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Chapter VII – The Advance into Eastern Oudh

Jang Bahadur offers at an early date to aid to suppress the revolt

Among the offers of assistance which, in the early days of the revolt, had been made to the Governor-General was one of peculiar significance. Jang Bahadur, the virtual ruler of the independent Hill State which, touching the British territory at Kumaun, extends all along the north-east border of Oudh, then rejoining British territory at a point in the Gorakhpur district due north of the station of the same name, continues the touch to within a few miles of Darjiling – Jang Bahadur had, in the month of May, placed the whole military resources of Nipal at the disposal of the Governor-General. The independent position occupied by Nipal, the known ability of the man, who, though only Prime Minister, wielded all real authority in the country, the certainty that the overthrow of the British could scarcely fail to offer great opportunities to an able general commanding a compact and well-disciplined army, gave to Jang Bahadur’s proposal the appearance of being inspired by a pure and generous friendship. Few untravelled independent rulers would have acted in a similar manner. But Jang Bahadur had but a few years previously visited Europe. This visit had enlightened him on many points, and on one point in particular. It had convinced him that, under all circumstances, England would be able to maintain her hold on India. It became therefore with him a matter of interest to support the stronger combatant.

The offer, after some delay, is accepted

Lord Canning thanked Jang Bahadur for his offer, but it was not till some time in the month of June that he accepted it. In pursuance of the agreement between the contracting parties, Jang Bahadur in July despatched three thousand Gurkhas from Khatmandu. These, entering the British territory at a point north of Gorakhpur, marched on that place, and reached it at the end

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of the month. Their arrival was the signal for the disarming of the Sipahis stationed there (1st August).

and a few Gurkah troops are sent to the Azamgarh district

The neighbouring stations of Azamgarh and Jaunpur were then in the throes of anarchy. Vainly had the heroic Venables, the indigo-planter, who had been steadfast among the faint-hearted, struggled and fought for order. It is true that on the 16th July, after a gallant fight of the few against many, he had repulsed the rebels in an attack on Azamgarh. But, after the victory, his own followers had shown symptoms of mutiny, and he and the few Europeans who followed him had been forced, on the 30th July, to retreat on Ghazipur. To restore order, then, in Azamgarh and its vicinity, the, arrival of the Nipalese troops was opportune. They occupied Azamgarh on the 13th August, and Jaunpur on the 15th. Meanwhile, on their evacuating it, Gorakhpur was taken possession of by rebels from Oudh, commanded by one Muhammad Husen.

British officers sent to represent the Government with the Nipal troops

The Government of India, to ensure concert between these allies and its own troops, had transmitted orders to the military authorities at Banaras to appoint certain officers, left unemployed by the mutiny of their regiments, to join and act with the Nipalese. In obedience to these orders, Captain Boileau and Lieutenants Miles, Hall, and Campbell came to Jaunpur and took up the duties assigned to them. Two or three weeks elapsed before an opportunity offered of testing the quality of the allied troops, but in the third week of September the approach to Azamgarh of a large body of rebels gave an occasion of which they eagerly availed themselves.

Azamgarh is again threatened

Azamgarh was the point threatened. Lieutenant-Colonel Wroughton, commanding at Jaunpur, deemed it advisable then to detach the Sher regiment of Nipalese, twelve hundred strong, and two guns, to reinforce that station.

The Nipalese left Jaunpur at 10 A.M. on the 18th September, marched forty miles that day, and reached Azamgarh at 6 o’clock in the evening. It had transpired, meanwhile, that the rebels were encamped at or near a village called Manduri, ten miles distant; and, it being surmised that they were ignorant of the arrival of the Nipal reinforcement, it was determined to surprise them. Accordingly, at half past 1 o’clock the next morning, the Sher regiment again set out, accompanied by Captain Boileau as

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The Nipal troops and Mr. Venables surprise and defeat the rebels

English officer in charge of the force, by Mr. Wynyard the judge, by Mr. Venables, the gallant planter, whose recent services I have just referred to, and by three other officers. Manduri was reached a little after sunrise. The rebels were found strongly posted,. their centre covered by the village, and their flanks protected by fields of sugar-cane, then at their full height. Nothing daunted, the Nipal colonel, Shamsher Singh, formed his men up in five columns, and dashed at that strong position. Their onslaught was so fierce, that in ten minutes the rebels were in full flight, leaving on the field three brass guns. They lost about two hundred men killed and wounded. On the side of the Nipalese two were killed and twenty-six wounded. Mr. Wynyard, in his report of the action to his civil superiors, alluded in the highest terms to the conduct of the Nipal troops. Regarding Mr. Venables, who commanded the cavalry, he wrote; “He was always where fighting was hardest; he was first up at the first gun taken, and killed three men with his own hand151.”

The victory is followed up

This victory had an excellent effect. Up to that time the British authorities had felt some hesitation in employing their allies against the rebels, but with the victory of Manduri all uncertainty vanished. To march fifty miles in two days, and then to win a battle in an unknown country, would have reflected credit on veteran soldiers. The success obtained on this occasion not only filled the English officers with confidence, it emboldened them to follow up the step already taken. On the 27th September, Colonel Wroughton, accompanied by the civil officers of the district, marched with another party of Nipal troops from Jaunpur against, and occupied, Mubarakpur – the stronghold of a rebel Rajah, Iradat Khan; took that chieftain prisoner; tried, and hanged him. Proceeding onwards, Wroughton and the Nipal troops pacified the entire district. On the 29th, the authorities at Azamgarh made a similar demonstration from that place, and with similar success. Atraolia, the stronghold of the rebel leader Beni Madhu, was occupied, its fortifications were destroyed; and, although Beni Madhu escaped, he quitted the district. Up to the borders of Oudh order was thus for the time restored.

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A detachment of British troops sent from Banaras under Longden

To support the Nipal troops, the Government had, in September, directed the despatch from Banaras of a small force, consisting of three hundred and twenty men of the 10th Foot, two 9-pounder guns, a small detachment of European artillery, and a hundred and seventy of the 17th Madras Native Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Longden of the 10th Foot. But, before this small force could reach the scene of action, the Oudh rebels had again crossed the frontier, and had encountered and been beaten by the Nipalese at Kudya on the 19th October, and at Chanda on the 30th of the same month152. The last-named action was severe enough to merit a separate record. The rebels, numbering from four to five thousand men, were strongly posted and had seven guns. The Nipal troops counted only eleven hundred men with two guns. The battle, obstinately contested, terminated in the complete defeat of the rebels, with a loss on their side of three hundred killed. Four of their guns were taken. But the victory was dearly purchased. Lieutenant-Colonel Madan Man Singh and eleven men were killed, and fifty-nine were wounded. The gallantry of the Nipal troops had been conspicuous. Of one of them, Lieutenant Gambhir Singh, it is related in the official account of the action that, “single-handed, he took a gun, cutting down five of the artillerymen, and wounding and driving away two others.” This gallant ally was covered with wounds, but eventually recovered.

Longden captures Atraolia

Longden reached Jaunpur just after the action of Chanda. Three days after his arrival (4th November) the Oudh rebels, to the number of one thousand, with two guns, again crossed the Oudh frontier, and seized the fort of Atraolia. The attention of Longden was at once called to the fact. Uniting his force to that of the Nipalese, he marched out at once, and, on the ninth, cannonaded the place so vigorously, that the enemy evacuated it during the night.

But the fact that the British territory was still liable to invasion, and that the British troops, though strong enough to repel an isolated attack, were not strong enough to defend the whole frontier, and might be forced, under certain circumstances,

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to fall back on Banaras, induced the Government of India to conclude with the Nipal Government a new arrangement.

The government concludes an arrangement with Jang Bahadur for assistance led by himself

In virtue of this, it was arranged that Jang Bahadur should proceed himself to the scene of action with a force of nine thousand picked troops, and that to this force Colonel MacGregor should be attached with the rank of Brigadier-General. At the same time measures were taken greatly to increase the British force on the eastern frontier of Oudh. Large reinforcements were sent to the Jaunpur force, and that force so strengthened was placed under the command of one of the ablest officers in the British Army, Brigadier-General Franks, C.B.

The British force is likewise strengthened

Similarly, another mixed force was organised in western Bihar by Colonel Rowcroft to move from Tirhut along the Gandak towards Gorakhpur. These three separate corps d’armée had but one primary object, – to clear the British districts to the north of Banaras and east of Oudh; as soon as these districts should be cleared, one corps would remain in observation, whilst the other two would march to co-operate with Sir Colin Campbell in his attack on Lakhnao. It will be necessary, then, to deal with the three separately.

Colonel Rowcroft’s force

Rowcroft’s force was composed of thirty men of the Royal Marines, a hundred and thirty of the Pearl Naval Brigade under Sotheby, three hundred and fifty Nipal troops, fifty men of the Bengal Police Battalion, and four 12-pounder howitzers, two of which were mountain-train guns. It occupied an intrenched camp at Mirwa, about forty-nine miles from Chapra. Seven miles distant, at Sobanpur on the west bank of the little Gandak153, lay a small rebel army, computed to consist of twelve hundred regular Sipahis, and four thousand armed adventurers, of whom a hundred were mounted, with four guns.

beats the rebels at Sobanpur,

On the morning of the 26th December, Rowcroft, who had waited for the arrival of the Goraknath Nipal regiment from Sigauli, marched to attack the rebel force.

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Their position was strong on two out of its three objective points. They occupied a village, covered in front by a tank with high banks, and on the right by a tope of trees: the left was comparatively uncovered. Rowcroft halted within half a mile of the place and rode forward to reconnoitre. He resolved to render useless the enemy’s strong positions in the centre and on the right by turning his left. He did this with great coolness and success. The Nipal troops behaved splendidly under fire. Sotheby of the Naval Brigade managed the artillery with great skill. The Minié rifles of the Royal Marines, directed by Lieutenant Pym, produced a striking effect. The result was that the enemy, attacked a little after 10 o’clock, were completely beaten by half past 1, forced back from Sobanpur, and followed six miles further to Majauli, and thence driven across the Gandak, with the loss of one large iron gun. Rowcroft followed up his victory the next day by crossing the river and destroying the homesteads of the leading rebels.

and halts on the Ghaghra for orders

Then, in pursuance of instructions he had received from Brigadier-General MacGregor, under whose orders he had been placed, he marched to Burhat Ghat on the river Ghaghra, there to await further instructions.

Jung Bahadur enters British territory

Jung Bahadur’s little army, meanwhile, setting out from Nipal, had crossed the British frontier. On the 23rd. December, it reached Bhetia, eighty-two miles east of Gorakhpur. Here it was joined by MacGregor. Continuing its march, it crossed the river Gandak on the 30th, and arrived in the vicinity of Gorakhpur on the 5th January. Gorakhpur was occupied by the rebels, but by rebels disheartened, divided in purpose, and hopeless of success.

and beats the rebels at Gorakhpur

When attacked, then, the following morning by the Nipal army, they made but a feeble resistance, but fled across the Rapti154, leaving seven guns in the possession of the conquerors. These lost but two men killed. Seven were wounded. The loss of the rebels amounted to about two hundred.

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Civil administration restored in Gorakhpur

The civil administration was at once re-established in Gorakhpur. The British districts were cleared of rebels. At the same time awaiting the time when the Nipal force at Azamgarh should cross the Oudh frontier in co-operation with that under General Franks, MacGregor transmitted orders to Rowcroft to embark his little force in boats and ascend the river.

Rowcroft approaches the Nipal force

Before Rowcroft came up, the moment referred to had arrived, and Jang Bahadur, starting from Gorakhpur on the 14th February, reached Barari, on the left bank of the Ghaghra155 on the 19th. On the evening of the viral that day, Rowcroft anchored within four miles of that place, and landed on the right bank. There, on the morning of the 20th, he was joined by a brigade of the Nipal force, with six guns. Rowcroft then received orders to bring up his boats to Phulpur, so as to allow of their being used for the passage of the remainder of the Nipal force at that place. But, before he could carry out this order, information reached Rowcroft that Phulpur was occupied by the rebels.

and defeats the rebels at Phulpur

Accordingly he marched on that place, drove the rebels from it and captured three of their guns. Then, bringing up his boats, he made of them a bridge spanning the stream, and allowed the Nipal troops to cross. It was then arranged that Rowcroft, with the Pearl Brigade, the Yeomanry Cavalry, which had joined him, and two Nipal regiments, should occupy Gorakhpur, to keep open the communications, whilst Jang Bahadur should march via Sultanpur on Lakhnao.

Jang Bahadur enters Oudh

Crossing the Ghaghra, Jang Bahadur marched to Ambarpur on the 25th February. The road to that place was commanded by a small fort, having a triple line of defence within a bamboo jungle, and defended by thirty-four men. It was necessary to storm this post, for, though it might be turned, its continued occupation by the rebels would enable them to act on the communications of the advancing force.

and storms a strong fort.

The Nipal troops, then, were sent against it. It was defended with so much vigour and resolution, that the assailants lost seven men killed and forty-three wounded before they gained possession of it. The defenders died, all, at their posts

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March 10–11, 1858

The effect of this capture was great, for two days later the rebels evacuated a larger fort occupied by two hundred men, towards which the Nipalese were advancing. Neither their passage across the Gumti near Sultanpur, nor their further progress to Lakhnao, was disturbed by the enemy. They reached the vicinity of that city on the 10th March, and moved into line with the British army on the 11th, in full time to take part in the capture of that city.

General Franks

I propose now to turn to General Franks. On the 29th November that officer had been appointed to command the troops in the Azamgarh and Jaunpur districts. The force at his disposal consisted of about five thousand five hundred men – of whom three thousand two hundred were Nipalese – and twenty guns.

his force

His own brigade was composed of the 10th, 20th, and 97th Foot, the 6th company 13th battalion, and 8th company 2nd battalion Royal Artillery; detachments of the 3rd battalion Madras, and of the fifth battalion Bengal, Artillery, and a detail of native artillery.

his Assistant Adjutant General

The Assistant Adjutant-General of the force was Captain H. Havelock, son of the famous general, and who had served under Franks, as Adjutant of the 10th Regiment, for six years. This gallant officer, on learning the nomination of his old colonel to the command of the force, had at once applied to serve with it; and on the application being granted, though still suffering from severe wounds, had hastened to join.

his instructions.

Franks was officially informed that his main duties would consist in protecting Banaras against attack, in preventing the rebels from crossing the Ganges into Bihar, in recovering British districts occupied by them. It was at the same time impressed upon him, in a memorandum, that the safety of Banaras was the prime, the main consideration, to which every other was to be subordinated156.

Supplementary instructions given to him by Mr. Grant.

Nevertheless, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Central Provinces, Mr. J. P. Grant, in communicating this memorandum to Colonel Franks, wisely supplemented it with a description of the state of the frontier, of the rebel chiefs, of their following, of the positions they had taken up, as well as of the probable means of offence

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and defence at their disposal. This memorandum, written clearly and with accurate knowledge, proved of inestimable value.

He shows a bold front to the invader

By the end of December, Franks had organized his force, and had placed it in strong defensive positions, showing a bold front to the invader. His right column was near Azamgarh. His centre some miles in front of Jaunpur, and his left at Badlapur. Though the attitude taken up imposed on the rebels so far as to prevent them from hazarding an attack, it did not hinder them from pillaging and plundering the districts about a hundred and twenty miles to the west of Jaunpur.

The rebel leader

The leader of the rebels was called Mehndi Husen. He called himself Nazim of Sultanpur. Like many men who rise to the surface in a period of riot and disorder, he was an adventurer, whose main object in life was to secure for himself something tangible out of the general wreck.

and his army.

He had under him about fifteen thousand men, mostly matchlock-men, of whom not more than a third could be depended upon to fight. The rebel leader had his headquarters at Chanda, a town thirty-six miles from Jaunpur, on the direct road from that station to Sultanpur; but his lieutenant, Fazal Azim, occupied a strong position at Saraun, just fourteen miles north of Allahabad. His outposts were within four miles of that place.

How, Franks’s want of cavalry

Franks had no regular cavalry. He had, indeed, thirty-eight mounted policemen, known as the Banaras Horse, commanded by Captain Matheson. To compensate as far as possible for the deficiency, he had mounted twenty-five men of the 10th Foot, and placed them under the command of Lieutenant Tucker of the Bengal Cavalry. The services rendered by these men can scarcely be exaggerated, but their numbers were insufficient to effectively follow up a victory. It would have been easy for him, with the force at his disposal, to beat the pseudo Nazim or his lieutenant; but a barren victory – a victory which could . not be efficiently followed up – would be useless.

was attempted to be supplied

The Government and the Commander-in-Chief were equally alive to the necessity that Franks should be supplied with horsemen in sufficient numbers, and they did all that seemed to them possible under the circumstances. But the supply could only proceed by detachments. The first of these,

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composed of two squadrons of the Bays, and four horse artillery guns, ns was despatched from Allahabad on the 20th of January to reinforce him.

Franks moves forward

As soon as he heard that cavalry were on their way to join him, Franks (21st January) moved forward with his left column, numbering fourteen hundred men, of whom eight hundred were Nipalese, and six guns, to Sikandra, seven miles from Saraun. He found that Fazal Azim, with eight thousand men and fourteen guns, was still at that place. Fazal Azim heard at the same time of the arrival at Sikandra of General Franks.

The enemy advance to a strong position.

The country all about Saraun being open, he broke up his camp that night and advanced to Nasratpur, a very strong position, held then by an ally, an influential talukdar, Beni Bahadur Singh. In this position, extremely strong by nature, and the approach to which had been rendered more difficult by art, the two friends hoped to be able to give a good account of any assailant, even though that assailant should be British.

Franks waits for his cavalry

Franks learned next morning of the retreat of the rebels. He could not attack them at once, for his cavalry had not come up, and he had directed them to join him at Sikandra. The day of the 22nd, then, was devoted to preparing for the move, which he thought would scarcely be delayed beyond the morrow. Franks meanwhile gathered all the information possible regarding the enemy’s position, and, whilst receiving this, he erected a kind of stockade, or fortified enclosure, there to leave his baggage whilst he should march on the enemy.

which arrives

In this way the day passed, anxiously towards the closing hours, for the sun set, and no cavalry appeared. At last, about eight o’clock, they arrived, accompanied by four horse artillery guns. There was no more hesitation. Next morning Franks sent his men in two columns against the enemy. The strength of the position did not stop them; Nipalese rivalled European.

Franks attacks and beats the rebels

With the loss of only six men slightly wounded, the stronghold was captured; the rebels hastily fleeing to save as many of their guns as possible. Two of these were captured; but the density of the jungle, in the first instance, and the difficult nature of the ground beyond the jungle, in the second, greatly impeded the action of the

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cavalry, and the rebels, acquainted with the by-paths, were able to carry the remainder across the Oudh frontier.

The cavalry sent back to Allahabad

After the action, Franks was forced, in obedience to orders, to his regret, to send back the cavalry to Allahabad.

Franks moves to the Oudh frontier at Singramau

Having destroyed the rebel stronghold, Franks moved to Saraun, re-established the civil authorities in the districts bordering on Allahabad, and then returned to Badlapur, preparatory to an advance by Sultanpur on Lakhnao. Thence he moved eight miles in advance to Singramau, close to the frontier, there to await the action of Jang Bahadur, on his right, at Gorakhpur.

and advances to Sultanpur

We have seen how the arrival of Rowcroft at Gorakhpur on the 19th February had loosened the hands of the Nipal Maharajah. Franks set out the same day for to Sultanpur. The distance was thirty-three miles, but the greater portion of it was occupied by the rebels. Their advanced post, Chanda, thirteen miles from Singramau, was guarded by eight thousand men, of whom two thousand five hundred were Sipahis trained by British officers; and another strong corps of ten thousand men lay within a few miles of them.

He reaches Chanda

Franks, I have said, marched on the 19th from Singramau. His plan was to move rapidly and defeat the enemy’s forces in detail, and he carried out his programme to the letter. Reaching Chanda about eight o’clock in the morning, he found the place occupied by the rebel corps I have already mentioned. This corps, eight thousand strong, had eight guns, a good position, and every incentive to make a sturdy resistance.

Proceedings of the enemy

Its commander, a civil officer, named Banda Husen, had despatched very early that morning express messengers to his chief, the pseudo-Nazim, Mehndi Husen, informing him of the approach of the British, and begging him to move up with his following of ten thousand men to his support. Could he resist but for three hours, that support was assured to him.

Franks attacks and defeats Banda Husen

But the impetuous onslaught of the British and Nipalese was not to be withstood even for three hours. Sipahis from four trained regiments were there, but they were there only to give way, almost without a serious effort. After a contest, which did not cost the allies a single man, Chanda was occupied, and the enemy were pursued three miles further to Rampura.

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At Rampura, Franks halted – only for two hours. He had become aware that the reinforcements under Mehndi Husen were on their way, and he had made up his mind to deal with them before they should recover from the panic which the defeat of the Chanda force would certainly inspire.

and Mehndi Husen

He took ground, then, to the left, and occupied the village of Hamirpur. Mehndi Husen was in full march for Chanda, when he learned from some fugitives of the defeat of his lieutenant. Surprised as he was, he still hoped to retrieve the day. After a short halt for reflection, he made a circuit, and, as the shades of evening were falling, he appeared on the left rear of Franks’s position. But Franks was not so to be caught. At once changing front, he dashed at the rebels. Surprised, when they had hoped to surprise, they made but the semblance of resistance, and then fled in disorder. Owing to the lateness of the hour, Franks pursued them but a short distance; he then bivouacked on the ground. he had occupied before the action.

Losses on both sides

The loss of the allies in these two actions amounted to only eleven wounded – a proof of the slightness of the resistance. That of the enemy cannot be accurately computed; but the speed of their flight and the paucity of cavalry with the victors would induce the belief that it was not considerable.

Importance to both parties of the fort of Budhdyan

The pseudo-Nazim rallied his forces at Wari, intent on renewing the struggle. Between the contending armies and. Sultanpur was a very strong fort, surrounded by a jungle, and completely commanding the approaches to that town – the fort of Budhayan. The Nazim was thoroughly well aware of the importance of this position, and he resolved to secure it. But Franks possessed a knowledge not inferior and a determination at least equal. He possessed, too, this advantage, that at Hamirpur he occupied a position from which he could deal a blow at any enemy who should attempt to attack Budhayan from Wari. The Nazim did, nevertheless, make the attempt, and in a manner which entitled him to some consideration as a general. It was far from his desire to encounter the English in the plain. The recollection of the battle of the previous day was strong within him. But he was anxious to mislead his enemy, and gain a post from which he could defy him.

But he failed. Do what he would, Franks always put himself

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in his way.

Franks outmanoeuvres the Nazim

After a long day of manoeuvring, it came to this, – that the army which was ready to fight a battle would gain Budhayan. The Nazim would do everything but that. Franks would do everything including that. The greater daring gained the day, and on the afternoon of the 21st Franks occupied the strong fortress.

who takes up a strong position near Sultanpur

The Nazim, baffled, though not discouraged, made a long detour, and turning the town of Sultanpur, took up a position at Badshahganj, two miles beyond it, ready there to dispute the further progress of the allies; on this point, he rallied all his scattered partisans, and the troops of Banda Husen. Here, too, he was joined by Mirza Gaffer Beg, a general of artillery under the ex-king of Oudh, who had been sent from Lakhnao for the express purpose of assuming the command and of driving back Franks. He assumed the command, but he did not drive back Franks.

Franks is constrained to act without cavalry

Franks had halted at Budhayan on the 22nd to await the arrival of the Lahor Light Horse and the Pathan cavalry, urgently required and anxiously expected. But, as these had not arrived on the early morning of the 23rd, he felt constrained to act without them. He set out, then, at 6 o’clock in the morning of that day, to attack the enemy.

The position of the rebels at Sultanpur

The position which Gaffur Beg occupied was very formidable. It may thus be described. His whole front was protected by a deep and winding nullah, which ran into the Gumti. The main body extended in a line, a mile and a half in length, in the plain behind that nullah, the left resting on the Sultanpur bazaar, the centre placed behind the ruined lines of the police battalion; the right covered by a range of low hillocks in advance of the village and strong masonry buildings of Badshahganj. The nullah which covered his front was crossed by the road leading to Lakhnao, and which Franks must traverse. To prevent such a movement, Gaffur Beg placed his principal battery on this road. The rest of his guns were distributed along his front, three being posted in the village near the bazaar on his extreme left, six in the masonry buildings of Badshahganj on his right.

its defects.

Formidable though the position was, it had one great fault. It could be turned on its right. The road from Allahabad to Lakhnao, to the south-west, crossed

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the nullah at a point out of reach of the enemy’s fire, and led to ground behind their right. Gaffur Beg had forgotten this, for he had pushed neither cavalry nor scouts in that direction.

Franks detects the weak point of the rebels’ position

Franks marched, as I have said, at 6 o’clock in the morning. At about 9 o’clock, or a few minutes after, his advance guard, composed of the twenty-five mounted men of the 10th Foot, and thirty-eight men of the Banaras Horse, which constituted his only cavalry, caught sight of the enemy’s outposts on the nullah. Franks at once halted his force. He had detected the weak point in the position of the enemy, and had resolved to profit by it.

Battle of Sultanpur

Feigning a front attack, occupying the enemy by a demonstration which had all the appearance of being real, he moved his infantry and light guns obliquely to the left, and seized the Allahabad road. The feigned attack so completely concentrated upon it all the attention of the enemy, that they heeded not the movement of the infantry brigades, and those brigades had reached a position completely in rear of the enemy’s right before the latter had the smallest suspicion that they were not in front of them. Their surprise,. when the Anglo-Indian force deployed and attacked, may be surmised. In vain did they attempt to rectify the error, to bring their guns round to the new front:– it was too late. The English pushed forward with a decision that allowed no time to repair mistakes.

Macleod Innes

In advance even of the skirmishers, a gallant officer of Engineers, who had during the siege of Lakhnao rendered the most splendid service, Macleod Innes secured the first hostile gun, as the rebels were abandoning it. Falling back from this, the rebels rallied round another gun further back, from which the shot would, in another instant, have ploughed through the advancing columns. Macleod Innes noticed the danger.

His splendid gallantry

He never stopped to consider, but galloping up, alone and unsupported, he shot the gunner as he was about to apply the match, and remaining undaunted at his post, the mark for a hundred matchlockmen who were sheltered in some adjoining huts, kept the artillerymen at bay till assistance reached him157. The British line then swept on, and its left soon reached the

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high road to Lakhnao. A minute later and it had captured the central battery. Franks himself, cap in hand, led the skirmishers of the 10th Foot right up to the guns, which the enemy’s gunners served to the last, dying at their posts.

The enemy totally defeated

After this, the battle was over. Fugitives in vast numbers, who had left behind them twenty guns (one 32-pounder, two 24-pounders, two 18-pounders, four 12-pounders, one, 9-pounder, and ten smaller pieces), their camp, their baggage, and their ammunition, covered the plains, followed by the British horsemen and the infantry. How many of them were killed or wounded it is impossible to record.

but not efficiently pursued for want of cavalry

“Had the Lahor Light Horse and Pathans reached me six hours sooner,” wrote Franks, “when the whole plain was covered with fugitives, whom the utmost efforts of my infantry could not overtake, their loss would have been considerably heavier.” The casualties on the side of the British amounted to two killed and five wounded.

who arrive after the action

The cavalry referred to – augmenting the cavalry force under Franks to six hundred sabres – arrived on the ground shortly after the action was over.

Aikman joins with the Jalandhar cavalry

The next morning Franks was joined by the Jalandhar Cavalry158. This body of horse, raised on the Guide principle under the auspices of Colonel Lake, Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar, only a few months before, and equipped and drilled by Lieutenant Aikman, had marched from the Satlaj to join Franks in an incredibly short space of time – the last march covering forty miles. “I did not expect you for a fort- night,” exclaimed Franks, as he welcomed Aikman: “had I known you would have been here, I would at any cost have postponed the action.” It will be seen that, though too late to share in the battle of Sultanpur, Aikman was to inaugurate the arrival of his new levies by an action not yielding in brilliancy to any performed in the campaign.

Gallant deed of Aikman

The road to Lakhnao was now apparently open, and there seemed little chance of any further opposition being offered. But on the early morning of the 1st March, Aikman, who had been posted for the night three miles in advance of the camp with a hundred of his men,

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learned that a body of five hundred rebel infantry, two hundred cavalry, and two guns, under a noted rebel chief, Mansab Ali, who had long evaded pursuit, occupied a position three miles off the high road, on the banks of the Gumti. This was quite enough for Aikman. Despatching a trooper to Franks, begging him to send up in support the cavalry and the guns, he led his men to the spot, charged the enemy, totally defeated them, killed more than a hundred of them, and drove the survivors into and across the Gumti, capturing the two guns. This gallant and successful charge was made under every disadvantage of broken ground, and partially under the flanking fire of a hostile fort. Nothing could exceed the splendid daring displayed by Aikman on this occasion. For some time he was at sword’s point with several rebels at the same time, and from one of them he received a severe sabre-cut across the face. The cool and resolute courage with which he continued to fight inspired his men with the supreme resolution which caused the combat to terminate in the successful manner I have described159. The cavalry and the guns arrived after the fight was over.

After this crowning event of his victorious march, Franks pushed on, and, on the morning of the 4th, reached a mosque a mile beyond the town of Amethi, eight miles from Lakhnao. He had received orders from the Commander-in-Chief to advance. Learning, however, that the fort of Daurara, two miles to the right of the road, was occupied by a large body of the rebels with two guns, Franks, apprehensive that that body, if unmolested, might annoy his long train of baggage, resolved to drive them out.

The repulse at Daurara

The resolution in itself was perfectly sound, but the mode in which it was carried out left much to be desired.

Against the fort Franks detached with a body of cavalry, only two horse artillery guns. In vain did Havelock protest, as far as he could protest, urging the general to use the two 24-pounder howitzers which were available. Franks was obstinate. The result was that the two horse artillery guns, moved up successively to four hundred, three hundred, and even two hundred yards of the fort, failed to breach the walls or to silence the matchlock fire of the rebels. Subsequently the 24-pounder howitzers were brought up, the

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outer defences were forced, and the hostile guns were captured; but the rebels barricaded themselves in a house guarded by a massive gate, and still bade defiance to the British. The shot from one of their own guns which had been turned against this making no impression upon it, and a fire kindled against it producing no effect, and the only engineer officer, Macleod hues, having been severely wounded while trying to burst the gate open, Franks determined to withdraw. The force then resumed its march and joined Sir Colin the same evening160.

Results of Franks’s campaign

This was the last action which signalised Franks’s successful march from the borders of eastern to central Oudh.

He joined Sir Colin on the night of the 4th March, having, in thirteen days, marched a hundred and thirty miles, beaten an enemy immensely superior in four general actions, and captured thirty-four pieces of ordnance, with the small loss of thirty-seven officers and men killed and wounded. Such leading needs no comment. Franks was known as one of the best regimental officers in the British army. This short campaign stamped him as qualified to take very high rank among its generals. The repulse at Daurara was little more than an accident, arising from over-confidence.

Havelock

It is true he was well supported. In Captain, now Sir Henry, Havelock, he had an Assistant Adjutant-General, who combined to a vigorous frame an ardent love of. his profession and a clear head, able to detect the weak points of an enemy’s position, and to devise the means of profiting by his faults. Havelock was a born general, and, possessing as he did the entire confidence of Franks, his intuition may be discerned in every action but one of this short campaign. That one was the last. Against the attack with insufficient means, when sufficient means were available, Havelock protested with all the energy of his nature. Had his advice been followed, the great. opportunity which had been in the grasp of Franks would not have been denied him.

Patrick Carnegy

But there was another gentleman attached to Franks’s staff, whose services deserve special mention. I allude to Mr. Patrick Carnegy, of the uncovenanted service.

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The son of a general officer in the service of the Company, Patrick Carnegy had wanted the interest which in those days was required to obtain for a man a commission in the military service. Forced to become a civilian in the uncovenanted grade, Carnegy had brought to the performance of his duties an intelligence, an industry, and a zeal which would have won his spurs in any profession. He worked his way up steadily. He gained the confidence of the Government and the affection of the people. His tact and judgment enabled him to steer clear through every crisis. In Franks’s camp he had charge of the intelligence department, and in this office his knowledge of the people, their language and their customs, made him invaluable. Brought constantly into connection with Havelock, who was scarcely less distinguished as a linguist, a desire to attain the same ends in the same plain straightforward manner brought about an intimate friendship, in itself most advantageous to the public service161. “His information regarding the enemy has proved so correct,” wrote General Franks, “that on it alone the whole of my operations might have been planned: he has always accompanied me in the field, and assisted in carrying orders under the heaviest fire.”

Venables

Another non-military gentleman, Mr. Venables, whose services will be more specially referred to further on, rendered splendid service in this campaign.

Longden

Colonel Longden, of the 10th Foot, showed, too, special qualifications for the service in which he was employed, that of commanding the advanced guards of marksmen and light guns.

The troops led by these men from the eastern side of the province have at last been brought to the scene of action, their part in which is to be so brilliant.

The story reverts to Outram

But before I narrate their deeds, or the deeds of their comrades now marching from Kanhpur, it is fit that I should briefly tell how Outran had borne his part in the period which had elapsed since the Commander-in-Chief, on the 26th November, had entrusted to his untiring energy the safe keeping of the Alambagh, and to his watchful eye a supervision over Lakhnao.

Footnotes

151. So sensible were the rebels of the immense service rendered by Mr. Venables to his country that they offered a reward of five hundred rupees for his head.

152. Kudya is a village twelve miles to the west of Azamgarh; Chanda is in the Sultanpur district of Oudh, thirty-six miles from Jaunpur.

153. There are three rivers called “Gandak” – the great, the lesser, and the little. The last rises on the northern boundary of the Chapra district (western Bihar), flows in a south-easterly direction for about a hundred and twenty miles, then leaves the district of Chapra and enters that of Tirhut, which it traverses in the same direction for about seventy miles, when it joins the Baghmati. The united streams subsequently fall into the great Gandak.

154. The Rapti takes its rise in the sub-Himalayan ranges of Nipal, and, flowing round a long spur of mountains, enters the plains of Oudh, which it traverses in a south-easterly direction for ninety miles, passing through the Bahraich and Gondah districts; it finally joins the Ghaghra after a course of four hundred miles.

155. The Ghaghra is the chief river of Oudh. It rises in the sub-Himalayan ranges of Nipal, traverses Oudh and western Bihar, and falls into the Ganges at Chapra after a course of about six hundred miles.

156. Lord Canning’s Memorandum, dated 29th November, 1857, addressed to Colonel Franks.

157. For this splendid act Macleod Innes – who, happily, still survives – received the Victoria Cross.

158. This regiment was subsequently absorbed into the 3rd Sikh Cavalry.

159. Lieutenant, afterward Lieutenant-Colonel, Aikman received the Victoria Cross for this gallant act. He died in the autumn of 1888.

160. It was believed that this check had important consequences for Franks. He had been selected by Sir Colin to command the corps d’armée which was to act on the left bank of the Gumti; but when, it is said, Sir Colin head of the slap on the face he had received at Daurara, he struck his name out and substituted that of Outram.

161. In subsequent years Mr. Carnegy rose as high in the service as it was possible for an uncovenanted officer to rise Had he had a commission, or had he entered the Civil Service, there is scarcely any position in India to which he might not have attained. He died about four years ago.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
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