Page 39

Chapter 2 – Central India and Durand

Asirgarh

Asirgarh is a very famous fortress in the Nimar district of the Central Provinces, lying two hundred and ninety miles to the north-east of Bombay, one hundred and fifty miles from Maligaon, and ninety-nine miles to the south-east of Mau. It is built on an isolated hill, detached from the Satpura range dividing the valley of the Tapti from that of the Narbada. It has a history which has sent its name through the length and breadth of India. Alike in the times of the Hindu, of the Muhammadan, and of the British overlordship, it has been considered a place worth fighting for. After many changes of masters, it surrendered, on the 0th of April, 1819, after a vigorous resistance, to a British force commanded by Brigadier-General Doveton, and it has, ever since, remained in the occupation of a British garrison.

Garrison of Asirgarh

In 1857 that garrison consisted of a wing of the 6th Regiment Gwaliar Contingent. lent by the Bengal Presidency to replace the 19th Bombay Native Infantry, ordered on service to Persia, but which never embarked for that country. The commanding officer of the garrison was Colonel Le Mesurier, and the Fort Adjutant was Lieutenant John Gordon of the 19th Bombay Native Infantry.

Situation of the fort

The hill on the summit of which Asirgarh is perched rises abruptly to about five hundred feet above the jungle. Below it is a town of no real importance, inhabited by villagers mainly engaged in tending their flocks.

The men of the contingent evince symptoms of mutiny

The men who formed the garrison of Asirgarh belonged to a contingent which speedily asserted its right to a prominent place amongst the mutineers. The events at Nimach and at Gwaliar speedily convinced the European residents at Asirgarh that their guardians were not to be trusted. Even before this discovery

Page 40

had been made, the fort adjutant, distrusting their demeanour, had enlisted some ninety men from the villagers of the town, and had charged them with the task of watching the behaviour of the Sipahis. These men are known as Gordon’s Volunteers.

Bad news reaches the Europeans

On the 19th of June the Europeans of the garrison heard of the mutinies at Nimach and Nasirabad. From that day almost every post brought them distressful tidings. Every precaution was taken by Lieutenant Gordon.

Who send one company to Burhanpur

To relieve the fort, by fair means, of a portion of its real enemies, one company of the regiment was detached to Burhanpur, twelve miles distant. The anxieties of the ladies of the garrison were lessened about the same time by the intelligence, verified by a personal visit made by Lieutenant Gordon, that Captain Keatinge21 the political agent for that part of the country, had fortified a position fourteen miles distant from Asirgarh.

where it mutinies

From this time till the end of July good and bad news succeeded each other with great rapidity. At times the Europeans were in great danger. The company sent to Burhanpur mutinied, marched on Asirgarh, and was only prevented from entering it by the hawaldar-major of the regiment, whose loyalty had been appealed to, not in vain, by Lieutenant Gordon.

The remainder are disarmed

The following morning the four remaining, companies obeyed, not without murmuring, the order given to them to march out and encamp below the fort, their places within being taken by Gordon’s Volunteers. The next day a party of Bhil infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Birch, surprised and disarmed the Burhanpur mutineers, and carried their arms into Asirgarh. A few hours later that place was reinforced by two companies of the 19th Native Infantry under Captain Blair. The disarming of the Gwaliar men outside the fort – a work performed admirably and without bloodshed by Captain Blair and Lieutenant Gordon – completed the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the fortress pending the arrival of Colonel Stuart’s column.

Arrival of Stuart’s column and of Durand

That column, the earlier movements of which. I have recorded in the preceding chapter, quitted Aurangabad for Asirgarh on the 12th of July.

Page 41

Marching rapidly, it reached Burhanpur on the 21st and Asirgarh on the 22nd idem. Here it was joined by Colonel Durand, who had reached Asirgarh some clays previously.

Summary of Durand’s proceedings after leaving Indur

In another part of this history22 I have shown how Durand, after the catastrophe of Mau, had fallen back on Sihor; how, staying there only one day, he had set out for Hoshangabad on the southern bank of the Narbada in the hope of being able to communicate there with General Woodburn; how, learning at Hoshangabad of the safety of Mau he heard also of the attempts made to change the direction of Woodburn’s force from the line of the Narbada to Nagpur; how, not content with simply protesting against such a line of conduct, he had set off for Aurangabad with the intention of enforcing his arguments there, and, if necessary, of pressing on to Bombay; how, on his road, he received the gratifying intelligence that Woodburn’s column, now commanded by Stuart, was advancing towards Asirgarh; how he had at once hurried to that place. He had the gratification of meeting that force on the 22nd of July.

He assumes the real direction of the column

From the moment of his joining it, he assumed his position as the Governor-General’s representative, and became likewise, in everything but in name, the real leader of the column.

Is joined by the 3rd Regiment Cavalry, Haidarabad Contingent

The column pushed on for Mau on the 24th with all practicable expedition. On the 28th it was joined by the 3rd Regiment Cavalry, Haidarabad Contingent, under the command of Captain S. Orr.

Durand arrives at Mau

On the 31st it ascended the Simrol pass, halted on its summit to allow the artillery to close up, and the following morning marched into Mau. The weather for the time of the year, the height of the monsoon, had been exceptionally fine: no rain had fallen to hinder the march of the guns over the sticky black soil. On the night of the 1st of August, however, the weather changed. Heavy rains set in and continued throughout August and September. But Durand was now at Mau, within thirteen and a half miles of the capital whence the mutinous conduct of Holkar’s troops had forced him to retire just one month before. He had returned to vindicate British authority, to punish the guilty, to give an example which should not be forgotten.

Page 42

offers to march on Indur and disarm Holkar’s troops

Even before he had marched into Mau, whilst he was yet halted on the top of the Simrol pass, Durand had received a message from the Indur Durbar. Maharajah Holkar and his minister sent to inform him that they were still in a state of alarm as to the conduct of their own troops, and to inquire whether aid could not be afforded to them.

but Holkar declines

Durand replied that he was ready, if the Maharajah wished it, to march with the entire force into Indur instead of into Mau. Apparently, this was not the end desired by the Durbar, for the messengers at once withdrew their requisition.

Reasons why Durand marched on Mau instead of on Indur

In deciding to march on Mau instead of Indur, Durand was mainly influenced by considerations regarding the state of the surrounding districts which will be presently adverted to. At the moment, indeed, there was another consideration which he had to take into account. He had with him no European infantry23. Four companies of the 86th were indeed marching up by the Bombay road, and would join in a few days. But it was desirable, after the events which had occurred, that the Indur rabble should see in the British force the white faces of the unvanquished foot soldiers of England. Durand marched then on Mau.

He is joined by four companies 86th

The four companies of the 86th having joined a few days later, the propriety of marching on Indur to punish Holkar’s guilty troops and the townspeople who had abetted the revolt again became a question for Durand’s consideration. It was a very difficult question. That Holkar’s troops had attacked the Residency on the first of July was a fact admitted by every one.

Circumstances which induced Durand to defer all proceedings with respect to

But Holkar had asserted that this act had been committed without his sanction or authority. Durand himself was never satisfied of this: to the last he regarded Holkar as a trimmer, a watcher of the atmosphere: but officers who had occupied the Mau fort in July, notably Captain Hungerford, had been penetrated with the conviction that Holkar was innocent, and, in his letters to Durand, Lord Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay, had insisted on the same view.

Page 43

Under these circumstances Durand, duly weighing the difficulties presented by the case, deemed it advisable to defer all action, so far as Holkar was personally concerned, until he should become acquainted with the views of the Governor-General regarding him. He accordingly made a complete reference on the subject to Lord Canning.

Probable reasons for Holkar’s conduct

Holkar, on his part, was naturally anxious to delay Durand’s action as long as he could. He knew that, in his heart, Durand had thoroughly mistrusted him. And, although it was well known that, in the excited state of native feeling throughout the country, he could not depend on the conduct of his own troops, and would have been glad to see them coerced by the British, yet, when he thought of the possible results of such action, he inclined to prefer the uncertainty of his actual condition. Could he, he felt, but stave off the critical moment for a few months, Durand would be relieved by Sir Robert Hamilton, and Sir Robert Hamilton, an old and much-regarded friend, would, he felt confident, accept explanations regarding the events of the 1st of July which Durand would utterly contemn.

Reasons why Durand determines to defer to a later period any movement against Holkar’s troops

The question of disarming Holkar’s revolted troops, whilst the personal case regarding Holkar was still pending, opened out difficulties of another description. The force at the disposal of Durand was small, and, though sufficient to dispose of the revolted troops of Indur, could these be encountered en masse, it was scarcely large enough to attack its several component parts in detail, holding the bulk in check whilst portion after portion should be destroyed. It must always be remembered, writing of this period, that the revolt had at that time nowhere received a serious cheek. The force before Dehli was almost as much besieged as besieging. The English garrison of the Lakhnao Residency was supposed to be at its last gasp; Havelock had made no impression upon Oudh; Bihar was surging with mutineers. The disaffected in central India might, then, well be excused if, regarding all these points, they were not only hopeful, but confident, that resolute resistance on their part would serve the cause which they now regarded as the common cause of their co-religionists throughout India. Under these circumstances, it was to be apprehended that Holkar’s troops, the three arms of which,

Page 44

each superior in numbers to the entire British force, were located in separate cantonments, might evince a strong disinclination to be disarmed; and that, morally supported as they were by a large party in the city of Indur, and, as I shall presently show, by a strongly aggressive party in the districts lying between Indur and Nimach, they might offer a resistance certain to entail great loss on the attacking party, and to cripple its future movements. This will be clear to the reader when, recalling the composition of the force at the disposal of Durand24, extremely weak in infantry, he reflects that a rainy season of unusual force was at its height, that the roads could be traversed by guns only with the greatest difficulty, that the bridges in many places had been carried away, and that any military operation against the several cantonments occupied by Holkar’s troops would have to be carried out on a swampy plain, on which, at that season of the year, it would be impossible for the three arms to work together.

But there were other reasons which impressed Durand with the necessity of dealing in the first instance with those rebels in the districts, of whose aggressive tendencies I have just spoken.

Mandesar

Mandesar is a large and important town on a tributary of the river Chambal, about a hundred and twenty miles from Indur. In the month of July this place had been occupied by some of Sindhia’s revolted troops, and these had been joined, and were being constantly further strengthened, by Afghan, Mekrani, and Mewati levies.

becomes a centre of insurrection

In August the insurrection at Mandesar threatened not only, to embrace all western Malwa, but Nimach as well. Impressed with a confidence in themselves, justified only by the prolonged immunity which had been allowed them, the rebels at this place began, in the month of August, to display an aggressive temper far more dangerous than, the sullen disaffection of the compromised troops of Holkar.

aggressive in its nature

The more active and daring of the mutineers of Holkar’s army had proceeded to Gwaliar after the insurrection of the 1st of July; the less energetic mass remained, sullen, dangerous, watching events, but to a certain extent paralysed, though not controlled, by the English party in power at Holkar’s court. The progress of the Mandesar

Page 45

and requiring the most prompt action

insurrection was, however, so rapid, that to uphold British supremacy in Rajputana and Malwa, and to maintain the line of the Narbada, it became absolutely necessary to check its growth with the utmost promptitude. In the presence of this new danger, the disarming of Holkar’s troops became, in every sense, a matter of secondary importance. An attempt to subdue the lesser evil might have augmented the greater, whilst a decisive blow struck at the greater could not fail to affect fatally the lesser.

The rains an impediment to prompt action

Action in any shape was impossible so long as the heavy rains continued. But when, in the beginning of October, the monsoon passed away, and the country et began to dry up, the Mandesar rebels began to give proof of the possession of the aggressive nature with which I have credited them.

Composition of the Mandesar insurgents

The leader of the Mandesar insurgents was Firuzshah, a Shahzada or prince connected with the imperial family of Dehli. It was estimated in September that some fifteen thousand men, with sixteen or eighteen guns, had rallied round his standard, and this estimate was subsequently found to have been below the actual number. To meet these, Durand, after deducting the sick and wounded, and a sufficient number of men to guard Mau, could not bring into the field more than fifteen hundred men25 and nine guns.

Durand learns that central India is about to rise in revolt

Under these circumstances it was perhaps fortunate that the aggressive movement was made by the rebels. Durand expected it. Towards the very end of September he had intercepted letters from Haidarabad from Nagur, from Surat, from Ujjen, from Gwaliar, and central India from Mandesar, all telling the same tale. The tale was to the effect that, after the conclusion of the Dasahra festival26, a general rising would take place in Malwa, and that influential personages were coming

Page 46

from Nagpur and Haidarabad for the purpose of giving life and strength to the insurrection. The close of the Dasahra corresponded with the setting in of the dry season.

The rebels attempt to cut off Durand from Bombay

The result corresponded with the information Durand had thus obtained. Early in October the Shahzada’s troops, who had previously occupied Dhar and Amjhera, advanced to the Bombay road and threatened to interrupt Durand’s communications with Bombay, to command the line of the Narbada along the Bombay frontier, and to attack Nimach. They sent also a pressing invitation to Holkar’s troops to join them.

The vital importance of rapid action

Everything depended upon the rapidity with which Durand would be able to strike a blow at this enemy. Failing it, it was quite possible that Nana Sahib, who at that time was hovering in the vicinity of Kalpi, might transfer the whole of his troops to central India, and that the Maratha war-cry might raise the entire country formerly acknowledging the supremacy of the Peshwa.

Durand strikes at Dhar

Seeing the necessity, Durand struck. On the 12th of October he detached one body of Haidarabad cavalry to defend Mandlesar on the Narbada, threatened by the rebels, and another to the village of Gujri to intercept them on their way. On the 14th he sent three companies of the 25th Native Infantry and some dragoons to support this last-named party, and on the 19th, with all the men who could be spared from the garrison of Mau, he marched for Dhar.

History of immediately previous to the events of 1857

Anand Rao Puar, a lad of thirteen years, had succeeded to the chiefship of Dhar on the death of his brother, cut off by cholera on the 23rd of May 185727.

Disloyalty of Ramchandar Bapuji

His minister, Ramchandar Bapuji, a shrewd and intelligent man, who, from his thorough knowledge of the English and from his large acquaintance with British officers, was supposed to be devoted to British interests, began, almost immediately after his assumption of office, to pursue a line of policy the very reverse of that which had been hoped from him. In direct opposition to the policy pursued by the Government of India ever since the settlement of Malwa, to prevent the

Page 47

He enlists mercenaries

employment of mercenary troops in native states, this man began to enlist large numbers of Arabs, Afghans, and Mekranis. As soon as the news of the Indur rising of the 1st of July reached Dhar, a party of these mercenaries, four hundred in number, joined with the mercenaries of the Rajah of Amjhera, and plundered the stations of Bhopaur and Sirdarpur, burning the hospitals over the heads of the sick and wounded.

Whom, after their plunder of British stations, he receives with honour

Returning to Dhar with their plunder, they were met and honourably received by Bhim Rao Bhonsla, the young Rajah’s uncle, and three of the guns which they had captured were placed in the Rajah’s palace. On the 31st of August they were in possession of the fort of Dhar, with or without the consent of the Durbar was not certainly known.

Captain Hutchinson reports the complicity of the Rajah’s family, and of the Durbar

But on the 15th of October Captain Hutchinson, the political agent, reported that there was strong reason to believe that the mother and uncle and the members of the Durbar were the instigators of the rebellion of the Dhar troops, that the conduct of the Durbar was suspicions, that its agent had purposely deceived him regarding the negotiations entered into by its members with the mutinous mercenaries and the number of men they had enlisted, and that it had received with attention and civility emissaries from Mandesar, the centre of the Muhammadan rising.

Durand dismisses the Durbar’s agent with a warning

It was this intelligence which decided Durand to dismiss the Dhar agent in attendance on him, with a message to the Durbar that its members would be held strictly responsible for all that had happened or that might happen28, and to despatch all his available troops to attack Dhar.

The British troops arrive before Dhar

On the 22nd of October the British force arrived before Dhar. The Arab and Mekrani levies who garrisoned that fort gave a signal instance of the confidence engendered by the long compulsory inaction of the British by quitting the protection of their lines of defence and coming to attack them in the open. Planting three brass guns on a hill south of the fort, they extended from that point along its eastern face in skirmishing order, and advanced boldly against the British.

Page 48

The action

But their confidence soon vanished.

Gallantry of the 25th Native Infantry

The 25th Bombay Native Infantry, a splendid regiment, often to be mentioned, and always with honour, in these pages, led by their most capable commandant, Major Robertson, charged the three guns, captured them, and turned the guns on the rebels.

Of the British troops

Almost simultaneously, the four companies of the 86th and the sappers, flanked by Woollcombe’s (Bombay) and Hungerford’s (Bengal) batteries, advanced against the centre, whilst the cavalry threatened both flanks, the dragoons, under of the British Captain Gall, the left, the Nizam’s cavalry, under Major Orr, the right.

Gall and Orr and Macdonald

Baffled in their advance by the action of the 25th, and the play of the British guns on their centre, the enemy made a rapid movement to their left, and attempted to turn the British right.

The rebels are beaten

But the dragoons, led by Gall, and the Nizam’s cavalry, led by Orr and Macdonald, Deputy Quartermaster-General of the force, charged them so vigorously that they retired into the fort, leaving forty bodies of their companions on the field. On the British side three dragoons and one native trooper were wounded, a jamadar and a native trooper were killed.

Dhar is invested

The fort was now invested, but the British force had to wait for the siege guns, expected on the 24th. They arrived on the evening of that day; the next morning they were placed in position. The fort of Dhar is entirely detached from the town of the same name.

Description of the fort of Dhar

Its southern angle rests on the suburbs, the road running between. It situated on an Mica% eminence of thirty feet above the surrounding plain, and is built of red granite, in an oblong shape, conforming i self to the hill on which it stands. The walls are about thirty feet in height, and have at intervals fourteen circular and two square towers.

Investment of Dhar

On the 25th a sandbag battery, two thousand yards south of the fort, armed with one 8-inch howitzer and one 8-inch mortar, began to shell the fort. Under cover of this fire the infantry pushed on to a low ridge, about two hundred and fifty yards from the southern angle of the fort, forming a natural parallel, and took possession of it. On this the breaching battery was at once constructed. Simultaneously, strong cavalry and infantry pickets were thrown out

Page 49

on the north and east faces of the fort, security on the west face being assured by an extensive tank or lake which could not be forded. Durand was in hopes that the rebels, seeing themselves thus surrounded, would spontaneously surrender.

The rebels ask for terms

But although, during the six days the siege lasted, they made many efforts to obtain aid from outside, acting and writing in the name of the Durbar, under whose orders they professed to be defending the fort, they waited until, on the night of the 29th, the breach had been made so large that its practicability was only a question of a day or two, ere they sent a white flag to inquire the terms which would be granted.

The reply

“An unconditional surrender,” was the reply, upon which the firing continued. At sunset on the 31st the breach was reported practicable, and that night a storming party was detailed to assault the place.

The breach practicable and

Never was a task easier. The breach was easily ascended. Almost immediately afterwards firing was heard on the plain.

the fort evacuated

Whilst dragoons and irregulars were despatched in that direction, the storming party entered the fort. It was empty29.

In fact the rebels, foreseeing the assault, had quitted the fort by the main gate between 9 and 11 o’clock, and escaped in the direction of the north-west.

Escape of the rebels

The firing heard on the plain at the moment the breach was entered was only a skirmish with the rear-guard of the retreating enemy and an outlying picket of the 3rd Nizam’s cavalry. The main body had passed by them and the dragoons30 wholly unobserved, and were well away before the alarm could be of any avail.

Pursuit useless

Pursuit, though it could scarcely accomplish much, was attempted. It resulted, however, only in the capture of a few wretched stragglers. Durand ordered the fort of Dhar to be demolished, the State to be attached, pending the final orders of Government, and charges to be prepared against the leaders and instigators of

Page 50

the rebellion31.

Durand demolishes the fort and marches towards Mandesar

The force then continued its march through western Malwa towards Mandesar, in pursuit of the rebels. These latter, however, had by no means renounced their aggressive tendencies.

The rebels attack Mehidpur

On the 8th of November they attacked the cantonment of Mehidpur, garrisoned by a native contingent of the three arms, officered by English officers: Major Timmins, who commanded the contingent, imprudently permitted the rebels, without offering opposition, to take up a strong position close round his guns and infantry. The men of the contingent, on their side, displayed mingled cowardice and treachery, the majority eventually going over to the rebels.

and plunder the station

Half a troop of the cavalry behaved, however, extremely well, and, after making a gallant but ineffective charge, in which their leader, Captain Mills, was shot dead, and their native officer severely wounded, escorted the remainder of the European officers to Durand’s camp, where they arrived on the 9th. Two other affairs, which occurred during the pursuit of the rebels to Mandesar, deserve here to be recorded.

The line of the Narbada saved

The first was the capture and destruction of the fort of Amjhera by a small party of Haidarabad cavalry and infantry under Lieutenant Hutchinson. There was, indeed, no opposition; but the fact of the occupation was satisfactory, as it proved that Durand’s rapid action had saved the line of the Narbada, and had maintained that barrier between the blazing north and the smouldering south.

The other action was one in which Major Orr and the Haidarabad Contingent was prominently engaged.

Reinforcements brought by the Haidarabad Contingent

I have already stated32 how one regiment of the Haidarabad Contingent had joined Brigadier Stuart’s force on its march from Aurangabad. The remaining cavalry of the contingent and a large force of its infantry and artillery had, about the same time, been formed at Eldabad, one of the chief outlets of the Dakhan, on the high road to central India. Here they remained until the monsoon had ceased and the roads had

Page 51

begun to dry up: They then marched with all speed into Malwa, and coercing on their way the refractory zamindars of Piplia33 and Raghugarh, reached Durand’s force before Dhar.

Major Orr pursues the Mehidpur plunderers

Upon the news reaching camp of the successful action of the rebels at Mehidpur, Major Orr, with a small force, consisting of three hundred and thirty-seven sabres drawn from the 1st, 3rd, and 4th regiments Nizam’s cavalry, was sent to follow on their track. The second morning after he had left camp, Orr, having marched some sixty miles, arrived before Mehidpur. There he learned that the rebels had left the place the same morning, carrying with them all the guns, stores, and ammunition upon which they could lay hand. Orr stopped to water and feed his horses, and whilst thus halting had the gratification to receive Mrs. Timmins, the wife of the commandant already mentioned, who had been unable to effect her escape34 with her husband.

He catches them up

Having despatched that lady under a sufficient escort to rejoin her husband, Orr followed the rebels, and, after a pursuit of twelve miles, came up with their rear-guard, about four hundred and fifty men with two guns, about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, at the village of Rawal. They were prepared to receive him.

Their strong position

They had taken up a very formidable position, especially calculated to resist cavalry, their right resting on the village, and their front covered by a muddy nullah or rivulet. Occupying this position, they hoped effectually to cover the retreat of their main body, conveying their stores, their ammunition, and the spoils of Mehidpur.

Orr gallantly and successfully assails it

But they had not counted on the gallant spirit of their enemy. Orr, and his officers, Abbott, Johnstone, Clark, Murray, and Samwell, led their men forward, crossed the nullah, charged the guns, and then fought hand to hand with the enemy. The contest was desperate and continued till the sun went down. Then the rebels gave way, and all their guns, eight in number, and stores fell into the and carries it, hands of the victors. The nature of the engagement may be gathered from the fact that the British lost

Page 52

nearly a hundred men killed and wounded. Amongst the latter was Lieutenant Samwell, shot through the abdomen. The rebels lest a hundred and seventy five killed, and some seventy taken prisoners.

Satisfaction of the 14th Dragoons at Orr’s success

When the despatch containing the account of this affair reached Durand, he handed it over to Major Gall to read to the 14th Dragoons and 86th Foot. By these men it was heard with more than satisfaction, for it dissipated any doubt which might have been caused by the escape of the garrison of Dhar.

Durand reaches the Chambal

Durand now pushed on as fast as the baggage carts and the roads would permit him, and on the 19th of November reached Hernia on the banks of the river Chambal. The crossing of this river, unopposed as it was, presented no inconsiderable difficulties.

Description of the river

Its banks are rugged and almost perpendicular, its stream is deep and rapid, and its bed is broken by enormous boulders of basalt. The baggage of the force was carried almost entirely on carts drawn by bullocks, a few camels only having been obtainable, and to convey these carts and the artillery guns across a river presenting the difficulties I have described would, under no circumstances, have been an easy task.

The rebels foolishly leave it undefended

That the rebels, hitherto so aggressive, should have neglected the opportunity thus offered to them adds another to the many proofs in which this history abounds, that, brave as they were in fight, they understood little of the art of war. As it was, nearly two days were spent in effecting the passage, nor was this possible until the sappers had cut a road down the bank for the artillery and carts, and another up the opposite bank35.

Page 53

Durand approaches Mandesar

The column halted the afternoon of the 20th on the east bank of the Chambal, and, marching early the following morning, encamped four miles south of Mandesar, in a position covered to the front by some rising ground, flanked on the left by a little village and gardens, beyond which again were several large topes, some cultivated ground, and another village surrounded by gardens and trees. On the right of the British position were hills and villages, and between these and the rising ground in front already referred to was an extensive plateau, covered here and there with acres of uncut corn. Beyond it, again, the city of Mandesar36. A reconnaissance having indicated that all was quiet in front, the camp was pitched and the men went to their breakfasts.

Aggressive humour of the rebels

But the rebels were again in an aggressive humour. Rumours had been industriously spread in their ranks that the British force had been repulsed from Dhar, and, in sheer desperation, was now meditating an attack on Mandesar. The leaders knew better, but they used all their efforts to give currency to the story.

They threaten the British force

Consequently, about mid-day on the 22nd, the rebels, confident that they had before them only a dispirited and beaten column, sallied forth from Mandesar, and, marching gaily, took possession of a village surrounded by trees and gardens beyond the extreme left of the British line, and, making that village their extreme right, occupied, with two considerable masses, the plateau connecting it with Mandesar.

which turns out to receive them

The men in the British camp were at their breakfasts when the news of the rebel movement reached them. Instantly they fell in, and the line formed; the dragoons on the extreme right, the Nizam’s horse on the extreme left, Hungerford’s and Woollcombe’s batteries forming the right-centre, the bullock battery of the Haidarabad the left centre, the 80th and 25th Bombay Native Infantry the centre, and the Haidarabad infantry with the Madras Sappers on the left of the Haidarabad guns, opposite the village occupied by the rebels. The British guns at once opened fire; and Woollcombe’s guns, pointed by Lieutenant Strutt, to be again mentioned in these pages, firing very

Page 54

true37, the rebels wavered.

and beats them

An advance of the Haidarabad troops converted their wavering into flight. The. cavalry then pursued and cut up a number of them. The remainder escaped into the city.

Durand interposes between the Mandesar and Nimach rebels

The next day, the 22nd, Durand crossed to the right bank of the Mandesar river, and encamped to the west of the town within two thousand yards of the suburbs. His object was to gain a position whence he could threaten Mandesar with one hand, and the rebel force which had occupied Nimach38, and which, he had learned from spies, was now hastening to the aid of their comrades, on the other. A cavalry reconnaissance showed the Nimach rebels to be in considerable force in the village of Goraria on the high road to that place.

In that direction, then, Durand moved on the 24th. After a march of three miles, he espied the rebels about a mile distant, their right resting on the village, their centre on a long hill, and their left well covered by fields of uncut grain, with broken ground and nullahs in their front, full of water and mud.

Attacks the latter at Goraria

The British guns, opening on the rebels, soon overcame the fire of their five field-pieces, and forced their line to fall back. They clung, however, with great pertinacity to the village of Goraria, and on this, retiring from the centre and left, they fell back very slowly. Whilst the British were endeavouring to drive them from this position, a strong party sallied from Mandesar and attacked their rear. The Nizam’s horse and the dragoons met the assailants boldly, and, after a sharp contest, drove them back with loss. In front, however, the British could make no impression on the village.

Desperate conflict

The brigadier detailed the 86th and 25th Bombay Native Infantry to carry it with the bayonet, but the fire from it was so fierce that he countermanded the order, preferring to reduce it with his guns. When night fell the rebels still

Page 55

occupied Goraria. The British loss had been considerable, amounting to upwards of sixty officers and men killed and wounded. At 10 o’clock next morning the 18-pounders and the 24-pounder howitzer were brought to within two hundred and fifty yards of the village, and the firing commenced. The place was shelled till it became a mere wreck; everything that could be burned in it was consumed. Still the rebels held on.

Goraria is finally carried

At last, about mid-day, some two hundred and twenty came out and surrendered. Those that remained were Rohilahs, and they stuck to the last brick in the place. About 4 o’clock the Brigadier directed that the firing should cease: the 86th and 25th Bombay Native Infantry then stormed the battered ruins.

The gallantry of the Rohilahs allows the Shahzada to escape

The stern defence of the Rohilahs did service to their cause. Whilst the British force was dealing with them the Shahzada and his two thousand Afghans and Mekranis evacuated Mandesar. and retreated on Nangarh. The cavalry, worn out by four days of unremitting exertion, was unable to pursue them.

The blow struck at Goraria is decisive

Pursuit, however, was scarcely necessary. The blow struck at Goraria was a blow from which there was no rallying. The Afghans and Mekranis, as panic-stricken as they had been bold, fled through the country, avoiding towns and villages, and endeavouring to seek refuge in the jungles. One party of them, more daring than their fellows, suddenly appeared at Partabgarh. The loyal chief of that state, summoning his Thakurs, attacked them, killed eighty of them, and drove the rest into flight. The others seemed, above all, anxious to place the Chambal between themselves and their conqueror.

The objects of the campaign achieved

The objects which Durand had in his mind when he set out from Mau on the 14th of October had now been accomplished. With a force extremely weak in infantry, he had crushed the rebellion on the plateau of Malwa, thus saving the line of the Narbada, and cutting off the disaffected troops of Holkar from the supports on which they had rested. The campaign, brief as it was, had proved decisive, and had vindicated to the letter the prescience of Durand when, resisting every temptation to act otherwise, he resolved to allow Holkar’s troops to rest quiet until he should

Page 56

have disposed of the Dhar rebels and the mutineers of Mandesar and Nimach.

Durand marches on Indur

He was now at liberty to turn his arms against Holkar’s troops. This he did. Leaving the Haidarabad contingent under Major Orr at Mandesar, and constituting Major Keatinge political agent for Western Malwa, he returned by Mehidpur and Ujjen, and reached the vicinity of Indur on the 14th of December, fully prepared to encounter the troops of the Maharajah should they offer opposition to his entrance into the city. But the spirit which had prompted the treacherous attack on the 1st of July quailed before the sight of a British force returning from victory over traitors. The Indur troops, held in check during Durand’s campaign by the Mau garrison, had been utterly disheartened by the defeat of their sympathisers at Mandesar, and were as humble as some few weeks previously they had been boastful and defiant.

disarms Holkar’s regular cavalry

Near the ground on which Durand encamped on the 14th of December he met and disarmed Holkar’s regular cavalry, and placed the men under the care of the regular Sikh cavalry of the late Bhopal Contingent. He sent likewise to Holkar’s chief minister a letter, in which he insisted that the remainder of the troops should be promptly disarmed. Should this demand not be complied with immediately, he expressed his firm resolution to disarm them himself.

and engages Holkar to disarm the infantry

The reply came that afternoon. The agent who brought it expressed the intention of the Durbar to disarm the infantry at once, and the request that whilst the operation was being carried into effect Durand would halt at a point one mile from the cavalry lines. Durand complied, and Holkar’s infantry, sixteen hundred in number, were quietly disarmed that same evening.

After the disarming had been completed, Durand, accompanied by a large body of the officers of the Mau Durand visits called upon the Maharajah in his palace in the city of Indur. It was the first time since the month of June that Durand had seen Holkar. Regarding him in his own mind as an accessory to the attack made upon the Residency on the 1st of July, Durand had sent a report of all the circumstances of the case to Lord Canning, and, pending a reply, had declined to renew personal relations with a prince who might possibly be adjudged by the supreme British authority in India to be a rebel. But when, after the Malwa campaign,

Page 57

Prompted by reasons of courtesy

Holkar had acquiesced in the disarming of his cavalry and infantry, and his minister had promised that a suitable punishment should be meted out to the guilty, Durand, on the eve of being relieved by Sir. Robert Hamilton, felt that the circumstances were not such as to warrant the omission of the ordinary courtesy required to be displayed on such an occasion. Holkar himself was anxious for the visit., and that it should be conducted with a ceremony and an ostentatious display of friendly intercourse such as would produce an impression on his people.

Interview between Durand and Holkar

Durand acceded. The visit went off well. Holkar was in good spirits, expressed himself delighted at the disarming of his troops, and a hope that the act would be regarded by the British Government as a proof of his loyalty. Durand quietly, but firmly, impressed upon him that something further was yet required – the punishment of the guilty, whether soldiers or citizens – and stated his confident belief that the British Government and the British people would expect that this remaining duty would be properly carried out. Holkar gave an assurance that a Commission, which he had previously appointed, would make full inquiries into the matter. The interview then terminated. The next day Durand was relieved by Sir Robert Hamilton.

Durand’s “character created his career”

He had completed a noble task. His personal character had been the mainstay of British authority in central India. Had Durand not been there, the result had not been accomplished. This little sentence conveys to the reader more clearly than a multitude of words the vast value of his services.

His great capacity

He was the representative of political power, and, virtually, the general; the brain and the hand, in a most important part of India. He foresaw everything, and he provided for everything. He foresaw even – his own despatches and memoirs written at the time show it most clearly – all that was to happen in the few months that were to follow; how the pacification of the North-West Provinces would increase the pressure west of the Jamnah; the action of Nana Sahib and his nephews; the incursion of Tantia Topi.

his foresight

He saw equally clearly the line that should be, and that was, followed. “if affairs at Indur are successfully arranged,” he wrote on the 12th of December, “I shall lose no time in marching the bulk of the Mau column to Sihor with the view of concentrating Sir H.

Page 58

Rose’s command, and enabling him to relieve Sagar, clear Bundelkhand, and advance on Jhansi and Gwaliar.” In these lines Durand foreshadowed the course which he would himself have pursued, and which Sir Hugh Rose did pursue. But it is his actual achievements which call for special commendation.

The value of his great achievements

In spite of his earnest entreaties, in spite of the pressure exercised by Lord Elphinstone, Woodburn had in June chosen to waste most precious moments at Aurangabad. Had that general not delayed at that Capita, it is more than probable that the insurrection of the 1st of July would never have been attempted at Indur. But mark the conduct of Durand after that misfortune had happened. He hastens to meet Woodburn’s column, now commanded by another officer; he meets it, quickens its movements, and brings it to Mau.

In spite of the incapacity and wrong-headedness of others

He finds western Malwa, in a state of aggressive insurrection, and the and only line which had remained a barrier between the Central Provinces and Bombay – the line of the, Narbada – sorely threatened. Of all the political officers in central India he alone understands the enormous importance of that line. He finds Mr. Plowden from Nagpur, Major Erskine from the Sagar and Narbada territories, urging measures which would have lost it. Though pressed by many considerations to disarm Holkar’s troops, he, receiving from no quarter a word of encouragement or support, risks everything to save that important line.

he wins back in four months all that had been lost

Then what do we see? With a weak column of five hundred Europeans of all arms and eight hundred natives39, he sets out from Mau, and in five weeks takes a strong fort, fights several cavalry combats, gains three actions in the open field, takes more than forty guns, crushes the Mandesar insurrection, saves the line of the Narbada, and, marching back to Indur, causes the disarming of the disaffected troops of Holkar. In four months he more than counteracts the evil effected by an army of conspirators.

His greatness not appreciated by his contemporaries

It was, I repeat, a noble work, nobly performed, and, like many noble works, left unrewarded. No man has been more calumniated than its author. No one not appreciated by more bravely fought the battle of life in face of his contemporaries, calumny. I may add that of no man that ever

Page 59

lived will the career bear more acute and critical examination. Should the life of Henry Marion Durand be written with the fearlessness the occasion demands40, his countrymen will realise alike the worth of the man who, at a most critical period, secured a line the loss of which would have produced incalculable evils.

who were also rivals, though far below him

They will learn, too, something of the nature of the smaller beings who aided in the attempt, to calumniate, to insult, and to depreciate him. They will learn that it is not always the truly great man who occupies the most conspicuous position in the eyes of his contemporaries!

Many officers distinguished themselves in this campaign. One of these, who for his daring, his gallantry, and his brain power was especially noticed by Colonel Durand, requires mention here.

Some of the men who served under him

“Much of the success in quelling this insurrection,” wrote Durand to Lord Canning at the end of November 1857, “is due to the judicious daring, the thorough gallantry with which, whenever opportunity offered, Major Gall, his officers and men, sought close conflict with the enemy – a bold one, who often fought most desperately. I feel it a duty to Major Gall and H.M.’s 14th Light Dragoons, men and officers, thus especially to beg your Lordship’s influence in favour of officers and men who have merited, by conspicuous valour, everything that Her Majesty’s Government may be pleased to confer. They deserve most highly.” Durand also noticed with marked commendation the splendid services of Major Orr, Captain Abbott, and the officers and men of the Haidarabad Contingent and of the 25th Regiment Bombay Native Infantry. This regiment boasted a commanding officer, Major, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel, Robertson, than whom no one rendered better service to the State. Captain Woollcombe, Lieutenants Strutt and Christie, of the Bombay Artillery, the last-named of whom was shot by a bullet in the region of the heart41, also greatly distinguished themselves. But there were many others in the same category. The list is too long.

Footnotes

21. Now Major-General Keatinge, V.C.

22. Vol. III. pages 161-2.

23. The force consisted of five troops 14th Light Dragoons, 3rd Cavalry Haidarabad Contingent, one horse battery of European artillery, the 25th Bombay Native Infantry, and a pontoon train.

24. Vide page 42, note.

25. Thus composed: Artillery, one hundred and seventy; Dragoons, two hundred; 86th, two hundred and thirty; 25th Bombay Native Infantry, three hundred and fifty; 3rd Nizam’s Cavalry, three hundred and fifty.

26. A festival of ten days’ duration, nine of which are spent in worship and religious ceremonies. The tenth day is the birthday of Ganga (the Ganges). Whoever bathes in the Ganges on that day is purified from ten sorts of sins. The festival occurs in September or October, the date varying with each year.

27. The formal recognition by the British Government only reached the young chief on the 28th of September, but he was acknowledged and treated as Rajah from the date stated.

28. Durand repeated this warning to the Rajah in person during the siege of the fort.

29. Sindhia and Dhar. Calcutta Review. Lowe’s Central India. Private papers.

30. It had unfortunately happened that the European pickets, which had been there for some days, and which knew the ground well, had been changed that very day. The trooper, sent by the jamadar of the native picket to give the alarm, fell with his horse on the way, and was disabled. – Lowe.

31. Ultimately, owing to circumstances upon which it is unnecessary for me to enter here, they all escaped punishment. To the young Rajah himself merciful consideration was shown, and he was restored to his title and position.

32. Vide p. 41.

33. Called also, and more correctly, “Hath Ka Piplid,” a town in the Diwas State, twenty-eight miles east from Indur. Raghugarh lies two short marches distant from it.

34. This lady had been concealed by a faithful tailor, who frustrated all the efforts of the rebels to discover her hiding-place.

35. “I never saw a more animated and beautiful picture in my life than when our brigade crossed this river. The steep, verdant, shrubby banks, covered with our varied forces, elephants, camels. horses, and bullocks; the deep flowing clear river, reaching on and on to the far east, to the soft deep-blue tufted horizon; the babble and yelling of men, the lowing of the cattle, the grunting screams of the camels, and the trumpeting of the scary, heavily-laden elephant ; the rattle of our artillery down the bank, through the river, and up the opposite side; the splashing and plunging of our cavalry through the stream – neighing and eager for the green encamping ground before them; and everybody so busy , and jovial, streaming up from the deep water to their respective grounds; and all this in the face, almost, of an enemy, formed a tableau vivant never to be forgotten.” – Lowe’s Campaign in Central India.

36. Lowe

37. “Lieutenant Strutt’s shooting was very true. All the while this firing was going on at the village, a fine fellow, dressed in white, with a green flag, coolly walked out from the cover, and sauntered leisurely along the whole line of our guns, while round shot and shell were whizzing about him in awful proximity. He occasionally stooped down, but never attempted to run; he then quietly retraced his steps, when a shot from Lieutenant Strutt struck him just before he regained the village.” – Lowe’s Central India.

38. Vol. IV. page 400.

39. Reinforced at Mar by the Haidarabad troops.

40. This was written in 1879. The life has subsequently been written by his son.

41. Captain Christie recovered from the wound, took part in the subsequent campaign, and was killed by a tiger some years afterwards.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
hosted by ibiblio Support Wikipedia