My journal, or what I did and saw between the 9th June and 25th November, 1857 : with an account of General Havelock's march from Allahabad to Lucknow

MY JOURNAL;

OR

WHAT I DID AND SAW BETWEEN THE 9th JUNE
AND 25th NOVEMBER, 1857;

WITH

AN ACCOUNT OF

GENERAL HAVELOCK’S

MARCH FROM

ALLAHABAD TO LUCKNOW:

A VOLUNTEER.

CALCUTTA:

PRINTED BF C. B. LEAV1S, BAPTIST MISSION PRESS.

1858.

ii

1

DEDICATED,

WITHOUT PERMISSION,

TO

THE KINDEST^OF FRIENDS,

AND

ONE OF THE COMPANY’S BEST AND BRAVEST OFFICERS,

CAPTAIN LOUSADA BARROW,

FIFTH REGIMENT, M. Ii. C.

LATE IN COMMAND OF THE VOLUNTEER CAVALRY WITH HAVELOCK’S FORCE.

V

*

I

P R E F A C E.

Since “my Journal” was written, a long time lias
elapsed. Had any one told us on tlie 25th Novem-
ber, 1857, that we should not see the fall of Lucknow
till the lGtli March, 1858, we should have laughed at
him: but so it has happened. For three months did
General Outram hold his position at Alum Bagh in
the face of a countless army of the rebels, constantly
attacked by them, as constantly repulsing their attacks,
and now and then himself taking the offensive and
driving the enemy back. It was no easy life that his
force had there ; and, when the history of this Rebel-
lion shall be written in full, the holding of the Alum
Bagh by Major General Outram and his small force
will be looked upon in its proper light, and I hope
estimated accordingly.

Lucknow has fallen ; and the British flag again waves
on the Residency. The Volunteer Cavalry has been
broken up ; the Oflicers have gone — some to their civil
duties, some home, and some elsewhere : the uncovenant-
ed Volunteers have been allowed to go and seek other
employment : and that little body of men, which the
Right Hon’ble the Governor General was pleased to
call “ Captain Barrow’s devoted band,” is become one
of the “ has beens.” Few will ever remember that, at the

VI

outbreak of this mutiny, the only Cavalry that General
Havelock had, through his march from Allahabad to Luck-
now, was a corps called the Volunteer Cavalry, composed
at first entirely of Officers and Gentlemen, who served as
Privates in the field.

Perhaps I may be wrong, but I do not think the
services of this little band have been duly appreciated, at
least by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief. That
they were so by the late Major General Sir Henry
Havelock we know ; and that they are so by Sir J ames
Outram will be seen by the following letter, of which
we are all proud, as coming from one of our best Com-
manders — “ the Indian Bayard” ; —

My dear Barrow,

Lucknow, 29 th March, 1858.

We are about to separate, perhaps for ever; but believe
me I shall ever retain you in affectionate remembrance, and ever
speak with that intense admiration, which I feel, for the glori-
ous Volunteers, whom you have commanded with such distinc-
tion. It would afford me much pleasure to shake every one of
them by the hand, and tell them how warmly I feel towards
them ; but this is impossible. My pressing duties will not allow
me even to write a few farewell lines to each of your Officers :
but I trust to your communicating to them individually my
affectionate adieu, and sincerest wishes for their prosperity.
May God bless you and them !

Ever your sincerely attached friend,

J. OUTRAM.

To Capt. Barrow, late Commg.
Volunteers.

“MY JOURNAL.”

Note. — “ My Journal” was not written with any intention of publica-
tion. It consists merely of a few rough notes kept by me for the benefit of
one, from whom I was necessarily separated during these troublesome times,
and to whom I knew an account of my doings, though ever so short, would
be acceptable. But several of my friends have persuaded me that, as hither-
to no account of Havelock’s extraordinary advance to the relief of our be-
leagured brethren in Lucknow has been published, my narrative, though
rather meagre, would be acceptable to the Public. Trusting therefore chief-
ly to the interest of the subject, I put it into the hands of the printer.

On the 9th of June, 1857, I had left the Salone Jcacheri
(where every thing had been going on much as usual, with this
exception that the crowd of suitors had for several days gradually
decreased) about 3| p. M. for a few moments, when, just as I
reached Capt. Barrow’s (Deputy Commissioner) gate on my
return, I met Capt. Thompson (Commanding 1st Oudh Irre-
gular Infantry at the station) talking to a Sowar,* who ab-
peared to have just come off a journey. On asking what was
the matter, he said, that he had just escaped from a party of the
mutineers from Allahabad, f consisting of a wing of Infantry, two

* About sixty men of the third Oudh Irregular Cavalry had been
sent from Lucknow to Salone to strengthen us, as it was the general opinion
that the Irregular Cavalry would stand firm, after the Infantry had
gone. How much we have all been deceived has been shewn by the issue.

t The first intimation we had of the outbreak at Allahabad was from one
of our Thannadars, who reported that he had secured two or three of the
prisoners from the Allahabad jail, who had escaped, and brought the news
that the Regiment stationed there had mutinied and released all the prison-
ers, and that nil the Europeans had taken refuge in the fort.

8

tioops of Cavalry, and two guns; that they where marching
on to S alone, and were then within five miles. This looked
lathei too close to be pleasant; so we took the man down to
Capt. Banow, where, after again interrogating him, we decided
it was time to prepare for the reception of any mutineers who
might come. Capt. Thompson turned out his Regiment,
and, loading two old guns we had there with grape, he
stood ready for any thing that might occur. We on our
part turned out (what was then called) the new levies —
about one hundred and fifty men enlisted in our Police, whom
we had armed and were drilling. At the same time we sent out
some trustworthy men in the direction the Allahabad mutineers
were said to be coming, and also towards Sultanpore, from whence
another body of mutineers were said to be marching on us. We
waited in this state of readiness for about an hour, when our
spies returned, and reported that the road was clear in both
directions, and that there was no sign of any mutineers :
so we turned in the Regiment, and, having set guards
of the new levies all round Capt. Barrow’s house and placed
the lying Sowar in confinement, we went home. The truth was,
the mutineers in our own station had thought that by causing
an alarm of “They are coming” to be spread, they would
make us take suddenly to flight, and so leave them in quiet
possession of our treasure, consisting then of some 500,000 Rs.
But when they found that their plan did not answer, they had
recourse to another, viz. open mutiny.

It must be remembered that at this time the Regiments at
Lucknow had mutinied ; Fyzabad and Sultanpore were (as the
expression then was) “ gone,” and Futteypore likewise ; at Allaha-
bad all the Europeans had retired into the Fort, the native Regi-
ment (6th B. N. I.) having mutinied ; that the whole country
was up in arms, and Cawnpore in a state of siege. We were
therefore quite surrounded by mutineers : all the dawks (ex-
cept that direct to Lucknow, which we managed to keep open)
were closed, and every road of escape seemed to be shut against

9

us ; but we never lost heart. We hoped, almost against hope, that
we should he able still to weather the storm (and if we did, what
an honor !), and we put our trust in Him, who had hitherto kept
us in peace and quietness. We all dined together at Capt. Bar-
row’s that evening ; and, with the exception of Capt. Thompson
and Lieut. Chalmers, who slept in the lines with their men, we
slept at Capt. Barrow’s also — thinking that if any thing did
take place we ought to be together, and as near the only lady
(Mrs. B.) as possible. The night passed off quietly enough, but
the next morning shewed us we had not much longer to remain.
The sepoys of the Regiment were all moving about, armed
and accoutred, and were sending their luggage out of the
place ; and about six o’clock Thompson came and told us, he
could do no more, for his men were in open mutiny. We had a
long consultation, and determined that we had remained at our
post as long as we could, and that we had nothing left but to
provide for our own safety. While we were consulting together,
one of our most influential Talookdars, Hunnowant Sing, came
in and informed us, that the game was up (which we knew be-
fore), and that we must go that day, or we might be sacrificed ;
that, if we could leave at about 4 r. M., be would meet us about a
mile out of the Station with some of his men, and conduct us to
one of his Forts, where for the present we should be safe. This
we agreed to do ; and he left us to make preparations.

I may here mention, that this man Hunnowant Sing, in ac-
cordance with the policy brought into play at the annexation,
had been deprived of the greater part of his estate, which was in
the King of Oudh’s time very valuable, had consequently
been reduced from a very wealthy and influential position
to quite the contrary, and had even, under instructions
from the authorities, been confined in our jail for not
paying up part of his revenue. Notwithstanding all this,
he had, I think, a personal friendship for Capt. Barrow, for
he was a quick enough man, and saw that Barrow was acting
up to orders, and much against his own judgment. It was in a
n

10

great measure to this friendship that I attribute Hunnowant’s
conduct, though the old man may have had an eye on the future
when he thus acted ; for lie all along believed that we should be
back in Oudh some day. Had our annexation policy been
different, I think we should have had many friends where we
had enemies. W e hoped to make friends of the new men we
raised up, but found, to our cost, that in the time of need they
were wanting. The truth was ’they were not strong enough
to hold their own, much less to assist us; though I believe
many, for their own sakes, would have done so if they could.

At about eleven o’clock, Thompson came and told us that his
native officers had come to him, and promised faithfully that, if
he would give the whole Regiment six months’ pay out of the
Treasury, they would march with us, colours and all, to Allahabad.
At first, we would not hear of such a thing, it seemed so like
bribing our own servants to remain faithful : but when we consi-
dered the matter again — that the Treasury was in the hands of
the mutineers, who could help themselves without any asking,
and that if, by giving six months’ pay we could save the rest of
the Treasure and the Regiment, it would be worth doing so — we
determined on trying it. The Regiment had no sooner received
the money than we found upon what a reed we had been leaning.
The guard at the jail left, and all our prisoners escaped ; the men
became more sullen than ever ; and (what was worse than all) the
detachment of Harding’s Cavalry now came and claimed six
months’ pay, the same as the Infantry had received ; and, after
them, our Police would doubtless have come. We had made a
false move, and were suffering from it : but our position was
such it was very difficult to know how to act. We determined
to pay up all our establishments, and then quit. I had been
down to the Treasury for money two or three times that day, and,
thinking that perhaps the guard over the Treasure might not
like me to take any more, I took one of the native officers down
with me to shew the guard, that it was by permission oj those
then commanding that I was drawing the money. When I arrived

11

at the Treasury, the sentry called for the Jemadar on duty, who
came and at once permitted me to open the cash chest ; when he
saw the other native officer with me, he asked why he had come,
and, on being informed, turned to me with tears in his eyes, and
asked if he had ever hesitated in permitting me to take money. I
tried to explain it away, but did not succeed very well : the old
fellow seemed really hurt — and yet he was a mutineer and a
rebel at heart.

As soon as we paid our people, they immediately all forsook
us ; our police, who had sworn to stand by us, leaving us also,
and among the first a man whom I had got promoted to be a
Jemadar, and who, an hour before, had with tears in his eyes
sworn to stick to me through thick and thin. At about 4 v. M.
we prepared to start, Mrs. B. and two children in Carnegie’s
Buggy, and the Apothecary’s wife and his family in another Bug-
gy : the Sergeant Major (who had been very ill) with his wife and
family were to go in Barrow’s bullock coach, and we men on horse-
back. Our party was seventeen in number, nine of whom were
women and children. We started, all our servants having forsaken
us, except Capt. Barrow’s three Madrassies, with the clothes on
our backs and our swords by our sides, not knowing how long
we might have to live, as now, that we were obliged to go, every
man’s hand was against us. We had some twenty-four of our new
levies, about the same number of new jail Burkundazes, and one
Jemadar, one Havildar and five Sepoys of Capt. Thompson’s
Regiment with us — and this was all out of thousands, who a week
before would have followed us cringing and bowing to the ground !
We had to go right through the Regimental lines, which of course
was a rather dangerous thing to do : but, as it could not be avoid-
ed, we put a bold face on it, and went straight through them. The
men were standing armed and accoutred in groups, looking very
sulky ; the two guns were drawn up, so as to sweep the road we
must go, and the men were standing with lighted port-fires in
their hands. This was probably for show, and done with the idea
is 2

12

of frightening us; but I do not think it made any of our hearts
beat faster by one stroke.

About a mile out of Cantonments we were met by our old
friend Ilunnowant Sing, with about 200 as funny looking a set
of men, as could be well imagined ; and, after a long ride of about
fourteen miles, we arrived about 1 o’clock at night at Dharoo-
pore, where our kind host gave us a hearty welcome and made
us as comfortable as he could for the night. Thus ended the
memorable 10th of June 1857, the 6th anniversary of my wed-
ding day, to which auspicious event I attribute our having escap-
ed so easily : — but, joking apart, we had very much to be thankful
for : we had all escaped with our lives from Salone, and I think,
with one or two exceptions, we were the only body so fortunate.
At Sultanpore, thirty-seven miles off, the Deputy Commissioner
and his Assistant had been killed, also the officer commanding 1 and
the 2nd in command of the Regular Cavalry corps (15th). At
Fyzabad the Commissioner and nearly all the officers of the 22nd
native Infantry, the officer commanding the artillery and the Ad-
jutant of the 6th Oudh N. I. had been murdered. At Lucknow
three had been killed. Cawnpore was in a state of siege, the end
of which is too well known. At FuLtehpore opposite to us on the
other side of the Ganges, the Judge, Mr. Tucker, had been killed.
At Allahabad some eighteen or twenty had been killed, and the
remaining Europeans had been shut up in the fort : but we had
escaped, and were now in the hands of a man, who had given us
his " Biffin,” the most solemn oath a Hindoo can take, to see us
safe to Allahabad, or any other place, which the Europeans still
held. He was, however, a native, on whose most solemn oath we
could hardly depend, if Allahabad fell. The natives had all an idea
that our rule was at an end ; and although our host, who was
clever enough, did not, I think, really believe as much himself,
still he was evidently playing a double game, trying to keep
friends with the Rebels, and still to preserve us from harm — a
difficult game to play, but one which he carried through very
well : and though he has been, and is now, fighting against us.

13

still I should be very glad to see him forgiven, and shake him
by the hand again. Next morning we heard that C. was at
Kalikunker, another of our host’s Forts, on the banks of the
Ganges, where he had taken refuge, after having been robbed
of every thing he had by the Thannadar and Police at Manik-
pore. This Thannadar had been appointed by C. himself. I
forgot to mention that on the night of our arrival here,
Hunnawant Sing’s son had gone to Alladgunj, where one
of our Tahsilees was, and had not only rescued the Tahsildar
who was in danger, but had brought in with him all the money
then at the Tahsilee, viz. Rs. 12,000, which he gave over to
Capt. Barrow, and which he took with us into Allahabad, and
delivered to us there before leaving us. Immediately our host
heard of C.’s position he sent him down money, told his servants
to take care of him, and the next day started off himself to bring
him to us. He left at about 4 p. m. on the 14th, and returned
with C. and his cousin, who was with him on the night of the
15th. We, as I have mentioned, all left with nothing but the
clothes on our backs. Mrs. B. had brought a small supply of wine
and beer, some forks; and spoons, and had a regular little kit in a
cowry basket, which, however, never reached us — thecooly carrying
it having bolted. The day after we got to the Fort, the bullock
coach which had been left behind was brought in by Capt. B.’s
Afghan servant, and in it were some few things for Mrs. B. and
her children. It was good fun seeing us sitting down to our
meals, our dinner consisting of fowls, lamb, curry and rice, dal
and chapaties, placed in earthen chatties, or rather earthen
saucers, and put on a charpoy, round which on the ground we
all sat. I think we each had a spoon, but there was only one
knife — so we had to use our fingers pretty well : but we got on
famously. Old Hunnowant kept up our supplies ; and, as far as we
could be, we were very comfortable. It was very hot in the day
time, and what we all felt extremely was the want of employment,
as we had come away without any books. We were badly off for
clothes of course, but here again our old friend came to the

14

rescue, got us cloth and durzees ; and we soon turned out as regu-
lar natives. About the fourth day of our being in the Fort, a
man, named C blind Khan, came up where we were, and com-
menced making enquiries about a horse that he said had been
lost by Lieut. Grant’s party from Sultanpore. After having made
his inquiry, instead of going away he remained hovering about
in a mysterious manner; at last he came to Capt. Barrow, and
put a letter into his hand, which proved to be from Grant, who
(with some twenty-nine, most of whom were women and children)
had escaped from Sultanpore, and was then under the protection
of an old man, named Ajeet Sing, who was not very powerful,
though very willing to do all he could. It appeared that this
party, from there being so many women and children, and their
protector being not very powerful, were really in danger, and
altogether in a sad plight; so after talking the matter over,
we determined to trust our host, and see if he could and would do
anything for them. lie at once set to work, wrote to a relation
of his own, whose illdkd was in that direction, and also to Goolab
Sing, and took their “ Blian” from them for the safety of the
party. Grant eventually reached Allahabad with the whole of
his party in safety, under the escort of his host alone.

About this time all our jail Burkundazes and sixteen of our
new levies, who had followed us, asked permission to go to their
homes : so we allowed them ; — we had now only eight of these
men and seven of Capt. Thompson’s with us. We lived in an
upper story of the house, and used to walk on the roof,
when not too hot, and, when up there, very often people came
for the purpose of looking at us, as if we were wild beasts. This
became so unpleasant that we were obliged to ask our host to
put a stop to it, which he did at once by placing a couple of
sentries at the stair-case leading up : but before this was done,
a man had been up, carrying in his waistband a very nice duel-
ling pistol, evidently the property of some English Officer. On
interrogating him, he told us thathewas a Jemadar of Police under
Capt. Thurburn, who had given him this pistol ; that the Regt.

15

at Fyzabad had mutinied and all the officers had escaped in boats,
and that the civil officers with their families had taken retug'e
in Raja Maun Singh’s Fort, where they then were. We imme-
diately wrote to them, and, promising the Jemadar a present if
he delivered the letter, persuaded him to start for that purpose :
about four days afterwards he returned with a long story that
they had left. This at the time we did not believe, for there
was something in the man’s manner not straightforward, and
we imagined he had never gone. I now think that his
story was so far true that he knew they had left Maun
Singh’s the first time he came to us, but had concealed it for
some purpose; and, when the reward was offered him, he deter-
mined to absent himself for a few days, and then bring us the
right tale, which he might have told us at first — namely, that this
party had gone to Maun Singh’s and, after remaining there three
or four days, had been sent by him down the river in boats. Even-
tually after much suffering they arrived at Dinapore in safety.

We now became rather anxious about ourselves : we had been
upwards of a week in the Fort, and could gain no information
of what was going on at Allahabad. We heard reports of large
forces of Europeans arriving daily, which kept us in good spirits ;
but we could not manage to get a letter conveyed there for us,
and although our host continued his attentions, still we began to
fancy he was throwing obstacles in our way on purpose. At last
two men of our new levies came and said that they would try to
get into Allahabad with a letter : so we promised them a large
reward if they succeeded, and they started. While they were absent,
our friend Chand Khan again made his appearance, with a letter
from the Collector of Allahabad, and one from Grant, who with
his party had arrived there safely. So at last we found out what
was going on, and that the road was quite safe. We then sent for
our host’s son, he himself having gone on some excuse or other to
his other fort, told him the news we had heard, and insisted on
leaving as soon as possible. He replied that he could do nothing
without his father, but that he would send off a messenger irame-

10

diately for him. This he did ; and next evening the old gentleman
made his appearance, and, after a good deal of talking, promised to
collect a number of men to escort us, and to start on the third day
from that time, as that was a lucky day. Well ! we did not like to
push him too hard; so we consented. Next day our two messen-
gers, dressed as fakeers, returned with a letter from Allahabad ; and
they were again sent off to tell Court* when we were to start, so
that he might have boats ready for us at the ferry, the bridge of
boats having been destroyed. On the day decided on, we left the
Fort at about p. m. — all the women and children in doolies, and
we on horseback. We had a large escort of our host’s followers, and,
after a tiresome ride ofabout twenty miles, arrived at Dhunnfuvfi, a
small fortress belonging to Shudat Singh, a small landholder in our
district. We reached this at about 2 o’clock a. m. and had to lie
down outside the fort under a tree, as the owner would not, or
really could not, receive us inside. Next morning we went to look
at the house, to see if we could not get some accommodation in
it, but found it in such a state of dirt and ruin that we preferred
to remain under a large banyan tree just inside the walls, under
which Shudat Singh, pitched a small tent for Mrs. B. and the
children ; so that we got on pretty well on the whole. We were
well supplied with eatables and milk by our host. Our old host,
Hunnowant Singh, onbeing consulted as to our future movements,
told us, that we must pass through the estate of a man (whose
name I now forget) who was not favourably inclined towards
the English, and that it would be necessary to take his “ Bhail,”
and that he should have to go himself for that purpose, which would
cause a delay of some hours, so that we would not be able to
start before 12 at night.

There were two roads for us to go, one about twelve miles to
the Papamow ghfit, and the other about twenty miles to the
bridge of boats. We wished of course to go the shortest road ; but
Hunnowant was so decided about taking us the other route, that
we were obliged to give in; and he left us to get the Bhan from
* The Collector of Allahabad.

17

the man lie had spoken about. He returned at 12 at night, but
had now altered his mind about the road we were to take j so that
we went the short road after all. As the old gentleman wanted
something to eat after his long ride, we did not get off much
before 2 o’clock in the morning, and just at daylight we came
in sight of the river Ganges, where we met two men, with a note
from Court, telling us not to go to the bridge of boats, as that
road was not safe, but that he had boats and carriages ready for
us at the Papamow ghat : so on we went, rejoicing to get so
near the end of our troubles.

We arrived at the river, put the horses and ourselves on board
the different boats, and wished our kind host a hearty farewell
telling him, that ere long we should be back at our old station,
when we should not forget his devoted kindness. I must here
mention that we could not persuade our old friend himself to
cross the river with us, or to allow any of his followers to do so.
They had an idea that whoever once got into Allahabad, did not
get out again, except as a Christian.

When we offered him some pecuniary reward for all he had
done for us, he decidedly refused to accept it ; nor would he
allow any of his men to take an}'-, although we offered him 11s.
5,000 to divide amongst them. “ No,” he said, “ he wanted no
reward then : he only wished us to remember him, when we
again got into power ; and as for his followers, they were his
servants, and were paid for doing as he told them — and so we
parted. May he get his reward ! More than one heart blesses
him, for having saved our lives ; for there is no doubt that, had
he not come forward, we should have found great difficulty in
getting to Allahabad, as every man’s hand, even those of our
own Police, was turned against us, and we were a small party to
fight our way through, with the women and children we had
with us. But One, mightier than the mightiest rebel, was with
us, and watched over us. He brought us in safety through our
enemies. May we never forget His goodness in this, as in all
things, and may it be the means of drawing us closer to Him.
c

IS

We found Col. Neill ol the 1st Madras Fusiliers, with about
200 men, in possession of the Fort, the Seikhs having been turned
out and encamped under the walls. Every house had been nearly
ruined, and sueh a scene of destruction as met our eyes, I suppose
never was seen, and I hope never will be again ; — all sorts of fur-
niture and clothes lying about, — all, or nearly all, perfectly useless,
as the mutineers seem to have taken a delight in destroying every
thing that belonged to the Europeans : even the lining of the
punkas was all torn out. Daily arrivals of Europeans soon
filled the cantonments with white faces ; and on the 30th June
a small force, consisting of 200 of the Madras Fusiliers, 200 of
H.M. 84th, 250 Seikhs of the Ferozepore Regiment, 2 six-pounder
guns, and 1 twelve-pounder howitzer, with some 60 sowars of
the 13th Irregulars and 3rd Oudh Irregular Cavalry, who were
supposed to be staunch, started under the command of Bt.
Major Renaud of the Madras Fusiliers towards Cawnpore, in the
hope of being in time to relieve our gallant countrymen, who
were besieged there by the rebels under the Nana. On the 1st
July, another party of the Fusiliers, about 100 strong, under
Capt. Spurgin, left in a Steamer to endeavour to make their way
up by the river to co-operate with the land force. On the 26th
of June, Brigadier General Havelock, who had been put in com-
mand of a moveable column to be collected at Allahabad, arriv-
ed with his staff; and, finding the great want of Cavalry, obtain-
ed permission from the Government to raise a Regiment to be
called the Allahabad Volunteer Cavalry. Capt. Barrow was put
in command. He made Lt. Grant of the 3rd M. E, Regiment his
adjutant, and gave Lt. Swanston the Quarter Mastership. We
got about 18 men to join us, amongst whom were Ensigns Bran-
der, 37th B. N. I. Ramsay, Stuart and Hare, 17th B.N. I. Pearson,
27th N. I., W T oodgate, 11th N. I. and Cornet Fergusson of the 8th
B. L. C. All honor and praise to these boys, who were the first to
offer their services to the Government they served. Many of
them had never even joined their own corps, and none of them
had been more than eighteen months in the service. We had also

19

some eight young men, who had been engaged on the railways,
but had of course been now thrown out of employ. Altogether
we mustered, I think, eighteen, when we left Allahabad with
General Havelock’s force on the 7th of July 1857.

Nothing occurred till the 12th. The whole road was deserted,
the villages empty and all in ruins, and every here and there bodies
were seen hanging from the branches of trees. These had been
executions carried out by Itenaud’s force. On the night of the
11th we made a forced march, and came up with Itenaud’s force
at about 4 a. m. on the 12th. We then marched on some five miles
to a place called Belinda, about four miles from Futtehpore, where
we intended to encamp, and had commenced pitching our tents,
when we were ordered with the Irregular Cavalry to move on
towards Futtehpore to reconnoitre, as the General had been in-
formed that some of the mutineers had possession of it, and in-
tended disputing the advance (as they thought) only of Itenaud’s
force ; so off we went, and were followed by a company of the
Madras Fusiliers with their Enfield rifles. We got within about
a mile of Futtehpore, when we saw the enemy collected just
outside. So we were told to halt, and Capt. Barrow and
the Quarter-Master General rode on ahead to within about
a quarter of a mile of where the enemy were. At first they were
not perceived ; but when they were, bugles sounded, drums beat,
and out came a cloud of Cavalry after them ; so they gallop-
ed back to where we were. We waited for the enemy, but they
took good care not to come too close. As we were too few to
fight, and had only come to see what was going on, we got the
order threes about, and fortunate it was so, for we had not got
half a mile off when down came the artillery and opened on us.
This was my first experience in real warfare — the first time I
had heard balls flying in earnest ; and, I must say, I did not like
it, though outwardly, I dare say, I looked brave enough, and called
to our gallant Volunteers to be steady, (as they were all young
at it like myself). I then thought I should never get accus-
tomed to the whiz of a bullet, or the sing a cannon ball ; but
c 2

20

1 have learned that art, and can now hear them all about mo,
and not even wink an eye. We retired gracefully, the rebels
trying to bit us, but not succeeding; the Cavalry in crowds (or
clouds, I believe, is the proper word,) trying to get round us,
and cut us off from our people : so we pulled up, and the rifles
commenced a little practise on them. They evidently thought
they were well out of range, and so they were of old Brown
Bess ; but when they saw two or three of their saddles emptied at
nine hundred yards, they turned and never came within range
again : and ever since, as they have improved their acquaintance
with the Enfield, they have increased their distance, till now they
seldom come within 1200 or 1500 yards.

When the enemy’s guns first opened on us, those “ faithful
gallant Irregulars,” the black chivalry of India, tried to bolt, but
were stopped by Barrow. I have now seen these men fighting
both for and against us, and, on all occasions, I have seen them
behave in the most cowardly way one could imagine. I always had
an idea that the irregular Cavalry would do any thing, but I now
disbelieve it. No doubt they will gallop after men who have been
beaten, and are running away like sheep ; but in a charge to break
the enemy I believe they are useless. At last we got safe back
to our camp, and General Havelock turned out the force to meet
the enemy. We had altogether about 1,400 Europeans, and 550
natives, 8 six-pounder guns, with 2 twelve-pounder howitzers.
These were in the centre, with Infantry on each side, and on the
leftflankthe Volunteer, and on the right the Irregular, Cavalry : the
enemy had between four and five thousand. Our guns opened
and so astonished the enemy, that they soon turned ; and we then
advanced, took twelve of their guns, among them 1 twenty-four
pounder, and 1 twenty-four pound howitzer, and drove them
through Futtehpore. Our fire was very good, and to a new hand
like myself seemed splendid. General Havelock in his de-
spatch said Capt. Maud’s firing perfectly electrified the enemy.
After driving the enemy through Futtehpore, we encamped on
the other side, and the town was given up to loot and after-
wards nearly destroyed. Thus ended my first battle.

21

On the 14th we marched about twelve miles ; and on the
15tli, at Aong, a small village about four miles on, we met
the enemy again. Here they had entrenched themselves, and
stood for some little time ; but we soon drove them out, taking
two guns. We had a few killed ; and amongst the number
of the wounded was Bt. Major Renaud, who was hit in the
thigh : his leg was amputated, and he eventually died. After we
drove them out of this, we advanced about four miles further,
and again met the rebels at a bridge over a small river called
Pundu. They had two large guns here (which we took) in
position, but our gallant 1st M. F., with their rifles, ad-
vanced in skirmishing order, and regularly silenced their fire
with the rifles. Here we encamped for the day. We were now
within fifteen miles of Cawnpore, and all anxious to go on and
save our unfortunate fellow countrywomen there. We little knew
what was then taking place ! Next morning we advanced about
eight miles, and then halted under a tope of trees, where we
remained till the men had got their breakfasts ; and then on we
went about a mile, when we made a flank movement to the rio'ht.
so as to come round the enemy, who had, we heard, a number of
guns in position to keep us from advancing along the road. As
we advanced to the right we came under fire of their guns, which,
however, they did not seem able to move ; so as each Regiment
passed, they received a round shot or shrapnel among them :
at last we all passed this, and got right round the enemy’s position.
They had managed by this time to turn their guns upon us,
so we had a little game at long bowls, in which the rebels de-
light so much ; but soon we got the order for the general
advance. It is impossible for any one to give an account of what
has happened to every Regiment in any engagement ; but it is
much more impossible to give a description of the battle of Cawn-
pore, opposed as we were, a small band of about 1,500, to as many
thousands. Every Regiment had its hands full. The enemy had
taken up several different positions, so that as fast as two guns
were taken from them, we found two more open on us from ano-

22

ther direction. The first guns I saw taken, were two which wore
opposed to H. M/s 78th Highlanders ; and the splendid way in
which this Regiment rushed up under a heavy fire of grape, and
took these guns was the admiration of all. This rush was headed
by Lieut. Moorsom of H. M/s 52nd, who was in the Q. M.
General’s Department of the force. I do not mean to say that he
led the Regiment, for it was led (as it always is) by its own offi-
cers ; but the cool way in which Moorsom cantered up, waving his
wide-awake, must have astonished the natives. Two other guns
were taken about the same time in another direction by the 64th.
As all these guns were taken, they were spiked : for we could not
take them on with us, till our work was done. The consequence
was, that the rebels, who regularly swarmed all round us, retook
two guns, and were unspiking them, when the Seikhs were sent to
retake them ; which they did in their usual gallant style. It is im-
possible to mention every thing that each Regiment did on that
day ; but all was well and gallantly done. The Volunteer Cavalry
were too few to do much ; so they were kept to support a company
of the Madras Fusiliers, who were on the right of all skirmishing.
While thus employed, the Deputy A. A. Genl. Capt. Beatson
rode up, and asked Capt. Barrow “ what he was doing ?”
adding, “ There are the enemy.” Of course there was nothing
for it then but to go at them. There they were, certainly,
in thousands, Infantry and Cavalry ; and here were we, eighteen
in number. But as at Balaklava, the order was given, and
Englishmen knew their duty, and charge they did, right into
the thick of the rebels. But what could eighteen sabres do
among so many ? What could be done, was done ; and then the
little band had to pull up, to find their loss to be one killed, one
wounded, two horses shot dead, and two wounded. How we
escaped so well, God knows. The bullets rained upon us : but He
who had been with us all along was with us still. We pulled up,
as we could not, so few of us, pursue too far from our Infantry.
When they came up, each Regiment as it came cheered the little
band ; and our brave old General, riding to our front, said, “ Gen-

9 9

KJ

tlemen Volunteers! you have done well. I am proud to command
you.” We all pulled up here, (on the Delhi road) thinking the
day was ours, when we suddenly found guns opening upon us
again in another direction. These had to he taken at the point of
the bayonet ; our own gun-bullocks being regularly knocked up
with the long march and hard work of the day : and so it went

on till dark, when we could see no longer. We bivouacked as
we stood. All our baggage, food, and every thing of that sort,
were five miles behind. We had nothing to eat, and a very little
dirty water to drink ; but we were all so tired, that we were glad
to lie down as we were, and sleep with our horses 5 bridles in our
hands. We took in this engagement twelve guns of sizes. I
was roused up during the night by my syce, who had found me
out, and, having a little flour with him, had mixed it with some
water, making a sort of paste, which he could not cook for want
of fire : this the poor fellow offered me, but I could not, hungry
as I was, eat it.

Next morning at daybreak we were all on the alert to find
where the enemy were, but none were to be seen. The rumbling
of cart and gun- wheels had been heard by the pickets all night.
The truth Was our enemy had bolted, and left Cawnpore.
About 7h v. ii. a tremendous explosion took place, which turned
out to be the magazine, which they had blown up. A small party
under the Q,. M. General was sent in to reconnoitre. They found
the place deserted by the rebels ; so, after getting up our baggage,
we marched into Cawnpore, and encamped on the maidau in
front of the Cavalry stables, and not far from the spot where
poor Wheeler’s force had made their stand.

How intently the thoughts of every one of us were bent on
the pleasure of releasing our poor fellow-countrywomen, whom
we knew to be in the hands of those wretches, can be more easi-
ly .imagined than expressed, — and how deep and bitter was the
curse hissed through the lips of many a hero that day ! Had
those cowardly brutes heard the oaths of vengeance sworn, they
would have turned white with fear : and, oh, when we came

to see the place where our poor sisters and their little child-
ren had been barbarously murdered, the very blood in our hearts
turned cold, and then again boiled up with thoughts of vengeance.
I have often thought whether we are right to think of
revenge ; for we are taught, “ Vengeance is mine, I will repay,
saith the Lord and then I have eased my conscience bv
thinking that I was an instrument in His hands. If I am wroiiir
may God forgive me; but it is hard to think of what our un-
offending women and children suffered, and not have feelings of
revenge rise in one’s heart. “ Mercy, mercy,” cries the Sepoy,
when, seeing death certain, he throws away his musket, and
pleads with clasped hands. Cawnpore ! is hissed at him, as the
sword goes through his vitals. And is it a wonder ? Who could
look upon that little enclosed yard, reeking in blood as if 100
bullocks had been killed there — see the long tresses of some once
fair lady’s hair lying in handfuls — and above all the small mark
of the little children’s feet, printed with their mothers’ blood on
the floor — and then look down that well upon the naked bodies
of our poor countrywomen, evidently only rendered lifeless the
day before, and not feel that he would never forget it ? No !
never shall a Sepoy receive his life at my hands ; and had I
the power I would never forgive a mutineer. If it took fifty
years, I would hang every Sepoy that was caught. I would
make India feel that England would never forgive such insults
and such barbarity, as have been heaped upon her daughters.

On the 18th, General Havelock made over forty Infantry men
to Barrow for his Cavalry, and ordered us to take all the horses’
saddles and arms of the Irregular Cavalry, who had behaved so
badly, to fit our men out with ; which we did, and next day we
were sent, thus fitted out, to Bithoor with a small force to take
the place. It was the head quarters of the villain Nana. We
went there, and found it deserted. We took twenty guns,
a number of camels, elephants, stores, &c. &c. and returned ; and
from that day, till we re-crossed the Ganges after our first advance
on Lucknow, our men never had a day’s rest, riding generally for

25

we had picked up a few hunting saddles) in native saddles with
native swords as arms, dressed in any clothes they had. They cer-
tainly were a funny looking set of Cavalry; hut the way they did
their duty was the admiration of the whole force. Sixty Cavalry
were about a proportionate number to the 900 Infantry ; and, with
these we used to go upon long reconnoitering expeditions of
twenty miles and more, and the cowardly enemy were afraid to
come near us. How easily they might have cut us off, we all felt ;
but God was with us, was fighting for us ; and the cries of murder-
ed women and children at Cawnpore were still fresh in His ears.
Besides the continual duties of reconnoitering aud pickets, the
Volunteer Cavalry were constantly called upon to furnish parties
for escort duties of all sorts, aud now and then to assist the
Commissariat Department in procuring bullocks for slaughter.
Whenever such a party was required, the order would come for a
Serjeant or Corporal, aud party from the Volunteer Cavalry imme-
diately : so the party was mounted and off ; and it used to afford
us much amusement at first, before we were well known, to see
the faces of the officers to whom we had to report ourselves on
these occasions — how puzzled they used to appear, when they saw
a gentlemanly looking man come up and report himself as
Serjeant so and so, with party of Cavalry. I remember one occa-
sion especially, when Capt. Thompson (an officer of seventeen
years’ service, who had commanded the 1st Oudh Irregular Infan-
try), who was a Serjeant in the Volunteer Cavalry, had to report
himself to some young subaltern commanding the Infantry of
the party going out — the perplexed look of the young fellow, feel-
ing convinced that Thompson was a gentleman, and not knowing
how to address him : but that wore off, and we were soon known .

On the 22nd we commenced to cross the Ganges in order to
relieve Lucknow ; the river was running strong, boats were few,
and we were in the middle of the rains : it consequently took
some time crossing the force over, and those who went first were
for some days encamped in a low swampy plain, where cholera
soon broke out, and many a brave man laid his bones there. At

D

last all were crossed over, and on the 27th we advanced about five
miles to the village of Mungawarrah, situated on the crest of a
rise, and commanding the country for some distance in both
directions. Here we remained on the 28th, on which day, we, the
Volunteer Cavalry, were sent to reconnoitre as far as Busseerut-
gunge, where the enemy were said to have two guns in position,
which we were to have taken — if we could, — of course. Busseerut-
gunge is about fourteen miles from Mungawarrah, a small forti-
fied place. On the road we passed through the large village of
Onao, once the head quarters of the Poorwah District in Oudh,
where we were received kindly by the villagers, who gave us milk
to drink, and lights for our pipes, for which no doubt they suffer-
ed afterwards from the rebels. When we got to Busseerutgunge
we found the place strongly fortified and guns in position sweep-
ing the road; and noticing the enemy’s Cavalry galloping in
swarms round our flanks to try and cut us off, we thought it
wisest to retire, which we did, and arrived all right at our own
camp. Next morning, 29th, the force moved in advance. Before
we had proceeded two miles, the Volunteer Cavalry as usual lead-
ing, we found the enemy in force ahead of us. They had taken
possession of the village of Onao, and defended it, as they always
do walled places, with determination. Here Lieut. Bogle of the
78th Highlanders received the Victoria Cross. The fire was very
severe, and we were detained for some time before we could clear
out the village ; and only succeeded by burning it over our enemy,
who at last left. Lieut. Seton, Madras Fusiliers, Aide-de-camp to
General Havelock, was here wounded, and Lieut. Richardson of
the same Regiment killed : here also Lieut. Brown, Adjutant of
H. M.’s 84th was wounded, and while having his first wound
dressed, received two others, from which I am happy to say he
has since recovered. We got through the village, at least the head
of the column did, the Volunteer Cavalry this time behind — when
“ bang, bang” we beard milling again, and “ Volunteer Cavalry to
the front” was passed from mouth to mouth ; and they were not
long in getting there, you may be sure, notwithstanding one

27

man had a hole shot through his helmet. When we got up, we
found our men deploying in a tope of trees, and the enemy in
thousands deployed just ahead of us, and pouring in grape and
cannister, which came crashing through the trees most unplea-
santly, I can assure you. Our guns soon opened, the enemy’s gra-
dually ceased ; and then there was a general advance, with constant
cries for Volunteer Cavalry to go and secure two guns here and
two there, till we had taken twenty of their guns, and sent them
%ing as usual before us. We halted here for two or three hours
in the hot sun, each man receiving his tot of rum, and a biscuit :
when that was done, the Volunteer Cavalry again were sent on to
see where the enemy were. We soon found them in position in
Busseerutgunge about five miles off : so back we came, when the
whole force advanced for another mile. I was sent out with a
few men on the right flank to see what was doing there, and we
actually got right behind our foes, and saw in the distance, over
their heads, (for they were lying down under mounds of earth, or
wherever they could, to get protection) the glitter from the
bayonets of our jolly Infantry — the stand-by after all of our
glorious army : so we thought it advisable to go back and re-
port, and, by the time we did so, we found the engagement had
commenced, and a vei-y pretty game at long bowls going on,
which soon ended as usual in the general advance, the retreat
of our cowardly foes, and the capture of the village with two
guns. We went through the village, and encamped for the
night ; and next day for a change ble.w a couple of men away
from guns, and hanged a third. I think we must have had in this
engagement some 25 or 30,000 opposed to our 1200, of
whom about 900 were Europeans. When God is with us, who
shall be against us ?

We remained where we were on the 30th; and on the
31st were ordered to march : but what was our surprise when
instead of turning to the right we turned to the left, which
took us back again to where we had started from ! We re-
tired to Mungawarrah, and encamped again. During the week
n 2

28

all our sick and wounded were sent over to Cawnpore ; and
on the 4th, the Volunteer Cavalry were sent on to reconnoitre
again, and returned having found the rebels as before at
Busseerutgunge. They were ordered to halt on the road ; and the
whole force at a moment’s notice ordered to strike their tents
and march away. When we were all formed upon the road, the
General had a letter from the Governor General, thanking us for
what we had done. This he read out to us, and then said “ Men,
yesterday two guns and a small re-iuforcement joined us, and I
told them to go from the right down to the left of the line, and
in every man they would see a hero. You have heard what the
Governor General and Commander-in-Chief have said. I shall
have to write to His Excellency again to-morrow : and it depends
upon you what I write. To-morrow we meet the rebels again in the
field.” The order was then given to advance ; we marched through
Onao and encamped for the night. Food and grog for next day were
issued, and we lay down where we could, knowing that we were
on the eve of another fight, and hoping that we were really en
route to Lucknow. Long before day-light we were all formed up ;
and just as it broke we advanced.

When the Volunteer Cavalry, leading as usual, got close
up to Busseerutgunge, the enemy, who were in thousands,
opened out with blank ammunition from two small guns they
had in position, and commenced yelling and making a tre-
mendous noise, — to frighten us, I suppose. We remained where
we were, and the line was formed behind us. On the road were
two very ominous looking things in the shape of two twenty-four
pounders. Our guns opened ; after the first two shots from the
24s, there was dead silence among the enemy. After a couple
more, the lines advanced ; but the rebels had as usual bolted.
While a working party was levelling a wall the enemy had built
across the road, we amused ourselves by watching the effects of
some shots from the 24s at a lot of the enemy on our left : among
whom was a grandee on an elephant, which latter animal;
finding the shot rather too close to be pleasant, bolted off as

29

hard as he could, whether with or against his master’s will I
know not. We advanced through the village ; and here for the
first time I saw bodies lying mangled by shot and shell. I
shall never forget my feelings, sickness of heart and stomach
too, so much so that I almost vomited : but how soon one gets
used to these sights ! — when we returned through the village,
I could look at them without a shudder. We advanced through
the village, had a little more play at long bowls, took two
guns, and then pulled up to breakfast or tiffin, whichever you
like. As we lay on the grass in the hot sun (well I remember
it, as I had a most splitting headache) we were as usual talking
over advance or no advance. All elated as we were, we would one
and all have gladly pushed on : but our gallant old leader thought
differently, and we were ordered to retrace our steps. How we
all abused him, and what grumbling there was then ! But now
we have learned to appreciate his generalship, and to feel how
judiciously he acted.

The Volunteer Cavalry in the retreat of course had again the
post of honor, viz. behind all : so we had to keep up all the strag-
glers, and see that none of the baggage fell to the rear. When we
got about two miles from Busseerutgunge, we came up with an
elephant that had thrown its load, consisting of the men’s kit,
which is generally tied up in small long bundles — an elephant
carrying some forty or fifty of them. We pulled up and assisted
in reloading the beast, and then set off with it ; but we had
not gone half a mile, when the brute threw its load again. The
way he managed it, was this ; — he stood still and lifted two legs
on one side off the ground, then the two on the other side, and so
on, giving himself the motion of a ship rolling on the sea, till at
last the ropes, which tied the bundles on his back, became loose, and
the whole thing came to the ground. Well, this was too much of
a good thing : we saw if we went on loading in this way, we
should never get on ; so we each seized a bundle, and putting it
in front of us, rode on, leaving a small party to bring the ele-
phant on : and so we arrived— a sort of land transport corps— at

30

our old encampment of Mangawarrah, where we found our pots
steaming with grub. Thus ended our second advance and retreat.

How these retrograde movements affected me, I cannot, I am
afraid, clearly explain. I always felt a sinking at heart, an utter
despondency, not at all pleasant, and at the same time a mixture
of anger and rage, at being obliged to turn my back on such cow-
ards as we had to deal with. I know when we were obliged to

o

leave Salone, I could not have spoken to have saved my life. It
was not fear. I, never during those times had any other feeling
than that we should all get safe out of it; and still I felt so en-
raged and disgusted at being obliged to Hy from our post, that I
could really have cried.

On the 9th, a mysterious order came round to send all sick
and wounded men over to Cawnpore, and also all spare bag-
gage, tents and horses; so all was sent, and as it was gener-
ally supposed that we were all to recross the Ganges next
day, I was ordered to go and take charge of the horses and
baggage, and prepare for the reception of the Regiment. On
the morning of the 10th, I went and remained there till the
evening of the 11th, expecting the force; when I suddenly
heard that it had again advanced towards Busseerutgunge. It
was too late for me to follow them very well, and I could not
find out what was intended. The officer commanding Cawnpore,
General Neill, was perfectly in the dark, and advised me to
remain where I was. I felt very much inclined to go, for
although I thought it hardly possible, still I imagined they
might be going on to Lucknow, and I would not have missed
that for any thing ; but it was fortunate I did not go, for if I
had I should have had a long ride of twenty miles to catch
them up, perhaps when the engagement was over, and then to
ride back all the way with them again.

The third advance on Busseerutgunge was much the same as the
2nd, and the fight the same as usual, except that the enemy had
thrown up a small field-work about two miles on the river-side of
Busseerutgunge, from which they poured into us a heavy fire of

31

grape and cannister. The Volunteer Cavalry appear to have had
the full benefit of this ; though as usual no one was hit, except
Young Fergusson, scratched by a piece of a shell. So hot was
this fire, and so well directed did it appear to the rest of the force,
that, when the affair was over, several men rode up to us, to see
who had been knocked over, or rather who had escaped. In this
engagement we had 600 Europeans aud some 200 Seikhs — no
large force to do what they did, viz. lick some 10 or 15,000, and
take two guns. Our force returned after the fight to Mungawar-
rah ; and then next day with the assistance of the steamer the
whole of them crossed to the Cawnpore side of the river, and were
housed in the few houses that remained unburned.

Thus ended our first advance across the Ganges to the relief of
our fellowcountrymen in Lucknow. How sick at heart we all felt
I leave you to imagine, as we knew reinforcements could not reach
us under a month, if so soon ; and we were under the impression
that the garrison at Lucknow were then on half rations, and could
not hold out so long. But what could we do ? we left Allahabad
1500 strong, and had received perhaps 400 men more since we
left: and we were now reduced to 600 European fighting-men of
all arms, fit for duty, or rather who could be spared for duty
across the river. As Cawnpore had to be held, we felt it was hope-
less to attempt it, in face of the countless hordes we had to meet.
Although we were unable to proceed to Lucknow, there is no
doubt that we relieved the little garrison very considerably, by
drawing a great part of the besieging force away from Lucknow
to meet us in the field ; and, even when we re-crossed the Ganges
to Cawnpore, they were obliged to keep a considerable force
to watch us : so that, as we afterwards heard when we got to
Lucknow, we had actually relieved them in a great measure : and,
although it must have been very heart-sickening for them to hear
of our retreat, still they knew that friends were near them, and
that we should advance again directly we were in a position to do so.

On the 15th August, in the evening, we received an order to
be leady to march at four next morning: so we were all im-

32

mediately on the qui-vive ; and at the time appointed we took
onr post where ordered, and found the whole foree ready to
march, consisting ot about 1400 men and fourteen guns, two
ol which were 24s — a larger battery than we had ever had in
the field. AVe soon found our destination was Bithoor, where
the rebels had again taken up a position • and, as it was rather
too close to Cawnpore, oitr gallant old leader determined to
drive them out. In this he certainly appeared to know the
rebel well. Never let him rest. If you have any force to move
with, follow him up ; otherwise he immediately fancies you are
afraid, and either attacks you in countless numbers, or sets to
work with labour to any amount at his disposal, and strengthens
himself in some position. He is like a jackall : if you leave him
alone, he goes sneaking about, doing all the damage he can : but
just gallop after him, making as much noise as you can, and you
soon run him down. It was a beautiful day : the country all
round was looking nice and green, and it was pleasantly cool
with a fresh breeze blowing. As we rode along the hard well
made and well known road, we discussed the probability of the
rebels making a stand at a bridge about half way, which from its
position offered every facility for a good defence : but on, on, we
went, our advanced guard and flankers still going quietly on, till
we sighted the bridge, came up to it, and passed over it. No ! no
enemy : they had neglected, as they often did, one of then- best
chances : but they have done this so often, that one canuot help
feeling that our God has blinded their understanding. AA r hen we
arrived within about a mile of Bithoor, our advanced men gave
signs of the enemy at baud, and soon we saw their Cavalry arriv-
ing in hundreds on our left flank. AVhen they had pulled up
well out of rifle-shot, and had collected together a little, bang bang
went a couple of doses of shrapnel into them, and then it was
‘ the de’il take the hindermost.’ Just then a number of them came
straight out of Bithoor down the road, as if they were going to
indulge in a charge : but seeing the blue topees of the dreaded
rifles, they too turned tail and bolted. Our line was formed, and

33

on we went. Tytler and Moorsoom, H. M.’s 52nd, rode on in
advance to try and find out where the guns were; which they
soon enough did, as the rebels opened on them with round shot.
This being all they wanted, they returned, and the enemy found
out that .sniping at single horse- men with nine-pounders is not
so easy as it looks. Steadily our line advanced, till we got well
within range, when our guns opened, and after a short time we
saw the Highlanders tumbling in through the embrasures of a
little work the rebels had raised to their left. Two guns were
taken. On the extreme of our right, the gallant blue bonnets
(1st Madras Fusiliers) got right amongst the enemy with their
bayonets, and bayonetted a number of them — the first time we
had that pleasure : but they could not follow up their advan-
tage. They were exhausted with the twelve miles’ march, and
the fight after it. Had the Volunteer Cavalry been with them,
they might have done something ; but they were on the extreme
left, watching the Cavalry. The enemy here gave us more trou-
ble than they had ever done before. They had a very strong posi-
tion, and the fields being at this season high with sugar-cane
and grain of different sorts, they found good shelter there, and
made use of it accordingly ; for a native certainly does know how
to figdit behind cover. But this as usual ended in our driving:
the enemy out of their position, and taking their guns. We then
advanced through the village, and halted in different topes on the
other side.

The Volunteer Cavalry, having thrown out videttes, lay down
to await the arrival of their mess-kit ; which had left Cawnpore,
through some blunder, three or four hours after the force. Sud-
denly “ bang” went the vidette’s piece. Two or three of us were
soon in our saddles ; and there, to our surprise, we saw a native
officer and a Havildar of Cavalry in full uniform, looking at us
within a hundred yards of us ! They looked just as much as-
tonished as we did, but soon got over it, when they saw the rush
made at them : but being on better and fresher horses than we
were, they soon distanced us, and so, giving them a parting shot,
n

0

34

we returned. What they had come up so close for I know not,
unless they really did not know we were there, as we were quite
hidden in the tope ; or perhaps it may have been the Quarter
Master General of the rebel army come to reconnoitre our posi-
tion : however, we never saw any thing- more of him.

W e waited, and waited patiently, or perhaps not very patiently,
for our mess servants to come up, to get some of our rations
cooked ; hut none came : so we had to do the best we could on
biscuit and steaks fried on the embers, and our tots of rum.
Hunger is the best sauce, says an old adage ; and we certainly did
justice to the victuals. A twelve-mile march, with a fight after-
wards, does not decrease one’s appetite. We remained at Bithoor
that night, and returned next morning to Cawnpore. About two
miles out of Bithoor, the non-appearance of our mess-kit was fully
accounted for, by the remains of broken boxes, plates, &c. &c.,
which we recognized, and also the dead bodies of two or three of
our mess servants. Poor fellows, they had started late, and had
been cut off by the enemy’s Cavalry. We arrived in Cawnpore
late in the afternoon, and took up our quarters in the houses
ao-ain, where we remained two or three days ; and then were
ordered to encamp on the plain in front of Wheeler’s entrench-
ment. For the first day or two all went on well enough ; but then
it came on to rain, and we soon found ourselves in a regular
swamp. Nothing would keep the water out of our tents. It
seemed to soak up from the ground: and the only thing we
could do was to put all our things on the chairs, or tables,
and ourselves lie on our beds. This state of things could not
last long : cholera broke out, and the men, weakened by exposure
and hard work, gave in one by one and died. We were then
ordered to leave our tents standing, and take possession of
some sheds there, which fortunately sufficed for the whole force.
But it was too late. Cholera had got among us; and cer-
tainly and quickly it did its work. We, the Volunteer Caval-
ry. lost ten— six of whom died in twenty-four hours ; many
more had slight attacks and recovered. Those whom death

35

had marked as kis own, were taken , and then gradually the dire
disease left us. We then set up foot-games, and races of different
sorts to keep up the men’s sprits, and turn their thoughts from
the late melancholy events. We of the Volunteer Cavalry set to
work to clothe ourselves and the men in something like uniform,
and also to get them proper saddles and arms ; and by the time
General Outram arrived with reinforcements, on the 17th Sep-
tember, (I think it was,) we did look a little respectable, and
could move about somewhat in order, and, when we charged,
looked rather formidable to the rebels.

On the 17th September, General Outram arrived with the 90th
and 5th, some heavy artillery, and some sixty (supposed to be
staunch) Cavalry (Native) of the 12th Irregulars under Lieut.
Johnson of the Bombay Army. On the 19th, we crossed
the river over the bridge of boats, which had been built, under
great difficulties, by Captain Crommelin, Bengal Engineers ;
and, driving the advanced guard of the enemy before us, we en-
camped behind a ridge of sand, which runs along the banks
of the river about half a mile off it. On the 20th, the Volunteer
Cavalry were sent to reconnoitre : and that evening the order
of march was issued for next day. At day-break on the 21st,
the whole force was in readiness, and formed up : after ad-
vancing about a mile, we deployed in order of battle, and
marched on to the enemy’s position. The balls began to fly
about as usual ; but our line steadily advanced. H. M.’s 5th, on
the left, advancing in skirmishing order, soon drove the enemy
right back. On we pressed, when down came an Aide-de-camp
with “ Volunteer Cavalry will advance.” Off we went, and soon
came up with General Outram, who, riding stick in hand, headed
us. Bound we went to the right and took the rebels in rear, and
then commenced the cutting up in good earnest. The pouring-
rain soon drenched us ; but as it also did the same to the muskets
and matchlocks of the enemy, rendering them useless, we were ra-
ther thankful for it. Down, down went the wretches. “ Cawnpore,
my lads, remember Cawnpore,” was the battle-cry : and woe to the

E 2

30

black skin that came under our swords. At least 250 must have
been cut up. Our gallant leader, General Outram, not deigning to
draw his sword, kept hitting the enemy as he came up to them
with his stick, leaving it to those behind him to kill : — and you
may be sure they spared no one. Two of the young officers, who had
been doing duty with the 6th Native Infantry at Allahabad, and
had escaped the massacre, recognized the drill Naik of that Regi-
ment. One of them called him by name. He immediately threw
down his musket, turned round with clasped hands, and crying for
mercy, said, “ Yes, sir \” The only reply he got was two swords
through him. Our Serjeant Major Mahony, of the 1st Madras
Fusiliers, got badly wounded in taking the Regimental colours of
the 1st Bengal Native Infantry from the hands of two men who
were defending it. For this he was named for the Victoria Cross ;
but I am sorry to say hehas notlived to receive it: he died of cholera
in October at Alum Bagh. We took the whole of the camp of one
Regiment, the 1st Bengal Native Infantry, all their drums and
pots, &c.; but, being unable to carry them off, we destroyed as much
as we could, and then, dashing on again, came up with the enemy in
full retreat. We succeeded in taking two large guns, and numbers
of camels and carts. There were several elephants ; but we could
not succeed in getting any along with us, the drivers having either
bolted or been shot down for refusing to bring the beasts on. As
we were riding along, we came up with a man walking quietly
along the road, covered with a blanket. One of the officers was
going to kill him, ■when General Outram said, “ Oh, do not; he is
only a villager so the officer pulled the blanket off the man, and
exposed a full blown sepoy, musket belts, and all, of the Oudh
Police. You may be sure he did not escape to tell the tale. As
I said, we got two guns, limbers aiulall, and having yoked bullocks
to them, off we started back to our force, where you may be sure
we were hailed with delight. We met them at Onao, and having
halted there for half an hour, got our tots, and some roasted
Indian corn, and off we went again, feeling as jolly as possible. V e
advanced on to, and right through, our ultima Ihule of the foimei

37

advance, Busseerutgunge, and encamped in and about it for the
night. Next morning we marched again, having to pass through
the dreaded Nawabganj, which on the former occasion had always
been held up to us as something very dreadful. However this time
we passed through it quite safely — not a soul being seen in the vil-
lage. On on we went towards Bunnee, wondering whether we
should find the bridge broken and the enemy there. At last the
bridge came in sight, and on either side what looked very like em-
brazures; but no guns belched forth on us. On we went, crossed
the bridge, entered the village, passed through the village, no one !
Our advanced men suddenly made signs of enemy ; so up we gal-
loped, and saw a number of Sepoys bolting out of a house. They
were too quick for us, and we only killed a few of them : but we
succeeded in taking all their kits, among which I found the leave
chit of a Sepoy of the 22nd Bengal Native Infantry. Two Com-
missions of Bombay Native officers were also found there.
What a day this was — pouring with rain in torrents, so that often
we could not see 50 yards ahead of us. Most fortunately a kind
friend at Calcutta had sent me a water-proof coat, which kept me
dry — no small thing on these occasions, as you are often unable
to get a change, and have, as we had this time, to sleep in the
clothes we had on. Such a night too — no tents and no cover of
any sort, the rain pouring in torrents. You may fancy how
jolly we were.

You, who are comfortable in your homes, and read of the
gallant deeds of the army little know what the poor soldier
has to go through. To him, we officers owe all the honors
we get : but how little this is thought of when, at a well

spread board, healths are proposed and speeches made, and
General This and Captain That are praised to the sky for
gallant deeds : yet it is the poor Private, through whom all
this has been done. We forget our Privates too much on
these occasions; and, with some few, but glorious excep-
tions, are too prone to take all the credit, as if we had done
it all ourselves. At dark that evening we fired a salute of

38

~1 £ uns from the 24-pounders to give notice to our friends in
Lucknow that we were coming, and during the night several
fancied they heard a return salute : but this turned out to he a
mistake, as the garrison in Lucknow had not heard our guns.
Well do I remember that evening, when, looking in the direction
of Lucknow, we heard the fire of guns every now and then. How
anxiously we talked over the meeting with well known faces, the
joy we should be received with, and the certainty that there were
some still left, as proved by the firing we heard. It was indeed a
time of anxious pleasure, after so many trials to be at last within
fourteen miles of our gallant fellow countrymen — a most plea-
surable feeling, mixed though it was with a tinge of grief, know-
ing as we did that many must have been cut off during the time
they had been shut up. Next morning the 23rd, we had breakfast
in the open air (the rain having cleared off), and marched about
9 o’clock. Wlien we had got about five miles I was sent back with
half the Europeans and half the Native Cavalry to protect the
baggage, as the enemy’s sowars were seen hovering about our
flanks. This was rather unfortunate for me ; for a soldier always
wishes to be to the front. However, back I went, and pulled up
under a tope of trees about half way down the line of baggage,
which extended, I should think, two miles along the road ; and,
having thrown out my videttes, we dismounted to smoke. We had
not been long seated, when up came a couple of men with baskets of
cakes of all sorts, fresh from Cawnpore. I at once seized on them
all, and gave them to the men, as I think a soldier on service ought
to eat whenever he can, for he never knows when he may be able to
get his next meal. About the same time up came a man with what
the soldiers call pop (ginger beer), which we likewise bought ; so
we had a very fine tiffin. When the last of the baggage had passed
us, we mounted and rode along the line till we got about half
way to the front, and then we pulled up again ; and so on till we
arrived on our ground. All this time our forces had not been idle.
A battle had been fought, which, as I was not there, I can’t de-
scribe, but which ended as all the others have done, in our taking

39

several guns and licking the rebels out of the field. The fight lasted
till dark, and the firing appeared to us behind very heavy. When
our services could be spared from the baggage, we rode on to the
front ; and the first man we met gave us the glad tidings of the fall
of Delhi, or of that part of it which so commanded the rest of the
city, that no doubt remained as to the speedy completion of that
business. Our usual luck attended us. No one was hurt, though
several had narrow escapes; one man got a graze on the head, another
on the leg, from grape. We got up just at dark : the rain had
commenced again to pour in torrents, and the country, which
was very flat, soon bore the appearance of a wide swamp. Wkere-
ever we turned, the water was up to the ankles. How to pitch tents
and make the men comfortable was the difficulty. First of all I had
to find the tents, which were carried on elephants : but, in a pitch
dark night, among about 150 elephants, it was no easy matter
to find one’s own, especially as every one was howling and scream-
ing as loud as he could. Perseverance at last succeeded;
and I found the beasts, and at length got our men and
ourselves under cover, though the ground inside the tents was
not particulai-ly dry. But that was not the worst part of it. We
could get nothing to eat, and no fires could possibly be lighted :
so we had to content ourselves with dry biscuit and the never-
failing tot of rum. However, we tumbled to sleep, hoping that
to-morrow would see our toils at an end and our brethren
in Lucknow relieved from their troubles. Morning broke — a fine
day : the camp was regularly pitched, and we found we were not
going on that day : so we set to work to get our kits dried, which
were all pretty well soaking. Suddenly about 1 1 o’clock we heard
cries of, “ The Cavalry are wanted immediately to the rear. Tire
enemy are attacking the baggage.” We were not long in getting
into our saddles, and having been joined by the staunch 12th Ir-
regulars, oil we went ; but we were too late. The enemy’s Cavalry
had come down among the baggage, and having at first been mis-
taken for our own Native Cavalry, had got well amongst our men
before the alarm was given. They succeeded in killing some seven

40

or eight of our men and one officer; but they left 17 of their
number dead on the road, and then had to fly. While they were
riding down the line of baggage, they came upon some 19 prisoners
who had been taken, who called out to be released : the sowars
passed the word down to some Infantry, who were supporting
them, and they advanced and succeeded in releasing them. So
much for taking prisoners, and so much for having staunch
Native Cavalry with us, who are constantly getting us into
trouble one way or another. I can safely say I have never
seen them do a single thing yet for our good : they always
appear to me to be looking out for the first opportunity to bolt.
Well, we got up to the scene of action : a company of rifles was
moved forward and two of Olphert’s horse guns, with which we
advanced ; and after giving the enemy some few rounds, which
soon sent them, green standard and all, to the right about, we
returned and had a quiet day of it.

The morning of the 25th September, 1857, at last arrived. Ever
memorable will that day be, for although no great despatch was
written about it, the results of that day’s fighting, though at so
greata cost, may well be looked back to with pride, not only by those
engaged, but by the whole of the British Army : for a handful of
Europeans forced their way through adensely populated city, every
house of which was loop-holed, and filled with an enemy thirsting
for their blood. Had there not been a great end to gain, this deed
might have been put down as one of the most rash ever under-
taken by a General : but knowing as our Generals did the immi-
nent danger our fellow-countrymen and women were in, it was a
deed of which we may well all be proud. Early in the morn-
ing orders were given to send the whole of the sick and wound-
ed, and all baggage and camp-followers, into the Alum Bagh.
This Alum Bagh was a large garden surrounded by a high wall ;
in the middle of the garden stood a large house, and the entrance
to the garden was through a large archway. The force was
told to take nothing with them but their rations in their haver-
sacks, and the commissariat to take two day’s rations. We were all

41

soon formed up; and, about 10 o’clock, the first Brigade, beaded
by General Outram, advanced. The firing from the enemy
commenced at once, and for some time it was kept up with much
spirit. They had guns so placed that they regularly raked our
force while advancing: but, notwithstanding this heavy fire,
our men steadily pushed on, and gradually the enemy’s fire
slackened and receded. The second Brigade also advanced on the
left ; and, as usual, our brave troops carried every thing before
them. We were kept behind to-day in the rear guard — the first
time we were not in the advance. While standing under some
trees waiting for the order to advance, one of the enemy’s round
shot came crashing in amongst us, and struck the bough of a
tree just over the head of one of our men, who was lighting his
pipe. The man never moved ; he did not even cease lighting his
pipe, but turned his head up to see where the ball had struck the
tree : — it was one of the coolest things I have seen. At last the
order was given, " threes right,” “ advance by sections of threes,”
“ walk, march and off we went. Little did any of us think what
we had to go through ; — we were all pretty new to street-fighting.
We went on slowly, and, as we advanced, many a poor fellow
was taken back past us in a dooly, and here and there we
passed the bodies of our own soldiers, as well as of the
enemy, telling too plainly what the fighting had been. We ad-
vanced without any interruption till we arrived at the Char
Bagh, a very large garden surrounded by a high loop-holed
wall, just on the outskirts of the city. As we rode along, our
heads and shoulders appeared just over the wall, giving a very
good mark for the enemy, who were there waiting for us. They
opened upon us ; and, I am sorry to say, one of our young Volun-
teers, by name Erskine, was shot in the side. He was one of three
young fellows, who came all the way from Calcutta to join us.
Poor boy, well did he do his duty ! He died three or four days
before we got out of Lucknow. He leaves a widowed mother in
Calcutta to grieve for him. I hope the Government will do
something to shew that they appreciate the services of her gallant
v

42

boy, who gave bis life for them in their time of greatest need.
We were ordered to dismount and walk, and thus were com-
pletely covered from the fire of the enemy. As we got up to the
bridge over the canal, we came across more and more dead and
wounded. Here was the place where the Madras Fusiliers so gal-
lantly charged and took the enemy’s guns placed in position at the
head of the bridge; and in this charge it was we lost so many
of our officers and men. When we came up, we found a house just
across the bridge occupied by the gallant 7 8th Highlanders. The
remainder of the force had turned down to the right, and pro-
ceeded along the banks of the canal, so as to avoid going right
through the city. The baggage (what little there was,) and doolies
bearing their loads of wounded men, were moving on as fast as
possible : but the road was bad, and some of the ammunition
carts had stuck : so we were told to advance and go past
them ; which we did till we came to some brick kilns, where
we found young Havelock, Deputy Adjutant General, with a
few rifle-men standing on the top of a high mound of broken
bricks and rubbish. Here we were ordered to halt and dis-
mount till the whole of the wounded and baggage had passed
us. The enemy, seeing a number of us standing on this mound,
commenced to fire on us with their rifles, and succeeded in
wounding one of the men. At first we thought it must be our
own men firing on us by mistake, as the whiz of the bullets
sounded very like that of the Enfield : but we soon found out
our mistake. The enemy were round us like a swarm of bees. Gra-
dually all the carts and doolies passed us, and there remained
only one cart behind. It was loaded with round shot, and had
stuck in the road, so that it was impossible to move it.
Every exertion was made, but without avail, and we were losing
men so fast from the fire of the enemy, who seemed to concentrate
their fire ora this unfortunate cart, that we were ordered to leave it.
During all this time the Highlanders had not been idle. Surround-
ed as they were by thousands of the enemy, they had to do their best
to keep down their fire till the whole of the baggage had passed.

43

The rebels, finding they could not dislodge them, sent out fresh
troops and two guns to try and turn them out. Our gallant
Highlanders charged these guns through a withering fire, and
succeeded in spiking them : but in doing this they had three
officers and thirty men placed hors de combat. All the baggage
having passed on, thej r were ordered to follow. They passed us,
while, with a Company of the 90th, we were doing our best to keep
the rebels back from the kilns. At this time a troop of ours was
ordered back, (why, no one can tell: as Cavalry in a narrow road with
the enemy lining the hedges is not of much use) . But back we
went, and there we lost two men shot dead and Lieutenant Lynch
wounded severely. I was standing looking down the road by one
of the kilns, when bang went a musket out of a house on my right,
and whiz came a bullet right across my throat, and killed a man
standing on my left. I had a narrow escape : — as it was, the skin
of my throat was only slightly cut. All having passed, we were
now ordered to move on. We had no sooner turned our backs on
the enemy, than they swarmed round us like ants : every house
and hedge belched forth its deadly fire. On, on we went,
passing dead bodies of horses and men, and the guns, which,
had been taken, spiked and left behind. At last we got into the
broad street leading up to the Tara Ivotee (Observatory) where
the Deputy Commissioner’s Kacheri used to be held. As we went
along, no one knowing whether we were taking the right road or
not (we had not, as it turned out, though it led us to the advance
part of our force), we were every where met on all sides by such
a fire as I hope I may never see again. How many men were
knocked over I cannot say : but I know that nearly every one of
our horses carried two men that day : for as a man was wounded
he was immediatly put up behind one of us. Many of these poor
fellows were again hit and knocked off the hoi’ses. On, on we
went, the Infantry officers gallantly leading their men, rushing
first at one house and then at another, and oh ! how many a poor
fellow was killed— hit in the back. The 78th, who, when they
had passed us at the brick kilns had pulled up for us again, lost
f 2

on this day, I believe, 120 or 130 men. At last we got
to the corner of the Tara Kotee compound, just opposite
a large gateway leading into the Kaisarbagh or Chief
Palace of the Royal family ot Oudh ; and here we had to
pass so close to the houses, that the enemy, who were in
hundreds on the tops, actually flung stones down on our heads
and spat on us, as we passed. One of our young fellows was
knocked down and badly hurt by a stone thus thrown at him .
Just as we arrived at this corner, we were delighted to see the
blue bonnets of the 1st Madras Fusiliers, several of whom, on
seeing us coming, had rushed out to try and keep down the fire
of the enemy in the houses; and we saw our own Sikhs coming
along a road to our right. It turned out that, instead of following
the main body, we had turned up the broad street to the left past
the Tara Kotee ; instead of going on as they did towards the river
and passing the Tara Kotee to the right. When we got up to
where our men were, we found them Infantry, Artillery, Caval-
ry, doolies, and camels— all huddled together in a small square
space, just outside the wall of the Ferad Bux Palace, close down
by the river Goomtee : and there we remained for an hour and
a half, the enemy every now and then firing round shot at us
from one of the guns we had spiked and left behind us, and from
another they had on the opposite side of the river. Fortunately
they fired too high ; and so the balls went over our heads and pro-
bably in among their own people. At last the order was given for
the advance — the 78th in front this time, and we in the rear. It
was now night, and as we passed through the streets, we found
them quite deserted : but the fighting had been severe. It was here
that General Neill was killed. W r e got into the garden of the
Tara Kotee, where we were obliged to halt, as the guns were all
pulled up by the ditches, which had been cut across the streets : —
at last, about 2 o’clock, we got into the entrenchment, and so
ended this memorable 25 th September, 1857.

When we came to count our numbers, we found we had 75
men fit for duty out of 110. Next day we had to get our heavy

45

guns in, which had been left at Martin’s house, with the 90th to
guard them : and, in getting them in, we suffered very heavy
loss from the enemy, who at first had retired, but had returned
in great numbers. Major Cooper and Lieutenant Crump heie met
their death : and here it was where so many acts of gallantry were
displayed by our soldiers. One man, Ryan, of the 1st Madias
Fusiliers, refused to leave the wounded, who were in a house
surrounded by the enemy ; and kept up, with some two or three
other men, such a fire that the enemy could not effect their pui-
pose of getting into the house to murder the wounded. For this
Ryan is to get the Victoria Cross. Here also other men in equally
small numbers defended themselves till burned out by the enemy :
and here one of the 5 th Fusiliers was by mistake left asleep,
when the rest of the men were withdrawn. When he awoke
in broad daylight, he found himself alone and surrounded by
the enemy : — but, nothing daunted, he cried out, “ Come on, my
lads ; here are the saipoys /” and, rushing out, cut his way right
through them. We lost on this day thirty-one officers and 541
men, out of 2,500 of all ranks; which will give an idea of what
the fighting must have been.

We were now within the Bailly Guard, and there was no use in
mincing matters — we were in for it. As Cavalry, we were of course
useless : but our horses had to be fed, and the Commissariat De-
partment were unable to give them any grain : so all we could do
was to get grass ; and this, surrounded as we were by the rebels,
was no easy matter. Our grass-cutters had to go out for it during
the night, and, poor fellows, many of them never returned. Every
day, I had men brought to me either shot dead, or wounded, in
endeavouring to get grass for our horses ; and my heart smote me
whenever I had to order them out, as I knew it was to almost
certain death. Why they did not desert us I cannot imagine — as
inside with us they had barely sufficient to keep them alive, with
the chance of being killed or wounded every night. Our horses
of course gradually fell off : several died of starvation ; numbers
were shot by order; and a great many were killed by the

46

enemy’s shot and shell, which used to come in pretty thick now
and then ; — so that, when we did get out of Lucknow, out of a
hundred horses we took in, we had about fifty-two to take out
with us — and these so miserably thin that few of them could he
ridden. On the evening of the third day after we got into
the Bailly Guard, the Volunteer Cavalry got orders to hold
themselves in readiness to move during the night : and
about 10 o’clock, some fifty of the Volunteer Cavalry (all we
could muster), with all the native Cavalry, started under Cap-
tain Barrow, with Lieutenant Harding to shew the way, with
the intention, I believe, of endeavouring to cut our way through
the enemy to Alum Bagh. Had we succeeded in getting out, we
should have been of great use to the little garrison there, and
have relieved the Lucknow Commissariat of so many mouths
requiring to be filled. We started. How many of us were to
get through had to be proved, though we all felt it would not
be many. It was a bright moonlight night : the enemy con-
sequently could see our every movement. We were ordered
to keep along the bank of the river for some way ; but before
we had gone far we were met by such a heavy fire from
the other side, and right in front, that our leaders deemed it
prudent to pull up. The whole camp of the enemy was on
the alert. Bugles blew, drums beat, and sepoys howled. We
had two horses wounded, and two men hit, though not much
hurt. One man was saved by having two biscuits in his pocket,
which turned the ball. We returned— and how thankful we
were, I leave to the imagination : for we all felt how desperate
was the undertaking.

As we were of no use as Cavalry inside the entienchments, we
had a post assigned to us, known as Innes’ post, close to the
Church — one of the most exposed posts of the works. The
enemy were constantly peppering into it with round shot and
shell, and no one dared shew his face any where, but whiz
came a bullet past it. We had several men shot there— a
number of them hit in the hand. One of our Volunteer Officers,

47

Lieutenant Hearsey, was very fond of going potting at the enemy ;
and always, after firing, lie used to look to see the effect of his
shot. He had often been warned that while he was looking at
one enemy, there were three or four looking at him : hut he
never would take the advice given him, till one day, while peer-
ing about to see what damage he had done, whiz came a bul-
let, and wounded him in two places in the arm. Poor fellow, it
was fortunately only a flesh-wound : but instead of getting any
pity, every one burst out laughing. It was a great shame ; but he
came in looking the picture of misery, and holding up his arm in
sucli a funny way, we could not help it. He has gone down to
Calcutta and, I am glad to say, is doing very well.

One day while we were sitting at breakfast at Innes’ post, hang
came a 24-pound shot right through the roof, and very nearly fell
on one of the men, who was lying down, covering us with dust at
the same time. We jumped up, and found out that it was one of
our own 24<-pounders, which we had been firing at some building
over our house ; but, through the bad practice of the officer firing,
it had hit us by mistake ; so we sent him up the ball with our com-
pliments, and a request to fire a little higher next time. The enemy
were all along the south and west sides of the in trench ments,
within (in some places) fifty 3 /ards of us; and their constant prac-
tice was to make false attacks almost every night. These attacks
used to commence with a tremendous fire of musketry, followed by
heavy cannonading and loud shouting. At first we imagined
that they were really coming on : but we very soon found out what
it was, and hardly deigned to notice them. Not a shot used
to he fired by us : for our men had received strict orders not to
fire unless they saw the enemy — which they seldom did, as they
used to sit behind loopholed walls, and blaze away as fast as they
could, up in the air, or any where, without taking any particular
aim, except that the bullet should fall within the Residency.
The consequence was that, although few men were hit while at
their posts on the walls, numbers were knocked over by the
bullets and cannon shot, which used to be flying all day and

48

night in all directions No place was quite safe : bullets used to
come into the most out-of-the-way places. Men used to be hit
while lying in bed, or sitting down to dinner, inside the houses.
One officer, while asleep, had his pillow torn from under his head
by a round shot ; and a lady, who was sitting outside her door,
safe, as she thought, had the chair carried away from under her.
Notwithstanding all this, it is wonderful how few were killed
and wounded. Children used to play about, and women and
men were constantly walking about, so accustomed to the
whiz of the bullets that they never paid any attention to them.
It certainly was a dreadful thing to see a cannon ball come
rushing through a number of men and horses. I have seen two
horses, one tattoo and three men, killed by one shot; and I
remember on another occasion seeing the top of a man’s head
taken off, while cleaning his horse — the ball killing the horse and
another next to it. The suddenness with which this happens
impresses one very much : you may see it a hundred times, and,

I think, the hundred and first time you would have the same
feeling — a feeling of awe at the nearness of death.

The rebels were very short of shell and shot : — the latter they
got by picking up what we fired at them, or by beating- iron into >
something like shot, and now and then they used to send any odd
thing they could get. Once they sent a smoothing iron. They
were most persevering. We had taken most of their large guns
from them ; but instead they had countless small guns, carrying a
ball of 2 or 31bs. These little guns they used to place on the tops
of houses, or any where else where they had a good command of
us ; and certainly they did annoy us considerably. Often, after they
had fired three or four rounds, one of our large 18 or 24-pouuders
would open upon them : — but immediately the smoke from our
gun had cleared away, out would pop the little gun, and, as, if in
defiance, belch forth in its shrill broken voice another round. It
was of no use wasting shot on them : — they used I believe to do
this merely to draw some of our round shot out of us, of which
they were much in want. But their shells were the most extra-

49

ordinary things now and then when our shells which we threw
at them failed to burst, they used to send them back again: but
otherwise they had no 8 inch shells, though they had the mortars:
so they used to make up shells of two small hand grenades, round
which they used to put tow filled with powder. The consequence
was, that when these things fell among us, there were always
two reports — the first that of the tow round the hand grenades,
which exploded arid burst, so leaving the grenade free — and then
the second explosion of the grenade itself. At first, before we
discovered this, we were near coming to grief, as when the first
explosion had taken place, we thought all was over, and so used
to rise up and perhaps rush to the spot. Then again the rebels
used to make stone shells, which never did much damage ; and
now and then you would hear something coming singing through
the air, like a small barrel organ or a large Humming bird: —
“ Hoo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, thud,” — it would fall close
to you, and you’d find a large block of wood about two feet,
or 2^ feet, long and a foot thick. I remember, one morning,
while talking to a friend of mine not in the army, seeing some-
thing coming through the air in our direction, which burst high
up, and did no damage: but it was the most extraordinary
thing in the shape of a warlike missile I have seen. When it
burst, four or five things flew out of it in different directions, and
went whizzing about like one of those English crackers we used
to have at home : — but what amused me so much at the time was
my friend’s face and the way he went dodging and wheeling about,
trying to escape from each individual piece which he imagined
was coming after him : and when he returned to where I was
standing — his face red and warm-looking, and panting with exer-
tion — I thought I should have died with laughing.

We had been in the intrenchments about three weeks, when the
news were whispered, “ To-morrow only half rations.” Living on
full rations is hard enough, when you are suddenly brought down
to it without rum or liquor of any sort : — but to be reduced to |lb.
meat, ^lb. wheat, ^oz. salt and a pinch of rice, was rather un-
G

50

pleasant, to think of. When. the time came, we (who had been long
in India) did not feel it so much as the Regiments who had just
oome out from England — men with appetites like horses : but,
poor fellows, it could not be helped ; and I think those who were
not wounded owe their health to their not being able to get too
much to eat or any spirits to drink. The people who felt it, were
the sick and wounded. For them there were no comforts — nothing
but the hard beef and coarse chupatties : and when the little stock
of rum and beer that was kept for the hospital was expended, they
were indeed badly off. Many a man sunk into the grave for want of
stimulants : hardly a single case of amputation ever succeeded ;
and I do not think there is more than one (a drummer boy in H.
M/s 32nd,) who lost leg or arm and lived. Many men died from
mere scratches — the slightest almost to a certainty proving fatal :
hospital gangrene invariably supervened, and the patient after
great suffering died. Poor Major Stevenson of the 1st Madras
Fusiliers was hit by a spent ball on the pit of his stomach. He
had a kummerbund on at the time ; so that the skin was not even
rased, and still in a few days it turned into a sore, became gan-
grenous, and the Major died. Then scurvy broke out : and in-
deed the hospitals were a melancholy sight. Every thing that
could be done by the Medical Officers, was done ; but, without
medicines or means of any sort, it was hard to fight against
disease. The two Generals used to be constantly among the sick,
holding out hopes of speedy relief, and doing their best to make
the men comfortable. There were others also, who did their
utmost to relieve the sufferings of the brave men, who had fought
for them. I have seen fair and delicately nurtured ladies, when
bullets were flying about like hail, when round shot and shell
were common visitors in their houses, when many of them were
bereft of husband, children, brothers, and all that they held dear,
rise above their own misfortunes, and devote themselves to works
of charity and love. When rations had been reduced as low as
they could be (and women’s rations at the full are much less than
those allowed men), I have seen them taking from their own small

51

shares of flour and tea, making delicate chupatties with their own
hands ; regardless of the bullets, carrying them to the sick and
wounded in hospital ; and, lest their hair should fall down and
annoy those on whom they were attending, they have cut it off.
Above all, I have seen them moving about the sick, holding out
promises of love and forgiveness and hope through the blood
of our dear Saviour out of that Book which we are, many of
us, I am afraid, too apt to neglect in the time of our good for-
tune and ease. As long as English women are such, so long
will English men be only too willing to die for them.

The defence of Lucknow will be handed down in history as
one of the most memorable events upon record. A few hund-
red Englishmen, hampered with women and children equal in
numbers to themselves, their sick and wounded daily, almost hour-
ly, increasing, cut off from all communication with friends outside,
indeed for some time not knowing whether there were any
friends nearer to them than Calcutta, surrounded by a countless
host of blood-thirsty enemies, under ceaseless fire of cannon and
musketry, (for before the first relief under the late Sir Id. Have-
lock reached Lucknow, the fire was such that no one dared shew
a finger out of cover) gallantly held their own ; and not one step
did the rebels gain upon them. If the natives of India are capa-
ble of taking a lesson, they will long remember it, and feel how
hopeless any attempt would be to drive the English out of India.
In the audacity of their pride, pampered as they have been,
lauded up to the skies as they always were, they forgot that, in
all the deeds of arms in which they had been engaged, they had
always been led by the Europeans. Their thought was, “ We have
conquered the Punjab ; we have won and held India for the
Sirkar ; now that we are tired of them, we who have done all
this, will turn them out and set up a king of our own colour.”
But they calculated without their host. They found it very dif-
ferent fighting against the despised Feringees ; and they have
now re-learnt a lesson, which was taught them a century ago
by Clive. May they remember it !
c. -l

52

No one, who has not seen the Residency at Lucknow, can
foim any idea ot the fire the garrison were under. Houses
breached (almost) with musketry were never before heard of in
warfare : but so close were the enemy, that they had actually
loopholed our own walls, and used to fire in on our garrison
through these holes. They had recourse to every sort of
expedient to overcome us, but neversucceeded. Mining was tried ;
and, with the command they had of labour, they could sink any
number of mines. When we had to countermine, we had no
labourers ; and officers as well as men had to take their turn in the
mine. But British pluck and endurance beat them. They were
beaten at every thing. They had our sappers and miners, taught
by us ; they had our artillery men — all these, and countless num-
bers. We had no labourers, aud so few artillery men that
they had to run from one battery to another as required.
Still we beat them. Of course this continual wear on the ener-
gies of the men told after five months’ siege. How anxiously we
used to look for despatches from Cawnpore, which were brought
in to us with the greatest difficulty ! How many of our messen-
gers never returned ; and how excited every one was at the first
newspaper being brought in in a bundle of grass ! How well
thumbed that paper was ! No one, who has not been shut up
for months, can realize our feelings. At last the joyful news
was spread that the Commander-in-Chief would be at Alum
Bagh on the 15th Inst. Then we began to count the days, and
then when it did arrive and we heard the firing, how anxiously we
watched from the different look-outs to see how our force was ad-
vancing. Nextday we saw the fighting advancing towards the Dil-
khoosha : — thenup went the Jack on the Martiniere, and, we knew
our Chief was so far on his way to us. Next day pounding com-
menced again ; and gradually the smoke advanced, till we saw the
British 11 a 2 waving on the Mess house. We had not been idle those
three days : mines had been exploded, sorties made, and positions
taken up in advance of our old position; so that when the Mess
house was taken, the relieved and relieving forces were close to

53

each other. The Chiefs meet. The relief is complete : and in gallop
two men, one Col. Berkeley of H. M/s 32d Regiment, the other
Mr. Cavanagh, the head Clerk in the Chief Commissioner’s office,
who, three days before, had made his way out of Lucknow right
through the enemy’s camp to the Commander-in-Chief with
despatches from General Outram — one of the most daring feats
performed during these troublous times. He will no doubt get his
reward : he richly deserves it.

We were relieved. Arrangements were made for taking the
women and children, the sick and wounded, in safety out of the
place : — as it had been decided that Lucknow must be vacated
for the present. Five months of hard fighting and toil, such
as had never been undergone before, were thus to be thrown
away: and many a man — sick as we all were of the place —
would willingly have remained, rather than let the rebels get in
and exult over their imaginary victory. But that it was a wise
step, all must acknowledge. Cawnpore was threatened, and the
sick and wounded required a large number of troops to convey
them in safety out of Oudh. Finally orders were issued that no-
thing was to be taken except a small bundle of necessaries : and
then commenced the destruction of property, clothes of all sorts,
silver, and books — some of these no doubt old friends — and the
burning of which caused many a tear : but all felt it was better to
destroy them, than to leave them to our cowardly foe to gloat over.
On the night of the 22nd, all the women and children and sick
and wounded having been sent in safety to the Dilkhoosha, the
garrison commenced its evacuation of a place they so well knew
how to defend, and had so nobly defended. By 3 a. m. the place was
empty ; and next morning we arrived at Dilkhoosha, where we
remained as the Chief’s rear guard during his march to the Alum
Bagh. On the 25th, we marched and reached it; and there we
are now, watching the enemy, and the enemy watching us.

I have thus brought my account of what I did and saw down
to the 25th November, 1857. I have said nothing of the siege
before General Havelock’s force forced their way into Lucknow.

54

I have not said much of what we did after we got in, as it was
much the same, day after day — a continual watching the enemy,
something like a cat watching at a hole for a mouse (we being
the cat), with, for the first week, a sortie now and then, in order
to destroy houses which commanded the intrenchments.

ihe first thought that strikes one regarding this rebellion is
that the general rising of the Bengal Army has been caused by
a fear that we were going to interfere in some way with their
caste — in fact, that it was entirely a matter of caste. I think it has,
and it has not — if that can be understood. I have little doubt
that the principal instigators will be found to be Mahommedans,
and Mahommedans in power, connected with the King of Delhi
and the ex-king of Oudh. There is no doubt that as long as there
was a king of Delhi, acknowledged though in ever so small a way,
and as long as there remained a Delhi for that king to live in,
so long would the Mahommedans all over India hope and pray
to see him once more seated in state on the throne. The annex-
ation of Oudh, though, I believe, a wise and necessary mea-
sure, has been no doubt the straw that has broken the camel’s
back, though in a way we never expected. The sepoys, as a
body, had nothing they could justly complain of : and it was
imagined that they, above all, would be benefited by the annexa-
tion of Oudh, as so many of them are drawn from that province,
where their families are tillers of the soil, and that by the orders
issued during the settlement many of these men’s families would be
replaced in possession of their old landed rights; — andso they were.
But annexation also affected the sepo3 r s in a way which they did
not like. It made all the people of Oudh British subjects equally
with themselves. Formerly if they had any grievance, they got
an arzee signed by their commanding officer, which was sent to
the resident : and the mere fact of the applicant being a sepoy
of the Sirkar Engrez Bahadoor was sufficient, if the man had
any right on his side, to gain his cause. After the annexation he
found every man in Oudh, even the poorest, had an equal hearing
with himself. — He did not like it, and so, I have no doubt, cried

0 0

out against annexation. That their prejudices were not inter-
fered with is too well known : for these were allowed to interfere
with the discipline of the Bengal army. The sepoys no doubt, and
indeed others besides sepoys, thought that we were going to do
away with caste. This idea was confined perhaps to the unedu-
cated : but I think we have brought it on ourselves by thinking
and talking so much about caste. Had the Bengal sepoy been
taught duty first and caste afterwards, we should not have had so
many against us. I do not for one instant urge that we ought to
hurt their feelings as to caste : but I do strongly urge that every
sepoy on enlistment ought to be told that he would have to
perform his duty as a soldier notwithstanding his caste. It is so
in Madras and Bombay, where there are many men from Oudh,
of the very men composing the Bengal army, and you never
hear caste named as an excuse for not performing any duty. If
the high caste men do not like to enlist with such an understand-
ing, there are numbers of others who will. The plea of caste was
a false one, though no doubt it took at the time. That we
have, as a nation, been greatly to blame in this matter, no one who
thinks on the subject but must see. Caste has been raised above
our own religion. Any one might endeavour to make converts,
or do what he liked for his faith, except the Christians. " Oh,
those missionaries !” how often does one hear, “ they ought to
be turned out of India ; they are the cause of this mutiny — and
indeed I have heard an officer say, that he would place any mis-
sionary in jail whom he caught in his district, preaching or trying
to make converts ; while another officer present said, “ If things
had been carried on as they were fifty years ago, this mutiny
never would have happened.” Thank God, things are not as
they were. Then no doubt officers did know more of their
men, and perhaps were better liked by them : but why ? I leave
to others to answer. Let us, ere it is too late, mend our ways,
lest God in His turn deny us. Though we have gone through
much suffering, we have been most graciously preserved — God,
even our God, fighting for us. Often in our engagements

56

has that beautiful verse in the Psalms recurred to me ; — “ If it
had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say :
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose
up against us : then they had swallowed us up quick, when their
wrath was kindled against us.”

There has been a very apparent difference between the effects
of the rebellion in our old Provinces and in Oudh ; — in the former
there has been much more maltreatment of the Europeans by the
villagers than in Oudh, and again they (the villagers) have settled
down to their old occupations and resigned themselves to their
old rulers (the British) much sooner than the people of Oudh.
In the Provinces there were no men of weight or influence,
who, however they might have wished it, had the power to
assist the Government, or individual Europeans. The whole
community was broken up into small brotherhoods. Our system
had entirely ruined and almost wiped away the old lords of
the country : so that when the sepoys got possession of any
district, the villagers found themselves powerless to resist, and
unable to protect. That the villainous and barbarous deeds
committed have, with few exceptions, been perpetrated by the
Mahommedans there is little doubt : and however guilty the Hin-
doo soldiery may be, the Hindoos as a race have generally been
the people to save and protect the Christian. In Oudh we on
annexation systematically set to work to ruin and reduce the
gentry and nobility of the country. To the honor of most
of the Distrct* Officers be it said, they protested to the last
against this policy. We were, however, forced to carry it
through, with a view, as was stated, of restoring to the real
proprietors their rights to the landed property : hoping that by
so doing, we should raise up such a body of friends, as would
hold the dispossessed men in check. How miserably this failed
we all know. That it must have done so, all who studied the
matter were convinced ; and now we appear surprised, that all
these gentry, whom we ill-treated and ruined, should fight
against us ! So evident was the falsity of the pol.'cy, that at the

57

outbreak of tbe mutiny these very men whom we had so treated
were told, that if they would remain faithful and assist the Sirkar,
t hey should be restored to certain of their lands from which we
had dispossessed them. With one or two exceptions, these men,
the Talookdars of Oudh, have behaved well. Wherever any of the
British officers in Oudh were saved, it was these men who pro-
tected them. True, they have been in arms against us ; but is that
to be wondered at ? Had we treated them better on annexation,
we should have had many of those who are now opposed to us,
on our side : and I am sure that even now they would come in,
had they any hopes of being well treated. If they do declare for
us, the work in Oudh will be easy enough. We shall be able to
govern the country through them : but, without them, it will be
no easy matter to get things settled down.

Through the whole of these advances and engagements of
General Havelock’s small force, the want of Cavalry and horse
artillery has been sadly felt. We have taken guns without num-
ber, and have always beaten the enemy ; but we have never been
able to inflict such a punishment on them as to make them re-
member it. They were always too quick for us. Their flights were
certainly marvellous : we never could get up to them. Had we had
even one good troop of Cavalry, we should have given them
much severer lessons than they received. The only time we had
enough Cavalry to do any thing, was, when we crossed the river
the second time. At Mungurwarah the Volunteer Cavalry,
about 110 strong, followed them up and took two guns : and it
was owing to this that the enemy never stood again till we
reached Alum Bagh : — whereas, had we been unable to follow
them up as we did, they would, no doubt, have stood both at
Nowabgung and Bunee, at both which places they had evident-
ly intended to make a stand.

And now, before I close, I must say a few words on the Vo-
lunteer Cavalry, to which, I am proud to say, I have the honor to
belong. On our first starting from Allahabad it consisted of
about eighteen men and officers. On the road four more officers

H

58

joined us ; and this was our strength through the whole of the en-
gagements till we crossed the river Ganges the first time, when we
were strengthened by the addition of forty men from the different
Infantry Regiments ; and while encamped at Mungurwarrah, we
were joined by some six or eight Volunteers, some of them officers.
I sincerely hope the Government will take some notice of the ser-
vices performed by those composing the corps, and shew that they
appreciate them. New to the country, new to the service, unac-
customed to roughing it, brought up accustomed to every luxury,
and led to believe that on their arrival in India they would have
the same, these young officers willingly threw themselves into
the thick of the work, often without a tent or cover of any sort
to shelter them from the rain or sun, with bad provisions and
hard work. Side by side with the Privates, they took their turn
of duty : and side by side with them they fought, were wounded,
and some of them died. When we got into Lucknow, and were
useless as Cavalry, they cheerfully took the musket, and night
and day at one of the most important posts did sentry duty
with the men. It must not be imagined that, in saying this,
I am blowing my own trumpet. I was fortunate enough to be
made an officer at the raising of the corps ; therefore I have
not had to take the duties of a Private, as these gentlemen had.
But I am, and shall ever he, proud to say, I have served with
them in the field. Well and nobly they did their duty : and if
Her Gracious Majesty shall grant us a medal for what we have,
under God’s Providence, been able to do, proud may those boys
be, when they point to the medal on their breast and say, “ I
won this, while serving as a Private in the field.”

Alum Bdgh , 26 th September, 1857.

59

Nominal Roll of officers and gentlemen in the Volunteer Cavalary ,
with their rank in the Corps, — Capt. L. Barrow, Commandant.

Capt. Sheehy, H. M.’s 81st, 2nd in Command. Died at Cawn-
pore of cholera.

Lieut. Lynch, H. M.’s 70th, Commanding Troop, succeeded
Capt. Sheehy as End in Command. W ounded.

Lieut. Grant, 3d Madras Europeans, Adjutant. Died at Cawn-
pore of cholera.

Capt. Thompson, 10th B. N. I. Serjeant, succeeded Lieut. Grant
as Adjutant.

Lieut. Swanston, 7th M. N. I. Q,r. Master and Commanding
Troop. Wounded.

Lieut. Palliser, 63d B. N. I. Commanding Troop. Wounded .

Lieut. Chalmers, 45th B. N. I. Private; promoted to Corporal,
and then Serjeant.

Lieut. Bamsay, 17th B. N. I. acting Cornet of Troop.

Lieut. Hearsey, 57th B. N. I. Trooper. Wounded.

Lieut. Birch, 1st B. L. C. Trooper. Wounded.

Cornet Fergusson, 8th B. L. C. Cornet of Troop. Wounded.

Ensign Stewart, 17th B. N. I. Trooper.

Ensign Honorable H. Hare, B. N. I. Trooper.

Ensign Brander, 37th, Trooper. Wounded.

Ensign Woodgate, 11th B. N. I. Trooper.

Ensign Pearson, 27th, Trooper.

Lieut. Wild, 40th, Ti'ooper.

Capt. Hicks, 22nd B. N. I. Serjeant.

Bt. Capt. Hicks, 6th B. N. I. Trooper. Wounded.

Lieut. Brown, 56th B. N. I. Trooper. Died of cholera at Cawn-
pore.

Civilians.

Mr. Anderson, acting Cornet.

Mr. Bews, Corporal.

Mr. Green, Corporal. Wounded.

60

Mr. R. T. Goldsworthy, Trooper. Wounded.
Mr. — Goldsworthy, Trooper,

Mr. Tarby, Trooper.

Mr. Erskine, Trooper. Killed.

Mr. O’Brien, Trooper.

Mr. Thomas, Trooper.

Mr. Smith, Trooper.

Mr. Berrill, Trooper.

Mr. Yoss, Serjeant.

Mr. Wood, Trooper.

Mr. "Woods, Trooper.

Mr. Abbott, Trooper.

Mr. C. Marshall, Trooper. Wounded.

Mr. E. Marshall, Trooper.

Mr. Yolkers, Trooper. Wounded.

Mr. C. Carr, Corporal. Killed.

Mr. F. Carr, Trooper.

p-

. V,

. : • v