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Chapter VI – Movements Preliminary to the Re-conquest of Oudh

Sir Colin Campbell sets out for Fathgarh

It is time now to return to the Commander-in-Chief. The carriage necessary for the movement of the force under his command returned from Allahabad on the 23rd December. Sir Colin marched from Kanhpur on the 24th. Clearing the country lying between the main road and the road by which he had despatched Walpole with his left brigade, and stripping the Ganges of boats with a brigade on his right, Sir Colin reached Miran-ki-sarai on the 30th. It was at this place that he met Hodson in the manner I have related in the preceding chapter. The following day he reached Gursuhaganj. Here a road branches off from the main road, and leads the traveller over the Kali Nadi, traversed by a suspension bridge at a distance of five miles from the junction of the roads to Fathgarh.

The rebels driven from all sides to Fathgarh

The advance of the Commander-in-Chief had been acting on the various detachments of rebels in the manner of a loaded net sunk in a stream, followed by men wading, and drawn upwards by men on both banks. Walpole and Seaton prevented escape on one side, Sir Colin drove his victims up on the other. There was one outlet, however, which neither commanded, and for this the harassed tribe was now making. The outlet was Fathgarh.

They determine, too late, to destroy the bridge over the Kali Nadi

The Kali Nadi barred the entrance of a hostile force into Fathgarh. But I have said that it was spanned by a suspension bridge. The rebels, jammed into the place from all sides, some fleeing from Seaton, some from Walpole, some from the Commander-in-Chief, began, recovering from their panic, to reflect that their last chance of safety lay in the removal of the suspension bridge. But this reflection, like so many that occurred to them in this campaign, came just too late.

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They begin their work of destruction

However, on the 31st, they sent down a party to destroy the bridge. Had they worked with a will, they might have succeeded. But, though they effected some damage that night, they left the piers and the main, chains intact, hoping, it may be supposed, to deal with them on the morrow.

but are checked by Adrian Hope

But, for the destruction of the bridge there was to be no morrow. Early on the morning of the 1st January, Sir Colin detached Adrian Hope’s brigade, reinforced with two 24-pounders and one 8-inch howitzer, under. Lieutenant Vaughan of the Naval Brigade, and some engineers, sappers, and cavalry, to the Kali Nadi, with orders to drive away the enemy and to repair the bridge in case it should be found damaged.

January 1–2

On the approach of Adrian Hope the rebels fled, and the engineers and sappers, covered by a strong infantry picket, at once set to work to repair the damage done to the bridge. They laboured with so much earnestness that day and through the night, that by half-past 7 o’clock the next morning the bridge was in a fit state to be traversed.

Sir Colin reconnoitres the ground beyond the bridge

The labours of the British troops had but just been completed, and the sailors, who had helped in the work, were on the river-bank washing their garments, when the Commander-in-Chief and his staff arrived to examine and the position. Halting, Sir Colin noticed a large village, facing the bridge, at a distance of about three hundred yards, flanked on its right by some tall trees. In front of the village was a small square building, which proved afterwards to be a toll-house. The road from the river-bank gradually ascended to a point beyond the village, which it intersected.

The rebels open fire upon him

Sir Colin had had barely time to make these observations when the rebels, who till then had kept out of sight, poured into the village, and opened a heavy musketry fire upon the group of which the. Commander-in-Chief was the centre. Under cover of this fusillade, they brought up two guns, and opened fire on the pickets sent across to guard the bridge-head, and on the bridge itself. Sir Colin at once sent orders to the main body of his troops, then about four miles in rear, to push on. Till they could come up, he directed Adrian Hope to hold the bridge, but on no account to attack the enemy.

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Adrian Hope keeps them in check

January 2

Adrian Hope at once detached the 53rd across the bridge to reinforce the pickets, directing them to extend under cover of the bank, and to keep up thence a brisk musketry fire. One wing of the 33rd he kept in hand, ready, if necessary, to support the skirmishers. The other wing had been detached to guard the ford, three miles lower down the stream.

The 53rd lie down beyond the bridge and open fire.

The 53rd, crossing the bridge, found a partial, though inadequate, cover from the mounds and ridges of earth and the tall grass covering the bank. Lying down here, they opened on the enemy a very effective fire. Meanwhile, Vaughan’s three guns crossed the bridge, and, taking up a position close to a yellow bungalow near its northern end, opened fire on the village.

Vaughan dismounts one of the enemy’s pieces

Still the rebels continued their fusillade; and their leader, noting that a gun placed under cover of the toll-house would sweep the bridge, brought up one of his pieces to that position between 2 and 3 o’clock, and opened from it. The effect was most damaging to the British, one shot alone killing or wounding eight men. This practice continued for some time, when the guns of the Naval Brigade, splendidly directed by Vaughan, succeeded in dismounting the piece and blowing up the tumbril147.

The 53rd rush to the front

The gun which had caused so much destruction had scarcely been dismounted when the 53rd, disregarding their orders to remain where they were, made a simultaneous rush to the front on the toll-house, clearing out the enemy. Sir Colin was furious at this disobedience, and vainly tried to check it148. The men of the 53rd had heard

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that they were to be relieved, and they were determined to be in the front. There was nothing for it but to support them. Fortunately, the heads of the main column were now at hand. The 93rd crossed the bridge in support of the 53rd, whilst Greathed’s brigade, following, advanced up the slope to the left, flanked on the extreme left by the cavalry led by Hope Grant. As the infantry advanced on the village, the enemy abandoned it.

Complete defeat of the rebels

Upon this, Hope Grant, taking on his men round at a trot, caught the enemy as they were emerging from the other end, and, charging in echelon of squadrons, completely broke them: “Then despair seized upon the rebel mass; breaking their ranks, throwing aside their arms, they fled in wild confusion; but the horsemen were upon them and amongst them, and the slaughter was terrible; for several miles they rode along, spearing and cutting down at every step; and the progress of their swift advance might be marked by the smoke of exploded tumbrils curling up amidst the dark-green trees149.”

They flee into Rohilkhand

The rout of the enemy was complete. Eight guns, several colours, palanquins, and ammunition waggons fell into the hands of the victors. The rebels did not cease their flight even when they reached the fort of Fathgarh, but, hastily seizing on all that was portable in their camp outside that fort, hurried in panic and dismay across the same river which many of them had crossed but six short months before, arrogant with the pride of revolt, thirsting for the blood of the officers whom whilom they had sworn to obey! They fled into Rohilkhand.

Ovation given by the soldiers to Sir Colin

The ovation the Commander-in-Chief received from his soldiers that evening is thus described by an eye-witness, one of the gallant actors in that stirring scene: “Their return from this” (the return of the cavalry from the pursuit) “was a stirring sight of war. In front came the 9th Lancers, with three captured standards at their head; the wild-looking Sikh horsemen rode in the rear. As they passed the Commander-in-Chief he took off his hat to them, with some words of praise and thanks. The Lancers shook their lances in the air and cheered; the Sikhs

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took up the cry, waving their sabres above their heads. The men carrying the standards gave them to the wind; the Highland brigade, who were encamping close by, ran clown and cheered both the victorious cavalry and the veteran Chief, waving their bonnets in the air. It was a fair sight, and reminded one of the old days of chivalry. When Sir Colin rode back through the camp of the Highlanders, the enthusiasm of the men exceeded description150.”

Sir Colin’s losses amounted to four men killed, two officers and eight men wounded. Those of the enemy were naturally much greater.

Gallantry of Roberts

I have mentioned the skilful conduct of Vaughan of the Naval Brigade at this action, but I cannot quit the subject without referring to the gallantry of Roberts, the same Roberts who at a later period won so much honour and distinction in Afghanistan, and who, at the time I am writing, holds the high office of Commander-in-Chief in India. In pursuing the rebels, this officer, then a lieutenant, came suddenly upon and engaged two sipahis with a standard, cut one of them down, and captured the standard. Continuing his onward course, he cut down another sipahi, who was keeping a trooper at bay. For these acts, succeeding many others of a similar character, Roberts received the Victoria Cross.

Sir Colin reoccupies Fathgarh

Sir Colin halted for the night some twelve miles from Fathgarh. Early the next morning he marched for that place, blew open the gate of the fort, and entered without opposition. So great had been the previous confidence, and so complete the present panic of the rebels, that they had left in the fort uninjured a valuable stock of timber, stored for the purpose of making gun-carriages; steam-engines; guns of all sorts; and a large quantity of soldiers’ clothing. They had even neglected to cut the bridge of boats communicating across the Ganges with the opposite bank. This bridge was at once secured.

and there concentrates his flying columns

January 4

The next day Walpole’s column, strengthened by Seaton’s, and escorting the convoy previously mentioned, marched into Fathgarh. The army thus concentrated amounted to more than ten thousand men, well supplied with camp equipage and means of transport.

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The third portion of his programmes accomplished

Thus was accomplished successfully the third portion of the original programme of the Commander-in-Chief. Communication with the north-west had been re-established: the Duab had been cleared of rebels. Those rebels had escaped into Rohilkhand. That province and the province of Oudh still remained in open revolt. The dealing with them was to constitute the fourth scene of the drama.

Sir Colin Campbell is in favour of dealing with Rohilkhand before re-conquering Oudh.

It was the opinion of Sir Colin Campbell that the three months of cold weather which yet remained to him might be most profitably employed by following the enemy into Rohilkhand. By stamping out the rebellion in that province he would, he believed, assure the more easily the submission of the whole of the north-west. The separate forces then operating, as will be hereafter described, in western and central India, in Rajputana, and in Bundelkhand, would at the same time restore order and tranquillity throughout those parts of India. Oudh alone would remain; and Sir Colin was of opinion that Oudh, hemmed in by the Gurkhas in one extremity, and by troops whom he would dispose in summer quarters from that extremity to the further border, might wait his pleasure – might remain, that is to say, for some months longer in the hands of the rebels, until the ensuing cold season would permit his troops to operate more effectually in that country. Rightly regarding his European troops as the mainstay, the backbone of his army, he was unwilling, if it could be avoided, to expose them to the exhaustion and loss inseparable from a hot-weather campaign – a campaign carried on under circumstances which would often require the employment of small detachments, hurried and forced marches, exposure to the mid-day sun, and possibly to the heavy autumnal rains.

Lord Canning prefers that the re-conquest of Lakhnao should first be attempted

But, in the opinion of the Council of the Government of India, the political exigencies of the time were so pressing, that they overbore considerations which, if prompted partly by sound rules of military science, were dictated in the main by regard for the health and preservation of the European soldier. Lord Canning and the members of his Council were guided in the views they propounded by two great principles: the one, that no rest should be given to the rebels – that they must be attacked and pursued until they should submit; the

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other, that the main object of the next movement should be the re-capture of Lakhnao. These were cardinal points with the Government. Fitting in with them, too, was another consideration, which, if of a less pressing character, was yet not unimportant. I allude to the co-operation of the Gurkhas, led by the Prime Minister of Nipal, Jang Bahadur. These troops, ten thousand in number, were occupying a position from which they could co-operate effectively with the British in Oudh. Were Sir Colin to deal immediately with Oudh, they would join in the action. But it could not be expected, if the Oudh campaign were adjourned, that these men, natives of the Himalayas, would remain during the hot and rainy seasons in the plains exposed to a climate with which they were naturally unfitted to cope.

Arguments in favour of the course adopted by Lord Canning

There are few, I think, who would be disposed now to question the wisdom of the course recommended by the Government of India. It seems to me that every consideration favoured its adoption. Alike in war and in politics, it is always advisable to strike a decisive blow at the most important of the exposed points of an enemy. In this case Lakhnao was that point. Lakhnao taken, the heart of the rebels would be broken. No other great rallying-place would remain to them. So long, on the other hand, as that regal city should remain in their possession, their adherents would continue to nourish hope, and it would require more than ordinary tact and care to prevent the renewal of uprisings in parts which had been already overrun.

Again, of the two provinces, Rohilkhand and Oudh, the latter was by far the most formidable, the most important. The pacification of Rohilkhand would produce little or no effect on the men of Oudh. On the contrary, the re-conquest of Lakhnao would be felt in every village and in every corner of Rohilkhand. To this must be added the important consideration that whilst Outram was, with some difficulty, holding the Alambagh with nearly four thousand men, rebels from all parts of India were daily crowding into Lakhnao. This fact alone would show that the case of Lakhnao was the more pressing.

The Commander-in-Chief adheres to Lord Canning’s views

The necessity of dealing in the first instance a deadly blow at Lakhnao was insisted upon with so much force by Lord Canning that it became a law to the Commander-in-Chief. It devolved, then, upon him to make his preparations to carry into effect the settled plan.

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Advantageous position occupied by Sir Colin at Fathgarh

At Fathgarh, situated on the Ganges, at the south-western extremity of the border-line between Oudh and Rohilkhand, Sir Colin was occupying a position of no small advantage. It effectually barred the entrance into the re-conquered districts of mutineers from the capital of Rohilkhand – Bareli – seventy-seven miles distant; from the north-western division of Oudh; and from Lakhnao. The river-line between Fathgarh and Kanhpur was strongly held, there being intermediate posts at Bithur and Miran-ki-sarai. It was impossible for Sir Colin Campbell to undertake the contemplated measures against Lakhnao without the aid of a siege-train. Now, the siege-train was at Agra.

The road between Kanhpur and Agra protected on the left flank

The distance between Agra and Kanhpur, the point whence the advance on Lakhnao must be made, is a hundred and seventy- nine miles. The road passed through Itawah, whence Walpole had but recently expelled the rebels, and, in the vicinity of districts cleared by Seaton. The victory near Fathgarh and the occupation of that place by Sir Colin had made the road safe against attacks from the left whilst the siege-train should be on its way.

and on the right

Scarcely less secure was it from danger on the right. For, although the broken remnant of the Gwaliar contingent was supposed to be at Kalpi or in the vicinity, the men forming it could scarcely have recovered from the heavy blow and sore discouragement inflicted upon them on the 6th December. It seemed almost certain, too, that they would feel in their rear the effects of the superhuman efforts which it was known were being made by the British troops in Central India and in Bundelkhand to get at them; whilst the fact that Kanhpur was guarded by a brigade under Inglis, that the communications with Allahabad were preserved by a Madras brigade under Carthew, and that those between that place and Banaras were protected by another brigade under Franks, left them, in reality, but one line upon which they could act against the siege-train – the line by Akbarpur, and that was the line which Walpole had but very recently cleared, and along which no force could march from Kalpi without exposing its right to Kanhpur and Bithur.

The siege-train was then ordered from Agra. Whilst it was on its way, Sir Colin had time to organise the measures he considered necessary to secure his conquests and to facilitate

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his movements.

Sir Colin makes preparations for Lakhnao

To guard the position at Fathgarh and the districts to the west and south-west of it, including Itawah, Mainpuri, and Miran-ki-sarai, he required an officer of more than ordinary intelligence and decision, well acquainted with the natives, and capable of arriving at and acting on a decision. For this command he selected Colonel Seaton. What Seaton was may be gathered from the account I have given of his march from Dehli to Bewar. A gallant soldier, shrinking from no responsibility, always ready to give his life for his country, he was just the man to hold a position full of difficulty and danger. The post that was offered him came emphatically within that category. For, to hold Fathgarh and the districts which Fathgarh covered, Sir Colin proposed to leave him only two weak English regiments, – one of which only, the 82nd, was at Fathgarh – the 7th Panjab Infantry, a 9-pounder field battery, and three hundred and fifty newly raised native horsemen; this, too, when fifteen thousand rebels were within seven miles of Fathgarh! But, difficult as was the task, Seaton was equal to it.

Sir Colin manoeuvres so as to induce a belief that Rohilkhand is his object

Meanwhile, Sir Colin endeavoured to amuse the Rohilkhand rebels. His great object was to mislead them – to impress them with the idea that Bareli was the object of his attack. Immediately after occupying Fathgarh, he had sent Adrian Hopes brigade to scour the country in the vicinity. On Hope’s return, learning that a force of fifteen thousand men had assembled at the town of Allahganj on the banks of the Ramganga river, some seven or eight miles distant, Sir Colin sent Walpole’s brigade, with guns, cavalry, and sappers, to make a demonstration against them. Walpole’s orders were to make as much display as possible, but not to commit himself to an engagement across the river. He carried out these orders to the letter; he made as though he would repair the bridge, which the rebels had broken down, across the Ramganga; and, to add to the delusion, Sir Colin rode out himself and made a careful reconnaissance of the spot. The ruse succeeded admirably, for the rebels were completely deceived, and, for a time, became rooted to the left bank of the river.

Whether suspicion gradually dawned upon them, or whether they were well served by their spies, I do not know. But it is certain that, after remaining in this position ten or twelve days,

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Adrian Hope defeats the rebels at Sutia

they detached a body of five thousand men to attempt an incursion into the re-conquered districts. These men, crossing the Ramganga, at a point above that watched by Walpole, marched to a ferry on the Ganges, called Surajghat, about twelve miles above Fathgarh, crossed that river, and occupied the village of Shamsabad. At ten o’clock on the evening of the 26th January, Adrian Hope’s brigade, consisting of the 42nd, the 93rd, the 4th Panjab Rifles, Remmington’s and Blunt’s troops of Bengal Horse Artillery, two squadrons of the 9th Lancers, and half of Hodson’s Horse, was sent to attack them. Marching all night, Adrian Hope found the enemy at 8 o’clock in the morning posted at the village of Sutia, half a mile from Shamsabad. As soon as the rebels saw the English their guns opened fire. Hope did not reply till well within distance; but, when he did reply, it was with considerable effect. At the fifth discharge the rebels broke and fled. Hodson and the 9th Lancer squadrons were amongst them at once, and, though the rebel cavalry fought well, the slaughter of them was great. The British loss did not exceed five or six killed and about twenty wounded. Amongst those wounded mortally was McDowell, the gallant second in command of Hodson’s Horse, the companion of Hodson in many a daring enterprise. Hodson himself was wounded in two places. The enemy were pursued eight or nine miles. Those who escaped re-crossed the Ganges into Rohilkhand, leaving four guns in the hands of the victors.

Final preparations before marching on Lakhnao

Meanwhile, in order the better to relieve pressure on Seaton’s small brigade, Sir Colin Campbell had arranged with the Chief Commissioner of the Panjab, Sir John Lawrence, that a force should be organised at Rurki. for the purpose of entering Rohilkhand from the north-west. This column, he had reason to believe, would be ready to set out on this expedition on the 1st February. It was now approaching that date; Hope’s victory at Sutia, had been severe enough to impose prudence on the rebels for a few days; the siege-train was well on its way to Kanhpur; Seaton had had a week to examine the lay of the districts committed to his care and prudence; there was no reason for further delay. Sir Colin was anxious to return to the place which was to be his base in the new campaign, to see how the works he had ordered to cover the bridges were progressing, to be present there to receive the siege-train, and to despatch it across

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the Ganges to the first advanced position on the Lakhnao road – the station of Unao. He left Fathgarh, then, on the 1st February, followed by the cavalry and the horse artillery, and, making forced marches, reached Kanhpur on the 4th. Hope’s brigade and the artillery park started the same day by regular marches, whilst Walpole’s brigade, strengthened by a portion of that which Seaton had brought down, stayed a few days longer, to cover to the last the communications with Agra. But by the 23rd February all had crossed the Ganges into Oudh. On the sandy plains between Unao and Banni were massed engineers, artillery, horse, foot, commissariat waggons, camp-followers, the most efficient European army ever ranged in the plains of India. It counted seventeen battalions of infantry, fifteen of which were British; twenty-eight squadrons of cavalry, including four English regiments; fifty-four light and eighty heavy guns and mortars. They are there on the eve of their departure. The morrow will see them start for the rebellious city, the capture of which will be so fatal to many among them. I must leave them for the moment; for before I describe their deeds it is fitting that I should narrate the manner in which Jang Bahadur and Franks had been co-operating from the south-east, and how Outram and his gallant companions were bearing up in the Alambagh.

Footnotes

147. The manner in which this work was done reflects so much credit on all who were concerned in it, that it merits a notice more detailed than that which I have given in the text. “Lieutenant Vaughan now pointed and fired one of our guns at the small gun of the enemy, which was concealed behind the corner of a house, and annoying us much. His first shot struck the roof of the house; his second struck the angle of the wall about half-way down; and a third dismounted the gun and destroyed the carriage. Captain Peel, who was standing by, said: Thank you, Mr. Vaughan; perhaps you will now be so good as to blow up the tumbril.’ Lieutenant Vaughan fired a fourth shot, which passed near it; and a fifth, which blew it up and killed several of the enemy. Thank you,’ said Captain Peel, in his blandest and most courteous tones; ‘I will now go and report to Sir Colin.’ ” – The Shannon’s Brigade in India. E. H. Verney.

148. “The Commander-in-Chief was terribly annoyed, and, riding up to the regiment, pitched into it well. But these wild Irishmen were incorrigible. Whenever he began to speak, a lot of them exclaimed, as loud as they could, ‘Three cheers for the Commander-in-Chief, boys!’ until at length he himself was obliged to go away, laughing.” – Hope Grant’s Incidents.

149. Blackwood’s Magazine, October 1858.

150. Blackwood’s Magazine, October 1858.

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