Page 269

Chapter 3 – The March to Kanhpur

Assured of the miserable fact that Kanhpur had fallen, General Havelock, having haulted Renaud’s column at Lohanga, was eager to advance to join him and to push on for the recovery of the important position that we had lost, and the chastisement of the insolent enemy. He telegraphed to Sir Patrick Grant at Calcutta, saying: “We have lost Kanhpur, an important point on the great line of communication, and the place from which alone Lakhnao can be succoured; for it would be hardly possible, at this season of the year, to operate on the crossroads. My duty is, therefore, to endeavour to take Kanhpur, to the accomplishment of which I will bend every effort. I advance along the trunk-road as soon as I can unite fourteen hundred British Infantry to a battery of six well-equipped guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Neill, whose high qualities I cannot sufficiently praise, will follow with another column as soon as it is organised., and this fort is left in proper hands284.”

July 4–7

Preparations for the March

Havelock had hoped to commence his march on the 4th of July, but the impediments in the way of the complete equipment of his force were too numerous and too serious to admit of so early a movement. All the old difficulties, of which I have already spoken, were in his way, and it was not until the sun was dimly declining on the 7th that he could give the order to march. It was but a small force for the work before it. A thousand European Infantry soldiers, belonging to four different regiments, composed the bulk of Havelock’s army. Some of these were seasoned soldiers, but some were raw recruits. Then there were a hundred and thirty of Brazier’s Sikhs, a battery of six guns, and a little troop of Volunteer Cavalry, mustering

Page 270

only eighteen sabres, but in the hands of such men worth their number five times told. Among them were young officers, whose regiments had revolted285, and civilians whose kachheris were closed; and as they rode out, badly mounted (for Palliser’s Irregulars had taken the best horses), under their gallant leader, Captain Barrow of the Madras Cavalry, there was a large-hearted enthusiasm among them which made them feel equal to the encounter of any number of Native horsemen that could be brought against them. Nor should there be omission from the record of the fact that, when Havelock marched forth for the recovery of Kanhpur and the relief of Lakhnao, he was accompanied by some of the best staff-officers with whom it has ever been the good fortune of a general to be associated. In Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser-Tytler and Captain Stuart Beatson he had a Quarter-Master General and an Adjutant-General of his brigade, selected by himself, not to be out-matched in efficiency by any officers of those departments.

July 7–12

March for Allahabad

It was a dull, dreary afternoon when Havelock’s Brigade marched out of Allahabad, and very soon the rain came down in torrents to damp the ardour of the advancing force. Neither on that day nor on the succeeding one was the progress rapid. Many of the men were unused to Indian marching, and numbers fell in the rear, weary, footsore, disabled. There was great discouragement in this; but, as Havelock advanced, it became more and more apparent to him not only that Kanhpur had fallen, but that a large body of the enemy were advancing to meet him, and this rendered it not only expedient, but imperative, that no time should be lost in joining the advanced column. Neill, doubtful, as it has been seen, of the fall of Kanhpur, had telegraphed to Sir Patrick Grant, urging him to push on Renaud’s column, and Renaud was moving forward into the clutches of the Nana’s

Page 271

force; and though Havelock’s knowledge of the inestimable value at such a time of English life and English health rendered him careful of his men, he now recognised a paramount emergency overruling these considerations, and sped onwards by forced marches to overtake his Lieutenant. And an hour after the midnight of the 11th–12th of July, in the broad light of an unclouded moon, his foremost details came up with Renaud’s detachment. Before dawn the junction was completed. Renaud drew up his men along the side of the road; and, as the Highlanders struck up the stirring strain of the “Campbells are coming,” welcomed the new arrivals with ringing cheers. Then they marched on together, and about seven o’clock the whole force halted at Balindah, a spot some four miles from the city of Fathpur286.

July 12

The battle of Fathpur

The troops were weary and footsore, and Havelock was eager to give his men the rest and refreshment they so much needed. So arms were piled, and our soldiery were preparing for the morning meal, when their hungry hopes were disappointed by the unexpected arrival of a twenty-four-pound shot, which well-nigh. reached the feet of the General. The truth was soon apparent. Colonel Tytler had gone forward with an escort to reconnoitre, and some spies, despatched by Lawrence from Lakhnao, had brought him Word that the enemy were at Fathpur. There was no more thought of the breakfast. The battle was before them. The men stood to their arms and fell in at the word of command, and, forgetful of the long and weary night-march just ended, set their faces towards the camp of the enemy, and strode on, steady and stern, to meet them.

They soon met. For the enemy, thinking that they had come up with the advanced column only, under Major Renaud, swept forward with an insolent front, confident of victory. Conspicuous before all were the troopers of the 2nd Cavalry, who

Page 272

came on menacingly in an extended line, as though eager to enclose our little band in the toils of a swift destruction. So Havelock, as he wrote, unwilling “to be bearded, determined at once to bring on an action.” Then the truth became miserably apparent to the enemy; and in an instant the light of proud defiance paled beneath the astounding disclosure. The weak detachment, that was to have been so easily overwhelmed, had suddenly grown, as though under the hand of Shiva, the Destroyer, into a strong, well-equipped, well-handled force of all arms, advancing to the battle with a formidable line of guns in the centre. Flushed with the savage memories of the past, and eager for fresh slaughter, these bloodhounds of the Nana Sahib had rushed upon their prey only to find themselves brought face to face with death. Surprise, disappointment, fear, trod down even the brutal instincts within them, and the paralysis of a great reaction was upon them. The fight commenced. It was scarcely a battle; but it was a consummate victory. Our Enfield rifles and our guns would not permit a conflict. The service of the Artillery was superb. There had come upon the scene a new warrior, of whom India had before known nothing, but whose name from that day became terrible to our enemies. The improvised battery of which Havelock made such splendid use was commanded by Captain Maude of the Royal Artillery. He had come round from Ceylon, with a few gunners, but without guns; and he had gone at once to the front as one of the finest Artillerymen in the world. The best troops of the Nana Sahib, with a strength of Artillery exceeding our own, could make no stand against such a fire as was opened upon them287. Falling back upon the town, with its many enclosures

Page 273

of walled gardens, they abandoned their guns one after another to our exhausted battalions; and after one vain rally of the rebel Horse, which solved the vexed question of the unworthiness of Palliser’s Irregulars, gave up the contest in despair. Then Havelock again lamented his want of Cavalry; for he could not follow up, as he wished, his first brilliant success; and more of the rebel Sipahis escaped than was pleasing to the old soldier. But he had done his work well and was thankful; thankful to his troops for their gallant services; thankful to the Almighty Providence that had given him the victory; and proud of the great national character which was now so nobly reasserting itself288. It was the first heavy blow struck at the pride of the enemy in that part of the country. The glad tidings were received with exultant delight in every house and bungalow in the country. In due time England caught up the paean; and the name of Havelock was written at the corners of our streets, on the sides of our public conveyances, and on the sign-boards over our houses of public entertainment289.

The story of Fathpur

Fathpur was given up to plunder. It was a guilty – a blood-stained city. A few weeks before it had risen in rebellion. And now the mark of a just retribution was to be set upon. it. The story may be briefly told in this place. The Treasury-guard consisted of some sixty or seventy Sipahis of the 6th Regiment. About the end of

Page 274

May, a large detachment of the 66th, with some sawars of the 2nd Cavalry – both of which regiments were then fast seething into rebellion at Kanhpur – arrived at Fathpur with treasure from Bandah, and passed on to Allahabad. What dark hints and suggestions may have passed between them can never be known. No great uneasiness was then felt by the European residents. The temper of the people did not seem to differ much from what it had been in more quiet times, and public business went on from day to day in the old groove without interruption.

The Chief Civil Officer at Fathpur was Mr. Robert Tudor Tucker, the Judge. He was a brother of the Commissioner of Banaras. There were some strong resemblances between them. Both were devout Christian men, earnestly and conscientiously treading the appointed path of official duty. People spoke of Henry Tucker as an enthusiast; but the enthusiasm of Robert Tucker had been roused to a still higher pitch by the intensity of his religious convictions, which, even from his schoolboy days up to the prime of his mature manhood, had been striking deeper and deeper root, in spite of all the discouragements and distractions of Eastern life. At the entrance to Fathpur he had erected four pillars of stone, on two of which were engraved the Ten Commandments, in Persian and Hindi, and on the others, in the same characters, scriptural texts containing the essence of the Christian faith. There they stood, that he who ran might read, proclaiming to Hindus and Muhammadans the cherished creed of the Faringhis; but no man defaced or insulted them. And the good Judge made no disguise of his efforts to convert the people; but still no man molested him. His kindness and liberality seem to have endeared him to all classes. They saw that he was just and gentle; merciful and self-denying; and that he taught lessons of love by the practice of his daily life. In very literal truth, he was what the Natives of India, often in exaggerated language, call a “poor man’s provider.” Wherever misery was to be found, his helping hand was present. The destitute and the sick were his children, in the absence of those endeared to him by the tenderest ties. For he was a husband and a father; but his family at this time were in England; and when the day of trouble came he rejoiced that he stood alone.

The storm burst on the 9th of June. The two great waves of rebellion, the one from Allahabad, the other from Kanhpur,

Page 275

met here with overwhelming force.

June 9

Hindus and Muhammadans rose against us; the latter, as ever, with the more cruel violence. The roving bands of Sipahis and Sawars and escaped gaol-birds, who were flooding the surrounding districts, wholly disorganised our police; and what was said to be a Muhammadan conspiracy was hatched in the very heart of the city. Then the dangerous classes seem to have bubbled up, and there were the usual orgies of crime. The Treasury was plundered. The prison-gates were broken open. The Record-office was burnt down. Other public offices were condemned to the same destruction. The Mission premises were attacked. And when the European community gathered together in a barricaded house resolved that it would be utter madness to remain any longer at Fathpur, for all authority was gone, all hope of maintaining any longer a semblance of Government utterly departed, they left the station by the light of blazing bungalows, and sallied forth to find themselves “amidst a perfect Jacquerie of the surrounding villages290.” But they made their way across the Jamnah to Bandah and were saved.

One Englishman stood fast. One Englishman could not be induced to quit his post, whatever might be the perils which environed him. As long as there was a pulse of life in his body, Robert Tucker believed that it was his duty to give it to the Government which he served. Throughout the day he had been most active in his endeavours to suppress crime and to restore order. Unlike his brother Henry, who had never fired a shot in his life, or carried a more formidable weapon than a riding-whip, the Fathpur Judge armed himself, mounted his horse, and went out against the enemy, with a few horsemen at his back. He left some rebels dead in the streets, and carried back with him some wounds upon his person291. His countrymen, when they turned their backs on Fathpur, left him in the Kachahri, still hoping against hope that he might weather the storm;

Page 276

and believing that, if this by God’s Providence were denied to him, it was his duty alike to God and Man to die at his post.

The issue was soon determined. What followed the departure of his countrymen is but obscurely known. Of the one patent, miserable fact, that Robert Tucker was killed, there was never a moment’s doubt. The story ran that at the head of the Muhammadan conspiracy, or if not at its very heart, was a well-known Native functionary – Deputy–Magistrate by office – Hikmat-ullah by name. He had received great benefits from Mr. Tucker, who had full faith in the man; and for some time it was believed that Musalman treachery and ingratitude had culminated in the crowning crime of this man’s life. “Poor Tucker,” wrote Mr. Sherer, the Magistrate of Fathpur, to Commissioner Chester, “was shot by Hikmat-ullah’s orders, he himself reading out the Koran whilst the guns were fired. A Native Christian, Joseph Manuel, a servant of mine, was present when this took place.” But many still doubt, if they do not wholly discredit, much that has been said of Hikmat-ullah Khan. He might have saved his benefactor, but did not. Perhaps he went with the stream, not having courage to oppose it. The clime may have been but negative. But History does not doubt that the Fathpur Judge sold his life dearly on the roof of the Kachahri. Resolutely and fiercely he stood at bay, loading and firing, loading and firing, until he had shot down many of his assailants. It is said that he was not overcome at last until the insurgents had fired the Kachahri. And so the quiet Christian Judge, so meek and merciful in time of peace, giving unto Caesar the things that were Caesar’s, rose in the hour of war to the noblest heights of heroic daring, and died for the Government that he had served.

There were some, however, even in that guilty city, who viewed with horror and indignation the murder of the good Judge. And as the ruffians were returning from the Kachahri, rejoicing in their cruel work, two Hindus met them, and openly reviled them for slaying so just and righteous a man. Had he not always been the friend of the poor? But the murderers were in no mood to be rebuked. Furious before, they were infuriated to a still higher pitch by these reproaches. So they fell upon the witnesses and slew them.

In Havelock’s camp there was at this time one of the civil

Page 277

officers who had escaped, more than a month before, from Fathpur. Mr. Sherer, the Magistrate, after many adventures, had made his way to Allahabad, and had thence marched upwards with the avenging army292.

The punishment of Fathpur

July 12–13

For five weeks anarchy and confusion had reigned throughout the district. The authority of the , Nana Sahib had been nominally recognised, but in truth there was scarcely any semblance of Government. Every man stood up for himself, taking and keeping what he could. Along the line of Havelock’s march, Sherer observed the significant symbols of a widespread desolation – telling after-wards the story of what he saw in one of the best of those admirable official narratives through which many of our foremost civilians have done so much for historical truth. “Many of the villages,” he wrote, “had been burnt by the wayside, and human beings there were none to be seen. ... The swamps on either side of the road; the blackened ruins of huts, now further defaced by weather stains and mould; the utter absence of all sound that could indicate the presence of human life, or the employment of human industry, such sounds being usurped by the croaking of frogs, the shrill pipe of the cicala, and the under-hum of the thousand winged insects engendered by the damp and heat; the offensive smell of the neem-trees; the occasional taint in the air from suspended bodies, upon which, before our very eyes, the loathsome pig of the country was engaged in feasting; – all these things appealing to our different senses, combined to call up such images of desolation, and blackness, and woe, as few, I should think, who were present would ever forget293.” And now in the city itself were silence and

Page 278

solitude scarcely less impressive and significant. The streets were deserted; but there were signs of recent habitation. In the shops and houses much wealth of plunder was left, which could not be removed in time by the affrighted owners beyond the reach of the despoilers. So now our soldiers, English and Sikhs, were let loose upon the place, and before the day was spent it had been sacked. Next morning, when the column moved on, the Sikhs were left behind, flushed with delight at the thought that to them had been entrusted the congenial task of setting fire to the town.

Battle at Aong

July 15

On the 15th of July, Havelock, having on the preceding day dismounted and disarmed the Irregular Cavalry, whose treachery was undeniable, again came in front of the enemy. They had posted themselves in strength at the village of Aong, with something of an intrenchment in front, and on either flank some walled gardens, thickly studded with trees, which afforded serviceable shelter to their musketeers. But no superiority of numbers or of position could enable them to sustain the resistless rush of the English. Very soon they were seen in confused flight, strewing the ground as they fled with all the abandoned impedimenta of their camp – tents, stores, carriage, and munitions of war. But the cost of that morning’s success was indeed heavy. For one of the best soldiers in the British camp was lost to it forever. Major Renaud, who had charged at the head of the Madras Fusiliers – his beloved “Lambs” – was carried mortally wounded to the rear. Those who knew him best deplored him most; but the grief which arose when it was afterwards known that he was dead was not confined to his old comrades of the Coast Army. He had already earned an Indian reputation.

Passage of the Pandu Nadi

The day’s work was not then over. A few miles beyond the village of Aong was a river to be crossed, known as the Pandu Nadi. It was but a streamlet in comparison with the Ganges, into which it flowed. But the July rains had already rendered it swollen and turbid; and if the bridge by which it was crossed had been

Page 279

destroyed by the enemy, Havelock’s progress would have been most disastrously retarded. So, when his scouts told him that the enemy were rallying, and were about to blow up the bridge, he roused his men, exhausted as they were, and called upon them for a new effort. Nobly responding to the call, they pushed forward with unexpected rapidity. It was a two hours’ march to the bridge-head under a fierce sun; but our weary people carried the energies of victory with them to the banks of the Pandu Nadi. The enemy, strengthened by reinforcements which had come in fresh from Kanhpur, under Bala, Rao, the brother of the Nana, were intrenched on the other side with heavy guns, which raked the bridge. But Maude’s battery was soon brought into action; and a favourable bend of the river enabling him so to plant his guns as to take the enemy in flank, he poured such a stream of Shrapnel into them. that they were bewildered and paralysed, and, some say, broke their sponge-staffs in despair. They had undermined the bridge-head, and had hoped to blow the whole structure into the air before the English could cross the river. But there was not a cool head or a steady hand among them to do this work. And the Fusiliers, under Major Stephenson, with an expression on. their stern faces not to be misunderstood, swept across the bridge, and put an end. to all fear of its destruction. Then the rest of Havelock’s force accomplished the passage of the river, and pushed on with their faces towards Kanhpur, weary and exhausted in body, but sustained by the thought of the coming retribution.

The last massacre

They did not then know the worst. The crowning horror of the great tragedy of Kanhpur was yet to come. On the afternoon of that 15th of July, Dundu Pant, Nana Sahib, learnt that Havelock’s army had crossed the Pandu Nadi, and was in full march upon his capital. The messenger who brought the evil tidings was Bala Rao himself, with a wound in his shoulder, as proof that he had done his best. It might be that there was a coming end to the short-lived triumphs of the new Peshwa. What now was to be done? The chief advisers of the Nana Sahib were divided in opinion. They might make a stand at Bithur, or form a junction. with the rebel force at Fathgarh, or go out to meet the enemy on the road to Kanhpur. The last course, after much confused discussion, was adopted, and arrangements were made to dispute Havelock’s advance. The issue was very

Page 280

doubtful; but, as already said, the mighty conquerors of Kanhpur had one more victory to gain. They could slaughter the English prisoners. So, whether it were in rage, or in fear, or in the wantonness of bestial cruelty; whether it were believed that the English were advancing only to rescue the prisoners, and would turn back on healing that they were dead; whether it were thought that as no tales can be told by the dead, the total annihilation of the captives would prevent the identification of the arch-offenders on the day of retribution; whether the foul design had its birth in the depths of the Nana’s black heart, or was prompted, by one still blacker, the order went forth for the massacre of the women and children in the Bibigarh. The miserable herd of helpless victims huddled together in those narrow rooms were to be killed. What followed is best told in the fewest and simplest words. There were four or five men among the captives. These were brought forth and killed in the presence of the Nana Sahib. Then a party of Sipahis was told off, and instructed to shoot the women and children. through the doors and windows of their prison-house. Some soldierly instincts seem to have survived in the breasts of these men. The task was too hideous for their performance They fired at the ceilings of the chambers. The work of death, therefore, proceeded slowly, if at all. So some butchers were summoned from the bazaars – stout Musalmans accustomed to slaughter; and two or three others, Hindus, from the villages or from the Nana’s guard, were also appointed executioners294. They went in, with swords or long knives,

Page 281

among the women and children, as among a flock of sheep, and with no more compunction, slashed them to death with the. sharp steel.

July 15–16

And. there the bodies lay, some only half dead, all through the night. It was significantly related. that the shrieks ceased, but not the groans. Next morning the dead and the dying were brought out, ghastly with their still gaping wounds, and thrown into an adjacent well. Some of the children were alive, almost unhurt; saved, doubtless, by their low stature, amidst the closely-packed masses of human flesh. through which the butchers had drawn their blades; and now they were running about scared and wonder-struck, beside the well. To toss these infantile enemies, alive or dead, into the improvised cemetery, already nearly choked-full, was a small matter that concerned but little those who did the Nana’s bidding. But beyond this wholesale killing and burying, which sickened the whole Christian world, and roused English manhood in India to a pitch of national hatred that took years to allay, the atrocity was not pushed. The refinements of cruelty – the unutterable shame – with which, in some of the chronicles of the day, this hideous massacre was attended, were but fictions of an excited imagination, too readily believed without inquiry and circulated without thought. None were mutilated – none were dishonoured. There was nothing needed to aggravate the naked horror of the fact that some two hundred Christian women and children were hacked to death in the course of a few hours295.

Page 282

July 16

Battle of Kanhpur

Then, this feat accomplished, the Nana Sahib and his allies prepared to make their last stand for the defence of Kanhpur and the Peshwaship. On the morning of the 16th, Dundu Pant went out himself with some five thousand men – Horse, Foot, and Artillery – to dispute Havelock’s advance. The position – some little distance to the south of Kanhpur – which he took up was well selected; and all through that July morning his lieutenants were disposing their troops and planting their guns. Meanwhile, Havelock and his men, unconscious of the great tragedy that, a few hours before, had been acted out to its close, were pushing on, under a burning sun, the fiercest that had yet shone upon their march. Exhausted as he was by the mid-day heats the English soldier toiled on, sustained by the thought that he might still rescue from destruction the two hundred women and children held in foul durance by the Nana. To faint or fail at such a time would have been, he thought, cowardice and crime. So, weary and foot-sore, dizzy beneath the vertical rays of the meridian sun, and often tortured by parching thirst, he plodded along the baked road and panted for the coming encounter.

The hour of noon had passed before the English General learnt the true position of the enemy. It was plain that there was some military skill in the rebel camp, in whosesoever brain it might reside; for the troops of the Nana Sahib were disposed in a manner which taxed all the power of the British Commander, who had been studying the art of war all his life. To Havelock’s column advancing along the great high road from Allahabad – to the point where it diverges into two broad thoroughfares, on the right to the Kanhpur cantonment and on the left, the “great trunk,” to Dehli – the Sipahi forces presented a formidable front. It was drawn up in the form of an arc, bisecting these two roads. Its left, almost resting on. the Ganges, had the advantage of some sloping ground, on which heavy guns were posted; whilst its right was strengthened by a walled village with a great grove of mango-trees, which afforded excellent shelter to the rebels. Here also heavy guns were posted. And on both sides were large masses of Infantry, with the 2nd Cavalry in the rear, towards the left centre, for it was thought that Havelock would advance along the Great Trunk Road. When all this was discerned, it was plain that to advance upon the enemy’s front would be to court a great

Page 283

carnage of the troops, upon the care of which so much depended. Havelock’s former victories had been gained mainly by the far-reaching power of the Enfield Rifles and the unerring precision of Maude’s guns. But now he had to summon to his aid those lessons of warfare – both its rules and its exceptions – which he had been learning from his youth upwards; and they did not fail him in the hour of his need. He remembered “old Frederick at Leuthen,” and debouching to the right, advanced in open column against the enemy’s left flank. The movement had its disadvantages, and had he been the paper-pedant, which some thought him, he might not have resorted to such a manoeuvre. But its success proved the efficacy of the exception. He had fully explained the intended movement to his commanders. Standing in the midst of them, he had traced in the dust, with the point of his scabbard, the plan of operations, and bad convinced himself that they thoroughly understood it. Then the order was given for the advance; and primed with good libations of malt liquor, they moved forward in column of sub-divisions, the Fusiliers in front, along the high road, until they reached the point of divergence. Then the Volunteer Cavalry were ordered to move right on, so as to engage the attention of the enemy and simulate the advance of the entire force, whilst the Infantry and the guns, favoured by the well-wooded country, moved off unseen to the right. The feint succeeded admirably at first. The Cavalry drew upon themselves the enemy’s fire. But presently an open space between the trees revealed Havelock’s designs, and the Nana’s guns opened upon our advancing columns, raking the Highlanders and 64th, not without disastrous effect. But nothing shook the steadiness of the advance. That hardest lesson of all to the British soldier, to reserve his fire, had been learnt to perfection by these brave fellows. The last subdivision having emerged from the wood, they were rapidly wheeled into line, and, to the consternation of the enemy, moved forward with a resolute front and disconcerted the arrangements on which the Nana had prided himself so much and so confidently relied. But the native legions had strong faith in the efficacy of their guns, which outmatched our own in number and in weight of metal. At that time we could not make fitting response, for Maude’s battery was struggling through ploughed fields, and his draft-cattle were sinking exhausted by the way; and even when they came up, these light field-pieces, worked as well as guns were ever worked, could but make

Page 284

slight impression on the heavy ordnance from the Kanhpur magazine.

For a little space, therefore, the Sipahis exulted in the preponderance of their Artillery-fire, and between the boomings of the guns were heard the joyous sounds of military bands, striking up our stirring national tunes, as taught by English band-masters, and, as though in mockery, selecting those with the greatest depth of English sentiment in them. It was a dire mistake. As he caught the familiar sounds of “Cheer, boys, cheer!” the face of the British soldier settled down into that stern, compressed look, when the rigid jaw tells how the teeth are clenched and the muscles strung, and the heart is hard as a stone. The battle now was to be won by the pluck of the English Infantry. It was not a number of “mere machines” that Havelock was urging forward, but so many individual men with great hearts in their bosoms, every one feeling as if he had a personal wrong to redress. The awful work of charging heavy guns, well served by experienced gunners, was now to be commenced; and the Highlanders, led by Colonel Hamilton, took the post of honour, and were the first to charge. The shrill sounds of the pibroch from the bagpipes in the rear seemed to send them all forward as with the force of a catapult. The rush of the kilted soldiers, with their fixed bayonets, cheering as they went, was what no Sipahi force could withstand. Strongly posted as the guns were in a walled village, village and guns were soon carried, and there was an end to the strength of the enemy’s left.

The Sipahi troops fled in confusion – some along the Kanhpur road, others towards the centre of their position, where a heavy howitzer was posted, behind which for a while they rallied. There was more work then for the British Infantry. A few minutes after their first grand rush they had gathered breath, and fallen again into orderly array. Then Havelock challenged them a second time with a few of those spirit-stirring words which, from the lips of a trusted general, are as strong drink to the weary soldier, and every man felt invigorated, and equal to any work before him. The Highlanders responded with a cheer, and, followed by the 64th, flung themselves on the trenchant howitzer and the village which enclosed it, and again the burst was irresistible. The gun was captured, and the village was cleared.

For, just at this critical moment, the little body of Volunteer

Page 285

Cavalry, composed mainly of English officers, appeared upon the scene, flushed with a noble enthusiasm, resolute and dauntless, determined to show with their flashing sabres what they could do against any odds. Never was there a more heroic charge. It was the charge of but Eighteen. Captain Barrow led it. And among those who went into action was Captain Beatson, who had been struck down by cholera, and who was powerless to sit his horse; but, dying as he was, he could not consent to lose his chance of taking his part in the great act of retribution. So he placed himself upon a tumbril and was carried into action, and as dear life was passing away from him, his failing heart pulsed with great throbs of victory. The sabres of the Eighteen were less bright and sharp after they had encountered the enemy. When they drew rein, diminished in numbers – for horses and riders had been shot down – the Footmen of the British Army saluted them with a ringing cheer; and the General again and again cried, “Well done! I am proud to command you!” It was this body of “Gentleman Volunteers,” in which the “Bayard of the Indian Army” – James Outram – felt it, a month afterwards, a high privilege to enlist, when he might have commanded the whole of the force.

Whilst the Cavalry were thus covering themselves with glory, the Infantry swept on to the enemy’s right, where two more guns were posted, and carried them with the irresistible ardour that takes no denial. But the enemy, having found fresh shelter in a wooded village, rallied with some show of vigour, and poured a heavy fire into our line. Weary and exhausted as our people were, they had lost none of the grand enthusiasm, which made every man a giant; and when the calm clear voice of the General was heard, inquiring who would take that village, the Highlanders bounded forward, as if they had newly come into action, and the rest responded with like alacrity to the appeal. Again the Sipahi host were swept out of their cover, and seemed to be in full retreat upon Kanhpur, as though the day were quite lost. But there was yet one more stand to be made. As gun after gun was captured by the rush of our Infantry, still it seemed ever that more guns were in reserve, far-reaching and well-served, to deal out death in our ranks. Baffled and beaten as he was, the Nana Sahib was resolute to make one more stand. He had a twenty-four pounder and two smaller guns planted upon the road to the. Kanhpur cantonment, from which fresh troops had come pouring in to give new

Page 286

strength to the defence. It was the very crisis of the Peshwa’s fate. Conscious of this, he threw all his individual energies into the work before him, and tried what personal encouragement could do to stimulate his troops. And he flashed his gaudy presence on his people in a last convulsion of courage and a last effort of resistance.

For there was at this moment a pause in our onward operations. The great tidal wave of British conquest seemed for a moment to be receding. Our gun-bullocks were utterly exhausted by the day’s work, and could not bring our artillery to the front. Our Infantry soldiers, not less physically exhausted, though wonderfully sustained by the strong humanity within them, were lying down, partly to rest, partly to escape the tearing fire of the enemy. As they lay on the ground, they heard. exultant noises in the enemy’s camp. The clanging of the cymbals, the shrill blasts of the bugles, and the roll of the drums heard between the intervals of the artillery fire, told that there was unwonted excitement in the Sipahi ranks. It sounded like a boast and a menace; and it filled with fresh fury the breasts of our weary troops. Sights followed sounds rapidly. There was the bustle of a hostile advance. The Infantry were moving forward. The Cavalry were spreading themselves out as though to swoop down upon our little body of fighting men and to encompass them with swift destruction, whilst the guns continued to pour forth their round shot in an almost unintermittent stream. To the quick eye of the General it then appeared that there was not a moment to be lost. So he called upon his men to rise; and they leaped at once to their feet, stirred almost to madness by the taunts of the enemy. One more rush, and the victory, like those which had gone before, would be complete.

Then Havelock’s eyes were gladdened by a sight which seemed to be a glorious response to all the dreams of his youth and all the prayers of his manhood. The Infantry prepared to advance right upon the death-dealing battery of the enemy, the 64th Foot, led by Major Sterling, in front. At this moment the General’s aide-de-camp – “the boy Harry” – wheeled his horse round to the centre of the leading regiment, and rode straight upon the muzzle of the twenty-four pounder, whose round shot had now been supplanted by grape, which was making deadly gaps in our advancing column. It was a moment of rapture to the white-haired veteran, compensating

Page 287

him for all disappointments and delays, for all unjust super-sessions, for all professional discouragement, when he saw that last battery carried and knew that his son was safe. The work was well nigh done, when four guns of Maude’s battery came up to complete it. A terrific fire was opened upon the beaten enemy, who were soon in confused flight; and, after such a day’s fighting as might have tried to the utmost the powers of the best troops in the best of climates, they bivouacked at nightfall two miles from Kanhpur, every man too weary to need a pillow and too thirsty not to relish even a draught of dirty water.

July 17

Kanhpur reoccupied

They were then two miles from the cantonment, and next morning they marched on to occupy it. But ere they were under arms a dreadful story ran like a shudder along the line. They were too late to save: they had come only to avenge. Havelock’s spies had brought in word that the captive women and children, whom they had hoped to rescue, had passed beyond the reach of human aid. The morning’s news clouded the joy of yesterday’s victory; and our men went on with heavy hearts to the scene of our recent national sorrows. The enemy had evacuated the place, leaving behind them only a body of horse to announce the exodus of the rebel force by blowing up the great magazine, the resources of which had constituted their strength, and given them six weeks of victory. As our advanced guard neared the Kanhpur cantonment, there was seen to rise from the earth an immense balloon-shaped cloud, and presently was heard a terrific explosion, which seemed to rend the ground beneath one’s feet with the force of a gigantic earthquake. There was no mistaking such a proclamation; and as one man said to another, “There goes the magazine!” many, doubtless, thought how different it would have been if this exploit had not been left to our successors. By this one fatal omission all had been. lost to us at Kanhpur.

But now the English flag was again hoisted, and Havelock, profoundly thankful to the Almighty disposer of events, who had given him the victory, put forth an eloquent, spirit-stirring “Order,” in. which the just meed of hearty commendation. was given. to the troops which had won his battles for him. “Soldiers,” he said, “your General is satisfied, and more than satisfied, with you. He has never seen steadier or more devoted troops. Between the 7th and the 16th you have, under the

Page 288

Indian sun of July, marched a hundred and twenty-six miles and fought four actions.” Such troops and such a General were worthy of each other. No troops fought better throughout the war, and none were ever better commanded. The last engagement, known as the battle of Kanhpur, stamped Havelock’s character as a military commander. The battle, as he wrote, “was won by God’s blessing, non vi sed arte.” It was one of those triumphs of mind over matter, “by which man conquers man.” We had everything against us. Numbers some five times told; a far greater strength of artillery; a commanding position, with strong natural defences – all favoured the enemy; whilst a climate more deadly to the exotic soldier than grape and canister, and heavy broken ground, over which our exhausted cattle could not drag their guns, so as to bring them into action when most wanted, fear-fully diminished the fighting powers of our scanty force. Had Havelock, after the fashion of some rash and inexperienced commanders, attempted to carry the enemy’s position in front, he would probably have lost half his men; but the dexterous flank movement, which so disconcerted the plans of the Nana Sahib, saved our own people from the wholesale carnage which would otherwise have descended upon them. There was not a life wasted. The indomitable pluck of the British Infantry was husbanded to the best purpose, and every man felt that confidence in his leader which makes each soldier worth a file.

But Havelock had only made a beginning, and he did well in reminding his followers that their work was only begun. Kanhpur was but the first stage of the career of victory which lay before them. “Your comrades at Lakhnao,” said the General in his order of thanks, “are in peril. Agra is besieged; Dehli is still the focus of mutiny and rebellion. You must make great sacrifices if you would obtain great results. Three cities have to be saved, two strong places to be disblockaded. Your General is confident that he can accomplish all these things, and restore this part of India to tranquillity, if you only second him with your efforts, and if your discipline is equal to your valour.”

July 17–18

It might be thought that these “ifs” were not needed; that the English soldiers who had followed Havelock from Allahabad to Kanhpur, and had already so nobly seconded his efforts, had placed themselves beyond the reach of all such doubts and suspicions. But the General was

Page 289

a practised writer of despatches and general orders; for years he had been doing for others what he was now doing for himself. Few men knew better the use of words, and no man was less likely to make a slip in any public manifesto. There was, in truth, no ingratitude and no inadvertence in this language of misgiving. There was only too much justice, and too deep a meaning in it. For, scarcely had the Force reached Kanhpur, when it was seen that the demoralisation of drunkenness was upon it. “‘Whilst I was winning a victory,” said Havelock, “on the 16th, some of my men were plundering the Commissariat on the line of march.” And, once within reach of the streets and bazaars of Kanhpur, strong drink of all kinds, the plunder chiefly of our European shops and houses, was to be had in abundance by all who were pleased to take it. And that they did take it was not surprising. Even “Havelock’s saints,” if there had been a re-birth of them, would have been sorely tempted and tried by this upward march, by the heat, the hunger, the thirst, the fatigue; by the excitement of constant battle, by the thought of the intolerable wrong that had been inflicted on our people, and by the burden of the retribution which they carried with them. They had seen death in many shapes; and now they had brought in for burial the bodies of their comrades slain in the battle or stricken down by the pestilence. These evil influences – still more evil in their alternations, now of excitement, now of depression – drove the British soldiers to the brief solace of strong drink; and such a state of things arose, that Havelock now did what Neill had before done at Allahabad – he “ordered all the beer, wine, spirits, and every drinkable thing at Kanhpur, to be purchased by the Commissariat.” “If it had remained,” he said, reporting what he had done to the Commander-in-Chief, “it would have required half my force to keep it from being drunk up by the other half, and I should not have had a soldier in camp.”

Footnotes

284. Marshman’s Life of Havelock.

285. “New to the country, new to the service, unaccustomed to roughing it, brought up in every luxury, and led to believe that on their arrival in India they would have the same, these young officers (deprived of employment by the mutiny of their regiments) 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 tool: their turn of duty, and side by side with them they fought, were wounded, and some died.” – Quoted in Marshman’s Life of Havelock, Author not stated.

286. Calcutta Review, vol. xxxii., Article, “Havelock’s Indian Campaign,” written by one who took part in it. This writer, a very able one, says, “We shall not soon forget the scene. ... We well recollect how anxious Major Renaud was to capture Fathpur before Havelock reached us, it having been reported to us that it was defended only by a few matchlock men. This was probably correct at the time, but the Nana, with his large force, was marching down upon it, and had we advanced not a soul would have lived to tell the tale; but Providence preserved us from a fate which at that time would have been ruinous to our power in India.”

287. “The enemy’s fire scarcely touched us,” wrote Havelock; “ours for four hours allowed him no repose.” “Twelve British soldiers were struck down by the sun and never rose again. But our fight was fought neither with musket nor bayonet or sabre, but with Enfield rifles and cannon: so we lost no men.” This probably means no Europeans; for Havelock’s biographer, after quoting the General’s despatch, says, with reference to the conduct of the Irregular Cavalry at this time, that only twelve followed their commanding officer, Lieutenant Palliser, whose blind confidence in his men and gallant spirit carried him headlong into the midst of the enemy (at Fathpur), without a glance behind to ascertain if he were supported. Here he was overpowered and knocked off his horse, and would inevitably have been cut to pieces had he not been rescued by the devoted gallantry of his Native Risaldar, who sacrificed his own life in endeavouring to save that of his leader.”

288. See Havelock’s Order of Thanks issued next day to the troops under his command, in which lie attributes the victory, with a sort of Cromwellian many-sidedness, “to the fire of British Artillery, exceeding in rapidity and precision all that the Brigadier has ever witnessed in his not short career; to the power of the Enfield rifle in British hands; to British pluck, that great quality which has survived the vicissitudes of the hour and gained intensity from the crisis; and to the blessing of Almighty God on a most righteous cause – the cause of justice, humanity, truth, and good government in India.”

289. It appears from Tantia Topi’s narrative, which on such a point as this may be trusted, that the Sipahis were anxious that the Nana should accompany them to Fathpur. “The Nana, refused,” he said: “I and the Nana remained at Kanhpur, and sent Jawala-Parshad, his agent, along with them to Fathpur.” Tika Singh, the 2nd Cavalry General, accompanied him. The Allahabad Maulavi, also appears to have been with the Nana’s party at this time. One of the witnesses, whose depositions have been published by Colonel Williams, when asked, “Who commanded at the battle of Fathpur?” answered, “I myself saw Tiki Singh, the General, and the Allahabad Maulavi and Jawala-Parshad, going off to command. Many others went – small fry of leaders.”

290. Mr. Sherer to Mr. Chester, June 19, 1857, MS.

291. Mr. Clive Bayley, in his report, says: “It is impossible not to admire, however much it might be regretted, the heroic devotion of the late Mr. Tucker; nor is it much a matter of wonder that his conduct and his personal prowess (Mr. Tucker, was, I believe, more than once wounded early in the day) actually succeeded in preserving, for a few hours longer, some show of order.”

292. Mr. Willock had gone on, as civil officer, with Renaud’s detachment. He had been very active during the crisis at Allahabad, and both then and afterwards had proved himself, in conflict with the enemy, to be a gallant soldier.

293. The other side of the picture should, in fairness, also be given. In the following we see some of the phenomena of the great revolt against civilisation which preceded the retribution whose manifestations are described in the text: “Day by day,” says a writer in the Calcutta Review, “as we marched along, we had ample evidence of the certainty with which the Asiatic had determined to tear us out of the land, loot and branch; the untiring malignity which had, not content with murder and mutilation, burned our bungalows and desecrated our churches only as an Asiatic can desecrate, we had witnessed, but we scarcely expected what we saw in passing along the road. There was satisfactory evidence that the genius of the revolt was to destroy everything that could possibly remind one of England or its civilisation. The telegraph wires were cut up, strewing the ground, and in some instances carried off, the telegraph posts were dug out, the bungalows burnt, and the poor unoffending milestones, so useful even to themselves, but still English, were defaced, and in many instances destroyed.”

294. Some obscurity surrounds this terrible incident, and perhaps it is better that it should be so. Colonel Williams, to whose investigations History is so much indebted, says, with respect to the evidence before him, that, “on approaching the last and most terrible scene, all seem instinctively to shrink from confessing any knowledge of so foul and barbarous a crime as the indiscriminate slaughter of helpless women and innocent children. Evidence that seems clear and strong from the 15th of May to the 14th of July, suddenly ceases on the fatal day of the 15th of that month.” ‘The most reliable testimony was that of some half-caste drummers or band-boys. But the principal witness, whose narrative is the most detailed, and seemingly the most authentic of all (John Fitchett, drummer of the 6th Native Infantry), who stated that he had been a prisoner with our people, was clearly convicted of a direct falsehood in this respect; and it is only where his evidence was supported by others that it is to be entirely trusted. It should be stated here that the male prisoners, shot to death on the 15th of July, were three of the principal fugitives from Fathgarh, and two members of the Greenaway family. The Sipahi Guards at the Bibigarh, who refused to slaughter the women and children belonged to the 6th Regiment from Allahabad. The Nana is stated to have been so incensed by their conduct that he threatened to blow them from guns.

295. This is stated, in the most unqualified manner, by the official functionaries, who made the most diligent inquiries into all the circumstances of the massacres of June and July. Mr. Sherer and Mr. Thornhill, in their official reports, speak most distinctly in denial of the assertion that our women had been mutilated and dishonoured. Colonel Williams, than whom there can be no better authority, says that the most searching and earnest inquiries totally disprove the unfounded assertion, which was at first so frequently made and so currently believed, that personal indignity and dishonour had been offered to our poor suffering countrywomen. To this it may be added, that some of the administrators of the Mutiny Relief Fund in England took great pains to investigate certain alleged cases of mutilation, said to have been brought over from India, but failed to track down a single one. The most authentic case of mutilation with which I am acquainted is one that comes to me from Ireland, whilst I am writing this chapter. Some wild Irishmen went into the house of a Mr. Connor, and, taking him for another man, against whom they had a grudge, deliberately cut off his nose.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
hosted by ibiblio Support Wikipedia