonel Turner, in forwarding the above letter to 
 Enborne, wrote from Bombay : " You will see Billy's 
 name in all the despatches, and in Lord Canning's 
 general orders. He is a noble fellow, and his rela- 
 tions must all be proud of him, but I wish he were 
 here instead of where he is. He seems to be in 
 kind hands." 
 
206 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 A short time afterwards Johnson wrote to his 
 mother in a very trembling hand : 
 
 "Alumbagh, December 28, 1857. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed at this horribly groggy writing, 
 but it is better than writing by deputy, and it will 
 show you how much better I am. I am thankful to 
 say I have been getting so much stronger the last 
 few days ; in fact, I only take now four grains of 
 quinine a day. But I have just pulled through a 
 very serious illness, and the doctors were very much 
 alarmed about me at one time. They are going to 
 send me home immediately I am strong enough 
 to move. This I feel I am obliged to give in to, 
 especially as my health in India has of late been 
 failing me so much. Do you remember my mention- 
 ing in one of my letters that I thought I should 
 last as far as Lucknow ? Well, I have lasted as far, 
 and am now obliged to give in. It is a bad thing 
 for me having to go away just now, as it will prevent 
 my being present with my sowars at the taking of 
 Lucknow. I expect the taking of Lucknow will 
 not be very severe ; in fact, with the enormous force 
 we are able to bring against it, I should think they 
 will soon give in. I am sorry to come home before 
 seeing the fellows punished. 
 
THE SECOND RELIEF. 207 
 
 " My name has gone in for a Brevet Majority 
 on promotion to my company; Havelock sent it 
 in. Poor old gentleman ! I noticed a great change in 
 him about a fortnight before he died. He and I 
 were always very good friends, and I am heartily 
 sorry he was not spared a few months longer, just 
 to let him see how much the country appreciated his 
 services. His despatch seems to have been lost, 
 for we have never seen it published anywhere ; but 
 it must turn up in time, for it was a despatch of 
 much importance, containing an account of the first 
 relief of Lucknow. How delightful it will be to 
 see you all again, and to be once more at dear old 
 Enborne ! 
 
 " I must end this now, for I am very, very weak. I 
 am just able to stand up to-day without support, but 
 cannot walk yet. You have no idea how kind every 
 one of my friends have been : some sending me 
 grapes, some eggs (very difficult to get here), and 
 MacPherson * of the Highlanders, an old friend of 
 mine, sends me port- wine, grapes, and jelly. You 
 would laugh if you saw the place I am living in ; but 
 I am very comfortable. Dr. Greenhow, my old 
 friend, is most kind and attentive ; in fact, I have 
 never experienced so much attention from any one, 
 * Sir Herbert MacPherson. 
 
208 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 and I hope some day I may have an opportunity to 
 repay him. I can't give you the least idea when to 
 look out for me in England, but I shall come over- 
 land, and will write you many letters before I start, 
 I hope." 
 
 On the 30th January, 1858, Johnson wrote from 
 Benares, to say that he was comparatively well again, 
 and on his way to Calcutta. He was detained there 
 on account of all the conveyances being taken up for 
 the Governor-General ; but he got to Calcutta in time 
 to leave on the 23rd February by the Nubia. 
 
 He wrote from Calcutta : — 
 
 " I am thinking of going by Trieste if I can get a 
 chance, and do a little Austria and Germany. I want 
 to see some of the principal arsenals and reviews en 
 route, if I can. I shall not delay very long, though. 
 No English letters again ; the postmasters either 
 don't pass them on or the rebels bone them. I got 
 an old letter a short time ago that had come to 
 Bombay up the Indus, vid Mooltan and Alumbagh, 
 by way of a short cut to Calcutta. A letter from 
 Alumbagh from my Adjutant, Hay, dated 15th, says : 
 ' No fighting yet, but great preparations for the 
 attack on Lucknow. The whole way to Cawnpore 
 the road is covered with supplies and troops — the 
 electric telegraph is into camp, and we begin to feel 
 
THE SECOND RELIEF. 209 
 
 ourselves the masters of the country again. . . .' I 
 am delighted at the idea of getting out of Calcutta." 
 
 His next letter to his mother was written on board 
 the Nubia, nth March, 1858 : 
 
 " You will be glad to hear I passed the Medical 
 Board in Calcutta with very little trouble — they made 
 no hesitation about it whatever, after looking over 
 my case ; in fact, were awfully civil, and told me that 
 my sickness having been contracted in the field, my 
 leave at home should count as service. This was a 
 bit of liberality on their part I was not prepared for, 
 but they are tolerably lenient just now towards all 
 those who were in Lucknow. My health is much 
 better, fever all gone, but I have grown very old, 
 and very yellow, and I have a feeling in my right side 
 as if there were a nine-pound shot lodged in my liver. 
 I'll try and jog it out, though, if I can, between 
 Syracuse and Hamburg, and if some of the diligence 
 travelling and bad roads between those two places 
 don't succeed, I don't know what will. We are not 
 coming vid Marseilles this time, having seen enough 
 of that route, but we are going to do Italy and 
 Austria, starting from Sicily; Palermo probably or 
 Catania, to Naples, Rome, Florence, Verona, Venice, 
 Trieste, Vienna, Prague, as far as Dresden. At some 
 of these places I hope to see some of the reviews, 
 
 P 
 
210 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 and visit some of the principal arsenals ; people too 
 declare we should not miss the Holy Week in Rome, 
 which they all say is the finest sight in the world. 
 Young Birch and I hope De la Fosse will join our 
 party — the same man that escaped from Cawnpore. 
 The former came into Lucknow with us, and got a 
 shot in the back, which gives him a good deal of 
 trouble — pieces of bone still keep coming away ; but 
 with a little cooking up he'll do for the tour. My 
 great chum, Jim Grant, remained behind at Madras, 
 to stay a fortnight with his brother." 
 
 He carried out his programme, and arrived in 
 England, April 19th. Shortly after his return he 
 attended the Levee, and was presented by a con- 
 nection by marriage.* He wore the medal and 
 three clasps for the Crimea, the Turkish Crimean 
 medal, the medal and clasp for Persia, and the medal 
 and clasp for Lucknow ; and being the only officer 
 in either of the services who was engaged in all 
 these three campaigns, he attracted the special notice 
 of the Queen, for Lake wrote as follows to Mrs. 
 Johnson, April 30th : " I have this moment received 
 the commands of Her Majesty to tell her any circum- 
 stances relating to Billy which I may know, as she 
 takes much interest in the Indian officers presented 
 
 * General Sir Atwell Lake, K.C.B. Died 1S81. 
 
THE SECOND RELIEF. 211 
 
 to her, and has desired inquiries to be made respect- 
 ing him. Will you, if Billy is with you, ask him 
 to send me instantly a statement of his services. . . . 
 Let him be explicit, for it is probable Her Majesty 
 may send for me, and I should like to make out a 
 good story for him. Let him tell of his Crimean 
 and Persian Campaigns. I have but this moment 
 received my orders from the Lord Chamberlain's 
 office, or would sooner have sent to you." The state- 
 ment of services was, of course, sent in with as little 
 delay as possible, but Johnson was afterwards in- 
 formed that it was too late to be laid before Her 
 Majesty. 
 
 On the 13th June, i860, Colonel Baker wrote from 
 the India Office : " I have the satisfaction of inform- 
 ing you that Secretary Sir Charles Wood, having com- 
 municated with the General Commanding-in-Chief 
 on the subject of your strong claims to receive the 
 Brevet rank of major, in consideration of your services 
 in the field from 1854 to the present time, has been 
 informed that His Royal Highness, agreeably to 
 Sir Charles Wood's recommendation, has submitted 
 to the Secretary of State for War, that you should 
 be promoted to the rank of major, with the date 
 5th March, i860, the day after you became a captain 
 regi mentally." 
 
212 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIERS LIFE. 
 
 He had come home on fifteen months' sick- 
 certificate, but on the expiration of his furlough, the 
 examining physician, Sir James Ranald Martin, 
 certified that his health at that time would not allow 
 of his return to India, and that, if he went back, 
 he would die in two years. He applied, accordingly, 
 for a further extension of leave, but it was not 
 granted, and he had no option but to retire. This 
 he did, after his marriage, September 18th, i860, 
 to Mary Amelia, only daughter of Thomas Poyser, 
 Esquire, of Wirks worth, Derbyshire * 
 
 The volunteer movement was then just beginning, 
 and Major Johnson took a warm interest in it, and 
 early in 1861, was appointed to an adjutancy of 
 volunteers at Liverpool. Colonel Adam Gladstone 
 then commanded the regiment. This appointment 
 he after some time resigned, and in 1865 went to 
 live in North Wales, to manage the property of his 
 cousin, the late Mrs. Oakeley, of Tany Bvvlch. In 
 1 87 1 he went from Wales to Berlin, at the termination 
 of the Franco-German War, and was in Berlin at the 
 
 * Four sons and one daughter survive him. The eldest son, Charles 
 Blois, holds the livings of Enborne and Hampstead, in the gift of the 
 Earl of Craven, of which his grandfather and uncle were rectors. The 
 second, Francis William Blois, is an officer in the P. & O. Service. 
 The third, Thomas Gordon Blois, is a lieutenant in the 22nd Punjab 
 Infantry. The fourth, John Ernest Blois, is lieutenant in the Guides 
 Cavalry. 
 
THE SECOND RELIEF. 213 
 
 triumphal entry in June, and had interviews with the 
 Crown Prince and Princess, and, what he was most 
 anxious for, one with Count von Moltke. Throughout 
 his life he took the keenest interest in his profession, 
 and was always attracted by anything connected with 
 it. On his wedding tour, during the great struggle of 
 Italy, he and his wife witnessed the siege of Gaeta, 
 and the triumphal entry into Naples of the King 
 of Italy and Garibaldi, to whom they were presented 
 afterwards. 
 
 In 1872 he made a tour round the coast of 
 England, to survey it, with a view of making a second 
 line of defence by means of gunboats. The observa- 
 tions he made, and his ideas on the subject, are 
 embodied in a pamphlet he afterwards wrote, called 
 " Gunboats for Volunteers." 
 
 The latter years of Major Johnson's life were spent 
 at Seaford, in Sussex, where he eventually settled in 
 1 88 1, and built himself a house. He used generally 
 to attend the Lucknow Anniversary Dinner, on the 
 25th September, and in 1893, when he was no longer 
 amongst the survivors, and the chairman, Sir William 
 Olpherts, proposed the " memory of our departed 
 comrades," the name of Johnson was mentioned, 
 together with those of Havelock, Outram, Neill, Inglis, 
 Napier, and other true and faithful servants who had 
 
214 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE. 
 
 entered into their rest. He attended the funeral of 
 the last-named old friend in St. Paul's, and was invited 
 to that of him, who wrote of Lucknow — 
 
 M Hold it for fifteen days ! We have held it for eighty-seven ! 
 And ever upon the topmost roof, the banner of England blew." 
 
 For some little time before the end, Major John- 
 son's memory had been affected, the result, the 
 doctors said, of a blow on the side of his head 
 — probably a sabre cut received in action, which, in 
 the excitement of the moment, had perhaps hardly 
 been noticed, but which took effect many years after. 
 He died at Seaford, on May 31st, 1893 > anc * with the 
 flag of England, which he loved so well, as his pall, 
 he was laid to rest on June 3rd, in the quiet church- 
 yard of the little Cinque Port, followed by those who 
 loved him, and by a contingent of the 1st Sussex 
 Volunteer Royal Engineers, and a party of the 
 Coast-guards, who asked to be allowed to show him 
 this last mark of respect. 
 
 A small brass tablet, with a summary of his 
 services, has been placed to his memory in the 
 chancel of the Memorial Church at Lucknow ; it is 
 close to the monument of General Barrow, with whom 
 he fought on the march to the first Relief, and to that 
 of his late chief, Sir James Outram, for whom he had 
 ever a profound admiration and regard. 
 
THE SECOND RELIEF. 215 
 
 The name of the regiment he commanded at Luck- 
 now — the 1 2th Irregular Cavalry — is engraved on 
 the pedestal of Havelock's monument in Trafalgar 
 Square. In front of the monument are the words 
 which were spoken by the General after the Battle of 
 Bithoor : 
 
 " Soldiers, your labours, your privations, your suffer- 
 ings, and your valour, will not be forgotten by a 
 grateful country." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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