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How I Won the Victoria Cross

Chapter 1

Englishmen not easily frightened, and disregarded first signs of Mutiny – Sir Henry Lawrence came to Oudh – Nana of Bithur nearly rode over me – Troops in Oudh excited by placards – Irregular and regular troops mutiny at Lucknow – Night ride alone to the conflict – An &mute of the citizens suppressed by Captain Carnegie – Residency defences began and indifferently done – Volunteers ought to be better than regular troops when better educated – Military Police mutinied, and were attacked by Thornhill, McRae, and two noble Pathans – Executions did no good, and in my opinion never will

During the months of February and March, 1857, symptoms of disaffection were manifested by the Native Army, who peremptorily refused to use the Enfield cartridge, which they believed to be dipped in grease – a Hindu abomination. But those signs of discontent were insufficient to alarm Englishmen, whose confidence in themselves is supreme, and may be said, indeed, to be sublime.

Europeans in the East occupied so lofty a position, that they disregarded these early signs of the approaching crisis, and considered them merely as ridiculous indications of religious fervour, which would soon vanish of themselves. They saw nothing that they had ever

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done to provoke hostility. Theirs was a just and a generous rule. Were there not Courts of Law to redress wrongs, and to punish crime; had not property increased; was it not protected to an unprecedented degree; and were they not doing everything in their power to produce increased prosperity? Indeed, if any one had cause to be dissatisfied, it was the European; who felt that he was gradually losing the supremacy which he everywhere considers to be his birth-right.

So the Anglo-Saxon reasoned, and fearlessly pursued his usual course, quite confident that he could speedily trample out mutiny and rebellion in any form. He is a noble creature; but it is a pity that he lives so isolated from the people of India that it will always require violent demonstrations of disaffection to awake him to a sense of danger. He there regards popular feeling as unstable; and public wrongs as altogether unfounded. Because he means to be just and generous, he thinks that he is so.

At that time my family was staying at Kanhpur, and it was arranged that it should remain there till the end of the summer, as there was some difficulty in procuring a suitable house at Lucknow. But Providence willed that my wife should differ with friends under the same roof, which changed her plans, and saved my family from the massacre. We confidently looked forward to spending the hot weather in a house adjoining the Chatar Manzil Palace, on the River Gumti: our minds were wholly undisturbed by the occurrences at Barhampur and Barrackpur, which did not seem to forebode trouble.

Sir Henry Lawrence succeeded Mr. C. C. Jackson as Chief Commissioner of Oudh, and his presence

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inspired confidence. The rumour of a conspiracy against the Europeans was dissipated by assurances, from the officials intrusted with the investigation, that the extensive circulation of wheaten cakes in the North Western Provinces, and in Oudh, was an innocent trick to alarm the Government. Up to the end of April, the only persons affected by these omens were the authorities. They did little, however, to appease the fears of the soldiery, who industriously communicated to each other the absurd report that we meant to convert them to Christianity.

The Nana of Bithur came over to Lucknow in April, and some persons have supposed that he was then engaged in fomenting the spirit of discontent among the troops. It is doubtful, for his bearing and that of his followers was always arrogant, and it was ,only the subsequent events which gave their vulgarity the appearance of design. He was himself greatly irritated at the denial of the rights he claimed from the Government as the adopted son of Bajeerao; but this did not make any apparent difference in his demeanour towards Europeans, to whom he was as courteous as an ill-bred man could be.

I saw him once, when he visited Sir Henry Lawrence; and again, one evening while I was walking. homeward, when he and his cavalcade nearly rode over me, as we suddenly met under the large masonry gateway leading to the Teri Kothi. To save myself, I threw out my arms, and their horses shyed and alarmed the Nana, who was nearly pitched from his handsome Shekawattee. I am not one of those who think that a dark skin justifies rudeness, and I would have stepped aside if I could have done so, for at that time there was no reason to suspect the atrocious part be was to take in the tragedy of

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Kanhpur. The monster is said to have died, but the public may be sure that the Government of India will not relax in its efforts to capture him till it is in possession of the most indubitable proofs of his demise.

No one dreamed of the coming struggle for supremacy between the white and the dark man, till the ferocious deeds of May, 1857, at Meerut and Delhi, warned us of the immensity of our danger. Successful attempts were now made to excite the religious prejudices of the troops in Oudh. Placards, couched in the most vehement terms, spread the wildest rumours of our designs; and reminded the people of the perfidious annexation of Oudh, and of some real and imaginary wrongs. Most of these inflammatory papers were posted by Mahomedans, who rejoiced at the opportunity offered for a return to that state of disorder and violence for which they have an especial liking. The city of Lucknow abounded in reprobates, whom peace and quiet impoverished, and they did their utmost to inflame the aversion which most natives have to Europeans.

The murder, at Meerut, of a near relative of my wife, so frightened and distressed her, that I yielded to her entreaties to abandon our new house for a couple of rooms in the Post Office, near the Residency, and we remained in one of them to the end of the siege. Soon after, the public treasure was transferred to the Baillie Guard, and some of Her Majesty’s 32nd Foot occupied the Banqueting Hall. The civil and military families gradually removed into buildings adjoining. But many civilians misunderstood the extent of their danger, and I had trouble to induce them to leave their homes in the city, and only succeeded in persuading a few to prepare for a siege by purchasing simple necessaries.

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The irregular troops at Lucknow could dissemble no longer. The 7th Regiment mutinied, and it was hoped that the prompt measures of Sir Henry Lawrence, on that occasion, would have preserved us from the mutiny of the regular troops, which happened on the 30th of May. He did all that was possible, at that early date, to meet the danger, which he at one time thought conciliation might arrest. No human efforts, however, could have saved us on that night, but for the interposition of Providence. At the Residency, we could not have resisted more than a few hours, for we had no place to retire to more secure than the roofs of the houses, to which the women and children instinctively flew on the report of the first gun in the Mureon cantonment. There they looked with awe towards the city for the dreaded rising of the people, and trembled as they saw the burning buildings, and heard the roll of musketry and the loud booming of artillery in the distance.

On the night of the 30th of May there were three hundred men of the 32nd Foot, and some European artillery, in the cantonments, to oppose three regiments of infantry, and one of cavalry, who might be joined by the irregular regiments at the Musabagh and the Dilaram. I was anxious to share in the struggle which we fancied was taking place at Mureon, and was the first to reach Sir Henry Lawrence from the Residency, with the comforting assurance that there were no signs of the anticipated rising among the citizens. I found him acting wholly on the defensive, which was the most prudent course owing to the darkness of the night and uncertainty as to the extent of the mutiny. He ins affected by the ruin which he now saw was inevitable.

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He was without fear for himself, and his noble nature melted at the thought of the danger in which we were soon to be involved.. A more unselfish man never breathed, and he only trembled for the fate of others. He would willingly have walked to death to avert the doom that threatened his countrymen, and his nervousness was wholly owing to the feeble state of his health, and to the generous pulsations of as fine a heart as ever beat in a manly breast. The screams of the mutineers in their lines – their figures gliding across the streets, firing the empty thatched bungalows around us – the lurid glare of the fierce flames – the crackling of the burning bamboos – and the noise of the falling roofs, resembling distant guns – aroused serious thoughts of the appalling trial, foreboded. Encompassed, as he thought we should be, by a multitude of enemies, what wonder if a mind borne down by disease, and fatigued by the cares of State, bent under so great a weight.

It was in the subsequent proceedings of the mutineers that Providence befriended us. They hastily retreated from Lucknow towards morning, instead of entering the city, where they would doubtless have been aided by thousands of vagabonds who lived on the vices of the people, and panted for the destruction of a power which preserved the weak from the lawless. These sorry creatures expected to be joined by the troops, and could not forbear showing their feelings, even after the dastardly course taken by the mutineers. But they were more cowardly than the Sepoys, and a small military demonstration, conducted by our indefatigable city magistrate, Captain J. Carnegie, soon extinguished their zeal for the present.

I returned to the Residency at about two o’clock

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at night, passing the office of Mons. Depratt, who had prepared the roof of his building for defence – so little was then known of the character of the war we were soon to be engaged in – leaving the whole of the .lower floor open Mr. Rees, (who published a most interesting narrative of the defence,) and some Sikhs were with him, and I was challenged. While Sir Henry Lawrence was pursuing the mutineers, the late Major Banks, Captain J. Carnegie, and myself, were engaged at the vacant barracks of the 32nd Foot, on the hazardous duty of disarming a large guard, who tightly clutched their muskets as we took them away, and demurred at what they conceived to be an unmerited dishonour. The task was performed with great temper and discretion by those two officers, who were men of no ordinary courage and decision.

Active preparations were now made for the defence of the dilapidated old Castle known as the Machchi Bhawan, and those insignificant fortifications which we were to defend for nearly five months, were languidly commenced. Men who. have never been in war know little of its wants, and some of the most remarkable errors in our works remained undiscovered till the fire of the enemy drove us from our guns. The Chief Commissioner best comprehended what was required. Major J. Anderson and the other Engineers, especially Captains, Fulton, Anderson, and Innes, cheerfully endured all kinds of fatigue and exposure to complete the defences. If their inexperience of war occasioned defects and deficiencies, they amply made up for it, during the defence, by their intelligence, and by exertions unsurpassed by any other branch of the service.

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At the beginning of June I formed the civilians into three garrisons in the office buildings, and with the assent of the members, nominated commanders to each. At first, room was refused; and it was not till I had personally urged their case upon Mr. Gubbins and Mr. Ommanny, that they were provided with accommodation for their families. Jealousy, and disappointment in the quality of the room provided, sometimes provoked disagreements; for there was a mingling of several adverse elements too close and too sudden to be agreeable to the proud Knights of the Quill. I had less trouble in forming them for military duty than was expected, because most of them were intelligent and good tempered, and had a just conception of the important part they were to take in the approaching defence. Arms were supplied to them, though some persons ridiculed the idea of their being able to use them, and facetiously enjoined the volunteers to be very careful that they did not go off! I, as chief of the class, felt personally concerned in their future reputation, and, to enforce some military discipline, posted sentries, who were relieved every hour. I frequently visited them, and was deprived of rest for several nights, to the injury of my health. Till the work was taken from my hands, on the occupation of the Residency by the military, I perseveringly did all that a civilian could do to form the “uncovenanted” into an efficient body, although a few thought me too officious, and one of them ungratefully rebelled against my authority. The whole body afterwards distinguished themselves by their courage and endurance, and their superior intelligence made them as good, if not better, than regular troops, for the kind of warfare they

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were engaged in. Precise military instruction is not so essential for fighting behind defences as it is on the open plain, where the drilled soldier would, for a time, be superior to volunteers. No troops go into action with the precision of a parade, although great efforts are made to do it; and those who argue for the superiority of regular troops, should remember that a common soldier’s share in an engagement is very simple. It is enough if the commanders of volunteer troops are trained leaders, for those below do as they are ordered, and educated men are certainly better able to follow instructions. Should the volunteer companies of England ever be engaged, such is the effect of education, that they would soon be regarded as equal to, if not, (and I am inclined to think they would be,) superior to the regular army.

On the 12th of June, the military police at Luck now mutinied, and quitted the station with their arms; and towards evening a requisition reached me, through Mr. Gubbins, to collect as many volunteers as possible. We hurriedly mounted upon artillery horses, and joined in the pursuit of the mutineers, who were overtaken marching towards Kanhpur. After a harmless fire of shot, grape, and shrapnel, and a feeble charge by the native cavalry, we marched back with a few prisoners, and very little glory.

Messrs. Thornhill, of the Civil Service, and James McRae, Civil Engineer, and two Pathans, were the only persons who distinguished themselves in that pursuit. The first impetuously attacked a stalwart Sepoy, who, favoured by Mr. Thornhill’s unmanageable mare, ran his bayonet through the skin of the chest into the left arm, and would, doubtless, have killed him,

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but for the arrival of McRae, who disabled the soldier by a sabre cut on the head. The Pathans afterwards, alone, charged into the retreating mutineers, and were killed.

During the pursuit, I induced some of the mutineers to surrender, and incurred the displeasure of the late Major Banks and. Mr. George Couper, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, because I resisted their being killed on the spot. To my mind, indiscriminate slaughter was highly injudicious at that stage of the mutiny; and the argument that the mutineers had “done their best to kill us,” could not apply to the men who surrendered. It was very doubtful whether severity, even at the first indication of a mutiny among the Sepoys, would have prevented what happened; for one of the most blind, most fierce, and inextinguishable passions of man had been provoked. In fact, each victim to the law excited, rather than intimidated, the delinquents.

Those persons who witnessed the executions before the gate of the Machchi Bhawan Castle, at Lucknow, will recollect the exhortations addressed by the culprits to the crowd, to remember that they were about to die for their faith; and the curses hurled at us, coupled with the menace, that their unmerited end would be avenged by their children, and children’s children! The eager multitude, who gazed at the white faces, and at the expiring victims, were not insensible to those appeals, which added bitterness to that vindictive fanaticism which is all the stronger for being unreasonable. Unusually severe punishments are only justified by the end attainable; and it might have been seen in June, 1857, that active hatred against us would be the effect of the executions, which the gentle heart and good judgment of Sir Henry Lawrence limited more than some of his councillors approved.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
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